Royal Wedding

I must admit I haven't been into the Royal Wedding. No, not at all. You think I would be given my love for all things British and my time in London. However, it just hasn't interested me. That is, until the owner at work sent out an e-mail yesterday announcing a costume/hat contest for the Royal Wedding today. Given that only 3 people participated in the Halloween costume contest last year, I thought I had a pretty good shot.

So last night, I assembled my outfit - black dress from our Rehearsal Dinner (actually a bridesmaid dress I loved), black shoes, leggings for underneath, white sweater with beading. But what to do for a hat? All my good vintage-y hats were at my parent's house still.

I know! I'll be crafty and make one. I got this. So when Chester and Adam were in bed, while I was getting over my draft disappointment, I gathered up some materials leftover from the wedding that I thought would be good for a fascinator hat.

Here's how I did it in 10 easy steps that only took me until 11:30.
1. Find a pop box in the pantry, tear a big piece out of the top.
2. Cut a circle out of the piece of cardboard (about 4" in diameter). Cut a slit into said circle.
3. Go upstairs, try to skip the creaky step. Hunt around upstairs for the stapler. Staple cardboard into a cone shape.
4. Cut a square out of the aqua material used as a runner on the head table. This will cover up the cardboard and add some color.
5. Spend 15 minutes searching the house for the hot glue gun. Locate hot glue gun. Plug in. Wait to heat up.
6. Proceed to hot glue the aqua cloth onto the cardboard cone. Burn fingers.
7. Hot glue the polka dot netting onto the piece.
8. Hot glue the half feather onto the piece.
9. Debate whether or not I should add a veil. Decide to skip the veil.
10. Attach the hair clips to the bottom. Try on. Already feel embarrassed.

I felt completely silly walking in to work dressed like this. Even without the fascinator on. Plus, I had a meeting with a sales rep. I had to explain to him that this isn't how I normally dress....

BUT it was all worth it as I won the contest! YES!!! I love the Royal Wedding!

I totally have a future in millinery

Obedience Class Week 3 OR In what new and creative ways can Chester embarrass us?

So this evening was Obedience Class Week 3 (2nd with dogs). It started out poorly right off the bat as we walked into the building. I had Chester on the leash, and he was pulling as usual. All of a sudden a lady starts shouting at me across the parking lot and coming at me, "THAT'S NOT HOW YOU LEAD A DOG INTO CLASS." I was like uhhhhhhhhh... and looked at Adam desperately for help. This crazy lady continues to yell and scold me, grabs Chester's leash, and starts yanking on it and yelling at him. Then she tells me, "I know what I'm doing because I'm the owner of this place." WAIT - WHAT? I was so taken aback I just stood there waiting for the verbal lashing to end. I like our trainer, but let's just say that once we're done with these sessions we won't be back. I'm sooo unbelievably unimpressed because of that encounter.

Then we get inside, and Chester starts his barking. He gets squirted with the water bottle and calms down. Next we're told that the lady from the dog business next door is here to let us try Thundershirts for the "insecure" dogs. Apparently Chester is one of them. I kind of take issue with them constantly trying to sell us stuff (first class it was Gentle Leaders). He ended up wearing the Thundershirt for half of the class. I really couldn't tell if there was much difference in his behavior. It did make him really hot though.

I was Chester's handler, and he was full of fail. He was so distracted and wouldn't focus. I was very patient with him though as I know he can sit and down on command. He was not cooperating though. We had been using his harness, but the instructor made us switch to his collar. She took him because he wasn't heeling, and he slipped out of it. So then she put a metal slip collar on him. This made me really nervous at first, but he actually was much better behaved on it. Well, other than the few temper tantrums he threw. He still refused to sit or down though, but his heeling was much improved. Since he wasn't responding to his treats to sit, she made us force him to sit with his leash (by pulling up on it). This resulted in me feeling like a bad mommy, and him flailing around. Usually he would eventually sit though.

He was AWFUL at the sitting and then waiting while I went through the "door" first. Everyone was watching, and we were terrible at it. The instructor thought his issue is that he's "spoiled." Meh. It's not like he isn't disciplined. He has to sit for everything. We practice from the course book almost every night. I don't get how he always ends up making us look like fools. The instructor said, "By his behavior, he's saying 'I don't normally have to do this.'" Except he DOES normally have to do it. I don't know, hopefully he's learning a lot. This just may not be the place for him though. We'll see...

Twins Game Fail

Sorry, no Wedding Wednesday post because we were at the epic fail of a Twins game tonight. It started out very poorly with Liriano giving up 4 runs in the first inning and making it through the entire order. And it really didn't get much better.

View from row 4 of Grandstand (I like to sit in different areas of the park)

Then, at some point while the Twins were busy losing, it started snowing. It was better than rain I guess, but I drew the line when they started playing, "Let it Snow" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Oh well, how many times can you say you watched the Twins play in the snow? It was fun to spend time with Adam too, even though it was really cold (40°) and I was slightly whiny about it. We stuck it out until the 7th inning, and then went home. It was late and cold. The place was practically empty by that point anyway.

Snowing... at a Twins Game. How did we get so lucky.

Snapshot in Time: Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007

I'm very afraid of spiders - as in I see one, freak out, can't move, heart races, feel like I can't breathe. And forgot about actually killing it myself. Yuck. 

Yes, I know they're small in comparison to us. I've been told many times, "they're probably more afraid of you than you are of them." I sincerely doubt it. I'm pretty scared of them...

My mother likes to capitalize on this fear and give me spider gifts for Christmas and my birthday. Usually, this results in me leaving said gift at her house. Though sometimes she'll sneak it in with my stuff and I'll discover it when I get home. Lucky me.

YES! A spider pillow! Just what I always wanted!

Examples of the lovely spider gifts I have received through the years-
- Spider pillow (pictured)
- Beanie Baby spiders
- Stuffed animal spiders
- Miss Spider children's books (2)
- A gold spider pin
- A pen with feathers and a spider on top

Did I mention that when I open these "gifts" my mom and sister giggle gleefully? Because they do. Apparently it's hilarious.

At least they give me cartoon-y versions of spiders. If it really looked like the real thing, I'd be much less tolerant of this thoughtful little tradition. My mom said once I got married these lovely presents might have to end. How disappointing...

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!

 This past weekend we went back to my parent's to celebrate Easter. For those keeping track, yes, we were back two weeks in a row. It was really nice to just hang out and be with my family though.

On Friday night, we had vegetarian pizza again from Pizza King. It was very good. Then we played family games. First was Bezzerwizzer which is a fun trivia game. Adam and I barely lost. We had the right answer a few times but then changed it. Oh well, it was still fun. Then we played a card game called Nuts. Mom and I enjoyed it, but no one else did.

Saturday, we decorated Easter cookie cut-outs. At noon, the guys went fishing, so Mom and I took Chester to the vet. As suspected, he has a medial luxating patella in his right rear leg. You can have it surgically fixed, but it may not be necessary depending on the severity. He can get along fine with it for now. He thought it was probably genetic. We were just glad it wasn't his ACL. Then we dropped Chester off at home, and took Christine shopping. Shopping with Christine is always an adventure because she hates it so much. I still had a good time though and we found a lot of nice clothes for her. Of course, I found some nice clothes for myself as well!


Sunday was our Easter double header. In the morning the "Easter Bunny" came to my parents house and left baskets with a lot of great things. Adam was most excited to get a fishing pole. Even Chester got an Easter basket!

Chester LOVED his Hide-a-squirrel

 After church, family started coming over. We had a nice meal of ham, turkey, potatoes, salad and more. In the past we've all met at a restaurant, so it was a nice change to have it at a home.

Just as we were leaving, Alex, Kim, Ava, Wyatt and Coco arrived. Chester was overly excited to meet Coco and scared her a little bit. She is a very cute dog!

 We got going around 3, and made it to Adam's family Easter around 5:30. It was nice to see everyone, and great that we were able to bring Chester. It had been such a long busy weekend that once we got home and unpacked, we went to sleep right away. Even puppy was exhausted! He was ready for bed at least an hour earlier than normal!

Book Quote: Snow gives a fresh start to everything

A quote from book #24 of 2011. I didn't especially like the book, but I liked this quote because it talked about a snowfall giving everything a fresh start. There's something really special about a big snowfall, when nothing outside is moving, and everything is just covered in snow.

"The snow was eternal, infinite. Across the yard, across the roof of the barn, down to the smooth round pond at the foot of the farthest field. There was not a footprint, not a mark in the entire landscape, only the silvered and impenetrable sweep of snow. Perfection.
You see, thought Catherine, sooner or later, everything gets a fresh start. It's not just possible. It happens."

From A Reliable Wife

by Robert Goolrick

page 74

Foodie Friday: Eggrolls

Adam had been craving egg rolls this week. We had some a few weekends back at Curt and Robin's that Adam really liked, so we loosely followed that recipe this week. They turned out really well! I'm still partial to using the thread noodles instead of (or maybe in addition?) to the ground turkey/cabbage though. I missed those in these-

Ground turkey and cabbage egg rolls:

The filling with ground turkey, coleslaw mix and garlic

I'm the wrapper and Adam is the fryer

Obedience Class Week 2 - First night with Dogs

Well, Chester’s first Obedience class went well all things considered. He immediately started freaking out and barking when we walked in. This got us a few dirty looks from the other pet parents. Uhhh… this is Obedience 1 right?!? The instructor was nice though and sprayed him with a water bottle and said “enough.” This would work for a few seconds, and then he would start up again. He figured out that if he hid behind me and barked he wouldn’t get sprayed. Oh Chester.

Once class started, Adam was the handler while I sat on the sidelines. Everyone was in a nice big circle. Chester of course wouldn’t cooperate, instead trying to bark at all the other dogs. I think he was scared of all the large dogs. There were a few other “troublemakers” barking so of course that got him all riled up too. I could tell Adam was getting frustrated because Chester wouldn’t do any of the things we had worked on at home. Like looking at our eyes when we said his name, or sitting right next to our left knee. Then it was time to work on loose leash walking in a circle. Of course Chester was lunging and diving all over the place while barking frantically. I offered to take over and Adam was quite fine with that.

Since a few of the dogs were having problems with the presence of all the other dogs, she had groups of four sit in the middle of the circle while the other dogs walked around them. Guess who was in the first “problem” group. Us! It actually worked really well and seemed to calm Chester down for the most part. Throughout the class we had to sit off to the side a few different times because he would start limping during the loose leash walking. We still don’t know what’s going on with his back right leg. I feel so bad for the little guy. The vet last week said it was fine to take him to class though.

Once he had calmed down a bit, he did really well with sit, and down. We started working on stay and he actually did really well with that as well. He’s usually pretty bad at it at home – he’s always like “but I just want to be by you!”

So, minus a few melt downs, Obedience went pretty well. Hopefully he’ll continue to improve on being comfortable around big dogs and being able to focus with so many people and dogs around.

Collar Follow-up:

We had a collar on him, but ended up using his harness because it just wasn’t going to stay on him with all his lunging attempts. His neck is basically the width of his head, so no matter how tight it is, it comes off. He looks pretty silly in it too because all his fur sticks out strangely. The instructor never said anything about it either.

We’ve had a busy week- I was at work late Monday night for a Focus Group, Tuesday we had a digital SLR camera class, and tonight we had Obedience. I guess I just need to get used to being busy again with summer coming up!

Wedding Wednesday: Favorite Snapshots

We had great photos taken by our photographer Tiffany Brubaker. I also received some great photos that other people took at the wedding which they were kind enough to send me on CD or let me put on my computer from their memory cards.

These are some of my favorites.

Rehearsal at the Cathedral:

Groom's Dinner at The Freighthouse:

Wedding Day:

Getting our hair done together

Getting ready at my parent's house

Ceremony at the Cathedral:

In the TINY bridal room waiting for the ceremony to start.

Married!!!

The cars lined up outside during the receiving line

 Reception at The Waterfront Cargill Ballroom:

Guest book table

The Head Table

With the French exchange students, Christine, and Sam

Sisters

Our First Dance

After Adam was done spinning me for the Bouquet Toss

Adam and Jesse on the dance floor

Carolina, John and Adam dancing

Adam was really excited to finally get to wear his ring :)

Snapshot in Time: Weekend in Duluth 2008

Duluth
December 2008

To celebrate our 2 year (dating) anniversary in the beginning of December, I came up with the brilliant idea of going to Duluth for the weekend. I had been there for the first time with my family in the summer of 2007, and loved it. I thought it would be a romantic weekend getaway and would be cool to see it in winter. The ships, my favorite, were still coming through in December as well. Adam thought it sounded like fun as well, so I booked a hotel in Canal Park. I don't think either of us were prepared for how cold it would be - definitely below zero! Of course the cold did nothing to damper my love for watching the big ships go under the lift bridge. So when one was scheduled to come through, guess where we could be found!

This was also our Christmas card photo in 2008!

Memory 1:
Splitting the best tiramisu ever with Adam at an Italian restaurant in Canal Park. It was heavenly. Their risotto was excellent as well.

Memory 2:
Going into the hot tub and warming up after walking back from dinner. I sat in the hot tub while Adam was a "dolphin" in the pool.

Memory 3:
Walking down to the lighthouse at the end of the pier in the morning. It had snowed the night before so we left fresh tracks in it. I loved watching the big ships come through with all the ice hanging off of them.

 



Memory 4:
It was so cold and windy standing there watching the big ships come through that I couldn't feel my face. I think Adam wanted to kill me.

Memory 5:
Making Adam take a detour on the way home so I could see the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station in Cloquet. Worth it!

I love Duluth. The last time we were there was the summer of 2009. We have our hotel booked and Chester sitter planned for our First Wedding Anniversary. I can't wait to spend time with Adam in one of my favorite places!

Weekend Recap: La Crosse area for a baby shower

This past weekend Adam, Chester and I journeyed back to La Crosse for Samantha's Baby Shower. The baby is due the first week in May.

We had planned to leave right after I got off of work on Friday, but Adam ended up having to take Chester to the vet so our departure was slightly delayed. I had noticed Chester limping after we got home from our without dogs Obedience Class on Thursday night. Sometimes he would be fine, but often he wouldn't walk on his right leg, instead lifting it up. We thought maybe he had landed on it funny, but he was still doing it Friday morning when I took him outside. When Adam got home from work Friday afternoon, he still was doing it. Adam called the vet and they suggested bringing him in.

Luckily, he was in and out very quickly and they sent him home with some pain meds, Deramaxx. The vet said it could be one of three things- knee cap groove issue, torn ACL and I don't remember the third. We're supposed to keep an eye on it, and keep him calm- no jumping, and no walks. Those are his favorite things. Poor little Chester. Since then, we've stopped giving him the Deramaxx because it made him sick, uninterested in his food, and very thirsty (all side effects). They're going to check on it again when he has his regular check-up in two weeks. According to the vet, he weighs 11 pounds, which is what I've been getting the past 2 months when I've weighed him at home. I hope he's done growing!

Our drive down to La Crescent wasn't the best. We encountered rain, sleet, snow and slush. By Lewiston we saw two car accidents within a mile, so we had to slow down a lot. When we finally arrived at my parent's, we had some wonderful veggie pizza from Pizza King and just hung out with my mom and sister.

On Saturday, we awoke to snow on the ground. It wasn't a huge surprise as we had seen it coming down and on the ground on our drive the night before. I used the opportunity to play around and take some snow photos with the new camera.

Then, mom and I dropped off Christine at volunteering and had manis and pedis at the Metropolitan Salon. We had a lot of fun even though it was cold wearing sandals out to the car.

At 1 pm was Samantha's Baby Shower at Diane's home in Dakota. It was nice to see everyone.

Gift from me

Christine and I kept busy embroidering bibs for the baby. What a neat idea! Though it took me much longer than it should have...

While we were at the shower, Adam and Dad took a tour of the shrine with the architect. Then, they met up with Jerry, Frank, Jesse and Steven at Buffalo Wild Wings. It sounds like they had a good time.

After the shower, we went back to my parents house. Kasey, Jesse, Diane, and Jerry joined us for dinner. Frank, Kelly, and Kaylee stopped by as well.

Sunday we didn't really do much. It was very nice out though, and we enjoyed dinner out on my parent's deck. We headed back around 3. It was great to get home before dark for once! We have a busy week ahead in the cities, and then we'll be back at my parent's again for Easter. I'm really looking forward to seeing my mom's side of the family then.

Book Quote: Wise words from Enzo, the dog

Since I often I spend at least some of Sunday reading, I may make it the day to share a book quote I really enjoyed during the week. This inaugural entry comes from a great book I read this week, The Art of Racing in the Rain. It is narrated by a dog named Enzo, which is a very interesting concept indeed. A little background on the following quote-  Enzo saw a tv documentary about Mongolia that said, "when a dog is finished living his lifetimes as a dog, his next incarnation will be as a man" (p 2).

"Here’s why I will be a good person. Because I listen. I cannot speak, so I listen very well. I never interrupt, I never deflect the course of the conversation with a comment of my own. People, if you pay attention to them, change the direction of one another’s conversations constantly. It’s like having a passenger in your car who suddenly grabs the steering wheel and turns you down a side street.
For instance, if we met at a party and I wanted to tell you a story about the time I needed to get a soccer ball in my neighbor’s yard but his dog chased me and I had to jump into a swimming pool to escape, and I began telling the story, you, hearing the words “soccer” and “neighbor” in the same sentence, might interrupt and mention that your childhood neighbor was Pelé, the famous soccer player, and I might be courteous and say, Didn’t he play for the Cosmos of New York? Did you grow up in New York? And you might reply that, no, you grew up in Brazil on the streets of Três Corações with Pelé, and I might say, I thought you were from Tennessee, and you might say not originally, and then go on to outline your genealogy at length. So my initial conversational gambit-that I had a funny story about being chased by my neighbor’s dog-would be totally lost, and only because you had to tell me about Pelé. Learn to listen! I beg of you. Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories."

From The Art of Racing in the Rain 

by Garth Stein

pages 101-102

Night 1 of Obededience Class

Tonight was Chester's first Obedience class, but he didn't go. The first night (of the eight weeks) was for the owners only. I was a little surprised by it, but they do this to establish the rules, give some background, and make introductions.


These were my first reactions from the class:
- The place smelled very strongly of dog urine. It gave me a headache.

- There are a few dogs in the class that don't like other dogs. My biggest concern is the four year old pitbull mix that "hates other dogs and tries to kill them" per its owner. I think they should be required to take one-on-one classes to start...

- Harnesses aren't allowed. You have to use a collar. She encouraged the use of a Gentle Leader, but if you use one, the dog also has to have a regular collar on. This means we have to go out and purchase a collar because we don't have or use one for Chester. And then we have to get Chester used to it, because he's never had one on. Great. Collars are not recommended for pugs (except for just having their tags on), so I'm not exactly thrilled about having to use his leash with a collar. It can cause a collapsing trachea among other issues.

- We are supposed to find a different confirmation word than "good" or "good boy/dog" and a different correction word than "no." Apparently these words are overused and lose their meaning. Won't the same happen with these new words?

- There was a couple there that breed mixes. They will be bringing one of them to the class. It made me want to puke.
Why does this bother me so much? No reputable breeder would EVER breed a mix. They are obviously backyard breeders (BYB) and contributing to the overpopulation of dogs.
This is a great article on BYB's-   What is a Backyard Breeder (BYB)?
Another good link about the different places you can get a dog from -
Different types of breeders, people and facilities where puppies and dogs can come from 
Prospective buyers should keep these definitions in mind when seeking a puppy to add to their lives.

- There are two "goldendoodles" in the class (separate owners). When the owners said this, I wanted to SCREAM.
Why does this bother me so much?
 A "goldendoodle" is NOT a breed. It's a golden retriever/poodle mix. Same goes for puggle (AHH!!!!). I think that one bugs me the most because sometimes people will ask if Chester is a "puggle" when we say he may be a pug mix. We don't know what he is because his pug mom came into the rescue pregnant. And we don't care. I'm not a breed snob. I just think it's ridiculous when people pay hundreds of dollars for a mix from a breeder when they could adopt from a rescue or shelter. It makes me ill. These designer dogs aren't special, they are bred to make money. This is unnecessary when there are so many dogs out there without homes, dogs that are put to sleep everyday because their owners gave them up.
I just cannot believe someone would actually buy a puggle from a breeder. No reputable breeder would EVER breed mixes. Reputable breeders have litters for the betterment of the breed. They take into account the pedigrees, and breed for health and to conform to the breed standard. These designer breeds can't conform to a breed standard BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT A BREED. I am going to lose it if one more person starts telling me about their "puggle." I say, "Your pug/beagle mix?" and get a weird look. Whatever. I'm not the stupid one. I could go on for a while. This is something I have very strong opinions on. /rant
Here's a great article about these "designer" breeds - "Poo" Dogs and Designer Mixes

- Almost all of the other dogs in the class are bigger dogs. I hope this will help Chester's fear of larger dogs. I think he has this because the big neighbor dog constantly and aggressively barks at him and us whenever we're in the backyard. It's really annoying and I'm sure intimidating for Chester.

- I think I'm a pet snob now. I think everyone should adopt or at least purchase from a reputable breeder. I think everyone should do their research and feed their dog a quality food without filler. I think everyone should avoid raw hides.

I hope Chester learns a lot from this class. I'm just not thrilled with some of the other dogs and their owners. It will be good for him though.

And I would be remiss if I didn't leave you with a photo or two of Chester! Here's the little guy modeling his new teal hoodie.

I like how his little mane is sticking out of the top of the sweatshirt. He's a furry guy!