Fall Time

I've been meaning to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors for a while now but every time I remembered to do so it would be rainy or just a nasty day, then on the clear days I would forget my camera. Anyways, yesterday I remembered to grab my camera so here's a sample of what we see. This tree in particular is one I love, the leaves change colors at different times... it's just pretty :) Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was in the low 60's with a slight breeze so after Rene got off work we really wanted to go out and do something. We looked up some stuff on the internet and found out a lot of people were celebrating fall. One orchard in particular, Beasley's Orchard, had a fall festival with lot's of different activities for kids, food to eat, and a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. We decided that would be fun so we headed out. When we arrived at the orchard, I was super excited because this was the first time I've seen apple trees! (slightly pathetic, I know) It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed ourselves and could really see how it'd be even better with little ones around. But oh, this was the first time I've seen a pumpkin patch too!!! And no, I did NOT grow up in the city.... we just didn't have apple trees and pumpkins.

Above was a pumpkin surrounded by some dried grass. Below we have this weird plant... It was connected to the pumpkin's somehow so I wanted to take pics of it. When I started I realized there was also this little lady bug :) Isn't she/he cute?!!

Then this is just the same thing, but a little bit of an artsy pic.

Now, as much as we (I) wanted to pick out a fresh pumpkin, they were just too expensive so we went to WalMart and bought one there. Today, we decided to go ahead and carve it. Rene worked hard at cutting out the top so he could rip out the guts. I then scrapped out the inside as he separated his precious pumpkin seeds from the innards. And as for the carving, I did about 99% of it cause Rene cannot be doing little tasks like that where he has to hold a tool for too long since he has (what we assume is a) little carpel tunnel. But, I didn't mind. This is our first carving together, and the first one I've done myself :)

Drum roll please....... ta daa!!! Our completed pumpkin!! Happy Halloween everyone :)

Halloween fun

I came upon this website and just had to play around with it. This is Rene, my neices (Jess, Mac and Katie) and I. If you haven't checked out this site, you need to!!

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11 weeks & 1 day

Okay, so I know it's been a while since there's been an update on here, but I've been pretty busy and not knowing what to write about. It's been the same old around here... Rene working, me looking for work and hanging out with our dog. Before I went to Washington, Rene and I went the Indianapolis Zoo for the first time. It's something we've been wanting to do since we got here (we love zoos!). Here are some of the pics from our visit (and yes, I know there are a lot... like I said, we like zoos)
Here's Rene petting a SHARK!!! I know, cool, huh?!! They were so awesome. The skin feels like the softest velvet.... I could've petted them ALL day. :)

Then there was this walrus who just decided to stand up in his tank. There were two more walrus' swimming around him but he was just hanging out standing up. We've never seen a walrus do that!

This was cool.... I love turtles and here was this HUGE desert turtle. This pic doesn't depict just how big he was but believe you me, he was enormous!

So on the zoos 'calendar' you can visit certain animals during feeding time and even pay to feed them. They were charging $1 for a piece of sweet potato to feed the giraffe, but we decided it was cool enough to just be standing so close to them and watching others do it. Now, if we had little kids with us we most likely would have paid, but it was just us so no reason. But still, super neat to be so close. Oh, and their tongues.... they really are black and SUPER long.

The elephant show... Neither Rene nor I have ever seen one before and it was fun to see this huge guy do tricks.

This is one thing I've been waiting to see... the Botanical/Butterfly gardens! Anyone who knows me knows I love butterflies. I was getting so frustrated though when they wouldn't stay still for just a couple seconds for me to get a picture!! They just kept fluttering all around me and teasing me. :( However, I did get this one of an older moth (I think).

And here, I did get a picture of one getting some nectar! :)

I know those were a lot of pictures from the zoo, but really, it's nothing compared to what I have :) Other than the zoo, me going to Spokane, and Rene working not too much else is going on.... exceeeeeppt, we bought our tickets home to ALASKA!!!!!!!!! We are so excited!! Can you tell? I've been keeping a count-down in my head, 11 weeks and 1 day from today we will be in Alaska. It'll be about 1.5 years for me since I've been home and a little over 2 years for Rene. We'll be there for a week before Christmas. I wish it could be longer but it's better than nothing. I cannot wait to see my family and Rene's as well.

Oh, so a little bit of news.... our dog, Ash, bit me Wednesday night. :( A few weeks ago he snapped at Rene and we figure it's because Rene was petting too close to his behind (he's pretty sensitive about that area and his tail) so we were just like, okay - no touching his backside area. There haven't been any incidents since then till the other night. It was the day after I got back from Spokane, things were going well. We were watching some TV or something and Ash was on my chest (I was laying down). He went to sniff my phone so was half on and half off of me... I went to pick him up behind his front paws to place him back on my chest. It was something I've done tons before. So, he's back on my chest just standing there and then he snaps. Luckily, he only went for my hand. In hindsight, it could've been so much worse since my face was right there next to him. Thanks to Rene though, he threw Ash off of me so nothing else would happen and put him outside. Unfortunately for me, Ash got me pretty well.... he broke the skin with one tooth and irritated the muscles/veins in my hand. Because neither of us have ever been bitten, we went to an Urgent care place.... my hand was hurting really bad, burning/throbbing and sending sharp pains up my arm. Oh, and one of my veins had swollen up. It hurt to barely touch my hand/wrist/arm. But after an hour at the Urgent care, we finally saw a Doctor and he said everything was fine and wanted to put me on antibiotics just in case. But since the incident, I've been afraid of Ash. I know he didn't mean to hurt me and this may be some trauma thing from his past owners, but I just don't know when I can trust him. I get paranoid having him lay with me or even we play or he's in Rene's lap and too close to me. I thought he was 'closer' to me and I was just doing something I'd done tons before, but for some reason he snapped at me. :( I hate not being able to trust our little guy.... I love him but I just don't trust him anymore. We're going to look into some doggie training classes or something. I would hate for this to happen again, or goodness, someone else. Does anyone have any suggestions/tips??

M.I.W.

Missing in Washington..... I know it's been forever since I blogged but I've been in Washington these last two weeks. Rene's home in Indiana working hard while I've been with my great friend, Cambria, in Spokane having fun :) Rene's so good to let me come out here! It's been so much fun to hang out with an old friend from Alaska and just catch up, it's been about 2 years since we've been able to do this. And Cam's husband has been great to put up with me and our shenanigans.

Look what we saw!

Just a little bit ago Rene and I took Ash for a walk. The weather's been really nice, like in the late 60's early 70's, so we wanted to take a long walk. Just as soon as we got on the walking trail behind our home and went just a little way, I saw something.... it was on the side of the trail next to the woods. I leaned in and realized it was a..............SnaKe!! :) How exciting! I've never seen a snake in the wild like this and was super excited. I stood there and watched it for a little bit because the way it was just laying there with it's head not moving at all. I didn't know if it was real, but I was pretty sure. I wanted a picture of it so Rene waited there with Ash to see if the snake moved while I returned home to get my camera. Can you see the snake?? Now, I don't know if many of you know but Rene does not care for snakes. I on the other hand don't mind them and wouldn't mind having one for a pet. :) I highly doubt that will happen though. Anyways, I got my pictures of the snake but I still wanted to know if it was poisonous or not. As we've never encountered a snake we didn't look up the types of snakes here in Indiana.
However, as soon as we got home we looked this guy up. He's a Northern and Midland Water Snake. They are found everywhere in Indiana, close to water as they primarily eat small fish, frogs and salamanders. We read that these guys get confused with another type of snake that are poisonous but he is not. (I wanted to bring him home, isn't he cute?) So now Rene and I have seen our snake and most likely I'll be keeping an eye out for more. :)

I promise....

Okay, I am not going to be that person who blogs about their pets but I have to say that this past week with our little Ash has been great! He's such a great fit with us.... he does this really cute thing that Rene calls 'commando' where he crawls towards you on his belly with his front paws out. Rene just loves it and they are really cute when they play together. And tonight before bed he got all excited and decided to attack me!! He cornered me and wouldn't let me pass, snipping at my feet every time I moved no matter what direction I went. ^_^ Anyways, I promise not to do a lot of blogging about him!!

An update on Rene: He's been training for the last week - actually talking to planes - and it's been great!! His trainers have praised him on his work so that's always great. It's been tough, he'll be the first to tell you that it's not easy and when he's done he's mentally drained. But he really has been doing a wonderful job. Just to give you a quick idea, one day the traffic was super busy and his trainer gave him a heads up that he may pull Rene off the 'scope' and take over. Well, he never had to take Rene off. Rene was able to keep up with all the traffic! :) (can you tell I'm proud of him??)

Me.... nothing much to say. Oh, I did get a call this week from a potential employer. He saw my resume online and called me to come in for an interview! I was so excited and apprehensive. With unemployment so high right now I know there are a lot of people out there fighting for jobs. I wanted to make sure that I was prepared and looked the part. The interview went well but as I was driving home I thought to myself that it may not be the right fit for me. Actually, it came down to pay.... they were going to pay me a little over minimum wage with a huge work load. I know I shouldn't be too picky in this market, but it just so happened that I didn't have to be. I never received a call back but it's all good. I wasn't really feeling the position and I didn't want to leave our pup after such a short time. Who wants to get a dog and then leave him alone all day???

The Newest Member of Our Family

:) Today, Rene and I went to a local furniture store for their grand opening... they were having some type of drawing where the winner gets up to $2000 to furnish a room. I wanted that prize, but we didn't win :( However, we got something better!!! Next door was a PetSmart and they were having adoption day. We decided to check it out cause we both love dogs and enjoy seeing all the pups. What we didn't expect was to fall in love with one of them. He's a 3 yr old Shih Tzu... his previous owners were both fairly old and ended up dying. No one in the family wanted to keep the little guy so he was sent to the animal shelter. Upon arrival, he was so covered in fleas he didn't have much fur on his back going to his behind and his tail. :( In the picture you'll see how his tail is black and pink... this is from the fleas and because he wasn't feed well or groomed often. We were told this would go away after a while of proper caring. He's already looking soooooooo much better. As soon as we got home he got a bath which helped out a ton. Oh, and his name was Roscoe...... ya, we didn't really care for that so his new name is Ash (the tips of his ears are gray and look like they were dipped in ash ^_^) So, here's our little guy. He's been wonderful, he really is a great fit. We couldn't have asked for a better pup!!!!!

After his bath

First time in his new bed :)

Aaron and Ginny's Wedding

This weekend, Rene and I went down to Evansville, IN for Ginny Fischback's wedding. She married Aaron Wiles in the Louisville, KY Temple. It was a wonderful weekend!!! It was such a treat to spend this time with them, plus Lee was able to come home for it! :) It's been a long time since we've seen him so it was nice to spend some time with him and his family (We LOVE the Fischbacks!!!). However, it was super hott! That was not so great but, Ginny still looked beautiful and everything went great. I was slightly disappointed because I forgot my nice SLR at home along with my chargers, so although I did have my point and shoot I didn't get many pics. I tried to save the battery for the reception since the happy couple didn't have a photographer. (and not that I'm great or anything, I just thought it'd be nice to get a few candid shots) Here are a few....

The Louisville Temple

Aaron and Ginny - First Dance

Cutting loose - Anya & Hannah, Dad Fischback & Ginny

Cousins - Lindsay and Bonnie

Happy Anniversary...

...to us! :) 4 years ago today, Rene and I were married in the Anchorage Alaska Temple. We cannot believe how fast time has flown by. It really doesn't feel like it's been 4 years.
We've enjoyed a lot of adventures, from moving cross county to taking a beautiful cruise. What a joy it's been to share all these memories with each other! Tonight we will be celebrating by going to dinner at the Melting Pot. :)

Gray hair

Does anyone else fret over a few gray hairs?? Well recently I have discovered my 3rd, permanent, gray hair! What's permanent? It's the fact that I stopped pulling out the occasional gray years ago and have lived with 1 and then 2, and now....3. Some may think, 3... really?? all this fuss over just 3? Yes!! To me that is a lot. Gray hairs, to me, are a sign of old age... old age is a sign that the ole' biological clock is ticking (tick, tick, tick...). Sure, I'm only 27 and on the verge of 28 and it's still kinda young but not when there are so many odds stacked against you. It just makes me feel old, not having any kids yet makes me feel old so this just makes me feel doubly old. :( Oh, and Rene pointed out his first gray to me the other day as well!!