He puts the Kramer in the Hogan-Kramer Crew

Let's see...

There is still one person in our household I need to introduce and I thought tonight would be a good night to do so.  Why specifically tonight, you might ask?  Well, today was mine and Adam's eight year anniversary together!

(pause for reaction ... and yes, I already know what most of you are thinking)  :o)

Though Adam and I have been together for eight years, we've known each other longer.  He and I both grew up in the same town, attended middle school through high school together, and both of us were runners.  It wasn't really until our senior year though that we became good friends.  The funny thing about it all is that AIM is really the reason we had the chance to get to know each other (and I will have you know that I was the first person to reach out - eh hem, I just had to add that bit).  Through cross country, track, and IM, we eventually became good friends by the spring of our senior year.  Oh, not only do I have IM to credit for our current status, but I should also probably give the honorable mention award to Adam's lemon of a Mercury Tracer.  Because Adam's car was out of order for awhile, I was the lucky person who got to take him home from practice in the evenings.  One night while he was over, my mom invited him to stay for dinner and well, after that I'll just say Adam came over often to hang out; if my mom just happened to be cooking that night, he hung out a little longer.  So in writing this, I guess there are really three crucial elements that played a role in getting us together --  AOL Instant Message, Adam's broken Tracer, and my mom's cooking.

After high school, we both went to different colleges.  We kept in touch some that school year, but it wasn't until the summer after our freshman year that we started hanging out a lot again.  Then I learned that Adam had planned to transfer to Mizzou his sophomore year (had nothing to do with me, that was his plan in advance).  Well, a couple of weeks into the semester we began dating and then, as they say, the rest is history.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Adam is he's my best friend.  Over the last eight years, we've been through a lot; we've both gone through changes (some good and some much more difficult) and learned life lessons, as individuals and as a couple.  However, through all the good and the bad, we've worked at our relationship and eight years later, we're still together :o)

Ok ok, so now that I've told that entire story, let me introduce Adam with words that describe him:

- Kind hearted

- Passionate (anyone whose watched sports with him has witnessed said passion)

- Intelligent

- Driven

- Sympathetic

- Loyal

- Funny

- Oh, and you know I have to throw it in here, good looking 

Whew, I better stop before a) people throw up reading this, but more importantly b) Adam's ego gets too big :oP

Adam recently started back to school for his Masters in Finance, but of course he still finds time to enjoy his hobbies that include:  waking up (b/c Baloo won't leave him alone until he does) to feed the cats treats, messing up the piles of laundry on the dryer that I just folded, feeding the cats treats, drinking the hard stuff (coffee that is, of course), feeding the cats treats, intensely watching Mizzou football and basketball games, throwing stuff down when the Tigers play poorly, picking up stuff he throws down when the Tigers play poorly.

Soooo, in a nutshell, that is our household!  I'll spare you on the intro of the Hogan in the Hogan-Kramer crew since I'd say all of you already know me.  Speaking of knowing me, I should tell you that I'm already on a mission to figure out how I can add a panda to this blog.  I'm working on it so until then...to be continued....

Goodnight!

Meet the Hogan-Kramer Crew

Meet Baloo.  He was the first pet to be added to our household.  Adam actually adopted Baloo from the Humane Society in Columbia, MO during his last semester at Mizzou, almost five years ago (I still can't believe it's been that long).

This picture describes Baloofus's personality perfectly.  He is a straight up cuddle bug. When Baloo wants to cuddle, he won't leave you alone until you give him his attention. However, if you pick him up and try to cuddle when he doesn't want to, he will let you know.  As you can also tell, he pretty much owns Adam.

On a side note:  Some of you may be wondering how he got his name.  If any of you have seen the Jungle Book, you will remember one of the main characters, the big gray friendly bear, was named Baloo.  Well, we thought the name was perfect and thus, our little kitten went from no name to Baloo (nicknames: B, Balooberry, Baloofus). 

This handsome cat's name is Truman (nicknames: Truman-o, Trumes, T-Money). Knowing Adam and I are big Mizzou fans, you can probably guess the inspiration behind his name.  We actually adopted Truman from the Cozy Cat Cottage in May of 2006, while we were still living in Columbus, OH .  I was watching the movie, One Fine Day (oh how I love that movie), and there was this scene where the daughter of George Clooney's character sees this kitten she wants, then asks her dad if she can take the little guy/girl home with them (of course he said yes).  Well, at that moment I turned to Adam and said "I want another cat."  Now, it wasn't just the movie that made me want another cat; Adam and I always felt bad leaving Baloo home alone (remember he is a cuddle bug) so we decided a brother was just what he needed.  I remember when we first brought Truman home, Baloo was not too pleased with a new kitten around.  However, Mr. Truman was persistent and eventually he won over Baloo.  I knew this because one day I went looking for them and when I looked under the bed I found the two cuddled together asleep.  It was so cute! 

Unlike Baloo, Trums is not as much a cuddler.  Instead, he likes to spend his days watching CNBC, making lots of money, managing our money (he didn't get the name T-Money for no reason), and lounging in front of the window.

Did your heart melt when you saw this sweet girl's face?  She has the most ridiculously cute puppy eyes.  This picture actually really conveys Lucy's personality. She's a wonderfully sweet dog who had to endure a rough first few years of life (I think that is why she tends to have that expression).  Lucy is the third and last (I know some of you are starting to wonder) pet we have adopted.

We brought her home from Operation Kindness in January of this year.  I found her on Petfinder.com and when I saw her picture, my heart melted, but also broke at the same time.  See, a Mixed Breed Rescue group in East Texas found Lucy tied up with no food or water and ten pounds underweight.  When they took her in, they found that she was in very bad shape. However, this wonderful organization was able to nurse her back to health.  In December of 2008, they transferred her over to Operation Kindness here in the Dallas area.  A month after that she came home with me on a Tuesday night (Adam definitely thought I was crazy at the time).  In eight months she has made tremendous progress, but we are still working on her fear of people (we have a trainer helping us out with that).

She is a pretty happy dog these days (aside from the fear of strangers).  She loves her mama, daddy, and two brothers a lot.  Truman and she get along really well (I'll post pics, don't worry); Baloo is a little more shy, but he's getting better around her all the time.  Adam and I will sometimes just look at her and we can tell how much she loves her new home; it gives us such a great feeling, but it also makes us a little sad because we realize that she endured a lot her first couple years of life (she is 3 years old now).

Like Baloo, Lucy likes to do her share of cuddling (or at least be right by my side).  She loves to run (although she hasn't been able to much since it's been so hot down here), eat cat food when she's not supposed to, rough house with Adam - we call her the Tasmanian Devil, and protect me when we are home alone.

Lastly, Lucy also has her share of nicknames, which include Lucy Bear, The Goose, Sweet Bear, and Sweet Rice.

Of course, I haven't forgotten about the other member of our household!  I think I will actually create a separate post just for him :o)

For now though, I am off to bed.  Goodnight all.

Newbie

Hello bloggers and readers (hopefully there is more than just one of you).

First, let me say, welcome to my blog.  I never thought that I'd start one of these, but a couple of months I got an idea - that having a blog would be a great way for me to share with my friends and family what I really love, photography.  At first I wasn't too serious about the blogging thing because as much as I love taking pictures, I am still just learning things and by no means am I a pro.  However, when I was in St. Louis earlier this month visiting a good friend, she made the comment to me (without me telling her that I had the same thought) that I should start a blog about my photography.  Well, I am really glad she said that to me because it made me reconsider the idea again and I thought to myself there is no reason not to go ahead and share my passion now.  I'm a little out of my comfort zone with all this, but I know it will be good for me to do.  If anything too, I think having this will be a neat way for me to see my progress as I continue to learn more.

Lastly, I hope that this blog thing might also be a great way for family and friends to keep up and see what Adam and I have been up to (since whenever they ask, I seem to always have the same answer -- "not much").  

So with that, here goes....