Dog Days of Summer

If you’re one of those people that misses the days when I would post a bunch of silly phone pictures of Charlotte while giving random life updates, you’re in luck because that’s what I’ve got for you today!

So, we’ve gotten a good taste of what a Southern Summer is like, and it’s not exactly one that will have us going back for seconds, if you know what I mean. 😉 But upon reflecting on our time here so far and thinking towards the future, I am continually reminded that God has us on this coast for a reason, and just because we’re only here for a short amount of time doesn’t mean we can just coast through life. So, here’s to remembering our favorite parts of the South and making the most of every moment at home and around our area. May we never take for granted the days we’ve been given to spend together!

My favorite part of this area is definitely the greenery and the continual bloom we’ve seen. We’ve literally seen different blossoms every month that we’ve been here, and things continue to bloom and surprise us. I don’t know what half of these flowers and bushes are called, but I do know that there were Magnolias blooming in late May through mid June, and right now the Crepe Myrtles are coming out, and they might be my favorite of all. I just love the pop of color the hot pink flowers bring to every road around here. All this heat and humidity does good for the plants and the vibrant colors.

So how’s school going? Ah, that question never gets old, does it Curtis? 😉 Not saying that to be ungrateful for all our wonderful friends who check in with us and are supporting us – I just know that Curtis is so ready to be out of the “school” stage and actually doing what he signed up to do! Although, when he signed up, he DID agree to over a year more of training before ever seeing the inside of a ship…haha. He’s doing so well with it all though. People often comment on how laid back he seems toward the whole thing, and I can attest to the fact that that’s how he always is about it. It’s a very challenging program, but he handles it so well, giving it his all and acknowledging that he can only do so much, and that ultimately it’s the Holy Spirit working through him to get him through every long day of school and every test he takes. It can be so easy to bemoan the fact that we have less free time and he’s in this cycle of constantly studying and gearing up for the next test, but when we stop to think about it, we have no right to complain. This time last year he was in training and we were apart – so just the fact that we’re together makes this infinitely easier, right?! And once all of this training is done, we’re looking toward deployments. Such a fun word. I think of that and immediately want to slow time down and enjoy every second here. We have every weekend to spend together, enjoying this wonderful place, we eat all 3 meals together each day, and are still walking through this together every step of the way. When I put it that way, I’m so thankful for every hot day here.

Aside from school, we’re keeping life as interesting as always. Our garden is becoming a huge success and deserves a follow up post sometime soon. Curtis is finishing up 2 cute benches to go with our farmhouse table. I’m finding new favorite no-bake dinners and desserts every week. We have lots of exciting potential adventures to enjoy over the next several weeks. We love our neighborhood, our church, and all the wonderful friendships God has given us.

And then there’s Charlotte, the light of our lives. *insert heart eyes emoji* She loves her life here and is turning out to be quite the little Southern Belle. She loves basking in the sun and working on her tan. She loves eating dinner with us, preferably the same food we’re eating. (Except fruit. No fruit please.) She loves taking long walks and greeting all the neighbors and some of their pets. (She seems to have complicated relationships with others.) When she’s not outside, she enjoys standing at a window and watching everyone else. She takes long naps in the morning and evening in her bean bag, and enjoys cuddling with daddy at the end of the day. “Daddy’s Home” is her favorite phrase, followed closely by “Want a treat?” and “Wanna go for a walk?” My favorite thing (that I have yet to get on camera) is when she’s outside when Curtis comes home, and as soon as I let her back in, she just KNOWS he’s back and goes running up the stairs to find him, CRYING the whole way. This morning, he had to run home to grab something he forgot, and she missed seeing him as she was outside the whole time. After he left and I let her back in, she knew right away and ran around the whole house in circles just crying and crying – it was the most heartbreaking thing ever. I may have spoiled her with some treats.

A few weekends ago, I heard about a Basset Hound meet up in our area, so I convinced Curtis that we NEEDED to take Charlotte. There were around 15 bassets there, and it was so fun to see how Charlotte interacted with them – it was her first time being around other bassets. (She was obviously the cutest one there, and we aren’t biased at all. Just two proud parents watching our baby grow up.) We learned about what traits they share as a breed – such as sitting down when other dogs come up to sniff their rear end, and having a “fixation” of something that will make them ignore everything else. That made a lot of sense and helps us to understand her more. (Such as this morning when she realized she missed her daddy and was running around crying, I knew I had to find something else she could fix her mind on. Treats did the trick.) However, the other bassets did not teach her how to bay. Sometimes we hear a deep throaty bark out of her, but never that “basset bay.”

By the way, the Basset Hound meet up was hosted by the Carolina Basset Hound Rescue – a group I’ve been following since before we moved here. They have a great rescue, foster, and adoption program for basset hounds of the Carolinas – if you’re from around the area and are looking for a basset hound, I highly recommend looking them up. You can see their website here. (There are some adorable bassets available…trust me, I check it often!)

Charlotte has met so many wonderful puppy friends around here, but the one I’m about to tell you is seriously the sweetest love story of all time. Our next door neighbor was dog sitting for her daughter’s dog for one weekend. His name was Nemo, he is a year old golden retriever with a lot of love to share. Within the first couple minutes of knowing her, Nemo fell in love with my baby girl, and refused to leave her side. It was the sweetest thing ever. She played it cool, but you could tell she liked the attention. When she was inside and he was out, he would come to our back door to look for her. They played together so well, but there were times when they’d be sitting together and staring at us like 2 teenagers just wanting us to leave so they could play together alone. They only had that one weekend together, but they relished every bit of it together. 🙂

So that’s what I’ve got for you for our life lately…to keep up on our day-to-day life, you can follow us on Instagram at @curtisandjess (me), @squatchis (Curtis), and @charlotte.thebasset (Charlotte…yes, my daughter has an Insta. Kids these days, I tell ya! When I was her age…etc.). Curtis has 7 weeks left of school, and we’re doing our best to make the most of it!