orientation...

it is always boring. i am not made to sit behind a desk 5 days a week. especially when someone is talking about something i already know. or, at the very least, know about. but that is standard for most hospitals and orientation. so that is how my week has been so far. boring. yes, i have learned a few things. and i have learned that even though we are now on est, only one hour ahead of nashville, it is strangely a hard adjustment. but, being a night shift girl, getting up early, consistently, in the morning is hard. oh well. i am whining. i will have pics up of the apartment soon. we got a storage unit today and plan to move most of the boxes to it tonight. there are a few that we haven't had time to go through, but most of everything is unpacked. i think that's good since we got our things on friday and it is wednesday now. and we have been working! so i will probably get those up this weekend. hope everyone is well!

"it's in a box"

well... the movers made it to nc. we have all of our stuff, and so far, nothing is broken! (and dave has lots of places to hide.) the cable man finally came so we have our own internet and digital cable. we get our phone another day, apparently. we have unpacked about 15 boxes already. that doesn't even make a dent, but we will eventually get this apartment turned into something nice and functional. we can cook now, so that will be helpful. anyway, we are starving right now... i have been promised mexican food! i have taken pictures of our apartment when it was empty, so once things find their new homes, i will send before and after pictures. happy long weekend!

p.s. we had good news from our realtor today... someone is VERY intersted in our condo, so pray she is and it sells!!

don't forget...

if you click on the picture, it will open up larger in a new screen!

views from the open road

ok. i have had some time this afternoon, sitting in my one chair, with the airbed leaning up against the tv... i grabbed my camera so i can share some pics from the drive up. the dogs are currently at my feet, gnawing on bones. dave is hiding somewhere, probably wondering where the furniture is so he can have more hiding places. haha which, the furniture, by the way, is coming tomorrow mid-morning. well, the furniture and about 80 boxes and everything else we own. yippee! the other end of moving... the unpacking. so it still doesn't seem like we have moved yet. but it doesn't seem like vacation either. it's like limbo. anyway, let's dig in the picture file and see what is there.



my car was filled up, as was jay's, with what we needed before the movers made it. jay had the dogs in the very back of his land cruiser and i had dave, in his crate, in my front seat. (who is now in my lap.)



here is jay with the girls. we stopped in knoxville at sam's to get gas. up there and in asheville it is less than $3.00/gallon. sadly, it was exciting!



i knew we were getting closer when the sign for the next closest big city changed from knoxville to asheville. it meant the end was in sight! it was, however, about 2.5 hours before we made it (which it never takes that long) but we definitely took our time to get here yesterday.



this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of dave on it. here's the scoop with dave. as you can see, maybe, he is sleeping with his face against the side of the crate. b/c he did not tolerate the medication well, dave would have "fits of rage" where he would paw and climb up his crate walls, meowing intently, hoping our pity would set him free. tough luck. then he would fall asleep and be so still and stiff that he looked like he was dead. it was bizarre. and, if you did not know, cats have a third eyelid. (look it up on wikipedia) his were closed so he could only see out of about 1/4 of his eye. he looked like a little kitty demon. but he is normal again. (praise the lord)

once we get our stuff in the apartment and get some things hung on the walls, so that it looks more like home, i will send pictures of that as well. until then...

finally...

we made it. we got in yesterday around 4:30pm est. yes, we are in a new time zone! crazy. 11 o'clock news. everything is on an hour later. of course, until our cable is hooked up, we can watch abc and a very static-y CW. haha fabulous. and we have an airbed. and one outside chair. but we made it. and the pets made it. dave barely made it. he had a bad reaction to his sedatives (all the animals received sedatives before we left) but dave didn't have much fun with his. so he was a bit of a mess. but he has recovered well and we are surviving. i have shopping 2 miles away... everything i would need (i.e. target) and i know how to get to work. so for now, that is good. well, we are still in need of our stuff. it is on a moving truck somewhere, hopefully on its way, soon. we'll see. but i will put pictures up later. we took some on the way. love you all!

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all good things happen on the 22nd

that is our move date. may 22nd. it is 4 days away! so much to do in so little time. lots to pack. already packed boxes need to be recollected and stockpiled here. friends to see. one more drive through town to see things we will miss. (which does not include traffic and mcmansions) tuesday. that's the day.

step back, elmo... grover is cutest in this house

*grover is the best muppet ever. seriously. not elmo. not big bird. not kermit. but grover. and, thanks to jay, we have our very own 3 foot grover. he's not of the puppet variety, but he is stuffed and furry and cute. so here is a little bit of information on grover. the best. muppet. ever.

Grover is a lovable, furry, wide-eyed, blue monster who sees the world from a four-year-old's point of view. Excitable and compulsive, he is always willing to help, but he rushes into things without thinking of the consequences. He has limited experience and few analytical skills, so he usually ends up doing things the long way around. Children identify with his difficulties when he tries to be helpful and with his long suffering bewilderment with adult logic. They also identify with his fantasy as "Super Grover," as a way of feeling more confident and competent. His speech pattern is meticulous, and he never uses contractions.


With a grin on his face and a bounce in his step, Grover-the self-proclaimed "world's cutest monster"-is always bursting with energy and curiosity. This sometimes gets him into trouble in the real world, but his mommy helps him out as she tells her furry little son to keep trying.

Birthday: October 14

Favorite Song: "Monster in the Mirror"

Best Friend: Kermit (no one else has the patience)

Quote: "Hello every-bod-eeeee!"

Likes: Anything and everything; doing whatever Ernie and Bert can do

Dislikes: Phone booths without doors (supermonsters need their privacy, too!)

busy day of posting

well, i usually don't have much time to sit around and blog all day, so today is a day for two posts! i took the dogs for a walk... together. on one of those leash things so that you can walk two dogs but only hold one leash. yeah, one of those. so they are worn out! yeah! and i can do whatever i want and not have to yell too loudly. it is lovely. but i wanted to post some new pictures and they are all a little bit random, so this will be the random-catch-all post. and, oh, we have had lots of nibbles on the condo so hopefully soon someone will bite! we just attended a party for patrick's graduation. (congrats, patrick, on your masters!) and shannon assisted in taking a dennis family picture with our newest member, courtney. check that out and a close up of my sweet little niece.







and, of course, i always have new puppy pictures. we have since discontinued use of the puppy bed b/c barley is growing faster than we can keep up with. but they both thought they needed to be in it. together.



silly dogs. they also like to play dress up. well, they don't like it as much as we do, but they tolerate it for our amusement.








well, i think those are all the pictures i wanted to share. now that i have figured out how to do it, i am becoming quite proficient. and i think you are now up to date on things with the conkin's. :)

200 a-3 north royal oaks boulevard

well, i finally downloaded my pictures on here from the last few weeks so i thought i would post some on here. because hopefully one day very soon it will no longer be mine. but except for the home(s) i grew up in, i have lived in this place the longest. and just when i thought my address was going to be shorter than the above, the new one is just as long. i will pass it along soon with all of our other information that you may need. never fear. but here is one last look (and probably the cleanest) of a-3.
















so that is my place. for not much longer. i wish much joy to the new owner. whoever that may be. hopefully we won't leave too much fur behind... :)

barley von labrador

well, jay and i are truly crazy. about a month ago, we decided that cotton may need a new playmate. we met a girl at one of the bark parks, named stacy, who has a yellow lab about cotton's age and a new yellow puppy. zeke and boaz, respectively. they quickly became cotton's new best friends and we convinced ourselves cotton needed a friend. jay has always wanted a chocolate lab so we found a litter and picked one out. and she has turned out to be fabulous. her name is barley. we wanted to name her something that had to do with chocolate, but that no one would really get. barley malt is used to make chocolate malt. and so that is where her name comes from. she is cute and spunky and loves to be up high looking down on things. she already thinks she can catch birds. never misses a meal. plays great with cotton. and is the most submissive dog i have ever seen. (which is good and bad.) but we love her and so does cotton. (dave even likes her now.)

forward progress

well, we have been back to asheville since i started this. we both interviewed for jobs and were successful! we will both be working for mission/st. joseph hospital. i will be working on the mother/baby unit and jay will be working for their regional transport service. the condo is almost ready to be put on the market. hopefully it will sell quickly. pray hard! otherwise things are good and normal around here. we are looking to move around may 7th and starting new jobs may 14th. will keep this posted. oh, on another note... my knitting is going well. i am working on a blanket for my sweet little niece. so when i have time to work on it, i definitely do and i hope to have it done soon enough for her to use it!!!

brand new blog

since i have almost no idea where my old blog is or what it even was started for, i have decided to start a new one. of course, i have the myspace page, but i would rather have my blogging done elsewhere. and many new changes are going on in my life, so this way, everyone can be kept up to date with things. right now, i am at work. i have one sick baby right now, who is on the way to getting better, and is quite a fussy little guy tonight. work is good. i love my job (usually) and i do enjoy the people i work with. this has been a great accomplishment.

home life is good. jay and i have been married now for 6 months... half a year!


time has flown. it went from seeming weird that we were married but now we are starting to get into a good groove. we are used to our work schedules and have lots of time together but enough time apart that we don't get tired of each other. so love is good. the animals are good, too. i have had dave for over 6 years now. he is getting quite verbal in his old age.


cotton is almost 13 months and is still very much a puppy, but i cannot complain. for a 70+ lbs. inside dog, she is wonderful.

jay and i are currently in the process of cleaning up and cleaning out the condo, preparing it for selling. we are looking to move to asheville, nc.
we are trying to get jobs lined up so that when we are ready, we can head on over the mountains. it will be a bittersweet move for me. i have never lived anywhere else and am excited for a change but will miss my family and friends very much. but they won't be far away, and now everyone will have a good excuse to come visit asheville. it is a great and eclectic city and a beautiful haven in the blue ridge mountains. i am looking forward to learning how to adapt in a new place. so, i don't know how good i will be at keeping this up. doubt it will be every day, but this is where you can find out what is new and old and everything in between.