Introducing Porter...

Out of the two male landseer puppies, the breeder decided to keep one of them, sooo....that means by reason of deduction we get the other one and I could not be more thrilled! I liked this one the best anyway, he has a way cool white stripe on his face (even though it probably won't stay there to adulthood). So, without further ado, here is out new baby boy, Porter. TA DA!

More to come...

Puppies!!!

The newfie puppies were born on Friday, October 21. Now that they are two weeks old we were able to go see them. There are two male landseers, so we don't know which one we are getting yet but it's narrowed down to 50/50!

At two weeks they are already almost 4 lbs! We are so excited we get him in the middle of December!

Oakley's Stylin'

So this weekend was...interesting. Chris had been gone all week to the cabin hunting with his dad and uncle, Oakley, of course, went along. I was not planning on going to the cabin over the weekend, but I decided last minute after work Friday to head on up. Just as I was about to head out the door I recieved a call from Chris's dad Dave that Oakley had been attacked by a neighbor dog, had some severe bites, and he was calling a vet to come get him stiched up. Well, I could tell that Oakley was going to be fine, but it still made me speed all the way to McCall (the traffic was actually pleasantly light and fast-moving and I made really good time). By the time I got there the vet still hadn't arrived, so I got to be there during the "operation."

Oakley was being so well-behaved they decided to just do a local numbing injection rather than general anesthesia, so we had to hold him down and pet and soothe him while he was getting cleaned and suchered. He did really well and was very calm. In all, he had to get nine stitches from his ordeal. Since all the injuries were on his chest, the vet didn't think he would need a cone because he couldn't really get at the stitched area. However, later that night we noticed that he definitely COULD reach them. So we called the next morning to see about a cone, and the vet suggested we put a t-shirt on him to cover the injuries until she could come out. As we were putting a shirt on him Chris shood his head and said he had vowed never to put clothes on his dog. But here was Oakley, all suited up, looking ridiculous and awesome. The shirt worked so well at not only keeping him from bugging his stitches but keeping the area protected while he's outside/laying down that we decided it was a much better solution than a cone. So here he is with his new shirt (he has two of his very own) and he'll be wearing it for the next two weeks!

I want to say both sorry and you're welcome for not posting any pictures of his nasty wounds or stitches (partly because I don't have any).

My husband is going to jail

...TO BE A CORRECTIONAL OFFICER!!!!! We are so excited Chris has a new job! (non-seasonal with benefits! woohoo!!) I might just end every sentence in this post with an exclamation mark I'm so happy! We found out on Wednesday after waiting almost a month since his interview to hear if he was chosen, it was nerve-wracking to say the least. (<--- I almost put and exclamation here too, but didn't want to overdo it.) It is a big step in our lives because this is not just a job, but a career, it is stable and with plenty of opportunity for advancement. I am also so crazy happy for him because I think he will really enjoy this job, I just hate the idea of him doing something he hates just for money's sake and coming home all grumpy (plus it makes me grumpy too!). He starts in about a month, and until then he's going to get in as much sleeping, boating, hunting, fishing, etc. as he can....jealous.

Ina and my Mom are like this

Do you watch the food network? I love the food network. I love cooking, and new recipes, and just seeing delicious food be made and making myself hungry. I also, however, enjoy having one show in particular on in the background. Barefoot Contessa. It is not because the food is the best, I don't usually make recipes from this show because they all seem a little too invloved or expensive. No, it is because the host, Ina Garten, reminds me of my mom. Her laugh, kind of her haircut, generally her face and smile. It's just kind of comforting. I took the liberty of making a side-by-side comparison photo. These are kind of ridiculous pictures, but my sister and I were amused by this...maybe we're the only ones.

do you see it too?!

Little Miss O

Looks like Oakley has a new girlfriend....

Meet Olive, my brother-in-law Patrick's new silver lab puppy!

Date Night!

Last weekend Chris had to go out of town without me, so he said that we needed to go on a date when he got back. Sooo...we did! It was a ton of fun, and definitely a welcomed change of pace. We hadn't really had a date for a while since I had been so busy with the end of school.

We decided to go to Westside Drive In because it is so close to our house, quick, not too expensive, and REALLY delicious.

He doesn't look like it (mostly for the camera) but he was really excited, and we were both hungry!

I was admiring my shoes. NUDE SHOES! my absolute favorite! Plus, they go with pretty much everything. I was so happy for an opportunity to get dressed up in my new coral summer dress.

And here it was....FANTASTIC! mmmmm......

After dinner we went and saw Green Lantern, definitely entertaining, but not the best superhero movie out there. Overall it was a great night, and we even got home early enough to actually get some sleep. (I am still not used to this getting up early for work schedule.)

I Guess it's on to Real Life

I graduated!!! After six years I have my Masters Degree in Architecture. Looks like now I need to get a job.

P.S. do you see this ridiculous cap? it's way too big for my head, actually my head is just pretty small. But they really don't want you to look good when you graduate do they? I would inquire about this if I just knew who "they" were.

Let's take a hike!

Chris has been talking for a while about taking Oakley on a hike in the foothills. Now that Bogus is closed and he has some time off work, we decided to take that hike. It was a gorgeous day. Here is Oakley posing at the trail head. He found a stick!

Oakley just loved it. He would run ahead of us, sniffing and investigating, then he would stop and look back to make sure we were still there. Then he would run back towards us, stop when he got to us, then turn around and run right back ahead, as if to say hurry up!

This was the view of Boise from the foot hills. It was very peaceful and we were just turning around to head back when.....

Oakley found the only tiny mud puddle (surprise!) and rolled around in it. Grrr. He is ridiculous. Needless to say, he soon recieved a bath, and now smells delicious, so I guess that's a plus.

It was a fun afternoon activity, that I'm sure will be repeated many times as the weather improves (minus the mud part!).

Newfies!!!!

We are beyond excited for our newest addition to our little family. We are getting a newfoundland puppy!! Unfortunately we probably won't get him until next January, but we are hoping we'll be able to have him by Christmas. We have gone to the breeder several times to visit the Newfies and we just love them. This is Maci, she will be the mother of our future puppy.

She is still a puppy herself, which is why we've had to wait so long for our baby. She is the only Landseer (black and white) they have, and the Landseer is what I want, so we will wait. They are waiting to breed her until she turns two, which will be in September. She is just so beautiful, we are hoping to get one that looks just like her, but a boy who is as big and sweet as his dad. Speaking of the dad, this is Cooper, our future baby daddy! He is a big boy at around 180 lbs.


These are just a couple of landseer newfie puppies, just to give you an idea of how adorable they are. CAN. NOT. WAIT.

Babies

on babies.....oh babies. Thinkinng about babies pulls me in many different directions. On one hand I think about my future children, what will they look like, what kind of personalities they will have, what kind of mother I will be - and I feel like I'm ready, I want one. Then I think about the realities of motherhood, your life is never really yours again - and that's a good thing, a new chapter in life, but am I ready for that? Probably not. But to be fair, I don't think anyone is ready until it is thrust upon them, because you can't ever be ready for something which you know nothing about. And, though I don't know much about parenting, I do believe I know that you have no idea what it is like until you experience it. I don't know what has prompted this post. I guess it is just that so many people I know are having babies, and I think about it. Okay, back to reality. We are not having babies until we are done with school, have jobs, and hopefully have a house. That is final. I know, how boring. But I really do think about it, I have names picked out, I have even mapped out the preferred months to give birth, and consequently the months in which to try and get pregnant. I know, I'm crazy (and it probably won't work out exactly as planned), but I feel it is a gift I will give to my future children to give them a birthday not overlapping the holidays, etc. For now I guess I will just dream about babies and wait my turn.