Welcome Home

Last night I received this rush call from Rene telling me Skip (the guy we bought our dog from) had called and said our puppy was ready to go and we could pick him up tonight. Rene wanted me to call and see if I could get the little guy right away and Skip told me to come on over. It was so exciting and about 1.5 weeks ahead of schedule. For a recap, here's a little info on him: he's a Shihtzoodle (3/4 Shih Tzu and 1/4 Toy Poodle) and as of today, he's 6 weeks old. :)

When we got the little guy home we still hadn't picked out a name for him so that was the number one thing to do, aside from getting food and a color. We narrowed down our selection to two, Ollie (for the Olympics since that's when we got him) or Indy (as in we got him in Indiana). We decided upon Indy because we thought it was cute, had reference to Indiana Jones and cause we're hoping to make it back to Alaska and so we can say we got him from Indiana. Anyways, he's super cute and a bundle of joy. Here he is hanging out in his new bed with his toy turtle. :)

And now for the playful side of him.... being as he is a puppy, he has a ton of energy and loves to play.
This is from today, he wouldn't let me do any work. He just wanted to run around and play (and since he isn't potty trained yet I didn't want to let him run off too much and leave me a surprise). Isn't his little tongue cute??!! :)

We are Certifiably CRaZy!!!!!

With everything going on right now and the stresses we are under, Rene and I really miss Ash. He was a great comfort to us and helped 'distract' us. When Rene got home on Saturday from work he told me how he'd been thinking he wanted to go pick up Ash and bring him home, it was just a thought - he's still believes we made the right choice. Anyways, when we had dropped Ash off at the Rescue Farm they told us they'd be out our way again on Saturday (today) with some more pets doing adoptions and invited us out. We really hadn't planned to get another pet for awhile but I suggested we just go and look. When we arrived the adoptions were over however, they were going to have adoptions going over the next few weekends. Since we were already out Rene and I decided to drive down the main road and stop at places we'd never been. There was no agenda, just something to do as we are boring. :) So we stopped at a few pet stores and held some puppies but didn't take any home as they wanted so much money - there was this one puppy who was really cute but they wanted like $550 for him. AHHHH!!! That was a little steep for us so we got back in the car. At our last stop, a pet supply store, they had a bulletin board where people advertised pups for sale or lost dogs. There was one flyer that caught my eye for Shihtzoodles (Shih Tzu/Toy Poodle mix). The pups were born around the beginning of January and the owners were selling them for super cheap. Rene and I decided to go ahead and give them a call to see if we could just look at 'em. Well, we went right over that night, fell in love with one of the puppies and put down a deposit on him!!! We get to bring him home in about 2 1/2 weeks after he's been weened and had his shots. We are super excited to bring him home and raise him to be loving and a non-biter. :) Neither of us are very excited about potty training since we haven't had to do it before and will all the craziness around us this probably wasn't the most wisest of choices but..... it's going to be good for our souls. Financially not a good choice, emotionally the best choice!

Hard to Say Good-bye

This past Wednesday Rene and I dropped off our little Ash at the rescue shelter we adopted him from. Ultimately, we decided that it would be better for us not to keep him because we are hoping to go home where we'll be around our families and friends and we just cannot chance Ash biting anyone other than us. Hopefully, the people working with the shelter will be able to find out why Ash was biting and help get him to a place where he will be adoptable again. Ash would make a wonderful fit in any home.

It has been so hard not to have Ash home with us. We feel like we made the right choice, but how can you know for sure? We miss the joy he brought to our home, the empty place in our lives he filled... I know there are some who just wont get it, who don't understand the connection you can make with your pet. But, Rene and I did love Ash.... we still love Ash. This picture of Rene and Ash was taken just 2 days before he left our home. Aren't my boys cute? :)

So Stressed! :(

This past month has been really hard on Rene and I. As the saying goes, "When it rains, it pours." That is so true! Our most recent troubles have a lot to do with emotional things and money. Per our last post Rene and I were debating whether or not to keep our little pup. We love the little guy so much and so this really was the hardest thing we've had to do. After much deliberation, heart ache, crying and talking with family, we have decided to give our little boy back to the rescue organization. At first we were going to 'surrender' him to animal control as they were coming by the house for us to sign some paperwork for Ash's quarantine and when we spoke with them on the phone they said they could 'take' him. However, when the dude showed up he advised us that if they took Ash they would NOT be able to adopt him out again as he's a bitter and would therefore euthanize him. What??!!! No one had told us this and the dude was pretty shocked the person we spoke to on the phone didn't tell us either. So, we opted to go ahead and quarantine Ash for the 10 days and then give him back to the rescue home we got him from. We found out that they'll try working with him to try and find out why he's biting and after some time they'll make the decision of what's best for Ash. It's so hard to have him with us still.... I want to cuddle up with him, play and just love on him but at the same time I'm a little scared of the guy. Although he's bit Rene before, it was because of food. With me, there was no reason. Am I the reason??? Anyways, we have till Feb. 3rd or 4th so we just plan on loving Ash and making the best of our last week together.

Now, another headache we're dealing with: our condo in Alaska. Since we moved out in September of 2007 we've had a renter in our condo. It was blessing at the time as we were unable to sell the thing but man has it been a constant headache since. The individual we got to rent our place had a good job and their employer was going to foot the bill so we thought it was going to be easy. Nope! We've had constant battles with them paying on time, or at all. And as of Monday night we still had not received our rent, which had been due the 1st, and so our condo is now vacant. :( Although I'm super happy about not having to deal with this person anymore and not having to wonder if the money will arrive, it's going to be rough for us trying to make both mortgage payments plus a very possible HUGE investment in just a few months. (more to come on that bit of vagueness later when we know more - are you enticed??)

Third, we are getting our ceiling fixed in the office. About a month after moving into our home we had the pleasure of ripping out the ceiling in our office due to a leak. We haven't had it fixed (the ceiling mind you, the leak was fixed right away) yet as it wasn't a priority but due to this 'possible HUGE investment' we are getting it fixed. It's going to cost a ton more than we thought... I don't like to talk numbers like Rene does, but it'll take the guys about 3 days to fix so that may help with giving you an idea about the price. The work will begin tomorrow so we hope to have it done by this upcoming Monday.

These were just some of the items on our plate currently. We hope things turn around soon, I don't know how much more 'rain' we can take. lol

Dilemma

So Rene and I have this dilemma..... our wonderful dog, Ash, has some issues. Now, he is a rescue dog and we have no idea what his past was like but we do know he was covered in fleas when rescued and had no fur on his hind side/tail. Since then there have been some other things which have occurred. About a month after we had him he bit me, he broke the skin and it wasn't too major. However, this happened totally unprovoked. I was lifting him up just as I had done for the past month, but this time something just snapped. Since then he's bit the vet (which was done upon fear and the vet said not to worry) but he's also bit Rene when Rene didn't give Ash his treat quick enough. And then tonight I was playing with him as I've done forever... Rene had just finished playing with him and then Ash came over to me. We were just playing and then SNAP, he bit me. This time he got me on the arm and there are 4-5 puncture points. I lifted my arm while Ash was "attached" and so the puncture wounds dragged down my arm. Now, the dilemma --- what do we do with Ash now?? We don't/can't trust him. We can't have him around anyone else. We love him.... But what should we do? Is the best thing to put him down? We've tried to love him, we've taken him to training and nothing has worked so far. It just hurts me, I wonder what Ash must have gone through with his previous owners that made him this way. It's not his fault, but now he has to be punished.... It breaks my heart.

Our New Love

The other week Rene and I had some friends over to our home and I had the pleasure of cooking up some yummy food. I wish I would've taken some pictures, but oh well. Anyways, for dessert I had planned on making Truffles and chocolate covered strawberries however, my ganache just wasn't working for me and so the truffles never happened. But, I was able to use that ganache for the strawberries. And lucky for me, the strawberries were DeLIce!! I know they aren't in season but man these were the sweetest strawberries I've ever ate. Needless to say they were a huge hit and since then I've bought 4 more pints and we've been eating them like crazy!! (but I have been taking them to others as surprise packages ^_^)

Hello from Alaska!

Rene and I have been having a wonderful vacation here in Alaska for the last week. Not only have our families been trying to get us back home to AK but Mother Nature as well. You see, from the moment we arrived till about two days ago it's been snowing constantly. We've had about 1.5-2 ft of snow and it's so beautiful!! It is quite enticing.... We've had so much fun seeing all of our family and friends.... we've also been able to eat at most of the places we missed and loved :) Our schedule has been busy and so there really hasn't been any time for me to blog and this is going to be short as we still have things to do before our flight out tomorrow morning.

It's been forever

Sorry about the lack of blogging for the last month, things have been CrAZy. I was sick for like 2.5 weeks, found out I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. I still have a cough, but so much better than before. I could barely walk from my bed to the bathroom... it was bad. :( Poor Rene starved, the guys at work commented on how he'd lost weight. LOL Anyways, after being sick we had a wonderful visit from our friends Spencer Fischback and Anya Wiezerbecki. They stayed with us for 2 days and it was a blast. It was nice having more people to play games with, Rene and I love playing games together but it's so much better with more people. Spencer and Anya had impeccable timing as well, they arrived just as I was gaining my strength back. I was so happy I was able to play hostess, I cooked up a storm! And speaking of cooking..... So I've had this credit card since I was in college and every time you purchase something you gain points. I've never redeemed those points and so recently Rene and I were looking online at the items we could get. I found something I really wanted, but I was torn because I wanted the item to be for Rene and I. Well, I ended up getting what I wanted. :) Our previous non-stick pots were getting really dingy and were scrapped up on the bottom (we got them from a friend like this), but they've worked well for us. I'd been really wanting a new set forever but I could never rationalize the purchase. So when I saw these, I was super excited. I got my own set of lime green Rachael Ray pots and pans!!!!! The only downer was they arrived just after I got sick, I was so anxious to get cooking! :) But here they are....

Aren't they pretty?!! I love them so much. There are still a few I haven't used yet, but that'll change within the next few days. :)

On another note, it's CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!! Wahoo! I am so excited, I love this time of year. You start with Thanksgiving (my most favorite meal... turkey, mashed taters, gravy, pie..) and then move right into Christmas the next day. This time of year is the only time when people are nicer to one another, where you'll see people being nice to strangers. It just feels like there's love in the air.... corny, I know. In keeping with tradition, Rene and I put up our tree the day after thanksgiving. I also decorated a little around the house - putting up lights and garland on the railings and in the living room. On Saturday we put up our icicle lights outside. It was the first time we've ever done that. It's not exactly the way we'd like to do it, but being on a budget we wont be buying anything till maybe next year. The lights were given to us by my parents years ago, they are wonderful but I'm just hoping I can find more just like them. It seems like the newer icicle lights are all closer together but we'll see. Anyways, take a look at our holiday decor.
The outside lights, it's not a great pic but the best one I got. You can also see our tree in the window and the rain drops. :)
The living room.... the garland is only on the entertainment center and the long wall of windows. We enjoy the lighting though, very soft.
The stair railings and part of the living room.

And last, but surely not least is our tree. I love all the lights. :) I thought about getting a pic of the tree during the day but I don't know, it just doesn't have the same feel. One thing I really love about our tree, which you cannot see, is all the personal ornaments. Rene and I decided at the beginning that we'd begin a tradition where we'd buy each other an ornament every year and after some time they'd be the only ornaments on the tree. We also try to get ornaments from different places we visit. It's so much fun when we dig out our ornaments and revisit the personal ones we've got one another. It just brings back the wonderful memories. :)

Lastly, Rene and I are getting ready for our trip home to Alaska! We leave in just 8 short days. We are both so excited, we have one week there and are going to be super busy. Every day is planned out and there will barely any time for relaxing. It's going to be so wonderful to see my mountains, family and friends!

A Recap, a long one at that :)

I know it's been quite a while since our last post but things have been pretty busy. Yes, there are only two of us and we live a boring life but man has time flown by. Just the other day we were trying to figure out when I went to Washington and could not believe that was only a little over a month ago. It seems like forever since I was there. And then to think that August was only two months ago.... wow. Rene thinks it's because of his training but I told him how times flown by for myself as well, we've just had so many things going on.

To give you an idea, this was probably the MOST frustrating day ever!! The Monday before last Rene and I had a few errands to run. We began at 9:30am by dropping Ash (our pup) off to be groomed and then on to Rene's eye appointment. When we arrived at the eye doctors they didn't have Rene scheduled so they said they could 'squeeze us in.' We interpreted that as they'd get us in asap. 1.5 hours later, Rene was finally seen by the doctor. Not once did the receptionists tell us how long our wait was, ask us if we needed anything, or communicate with us at all. We were soooo frustrated!! After an hour we didn't want to just go since we'd been there for so long, but the funny thing is. Our pup's appointment was supposed to be 3 hours and he was done before Rene was. But it doesn't stop there, we picked up Ash and found out his ear was infected and his belly/legs were pretty pink/red (he had a lot of hair and got shaved down). We still had a lot of errands so we decided to do those before taking Ash to the vet. We had lunch, got some papers notarized, and went to Costco. By the time we got home it was around 4:30pm. We went straight to the vets and was there till just about 7:30pm!!! We were gone waaaayyyy too long and spent too much money. That one day felt like a week alone.

In our last post we carved our first pumpkin for Halloween. I guess we were a little too anxious because our pumpkin died. :( It got all moldy and gross and started to get slumpy so we went out and bought a new pumpkin this past Monday. The weather's been pretty warm so we waited till tonight to carve it (or rather, I carved it). Here's a pic of the new one.

This one is not as cool as our first one, but it's not bad. I like the spooky house and tree limb more than the moon, but whatever. Next year, I want to do one totally free hand... I had to practice some this year and get my own technique going. :D Happy Halloween everyone!!!!

For some BIG news.... last night Rene decided to take on a huge project, the downstairs bathroom!! It may not sound too daunting, but it was. This bathroom has been only for boys since we moved in. It wouldn't flush toilet paper, it just wouldn't. Rene tried to snake it a few times but it never worked (a snake is the tool plumbers use to fix a clogged toilet, you can get your own for just a few bucks) . So last night Rene took apart the toilet. I wish I had pictures but I was in the kitchen baking cookies for his work during the entire process. Anyways, he took everything apart, there was water all over the place but after a few times 'snaking' the pipes he found the blockage..... a child's toy cell phone. It was beyond nasty!! It was covered in brown gunk. (I will not go into details) Rene was supposed to throw the thing out with the trash today but I guess he didn't so I have a pic for you.

Ewww, I know... Rene was using my towel for something (I didn't want to know what for) but I told him to just toss it. I don't want to use it after this. Anyways, after all that work, I was not about to clean up his mess so Rene put everything back together and then mopped up. :) He's such a great husband! I was very impressed with his skills though, he figured it all out on his own! What a man!!! :)

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 :)