My sidekick (Michael)

Our dog Zina has a penchant for big things. She cannot be contented with any less than the most obstacle-inducing objects: sticks, ropes, my sledgehammer...

During spring break I decided to undertake clearing out our backyard flowerbeds of about 3+ years of weed growth. Zina took my hacking and shoveling as silent permission and proceeded to join. And while I found solace with water and my hammock, Zina decided to take up residence in her newly-dug 2-feet-deep dirt pit.

After Zina and I thoroughly excavated the dig-site, I began to stack piles of sticks and branches to tie up and put out to the curb. I selected among them a few modestly-sized sticks that I though Zina might enjoy. Zina feigned thanks but proceeded to shop around for her own “keep” pile. She produced out of the piles these two rather large sticks about twice her own length and pranced around the yard with her spoils.

After Kim caught our girl playing tug of war with my 30 foot tow rope, I knew I would have to find a hefty rope toy. I found some herculean rope toys at Pet’s Mart, but didn’t feel comfortable spending $15-20 on a toy I wasn’t certain she’d enjoy. A few days later I found what amounts to a rope kettle bell for $10. So after the cardio -- fetch and soccer -- we finish with a good kettle bell session.

For Better or For Worse

In memory of Frederick Charles Brown Valdez

July 29, 2010 - February 1, 2011

If you remember from my very first post last April, Michael and I talked about getting a puppy for a long time. Neither of us wanted a dog in an apartment, so we waited to get into our house and finish with the stress of the wedding first. The plan was to get him/her around Michael's birthday in November. Like everything else in our life, he came earlier than we planned ;)

We took a trip to Fredericksburg with Mark and Julie the weekend after the wedding. Wineries, antiques, walking down the street with a mimosa at 10am... if this is an "old person" vacation, I'll take it. After our first winery stop on Saturday afternoon, we saw a sign for puppies. I asked Mark not to stop because I knew I would want to take one home. So, he had no other choice but to pull over.

There were five little chocolate lab puppies bouncing for our attention when we walked up. They were irresistable. After 45 minutes of holding each puppy and telling Michael, "We can't get a dog right now. We can't get a dog right now", we left with Frederick.

We were in love.

The first week or so went really well. He was calm, sniffed but didn't get into anything, and loved to nap in our laps. Then he became our Fred. A paper on the floor was not left unshredded. Shoes, plastic containers, our living room rug... if something came across his path, he had to chew it. So, off to Puppy Training 101 at Petsmart we went.

He was the star of the class. He got every command down, every class. Sit, come, shake, crawl, leave/take, drop, roll over, stand, lay. He could do them all... in class. Home was a different story. *Head cocked to one side* - "What do you mean, 'Lay.'?" After a few months and (mostly) Michael's persistent training, his classroom behavior became the norm.

He was our boy. Our first dog. Our first time caring for a living thing crying for you in the middle of the night. When we walked in the door, his whole body would shake with excitement. He could go for a run and be ready to play fetch the second he walked back in the door. He loved laying on my feet and resting his head on Michael's knee. When he was too crazy at night, we just had to sit next to him and he would calm down.

As much as we trained him and loved him and played with him, we couldn't keep him from getting sick. You don't expect to wake up with a healthy puppy on Saturday morning and have him die of bacterial infection by Monday night. Losing Fred was (and still is) heartbreaking. It has been one of the hardest things for us in our six short months of marriage.

No other puppy will ever replace Frederick. At the same time, we are dog people. When babymooning in Austin a few weeks ago, we met a new friend - Zina, a 2 year old lab/collie mix. Her entry into our family has been bittersweet. She is lovable, sweet, and mostly trained. Still, getting her meant that Fred was really gone. Fred will always be our boy, but Zina is our girl and we love her already. I'll post more about our new friend later.

Thanks for reading!

The Honeymooners

Disclaimer: At some point I will stop posting about things that happened 6 months ago.

Galveston is one of our favorite places. I know - gross water, not much to look at, boring, yada yada. While I agree that the water doesn't hold a candle to the Caribbean, Galveston is not without it's beauty. Every morning we got to wake up to this view:

Sunshine. Palm trees. Smooth sand. There's nothing like it. Especially in late September when the crowds have long gone. We were up around 7 most mornings and got to walk across the street to the seawall to soak it all in. Being a honeymooner at Hotel Galvez wasn't too shabby either. We got a free room upgrade and complimentary champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. I'm a lot more used to a view of the parking lot and continental breakfast at the Hampton Inn, so I felt like I was in the lap of luxury.

One of the coolest parts was getting to try new things in a familiar city. We found new places we like and can actually go back to! After a disappointing trip a rooftop bar (I won't name names, but live music was promised and all we got was crappy margaritas, a table of talkative women on girls' night out, and football on tv), we stopped by a little cajun place on the seawall. Cheap and delicious with a great view.

We were also in town for the Galveston Epicurean Festival. 200 Galveston restaurants featuring their best food, beer, and wine. All you can eat. We literally walked around eating and drinking for two hours and still didn't try everything. It was beautiful.

Our family is taking another Galveston vacation in a week and a half. I. can't. wait. I love the beach. I miss this view.

The Adventurers: Wedding Recap

September 25, 2010.

The question of the day: What's up with the bottle caps?

These bottle caps are our "adventure pins". In the movie UP!, the main character and his wife meet as children and start an adventure club. They use bottle cap pins as their badges of membership. The couple grows old together and have a life full of everyday adventures. Last year for Christmas, Michael made us our very own adventure pins to wear together as we grow old. We couldn't start our biggest adventure yet (marriage) without our pins.

The Day Of:

I woke up the morning of the wedding calm, giddy, and in disbelief that the day had finally arrived. Still, I had an agenda and was ready to mark things off my list to get to the good stuff. Luckily, it went off without a (major) hitch.

The vendors started arriving with tables, chairs, fans, etc during our delicious breakfast by Pat and Sergio (the owners of the B&B) and we hit the ground running. Positioning tables, getting our hair done, setting up decorations, and having a mimosa or two with my Chick-fil-A before rushing to get made up and get to the chapel... it all kind of blurs together now. Somehow 6 hours passed in what felt like 2. Before I knew it, I was standing with my dad at the front of the aisle, waiting to see my almost husband.

The Ceremony:

I cried the whole way down the aisle. Blubbered is a more accurate description. I knew I would shed a few tears throughout the day. I didn't expect the whole chapel to be able to hear them. Haha. I like my uncle's description of the ceremony the best. "It was just joyful". My tears stopped after a few minutes, but neither of us could stop smiling the whole way through. In that moment, there was no anxiety, no questioning - just joy. Sorry for the cheese, but it's true.

The Reception:

After the obligatory pictures, we hopped in ol' Gary (my bright blue Dodge Dakota) and made our way to Sycamore Heights for the reception. After a slightly ill-timed first dance, we made our rounds, scrounged up some food, and sat down for the first time in hours. I've never appreciated a chair and a helpful catering manager more. It was so great to just hang out with our friends, eat amazing food and dessert, and dance like crazy people. By the time 8 o'clock rolled around, we didn't want to leave. Still, our rental time was up and the rain clouds were looming. With a 50% chance of rain, it stayed clear and beautiful until 5 minutes after we left for Galveston.

It was an amazing day. I want to relive it all over again. For now we're on to our next, even bigger adventure.

Back to Life

After much prodding from my sister, I have decided to revive our blog. This blog started out as a way to update our friends and family about our wedding. The wedding was a fabulous success and I'll recap quickly in my next post. For now, life is all about preparing for baby Elijah.

After a whole month of newly wedded bliss, coffee started tasting bad and I knew something was up. Three positive pregnancy tests later, it started to sink in (along with the accompanying terror and excitement)...

"We're going to be parents."

As the weeks progressed, we got our first glimpse at our little poppyseed:

8 weeks

November 23, 2010

I'm a little late to the game in updating as we go, but I'll try to catch up and continue writing as our little family grows : )