The Refugee

I really am a softy when it comes to dogs. There's no way for me to plausibly deny that. So yesterday when I went to Petsmart and found that the shelter was looking for holiday foster homes for some puppies, I couldn't say no to this guy:

Meet Lance, a 4 month old black labrador puppy. He's cute as cute, and playful but rather mellow for a puppy. Unfortunately he isn't house trained yet and his bladder seems to be the size of Rhode Island (he pees A LOT) but so far he isn't doing too bad. He is very patient and loves to play. In fact, he's quite the goofball:

The other dogs aren't sure what to think of him yet. They question my sanity, bringing a puppy into the house. But so far they are all getting along just fine. The trick is keeping Josh from getting too attached (and me, I'll admit). Josh loves labs. He's cute, but he isn't ours to keep. We have to take him back to the shelter after the holidays (in about 3 weeks), where, hopefully he will get adopted into a nice permanent family! I don't think he will have too hard a time. He is such a suck-up!

Semester's End

Well, another semester is at an end, and I must say I am enjoying having my husband all to myself. Am I jealous of all the time he spends with his homework? Maybe just a little. The end of this semester brings with it a lot of relief, however, because Josh passed his math class with a B+. This class has been a royal pain in the backside, so we are both glad to see it go (Josh more than me, I am sure). Josh also completed his first ever engineering class with an A- and has decided to add that as a minor. It adds a few more semesters, but I am glad he has a plan.

As for me, I just work work work! (Or pretend to anyway...*wink*) Work actually hasn't been very busy, so there is a lot of down time here at the office, and I'm not complaining. Okay sometimes I complain, since it makes for very boring days. Writing is slow - I think the competition has increased in light of the impending holidays. Everyone is trying to find new ways to earn extra cash. I would love some of that extra cash, but in the meantime I'll just wait it out and keep an eye out for new assignments...

Our preparations for Christmas are well under way. Our tree is up, and presents are wrapped beneath it. Well, they were wrapped beneath it until Toby decided to open (and eat) my mom's gift. Now the gifts are wrapped and up away from curious teeth...

Piggy's Day Out

Meet Piggy, the Hey Song-singing football pig. When I bought this for Josh I honestly thought that he would hate it. As it turns out, he actually loves it quite a lot.

Piggy went on his first adventure a few weeks ago, to the Utah/TCU football game. That's right, the game where we got completely and utterly and maddeningly crushed. Oh well, it was still fun to get out to a game, and Piggy even got all decked out in a University of Utah scarf for the occasion. It's a good thing it was warm, or EJ might have missed his scarf! Here are some more pictures:

We were depressed by the outcome of the game, of course, but at least we (Piggy especially) had a good time! And we're standing by and cheering for our Utes. Go Utes! Beat those Cougars on Saturday and this season will have been worth it!

And in other news...

We had a "blizzard" last night! I dropped quite a bit of snow, but nothing unmanageable. But boy was the wind strong! Essentially the entire state shut down. It was quite exciting, and nice to go home early. The dogs (Toby in particular) were excited to see the snow and spent some time out bouncing around in it. Of course, eventually they did want back in...

Toby just loves being dried off with his towel, so I think it was a good night all around for him. We're just glad that the roads were (mostly) clear this morning! And tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip (For Ginger Snaps & Nilla Wafers!)

Well first let me apologize for not having a tantalizing picture to go with this yummy recipe. I wanted to take a picture, and charged my camera and everything, and then promptly forgot. Josh's mom had a Halloween dinner on Sunday, and asked us each to bring an orange food. This dip was recommended to me, and I decided to try it. I was pleased with the outcome. It was easy and tasty! Here it is:


Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip


2 C. Pumpkin Puree
1 C. Dark Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger (I only used 1/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 (8 oz) Package Cream Cheese, softened
1 box of Ginger Snaps and/or Nilla Wafers Cookies

1. Using a mixer, whip cream cheese and pumpkin until creamy
2. Mix in sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger until well blended
3. Refridgerate Overnight


Serving Option (I did this, and it was fun and festive!):

Cut off the top of a small pumpkin and hollow out the inside. Pour dip into pumpkin and replace top. Refridgerate. When you are ready to serve, just pull out the pumpkin and place it on the serving tray with the cookies!

I'm still trying to recover...

...from the black belt test on Saturday! Josh and I both tested for our 2nd degree black belts, and two students tested for their 1st. We started off the morning bright and early with forms. There were a few mistakes, but in general those all went well. Once we were good and tired from forms, we started on our 5 mile run. I hate running, but it's a necessary evil once in awhile! It was raining too, so we were all pretty soggy by the time we were done with that. After the run and the pushups/situps, Josh and I were lucky enough to have a break while the others tested on their strikes, blocks, and kicks.

The rest of the test went by pretty quickly, and was a lot of fun. We did our defenses, during which time we were attacked randomly by other people. Sparring was fun as well. My parents and my cousin had all come to help out, so they all got to fight against us. Mom knocked the wind out of me. It just goes to show you never do reach a point where mom can't beat you! Here are a few pictures from the day:

Here I am, trying to defend myself from my mother!

Now Glenn has me in a headlock...uh-oh!

Josh beating up on EJ...

But this doesn't look so good for Josh!

Sterling attacking Josh

Uh-oh...Bye Peel! (Jacob or Porter? Can't tell from this angle! They're identical twins...)

Defenses turned out kinda funny...

I'm actually quite proud of this kick, except I wish my hands were up so it'd look better!

Here is Josh doing his breaking - 5 boards at one time! Way to go Josh!

Here we are performing our Tai Chi Sword form together

More of the sword form

It was a lot of fun, but very tiring, and we have been sore for the past few days! More pictures to come later!

The New Door

Finally! This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Well, it's a moment that I've been waiting for for quite some time now. We have a new back door! That's right! No more lifting up a giant slab of glass and metal just to access the backyard. No more ugly, old, and warped frame. Though this new door cost us a bit more than we wanted to spend, we are sure glad to have it. The installer came yesterday. I was able to watch the demo on the old door, which was a lot of fun! (Although Toby was a bit nervous about a stranger coming and destroying our house!) I didn't get to stay to see the final product, however...because I had to go to work! It was like having a bunch of Christmas presents you aren't allowed to open. I think work was longer than ever. Josh even covered my eyes while he walked me toward the kitchen so that I couldn't see until he "unveiled" it. And I am so happy with the results! And now for the unveiling...

We'll start with a "before" picture of the old door...

And then...(drumroll please!)...TA DA!

Both sides actually do open wide, but for the pictures I only opened one door. Isn't it beautiful?!

What's New?

The answer to that question is...nothing! That's alright. I do enjoy a little down time now and then. Josh is working hard and doing great in school. His engineering class made batteries using lemonade today. Don't ask me how it works, but he is sure that he could build a generator for our house now. Who knows? Someday down the road that might not be such a bad idea...

As for me, I'm still working and hoping the construction is finished soon. The buiding shakes and rattles all day. On the upside, asphalt and parking stalls in our new parking lot magically appeared Monday morning. No "ins and outs" or sidewalk yet though, so "NO PARKING" allowed. Yet. Maybe soon? Things are pretty much a bust in the writing business right now. Titles are all too technical; they deal with cars and things that A.) I know nothing about, and B.) would be difficult to write in a single 400-500 word article. Oh well. On the upside, we should be getting our new french doors on Wednesday! That hurts the pocket book but makes me oh so happy! The simple pleasure of being able to open a door.

To finish off news of our Atlanta trip, Kathrine took us downtown to see the underground mall on our last day there. Here we are riding the MARTA:

The trains are actually pretty clean, which a relief because we did see a few rats running around the tracks. The Underground mall was pretty cool. Trains everywhere! We ate at a place called Johnny Rockets (which I've never heard of). It's a 50's style diner with some really good food. They even serve your fries to you with smiley-faced ketchup! I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the glimpse of Atlanta. Alan made fun of me for acting like a tourist (duh Alan I was a tourist!), but oh well. What right does a man in a straight jacket have to talk anyway?

That's right. EJ is strapping Alan into a straight jacket. He came in from work and proudly announced that his straight jacket had arrived. There is an explanation, believe it or not. He works in a haunted house on Halloween, and this is his costume this year. Of course they couldn't resist the urge to try it out. And of course, Kathrine couldn't resist the urge to torment him...

Here she is hiding puppy treats in the jacket for Tallie to find. Ha ha! Good times...

Greetings from Atlanta

Well here we are in Atlanta, and after a red-eye flight and more than 24 hours without sleep, those elephant ears were looking pretty fantastic. Alright, they are really cool, even after a good night's sleep. These beauties mark the entrance to my sister's apartment complex.

We all flew down to see Kathrine's portfolio show, since she is graduating in Game Art and Design from the Art Institute of Atlanta. She is ridiculously good at her work, and I must admit that I am a bit jealous. I wish I was that talented! You can actually see her portfolio at www.kathrinedavis.com. Here's a hint: That picture on the main page in NOT a photograph. It is part of her portfolio. Each graduating class at the Art Institute competes to earn the honor of the "Red table" at the portfolio show. This red table symbolizes best in show, and is meant to draw the attention of any would-be-employers that come to the show. It was Kathrine's goal, and she found out yesterday when we went to set up her table for the show, that she earned it. Congratulations to her! Here's the final result:

Of course, she had a lot of work to do to get ready for today's show. Lucky for her, she had a lot of help...from a somewhat unlikely source...

Tallie is very serious about creating that poster. She is also an avid Jaguars fan, it seems, if the bandanna around her neck means anything. This is the first time I've met Tallie. She is definitely a cutie, and a character. She even seems to have a little bit of Shena and Sydnie mixed in.

We spent the day at the portfolio show today, and we finished the day off with a good meal at Olive Garden. Never ending pasta bowls all around!

Now that portfolio is over, we're hoping to have some free time to do a bit of sightseeing. From what I've seen so far, the city has some really cool architecture, and many of the houses down here are gorgeous. There are trees all over this city. They even replace grass in many yards, and the houses are hidden by forests. It's beautiful! 

Free Tickets

"Early" (not really) yesterday morning, Josh and received a call from VanLeer regarding extra Lagoon Day tickets. Neither of us has been to Lagoon in awhile (read "since Jr. High") so we decided it could be a fun little evening outing. I think evening is just the way to go. It's cooler, and you only spend a few hours there so you aren't completely dead by the time you're ready to go home. Unfortunately my stomach was feeling extra weak last night, so I didn't get to enjoy too many rides, but I did enjoy the ones we went on (mostly...)! Here are some pictures:

We stopped by pioneer village for some ice cream...

This is us in the place with the old printing stuff...which you can't see because we take up the whole picture. Oh well!

Josh is excited for the Rocket...

Me...not so much...

My nerves and my stomach may still be stuck at the top somewhere. A Halloween tradition of ours is to go to the haunted house, so of course we stopped at both of Lagoon's while we were there. They even had a pimped out hearse...

Complete with skeletal driver...

Creepy? Morbid? We think so, but with Halloween lurking around the corner is has its own certain sense of character and humor. The license plate even read "Lst Ride."

Let the Games Begin!

The football games, that is. NCAA football is now in full swing, and we're excited and ready to cheer our Utes on for their final season in the Mountain West. We kicked off the season with a party that was conveniently timed with EJ's birthday. Everyone wore their Utah red! (I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures)

And we each decorated a cupcake to add to EJ's cupcake football...

And of course, provide by Auntie DaLene...football Jello! (And way to go Pitt, with a player on the field backward...we wish they played like that!)

In the end, the Utes triumphed over #15 ranked Pittsburg...in overtime! What a way to start the season! GO UTES!

Camping Craziness

This post is a few days late, but life in general prevented me from getting on until now. This past weekend we left the craziness of the world behind and traded it in for some good old relaxing craziness up in the mountains. My family tries to do a camping trip every year, but it has become difficult for us all to get up there at the same time, so this year Grandma and Auntie DaLene stayed for a week while the rest of us came and went as we could. Josh and I, along with my parents and sister, went up Friday night. The dogs were excited and ready to go!

Poor Shena would later lose her enthusiasm after spraining her tail. She lives life with such excitement and energy, but sometimes the poor girl beats herself to death!

It was nice to get away, and we had a lot of fun. The food was great, with Taco Salad and Dutch oven roast beef and potatoes as the highlights. There was also Dutch oven popcorn and giant roasting marshmallows. There were about 20 of us up there, so nights around the fire were full of fun conversation. Aside from 20 people, we also had six dogs...

Note little Kashus in the back. He loved the dogs, and even learned a few lessons from Toby that included how to stick your face in a bowl of water to take a drink...oops! It was interesting having to wade through the dogs to get to the other side of camp:

One of the highlights was our Nerf war:

You can take the soldier out of the military, but can you take the military out of the soldier?

Kurtis' nerd look...

We had a lot of fun, playing protect the commander and storm the base...that is, until cranky rude caretaker came out and yelled at us for playing in a "public park." Tell me, what good is a public park if you can't play in it? When EJ told him he was rude, he once again overreacted and decided to call the cops. He proceeded to yell at Mom and I when we brought Lexi over, because "dogs aren't allowed in the park." Except that she's a service animal. Needless to say the cop wasted his time, told us the guy felt "threatened," and said we were allowed to use the (gasp) "public" park. Did we really need the drama?

Of course we all had our cozy tents set up (in every nook and cranny available). Here's Mom taking a nap in hers...with some tent crashers, it seems!

Speaking of tent crashers, take a look at these sleeping bag stealers! Thankfully I had just woken up, or else I might have been disgruntled when Toby came over and laid right on top of me!

And of course, as with any good vacation, it was nice to come home. The dogs weren't incredibly thrilled to get baths, but we sure couldn't wait to wash the dirt and smoke away. We can't wait until the next vacation. Ready or not, Atlanta here we come!