Family & Fur

Moving to Wordpress

2011-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have decided to move my blog to Wordpress. I just think it will be easier to manage. I hope you all will follow me over there! I even bought my own url, so head over to:

http://familyandfur.com

And don't forget to update your subscriptions and bookmarks!

P.S. I'm starting all the wedding recaps on the new platform to help entice you over. :)

2010 in Review

2010-12-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

Here is my year in review:

February - I fly to Seattle for my first wedding shower.

March - Joe receives his Bachelor's Degree.

March - Gown shopping with my mom and I purchase my dream wedding gown.

March - First trip into Boston.

May - A trip into Maine.

May - My 29th birthday celebrated with a trip to New York City.

June - Our final trip into Mystic, Connecticut.

June - Joe's 40th birthday, a surprise visit from Cindy and Samantha, and Fenway Park!

June - Another trip into New York City (continuing Joe's birthday celebration).

July - Walking the National Mall with the dogs.

July - Last night out with friends in Washington D.C.

July - We start our cross-country move back to Seattle, with a stop in Chicago.

July - During out trip through Yellowstone, we see a bear and her cubs.

August - My neice gets married!

August - I start a new job where I can bring Ava to work.

September - We get our marraige license!

September - My cousin throws us another shower.

September - Joe's family throws us a wedding shower.

October - We get married!!!

October - We take an amazing, relaxing honeymoon to Cancun.

October - My cousin gets married.

November - We meet my cousin's new dog Bogey for the first time during Thanksgiving.

December - We celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple!

It has literally been the most amazing year! I have never been happier and am so happy with all the fun adventures we've been able to experience in 2010. I know it will be a hard year to beat, but I already know that 2011 will be amazing as well.

I hope you all are as happy with your 2010 as I am with mine!

Christmas Day

2010-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

Joe and I really wanted to keep our tradition of having our own special Christmas morning with just our family of four. So, Christmas morning we woke up in the room we were staying in at Joe's parent's house, got some coffee, and settled in for our little gift exchange.

First, we took down our stockings.

(I had to hang them up the night before.)

Then the dogs got to open their gifts. Well, actually, Jackson opened both gifts while Ava watched from the warmth of the blanket on my lap.

Jackson playing with his new Christmas raccoon.

Then we opened the gifts from each other.

You can still see Ava sleeping in my lap - that's my girl!

Joe has been begging me for the movie "Shooter" for months.

Yay! The new S.K. book!

mmmm... Beckham. :)

I loved our little private Christmas morning. I don't have any pictures from the rest of the day, but we had another nice relaxing day with family. We headed over to Joe's aunt's house for lunch and hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. After lunch we went back to Joe's parent's and a few other family members stopped by to catch up. It was nice.

Low-key, that was our Christmas. And it's just what we needed.

Christmas Eve Festivities

2010-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's New Year's Eve already! I've really been lazy between Christmas and now! So be prepared for a few posts today, so I can get caught up before 2011 begins.

We spent Christmas with Joe's family in Portland. It was a nice relaxing weekend with family.

On Christmas Eve, we invited our friends over so we could give gifts to their kids. One of their little girls, Marleigh, was the flower girl at our wedding. We were really happy to see them during the holiday, even though everyone was so busy.

Marleigh and McKenna

Zander as the center of attention. :)

Zander opening his gift - a dump truck. (Joe almost kept it for himself he liked playing with it so much. I suppose all men are just big boys at heart, huh?)

Marleigh and me.

After we visited with them for a bit, it was time to head over to Joe's sister and brother-in-law's house for Christmas Eve dinner. This is one of the things that Joe has missed the most since we moved away - his brother-in-law's cooking!

Cindy and Shane with the famous prime rib.

Family getting ready for dinner.

My in-laws.

After dinner it was time to open gifts. Everyone was very sweet and generous and we were gifted a lot of great things.

Me and my husband. :)

Sam, Dalton, and Zach opening the last of their gifts. (Look at that mess behind them!)

Cindy with her fur-nephew. Doesn't Jackson look so happy?

It was a great night and I have to say, I'm pretty lucky to have this family as my in-laws. :)

Christmas Fun at Work

2010-12-30T07:46:00.001-08:00

The Thursday before Christmas, my work had some fun things going ton. We had an ugly sweater contest, a cubicle decorating contest, cookie party, and potluck. My little team had fun with all the festivities. Here I am with two of my coworkers in our ugly sweaters in front of our cubicle, which we tranformed into a gingerbread house.

I've never owned an ugly sweater, so my coworker brought me one to wear. It was a kid's sweater that was too small and super awful. Unfortunately, I didn't win the contest, though.

Our Fur-Cousin's First Christmas

2010-12-29T09:57:00.000-08:00

I have a ton of pictures to share with you of our Christmas, but Joe and I have both been feeling a bit under the weather, so I haven't had the energy to get things organized. Until then, I do have a picture to share with you of our fur-cousin, Bogey.

Bogey is my cousin's new dog and he celebrated his first Christmas with his forever family this year. Doesn't he look excited?

Okay, so he doesn't really look that excited. But he looks cute! And while I wasn't able to visit with him (or any of my family) this Christmas, I hear he had a wonderful time and got lots of great presents.

Merry Christmas to Bogey and all the new pets out there who finally have their forever home!

Cookie Party

2010-12-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday night, I headed up to Edmonds for a cookie party hosted by Heidi. It started at one in the afternoon, so I figured we would be baking cookies for a few hours and I'd head home early that evening. I had NO idea what a Taffera cookie party was all about! I was there for over seven hours and we made TONS of cookies. It was unbelievable.

Before the guys left us alone. :)

Heidi's friend's new baby, Cooper. He was the only boy allowed at the party and he stole the show!

Shasta

Heidi rocking her new apron. SO 50's housewife, no?

Hanging out, drinking wine, and having snacks before the baking begins.

Me, Cooper, and Cooper's mom Mo.

The makings for Holly Leaves.

Seriously, he stole the show.

Half of our sugar cookies.

I had such a great time hanging out with the girls, but I swear, I was exhausted at the end of the night. AND my favorite cookies made that day were the Holly Leaves and I think I got to eat one of the 10 I took home. Apparently, they are also Joe's favorite. haha

Christmas Card

2010-12-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

I love sending out Christmas cards during the holidays. It's such a fun way to connect with people and show them what you've been up to during the year. And since Joe and I got married this year, this year's card was even more meaningful.

While I didn't want to focus the entire card on the wedding (I mean, that isn't ALL we did this year!) I did have to include one of my favorite pictures from the big day. I also included a picture of Joe and me at Fenway Park, and of course a picture of each of the dogs - our family.

I thought it turned out great. And with Shutterfly's promotion, we got 50 of these lovelies for the cost of shipping. Can't beat that!

Another Trip to Snowflake Lane

2010-12-19T09:44:00.001-08:00

Friday night I rushed home after work, walked and fed the dogs, and then rushed back out to downtown Bellevue. Joe and I were planning to meet a work friend of mine, Stacy, and her boyfriend, Jon, to watch Snowflake Lane. I was driving there and Joe was taking the bus from Renton. Well, it didn't work out quite like we hoped.

Traffic of course was crazy and I barely got parked and made it up to the street before the show started. There are thousands of people who come out for the show and I weaved my way through the crowds in search of my friend but never found her. And Joe was stuck on a bus in traffic and missed the whole thing. So, I watched the show by myself, but it was still amazing. :)

When the show ended, we all met up at the bar in Red Robin. Stacy, Jon and I had drinks and waited for Joe, who was stuck on the bus for an hour. Once he got there, we ordered some appetizers (happy hour started as soon as he arrived, so it was actually good timing), and we had a good time.

But seriously, Snowflake Lane this year has been hard to see! First, Joe had to miss out because he had to wait for a table at ZTejas while my mom and dad and I enjoyed the show. Then, we tried to go with friends but it was pouring down rain. Then we tried to go with other friends and never found each other. Crazy!

We're going to have to plan better next year.

Five Favorites for Friday

2010-12-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

1. Ada the Terminata
So, they don't allow you to copy any pictures off of The Biggest Loser site, but I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about. Ada won third place in The Biggest Loser competition. She was amazing. She had a lot of issues with her parents, but ended up being the most giving, considerate, selfless person AND the most hard-working and dedicated person. She was a machine, it was awesome to watch. And while she didn't win (Patrick won and I was so happy about that!), she definitely became America's sweetheart.

2. Large Dog Breeds
Meet Tovan (below). He is a Saint Bernard mix available for foster or adoption in Seattle. I *love* him and sent his picture and story to Joe with the subject line: "Can we foster (then adopt) this guy?" I am just obsessed right now with adding a big dog to the family. I think we should have one of each size - wouldn't that be adorable? It's good that I have a level-headed husband who reminds me that we have a tiny apartment, no yard, and no extra time to dedicate to a new dog. But someday.... (If you want to foster or adopt him, though, visit his Petfinder site!)

3. Pink
I'm not a big music person. I'm not the type of girl who loves going to concerts or freaks out about musicians. I like listening to music, I like dancing, but music usually doesn't make a huge impact in my life. But I *love* Pink. She has helped me through many a bad break-up and now that I'm happliy married and in love, I still love her crank-the-volume, dance-in-your-car, scream-out-the-lyrics songs. She rocks.

4. Flash Mobs

They are popping up everywhere! There was even one recently in Seattle that made Yahoo's front page. I have yet to see one in person, but I love the whole idea of it all. You're standing there minding your own business, and all of a sudden all these strangers around you break into song or dance. How cool would that be to experience?

5. Unconventional Christmas Songs

Oh wait, this was on last week's list as well! But I heard a few others this week and had to share.

First, The Maine's "Santa Stole My Girlfriend". It's this nice, slow, pretty song and then all of a sudden, they call Santa a bitch. Hilarious.

Next, did you know Gaga released a Christmas song? Yep!

So, do we share any favorites this week?

Clever Flow Chart for Dog Owners

2010-12-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

Joe and I always say that those dog owners who don't pick up after their dogs are the people who give all dog owners a bad name. We hate it. So, I thought this flow chart was pretty awesome. It should be posted at every dog park, street corner, and trail.

(You should be able to click on it to see it bigger. If not, click over to http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2010/12/14/its-winter-your-dog-has-pooped-what-now#wide-screen-content)

My favorite bubble: "Are You a Jerk?" heehee

CityDog Holiday Muttmixer

2010-12-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was City Dog Magazine's Holiday Muttmixer. It was held at Westside Yoga and Doga in West Seattle. I wasn't able to bring Ava this time because I didn't have time to go get her after work, but I went with a few friends from Trupanion. We brought dog food to donate, ate some yummy appetizers, and just had fun watching all the dogs in attendence.

The whole Trupanion gang.

Alex, Akvile, and Stacy with their dogs Benny, Batman, and Ellie.

A Corgie/Bulldog mix

Ellie!

One of the professional shots taken at the event - Batman!

City Dog events are seriously the best. Can't wait till the next one!

Movie Night with Friends

2010-12-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine from work had said that she wanted to check out Snowflake Lane. I told her Joe and I were planning to go Saturday night, if her and her husband wanted to join us. She agreed. However, as Saturday evening progressed, so did the monsoon outside, so we decided it probably wasn't a good night to stand out in the rain. So, we invited them over to our place instead, and told them to bring their dog, Batman, to play with Jackson and Ava.

Usually Jackson is a little territorial with other dogs. We wanted to have the playdate, but figured we might be on edge a little bit, watching Jackson to make sure he behaved himself. But we were surprised with Jackson immediately started playing with Batman and SHARING his toys! We all had a fun and relaxing night. It was great.

Jackson, Ava, and Batman

Ava watching the action.

Hanging out.

Batman with Jackson's fish.

Saying goodbye.

Five Favorites For Friday

2010-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it turns out that all my five things this week are related to Christmas. Go figure.

1. Kitty & Canine Holiday Blogger Gift Exchange
Joe and Ava signed up for this a few weeks ago, and they got paired with two sweet dogs in Indianapolis, Indiana! They sent their matches their gifts a couple days ago, and look forward to seeing what comes in the mail in the next week or so.

2. Snowflake Lane
You read about my first trip to Snowflake Lane with my parents. Joe and I plan to go a couple more times before it ends. It's just so much fun and such good energy. Everyone is so happy and singing along with the Christmas songs... and it's so fun watching the kids, who are just in awe of everything. We love it!

3. Christmas Tree on Top of the Space Needle
They put it up the day after Thanksgiving and it looks so cool. Every night when I drive home in the dark, it lights up the city skyline as I drive past and always makes me smile.

4. Traditional Christmas Songs

I have the "All I Want For Christmas is You" station set up on Pandora and I love listening to all the songs and thinking how 99% of people in the world know the lyrics to them. They are classic and just make Christmas. My favorites are It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, White Christmas, Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride.... okay, I love them all!

5. Unconventional Christmas Songs

You know, like Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah", The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping", and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Raindeer". I always find myself cranking the volume and signing at the top of my lungs when these come on. Below is a new one I just discovered by Simple Plan called "Christmas List."

Here are some the lyrics, because I think they are hilarious:

"Santa is coming tonight and I want a car, and I want a life, and I want a first class trip to Hawaii. I want a lifetime supply of skittles & slurpees and Eskimo pies. I want a DVD, a big screen TV."
"I want a girl in my bed who knows what to do, and a PlayStation 2. I want a shopping spree in New York City!"

haha, too funny.

What are your favorite things this week?

Ava Loves Her Dad

2010-12-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Joe always complains because he says Ava loves me more than she loves him. While I know she is a momma's girl, I also know that she absolutely adores her dad. And it's moments like this that prove my point:

Christmas Morning with Mom and Dad

2010-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, we had Christmas morning with my parents. See, we are spending Christmas with Joe's family this year, so my parents decided to come up early to celebrate. And since my dad is leaving on a ten-week trip to California and Texas on Friday, this weekend was the chosen weekend. We pretended it was really Christmas - wishing each other Merry Christmas and opening presents. :)

First, the dogs got to open their presents. Since we have had the dogs, they have received presents. But until this year, they had never actually had any interest in opening them themselves. But Jackson was totally into it this year!

I think he thought he might be doing something wrong.

Ava required her servants to open hers. (Jackson ended up serving her, lol)

Then it was our time to open our presents.

Mom made me some amazing granola.

Jackson actually even helped my mom open her gift of two DVDs. :) (Yes, that is my mom's gift he has in his mouth. My mom thought it was soooo cute.)

And he helped Joe open his gift of an ipod dock.

I received a handsfree device for my phone. (I guess my mom got annoyed with me calling her all the time on the road, when it's illegal to do so.)

One of our gifts for my parents was tickets to the Gold Glass Cinemas in Redmond. And we headed there right away to watch the movie "The Next Three Days". (P.S. Super stressful movie. Seriously. But good.)

At the theater hanging out in the lobby.

Perusing the menu...

Kicked back, waiting for the movie to start.

Best. Theater. Ever.

My mom had to leave shortly after the movie ended, but it really was a great 'Christmas' morning. My dad, Joe and I all headed back home to relax. My dad left Monday morning.

Christmas in the Country and Snowflake Lane

2010-12-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Joe had to go to work, so I had the whole day to spend with my parents. First, we took the dogs for a walk.

There was frost on the ground, so Ava had to wear her pajamas. :)

Then, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island for 'Christmas in the Country'.

On the ferry with my dad.

Basically, there are a bunch of shops that you can travel to around the island who show off their wares. We know one of the shops (owned by my uncle's brother) and we hit a few more while we were there. We bought some wine, jelly and homemade dips. It was pretty fun.

At a winery.

My mom buying wine.

An outdoor fireplace at one of the shops.

Inside one of the shops.

When we got back from Bainbridge Island, we picked up Joe and headed to downtown Bellevue for dinner and Snowflake Lane. We got there a little late, so Joe got us a table at ZTejas while my parents and me watched Snowflake Lane.

(FYI, Snowflake Lane is a nightly performance in downtown Bellevue where a band plays Christmas music, there is a light show, and fake snow falls from the sky. It's awesome.)

My mom and dad in the middle of the crowd.

A drummer on stilts.

Me in the middle of the crowd.

Then, finally at dinner at ZTejas.

It was a very busy but very fun day. When we got back home I totally crashed. I was exhausted!

The One Where I Dedicate an Entire Post to a TV

2010-12-05T08:00:00.001-08:00

My parents drove up on Friday for our Christmas weekend, since we will be going to Joe's family for actual Christmas this year. And they brought with them the big-ass TV that Joe bought on Black Friday. Joe was a happy man.

We set it up as soon as Joe got off work Friday night.

It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? We don't have cable still, but we did set up the DVD player and watched The Hangover that night. It's a big TV, for sure, but it's not as obnoxiously big as I thought it would be in our tiny apartment.

AND I set up the Wii, so I can play Tennis and Bowling with a practically lifesize avatar. haha.

Definitely a worthwhile purchase, don't you think?

SNOvember

2010-12-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have no idea how December will shape up, but boy, was November cold and snowy! There was a snow storm in Seattle that led to the scariest and most trecherous commute home ever. Then a snow day home with the dogs. Then a snowy drive to Wenatchee for Thanksgiving and an even snowier and colder drive back home.

While a lot of it was a little scary, we all ended up safe and warm, so really, looking back I can say it was all pretty exciting too!

Snowy walk with Jack.

It was very cold, but you wouldn't know it by Jack's reaction. He couldn't have loved it more and refused to take time away from his SNOploration to look at the camera.

Snowy roads.

Ice waterfalls on the way to Wenatchee - I have always loved these!

More ice waterfalls - ice falls?

Beautiful snow covered woods at the top of the pass.

Five Favorites for Friday

2010-12-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start a little weekly blog thing called "Five Favorites for Friday". Every Friday I'll post five of my favorite things. I figure it'll be a good way for you all to get to know me a little better. Let's see if I can remember to actually do this every Friday! (Get-to-know-Heather Fact #1 - I'm forgetful.)

1. The Starbucks Red Cup
I don't know what I love more - Starbucks coffee or the red cup it comes in this time of year. I get very excited for Christmas and the red cup is just one of the many things that reminds me that the holidays are upon us. It just makes me happy. I also love the fact that Starbucks brings out their peppermint flavoring this time of year. A peppermint soy latte just tastes like Christmas.

2. Sparkling Water
I have always thought that sparkling water was for those uppity people that thought they were too good for regular water. I remember going to Europe for the first time and the waiters always asked if we wanted water 'with or without bubbles' and my family and I would laugh and request it without. But when I was on my honeymoon, I drank a lot one night and was sick of alcohol after that. I ordered sparkling water on a whim and loved it. I've been buying it ever since.

3. Gold Class Cinemas at Redmond Town Center
Joe and I discovered this gem one day when we were trying to find a place to take his nephew to see a movie. We weren't allowed in because it was for 21+ only. So we made a point to go back ourselves a couple weeks ago and oh.my.god it has changed the movie watching experience forever. You sit it huge comfy recliners and waiters serve you alcohol and real food. I honestly can't think of a better way to watch a movie, unless you actually had a theater in your own home.

4. Christmas Lights

I usually hate the fact that it gets dark so early in the Winter. But during the Christmas season, it's actually kind of cool because as I'm driving home in the dark I get to see all the beautiful lights on people's houses. They make the street glow and no matter what kind of day I've had, they always make me smile. I can't wait to get lights for our own deck!

5. Wedding Photos
I know, I promise to post some wedding photos soon. It's just that I'm being selfish and exploring them slowly and repeatedly on my own before picking the ones to share on here. But I will say that I absolutely adore the photos I received from our photographer. They turned out beautifully, even though she didn't have a whole lot to work with (we were forced to take most of our photos in the lobby of our hotel). I'm seriously so thankful to her, and for my cousin (a bridesmaid) for recommending her and getting her to give us a deal. :)

What are your favorite things this week?

Black Friday

2010-12-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, Black Friday. Black Friday is actually one of the (less noble) things I am thankful for. To me it is a firm start to the Christmas season, and I'm on board with anything that has to do with Christmas, especially when it also has to do with shopping and spending money (two very fun things to do!).

I haven't always been a fan of Black Friday. I think it's only been the last few years, but now I'm crazy about it. Everyone in my family thinks it's the weirdest conundrum ever, since 364 days out of the year I am the girl who loves her sleep and won't get up early for anything. But on Black Friday I'm up and out the door before the sun comes up.

This year was the earliest I've ever gone. My alarm was set to 3:00 a.m. and Joe, my dad, and I were in line in the cold at Sears by 3:30! But we had a good reason. Joe wanted a T.V. And while I also wanted a T.V. I didn't want to spend the money for the 46"-er Joe had picked out. But on Black Friday, we could get that T.V. for $300 less, so there was our motivation.

There were only four of the T.V.s we wanted in stock when we got to the register, and the woman in front of us in line as well as the man in back of us in line all wanted the same one. Somehow, we all walked away with one! Unfortunately, the huge box wouldn't fit in the car WITH the two dogs and while Joe was (almost seriously) thinking about leaving the dogs with my parents so we could take the T.V. home, we ended up leaving the T.V. with my parents instead. (They will be up this weekend for an early Christmas celebration, so we don't have to wait long.)

Anyway, that was our big purchase, but we also went to Target, JC Penny, and Shopko for littler things we wanted/needed. It was definitely a successful trip!

Do you do Black Friday?

Trip to the Vet

2010-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Last night Joe noticed a small red bump on Ava's eyelid. I started over analyzing it (surprise, surprise, I know) and did some heavy googling on red bumbs on dogs. I saw a lot of gross things and some cancer-related things, which definitely didn't help my anxiety. But then I saw some very similar bumbs that were diagnosed as stys, and they were no big deal. Joe then managed to talk me down off the ledge and I agreed to wait and see what it looked like in the morning.

This morning her eye was completely swollen and the bump was bigger, with a red dot in the middle, which looked like exposed skin. That was that - she was going to the vet! Now, my problem was that my vet was an hour away in the area where I worked, and I technically wasn't supposed to bring Ava to work with me anymore because she wasn't vaccinated for kennel cough.

I tried finding a vet close to where we live, but they opened at 9:00 a.m., the time I needed to be at work. My two choices - take Ava to the vet we had already been to, and bring her to work with me for the day, OR wait for two hours until the new vet opened, hope there was an early appointment available, and hope that the exam didn't take too long. Well, I know the exam would take forever because Ava has serious issues and vets need to know EVERYTHING before they diagnose anything (at least, good vets should). So, I decided on option A. I emailed my team and told them the situation then headed to work.

I took her to the vet at 10:00 and wouldn't you know it - the swelling had disappeared. Seriously, it was like that one time we went to the ER for a swollen eye only to have the vet ask us which eye was supposed to be swollen. Embarrassing. But the bump was still there, so she definitely still needed to be seen.

I swear, it looks a lot worse in person than in this picture. The bump is on the top right corner of her eye.

The vet was very sweet and even though Ava was so unhappy, I felt really good about the visit. The vet gave us ointment to be put on and in her eye twice a day and said it should clear up soon. Fingers and paws crossed!

She spent the rest of the day lounging on my desk at work, happy to be back with her mom.

Thanksgiving Fun: Family Edition

2010-11-29T10:42:00.001-08:00

So enough about the dogs, right? There are people in my family, too! :)

It's been a while since I've spent a holiday with my whole family. When Joe and I moved to the East Coast, we promised we would fly home for major holidays. But finances prevented us from ever doing so. My parents flew out for Thanksgiving both years, but I didn't get to see the rest of the family (well, except via Skype).

Also, with so many things going on with everyone in my family (other family obligations, work obligations, vacations, etc.) it's hard to nail everyone down for one big get-together. Actually, my aunt and uncle weren't supposed to be home for Thanksgiving this year, but due to weather conditions on the passes, they were 'forced' to stay home, which was great for all of us! (Unfortunately, my brother and sister-in-law and their kids weren't able to make the big party. Otherwise it would have been complete.)

Thanksgiving was at my aunt Kathy's house, and I always love when holidays are hosted there, because that house used to be my grandma's house. And my grandmas always used to host every major holiday. With my grandma gone, it's nice to have a little bit of her with us (not that she isn't always with us, she definitely is) in her family home.

Anyway, on to pictures!

Joe and Me

The three sisters! My aunt Kathy, my mom, and my aunt Bonnie.

The happy family! My cousin Christi, her boyfriend Brent, and their dog Bogey.

Close friends of the family: Pete, Barb, and their daughter Emily.

My aunt Bonnie and uncle Gary.

My dad and me.

The whole crew! Pretending to be in a 'Turkey Bowl'. (See, we're football players... I know, it's lame, but that is my family.)

Thanksgiving Fun: Dog Edition

2010-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

We went to Wenatchee for Thanksgiving and yes, I literally have to divide my Thanksgiving post into two because I have so many pictures of the dogs. My cousin, Christi, recently got a new puppy and this was the first time Jackson and Ava were able to meet him. And he is cuuuuuute. I think Ava was jealous because she's always the cute one, but Bogey is frickin' adorable. And even smaller than Ava, so everyone finally could see how chunky Ava really is! He is a three-month-old Chiweenie (Chihuahua/Dachshund mix) and is tiny and full of spunk. He even got Ava to play a little bit, and we all know Ava doesn't play. :)

The moms with the pups. :)

Introducing Bogey to Jackson. Jackson scared him a bit at first, but then they got along great.

See? Bogey is already giving Jackson a little sass.

Bogey is still a puppy, so he sleeps a lot. He liked cuddling with his grandma. :)

Bogey: "What did you get to eat?? I want some!"

Ava cuddled up in a blanket, and Bogey settled in on the top bunk. lol

Cutest cousins ever!

My mom with her 'granddog'.

Aunt Kathy showing off Bogey's best feature - his ears!

Sharing laps...

We had such a great time! I can't wait to watch these three dogs grow up together!

The Cutest Cheerleaders in the World

2010-11-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our friends Ed and Jessica invited us over to hang out and watch some football. We had so much fun catching up with them and playing with their adorable twin girls. And Joe was in heaven watching football on an actual t.v. instead of catching what he can on ESPN3.

The girls were so dang cute in their little Seahawks cheerleader outfits (their dad is a huge fan!)

Seriously - how cute??

Hanging out with mom while dad checks fantasy football scores in the foreground. :)

Here is a good shot of their little Seahawks cheerleader outfits!

Busy busy girls!

We're going to have this great family over to our place soon to introduce the babies to the doggies. That should be an adventure!

First Seattle Snow

2010-11-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

This morning there were a lot of angry, stressed-out, scared, and otherwise unhappy people in Seattle. Joe and I were not two of those people. We love this stuff!

Sure, it took me two hours to get to work this morning. I was 30 minutes late. Joe had to walk farther up the street to catch the bus that was on a 'snow route'. It was incredibly cold and a little slick.

But it was beautiful! It just started snowing as we walked the dogs this morning and it was dark and quiet and it was so peaceful. Then the snow got heavier as I headed off to work and I have to say - sitting at a standstill in a traffic jam is so much better if you have some snow to look at. (It didn't hurt that the radio station played a couple Christmas songs to try to calm the more stressed-out people down.)

I say bring it on! If it's going to be cold, it might as well be snowing. It's the only redeeming factor of cold weather! And much better than the typical Seattle rain. Plus, it's the holidays! White Thanksgivings and especially White Christmases are all the more merry!

What do you think about the snow?

Fighting with (and Losing to) Ava

2010-11-19T06:24:00.000-08:00

As you well know, Ava has a way of manipulating me into getting her way. For example, she will eat all her food and then stand there looking pathetic like, "I'm still soooooo hungry!" so I'll give her a little more. Or, she'll cuddle up to me when I'm working on my computer and stretch and give this cute little sigh like being with me is the MOST wonderful thing in the WHOLE wide world and if I would just move the computer a little off my lap it would make her SO much more comfortable.... so, I'll move my computer so it's in a completely inconvenient position, and really hard for me to type on. (And Ava smiles as her plan of world domination becomes more of a reality.)

But I'm holding my ground on nightly walks. (so far). Every night when we get home we bundle up and take the dogs for a walk. And it's getting colder and colder and Ava is trying to work her magic on me. She'll burrow under covers and look at me with these pathetic eyes and plead not to be taken out. She will hide under the table and almost cower, making me feel like I am actually abusing her in some way. (This one really hurts.) She will lower her head and refuse to look at me like I'm the worst mom ever.

But it's GOOD for her. She doesn't get hardly any exercise and she needs it. So, I force her to go.

Well, like I said, it's getting colder, so she is now wearing her winter coats to try to keep her a tad bit warmer outside. Last night I brought out the big guns.... her four-legged jammies. It's the warmest outfit she has and it was cold out there. And she HATED it. And she tried all the tricks in the book to make me feel bad enough to take it off her and let her stay home. But I didn't give in. And dang it, I think she looks damn cute!

A bit pathetic, sure, but damn cute!!

I Heart the Daily Show

2010-11-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Big Red Dogs

http://www.thedailyshow.com/

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

Trupanion's Pawliday Blog Contest

2010-11-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to announce a blog contest from Trupanion - the Pawliday Blog Contest! Unfortunately, as a Trupanion employee, I'm not allowed to enter, but I know many of you have fabulous holiday stories about your pets, so you all definitely should! First place prize is $500!

Find out all the rules here: http://blog.trupanionpetinsurance.com/pawliday-blog-contest

I hope one of you wins!

R.O.A.R. Squad

2010-11-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

I am so excited! I just found out that Joe and I were accepted as the newest members of Fido & Wino's R.O.A.R. Squad - a group of 'rockin' individuals' (that's a quote, people!) who are rescue owners. I'm usually not one to enjoy being in the spotlight, but I am loving this distinction and the feature they posted on us.

Read the full feature by clicking here: R.O.A.R. Feature

What do you think?

The Wordpress Bandwagon

2010-11-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking about switching to Wordpress. It seems like the thing to do right now, and as I got to thinking about it, I realized that all these ship-jumpers have a point. Blogger is limiting. The upload format is frustrating. Spacing and other elements always seem to go haywire. And it's starting to really bug me.

Plus, I help my mom with her Wordpress blog and so I've already become used to what it has to offer. And I'm jealous. And I don't want to be jealous of my mom anymore. :)

My only concerns: Should I try to transfer all posts to the new blog? Or should I just start fresh on the new platform and build from there?

Anyone done this recently? Advice? Thoughts?

First Trip Back to Magnussen

2010-11-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Since Joe had Monday off, and it was actually a rare sunny morning in Seattle, he decided to take Jackson to our favorite Seattle dog park - Magnussen. We used to go to Magnussen quite a bit when we lived in Seattle before, but hadn't been there since moving back. I admit I'm a little sad that I didn't get to join the boys, but I was happy they had such a great time.

Making new friends.

Taking a break.

Crashed out back at home.

One Month Anniversary Surprise

2010-11-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Joe and my one-month wedding anniversary. We never celebrated anniversaries when we were dating, but I am LOVING celebrating each tiny wedding milestone that comes our way. If you remember, I rushed home at 6:00 a.m. on Halloween from out of town so I could spend the day with Joe... it was our three-week anniversary, after all. :)

Anyway, Joe and I plan to have a romantic homemade dinner in tonight to celebrate. Little did I know, Joe was going to up the celebration anty today. He sent me these at work:

Daisies, my absolute most favorite flower ever. They are perfect and beautiful and smell delightful. They make me smile just looking at them. (Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flowers?*)

This husband of mine.... I think I might just keep him.

*Name that quote and you rule in my book. :)

Date Night at the Outback

2010-11-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

Joe has Mondays off, so if we decide to do something after I get off work, it's usually Monday so we don't have to worry about the dogs. (He stays home with the dogs all day as opposed to the dogs being home alone all day.)

So this previous Monday we decided to do date night. For a wedding shower gift, Joe's Uncle Larry gave us a gift card to Outback, one of Joe's favorite restaurants (he's a steak man). So we used that for an almost-free night out! It was great!

That's a happy man right there. And I love to see my man happy. :) I was impressed that the Outback now has a vegetarian option on the menu - their parmesan fettucini with seasonal vegetables. I used to have to order off menu.

Anyway, we had a great time. Thanks Uncle Larry!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I know this post is a tad bit overdue. :)

So, I was in Wenatchee during Halloween weekend for my cousin's wedding, and unfortunately Joe had to stay home since he works on Saturdays. So, I was alone this year for most of the Halloween festivities. Luckily, my cousin, who loves holidays almost as much as I do, invited me to the Halloween party she was attending, and of course I jumped at the chance!

We had a bunch of great costumes among all the partygoers, and I had so much fun. I asked my cousin what she was dressing up as, and she was all, "Oh, I'm just a referee." Yeah, right:

haha! Everyone was cracking up at her costume! (And there's me, the bunny!)

The party was held in a friend's garage. The garage was wallpapered with Halloween scenes - it was very cool and very well done. Outside there was a bonfire with haybales to sit on.

Avatar and Dolly Parton

Scary Clowns

Pirate, Avatar, and Dia de los Muertos

Ninja, Buddy the Elf, and Cowboy

Dia de los Muertos

This is my cousin's boyfriend, who ROCKED his Buddy the Elf costume.

The next morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m. missing my husband terribly, so I headed back to Seattle before the sun even came up (very unlike me!). I got home around 9:00 and Joe and I spent the day lounging on the couch. (It was also our three week anniversary, so I really wanted to spend the entire day with him, which I got to do.) We hoped for trick-or-treaters but didn't get any, and watched "The Crazies", which was actually a scary movie with a good plot. Who knew?

Overall, I wish Joe would have been able to join in on the festivities, but I thought it was a very successful Halloween!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Halloween.

And now I'm moving on! While I know Thanksgiving is technically next, I now pronounce this Christmas season! Bring on the colored lights, unique ornaments, bell ringers, Santa Claus, and holiday cheer! This is my favorite time of year!

My Cousin Weds in the Rain

2010-11-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I had the honor of attending one of the most beautiful and personal weddings I've ever seen. My cousin Bruce married a wonderful woman Grace, at their home outside of Wenatchee. These two are a beautiful couple and a community filled with all walks of life came to celebrate their big day.

The live on a mountain off of a very narrow and bumpy dirt road, so only a few hearty vehicles were allowed up. Everyone carpooled to get there.

My crazy family, waiting to be allowed up the mountain.

Me with my nephew (his mom is in the background). It was a very casual wedding and very cold out and this little guy rocked his Halloween costume. So cute!

We made it up the mountain in the capable hands of my father and his big heavy duty truck. (We also made it back down in the capable hands of my father, which was a bit scarier, but my dad did a great job!)

As I said, it was cold out and on top of the mountain it was extremely foggy. But it was a gorgeous setting and the fog made it feel like this couple had the world all to themselves in that moment. And when it started to rain, no one cared, not even the bride, who was absolutely glowing.

My sweet cousin Bruce tearing up at the first sight of his bride.

A beautiful song by Grace's brother and sister-in-law.

A cleansing ceremony for not only the bride and groom, but the guests as well. Very cool.

Vows. (I bawled my eyes out. Seriously.)

It really was a beautiful ceremony with a variety of readings and stories that really spoke to the couple's lifestyle. They exchanged handmade wristbands instead of traditional rings, and were pronounced husband and wife. Then, they walked up to their home, where Bruce carried Grace across the threshhold. *love*

The reception was held on the other side of the house and included the most amazing food put together by the community of guests. There was also a huge bonfire to keep us warm and several live bands that kept the energy up!

My dad and me at the reception.

Me with the bride!

Congratulations Bruce and Grace! I wish you a lifetime of happiness, honor, and love!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-11-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I haven't even finished with my Halloween posts and now here I am talking about Christmas. But you KNOW me, and you KNOW how much I love Christmas! (Only 51 days to go!!)

And one of the best things about Christmas is Christmas cards! I've always been a fan of sending out Christmas cards, and when I met Joe it became even sweeter - and I realized how much fun it can be to send out those cheesy family cards showing us with our furry family.

But now - now! - we are married!! Which makes it soooooo much sweeter to send out family cards. Which I absolutely plan to do. And I plan to turn to Shutterfly to create my cards because Shutterfly has been good to me over the last few months. I ordered my guest book from them. I ordered a gift for my groom from them. I ordered my dad's birthday card from them.

So, I've started looking around to see which cards I might like to choose this year. And they have so many cute designs, it's going to be hard to narrow it down. Here are a few of my favorites:

I tend to be drawn to those designs that include one main picture. This design is lovely. Simple and elegant.

Then there is this one, which is a bit more fun. I love the black and white photo and love the phrase at the top. I think I like a phrases more than just the simple "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays".

But this is my favorite. The phrase may seem overused to some, but I love what it implies (see the title of this post) and the design is simple but fun.

So, what style of card will I end up choosing to send out? It's still up in the air. But I thank Shutterfly for the opportunity to write this post to start the process of figuring it out.

Do you send out holiday cards?

Holiday Blogger Gift Exchange

2010-11-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for the Kitty & Canine Holiday Blogger Gift Exchange, put on by KJ and her adorable pugs! I'm so excited because Christmas is, like, the best holiday ever and this will let me get my fur babies involved in a big way. Basically, you sign your pets up via their form and then get matched up with other bloggers who have pets. You send your pet match a gift and your pets get gifts as well. So much fun! I know Jackson and Ava will love getting their gifts in the mail. And I'm excited to find out where they will come from. Could be anywhere!

If you want to participate, visit KJ's site here:
http://kjpugs.com/2010/11/kitty-canine-holiday-blogger-gift-exchange/

Halloweens Past

2010-11-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned that I'm a fan of Halloween. I just love dressing up, decorating the apartment, enjoying everyone else's costumes, baking Halloween treats, and handing out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters.

I went to a Halloween party on Saturday night with my cousin and had a great time, but unfortunately, in my rush to get back home to my husband the following morning, I left the camera with all the great pictures at my cousin's house.

So, I thought I'd head down memory lane and recap my costumes of Halloween past. Then, when I get my camera back, I'll show you all the fun that this Halloween had to offer.

Halloween 2006 - The Devil

I had met Joe but we weren't dating at the time. I spent Halloween with my best friend instead. (His housemates went as his 'bunnies'. If that doesn't inflate your ego, I don't know what would!)

Halloween 2007 - 50's Couple

I found out that my super-cool boyfriend likes to dress up for Halloween too! Ah, a match made it heaven! (Yes, I wore those skates all night and yes, they ROCKED!)

Halloween 2008 - Gunslingers

We were living in the Washington D.C. area and had a blast bar hopping downtown!

Halloween 2009 - Gunslingers (again)

Lame, I know, but we had only been living in Connecticut for a couple months and didn't have any parties to go to or anything and just didn't think new costumes were worth it. We did go to Joe's work party, where they had fun things for families to do. I don't even have a picture of us together. :( But, we did have our first trick-or-treaters EVER that year and that was pretty fun.

What are your favorite Halloween costumes from Halloweens past?

Home from the Honeymoon

2010-10-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 18

We sadly left Cancun on Monday. We had such a fabulous time and made sure we said goodbye to all the staff who had been so kind to us the entire week. It was actually the perfect time to leave. We had thought it was weird to be so alone at the hotel, but by the time we left more people had showed up and they were noisy and rude and we missed our quiet little vacation. haha

My luggage tag. :)

Of course, we couldn't get out of the country without a little drama. :) When we went to check in for our flight, the airline couldn't find our flight. Apparently, the computer said we were to connect in Charlotte, but our tickets said we were to connect in Phoenix. That took a bit of time to figure out, but they finally found our flight.

Then they asked for our immigration forms. Now, no one told us to keep these forms after we filled them out to get INTO the country, so I never paid any attention to them after we got to our hotel. We looked through our stuff and I found mine, but we couldn't find Joe's. "That is your ticket back into the U.S.," the lady said.

"Um... well, we don't have it," I said. (Joe at this point was FREAKING OUT, but I was just trying to go with the flow.)

They sent us to the U.S. Airlines office in the back of the airport. They reviewed Joe's passport and took a copy of the stamp he received when we came into Mexico. Then they sent us to immigration.

Immigration asked Joe a bunch of questions. I felt like we sounded guilty because one of the questions he asked us was if we had the same last name. I was all, "Well, yes, but no because... well, technically NO, but we just got married, so..." They just kind of looked at me and shoved a new form to Joe.

Joe filled out the form and everything ended up being fine. :)

I had a Fanta with a fancy straw to celebrate.

Then we went through security and because fate likes to screw with Joe, his bag got pulled for inspection. :) Actually, the security guy was pulling almost every other bag for inspection. We got to watch a lot of people get searched before it was our turn. It's funny the different reactions people have. Some people were super apologetic because they forgot they had a bottle of water in their bag. Some people were so pissed they couldn't even speak because the security guy had to take away a pair of tweezers. Funny.

They just checked out the cords for Joe's iPod and phone, and sent us on our way.

Whoever designed the Cancun airport is brilliant because you have to walk through the duty free shop to get between security and the gates. We decided to buy a bottle of Don Julio, Joe's favorite brand of tequila, which is usually super expensive. It was a lot cheaper and we thought it would be a fun reminder of the trip.

Well, we forgot that we had to go through Customs once we landed in Phoenix. And since you have to go back through security after Customs, they won't let you bring any liquids through. The airline made an announcement to say that if anyone bought anything from duty free, to place it in their checked luggage before going back through security. We didn't check any luggage.

We thought it would be pretty ironic if they made us pay the $25 to check a bag so we could send our tequila that we saved $20 by buying in duty free, home with us. Luckily, the airline allowed us to check one of our carry on bags for free.

We arrived safe and sound back in Seattle around midnight.

And that was our trip!

A Trupanion Halloween

2010-10-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. LOVE it. And about two weeks before our wedding, I told Joe we really needed to start thinking about costumes. He looked at me like I had completely lost my mind and told me that he was putting a moratorium on Halloween planning this year. We needed to get through the wedding first, and then we could talk about Halloween. I suppose I have to say, he was right. I didn't need anything else on my plate before the wedding.

But, it made it so I was a bit rushed in finding my costume this year, especially when I found out there was a costume contest at my work. But I figured it out, headed to Value Village and the fabric store, and came up with this:

Cruella de Ville and her teeny Dalmation!

I'm going to get you!

It's exhausting running from Cruella all day.

I didn't really know how much others at my work were going to dress up, so I posted a poll on Facebook on if I should do a 'bigger' costume or a 'safer' costume. Everyone said go big, so there you go.

And it turns out I had nothing to worry about. My entire department dressed up and we ROCKED it at work!

Price is Right winner, Run DMC, and a white trash convict. Plus, the bull with a bull rider there at the bottom. :)

I love my work!

Hurricane Honeymoon: Sunday

2010-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 17

Sunday was our last full day and (surprise surprise) we spent it relaxing on the beach!

I think these dinosaurs were Joe's favorite towel animals.

On our way home from Isla Mujeres the night before we saw this restaurant that looked good and was within walking distance from our hotel. So, for our last night, we decided to check it out.

Getting ready for our 'date'.

Wearing the dress my mom got me in Hawaii.

We opened our free champagne to get the night started.

I just love champagne. :)

We made it to the restaurant just in time for sunset. So gorgeous.

The restaurant was called JC Capitan and half of it was under cover and half was out over the water. We chose to sit out over the water and it was so nice. Seriously, the nicest restaurant I think I've ever been to. And so romantic!

We found out that they had a resident alligator that lived near the restaurant. The staff said he came every night and they fed him all the fish heads they had. After dinner we hung out waiting for him to show up, but we never saw him. They said he was 6 meters (18 feet!). We definitely wouldn't have missed him.

Apparently the whole lagoon was full of alligators. There were warnings posted all over. But we never saw a single one. Sad.

But it was still a perfect last night of our honeymoon. :)

Working Hard

2010-10-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

I love my job. Seriously. It's so much fun. Not only do I get to spend much of my work day hanging out with the office dogs, but I get to focus on writing about pets all day. And everyone in my company loves to enter contests in an effort to get our name out there (and of course to potentially win cool stuff!). Yesterday, we entered a photo contest on Progresso Soup's Facebook page. Here is our entry:

Caption: Here at Trupanion, our canine colleagues always get the treats while we are left with nothing. You see? Our soup bowls are empty. We deserve treats too! And we loooove Progresso soup. Help us out?

Cute, huh?

(I'm at the far right, in the black coat, with my boss's dog, Safari.)

Hurricane Honeymoon: Saturday

2010-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 16th

The one place we heard over and over that we just HAD to go was Isla Mujeres. So on Saturday, we decided to give it a whirl. We had to take a ferry and it ended up being a pretty windy day, but it was still a good trip.

Waiting for the ferry.

You can see how windy it was from the palm trees.

Welcome to Isla Mujeres

There were a lot of activities you could do on the island. Scuba diving, swim with the dolphins, zip line, ect. We elected to just take it slow, just us, and rented a golf cart to drive around the island all day.

Joe was a happy man.

We drove around the entire island, from end to end. At one end of the island, called Punta Sur, there was a little area where you could walk out to the edge and look at some Mayan ruins. There were a few shops and a place that sold ice cream.

That dog wasn't moving for no one. lol. So cute.

More iguanas!

We stopped for lunch at this cool little bar that had the baseball playoffs on the TV. The lady who owned it was a huge Giants fan and brought out her dog, all dressed up in a Giants jersey.

I love that Joe wore his 'Groom' bracelet the whole honeymoon. :)

Cruising around town.

We returned the golf cart and walked around for a bit.

We stopped for drinks at another bar before heading back to Cancun.

An of course, an adorable little puppy joined us!

"Bobby" thought the strap on Joe's backpack was a lot of fun!

And... time to relax.

Then it was back on the boat, and back to the hotel.

I'm glad everyone told us to go there. Very fun!

In Her Prime at 59

2010-10-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

Happy belated birthday to my mom, who turned 59 on October 25! I told her to live it up this year before she turns 'real old' and becomes 60. heehee

Since my mom was pet sitting in the Seattle area this week, I was able to take her out to dinner for her birthday, on her actual birthday (which hasn't happened in a long time!). Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures because I wasn't thinking, but here is one of my favorite pictures of us:

Living it up in Boston!

And another huge happy birthday to my aunt, my mom's sister, whose birthday is actually today! Happy birthday Kathy! Love you!

Hurricane Honeymoon: Friday

2010-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 15

After five days of doing nothing but laying on the beach, we decided to head down to the center of Cancun to check it out. We rode the bus and it was super cheap and super easy.

super tourist bus picture

I've always known that Cancun isn't 'real Mexico' and is very Americanized and caters to tourists. So I shouldn't have been surprised to see Starbucks. I got a little more excited than I probably should have.

Thank God for Starbucks.

We looked around the mall for a bit, and then went to the 'flea market' which is basically a bunch of little shops where the guys try to sell you a bunch of stuff you don't need at really high prices. You are expected to barter and they are pretty ruthless. Yes, we bought some stuff. :)

Then, like the tourists we are, we had to stop by Señor Frogs.

Lunch by the lagoon.

Silly tourist.

Sillier tourist

After lunch we headed back to our room. Once again, we were impressed with the towel art that greeted us when we walked into our room.

The swans even had a little veil and hat. :)

Then, you guessed it, it was back to the pool and beach chairs!

Margarita time!

Hurricane Honeymoon: Thursday

2010-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 14th

We started out our morning out on our new deck with coffee and books.

Yes, I converted Joe to the dark side. He is the one reading Insomnia.

Then it was back to the beach. Do you see a pattern here? Seriously, all we did this whole trip was eat yummy food, drink fun drinks, and relax on the beach. I'm pretty sure we both gained 10 pounds.

*love* this picture

Ignacio was back and our new friends made the mistake of throwing him a fry. Ignacio looooves fries and he stalked them for the rest of the day. He even jumped up on Kelly's lounge chair, sending her bolting out of there and up to higher ground. It was pretty funny.

"Give me another fry, woman."

"Look how pretty I am..."

Then, WE ordered food, and Ignacio came to check out what we had to offer.

"Whatcho got mister?"

Checking us out.

After lunch we played in the ocean a little bit.

That's my husband, looking all handsome.

happy, happy

When we went back into our room, we got a knock at the door. There was room service, with complementary wine and chocolate covered strawberries. How nice is that?

mmmmm

Dinner at the hotel and back to our room for the night. Yep, like I said, there was a pattern to our days! Some may call it lame, we call it much needed!

Pumpkin Filled Weekend

2010-10-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

I interrupt our honeymoon recaps to tell you what we did this weekend.

So, I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day (Enjoying the Small Things), written by someone I so admire, and she was explaining that there are two catagories in life - moments that fill and moments that fuel. And she said we all need to focus on the moments that fuel. The moments that fill us with happiness and love and make us enjoy every moment.

This weekend we continued a much-loved tradition and it definitely fell into the 'fuel' catagory. :)

First, we headed to a pumpkin patch to pick out our carving pumpkins. I had never visited a pumpkin patch until Joe and I moved to Maryland and that was the thing to do. And I loved it! And after that we decided to find a pumpkin patch each year. It was a little harder in Seattle. The nearest one we could find was in Snohomish, about 40 minutes away.

And even though it was a rainy day, and the pumpkin field was a muddy sloppy mess, we had a great time. And after browsing through all the pumpkins, we finally found the ones that felt right.

Muddy mess!

Scary corn field at the edge of the pumpkin patch. Yikes!

Our chosen pumpkins - My short fat one, Joe's tall thin one and a little one for the pups!

Corn dog and roasted corn to celebrate our pumpkin picks.

We got home around 5:00 and I made dinner and covered the living room floor with flat paper bags. Joe got out all the carving supplies and huge bowls for the 'guts'.

When dinner was done, we popped in the movie "Halloween" (this movie must accompany pumpkin carving to keep with the tradition) and we got started.

Joe looks so surprised in this picture.

The night's entertainment and the Dia de los Muertos scull we bought in Mexico.

Cleaning the pumpkin while watching the movie. Ava's wondering where she can lay down and still be close to me. She ended up curling up between me and the couch... it looked very uncomfortable.

The final products!

All lit up on our porch.

The movie ended, but we still had the final act to complete our tradition - roasting the pumpkin seeds! So we put in another movie (Stephen King's Carrie, which Joe had never seen) and got to work.

Ready to be roasted.

Everything turned out fantastic, like it always does. The pumpkins looked great and the seeds turned out delicious.

It was a happy day. A fueling day. And I love finding the fuel in life with my new husband!

Hurricane Honeymoon: Wednesday

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 13

We went to breakfast early to check out if there was any damage caused by the hurricane. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary and we found out that it wasn't really as bad as they expected - the hurricane turned sooner than expected and headed toward Cuba. Crisis averted. But we still think it's funny that there was a hurricane on our honeymoon. :)

When we came back from breakfast, our room had been cleaned and we were left this:

Aww.. so cute!

Of course we had to pose with it!

We then went back out to hit the beach. We walked the shore a little bit, picking up shells and checking out the other hotels. (We totally got the best beach of any hotel. Score!)

Nice white sandy beach...

The mist coming off of the ocean clouded our camera lens, so I totally look like a ghost in the next picture, but I still like it.

And that might be a glass of wine in my hand...

For my wedding shower, my cousin Christi got me a pair of flip flops with the words 'Just Married" carved out of the bottoms. They left super cool prints in the sand.

Then, it was back to our lounge chairs by the pool at the hotel. :)

Notice the 'just married' sunglasses. Another gift from Christi. :)

We went back to the front desk to ask to be relocated back to our old room on the ocean side. We missed the sound of the ocean. They asked if we would like to be upgraded to the top floor, which are the exact same rooms, but they have a balcony. We had been looking at these rooms from the beach with envy, so we were so excited!

Now that's living.

That night we went down to dinner and met up with two other couples we had met earlier that day. One couple was celebrating their 10th anniversary (and happened to be from Seattle - what are the odds?) and the other was celebrating their 37th anniversary (they were from Arkansas). Both couples said they wanted to buy us a drink when they found out we were on our honeymoon. Who were we to say no?

Well, those drinks turned into more drinks, then rounds of shots, and bottles of champagne. Even though we drank way too much and paid for it that night, we had so much fun!

Starting the night. Two-for-one drinks at happy hour.

Just getting started.

Tequila shots? Sure!

My self-timer camera at work.

Getting cozy with the bartender. Hey bartender - another round!

"King Tom" and Virginia, celebrating their 37th anniversary. Their key to long-lasting marriage? "Keep the wife happy." You see why I like them? :)

Kelly and Patrick celebrating their 10th anniversary. Patrick's tip to Joe: "Be prepared that you will never win another argument for as long as you live." Way to make marriage sound awesome, Patrick!

Am I wearing a swimsuit? Nope, those are just my burn lines. Sooo sexy.

Like I said, a TON of fun, but afterward, we stumbled upstairs, ordered room service to put some food in our stomachs and proceeded to be sick the rest of the night. But I think it was worth it!

Hurricane Honeymoon: Tuesday Night

2010-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

The one where I explain the title of these posts....

After dinner Tuesday night, we went back to our room only to find out that our keys no longer worked. When we asked the front desk about it, they told us that they had to move us from the ocean side of the hotel to the lagoon side of the hotel 'for our safety' because a hurricane was headed our way.

Let me back up a little. While we were laying on the beach that day, the whole staff all of sudden appeared and started clearing the beach of all the lounge chairs. There are a lot of chairs, and they even had the maids out there helping them clear them out.

Then they took down the pool bar - all the bottles of alcohol and the tent that covered the bar.

Then, we noticed that there were people up in the palm trees, cutting down palm branches and coconuts.

When we were headed to the bar for dinner that night, we looked into the restaurant and saw that they had boarded up each and every window. It was eerie.

This picture was taken a couple days later when they were starting to take the boards down. All those windows were boarded up originally.

So it didn't come as too much of a shock when we found out a hurricane was coming. We had actually been a little excited to be on the ocean side so we could watch what happened. We found out it was a Catagory 2 hurricane named Hurricane Paula, and we figured a Cat 2 wasn't going to be too bad, so we thought it would be fun to watch nature work.

But unfortunately, they moved us so we couldn't see anything on the ocean side.

I didn't hear anything all night, and Joe said he got up a couple times to look outside and although it was raining and there was some lightening, he said he didn't even see the trees moving, let alone the 100 mph winds we were supposed to see.

Lame.

Even though it wasn't as bad as expected, we still take pleasure in saying we survived a hurricane.

A gift from my cousin, Christi.

Hurricane Honeymoon: Tuesday

2010-10-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 12

We woke up on our first full day in Cancun to beautiful weather. Just a smidge overcast with a nice breeze that actually made it the perfect temperature.

Taking in the view.

Joe got dressed:

Me: "You are NOT wearing that!"

We headed down for breakfast, went to the hotel store, bought some sun screen, and headed out to the beach chairs.

This is where we first met Ignacio the Iguana. We think iguanas are pretty cool and were so thrilled to see him hanging out by the pool. You will hear a lot about Ignacio. :) (Oh, and he isn't really named that. He's a wild iguana that we needed to name, and Ignacio seemed to fit. Yes, we probably missed our dogs. Sigh.)

Hello Ignacio!

We set up camp on these lounge chairs and I'm pretty sure we didn't move for about 8 hours.

Bliss

Relaxation

Reading a book to the sound of ocean waves? That is my happy place.

The postcard-perfect picture Joe took. *love*

Joe read some too.

At some point we decided to get our lazy butts up and check out some other parts of the hotel. There was the ocean side and the lagoon side. The lagoon side was beautiful as well, but it just wasn't the pure bliss of the ocean. Plus, with so few people in the hotel, they didn't have anyone really manning that side of the hotel. We didn't really spend too much time on this side.

The lagoon.

Pool on the lagoon side.

Joe in the lagoon-side pool.

Cool waterfall.

We headed back up to our room to get ready for dinner.

View from our room.

Cute little towel dog.

Only then did we realized that we never put the sunscreen on and we were both burned to a crisp. Like, lobster style. It was such perfect weather that we never felt like it was that hot..... oh, but it was. :(

We stopped back by the hotel store, pretty embarrassed, to buy aloe for the burns.

I glow in this picture, and it doesn't even do the burn justice.

But, we felt better when we were given another amazing free honeymoon dessert!

Sampler. So so yummy.

Hurricane Honeymoon: Monday Night

2010-10-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 11

One thing I forgot to mention about the plane ride - we were sitting right next to a little girl, maybe around 8 or so, and she spent the entire flight going over the safety pamphlet and asking her mom... "What will happen if we crash in the ocean? What will happen if we crash in the desert? What will happen if we crash in the mountains? What will happen if we crash in a city?" And on and on. I swear, it was good she didn't have a nervous flyer beside her. Her mom just kept answering her questions, not telling her to be quiet or even telling her, "Don't worry, we won't crash." I mean, geez!

Oh, and another funny thing - we were on the plane with at least 5 other couples on their honeymoon. Getting married on 10/10/10 and going to Cancun to honeymoon? Not very original, apparently. :)

Anyway, on to the topic at hand.

As soon as we got off the plane and headed out into the airport, we were bombarded by people asking if we needed taxis or a map. It was a little overwhelming, and we were finally suckered into one of them. I thought she was really nice, giving us tons of great information, until she said we needed to go check out her hotel and take a tour. No thank you. We did finally get into a taxi and were on our way.

We stayed at the Westin Resort and Spa, which is located right at the beginning of 'the strip'. It's far away from the dance clubs and restaurants that Cancun is known for (Spring Break! Whoo-hoo! haha) and we were happy about that. All we wanted to do was lay on the beach and relax. No club-hopping for us on this trip.

When we checked in at the Westin, they said we had a double room. Two double beds. On our honeymoon. (??) I made them give us a King. At that time I didn't realize how easy that was for them, as we found out later they were only at 10% capacity!

The hotel was eerily quiet. It was weird. We honestly felt like the only people at the hotel. I thought, "well, maybe people are just downtown partying right now." Nope, they were just that empty.

We dropped off our bags and went to the bar for our first margaritas!

mmmmmm....

We relaxed for a bit and then had dinner at the hotel. Again, we were the only ones in the huge restaurant. Dinner was good and for dessert, they brought us out the 'Honeymoon Special' for free!

Joe with our dessert and the wait staff we came to know quite well.

I honestly couldn't tell you what this was, but it was goooood. It had a cookie bottom and a custard top (maybe flan?) surrounded by chocolate and mango/raspberry puree.

All in all, it was a good first night in Cancun!

Hurricane Honeymoon: Sunday Night & Monday

2010-10-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 10 & Monday, October 11, 2010

Our wedding was fabulous and soon I'll get up some of the many wonderful pictures my family and friends took during all the festivities. But for now, we'll have to start with the honeymoon. (Why we're calling it the "Hurricane Honeymoon" I'll get to in another post!)

For the night of our wedding, we chose to stay in a nice hotel in downtown Seattle - the Alexis. Although we were only there for about 9 hours total, it was worth it to be pampered in style that night! I would definitely recommend the Alexis. It's a nice hotel, so it's pricy, but it's amazing and dog friendly!

When we got to our room (a Spa Suite), we were greeted by a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a welcome note from the hotel, congratulating us on our wedding. It was so nice!

So yummy - thanks Alexis!

The room was gorgeous - a long hallway leading to a nice big bedroom with an armoire, table and chairs, and lounge. It was simple and elegant. The bathroom had a huge jacuzzi that sat up high - you had to walk up a few stairs to it. A huge framed mirror took up the entire wall where the jacuzzi sat. Just gorgeous.

We ordered room service for dinner and opened the scarily-overpriced bottle of wine in the minibar. (Never would do that normally, but threw caution to the wind that night!) It was so fun and out-of-the-ordinary for us.

I refused to take off my wedding dress for the longest time, knowing I would never wear it again. I loved that dress and wanted the feeling to last as long as possible.

I'm hesitant to post the next picture, because when people see 'honeymoon' and then a bed, they think dirty thoughts, but I promise you that is *not* what was happening here. (I do keep some things private!!) But I love this picture because I think it's so pretty and I thought the bed was so pretty. :)

Love that dress! :)

We went to bed early, knowing we had a very early wakeup call to get to the airport on time. I had thought we were to get up at 3:30 a.m., but apparently, as I was fast asleep, my mother called Joe to tell him that the flight was actually an hour earlier than we thought, and that she'd need to pick us up an hour earlier. Joe didn't tell me that until we were on our way out of the hotel. That man woke me up at 2:30 in the morning that day after our wedding! The horror!

Anyway, both my mom and my dad picked us up to see us off at the airport. I asked them to bring the dogs as well, since I hadn't seen them since that previous Friday. I missed them! She agreed, so we were picked up by a full house!

We got to the airport and said our goodbyes, then grabbed our luggage to go. Ooops - Joe's backpack was missing! And his backpack had our passports in it! My mom had forgot to bring it along, so she and my dad jumped back in the car and rushed back to retrieve it. An hour later, they were back and we rushed to get checked in and get to our gate. (Joe loves to rub it in that it was a good thing we got up an hour earlier!)

We made it in plenty of time, so no worries there.

6 hours later we got off the plane in sunny Cancun, Mexico!

We're Back!

2010-10-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

We completely unplugged for the two days before our wedding and the week of our honeymoon. It felt goooood. But now I'm back and I know a lot of you want to see pictures and hear stories from the wedding and honeymoon. I'll see what I can do! Hopefully I'll have time to download some pictures tonight and get something up tomorrow.

I'll just say that we couldn't be happier right at this moment. I love my husband. :)

Adopt a Shelter Pet Month: My Jackson

2010-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

So, I mentioned before that October is Adopt a Shelter Pet Month and I told you a little about my adoption of Ava. Well, Jackson is a shelter dog, too, so here's his story!

Around the time I was fostering Ava, Joe moved out of his apartment and into a house with two other people who both had dogs. He started getting the itch right away. He was a dog owner before chiropractic school, but his beloved Rottweiler Buddha passed away.

We started talking about what kind of dog he thought he wanted, and the only stipulation he had was that he wanted the dog to be around 30 pounds. He also didn't want a puppy. So, one weekend we set out to look.

We drove all over the Portland area to a variety of different shelters we knew about. Every shelter had many adorable and deserving dogs, (I remember seeing a Bernese puppy and almost forcing Joe to adopt him, even though he wasn't an adult OR 30 pounds, haha) but none seemed to be 'the one.'

Each time we left with Joe just a little more disappointed.

When we left the last shelter, Joe was just so discouraged. He didn't want to stop looking, but we had run out of options. Seeing him like that was awful, so I traveled back in time 20 years and actually picked up a phone book. :) I found a couple more shelters we had no idea about and we headed to the first on the list - a shelter called Family Dogs New Life.

We flipped through their list of adoptable dogs and found a couple we thought we'd meet. They all looked pretty big, but we thought we'd look anyway. And we were right, the first two dogs that we met were big - in the 50-60 pound category. But then we met lucky #3. This dog came out full of energy, trying to run around the office with a huge smile on his face. Joe and I looked at each other in surprise - this dog was smaller than we imagined - just about 30 pounds! His name? Jackson!

We met with Jackson in a little room and he seemed really high-energy, but sweet. We took him out on a walk and he pulled and pulled and pulled. Seriously, that dog had energy. We brought him back into the little room and asked the coordinator if Jackson was good with little dogs (I had a inkling I might be adopting a little dog, heehee). The coordinator brought a dachshund in to test him with and Jackson was great. Score!

Joe wanted him, pure and simple. I hate to admit this, but I tried to talk him into 'sleeping on it'. "You don't want to jump into such a big commitment," I said. "If you still want him in the morning, we can come back and get him then."

Yeah, that argument didn't work. :) We took him back to Joe's house that day and Jackson settled right in!

Soon after adoption.

He helped us with fosters too! Here he is with Ava and foster Ducati.

And here's our boy today!

Jackson is seriously the BEST dog. He is so sweet and loving and always has a smile on his face. He is playful and loves his toys. His favorite place is curled up next to our feet or next to us on the couch. He's so smart and is so good at letting us know what he wants and needs. I seriously couldn't ask for a better dog.

Remember to choose adoption as your first option, or you could miss out on a fabulous dog like our sweet baby boy.

Adopt a Shelter Pet Month: My Ava

2010-10-05T12:12:00.001-07:00

October is Adopt a Shelter Pet Month! As most of you know, this issue is near and dear to my heart. Since adopting my first Italian Greyhound in 2005, and learning that all of her health issues stemmed from originally being purchased at an unseemly puppy store supplied by puppy mills, I have been dedicated to rescue efforts.

When I lost Sophie after just a year and a half, I couldn't bring myself to 'replace' her with another dog. So, I became a foster mom. I was able to care for numerous dogs that needed forever homes, love them and spoil them to the best of my ability, and then send them off to their new families. I did this for several months.

One of those foster dogs came from an 'accidental' litter. She was 9 months old, had never been outside, and hadn't even been named. I took her in like I did all the others, but she was *much* worse off than the others I had fostered (I was lucky to have fostered well-adjusted, healthy dogs up until that point.) This dog was scared of the world, unsocialized and untrained. I had my work cut out for me.

I spent that first weekend getting to know her and researching names that would fit her. I believe a lot is in a name and it can set the tone for the rest of their life. She was so elegant and ladylike, and I eventually settled on the name Ava, after Ava Gardner.

I worked with Ava for months, helping her learn to be in the world, making her understand I would always protect her, and teaching her the basics of walking on a leash and being in a crate.

The Rescue Organizer kept asking me when she would be ready to be placed up for adoption, and I kept putting her off. Everyone knew what I wasn't going to admit - she was mine.

When I officially adopted her, no one was suprised. :)

This is the picture I first took of Ava to be used when she was placed up for adoption.

She helped me with other fosters after her. Here she is with Ducati.

With more fosters, Izzy and Rerun.

Sharing her bed with Izzy and Rerun.

My snuggle bug.

Adoption has always been the best option for me, and I truly believe it's the best option for everyone. I don't want to anger the responsible breeders out there (I could care less about angering the irresponsible ones!), but the fact is that there are so many homeless dogs in the world that I just can't fully get behind creating more puppies that will go to families that very well could have given a homeless dog a home.

I could have bought an Italian Greyhound puppy from a breeder no problem. But what I got in a 'shelter' pet was equal to what I would have got from a breeder, AND I had the added bonus on knowing that I saved a life, I gave a homeless dog a home, and I helped the overpopulation problem as opposed to adding to it. That is a great feeling.

(And yes, Ava was still quite young at 9 months AND a purebred. Those two things are never an excuse to use a breeder.)

Next up: My other Rescue pup, Jackson!

Weekend

2010-10-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Not really a lot to report lately. It's been pretty quiet here, which is pretty remarkable considering... wait for it.... we're getting married this week!! *woot!*

We had a pretty relaxed weekend, and I think we both needed that. Well, I know I did. Saturday Joe went to work and when I woke up I realized that it was 11:30! I haven't slept that late in years, so I'm guessing I needed the rest. Maybe I've been more stressed than I think? I took the dogs for a long walk, and then crawled back into bed and watched TV on the computer until Joe came home from work. It was awesome.

Stuart flew into town on Thursday, so Joe and I took a drive out to Port Orchard (where his family lives) to visit him Saturday night. We had a great time catching up, and I was happy to have a relaxing visit before all the craziness of the wedding festivities begin.

Sunday we ordered some more last-minute things for the wedding and went to the library to pick out some books for the honeymoon. Then we came home, packed for the honeymoon, and spent the rest of the night dancing around to our reception playlist, making some last-minute tweaks. (Okay, maybe I was the one dancing...)

So that was basically our weekend. Now it's back to work for four days, after which starts the biggest event so far in my life. Can't wait!

Some Thoughts at 10 Days to Go

2010-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

When Joe and I got engaged, I had no idea the roller coaster we would be on over the next ten months. I thought it would be easy and fun and that everything would just go along as it went along. I had no idea what went into planning a wedding - the money, the stress, the highs, the lows, etc. But the main thing that has really hit me lately is how people really surround you.

It's really humbling the outpouring of love that we have received since getting engaged. We are so lucky to have family and friends who are so happy for us, as I know not everyone has that support. For one, my parents have been so incredibly generous in helping to fund my perfect wedding. When I told them I fell in love with a wedding dress that was a feeew extra dollars over what I originally told them I would spend, they didn't bat an eye. I think my dad said, "Do you love it? Then it's yours." My mom has also talked me down off the ledge more than once. I think she has gotten good at that. I can be a tad bit emotional.

Also, I can't believe we have been given three different wedding showers. The first thrown by my bridesmaid and good friend Heidi because she wanted me to have the experience of celebrating my engagement with the people I loved, since I was so far away. The second thrown by my cousin and bridesmaid Christi, who wanted to bring my side of the family together to celebrate. And the third thrown by my future in-laws who wanted to usher me into the family in their own special way.

Speaking of my in-laws, I don't think they could be any more welcoming and excited about this wedding. This is even more important to me because Joe has been married before. They don't treat our wedding as anything other than the most exciting event in Joe's life - which I really appreciate. They are so excited and happy for us and that means so much to me.

My cousin came to my rescue in a very important way during this wedding process and we have become much closer because of it. I couldn't be happier about that.

Everyone in my wedding party have helped me put this shindig together, which has created a huge network of people involved that all come back to a shared core. My photographer is Christi's good friend. My hair stylist is Heidi's mother-in-law. My iPod DJ is Heidi's sister-in-law. My second reception photographer is Stuart's brother. Not to mention friends of ours who are participating in big ways - our officiant was Joe's classmate and our florist is an amazing friend we made in Maryland. People are stepping up from all ends and creating this huge community that will be our wedding. I can't tell you how much I love that, and how lucky I feel that people want to be involved.

I will admit, I've had my highs and lows, I've laughed, I've cried, I've yelled in happiness and yelled in frustration. I know our wedding is not going to be perfect, things will go wrong, it won't meet everyone's expectations of how a wedding should go, but it will be ours. And we will get to share it with all of these people who love us. And that is perfect.

Thank you, everyone, for being there and helping to make this wedding what it is. 10 days to go. I'm ready.

Showered with More Love

2010-09-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

After the hair trial and after Joe got off work on Saturday, we drove down to Portland, where Joe's family threw us a wedding shower!

The shower took place at Joe's parents' house, and Joe's sister and niece helped host. They are so creative and covered these chairs with white tulle so Joe and I would have 'bridal seating' when we opened gifts. So sweet! Of course, Ava thought that since they were so pretty, they MUST be for her:

Over 25 people showed up to celebrate with us - we were shocked! The family provided gobs of awesome food (Joe's mom made these veggie meatballs that were sooo yummy) and it really seemed like everyone had a great time.

We played a few simple games that were really fun - the funniest being a game called "Draw the Bride-to-Be". Let me tell you - Joe's family and friends are NOT artists! They were hilarious! I will be posting pictures of some of these drawings - they are too good not to share. Joe got to pick the winner. He picked his neice, Sam, whose drawing was very sweet and one of the only ones that didn't make me look like a goblin or zombie. hehe

There was also a jar full of gold rings and everyone had to guess how many rings were in the jar. I wasn't surprised at all when Joe won that game. He is really good with numbers. I was over 200 rings off.

Everyone was very generous, and we received a lot of wonderful gifts - some off our registry, some homemade, some gift cards and money. Joe's parents definitely broke the ice with their gift to me, which had everyone laughing and me with bright red cheeks. I'll just leave it at that.

Anyway, it was a great day and we are very thankful for everyone who came.

Ava kept a close eye on her grandpa.

Samantha, Shane, Joe

Zach, Annette, Ryan

Joe, Bryan (best man), Alena, Ryan

Our cake - it matches our invites!

(More pictures to come. I didn't have time to take many with my own camera, so will have to get more from Joe's sister.)

Thanks again for a great day, Kalinowskis and friends!

Hair Trial - Check!

2010-09-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

Saturday I had my hair trial! I didn't really know what to expect, but I really had such a great time. The person who will be doing my hair for the wedding is Heidi's mother-in-law, Pat. She has been in the industry for over 20 years, and really knows her stuff. I was so honored when she agreed to participate in our big day.

The trial was such a fun experience. When I got in the chair, I showed Pat the photos I had brought along with me, showing what I thought I might want to do. I wanted an up-do, but a little 'messy' and not so sleek and formal. We chatted a bit about my pictures, and then she got to work.

When she looked at my hair, I think a heard her squeak a little in despair. "When was the last time you got your hair cut?" she asked. "Well, my mom trimmed it about 6 months ago," I said. She laughed a little nervously, and said, "Yes... you need a cut. I'm cutting it. Is that okay?"

Of course that was okay! I got a fabulous cut along with my trial, and my hair now feels healthy and awesome.

Anyway, while she was playing with my hair, her daughter showed up with her new week-old daughter, who was so tiny and sweet! Heidi showed up as well (she was getting her hair trial after me) and all four of us had such a fun time chatting. Girly girl time is always fun.

And when Pat was done, I was so happy. I loved how it turned out and I felt so beautiful. Here are some pictures I took when I got home:

Super close-up of the back.

Jack - "Hi mom, hi, hi, hi, mom? mom?"

What do you think? I'm so excited!

Weekend Plans

2010-09-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a crazy weekend. Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm heading up to Mountlake Terrace to play with hair styles for my wedding. Hope I find one that I love! Then, once Joe gets off work, we will be heading down to Canby, Oregon. On Sunday, Joe's parents are throwing us a wedding shower for his friends and relatives - we can't wait! It will be so fun to see so many people we haven't seen in a long time. Then, after the shower, we hop back in the car and drive home. It's going to be a quick weekend!

Stay tuned for all the pictures!

New Toy

2010-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

One of my coworkers won a trip to a Dog Blogging conference in Denver called BlogPaws last week. While she was there, she met the owner of a company that sells dog toys. Stacy, my coworker, mentioned we had a blog and would love to do a review if the person was interested. Well, this week a HUGE box of toys arrived at work!

I was given "Sally the Beaver" to test with Jackson. (We ended up calling it Justin Beiber the Beaver and it was so funny to hear Joe call out to Jackson - "Where's Justin Beiber? Go get Justin Beiber!" haha) Little did we know that both Jackson AND Ava would love it!

The thing has 12 squeakers in it's body and then this honking sound for it's tail. The dogs loved it. Total toy test win. :)

Fun with Friends and Twins

2010-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Joe and I headed over to our friends' house for dinner. We haven't seen Ed and Jessica since we moved back, and the last time I saw them was back in March, when my friend Heidi flew me home and hosted a wedding shower for me. At that time, they had just had their twins, and boy, have those girls grown up in the last 6 months!

We had such a nice visit and had SO much fun with the girls.

The pictures speak for themselves, don't they? I especially love this last one of them both sitting up on the couch, happily playing. They are SUCH good babies, hardly cried at all, and were smiling and giggling and playing the whole time we were there.

We look forward to many more visits with this awesome family. :)

My New Favorite Music Video

2010-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

For all my fellow dog lovers out there. OK Go has a new video!

Come on, you can't tell me you don't love that!

New Vet

2010-09-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ava needed her prescription refilled, so we were finally forced to find a new vet here in Seattle. I hate looking for a new vet, I stress so much about it. I have had some bad experiences, and with a 'special' dog like Ava, I have to be certain that if something flares up due to her condition, the vet will do all he or she can to help her. I had that in Cheshire (I told you about crying, yes crying, when I left my vet there, right? Embarrassing, but true.)

Anyway, usually I visit half a dozen vets in the area, tour their facilities, the whole nine yards before making a decision. Well, I didn't give myself enough time to do that, because Ava needed her meds. So, last Thursday, Joe took both dogs into Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, which was recommended to us by some people I work with.

Joe took them because it was his day off and I had to work. But he said that he was very impressed with the amount of time the doctor spent with Ava, looking her over and asking a ton of questions about her condition.

She spent about an hour with Ava, then checked Jackson over in about ten minutes. Ah, I love my mutt!

Two nervous dogs.

I hope this vet works out. I may go ahead and check out a few others, just to make sure.

Out at the Bar with Ava

2010-09-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday at about 4:00 p.m., my coworkers and I were at work, discussing how it was such a gloomy day and that the office was just so *down* today. We needed something to pep us up! So, we decided to skip out of work early, and head out for happy hour.

"But," I said, "I have Ava. I can't go out today."

I forgot. This is SEATTLE.

You can take your dogs to bars in SEATTLE!! *woot woot!*

Akvile, no longer gloomy!

Martyn and Akvile's dog, Batman, bellied up to the table.

Me and Ava, sharing a refreshing Heffy!

Cheers!

It's official. I love Seattle!

Dedicated to all the Shelter Dogs

2010-09-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

You all might be aware of the fact that I'm a bit of an animal advocate. And you might also know that I have a thing for shelter dogs. So, when I found out that Pedigree's new campaign was called "Write a Post, Help a Dog", I knew I'd be involved! Because, you know, #dogsrule.

Did you know more than 4 million dogs wind up homeless every year. It actually pains me to type that. Because not only is that a huge number, but it's also a number that I know can't be matched by adoptive families. Which means that there are too many dogs and not enough adopters, which leads to good dogs being euthanized for no good reason.

Both Jackson and Ava are rescues. Ava came from an independent breed-specific rescue, so is probably not considered a 'shelter dog'. But Jackson certainly is - we adopted him from a shelter in Portland. And many of you know about my first Italian Greyhound, Sophie, who DID come from a shelter. (Yes, you can find purebred dogs at the shelters!) I've visited many, many shelters on the West Coast and East Coast and there is one common factor - there are AMAZING dogs all over the country just waiting for their forever home.

Many people I talk to say they won't go to a shelter because they don't want a mix. Well, I've already dispelled that rumor. You absolutely can find purebred dogs at shelters, and if not, there are breed-specific rescues all over the country that you can adopt from.

The other thing I hear a lot: "There are only adult dogs in shelters, and I want a puppy!" Also not true! Pregnant dogs are brought into shelters every day, who give birth to puppies that also need to be adopted. Plus, puppies are difficult and many people get in over their heads and drop their puppy off at the shelter because it is 'just too much work'. (Don't get me started on the escuses I've heard - OMG.)

Every shelter dog deserves a good home, so please consider them when you are looking to bring a pet into your family. If any of you have met Jackson, Ava, or my first iggy Sophie, you must realize that they are worth it!

One Year Ago...

2010-09-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just realized that Ava was diagnosed with her auto-immune disorder a year ago this month. A YEAR ago! I cannot believe that. It seems like last week I was taking her into the vet every other day, up with her crying and screaming all hours of the night, whisking her up to Massachusetts for appointments with specialists, and just feeling hopeless and scared and oh-so-sad.

I was convinced back then she wouldn't make it through Christmas 2009. And now, here it is, a whole year later, and Ava is back to being her cuddly self, happily jumping around and burrowing under covers, and most importantly, she is still here. Still with us. Still able to annoy us with all her coffee-mug-breaking, counter-surfing, leftover-smuggling, food-begging, bed-hogging antics.

And as much as I complain about all of that, I would miss it terribly if she wasn't here.

We went from this:

In her 'Hannibal Lector' mask at the specialist's office.

To this:

Sitting pretty at my work.

And true, she isn't 100%. Probably never will be. She still has those awful sores on her ears, she is on medication that makes her fat (or swollen, as my mom says), has new sores that aren't really healing, and is on a very restrictive diet. But we look past all of that because it's all manageable.

So, I just wanted to send a quick 'thank you' out into the universe for this year. I hope for many more to come.

Cupping

2010-09-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Joe hasn't been feeling that great (headaches, mostly) and he was mentioning that at work the other day. One of the therapists there who practices Chinese medicine recommended cupping. Apparently, they put these glass cups on your back, suck out all the air, and leave them there for a while. It's supposed to suck the toxins out of your body and make you feel better.

This is what happens, though:

That is Joe's back! When Joe showed me, I totally freaked out. It looks sooooo creepy and a little scary, like something is seriously wrong with him. But he assures me this is what it's supposed to look like.

The morning after, Joe woke up with an upset stomach. He thinks the cupping is releasing toxins, which is making him feel sick. But that is actually a good thing, because once he flushes the toxins, he'll be better.

Interesting, no?

Men at Play

2010-09-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

While the girls were getting all dressed up for a photo shoot, the boys were heading to the golf course. Joe was able to golf with my family for the first time, and he said he had a great time (and 'didn't even make a fool out of himself' - his words!).

Pete, Brent, Joe, and Gary

Manly men doing manly things.

I love it when Joe gets to go golfing. Since we have been together, he really hasn't been able to hit the course as much as he would like (school, then finances got in the way). And he gets so incredibly happy when he gets to go - I can tell it's in his blood.

Hopefully these four will get to golf a lot more together now that we are back on the West Coast.

Surprise Birthday Party for my Aunt

2010-09-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned, we went to Wenatchee this weekend. We had a lot to do while we were there, but everything was fun, fun, fun!

That Friday night, when we rolled into town, we headed straight to the Country Club. My cousin Christi, the same one who threw Joe and I a shower Saturday afternoon, had planned a HUGE surprise 60th birthday party for my aunt Bonnie (her mom). She literally had been planning this thing for a year, and it was a huge success. (I'm telling you, Christi should be a professional party planner. She is that good.)

The party started at six and even though Joe and I left work early to head down there, we still didn't make it until 8:30 p.m., a half hour before the party ended (damn Seattle traffic!). But the party was still going pretty strong and we were able to see the birthday girl and my family.

This was before we got there - the moment of the 'surprise'.

She looks like she is trying to eat me, but she was just excited that I made it. :)

Chatting with my brother and sister-in-law.

The party planner and the guest of honor. :)

My brother and sister-in-law.

Me and my mom.

Okay, so the surprise party was awesome. But then, on Saturday, after the bridal shower, we had to continue celebrating my aunt turning the big 6-0. We decided to head up to Leavenworth to take an 'old time' picture of all the girls! It was sooooo much fun. We had a blast! (Mostly because my family is crazy and hilarious and can make ANYTHING fun!)

All dressed up!

The shot!

After the photo shoot we headed out for drinks and dinner.

My crazy family.

Drinks.

Dinner at Visconti's.

What a fun night! And the best part was that my aunt was completely surprised and kept saying it was the best birthday she had ever had. I would call that a success!

Wedding Shower Fun

2010-09-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! We were in Wenatchee this weekend and we were going non-stop from the moment we arrived until the moment we headed out of town!

One of the events Joe and I went to was in our honor - a wedding shower hosted by my cousin (and bridesmaid) Christi! She definitely went above and beyond, making amazing appetizers that were all vegetarian and chocolate cupcakes from scratch.

Delish.

My whole family attended and Joe and I were just blown away by everyone's support and generosity. The theme was 'honeymoon' and everyone donated to our honeymoon fund so we can have an amazing week's stay in Cancun, Mexico. I know that once we say our 'I do's' we will be ready for a nice beach vacation to relax!

Joe, Aunt Kathy, and my dad

Our two under-age attendees, Emily and Mason. How cute are they?

My cousin had us all play this great game as well. She placed a bunch of stuff related to the honeymoon in a pillowcase and tied the end. Each person had two minutes to feel the outside of the pillowcase and write down what they thought was in there. I would definitely suggest this game if you are throwing a shower. Everyone got really into it! And then I got to pull each one of the items out of the bag to keep!

Me playing the game. I totally thought I was going to win, but my neice (in pink, behind me) and my cousin's fiance were the winners, with 7 correct guesses. Impressive!

My dad, me, and Joe. I love this picture because it shows off my shoes. I love those shoes. ;)

Me with the planner extraordinaire!

Digging through the pillowcase.

Opening cards.

One of the items in the pillowcase - a shirt for Joe. As you can read, it wasn't very nice. haha.

mmmmm.. cupcake.

This is a terrible picture of me because Joe kept asking me to scrunch down because in my kick-ass shoes, I was taller than him. But it makes me look like a squatty weirdo. Lesson learned.

It was such a wonderful celebration and I can't thank everyone enough for their generosity. I am very lucky to have the family I do (even though they are complete wackos, let's be honest) and am so happy that they have accepted Joe with open arms.

Jackson at Work

2010-09-10T12:01:00.001-07:00

Today is going to be a long day for the doggies, since right after work we are heading to Wenatchee. I looked at Jackson this morning and just started feeling bad - he is so patient with us, with everything we have going on, and never really complains that we aren't taking him on hikes or trips to the dog park at much as we have in the past.

I knew that one of the dogs that is normally in the office would be gone today, so I decided to test Jackson's 'work'-ability.

We arrived to work early, before the doors had even been unlocked, so he could get a sense of the place before all the commotion set in. I tossed his dog bed under my desk and took him out into our courtyard to pee. On the way to the courtyard he peed on a cubicle wall - great start!

He did okay when people started showing up, and even held his tongue when Ellie, our other resident dog, came into his new turf. There have been a few squabbles, which I expected, but he actually hasn't been too bad. He's settling in now and just hanging out under my desk, guarding all of the toys he can find.

And I feel good that at least he gets some solid attention today. Hopefully he'll be tired out enough for a good nap in the car on the way to Wenatchee tonight.

The All-Important Marriage License

2010-09-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning Joe and I woke up early and headed into downtown Seattle to apply for our marriage license! We got to the office 15 minutes before they opened, and I admit, I actually felt giddy. The act of applying and receiving a marriage license just makes everything so.... real. And wonderful. And yes, I was that silly girl who walked into the government office snapping pictures. And I may have even dressed up a little.. so? ;)

Sure, we could have filled out the form, mailed it in, and waited for the license to be mailed to us. We wouldn't have had to get up early and make the traffic-laden drive into downtown Seattle on a busy weekday morning. We wouldn't have had to pay for parking. I wouldn't have had to be slightly late to work, and I wouldn't have had to wait to be picked up since Joe took the car.

But we would have missed out on this very special moment together, where they handed us our license and said, go forth and get married!

The (amazing) woman who helped us was very proud of her easy button. ;)

Joe filling out all the deets.

And it's official!

Labor Day Weekend in Canby

2010-09-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

After Joe got off work on Saturday, we headed down to his hometown of Canby to visit family and friends (some we hadn't seen since we moved to the East Coast). I had been feeling pretty under the weather, but a weekend of rest and fun with family and friends definitely worked in my favor, as I'm feeling a lot better now. :)

From the home base of Joe's parents house, we were able to head out and see a lot of people. First, we visited with Joe's best man, Bryan, and our flower girl, Marleigh. I haven't seen Marleigh in two years, and it was so sweet because she was so excited to see us! She got a big smile on her face and said, "I'm so excited for your wedding!!" Too cute, right? She is going to be the best flower girl ever. :)

Bryan shared with us some big news as well, and we were able to meet his significant other, Aleina. it was just so nice to catch up.

Next we visited with Marleigh's mom, Kari, and her new baby boy, Zander. Well, new to us! He is a year old now, but we had never met him! He was just the most beautiful, happy, smiley boy and really loved his 'Uncle Joe'. He's walking around and just so sweet. We had seen Kari and her significant other, Scott, when we first moved back to Bellevue (they came up for a Red Sox game), and it was great to see them again.

Next we were off to see another good friend, Brad, and his nine-month-old baby girl, Peyton, another new addition that we hadn't met yet. Peyton is this sweet tiny little girl who took a bit to warm up to us, but made up for it with huge adorable smiles. And while Joe caught up with Brad, I had a great time chatting with Brad's wife, Erin, who is an awesome girl and who I think I'm going to be very good friends with. :)

Then it was off to Joe's sister and brother-in-law's house for a crab feed. They had just returned from the beach where they caught 66 crab. Joe was in absolute heaven. And Shane, Joe's brother-in-law, who is basically a carnivore and thinks I'm pretty weird for not eating meat, was so nice to BBQ up some awesome veggies that were to *die* for. We had such a great time eating and catching up, and drinking wine. Lots and lots of wine. Everyone else left and Joe and I stayed and hung out with Cindy and Shane and just had a blast.

I'm really mad at myself for not taking any pictures. The only picture I have from the whole weekend is one that Joe's niece took of Ava sitting on Shane's lap. Ava picked the biggest, gruffest guy to totally cuddle up with. I told Shane he must have great energy because Ava just doesn't do that. How cute is this?

This morning we spent some time with Joe's parents and then went out to lunch with Joe's friend Brenton, who is also in the wedding. Joe and Brenton traded chiropractic stories and we all had a great time. It's just so crazy that we haven't seen all these people for so long. Too long. It's nice to be back.

And now we are home and getting ready for the week. Only five weeks to go 'till the wedding. Things are about to get crazy!

Not Much to Report

2010-09-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Joe and I have really been focusing on checking off some of the items on our 'wedding to-do list', so we haven't really been out and about as much. So I haven't really felt like I had anything to blog about, but I figured I would just throw up a quick update.

Last night we were able to go out to dinner with another couple - a chiro friend of Joe's and his girlfriend. We went out to a sushi place in Bellevue and while I really don't like sushi (man, I wish I did, everyone does and I'm always left out!) it was a really nice night.

Ava has been going to work with me more often than not, and she's starting to actually get excited when I start getting ready to head out the door. She is still a little anxious when she is there, but I think it's really good for her. Right now my mom is staying with us, so Jackson has company while everyone else is at work. When my mom leaves, I'm not sure if I'll continue taking Ava. Hopefully at some point we can get Jackson in daycare, and then I can keep taking her.

When I was in Wenatchee, my dad gave me this ear of corn that you put in the microwave and it makes popcorn. We finally tried it out and I know I'm a complete nerd, but it was so much fun! It just made regular popcorn, but it was on an EAR! So cool. Observe:

The ear... before.

The ear.... after!

Joe and I have been going to the gym almost every day. We go at 6 a.m., and you know I must be dedicated to getting fit if I'm doing that. It's so hard every.single.day. to get up and go. I hate waking up and I hate working out, so it's not my favorite part of the day. And I'm not really seeing any results, which makes it even harder. But, we still go. Today I found a rack of trashy magazines hidden behind the stair stepper machines, so I think that will help me with the whole thing. At least I can catch up on Ali and Roberto, Jennifer Anniston's new movie, the new cast of DWTS, and those annoying Jersey Shore brats while I'm working out.

September is national pet health insurance month. If you want to sign your pet up with Trupanion, now's the time to do it.

Um... I think that is about it. I can't really think of anything else. Hope everyone is having a great week!

City Dog Mutt Mixer

2010-08-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday last week Joe and I (and Ava!) went to an event in downtown Seattle. The event was put on by City Dog Magazine, called the "Mutt Mixer" and it was so much fun! We had all gone three years ago, before we moved to the East Coast, and it was so fun to go again. This time we were joined by my two co-workers, Stacy and Akvile, and their dogs, Ellie and Batman.

Stacy, Ellie, Akvile, Batman, me, Ava, and Joe

Love this picture!

Where's Waldo? Do you see us in the way back?

Batman... duhnuhnuhnuhnuhnuh.... Batman!

A DJ was spinning tunes, and they had free apps and a cash bar. It rocked!

It was a packed house.

Batman and Ava - where are our treats?

Gorgeous Ellie girl!

Ava taking stock of any food she can scrape up.

The Trupanionistas!

Ava battling it out with Magnum, a Great Dane.

We had so much fun! We even saw our friend Amanda, who was there with her new puppy Wren. It's nice to have an event with other dog lovers. Everyone is on the same page!

Gelato Tweetup

2010-08-25T12:40:00.001-07:00

I went to another social media event last night, and this time dragged Joe along with me. It was a fun night, and it was great that Joe got to finally meet one of my coworkers. Even though this particular event didn't serve wine (whaaa?), they did serve authentic Italian pastries and gelato. The event was sponsored by Gelatiamo, and they unveiled a new flavor - raspberry honey cream. (I didn't care too much for it, but Joe ate two bowls, so he gave it a thumbs up.)

It was held at Microsoft Studios, so we also got a tour of the facility. It was really interesting. I had no idea about all the things they did there. They had a few studios that they filmed in, they had voice over rooms, and millions of dollars worth of equipment. I kept telling Joe to watch me, because I have a tendency to knock things over. I'm clumsy that way.

So here are some pictures of the night:

I was so cold, and I know I look it in this picture.

My coworker, Akvile. She called us the Trupanionistas!

The green screen in one of Microsoft's studios. We were pretending we were in Paris.

I love Seattle because it seems like there is always something like this going on. Tonight we are headed to another event - a Muttmixer in downtown Seattle put on by City Dog Magazine. Ava will be attending as well!

*Thanks to Akvile for taking the photos last night!

Ava Turns 4

2010-08-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Ava turned four on August 22, 2010!

Which means I adopted her about 3 years ago, when she was 9 months old. It's been quite an eventful 3 years. She has traveled all over the country with me, scared me with her major health issues, annoyed me with her food obsession, made me laugh with her crazy antics, and overall has taught me so much.

So, we celebrated with a very small family party at home. Her birthday was MUCH calmer than Jackson's, but she got exactly what she wanted:

1. A special dinner of apples and carrots (two of the only things other than dog food that she can eat).

2. Naps. She napped with me for a couple hours and napped in her bed under covers for most of the rest of the day.

3. Her mom! Ava loves Joe to death, but she will always be a mommy's girl.

Happy birthday baby girl! Here's to many, many more years together!

It's a Dad's Life

2010-08-22T18:38:00.001-07:00

In honor of my dad, who is visiting this weekend...

It's A Dad's Life - Watch more Funny Videos

More Photos From Joe's 40th

2010-08-20T21:28:00.001-07:00

Joe's sister just sent me some more pictures from Joe's 40th birthday. Enjoy:

We had such a great time that weekend! And I love these new photos that show it. Thanks, Cindy!

Jackson Received a Package

2010-08-20T20:28:00.001-07:00

Last week I won this contest that @iLoveDogsInc was having on Twitter. Last night I got our prize in the mail! Well, I should say Jackson got HIS prize, because really I won it for him. The prize was a tennis ball, frisbee, lanyard, leash, vitamins, and a tote bag! (Well, the tote bag is for me!)

Checking out his winnings.

Looooving the tennis ball.

Thanks @iLoveDogsInc!!

Ava Back at Work

2010-08-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ava went back to work with me yesterday and had another tough day of laying around. I'm really hoping that if I keep bringing her, she'll actually open up and get social. It would be really good for her.

This looks like my 'Monday Morning' face. I must have woken her up.

She never stays awake for long, though. She kept laying her head on my hand as I was trying to move the mouse.

She did venture outside in the courtyard to go pee a couple times, though.

Ava's First Day at Work

2010-08-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

So my job at Trupanion, a pet insurance company, is one where I'm allowed to bring my dog to work. How great is that, right? I thought about which dog would be best to take (Jackson is super friendly but a little rambunctious, Ava is kind of bitchy, but sleeps a lot), and decided Ava was the lesser of two evils. (I'm sorry, best of two angels is what I meant!)

Today was the first day I felt comfortable enough to bring her to work with me. My mom is here for the week, so I figured if something went wrong, she could come rescue Ava and it wouldn't be too disruptive.

Well, I didn't need to worry, because Ava did great! She wore her pearls for her first day and got a lot of compliments (well, okay, she got made fun of a little too, but mostly compliments). She started out on her bed on my lap, so it was a little harder for me to work on the computer than normal. But by the end of the day, she was a 'desk dog', hanging out on her bed on my desk. It was so cute!

Desk Dog!

She ventured away from me to drink some water.

Saying hi to her new friend, Ellie!

I am so lucky to work at a place where I can take her. I love my job!

Jackson's 5th Birthday

2010-08-12T07:36:00.001-07:00

It's amazing to me that Jackson is already five years old! It doesn't seem like that long ago that I tried to convince Joe to 'sleep on it' when he said he wanted to adopt him. That was three years ago now, and thank goodness he didn't listen to me!

Jackson is a fabulous dog. He is such a lover and has such human expressions that every day Joe and I wonder what he could possibly be thinking. He's one of those 'dog's dogs' who sleeps by your feet as you are watching t.v. I just love it.

He had a really good birthday, starting with a special duck and potato breakfast.

Preparing breakfast.

Served on a pedestal. :)

He definitely enjoyed it.

I distracted Ava with pieces of apple.

Then came gift time! A brand new lamb toy!

For me??

*I loves it.*

Unfortunately, Joe and I had to go to work all day, so Jackson was stuck at boring home with his boring sister all day on his birthday. But we made up for it that evening with a trip to the dog park. And to make it even better, there were other dogs to play with already there!

Checking out the puppy Oliver.

Ava deciding if she wants to play.

*I guess this guy isn't too scary.*

Then we walked next door to watch Joe finish playing tennis. He was invited to a club and since he hasn't played in a while, decided to take the offer. I guess he got beat 6-0 and 6-1 and had to work for that 1, but he came home tired and happy and will be playing again next week!

*Dad's pretty good at this tennis thing.*

*Go Dad!*

It was a really fun night. We'll have to do it again next week!

First Work Event

2010-08-10T21:36:00.001-07:00

I was invited to my first work event the first week I started at Trupanion. I'm in the social media department, and we rely on Twitter to connect with customers. A Twitter application, called CoTweet, hosted an event at the Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle and I attended, along with one of my coworkers. I had such a great time!

Hotel 1000

The panel of speakers, including @Starbucks, @AlaskaAir, and @Microsoft.

My coworker (on left) and her friend, tweeting away at the tweetup. So geeky. (Okay, so I was doing it too!)

My company goes to these events a lot, so I'm really excited to get involved. Yay for working at a company that actually believes in social media!