Puppy Woes or He is Part Demon

I am beginning to think my puppy has multiple personalities. There is the mellow sweet puppy who likes to cuddle and follows me around and just likes to be with us, then there is the other one. The other one is a spaz who can not be calmed down and wants to bite anything within his reach. With the demon puppy he has learned how much fun it can be for him to run away from me, whenever I get near him to grab him he takes off and for a little thing he is fast. His favorite game when he is being the demon and I take him potty he avoids the potty area and while sniffing around he keeps an eye on me so when I get near him to put him back in the potty area he takes off and runs circles around me, literally. I took him out at 10:30 last night and for 5 min he ran circles around me in the garage. He was running so fast that he was sliding all over the place and into the stairs. When he gets in the demon mode there is no working with him and he has ADHD and goes from one thing to the next at the drop of a hat. The little guy has a lot of energy. But on the flip side when he is the sweet one he likes to spend time with us and play with us in a civil manner and he doesn't try to eat me. He is much easier to work with in the potty training area when he is the sweet one too, which I really like. I am not as frustrated as I was before with his potty training because he now goes in the potty area when he goes out, most of the time. I think that's because its cold and he, like me, is a sissy with the cold. I am just hoping the demon side is the puppy in him, he is still really young, and that he will grow out of it and I have high hopes on him being potty trained soon. He knows to go outside but doesn't notify us when he has to go, he will just go. Regardless he is fun and has a ton of personality. He is fun to take on walks, regardless of how much energy he has he sticks right with us, we don't need a leash, he walks right next to us and doesn't like to get to far ahead or behind. I just wish he would get the whole peeing outside aspect and stop eating my hair.

I think we bought Murphy's house.

I was told this would happen, but really didn't want to believe it. I thought/hoped things would be rainbows and stickers with the purchase of our first house but Murphy says differently and what can go wrong does go wrong. I am not here to complain, but to vent some frustrations and to try to see things a little differently.

The house in and of itself is really not that bad, however after having 7 different families living in it its going to need work and we didn't realize how much work was needed until after closing. We closed on Monday and were so excited we went right over to the house to see our new home. When we got there and saw all the work that was needed and saw some new problem areas with the house and it was just very overwhelming, but we thought it was manageable because of the help that was offered. We had framers and contractors from our old ward offer help and they had the expertise to repair and correct some of the things we needed fixed. It became apparent when they wouldn't answer or return our calls that we were on our own and that's when it became overwhelming. At first we just kind of went in circles and nothing got done, there was so much to be done it was hard to pick a place to start, we both wanted to sit and cry. After sitting down and prioritizing and making a list of what order things need to be done we were able to get started and be productive. Then Murphy's law came back to bite us in the butt. I had planned for 3 days to shampoo the carpets, my sister was going to help, and they had problems getting the water turned on. Then we had no heat, and inside the house the thermostat said 45 degrees and it was snowing outside. We tried to get the heat going and could smell gas so we had to exit the house for an hour for someone to show up and see whats going on. Come to find out our furnace is not properly vented and installed too close to the water heater. This scare ended up putting us further behind. I also went carpet shopping on Friday, good grief, its so complicated and a 4 step process. I found the carpet I like and I have the measurements but they want to drag it out. Then Saturday was Halloween and we had a party all afternoon so we didn't get much done, but who wants to spend a holiday like that working on a house. It was a very rocky start to home ownership and we were ready to let the house burn down. Its definitely not what we were expecting. I actually think its been more complicated since we closed than the whole 3 month process since we put the offer on the house, and that was pretty complicated.

This week things have already turned up and its just started. Its amazing what a little bit of paint can do to a room, even if the colors don't turn out like you want. Ross also has a friend that is willing to help us with the wood floors in the living room and hall, which will make a HUGE difference, and hopefully by this weekend we should have new carpet on the steps, in the family room and the hall. We will have the kitchen and bathrooms cleaned and sanitized today and we also met some of our neighbors and they seem very nice, it seems that we are in a neighborhood with older people, but hey, as long as they are nice people I think I can handle that. We figure if we can get our bedroom painted and the bathroom and kitchen cleaned we can at least move in and do things a little bit at a time, except for the carpet in the main living areas, they are just too disgusting and not salvageable. I think when things get finished it will be a good house and it will not look at all like the old house. Its kind of exciting now that we can see progress and possibly an end in sight. I know we will continue to find things that need to be fixed but we have stopped looking for things and hopefully we won't find them for quite a while. I still don't have pictures to put up yet, I want to wait until we finish these rooms before putting the before and after, and they are such a huge difference. I am however looking forward to working on the yard next spring and being able to plant a garden, that's so much easier for me than home repairs. One of the easiest parts of this is the fact that Ross and I both have the same ideas on what we want to do with each room and its fun to work with him and to have his support when things get to be too much.

Also, I kind of feel like we live in one of the houses in Whoville after the grinch visited. The previous owners took all the toilette paper, almost all the light bulbs and there are literally hundreds of nails in the walls.

Big Weekend!!

Its been a big but exciting weekend for us. Knowing we are getting a house and hoping we were getting close I have been checking ksl.com everyday for a Maltese poodle puppy, I have wanted a puppy for a while and decided that's the kind I wanted. On Thursday I came across an ad for some little while Maltese poodles. I immediately sent the link to Ross and asked him to call on them after work, I didn't want to wait longer. These kinds of puppies sell really fast and this was such a good price. The lady said she would hold the puppies until we could get up there on Saturday, she wouldn't let anyone else look at them so we could have them all to pick from. I woke up really early on Saturday morning, it felt like Christmas, I was so excited but had to wait for 8:30 to come around so we could go. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there and it went by pretty fast. The lady that had the puppies was kind of crazy and then when we got into Downy Idaho our concerns grew. It was one of those small deserted looking towns like you see in the horror movies. We wondered if she actually had puppies or used it as a ruse to lure people there to kill them. It was creepy down to the leaves blowing in the wind across the deserted roads. When we found the address it was at a dead end with random signs across the fence telling us to keep out, Maltese sold here, no trespassing, puppies for sale. We weren't sure if we should stay away or come get a puppy. We decided to take our chances and get a puppy. It was well worth it. When the lady finally answered the door and we went in and saw them, well, it was love at first sight, there is no way I was going anywhere without one of those puppies. After picking out the puppies, I got to choose mine first and then Bre decided to get his brother, which makes for some interesting times. Then it was time to start home. Man, that was the longest drive ever. Traffic wasn't so good once we got into Ogden and I think it took 2 hours to get just from Ogden to Orem and it didn't help that the puppies were getting ancy. We finally got them to Bre's, where our puppy is staying until we move in to our house. They got to run and eat and boy were they full of energy and they play/fight like true boys and brothers.

Friday when we had decided we would go to Idaho I was afraid getting the puppy would jinx the house, I was afraid we would get a call on the way home from Idaho with the puppy and they would tell us something happened and we can't get the house. I was going to get the puppy anyways, I couldn't not do things cause of a silly fear. Well, on the way home from Idaho I got a call from our mortgage guy and had a slight panic attack. He was calling to let us know that closing would be Monday and make sure that was ok with us. What a relief. Here are a couple pictures of the puppy. We named him Havoc and he really lives up to his name, he is kind of a holy terror, especially with his brother and my sister's chihuahua. But I think we will keep him.

We signed the papers on our house on Monday, so its official, we are home owners. It hasn't been all that great so far, rather overwhelming actually. Luckily the old home owners got all the garbage and crap out and the rooms aren't that bad, just need a good vacuum and carpet cleaning. But the kitchens and bathrooms are pretty disgusting. It will just take a little bit of time, some hard work and our stuff to make it ours. I think right now it just doesn't feel like home cause its still someone elses house with their bloody boogers on the walls. We are hoping to get the new floors in this week but with Halloween it makes it kind of hard. We haven't taken any pictures yet so there aren't any to post just yet but will follow up with some pictures when we get some.

Favorite

This is my favorite description of where babies come from.

One Year Down . . . . .

Yesterday was our first anniversary, the big first. Its been such a short, yet busy year. In the last 12 months we have been to Baton Rouge 3 times, Florida, Mexico, Europe, planned a family reunion and Lake Powell, not to mention all the smaller trips in between. We have had our ups and our downs but I love Ross more now than I did a year ago and we still have many more years ahead of us.

We took the weekend really easy, partly cause I am sick (trying to make it a real anniversary cause for the honeymoon I was sick the whole time too). On Saturday we just hung out, went window shopping at Ikea, went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and got some movies for Sunday. We didn't go all out like we had originally wanted to but because we are trying to buy a house we just did it simple and inexpensive. Ross did get me a pineapple plant at Ikea. Its so cool, its a little bush thing and has a small pineapple already growing on it. I can't wait to eat it. We both enjoyed the weekend and just spending time together.

Lake Powell

I have found a new favorite lake. On the 5th Ross and I, Jeff and his family, Bre and Jordan and my parent's went to Lake Powell. We had been planning this for at least 9 months and have been so excited. the week before we left we all watched the weather constantly and it predicted rain and thunderstorms the whole time we were there. So I was a little apprehensive. We left pretty early and caravaned down, it took a lot less time than I thought it would. We did hit some rain on the way down but it wasn't really that bad and it had all cleared up by the time we got to Powell. The weather for the weekend actually turned out to be amazing. It was hot and sunny the whole time and one day there was a little wind, but the water was still really warm.


When we got down there on the 5th Jeff checked in for the houseboat to make the paperwork the next morning easier and then we found a place to camp for that first night. It was so hot we couldn't wait to get the boat in the water and start fishing and swimming. We didn't have any luck with the fishing but the swimming was amazing.


The next morning we put the ski boat back in the water and Mel and I took it with the 3 kids to wait for everyone else and the houseboat, they thought it would be better to keep the kids out of the way while they picked up and loaded the houseboat. We ended up sitting in the ski boat for at least 2 hours in the hot sun just floating around. Me and the two boys decided to get in the water after a while, just as they were heading out in the houseboat. When we met up with the houseboat we tied the ski boat to the back and just pulled it, I was done with the ski boat and no one else wanted to drive it. Most of the first day was spent driving and trying to find a place to camp, one of the bad things about it being a holiday weekend. It was actually pretty relaxing, sitting on the top deck just driving and the cool breeze. Ross, Bre and Jordan spent the entire time sitting on the top reading.

Around 3 or 4 we finally found a place up Hansens Creek (One of the many canyons) that had a nice sandy beach and it was the top of the canyon so it wasn't crowded. We decided to just stay and camp there the rest of the weekend. It was really nice cause there was a sandy beach for the kids to play on, there was wood so we could build a fire and it was the top of the canyon so there was very little traffic. The water was deep enough to go off the water slide and we had plenty of space to swim and in right out from where we parked the houseboat it was open and deep enough that we could practice/try to water ski and use the knee board with out a lot of people laughing at us. We did also go down the canyon to the main water way for fishing and playing. The fishing was a lot of fun, I caught the biggest fishes i have ever caught before, the biggest was a 4 pound striper.

Those stripers were a lot of fun to catch, they really put up a fight. We had taken some beer batter for the fish and tried it on some stripers and some of the large mouth bass we caught. I don't care for fish but it really wasn't bad. I really want to go back for the fishing, so much fun.

This trip was def a trip of many firsts for a lot of the people that went but the one that shocked me the most was my mother. She has always had this thing with being surrounded by deep water, she gets a little panicked, so it was a big thing that she agreed to come on the trip. (she didn't decide until the week before we left) On the morning of Tue, the last full day there, she told me she was feeling adventurous. I asked if she wanted to go for a ride on the ski boat (she has not been on it, she usually hangs out on the beach with the kids) and she said she would ride on it but wanted a little bit more. I asked if she wanted to ride the tube, knowing for sure she would say no and laugh at me. However, my jaw hit the floor when she said yes she would like to try it. I didn't think she would actually follow through but when I came back from taking Bre and Jordan tubing Jeff hollered out "Guess who suited up?" She was ready and getting lathered up in sun screen. I think that was the first time she came off the boat since we picked it up, but she did and we got her on the tube. She told me not to take videos but honestly, this is a once in a lifetime event, I couldn't not record it.

She also made us promise to take it slow and easy and I wasn't about to freak her out her first time out. She later told me she would like to try it again and maybe a little faster. My mom is getting "stranger" as she gets older, definitely shocking us a lot more.

It was a nice trip. We could relax, play and swim as the mood struck. The water was warm even early morning and in the evening. And it sounds like most of us are addicted and can't wait to go back. I think its safe to say that we will be making a couple trips down there this summer to just camp on the beach.

Here are some random pictures from the trip. I forgot to take pictures until the last night there and on the ride back to the marina. I also don't have a whole lot of pictures of Ross because he sat up on the roof most of the time reading. He had the Harry Potter books that he wanted to have finished before we went home, but he had fun so that's what counts. I did tell Ross that we should just buy a houseboat and live there. I could do that, until I found out how much houseboats cost, its a lot of money for a couple of people who would live on the lake and not have jobs.

Half of us just put out air mattresses and slept out under the stars on the roof. It was nice and cool and was amazing until the moon came up. It was a very bright full moon.I was trying to take a nap and the boys said they wanted to nap too, yeah right. That didn't last very long, and the became a jungle gym.

Granddaddies

This last weekend Ross, Jeff, Nathan and I backpacked the Granddaddies in the Uintas. Its one of my favorite hikes and I have been looking forward to it all summer. I was really hoping to be able to get more backpacking and camping in this summer but its almost over and its gone to fast to think. But this was a really fun trip. Its just 4 miles in and 4 miles out and its not a very hard hike. It was Nathan's first time backpacking and he did amazing for a 5 year old. He told us a couple times that his legs aren't as long as ours and they get tired easier too. We left Friday about 2 and started hiking about 4, I think, and found a camp spot around 7. The hard part is finding a camp spot because it has to be 2500 feet from water and from the trail and the Uintas are covered in lakes. Finally we found a spot where we could fit a tent and build a fire pit and set up camp. We took a tent that Jeff and I had bought the first time we did Havasupai and couldn't remember how big it was and when we got it set up we looked at it and was wondering how 4 of us were going to fit in it, and yes it was a very snug fit, however I did sleep very very warmly the first night. Also, the mosquitos really weren't that bad, for the Uintas (when I backpacked with the young women, after getting home, we counted 50 mosquito bites on my back and 20 on one foot). I think I only came home with around 20 this time so that is good. The weather really cooperated also, it was sunny and warm most of the day and the wind wasn't too horrible. I was afraid Ross would be bored because all there is to do is hike and fish and he doesn't fish, luckily he took a book and he was content and he said he enjoyed himself.

On Saturday we just kind of hiked around to some of the other lakes and fished through out the day. We caught some really nice sized fish but just let them go, didn't want to try to find a way to cook them. All in all it was a pretty good day. That night, Jeff decided to sleep in his hammock, which freed up a lot of space in the tent so we could breath, it was colder though and I woke up freezing (I planned ahead and took some hand warmers to keep me warm at night, toss a couple in the sleeping bag and they keep you pretty toasty). Sunday morning we just got up, ate, got rid of camp and hiked out. I was surprised at how well I did with the hiking, I guess I am in better shape than I thought, which was nice not to be sore after the hiking. It was a lot of fun and we are already talking of a trip or two we want to do next summer.