turtley died today (not pictured). its amazing how something that you barely have contact with could cause such heartache. justin and i inherited turtley from his little brother timmy, almost a year ago. he was a tiny little guy, maybe an inch and a half in length. i noticed a week ago that his shell seemed soft and fragile, so i started running the lamp for longer hours. i have been sick for the past couple of weeks, so i didn't pay much attention to the tank. last night i noticed that he was laying in the corner of the tank, with his head stretched out and laying on ground. he looked sick and barely moved when i poked at him. his shell had become extremely soft. i googled "sick turtle", and determined that it was a lack of uv rays and proper nutrition that led to his illness. i placed him in a separate impromptu tank with very little water on the ledge of my window sill. this morning he had moved down from the rock i had given him, and had eaten a little pellet food. i decided that this must be a good sign, even though i wasnt too happy abut the fact that he was sitting in the water with that soft shell. justin and i then dismantled our 55 gallon terrarium and relocated it to our trunk room (which is like a small office), directly next to a sunny window. after we completed the move i was going to put turtley back in the tank, and when i picked him up, he was lifeless.

we buried turtley in my downstairs neighbors front garden (sorry, laura).

i feel like such a bad mom. i wish i would have done more research on his particular breed of turtle, or kept the tank a little cleaner. i wish i could've saved him.

in response to our loss, justin and i have erected the "turtley memorial terrarium" which is basically our old aquarium, but with a new faux rock waterfall filter, live plants, water conditioner, moss, and new buffet style food (with krill and nasty shrimp).


in other news....
i am still on the hunt for the perfect bedroom set, and to be honest i am leaning towards the "MALM" set on IKEA. i know IKEA is cheap, but its also versatile and they have lots of different pieces for each set and the sets come in a variety of colors. Plus, i'm probably not going to want this bedroom set forever anyway. i think i am going to have to make a little road trip to potomac mills and check it out in person. justin and i went to EQ3, west elm, pottery barn, and crate and barrel today, and didn't see anything that either of us really liked.

i joined the gym today. exciting. if anyone goes to golds in the fan, we should work out together. aimee and i are going to "body flow" (cheesy name) class tomorrow, and to get myself extra inspired to start working out, i bought a really cute outfit... too bad i realized when i got home that it doesn't match my sneakers!

oh... we are obsessed with the showtime series "the tudors".

kit is coming in town tomorrow.

lars is helping me do some work to my bike tomorrow... riser bars, bmx kiddie grips, and new tubes.

"real simple: weddings" appears to be the best wedding magazine i have bought to date. it has limited ads and really focuses on planning, with easy to read lists.

my ring still hasn't made it to Virginia. (sad face) i called today to check on it, and was told that it was running late and wouldn't go out until thursday. which means that justins tatsoul chair will arrive before my ring... even though it was ordered nearly two weeks after. sigh. i am tired of telling people that i am getting married, only to have them glance down at my bare hand. boo.

alright, its late and i've had and emotionally exhausting day.

a.