Updates: Puppies, Work, and Upcoming Events!

Hello everyone!

It has been a little while since I posted an update on things in my life. First of all I wanted to write about how we are doing now that our puppy girl Nike is home with us! We got her on May 10th and she turned 12 weeks old on Friday, so we have had her for about three weeks! She has been doing fantastic and we love her but she definitely is a lot of work. If anyone out there is considering getting a puppy, read this post with caution before you do. As many of you know the original plan was to wait until I graduated next summer before we got a dog, but as our roommate moved out of our apartment Madi and I felt like it was a good time to jump in and get her since we had more time with less classes (that and hardwood flooring until July ;) ). We do not regret our decision AT ALL. She is the perfect dog for us and we love her! But there is so much more work that goes into a dog than what we thought. We knew that we would be getting no sleep. Getting up every two hours is exhausting, but was what we expected. Cleaning up pee and poop on the floor (again thank God for hardwood floors) was also in our plan. We also even considered how much we would be spending on vet bills, food, toys, treats, etc. But we didn't think about how much time you actually spend with the dog. Before we picked Nike out, we sat down and made a schedule of how often she would eat and go out on walks. We assumed it would be every two hours or so: WRONG. Try about every hour then sometimes a three hour break then sometimes thirty minutes. You can't schedule a puppy. I know that I never really considered what she would be doing while we did homework. I figured puppies sleep a lot and so she would lay relaxed by my feet. Which that actually is true sometimes, but other times she is running around barking, biting at our toes, chewing on furniture, and there is no way work can get done. It's like a toddler that can't speak, you have no idea what they need and every one is different. Literally from 6AM until 11PM you spend the whole day with her. When she wants to play, you play. When she has to go out, you take her out. You get good a multi-tasking, but you also get good at doing as much work while she sleeps as possible! It seriously is like having a baby. I give props to single parents (of children or puppies) because I have no idea how I would do it without Madi. So if you consider getting a dog, really think about when is the best time. I think we got so lucky and picked a great time because we don't have school as often and we get into a routine with her now, but there is no way I could have done this in the fall!

Next of course I wanted to talk about where I'm at other than the puppy. I luckily got offered a great position at Moffitt Cancer center earlier this year. Today I found out that I am going to be promoted to become a technician which will be great for my resume and my bank account because I'll be making more per hour! It's so awesome to hear that your work is appreciated and that you're doing a good job, but sometimes when you don't get recognition it makes you feel like you let people down. That is how I felt last week. Not that I always feel I need to be recognized, but that things at the hospital did not go as planned and situations occurred where I had to do things that wouldn't please everyone. It is nice to know that with this promotion they recognize my ability to make good choices and that I am a hard worker. Other news on the work front: my book is coming along great! With the free time I have because of less summer classes I have been able to meet up with my illustrator to get jump started on the pictures for my picture book, as well as get ahead on the sequel to The Portrait Pathway. I am so excited to see what happens with my author life this year, and look forward to getting involved with a few schools in the fall!

Up and coming events? Well Sunday I turn 20! Woohoo! No big trips this month, but Madi and I will be going to Universal and Busch Gardens a few times. In July we will take our normal trip to Michigan and our friends from Chattanooga are coming to spend some time with us here in Tampa for a week around the fourth!

That's all I have for now. Thanks for keeping up with me!

<3 Olivia