Hello, again! Gosh, it has been a long time since my last post. Sometimes it takes a little reminder/nudge to get a new post out there. It has been so long that I kinda forgot what I'd last wrote... I just went back to read my latest entry and WOW things have really changed! Actually, my life has been a whirl-wind of change over the past six months!

I suppose the biggest changes have been with my employment and relationship status. As far as my employment goes, I am now working as a Sale Rep for Sprint and, also, working part time with REACH (the emergency vet hospital). To bring a long story short, I quit the pathology lab for a series of personal reasons. Although, there were a lot of pros to working in the lab, I ultimately decided that is wasn't worth it. The day I resigned from the lab, I fell into my current job at Sprint. It is a complete switch from my biological path, but it turns out to be a nice change of pace. I don't plan to make this my career or anything, but it works for the time being! I no longer leave work grumpy and I actually enjoy coming to work! Strange concept, right?

Another major change in my life stems from my job change... I am now "seeing" one of my coworkers from Sprint. His name is Ben. It feels a little awkward to announce it like this on blogger.. so that is all I am going to say for now. If you are interested in details, just ask me! :)

Embree, Luca and Lola are all doing well! Embree has turned into a WILD WOMAN (but I still love her!!). If you follow me on Facebook, then I am sure you have heard about all the wild things she has done! Like, her favorite chewing habits--cords and paper,her 'self-prescribing' episode, her sneaky and always successful escape attempts, her annoying habits--jumping and (play)biting, and lets not forget the time she dumped two flower plots onto my bed! She often aggravates me, but she is extremely friendly, happy and loving... which makes it is easy to forgive the bad!

I really can't believe how time has flown by.. is it really December already? This will be the first Christmas that I will not be going home for... Fortunately, I was able to make it home at the beginning of the month. It was short and sweet! I was able to catch up with close friends and family, and most importantly, I was able to spend sometime with Carter!! Although I am not going home for Christmas, I am still able to spend it with family! My aunt Teri is coming in tomorrow and Wednesday! I am excited to spend some time with her over the next couple days! Christmas day I will be working at REACH most of the day. Also, Zeb's family will be around to fill the void! :)

'Tis the season for snow! And, boy did we get a lot of it over over the weekend!! We got ~17 inches in a city who is NOT prepared for such weather! We got most of the snow on Friday; it's Monday and my car is still snowed in! We also lost power for a day! It was bad! Ben has been nice enough to drive me around and to work, since my car is immobile! He has been out of power for 3 days now.. and it is COLD in there!
At least we will have a white Christmas this year!!

Well, that is all for now!! Thanks for following!

EMBREE!

Well, I don't have a lot to talk about today, but I do have one bit of very exciting news!! I finally got a doggie!! YAY!
Most of you probably already know this, but I have to talk all about her anyways!

Her name is Embree and she is a hound mix. After doing some research, I think she mostly resembles a Pointer, especially because of her coloring, stance and demeanor. When I first went to the shelter I was honestly looking for an Healthy Adult dog... but of course I feel in love with the Sick Puppy! She is a lot better now, though!

She is fitting into the family fairly well.... the cats tolerate her as much as can be expected. I caught Luca allowing Embree to lick his head today! It was a big step! My roommate wasn't exactly thrilled that I brought home a puppy (to say the least), but how can you not fall for that face!! Of course, he is cool with her now. I think it helps that she goes to work with me everyday!

I hope you all get the chance to meet her someday!
Thanks for following!

Update on things...

Okay.. so it has been a bit more than a week since my last blog! Sorry about that...

So, as an update... I am now employed (offically) at the vet pathology lab and REACH, which is an emergency vet clinic. Both jobs are challenging and it is a pretty steep learning curve since I don't have any experience, but I am managing and enjoy the challenge. Last Monday, I moved to a new house and it is working out very well! I am getting along great with my new roomie, Zeb, and the cats are adapting well. Luca more so than Lola... but that is to be expected. Zeb has a dog, her name is Molly and the cats seem to get along with her too. Molly is reaching her later years, so she doesn't put out a lot of energy provoking the kitties! She posses as a good intermediate in introducing my cats to the dog world!

I know, I know.. I have been saying this for months now.. but I am planning on getting a dog soon. Actually, I have the next two days off of work and am planning on exploring the possibilities. By the next time I write a blog, I am pretty sure I will have a new member to the family. I have been wanting a dog for a long time and am trilled that I am finally able to do it!! One of the advantages of my new job is that I am able to take my dog to work with me everyday; also, Asheville is fairly pet friendly, so I plan on keeping the pup with me the majority of the time!

Let's see.. what else is new? My Aunt Kim and Grandma Bobbie came to visit me last week!! We all had a get time! We explored Asheville, went out to eat at a great sea food restaurant, ventured out on the Blue Ridge Parkway, made a trip to the arboretum and saw a fabulous waterfall. It was a very successful visit!! In the next few months my mom, my dad and friend, Adam, are all planning on visiting (each separately). Of course, I can't wait to see 'em all!!

I am also happy to inform everyone of the fantastic news I learned last week... Megan (my college roomie) and her boyfriend have gotten engaged!! Congrats Megan and Paul!!

I think that is all the news for now!!

Thanks for following...

GREAT NEWS!!

I finally got a job and it is exactly what I was looking for! I am working in a veterinary pathology lab with the opportunity to train as a vet technician for the emergency vet center! I am sooo excited! This position(s) will provide me with an awesome learning experience and is perfect for the future of my career! I start officially on Monday! Wish me luck!

Between this new job and working part time serving I am not going to have a lot of spare time for hiking which makes me very sad! I am taking advantage of my day off tomorrow to go with my hiking group to DuPont State Forest to see more waterfalls! I was there last week but only stopped at Bridal Veil Falls. Tomorrow we will see three more, hopefully! In the next few days I will have pictures of the expedition on my online photo album; if you are interested the link is http://picasaweb.google.com/laurensprouse

Well that is all for now! Check back in a week or so to read more about my new job! (YAY!)
Thanks for following...

Wild animals, hikes, and new nephew...

Hello there!

So, yesterday I was driving through the neighborhood and I was stopped by a progressing line of wild turkey! Luckily, I had my camera with me and finally had the opportunity to get a pic! Everyone around here thinks it is silly that I get excited over the wild turkey... but I think it is fun! When I was in Ohio last week, I got excited about seeing a groundhog and my friend thought I was overstating the incident. I probably would have taken a picture of the groundhog too, if I had had my camera with me! I guess I just enjoy seeing animals that I do not get to see very often. The picture of turkey is the main pic for today's blog.

Well, since the last blog, I have moved into my new place, made a trip to Ohio to see my new nephew(!), continued in my job search, and spent free time hiking. My new nephew, Carter, is doing great... and so is the rest of his family! Kristen had the quickest delivery! Her water broke at 6am and by noon, she had a new baby boy... what a lucky girl! I stayed home for several days, visiting with friends and family. Going home is always enjoyable, but I was glad to get back to my new home in the mountains!

I have always loved hiking but have not done a whole lot of it. This is primarily because I never have had a group of friends that wanted to go out for more than an hour or was willing to drive more than an hour to get to a trail.... Well, that was before I moved to Asheville! I joined a hiking group and last Saturday I joined them in a hike through Panthertown Valley (which is at the base of Cold Mountain). The trail is listed as difficult, not really because of the terrain but because of the unmarked trails.. making it easy to get lost.. which we did!! All- in-all, the entire hike was 9 miles! It is funny that before I couldn't find people to go on a longer hike and now I find people that don't like to go on short hikes... oh well! that is fine with me! I am just glad that I now have a group of friends that like to discover new trails and are ready to spend the day hiking 'em! During this last hike we pasted 4 waterfalls, each one better then the last! I have pictures of the hike and the waterfalls posted on my online album if you are interested.

Well, until next time... thanks for following!

I wanted to talk a little about my new place! I will be renting the lower portion of a house in northern Asheville. The house is located in a nice neighborhood, partway up a small mountain. I will have my own entrance through the deck and a private bathroom. I am really excited about this place and hope that it works out well!!

Lions and tigers and bears!! Oh my!!
The owner of the house was telling me about the bears that wandering into the neighborhood! He said that last week he was outside with his dog when he heard a strange noise coming from the woods. After a little investigation he went back inside and looked out the windows and saw SIX black bear walking through the yard!! I thought.. "Wow! well.. this is quite different from seeing a few deer walk through your yard! and very different from Bedford, TX!!" Good thing black bears don't eat kitties!!

Anyways.. once I get moved in and have more information, I will be sure to let y'all know!

Thanks for following!

P.S. The pic above was taken from the Biltmore Estate earlier today. To see more pics like this one... visit my online photo album at

http://picasaweb.google.com/laurensprouse

First Blog from Asheville!!

So, it's been quite an adventure since my last day at CAR! As some of you may already know, I got off to a rough start in the move! The movers were supposed to arrive around noon on Thursday, but they never showed. After numerous calls, we finally gave up! Do not worry though; I will be writing a strongly worded letter! Without a mover to help, my mom and I rented a U-Haul and moved out all by ourselves. I bet you wish you were a "fly on the wall" during that episode! It wasn't easy but we managed.

24 hours behind, we left Friday afternoon and drove straight through to Nashville. In Nashville, we toured the Grand ole Opry and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I have to say, Nashville is much cooler than I would have originally thought! It is a pretty city and it’s very clean. I loved all the flowers!

We finally arrived in Asheville on Sunday! I love it so far! It is everything I expected and more! Today we drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was beautiful, of course. The city is very interesting… you can be driving down the road and feel like you are in the middle of the woods and the next thing you know.. .you are in the city!! Downtown is full of restaurants and street musicians. You will find many people walking around and riding their bikes! Ahh... it is definitely a nice change from the busy DFW area! I am not giving it justice in this description!!

I am still meeting with prospective roommates. I have one gal scheduled for tomorrow which I am very optimistic about! I will let y'all know soon how that works out. Justin ( my brother) is coming down on Friday to help me move, so I will have made my decision by then!

Until next time, Thanks for following!