Friday, January 29, 2010

Such an Adorable Dog

Seriously, can you find a cuter dog?? Usually, this is Ava's chair, but the other night, Jackson slowly hoisted himself into it and flopped down.

Snow, Snow, Snow

It snowed so much yesterday! We were sure we were in for another foot or so, but weirdly enough, even though it snowed all day long, nothing really accumulated. Joe was sorely disappointed. But he made sure he and Jackson took advantage of it while it was coming down (they both LOVE the snow).

Snow dog!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Stormy Day

It rained ALL DAY today. And it rained hard. Seriously, it was the rain storm of the century. I had to come home on my lunch break to take Jackson out, and everything was a soppy mess. I dressed in Joe's rain pants (that he wears golfing - I guess rain won't stop a dedicated golfer) and my snowboard jacket, and braved the weather - all for a spoiled rotten pup!

Ground outside our place - flooded.

Walking down the street was like navigating a river.

This doesn't really show the rain that well...

But this is what Jackson looked like after a short 10-minute walk!

Good Weekend

Joe and I had a really good weekend. On Saturday, we went to the same place Joe bought my engagement ring, and ordered the matching wedding bands. They are so beautiful all put together!

After ring-shopping, we went to Target and registered. I know it's early, but it was one thing we could complete early and not have to worry about. Oh my God, it was so much fun, too! It feels really good to think about starting fresh, with dishes and glasses and cooking utinsils that aren't chipped, cracked, melted, or hand-me-downs from 20 years ago. haha. We also registered at www.honeyfund.com - this website where guests can help send you on your honeymoon by donating toward airfare, hotel stays, food, and other stuff. We are working on a strict budget, so this is really going to help us actually afford a honeymoon!

Then on Sunday, we went out to dinner with a newlywed couple we were introduced to by a common friend. We had a great time - they were really fun and easy going, and had a lot of great advice for planning a wedding on a budget (they also had a destination wedding - in Oregon). We went to this famous pizza place that has a horribly unfriendly waitstaff, a very strict seating policy, and unimpressive decor, but excellent pizza that people come from all over the country for. It's called Peppe's Pizza. It was fun to get out - we don't get out too often. They also had a puppy, so of course we liked them. :) The puppy is a 5-month-old Doberman mix, and absolutely adorable. I think Ava was pissed that I came home smelling like another dog, though. She opted to sleep in her bed on our bedroom floor instead of in bed with me like normal.

So, a good weekend. Hope everyone else had a great one as well!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Wedding Expo

Joe and I went to our first Wedding Expo this weekend. It was in Hartford, and although it wasn't as fancy as I would have hoped (I was looking for free champagne, but whatever), it was a nice event and we got some good ideas.

We found a couple places that had really nice invitations that we are going to look into, plus we saw a fashion show from this one gown shop and I decided to sign up for a consultation from them - they had a lot of great styles. I also signed up to go visit David's Bridal - they are supposed to have nice gowns for cheap.

We have a lot of flyers to look through, so I'm sure we'll get even more ideas. Definitely worth the trip!

Can You Spot the Dog?

I know, it's not that hard, but I just thought it was so funny that she dug under a pile of Jackson's toys that I had put on 'her' chair to take a nap. :)

Friday, January 8, 2010

An OMG Moment at Work

I received this email from Joe one day during work:

"I had my first patient fart on me today. I was adjusting this 50+ year old woman's back and when I dropped... bbbbbppppptttt! And she didn't even react to it! Didn't say excuse me or anything. Later she told me she had a Mai Tai for lunch. Like that explained everything. Seriously, is this going to be a hazard of my job??"

haha!!

He had me totally cracking up. HAD to share it with all of you!

New Year's Day Trip to D.C.

On New Year's Day, Joe and I packed up the dogs and headed down to Washington D.C.! It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment trip. Joe had a three-day weekend and we hadn't seen Stuart or anyone since we got engaged and we wanted to share everything with them. We didn't think we would be able to go because of snow conditions but that Friday morning we looked up the weather forecast and decided to chance it.

The dogs were very good for the trip, like always. I think they are used to these long road trips. I just imagine them saying, "Okay, guess we're moving again. I wonder where to this time?"

Doesn't Ava look chill? She's thinking "Hope it's warmer where we're going". (She was sorely disappointed.)

We got to Stuart's place around 5:00 p.m. on Friday. It was a looooong trip, but it was nice to have our new GPS that we got for Christmas from Joe's mom. It definitely made finding our way to Stuart's place on Capital Hill a lot easier.

We actually didn't do a whole lot while we were there, but it was just really nice to be able to see our friend and catch up. And Joe liked killing terrorists with Stuart via Call of Duty 4. They would listen to me talk about the wedding for a while, and then have to be 'boys' and play their game. :)

Such focus!

There is a dog park right by Stuart's apartment, so we took the dogs there once. It was so cold, though, by the time we walked the one block over, we were already practically frozen through. Ava REALLY didn't like it that I took her out in that weather. But I put on her coat and bundled her up and made her get out and see the city!

Right here in the sun is fine with me, mom!

Are you KIDDING me?? It's freezing out here!

And then there is Jack. "It's cold out here? Huh, didn't notice. Kick the ball again, dad!"

Aside from walking up to a Thai restaurant to pick up take-out our first night there, the dog park was our one excursion out. Didn't see much of the city, but that was okay. Stuart has a very nice apartment and we had a great time staying in.

Hanging out.

Stuart's "what up" sign.

All the boys.

My friend Laura from Birthday in a Box came to hang out for a while Saturday night. It was so nice to see her! We talked a lot about the wedding and she so graciously said she would help me with my flowers since she worked at a florist for ten years! Score! (Didn't get any pictures of her, though, darn it. Too focused on catching up to take any.)

The trip definitely made us realize how much we miss the big city. Our next move (whenever that may be) will have to be closer to a city!

New Year's Eve 2010

Better late than never, right? I haven't blogged in a while, and I need to catch up on a few things. First of all, our New Year's Eve celebration was pretty quiet, but really nice. We had won a magnum of champagne at a holiday gift exchange, so we saved if at opened it up that night. Not sure why I thought the two of us could put away an entire magnum, but it was fun trying. And of course I had to get sparklers, because no New Year's Eve is complete without fireworks. :)

Our New Year's Eve loot.

Ringing in the New Year!!

Joe with his last soda before our wedding.

Joe has an addition to caffeine. He spent 12 years being caffeine-free... until he met me. And then I introduced him to Dr. Pepper and took him to Europe where he HAD to try the coffee, and it was all over after that.

He says he can't give up caffeine entirely (who would I drink Starbucks with??), but he is going to give up soda... at least until the wedding. Let's all wish him luck!

Some of our other New Year's goals:

Begin a happy and healthy marriage.
Pay off debt.
Volunteer more.

2010 is starting off pretty great, actually, and it's going to be such an exciting year! Can't wait to share it with all of you!