catch me if you can

I realize I haven't really posted anything since the beginning of October. Which is a shame, because a LOT has happened! So I guess now I'm playing catch up. Mostly because this blog is the closest thing to a journal I keep right now. AND I want everyone to see how well my pixie cut has grown out. Because it's finally starting to look more like hair, and less like something died on my head, which is nice.

October brought General Conference [Fantastic], Puppies [work work work], Hurricane Sandy [in DC it just rained a little and a tree fell down, that's all], Adventures [yay!] , Pumpkin Carving [duh], and Halloween.
We happen to get the puppies Conference weekend, so they were able to get some spiritual enlightenment as well, lucky pups.

Since we had puppies that needed walking it got us out of the house a little more than usual, together, which was nice. We explored the forest between our house and Taylor's school, where in we found where all the homeless people live...good thing no one was home when we dropped in

Hurricane Sandy came and went, leaving a few trees blocking the street around the city, but not much more than that. We made the puppies ponchos out of trash bags and Indy's acted like a parachute in the wind, which caused his tail to go straight between his legs, poor fella.
We were definitely lucky [blessed] that it didn't hit DC harder.
Halloween just happens to be my VERY favorite! I broke out my decorations, we carved pumpkins with our friends Lauren and Tyler Kent, and hit up a Halloween party and a haunted house with our friends Savanna and Kigan Martineau. We went with the Gatsby theme this year, I was Daisy and Taylor was Jay Gatsby. Probably not the most pure love story, or greatest role models...but we don't have kids yet, and our dogs have never read the book.

FYI if you haven't noticed yet...this is going to be a pretty long post. LUCKY YOU! :)

November was fan-freakin-tabulous! We were more used to the puppies, which was nice. I dyed my hair back to [closer to] its natural color [love it dark!] We also had our good friends Christy Smith come stay with us for a few days! We love her and her family SO MUCH and were so happy to have her here! Unfortunately I don't have any photos of that weekend :(
We had two celebrations in November, first Thanksgiving, which we celebrate with Savanna and Kigan [duh]
Me and Savanna cooked, and it was SO fun! We made the BEST turkey [recipe courtesy of Christy], mashed potatoes, yams, creamed corn, green bean casserole, my mother-in-laws rolls, stuffing, raspberry-cranberry jello salad, and pumkin, pecan, peach and chocolate cream pies!
needless to say we had plenty of leftovers

The same weekend as Thanksgiving Kigan had a birthday! We celebrated at Dave and Busters [guess what, we like the Martineau's...like a lot, bet you couldn't tell]

We let Kigan win every game...because it was his birthday..haha jay kay, jay kay

Which brings us to December, which has gone by rather quickly.

We [meaning I] bought a Christmas tree asap, of course. 

We made homemade toffee, went to the symphony, saw Les Mis [my first time! loved it!], and helped place wreaths on the graves at Arlington Cemetery. I went Riley a special 12 Days of Christmas package, had to wear a mask at work [you try interpreting sign language, which happens to use a LOT of facial expressions, with a mask on!], made tiny paper cranes with the husband, saw Jenny Oaks Baker perform at the DC Temple Visitor's Center with my lady friends, and found a tiny mouse in our house :) he was pretty cute, but we couldn't keep him...he had diseases.

Also, Taylor explained the string theory on this piece of paper...he's really good at explaining things

[and I'm serious, I know that sounds like its riddled with Sarcasm, but no joke, I actual get it now!!]

Tag on: we saw the Hobbit! Goodness me was it PERFECT, absolutely PERFECT! Go see it...like right now!

Dog Babies

So, I guess we've entered "Baby Phase", you know how a couple years after you graduate high school you get to "Wedding Phase"? You're lucky if you're one of the first to hit it so you don't get stuck single at wedding reception after wedding reception, always catching the bouquet, but that whole bit never actually working...

Well, a couple years after that you hit baby phase. You know, when everyone just starts poppin' them out, and instead of bridal showers, you're now attending baby showers. And ironically enough, much of the time, those who hitched the last (or close to last) ride on the wedding train are some of the first to get those cute little baby bumps...

hmmmm

Moving on, to hold me over until Taylor and I are ready for the baby phase, we decided to adopt a couple [yes two] baby dogs. 

Okay fine, that's not why we got puppies, we mostly just got them because Taylor is persuasive and puppies are super cute.

I just want to say, people, that puppies are a lot of freakin' work! They pee, everywhere. They poop, and that's gross. They stink, but they don't like baths [and washing two puppies is quite the task, let me tell you.] Kennel training, house training, simple commands...you don't get two years to work on those things, if you don't get it done in the first few weeks, you're basically screwed [especially if they're apartment puppies, like ours]. Needless to say, we weren't quite prepared for this, and we may have been slightly crazy getting two at once. Needless to say, when you work 40+ hours a week, and your husband has class everyday from 9-5, its not easy getting puppies outside to tinkle every hour...

Alas, we survived that stage, and things are much smoother now. And to be honest, I couldn't imagine our life right now without them.

So, the puppies:

This is Miss Coco [with those killer puppy eyes] is part Saint Bernard, and part Cocker Spaniel. I love her. Even though she's got a bad case of sleep incontinence, and drools like a maniac.

And this little guy is Indiana [or Dr. Jones, according to Taylor]. He's an Ausiedoodle. I love him too. Even though he gets dingle berries [TMI?] and likes to stand right behind me and trip me while I'm trying to make dinner. 

They are the best of friends, the other day I took Indy on a walk without Coco, and she waited by the door for close to 40 minutes waiting for us to get back. Completely oblivious to Taylor's presence, and available lap not 10 feet away from her.

So, even though they are a lot of work. and Coco is terrified of cars, and Indy likes to steals socks, and dryer sheets, and tissues...I am so happy we have them, and so glad we decided to get two! They are so well behaved [for the most part] and love cuddles, which is nice because so do I.

I now leave you with a plethora of puppy pictures.