Holiday Season

I had the best December in 2011.  I got the Christmas spirit and it just lasted and lasted.  I think it helped because we walk Zino every night which turned into Christmas light looking every night!  It was my absolute favorite thing to do all month.  And we got a Christmas tree first thing which we didn't have the past two years while I was stressed out with dental hygiene finals in December.  The nice thing was that there was a Christmas tree farm right next door to our apartment complex, so we just walked over and carried a tree back... ok, Josh carried it back and I opened doors :)

This is a pic we took of Zino and his friend Baxter when we went light looking in gorgeous Naples.

 

I got to see Jenn and Joni at the LBDHS meeting, and I get to work with them every friday starting this week which I'm excited about!

 

This was my favorite place to hand out after our walks and watch a movie

 

This was at our office Christmas Party.  They took us all out to a dinner show in Anaheim and then we did a gift exchange, so fun! Have I mentioned I love them?

We were also able to make a trip us to San Luis and see Jenny and Phil's new baby, Brielle.  She was absolutley precious, and we were excited that Jenny was tired only because that meant we got to take a shift watching our darling niece. 

We made it to the LA temple to see their fabulous light display.  It's amazing that people volunteer their time every year to set up and take down all those lights!

It was an awesome December and I already can't wait for the next!

Thanksgiving Trip to Utah

This past Thanksgiving we drove up to Utah to see Josh's family.  We drove through the night and got there around 7am on Thursday, I think I slept for an hour maybe an haour and a half and Josh didn't sleep at all!  We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and spent some quality time with Josh's folks as well and Brandon and Marnie's families.

Thursday night we decided to stay up for the Black Friday sales since they were starting at midnight this year.  Leandra drove us and we made stops at Target, Shopko, JC Pennies, and Walmart. And we didn't get back til about 4:30 am.... ya, still no sleep, but our new TV is worth it :) 

Leandra, Jewel, and Aspen accompanied us to this Museum in Provo where they had tons of real animals that had been preserved and different facts about them all. 

Saturday afternoon we met up with Meagan and James.  We brought Zino so he could finally meet his cousin Coda.  They did some crazy dog playing and then spent the rest of the night ignoring each other :) We go some good pictures behind Meg n James' place...

Then Meagan had planned for us to go to the Gardner's Village.  They had a bunch of cute shops and elf workshops to view.  Just don't ask me how many overpriced fake M&Ms Josh bought only to discover he hated them! lol... (that was for Meagan.) We ended the night with some Olive Garden, can't go wrong there.

We had a nice family filled four day weekend.  We love any time we can get with them!

Missing You

I just realized today that I miss a lot of people.  And I mean a lot.  If you are reading this there is a good chance that I miss you.  I feel like every time we see anyone it has been too long since the last time we saw them... is that normal?  I guess that is not one of the perks of moving away from the place you are from.  Josh and I feel like we are in such a dilemma because we love living in southern cali but we pretty much have no hope of ever having family down here :/  I will be recruiting people from here on out, you have been warned.

My Loves

November 4th was the day I got to reunite with my favorites.  Our lives are all so different now, we are in such different life phases, and yet it's still the same.  We have the kind of friendship that you kind of just know will always work and will always be there.  That's why even though we always wait too long, longer than any of us like, it doesn't matter.  I love catching up with these girls and I love who they both are.

I. Love. Us.

Halloween Weekend and Soccer Soccer Soccer

On Halloween weekend Josh and I met some friends in Belmont Shore to watch the LA Galaxy play and more importantly to eat some food :)  We also lucked out because a dog costume parade just happened to be going on and who hasn't always wanted to see that?

LA GALAXY has had a really good year apparently and it's a big deal because the finals are set to be in LA which doesn't happen very often... at least I think that's what Josh said.  So he has been going to all the games and I even went to one that I kinda liked... weird, I know. And they just won the western conference finals so that means just one more match to go against the east coast and they could win the MLS cup.  Do I sound like I know what I'm talking about? Cause I almost feel like I do.

Bolsa Chica Wetlands

Last weekend Josh and I took Zino for a walk at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach.  We had really been wanting to go there and found out there are walking paths that dogs are allowed on.  We parked by these really awesome new homes that overlook the ocean and this made me very jealous.  The walk was so pretty and even got most of Zino's energy out which is quite a task.

Towards the end of our walk the sun was going down and we were veering off the beaten path a little to try and get back to the car faster.  That's when Josh noticed a coyote.  It was totally stalking Zino and it was very creepy.  This was one well fed coyote too, it was probably the size of a lab...even more creepy.  I ended up carrying Zino and Josh ended up chasing after the coyote despite my frantic cries of how it was going to attack him! We made it out alive though and here's proof:

Zino Loses His Manhood

On Friday, October 21st, I took Zino back to the Downey Shelter to get neutered.  We had had this appointment since we bought him two months ago and it seemed so far away.  His manhood was ruining pictures of him and it was not cute.  We were ready for this, although I did feel bad leaving Zino at that Shelter again :(

This is him after I brought him home.  He was a little out of it for a couple days.

We don't know why but surgery made him snugly... he couldn't get enough snuggles, which is ok with us!

Zino had to wear the cone collar while we slept and worked to make sure he didn't lick his stitches.  He didn't mind it much actually, but it made me laugh every time he had it on.  For your viewing pleasure:

The worst part about his surgery was that he wasn't supposed to exercise for 7-10 days and Zino has A LOT of energy.  I felt bad for him but also for us because we found out that the walks are as much for us as they are for him.  We go on lots of long walks with him throughout the week and it had become a nice bonding time for us where we kind of relax, talk, unwind and get a little exercise in.  We really missed it.  At the one week mark, yesterday, we started the walks again.  We feel better already and so does Zino :)