What do you see?

Someone sent this to Steve in an email and I thought it was pretty cool. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Duchess

Lucy had a busy day today. She got to come to work with me this morning and then she took Emily to the dog park (North Acres) for the first time. I didn't think Lucy was tired enough, so I took her to Magnuson to meet up with her sister, Duchess. They hadn't met before, so it was quite fun to see what Duchess is like. Her owner is Mike Moore, who works in Mukilteo with me.

As many of you know, Lucy is a ball hound. She lives for fetching balls. She will fetch balls from fields, lakes, streams, or other dogs' mouths. She can also sense when someone has a ball. She's not too concerned about other dogs and likes to play a little, but not too much. She's become quite the swimmer and is learning to bring balls back- sometimes two at a time. Anytime a ball is thrown in the water, she thinks it's for her and she goes running and swimming and usually brings it back to the person who threw it so they can throw it again. Luckily, most dog owners at dog parks are fairly reasonable and Lucy hasn't caused too many problems- who could get mad at such a cute dog?? Lucy is also great about dropping her balls as well as following me or Steve when we walk.

It was a kick to meet Duchess and see a completely different personality. Duchess would rather play with other dogs than chase balls. The only reason she runs with balls is to get other dogs to chase her. She tends to get off in her own world when playing with other dogs, so she had to be grabbed a few times when she was getting left behind. The best Duchess moment from today was when Lucy was swimming back in with a ball and Duchess would sit in the water and then crouch down. When Lucy got close, she pounced on Lucy and took the ball. Lucy then had to try and get the ball from Duchess by chasing her around. It looked as though Lucy just wanted the ball and didn't really want to play. They were a kick to watch. I'm hoping Duchess and Lucy can get together more often. Here are some pictures from their afternoon together.

Who Needs a Kitchen?

On Saturday afternoon, Steve started demolishing our kitchen. We have been planning (somewhat planning) this project for some time and thought that since I have the week off from teaching, this would be a good week to start. Steve called his buddy, Sean who brought a bunch of his knowledge and tools, as well as his new puppy Emily, over to help. The boys were able to rip out the light soffets and take down the top cabinets. What was left, however, was a bare ceiling. There are currently only studs for the ceiling, so it's quite cold. It makes it even harder to get out of bed in the morning when the house is 50 degrees. A guy named Greg is coming tomorrow to hang the drywall and his friend Victor will be taping, mudding, and texturizing. We are hoping to purchase new top cabinets on Friday (IKEA) and then assemble and hang them this weekend. Steve and Sean have also done new lighting, which looks awesome. We have 6 new cans to light up the kitchen instead of the ugly florescent tube lights.

Lucy (10 mo.) and Emily (4 mo.) had a blast playing while their daddies worked. We found out that Lucy is incredibly patient and that Emily is a bully. Most young puppies are bullies- Emily will learn social skills in time. Both pups had a great time rough and tumbling. Our new name for Emily is "Emperess Emily" because she promptly found Lucy's bed and laid down in the middle of it. Not only did she lay on her bed, but she found her favorite bone and chewed on it on Lucy's bed. When Lucy came to get it back, Emily growled at her. Lucy may not be the best one to put Emily in her place. The only time she got upset at Emily was when Emily chomped on Lucy's Achilles tendon. Ouch. The girls have seen each other every day since Saturday. Not only are the pups getting to be good friends, but Steve and I feel lucky to have such great new people friends here in Shoreline. Check out the Kligers' blog by clicking on the link to the right.

Cute Picture

Our future sister-in-law, Courtney (yeah!), sent us this picture after a very joyous Christmas at Bill and Tracy's house. I keep forgetting to add it to our blog.

De Marr + Tiller

Steve and I were very lucky to be in Arizona this past weekend to witness the wedding vows between Avery De Marr and Lindsey Tiller. Avery was a groomsman in our wedding and was Steve's roommate his freshman year at Seattle University. Avery proposed to Lindsey this summer on a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge and we were lucky enough to meet her when we all had dinner here in Seattle.

Steve and I headed to Phoenix on Thursday evening and arrived about 9:30pm or so. We hung out at Avery and Lindsey's home and all the boys played "Rock Band", which is a video game where you actually get to play guitar and drum-like instruments to famous songs. I got the hang of it...a little. On Friday morning, the boys headed out for some golf while a few of us got our nails done. Even though the nails only look good for a few days, it's nice to splurge for a mani-pedi every once and a while. I got to pick up Brooklyn at her school with Lindsey and head to McDonald's for some scrumptious chicken McNuggets. After my nap on Avery's famous couch, we headed to the rehearsal and then for a tour of their house that is currently under construction. Amazing! It made us just a tad jealous, but it was great to see Avery and Lindsey so excited for their married life in a new house. To finish off the night, they had a great rehearsal dinner and we all played more "Rock Band".

The day of the wedding was really relaxing from my viewpoint. Steve and I had lunch with all the boys at a local brew-pub and then I went shopping with another guy from Seattle U who needed a new outfit for the wedding- shoes, pants, shirt, and tie. We were pretty proud of the quick shopping and the maneuvering of Phoenix freeways using our handy GPS system in the rental car.

The wedding was an intimate outside garden wedding- amazing for February!! The reception was fantastic as well and included a Grease Lightning "skit" and quite a bit of alcohol. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves thouroughly and here are some pictures to prove it. We all ended up back at Avery's house...a few fond memories as well as blackmail stories were created that evening.

We flew back on Sunday afternoon after a wonderful brunch at Lindsey's parents' house. We couldn't ask for better weather during the weekend. It was a bit hard to arrive in Seattle to rain, but we're pretty used to it.

Special thanks to Steve and Cayla Samms (soon-to-be), who let us stay at their house in Phoenix. They are friends of Avery and Lindsey's and generously opened their house to us. We especially enjoyed being around their dogs, Darwin and Sydney. We hope to see them this summer when they get married in Sumas, which is just N of Bellingham. Special thanks also goes out to Ma and Pa Brooks who stayed with Lucy when we were gone.

It was fun for me to get to know some people better. Being the new one to the circle can be hard at times, but I'm finally feeling like I know people's names and a bit about them. We got to hang out quite a bit with Jim Schmidt, Greg Heinzman, Matt (the best man), Scott (the other groomsman) and Whitney, Soren, as well as getting the chance to meet Korva Coleman, who officiated the wedding, is Avery's cousin, and is also on NPR quite a bit. Finally someone famous!! :)



The DJ's famous for pulling a few schenanigans at his receptions. One involves the groomsmen and a Grease theme. Interesting eh? We dressed up as greasers and the DJ danced like he was 1970's Travolta. Good thing I had a few drinks in me!

Is Anyone Reading?

We (mostly Jenny) are wondering who out there is actually reading our blog. If you could click on "comments" at the end of this message and type us a little message, we (mostly Jenny) would be really excited.

Comps

For all of you who are "in the know", you know that I took my comprehensive exam for my masters in school counseling (Seattle U.) on January 26th. It lasted 4 hours and consisted of 3 essay questions. I just got a phone call this evening letting me know that I passed. This is a huge relief and a big weight off my shoulders. Thanks to all of you who were rooting for me! Lucy and Steve are happy to have me back.