Ellie - Day 3

Ellie had lots of time to get settled into her new home today! The day started with me taking her out to do her business after breakfast. She refused. I tried walking her. I tried ignoring her. I tried begging her. Nothing worked. After each failed attempt we would come back inside, she would play around for a bit, and then she would start sniffing around (which we have discovered means she needs to go).

We would go back outside and she would just sit there and stare at me. After doing this about ten times I was super frustrated (did I mention this whole thing started at 6:30 on my day off?!?). I knew if I put her back in her crate she would poop all over in it, so we kept trying. At one point she went running into the spare room and squatted on the rug. Seriously? We had been outside a million times and she chooses to wait and do it on the rug? ARGH. I was determined that she would not poop on the floor, and eventually she did go outside. I've never been so happy to see a pile of poop before. She continues to do well with accidents in the house. The one act of defiance this morning when she peed on the rug was the only "accident" outside of the crate today, so yay Ellie!

She is definitely finding her independence. She is taking an interest in the cats and finally seems to notice when we praise her (which will go a long way to helping with the house training!). We have noticed that she doesn't really know how to play and doesn't really get what humans are all about, so we're working on that. She had a second play date with Kat, Jehn's dog, and while they weren't sure about each other (14-year-old Kat wasn't sure what to do with a 3-month-old puppy and Ellie wasn't sure what to do with such a distinguished old lady like Kat) they didn't kill each other, so it was all good.

We got her a new collar and tag yesterday. She has learned to wear a collar quickly and is learning how to walk on a leash as well. She also learned what "sit" is today and we're working on "shake." She is a super smart dog. I'm so proud. :)

Ellie - Day 2

According to my sister, the world needs daily updates on Ellie for a week or two...so I am going to try to deliver. If you don't want "gag me, she's talking about the dog...AGAIN" thoughts, steer clear of my blog for the next couple of weeks :)

Today Ellie was very busy! She hung out with Kristin this morning and then came to visit me at work. The construction guys outside the building actually stopped working to check out the hottest new chick on the block (Ellie, not Kristin).

She got a tour of the office and met lots of new people. Later, she went to the vet and was given a clean bill of health. After a short nap she went to her very first play date at Sarah and Michelle's!

She came home and had another short nap before going outside to play with the neighborhood kids (she loves kids and other dogs)! Ellie did a great job with house training today and only had one accident when her mommies weren't very smart and left her in her crate right after she ate (they were at PetSmart getting more puppy supplies!).

Hopefully with such a busy second day under her belt she will take to the crate a little better tonight (because it was complete torture listening to her cry last night!). As for Ellie? She is looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow (and having both of her mommies home with her!).

Happy Middle Child Day!

With all the excitement of a new puppy I forgot to say

Happy Middle Child Day!

I blogged about this day last year...talking about how not one person had stopped to tell me that it was MY day. I got the same treatment this year, but hey, there's a new puppy in the house...it's all good. :)

May I present...

ELLIE!

So we've been looking for dogs for awhile now...pretty much ever since we decided to buy a house. Unfortunately, Kristin and I have very different tastes when it comes to dogs. Today, Kristin emailed me a picture of a dog named Tanika, a 3-month-old Welsh Terrier mix. She was rescued from a high-kill shelter in Kentucky and just arrived in Minnesota 5 days ago (she arrived the day she was slated to be put to sleep, btw)! I instantly fell in love and begged Kristin to write to the rescue. She did and next thing we know we are going to meet her (Kristin was going to take me to my internship training, so we stopped on the way)!

We had no intention of actually bringing her home today, but when we saw her at her foster home we fell in love even more. The woman said they don't typically hold the dogs for people, so if we wanted her would need to take her today. We decided we had to have her, and I ran to the bank to get cash for the adoption fee while Kristin went over the contract with the rescue.

Kristin dropped me off at my training and she brought Ellie (since she has only had her name for 5 days we decided it would be okay to rename her) home. Jehn helped with dog sitting for a bit so Kristin could get some supplies.

The cats aren't quite sure what to think of her yet, but Ellie seems to be adjusting well. After having a little accident, she is now sleeping soundly on the living room floor....awww....

I'm in love.

Quick Catch Up...

Things have been a little crazy the past few weeks. I thought I'd give a quick recap on some highlights (beware - lots of pictures ahead!).

My sisters, Cassi and Robyn, and their significant others, Nic and Dejan, came to visit July 22 – 26. It was so great to see them all again!! We went to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit (well worth the time and money to see…amazingly powerful). We went to the Mall of America and bowling and had a bon fire at the Como Park fire rings. We also tried a new restaurant or two along the way. Thanks to Robyn and Dejan for all of the housewarming gifts (the flowers, part of the router, the rug, domacica (sp?), and more!) and to Cassi and Nic for their housewarming gifts as well as helping to unpack and set up the router. We’re already planning next year’s gathering, so hopefully this will become a yearly thing.

Kristin, Me, Cassi, and Robyn hanging out at the bowling alley.

Dejan and Robyn relaxing between rounds.

Cassi inspects Nic's eye at the Science Museum.

Robyn tries her hand at eye inspections.

Nic is scared to see the Titanic movie.

The girls hanging out at the Science Museum.

Monday the 27th was our 2nd anniversary! We were both exhausted and spent most of the day lounging around the house ignoring all the stuff we had to do! We ended up going to Bascali’s for dinner. A place neither of had been, but which had gotten great reviews. Kristin thought it was okay, I didn’t like it at all. We headed to a movie, The Proposal, and then headed home to open gifts (the 2nd wedding anniversary gift is cotton – Kristin gave me a skirt and a customizable stepping stone for the garden. I gave her a hammock chair to hang either on the porch, in the living room, or in our bedroom upstairs once that is finished).

On Thursday, the 30th we headed to Wascott, Wisconsin, to Wilderness Way! We went a couple of times last year and loved it, so we decided we needed to make a trip out there at least once this year. We went with Patti from California and Vicenta (a classmate from St. Kate’s). It was a fun trip. Kristin ended up spending a majority of the trip catching up on sleep, and I used it as an excuse to make a little headway in the book I’ve been reading for the past two months. It was a fun trip – peaceful and relaxing as always!

Me walking on the dock

Patti

Vicenta

Kristin and Me by the fire.

We came back from Wilderness Way on Saturday, the 1st. Jessie and Patti’s birthdays were both on the 29th, so we went to a party at Jessie’s that evening to celebrate! It was seriously one of the best times I’ve had in a long time…just what I needed!

Playing the psychiatrist game. I was doing my best

imitation of Emily. Kristin was doing her best imitation of me

and Heather was doing her best imitation of Kristin.

I think we all hit it right on :)

Jessie opening her gifts.

Kristin and Me!

This past Sunday we spent time working in and around the house. I mowed the lawn which turned out to be a much bigger job than I thought it would be. I love mowing lawns…but with all the steep hills it was a bit much for me…I have gotten some really great ideas on how to do it better next time, so hopefully next time it won’t be so bad.

Mowing with the new mower!

Monday Heather and Santiago came for a visit. It was so good to see them and we had a lot of fun. I introduced Santi to the miracle of the laundry chute and taught him how to use the camera. He seemed to enjoy both activiites :). He also read me a bedtime story which put me right to sleep!

Heather and Santi

Santi smiles for the camera!

Santi loves the laundry chute as much as I do!

One of Santi's first photos! I think we have a

future star on our hands!

Santi tries to put me to sleep by reading about

a red barn on a farm.

I had my first day of internship training at The Bridge yesterday. I hope to write more about it soon, but it was awesome – I can’t wait to get started in September!

Consider yourselves caught up. :) The end.

Light Update....

Okay, so we got home from dinner tonight, and I felt the urge to fix the random lights that are burned out throughout the house. I decided to try to tackle the master bedroom light because it is really, really annoying me. When you turn it on it isn't even bright enough to light your way to the bedside stand where another lamp is. It's pathetic. The picture below was taken at night, without a flash, but with the room light turned ON. Can't see a whole lot, eh?

The light fixture is connected to the ceiling fan which seemed a little daunting to deal with just to change a light bulb or two...but I decided to try. After unscrewing and rescrewing several screws I gave up. Jehn was here, though, so she offered to take a look. She was able to get a little panel off and discovered that all the lights are indeed working.

So why is it so dark if all the lights are working, you ask?...are you ready for this?!? It is so dark because the room is being lit with FOUR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS.

You read that right. Whoever the idiot was who created this crazy contraption thought that putting four Christmas lights behind a thick pane of glass would be sufficient to light an entire room. You have got to be kidding me.

Okay, so it's not like this is the end of the world, right? We already have two lamps in the room that provide a good bit of light...so really, as far as light in the room is concerned it's fine. But I want to meet the person who designed this crazy light fixture/fan ensemble...and tell them to their face what a complete idiot they are.

PS - Kristin thinks the light fixture is beautiful.

Our House

We've been in the house for a week now, and I'm discovering cool things (and a few not cool things) about it every day.

Some favorite things:

- Mail slot - it makes getting mail exciting :)

- Laundry chute

- Blinds - a pleasant surprise since I thought I hated them before we moved in

- Tree in the front yard

- Street sign - I don't know why I like this...it's not like it's OUR street sign...but I love it

- Basement - not that I would just go hang out down there, but I'm so glad we have a non-scary basement

- Mysterious writing on the wall in the secret bomb/tornado shelter downstairs. Seems some girls had some fun down there in the 40s.

- The overall feeling of the house - it reminds me of my grandparents house (which is full of good memories), and just feels homey...which is a good thing!

Some not so favorite things:

- The light (or lack thereof) in the master bedroom - we need to change some bulbs but it looks like such a hard job neither of us has decided we have the energy to deal with it as of yet

- Tiny bathroom

- Tiny Closets - we realized this before we moved in, but once you start to put clothes in them you realize just how small they are!

- Empty wall in the bathroom - still not thrilled the previous owners took the mirror off the wall, but what do you do?

Undecided things:

- Hardwood floors - I've never had hardwood floors before...and while I think maybe I'll learn to like them for now they just seem cold and hard

- Rose bush - The previous owners clipped all the roses before they left, so it's a little sad looking right now

- Garden in the backyard - I hate it right now, but maybe after I spend some time out there cleaning it up I will have a change of heart

Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my head...I have a lot of thoughts about the home buying experience...hopefully I'll have the time in the next week or two to write them all down and share them!

Goodbye Bushes!

Today we had a guy come and do an estimate to do some trimming of everything overgrown at our new house. He gave me a quote this morning which was just too good to turn down. He said he would come next week to do the work but called a bit later and said his afternoon had opened up and he could do it today!

I was so happy to see the bushes come down and the tree trimmed up. He even did some extra trimming to other bushes and overall it looks great! There's one part that seems a little "naked," but it will grow and I think it needed to be cut back so much because of how overgrown it was.

Anyway, here are some before and after pics for your enjoyment :)

House Before

House After

Side bushes before

Side bushes after - these are what I think look a little naked...

(sorry for the poor quality of picture...I was losing light fast :))

Tree before...

Tree after!

Auden!

A few weeks ago we got to watch Auden, the son of a friend of ours. We did all the fun stuff like go to McDonald's, swim in the pool, and watch a movie (we started with Cat in the Hat but after 30 seconds he freaked out and wouldn't watch anymore so we put in The Fox and the Hound). It was so much fun!

Mold...

So the other day Kristin was starting to clean out our closet in preparation for the upcoming move. She picked up a suitcase that had been in the corner of the closet for the past two years to find mold growing all over the place - all over the suitcase, the carpet, the wall, clothes...ew.

Drying it all out after the carpet had been pulled up...

A bit blurry, but look at how nasty!

Dory checking it out after the "fix"...this is how the closet currently looks. Yuck

The apartment management didn't seem too concerned about it, but it STUNK. We ended up moving the mattress into the living room for a few nights. Kristin couldn't really smell it as much as I could and eventually she said she wanted to move the mattress back (mostly because it was taking up our entire living room making it difficult to get around and pack). I slept on the couch.

Finally the maintenance guy came in and cut out the carpet and cleaned the wall a bit. He said he would be back to replace the carpet...but that was 4 days ago and he hasn't been back since. I have loved living here...but I can't help but be happy we're moving in 6 days. :)