Baby Penelope

I don't have my own children so what do I take pictures of? Puppies and Penelope.  Whitney and Dave came down from DC to visit this weekend and we had so much fun. Whit wanted some six month pictures of P so I practiced my amateur photography skills and she was the perfect smiling subject.  Everyone at the gardens loved her!

 

  

 

I miss pinching those chubby cheeks of hers!

Puppy Love

Two weeks ago Ryan and I decided that maybe it was a good time to get a puppy.  Within 24-hours we'd fallen in love with a blonde Labradoodle named Bear and he was paid for and ours.

One week ago Bear - renamed Ryno - arrived at the Raleigh Airport from Indianapolis.  He was one scared little puppy.  Within a week he's gone from this:

To this:

I know everyone thinks they have the cutest dog, but really - we have the cutest dog in the world and he gets cuter and cuter every day.  He loves following us around the house, playing with his toys and sleeping.  He's not quite ready to pay attention to us yet - so the training is slow going.  He only goes to the bathroom outside now, but only because we keep an eye on him and take him out when he needs to go.  He sits when he wants to which is maybe about a third of the time but we'll get there.  Being a mix between a labrador and a poodle he is one of the smartest dogs out there and you can see his little brain working as he explores the apartment.  We just love him!!

However, a week into this whole puppy thing we've both had our "What are we doing??" moments.  We are responsible for this living creature and he's never going away.  Our lives have now completely changed due to a hasty 24-hour decision.  We definitely don't regret it, I just wasn't quite ready.  But we now have to be!  And we will be even more ready by the time babies come around!  Ryan used to be scared of poop and vomit but after picking up after a puppy, all that is quickly slipping away.  Ryno is here to stay and we are so excited to watch him grow.

Yep, Ryan ran a marathon.

Are you amazed? I sure am.  I didn't want to doubt my hubby, but I maybe kinda did...  See, he didn't really start training until a few months ago.  And running 26.2 miles is often the worst day of some people's lives.  Toenails fall off, nipples bleed, people vomit, joints are sore (if not worse), there can be stress fractures, etc, etc, etc.  Do you see why I was scared?  All of this is much more likely if your body hasn't prepared for all this!

But he was definitely blessed from up above and he did it!  He found a race buddy, Ben, who pushed him for 22 miles before he finally cramped up and had to run/walk for the last 4 miles. It was a goal of Ryan's to complete a full marathon before he turned 31 and thankfully he can check that off the list and never do one again.

All smiles even at 6:00 a.m.

 

Way too many people up WAY too early.

What a champ!

DONE!!!

They received their medals from Marines.  I thought it was really neat.

I'm so proud of you, babe!!

Sing it Out

First, I love the Sing Off. A Capella groups are uh-mazing and I love the judges.  Ben Folds' awkward geniusness cracks me up.  But that's not the point of this post.  This is:

I LOVE SINGING TO THE RADIO! 

I know I got this trait from my mother although she doesn't even have to have a radio to sing.  Or a real song. I grew up to her singing loudly around the house whatever she felt like - good thing she has a beautiful voice!

(Love you, Mom!)  

I have had the most splendid drives home lately.  I roll down all the windows in the Jeep, crank the radio, zone off into my own world and just sing as loud as I want.  I know the people around me can see and even hear me but I don't even care anymore.  I also find myself humming to my headphones at work and I've almost started singing there, too.  I best be careful to prevent that awkward moment when I accidentally bust into "You and I" by Lady Gaga (which, by the way, is one of my current favorites) for all the office to hear.  

I'm coming home...

"I'm coming home,

I'm coming home,

Tell the world I'm coming home"

Okay, well, that's song's about death but that's what came to my head as I was writing this.

But we really are coming home to Nebraska (next weekend for a wedding) and....

for Ryan's second clinical! YAY! 

We'll be home for the holidays which is exactly what we wanted. 

To clarify, here is what our 2012 is looking like:

Mid July: Ryan finishes with his coursework at Duke 

End of July: We pack everything up and move it to Omaha where it will be stored.

End o' July - October: We fly to Alaska and live out of suitcases and rentals.

October - January: We return to Omaha for here's hoping a mild winter

January - April: Clinical #3 (California, AZ, or somewhere else out west)

April-May: Back to NC for a few wrap-up weeks

May: GRADUATION!!!

May and on... ???

Might as well make life an adventure while we're still young, right??

Twins!

No, I'm not pregnant with twins. But I wouldn't mind having twins if they were this adorable!

A Wonderful Weekend!

Ryan and I seriously had one of the best weekends we've had together.  Overall we've both just been really happy lately.  I think it's because I got my hair cut but it could also be the weight lifted of now having a job, or the beautiful weather we have been having.  Either way, it was splendid.

Thursday night we went out for Sushi with some couples from church as a going-away for a few of them who are leaving us.

Friday night we went to see the new movie Warrior.  I was surprised to hear a lot of people didn't know anything about this movie until I realized our TV lives on ESPN and we are definitely the targeted audience for this movie.  Ryan's a lucky man to have a wife as the one who chose to go see a sports move (and MMA at that).  It was so good! As Ryan puts it - he was emotionally drained when it was done.  You should definitely go check it out.

Saturday was packed full of goodness.  We were first able to sleep in which we both needed.  Then we used a groupon and went kayaking on the Eno River just 20 minutes away.  I'd never been and thank goodness it was all flat water.

The weather was perfect and North Carolina really is just so green and beautiful.  

There were tons of turtles and no snakes which is perfect for me.

I love him :)

Have any of you ever had New Orleans Shaved Ice?  There is a stand in town that says they are N.O. Style and I've never had the "authentic" straight from N.O. but all I know is that this stuff is AMAZING.  Yes, Brianna, it's almost as good as the stuff we had in Hawaii if not better!!

As we were driving away we saw this peaking from behind a building.  We did some spying and we still cannot figure out what it is!  The symbol (as seen on the gate) was on the flag and also the window of the one car parked in the lot.  That was the only indication of what it might be.  Does anyone recognize it?  There were no signs or anything telling us what it is! Well, there were signs saying it was under 24 hr. surveillance...

Our day was still far from over.  We went home, hopped on the motorcycle and went to the Duke vs. Stanford football game (or at least 3/4 of it).  We knew we wouldn't win but Ryan wanted to see Andrew Luck play.  Ryan then about had a nervous breakdown watching the Huskers battling to beat Fresno State.  Luckily we had the good company of our friend Ross and my buffalo chicken dip which always makes him happy. 

Sunday after church we were able to go to the Duke Chapel for a 9/11 memorial.  After a few brief words from local figures the choir sang the entire Mozart Requiem.  Ryan had no idea that was coming and while it's not his cup of tea, I really enjoyed it!  And I think he didn't mind what he stayed awake for.

And like, our hurricane weekend, our night ended with two games of Ticket to Ride with Mitch and Maile.  We are definitely going to miss them.

I hope all of you are enjoying the fall weather wherever you are!!