Zoo Lights

SO cold. Seriously. I remember thinking when we took this picture "I can't feel my legs."

My nephew Alex, all bundled up.

Merry Christmas!

Wish We Were Here

Bass Lake in California. I can't even IMAGINE being warm right now. Sigh.

Miss Lucy

Luce. Silly Luce. Miss Lucy. Lucy Goosey. Lucy Girl.

I am not usually one of those bloggers that writes about my feelings. I'm usually a picture or two and something sarcastic. But tonight, I'm feeling verbose. We got Lucy on a whim back in January. I now know that buying a dog on a whim is not a good idea. Especially when you already have two perfectly good dogs at home that you got on a whim back in 2005. Anyway, as I was saying. We bought Lucy thinking we would provide a great home for her. Big back yard, Collin likes to hunt, she could play with Marley and Oso. This plan worked for about 2 months. She quickly grew to be twice the size of Oso (and he's fat). She dominated everything and when she was left home alone for 9 hours would become destructive and do stupid things like eat rocks. Last week we finally realized that we were NOT the family for this dog. So we put an ad on KSL and a really REALLY wonderful man named Don has taken her to a far better home. He stayed in my living room for half an hour telling me all about the German Shorthairs he has had over the last 45 years. He loved every one of them. He was sweet with Lucy and played with her and talked directly to her about all the things they were going to do together. Go to Bear Lake, go on a daily walk (we sucked at that), learn how to be a real hunting dog in the fields (she loved being in the fields more than ANYTHING), play with his grandkids and sons. He just went on and on (I was kind of getting jealous of how much fun she'll have, I wonder if he would let ME come). Then I asked where she would sleep (she sleeps on our bed) and he said she would sleep in his bedroom. I about hugged him when he said that (I actually did when they left). I love that dog and it's killing me that I don't get to curl up with her tonight. But this is for the best. He's going to give her the life a German Shorthair is supposed to have. I just miss her so much.
So Luce! Here's to you. Be a good girl and love Don as much as you love us. I'll miss you and we'll always love you.

Oh Yeah! I Have a Blog...

So, um, Facebook is really awesome. That's all I've got.

In other news:

We are trying to find a new home for Lucy. We really are "Dog People". It just took us a year to realize we are not "More than 2 Dog People".Anyway, if you know of a good home for a really awesome dog call me. I'm serious! Here she having fun playing in the backyard. Love her!
Collin put up the Christmas lights.

He also helped me put up the tree and string the lights. His participation from then on out was limited to "you need more stars on the left."

I love Christmas!

Here is a Question For You

What has 4 legs, a cute little nose, and a penchant for chewing Nokia phones?

Rachel's phone:Collin's phone: The Culprit:

Both within THREE DAYS!!!

Like We Need Another Dog in the House

I was ok with this one, though.

Thanks, Jenn, for bringing him by!

Thanksgiving Point

Collin was cool enough to get a masters degree (MBA) and his parents were cool enough to buy him a really nifty new camera as a graduation gift. I'm pretty happy with it too. As you know most of my pics on this blog have been self portraits and because I don't have super long arms (as well as a limited understanding of how to use the camera timer) I have, like, 3 pictures where you can see my feet. Now I have a few more...

Don't worry Jen, he'll never replace you.

Our Good Friend Bob

Last night Collin and I went and saw our good friend Bob Dylan and his Band perform out at the Great Saltair. Ok, so he he's not really our friend and we've never actually met him, but I like to tell people we were introduced by our mutual friend Bob. (In reality the mutual friend was a girl named Jill). Anyway, where was I? We went to an awesome Bob Dylan concert last night. We weren't allowed to take in cameras (or gum for some reason, they threw away a pack that was still 3/4 full, those jerks. What did they think we were going to do? Chew too loud?).So here are some random pictures found online:

Here is Bob, like, 25 years before we were born. OK. Maybe not 25. I'm guessing. Probably more like 15. This is the picture off his Blond on Blond album and I'm pretty sure it was the mid 60's. And here is the old (but awesome) fart today. He is 68. He was so spry and into it, made me think he was on something (ok, he most likely was on something. Dylan and weed pretty much go hand in hand).
It was the most random grouping of people in the audience. There was the old guy with the Santa Clause beard who asked the teeny bopper girls screaming next to him to not yell in the ear with his hearing aid. There was a group of "granolas" behind us in their NorthFace fleece jackets and Tevas. There was big burly guys who looked like mountain men standing next to yuppie looking people in sweater vests. It was awesome.

Ya Feel Better Now?

You'll never guess where we found this rock. I'll give you a hint, the dog in the background has something to do with where we found it.
It was 3:30 in the morning. Collin and I were, as one would expect, fast asleep when we were suddenly awakened by the sound of a gagging dog. Collin put Lucy on the floor and she started throwing up. While she was throwing up (and with me trying my hardest not to, ew) I heard a "clunk" on the floor (the flooring in our bedroom is hardwood). Collin was gone to get towels and when he came back he said "there is a rock in here." How strange is that? The same dog we can't get to swallow a measly little pill willingly eats rocks?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Marley and Oso were NEVER and sTILL AREN'T that much stinkin' trouble.

Long Sleeve Weather

So, I really didn't need a jacket or a sweater today; but long sleeves came in handy. Just let me know when this gets annoying. I still have jackets, sweaters, gloves, coats, boots, and, as Amy pointed out today, socks. I love bundling up!

Beanie Weather

I'm just going to keep going until you make fun of me. Eh, go ahead. I'll still do it even if you do.

Tomorrow: Either Jacket or Sweater Weather.

I haven't decided.

I love cold weather!

Hoodie Weather

It is also hoodie weather. Lets hear it for comfy hoodies!

(Although the "hood" portion is pretty useless. This picutre may be the only time I ever pull it up)

Scarf Weather

Lets hear it for scarf weather, ya'll!

NOT evil

4 of you have something against Billy Mayes and/or Snuggies; 6 of you think it's OK to use one under certain circumstances; 4 of you are Slanket fans; and 2 of you didn't click on the hyperlink to find out what a Snuggie is.

Collin, however, doesn't read my blog and didn't care what any of you thought so he bought me one and left it on the kitchen table for me to find after he'd left for the deer hunt last weekend.

Hey, if it doesn't work out as a blanket with sleeves I can always join a Gospel Choir.

Moral Dilemma (As Seen on TV)

Is it wrong to want a Snuggie?
Take my poll! (To the right.)

Update: It's just been brought to my attention that Slankets are real (see my poll). And here I thought it was made up by the ingenious writers behind 30 Rock...

Keep Calm and Carry On

So I'd been seeing this sign everywhere it seems. Some people I work with have post card sized signs of it at there desks, I saw a guy with it on his T-shirt, I've seen it in vinyl on Etsy, I think I even saw it on a coffee mug somewhere. It's an old British sign that was distributed during WWII. Anyway, I decided to put it in my family room a few weeks ago and it's seemed to come in handy this week. So here I am sharing it with you just in case any of you need it.

Speaking of Collin...

Way to go Collin!

You let that antelope know who is boss.

Does anyone have any good antelope recipes?

Hmmm.

Why doesn't that sound appetizing?

Oh, because it isn't.

Husband Appreciation Post

So I have this really neat husband (that I TOTALLY love) named Collin.

A few of the reasons I think he is neat are as follows:

He plays a mean guitar.

This is his cheap "leave-it-out-to-play-during-commercial-breaks" guitar. He has a few. He would have had more but he sold a few to buy my engagement ring. What a team player.

He is pretty handy.

He installed this gate to keep the dogs out of the living room. I love it.

He stands cool.

Is that weird to love the way your husband stands? I don't know what it is about it, but I remember one of the first things I noticed when I met him was "he stands cool."

There are more. Many, many, MANY more. But those are the ones that correspond with pictures I have.

Happy Labor Day

Today we went and saw 500 Days of Summer. I enjoyed it. Mostly. I'd go into it but all my criticisms would include spoilers. So, I'll just say it was good enough to see as a matinee or rent and I'll leave it at that.After the movie we stopped for lunch at Subway and then headed up to American Fork Canyon to try our hand at panning for gold. Here is a picture of Collin panning for gold:Oh wait, sorry. This is the picture of Collin panning for gold. My bad: He didn't get much, just a fleck or two. But it was fun. And as usual, this is what I did:

So it was a good day.

Swiss Dog Days of Summer

Today we headed up to Midway and went to Swiss Days. They had a HUGE outdoor market that was so crazy busy, you could barely walk, food and live music. They had this group of about 6 girls dressed up in Swiss outfits singing "I'm Proud to Be An American." I wonder how many people saw the irony...

But we had a good time. When we go next year we'll have to remember to go earlier in the day.

Then we headed over to Soldier Hollow and watched the Sheepdog Championship. We watched sheepdogs herd sheep and ducks. It is AMAZING what they can get those dogs to do with just whistles. Our favorite part of the competition was the Splash Dogs competition. Some of the dogs were jumping 20-22 feet into the pool! Does anyone have a pool? I want to see how far Lucy will jump.

Is It Too Early to Decorate For Fall?

Because I totally already did.

Dog Door Rush Hour Traffic

Lucy has this habit of running to the dog door, sticking her head out, and then just standing there. Which makes it really inconvenient if Marley or Oso want to use the dog door. Marley and Lucy stood like this long enough for me to run into the kitchen, grab my camera, turn it on, insert the memory card, and take a picture. Marley is so patient. I'd have bitten her tail or something.

If you look really closely you can see where she ripped her drainage tube out. Yuck.

3rd Post, Same Dog

We do have 2 other dogs, but they didn't pull out their drainage tubes this afternoon. Linda, you SO called it.

For Everything Else...

Gas to drive Lucy to the Vet... $1.00

Vet office visit... $42.00

Antibiotic, pain reliever, and some other medicine that, um, does something...$85.00

Emergency surgery... $455.00

Watching Collin and me shove these pills:

into this dogs mouth:
and getting her to swallow them instead of hacking them up onto the kitchen floor...
Priceless.
(Scroll to the bottom of the post "What a Week" to see why we spent over $500 at the vet.)