Take me to the river.....

Is anyone still out there? Sorry....been MIA for a little while. Lots going on around the Ridlon homestead these days.

So let's catch up. I took the dreaded CPC exam on April 6th in Roanoke, VA. It was a beautiful drive on Route 460 heading to and from Roanoke. But that's about all I can say was good about the trip.
The exam was..well..CHALLENGING to say the least and 5 1/2 hours flew by VERY quickly. Before I knew it, it was 2:00 p.m. and time was up. :( To say the least, it did not go well, I was disappointed in myself and all I could do was cry after the exam was over. Yep, I had a breakdown in front of a bunch of strangers including the two proctors. I don't think I can show my face in downtown Roanoke again. Although, I will not know the official results for 2-3 weeks, I am pretty sure, I know the result. So I am continuing to study, like the exam never even happened. Everyone has been very supportive with encouraging words of "I am sure you did fine." Everyone is staying positive. Good! I need all the good vibes I can get!!

On another note, Mitch's new job is going really well. Business is good and he is enjoying being self employed.

We are also doing some yard work. We have 4 flower beds in the front yard, which all need some desperate landscape work. We have several home projects to complete on the list.

We attended VAGA's Lick Canine Cancer Event on Saturday night. It was awesome! If you have not had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Couto speak, I highly recommend that you do. =)

On Sunday, we spent Easter with my mom. It was very nice.

Maggie says "I don't wear no stinking bunny ears!"

Sadly, I have not taken any photos of the pups since my last post (the above was taken 2 years ago), but I do have some to post from the last time I did have the camera out and about. Hopefully, I will get around to that this weekend. Yeah, yeah.....I know....I am a lazy w*n*h.

We have a free weekend coming up! Yippers!!!! We are thinking about going to the Celebration of the Vine Festival on Saturday, proceeds go to a great cause and since my mom works where the event is being held, I will get to see her as well....an added incentive to go. :)


We finally got rid of the dial up Internet and home telephone. Yes, welcome us to the 21st century please! We decided it was time to get a broadband modem. This nifty little device fits in the USB port of our computers. AWESOME! What took us so long? We are procrastinators and have to over think every decision we make. =)

And, sadly it has been a year since we had to say goodbye to our sweet K.C. We still miss her tremendously. She is in my thoughts all the time. I am finally at the point where I can look at her pictures and not break down in tears. We were lucky to have had so many wonderful years with her. She brought soooo much joy and laughter to our lives and we know she is waiting for us at the bridge.

K.C. you are forever in our hearts!

Now on to explaining the title of this post. We are looking for a place to vacation this year which will allow us to bring all four pups without a weight limit or number of dog limit or an extreme non-refundable deposit. We would prefer a place by the water, river, lake or beach, we are not picky. Anywhere on the east coast between VA down to Florida. I have searched and searched, and still continue to search. I am finding most places will accept up to two or three dogs, but not four and most have weight limits. URGH... We are looking to vacation the last week of September. Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. =) The Ridlon clan could really use a getaway trip.

Have a greyt week everyone! Pup pictures coming soon.

4 Feet off the ground

Our weekend was spent mostly with me studying and Mitch working. He was on call this weekend and I am still preparing for the CPC exam in Roanoke, VA on April 6th. It is only 2 weeks away. I am a NERVOUS wreck! But in the midst of all the insanity in my brain, I did take a few breaks on Saturday and today to enjoy the fresh spring air.

The pups are happy that spring is finally here. Me too. We will be spending way more time outside on the patio.

Oh yeah.......I also got tired of the blog name, so I changed it. I have been trying to think of something for months and finally it came to me while I was studying. Guess my brain is on overload and it is spitting out info. it does not need to retain to make room for all the info. I need to retain for the exam. ;-)

And, I think I may have found my photography muse. I took quite a handful of pictures (257) this weekend and surprisingly got some pretty decent shots. All of these are of Pippi. I will post the rest of the pups a little later in the week.

So here is miss princess Pippi looking stunning. Don't you just love those ears?

Love this next shot! I am pretty frakin proud of myself on this one.

She does not even look like a greyhound in this next picture, but she is still adorably cute!!

Here is Pippi's best impersonation of the clown face in the Saw movies.

She loves those squeaky toys.

And, she has such great determination to catch them. She could do this for hours if we let her.

Another shot that I love!

Drum roll please........I finally got two shots with all four feet off the ground!! (you have to look closely on the first one, but trust me, I zoomed in, all four are off the ground.) It only took me......2 and 1/2 years. LOL!

Now, if only I had been facing her, this picture would have been amazing.

Practice makes perfect, right? I am big believer, but I also believe a basic photography class would help me as well. Tips, advice, suggestions, pointers from the Pros out there are always welcome!! =)

Anywho, she eventually wore herself out. Sweet dreams princess Pippi.

O.T.H.W.

Happy Wednesday! This picture makes me smile because it reminds me of my honeymoon, which we spent in the Cayman Islands. =)

Fun in the Sun

First we want to say THANK YOU for all the support!!! It is very appreciated!!

Fun in the sun....ha....if you live in VA you are probably thinking when was there sun? Seeing how we have had days of rain. =) Most of you already know from reading other Virginian's blogs that the weekend after the "big snow" (for you northerners, we had a dusting!) , we had a weekend of 80 degrees and sunshine! Of course we had to take advantage of this after freezing our arse's off just the week before. The pups enjoyed the change in weather too. Although, they really did enjoy the snow as well. Mitch and I sat on the patio, enjoyed a glass or two of wine, listened to some tunes and just spent time watching our four wonderful pups enjoying the day.

Below are a few shots, in no particular order. Excuse the camera work, I swear one day I will get better at this whole photography thing. I seriously think I need to take a class. ;-) No seriously....it is on my to do list.

Pippi playing catch. She will actually bring the toy back to you and drop it, which is a nice change. Usually we have to go get the toys to continue our game of catch. Our other three are not really retrievers, they like to catch and run.
Below is Cueball swinging Garfield around. Funny thing is, they were not supposed to have this toy. This was a toy from my childhood. Yeah, yeah, I know, laugh if you must and call me a geek. I admit it! I had this stupid thing stuck to the window of my very first car. Anyways, one day Booyah got a hold of it and that was the end of that. They seem to like this toy better then any of the ones we buy them. Weird!!

Poor Garfield, he went from being chauffeured around in a car to being tossed around by pups in a yard. It's a crime I tell you! Someone should call the authorities. ;-)

The pups and Garfield pics.

Cueball caught a little tan bunny in the yard a few weeks ago. Luckily he did not do this to it. He came out of the woods with it in his mouth and started heading towards the deck. Mitch told him to drop it. It took repeating the phrase a few times, but he eventually dropped it.

He sure does have a conniving look on his face doesn't he?






The pups playing. We are thrilled that all four get along so well! We keep a careful eye on them and keep them in line when things start to get rough, but overall we are so pleased with our pack.





Look at the attentiveness. Pippi has been so easy to train. She sits for a treat without even being asked to. Good girl Pippers!!



And lastly, one final farewell to the snow. I think it is pretty safe to say we won't see it again this winter.

Have a great week everyone!! I will be busy studying my arse off for my exam on April 6th.