Puppy Love

We’d like to “paws” for a moment to tell you about the two newest members of our household–our puppies, Winston and Abby.

One Sunday morning in late April, we woke up to find two puppies playing in our fenced backyard.  We suspected that they had been left there by someone, but we just couldn’t believe that anyone would leave a pair of pups in someone else’s yard.  We do live on a corner though, and there is a little wooded area behind our lot, so we realized that it was a possibility.  Still, we decided not to interact with them or feed them for a few hours to see if they would wander off on their own (as we thought our fence could have had a hole we had not previously noticed).

After church, we purchased food and collars just in case the dogs were still there.  Even though my initial instinct was to say they couldn’t stay, I had already opened up to the idea of keeping one of them (in spite of the fact that we had chosen to be pet-free for the first part of our marriage).  Well, when we went home, there were no dogs in sight.  My heart sank a little.  Then, after three minutes of standing around dumbfounded, we heard some rustling coming from some bushes in our yard.  Out came the puppies!

That week, we took them to the vet and began trying to convince Jake’s parents to take one of the pups.  Jake’s dad was on a search for Superdog, so he declined the offer, though Jake’s mom would have taken one in a heartbeat.  Watching the puppies’ interactions, we went back and forth in our thinking over whether the pups would be better together or apart.  We loved that they could play with each other when we were busy, and they obviously had a close connection.  At the same time, they sometimes fought over food or attention in a way that was completely unacceptable to us.  Over time, we have learned how to minimize such misbehavior, but at the time, it seemed overwhelming.  At one point, we had decided to get rid of one of the dogs, but neither of us had the heart to actively seek a new home for either pup.  So, after about a month, we decided to keep both dogs and finally gave them names.  (We had been holding off so as not to become too attached, though obviously that didn’t work.)  Before we had had them a week, Jake had already got started on building a big doghouse, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that we came to this decision.

Slowly but surely, we’ve figured out how to deal with life with puppies in a way that works for us and them.  The dogs live mostly outdoors (where they love to play in the backyard and bark at passersby), but they spend some time inside with us each day as well.  So far, they’ve only used their doghouse for play, so we let them inside when the weather is bad or the temperatures are extreme.  I think they’ll like the doghouse once we put bedding in it, but we have chosen to hold off on that since they are still chewy pups at 6-7 months old.  They have gone through 10 soft toys already of various designs and prices, so it looks like we’ll have to stick to heavy-duty rubber toys for now.

The puppies are currently recovering from their spaying and neutering surgeries which occurred last Friday.  Winston is usually the most troublesome, but he lost his first stitch today.  Within two days, Abby had lost (ahem, torn out) five of her ten stitches.  I took her to the vet, who replaced the stitches with staples.  We have had to watch her like a hawk, and Winston has had to learn how to be a lone since Abby has needed more alone time (and has been sleeping inside at night) in order to heal.  This past week was tough at first, but it has gotten easier as the puppies are learning how to behave in these new situations.

We hope you enjoy these pics of our troublesome pups (taken a week or two after they arrived)!  Abby is the skinny brindle, while Winston is the short and stout fuzzball.  The vet thinks they’re from the same litter, in spite of how different they look.  The vet believes Abby has lab and boxer or mastiff, and says Winston looks to be lab/terrier.  I’m sure they’re both a mix of lots of things and different features of those breeds showed up in each pup, because the people who have seen them have come up with all sorts of ideas on which breed each dog most closely resembles.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another Move

I am back after an extensive (but much needed) hiatus.  At the beginning of February, Jake accepted a job in another state.  He closed things out at his previous job and spent a week doing a bit of Navy work at the NOSC (his last opportunity to drill at that location) while I took care of our last bits of household and local business.  Then, just as February was 2/3 over, we moved.

We stayed in temporary housing at a military base for a month or so while we waited to close on a house in our new location.  On weekday evenings, we explored our new city.  On the weekends, we spent time with Jake’s parents’ house (to which we are now much closer than we’ve ever been!).  On March 23, we closed on our new house and spent a week and a half doing major projects.  (Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of “before” and “after” stuff to share because our camera was accidentally packed up during our move, but I can certainly provide some after shots and describe the changes we made.)  We roughed it that first week and a half, sleeping on a used hotel sleeper we managed to purchase from a local furniture warehouse and continuing to live out of suitcases.  Since the beginning of April, we’ve been unpacking, getting settled, and having all sorts of adventures that I’ll post about later.

If you’re following along, this move makes 2 in the last year.  That means we’ve owned three homes in three different states within a year’s time.  During the first transition, we referred to our houses as “the country house” (House 1) and “the town house” (House 2).  This time, House 2 was “the mountain chateau” and House 3…well…I’m not really sure we had a clever name for it.

As you can imagine, buying and selling houses in this economic climate is nothing to joke about, but God has blessed us very much in this area.  Upon our first move, our house was purchased by Jake’s employer’s relocation company, then sold at a later time.  Our second house was under contract within a month of being put on the market, and we closed on it this week.  This is nothing short of a miracle, considering that a similar home in our neighborhood had been on the market for much longer.  This was one of our biggest leaps when Jake accepted the new position (since his current company did not offer a home buyout option).  Jake was confident from the beginning, but I worried: “What if the house doesn’t sell for a long time?” or “What if we have to take a lot less than we paid?”  I know many people who have had to move for jobs and hang onto houses in their former cities for more than a year.  I know the effect that can have on a family.  The thought of having two sets of home expenses made me sick to my stomach.  The whole home-selling ordeal is over, but I say all this because I want to make sure that everyone knows what an amazing thing God did for us, in spite of my worries.  I love how He is faithful, even when I am faithless!  Hopefully, by recording incidences of God’s providence, I can learn to better trust God’s character (and His plan) in the future.

This day has come to a close.  Tomorrow will come with a full slate of house projects to complete (and, at some point, share with you!).

All You, Featuring Me

I am quoted (and pictured) in this month’s All You magazine!  While not as widely disseminated as Better Homes & Gardens and Good Housekeeping, All You is sold at Walmart stores (and maybe some other places as well) all over the country.  I have been hooked since I picked up my first copy because the magazine is different from all the others out there due to its focus on budget living.  For example, many magazines feature “budget” jeans that cost $50 or $60, but if All You does a feature on jeans, it features more pairs in the $20 to $30 range.  Unlike most magazines, All You is chock full of creative ideas for cooking, decorating and living without spending tons of moolah.  I also love that it features regular, everyday people–not just the attractive, wealthy or famous.

Anyway, this month’s issue (which should be on stands until around Feb. 20) has an article about ways to prevent food waste starting on page 6.  My brief comment is featured on page 7 as part of the article, along with a photo.  My photo is also on one of the first pages of the magazine in the section which lists all of the readers who contributed to the issue.  I was excited to see my face and comment in print, even if it’s just a brief blurb.  (Jake would like everyone to know that he played a part in this as well, since he took the picture.)  : )

Here are some photos of the issue and my contribution:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.