Fall Colors

We took a little drive up to the ski basin today to check out the aspens. Beau-ti-ful!

Someone with lots of Spare Time

Check out this great MSN Video: 'Miracles' musical mash-up

Less Wisdom

There may be some of you who don't appreciate this and are even grossed out by it, but I had my wisdom teeth surgically extracted back in July and they are HUGE! So huge, in fact, that I decided to post a photo of them. These are the top 2 (notice the hook on the top of the one on the left). The bottom ones were even bigger and had to be cut in half to remove. The pieces just won't stay together long enough to get a decent photo of them. I highly recommend getting them out when you're younger. I imagine it would have been a b!t$h to do it in 10 or 20 years. I'll warn you that even with dental insurance, it will cost you. So start saving your dimes now. Well, I guess that's it for now.

Montana Vacation!

Sadly, the whirlwind that was our Montana vacation is over. Luckily, we came across some photos to remind us of the good times had and not just the days spent driving!

It started with a 16+ hour drive to my parent's house in MT, followed shortly thereafter by an 8 hour drive to Whitefish to watch miss Shelby get married. She looked absolutely stunning and luckily the setting was almost as beautiful. We used to refer to one another as "soulmate" but I guess I got bumped out of that position! I'm okay with that, though. Rob and Shelby look so happy together!

While in Whitefish, I got to see some of my BBT and choir friends from college, which was great! It had been far too long to say the least! We spent the evening walking around, drinking, and sharing stories old and new. Love you guys!


Another 8 hour drive took us back to my parent's house, where we spent most of our time gorging on Flathead cherries, scolding the out-of-control herd of mutts, and hanging out. Jared and I continued our traditional vacation he-runs-while-I-ride-along-on-a-bike outings and even did some fly fishing with the fam. (It should be noted that I caught 5+ fish to each of Jared's...but who's counting anyway?)







The dogs also had an amazing time playing in the water and practically demanded their own section of photos.






From MT, we cruised down to Jackson Hole, WY for a quick get-together with a couple of my roomies from college! The drive through Yellowstone Park, while beautiful, was as slow as molasses and took us 7.5 hours. Needless to say, I'm afraid we didn't arrive in the best of spirits. I believe that I demanded a glass of wine immediately upon exiting the car! We did get some pretty rad photos, though, even taken from a moving car.


When insanity starts to set in, the only thing left to do is take pictures...so that's what we did...


And just when we thought we couldn't take it anymore...we saw this...




The rest of that Friday night in Jackson is a blur of sushi, wine, dancing, shooting pool, and laughing so hard my abs hurt and I almost wet my pants then laughing some more!

I love these ladies SO much and can't believe it had been 3 years since I'd last seen them!

Sadly, this is where vacation took a turn for the worse. Not only were we totally over being in a car, but I woke up the next morning with some sort of stomach flu, (which ended up lasting about a week. ugh). The girls and their guys went kayaking for the day, while I stayed in bed and watched the Food Network. It was still beyond great to see them, and I'm glad we made the trip!

Fourteen hours of driving later, we arrived home.

While I'm sad that time passed so quickly, some time away gave me the much needed break from the ordinary and hope for a future filled with laughter, mountains, room to breathe, and good company!

In conclusion:
3,700 miles +
2 dogs +
a handful of old friends +
family +
the great outdoors =
AWESOME!

Doggy Loves!

Love Lessons from Dogs?

Believe it or not, your pet knows the secrets to achieving a successful relationship. Here are five love lessons that man's best friend can share with you.

1. The reassurance of forgiveness
In order to have a successful partnership, letting bygones be bygones is crucial. An inability to get over issues and move ahead is a key roadblock to happiness. Dogs, Forbes notes, are always in the moment and therefore don't hold grudges or hang onto resentment. "Dogs wipe the slate clean many times a day," he explains. "If you are grumpy and yell at your dog, but then wait a minute and act like you never did, he will forgive you — many times over. If humans could let the little things go as easily as dogs do, their relationships would be better for it."

2. The security of unconditional love
Forbes says that as a rule, when a dog loves his owner, that bond is lasting and real. "It's interesting to note that celebrities are over-the-top pet lovers," he says. "This is because their dogs really love them for who they are, not their A-list status; a dog will always treat you the same. Dogs offer truly substantive relationships in a way most people don't," he notes. When it comes to romantic relationships, humans should strive to emulate a dog's focus on what a person really offers in terms of love, kindness and warmth, he advises.

3. The comfort of consistency
In a romantic relationship, consistency can be quite comforting. What's not to love about a partner who is never moody or capricious? "We as humans understand there are different types of behavior, yet we crave consistency," Forbes says. "With dogs, regardless of your animal's personality, you pretty much get the same behavior unless he's ill. A lot of people take comfort in that aspect of pet ownership, so you can only imagine how much similar behavior could add to a romantic relationship."

4. The need to be playful
Forbes notes that most dogs want to have a good time, keeping things light and not so serious all of the time. "The easiest way to burn out a working dog is to work him all the time — that pretty much goes for relationships as well," he says. In police-dog training, Forbes explains, training is balanced with play and fun. "The harder you go at it in a training phase, the more you have to counterbalance it," he says. "It's the same with a relationship — you have to relieve the pressure through play and good times."

5. The importance of effective communication
While communicating with your partner is important in a relationship, it's not merely the act of communicating that will ensure your relationship's success, but finding the way to do so that best matches your partner's needs. This is a skill that you can easily learn from working with dogs, Forbes says. "The different ways in which I communicate with my three dogs are suited to what works best for them … and for me with them," he explains.

You have to be willing to experiment and find the best way to communicate with dogs, and the same goes for your romantic interests, he says: "Just as a hot-tempered dog won't respond to yelling and lots of commands, neither will a hot-tempered person. At the same time, some more sensitive types may need a gentler approach. Essentially, no one person or dog communicates the same way — each individual has a unique style, and taking the time to learn about your partner's needs is the key to a strong bond."

I moved again...

Well, I'm now on my 4th house in this town. Really, this is the first one actually IN town, but you know what I mean. The dogs and I moved in with 3 boys and 2 cats a couple of weeks ago. You might be thinking that I'm crazy, (and you're probably not wrong,) but it has been nothing but good times up to this point and I anticipate that the good times will continue to roll! We all work together at the vet clinic and somehow, still manage to see each other little enough that it works out.

Per usual, the cats and dogs can't be in the same room yet, but we haven't necessarily made to effort to condition them to each other's presence yet either. I guess you could say it's to be expected. I remain optimistic. There is no doubt in my mind that integration will be a success, just as it was with H's cat a year ago.

I gave Hyside a really funny haircut this week. He was getting so full of burs and grass seeds that it was time to do something. I was afraid they were going to dig their way into his skin and cause all kinds of issues. We actually do paw check every night before bed and check all 8 dog paws for grass seeds before sleepy time. Anyway, at work, we refer to the cut below as the "lion cut" (for obvious reasons). I did screw it up and shave his tail, so it looks like a rat tail, but other than that, he looks really cute. Next time I'll leave a puff ball at the end. He has lots more spots than I had anticipated. My handsome! He looks a little possessed in the photo, though.


Ah yes, to celebrate the move and improve my health and general attitude, I shelled out all my pennies for a big bed. A really big bed. The biggest bed, actually. The sweet piece of heaven you see below is a California King from Denver Mattress and is so awesome words can't describe it! Now I don't get crowded off the bed by the turds in the middle of the night. We can all sleep comfortably in our own space! The thing takes up over 1/4 of our bedroom, but we could never go back now! And to think that Jared had a double bed before this...


That's all for now, folks. I'll try to post again soon, like next week when I have my wisdom teeth extracted and have some time on my hands...ugh.