2009 was quite the year!

So I took a few months off from blogging.  Er, ya know I forgot, but here are a few things you may have missed from our year in 2009:

We finally bought a house.  After approximately 6 months of looking, four offers, probably about 200 houses, this is ours.  We absolutely love it and we are going to be here for quite a long time.  We have painted some and are waiting for the stimulus and tax return to make the back yard habitable.  My dusting inside the house should decrease thank heavens after this project!

Our wonderful Realtor, August, who rocks.

We got married in September.

It was a fabulous day!

Eric's Birthday.  As you can see we headed to a Coyote's game.  They won and all the goals were hit on our end of the ice.  I think Eric was the lucky charm that night!  Next time I will put his name on the big screen as I forgot they did that.  Love you hunny!

I started to play soccer... I know a little crazy and dumb to start at 25 but hey... I've made a few goals.  I even scored a goal on my husband on Sunday:)  He's actually a fantastic soccer player and the reason I get my regular soccer in on Sundays.

Ok, this is Eric in the yellow. He was playing goalie.

I started agility with Odin and Juliet.  I think Odin will be great and Juliet just likes to play.  We have to work on the Odin scream/barking while kenneled though.  That won't work out well at trials.  Any tips?

You can kind of see the course and my two dogs along with Jill's other dog Frankie.

Ok, disclaimer: This is not me, its my friend Jill and this is not Juliet or Odin, its her dog Mo.  But this person is the reason I do so many things and she's great.

Had to add this pic of Mo isn't she a doll!

I don't have actual photos of Odin and Juliet on the course yet as they are both still very beginners!  But just wait for 2010 and I am sure you will see many many many more pictures of my dogs and the things they can do with agility!! God willing.


Whew, it has been a long year.  It has been a great year for Eric and I, and a very bad year for a lot of  people around me and my clients.  Although 2009 has brought much much happiness and joy I am definately looking forward to 2010.  I am hoping that 2010 is a good year but a little less "major life changes" kind of year.  Famous last words right?   Happy New Year!

A Six Dog Christmas

Instead of people... we have a pack of dogs to celebrate Christmas with. Yes, we have each other and we did go to a friends house on Christmas Day but the noise of 24 paws tramping through our house is just what I need to keep my spirits high while being far away from family.

Meet the gang:

Miss Juliet patiently awaiting the guests of the season. Molly's her bestest.

L to R (starting with the all black dog) Dante the Foster, Juliet on the rug, Buster's butt, Odin, Jackson the 130lb Shepard, and Molly the cute little mix. Jackson belongs to Margaret and Molly belongs to Nicole. Surprisingly they all get a long famously.

Molly and Odin sunbathing.

Eric and I Christmas Day... still sleepy

Christmas Day Treats!!! I even got Dante to sit! I think his pain meds finally wore off.

Ugh... all the triptophan in those treats have made us couch potatoes. Time for a nap.

Jackson needs a stool for his food bowl so he can eat better as you can see he's taken to laying down. Buster and Odin on the fringes just in case Jackson decides he's not hungry.

I always take a pic. of their food bowls just cause it's crazy!

Whew!  Christmas is exhausting!

A List of Christmas Cheer

Usually I am very cheery this time of year. But I don't get to see anyone in the fam or friends from back home and my cousin just got deployed to Afghanistan. I am in a bit of a Scrooge kind of mood:( So, rather than being down, I am writing a list of ways to get my frown to turn upside down.

1. Have LOTS of dogs at my house this Christmas. I am half way there dog 5 arrives on Friday, the 22nd dog 6 arrives and who knows when General Lee will grace me with his presence.

2. Wear an different ugly Christmas sweater each week.

3. Put a costume of a reindeer on my car.

4. Blare Christmas music around my home, car, and office while singing loudly off key.

5. Wear a Santa hat and dance around my home to Christmas music.

6. Have a fire and roast marshmallows with choc. and graham crackers. mmmmm s'mores.

7. Go ice skating in 70 degree weather.

8. I also will be writing my Christmas cards over Christmas as they were just ordered.

9. Join the throng of people in the post office line to send my packages last minute and late.

Dressing up the dogs in Christmas outfits and taking pictures would also be on this list but Eric forbids me to do it.

Wow. I already feel so much more cheerful.

an abundant amount of dogs....

Meet Tank:

He made sure that everyone knew that this was his chair and sofa and bookcase and bespread and bedskirt .... you get the picture the dog peed on everything. He is now off to pee on someone else's bedskirt, bye Tank I'll miss your cute cuddling!

Meet Dante:

The newest foster mutt cute and relatively small for "lab mix". He has a deep gash in his front paw and the wounds are healing on his head as you can see.
This is Dante with an e-collar... it is to keep him from licking his wound. What it actually does is scare the crap out of Odin, bruise the back of my legs, scrape against the wall in the middle of the night, and helps water the tile...

We may also have two additional pups for Christmas... the craziness of a house full of dogs is just what I need:) It may kill Eric though...

Velkommen, I'm Norweign

**First: I am sorry about not being an up to date blogger... this might be a spurt kind of thing for me...

And I like that about myself. Now I am also an American and things can get complicated if we go into the distinguishing between what we are and how to decide and all... neways, I want to learn more and more. So, in my old soul kind of way, I am going to join the Sons of Norway here in AZ. Now my family is already a part of SofN in WI and it is kind of an old person thing there... I am hoping with a gleam of hope from the website that it is not an old person only group. If it is I guess I will do some oral history with them... If not I am hoping to travel, play sports, learn some more norweign, and maybe start rosemaling. Also, cook some very delicious food... mmmm lefse... Above is a very nice example of rosemaling.

Yup he got lucky with this one;)

My apologies

Although I don't have many or maybe not any people who keep up with my blog I would like to apologize to the blog itself for neglecting it and to any of those who thought I would keep up with this on a very regular basis... you should know me better.  

Now, back to trying to keep up with this thing.  

Eric and I are trying, key word trying, to buy a home.  Besides the bad finance company that the bank that owns the house wants us to use, which we are not using, we are hopeful that this is the one.  We should know for sure by Monday or Tuesday and then if inspection goes well close on 3/31/2009.  What a fantastic birthday gift for me!  Who else can say they got a house for their birthday?  OK, there are crazy rich people who probably could but I don't know them.  Buying a house brings us to design dilemma hell.  To put it simply Eric and I like different things.  I bought a book that explains color.  I am now even more confused.  I like so many but only have so many walls to color.   I went on Rate My Space and definitely got not help there as most of those were ugly pictures of spaces designed by people, ordinary people not designers.  One thing I always fall back on is that if I don't like it I can paint over it!  Some folks just don't realize that they can do this.   I think I will also do a painting party and pay my friends with beer and pizza.  Feel free to stop by for that one!  

 

The ones who found us...

Cont'd part of the other blog... read it first if you would like.... 

Toby was  the best stray

 we had.  She was a japanese spitz and was  very loyal to my dad.  She went everywhere with him. He found her trying to stop vehicles on Halloween Night outside his convenience store.  She had been left behind and wanted to find the right car.  After the second night of her hanging around trying to jump into people's cars, Dad brought her home. He needed company as Mom had recently kicked him out and Toby was just the trick.  She stayed with him a good 14 

years and then as my ever loving step mom said "committed puppy suicide".  She never went in the road, EVER, and one day it was just her time.  She was old and sick and dying and Dad couldn't put a dog down so she helped him again in her own way.  She was the ultimate loyal best dog ever to my dad.    

 Other strays that have come to stay are Sassy and Ted.  I stopped to feed Toby while the parents were out of town one day and there were two matted

dirty animals on the step. Never let a dog go hungry!  So I didn't.  We now have two more shih tzus in the family.  One my oldest sister took, Sassy.  Shannon and Sassy:)  Sassy is a sweet shih tzu hound 

with a fear of thunder storms.

And Ted the tub

 stayed with dad.  He has

 a heart condition and according to the vet should have died 2 years ago.  He's a love and snores just as loud as his owner.... 

The two recent 

additions

who I believe found us

but are not strays keep my life interesting.  Odin

 was Eric and I's first puppy to-

gether.  He had no idea!  It was fun and my light chasing sensitive pup

has finally started to cuddle. 

    After moving to a bigger place we made another spontaneous decision kind of and got a female dog.

We wanted a big shepherd to watch over me on my nights that Eric works third.  In came our first rescue, Juliet.  We didn't get huge and scary but short and super solid with a ferocious bark.  It works for me!  Didn't think I would

 love her as much as I do. 

 Now there are five dogs that I can think of that aren't mentioned at length.  Jesse the most recent huge dog dad brought home, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever is 9 years old and has enough energy for 3 horses.  The dog doesn't stop and loves rocks.  When dad rolled his truck a while back, she was hooked up to the flat bed by a nylon leash; survival took over and she broke loose before the roll and was fine.   Ted also fared well in the cab of the truck.  

This is Jesse riding the bear cat snowmobile. 

Sparky, who dad rescued at 6 months of age from a pet store.  This is about the max time for a dog at a pet store before behavior issues start to arise and they are "unadoptable" and a lot of them get put down if they don't sell.  He went to live in the country country (yes it is supposed to be there twice, it is different than regular country where we lived) with a friend after biting a niece.  Suzy #2 briefly mentioned in the first blog,  who took her 6 small pups out in the woods to die.  We know this as one wandered back to the yard after 2 days missing hungry and really cold.  Harry a random stray couldn't stay off the darn road and died a couple years after finding us.  Charlie the toy poodle my dad gifted to my very very nervous grandma.  Please do not gift animals! He went to my second cousin I think.   

I read over my pets of my life and I think SHEESH there have been lots!  They have not all been mine but ours and we hardly ever leashed our pets if they were outside dogs which opens them up to getting hit on the road.  Which is one reason we had so many I think. Another tip people, if you hit a dog with your car you need to stop and help it and/or tell the owners.  NO EXCUSES!!  

All I know is that without dogs I would have had a boring child hood and every single one of them taught me something whether it be some have temperament issues that need work or that animal instincts and the natural way of life does sometimes prevail no matter how much we try to alter it.  I have loved them all immensely but there will always be those special few who I miss or love so dearly.  Thanks puppies.

Where I fit in the best.

This blog idea is not original.  I stole it from a friend but she okayed it.  It was such a great idea I had to.  Since being glum I also have started and stopped 4 other blogs it's about time one was actually posted. 

I have always fit in better with animals.  They have been a constant since I was born.  We lived in the country and always had stray cats which I never really cared for except when they were kittens.  My mom also had a bad habit of killing off the cats that roamed... not on purpose but the car was a lethal weapon for the cats when my mom was behind

 the wheel.  Those stories are for another blog.  Along with the cats I remember helping birds, running away from skunks and rabid fox, feeding the heifers, a fawn who was hurt by a combine coming to stay for a while, and the ever present dog.  I loved all these animals but my love is for dogs.  

My dad raised beagles before I was born and had a Plott Hound right after I was born.  I still remember Suzy #1. She dug a lot of HUGE holes in our yard by the clothesline. We had a Suzy #2 who was a bad mama to her pups... didn't like her as well.  The first dog I remember after Suzy was Bucky, a beagle mix.  I am assuming me and my sister named him.  He had a two spots that resembled a heart and a mickey mouse head.  He got run over when we were at camp and mom made us sit in the green chair together when she told us.  Sadly I don't have a picture of Bucky:(  After Bucky came Rolly:)  Free at the fair and a great dog.  He was a Collie Irish Setter mix.  I just wasn't sure how to take care of one yet at age 8.  Yes I was an ugly child.

He survived a tornado and disappeared after we moved back home.  My dad

always told me "the Hmong probably got him"  I know better now.  After Rolly came Favre. 

Yup we named a poodle Favre we are from WI here people!  He was the best dog ever.   He would wait at the top of the stairs where he could see out the bay window watching for me to come home again.  I loved him very much and when we found him on the road, after an unfortunate escape from my step moms vehicle at a relatives house, it was really hard.  I have only seen my dad cry twice and that night we both cried.  He's buried up north at the cabin where we all love it.  I miss him still.  My step mom felt horrible and in return we got another yapper dog but this time it was Buster Brown!   The

Shih Tzu hound.  This picture was taken 3 Christmases ago at a friend's house.  He loved being an only dog.  Sorry Bubba.  Bull headed and lovable.  He is still with me at age 10... Oldest dog I have owned.  He hates water but got too hot when we were up at Lake Superior one summer so had to take a dip.  

In between these pets we purposely owned we had pets that found us along the way...TBC...

*side note:  I do not intentionally mess with the font and color... my blog is haunted and it does that itself.  

Everyday I wake up I choose love, I choose life....

I am out of my funk officially!  For those of you who did not know I was in one now you do.  

Randomly jumping thoughts to... I got an iPod Nano for Christmas and was downloading completely legal and legit songs today.  I like new and never heard songs so I search new and old artists alike to find these, lately it has sucked probably due to my mood.  I was listening to song after song and realized that I wasn't liking any of them right away.  I also thought about how a lot of the songs I do love hold some meaning or move me to think of a time or person.  Sounds dramatic but it's true.  Most of the songs that I love were from tape or CD and were heard at some time or place in my life that I reflect back on when hearing this song.  As I sit in my office chair in my dull room listening to single MP3s I am struck by how songs might be differently loved than what they were not only 2 years ago!  Songs are picked apart now and do not have the bar top dancing associated like my favorites do.  Not all my songs that I love were hits or even liked by the general public but were fun or sad or happy or made me think of the weird kid that had a crush on me or SOMETHING, but now people sit in front of the computer and listen.  What does this make them think of when they hear a song?  Am I crazy to think that this is affecting how we love music?  Is it affecting what music is loved?  I do think that there are some songs that just make you love them.  They are songs fit for you and your life and you automatically associate them with something even though you are zoned at the computer.  A couple of my favs right now:

Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band - Country  

You, Me and the Bourgeoisie by The Submarines - Pop/Rock  

Take me on the floor and Untouched by The Veronica's - Pop  

Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park - Rock    

For those of you who like crazy mixes and random things put together well with some finesse check out the album Feed The Animals by Girl Talk -- DJ