Dog friendship

They even shared the same stick!

So happy to have a friend :)

We took Leo to Sam's mom's house this weekend to meet her dog, Jax, and have a large place to run and explore. He is such a good dog that we let him off his leash soon after arriving and he didn't try to run off and we didn't have a problem getting him to come when called. That was a big relief because Laura has 20+ acres of land (I think it's something around there) so there was definitely ample land for him to run and not return. But, we didn't lose him and he LOVED Jax and the day was a success.

However, I must say dogs are weird creatures when it comes to socializing. I was a nervous wreck the entire day because Leo and Jax spent 85% of the time wrestling, 12% of the time running full speed through thorn bushes and briars in the woods, and 3% of the time laying on the carpet sleeping, only to recuperate and start wrestling all over again. They were biting each other's necks and ears and flipping each other upside down....it was like WWF wrestling but REAL! Sam kept reassuring me they were playing because their tails were always wagging and there was nothing to worry about, but there were many times where I thought Leo was going to come home with one less ear. And his ears are his best feature! Sam said when dogs are fighting or being aggressive, their tails will drop low and they will bark or have a deep growl and it would be evident they did not like each other, but as long as their tails were still wagging high in the air, they were just having fun. Wish he had told me this before the wrestling started and I tried to leap in the middle of them! Ha!

But, it was a wonderful day for everyone and I am glad to know Leo has a friend :) Now if only we could get his car-sickness resolved before our next hour-long car trip!

Leo update

Leo, Leo, Leo....where to begin. Okay, so Leo has been home almost 2 weeks now and he is definitely finished with the "honeymoon stage" of being a model dog and has now moved on to the "I have trapped you with my cuteness and now I will show you who is really in charge of this house" stage. Don't get me wrong, he is still a sweet dog most of the time, but when he isn't, he really isn't! For example, he is quite calm inside and will lay at your feet watching tv or following you around the house. He doesn't bark and whine or beg for food from the table (he will lay under the table but not sit and be obnoxious). He doesn't jump on furniture or chew and tear at things. He's had a couple accidents inside but nothing major...actually, he has had less accidents than my kids at school! Ha! Just today, one of my students missed the toilet and peed on his pants and underwear, and he didn't have an extra change of clothes, causing me to run all over the school searching in lost and found bins for pants that would fit him and then convincing the student he would have to wear the pants without underwear because we didn't have spare undies at school, and he was NOT a happy camper with that! *sigh*

Anyways, back to Leo, so he is a generally very good dog inside. BUT, and this is a big but, when he is outside in the backyard, he is a raving lunatic that runs at top speeds from one side of the yard to the other, weaving around trees and flower beds, searching Sam and I out to jump on and bite and scratch. We realize he is not doing it to be mean and that he is just overly eager to play, but as I'm applying Neosporin ointment to my entire arm and putting an ice pack on it to keep the bruising down, it's a little more difficult to rationalize his "playfulness." I will say, however, after that incident, while I was sitting on the couch with an ice pack, Leo sat right next to me trying to lick my arm and putting his head in my lap as if to say he was very sorry. We are trying to exercise him a lot everyday with walks and off leash in the backyard and giving him lots of chew toys to see if that helps with the biting, but I'm starting to wonder if we could find a vet to de-tooth Leo like they de-claw cats :) Joking! Well, only partially joking :)

But, Leo is still more fun than not and his pro side of the list still outweighs his con side, so after 2 weeks, we are still dog-owners :)

Meet Leo!

Sam and I rescued a 10 month old mixed labrador from an animal shelter over the weekend. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would be a dog owner, but here we are! It's funny because even just 4 months ago when we were looking at the house we bought, our relator said "What a great fenced-in backyard for a dog" and I immediately said "Oh no, we will never get a dog. I hate dogs!" Well, it wasn't too much later that Sam's mom got a new puppy (Jax) and we were visiting her and I had so much fun walking and playing with Jax! My experience with dogs up til that point had been one biting me as a child and another breaking through a fence and charging at me barking and growling while I collected money on my paper route as a teenager. Plus, I thought dogs were smelly and hairy and drooled and seemed to always poop wherever I liked to walk.

However, as I played with Jax, I realized that I might like to have a dog IF and only IF the dog was small enough for me to control and not be frightened he was going to eat me. So, we started taking our time looking on shelter websites and we deliberated about what it would mean to have a dog and not be able to spur of the moment leave for a long period of time but ultimately, we decided the pros out weighed the cons. Sam's requirements for a dog: smart enough to learn tricks, well behaved, and large enough he wouldn't be a snack for other dogs. My requirements: doesn't yappity yap and drive me nuts, active outside but wouldn't ruin our new house inside, and small enough he wouldn't eat me. Leo meets every requirement! Amazing!

We found him at the animal shelter and he was the only dog not jumping up to the window and barking; we walked by and he was calmly laying on a blanket in his room and when we opened the door, he walked right over and sat down. To this day, he still has never barked, so maybe his vocal chords are damaged?? Or he just hasn't found a good enough reason to bark! He is 10 months old and 54 pounds, so a good size dog and will likely get a little bigger. The shelter has him listed as mixed breed, but he definitely has a lot of black labrador in him because he is smart and very well behaved. Sam is using "clicker training" to teach Leo how to behave and he catches on quick! He already makes eye contact when you call his name and he sits on command. Only had one small pee accident in the house the first day he was home and since then has consistently gone outside. He even poops in the spot we took him to originally in the yard where we want him to go! What a champ! Sam said he sleeps through the night in his crate in the office and never whines or barks when Sam puts him in.

So, we are dog owners now and so far so good!

Countdown

10 weeks until our wedding!!! Incredible how time flies. There is a website called "The Knot" that is THE central place to go as soon as you get engaged. It has everything imaginable needed to plan a wedding - dress trends, bridal party trends, favors, invitations, reception ideas, centerpieces, cakes, etc. You name it and it has it. Some of the things you can purchase and order directly from the site, other things are there for ideas and recommendations of venues and vendors in your area. It really is an amazing site. The thing most people go there for is to create your own webpage. The Knot has a tool to create your own wedding website with all kinds of details about you and your fiance and your wedding. Great resource for guests. Our website is http://samandcolleen.ourwedding.com Please visit!

Anyways, after realizing we are 10 weeks out until the big day, I logged into The Knot to browse the site and right there at the top of my page, next to our wedding countdown clock, is a button to click on and see what The Knot says is still left to do planning wise. So, according to the website general checklist, I have 93 items overdue and 189 yet to do before the big day. Talk about PANIC!! However, as I went through the checklist, I realized that we actually have most of the things covered already and the 189 things yet to do have some ridiculous suggestions. The funniest one I saw: assign a person to remind you to eat at your reception. Hmmm really??? I need someone to remind me to eat? That has never been a problem for me my entire life! Ha! What exactly would I be doing while all of our guests are seated eating dinner that I would "forget" to also sit down at our table and eat? Standing in the middle of the room daydreaming and oblivious to the delicious meal being served and the beautiful wedding cake beckoning to be eaten?? I think not! common sense tells me that when a plate of food is placed in front of me, I should pick up my fork and eat. Done. No need to assign someone to tell me to do that.

So, with 10 weeks to go, I ignored The Knot checklist and I think we are doing just fine being prepared :)

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was my last Valentine's Day being "single" and next year, I can shop for a card in the "For My Husband" section! Wohoo! Sam sent me these beautiful flowers at work. It brightened my whole day to get a surprise delivery in the afternoon right when the kids were full of sugar and sweets from their Valentine party. Excellent timing because I was about to pull my hair out!

Valentine's Day has always been a fun holiday and I still don't understand why people get so bitter about it if they are not in a relationship. I just learned that 12% of women send themselves flowers at work on Valentine's Day to look good in front of their co-workers! 12%!!!! That is so pathetic! Just because you do not have a boyfriend or girlfriend on Valentine's Day, doesn't mean it's a horrible holiday...how about sending a flower to your mom or dad to say thanks for raising you? Or how about taking a bouquet of flowers to a nursing home and giving a rose to each resident who probably lost their own Valentine years ago? Or even still, how about making cookies and taking them to a homeless shelter? I have no patience and time for people who wallow in their own self-pity, especially around Valentine's Day. Use the day as an opportunity to spread some love to others!

Time is flying!

Yesterday I moved out of my apartment and into my parent's house until the wedding and it dawned on me as I was moving that a new part of my life was just beginning. I was now in official wedding countdown mode because my single life was over ~ I will never again be signing an apartment lease for one, coming home from work to an empty place, grocery shopping for 1, or cooking for 1...I'm going from "me" to "we" and it thrills me! With each box I carried to my car, I had this exciting bubble welling up inside me at the thought of spending the rest of my life with Sam. I hate the marriage symbol of a "ball and chain" because if that is truly how a person feels getting married, he/she should NOT be walking down the aisle! When I think of my future with Sam, the thought of being "tied down" never crosses my mind. It's actually the opposite - I feel free to try anything my heart desires because I have someone to catch me if I fall and soar with me when I fly. I'm not in this life alone and it's an awesome feeling to have someone to share everything with. Marriage is like gaining a pair of wings; not a ball and chain.

Only 89 days until I marry my best friend, my soulmate, and my love. I feel like shouting it from every rooftop!

DIY Colleen

My new favorite website is Pinterest and it has taken over our new house! Ha! If you've never been to Pinterest, you have to check it out. Basically it's a site for sharing pictures of anything and everything via "bulletin boards" created by users. You can create theme boards of anything - recipes, crafts, favorite quotes, fashion, wedding, etc. - and every picture you post is linked to the website where you found the idea. I'm on it mainly for the DIY crafts because I love creating in my new craft room, which you can see by my pictures! Since Valentine's day is approaching, I thought our house needed some sprucing up ~ fabric framed heart, felt heart tree branches, garland for the mantle, and a table runner for the island. I found each of these crafts online just doing a standard Google search of Valentine craft ideas, and then when I found something I liked, I "pinned" to my Pinterest bulletin board to save the idea. Before Pinterest, I would save websites to my favorites folder or save pictures to my desktop, but now it's so much easier to put in on Pinterest and all my crafting projects are in one location sorted however I want them. Love it!