Sammy Watkins is money

It's that time again! Our favorite time of year, football season. Rob and I met my parents in Clemson this weekend for the big game against Florida State. We had such a fun time. It was better than the game we went to last year because we had great seats in the lower bowl (thanks to Michelle for getting us guest tickets through her sorority!), it was a 3:30 game instead of a noon game, we dressed appropriately (shorts instead of jeans) and wore sun screen this time, and best of all Clemson won. My parents have season tickets this year and are tailgating pros from all of the PSU tailgates years ago. The tent was essential, which I didn't realize until it got to be 85 degrees out and it was hot even in the shade.



The game itself was a blast. It has been a while since I stood for a whole sporting event, but it was worth it for seats in the student section. It was a close game til the end and such a big win. Thanks for a great weekend Mom, Dad and Michelle!

The return of peg leg

First I want to apologize for my lack of blog posts lately. With only 2 last month, and none in September (until now) I know it seems I've been slacking. I'll blame it on being busy, working a lot and not a whole lot that seemed worth writing about.

Things are good in the Porter apartment. We recently renewed our lease, so we'll be at the Nevadan for at least another year. There was some talk for about a month of possibly moving to a new apartment complex, but it really would have taken a lot of convincing for me to get on board with that plan. Moving takes so much effort and we're at a good location at a good price, so why not stay a little longer. Of course not long after resigning the lease the bird seed situation picked back up and I'm once again sweeping bird seed off of the balcony every day. My one hope is that the new people who moved in above us will start using their balcony and get annoyed by the bird seed as well and complain about it like I did.

Rob is back in school, taking 2 classes this semester. Luckily one is an online course so he doesn't have to go downtown for that one. When he isn't at work or school or doing school work he is running. The weather here has cooled off a little in the past few weeks, which is good for his training. He's preparing for his next marathon which is in Greenville, SC at the end of October.

Roxanne is back to her old tricks again. Up until yesterday I would have told you that she was doing great and loving life. She even learned to swim over Labor Day weekend when we took her to the beach for the first time. Here she is looking cute in the ocean and realxing on the beach at the Isle of Palms, SC.





Fastforward to yesterday evening. Rob got home from work to find a stinky, messy Roxanne. She never has accidents in her cage unless something is wrong, so we knew she wasn't feeling well. He took her outside and she immediately went to the bathroom, but along with everything else that came out of her was quite a bit of blood. It was pretty gross and scary, but we immediately knew what it was from. Two nights before that she decided to eat part of a rug in our living room. She nibbled on the rug once before when she was only a few months old, so we put it in the closet and waited a few months until we brought it out again. She hadn't even tried to chew the rug or anything else besides her own toys for quite some time now, so we were pretty surprised to find the rug destroyed the other morning. So we took her to the vet, who recommended we take her to the emergency clinic nearby so she could be monitored overnight. She had x-rays taken (which turned out to be fine) and was given fluids and medicine through an IV. I picked her up this morning and she seems to be doing better. Now she is eating a bland diet of canned food, which she loves, and is taking a few medications while she recovers. The worst part, besides the bill of over $700, is that her peg leg is back. They had to shave part of her leg fur off for the IV, like they did when she was spayed. So now she is peg leg again, and will be for a while. Last time it took months to grow back. Oh, Roxanne.

Roxanne turns 1

Happy 1st Birthday, Roxanne! Our little pup turned a year old on August 15th, and yes, I insisted she have cake with a candle. We do not give her people food, but I decided to make an exception on her birthday. Our family dog growing up, Allie, always got pound cake with whipped cream on her birthday (though she also got left-overs from dinner every night). So, Roxanne got the same...with a milk bone on top. She loved it and ended up pulling half of it off of the plate and onto the carpet while she was scarfing it down. Rob and I would both agree that getting her was one of the best things we did this past year. She is such a funny, cute, smart, loving, energetic fluff ball, we couldn't ask for more in a dog.

Hometown wedding weeekends

Rob and I are still trying to recover from all of the traveling and excitement over the past two weekends. We had back to back wedding weekends in each of our hometowns- Grosse Pointe, MI and Lock Haven, PA- which made for fun times with friends and family.

First, we went to Grosse Pointe for Hayes and Caroline's wedding weekend. Rob has been best friends with Hayes since they met in high school. We stayed with Rob's Dad and Kimberly at their home, along with Tom and Linnea. It's always nice to go back to Grosse Pointe, and I realized I hadn't been there since my bridal shower in May of last year. Friday we spent time with the groom and got some yummy bbq for lunch at Slows in Detroit. Since Rob was the best man in the wedding, we attended the rehearsal and the lovely rehearsal dinner that was held outside at Hayes's aunt's house. Following the dinner we all went out downtown Detroit for drinks.

The wedding was beautiful, from the old church full of stained glass windows to the reception venue on the water. Though it started raining just as guests started arriving to the church, it stopped by the time the ceremony was over. Rob gave a really nice best man speech, Hayes was rockin it to Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry, and a fun time was had by all.



This past weekend we flew to central PA for Megan and Robbie's wedding. Megan and I have been friends since we met in the 2nd grade at Woolrich Elementary school. It was great being back in Lock Haven since I honestly do not remember the last time I was there. Plus, it was nice to be able to show Rob around the town I grew up in. It was only his second time there, and the first time was back in 2006 for a PSU football weekend, so most of our time was spent in State College. Rob got to have lunch at OIP after hearing me talk about their glorious subs for all these years, I showed him where I went to high school and we went in the new football stadium that I had never even seen before, he experienced the Texas restaurant, drinks at Uncle Al's for the second time, we saw my family's old house in McElhattan and visited with old neighbors, and he even got some running in on the dike along the river.

We had the best time at the wedding with my family and friends. The ceremony was held in my family's old church, Great Island Presbyterian, and the reception at the new alumni center on Lock Haven University's campus. Megan was a stunning bride, everyone had a blast on the dance floor, and the PSU bus that took everyone to the after-party at a local bar was a great idea. Rob and I couldn't be happier for both of the newlywed couples!

A very BU wedding

This time last year we were enjoying our big wedding weekend in Boston. It truly was the best day of our lives. A year later and I still have not made a wedding album for ourselves, but a blurb on our wedding was published in the Bostonia, BU's alumni magazine, that we got in the mail yesterday. I thought I would share the blurb so family or people who are actually in the photo but threw out their copy before seeing the photo could have a look.

Summer travels

Rob and I both took some time off of work this month to go away, we just didn't go together. Rob made the 12 hour drive from Atlanta to Detroit to spend the 4th of July weekend with his Dad. Every year around the 4th they have the PFP (Porter Family Picnic) in Michigan, and since Rob didn't get to go last year it was especially nice that he could be there for it this year. I couldn't take the time off, so I held down the fort with Roxanne and enjoyed fireworks with Ann, John, Tom & Linnea.

Last week I took my vacation to HOT and sunny Fort Myers Florida to visit one of my long time best friends Lindsey and her family. Lindsey and her husband Dan had baby Savannah last December. I first met her when she was 2 months old, but boy has she grown in the past 5 months! It was great to catch up and spend lots of beach time with them, as well as Lindsey's mom and sister. In the 4 days I was there we went to 3 different beaches- Fort Myers Beach, Captiva and Lovers Key. When we weren't at the beach we were at the pool, so it was nice to be able to switch it up each day. I may have been spoiled having a house on the Cape all those years, but it just wouldn't have felt right to go a whole summer without seeing the ocean, so I'm glad I got my beach fix.

Next weekend we'll be celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary- how quickly time goes by! Then we gear up for August which will be full of travel and fun. First up, Hayes and Caroline's wedding in Michigan. Hayes was the best man at our wedding and Rob is going to be the best man at their wedding. The following weekend we fly to central PA for Megan and Robbie's wedding. Megan and I have been friends since the 2nd grade, and I am so very happy and excited for her. Plus the wedding is in my old home town and the ceremony will take place in my family's old church, so it will be nice to be back. Finally, at the end of August I get to fly up to Boston for Miss Rachel Stalker's bridal shower/bachelorette weekend! Bring on the friends and good times.

The residents of the Nevadan

Our apartment complex definitely has some interesting characters living in it. For example, the man who lives on the 3rd floor one building over. He has apparently turned his balcony into a barber shop, equipped with an actual barber chair, where he cuts hair. When he isn't cutting someone's hair, he is often on his balcony yelling down to others who pass by, asking them if they want a cut or know someone who does. The whole thing is kind of amusing, except for the clumps of hair that can be found on the ground below where I walk Roxanne. As much as I can't stand the people above me with the bird feeders and the seed falling all over the place, I suppose if I had to choose I'd pick bird seed over hair on my balcony.

The other day I had one of the strangest encounters to date. I was walking Roxanne along the grass near the tennis courts, when a middle aged black guy with a crazy lazy eye and neon shoelaces approached us on his way to his building. The conversation went something like this...

Guy: There's that fluffy dog again! Man I see her everywhere, what kind is she?
Me: Haha, yeah she needs a haircut soon. She's a Goldendoodle.
Guy: Wow, she is beautiful! Just beautiful.
Me: Thank you! Her name is Roxanne. She's a puppy still, so she's full of energy.

(Up until this point the conversation is pretty normal and typical of what people usually say when they see us out walking. Here is where it got weird..)

Guy: Hey, have you ever seen the movie Burn Notice?
Me: No, I haven't. I've heard of it though (and I'm aware that it's a TV show, not a movie).
Guy: Oh you haven't?!? I think it's on TBS or something like that. Anyway, there's this character Michael on the show, and I could see his mom having a dog just like this! Yeah, like someone real cool would have a dog like this.
Me: Oh yeah? (Really I'm thinking HUH??? How did you come up with that? And it's not even like we are trying to figure out whose dog this is or who would own a dog like this...I am the owner! Are you saying I'm not cool?)

Luckily the guy's phone rang right about then and he said he really had to take the call, so he answered and continued on his way. Good thing too, because I really didn't know where to take that conversation next.