The Chateau at the Lake!

The freakin best part of the Emergency Management Conference was the hotel it was at. The Chateau on the Lake! It was amazing. Paula had told me it was a pretty cool hotel and expensive! But since we weren't staying there, Paula and I took some time off away from the MEPA booth and explored. It was so impressive, we found pretty flowers, a fake tree in the middle of the hotel, a little waterfall inside the hotel, hmm.... glass elevators. I mean man, it was freakin' cool.
I really liked the tree! Once we spotted the tree, we noticed that there were bird cages with real birds. It was like the hotel was teasing me with yummy things to eat. I could have sat there forever and dreamed about my new food :) .... but then Jon pointed out that there was CHEESECAKE!!!! :) Yummy!! :)
The view was even amazing at this hotel. There were so many aspects that were amazing. In the main hall, where Paula, Loretta and I were at there were these amazing huge paintings of castles on the water. They were beautiful. I didn't get to look at all them very well, due to the booths covering so many of them.

I was so not ready to leave this hotel when I did. I could have stayed there for another couple of days, just exploring the place. They had areas where you could sit on the balcony and enjoy the breeze and the view. They had an ice cream store, a few little gift shops, a library lounge (Paula and I took a picture there, but for some reason it is not loading. I will try later :) ) ...
I'm ready for a nap so.... I will post more later :) .... I have absolutely enjoyed my week away. :) And would love to do it again... (Hint, Hint Paula & Jon!)

But I have to admit I missed my friends Wringer and Helen... They would have helped make the week even more awesome! :) MISSED YOU GUYS!!!

The CELEBRITIES!! :)

Though I am sad that the conference is over :( ... I do not, I repeat, DO NOT miss the early mornings.. I have gotten spoiled by Paula having a night job, no mornings for me except to help Paula stay awake until she reaches her bed. The conference really was a blast. Next time, I wanna go to one of the break-out sessions and see if they have any advice for a Tigger like me.
But it is all good.

I have so many pictures from the week that it is really hard to pick and choose what I want to show you :) .... I am so happy I got to go. I still have pictures from the hotel to show you :) that the conference was at as well as pictures from my and Paula's hotel. Both were equally impressive.

Before I go any farther and tell you about the hotels, I have, I repeat HAVE to tell you who I got my picture taken with at the conference. :) I am so happy. I got a group picture with the celebrities!!! :) Jon had told me about this big bear named Redd E. Bear, and this frog named Freddy the Ready Frog. :) They are helping spread the word about being safe and all that jazz. I was just happy to meet them. Paula had told me to relax, that they were normal stuff animals just like me, but I was too hyper to listen. And well she was right, they were completely normal. They even took a picture with me and hung out with me during the conference. It was a great experience! Paula said we would have to talk to Jon about getting a name badge done sometime for me.

Conference/The Beginning

On the road again... Sorry I haven't been on my blog in forever it feels like. Last week, Paula and Jon finally took my advice and headed out of town with some of Jon's other volunteers for a conference in Branson at the Chateau on the Lake. It was an amazing place. It was a conference for Emergency Managers so yeah, it was a bunch of people like Jon. That part could have been different but Paula helped me to enjoy myself and so did Jon when he was free from class. For the most part, I helped Paula and Loretta work the MEPA (Missouri Emergency Preparedness Association) booth --selling memberships and polos :) It was fun. I got to hang around being cute and introducing myself to everyone and anyone that came by the booth. I'm sure we caused Jon to be embarrassed at least twice. :)

I was having a blast and I decided that I should become a member of MEPA! (http://www.momepa.org/) I mean, me and Paula found out all this great information about MEPA as we were doing the booth and it was pretty interesting. I enjoyed putting together the cards for everyone that stopped by the booth. :) The money part wasn't my speciality. (Actually, I really kinda stink working with money. I mean, look at my hands, you can't hold anything with these paws. Even I know that. I do enjoy helping Paula spend it though.)
At one point in time, I even sneaked away from the booth to go listen to a little of the conference... (And no don't ask me, I don't remember any of it.) ... There were alot of people more than I was really wanting to meet so I just hung around Paula and kept her company when she felt alone at the conference. It worked out for both of us cause I was lonely too and I wanted to see the hotel. But at least it was a few days to spend with at least Paula.
Tomorrow... or later today, I'll put up some more pictures of my happy road trip. :) I got pictures of the hotel we stayed at, and of the hotel the conference was at! :) And the best meal to date! :) I love food :)

Picnic-ing

I mean GORGEOUS!!! OH MY GOD!!! GORGEOUS!!! What an amazing day!! :) Paula and I went on a picnic last week. It was so beautiful out. Beautiful enough I was hoping for a swim, but Paula nipped the idea in the butt :( .... She said we had to go see Jon and bring him dinner since he was working at the Lebanon EMS base. But it was so beautiful, I didn't want to leave and go cook Jon dinner (even though it was lasagna, one of my absolute favs.) I enjoy my PB & J sandwich and chips and enjoyed the rest of the day in the sun. Paula said I could hang out in the park for awhile before dinner so I would be able to enjoy both to the fullest.

Well.... when Paula came back, I was a little sunburned because I had fallen asleep in the sun and still completely exhausted. About this time Paula realized that her SD card in her camera was out of juice. :( no more photos. So I decided that it was time to retire back to dinner and hopefully my lovely bed.

Then we got everything for the lasagna, and took it out to the base. As we were pulling into the parking lot, I heard the radio say something about one unit was needed to stage at A & OO. Well with my luck, it could only be Jon's unit that had been toned for the standby. And yup, it was. So Jon and his partner, Josh, had to run off to the standby request so dinner was put on hold. At this point, I had to break it to Paula that I had no energy and was ready for bedtime. :( ... So I went to bed with dreams of sun, picnics, swimming, and my new family. :)

Scrapbooking WAY over the top

(First, let me just say that I apologize for being gone so long, it has been a couple of difficulty days/nights. Stressful and not so happy in my world. But things are starting to settle down. Hopefully me, Paula and Jon will go on adventures again soon and I will have time to write :( I miss it)
What a day! What a day! It was been a freakin' blast. Last Saturday, me and Paula and her friend Shanna went to Scrapbooking for Miracles. I got to admit before Paula and I went to this thing, we were a little, well a lot nervous about going. We didn't know what to take or how to take it, or whether we would even want to really be there for the full time. (It was running from 8:30 a.m. til 6 p.m.) Paula had never gone to a scrapbooking event before and well, I wasn't sure I was ready for so many people. I'm a little shy :( ... Oh well. ... Anyways, so when me and Paula showed up at 8:30 to a long, freakin' line of people with suitcases, bags, boxes, etc. Everything that they could of brought they brought!! Here I was just hiding in the bag waiting to support Paula, while she had to wait for her friend Shanna to show up. (Shanna was at another event for some of the morning.)

As soon as the doors were open, all of these ladies filtered like ants into this gym at the Methodist Church in Springfield. It was crazy. They all claimed their tables. Paula and I weren't really sure where we should sit, because we didn't know Shanna's friends that we were supposed to meet. :( ... Oh well Shanna finally breezed in and introduced us to her friends and we moved over to sit with them. Then we all went around the room where there were different scrapbooking things for sale. Shanna breezed through it all and signed us up for a variety of different projects that they were doing throughout the day. And then she left for her heart walk, leaving me and Paula a little lost.

We found breakfast (which was included as well as lunch and two drink coupons in our $40 fee to be there) and then sat at the table alone for a few. After a few moments, we decided to take matters into our own hands and see what is so so great about this thing. We turned around to this booth behind us and found a lady getting ready to do a project. So we jumped in and made an Egg painting easter egg project. Hmmm, it wasn't so bad. We continued to wonder around and found a few more projects!! :) It was a blast. We came across this amazing thing called alcohol based paints, that had a ghost hand! It was so cool. We had to sit down, one of the other friends of Shanna, sat down at the table with us. And we got to do two projects!!! :) It was so cool until the end when we had to leave early to help Shanna (who finally arrived!!)

Then after a few projects together that Shanna and we had signed up for (mines pictured), Paula and I left together again to try this awesome looking other project. We payed $4 to learn, because there was this really cool castle, that Paula said she would love to make for a friend's daughter :) It was a long project, cause you had to paint, then sand, then glue paper, then sand, then decorate. The decorating was the best part! :)

By the end of this project, we were getting kinda wore out so we sat back at our table again at like 1p.m. to work on Paula's scrapbook. It was crazy almost 4 hours had past and we didn't even noticed.

We did a few more projects with Shanna, but mainly for the rest of the time, we worked on Paula's scrapbook, and shopped the little mini stores around the gym. We left a little early to go have dinner with Jon at Cheddar's. It was a great day. Just the kinda day that both me and Paula needed after a stressful, stressful week. And then Paula lost her phone at Cheddar's not the best way to end a night! :( ... But we survived and Paula was able to get another phone --a Blackberry Bold :) What a long, long, stressful, fun day!! :) Shanna, we want to come back!! :)

Painting and my new Girlfriend! :)

What a long, tiring day! But dang it was fun! Friday, Paula and I went to her brother and his wife's house to paint. They were needing to get a fence painted and a garage. So we came up to help them out. It was fun and time just seemed to fly by. Paula and Tyrie prattled on about awhole bunch of stuff. I think Paula was stressed out about something. I didn't bother her, I just let her paint. They let me paint a little but they were worried about me getting paint on myself. Go figure! They got paint all over. Paula even acidentally painted Meeshka's nose (Tyrie and Nathan's dog)
After we finished painting, we relaxed and had some dinner. And while they were cooking, I met Kia and Cammie, Tyrie and Nathan's cats. Oh WOW were they pretty! Kia was so, so sweet. She seemed to be fascinated with me :) ... My first girlfriend! :) She was so beautiful. But I don't think Tyrie would appreciate Kia with orange coloring kittens. Oh well. She is pretty!
Well, while me and Kai were getting accquintated, Cammie came up and started throwing a small fit, cause no one was paying attention to her. So Kai stopped paying attention to me. And then Cammie started to attack me!

I think it was just because she was jealous of what Kai's and mine could become... Aww... Who knows things might change? And I may be reunited with my new girlfriend. I wonder if Tyrie wants another cat. :) I mean, I'm easy to take care of and I like her other animals. I don't know if Meeshka and I would get along though thats my only concern.

Ah, what a great beginning to the weekend! It was a busy weekend but also a blast! :) Hopefully I will get to come back and visit my girlfriend soon.

Failed :(

Don't get me wrong, I hate to say I failed anything but this time, I really did. I was too scared that I hid. I mean, the last time I was at Walmart, I was sitting patiently on a shelf with my brothers and sisters, hoping someone would take pity on me and I would have a real home with happy people to live with. I didn't get to explore Walmart. I just hung on a shelf waiting, and people watching. Then this girl and her boyfriend came along. She fell in love with me and her boyfriend bought me for her. :) It was a happy day meeting Paula and her boyfriend, Jon.
Anyways when Paula suggested that I come with her and Helen, my new friend, to Walmart, I was excited to see it from a different angle. I was so happy, but there in the parking lot, I chickened out. I didn't want to be put back or made to stay. I wanted to stay with Paula and Jon. I decided that I

would stay in the car and wait patiently for them. They were sad that I didn't go with them. But when Paula returned with the groceries to the Bumble Bee, I hopped right in and helped her out.
I also got to take a picture with Helen and her wheelchair that she got to ride in throughout the entire store. I felt bad then, I wished I had gone with them, to ride with Helen around the entire store. They said next time, I could come and they would protect me from being taking back. I guess I am loved :)

Tanning?

What an experience! When Paula told me that she was going to go tanning, I laughed at her. Then she invited me along, and of course I just had to say 'Yes.' I mean, I've never done it so I guess I should try it right. I don't know how orange skin tan, but I want to look good for all of those hot little orange girls. Besides, I'm sure Paula will look great with a brown skin tone. She says people do this sometimes so they won't turn red during the summer because they are in the sun so much.

It was a really weird experience. I mean, first the tanning people they send you back to this room, where there is this light bed. I mean a light bed, with like light bulbs, its really strange. On this strange bed, there is a towel and these really weird sunglasses, that you are supposed to wear while laying in this lighted bed. I learned that if you don't wear those crazy sunglasses, your eyes get blinded by extremely high bright lights... .... Brilliance, I know :)After you lather yourself with tanning lotion or nothing, you get into this bed and begin to "bronze" yourself. Like I said, I'm not too sure about this whole bronzing thing. I really don't think orange is going to bronze. But I'm sure Paula will look good. Just as long as she does go orange. (She doesn't look right with orange skin.)

Another thing about that weird bed, I really don't fit. I don't fit in most things, cause they aren't made for small orange guys. I have to admit, I really don't think this tanning thing is for me. Oh well, I guess next time that Paula decides to go, I don't think I'm going to sneak in too.

Couches & Donuts

I've decided that couch shopping is one of the worst things to shop for besides a car! It was horrible. There were so many different couches to see and to try out. There were different colors, shapes, and sizes, recliners, and sectionals, love seats, sofas, and chairs.

Paula and Jon had to go couch shopping, cause Paula's couch had a funky smell, and I do mean funky smell to it. So we looked at Lebanon -found one couch that could work, but horrible (and I do mean horrible) customer service, and Springfield ---found two wonderful couches. Paula was all set to buy both of the couches at Springfield, but one after the other, they were out of stock and would take SEVERAL WEEKS to get in if they were ordered.
After those disasters, Paula and I were really feeling low :( .. so Jon took us to Krispy Kreme to get some sugar pick-me-up food. It was so good. I wanted to eat the whole box! I was so hungry!

I also got to watch the donuts be made. It was so neat. I also kind of fell into the donut box, but Jon and Paula didn't seem to mind too much.

After Krispy Kreme, Jon took me and Paula to this lake thing in the top of Springfield. It was so cool. It had a little/big waterfall type thing. I loved it! The only bad part was Paula about sprained her ankle by the waterfall. The sidewalk became uneven, and she accidentally dropped her camera :o( and Jon thought she was falling in with her camera :( ... That would have been horrible! All the different pictures of me and of Jon and Paula! That would be horrible! So many pictures lost! It was a good thing, the camera only fell into the next step instead into the water rushing so very close to it.

Other than the crappy couch shopping and the near camera mishap, it wasn't a half-bad day. When Paula, Jon and I about made it home, Paula heard from one of her friends about a couch. And what do you know? It was perfect. It had the majority of the requirements for the couch we had been searching for and it was in a smaller price range than Paula had set. It was a great end to a perfect, perfect day.