Welcome Home Charlie

We have a new addition to our family and his name is Charlie. Recently I was in touch with Wilson's breeder and she mentioned to us that one of Wilson's litter mates had been returned due to the owners health issues. I mentioned this to Preston and without hesitation he said we should adopt him. I was pretty surprised by this and encouraged Preston to think about it, which lasted less then a day and we were sold.

Over the weekend I went to California to pick Charlie up and he was just the perfect dog on the 8 hour drive home. Right away I noticed the differences between him and Wilson.

Wilson weighs about 40 lbs, Charlie 30 lbs.
Wilson loves to mouth you, Charlie hasnt done it once.
Wilson is all play play play, Charlie would rather sit with you.

We are really excited that Wilson has his brother back and can't wait to see how Charlie does with us.

New Years Resolutions....

As many do come the new year, Preston and I set some new years resolutions. They were great resolutions that I felt were reasonable and actually attainable. Well 3 months into the new year lets just say we aren't doing so hot. To be quite honest we have failed at every single one we set out to do but with 9 months left in 2009, we can definitely salvage our resolutions. So here are mine, stated to the World Wide Web World and maybe just maybe by posting them it give me more accountability. Here is a review of why it hasnt happened so far.

1. Write in journal once a week. - In theory this should be easy, once a week isn't very hard but considering I havent actually written anything this year it is clear its more difficult then I thought
2. Blog once a week. - Again not that difficult but on the weeks when all we do is go to school and work there just seems like there isn't anything to post about.
3. Scrapbook 2 hours a week. - I wanted to make this one really measurable and being that I dont have that much time to do be doing my craft hobbies I thought 2 hours was a good time frame. I don't know why I haven't tackled this one, literally I haven't scrapbooked once this year. I have plenty of scrapbooks to make too, I haven't even finished my freshmen of college yet so really there shouldn't be any hold ups.
4. Workout 3 times a week.- Oh how I would love to give you a great excuse for this but the reality is outside of doing gymnastics I was never really one who enjoyed going to the gym. I find it kind of boring and I don't have a good reason other then being lazy.
5. Study 3 hours a day M-F. - Of all the resolutions I have done the best with this one, but some days it just doesn't happen. Two hours of commuting + six hours of lecture = No desire to crack open the books when I get home.

Well there you have it. My 2009 Resolutions with all the excuses in the world but I promise to do better. Preston and I have this new method about checking in with each other on how our goals are coming along. So we will see how it works out.

A Golf Day

Over the weekend Preston was nice enough to invite me to go chip and putt with him at a golf course in Green Valley. Now I dont want you think that I am never invited, because I am. This time though, I said yes. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a huge fan of actually playing golf. I like the game in general and enjoy watching it on TV but when it comes to playing it, not so much. I have a good reason for not liking to play it. Plain and simple, I am awful. After 20 years of doing gymnastics, a sport that I not only loved but that I was good at, I find little incentive in doing something I am awful at. Plus gymnastics was easy, golf is not easy. But I married a man who now makes a living from golf. A man who after 8 hours of work at Heritage Highlands Golf Club and 4 hours of playing a round of golf will come home to turn on the Golf Channel and say he wishes he could have more golf. So over the weekend I went with him to "have more golf."

A Boy and His Dog...

What happens when a boy, Preston, fills a old tree hole with water?

The following....

Dog, Wilson, puts face in hole. Dog gets mud everywhere.

Boy tries to clean Dog. Boy uses ball as distraction.

Unfortunately, Dog just wants to play.

Boy looks to Girl. Dog looks to Girl.

And with some team work Boy and Girl get Dog to look like this.

After all of the excitement, Dog goes to sleep.

And this is the story of a Boy and his Dog.

The Big 24

It happened, another year older and I must say that I am fine with it. It was a great birthday, started out a bit slow but finished with a bang. My parents came into town late Friday and we had a little Christmas catch up. On Saturday Preston, my parents, and I went to see Valkyrie and went to dinner at the Olive Garden. We loved the movie, despite the ending, and I recommend it to all who are into history and WWII. Now to the bang part of my birthday.

A couple of weeks ago Preston and I were looking on the computer and came across a good friends blog. While looking through her posts we saw that she was selling her camera. Not just any camera but a digital SLR, a Nikon D70. In my self pity mode I said, "Why can't she sell it next year when I'm working." Well long story short Preston did a little secret shopping and bought the camera. He surprised me with it for my birthday and I was/am super super excited. Now before anyone thinks that I know how to use a nice camera and expect these amazing photos let me set things straight. I don't know how to use it (yet) and amazing photos I am sure will takes years to come by. So I welcome all tips and suggestions because I need all the help I can get.

Here is what the camera looks like and yes my first photo on the camera, Wilson. Like I said, I have a lot to learn.

2008 In Review

I know I have been pretty awful at updating this blog, especially considering I have only made one post but 2009 is a new year so I will hope for the best. To summarize 2008 and catch up on the many things I didnt blog about I thought would post photos of quite an exciting year.

We went skiing for my birthday

We went to Australia in May, where we visited Sydney and Adelaide.

We visited with friends and family and took a walk down each others past.

Then I said Good Bye Cache Valley, Hello Tucson in the beginning of June.
It was challenging move and thanks to the Thompsons, who took me in for awhile, I made it through until Preston came in July.


In the beginning of June I also started school at the University of Arizona in the Accelerated BSN program.

We "settled" in a city called Sahuarita and after another couple of challenging months we were doing just fine.

In August we went to Nogales, which about 30 minutes south of us. It was a neat experience and made us grateful for the blessings we have in America.


In October I ran in the Get Moving Tucson race hosted by Carondelet, the hospital I will work for after I graduate next August. Jerene, a classmate from the program, ran the race as well.

Preston came and cheered me on which was great and I was happy to meet my goal of finishing.

In November Wilson, an English Springer Spaniel, joined our family.

He tons of fun, a lot of work, and we love him.

Then the months of October, November, and December came where we carved pumpkins, ate Turkey and celebrated Christmas.

So there you have it, 2008 all in one post. With New Years just around the corner I have made it a New Years resolution to post once a week. At the end of next year we will see how I did.