Look what we found...

      Since our time here in Toulon is quickly coming to a close (we are out of here in less than a month) we decided to get a head start on getting some of our stuff together. Nothing too major, more like going through old papers and boxes and tossing the stuff we don't want/need anymore. With my mom coming to visit and us doing a little travelling before heading back to the states, we figured it would be a good idea to get some stuff out of the way now as opposed to later. And we have a lot of stuff...25 boxes or so. Hey, that is what you get for living in the same country for 11 years. Sometimes I think we are way more settled here than back in Atlanta. I envy those who come over here with their two bags and manage to not buy anything while here so packing up and leaving is a breeze (truth be told this is the only time I envy them, since I much prefer having things that I want or need all year long). But as anyone knows, the first step of packing often takes way more time than needed since you find things you haven't seen in a while and, in my case, curiosity always gets the better of me. I stumble upon cooking magazines I had packed away, holiday cards or old blank CD's and I need to look through each of them before chucking. I will take this time to say this, I am not a hoarder, nor will I ever be, I am just thorough and a bit sentimental. I am sentimental until I have to pack up, then things get the 'ax' real quick.Well, today I hit the jackpot, or what we consider the jackpot. Sitting in the bottom of our 'entertainment' box was a CD titled 'photos'. I set it aside and finished up with the rest of the boxes all the while wondering what 'photos' were on this CD. So when I finished, I popped the CD into our finicky laptop and figured if it worked, it worked. But if it didn't, I would throw it out. Well, it worked and I was so surprised to find loads of old pictures of Max and Bella, our 2 Jack Russells we lost this past summer. Seeing these pictures reminded me of what characters they were and I am so happy I gave the CD a second shot. It's hard to say I would of been devastated if I threw it out with out looking at it since I never really knew it existed in the first place, but fortunately it worked and made my day to boot. See...there is a method to my packing madness after all. Some of these pictures are old (8 years ago old), some are in the US, some are in France but all of them made me smile and a few made me laugh out loud. Enjoy!!

{Shaun and Max aka. Maxy, Bubba, Bubby, Bubs, The Bubbinator, White Fluff and my friend called him Ben since she thought he looked more like a Ben than a Max.....}

{Me and Bella aka. Boogie, Boogie-woogs, Belly, Tinky, Tinky-bear, Princess Boogie-woogs, Donkey, Peanut ...the list goes on and I am getting embarassed as I type this....not really}

{Made a Christmas wreath in France and Bella was subjected to posing with it... notice Max getting in on the action in the bottom left hand side. Although more probable, he was trying to get out of the action.}

{My mom sent this gift for the dogs in a care package to France and it quickly became Max's best friend, and I mean best friend. He would drag it (its nearly as big as he was) outside to go to the bathroom, he would sleep with it, he would fight with it.....and no, he didn't hump it for all you sickos out there, kept it purely platonic}

{Having a little birthday fun}

{Not one to ever be left out, Bella joined in on the fun}

{The crew}