8/12 Update

These days I am on squirrel lookout from the second floor. I've heard I might have my own backyard to watch over by the end of the month. But until then I have to watch from this window.

8/2 Update

We spent all weekend in Lake Orion. We were puppy sitting at Jason and Stacie's house. Did not fit very well in Stacie's bed with Barkley and Bentley, I ended up in Tony's (empty) bed eventually. We spent most of Saturday at Allison's parents house. Her sister Kelsey and her boyfriend Drew were in town visiting, and the grandparents were over too. Probably the big news over the weekend was on the house hunting front.

On Friday we looked at a few more houses and ended up really liking a colonial. It turns out it is a little bit bigger and a little bit cheaper and we think it'll work out better. Today on Sunday we heard back that our verbal counteroffer was acceptable. There is paperwork to sign and a loan to apply for. I'm slightly worried about the loan due to my non-traditional employment status, but my mortgage broker says he will be able to work it out.

This house is in Madison Heights by 13 Mile and Campbell. I was really going to post a link to the listing site, but the pictures honestly don't do it justice, so you will have to come see it!

July 26th

So, it has been quite some time since we updated. Our vacation to Vegas was a lot of fun, but hot! We ended up staying at Harrah's for 4 nights and The Palazzo for 2 nights. The suite at the Palazzo was really nice and had a reallllly comfy bed. We spend a day just driving around Red Rock Canyon and going shopping. We went to three shows; Mac King, Peep Show, and Mystere...I liked Mac King and Peep Show, but Mystere was a little out there for me. Oh well.

Since we've been back, we've been focusing on getting a house. We narrowed it down to 26, then 13, then 4...and (hope) we have a winner! It isn't 100% that we'll get it, but we're hoping! We'll hear back from our Mortgage Broker, Pete, on Monday and go from there!

It has a nice backyard for Bentley, which is probably our number 1 concern in choosing a house. Also, it has a cute patio, which will be nice for all the BBQ's Uncle Guy and Aunt Ann Marie will be coming to! ;) Click the link below for a virtual tour!

Here's the house: (deleted, bc, 8/2/09 -- not the house)

In other news, we started a new diet plan. It's called "Diet to Go". Every Wednesday, we get 4 boxes of food (2 fresh, 2 frozen) delivered to our house. It feeds us 3 meals a day, for 5 days a week. We just started, but I've already lost 3 lbs this week..and the food is good! We had grilled cheese, lentil chili, and a brownie for lunch today. Mac and Cheese and Cauliflower for Dinner! Num Num!

Other than that, we've just been enjoying living in Birmingham for the time being and spending time with Bentley.

Update July 1st

So, we're in between vacations. Actually its felt like a vacation for a while now. But one more trip to go.

Last week we were in Gatlinburg. We rented out a house. Eleven of us fit pretty easily, and we kept busy all week. We do a bunch of touristy stuff during the day, and drank hard at night. All in all a good week. Highlight was either the white water rafting trip or riding a ski-lift to the top of the mountains.

We've been getting used to the new place in Birmingham. It's pretty nice. No back yard to let Bentley play in, but he's been getting four walks a day so he can't complain too much. There are a lot of dogs in this neighborhood. Last night I walked to the Kroger to get stir fry veggies, it was pretty cool I thought.

I'm hoping the trip to Vegas will be cool. Bentley is staying at my parents. It's Allison's first time to Vegas, so I hope the city makes a good impression on her. I'm hoping to see a bunch of shows and gamble on the Tigers while I'm there. Andrew is playing in the main event which will be fun to watch. Plus I'll get to meet up with Derek and Mike, and I think Marc and Nancy will be other there too.

All in all things are going pretty good, just hectic.

June 18th Update

Hey everyone-

It's been about a week since we updated this thing, and in that week, A LOT has happened.

Friday, we watched the Wings blow it.

Saturday, we had my brother's girlfriend's (Elaina) open house.

Last Thursday, a friend of mine passed away. He was only 21, and it was a very, very sad weekend for family, friends, and the entire community. So on Sunday, I had a viewing to go to for a few hours. In my entire life, I've only been to 3 funerals/viewings; one for Pat's dad and two for friends. It was hard to go and see his family, but my friend Michelle went with me (we all grew up together in the same neighborhood) and she made it at least bearable.

Monday, Brandon, Bentley, and I moved out of Andrew's house. We're now living in a flat in Birmingham, Mi. It's pretty much where Adams, Maple, and Woodward all connect. It's only one bedroom, but I really, really, like it. We're subleasing it until September 1st. By then, we should be moving into a permanent house in either the White Lake area or Madison Heights. I'll post some pictures later, both on facebook and here.

This Saturday, Brandon and I are leaving on vacation for a week. We're going to Gatlinburg, TN with 10 friends. We rented a big cabin in the middle of the woods for a week, and we're going to do the normal touristy things as well as relax! Then, when we get back, we'll be home for 3 days before leaving for Vegas!! We'll be there from July 1st- July 7th.

Busy end of June and beginning of July!!!

Update June 11th

Bentley here, and I am so happy today because I am so good at my job -- I am the house protector. Early this morning I smelled something so I woke up Allison. Then I ran outside and did a perimeter search. And I found what I had smelled! It was an elephant. I think. So I went back inside to protect the house. I know you guys are skeptical of my dog protecting abilities, so I took some pictures of the elephant. You can clearly see me using my mind control powers to keep the elephant outside of the house. Steak for me tonight I'm sure!

June 10, 2009

Let's see. It's Wednesday...Brandon is playing basketball and I'm doing laundry at home. Andrew has been gone since Friday, so it has just been the 3 of us here by ourselves. It's been nice, and I'm excited to have our own house soon. While Andrew was away, I decided to steam-clean the carpet..because after having 2 puppies living here it was pretty beat up! It looks a lot better, and I didn't have a hard time cleaning it at all. It's pretty much a big vacuum cleaner.

Last Thursday, I was tested for Hypothyroidism, Diabetes, Mono, and Chronic-Fatigue. I've been feeling really drained lately and wasn't sure what was wrong with me. After talking to my Doctor, she decided I should get a full blood workup done and an ultrasound (I was having pain in my lower left abdomen). I got all of the results back today, annnndddd... I'm in the clear! Everything came back normal, which is good and bad! They're still not sure what's causing me to be so tired and drained, but they're pretty sure it has something to do with me having Mono last summer. I got cleared for exercising again (I was pretty much on bed rest until i got the results back) so now Sue and I can go to the gym! I have a follow-up ultrasound in 3 weeks, but other than that, I'm okay!

Other than that, We really havent been up to much around here!

June 6th update

Hey all it's Brandon. Not too much has been going on. Quick shoutout to my parents for being married 29 years, go them. Also not too much has been going on. We've been to three Tiger games this week. They've all been pretty fun, but not so much winning. Somehow the Tigers are 0-4 when we've attended. Hopefully if Allison can fill you guys in on any good details for this weekend, I'm going to a bachelor party (no details of that for you guys) and she is busy with something I forget. Later.

May 26th

This past weekend was really busy!

Friday, Brandon played poker all night, and I caught up on some homework, went to dinner with some friends, and then saw Night at the Museum 2. I wasn't feeling all that great, but I went anyway. It was a cute movie. Saw it in IMAX....nice.

Saturday, we went to the DIA with Brandon's mom and dad. Some parts were really cool, some parts were really boring. And it was crowded! But after the DIA, we went and got Korean food at Wasabi. Then we went to Babys R Us, Came home, did more homework, Brandon played more poker, and Bentley did some sleeping.

Sunday, we woke up, put the Tiger's game on TV, started some laudry, and then met Carolyn (our realtor) to look at some houses. We saw 7 houses total, and we liked about 4 of them. We're starting to get really excited to move into our own house. It's still about 2 months away from now, but we've already started moving stuff into the spare rooms to make it easier when we do move!!
After that, we went to Best Buy to pick up a camcorder for Eric and Jasmine. It was a lot of fun playing with all the cameras! We picked out a blue, flash memory one and called it a day. Then we headed over to Brandon's parent's house for the night to help get ready for the luncheon on Monday. I had a lot of fun playing with Anya and Asia and helping prep everything for Monday.


Memorial Day started with the parade. Brandon, I, Amanda, Mike, Anya , Asia, and Bentley all went downtown to watch the parade. It was hot out, and I got reallllly sunburnt (even though I was only out there for an hour!!) We got to see Eric, Jasmine, and of course, Cashman! walking in the parade. Bentley was very well behaved and even got to play with some other dogs that were there. After the parade, we went back to the house to finish getting everything ready. All-in-all, the party went really well, and Jenevieve is extremely cute. She is really LITTLE!!!!!! The pictures just dont do her justice! :)

May 22nd

Friday. Party time. Or time to grind the online poker. I got in 8k hands of poker and Allison went to see the new Museum movie with some friends. I had a huge annoying downswing in my first hour but came back and made a small profit on the day. I think the 20oz Delmonico and two beers was what turned my luck around. Tomorrow we have an actual museum plan, Sunday some house-looking, and Monday a party for my new niece. Hopefully I can sneak in another 10k hands this weekend.

What a Lonnnng Night!

Hi all, Bentley here!

So, today.. after i scratched Tony and took a nice nap, I told my people that I wanted to go to see my friend Brooklyn.

Brooklyn is a boxer and she's afraid of a lot of people, especially men. My mom adopted her from the same rescue league that I lived at for a few weeks. Brooklyn used to live with my mom in her apartment, but Brooklyn didn't like my mom's roommates, so she sent her to stay with Grandma B. Grandma B decided she likes Brooklyn too much to let her live with us now, but she's allowed to come over for sleepovers. Here's a picture of us just chillin'

Then we played outside while my parents hung out in the hot-tub. After that, we hung out with Zac and Elaina. They made some vanilla cupcakes, and Brooklyn and I got to eat what they dropped, SUCKERS! I showed off my new talent "beg" and got even more cupcake! Wooo! After I was done stuffing myself, we got in the car to leave. We rolled the windows down so I could feel the cool breeze in my ears. On the way home, we stopped at Taco Bell. They don't serve my usual fav, chicken nuggets, but I did get some dry food when I got home.

I'm pooped.

Bored...

I've been sleeping all day while I should be outside! There are squirrels outside!

And then tony came over. Scratched Tony up. Now it's nap time.

This is what I look like now:

5/21/09

So it's nice out, and I'm sitting inside watching Jeopardy. That's about it.

May 21st --2009

So, I've had many blogs in the past 6-10 years, with my first one starting when I was just 12. Trust me, you don't want to see it; it's filled with bad grammar, silly crushes, and pictures of me smack dab in the middle of puberty. I have a website: www.Allisoncrosley.com but it's under construction right now, since I'm trying to set it up so it's accessible for my students when I start TA'ing at Eastern Michigan University next year. It's a bit intimidating, because no one really uses HTML for websites anymore, so I'm feeling really lost mostly.

Brandon on the other hand, well.. we've only know eachother since 2007, so I'm not sure what his blogging history entails. Right now, he's on the www.brandoncharnesky.com kick. He's been posting video blogs a couple times a week and uploading interesting poker graphs.

Bentley is a dog. He has no blogging experience, but he is cute.


I'm going to try to update this blog (and get Brandon to, too!) a few times a week. We're usually pretty busy, but whenever anyone asks us what we've been doing, we draw a blank and say "Nothing, really". Hopefully this way we can document what we do, before we forget we did it! ;)

To start us off, here are some recent pictures....