Some pictures of me and my baby girl, Lani. My brother took these on his cell phone...not too bad, eh? I thought we were just messing around and was surprised that they turned out decent!

I can't believe how much gray and white hair she has now. I've also noticed that she doesn't try to jump the fence at my parent's house near as often as she used to. I think she's getting old and realizing that it's just too much work and not worth it.

I am thrilled and excited about bringing Bella home but I am a little sad at the same time. It's like we're opening up a new chapter in our little family and it will never be just the three of us again. Lani has been with us since a week after we got married so it's always just been just us. It sounds corny and silly, I know.

An addition in July!

<---This isn't her specifically. But believe me, I'll be posting pics of her asap!

Last week Ben and I put down a deposit for a purebred, female, rottweiler, puppy. We found a reputable breeder here in Northern CA who has a litter of 5 females right now that will be able to go home with their new owners in July. I am so excited! I grew up with a female rottie for 12 years until hip displaysia got the best of her and the most humane thing to do was put her down. It was the hardest thing I've had to do, yet. Her name was Abbey and every time I see a rottweiler I think of her and what a truly amazing dog she was. She's the reason my family and I fell in love with the breed; my parents have a mix rottie and my brother has a purebred.

So we pick her up in July but before that time, Ben and I are going to go meet the breeder and his pups. I am 99% sure he's legit but I want to be 100% sure and the only way to do that is to go and check it out. While part of me is really happy and excited the other part of me feels guilty for not going to a shelter. Ask anyone who knows me- I'm the first one to want to adopt and save a dog's life, no doubt about it. We rescued Lani and while she is a great dog, she has some issues that we can't seem to fully get past. One of those issues being other (certain) adult dogs. Puppies and really old dogs are no problem whatsoever. Same with kids...actually, better with kids. I trust her around small children more than I can with other animals. Anyway, that's the reason we aren't going to a shelter-- bringing another adult into the family won't go well.

Having Lani and dealing with her attitude/personality issues has made me so adamant about doing things the right way with this puppy. Lani was 3/4 years old when he got her (she's now about 6/7) and so we never had the chance to do things the right way from the time she was a pup. It limits the things we can do with her and places we can go (though we do a good job of making up for it) and it's really frustrating for all of us. So, it's my goal to have this dog be well adjusted and well socialized.

We've thought of some names and pretty much agreed on one (more like, Ben gave in- ha ha). I won't say it's for sure until I see her but I really like the one we picked! =)

Has it really been 3 months?!

I hadn't realized that I'd been away that long! A lot has been going on during the last few months. Well, since the beginning of the year really; 2009 is a big one around here.

Ben and I are in the process of buying our first home about 20 minutes from the beautiful Santa Cruz we're in now. We're sad to have to move but the housing market in this city (and this area, really) is just outrageous. On the flip side of that we are VERY excited at the thought of owning our own home. It's nothing big or amazing or even close to our 'dream home' but it's what we can do right now in this area so we'll take it! Once the economy turns around we plan on selling and buying something closer to family down south. Anyway, we close in a little over 2 weeks and the list of things that need to be done before Escrow is dwindling down!

Ben's medical problems finally seem to be on the mend as well. After numerous doctors poking and prodding him for the last 8 months I believe that the end of it all is in sight. Last week he started acupuncture and already, after one session, he notices a difference in the level of pain. =) While this makes me SO happy I'm a little bummed at the thought of him going back on the streets at night. Seems that there are always 2 feelings to one situation these days...

My youngest brother graduated from High School last week. That was a bittersweet time. I am so extremely proud of him and all the hard work he's put into everything he's done thus far. I mean, we're talking scholar athlete (amazing quarterback), member of the National Honors Society, 4.0 in practically all honors classes, and in the midst of it all (and most importantly) he is a fine young man. He goes off to a 4 year in September and I know he's pretty stoked about that. I keep thinking how weird it's going to be when Ben and I go to visit mom and dad's and he's not there.

I'm sort of looking for a job. I've come so close to being hired a few times and for one reason or another it hasn't happened. It's really frustrating and I'm to the point now where I'm just done. I'm done looking. I probably shouldn't be but I am so sick of it! I'm hoping that Ben and I will start trying for a baby by the end of the year anyway and we've both agreed that I'll be a stay at home mom, so we'll see what happens.

There's more but I'll leave it at this for now. I'm not feeling very well today so I'm going to go plop on the couch for a while once I finish my smoothie. . .