Well, we've moved. I would take pictures, but we don't have any furniture so... another time. We do have a fireplace! Our space has a hard time warming up and staying warm, though, so I think some weatherstripping for our windows is due soon. We can feel the cold seeping in through the cracks, brr. I can't complain, though. It's a thousand times nicer than the old place we were living in, and no nosy or rude neighbors (yet, anyway). It's always odd, I think, living so close to other people but not really interacting with them at all. I haven't met our next door neighbors yet, but Rick has met 'the guy'. No name exchange or friendly conversation, apparently he's always in a hurry? How odd. And I've seen his lady friend but never been passing close enough to introduce myself. Whatever happened to bringing over a plate of cookies and saying hello? We are an upstairs corner unit, so there's someone below us that I've never seen, or heard.. and the people under our neighbors have a small dog that really, really doesn't like Rontu. There are a lot of other dogs here though, so maybe when it warms up a little she can meet a puppy friend. We actually met three on our snowy walk this morning, and all three wanted to play with her! She only ever gets to play with Rick's cousin's pitbull, so I couldn't stop laughing as she played with two retrievers and a cattle dog. She immediately surrenders to them hoping they won't be 'scared' of her enough to not want to play. Ive had people see her, put their dogs on a leash, and then ask if she was friendly.. which is fair, I guess, but they look at her like she's a vicious killer. No.. just a 9 month puppy. It was refreshing to have owners ask me to take her off her leash! She also has never fully experienced fresh snow, so we had fun kicking snow around. She kept trying to dig to see what's underneath, and then trying to chew the ice.

We're broke and poor and exhausted, but we have a home and food in the fridge. My mind is overwhelmed with all of the decorating opportunities I have here, but one thing at a time. I don't want to get things off of craigslist just because they're free or cheap, but not quite what I want. I'd rather take my time to find the absolutely perfect desk or couch, even if it means spending a little more money. I want to make my coffee table, which is going to be $20 tops. The fact that most of my craft supplies and things are still in boxes bugs me a little bit but I'm sure I can find some bookshelves soon. Or even a tutorial to make some! Rick always has pallets behind his work we can use. I think my largest dilemma is figuring out how I want to paint.. I want bright kitchen walls and a striped ceiling in the bathroom, or maybe two tone walls in the bathroom.. I just can't handle all of this white ahh. Soon enough. :)

Having a dog has been one grand adventure. I have always had dogs growing up, one of my best and worst memories are when we had 3 dogs under one roof. One was a lab, another a springer spaniel, and the other was some sort of big eared chihuahua mutt. It's odd, to try and correlate my feelings for Rontu to my feelings for those dogs. They were just, there, and I poked and played and rolled around in the grass with them as if they were my greatest friends. It wasn't until we lost Bear, and my mom told me my dad cried when he took him to be put down, that I realized they really were friends and there's an emotional connection to them. It's that point when you have a goldfish, and when you see it floating upside down in it's tank you cry... but not because you miss it necessarily, because in your 4 year old mind it's a toy. And you're not quite sure what feelings or love is yet. Until you can understand that your dog is licking you because it loves you, or rests it's head on your lap. I have always loved animals and go absolutely crazy when I see any dog within sight distance. I don't care much for smaller dogs, but I will give them all of the pets and rubs I can if they come up to me. I have always had cats too, and my plan for tricking Rick into letting me have one is well under way. It pretty much involves me bringing home a kitten and saying that there was a little girl with a box of them outside of the grocery store (that actually happened once, I have many kitten-acquiring stories). My kittens came and went, and it never really phased me when they were no longer in my life. I did miss them, and I cried night after night into my pillows. But cats can be unpredictable, and its not common for them to up and leave when they're ready. I have always accepted that.
Despite my many dogs and cats throughout the years, nothing could have prepared me for the joy and love I've learned from having Rontu. Her mom was an american staffordshire, and we're not sure what the dad is, but the vet said most likely cattle dog. She has spots and her brothers and sisters have the speckled coat and shorter legs like cattle dogs. She's the only one who really resembled her mother. She is so incredibly smart, and such a huge cuddle bug. I have cried tears into her neck and hugged her so tight she yelps. I've learned her facial expressions and get never ending joy from saying the words 'bites' and 'ball' just to see her perk her ears up. She runs to the door when I tell her Rick is coming home. She barks in her sleep and likes to hop in the bathtub when you're taking a shower. I made her swim in the river when she was probably too young, and I've learned that devoting yourself to something that is terribly helpless without you gives you the greatest sense of humility. She can do nothing for me, yet she does everything. She keeps me company when I'm home alone, and keeps me safe when I have to sleep alone. She destroys shoes and likes to pee on the bed sometimes, but she absolutely melts my heart and I can never tire of kissing her sweet face.
I picked her out of a surprise litter from a coworker's foster dog, and I picked the best one, I'm positive. Before my moving to Nevada was even a for sure thing, I told Rick that I had found him a dog and didn't really wait for him to say yes or no. He had lost his old dog months earlier and normally people like to wait a little while, but it was the right time. Rontu and I would drive up to see him on the weekends and she could fit in a hat box on the front seat. And seeing the two of them cuddle? Forget about it, my heart cant take it. It's been 8 months of absolute joy.

I'm really afraid of heights. My knees start shaking, so looking above my head and seeing all these people in tiny, fragile looking baskets dangerously close to power lines and houses and other balloons made my hands a little clammy. But I have decided that a hot air balloon ride has got to be absolutely amazing and probably the best way to conquer my fear. It's on my bucket list for sure. We got up at 4 this morning after not being able to fall asleep until 11 (R is such a trooper) and fought traffic to park in a neighborhood and walk up a hill to see the 'glow show' and dawn patrol. I've never really seen hot air balloons up close, so it's was interesting and I didn't mind the little sleep and cold breeze at all. I like to stay away from large crowds if I can so we didn't go down to the field and see them really up close, but they ended up coming almost right over our heads anyway so that was a treat. I was able to get a couple of shots with my knock off telephoto lens and they didn't turn out too bad.. we grabbed some breakfast at a place in town and on our way back, all of the rest of the balloons were in the air... it's a sight to see! There were so many little kids and it made me wish that I had been woken up and dragged to something cool like this when I was a kid... afterwards we grabbed some iced chais from our little place that we like to go to and did a little shopping, looked at some books... it was nice, I don't usually have Saturdays off and R never works weekends so I was really happy to be able to spend a whole day together. Plus I treated myself a little bit which I haven't been able to do in awhile :)





We ended with taking our pup to the park.. if you can't tell by these pictures, she's a huge ball of energy and if she doesn't get out and run she ends up chewing up my shoes, or the moulding on the walls, or the pillows, or decides to potty in the house out of anger.. she's been learning how to jump higher and higher, as you can see here.. !







shoes//bamboo | cardigan//forever 21 | dress//lauren conrad

You can't really tell in the photos...but this dress has the cutest vintage bicycle print and I just couldn't say no! Also, after editing these photos, I realized how badly I lost my tan lately... I turn a golden brown in the summer but lose it so quickly too, hopefully we can soak up some sun and swim the river before it gets too chilly!