Baby Dodson: 13 weeks

Profile shot of baby at 13 weeks. And baby is waving to everyone! :)

We're Expecting!

BABY DOSON

May 23, 2012

We are so excited!!!
I've been journaling throughout the last few months and will share those posts over the coming weeks. Right now, I'm battling "morning" sickness that comes and goes all day and night. I'm exhausted all the time. And I think I'm still in shock that there's a little baby growing inside of me! But I'm super excited!!

Hot Hot Hot

I just took Layla on her midnight walk and it is so hot outside. There is no breeze and it feels like 100 degrees. Did I mention that it's midnight? Seriously!

"Need a little wind here."

Can you name that movie? It's the same movie that this quote comes from:

"Fat guy in a little coat."

Did you get it?

Layla and {Boy}Friends

Some fun pictures of an impromptu doggy photo shoot in our friend's backyard. These pics came out so good, I just had to share.

Anniversary Trip 2011

May 24, 2011. John and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. It was fantastic! We decided to hit up Daytona Beach and spent 3 days relaxing in the sun. The view from our balcony:







Our sweet suite:








During our trip, we headed down the peninsula and visited Ponce de Leon, which has a magnificent lighthouse.





Here we are enjoying lunch at a nearby park.





We paid a few bucks to climb to the very top (in our flip flops).








Once we got up there, the view was absolutely fabulous!











Safely back on the ground, our few bucks also granted us admission into the museums surrounding the lighthouse itself. We learned about the caretakers and the history of the lights used in the lighthouse.





There was some other interesting artifacts around the lighthouse that were pretty cool. So we got creative and took some photos.








During our trip, we also ate...





Drank...





And laughed.








Our little jaunt to the sea was perfect for our second anniversary. Fun, adventure, relaxation = memories that will last forever.

Homemade Potstickers

Wonton wrappers

Pork filling

You must make these and eat them until you're so full that the only way to get to bed is to have your husband roll you down the hall. They are that good! And that filling. They fill you right up.

Eat them with soy sauce. They are best with soy sauce. I'm a sucker for sauce. Any type of sauce, really. Dipping my food in sauce is like the best thing in the world, when it comes to eating stuff. Serve a meal with dipping sauce and I'll be your best friend. Heck, just serve me some dipping sauce and I'll be your best friend.

Gallery Wall

For the 2 years that we've lived in this condo, we've always had trouble with the wall above the couch. We really like our couch, it's soooo soft. And the only place it can go is against this wall in our living room. But the wall that it's against is huge! It slants up to at least 12 feet at it's highest point because we have vaulted ceilings. Which I also love, I just have had trouble figuring out what to put on it. Everything we've tried just seems so small on such a huge wall. But putting something HUGE would look totally weird because it would probably look bigger than the couch.

So we've tried art, different art, two pieces of art, single pieces of art. Pretty much, I wasn't happy with any of it. Then, last November, we cleared out John's man cave to make room for Joanna and I had this pile of frames and art and stuff sitting on the floor of our bedroom. It was a light-bulb moment, for sure. What was cool, was that there were some pictures that were more John and some that were more me, but they all looked kinda neat together. Crazy!

It only took 6 months, but I finally put all the stuff up on the wall above the couch and made a gallery wall. I love it!!!

Funny thing, I read tons of blogs and websites that shared tips on how to create a gallery wall. So I started out by laying everything out on the ground, arranging and rearranging until I found a layout that I liked. Then I took a picture of the layout to reference during the process. Then I picked up all the frames and set them aside because we couldn't even walk through the living room. Of course, I did this part at 11:00pm and couldn't actually start hammering nails into the wall because I want our neighbors to like us and not call the HOA and complain about us.

So the next day, instead of doing the normal thing, which would have to been to actually put the frames up on the wall....I took a trip to Target and grabbed more frames for some art that John brought back from England in March. Then I came home, framed the additional art, and started hanging things on the wall in a completely different layout than originally planned. I know, I spent all that time planning and then in the end just randomly hung the stuff on the wall.

Well, it ended up working out. And because I really like things symmetrical and balanced (I'm an accountant!) the final product is very much my style! I had to bring in things from different parts of the house that I wasn't originally planning on using because of how the arrangement was flowing, but I think it looks 10 times better than my original plan. See, I can be spontaneous!

Here are a few close up's:

I had this canvas made for John back in January. I saw a coupon for a canvas wrapped "photo" and I couldn't pass it up. The canvas was free and I paid $5.99 for shipping. Pretty good deal! I created the "photo" in Microsoft Publisher because it provided more flexibility of placement than Word, but it also had all the different fonts to choose from. I saved it as a .jpeg and then uploaded it to Winkflash.com. It was really easy. I could view the final placement and make sure that the photo was centered on the canvas the way I wanted it to be. Then I just hit submit and paid for the shipping. It came a few weeks later. Actually, it took longer than anticipated because they were so backed up with orders from the promotion that they were running. But a representative called me to tell me that personally and told me the date it could be expected by. The delay didn't bother me at all because I wasn't in a hurry for it. This was just a surprise gift that I ordered for John so I wasn't up against a deadline for a special occasion.

The canvas has dates and places that are meaningful to John and I from when we first started dating, up until our honeymoon. I actually started creating that just after we got married, but wasn't sure what it was actually going to become. I really loved how it turned out!

I found this "D" at Hobby Lobby last weekend and I thought it would make a fun addition to our gallery wall...you know, because our last name is Dodson! :)

Happy Easter

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.

He has risen!

He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Mark 16:1-7

Spring Is In The Air

Spring, a photo by hereyezsobeautiful on Flickr.

Or in our case, spring is in the sink. I spotted this super cute scrubber at Bed, Bath & Beyond and gave John the puppy dog eyes until he said "Yes, we can get it." Score! It's the only hint of spring you'll find around our house. I don't usually have time to change our decor for each season, but I just couldn't pass up such cuteness. It just puts a smile on my face. And that's a huge accomplishment since I only enjoy this little scrubber while I'm doing my least favorite chore - washing dishes.

Does Your Dog Have a Curfew?

Because ours apparently does....now. Last night Layla (our sweet, feisty, full-of-personality boston terrier mix) didn't get home until 2:30am. 2:30 AM! Her aunts took her for a ride in the car, probably ending up at John's parent's house and they didn't bring her home until 2:30am. I think that's a bit late for our pup. So tonight we asked that she be home by 10:30pm. I think that's reasonable, right?





P.S. It's now 11:00pm and there's no sign of our pup. Hmmm.

I Am A...

Don't get confused...that's not me in that picture above. But I would like to find out where I can get that shirt. It's very appropriate.

Today is April 19th and tax season is officially over. I feel like I can actually breathe again. And plan things, like cooking dinner after work and going shopping on the weekends. When we only have 1 day off per week, it's hard to make time for leisure. During tax season, my "free" time is usually consumed with dishes, grocery shopping and laundry. Doesn't feel very "free." But now it's over. Just in time for Easter.

Tonight I left work at 5pm and it felt great to leave while it was still light outside. On my way home, it started pouring rain. It was the really loud, big, rain drops and the closer I got to our house, the harder it poured. I got soaked as I ran into the house after parking my truck. John had dinner with the guys tonight so I got some time to myself. I talked with my wonderful friend on the phone and it was so encouraging and refreshing to catch up with each other. Then I went into the bathroom and before I even did anything, I flushed the toilet and the water just kept rising and rising, right over the top. Seriously! I grabbed 5 full size towels and covered the entire bathroom floor to soak up the water. Thankfully it didn't reach the carpet. But John wasn't home and I'm not an expert with overflowing toilets. So besides soaking up the water, there wasn't much else I could think of to do. John came home and we took a trip to Lowe's to pick up a heavy duty plunger and some Drain-O.



Since neither of us were anxious to get back to our clogged toilet, we decided to stroll through the ceiling fans and bathroom light fixtures. Those are both things that I'm thinking about replacing in the near future, so it seemed logical to take a peek.

We came home and John plunged the toilet for a good 5 minutes. I'm not sure it was entirely successful, but hopefully it helped. While John plunged, I googled. I looked up how to unclog a toilet and came up with a few options. Since we had already done the "wait until it unclogs itself" thing, and the "plunge" thing, we decided to try the "pour hot water and dishwasher detergent down the toilet and wait" thing. If none of this works, then John is going to use the Drain-O and may even go back to Lowe's and get a snake. I'm just hoping that we don't have to call a plumber. That would be a major bummer.

On a brighter note, I'm taking tomorrow off from work and I'm really looking forward to it!

from here

I might go get a pedicure. Or I might go stroll around Target. Or I might just do both! :) Watch out Ferris, I might give you a run for your money.

Today while I was on the phone with my friend I was reminded of the feelings of excitement and giddy-ness of a new relationship. The joy that just seems to come out of all your pores when you speak his name and talk about holding his hand. It's just the sweetest thing. And it's amazing how God brings people into our lives who care for us even better than what we can imagine for ourselves. I'm constantly reminded that God knows what I need much better than I do. And He freely gives these blessings and fulfills the needs of His children. And I'm truly thankful for that. It's relieving that I can trust Him to provide. Even with things as small and seemingly insignificant as clogged toilets.

Three Little Letters.....CPA

It’s finally here! I finally received my CPA certificate from the California Board of Accountancy. I am officially a Certified Public Accountant and can now put those three little letters after my name.

Jackie Dodson, CPA

I thought I would feel different, you know, when it finally became official. But to be honest, I don’t really feel much. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy. It's a great accomplishment that I'm very proud of. I guess I just thought the moment would feel unbelievable. Like a mountain top high. But it's more mellow than that. Maybe I've just already gone through all the emotions and there's not much left to feel. Relief came each time I walked out of a test. Anxiety existed each time I awaited the test results. And excitement came each time I found out I passed. Now, I just feel…thankful. Thankful that it’s all over. The entire process took 1 year and 3 months. That's 15 months of craziness. But 6 master level accounting classes, 4 cpa review classes, and 4 cpa exams later - I’m finally done. Done with the late nights, done with the lectures, done with the memorizing. And it feels good to be done. John is especially grateful. He says he finally has his wife back. I’m definitely glad to be back. And I think that makes me feel the best! :)

A Day in the Life

Me: "What is it, Layla? What do you see?"

Layla: "Squirrel, Mom, Squirrel! I'm sure of it."

Sunday Thoughts

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:10-11


"Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:18


"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:18-19

Virtual Garage Sale

**All these items have been sold.**

If you're interested in any of these items, please contact me at jackiedodson24@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. Thanks!

FOR SALE: Coffee table ("Ramvik" from Ikea) - $50 obo - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10103719


Coffee table also has drawers on each side for extra storage.


FOR SALE: Side table ("Expedit" from Ikea) - $20 obo - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40147731


FOR SALE: Light fixture (from Lowe's) - $30 obo

Happy Birthday, Husband!

Yesterday, my husband turned the big 2-6. We celebrated with friends at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. It's a hibachi grill where they cook right in front of you at your table. Such great food that made fantastic leftovers! Thank you, everyone, for making John's birthday extra special :)

John, I love you so much and I can't imagine life with out you.
Happy Birthday, babe!