Hello July - You're flying by!

Wow, where is the time going?! I've been very busy with Birdie. Job #1 has a lot going on right now. And also my Mema's health is declining very quickly - she was moved to hospice last week. So you can understand that my mind has been occupied and while I apologize for not updating my blog sooner, I trust you all understand. :-)

Alright. Let's just do a huge picture update, shall we?

Birdie came to work with me - for about 20 minutes. :-)

My friend Emily and her beautiful family came to town and I got to have FroYo with her and Alyssa. 

I got a mole removed from my lower back. And I passed out. I don't deal well with needles and things well.

We took a trip to Buffalo to visit Andy's dad in the hospital (he had neck surgery). Since we were there for awhile we didn't want to leave Birdie at home. She's a good little traveler. She mostly just sleeps in the car.

Andy's dad was in a lot of pain, so we mostly hung out in the waiting room. The view was actually really cool and all the gray reminded me of Seattle. Sigh - I miss home.

Ok, you know what? I have a ton of Birdie pictures, so let's just get them over with. Sorry this is totally out of order.

Birdie loves to get all up in your face. And I love when she does.

She discovered where we keep her treats. We no longer keep her treats there.

She also discovered where Andy goes to practice.

She looked adorable in her 4th of July T-Shirt.

We made another trip to Buffalo to check up on Andy's dad. Birdie "went swimming!"

And then she was so tuckered out, she took an afternoon snooze on my lap. She is so precious. :-)

Look at this sweet angel face!

She went for her first workout in the park.

And made her first trip to the Pet Store!

And her latest trip... this morning to the vet. Poor little girl had her second round of puppy shots, her ears cleaned, her nails clipped, and her "glands expressed."

Ok enough of Birdie. Thank you for indulging me. Moving on...

Our Fourth of July was nice. We spent the morning at the Public Market, then just lounged around the house until it was time to go downtown. Andy played in the concert downtown. The city throws a really nice reception for the orchestra, and it's something I look forward to every year. I especially enjoyed my outfit, so I included a picture of that as well, haha.

And lastly, my Mema. I mentioned above that she was moved to hospice on Wednesday. It's safe to say a LOT of tears have been shed, but I could not be more proud of my Mema. She is so brave and happy. I love her so much and hope I'm just like her when my time comes. My mom was able to get down there (Texas)... here is their selfie!

On Friday a lot of her relatives came to visit, and because she wanted to look nice, she had a haircut. How freaking cool is that.

And here she is surrounded by tons of love. :-) This picture makes me so happy.

On Saturday, Andy and I got to FaceTime with her. I am so glad we had the chance as I'm pretty sure it was the last conversation I'll have with her. At the end I told her I loved her and she replied back with more enthusiasm than I could ever have hoped for, "I love you too!" Replaying that phrase in my head over and over has really helped me through these last few days.

There you have it. I'll try to write again soon, but until I do, please keep my Mema and my family in your thoughts. xoxo

Life with Birdie and More

Hello Hello!

Here's what I've been up to. I apologize that this post will feature a lot of Birdie, but I'll try to mix in some other things too.

I took all of last week off to be home with Birdie. She mostly played, slept, and went to the bathroom a lot... and I watched her like a hawk. It was a lot of work to keep up with her! Here are some of the pictures I took of her. My phone is FULL of Birdie pics now. :-)

Look at my sweet angel face!

Someone discovered sticks and now cannot resist them.

We took her to the public market. Everyone LOVED her, but we will never take her again as it made shopping nearly impossible. Anna was so patient. :-)

She also discovered bark. And leaves. And rocks. Everything goes straight in her mouth. And then I fish it out.

She went to the liquor store.

She taught her first clarinet lesson.

And she took her first car trip to Buffalo. Someone was very sleepy!

She has also received many gifts!! Thank you to Anna, Will and Rose, Lani, Nancy, Andy's parents, and my parents!!!

Ok, thank you for indulging me. Onto other happenings!

Our friend Ran stayed with us for 5 days. We were all students at Eastman and have kept in touch ever since. He's a good guy and very good house guest. He taught us a card game that we played several nights, so that was fun - I always love games.

When we went to the public market, Andy and I bought some different herbs. Now we have our own little garden!

I also spent some time reorganizing the kitchen. Check out the beauty of this drawer.

For Father's Day, we went to Buffalo to see Andy's family. My dad was hiking Mt. Rainier with my mom - I'm so jealous!!! But our trip to Buffalo was nice, and Andy made an awesome rhubarb pie.

On Monday night, Andy and I went to Anna's to watch the US Women's Soccer game. I hadn't seen Poco and Otis since we had gotten Birdie. After being around a 2 pound pup for a week, her cats looked mammoth!!!! Here they are showing off their feline fun house. :-)

And there you have it! I went back to work on Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off to hang out with Birdie girl while Andy went to Toronto, and now I'm back to the grind again. I can't wait to get home!

BIRDIE GURL!!!!!

Puppy girl is all ours!!!!!!!!

We picked her up on Sunday morning at 11:30am. I was so excited/nervous on the drive out to get her. I'll admit I felt very guilty taking her away from her mom and litter mates, but I guess that's just a part of life.

She took the car ride home like a champ. I'm soooo glad she does well in a car. Our dog Cookie would throw up every time she had to ride in a car. Phew! Glad we won't have to relive that!

I have a gajillion pictures I want to share with you guys, so I'll try to be brief. I'll be honest I don't really know what is normal for a new puppy, but on the whole I think she's doing pretty well. She seems to be picking up on her name. She has definitely accepted Andy and I as her new pack. And she seems pretty smart in terms of learning the stairs and walking on a leash. She's not eating very much, but I imagine that will change as she gets more comfortable. She also WAILS when she is first put in her crate. Andy is not exactly enforcing the crate rules, so I'm sure that plays into it. She already has him wrapped around her little paw. :-)

Ok picture time!!

So there she is! Our little Birdie Gurl. :-)