Updates!!

Wow! It has been a very long time since I have updated my blog. Paul, Lucy, and I have been having so much fun with our two week break! We picked up our little Lucy on December 18 in WV and have been having so much fun with her ever since. She is about twelve pounds right now and is continuing to grow as she is 10 1/2 weeks old. We are so happy with her and although it is different having a puppy to train, she is doing wonderfully picking up new skills and being potty trained (I say that and she will have an accident tonight...). :)

Paul surprised me with a trip to New York before Christmas. We were able to spend three days there - which was the first time both of us had been there - and experience some of New York's sights. We went to the Phantom of the Opera and Paul had purchased pretty much the best seats in the theater - it was amazing! At one point I cried because I was just so happy and thrilled taking it in! :) If you ever are in NY and have the chance to catch a show on Broadway, DO IT!!! AMAZING!! We also went to Serendipity's for a late dinner, which is the same restaurant from the movie "Serendipity". There was so much to take in; as Paul said it was sensory overload! It is really funny how much you recognize from the news, movies, and such as New York is featured in many arenas.

Christmas was spent with Paul's Aunt and Uncle and two cousins in Fredericksburg, VA. They are such gracious and loving people as they opened their home to us and we felt like we belonged. We had fun playing games, watching movies, and of course eating! Paul's cousin J (for sake of confidentiality we will say J) turned 14 on Christmas Eve so we celebrated accordingly. We played Paintball with him on New Year's Eve Eve and I had many welts to prove it. Let's just say that Paul doesn't play fair and will shoot you in the back after he gets out because you sniped him! ;) Love you honey...

All in all, a great holiday season and we survived Blizzard 09 here in Virginia with our two feet of snow. Here are some pictures to get a glimpse of what we have been up to...as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!!

At the Statue of Liberty Island with Manhattan at our backs. So cold!!

It was so impressive to see her in person. We spent hours there and got the audio headsets to learn all about it. For instance, did you know she is only two penny's thick?

Rockerfeller Center where the Ice Skating rink is below us. So neat!

Time Square after a full day out site seeing and then the Phantom of the Opera performance.

Our little puppy Lucy!!

Paul with Lucy!

Forgot to post a picture of us at the USMC ball in November...so here it is!! This was one of those "hurry, hold the camera because it is freezing in the parking garage so we can take the picture and drive back to Stafford" pictures. :)

Lucy as of Saturday with Paul - she LOVES Paul the best!

One more picture with little Lucy on New Years day!

Christmas Day at family's house in Fredericksburg. Lucy busy opening Grandma Ruth's gift.

We decided!

On December 18, we are picking up are new puppy! Paul and I are very excited to have a mini labradoodle puppy in our home. Of course it will be a lot of work since she will only be nine weeks old when we pick her up, but we both have two solid weeks of vacation-leave-break - whatever you want to call it. Paul starts his two week leave that day so we will have lots of time to break our little girl into our home.

We don't have a name picked out for her yet, so if you have any simple suggestions it would be appreciated!

Here she is at three weeks old.

Three week old cutie!

These were taken Monday, November 30 at six weeks.

She will continue to get curlier as she gets older and her hair grows.

I can't wait to bring her home!

Couldn't help it...

I know that being an officer wife I forfeited my right to belittle, disrespect, make offensive comments, etc about our Commander and Chief; however, I do not believe this video does any of that, so I couldn't help posting it.

Another satire video put out by Jib Jab. The video about the 2008 elections they did is just too funny as well.

Enjoy!!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Puppy?!

Paul and I have been seriously talking about getting a puppy when I move out to VA in December. We both feel like it would be good for me to have a little buddy when Paul is gone or when he is studying late. I am the type that if no one is there – this is really sad to admit – I will talk to myself. Not like a psycho that answers their self too, I just run through my day and what I need to get done.

Some of you that know me may be wondering why the change of heart. It seems like I don’t like dogs because I hardly ever pet them or like them, or their hair, all over me. I have come to realization that I am a clean freak and really despise when I go to pet a dog – or any animal for that matter – and have a smell and dander/hair on my hands until I can go wash them off. I consciously will not pet a stinky dog if I know I can’t go wash my hands within the next few minutes because I just feel like my hands are contaminated. The other thing I really don’t like about some dogs is the fact that they shed. I hate having little hairs stuck to me and everything else around me too. That is just my personality and how I am wired.

So in doing some research on dogs, we have found out a lot of new information about them. For instance long hair dogs usually shed less, some are hypoallergenic, some are genetically stinky and emit oils, and of course some are very smart and easier to train then others. In doing our research, we keep going back to a Labradoodle which is a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle.

The Poodle is thought to be one of the smartest dogs and trains the easiest. They are hypoallergenic and of all the dogs they have hair that is most similar to humans (thus why people dye it colors). Their hair (I prefer calling it hair then fur since it technically is) only sheds when it is combed out, like a humans. I think Poodles get a bad rap because they do look really weird with their hair all trimmed off in some areas and not in others. However, I learned the reason behind it, and it is oh so fascinating. Poodles are French gun dogs and were trained to go into the water. Because it got really cold in the winter when they were used, they kept the necessary hair around their chest, hips, head and joints so that they wouldn’t lock up or get stiff in the freezing water. They shaved the rest because it was so thick and heavy many times it would weigh the dog down too much. Their name in French actually means “Splash”.

The Lab is very friendly and is known to be hyper for the first few years (compared to a two year old on a sugar high). Many Labs are mellow but it may be because of breeding another breed into their line somewhere. I guess a true breed will always have webbed feet and their legs will be as long as their body is deep. If that isn’t the case, their line is contaminated somewhere down the line. They are one of those genetically stinky oily dogs. This is because of their swimming habits (I mean come on, they have webbed feet) and it helps keep the water from soaking all the way down to their skin. This is probably why I developed the no touch policy with many dogs to not pet; we have owned labs all of my childhood and true to the breed, they were outside dogs. Living with farm animals compounds the smell on them, which is only natural considering they are outside. I feel bad that I really didn’t pet our dogs a whole lot, but that freaky ‘germaphobe’ thing and smell just prevented me. Poor Grizz and Remy! L

Being one who likes learning, I have set my hopes on obtaining a F1B or Multigenerational Labradoodle. They first cross a poodle and lab and from that offspring they take one (the F1) and breed it to a poodle. This results in a F1B offspring that has hypoallergenic non-shedding curlier hair, the boxy lab figure, and the stocky face of the lab. So in short, the body shape of the lab is mostly preserved but the hair is more of the poodle. Obviously the size of the Labradoodle can be configured based on the parental poodle. The standard Labradoodle weighs in anywhere from 35-55 pounds and can have the variations of coloring. If you straight cross a Lab and Poodle the results, in my opinion, is a Lab looking dog with wavy hair. They do not carry the hypoallergenic coat either. The multigenerational Labradoodle is just what the name says, it is crossed again and again with Labradoodles. I know, I like genetics way too much! ;) One thing we want to make sure we purchase a puppy is that their parents have been OFA certified in their hips. Poodles and Labs are prone to hip dysplaysia because of breeders focusing heavily on other characteristics (like color, size, demeanor, etc) instead of conformation. This needs to be done after the dog is two years old as the defect will normally be visible by x-ray then.

So this little guy is what we are looking at for our future dog. I can't help it if I like non stinky animals with smart brains! :)

Cross Country

On Thursday, October 8 Paul and I took off in our Saturn to begin the cross country adventure of moving to Virginia. Our belongings were packed up into a box the week before and had a head start moving via truck (we were praying it would arrive in a timely manner without being destroyed).

Thursday I attended my classes and then we headed off about 2 pm. We were fortunate to make it just across the border of Nebraska that evening and stayed in a rather dingy motel. Let's just say a fury cat greeted us at the counter/breakfast bar and it closely resembled the "Bates Motel".

Friday, my birthday, we drove through boring Nebraska (after stopping in Sydney at Cabela's) and made it half way across Missouri. By the time we checked into our hotel, almost everything to eat was closed except for the casino down the road. So being half starved, and since it was my birthday, we went to the casino's all you could eat seafood buffet. Missouri Casino+Middle of Nowhere+All you can eat seafood Buffet at 11 pm = make you wanna vomit. The people in there, the smell, and of course the atmosphere was let's just say less than ideal.

Saturday we made it all the way into West Virginia after hitting a Hawk in Illinois. Kentucky is so beautiful and we had fun gazing at all the sights through there and West Virginia. We got three different books on CD so we kept entertained for most of the drive!

Sunday we stopped in at the James Madison Museum in Virginia and oohed and awed over the beautiful country side. The museum was so very interesting and we learned some new information as well. Did you know that James Madison's cousin was also one of our Presidents? Also, did you know that Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe were cornerstones of what is now Virginia Tech? And Lastly, that Dolly Madison is accredited with saving most of the White House Memrobilia when it was burnt. Pretty cool huh?

We finally made it to Fredericksburg, where Paul's Aunt and Uncle live, that evening and had dinner with them after checking into a hotel near their home. Thank you Aunt Lori and Uncle Hart for feeding us extensively during those couple days and being so hospitable!

That next morning I found myself in the high school that I will be student teaching in from January to April. It is a thirty minute drive from our apartment and I don't have a lot of traffic to go through - which is a blessing! It is very different than schools I am used to in Idaho/Utah and will be a challenge. It is a low socioeconomic school and is very culturally diverse (not to Virginia's standards but compared to what I am used to it is).

Our apartment is in Stafford, VA and is right off the highway which will make traveling easier. The complex is only a couple years old and is a step up from where we were at before; it has a pool and free breakfast in the lobby on Saturdays! I was struggling with getting the place set up in less than a week and only in the evenings as I was at school until about four thirty every day. We went to Ikea and up to Alexandria to get some furniture, which was such a steal and looks very nice.

I traveled that next Sunday to Indiana where I had the National FFA Convention for the next week. This year I had the opportunity to be the Assistant Talent Director and it was a blast! There are so many talented individuals and they blew me away! Most of these young people get scouted for the "big leagues" during convention by recording artists. Although the talent wasn't just vocals; we had a trick roper, pianists, violinists, and a dancer. It is kind of like America's got Talent but with WAY more talent. These people are screened before they even come to Nationals so they are on top of it. It was fun to be at Nationals again and see familiar faces. With over 52,000 students in attendance it was a wonder I ran into so many people I have known for awhile. Congrats to Meridian as they received 3rd place in Parliamentary Procedure and Kuna for their 3rd place Meats Team!

I am now back in Logan to finish out my semester...only seven more weeks until I move to Virginia to be with Paul for good! Paul started the Officer Course and is enjoying it immensely, although, he is waking up at 3:30 every morning and going to bed at about 11 pm. It is probably for the better that I am not there distracting him at this very crucial part of his training. His grade will determine how fast he will be promoted for the rest of his career and will also place him in his individual occupation. He definitely has a leg up as he is a prior enlisted and has been in for almost four years now.

Paul found a church, he thinks, in Virginia. It is Heritage Baptist Church and is doctrinally sound. It is a New Testament Church and has a heart for missions. They even have a military ministry for the guys around the area. He has made some "quick friends" and has the feeling that this is where we will be at for the next nine months. Please pray that if this is not the church for us that we would move to the one we need to be in. There are Baptist churches on every corner in Virginia so it makes it hard to weed them out as there are so many. We don't want to settle when we know there are good ones out there!

That's about it for now! I will update later...hopefully soon!

Our Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves...

Please check this video out below. Think while you are watching it that we cannot even allow religious plays, songs or prayers to be uttered in most public schools today. Funny how they just happened to use an old spiritual song...

Review Ordered of Video Showing Students Singing Praises of President Obama - Political News - FOXNews.com

These last few days I have been amused, horrified, and downright angry with what is occurring within our country. Our founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence in response to King George III oppression and tyranny. It wasn't to England, it wasn't to it's citizens, it was directed at the King.

If you haven't read the Declaration of Independence lately, you should sit down and read it. It doesn't take long, maybe ten to fifteen minutes of in depth ready, but it is worth your time to do so. It is scary how much our country is starting to line up with the accusations the founding fathers made to King George. Many men, like John Locke and Thomas Paine, believed that our government should be equal. All men would have a piece of the "crown" and that God's laws would rule.

James Madison, who penned our Constitution, did so that we the people would have checks and balances within our government and that we wouldn't have a "king". They made Congress, through the Great Compromise, a two part house consisting of representation and those two senators from every state. The main reason for this Legislative branch was to create voice for all Americans. Our voice is being suppressed by those currently in Congress who will not recognize our concerns (the most recent being the democrats in Congress voting to not allow the public to see the health reform bill until is is already passed and signed by our President).

Have we forgotten why we left England?

Has everything our founding fathers stood for been stomped on by corrupt politicians?

Would our founding fathers roll over in their graves knowing school children are being subjected to singing Presidential Praise songs?

What do you think?

White Pine Lake

I know, I know, I haven't been around much lately on this blog. I guess we have been pretty busy lately! :D

So back in August Paul and I backpacked in to White Pine Lake. It was almost five miles in by foot and was just gorgeous the entire way. I can't begin to describe so I will just post pictures (as they say, "A pictures worth a thousand words" right?). Paul got a brand new pack and sleeping bag, so it was nice breaking those in a little - and boy did that rather large purchase come in handy!

We really do love Cache Valley and are going to miss it here as we get ready to leave. This spot was only an hour from our townhouse and there are so many more opportunities for adventure close by as well.

Next up...Trip to Yellowstone!