A whirlwind of travel...

Just a little taste of what we've been up to in the last month:

• My step-sister Tiffany's wedding in South Lake Tahoe, CA.
• NCKMS in Midway, UT.
• Our good friend Amanda's wedding in Fresno, CA. 

It really has seemed like we've been on the road more than we haven't in the last few weeks, although if you count out the days, that isn't really true. While it has been SO fun, I'm so glad to be home. It is so great to see friends and family and to experience new things, but to sleep in your own bed and to have your own schedule is pretty great, too. 

Not wanting to overwhelm myself in all the catching up, nor any of you reading this, I'll cover our trips one at a time, starting with Tiffany's wedding at Tahoe--

Her wedding had an Irish-English theme to honor their heritage, and there was also this different time eras theme that you can see reflected in the different bridesmaids dresses. 

You can kind of see what I mean in the following three photos (that I borrowed from Tiffany): 

Watching the ceremony.

Bride with her bridesmaids and flower girl at Lake Tahoe

Tiffany and Scot with the whole wedding party

Almost all of the dresses were home-made, many by Tiffany. I decided to sew my own dress, and went with an Edwardian style. I was excited to find a fabric that matched so well with all of the others. And it was a real challenge to work with a pattern based on such old patterns... I was happy to complete it. 

The wedding was at a pub by a gazebo and at the end of the ceremony all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen each let a butterfly go. While I kept worrying about my butterfly once it was handed to me and I could hear it scratching around in its container, I was really happy to see it fly off at Tiffany and Scot's first married kiss. 

I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the wedding was getting the chance to hang out with family. I got to meet new people as well-- Andi's girlfriend Lisa, Tiffany's mom Jennifer, and Jessica's friend Brendan. (Totally random, but I told my sister that I thought Brendan looks a little like Edward Cullen/Robert Pattinson. Jessica admitted that several other people have said the same thing about him. You decide. Edward and Brendan. --Keep in mind that I didn't get the most Edward-esque photo of him that I could have, but that's the best I've got. Another thing is that Brendan tree climbs and teaches others to do so for a living. Anyone familiar at all with the silly vampire stories will understand why I think that's so funny. In case you were wondering, Brendan is actually a really nice guy, and that's as far as the vampire similarities go.)

Jon and I also had some time to go on hikes with the dogs and they loved sniffing around the lake and walking around on all of the pet-friendly trails. They did surprisingly well in the car for that long ride. We let them out every two hours or so to do their business and to have some water and kibble, and they seemed totally content. Misu would just plop down and fall asleep while Luna would prop her head up so she could look around and see what we were up to, but they didn't whimper or whine while we were driving. If we stopped the car and one of us would leave for a second, it was a different story-- Luna does NOT like it when Jon or I leave, she likes us to all be together. But once you put a leash on her and let her out at a stop, she does great. Oh, and the couple of times we stopped for a drive-thru snack, she'd bark and bark at the cashier. Annoying but funny. 

Also, because uploading a bunch of photos over and over again does not appeal to me, you can check out all of the photos that Jon and I took of the wedding over HERE. 

Things I was grateful for...

It started Monday evening and lasted until Wednesday morning. Having a migraine for that long is not fun. However, I did find some things to take hold of and be happy about during that-- 

1. My cat Boo makes a good scare crow. Awful, terrible, tiny birds have been eating all of our peaches. Before they're even ripe. So I can't get out and pick them for us. . . so I go out and chase the birds away every time I see them. It is a thankless (and pretty much pointless) endeavor. Seeing as I couldn't stand the sunlight on Tuesday, I'd conceded to the birds, when Boo stepped in. She'd woken up from a nap and I fed her some canned food. She got done eating and just then noticed the birds in my tree. She then promptly went out the cat/dog door and crept across the lawn. She sat under the tree and did her own version of little bird chirps. She really does that. My impression is that she gets so totally entranced by the birds that she doesn't realize what she's doing, and these little chirpy half-meows come out of her as her pupils dilate and she focuses in on the birds. It's cute because this of course ruins her chances of catching a bird. But the birds don't know that, so they all flew away from the peach tree. But Boo just sat there, transfixed, waiting for them to return, meow-chirping away. Which of course, only kept them away longer. Yay for Boo!

2. Our little dog Misu finally went through the doggy door all on his own on Tuesday. I'd been working with him, giving him little treats whenever he'd go through the door as I'd hold it open first half-way and then down to a crack. But he just hated actually pushing against the door to get in. He'd whine and cry and then just give up and sit there by the door until I'd give in and help out. But then on Tuesday he just got the nerve up and did it. He's still clumsy and it takes him a few tries, but he's no longer scared of the door, and he doesn't whine. He just pushes until he gets in or out. And that makes me happy. 

3. I'd been refilling our humming bird feeder wondering how many humming birds we were really helping out, thinking that perhaps the mixture was just evaporating in the heat. But then early in the morning, when waiting for Misu to do his thing outside, I watched as three different humming birds visited our feeder. I didn't get a shot of them feeding, but after going in to grab my camera, they still visited a neighboring tree and sat really nicely for me. 

They're cute little things, right?

On blogs and dogs

First things first-- we are now public. So go ahead and add the blog to your Google Reader or whatever. After trying to keep up with a couple of friends' private blogs I realized that it can be a pain to remember to check those blogs. Not that those people aren't worth visiting or commenting on, but yea, private blogs can be harder to reach and read. And it seems like you agree with me. I decided that whether this blog is private or public actually didn't matter that much to me, so why not make things easier? Done and done. 

Second matter of excitement and happiness-- our cute new puppy. We named him Misu, which means "little bear" in Polish. We adopted him from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. They had so many cute sweet dogs and puppies to choose from. I went a month before the adoption to see what was available and after playing with Misu and his litter, I realized that he was the one for us. Back then he was called Hendrix, but he didn't look like a Hendrix to me. Turns out that Misu is a perfect name for him. He often sounds like a tiny little bear with his grunts and growls as he plays with Luna. 

He is half Miniature Poodle and half Maltese and is a sweetie. (A sweetie that still poops on the carpet from time to time, but still...) 

He and our other dog Luna get along really well. They play tug-of-war, wrestle, and chase one another around the house. Luna has really taken to her little brother and I love it. What's more is that they really seem to play off of one another really well. Misu is really chill and not easily riled up-- both Jon and I hope that trait rubs off on Luna. Having Misu join the family has been just great. Luna still loves following me around but she also gives me a little more space now that Misu is here. Which means I can get a lot more done around the house. And if it sounds like I'm talking about Luna as if she is a child, that's because in some ways she is one. And now with Misu she's a happier more self-sufficient one. However, unlike children, I'm finding that two is easier than one. 

So yea, we've got some good things going on around here. Good and cute.