East Coast Transplant

This Blog Has Moved!

2009-05-19T16:54:00.001-04:00

Since Joe and I have been on the East Coast for almost a year now, we are no longer transplants! So, I have decided to start a NEW blog for our life going forward. So, please update your bookmarks!

http://myfamilyandfur.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Neighborhood Family of Geese

2009-05-06T10:59:00.003-04:00

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but there is a family of geese that live at our neighborhood lake and they are just TOO precious! I took Jackson for a walk this morning, and I had to stop and take their picture. The mom was pretty upset that I stood there with my furry beast. She was squawking at me like she was saying, "You wanna go? I don't care how big you are, if you come near my babies, it's ON b**ch!"

The cutest thing is that they are always walking around as a family, and the little ones will be eating and as soon as someone approaches, the mom squawks and the babies coming running in. It's just so human like!

An UnEventful Weekend

2009-05-04T16:51:00.003-04:00

Not much to report about our weekend. It was a cold and rainy weekend, so we mostly just stayed in, cleaned the house, and hung out.

We rented the movie "Blindness" and I had to get up in the middle of it and go to the bedroom to watch something happy because it was THAT bad. Joe stuck with it, thinking it had to get better, and was pretty much in a depression once it ended. Once again, it was THAT bad. Don't rent it.

On Sunday, we had a friend over who owns an Italian Greyhound named Daisy. Ava and Daisy absolutely adore each other, so it was so fun to have the two of them together.

Seriously, that's about it. Kind of a pointless post, I know. But there you go. :-)

Ava Wants Warm Weather

2009-05-01T11:32:00.002-04:00

Last week, and especially last weekend, we had phenomenal weather. I'm talking in the 80s and 90s. It was awesome. Ava absolutely loved it! She even got excited to go outside and bask in the warmth. Well, this week has turned cold and rainy again and she is NOT happy.

She would like to ask Mother Nature for the warm weather back, please.

March of Dimes Walk

2009-04-30T17:33:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it's been 10 whole days since I've posted! It amazes me that it's already Thursday - last weekend and this week have been so busy that it just flew by.

I thought I'd show you some pictures from the March of Dimes event Joe and I participated in last weekend with my company, Birthday in a Box. We had company shirts made up and a lot of people showed up, so we had a nice big group. Our team raised $1,830, and I just have to say THANK YOU to everyone who supported me. It really means a lot.

As you can see from my red face in the last picture, it was a super hot day! But we made it the full 4.1 miles, and it felt good. (If you are wondering, our shirts say "Shop Click Party" on the back - that is Birthday in a Box's slogan.)

The rest of our weekend was spent doing dog transport. We got in two new rescues that needed to be taken to foster homes last weekend. So on Friday, Joe and I braved the rush hour traffice to take sweet Lili to her new foster home, and on Sunday, we drove 2 1/2 hours to pick up Lou and drive him to his new foster home.

It was a hot, busy weekend, but full of good deeds!

This week has just been crazy - Joe is writing his thesis AND seeing patients (yay!), I have TONS going on at work where I am just fried at the end of the day, Joe is developing his own website for his business (check it out - http://drjoechiro.wordpress.com), I am getting a lot of inquiries and releases through IG Rescue, Joe is trying to market himself by attending lots of after-work meetings and Chamber of Commerce events... you get the idea. Oh, and did I mention that we found a tick on Joe the other night?? Yes, it was horrible, but he got the gross little thing off of him eventually and has had no ill side effects.

It's just been crazy, so again, sorry for the late posting. I'll try to do better. :-)

A Weekend for the Dogs

2009-04-20T11:00:00.013-04:00

What a busy weekend!! We had a very fun and interesting weekend - all about the dogs. First, we got Jackson groomed for the first time in 8 months. We were not very good parents, and he had some big mats in his hair that had to be cut out. Luckily, he did really well with it, and is now our little brown bear again.

(By the way, this is him with his new squeaky ball that his grandma got him for Easter. Wow - is it LOUD. I love how grandmas can pick out the most obnoxious toys that their granddogs will absolutely LOVE.)

We also took the dogs to the vet last week, got them all checked out and updated on heartworm preventative and Lyme's Disease preventative, and left with a clean bill of health. Yay!

Then, on Friday morning, we got a call from one of our friends in the local iggie group. They had a loss in the family and had to make a trip to Pennsylvania and they needed a last-minute dog sitter for their iggy. We of course said yes and Miss Brita was dropped off on Friday night.

She absolutely ADORES Joe. To the point where she refuses to be more than 6 inches away from him at all times. She slept either on him or next to him the entire time she was with us. It was so sweet, but I have to admit, I was a little jealous. I mean, I was taking damn good care of her, too! But she just didn't even acknowledge my existence. Sigh.

She had a bit of a tough time Friday night. She was anxious and every time she would hear the slightest sound, she would anxiously look at the door, hoping for her parents to come back. Poor girl.

We had a playdate on Saturday, so we took all three dogs to that. They had a great time and it was such a beautiful day!

Headed to the playdate - both girls on my lap.

Are we there yet?

Brita playing with the other dogs, Ava wondering why she is forced to be outside.

She is such a pretty girl!

But not as pretty as this girl!

Two completely tuckered out dogs on the way home!
(Sorry, no pics of Jackson. He was having so much fun and all over the place, and I couldn't get him to stay in one place long enough to get any shots! He did the lure course twice, and was a complete hit! He may have a future in agility!)

Brita went back home on Saturday night. She was very happy to see her parents and they reported back to us that she slept most of the day on Sunday.

For us, Sunday was the March for the Animals in Baltimore! I want to thank everyone who donated to our walk. It was for a great cause and obviously something I'm passionate about. Unfortunately, we had to leave the dogs at home. Jackson still doesn't mesh well in a crowd and we felt bad leaving Jackson at home alone for so long, so we didn't take Ava either. But we had a great time talking to all the other dog owners and it was a nice day for a walk. Here are some of the walkers:

So, as you can see, it was a busy, busy weekend, all for the dogs! Hope all of you out there had a great weekend too!

Joe's Trip to Portland

2009-04-17T09:16:00.004-04:00

Joe took a trip back home to Portland over Easter weekend, and he had a great time! He was able to see all of his family, get caught up on everything, and eat lots of stuff he doesn't get around here - like steak!

One of the people he was most excited to see was Marleigh. She is the daughter of Joe's great friends, Bryan and Kari. And boy, was Marliegh excited to see her Uncle Joe!

It was also exciting because Bryan and Kari are expecting their second! Kari is due next month, as you can see by this picture. :-)

Marleigh is convinced that there is a little sister in there, but Joe and I think it's going to be a boy.

More pictures of the family:

Joe's mom, Connie.

Marleigh with Joe's neice, Samantha; her boyfriend Dalton (in yellow), and Joe's nephew, Zach. (Zach is playing rugby now and Joe got to go to one of his games. He got so enthralled in the sport that I'm a bit afraid he's going to want to start playing. And that game is brutal!!)

Joe's Dad, Joe Sr., with the baby in the family, Roxy.

Easter Weekend with my Darling Doggies

2009-04-13T11:56:00.009-04:00

Joe was able to take a trip back home to Portland this last weekend, so I spent four days by myself. You know, it's amazing how used to someone you get after so many months. Joe and I have such a great routine, and we always have lots to talk about and lots to do together. There were times I was sitting on the couch, thinking, "okay, what should I do now?" And then I would look at the dogs, and they would be staring back at me, like, "what do we do now?"

But I eventually got back to my independent self and ended up getting a lot of stuff done. And the dogs, for the most part, had a good time with their mom.

Easter Sunday was a little weird, that's for sure. My family isn't religious by any means, but Easter was always another excuse to be together as a family. Lots of talking, eating, gaming, and just hanging out. And to not have that, and then not have Joe to try to re-create that with our little family, it was a little sad.

So, I ended up taking the dogs to the dog park so we could at least have a little family time, just the three of us. Jackson loved it, Ava, not so much. (per usual)

I then headed down to D.C. to have lunch with Stuart, who luckily was still in town. We had a fabulous vegan lunch and then had mimosas at a nice little bar in Dupont Circle. It was a nice day, so we walked around town for a while too.

Then I hopped the Metro back home so I could video-conference with my family. Got to see everyone and even though I wasn't there, it was nice to at least be a part of the festivities.

Joe comes home tonight, and I think all three of us are going to be happy to have him home. Two trips apart have made us realize how excited we are about our next trip - together!

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

I Went Purple for Maddie

2009-04-10T11:17:00.004-04:00

Purple is a significant color for Maddie's family, so in honor of her, I have changed my background color to purple.

To find out more about Maddie and her family, please visit these pages:
www.marchformaddie.com
http://undomesticdiva.typepad.com

And PLEASE - help me reach my goal for March of Dimes by clicking on the banner on the left!

Thank you!

Madeline Alice Spohr

2009-04-08T15:17:00.012-04:00

Madeline Alice Spohr

November 11, 2007 - April 7, 2009

I didn't know her. I haven't even really been following her story for very long. But today I found out she passed away and it totally broke my heart.

It's one of those things where you follow someone online and feel like you start to get to know them. Currently, for whatever reason, whether it's my job or my age, I've loved to read about other people's mothering experiences. When I came across the Spohr's page, it was such a heartbreaking, yet heartwarming, story, and it sucked me in. Heartbreaking because of Maddie's struggle, and heartwarming because she made it.

What I learned was that Maddie was born prematurely, and spent several months in the ICU. Once she was released, she still had lots of medical difficulties due to her early arrival, and was in and out of the hospitals dealing with it all. "Raising a baby... and insurance premiums" was the blog's catchphrase, capturing the good humor the family had about their struggles. Through it all, Maddie fought, and was a sweet, charming, and absolutely beautiful little girl.

I woke up this morning, logged into Twitter, and learned that Maddie passed away overnight. I was shocked, and as I said, even though I didn't know her, it really shook me up.

Their website - www.thespohrsaremultiplying.com - is down because the site can't handle all the traffic. But Maddie's mother, Heather, chronicled her pregnancy, and Maddie's life, and now death, on that blog. But you can read about them on another blogger's site here and also read all the posts others have written about this sweet little girl.

I am walking in the March of Dimes' March for Babies on April 25. Until today, I didn't have much passion around it. I supported the cause, and was happy to join my fellow colleagues to walk, but I had never been exposed to a story that really spoke to the cause before.

Now I have, and I am renewing my efforts. I plan to walk in honor of Maddie, and I'm upping my goal from $100 to $200. I want to do this for her, and you need to help me. Please, if you can give just a few dollars, I would be appreciative. You can donate directly on my page by clicking on the link to the left, or clicking here. I have 17 days, and I know I can do it!

I also have March of Dimes bracelets for sale - $2 each. All sales go directly to my account, and you will have something that will remind you of your donation, and of Maddie's story.

If you would rather donate directly to Maddie's March of Dimes page, you can do so here . A PayPal account has also been set up to assist Maddie's parents, Heather and Mike, with any upcoming expenses. You can donate by sending money, via PayPal, to formaddie@hotmomreviews.com.

For those of you who have already donated to me, another HUGE thank you to you. It means even more to me now.

For those of you who can't donate money, then please donate good energy, and send it the Spohr's way. Thank you.

Update on Dr. Joe

2009-04-05T15:54:00.002-04:00

Joe with his new computer!

So, Joe has had some exciting things going on and I wanted to make sure everyone knew about it! First, he scheduled a time with a gym next to his office for him to come in and offer free chair massage for their clients. This was a couple of weeks ago and he saw a few people during his time there. He sent them follow-up letters, and one of those people called and made an appointment to see him! As most of you know, he's been treating a friend of ours a couple times in the office, which has been so great to get him back in the game, but this is his first patient he actually brought in from his own marketing!

He also came up with an idea to send all the schools in the Alexandria area a letter, offering to come in and do chair massage for the teachers. Well, it just so happens that teacher appreciation week is coming up, so THREE schools called back and accepted his offer!

And to top it all off, he bought a booth at the Red Cross Festival in June - which everyone has said is the best place to generate business. It will be all him, for two days, offering chair massage.

Such great stuff on his calendar, and it was all from his marketing ideas! He feels so great actually doing these things for him, as opposed to bringing patients in for someone else.

Everything is falling into place. :-) Hope everyone else is doing well too.

I'm Back!

2009-03-30T13:15:00.005-04:00

So, there are a very select few of you who actually read this on a daily basis who have been extremely unhappy because of the lack of new posts. I have been soooo sick the last week and a half (basically ever since I came back from Wenatchee) and have barely made it to work, home, and in bed - let alone anything else. But, you'll be happy to know I'm back and feeling sooo much better, so get ready for some new stuff.

This last weekend was the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. Because I was finally feeling up to going out, Joe and I met Stuart downtown and we walked through the cherry blossoms to the Jefferson Memorial and watched some of the stage shows that were going on.

It ended up being really warm that day, and both Joe and I got sunburns on our heads (because we happen to be the palest two people in the history of the world) but it was so nice to be outside in nice weather.

I thought these were such great photos - this is Stuart showing off his artist ability:

Along with our fabulous day out in D.C., we also found out some very exciting news this weekend! Joe's cousin, Malinda, got engaged to her boyfriend, Quentin! Congratulations Malinda!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-19T16:58:00.003-04:00

I know this is late, but I just wanted to say Happy St. Patrick's Day! I had my traditional green beer, and Joe made me green mashed potatoes to accompany our burgers and green beans. We had green-frosted cupcakes for dessert. So fun!

Weekend Trip to Wenatchee - Part II

2009-03-18T11:55:00.006-04:00

More Pictures!!

Here I am holding beautiful Miss Ava Marie, my cousin's new baby girl, who is 4 days older than Mason, who my mom is holding. Ava is so beautiful and so much littler than Mason - it was so much fun meeting her!

Here are the moms with their beautiful babies. My niece, Kaylie, with Mason on the left; my cousin's wife Christina, with Ava, on the right.

My whole crazy family who met me for dinner at my favorite restaurant the night I flew into town:

(The Wok A Bout Grill in Wenatchee, is literally my favorite restaurant in the world. If you ever find yourself in Wenatchee, go there - you will love it!)

Here are the dads, with their babies. Nathan, my niece's boyfriend, with Mason, on the left; and my cousin Dustin, with Ava, on the right.

Cousins holding cousins!

Seriously, do they not just melt your heart?? I wonder what they will grow up to be - do we have a future engineer, pilot, teacher, rock star, artist, actor, or veterinarian on our hands? It's going to be SO much fun watching them grow and seeing who they become.

Weekend Trip to Wenatchee

2009-03-17T19:39:00.009-04:00

I had a fun, crazy, whirl-wind weekend! I caught a plane at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning to Seattle. I had to be up at 4:00 a.m., so it was not a pleasant experience. But, it was worth it, because I was taking a trip to visit family. I grew up in Wenatchee, Wash., and most of my family sti

ll lives there. My mom picked me up from Seatac Airport and after a quick stop to visit a good friend of mine, we headed to Wenatchee.

Most of the reason I decided to take this super-quick trip home, was to see my niece and her brand-new baby boy Mason. I couldn't bear the fact that I wouldn't meet this newest member of our family until Christmas - so I made the trip.

Here is the family:

My beautiful niece, Kaylie, and her boyfriend, Nathan, are raising this precious, perfect bundle of joy. Mason is such a good baby, so handsome and sweet, so they are definitely doing something right!

Seriously, how cute is this child??

He is so loved by so many people. My mother, his great-grandmother, is no exception.

Neither is his great-grandfather, my dad!

But Mason is totally in love with my brother, his grandpa. He smiles at him and it is just heart-melting. It totally turns my 6'4" bear of a brother to jelly.

Mason has an aunt and uncle as well, and I couldn't forget them. Sadie - a sweet Boxer that keeps an eye on Mason and has incredible motherly instincts:

And Ozzy - a crazy, super-happy Pug mix who loves each person he sees the best! best! best! until he sees the next person and then he is so so so happy to see that person too! It's too funny.

More pictures to come as I get them from family. Of course the only ones I had on my camera are of the baby and the dogs. So me, I know. But it was an incredible trip and now I just need about 16 hours to catch up on sleep....

Update on Dr. Joe

2009-03-12T10:58:00.002-04:00

Joe has received his business license and set up his insurance, so he is officially good to go! I have been very impressed with him - he's totally hitting the ground running and already has all these fantastic ideas to market himself and get his name out in the community. I guess he is just really excited to finally be able to do what he has been working toward for five years.

So, if anyone knows anyone in need of a chiropractor in the Alexandria, VA area, I know a great one! :-)

Sweet, Sweet Warmth

2009-03-09T12:56:00.003-04:00

It was over 70 degrees this weekend and I was in complete heaven! Walking around without 17 layers of clothes on, warm evening walks with the dogs, and no need for the heater (saving $$, yes!) To celebrate, we took the dogs on a hike at Great Falls Park in Virginia. We had a great time, and Ava even enjoyed herself (mostly).

It's supposed to get cold again this week, but it was a nice preview to Spring, and definitely boosted all our spirits.

Dr. Joe

2009-03-07T09:10:00.002-05:00

We are very happy to report that Joe received TWO job offers yesterday! He took the better offer and is now officially working in Alexandria, Virginia! The office is called Total Care Spine Center (www.totalcarespine.com) and the owner is Dr. Richard Solomon. Joe and Dr. Solomon got along well, he's very laid back and a nice guy.

Now, Joe has to get his insurance set up, and a business license, and then start marketing, marketing, marketing! He already has a huge list of ideas and no matter what he says, he's really good at that stuff. I've seen him in action and he's got this way about him that puts people at ease, and makes them want to come see him. I have no doubt he will have patients lined up in no time.

So, that's the big news!

Another Chiropractor in the Family

2009-03-05T20:01:00.002-05:00

Looks like we have another chiropractor in the family. Ava wants to be just like her dad....

Snow Day!

2009-03-03T12:37:00.007-05:00

Joe and I woke up to this yesterday morning:

Isn't it beautiful? We had so much fun taking Jack out in it - he absolutely loved it and it was the first time we'd seen him in any real snow (last winter we were in Europe and his grandparents got to see him loving the snow, we didn't).

We ended up getting around 5-6 inches, which completely shut this town down. My supervisor called and told me to work from home, so I set up a makeshift desk at home and worked all day in my pjs. It was the BEST WORKDAY EVER!!

Yes, that is Joe's massage table, his doctor's chair, and a cutting board under the computer. Worked perfectly, though. We did end up taking Ava out later in the day. I should have taken a picture of that - she 100% hated it. And would do anything and everything possible to stay on the defrosted parts of the sidewalk - hopping over any portion of snow. Too funny.

So, we finally got our snow. And it is now out of our system. We're done with Winter now. Summer, it's time for you to show your face. Please??

Pictures of the Pups

2009-03-01T17:44:00.014-05:00

We've had a pretty laid-back weekend. Stuart came over on Saturday and we hung out for a while, and then took Jackson to the dog park. (It was pretty cold, so Ava, the little princess that she is, got out of it.) Stuart was nice enough to take some professional shots of the pups. Here are my favorites:

"Please, mom, don't make me go outside. It's cold out there... whimper, whimper..."

"Hey, Dad, get back here and throw this ball."

"What's he doing back there?"

"You want it? Come and get it!"

So, which is your favorite shot?

When Did I Become So Frickin' Domestic?

2009-02-26T10:09:00.003-05:00

I found this awesome tofu and spinach lasagna recipe online the other day, so I decided to attempt to make it. I had no real hope of it turning out right - I've made peace with the fact that I am not a good cook, and most of the things I try to make, especially the first time, turn out unappetizing, ugly, burnt, raw, or otherwise inedible. I had Pizza Hut on speed dial, let's just put it that way.

But, much to Joe and my wonder, it turned out AWESOME and because of this, it deserved it's own blog entry. I was very proud - can't you just see the pride in my eyes??

It's a beautiful thing, and get this - it also tasted awesome!! No really, it did. Joe even went back for seconds and even though he never really complains about what I make, and always tries to make "yummy" sounds and say that is tastes good, I can always tell that it's never "that" good, in his opinion. :-) This time I could tell he actually liked it - even though it had tofu in it!!

A total win for me!

Ice Skating in downtown Washington D.C.

2009-02-24T09:38:00.005-05:00

Saturday was a packed day! First, Joe and I took a 2-hour drive into the middle of Virginia to conduct a home visit for IG Rescue. The house was out in the middle of nowhere and was owned by two retired intelligence officers who wanted to start volunteering for us. They had two Italian Greyhounds of their own, and they turned out to be great people! Their house was built around an original 1700's cabin and they had tons of stories to tell about its history. Really amazing.

Then, we drove home, walked the dogs, and hopped on the metro to meet Stuart at his place for dinner. Stuart cooked us veggie burgers and tater tots, and after we stuffed ourselves, we headed downtown for ice skating! I haven't ice skated since my teens, and Joe had never been on skates, so it was an adventure! We had so much fun, though!

This picture is my favorite - Stuart took a picture right when Joe was about to fall and I was holding him up. The expressions on our faces are priceless!

It was definitely great exercise as well as a ton of fun!

That was the big adventure for the weekend. The rest of the weekend was spent recovering (I slept in until 11:00 on Sunday) and resting up for the work week.

Supporting Courage Campaign's "Fidelity"

2009-02-18T14:16:00.003-05:00

Joe and I support this cause and wanted to share this very moving video with you.

If you are moved to take action, visit http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce and sign the petition to invalidate Prop 8.

Feeling Very Loved on Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T11:42:00.008-05:00

For Valentine's Day, I will be getting sappy, so for those of you who are not privy to that kind of talk, log off now and check back later. I will totally understand. :-)

I was just talking to Joe the other day about the fact that even though both of our families are a wee bit crazy (you know you are!), they are such wonderful people, so supportive of us, and love us so much. It's a really nice feeling. So then Valentine's Day rolls around, and look at the sweet things we found sitting next to our front door!

First, my mom sent us a variety box of coffee for our kick-ass coffee maker. We ran out of coffee about a month and a half ago, and because we are really trying to save money, we couldn't buy more. I have been able to have a delicious, perfect cup of coffee now for the last several days. Thank you Mom!!

My Dad is currently in Hawaii, and has been for a month now, lucky bastard. I've talked to him a couple times and he is always lounging around on the beach, soaking up the 75 degree weather. Anyway, Joe came home one afternoon, after running some errands, and found this sitting by the front door:

That's right, my father sent me a COCONUT from Hawaii!! How crazy is that? It has my address on it, and my dad, uncle and aunt wrote messages on the outside. It was definitely the most unique thing I have every received!

And then Joe texted me to inform me that I had received something from HIS father! A box of Sees Chocolates! It was so sweet because his dad gets all the woman in his family Sees Chocolates for Valentine's Day. It's like his thing - and it's tradition to go to the same Sees store and pick out the perfect box for each girl. It made me feel incredibly special that he sent one all the way to me... plus, they are so good and I can't stop eating them. I keep telling Joe to stay away from them - they were sent to ME after all.

So, you have to admit that our families are so sweet and thoughtful and we are very lucky to have them. :-)

Now, look at this beautiful bouquet of flowers. :-) Joe brought these to me at work on Friday. He definitely got props for that, considering I work in an office full of woman. Lots of "ooo"s and "ahh"s in the office. The bouquet has lilies, daisies and carnations in it - three of my favorite flowers. And it smells wonderfully!

Then last night he made me a surprise dinner - falafel from scratch! Now, that may not sound good to some of you, but falafel happens to be one of my all-time favorite foods and they are very time-consuming to make from scratch. Isn't he just the sweetest??

The dinner turned out so great and we ate by candlelight on our coffee table! We still don't have chairs for our kitchen table, but this ended up being very romantic! Champagne with raspberries topped it all off.

I was in charge of dessert, so I made chocolate fudge cake with pink frosting. I made a powdered sugar heart on top, too. It was goooood.

All-in-all, a perfect Valentine's Day. I would love to hear about yours!

A Handsome Boy and a Sleepy Girl

2009-02-13T12:29:00.006-05:00

So, Joe and I took the puppies to their Valentine's Party last weekend. I only got a couple pictures. Jack had such a great time getting some of his winter energy out and he plays SO great with the little iggies. He is always the only non-iggy there, and everyone always loves him. Isn't he just the handsomest fellow?

Ava actually did really well, too. She is always so much more playful and confident when her big brother is around. She played hard and was totally exhausted afterward. She crashed on the way home:

This is also the party where I hosted a raffle. I was able to get some fabulous prizes to raffle off (donated by Pawlitics in Rockville, Dogs & Company in Columbia, and Bark in Olney - all wonderful stores, you should check them out!) and am happy to announce that we made $183 for Rescue! It was a great success!

Too Much Snow & A Beautiful New Family

2009-02-12T11:15:00.002-05:00

I miss my family, so I thought I'd share a couple pictures.

This is my dad, plowing snow in front of his house in Wenatchee, WA. They got hit with a TON of snow that doesn't seem to be going away quite fast enough. Soon after this snow plowing, though, he left for a month-long trip to Hawaii with his brother. He's retired. He gets to do stuff like that all the time. Lucky dude.

This is my beautiful niece Kaylie, and her newborn baby boy, Mason. (Oh, and my mother's big fat thumb.. geez! The only picture I get of the two of them, and she had to include her thumb!) Don't they look precious, though? She is just glowing and he is sleeping oh-so-soundly in his mommy's arms.

Katherine Turns 1/4 Century Old!

2009-02-09T14:07:00.002-05:00

Katherine Wilson is a friend of Stuart's, which is how I met her. She is originally from Maryland, but moved to Seattle for a year for an adventure. She found it, moving into a house with 10 other women... and Stuart. She is now back in Maryland and we have been able to all get together a few times to catch up. She is a great person, so full of energy, and this weekend was her 25th birthday!

Happy birthday Katherine! Hope the next 1/4 century is even better than the first!

Joe is Officially a Licensed Chiropractor!

2009-02-08T16:47:00.004-05:00

Joe received his license in the mail yesterday! He is officially a licensed chiropractor in the state of Virginia!

I'm a Great-Aunt!

2009-02-06T15:45:00.004-05:00

I am extremely happy to announce that my beautiful niece, Kaylie, had a beautiful baby boy yesterday at 3:15 p.m. PST. Mason Iszaiah Reynolds was born over a week late and weighed a whopping 9 pounds, 8 ounces and was 22 inches long.

I'm so sad that I couldn't be there to welcome him to our family! Sometimes it's really hard to be so far away from "home"...

Here is the handsome prince, doesn't he look huge??

Kaylie did an amazing job both being pregnant and giving birth. I am very proud of her! Welcome, Mason! You're in for a hell of a ride!

It's Been a While...

2009-02-05T16:53:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since I've updated. What has been going on?

Work: Staying extremely busy, had my yearly review and received a 3% raise, moved offices and now I have a window!

Volunteer: I am officially the Italian Greyhound Rescue Representative for Virginia! I will be in charge of taking in dogs, transporting dogs, interviewing potential adopters, and adopting out dogs. I got into a scuffle on one of the forums about animal testing, became very emotional, almost quit, then decided I have to focus on helping dogs, not changing people's minds. I'm ramping up my fundraising efforts. I hosted a Superbowl pool that made $195 dollars for Rescue (thank you to all who participated!!), and I am hosting a Valentine's Day raffle where I was able to get fabulous donations from local natural pet supply stores. (Anyone in the D.C. Metro area, check out Bark and Dogs & Company, they are fabulous!)

Joe: Unfortunately, Joe got news that the doctor he was planning on working with sold his business. So, Joe is out of a job again, after turning down two other possible opportunties to go with this guy. It's a bummer, but he's back online searching for other opportunities. We're sure all this is for a reason and that reason will present itself soon enough! On the bright side, he got word that his license was sent out this week, so he should be getting it in the mail any day now!

Dogs: Everything is the same here. They are both still as adorable and crazy as ever. Jackson is getting a little cabin fever with the gross weather outside, though, and Ava is hating the cold more and more. I think everyone will be much happier when Spring comes and there is more sunshine and warmth.

Friends: Joe and I have been out with some new friends I've met at work. Stuart joined us as well. (See pictures below.) I've joined a couple meetup groups in the area and have been to a couple of their get-togethers too. The next one is a book club meeting where the author of the book we are reading (The Sleeping Beauty Proposal) will be joining us on conference call. Very cool!

I guess that's about it. What has everyone else been up to?

Snow Dog

2009-01-28T14:54:00.004-05:00

We finally got a dusting of snow here the other day. I know all you out there who have been dealing with a horrible winter will cringe hearing me say this, but it was really nice looking out the window to a white world. :-)

Jack loves it, too. He cannot get enough of the snow! Joe's been taking him out in it as much as he can.

Ava, of course, is no where to be found...

Not Much to Say

2009-01-25T20:14:00.008-05:00

Nothing much has been going on since the Inauguration. Stuart came up a couple times this week to get adjusted. His back has been hurting him and Joe has been helping him out. Stuart is also helping Joe out in creating a logo for Joe's business. Joe is also trying to come up with a business name. He thinks he likes "Kalinowski Chiropractic & Sports Rehab". What do you think?

We had a nice quiet weekend this weekend. We basically hung around the house, cleaned, and started our new exercise program (which is basically starting to exercise again, haha.)

Oh, I also just got pictures back from my company party. It was a definite interesting time. It was pretty boring at first, and then once people started drinking, you got to really see the personalities come out! Dancing, karaoke, it was pretty fun. Here are some pictures:

In other work news, my coworker was let go due to budgetary issues. That is the second time that has happened since I started, so you can imagine it makes me a little nervous. So, I'm just trying to work even harder than normal and really pull my weight. It's just me and my supervisor now running our department. I'm hoping this turns into a fantastic opportunity to learn even more about the company and move into more of a substantial position.

Yep, that's all I got for you. Like I said, it's been pretty quiet. Hope you all have been doing well. I hear it started snowing in Portland again!!

The Inauguration of Barack Obama!

2009-01-20T16:30:00.016-05:00

Joe and I were two of over 1 million people who were on the National Mall today for the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, our 44th president! It was an amazing feeling to be down there with all those people, all so supportive of this new president, all there to usher him in in style!

Most of the streets around the Mall were closed, so everyone was walking right down the center of the streets. Vendors were selling coffee, food, handwarmers, and anything and everything with Obama's name and picture plastered on it. (Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything. Mostly because my wallet was buried under 7 layers of clothes.)

We finally made it as far as we could down the Mall. The inauguration was held on the grounds of the Capital Building. We got as far as the west side of the Washington Monument. (We did leave pretty late, though. When most people were downtown by 7:00 a.m., we were just getting out of bed.)

We had no intention of meeting up with Stuart during the speech. There were over a million people in that area and we were arriving from different directions. Weirdly enough, though, when we called him, we were standing about 10 yards apart! So, we were able to experience this piece of history with our friend. :-)

Can you see the jumbotron waaaay back there, past all those people? Yeah, that's as close as we got to seeing Obama sworn in, but we could hear everything, and that was pretty awesome. There was such good energy in that crowd!

Once the inauguration was over, we tried to make our way closer to the Capital Building, but it was just impossible to maneuver through that crowd. So, we followed another crowd of people who were making their way back to the outskirts of the city.

We ended up walking about five miles to get far enough away that we could actually find a place to sit, eat lunch, and warm up a little. It was a cold day. My face has been severely windburned since Sunday night, and today didn't help that at all. After lunch we had to walk some more to find a metro station that was open. Some were closed because of their proximity to the inaugural events, some were closed because too many people were trying to get on the trains. We heard there was one station that was so packed, you couldn't get out onto the street. People were stuck underground because there was literally no place to move outside.

We finally made it back home, though, completely exhausted.

True, we didn't see much, a lot less than those who watched it on TV saw. We didn't see much of the inaugural festivities. We didn't see the parade, or the Obama's getting out of their car and walking the streets of the city. We didn't hear the commentary. But it was worth it - we feel like we got an unprecedented experience that we will never forget.

Obama getting sworn in (on Lincoln's bible, by the way). Hopefully you can hear it.

Inaugural Concert!

2009-01-19T10:15:00.023-05:00

Wow, what an amazing day we had yesterday! Joe and I met Stuart downtown for the Inaugural Concert. HBO filmed the concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and anyone could come, free of charge! Now, I'll admit, I've always been a bit of a celebrity whore (I get hooked into celebrity fever like most people), and I will also admit that it was absolutely AMAZING to see some of my favorite actors and performers live. But the whole thing was so much more than that. It was very emotional and patriotic and the speeches and energy that resonated throughout the event really made me proud to be living in this historical time.

The concert started at 2:00, and we got there a couple hours early. The crowd was already crazy and the closest we got to the Lincoln Memorial was halfway between the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument. But they had jumbotrons set up so we could see what those tiny dots up by Lincoln were actually doing. :-)

Here is the list of people we saw: Samuel L. Jackson, Pete Seeger, Shakira, U2, Ashley Judd, Forrest Whitaker, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Jack Black, Rosario Dawson, Garth Brooks, Tiger Woods, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow, Will.i.am, Josh Grobin, George Lopez, Cal Penn (Kumar!), John Melloncamp, Queen Latifah, John Legend, Marisa Tomei, James Taylor, Laura Linney, Denzel Washington, Mary J. Blige, Bruce Springsteen, Martin Luther King III, Steve Carell, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Bon Jovi! (there were even more, but I can't remember everyone)

Can you believe that among all those amazing people and performers, the person who really got the crowd up, dancing, singing, and jumping was Garth Brooks?? He sang "We Shall Be Free" and "American Pie" and everyone was going crazy! It was a fantastic moment.

Other favorites were Pete Seeger, who is probably 100 years old with a banjo, who wrote and performed the song "This Land is Your Land" - which had everyone singing, too! Samuel L. Jackson's speech was fantastic (he talked about Rosa Parks), and just being that close to Tom Hanks and Steve Carrel was awesome! Of course, Joe was excited to see Tiger!

They showed a lot of historial moments, amazing moments throughout history that also took place right where we were all standing. I just can't tell you the feeling I had seeing all those moments happen in front of the same Lincoln Memorial we were looking at. I really think Lincoln would be proud.

Okay, enough talk, here are some pictures:

The crowd:

Ironically, Bush flew over us and landed at the White House while we were there. Funny how the outgoing president was flying over the crowd gathered to welcome the new president. Some people started waving and singing, "Na na na na, hey hey, goodbye."

There was a ton of security, obviously. Lots of snipers on roofs and people in uniform patrolling the crowds. These guys looked exactly like the toy GI Joes to me.
It was pretty cold, but worth it! And try to imagine about a million people all excited and talking, and then when they started the ceremony, all becoming completely silent at once. Amazing.

I was very proud of myself that I didn't have to use the bathroom the whole 5 hours we were standing in the cold. I hate port-o-potties and although the city was FILLED with them (I've never seen so many port-0-potties in my life!) I was so happy to use an actual bathroom during dinner that night.

Leaving the concert was crazy. About a million people all filing out at the same time, trying to get to restaurants, bars, or metro stations. There were roads blocked off and police cars. We definitely felt like cattle. I wanted to take a nice picture while we were in the crowd making our way to dinner, and Stuart struck this pose. I call this "Thug Life".

See the crowd??

Of course we got some videos, too. Now, I know these aren't going to show you much, and they might be kind of loud, so beware, but I had to post them.

Garth Brooks: We Shall Be Free!!

Garth Brooks: American Pie!

Tom Hanks speaking about Lincoln. You only hear him speak at the very end, we didn't get a good video of him, but it's still worth posting.

It's The Boss! Bruce Springsteen!!

The Crowd - A Sea of People, all So Excited!!

As you can tell, we had the best time. We just kept thinking, "This is going to be a great year!" and I was so happy to spend it with two of the most important people to me - it's nice to usher in this fantastic new year content in love and friendships.

Clarification

2009-01-15T17:00:00.004-05:00

Some people were confused by my last post. No, we are not getting a new puppy. No, we are not (definitely not!) getting rid of our current beloved beasties. No, we are not pregnant.

It was meant as a parody of life as a Rescue Volunteer. There are a lot of reasons people turn dogs into rescue - some I agree with and some I don't. Giving up your dogs (whom I consider part of your family) because you are having a baby is not one I support. While we're on the subject, if anyone cares, here are my personal beliefs:

Good reasons to give up your dog:

You are dead. (may you rest in peace)
You found out you will be dead shortly. (again, so sorry)
You developed a severe allergy (or your children are severely allergic) and you have tried everything else possible, but your health is at risk to keep your dog.
You have been relocated by work overseas and cannot take the dog with you. (and this is an iffy one - you can transport dogs almost anywhere now.)

Bad reasons to give up your dog:

You are having a baby and don't want a dog anymore.
You moved to a place that doesn't accept dogs.
You met "the love of your life" and he/she doesn't like your dog.
You got divorced and it's too much trouble to keep the dog yourself.
You are tired of taking care of the dog, they are just too much work.
You're dog is untrainable (either potty training, jumping, barking, digging, etc.) yet you haven't actually tried to train him, or have given up after the first try.
Your dog got old or became ill and and you don't want to deal with his issues.

All this being said, I do want to say that if you are going to give up your dog, for good or bad reasons, the best thing you can do is give it to a rescue organization. They will make sure that your dog is loved and cared for until another home is found. We would rather you give your dog to us than not take care of him/her or leave her somewhere unsafe.

Sometimes it just gets a little frustrating. I guess that's my point.

Anyone out there involved in rescue and/or heard good and bad reasons for giving dogs up?

New Puppy!

2009-01-14T10:14:00.005-05:00

Well, after two long years of being on a waiting list for an agility dog, we have been notified by the breeder that, at long last, our number has come up and... WE ARE HAVING A PUPPY!!!

We must get rid of our children IMMEDIATELY because we just know how time consuming our new little puppy is going to be and it just wouldn't be fair to the children. Since our little puppy will be arriving on Monday, we MUST place the children this weekend! They are described as:

One male - His name is Tommy, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), light blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent disposition. He doesn't bite. Temperament tested. Does have problems with peeing directly in the toilet. Has had Chicken Pox and is current on all shots. Tonsils have already been removed. Tommy eats everything, is very clean, house trained & gets along well with others. Does not run with scissors and with a little training, he should be able to read soon.

One female - Her name is Lexie, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, quite freckled. Two years old. Can be surly at times. Non-biter, but a thumb-sucker. Has been temperament tested but needs a little attitude adjusting occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very healthy and can be affectionate. Gets along well with other little girls and little boys but does not like to share her toys and therefore would do best in a single child household. She is a very quick learner and is currently working on her house training - shouldn't take long at all.

We really do LOVE our children so much and want to do what's right for them; that is why we contacted a rescue group. But we simply can no longer keep them. Also, we are afraid that they may hurt our new puppy.

I hope you understand that ours is a UNIQUE situation and we have a real emergency here!!! They MUST be placed in rescue by Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to drop them off at the orphanage or along some dark, country road. Our priority now has to be our new puppy. Thank you.

I couldn't help but post this. This is a brilliant take on what rescue deals with every day, and I got a huge chuckle out of it.

Dog Park

2009-01-10T14:47:00.007-05:00

We had a great day at the dog park today! Well, at least Jackson did. I made Ava run around for a while, and then she just stood next to me shivering and whining and wouldn't move, so I ended up holding her and warming her up for the rest of the time we were there. I know, she's an overly-dramatic princess-wannabe, but she can totally convince me to do what she wants. I'm a sucker.

We met a lot of fun and friendly dogs and Jack had such a blast playing! It was quite cold (there was ice in places in the grass) but a lot of people ended up showing up.

I know, like I said, princess:

This ball was so disgusting, but Jack fell in love with it. He wouldn't give it up. Someone actually ended up throwing it away, though, because it was pretty gross.

This standard poodle was another dog Jack was playing with a lot. Her owner and I got to talking because this dog came from a puppy mill rescue, so we had a lot to talk about. She reminds me of a friend of my family's dog, who is named Halle Berry.

I was pretty cold, too. We are a pair, Ava and me. I realized just now that I don't have many pictures of me without my ear warmer and hood on. Can't wait until it gets warmer out and I can take picture of myself NOT buried in 7 layers of clothes. :-)
The dogs are worn out (even though Ava did nothing, she was still warn out from being made to go into the "outdoors" - the nerve of us!) and sleeping on the couch next to me right now. Joe and I are headed out in a couple hours to go to a Potomac Movie Lovers Meetup Group meeting. We are going to see "Bride Wars." I'm excited!

A Happy Dog's Bedtime Prayer

2009-01-09T10:32:00.002-05:00

Dedicated to Jackson and Ava, who live this life every night...

Now I lay me down to sleep,
The queen-sized bed is soft and deep.
I sleep right in the center groove,
My human being can hardly move.
I've trapped her legs,
She's tucked in tight,
And here is where I pass the night.
No one disturbs me or dares intrude,
Til morning comes and I want food.

I sneak up slowly and it begins,
My nibbles on my human's chin.
She wakes up slowly and smiles and shouts,
"You darling beast!
Just cut it out!"
But morning's here and it's time to play,
I always seem to get my way.

So thank you Lord, for giving me
This human person that I see.
The one who holds me oh so tight,
And shares her bed with me at night!

Author Unknown

Stuff

2009-01-07T14:19:00.005-05:00

Not much new going on here, but thought I would update for our many (okay, try 3) loyal readers. We were supposed to have an ice storm the last couple nights, but like what happened when they got our hopes up with a forecast for snow - it didn't happen. It did start raining, though... and raining... and raining. It hasn't stopped since yesterday afternoon and there are now rivers running along all the streets. Ahhh, makes me feel like I'm back home in Seattle.

Joe and I have joined a few local community groups and last night I went to my first meetup - with a group called "Chick Lits of Montgomery County." Basically, this group is all women who ready trashy books and meet up to discuss them. They also meet up socially to watch movies, attend wine-tastings, go on tours, etc. I met up with them for the first time last night and it seems like a good group. Joe and I are both looking forward to getting out and meeting new people. We are both members of this new movie-lovers group and we're attending the first event on Saturday.

Um... let's see, what else? Joe is meeting with the chiropractor he will be working with tomorrow and will be drawing up a contract and figuring out next steps. He's pretty excited. Work is going well for me and I'm getting great feedback on some of the things I've initiated for them. We've started hosting giveaways through other websites and we're hosting one right now on this blog: http://themomreviews.blogspot.com/2009/01/birthday-in-box-giveaway.html. Check it out if you want to win a $25 gift certificate from my company. haha.

The dogs are doing good. Still crazy like always. Joe took this picture of Ava yesterday, what a crack-up. Jackson is getting a little cabin fever and we realized that when Joe starts working, we are probably going to have to invest in a dog walker. He just needs more exercise than Ava.

Well, I guess that's all I can think of. Hope everyone else is having a more exciting week!

2009 Begins

2009-01-01T20:33:00.014-05:00

We had a fabulous New Year's Eve! Maybe not by others' standards (we didn't go out to party at the bars) but by our standards it was absolutely perfect.

After work, we went straight to the Metro station and took a train to Stuart's place. He wasn't really feeling that great, so we hung out with him for a while and he allowed me to watch some reality TV that I've been missing (we don't have TV and don't plan on getting it anytime soon).

We left Stuart at about 11:00 and took the Metro down to the National Mall. Our plan was to walk down to the Lincoln Memorial and toast the New Year on the steps in front of Abe. We made it to the Washington Monument, and then it struck midnight. My absolutely wonderful boyfriend had brought a bottle of champagne and plastic champagne glasses, so we were able to toast in style.

It was 22 degrees with a wind chill that felt like about 0, so we were FREEZING, but we had so much fun. I also need to mention (and I apologize for the sappiness) that one year ago last night was the night I told Joe I loved him for the first time. On top of the Eiffel Tower. So, it's a special night for us. :-)

We walked the empty streets of Washington D.C. for a bit after our toast, and then caught the Metro back home. Our dogs were waiting faithfully for us and we wished them a happy 2009 as well. :-)

Joe and I have a goal to be in a major city every New Year's Eve. 2009 we were in Washington D.C. in front of the Washington Monument:

2008 we were in Paris, France in front of the Arc D'Triomphe:

2010 we hope to be in New York City, but who knows where the next year will take us. Our 2008 was absolutely amazing, full of love and new adventures. I really believe our 2009 will be even more amazing. Can't wait!

Happy 2009 Everyone!

Stuart's Birthday Celebration

2008-12-31T09:58:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, Joe and I helped Stuart celebrate his 27th birthday. (His birthday was actually Monday, but we celebrated during the weekend.) We went to his place, ate Chinese takeout, drank Red Bull and Jager, and killed Nazi zombies on his XBox. It was definitely a Stuart-esque night. :-)

I am sort of proud of the fact that I killed more Nazi zombies than anyone else. Not sure why I feel so good about that accomplishment, considering I am usually such a pacifist, but they were Nazis and zombies after all...

Unfortunately, the pie we made completely melted the candles, so basically Stuart blew out a pie engulfed in flames, and then we proceeded to eat pie that was mixed with wax, but it was the thought that counted.

Afterward, we went to this karaoke bar downtown and met up with a few of Stuart's friends. Joe and I headed home around midnight and left the now 27-year-old to his own deviant devices. Last we saw, he was making out with part of a bridal party, so I guess he had a good night.

Happy Birthday Stuart! Now you are as old as me!

Kimmy and South and Our Trip to Baltimore

2008-12-27T11:51:00.005-05:00

One of Joe's friends from chiropractic school, Kim Mullen, is dating a very cool guy who grew up in Baltimore. His name is South. Kim and South flew out here from Portland to visit his family for the holidays and we were able to meet up with them yesterday.

It was our first time in the Baltimore area and South took us on a great little tour. We walked through the historical district, got a beer at a very cool little Irish pub, walked along the waterfront, and drove through the city where Joe got to see Camden Yards.

Don't mind the fact that I look completely pregnant in the above picture. It was cold and I had on a lot of layers. Ugh.

We spent some time at South's parents' house, too. His parents are great and quizzed Joe and I about how our parents felt about us up and moving clear across the country. (They were not happy with all three of their children did the exact same thing - all moving to Oregon one day.)

It was nice to see Joe in the company of a schoolmate again. They get so excited and engrossed talking about chiropractic stuff - what they've learned, what they've seen/experienced since graduation, new techniques they've heard about, new equipment they've used... they are so passionate about the practice it's really fun to see them together. I try to be as good of a sounding board for Joe as I can, but since most of that stuff is either so far over my head I can't understand it OR so disgusting I can't hear it (I mean cow tongue sutures and year-old cadavers are NOT my thing), I'm usually not much help.

South and I just sat and watched TV while Kim had Joe on the ground showing him a new way to adjust someone's neck. ("Try it on Heather," she said. Ummm, no thanks!!)

Anyway, it was a great day, especially after hearing that Joe passed his boards!

Board Scores!

2008-12-26T10:59:00.002-05:00

We just found out that Joe passed his fourth (and final) set of boards! We are so excited and I really couldn't be prouder of him. All he has to do now is order his license, which will take about 8 weeks. I knew you would all want to know. It's a great day!

It's Christmas 2008, Can You Believe It?

2008-12-25T18:15:00.014-05:00

At 7:15 this morning Joe and I got up and ran out to the livingroom to open the presents we've been staring at for weeks. We were like two kids. We looked outside hoping we could at least say we got a skiff of snow on Christmas Day, but no go. It was actually the warmest it's been in weeks. Ended up getting to about 60 degrees today. Yep, no snow for us.... ever, it seems.

Anyway, we opened stockings first. Joe got "The Fully Monty" DVD, candy, a notepad, and a mind-tester metal puzzle. (This puzzle had him more frustrated than entertained for the first two hours he had it. I was starting to think it was the worst gift ever until he finally figured it out and felt very proud of himself.)

I got cozy socks, Starbucks candy (mmmmm), spa gloves, a loofa, and a Kung Fu Panda Pez. Anything cozy is gold to me, so I put the socks on right away.

Look at all our presents! We are so well loved!! All four of us! The dogs seriously got as many or more presents than we did. :-)

We lets the pups open their gifts first. We seriously treat these dogs like our kids, but I just can't help it. They looked so cute sniffing at the gifts and tearing at the paper.

Joe got Ava an adorable little Santa outfit. It fit her perfectly and it looked SO cute on her! Of course, she hated it, because she hates all clothes, but we loved it on her and that's all that matters.

We took her and Jack for a walk around the lake this afternoon and I made her wear it. She got lots of attention from the other walkers!

Joe's mom had a snuggle sack made for her, which is basically like a mini sleeping bag. She absolutely loves to burrow into covers, so it's really perfect for her. You can see she obviously loves it!

I got her a cute new collar from K9 Closet! Any of you dog people out there, I recommend them. They have very cute collars.

Wow, I just realized I didn't get any pictures of Jack. I'm such a bad mom. Jackson had a lovely Christmas as well - he got lots of yummy treats and new toys. My parents got both dogs the cutest ornaments. Ava's is a picture of an Italian Greyhound painted on a glass ornament. It looks exactly like her, it's crazy. Jackson's was a blue ball with a cute puppy (which looked exactly like what we picture Jackson to have looked like as a puppy) sitting on top. :-)

Then it was time for Joe and I to open our gifts. Joe's sister's family gave us sweatshirts with their company name on them. They are great sweatshirts and I'm wearing mine right now as I type this. You know how I love to be comfy, and it is definitely comfy.

I also got some beautiful jewelry, mugs, coffee and a gift card from Starbucks, a personalized drink coaster, and a green camisole. I really felt like I made out like a bandit!

Joe got an Oregon State golf pullover and long-sleeved shirt (Oregon State is the college he went to and the college his niece Samantha was just accepted into - Go Beavs!), a year subscription to Men's Health, and chocolates. He was thrilled!

Oh, and I got Joe this shadow box, which I filled with memories of Buddha, Joe's wonderful dog who crossed to the bridge two years ago. Joe has this clay mold of Buddha's paw print that he has been wanting to display in some way for a long time. So, I included that, as well as a photo of the two of them, and Buddha's collar and tag. I totally surprised him and he really loved it.
We really felt so loved once we had everything opened. The dogs were happily playing with their new toys and chewing on their bones, we were kicked back on the couch drinking our coffee and reveling in the fact that we are so lucky to have such wonderful families.

Even though we couldn't be with you, we love you all and miss you on this special day. Hope you all feel as loved and happy as we do!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2008-12-24T11:00:00.003-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's Christmas Eve! It really doesn't feel much like Christmas Eve, since we still are the only part of the country that doesn't have snow. It's definitely not going to be a white Christmas for us. I mean, it's crazy. We leave the Pacific Northwest the year before they get the biggest winter ever recorded for the East Coast where they are having the mildest winter ever recorded. It's a bummer.

I'm also at work, too, so I guess it really won't feel like Christmas until I actually get to go home and start the festivities. I'm taking Monday off, so I get a five-day weekend! (And, I'm one of about 5 people who actually came to work this morning, so I'm slacking off and blogging instead of working. Terrible, I know, I know. I'm going to get coal from Santa, I just know it.)

Fun news though! On Monday, Joe made his decision between the three chiropractic offices he was considering. He will be working as an independent contractor at Advanced Spine and Laser Center in Fairfax, Virginia! He will meet with the doc after the holidays to go over all the paperwork, and then will start at the office as soon as he gets his license. Very exciting!! So if anyone knows anyone in the D.C. Metro area who needs a chiropractor, you now know where to send them!

Well, I guess that's all the news I have. Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas Eve! So, now I will brag on my dogs, because let's be honest, they are the kick-assest dogs in the whole world!

How cute is Ava helping Joe on the computer?? She was actually laying ON the computer right before I took this picture. She loves to cuddle so much, that no matter what we are doing, she jumps up, turns around, and plops down right next to us. Love that girl!

Jackson loves his toys so much, that sometimes he just can't choose which one he wants to play with. He will take all the toys out of the toybox and then go from one to the other, playing. He likes to hoard them, too. Like Ava could care less about dirty old dog toys. haha. Seriously, though, this dog is so cute sometimes I just can't stand it. We certainly got lucky with our puppy picks!

Christmas in Hershey

2008-12-20T18:54:00.010-05:00

Today Joe and I took a drive up to Hershey, Pennsylvania to experience their famous "Christmas in Hershey." We were actually expecting the city of Hershey to be the main attraction, but it turns out it's actually a Hershey theme park. We were a little disappointed, because it was basically an amusement park for kids (guess we should have figured that out when we were walking inside as the ONLY kid-less couple). But we of course made the most of it because that's what we do. :-)

This is a statue of Milton Hershey. Apparently, he and his wife couldn't have kids so they dedicated themselves to helping orphans (well, that and making chocolate....) and there is still a school across the street from the park that serves underprivileged children. Pretty cool.

Okay, I admit, I'm easily amused, and it was actually pretty fun to see all the chocolate-themed things in the park. You could find everything you could possibly want (clothes, pillows, ornaments, lip gloss) marked with different Hershey brands - Kisses, Reeces, Jolly Ranchers, York... They had a "Kissmas Tree" set up in the middle of the park with a giant kiss on top:

I tried to make Joe go on the carousel with me, but no go. He saw another poor sap on there that was drug up by his girlfriend and decided not to be "that guy". haha. So we left. Then, across the parking lot, we discovered the real reason for going to Hershey - Chocolate World! In Chocolate World you can personalize chocolate bars, make your own cupcakes, package your own box of kisses straight off of a conveyer belt, and buy ANY kind of Hershey's chocolate under the sun.

Okay, so we're huge dorks and took their free tour they were offering where you took a ride through a "faux factory" and they explained all the steps it took to make their chocolates. They had singing dairy cows and everything. And afterward they gave you a free candy bar and tried to sell us a picture of us on the trolley thing. Yeah, we didn't buy it, although we looked pretty damn cute.

When we were done, we had to restrain ourselves from buying hundreds of dollars worth of candy. They had this five-pound chocolate bar on sale for $30 that we started salivating over and Joe wanted this kiss (seriously the size of his head) so bad he had to have me take a picture of it. But we ended up getting a half-pound kiss and some multi-colored twizzlers instead. :-)

Overall, it was a pretty fun experience. It was interesting to learn about the guy that started it all, back in 1900 when the first milk chocolate bar was produced. I wonder if he knew then that it would turn into such a successful enterprise.

Friends From Home

2008-12-16T13:33:00.005-05:00

I have been extremely lucky that since I have moved, I have been able to see many of my friends from home. First, Stuart moved to D.C. a few months after we did. I get to see him every week. Then Heidi was relocated here from Seattle for a couple months, so I was able to spend some quality time with her. Now, Ed (the only person I have kept in contact with from high school and my old Columbia Cinema colleague) was flown to Connecticut for job training and came down to visit before he flew home!

We had a rushed but fun weekend. Friday Joe and I took him out for drinks and appetizers at a local sports bar. Saturday we went into D.C. and saw the White House, Lincoln Memorial, National Mall, and Washington Monument. We also got to see the National Christmas Tree all lit up, which was something Joe and I wanted to do anyway - it was SO pretty!

Ed is a really great photographer and I thought this picture he took of the Washington Monument at sunset was really pretty:

This picture I also thought was so cool. I would have never thought to take a picture like this, but it turned out great - very artistic and a "new take" on the Lincoln Memorial:

We also went to Chinatown for dinner, which was a really cool part of town - we really need to go back there sometime when we have more time.

On Sunday we helped Ed return his rental car (a kick-ass Marquise that he was SO embarrassed to be driving around, haha), toured the Rockville Mansion (a random discovery that was pretty cool) and accompanied him on the Metro to the airport so he could fly home. It was great to see him.

Also on Saturday, we went to the Italian Greyhound Holiday Party. Ava had a great time! She was being so social, playing with the other dogs and got so excited to see the dogs that she now recognizes. It's so wonderful to watch her continue to improve... seeing her that day, you would never have believed that she was such a terrified, meek little girl who had never seen the big wide world!

My camera has apparently quit on me, so I only have pictures that others took at the party. Honestly, she did get down and play. Of course, the only pictures I found are ones of Joe and I holding her... but really, she was very social!!

Jackson was an iggy-wannabe during the party. He did fabulous with all the little dogs, and was the only non-iggy invited. :-) He really is so great with Ava and her little friends!

The IG Rescue organization I'm a part of took in 16 dogs last weekend. 16!! That is an incredibly big number, and no one thought we were going to make it work. But, I am proud to say that the Rescue Representative, Serena, worked her butt off and was able to find foster homes for ALL 16 (!!) and not only that, but she PLACED ALL BUT 4!! That is incredible, and I just have to give a shout-out to all the people who helped out. Because of them, 16 dogs are going to have much better lives.

Also, I wanted to say that Joe had another job interview today, with another chiropractor in Virginia. He said it went really well. He has met with three doctors now and Joe has liked them all. He will be making a decision this week and will then hopefully have a plan in place once he gets his license.

P.S. - Janet, if you read this, I told Joe that if you came to visit that would complete my "friends from home" loop. Come visit!! Pleeeeeaase?? I miss you!!

Getting Colder

2008-12-10T14:31:00.003-05:00

Well, Jackson was extremely happy that he got his edible card on Monday. He would not put it down after we gave it to him. His was a bit thicker than Ava's and he absolutely loved it! I finally took it away from him around 10:00 p.m. when we went to bed and there was almost nothing left. :-) Thanks again Grandma Connie!

It's starting to get colder here and poor Ava just HATES going outside. It's like torture for her. She sleeps in our bed, lays on my lap when I eat or work on the computer (or basically anything), gets fed organic food and lots of treats, gets hugs and kisses every day, yet when I pull out a coat and leash and she knows she's going outside, she hides and looks at me like I'm the WORST parent ever.

So, she definitely wasn't happy when I pulled out her four-legged jammies. It's so cold that she needs the extra coverage but this is the coat she hates the most. Look how cute she is though! She waddles around in this thing and looks so miserable, but I can't help but giggle at her because it's just so damn cute. (Okay, maybe that does make me a bit of a torturer...)

In other news, Joe finished his classes for his Bachelors, so as soon as he completes his thesis, he will officially have his Bachelor's Degree! (He always jokes that he's the only person who got his doctorate before his undergraduate.) He has also gone on two interviews with chiropractors in the Fairfax, Virginia area. They are both great opportunities and he is seriously considering them. He has a few other opportunities that he wants to look into first, then he will make a decision. Wish him luck!

Weekend Review

2008-12-08T10:42:00.003-05:00

My parents flew back home on Thursday morning - they left the apartment around 4:30 a.m. It was sad to see them go, but we had such a nice time visiting with them. They had a great little trip around our portion of the East Coast, visiting Atlantic City, the Philadelphia Mint, and Amish Country. They brought back a shoefly pie to share, but that ended up getting knocked off the table and eaten by our dogs while we were out to dinner Wednesday night. Jack and Ava are turning into terrors when it comes to getting food off the counters and table. grrr.

This weekend was much more quiet. Friday we did some more Christmas shopping and went out to dinner at this great little Italian Grill near our apartment. When we got home, Ava had received a special holiday card in the mail from her Grandma Connie! It was an edible Christmas card made out of rawhide. It was the COOLEST thing I've seen. And she loved it. Apparently, Jackson has one coming too, but she felt pretty special that she got hers first. :-)

On Saturday Joe and I decided to head into downtown Gaithersburg for their little community holiday event. There was some music and free hot cider and we watched them light a Christmas tree. It was.. okay. :-) But it was snowing, and that made it pretty great. It was the first real snow of the year and although that made the roads pretty crazy (cars slipping and sliding, especially on the bridges) it was so beautiful. We listened to Christmas carols on the radio and basked in the Christmas season.

Sunday we met Stuart downtown, did a little shopping, had a great vegan lunch, and played some video games on his brand new 46" TV. I would have taken pictures, but I forgot my camera. Next time.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too! Now back to the work week!

Parents Here, Busy Weekend

2008-12-01T16:04:00.008-05:00

UPDATED WITH PICTURES :-)

Joe and I met my parents at the airport on Monday night (the 23rd). It was so nice to see them! We had a busy evening, getting them settled into their rental car, having dinner, and finding their hotel.

On Tuesday, I had to work, so they took the Metro into D.C. and spent the day touring around. Tuesday night all three of them came to pick me up at work and we had dinner and then went back to our apartment - where they were going to stay for the rest of their time here. Ava went ballistic seeing her Gramma and Grampa!!

I took Wednesday off and we had a busy day preparing for Thanksgiving - lots of shopping and cooking. We also went to see the movie Four Christmases, which was pretty funny.

The next day was Thanksgiving, which meant more cooking and LOTS of eating! We also played lots of dominos. Even though we had to eat on the couch (because we didn't have a dining room table) and it was just the four of us, it really felt like a traditional Thanksgiving and it was SO nice.

Friday I got everyone up at 5 a.m. and we did the whole Black Friday shopping experience. I made them shop till everyone dropped! We were done and back home napping by 11:30.

We had an early Christmas that night and exchanged presents. My parents bought Joe and I a brand new dining room table that we absolutely LOVE, so the boys set that up while I decorated the house in Christmas decorations.

Then we went to opening night of "Winter Lights" in Germantown - a park that you drive through and see hundreds of light displays. VERY cool and a great way to kick off Christmas.

Saturday, Stuart came over and we visited with him for a little bit. Then my parents, Joe and I went to St. Michael's, MD. It's right on the beach and wow - was it beautiful. Lots of cute little shops and restaurants. We did some more shopping and ate really expensive meals and realized how much we needed to come back in the summer! It was such a fun little getaway.

Sunday, we split with my parents - Joe and I went back home and my mom and dad continued their trip, next stop Atlantic City. They will then visit Philadelphia and some other little towns my mom wanted to see and be back at our apartment on Wednesday. They leave early, early Thursday morning.
The whole five-day weekend almost seems like a blur now. We did so much and had so much fun, but it went by awfully fast. I wish Joe and I could have stayed with my parents as they continued their journey, but I had to go back to work. And I'll hardly see them at all when they come back because they have to leave so early, but I am so happy they made the trip.

Things I am thankful for this holiday season:
1. Having a family that loves and supports me.
2. Being in a loving, committed, happy, and fun relationship.
3. Owning two wonderful, albeit crazy, dogs.
4. Having friends who are like family.
5. Being able to explore new places and experience new things.

Happy holidays!

Heidi's Last Weekend

2008-11-24T15:52:00.006-05:00

Unfortunately (for me) this last weekend was Heidi's last weekend in D.C. She is headed back to Seattle Wednesday morning. It was sad to part with her last night - knowing I won't see her again for five months. I got spoiled having her so close!

But we did have a nice weekend together. We met her and her friend Ally (also from Seattle, who was transferred to D.C. for a week for work - same company as Heidi) to watch the Cougar/Husky game on Saturday night. Then on Sunday we met up to tour around Eastern Market and Georgetown. (Sorry the pictures are so dark.)

Joe, Stuart and I also went to the Museum of American History this weekend. It was fun! I got to see a lot of movie memorabilia, as well as some interesting articles from the past - like the advertisement they had framed that said "D-T-T is good for me!" and a message from the guy who invented saccharine. Wow, the things we didn't know... makes me wonder what things we're using now that we think are great and in 50 years, they will be in a museum and others will be thinking - "it's sad they actually thought that was good for them..."

This is actually the hat Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot. Isn't that crazy?

Overall, a fun weekend. I'll miss you Heidi!

A Rescue Pet's Christmas Poem

2008-11-24T14:38:00.004-05:00

This poem is so sweet and sad. Please consider donating to an animal shelter this Christmas!

A RESCUE PET'S CHRISTMAS POEM

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
every shelter is full - we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute that someone will care,
They'll come to adopt us and give us the call,
"Come here, Max and Sparkie - come fetch your new ball!!
But now we sit here and think of the days
we were treated so fondly - we had cute, baby ways.
Once we were little, then we grew and we grew,
now we're no longer young and we're no longer new.

So out the back door we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly - why were they so rash?
We "jump on the children:, "don't come when they call",
we "bark when they leave us", "climb over the wall."
We should have been neutered, we should have been spayed,
now we suffer the consequence of the errors THEY made.
If only they'd trained us, if only we knew,
we'd have done what they asked us and worshiped them, too.
We were left in the backyard, or worse - left to roam,
now we're tired and lonely and out of a home.
They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye,
"Maybe someone else will give you a try."

So now here we are, all confused and alone,
in a shelter with others who long for a home.
The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat,
with so many to care for, they can't stay to chat,
They move to the next kennel, giving each of us cheer,
we know that they wonder how long we'll be here.
We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads,
of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears,
our friends filled with emptiness, worry, and fear.

If you can't adopt us and there's no room at the Inn ,
could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness each day of the year,
can you give more than hope to everyone here?
Please make a donation to pay for the heat
and help get us something special to eat.
The shelter that cares for us wants us to live,
and more of us will, if more people will give.

Two Rescue Pets say Thank You!

Update

2008-11-20T10:13:00.007-05:00

Joe got back from his trip to New York on Sunday night. They actually let him go an hour early, so he was able to get home at about 11:30 p.m. It was definitely nice to have him back home. :-) Although Jack was less than amused that he lost his place on a full side of the bed.

Joe did say that he saw a bit of snow driving back. We were worried about this because New York and Pennsylvania were supposed to get snow and we don't have snow tires on the car. But he said it was a really dry snow and there were no problems.

He said he test went really well, and he's SO happy to have all those tests behind him. He will find out his scores on Dec. 26th and then can finally apply for his license. Yay! Here are some pictures from his trip:

His hotel and hotel room. Last time he had a horrible hotel where he didn't even want to walk on the carpet in bare feet, so this was a huge step up! Very comfortable and nice!

Here are pictures from the town of Seneca Falls. Joe had all Saturday off, so he was able to look around a bit between studying. Isn't it pretty?

And this is my favorite. It looks like a castle! Beautiful!

As for my weekend, Stuart and Heidi came up to see me on Saturday, since I didn't have a car and no way to get around. They had quite an adventure both coming to my house and leaving, but I'm so glad they came. It broke up a solitary weekend for me. Thank you guys!

It's getting colder and colder here and we have huge drafts that go through our apartment so yesterday Joe put plastic up over our windows. There are two kinds - the stuff that goes on the outside and the stuff that goes on the inside. We had to get the inside stuff because of the way our windows are laid out. We think it is helping...

My parents come into town on Monday to spend Thanksgiving week with me! I'm so excited to see them and have them see our new place and new town! We'll be meeting them at the airport on Monday night.

Well, I guess that's a good update. We've already started planning our holiday events for the season (yay! so excited!) so there is going to be LOTS to write about over the next several weeks. Looking forward to it!

Thank you soooo much... (sarcasm)

2008-11-15T08:36:00.004-05:00

My mom got the dogs this super-awesome toy and Jackson just LOOOVES it. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, all day long. Isn't that just like a gramma?

Part IV Boards

2008-11-13T12:25:00.003-05:00

Joe dropped me off this morning and once again took off on a 6-hour drive to Seneca Falls, NY. He is taking his fourth set of board exams this weekend and will be gone until at least Sunday night. It's funny, because I was just thinking how it didn't seem at all odd to only spend 3 days a week with him when we were commuting back and forth from Portland to Seattle. Now I'm completely bummed and missing him already because he has to be gone for three days. At least I have the dogs to keep me company.

Oh! And I just realized that I forgot to mention last month that he got his Part III Board scores back and he passed! It was very exciting and I can't believe I forgot to blog about it! Once this last set is out of the way, he will actually be DONE will school and can focus on his career. He is SOOOO looking forward to that.

Warning: Lots of Pictures

2008-11-09T19:03:00.004-05:00

I asked Stuart to take some pictures of me, Joe, and the dogs because I realized the other day that we only had one picture of the four of us, and the dogs weren't even looking! So, we took a walk today, and we got some awesome shots. I warn you, there is a bunch of pictures!

Whoo-Hoo!!

2008-11-05T10:13:00.005-05:00

Well, it's over, and thank God we got the result we were hoping for. And not by a small margin, either! Americans came through and voted for change, and although I understand that Obama has his work cut out for him, and that the real work starts now, I'm looking forward to seeing how the next four years pan out.

Joe stayed up for the entire election process. I tried, but kept drifting off to sleep. Joe kept waking me up to give me more results, and I'd start watching again, that drift off again. But I was glad he kept updating me. It was such a great night.

Also, I'm VERY happy to say that Prop 2 passed in California! This is a very important issue for me and I'm so glad to see that Californians realized the need for a higher quality of life for farm animals. Thank you Pam (my cousin in California) for helping me spread the word. :-) I hope California's decision resonates with the rest of the world and we as a nation can start treating our fellow creatures more humanely.

Unfortunately, the other Proposition in California that we were watching closely - Prop 8 - did not go our way. Californians took away the rights of same-sex couples to marry last night. This is a hot button issue for Joe especially (he has many gay and lesbian friends and cares about this issue deeply) and we were both infuriated when it passed.

What is the difference between different-sex and same-sex couples?? When are we going to realize that this is the same issue we had with woman's rights and African American rights? We're all just people and we should all be entitled to the same rights!!

Sigh....

I Rocked the Vote!

2008-11-04T09:01:00.005-05:00

This is such an important day. It really hit me this morning how incredibly important today is. We've been waiting and waiting, and talking about everything for so long. We've been listening to both sides, watching the debates, debating with each other... for how long? This election started so long ago - remember when Hilary announced her run over the Internet? And then some guy I had never heard of announced he would be running against Hilary. Funny how that guy has come to be so important to me. :-)

We got there before the polls opened this morning - around 6:55 a.m. We had heard about the long lines in other cities, but didn't expect to find such a long line in our small community. It stretched it's way all through the school, around corner after corner. But I have to give major props to our polling people - it was so efficient and we were done in a little over an hour.

Anyway, I know it's silly, but it's kind of emotional - it's a big day. And it's a great feeling to be one of the first to vote as opposed to one of the last, now that we live on the East Coast. It was also my first time to vote at a booth - I've voted absentee all other elections.

I hope you all are getting out and voting today. I got an email from my cousin PJ who lives in The Netherlands and he took time out of his day to write to me to ask me to vote - because he said, "the whole world is watching." So true.

Go rock the vote! It's a great feeling!

Happy Halloween! Doggie Style

2008-11-01T20:52:00.003-04:00

Well, the dogs didn't win the costume contest, but we thought they had the best costumes at the party! We were very proud of Jack - he wore his costume like a champ, and it was the first time he has ever worn anything (well, the first time Joe has allowed me to dress him up, haha). The "rules" are a bit more lax with this iggy group - they allow other breeds to come if they are iggy-friendly. So, Jack is much happier to be able to be invited.

The party was indoors, at a doggie daycare in Bethesda. The dogs had a great time and are still exhausted tonight.

We thought this was pretty cool - Peppe came as an Obama campaigner.

The hula girls:
The hula boys:

How CUTE is he??

Such a pretty girl:

Happy Halloween! D.C. Style

2008-11-01T20:04:00.005-04:00

Joe and I had a great time last night! We met up with Stuart and Katherine (an old friend of Stuart's who lived with him in Seattle for a while but moved back to Maryland, where she is originally from), and we did a pub crawl in downtown D.C. It was so much fun. We met a lot of people in GREAT costumes. Some of my favorites included Michael Jackson in Thriller (and when that song came on he danced the whole dance - it was awesome!), Goose & Iceman from Top Gun, A Bag of Cocaine (super creative), Cindy McCain, Bristol Palin (SO funny!!), and Jim from The Office. Oh - and someone dressed up like Jigsaw (from the Saw series) and I almost wet myself it freaked me out so bad.

Stuart dressed up like "The Old Guy Who Never Left Hawaii" (don't ask, he's random, but it turned out pretty good) and Katherine was Wonder Woman. Joe and I were Gunslingers. Here are some pictures.

Joe and me rocking the Gunslinger garb:

Joe taking his first ever JagerBomb (he liked it!) and me finishing off a Bellini. I'm probably the only person who orders a Champagne drink on Halloween night...

Stuart and his friend Ben, the devil.

Katherine has an obsession with taking photos with random people.

This guy was visiting from China. I'm sure he'll have lots of stories to tell!

Don't you love Stuart's hair? I told him he should actually go blond for real. :-)

It's a hold up!

Too much fun!

I love Halloween!! Hope you all had a great one as well!

Happy Halloween! Office Style

2008-10-31T17:25:00.004-04:00

How much fun is my office! Here are some pictures from the Halloween costume contest for work. For weeks I tried to convince as many people as I could to dress up, and about 13 of us actually did. :-) AND I won the costume contest!! I won a gift certificate to the local movie theater (yay!) and a gift certificate to McDonalds (yuk). It was a lot of fun, though. I'm getting good on those skates!

Here is the whole group of people who dressed up:

Here is my favorite group of work-people.

My coworker (Sandy from Grease!), me, and my supervisor (a painter!).
Stay tuned for pictures from Halloween night in D.C. - and Halloween with the pups!

Cake!

2008-10-30T07:08:00.004-04:00

I bought a Halloween cake pan from my work and have been meaning to make a cake for a couple weeks. Joe ended up making it yesterday! It was so good! He even made orange icing for the body and green icing for the stem!

Another Great Weekend with Friends

2008-10-27T09:57:00.003-04:00

Joe and I met up with Heidi and Stuart on Saturday and we toured around Georgetown. It was such a cute little area and we had a great time - even though it POURED down rain most of the day.

Wii Golf

2008-10-25T10:07:00.004-04:00

So, ever since Stuart let us borrow the Wii, Joe has been talking about buying the Tiger Woods golf game. Apparently, it is the BEST GAME EVER. :-) Well, he decided it wasn't financially a good idea to buy it, so he rented it the other day. And I pretty much haven't talked to him since. haha. He spends all his time talking to the game, yelling at the commentators, yelling at himself (Tiger) for missing the shot, taunting his opponents, etc. Good thing we only have it a week. :-)

What a Cute Dog!

2008-10-24T17:11:00.001-04:00

Isn't he adorable? He just LOVES his bears. :-)

Dinner

2008-10-24T09:28:00.003-04:00

So, the other day Joe asked me if I would like to him to make me something for dinner one night this week. I told him that I really wanted to try this chili recipe I found online - but that we never had time to make it because it was a from-scratch recipe and took 7 hours to make. Last night I came home to the smell of homemade chili! And cornbread! It was SO great! Isn't my guy wonderful??

(Oh, and Stuart, it was vegan, so you should definitely give it a try sometime. Yum!)

Thursday

2008-10-23T13:13:00.003-04:00

This week has actually been pretty quiet. Last week it seemed like we were doing something after work every night, be it shopping for Halloween, taking the dogs to the park, or running around for volunteer stuff. This week, not so much. With Joe being "unemployed", he takes the dogs to the dog park during the day, and does the dishes and the laundry. I get home and we get to actually just sit and spend time with each other. It's nice.

I did want to mention, again, however, the importance of the upcoming proposition in California. I know not many of you that read this live in California, but you might know people who do, so please ask them to vote YES on Prop 2. If you want to do what's best for farm animals, then vote yes. If you don't really care, then what does it hurt to vote yes anyway.... for me? :-)

For some more information, see my friend Stuart's blog post at http://seattletodc.blogspot.com/2008/10/yes-on-prop-2-in-california.html. He has some actual hands-on experience with these animals and posts a picture of one of them he met. Check it out.

I'll leave you with a typical nightly scene... Me, in bed reading. Jack curled up next to me, waiting for Joe to come and kick him out of bed. Ava hidden, under the covers, fast asleep. :-)

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-20T19:12:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, Stuart and Heidi came up to visit Joe and I and we all went to a pumpkin patch! It was my first pumpkin patch and I was like a little kid, I was so excited! It turned out to be SO much fun. We walked around the pumpkin patch and each of us chose a pumpkin. Then we shopped around the little store that the owners owned - a very cute little store that had homemade pastries and home-grown fruits and veggies. Very cool.

Then we went back to our apartment and carved our pumpkins! We had carving kits so Heidi, Joe and I chose a design from their list. Stuart, being the creative genius he is, came up with a unique design (Jack, from the Nightmare Before Christmas) and hand carved his. Heidi got tired of the carving pretty early, ripped off her design and just did a simple jack-o-lantern instead. It was pretty funny.

It was too funny that the VHPR crew was all together again - 3,000 miles away from Mercer Island!

Here is the finished products:

After the carving, I made dinner (Waikiki meatballs - thanks Mom!) and we drank wine and hung out. It was such a fun day!

Party for the Pigs!

2008-10-19T21:33:00.006-04:00

Joe, Stuart and I went to a benefit last night for Farm Sanctuary. It was a fundraiser to benefit the pigs that were rescued from factory farms during the Iowa floods. It was so amazing to hear the stories of survival and to see the before and after pictures of these poor creatures.

(Oh, and Joe finally got to wear the new suit that his family bought him for graduation. Doesn't he look so handsome?!? Got to love a man in a suit!)

They also talked a bit about Prop 2 - the proposition up for vote in California this election. This is a huge initiative by the animal welfare organizations in this country and I am asking anyone reading this that lives in California, to PLEASE, vote YES on Prop 2. Let's at least give these creatures we raise for consumption the luxury of being able to stretch their legs, stand up, and turn around. That is all this initiative will cover, and it's a huge start, so please, let's do this one little thing for the animals!

The event was hosted in downtown D.C. and had a huge vegan buffet that was absolutely delicious! It was so much fun to get all dressed up and support a great cause!

Dog Park and Halloween Surprise

2008-10-19T20:25:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, so we took the dogs to the dog park. We met an adorable little 4-month-old puggle there named Toby. He really wanted to play with Ava and Ava kept looking at me like, um... get him off me! But he was adorable:

And here's a video:

Then we came home and had a package waiting for us! And when I say "us" I mean the dogs. :-) My mom sent them a Halloween care package complete with cookies, a new toy, and a new shirt for Ava! The shirt was super cute, but a little small, but I made her wear it for pictures anyway.

And here's a video of the kids playing with their new toy:

Thanks Mom! It was so sweet of you! (And thanks for our DVDs back and the candy for us, too)

Halloween Decorating

2008-10-16T10:02:00.002-04:00

Halloween is getting so close! Joe and I have been going to thrift stores and costume stores the last couple days trying to put together our costumes. We decorated a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd share!

I even decorated my desk space at work! I've received a lot of compliments on my "festiveness".

I'm trying to keep everyone in line regarding costumes. I hope everyone mans up and actually dresses up like they say they will. I'm thinking I'll wear my 50's waitress costume from last year to work. It was a big hit last year... Outside of work, Joe and I are thinking about being gunslingers! Fun, huh?

Anyone back home planning their Halloween?

Jack's Soccer Skills

2008-10-15T09:51:00.007-04:00

Jack LOVES his soccer ball and his soccer skills are definitely improving! He has almost cleaned the entire ball of it's cover... we pick up plastic pieces all day every day.

Alexandria

2008-10-14T15:51:00.004-04:00

Joe and I took a drive out to Alexandria, VA last night after work to conduct my first home visit for IG Rescue. It's such a big responsibility - I have to interview the people and check out their house and determine if they would be acceptable IG parents. Luckily, this first one went extremely smoothly. They were a nice couple who had owned an IG before, so they knew all about the breed, and also had an 8-year-old Weimaraner who needed a companion. :-) It was a long drive out there, but it was kind of fun venturing out of our comfort zone.

Joe had an interview with another chiropractor yesterday and it went really well. He loved the practice and got along well with the other doctors and thinks this could be a place where he could learn a lot about the business. They asked him to follow up with them today, so wish him luck!

2008-10-12T17:12:00.002-04:00

Saturday I went to Walk for Paws, a fundraiser for Howard County Animal Rescue, and helped run a table for Italian Greyhound Rescue with the IG Rescue Rep, Serena. We had a great time, met a lot of great people and potential adopters, so it was a success. I had a great photo of the whole booth, with Serena sitting with her dog, but occasionally photos become pixilated on my phone after I take them (so frustrating!) so I don't have it. And the one Serena took of me, she got her big fat thumb in it:

It was so much fun watching all the different dogs come through. We saw Big Greys and Whippets and even some other IGs:

And then we saw this big guy! Seriously, the biggest dog I have ever seen. I couldn't quit asking his owner about him. Turns out he weights 206 pounds!

It turned out to be a really beautiful day, and of course, I didn't bring sun screen so I came home with a horrendous sunburn on my face. But it was worth it, it was a really nice day.

Joe worked another fair this weekend, this time in Thurmont. He worked 10 hours both yesterday and today. But that will be the last time he has to do something like that... at least for this employer. Joe has decided to quit and look for something that better meets his expectations as a chiropractic assistant, as well as look for a chiropractor to work for that he can trust, respect, and learn from. Wish him luck on his job hunt!

Dog Park

2008-10-09T13:18:00.004-04:00

We found this awesome new dog park in our area. It's the only dog park we've found that has a small dog area - and since Ava got bowled over a couple times at other dog parks, this was a good find. I took a few pictures of the kiddos. They are just such great dogs! You can see I'm wearing my glasses - I'm wearing them more and more... especially at night. The small dog area is supposed to be for dogs 25 lbs and under, so Jack had to go to the big dog part. But after a while, we brought him over to the small dog park, after clearing it with the other small dog owners. It's amazing how much Ava comes out of her shell when Jack is there with her. She sticks right by me, asking to get held, when Jack's not there. When he is, she ventures out, meets other dogs and explores. She feels much more confident with her big brother there. I can understand that. :-)

Police Station

2008-10-08T16:55:00.003-04:00

Joe had to go to the police station yesterday for work. He offered free massage to the police officers and he said he has never massaged someone before who was armed. He mentioned to the officers that he had never seen the inner workings of a police station before - he had never been that far inside.... they said that was a good thing. :-) He snuck a couple pictures, so he didn't get any of himself, but here is what he took:

I had to drop him off at 7:00 for this appointment, so we both had an early morning.

Weekend Update

2008-10-06T10:49:00.008-04:00

I should really start updating more regularly, especially on weekends, because my weekend updates seem to be really long. But here goes. I attended my first company picnic on Saturday. Everyone from the company was invited, and it ended up being pretty fun. I made pasta salad and it was a hit - to my surprise. :-) My coworker, Alana, rode with me to the picnic. She is the one in this picture, in the middle, with the long blond hair. She made me tell everyone that we made the pasta salad together because she forgot to buy cookies.

It turned out to be a really nice day. Some people played kickball, but mostly we just sat around and chatted. I brought Ava, and of course, she was the hit of the party. :-)

I was so bummed that Joe couldn't come with me. He has heard so much about the people I work with, and they have heard so much about him, that it would have been nice to introduce everyone. But, once again, Joe had to work this weekend. He worked a fair in Frederick, about a 1/2 hour away from our apartment. He was VERY busy during the fair.

Sunday, we got together with Stuart, who moved to the DC area last week. He is settling in well and liking being here. It was SO good to see him! We picked him up from the Metro station and took him on a tour of our little town. We showed him where both of us work, and drove him by the HSUS - where he has also applied. Then, we went to a local bar to watch some football and get some lunch. I wore my Seahawks shirt to show some hometown pride and they got annihilated by the Giants. Too bad. Good thing I don't really care about football. (Oh, I don't know if you can see the guy in the background in the Indian outfit? His name is Chief Z. He's a local celebrity around here - he's sort of part of the Redskins 'team'.)

Then we went back to our apartment so Stuart could see the dogs. Ava went bonkers when she saw her Uncle Stuart. It was pretty cute.

Then, we roped poor Stuart into helping us set up our webcam so we could talk to Joe's parents. We finally figured most of it out after about 2 hours. :-) He was such a good sport. So, we took him out for a fabulous vegan meal to thank him.

So, that was our weekend. Hope yours was good too!

Wednesday

2008-10-01T15:17:00.004-04:00

It's Wednesday, and there is not much going on, but I thought I'd update you anyway. Workwise, let's see... well, I've been given the task of being "Santa" for work this year. It's pretty cool. Birthday in a Box sells these letters from Santa that you can buy for your children that comes in this cool scroll thing and tied with a velvet rope with a sleigh bell on it. I guess not a lot of people in the company like to take this particular project on, because it's a lot of writing and a lot of work - but I'm sure you could guess that I was pretty excited! To me, it's never too early to think about Christmas!

Speaking of holidays, it's now October which means it's officially Halloween season! I told Joe that I will be decorating the house today and he was in disbelief that I would start this early. I told him that I was making myself wait until it was October, so he better be happy I didn't start decorating a month ago! I've found only a couple people who planned to dress up for work, which really dissappointed me. We're a birthday company people!! We should be in to this stuff! But I told my department that I expect them to dress up (including my supervisor). I said, "I know I'm not the head of this department, but I expect all of you to dress up!" I think I've convinced them. :-)

Stuart flies in tonight. He was planning on staying with us the first night, but got his apartment secured early, so he's going to just move directly in. I'll see him this weekend. I'm excited for him to be here, but sad that he's going to take the Wii from us. :-( So selfish, that's me.

Last night we had a rain storm with thunder and lightening. We had the windows open so we could hear everything. The thunder and lightening didn't bother the dogs at all, but I think they got a little chilly. :-)

Joe has been busy with getting ready for school to start. He has 5 credits to go on his Bachelor's degree and he got registered for the classes yesterday. He's taking a literature class and a music class. Then he has to write a thesis. I think he's doing it on knee injuries... He's going to be SO happy to get that finally out of the way. He finished graduate school and became a doctor before he got his Bachelor's. Funny boy.

Cool Hand Luke

2008-09-29T10:29:00.004-04:00

I forgot to mention that I read over the weekend that Paul Newman died. He seemed like such a great man, and obviously, an amazing actor and philanthropist. And apparently, a romantic! He was married to his wife, Joanne Woodward, for 50 years and when people would ask him about how his marriage survived in Hollywood, he would say, "Why would I go out for hamburger when I have steak at home?" Even a vegetarian can appreciate that statement! :-)

I've never seen Cool Hand Luke, so I think Joe and I are going to rent it this week. And maybe The Hustler. Paul Newman truly lived his life to the end, and I respect and admire that.

Reunion

2008-09-28T11:50:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned before, my good friend Heidi was relocated to Washington D.C. for a couple months, starting last week. We had dinner with her last night, and it was so nice to see a familiar face!

We were going to meet her in D.C. and see some sights, but it was pouring down rain last night, so we decided to meet her at her place for dinner. Wow, did she get set up in a nice condo! It was fully furnished with NICE furniture, new stainless steel appliances, jacuzzi bath, the works! And it's on the 16th floor, so it's got a great view, too!

Her bedroom was especially beautiful and included a flatscreen TV!

Well, I guess they should have set her up someplace nice, after uprooting her for two months! Anyway, we had a wonderful dinner prepared by Heidi (she is SUCH the hostess!) and shared a bottle of wine while we got caught up with each other.

We did see one thing that was pretty crazy. As we were walking to her place from the metro, we saw a fight between this couple. Well, right when we got past them, the girl hauled off and smacked the guy on the face so hard that the sound of it echoed! He stormed off in the other direction, toward us (and a bar) and when he walked past us, we saw the outline of that girl's hand on his neck. Pretty crazy. Oh, and did I mention Heidi lives next door to the U.S. Courthouse? Pretty ballsy to start a fight right there!

Anyway, it was a great night. And so easy to get to Heidi's place with the Metro. I love big cities and their public transportation! It's just too bad we have to drive to the nearest Metro station...

Fun at the Farm Part II

2008-09-28T11:42:00.006-04:00

So, I know those videos don't really show much, they are pretty pixilated, but I got some good pictures, too. Here they are:

Fun at the Farm

2008-09-28T11:07:00.008-04:00

First of all, let me wish Ava's very best cat friend a happy birthday! Dugan, who still lives in the Seattle area, turned 1 yesterday! Ava was sad she couldn't go to his party. :-)

We took the dogs to another playdate at the Farm yesterday. They had so much fun! They are really loving this place, with it's agility course. We also tried the lure coursing section this time. I wasn't really interested in it, but everyone else was trying it, so we joined them.

Well, once again, the dogs surprised us. They absolutely loved it! Jack especially. He was instantly excited when he saw the lure. He's got a bit of a squirrel obsession and is always pissed when we don't let him chase them around the apartment complex, so this was a way for him to get that fantasy fulfilled! haha.

So, what they do is attach a fluffy bag to this pulley and race it around this field and the dogs are supposed to chase it. It's like those greyhound races you've seen... except this is just in someone's backyard and for us, just for another way to get them exercised.

Ava also loved it and went the whole way around the field chasing this thing. When she was done, the whole group tried to convince me to race her because she took to it so well and was so good at it. I'm glad she had fun with it, but I will NEVER race her.

They also had fun going around the agility course. Here are a couple videos. They are pretty pixilated and hard to really see, but I'm experimenting, so I thought I'd post them anyway. And in the one of Jack lure coursing, you can only see Jack for a couple seconds, and then he's GONE, but you get the general idea. Pictures in the next post.

Crazy Ava Picture

2008-09-26T16:02:00.002-04:00

Joe was trying to take a picture of Ava the other night and she took off running, and this is what the result was. Crazy, huh?

Bad Dog

2008-09-24T13:50:00.004-04:00

So, Joe went home for lunch yesterday like he always does, but this time he came home to a mess! Once again, little Miss Ava must have jumped up onto the counter and knocked off a casserole dish that was sitting up there. It SHATTERED all over the kitchen floor. Ava got little cuts on both her back paws. There was a little blood, but by the time Joe got there, she wasn't bleeding anymore and had licked them clean.

That casserole dish was huge and probably weighed almost as much as her! Thank goodness it didn't hit her! On the one hand, I'm sorry the poor girl hurt herself, but on the other, what a BAD DOG!! Little jumpy thing thinks she can do whatever she wants! Okay, okay, she can, but still... bad dog.

I guess we have officially learned our lesson about leaving dirty dishes on the counter. We're going to have to actually not be lazy and do the dishes after we've eaten. What a crock.

In other news, Jack got a gift yesterday. After him having so much fun playing with the soccer balls at the dog park, we decided he needed his own! He LOVES it!

And Joe had his first "public speaking" event today. A few weeks ago, he joined the Chamber of Commerce and joined the Membership Committee. They had a meeting today and he had to stand up in front of 50 people and give a 15-20 second infomercial about his company. Anyone who knows Joe will know that even though it was only 15-20 seconds, it was still his personal nightmare. But he got through it, did a great job, and even ended up finally meeting some fellow golfers! I'll probably never see him now.... :-)

I also found out that my good friend Heidi was relocated to Washington D.C. for a couple months, starting today! So, I'll get to hang out with her while she is here, which I'm VERY excited about! I keep joking that I move over here, and all my friends follow! (Stuart will be here October 1st).

That's it! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Another week gone

2008-09-22T10:32:00.005-04:00

I can't believe another week has gone by. These weeks are flying by, with all the new things we're doing and the new people we're meeting.

Friday night we did our first happy hour, at this cool sports bar near our apartment. We're really trying to save money, so we haven't been going out at all, but we decided to splurge this weekend. It was a great place. I'm sure we'll be going back.

The rest of the weekend, Joe spent working. On Saturday, he did an event at a Sleep Country store in Frederick. He offered free massage to the customers who came in looking at beds. Those people who work there actually get to come to work in pajamas and lay on beds all day. Maybe I should have looked into that....

The store was in a mall, so I went with Joe and did some shopping while I was there.

On Sunday, Joe hosted a booth at a local festival. It was called "Old Town Days" and it was actually a pretty cool event. I came and hung out for the last couple hours and had a great time. The Gin Blossoms were playing, so I listened to them for a bit. I guess the Rembrandts played earlier, but I missed them. There was a huge crowd listening to the band. Here are some pics:

Joe was super busy during the fair. He had a lot of people interested in chiropractic and I guess two people have already scheduled appointments. So, his hard work is paying off. Here is Joe at his booth:

Right after the fair on Sunday, we went out to dinner with one of the girls I work with and her boyfriend. They are a really nice couple - she's a vegetarian and he isn't, so it's a good couple for us to hang out with. :-)

Her boyfriend, Trey, is the drummer of a death metal band, and I guess they are pretty well-known. Of course, I don't know them because I don't listen to that music, but they tour all over the country, Europe, Australia - all over the world! His band has opened for Kiss, Slayer, Iron Maiden, and others. He has a tour bus and groupies and everything. He was telling us all sorts of stories about being on tour. Are you ready for the name of the band? Dying Fetus. Yes, that is the name of his band.

He is playing a show in Maryland and said he could get us on the guest list. Joe and I were pretty pumped at the opportunity to be "on the list" for once in our lives, but I'm not sure we would fit in with that crowd. :-) We looked up their music online.... and I'm pretty sure they conjure Satan at one point.

Anyway, so that was our weekend. Hope everyone is doing well back home. Miss you!!

What a Weekend!

2008-09-15T13:32:00.003-04:00

First, I want to with Roxy a happy birthday today!! That is Joe's parents' dog (Jackson's... um... aunt? haha). She turns two today!

Well, Joe made it home safe and sound at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. He was exhausted from driving and the stress of the test, but said he felt good about how the test went. He will find out his scores in about 4 weeks or so.

Sunday we took the Metro into Pentagon City (Virginia) to check out an apartment that Stuart is planning to rent. Stuart will be here on October 1st and wanted to make sure this guy he will be subletting from was on the up-and-up before signing the paperwork. We gave him the go-ahead. :-)

We came back to the apartment and had a nice evening, cooking dinner and watching a movie (Baby Mama - got horrible reviews but I thought it was hilarious!). Right before bed I noticed something wrong with Ava's eye. It was all swollen! Of course, I freaked out, and started researching emergency vets online. By the time I found one online, Ava's eye had gotten worse, so I made Joe get out of bed and drive us 20 miles to the ER hospital.

I, of course, was panicked the whole way. Well, you can imagine my embarrassment when we got to the vet and noticed that the swelling had completely disappeared! I mean, I was completely relieved and happy, but so embarrassed! We went in anyway and the doctor came out, looked at Ava's face, and asked me, "So, which one was the swollen one?" He said he could see me and charge me $80 or I could just go home and keep an eye on it (since it was no longer an emergency). We went home.

I swear, that dog will be the death of me. I don't know if you can see anything in this photo we took. I was trying to hold her still so we could take a photo of it, and she was struggling, so it's not a very good one.

So, that was our weekend.

Home Alone

2008-09-12T15:44:00.005-04:00

Well, Joe left for Seneca Falls, New York today. He has his third set of board exams tomorrow morning at 7:15 a.m. He's been studying for the last two weeks. He feels pretty confident about it, but still pretty nervous. Plus, it's a 7-hour drive to Seneca Falls from here, so he was NOT excited about the drive. Jackson has tried helping Joe study many times this week.

Since Joe's gone, I will spend my first night alone in the apartment. What to do? I feel obligated to do something girlie, like watch "The Notebook" and eat bonbons. But I'll probably just end up playing VirusBuster on the Wii like every other night. :-)

Another week down at work. We had a "Marketing Team Lunch" today at Red Robin. It's so fun to be in a work environment that does morale-boosting things like that. The company is also planning a company picnic in October. Fun! Still really liking it at work. As the weeks go by, things are becoming more comfortable and I'm taking on more responsibility. It's nice.

Joe is still liking his job, too. He's still doing a lot of marketing stuff. Last night he did chair massage at a gym right by our house. He offers free massage to customers, in the hope that if those customers ever need chiropractic care, they will remember him and come to his office. He has a lot of those planned at different businesses in the area through the rest of the year.

Well, not much more to report. I'll leave you will a cute picture of the pups:

New Couch!

2008-09-06T14:16:00.003-04:00

We got out new couches today! They are big and shrink our living room quite a bit, but we love them! We had a great experience with the delivery guys, too. They came on time and had them in the apartment and unwrapped in a matter of minutes. I was very impressed. The dogs are already making themselves at home. :-)

We got some of the effects of Hurricane Hannah today. We had to make a run to the grocery store and got completely soaked just dashing from the apartment complex to the car... about 3 yards away. The dogs are feeling a little cooped up today because they haven't been able to go out and play.

Nothing much else going on. Another successful week. Stuart sent us his Wii for safe keeping and we've been playing that... I actually bowled a 205 last night! :-) We also like to play Super Mario Bros and Ava wanted to make sure she wasn't missing anything.

First Day Trip

2008-09-01T16:44:00.003-04:00

Since it's Labor Day and we had the day off, Joe and I decided to take a day trip into Washington D.C.! We took the Metro in and it worked out really well. We got off the Metro and were right downtown. We had lunch first, at this really great little restaurant. We had this waiter who was a real kick and he told us that the person sitting at the end of the bar was the President's tailor. He said he's been the tailor for every president since Lyndon Johnson. He was a crazy looking old guy. Joe got a $10 "Bloody Maryland" to start the afternoon off right.

We then went and looked at the White House and walked around all the parks. It's actually really beautiful all around there. Joe kept wondering how long it would take to get shot, tasered or tackled if we hopped the fence. :-)

Then we went to the WWII Memorial, which was awesome. It was this circular memorial with a fountain in the middle. On each end was an entrance marked "Pacific" and "Atlantic" and was joined by stones with all 50 states written on them. It said it was constructed when there was "unparalleled national unity". Wish we could say that now.

Then on to the Lincoln memorial. We sat on the steps and looked out on, in my opinion, one of the coolest views in the country - of the pond, the WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument. Very cool. The Lincoln memorial had the Gettysburg Address written inside and it really made an impression on Joe and I. Such a famous speech, such wonderful words.

It was SO hot there today, and we were both kind of fading, so that's as far as we made it for this trip. It only took us about 40 minutes to get down there by Metro, so we're looking forward to taking day trips into the city when we can.

So, we thought it was a perfect day, then we came home to a huge mess in the kitchen. Apparently, Ava jumped up on the counter and knocked down my bowl of morning cereal. It splattered EVERYWHERE. The whole kitchen was covered. I got to spend the next 20 minutes on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. Awesome. The joy of having pups.

Getting Settled

2008-08-31T18:39:00.003-04:00

Joe and I finally feel like we're getting settled here. We've set up a bookshelf, TV stand and DVD holder and we bought at TV! Stuart said he was going to send us his Wii to take care of until he moved here, so we decided a TV was now a priority! We went to this lady's house we found on Craigslist who was selling a 27" TV. Well, we got there and she was also selling a 32" TV. Well, we walked out of there with the 32", obviously. :-) It's seriously the biggest TV I've ever had. But I think out apartment is finally coming together and looking nice. One more week until our furniture comes and then everything will look put together.

Today we went to our first playdate put on by the Maryland iggy people. It was out at a farm in Thurmont, really in the middle of nowhere, but we had SO much fun. It was a fenced in area on this farm that the owners rented out for doggie playdates. We were able to bring Jackson. They had an agility course set up in the play area for anyone who wanted to mess around with it. We put Jack through a couple things and he did well. He wasn't afraid of any of it. We have been thinking about putting Jack through agility, just to have him in something active, so it was nice to try it out.

What we didn't expect, was that Ava loved it too!! She followed Jack through a couple of the stunts and then would go out and venture on them on her own. Ava, the girl who is afraid of EVERYTHING new, totally took to this agility stuff! So, we decided we needed to get both dogs into something like that. I think we'll do obedience first, then agility. We're really looking forward to it.

I also met the IG Rescue Rep for Maryland at the playdate. She is a lot younger than I expected, couldn't be more than 23/24 and still lives at home. She was very nice though and seemed very organized and dedicated. She asked me to get involved and of course I agreed. I think I"m going to become a board member for Mid-Atlantic Italian Greyhound Club and help as much as I can with volunteer recruitment and fundraising.

Since it's a long weekend, we have tomorrow off, too, so we're thinking about going into D.C. Haven't made it out there yet.

Ava's Birthday Party!

2008-08-24T19:16:00.008-04:00

Well, Ava's birthday was very fun, although because we still didn't really have anything unpacked kitchen-wise, I had to be creative with her birthday "cake". She got a piece of bread with tuna fish and a pretzel stick as a makeshift "candle". It was pretty cute, though. She wore her birthday pearls. :-)

We also found a super cute dress and bought that for her for her birthday, too. She doesn't really like dresses, but it looks cute on her anyway!

We took the dogs back to the dog park again. Ava didn't really get into it, I think she still has some reservations from the last time we were there, but Jack loved it! Joe and Jack played soccer while Ava and I sat on the bench. :-)

We've been spending most of our weekend shopping for furniture and unpacking boxes. Wow, it's a big job! I feel like we've been unpacking for days and we still have so much left. We did make a significant purchase yesterday, though - a brand new couch and overstuffed chair! We were looking and looking on Craigslist and couldn't find anything that was both clean AND under $500, so we just decided to make the leap and buy it new! It will be delivered in two weeks and we can't wait.

We also bought a couple bookshelves, a DVD rack and a super cool lamp at Target, and a great coffee table on Craigslist. I can't wait to see it all together once everything is here and put together! I think it's going to be really nice.

We went to see a movie this afternoon - Tropic Thunder. It was pretty funny. We're trying to get out and see what's here in town, and not just spend all our time at home unpacking. :-)

Well, that's it for now. Another week starts tomorrow!

And Sarah - I'm so happy to hear you're reading this! Ava misses the Dug-man! Tell him hi for us!!

Ava's Birthday!

2008-08-22T10:05:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Ava!! It is Ava's 2nd birthday today! I'm sure we'll have some sort of celebration, I'll post pictures soon. :-)

Everything is still going smoothly. I'm starting to slowly settle into my new job, and I really like it so far. It's going to be a lot of work, but it will be a fun challenge and one I think I am up for.

Joe is continuing to be the marketing machine for his new job. His boss is sending him out to different companies in the area offering to set up free chair massage sessions. They figure if they get in there and offer free massage, when someone actually needs chiropractic care, they will think of Joe first. I think it's a great idea!

Yesterday he visited a few fire stations and police stations, as well as a few gyms in the area. He got some interest and has some people to follow up with today. We also went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting last night. We met some interesting people - including one woman who asked if Joe did horse chiropractic! Apparently, it's a huge business, and Joe actually knows someone who does that in Vermont.

Still slowly unpacking boxes. I think that will be our main focus this weekend. That, and buying some lamps. There are no lights in the living room and bedroom, so we have to get lamps for those rooms pronto.

Hope things are going well with everyone. Leave some comments! We want to know there are actually people reading this thing! :-)

My New Job

2008-08-19T12:46:00.002-04:00

First of all, happy birthday to my wonderful nephew, Christian, who turns 14 today!

Well, we did receive our stuff from the movers on Sunday. They were supposed to arrive between 10 a.m. and 12 noon and finally showed up at 5:30 p.m. Joe and I hung around the apartment for hours waiting and let me tell you, it's a boring apartment with no tv, internet, books, games, or anything else. We did play some cards (rummy, thanks Gramma :-)) and I drank wine to pass the time.

They almost forgot a couple boxes and bags, including Joe's massage table, and they damaged Joe's chiropractic table, which he WAS NOT happy about. They also misplaced the metal thing that Joe's spine hangs on (wow, that is a weird sentence...) but other than that, we got everything.

Still don't have any real furniture, like a couch or sofa chair or anything, but we did get a bed, and that was the most important thing. I patched one hole already on the air mattress, but I can't find the others that I'm sure are there, since we had to wake up in the middle of the night and air it up on a regular basis. I think that thing is going in the garbage.

So, I slept on a real bed the night before starting my new job, which was nice. The new job is going great, I'm in my second day today. The people I work with seem really nice. My immediate supervisor reminds me SO MUCH of Heidi and that is a complement to this woman because Heidi was the most encouraging, friendly, patient supervisor (and then friend) I've ever had! I work directly with one other person (they laid off the part time person I was supposed to supervise because managment decided that hiring another full time person - me - cut into the budget too much to keep the part timer on. Yeah, that's not awkward at all!!), but the other departments are in the building and I'll be working with them on a regular basis. Which is good, because I wanted to move into a position that had more than two other people in the company. I know I'm such a bad girlfriend, but Joe has to iron my clothes before work. Isn't he cute??

Joe has had the last two days off and has been relaxing among all the boxes at home. He was so tired after his week-long stint at the fair, working 11 hour nights that he is enjoying some down time before starting on a regular schedule. His job is about 4 miles away from our apartment - a straight shot, really, so it's really nice for him. I'm about 10 miles away, but it's still a great commute.

Well, I guess that's the update for now. Still no internet at home, but I'm free to use internet at work for personal reasons during breaks, so hopefully I can update here until I get it at home.

Movers are Coming!

2008-08-16T14:59:00.001-04:00

Just heard some great news! The moving guy called and said he will be here to deliver our stuff tomorrow morning! Boy, do I hope it works out and he is there on time! All four of us are ready for some furniture so we actually feel like this is our new home! This is all we have now:

Today is Joe's last day at the fair. I dropped him off and then went out trying to find a dog park we had heard about. I found it, and unfortunately, it didn't have a small dog area. But, I decided to let them go for it anyway. I was so happy because as soon as Ava got in, she seemed really excited and was running around. Then, out of nowhere this big dog completely BOWLED her over and she limped away screaming bloody murder. Oh my god, it was awful and I thought, this is it, it's happened, she's broke something. I ran to her and gingerly picked her up and just held her and calmed her down for a minute. She was shaking all over. Then I started checking her out and thank god, she wasn't hurt. I think she got stepped on and run over and it scared the be-jesus out of her, but she wasn't broken.

She stuck to me like glue for the rest of the time we were there. The big dogs left and the other little dog owners kept coming and checking on us, they were really nice. I let her walk around for a while but if another dog besides Jack even got close, she would freak out. It made me so sad because she was so excited when we got there. And now she has bad memories of it. Jack, on the other hand, had a great time!

I'm at another coffee shop today. Won't get internet set up in the apartment until August 26th. Which makes it kind of hard to start furnishing our apartment through Craigslist.... but we'll think of something.

Joe is really excited to be done with the fair. Too long of nights, although he does say he is starting "to feel like a doctor" giving out advice and having people thank him for good suggestions. It's so cool to see him so passionate about what he does. :-)

Tomorrow is the first day we both aren't working and can spend some time together, exploring Germantown. We're going to drive to both our works and figure out a good route, all that good stuff.

Catch Up

2008-08-15T11:35:00.001-04:00

So, I now have a bit of time to catch up on what's been going on. Not that it's been much. :-) Our routine has been that we get up, take showers, and I take Joe to the fair at 11:00. Then I come home and do as much as I can via phone to get things organized, take the dogs for walks, and read. Then I pick Joe up at 10:00 p.m. (He will only have those long hours while the fair is going). I lay on the air mattress all day because that is the only thing we have in the apartment. And because the only room that has an overhead light is the dining room, we sleep in the dining room. It's actually pretty funny.

We're having a good time with it all. It cracks us up sometimes that we have no plates, silverwear, cooking utinsils, ect. Yesterday Joe was walking around the apartment aimlessly because all he wanted to do was just sit down someone other than the floor. I walked out of the bathroom and he was sitting on the dryer! haha.

I have done some laundry, speaking of the dryer, and that is SO nice. No more quarter laundry in the basement!

I went to visit Joe at work yesterday for the first time (and left the dogs alone at home for the first time). He's met some great people in the booths next to his and has been really successful getting people interested in chiropractic. We walked around a little bit and then it started thunder and lightening. Well, we thought that was cool because we love thunder storms and we were laughing at the people running to cover around us. THEN we realized we were pretty much the only people out on the street and the rain was getting harder.

Then the loud speaker came on and said, "everyone get under cover". And the thunder was getting worse. I booked it to the car because I wanted to get home and be with the dogs in case they were freaking out. By then I was soaked. I turned on the radio and the radio guy was saying, "everyone get under cover and stay away from the windows. 60 mph gusts and penny-sized hail expected." I decided to stay where I was instead of trying to make it home.

The storm didn't last long, but it was intense. Like my dad said, they have a lot more weather over here than we're used to! I guess thunder storms are nothing to laugh at here!

Anyway, here are some pics of Joe pre-storm:

I've met some of our neighbors and they seem really nice. There is a nice path around the apartment complex to walk the dogs, which is really convenient. There is also a lake right down the road with a path around it. I haven't made it there yet. The dogs (and me) are still getting used to the humidity.

I think that's about it for now. Joe has to work until Saturday and then I start work on Monday.

No internet

2008-08-14T10:59:00.001-04:00

So, that internet we were stealing no longer works. Bummer. So I'm not going to be able to blog much until we get our own set up, and ask Stuart, it's going to take me a while to figure out how to set it up even then.

Anyway, I'm at a Panera Bread right now (my most favorite place so far here to eat) and they have free Wi-Fi. But I have to be quick.

Everything is going good. Joe has been working at the fair and it's going great. He really likes his new boss, who has already invited us over to have a playdate with his dog in his fences three acres. Yay!

The dogs are doing good, although they are still a little weirded out. It's getting really annoying to not have any furniture or any boxes or anything. I'm starting to find my way around our little community, but not much farther than about a five-mile radius around the apartment. But for me, I think that's pretty good!

Anyway, I'll try to write more next time I'm at this Panera place, but for now, I have to go. I have to go buy some bug spray, the mosquitos are eating me alive. That is the one thing I HATE about this place. You all know how much I HATE those little bastards!

Okay, talk soon.

Love you all,

Heather, Joe, Jack and Ava

We Made It! Germantown, MD

2008-08-11T22:34:00.000-04:00

Well, I told dad that I couldn't post tonight because we didn't have internet access. Turns out someone in our building must have an open connection, because we're stealing someone's internet right now... good for us! :-)

First of all, it's Jackson's birthday today. He is three year's old today and Joe has owned him for one year today. Happy birthday Jackson!!

Today was another long day, but oh my goodness, we made it! We started out in Indiana and drove through Ohio and Pennsylvania to get to Maryland. It was funny seeing Sandusky, Ohio (from Tommy Boy), and we stopped at a rest stop that actually had a fenced outdoor area for dogs. We met a woman and her pug that live on the Virginia side of D.C.

Pennsylvania was beautiful. Beautiful trees and wild flower fields and lakes and rivers. We really liked that drive. Maryland was the same way... very pretty drive. We ended up just randomly talking to Joe's new boss on the phone at the same moment we were passing where he was on the freeway. He asked us to stop so we could meet. So, we met Joe's new boss today, and he seems like a really great guy. Joe has to start work tomorrow, so I'll be all alone to try to set up the apartment as much as possible.

We were supposed to get to the apartment at 6:00 and didn't make it till 8:00. We lost another hour today (we're officially on East Coast Time!) and the traffic, toll booths and construction slowed us down. Luckily, the apartment people set it up so the on-call maintenance guy met us with our keys. (While I was waiting for the keys, Joe went to Chick Fil-A to get food. He was super ecstatic!)

The apartment is great. A nice size, with a fireplace and a walk in closet. We are right next to the tennis courts and pool and we've already met a neighbor who has an adorable little Yorkie named Daisy. :-) Oh - we also have a buzzer - so we can buzz people in when they come see us! I've only really seen those in shows.... so it's kind of cool.

There is one thing I don't like about Maryland so far. They have mosquitos. I've already been bit about 6 times. I need to buy bug repellent.

We have been keeping track of our mileage from the start and we just figured it out that from Seattle to Germantown was 3,336 miles. Holy crap! And yes, Kathy, Joe drove most of those. I think I drove 5 hours in that entire trip. I know, I'm horrible, but in my defense, he said he really does prefer driving. He says its because he gets really bored when he's not driving and doesn't have anything to do. I'm going to believe that and hope it's not really because I make him car sick. :-)

Hopefully we can keep this connection at least until we can set up our own. I'll try to blog again tomorrow. Love you all!! Can't believe we're so far away from home!!

Portage, IN

2008-08-10T21:08:00.000-04:00

This morning Ava wanted to make sure we didn't leave without her:

We drove 800 miles and through 5 states today! We started in South Dakota, went through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and are now staying in Portage, Indiana. Crazy, huh? We also drove over the Mississippi River, which was pretty surreal. This is at a rest stop in Minnesota:

We drove past Chicago, but weren't able to stop. No time and there was tons of traffic. We also started having to pay tolls. The first and second toll we went through we got through free. The person in front of us paid for the car behind them. Isn't that cool?? So, we paid it forward and paid for the person behind us at the next toll. :-)

The dogs are starting to get a little annoyed with all the driving, but are still doing very well. Tonight they were trying to be very patient, but as soon as we got to the motel, they couldn't wait to play play play!

Not much more to report. Just lots of driving, no real sight seeing.

We should be at our new apartment tomorrow night!