Sunny Sunday

Today was the nicest day we have had so far! What a great way to end January. Erik, Arrow, and I spent most of the afternoon outside doing yard work. All the trees are budded out and everything looks like it's coming back to life, but it is still January!!!

Arrow LOVED playing outside in the sunshine! He also liked helping Erik get some of the leaves off the patio. He has now explored all over the yard and really enjoys pulling weeds and munching on swiss chard and kale (both of which never died and is still going from spring planting!?!)

He ran, sniffed, and played until he fell asleep in Erik's lap outside. Here are some pictures from our lovely Sunday afternoon. Hopefully this beautiful weather sticks around.

One Week Later

We have had darling little Arrow for a week now and it has been one EXHAUSTING week! He is so cute but has so much energy. I like calling him a little mouth. I know beagles are usually referred to as a nose, but Arrow is a mouth. He usually has his mouth open and chomps on the nearest object (usually Erik or my hand). He also loves chewing on clothes, shoes, the oriental rug, the carpet, his bed, newspaper, and cardboard. We bought a bitter apple spray hoping to keep him from chewing on the rug. The first thing he did was go over and lick the spray. So...I don't think the spray will deter him from chewing.

It is hard work raising a little pup on your own but I finally got Arrow on a schedule:
Between 5:30-5:50 wake up and take Arrow out
5:55 feed Arrow
6:15 potty time
6:25 shower/get ready for work while Arrow hangs out in the bathroom with me
6:50 blow dry my hair (which puts Arrow to sleep! :))
7:10 eat breakfast
7:25 leave for work
Between 12:30 and 1 come home potty Arrow
1:15 try to eat lunch
1:30-2:45 play with crazy Arrow and try to keep Rilo and him from fighting
2:45 nap time :)
3:45 potty arrow
4:00-5:50 play and potty Arrow
5:50 dinner
6:10 potty Arrow
6:30 try to eat dinner
6:30 t0 8 play and potty Arrow
8:00 Arrow's bedtime
8-9 try to get some work done
9:00 my bedtime!

When I am home, I take Arrow out every hour to try to get him used to going out. He is doing a very good job of getting potty trained. The hardest part of the day is trying to keep Rilo and him separate. They are both so curious that they follow each other around and have to be in the same room. But that means that I have to watch them so closely. Rilo has claws and can swat hard, where Arrow has needle sharp teeth and plays rough. He is also only half the size of Rilo. Last night, Arrow was playing with a toy and Rilo was sleeping on the couch. Erik was across the room and I turned my back to check my work email when I heard Arrow squealing and yelping with Rilo on top of him. She didn't hurt him but she scared all of us. I can't wait until Arrow and Rilo get along better because right now the only room we can leave Arrow alone in is the bathroom.

Arrow

We named our puppy Arrow from Harry Nilsson's cartoon The Point. The dog in the cartoon was named Arrow. He was the greatest dog in the world and the Oblio, the boy's best friend. In the cartoon there is a song called "Me and my Arrow" and a line that says "Wherever we go people will know, it's me and my Arrow."

Erik is the only other person outside my family that also grew up watching the point. So we thought it was the perfect name for our new little puppy.

Arrow was such a good car rider! We started off the trip home from Southern Oregon with him in my lap, but he got a little restless. I decided to let him walk around by my feet but instead he cuddled up next to my feet and fell asleep. He slept on my feet for the 3.5 hours it took to get home. We stopped once to potty him but he had no interest.

When we got home at 5:00 he hadn't gone to the bathroom all day! We took him outside to try to get him to go, but I guess he was still too nervous. We are keeping Arrow in the bathroom and he is doing a very good job of using the potty training pad when he has to pee, we even got him to go outside. Going poo is a different story, but at least he is doing it in the bathroom only :)

Rilo is very curious about him. She stalks him all over the house and if Arrow gets to close she will hiss at him, but for the most part she is content with watching. When he barks at night she ignores him and still sleeps on the bed with me.

Arrow is a good sleeper. He woke up about three times in the night but each time he barked for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep again. He will play and play and then crash. He loves the Hedgehog that Grandma and Grandpa gave him, the polar bear and rope Noreen and Brian gave him, and the surrogate mama beagle that Erik and I got him. He curls up with his toys and goes to sleep.

We are enjoying having him but Monday is going to be a sad day. Erik and I will both be going back to work. Then I will have to juggle Rilo, Arrow, and my grading by myself. But I shouldn't be lonely!

And The Winner Is...

So my mom was right, it was hard to tell which puppy was which once we got there :) We purchased our puppy from GEM beagles in Eagle Point. The breeder had one female and four males. She was originally going to keep one of the males so we had a choice from the other three. However, once we got there she decided she really didn't need to keep one, so there were four darling puppies running all around. One had bigger bone structure than the rest, one was an escape artist, one was a ball of energy that loved Erik but was humping everything, and one was smaller than the rest and followed me all over wanting to give kisses.

It was a hard choice. The big one would have been a beautiful adult dog, perfect bone structure, great for showing. But we wanted a pet, not a show dog and he wasn't very interested in us. The ball of energy was adorable and really liked Erik but the breeder pointed out that he was a little trouble-maker and that scared us away. Then there was the sweet little one that followed me around... I was in love with him, but he did not have markings like the others. He was puppy number 3.

We decided he was the puppy for us! He loves us and follows us all over the house and yard. He wants to please. So the winner is... Puppy number 3!!!!

Which Puppy Will Be Ours?

PUPPY 1

PUPPY 2

PUPPY 3

Puppy 1, puppy 2, puppy 3,which puppy will end up being ours? We can't wait till Saturday to find out which darling little beagle pup will make the trek back home with us! It is so hard to choose (especially based off of photos only), so we are going to wait till Saturday when we get to meet the little guys! The photos of them are taken when they are just about 7 weeks old.

So far the votes are for puppy 1 and puppy 3. I think puppy 2 is cute also but not as photogenic. He kind of looks sad or grouchy in his pics. All the puppies are a little on the small side, but that is fine with us because we want a pet and not a show dog. I was told that the puppy chooses you. I hope that happens with us! I remember going to get our childhood dog, Keno, when I was about 6 or 7. He was the cutest little fluff ball. He curled right up in our lab and nestled in. Rilo our kitty also chose us. She let me know that she was would be coming home with me and that she was my little baby. I hope she can adjust to our little pup pup! I showed her a stuff animal of a beagle and her tail got huge. She hid from it and then slowly crept forward only to find out it was a fake. Next weekend should be interesting for sure. I have a feeling that life is going to be crazy for a while. But that is what I need, healthy distractions :)

Winter Break Ski Pictures

Erik and I went cross-country skiing twice over my winter break. The first time we went to Mt. Hood with my mom, Raeme, Brie, and Max. The snow was very icy and the run started off with a huge hill so it was a little scary. Luckily, it snowed the whole time we were skiing so by the time we were halfway around the loop we were skiing in powder. Here's a couple pictures from our trip.




On New Years Eve day, Erik and I went cross-country skiing with our friend Luke. We arrived in the Willamette pass and were very surprised to find two feet of powdery snow at the Ray-Benson Snow park. It was beautiful but made poling challenging!

This is where the trail ended

View from the shelter

Three Finger Jack

We had lunch and warmed up by the wood stove in the shelter

It was a beautiful FREEZING day. I was so tired from skiing that I could barely make it to midnight to celebrate the new year. I can't wait to go skiing again but I'm not sure how we are going to do that with our new little puppy. The snow was so deep he would have gotten stuck :( We saw a lady snowshoeing with a front pack on. I was expecting to see a cute little baby but instead I saw a cute little puppy in a sweater. I looked at Erik and he said "There is no way we're carrying our puppy while skiing!" So I guess if he can't walk he can't come.

New Year New Goals

I'm not someone that usually does new year's resolutions but this year I AM!
I really need to work on my TIME management. I only work half days and I feel like the rest of my day gets wasted by me sitting on the couch grading, lesson planning, and watching TV. That is no type of life.

So I am working on my time management. I have been talking with my family and friends and realized that I need to make some changes. For example, the kids in my class DO NOT need to get their homework and tests back the next day when most of the time they end up in the garbage and not at home.

I am also going to finally use my gym membership and set aside an hour a day that I can go to the gym for me time. This did not work out so well today. I waited all day to go to my favorite class, centergy, a pilates and yoga mix. When I got to the gym the parking lot AND the overflow parking lot were full! A guy was directing traffic suggesting we park down at Wallace Marine Park (a place I will never go alone in the dark, no way!) So that was short lived. So much for classes. I'll just have to do cardio during the day.

Erik and I cleaned the house to prepare for Christmas vacation. It looked and felt so nice. I am going to try really hard to keep up on the house work and with the help of my new vacuum I am hoping it will be more enjoyable.

Cooking for one is not fun, but I am going to start cooking better, healthier, more delicious dinners. I love cooking especially desserts, however, I do not love doing it alone or eating it alone.

Erik and I are planning on making our weekends special and do more activities like cross country skiing. We bought skis and have really enjoyed going to Mt. Hood and the Willamette Pass. We also desperately need to finish organizing our garage for the new arrival...

The biggest change of the year is the new addition to our family. Erik and I are getting a beagle puppy in 3 weeks! We are both very excited, although I am getting really nervous because I will be doing all of the training. We've made trips to the pet store to gather supplies to get ready for our little pup pup. I have a feeling Rilo is not going to be as excited but hopefully she will be more civil to it than she is to Timon and Wesley. I am anxiously waiting pictures of the puppies and curious which one will end up ours. When I know I will definitely post pictures.

That's all for now but I am going to do better at updating.