2 Years Ago!

This was 2 years ago today! May 3rd, 2008 I finally graduated from Ball State University. What began as a 3 hour drive, away from home for the first time, Telecommunications major turned into 5 years, 2 different majors later, sorority girl, and most of all, life changing experience that was my college experience. I learned so much about life and other people and these things will live with me for the rest of my life. I sit now and think back to move-in day Freshman year and it seems like yesterday. And it only seems like hours ago that I was walking across the stage to receive my diploma holder!!! There are so many times that I want to go back to the years-maybe I would have done something different, maybe I would have just relaxed and took it all in, but no matter what happened, I wouldn't have changed one single thing. Those 5 years have helped make me who I am today. I know I can't go back, even though I try so hard to. I cherish most of my college memories, and if you were at all a part of them, I just want to say thanks! When I look back at that day, I didn't think things would be the way they are, but that is all part of God's plan. I can't believe it has been 2 years after all of that hard work and dedication, but it was definately 5 years that I will never forget. I'm so proud that I accomplished one of my life goals-becoming a college graduate!!!

Lucy, the new addition to our family!

I know I've waited way to long to post on this! It just seems I never have enough time in a day to get everything that I want done! I received my Valentine's present a couple of days early this year. Bill and I had talked about getting a puppy around Christmas. So he researched and found a couple in Madison that would have some Golden Retriever puppies born in January 2010. This was suppose to be a surprise, but my husband isn't good about keeping a secret and I found out the date the puppies were born, added 6 weeks, and pretty much knew when our puppy would arrive, Valentine's Day. But Bill thought he would still surprise me by going and getting her early, but he isn't very good at sneaking around and I figured out that he went on Wednesday, February 10th to get our girl puppy. Here are some pictures of Lucy's first night with us.

Giving her a treat
Little puppy face!
So sleepy
This is how she slept the entire first night! Poor Bill!

People have asked why we got a Golden Retriever. When I was younger, that is what my mom got my dad one year and he was such a good dog and never harmed anyone. I loved that dog and have always wanted another Golden Retriever some day. So since this is technically my dog, I got to pick what I wanted. Bill and I both decided on the name Lucy too. It was one of the first names that came to both of our minds and just kept coming back, even though we had looked and thought of other names. It definately fits her too.

First bath!

Posing for the camera

My Valentine's Day presents

Too cute!

This picture is too funny-putting her paws up while sleeping!

Lucy has been a pretty good dog so far. She almost has the potty thing down, but has a few accidents every once in a while, and that is usually when we aren't paying attention to her or when Bill leaves the room! She loves Bill and if he leaves her alone, she will whimper or run after him. As you can see from the picture below, there is a different comforter on our bed, so she has some accidents before we get up or can get her outside. The only thing she needs to learn is to sleep in her own bed!!!! Just like a child, once they go in your bed, they don't leave! She thinks she has to sleep with us, usually at our heads or on our pillows. She has improved her sleeping by sleeping more during the night, but I would love for her to sleep in her crate! We definately need to work on that! But overall, she has been fun and the perfect addition to our family!!!!

Love this picture!

Getting so big!

Loves to get in the dishwasher and the shower!

We love our Lucy!!!

Hopefully, I'll continue to take pictures and show just how big she gets over the summer. She has been out the past couple of days and loves to run around. We've all enjoyed the weather and the sunshine and hope ya'll have too!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

COLTS GAME!!!

My husband got the Colts fever last week and decided to check out ticket prices for the Colts vs. Ravens game last Saturday. Luckily, we won them on Ebay and payed a really decent price for them. So Bill and I left early Saturday morning and headed to Indy for an exciting day!!! We had to go to Greenwood and pick up the tickets. We then met my sister Kelley, who goes to school at the University of Indianapolis, for lunch and then to her apartment to hang out for a little while. It was great to see and hang out with my sister for a while. After we left my sister's apartment, we headed downtown to park and take in the Colts Nation! We parked and walked around the city and just took in all of the fun! We headed to the gift shop and stayed there for a while and watched some of the Cardinals/Saints game. Once we were allowed in Lucas Oil Stadium, we got something to eat, drink, and walked around the stadium since it was our first time there, which is absolutely amazing! Although our seats were up in the top section, they were still good seats and we could see pretty well. But the best part was seeing Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts put a beating on the Baltimore Ravens!!!! It was a great game and we had so much fun!!!! Here are some pictures from our great Colts day!!!

Diehard Colts fans that they show on TV sometimes

LOVE me some Peyton Manning!!!!

Lucas Oil Stadium

The view from our seats

Bill and I ready for the game!

Here come the COLTS!!!

Huge American flag during the National Anthem

Peyton Manning and the Colts Offense

Another picture of the Colts Offense

Near the end of the game!

COLTS WIN!!!!

Peyton talking to CBS after the big win!

Hopefully we get another big win today and go to the Super Bowl!!! GO COLTS!!!!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

New Year, New Look

Just thought I would share some pictures of my new do! I went to get a highlight and trim last Monday, but found this cute style and thought I would give it a try! I have been wanting to grow my hair out, but went for this! It will always grow out, right? Still haven't mastered how to get it perfectly styled and have enough volume in the back, but I'm getting better at it! Let me know what you think!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

Christmas and New Year's and Sickies

Well, Christmas has come and gone. I can't believe it! It seems like yesterday I just got that dang tree up! I don't know why, but Christmas seemed to have gone by extrememly fast this year. It might have been from all of the long work hours that I put in before Christmas, but I just think it was really fast this year! There are a lot of photos in this blog, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking! Christmas began for Bill and I on December 20th with Christmas at my parents and at my cousin Beanie and Al's for the Sprinkle side, December 23rd with Bill's mom and niece, Christmas Eve at Bill's dad and stepmom's, and Christmas day with each other in the morning, my grandparent's in Bloomfield for the afternoon, and last but not least, Bill's aunt's house for his mom's side that evening! Yes, it was a tiring week! Unfortunately, Bill was working Christmas weekend, and was called out around 3:30 on Christmas Eve and missed going to his dad and stepmom's. I went ahead down without him. He didn't get home until 12:30 Christmas morning, and was back out around 4 or so to do the work he had to do that day, but was able to get home around 8! I was so relieved that nothing happened Christmas day and we were able to spend our 2nd Christmas as a married couple together! Here are some pictures I took during all of our Christmas Celebrations!

Christmas at my mom and dad's

Smiling Cutie Reece

Reece loves Elmo!


Braeden opening his big present from Mamaw and Papaw

Mom got a Snuggie from Bill!

Bill loved his Notre Dame zip-up hoodie from the Petty's

Christmas with the Sprinkle Side

Erin drew Bill's name and got him another wrestling DVD!

Some of my family after opening presents!

Christmas at my grandparents

All of the great grandkids and my cousin Ryan!

Mamaw and Papaw's great grandkids-Braeden, Taegan, Reece, and Addyson

Aunt Kelley and Reece


Christmas at Bill's aunt Sandy and uncle Dick's

Amanda got such a pretty garter!

Tony opening his gift in his Scott Farcus hat!

Uncle Dick got Batman underware from his grandson Lane!

Angie got a pig's ear from Matthew after she won a round of Bingo!

After Christmas, I only had to work 3 days that week because my Friday off fell on New Year's day, but I had to get so many hours in for the month of December before I could for sure get Thursday off. So I worked an average of 10 hours each day to get those in. They were really long and by Wednesday, I was feeling it. I had a stuffy nose, sore throat, and just felt awful. I came home Wednesday and went straight to bed. I was just going to lay down for a little while, but I ended up sleeping the whole night! I slept for 12 hours, which is something I haven't done in a really long time! I felt a little better when I got up Thursday, but still had a stuffy nose. Bill made breakfast for me that morning and we just layed around most of the day. During the afternoon, I began to get a stomach ache and really wondered if I was getting the flu. But I toughed it up and we went to Bill's aunt and uncle, Sandy and Dick's, for New Year's, which is something we do every year. They had all kinds of food, but I couldn't eat anything. I tried to eat a coney and some chip dip, but only had a few bites. But as the evening went on, my stomach began to feel better, but I still had a stuffed up nose! Bill started feeling bad that night as well. We slept in on New Year's day, which I'm sure we needed. We really just layed around again all day. I really felt about the same. My sisters' Kelley, Erin, and Michael came over and we had a sister sleepover. We made homemade pizzas, which is what we always do when they stay the night. They ate almost all of their pizzas, while Bill and I could only eat one piece of ours! Pepto was being passed back and forth between Bill and I that night! He got pretty sick, but I was still about the same. January 2nd, we felt about the same. Bill had been up all night, but he still made the girls some breakfast. We layed around in our pj's all day. The girls left around 6 and Bill and I started to feel better right before we went to bed. Today we are feeling better, but just hoping that it is really gone. It has been a miserable 4 days! So hopefully the sick bug is gone!!!

Hope everyone had a great New Year's! Bill and I had a good year, but it was rough the last two months. We are hoping for a great 2010 and I'm hoping that for you as well!

Love and Blessings,

Whitney

Tis the Season to Catch Up on Life!

So, it has been over 2 months since I posted last! I'm an awful blogger, but life has been crazy around the Dyer house! Since there is so much, I'll just fill you in on the major events!


My 25th birthday I enjoyed it as much as I could. I worked that morning, went to a Longaberger open house, and then went to my parent's house for cake and presents. Even though I'm half way to 50, I'm blessed to have lived another year. Here is a picture of the ice cream cake that Bill got me for my birthday-it is a Girl Scout Tagalong cake and it was so yummy!


On Saturday the 24th, a good friend of mine Amy got married in Bloomington. It was such a beautiful, fall day for a wedding and everything was wonderful! Amy was beautiful! Although I didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom, here are a couple pictures of Bill and I all dressed up, which doesn't happen very often!

On November 6-8th, I worked at a Passion for Purity retreat for high school girls. It was such a blast and blessing to be a part of. I was a small group leader and enjoyed every minute of it. It is always a joy be with others who share the same passion for Christ. Here are some pictures I took from the weekend!

Some of my small group and Brooke, another small group leader

Patty and Patricia Purity getting beautiful!

Lorissa playing a game

Group picture on Sunday! Such beautiful girls!

Thanksgiving was a great and busy time for Bill and I. We started the day off at Bill's dad's and step mom's in Washington. We enjoyed seeing new and old family members. Then, we went to my aunt's in Plainville for a few hours. We always draw names for Christmas at Thanksgiving so we definately had to stop by! We ended our night at Bill's aunt's in Plainville. We enjoyed good food all day, even if it was only a little here and there! We played Bingo with gag gifts and that was a lot of fun. I'm sure there will be even more gag gifts for Bingo at Christmas. My nephews Braeden and Reece stay with my parents every year on Thanksgiving and the following Friday, while my sister and brother-in-law go shopping. Braeden decided he wanted to spend the night with Bill and I on Thanksgiving. It was fun to have him stay with us. He played bowling on the Wii and beat Bill and I!! I think he enjoyed it as well!

Well that is about it! We have had a couple of Christmas', but I will, hopefully, have a blog about Christmas in a couple of days.

I want to wish everyone a safe, happy, and blessed Merry Christmas. May you be blessed with the joys of family and friends, but remember the real reason we celebrate, the birth of Jesus!

Love and Blessings,
Whitney

Busy Times

I really feel like life is passing by so quickly! The days and nights seem so short and I'm wondering where my life is going. This week went by pretty fast. I had Monday off and Tuesday-Friday were pretty slow days at work for me. When I say slow, I mean that nothing is pressed to get done because I have been busy, but just nothing that needs to be done immediately. I had a Passion for Purity meeting on Tuesday night. I'm so excited for this event because it is something that I'm very passionate about. I really feel like this is something that God has called me to do and help young girls make the right choices and be a role model for them. This event is going to be on November 6-8 this year, so if any high school girl is interesting in going, let me know ASAP! I'm really excited about the retreat this year and we have some great things planned for the girls this year.

Wednesday after work, I went to Knepp's Restaurant in Montgomery to eat dinner with an old college roommate, Ginny. She was my roommate freshman, sophomore, and junior years of college. She works for Ball State in admissions and tries to recruit students to go to Ball State. Last week she was in the area and it is always great to get together and see what is going on in each others lives.

Nothing real exciting happened Thursday or Friday. We watched Survivor Thursday night and were in bed by 9 on each night! Saturday, Bill worked in the morning and I got up around 7 and began my day of cleaning. I went on a cleaning rampage! I cleaned my entire kitchen-tops and fronts of cabinets, countertops, sink, stove, did dishes, and the floors. I did laundry and cleaned the rest of our house, as well. It is such a big job, but once it is done, it feels, looks, and smells so nice! That night, I spent the evening with some friends, Chelsi, Casie, Amy, and Meagan. We went to Bobe's for supper and just talked and caught up on each others lives. We enjoyed good food and company. It was so much fun getting together, but is hard to do with our lives being so full. I hope we get the chance to do that again soon! Here are some pictures!

Amy and Chelsi

Meagan and Casie

The Whole Gang

Hope everyone has a great upcoming week. It is suppose to get warmer, which is great to hear! I'm ready for fall-like weather, not winter! Enjoy the sunshine!

Love and Blessing,

Whitney