"the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. you either have to laugh or cry. i prefer to laugh. crying gives me a headache." — marjorie pay hinckley
Everyone, meet Swift.
Swift is our new shiba puppy. I still miss my Zumi incredibly, but Swift is filling that void in our home. He's playful and energetic. He loves attention. He can play fetch for hours on end without tiring of it. He's eight months old, so he can hold his bladder through the night, which is really nice. We're not leaving him in the backyard while I'm at work until we get a full privacy fence up. Learned that lesson once already. We look forward to the next several years with our new little guy!
The next pictures aren't great. I realize now I should've put up the flash. Dur.
Which means I'm super giddy, I'm super talkative, my mind is racing at a hundred miles an hour, and I'm pushing myself to the limits of my energy.
I also have a lot on my plate with working full time, school full time, and keeping the house clean almost by myself (oh tax season, how I loathe thee).
My therapist has instructed me not to multi task too much. So when I'm playing with our new puppy or walking him or on the cardio machines at the gym, I'm not allowed to read. I need to use that time to focus on my breathing and keep myself calm.
As a multi-tasker, I say bleh to that. But I will do it because I pay her a lot of money to know what she's talking about.
She also suggested picking one scripture a week and reading it every day while I brush my teeth or something like that.
So what are your favorite scriptures?
Some of mine are Romans 8:18, Romans 8:35-39, and Ether 12:4.
If you haven't noticed, I'm absolutely crazy about my husband.
Do you know what I love about him? Well, several things. But I'm just going to talk about one.
Kurt doesn't coddle me. He doesn't worry about me driving in the snow, or being home alone by myself. He knows I'm a grown woman and that I can take of myself. I used to hate that. I didn't realize it's exactly what I need until recently. Now I love it.
But you know what Kurt does do? Kurt knows I love to mountain bike. I decided to get my own bike and decided on a road bike because it's more practical because it's easier to take it out for rides and I can commute easily on it. But I love mountain biking. Kurt loves mountain biking. He has his own bike and goes out often, even in the winter time. And we love doing things together. So the past few weeks, he's been looking for a mountain bike. For me. So I can go with him.
I like to take quizzes. I think they're fun. So when Melancholy Smile posted a color one, I immediately jumped on it. It's from True Value Paint. And I have to say, my results were surprising. Not what it says so much, but the color. I would've thought I'm green (without knowing what it means according to this test).
(sorry it's so fuzzy. It says: You boast incredible willpower and are capable of overcoming obstacles that would normally leave others shaking in their boots. You have a penchant for colorful environments and often impress others with your energetic bursts of energy. Your interests in many areas of life often leave you scattered, but when you focus you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.)
So take it real fast. It takes all of 5 seconds, I promise. What do you get? Are you surprised by it? Are you surprised by mine? (Yes, I'm egotistical.)
Edit:
So I decided it'd be fun to have my sisters take it as they perceive me and see their results as compared to how I perceive myself!
So we had a great weekend, with no pictures. Yeah, I'm already blowing that goal, huh? Friday night was nothing special. I got a nap after work, then Kurt came home and we watched our TV shows online (The Office, Community, and 30 Rock) and munched on various snacks.
Saturday, Kurt had to work and I stayed home and cleaned all day. AND DIDN'T DO HOMEWORK. I must be crazy. But the house was super clean. When Kurt came home, I reminded him about our plans for that night and also that we had no dinner stuffs for Val's Day dinner. So he ran to the grocery store and when he got back, he had a gorgeous bouquet of flowers as well as a fancy chocolate bar. :) We are getting each other presents, but we didn't have time before Val's Day. And they're not exciting. Kurt and I are kinda practical and boring. I asked for gym gloves because I lost my last pair (which is like the 5th pair I've had since started to lift weights in as many years) and Kurt wants business socks. :D
So that night we went to our friends' Laryn and Sheilla's house for a sushi night! It was very fun. They made all the sushi as well as some Filipino dishes (Sheilla's from the Philippines). It was delish and very fun to see all of our old friends from our old ward in Littleton. And then we jammed in up with some Geetar Hero.
Sunday we went to church and I wore red AND pink (thanks to a red and pink scarf I have). Then, we were supposed to eat that night (dark, candle light, romantic--let's face it, Kurt and I aren't too romantically inclined.. at least, not when we're hungry :) but we were both hungry (and church is over at 3:20 anyways) so I got started cooking dinner. Which took all of 30 minutes. We had herb encrusted salmon, asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes, and craisin, apple, and feta salad. It was delish. We ate too much. And loved it. Then we watched Couples Retreat while eating popcorn and our fancy chocolate bar. While watching the movie, I made rolls, which we gorged on after the movie. Kurt seriously loves my rolls.
And then today we went snowboarding! We had such a great time and it was a miracle Kurt was able to get off of work. We went up to the top and did a bowl--ungroomed powder. It was a black/blue! And then I tried the halfpipe twice! We had a blast. When we got home we went to the gym for some hot tubbing. And now I'm home and blogging. I'm going to read my school book in bed and go to sleep early. :) I hope y'all had a great Valentine's Day as well!
Ahhh, how is it February already? On the bright side, that means I've got one assignment packet turned in. Yes! Just three more to go! And I've got a really great idea for my second short story, so yay. (Thanks Mom!) And I've gotten quite a bit of work done on my book. Yay again. Lots of yay's. My goals for Feb are: -read scriptures every day, even if it's just a verse! Gotta start small, right? -have FHE weekly -stay on top of school work -work on my book every day, even if it's just a little. You can tell I believe in starting small, huh? -be awesome. got that one in the bag. ;)
Me: I was really skinny when we got married. Kurt: Yeah, and your hair was long. Me: Is that you trying to hint that you want me to grow my hair out? Kurt: Yes. Me: Ask nicely. Kurt: Will you please grow your hair out? Me: Ok.
This last weekend we ran down to Tucson to see Kurt's dad for a bit. We drove down on Friday night and came back on Monday (yay for MLK day!). We saw Avatar, ate at El Charro and Nico's (Kurt's fave from high school), went to the Sonoran Desert Museum, and I ruled on the DJ Hero at Best Buy. All in all, a great trip.
The batteries in the camera were dead for most of the trip, so here are some real jewels.
Kurt. Dur.
Kurt's dad. Dur again.
We found a great little burger joint in Hatch, NM, that has killer green chile cheeseburgers. Mmm.
Christmas post... finally! We had a great time at my parents' house. We slept little, ate a lot, played lots of games, and ate a lot. And I played the piano a lot. It was so nice being with the whole fam. I love my family!!!
Prepping the punch for Christmas Day dinner with Mandi. We ate at my grandma's house because there's too many of us for my parents' house anymore!
We took the boys (Chris and Max) to the Holiday Festival of Lights. Here we are roasting marshmallows. Or rather, here are Ryan and Mandi and the boys.
Our happy family. I still miss him to pieces.
Caroline looks lovely, but Collin looks like a fox! (Can boys be foxes?)
All siblings and siblings-in-law, grandsons, and dogs. That makes 11 of us.
Chou!
Zumi and Max!
Sisters!
Brother!
Taking Chris and Max on the carousel and getting some freaky pics.
Naturally, your friendly festive Christmas light bulb.
For New Year's, we went to the Limas' New Year Eve bash. Here is Kurt, looking stoned. He's not... I promise...
Chris getting his dance on!
Max thought about getting his dance on.
We look stoned. But we're not... I promise...!
We took the boys to the playground at JICP and snapped a few pics. Actually, Steph and Mandi did while Caroline and I took the dogs to the dog park.
Do you like how I finally changed my Christmas layout and playlist? (Note to Alisse T and Mo: if you have any other songs that remind you of freshman year, please lemme know!) Yeah, I'm slowly getting back to my normal life. And I was planning on doing some major cleaning on Saturday, but we've decided to drive down to Tucson. So it will have to wait. Anyhow! Here are my goals for 2010: -Lose 20 pounds by June. I know--I have 20 pounds to lose. It sounds like a lot. But I can definitely do it in 6 months. -Stay on top of my homework. For this semester, that means reading 2-3 books every three weeks, writing 2-3 pages on each book, and writing a short story every three weeks. Oi. -Keep my house clean! Big goal for me here. My therapist helped me break down my chores into things that need to be done weekly, things that need to be done semi-weekly, and things that need to be done monthly. I gave it a trial run in December and it was awesome! Before I was trying to get everything done every week. Well, I am OCD. -Wake up every morning at 6:30. I need to actually do my hair in the morning, wear mascara, and get to work on time. -Work out 4 to 6 days a week. I feel so much better when I'm working out regularly. It really helps regulate my moods and stave off depression. -Finish my book by the end of the year. Really, I'd like to have it finished and thoroughly edited by then, but with school I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on it. -TAKE MORE PICTURES.
My January goals: -I've already read one book, so now I'm reading another and since it's longer I'll only read 2 books by the beginning of February. Write my 2-3 page response to each. Finish the short story I've already started. -Only eat sweets on the weekend. This is gonna be hard! -Finish Kurt's scarf. I still haven't! I'm such an awful wife!! >_<
Tonight, my phone died while I was at a reading tonight. When I got back from to my dorm, I plugged in my phone and started getting ready for bed. Then I turned my phone on to see that I had 5 missed calls from a number in Denver that I didn't recognize. I also had a text from that same person. "Call me as soon as possible, I have your dog by the side of the road," it said. My breath caught in my throat and called the number. A man picked up and said, "I don't know how to tell you this," and I knew. The world seemed to rush in on me and the tears started falling before he said that Zumi had been hit by a car, and had died. It's been a rough night, to say the least. I started crying and told the guy I was going to call my husband and give his number to Kurt so Kurt could get the body. Then I called Kurt on his cell and work line without answers. So, hysterical, I called my family. When I finally got to Kurt, he was already on his way home from work and was able to call the guy and find out where Zumi was. Next time Kurt called, he had Zumi in his arms and was walking home. He was sobbing. This is the first time, in the 3 and a half years that I've known Kurt, that he has cried. Kurt and I cried together on the phone as he found a box for Zumi's "casket," laid him in it, and tucked his blanket in around him. We decided to bury him in his favorite spot in the yard, right by the wooden fence, where he'd like to lay when it was sunny. To those of you who think I'm being dramatic, let me tell you that you have no idea how much you can love a pet until they die. And remember, Zumi was our child, for all intensive purposes. We don't have kids yet and so he was who we gave our parental love to. (I told Kurt that I hope we never lose a child, if it's this painful to just lose a pet.) He was a sweet puppy, the best natured dog I've ever known. When I got home from work, he'd always be in the back yard, hopping around, ready to play with me. When I mentioned the word "walk," he'd run to the front door, too excited to go out to sit still long enough to get his harness on. He could sit, lay down, army crawl, shake, and jump/twirl for tricks. He always had some sort of smile on his face. When he was in a really playful mood, it was a happy grin. When he was more calm, it was a mischievous smirk. He rarely barked. He followed you around and sat at your feet, happy to be near you. He had a spot in the kitchen where he laid while I cooked dinner or cleaned the dishes. I was so looking forward to him keeping me company during the long, lonely, busy tax season. When I took him to the vet, and he got scared, he'd lean up against me for comfort. He was my little buddy, my happy boy, my puppys, my Zoomers, Zoom buggy, Zumy do, Zumba, Zoom, my Zumi. It's amazing how much a small dog can touch your life in 8 shorts months.
Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted and that's because I've been loving life in Charleston with my family for the last two weeks. And guess what... I actually took pictures! But Kurt took the camera home with him because the battery was dead so you'll have to wait for those. Neener neener. And why, do you ask, is Kurt home and not me? Because I'm at my grad school residency here at Converse College! It's been amazing so far. I'm learning lots and loving being surrounded by writers. I miss Kurt and Zumi, but it's not too hard during the day with lectures, workshops, and readings. Unfortunately, since Kurt took the camera, I won't have any pics, but I will for the June residency, I promise. Also, here is (extremely belatedly) our Christmas card. I meant to post it just before Christmas but spaced it. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! Hooray for 2010!
