'Tis Hunting Season

Happy rainy Monday! Just wanted to give all of you a snippet into what it is like to live with hunting dogs. Squirrels, skunks, and moths.....their all over it. :)

They are a mess. During the day, they have "squirrel watch."  They take turns perched on our bed looking out our window that over looks the yard.  They intensely watch for squirrels or anything to dare enter our back yard. Then they are ALL OVER IT! The house will be peaceful then out of nowhere they both come barreling down the hall barking ferociously at an innocent animal.

Tennessee is a big hunting state. Other owners with dogs like our actually take them hunting this time of season.  They usually start training to learn how to hunt around 2 years old so we might look into it come next fall/winter. Because ours already think they are professionals.

So if there is a giant famine in this country, I don't think we will be going hungry. Squirrel stew...mmmm.

Adventures

Yesterday, we had a fun relaxing evening. Andrew and I were on top of our game and both finished our school work earlier in the day (This is amazing considering our overpowering senioritis!). So for the evening, we decided to venture over to a park we always go to and walk the trails with Kyzer. We'd never done the trails before. We only ever went to the dog park with in the park. But this time, we wanted wilderness, trails, and creeks.

Kyzer lives for afternoons like this. He is meant to wander in the woods and explore. It's in his genes to be off the leash, follow, and explore with you. And when Kyzer is happy, the rest of the house is happy.  He also has really webbed feet so we're trying to get him acclimated with water so he'll want to go swimming. When we finally came to the creek, Kyzer jumped right in before one of us even did. No fear for him. We were proud parents.

And speaking of fun adventures.....

WE ARE MOVING TO KNOXVILLE, TN!

home of the yucky orange!

I'm pretty sure all of you already knew (because the only people that read this are also on Facebook).  To be honest, we've had the offer in our hands for a week or so, but we wanted to look at ever angle before we finalized and made it official. It's the only job offer we got after a year long job search, but we couldn't be more grateful for God providing. He definitely made it clear on where he wanted us to be!

We are going this weekend to try to nail down a place to live. That process is finding to be difficult because we are picky and needy! Picky-we want a house, we want 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (for our guests! so it's not completely selfish), we want it to be in a safe location, near a park,  and close to a grocery store. Needy- we NEED a fenced in backyard for the furry boy. Like I said, when he's happy, we're happy.

Wish us luck! And please be praying for our moving process that everything can fall into place and go smoothly. This month is going to be one big blur! That's right, in ONE month we'll be moving there. EEK!

Senioritis

via here

Senioritis- noun. A crippling disease that strikes college seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation. (Urbandictionary.com)


MY LIFE! (And Andrew's I will add.)


1. I used to be really good about dressing decent to school. I figured I'm about to enter into the real world so I should start practicing. That's been out the window this last week. T-shirts and athletic shorts everyday.


2. I haven't attended class since Tuesday. And it's Friday I might add. I know! It sounds so bad. But let me explain myself. Wednesday, class was cancelled. Thursday, I have no excuse except pure laziness. And today, Both classes are presentations by my class mates. BORING! (I blame canceling class on Wednesday. It gave me the taste of missing school, and it tasted good.)


3. I HAVE stayed on top of my work! I'm still turning in all my work on time and with excellent grades. Thank you very much!


4. I feel like I deserve to treat myself to a chill end of my last semester considering all my hard work I've put in. 


Instead of school, I've filled my time with:

kyzer's cuddles

dog park adventures

time with God

 and friends!

This weekend, the senioritis continues. Andrew and I are going to Teen Prom! I'm so ready to hang out with my high school friends and get down on the dance floor. Andrew's the DJ for the party along with his BFF Stephen. And I'm of course the "awkward mom" handing out punch in the corner. It's going to be awesome!!

Monthly Update?

Graduation is right around the corner!! Andrew and I are beyond excited. He already ran around the house in his cap and gown. Is that bad luck like it is for weddings!? Anyways, both of our families will be in town for the occasion. The in-laws are even staying with us in our small apartment! Dog and all. I hope Shammy and Kyzer get along.

what a happy boy at the park with his BFFs

Kyzer is growing!!! He's almost 50 pounds now and only 5 months. We are still working on obedience and training with him. All I have to say is Cesar Millan knows what he's talking about! Because of him, we are going to have a well mannered doggy.

just look at the size difference from the top picture
(the first couple weeks of having him) to the
bottom one (last week).

Andrew was the birthday this last weekend! We had a very relaxing weekend enjoying good food and the company of friends. 

what a cutie

we've always wanted to try this place. and we finally made it

our friends hosted a cookout for him. cake and keg included

my birthday boy!

Our plans for life after graduation are still in the works :( but we will be sure to keep you updated. I'm not going to lie, I was hoping to know by now. AND I'm partially surprised at how calm I am at the fact of not knowing. Very excited to see what God has planned for us.

Weekly Update

Once you grow up, does life ever seem to slow down again?

That's the question on our mind these days. We feel like we haven't had a day (or even a minute) to just breathe. 

On a good note, however, we've had a pretty fun week looking back on it. (I so easily forget the good things in the hustle and bustle of life) We got a new dishwasher!

This is how it started...TJ was teaching Andrew for future knowledge.

But after 5 minutes....this was how the dishwasher
was replaced.

How do people survive without a dishwasher!? We were without a working washer for 2 weeks. I don't understand how some people do it. Just another thing I'm now truly grateful for. Just like the car. :)

Jaxon came for another visit. It wasn't as luxurious and fun for him like last time though. Kyzer wanted to eat his tail the whole weekend. He thought he was a giant fluffy toy.

A rare loving moment between the two of them. They
ended up taking a nap together. :)

But in reality...this is what it was like...

We had friends over to play a super fun game of Quelf. 

Play this game with good friends cause you might get caught having to stick your finger up your nose and yodel until you role three 2's (ehm, Andrew).

Kyzer learned how to pick up a frisbee.

And how to catch his ball in his mouth when we toss it.

The weather has been off-and-on beautiful here. Sunny and so warm I've had to switch to shorts mid afternoon. Earlier this week, it was one of those days so Kyzer and I enjoyed a "peaceful" afternoon with the windows open.

(By peaceful I mean Kyzer nibbled on a bone and napped while I worked on school stuff for 4 hours straight.) 

This weekend we get to play our second round at being hosts! Friends of ours, Stephen and Alise, are coming to stay with us Saturday night. I'm so grateful to have a second bedroom so we can offer our home. What a joy.

And lastly....7 days to Spring Break '12! Our last one ever!

Kyzer

Um....sorry!?

I was doing so well with updating almost every day at the beginning of the month. I guess we can establish an understanding right now. If I don't post for over a week, life is crazy busy at the moment, which always means exciting things to tell you.....eventually.  :)

Ok, glad that's established.

So the fun news.....we have PUPPY!

12 weeks old (now 14 weeks old), 24 lbs, blue weim

This sweet boy has stolen my sanity, my peace of mind, and my heart. I think Andrew would agree with me on that one.

he's such a daddy's boy. 

going for a ride to the one and only dog store in Athens.
he's a celebrity every time we go!

Our days revolve around Kyzer now. When he needs to go out (which I will brag that we've trained him to ring a bell on the door), when the other dogs will be at the park to play with him (between 4:30-5:30 pm), training him, disciplining him, socializing him, and giving him love and attention.  It's EXHAUSTING!

But we are hoping it will all pay off and that he'll grow up to be an amazingly obedient family pet that wont require so much attention down the road. We are willing to pay our dues now to get that benefit later.

We've been spending the last two weeks potty training and crate training with some obedience and skill training.  The potty training has been successful for the most part. He's so smart. He picked up on the it within a couple days, but of course hasn't perfect.  We still have our moments every so often, but for the most part he understands where his business should lay. The crate training has gone well, too. He doesn't pester us through the night (HA! first week = sleep deprivation) and seems to enjoy his crate. But boy once that first alarm goes off in the morning he lets you know he heard it and wants out. 

No more sleeping in. Whoever the first one is that needs to get up, we both have to get up so one can take care of Kyzer and the other get ready. Then we swap duties. 

We take him to the dog park almost everyday to play with some neighborhood dogs. It's a fun community of people that all know each other and their pets. We are making new friends around us because of Kyzer.  

He's napping right now. That's the only reason I was able to crank out this blog post. Been dying to share about our adorable new family member. Can't wait for all of you to meet him!

PS. We started a height chart for Kyzer. (Don't laugh at us. You probably did too of your first pet!) He's already grown at least 1/2 and inch in a week. We saw on another blog that by 7 months old (less than 4 months away!) he'll be close to 100 lbs! We'll keep you posted.