Little Floyd

Well currently our cat, Floyd, is who makes us "Three Little Riggs," so he deserves a post dedicated to him!

Family of  3

My mom knew we were on the hunt for a cat and noticed a sign at the vet in Newnan.  He was a little older than I wanted (5 months) but once I saw his sweet picture I couldn't resist!  When we checked the paperwork from the vet, they estimated his birthdate to be September 13, 2008 which is when Kevin and I had our first date!  It was meant to be :)

We love this cat.  Kevin and I got Floyd in February 2009, five months after we started dating.  Floyd technically lived with me but we always considered him ours.  Kevin wasn't thrilled about the idea of a cat but it didn't take long for Floyd to win him over!  

At first Kevin pretended Floyd was a dog and taught him tricks.  He can still sit and high five because of his early days with Trainer Kevin.

When we first got him home all he would do was sleep.  I put him in the litter box so he could know where it was and what did he do?  Lay down and take a nap.  The first place he went when we brought him home was the bathtub (and took a nap) and for a long time that was the spot we'd always find him in.

He is the perfect combination of cuddly, friendly, playful, and sociable.  He's not constantly rubbing against your leg but he doesn't hide under the bed all of the time either.  He actually enjoys visitors.  Our small group has named him our mascot and they have enjoyed seeing him don his sweaters and ties!

He is also perfect because he never scratches anything other than his scratching post.  We got this thing for $8 at a yard sale and it was money well spent!  You can't leave a plant around him though...

He LOVES to be brushed.  That is how we bonded when I first got him; every day I would come home and brush him.  He goes nuts when he sees his brush and if you just hold it out he will rub up against it and brush himself!

He is a sociable eater.  He'll pretty much only eat if we're in the room with him.  Especially at my parents' house - he'll lure us all the way back to the bathroom where his food is just so we can watch him eat.

All his eating is starting to catch up to him!

He is stubborn and never comes when we call him.  If he is coming towards us we have to completely ignore him or he will run away.  

He likes to curl up in the smallest places possible.  When we unpack our suitcases, he likes to hide in them and do sneak attacks!

At night we have "belly to belly" time with him.  This is where he comes and lays on one of our bellies, usually Kevin's, and we make him feel like the most special cat in the world.  When it's my first night back from being out of town, he likes to come lay on top of my head when we go to sleep.

He knows we like to see him roll over and lay in cute positions because we ooh and ahh over it, so when he notices us watching him, he'll roll and be all cute on purpose.  We spend a lot of time saying "Baby, look at Little Floyd."  We are going to be smitten when we have a baby because Floyd melts our hearts already.

Floyd has a few nick names.  The most popular being "Little Floyd".  Kevin started calling him that and it has stuck.  Recently he earned the nickname of "Million Dollar Cat" because after 4 1/2 years of living in this apartment complex and having a pet most of that time (my roommate had a dog even before Floyd's time), my apartment decided to send a letter to me saying I owe a $250 fee for having a pet - 3 months before I'm about to move out!!  (I got it lowered to $75, yay!).  I should also mention he is named after Pink Floyd.

Floyd will soon be getting a brother, a German Shepherd!  I keep telling him we're getting him a brother so he'll be ready.  He does pretty good when he stays at my parents' house with their two dogs.  "Uncle" Jeffery, their Labradoodle, likes to walk up and give Floyd a big lick, and Floyd likes to hunt and pounce "Aunt" Becky, their Schnauzer.  Probably because off all of the tiger training Kevin has put him through (tiger shows on National Geographic).  So I'm excited to see what he'll think of his new brother, expecting to get him in July!

                          

I don't think we'll ever be able to get another cat though.  We took him over for a play date with Brianna's kitten and it didn't go so well.  Floyd hid under the sofa and made sounds I never knew could come out of a cat!

Floyd will also soon be getting a new house!!  I tell him every day when I get home, "Floyd, we're getting you a new house!" trying to get him pumped up about it.  I think he'll love it.  We actually signed to go under contract for a house this past week!  We close on June 13th (assuming all goes well with the inspection).  That's right, we rode around and got it.  So excited!!

Well this was a long post.  Not sure if anyone stuck with me to the end but I know I'll love to look back on this.  Cats live a long time - I told Kevin when we first got him that Floyd is likely to live with us into our 40's!  I sure hope so.  It has been neat to love something so much together and I really feel like having Floyd has made our love grow.  I hope Floyd sees us through many phases of life!

Night we got engaged

Floyd's first Halloween

And just for your viewing pleasure...

Love that they are doing the same thing in these next three pictures!

Floyd loves cousin Maggie!!

  

Floyd's 3rd birthday

Adults Need Spring Break Too

I’ve been pretty busy at work lately and a little preoccupied at night with searching for houses and as a result my posting frequency has suffered a little!  On that note, I told Kevin a couple weeks ago that before we get a house and a dog and all the responsibilities that come along with that, we need to take a spontaneous little weekend beach trip.  Kevin responded with “How about this weekend?!”  So off we went!  My mom’s friend Nancy has this adorable little place in an old Panama City Beach hotel and she was nice enough to let us stay there for a very reasonable rate :)

It was just perfect!  I sounded like an old lady worrying if there would be high school and college spring breakers surrounding us, but as you can see, there weren’t!  Nancy’s place is in a perfect little spot where there are no crowds but just enough activity to do some people watching :)

In my description of our trip it will probably sound like all we did was eat, but we did lots of relaxing and hanging out on the beach too!  Food is just how I remember our travels – what we did that day, where we went.  If I don’t eat some good food in a place I feel like I never went there. 

So, we got there around noon on Saturday expecting there to be thunderstorms because that’s what the forecast said, but we were pleasantly surprised that it was nice and sunny!  Maybe a little too sunny because I still have the sunburn to prove it. 

We laid out on the beach for a while and then walked down to Sharky’s where we sat outside by the beach and had a delicious shrimp po’ boy and grouper.  Then we walked back down to our spot on the beach and hung out until the sun set.

That night we rode around a little looking for a place to eat.  The “strip” was a little crowded with spring breakers so we ended up at Pier Park – a fairly new development in Panama City where there are lots of restaurants and little shops across from the pier.  It is super cute and nice to walk around, but it's full of chain restaurants and we typically try to avoid going to those when we travel.  But we ended up going to The Back Porch there and it was pretty delicious!  We split calamari and crab legs and it was just what I wanted.

The next morning we woke up and had some yogurt and mimosas and then took a long walk on the beach.  Wish I could do that every morning!  We spent a few hours on the beach (Kevin finished the last book of the Hunger Games and I read some magazines) and then we went to the bay area of Panama City to check out this place my parents and Nancy recommended, Hunt’s Oyster Bar.  Well it’s closed on Sundays!  So we ate at another place that was right on the bay, Uncle Ernie’s.  It was really good!  We got the smoked tuna dip and grilled seafood platter, yum!

Then we headed back to the beach and enjoyed some margaritas and another beautiful sunset.  

We got a little hungry later that night so we walked to the arcade down the street and got hot dogs.  We even played some of the games and it turned out to be a really fun night!  After the arcade we walked down and got some ice cream from a little place Nancy recommended, Homemade.  It was delicious and as you can guess, it was homemade. 

On Monday morning we did a repeat of the previous morning and enjoyed our last few hours at the beach.  We left around 2:00 and ate lunch at Hunt’s Oyster Bar on our way out.  Perfect ending to our trip!  We had a half dozen oysters of each: raw, baked w/ parmesan and butter, and three cheese.  Then we had the fried grouper and shrimp platter, and a slice of key lime pie to eat on the way home. 

And we are now on a strict diet :)

It was so nice to have a little weekend away.  We resume our search for a house tomorrow!  And Kevin has found a breeder he wants to buy a German Shepherd from; they’ll have a litter ready in July!   Looking forward to this summer!

I'm Ridin' Around and I'm Gettin' It

It's mine, I spend it.

We have officially begun the house searching process!  Every time we ride around and look at houses we end up bouncing our shoulders and singing this ridiculous song.  Pretty sure we should be listening to some gospel music so we aren't tempted to spend everything we have!

Anyway, we are looking in the Roswell area.  Open to Alpharetta, Johns Creek, etc. but focusing on Roswell first.  In addition to location there are so many things to consider! It's exciting but a bit overwhelming.  How much do we want to spend?  Three or four bedrooms?  How much are we willing to update and how much of a premium are we willing to pay for updates that are already made?  How big of a backyard do we need?  Our lease is up on July 1st so hopefully in the next couple months we'll find something we want to put an offer on!

We have really enjoyed living in our apartment in Dunwoody, but we are looking forward to having a house!  With a yard for dogs!  a bigger kitchen for chef Kevin and baker Natalie!  cell phone service because we won't be in a dungeon (I know our family and friends will be happy)!  no neighbors fighting so loudly above us that we call the police on them!  Ha...so yes we are ready for a house, but we have loved our apartment.  It has been our first home.  Many parties have been hosted in the clubhouse.  Fun days by the pool.  Nice strolls to Dunwoody restaurants.  Wal-Mart conveniently placed in our back yard.  Memories of loving each other and loving Little Floyd.

We gotta grow up a little before we get a house though.  We joke with each other that we are like college roommates living together here.  We don't feel like doing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making the bed (pshh that's for adults!).  We invite people over so that we are motivated us to clean.  So the next few months are going to be operation "Get Our Sh** Together".  Excuse the language.  We are going to clean, exercise, eat healthy, pray together, and love life.  Oh yes, we have even made a poster.  Here's to preparing for a house!

A little montage of fun memories at our first home together...

First day in the apartment - my boys were tired!

Fun times at the pool!

Shower in the clubhouse

Fall cookout with friends

26th birthday - hilarious night!

best cake ever

1st anniversary

Floyd's 3rd birthday!