Crazy Crazy Times

Lorelei

Well, this has been an eventful couple of weeks to say the least. As far as good news goes, I found a job that I'm in love with! I'm a nanny for 2 sisters: a 3 year old, Lorelei, and an 18 month old, Penelope. They are the sweetest little girls and both at super fun ages. I have great hours and the job is going to be awesome for Brett and I. 

Penelope

Don't forget Lola!

Brett is still a busy bee in school. He leaves before 8 am and gets back at 7 in the evening to eat dinner. Then he is back to studying after dinner until 9:30 or 10! I get to see him for a lot of the day Friday, Saturday and Sunday so we cherish those moments together now! It has definitely taken some getting used to for both of us, but we're getting into a routine and it's all good!

Brett being a study bee and me doing some important catching up on Project Runway!

Things are starting to fall into place. We are making some awesome friends and Charlottesville is starting to feel like home. I have a new calling on the Relief Society committee which means lots of planning activities, but also meeting lots of women which is great for me! Softball season is about to start for the boys which will be wonderful. We get to play on a co-ed team and Brett got called to play on the bigger league team as well, which will be great for him and fun to go watch! We're starting to make lots of friends and love the people here!

Whenever we walk to the well known "Corner," we get to pass this awesome amphitheater soccer field

It has been raining like crazy because of Hurricane Isaac!

Found this on my walk with the girls today at the Downtown Mall, it's a community chalk board! Awesome!

....

The Bad News: we got a dog, loved him to death, and had to give him away. The story is long but it was therapeutic to document it and gives a good update of what happened for those who want to read! 

So, I have been begging Brett since we got married two years ago to get a dog. He loves dogs as much as I do but with the timing and where we lived it was never really possible. We finally live in a townhome that is pet friendly and my work and Brett's school hours work out so that we can have a dog. SO, we started visiting a dog shelter every week and found a dog we thought would be perfect for us. Wally. He was the perfect dog when we were around. He slept, he didn't beg, he didn't shed very much, he didn't bark, he didn't chew, he was great walking on a leash... We were thrilled!! We were working on Crate training him because we knew we had to leave him home when we left for work and school. He loved his crate (when we were around), he slept in it at night and walked in it to lay down when he was relaxing. 

BUT.. Right when we thought he was adjusting swimmingly to his crate, we tested it by going out on saturday night and leaving him for an hour or two. When we got home he had peed and frayed his claws because he was digging at the crate trying to get out. So, Sunday comes around and we decide to try putting him in a small room instead of a crate to see if he did any better. We came home to shredded and torn down blinds on our window in the living room AND kitchen. At this point, we knew he had a problem other than just adjusting to our house!

I took him to the vet on monday and they diagnosed him with separation anxiety and prescribed him some anxiety medication (not cheap, I might add). Tuesday rolls around and I was back to work, so no one was home and it was back to the crate. This time he was on anxiety meds, so we prayed that he would be good. Well.... Brett came home to Wally on top of our office desk. How did he get out, you may be asking? He had broken down the door of a heavy duty wire crate and escaped. He jumped up on our computer desk, knocking over my sewing machine and our bookshelf and tore down the all of the blinds. We didn't know what to do because he had to go back in his crate so Brett could go back to class. So, we call the vet, she says this is more extreme than she was expecting and told Brett to give him 2 more anxiety pills (way more than she usually gives dogs at a time). Once again, Brett gets home for the day, walks upstairs and there's Wally on triple anxiety medication broken out of his crate, on top of the office desk totally freaked out. 

Only a tiny glimpse of the damage this guy caused!

At this point, both of us have a little bit of a break down realizing that Wally is not going to be the calm apartment dog that we wanted. :( The vet tells us that she doesn't recommend keeping him and he should live with a family on a farm or with someone who can be home all of the time. So, we decide it's best to take him back to the shelter. Luckily, the shelter is the nicest place ever with full time vets and trainers that know him and know his situation. It is also a no-kill shelter with tons of volunteers that play and hang with the dogs daily. So, the vet called to give them a full update and they decide they're keeping him on the anxiety meds. The shelter thanked us several times that we were willing to work so hard to keep him! They said now that they know his situation, they can treat him appropriately and adopt him out to the right person. 

It was a really traumatic/expensive/stressful experience for both of us and we really miss Wally all of the time :( He was the sweetest thing when he was with us. But, I have to keep telling myself that we helped him and he's in a place that is caring for him and making him happy! 

Long story, I know. It was a rough weekend that had its ups and downs, but we're carrying on and enjoying life!

Hello Charlottesville!

Well first of all, I started blogging. My reasons are two fold: 1) it's the easiest way for me to document our lives and keep friends and family updated. 2) it's my way of scrapbooking all of our pictures, since I'm so bad at being creative and cutting paper and whatever else you do when you scrapbook! Also, it seems like lots of pictures but I think its a little more interesting to look at and more fun to do lots of pictures!
....


After 33 hours of driving, a flat tire on the U-haul and 2400 miles on the odometer, we finally made it to our destination! 

This is what 7 hours of Nebraska looked like, gorgeous!

Here we are waiting for the tire! 

Still waiting for the tire...

Yay! Feeling happy to be back on the road... 

We took a short detour to visit Brett's Aunt Pam and Uncle Bob in beautiful Morehead, Kentucky. We got to sleep over at their house, which was a blast, and spend quality time with their cousin Jenny Lynn and her family. We love Bob and Pam & Family!! We will for sure spend Thanksgiving there one of these years!

They took us on the prettiest hike ever...

Brett claimed he did this to "try and impress me." 

  

The cousins! We just adore her and her little family!! The plate their holding says "Grandma's House: The place cousins go to become BEST FRIENDS" --So True.

Six hours later, we arrived at our town home on Arlington Blvd, which we absolutely love! The unpacking began immediately and thanks to Brett's fam we got it all done and the house put together super fast. 

The boys having not-so-great-but-very-helpful attitudes! (For the record, Riley is holding up his ring finger)

Us girls (and Kellie, Brett's mom who was photographer-decorator-unpacker-and-excited helper) having helpful-AND-excited attitudes...

Exhausted after a super busy fun-filled weekend

Home Sweet Home! :) 

 After the unpacking, we spent the weekend visiting Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's house) and touring around Charlottesville.

Cool, way old tree at Monticello

Here we are... The house is about 250 years old and still in great shape!

The Girls

On a separate semi-related note, this slug was in my kitchen the second day we were there. Lets just say, I'm not used to having these guys around because I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE IN MY LIFE! We decided to name him Bob the Slug and I made sure Kellie and Court didn't take their eyes off of him while I ran for help. Brave JR came to the rescue and put him back into his natural habitat outside, he was not harmed.

Lunching at the Downtown Mall

Unfortunately, the fun came to an end and the fam had to leave :(... Driving back from the airport, Brett and I laughed nervously thinking that both our families are now a couple thousand miles away and we are basically alone! Crazy scary but super exciting! 

I couldn't be more proud of my husby for getting into such an awesome law school and working so hard for our little family now and for our future family. I can't imagine being in Virginia without my best friend!! These three years are going to be busy but I have a feeling it's gonna fly by!! Gulp!