Puppies are like baby-trainers

Well, sort of. I guess since I've never had a baby (haha) I can't quite make the comparison, but it seems to me that having the responsibility of providing the protection, care, feeding, and (heavens) potty excursions of 2 5 lb defenseless creatures is a step closer to parenthood than just reading books about it. But, that's just me.

Yesterday was a case in point. I was sick (curse you, unknown virus!!) and generally not happy. I woke up, fed the puppies, gave them their meds (they're sick, too) and took them out to go potty. Mom and Dad were thinking of buying a new dining room set, so I was going to tag along with them all the way to Dallas to offer moral and physical support. Well, 30 minutes before we were planning on leaving, Dad wanted to leave. I stuffed (with as much love as possible) the puppies into their kennel and decided it would be like church: they be inside for about 3.5 hours and they'll be fine. It was just before 9am, and we'd be back by noon. So we did that.

Well, we ended up not getting the dining room set (awkward situation generated by the seller's lack of integrity), but we did go to an Antique Mall and found a table doohickey for the entryway. That was after we ate lunch at Arby's. And before we went to the storage unit and loaded up the formerly empty 14-ft trailer. And before we stopped by a friend's house to pick up a rogue chainsaw.

Starting at about 10:30 I could not stop thinking about poor Sophie and Jasper. How were they feeling?? Had they gone potty all they could before I packed them away? Were they feeling ignored? Were they going potty right now?!? These are things you have to think about! In between short dozing episodes I was just worrying to death about the puppies.

We finished with the chainsaw rescue at 1:20pm, by which time I was sure the puppies had chewed themselves to pieces out of boredom. We got home about 1:45 and I rushed inside, opened the kennel, grabbed the puppies, ran outside, and nearly tossed them into the yard while screaming "GO POTTY!!!". They did not disappoint. Within 2 seconds both did the l o n g e s t pee I had ever seen them do.

Is it strange to be full of pride and gratitude that your puppies chose (yes, it was a decision, I'm sure of it) to stretch their bladders and colons to the limit rather than wallow in their own excrement? Call me weird, but I was proud of them. :)

So, I think having puppies is a preview of coming attractions. Not that we'll have to worry about stuffing kids into a cage, but just the planning that goes into any outing whatsoever. Granted, we can leave the puppies home alone for a couple hours at a time while they're sleeping (heaven forbid we do that with a baby), but still. This is more than I thought it would be.

But it's worth it. :)

Finally! :)

I have absolutely no idea why I haven't blogged in the last 2 weeks. It's not like I'm employed or anything. But for some reason, instead of taking advantage of all my free time I end up filling my day with random unproductive activities that make me feel really, really lazy. (bleh)

But days have been a little more exciting since these two came along.

Everyone, meet Jasper and Sophie.

They're our brand new adorable Boston Terrier PUPPIES!! (Or, as my mother-in-law calls them, her new grandbabies).

They came from the same litter but we actually got Sophie for my family at home. There are hardly any boston breeders in Las Vegas, so we made a deal. If Anthony and I bought and housetrained Sophie for my family, then we would get to keep Jasper! Pretty sweet deal.

Well, we have like a bazillion pictures/videos of them, so I had to narrow them down for you all.
(alert: I seriously almost typed y'all at the end of that sentence... what's happening to me?!)

Jasper has the blue collar and floppy ears, and Sophie has the red collar and pointy ears.

Just LOOK at that face!! (sigh)... I think we're in love.

The Ozarks

(Ugh! It has been a battle to get this thing posted! I think every website I used refused to work for me. First blogger, then picasa, and this morning it was photobucket! Sorry for the long wait. Sheesh...)

For a week in August we vacationed in Arkansas with old family friends Paul and Crystal. Their house is beautiful and their 40 acre property is to die for. The weather was pretty much perfect (except for a rainstorm Thursday morning) and we had so much fun!

Here's a quick list of the things we did.

1. Shooting - the whole family participated!

2. Boating - which included swimming, jet skiing, and riding tubes.

3. Eating and lounging on the back patio - a very important aspect of the vacation. You can see the lake from the patio in the bottom left photo.

4. Silver Dollar City - a theme park with an old southern theme: Roller coasters, handmade leather, knives and pottery, homemade honey and a petting zoo :)

AND

5. Lambert's - home of throwed rolls (they literally throw them)

Anthony's disclaimer: He's hardly in any of the pictures because he was behind the camera. What a good boy. :)

It was an amazing week and the Henry's were so hospitable and generous. Can't wait to go again next year!

Not Arkansas yet people...

Ok, couldn't help myself. Angie's gonna post tomorrow (hopefully) about Arkansas, but I couldn't help but quickly blog about tonight's events.

Out here in the country, living in a geographical anomaly (20 minutes from everywhere!!), we don't get city trash service like city folk. We did order a dumpster and people to come I think once a week or every 2 weeks, or maybe just when we tell them to, but the dumpster hasn't arrived. In the meantime, we've been collecting more and more garbage, mainly from the unpacking and moving stuff (tons of moving paper, plastic bags/wrapping, cardboard boxes, paper kitchen products, etc.). Also the previous owners left a lot of food that presumably went straight from the fridge during their reign into trashbags left in our garage until today. Oh boy, did it smell. And I won't mention the maggots. ...whoops...

Either way, the only option we had was to burn everything.

So we did.



Well, it wasn't that big. But it was big. And HOT. Like, ridiculously hot. Like, run around frantically spraying water on EVERYTHING that could possibly ignite (meaning everything but the dirt) within a 50 ft radius. Seriously. I couldn't stand within 20 ft of the fire without feeling like this guy.

Now it's all good, after running around with a shovel making sure the embers wouldn't start The Great Azle Fire or anything, and after digging a moat around the entire fire and filling it with water.

So, even though trash burning isn't exactly my cup of tea, when faced with trash burning or mounting garbage (that smells like rotting meat), I'll take trash burning. I guess this is country life...

Ok, back to normal programming. Expect an Arkansas post pretty soon...

Texas

Well.. we're officially living in Texas and we helped Anthony's family get moved into their new home in Azle about 2 weeks ago. (Last week was our trip to Arkansas. I'll get to that later :) ) But it's been pretty stressful the last 2 weeks with all the heavy lifting, getting hardly any sleep, and the absolute WORST part of moving: unpacking.

Our room is almost completely unpacked. Except for our computer, bookshelf, and everything else that's hung on a wall. But we have set up the TV (with satellite TV), the Wii, our bed and the piano. What more do we need right? :)

So here are a few photos of the new house and the "mother-in-law" suite that we'll be living in for the next 8 months or so. We'll be very spoiled for the next 8 months.

This is our secret entrance in the backyard. That's our own little patio on the left.

Our bedroom (I'm standing in the front door) :

The TV/entertainment center on the left (as well as the door to the patio)

The four poster bed in the middle. A little over the top, I know.











And our own door to the garage. The bathroom is at the end of that dresser on the right.

I don't have very many pictures of the rest of the house yet, but I'll get those out soon. I needed to post this one quick for my impatient (but loving) family :)

Upcoming blog post: ARKANSAS!!!

Moving

Space bags are a mover's best friend. :)

I'm a believer.

One man's trash is another man's treasure

Or woman's, as the case may be.

On Monday, Angie and I were making plans to go to Happy Sumo (only the best sushi place in Provo) on Wednesday evening, and called Ben up to see if he wanted to go. Ben asked if I could first go to the Wilkinson Center and see if there were any spots open still for the Brigham's Yard Sale.

"The what?!?" I asked, confused.
"Brigham's Yard Sale," Ben replied. "It's like a big yard sale where you get a booth and sell stuff. There probably aren't any booths left, since it's 2 days away, but if there are I'd rather do that than Happy Sumo."
"Well, maybe we could sell stuff with you, since you wouldn't be eating with us," I said.

In fact, Angie and I had already signed a D.I. death sentence on a pile of stuff, so we could just see if somebody else wanted it. To make a long story short, we got a booth and decided to do Happy Sumo after the sale was over (7pm). Angie, however, was dubious about the benefits of a yard sale. But I coaxed her into it.

On Wednesday, Angie and I got to Brigham's Square on campus and began setting up. Ben called up and said he had already sent everything home that he was willing to part with. So Angie and I were left alone.

And it rained. No, it poured. And the wind was blowing stuff everywhere, people were getting hurt (literally), loud thunder. The first thunderstorm in a month, right in the middle of the yard sale.

But despite that, a lot of our junk sold. In fact, we made over $70 profit. Not bad for stuff we were just gonna chuck at D.I. Yep, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Actually, most of the profit came from jewelry Angie sold, not bought by men.

And Angie's yard sale opinion totally did a 180° . Now she's a fan. And richer, too. :)