Meet Tate

This is our new boy! He is as sweet as can be. I can't help but notice the difference between him and Bowie. Tate is mellow and cuddly and dopey and Bowie is high-strung and hyper-alert and kind of grouchy (but will cuddle with me when he wants to). We take them both to the dog park several times a week and Bowie sticks by me and observes the other dogs until he decides they are worthy of playing with. Tate, on the other hand, bounds in and runs around in an uncoordinated manner, trying desperately to play with ALL the dogs and cuddle with all the owners at the same time. They love each other though and it helps me immensely to have them entertain each other. I get so much more done! We love this boy! And, of course, we love Bowie too!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Life is crazier than ever! We left the peace of Boise for the chaos of Draper over a month ago. We are finally moved in (meaning we still have boxes but only in storage).

Nate is working hard. He works really longs days and me and Bowie are ridiculously excited to see him when he gets home.

We are doing our part for the environment by taking public transportation. We carpool together from home about a half hour to the bus/train station where Nate takes the train north for another half hour and I take the bus south for another hour. It makes for a really long day but it means we don't have to buy another car for a while.

We discovered a great dog park right by the train station so when I go back (much) later in the day to pick up Nate, Bowie gets to run and play and harass bigger dogs, which is all he really loves to do.

We have loved being closer to the fams. We just celebrated Nate's Dad's 65Th birthday and had a blast playing the new Beatles Rock Band game. I love being closer to my sisters (even though Hannah just moved up to Utah State, but you can peruse her blog to the right). My mom finally sold her house and will be moving soon!

We are anxiously awaiting the birth of baby-no-name (Nate's sister's baby, whose name is still a mystery to everyone but the immediate family) in less than a week.

We got approval from our landlord to paint our place so I will post some pictures after that!

Inner Turmoil

It is always good advice to avoid certain things when you are upset: driving, taking a test, sending that angry letter, blogging. Nevertheless, here we go:

Nate and I moved last weekend to Draper, UT. I am still very conflicted about this move. Our town house is great, we will have a better income, we are closer to our families who we love, I get to go back to BYU which I have always wanted to do, and in general things will be great here. Maybe it's just that Nate is now working from dusk until dawn, and I am stuck home without a car or tv or internet (currently "borrowing"-- thanks, new neighbors!), unpacking, and there is no where near us to let Bowie run off leash and he is freaking out so he is more high maintenance than usual, but I am going a little crazy. I feel myself getting mopey and panicked. Even now as I write this I keep zoning out for minutes at a time. I find myself missing my friends and not feeling particularly moved to make new ones, picking out all the bad things about Draper and none of the good, and generally being sour about the state of things. It is a slippery slope and I am wearing the proverbial no-traction flip-flops (really I'm wearing my chaco's which always make me feel better, but that is not as dramatic since they have great traction--wow, the babbling).

So why am I blogging about this, you may ask? If I throw all this out there to the blogosphere, I feel like it will give me a higher level of accountability when I tell you all that I am committing to be more chipper. I could just say it out loud, but Bowie doesn't care (not that you do). I'm going to go work on that goal. Pictures of the new place to follow shortly!

More Dog Stuff

One of the saddest things about leaving Boise in a few weeks is leaving behind Bowie's pals (whose owners have become my pals). We met Henry when they were both just tiny puppies and they have played almost every day since then... in snow, rain, hail, lightning, and sunshine. Tilly came along a little later but we love her just as much!

This is Tilly with her owner Judy. Tilly is the only dog we have met yet who can keep up with Bowie. It is so fun to watch them run together!

He is so good to pose for portraits. Very cute!

Bowie likes to be the boss of Henry. I can't tell you how many hours they have spent locked face to face in tug of war over a ball or a stick or a rope or each others faces.

Henry is such a sweet dopey dog. I will miss him!

Milk

When I was a kid my parents basically tortured us by setting up a mini sweatshop in our house. Our job was to take the five or six Sunday papers my dad brought home and lay out all the coupon pages in a row and then staple the pages together so that all the same coupons were in a group and then we would cut them out. Then we would file them in the little Tupperware box my mom always took with her to the grocery store. Often, she would take one or all five of us kids and have us stand in line behind her with identical carts when there was a limit to how much you could buy in one purchase. We often had shopping trips where we paid a few dollars for a whole cart of groceries, and we had a few memorable times where the grocery store actually owed us money when we were done. It was a pain (even though I secretly enjoyed the lining up and cutting of the coupons because I am sort of a dork).

The whole thing seems a little crazy to me because if you are really serious about it then it can consume your life. You end up with like ten things of Mayo that you paid like two cents for but who really needs that many things of Mayo. Nate and I don't really have room for food storage and we move so much that it wouldn't be worth it to haul around ten things of Mayo. However, somehow we drink about five gallons of milk per week. It sounds crazy but I would say that at least a fourth of my caloric intake in a day is consumed in milk. I just really like it, and Nate really likes chocolate milk (being the big strong growing lawyer that he is).

Last week I got a tip from my friend here in Boise, who knows the ridiculous quantities of milk I consume, that Milk was on sale at Alberson's for like $1.46 a gallon or something with preferred card. Then there was a coupon on coupons.com for 75 cents off any milk AND the Alberson's ad had a coupon doubler that week. Then when we went to the store there was a special where if you bought three boxes of General Mills Cereal at $2.50 for the big box, then you got $4.50 off your next total milk purchase. Somehow with all that we walked out of the store with five gallons of milk for $1.23 total, not each. I'm sure if I knew how to work the system better I could have gotten them for less but I'm new at this. I'm also sure that if my mom read my blog she would be proud. If anyone has any tips on couponing bring them on. I may be a couponer after all.

Graduation, house hunting, etc.

Skyline Graduation 2009

The Sibs and Nate:

The Girls:

Cute Hannah:

My little sister Hannah just graduated from high school a few weeks ago. We went down for the festivities and had a blast. Hannah is so smart and cute and it was awesome to get to see her graduate. She is off to Utah State in the Fall and I am positive she will do fabulously there.

After days of hunting and a few false alarms, we found a cute townhouse at the point of the mountain and will be moving there the end of July! Although I hate to pack and move again, I am so excited to be back where all the action is.

Five Years!

Nate and I were married five years ago today.  We got married on a beautiful Spring morning in the Salt Lake Temple.  Since then we have spent five wonderful years traveling the world in search of our hopes and dreams.  While we have accomplished a lot in the last five years, we are looking forward to the many awesome things to come.  It is amazing to think of all the things we have done over the last few years (BYU, Notre Dame Law School, London, Nate's graduation), and then to realize how much we still have to come (a house, kids, my graduation, etc.).  

I am amazed every day by the great guy I married.  We have so much fun together and also handle the hard knocks together.  He is so good to put up with my craziness and he works so hard to take care of our little family.  I love you, baby!  Happy anniversary!

Need to be cheered up?

This always works for me!

Unfortunately the previous picture was months ago when Bowie was still a baby, and that was an acceptable excuse for his bad behaviour.  Now things are more interesting.  He is finally house trained and he really is an all around awesome dog.  He just doesn't like to display that side of himself to the world.  Last weekend, much to my horror, we found three ticks on Bowie after going hiking by the Boise River.  Nate was kind enough to come to my rescue and pull them out but I was pretty horrified.  I was in such a state that I didn't think to take pictures of the event,but I'm sure they would have been funny.  Here's what they looked like anyway: So yesterday I took Bowie to the vet to get the whole slew of heart worm, whip worm, hookworm, roundworm, flea, and tick prevention.  When I got to the vet, Bowie politely peed in the bushes outside and we walked around to see if he had to do his other job.  He wasn't interested so we went inside and checked in.  Bowie then proceeds to poop on the floor of the vets office, not once, but twice.  I was embarrassed but he didn't seem bothered.  Then he decided it was a good idea to growl and bark at the sweet old dog that lives at the vets.  Then he did the same thing to another cute little puppy.  At this point, everyone in the office is looking at me like "can't you get control of your dog?"  Then he peed on the floor, too.  Now, anyone who has read this blog before knows that we were fanatical when it came to researching the breed, finding a vet, getting and excellent trainer, etc.  We have spent tons of money, effort, and time getting Bowie to be a freakishly well socialized and trained dog.  Unfortunately, as I said, he doesn't like to let anyone know that he is capable of being a really good dog.  I am at my wits end.  

Anyway, this is him now, looking totally scruffy and in need of a groom.  We just got back from yet another hike by the river so I'm gonna dive in and see if I can't find any more ticks (and will he show his appreciation by not trying to bite me? probably not).  

PS. I can't figure out how to make his eyes look normal instead of that scary blue color.  Any thoughts? (Courtney?)

Conflict

So I have learned over the last few years that life loves to throw you curve balls.  

It appears that we are once again changing life plans and heading out for a new destination.  While both of us have become ridiculously attached to Boise, we are forced by karma, or divine will, or the economy, to relocate once again.  This will be the 13Th move in almost five years.  This is a bittersweet move.  

We are moving back to Utah, which is closer to our families.  It will be so nice to be included in our families again.  We are still sad about it though because we have made friends here and had even started to think about living here permanently (you know, deciding on what neighborhood to live in, where our kids would go to school, etc).  The huge bummer for me is that I have to once again transfer schools.  At Boise State I could graduate in a year.  At BYU or the U of U, it would probably take a lot longer.  I just really want to be done!  

We have no definite plan, just roughly the end of July and possibly living in between downtown SLC and Provo somewhere.  We are pondering buying house with things the way they are but who knows.  I am trying to get excited about it, but after moving all our earthly possessions 13 times, i just really don't want to do it again.  

If anyone cares to weigh in on the BYU v. U of U debate I could use some input.  BYU is where I started, is arguably a better school, and is way cheaper than the U.  U of U is closer to where Nate will work and we could get a house closer to where we want to be eventually and we could maybe still get by on one car.  Dilemma. 

More on Nate's job when we have an official offer!  

I am pleased to hear I have a few more blog stalkers (the good kind, not the creepy kind).  Please leave comments!    

Interview

I bravely agreed to be interviewed by my good friend Courtney.  It was nice to think back on all this stuff.  Thanks, Courtney!  In the spirit of Internet tags, if anyone dares, leave a comment with your email address and a request to be interviewed by me!  I will send five questions to the first five commenters who will then post the answers on their blog.  Its actually pretty fun.  Enjoy! 

 1. Of the many places you have lived (at least as a married adult), what is your favorite AND least favorite about each?

 This could be a long one, so I'll skip the places we lived in for less than three months:

-Provo, UT (May 2004-July 2005)  My favorite part about living a BYU married ward was my neighbors.  This was, and probably still is, the best ward we have been in.  We were so close with all our neighbors (literally because the ward consisted of about three apartment buildings) because they were such awesome people.  Sadly, I haven't really kept in touch with anyone, but that is how school wards go.  

My least favorite part about that place was the lack of a dishwasher.  Nate worked at Dominoes and at the League of Credit Unions and at the Karras Campaign and went to school full time.  I worked full time at Open Court (40 minutes away at 5am every morning) and went to school full time so we never had time to do dishes.  A few times we even loaded up a laundry basket full of dishes and took them with us to Nate's parents to run them through the dishwasher.

 -South Bend, IN (July 2005- May 2006, August 2007- May 2008)  I wasn't thrilled about this place in general but if I had to name a favorite thing it would be Notre Dame.  The campus is beautiful and the people are amazingly nice.  The football games, especially our first year when they were moderately good, were so fun.  It is something that Nate and I recommend to everyone.  Also, one of my best buddies in the world (Kasey) was there at the same time while her husband was in law school with Nate.The leaves changing was beautiful too.  

My least favorite part was pretty much everything else.  I worked a ton there and didn't make very much.  The weather was truly awful.  We had blizzards, tornadoes, monsoons, flooding, electrical storms, and weeks upon weeks of rain in the fall and spring both.  It made it pretty and green, but you could never go outside. I had to start tanning to keep away the intense cabin fever.  

 -London, England (September 2006- June 2007) In contrast to South Bend, I loved almost everything about London!  Our flat was beautiful, our ward was so cool, our neighborhood was quaint and super close to everything, we made lifelong friends, traveled the continent, spent many full days in museums, and saw tons of west-end theatre.  Nate had more free time than ever and we took advantage of that.  We are currently still paying for that adventure but it was worth it.  

Pretty much the only things I didn't like was the high cost of everything and the fact that we were so far away from our families (but luckily they, and many others, came to visit).

 -Boise, ID (June 2008- Today!)  I love Boise.  I didn't think I would because coming from AZ, we had the perception that Idahoans are super weird.  Some of them are but they are a lot better than a lot of places I've been.  I love our cute apartment and our cute dog that we can finally have here.  I love the friends we have made and the weather (most of the time).  Probably my favorite thing is that I can finally go back to school.  I really love Boise State and finally understand (a little) those Bronco fanatics.  

My least favorite thing is my neighbors.  If we were staying in Boise longer, we would definitely be moving to another place!  

 2.  If you could go back and re-live any one day of your life, what would it be?

 -If there is one thing I have learned as I get older, it's that I am not as smart as I thought I was. The older I get the less confident I am.  If I were to go back to any one day and try to fix something, I think I would just do a worse job than I did because I would over think it.  I would love to go back and relive some of our travels with a little more money.  Particularly that day in Salzburg in the rooftop restaurant where we stayed long into the night ordering tomato sandwiches because that was the only thing on the menu we could afford.  On second thought... that was a good day just how it was.  I would maybe go back to my wedding day to try to remember who came, and make sure my photographer got a picture of BOTH my sisters.  

3. You have a cute lil' pup, Bowie. What is the most challenging thing about having a dog? 

 -This is probably going to make me sound like a "dog person", but the most challenging thing has just been worrying that he might be hungry or sad or sick or lonely.  I suppose I project my maternal instincts on my dog because I don't have kids yet.  He is such a cool dog and I am so impressed with what he has learned so far.  He is finally house trained, crate trained, and obedience trained (mostly).  We are finally to the point where he is learning fun tricks and we actually like to have him around.  Now if he could just sleep past 6:30 in the morning!    

4. If there were no concerns about cost of education and length of time to complete it, what would you choose to study?

 -If I could do anything with my education it would be what I started out to do: Medical School.  I have wanted to be a doctor since I was two years old and that has never really changed, but my circumstances have.  I was premed at BYU but I think I was too young and overwhelmed to do well in the program then.  I think I could do it now, but ironically, I feel like I'm too old.  We have put off a family for so long and now I feel like I just need to hurry and finish school so I don't have that excuse anymore.  I'm sure I will find others though!  I have always loved English and feel like this is the program for me right now.  I just need to stay at one school long enough to finish!    

5. How did you and Nate meet?

-I moved to Utah about three days after I graduated high school.  I got a summer job at the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum.  I worked with a gal named Ambre who called up a guy she knew in HS (Nate) to see if he would take her on a date.  Nate came down to the museum and asked me out instead.  He said it only took him four or five dates to know he wanted to marry me, but it took me significantly longer.  About a year later we got married.  We have been married almost five years now!  

 

 

Shock collar

When I worked at an animal hospital and helped with their puppy classes, the thought of using a shock collar on a dog really offended me.  I thought that any puppy could be taught to do all the normal things with praise and love and treats.  Then I met Bowie.  

From almost the first day we brought Bowie home, he has been something of a menace.  We knew that he was supposed to be a high energy mix and that he had a really strong temperament, but we thought that all puppies were inherently sweet and wanted nothing but to please their loving masters.  Bowie definitely has his moments of sweetness and he makes me laugh, but in the next moment he can turn and bite like a fighting Pitt Bull (no offense to Pitt Bull lovers, myself included).  

Bowie has a very cushy life.  He gets walked at least twice a day, he has tons of toys (given out responsibly), and treats, he is fed high quality food, and is fully vaccinated.  He is incredibly smart and I think that may be the problem.  Once he learns a trick, he chooses not to do it even for a treat.  He is on to our kennel routine and will lash out if we try to kennel him by "force".  He knows that if we reach to take off his leash that he is probably going in the kennel and he bites or bolts.  He has figured out how to open his kennel from the inside and we have to lock him in with his leash, but it is only a matter of time before he figures that out, too.  He is bully with all dogs no matter the size, and gets very jealous if his mom (that's me, for you non-"dog people") tries to pet other dogs, especially puppies.

Needless to say, some of his behaviors, particularly the biting and jealousy, are pretty big warning signs.  When we hired trainers for Bowie we told them we wanted a freakishly well behaved dog.  Our feisty monster seems hell-bent on not letting that happen.  

After Bowie learned all the basic commands backwards and forwards, our awesome trainers started us on the plastic prong collar that simulates a small bite like the mother would give when he misbehaves or chooses to disobey a command.  This is an important part of the training to get puppies to the point where they don't have to have a treat to obey, and to reinforce the importance of obedience.  The problem is that when Bowie gets corrected it almost seems like he is thinking "she just bit me and I'm going to get her for that later".  Scary smart.  He started to retaliate.  

This leads us to the dreaded shock collar, or as we like to call it, the electronic collar.  When my trainers brought one to try I was so against it, but we tried it and it was amazing.  Bowie is so sensitive to it that we only used the lowest current, so low that I can't even feel it on me (you bet I tried it first).  When I turned it up so I could feel it, it wasn't really painful, just kind of tingly and weird.  He responded immediately.  

We have been using it for about a week and the change in his behavior is awesome.  He doesn't know where the correction is coming from so he is no longer retaliating.  He knows that if comes to my side and sits then he feels just fine.  He is no longer eating things like goose poop and cigarette butts (super fun to fish out of his mouth), and he comes when called even with other dogs and people and cars around.  His spirit is not broken, as I thought it would be.  He is still the same sweet happy puppy, he just listens better and doesn't bite as much (we are still working on that).  He is so smart that I think he is going to be a super cool dog when all is said and done.  We just couldn't put up with this silly stuff when he has such potential.  

So, I have changed my tune somewhat on the electronic collar.  In the right hands and with the right instruction from a good trainer, I think it can be a useful tool.

On an unrelated note (ha ha), I have been asked to sing in church on Sunday.  If any of you are in Boise, feel free to stop by.  It's been a long time and I am a little nervous, but we'll see how it goes.             

catch-up

It has been a long time since I have blogged.  I don't even have an excuse.  

Much has happened since my last post.  I finished the semester and was super disappointed by a B+ in Economics.  I really, truly hated that class so I guess I should be happy with that but there you have it.  It drags down my GPA. Boo.  Otherwise, the semester went well.  As mentioned before, I learned a great deal about myself, namely that I don't want to be an artist.  It was a fun, if not slightly wasted, semester.

We then jetted off the the fabulous Phoenix to go to Rachael and Whit's wedding.  It was so much fun.  I have never been to a wedding that was so much fun.  She had the backyard of a really cool house decorated beautifully and Rachael was stunning.  I have never seen a prettier bride.  I was the first one to start crying during the ceremony but that's okay; she is my best friend after all.  They had a s'mores bar and hot chocolate bar and food catered by the Olive Garden.  It was amazing.  Whit's band buddies did the music which was weird and perfect and then we wrapped up the night with some silly-white-people-dancing to a Mariachi Band.  It was so fun.  

I also got to see a bunch of other friends from high school.  It is so nice to catch up with all those people!  I love you guys!  

We then flew home to have Christmas with the fams.  I had planned to help my mom at the bakery but it turned out my help was not needed (danged economy), so we got some good chill time in.  It was so good to talk to Daniel (Nate's little bro, on a mission to GA) on Christmas.  He sounded so good and so happy.  

Among some other wonderful gifts from the families (my favorite of which is my David Bowie concert t-shirt I'm wearing as I type), is a sweet new tv from Nate's family.  Nate is in heaven watching all those bowl games on 37 inches, and Gilmore Girl's doesn't look too bad either.  We had to move our couch back.  I was mildly uncomfortable getting such and awesome gift when we have so little to give, but Nate's family is always so generous.  Hopefully next year we can make up for our meager offerings.  The bottom line is it's so good to spend time with family.  We played endless rounds of American Idol on the Wii with my family and it was just so fun.  

While we were home for Christmas, my buddy Courtney had her baby.  She had a beautiful little girl named Claire.  I am loving holding her.  It is nice to sit there and just snuggle a baby.  It is also nice that as I sit there Courtney recounts the joys of pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing, so that I don't get too baby hungry.  Right now I'm just super house hungry.  I'm jealous of our friends that don't have neighbors.  We are at war with ours at the moment, but that is another post for another time.

Nate is back at work but I still have two weeks till I start school.  I am trying to look for a job but that is not very fun.  

Today is Nate's 27Th birthday!  Happy Birthday baby!  I love my handsome hubby.

I have lots more to post.  I have pictures from the wedding and pictures of Bowie as well as some cute and sad stories.  Here is a teaser: shock collar.  Sad.