What? Walking?

Wait? I thought it was supposed to start with a "J"... "Jogging"? Wah- Keen? How do you spell that? Joa- Quin? After all the confusion... The newest Guide Dog puppy at our house.

Me and Lindsey with Joaquin and 2 of his siblings going to Colorado

He even already had his first bath to get all the newspaper yuck off...

Welcome Joaquin...! We're excited for the next year or so with you!

Poor Vinnie

Poor Vinnie had his "Liposuction" today. He was dropped off at 7 this morning and came home about 5. Poor guy looks like he's been through a war. The vet said he pulled about a pound of fatty tumors out... When he left the vet this afternoon he was at 75-ish lbs.

I have a picture that you can see his stitches better but it's pretty yucky looking so I thought I would spare you. It will only make you feel worse for him. He's got 4 inscisions and gets to back in about 2 weeks to have the stitches removed. They said they were going to give him an e-collar but decided he was so good and is such a nice dog they didn't think he would need it. He can barely make it downstairs right now. When my dad came home he tried to get up and do a happy dance but that didn't work out so well...He tried and will be better than new in a few weeks. That's my boy. Tomorrow I'm going to stop by in the afternoon to see him- give him a hug and love on him for a minute... and introduce him to new puppy! Less than 12 hours! Don't worry we're getting excited at our house...! I'm sure there will be a post tomorrow!

Vinnie goes to the Vet

So... Vinnie has had a small fatty lump under his arm since I got home last year. We took him to the vet early on and after taking a sample told us it was no biggie and we shouldn't worry about it unless it's bothering him.
Fast forward a few months...
The lump has been getting bigger and Vin has started limping... We also noticed a few more starting to grow...poor guy. My mom said she would take him to the vet to get it checked out. Every time I went home to visit I would remind her. Finally, last week after work I went by and took him in. The verdict? It's definitly not cancer (whew) and the boy gets to have surgery. Poor Vinnie will look like Frankenstein for Halloween (although he IS a boy- he might think it's pretty cool.) He has 2 bigger lumps and 2 smaller ones. So next Wednesday gets to go in for some "lipo-suction"... Do we all wish we could do that? I know I have some fatty lumps I would be okay with removing ;) He doesn't really act like an old dog anyway but the vet said it will make a huge difference in his energy level. He said it will make him MUCH more comfortable :) When I called my mom to tell her how much it would cost I asked her if it was alright if I just scheduled the surgery right there. Her response was "We'll it's your fault I love him like my child! It's not like I CAN'T do it. Get him in ASAP." So so so true. You would never know it from him as a puppy (a wild man) that we would fall so hard for this dog. Wish Vinnie luck!
Only 5 more days until Puppy Truck Day...!

24/7

Why is there only 24 hours in a day? And why do you have to sleep for 1/4 of those hours? I'm pretty sure there needs to be more hours- either that or travel time should be eliminated. It seems like there should be more time to finish everything... One day I'm going to have to see about inventing that- something like Space Mountain at Disneyland, of course it has to be fun!
Monet has had a pretty exciting life thelast 2 days- I'm sure Lindsey has posted about it-- one of her puppies, Brogan came to visit. She's not so sure if she likes him or not yet but she'll get over it... Brog is a good teacher. And his being a huge moose and having the perpetual look of "I'm-going-to-eat-the-next-thing-that-comes-within-a-foot-of-me" on his face I'm sure helps... (I don't think he could hurt ANYONE! He's just a big hungry Lab) They are so funny together...

A Visit from a Texan

This last weekend while Lindsey was gone Mon and I had a visitor. My friend Jana came to visit us all the way from Texas. We were companions (roomates) on my mission in Oregon. I love her to death and was so excited to show her around Utah. We went to Salt Lake and up Ogden Canyon. So fun... I think fall i my favorite time of year in Utah (and especially Oregon! I love the fog!)

Jana is Deaf so she tried to teach Monet some signs but she just wanted to play (Jana thinks she succeeded but shh...I think Monet was just humoring her) It was Jana's first experience with a Guide Dog Puppy so she was really nervous about bringing a dog into a store but once she got used to it she thought it was pretty cool. We ended up at the mall and Monet found her namesake!

A little Claude Monet anyone? I'll take the little black puppy...

May be next time I'll go out to Texas to visit Jana. She doesn't live too far from where my 5th puppy Maryjo is working now... I would LOVE to go see her... We'll see!

All about Monet

Sometimes I forget how much work school is. It seems like no big deal then due dates come all at the same time and I'm like "AHHH!!" it's fine though... that's the life of a college student- and guess what? I only have about a year left for my BA. What am I thinking wanting to keep going after I'm done? No, really I love school- it's fun-- it's just a ton of work:) I love learning and going to school. Monet went to Weber State with me for the first time today... she did pretty well. She didn't like being under the desk with my backpack so I had to move it for her. Princess! She's so ridiculous sometimes... such a girl! Normally she sleeps in Lindsey's room with 2 dog beds so last week when she slept in my room she got all mad that she had to sleep on the floor. She kept laying dow the getting up then finding sometime small to lay down on like my jacket or a piece of my blanket that was touching the floor. Finally I went downstairs and got a dog bed out of the living room. You'd think a dog that's been to as many houses as she has would be pretty "whatever" but I guess it's still all about Monet.

Headlines at our house

As you probably already saw on Lindsey's blog- Poor Monet got spayed. She's been sooooo super mellow all day. I got home from school at 11:30 and she's been just chilling on her bed since. She's been SO cuddly since yesterday and I love it! She's always been sweet girl, but nothing like this. Someone will be so lucky to have her as their Guide Dog one day!
Donovan (the puppysittee for the school program) is a little less aware of what happened yesterday. Mostly the job is keeping him laying down enough that we don't end up with some insides falling out. He's a pretty good boy for the most part though so it's not too tough of a job he just forgets.
Puppy class was cancelled tonight (due to a case of the swine flu... how exciting) but since Monet and Donovan can't go anyway it's just fine (although I was looking forward to going to Farrs Ice Cream with the club... YUM) We'll go next week and Mony will be feeling much better hopefully.
In other news:
I think I forgot to post that I got a new car :) YAY! I love it! An '05 Suzuki Aerio Hatchback. It's red and super cute despite the grey stripe down the side. The interior is black which is great for Monet- not so great for Vinnie. He thinks it stinks because he has to ride in the very back. He'll get over it.
Homework time!!!

You know you're jealous of my week

This week... well really the last few days have been really... um... amazing? in a sarcastic type of way. So first off I'm sitting in my class Thursday night and I get a text about 8:30. I don't really check texts in class and class was out soon so I waited a few minutes then as soon as I was out I checked my phone. It was a text frm Lindsey (Lindsey and I are roomates if you haven't figured that out) "You have to come home NOW. Calvin got hit by a car and is dead and Charlie is gone" Calvin and Charlie are our other roomates Beagles. WHAT?! I called Lindsey... sure enough poor girl had to talk to the lady who had hit Calvin, call our other roomate- Lacy and tell her, then go out looking for Charlie. We looked for Charlie for a few hours then decided that he probably had found a place to hide for the night and hoped he would find his way home in the morning... Since we all work we left a note on our door that said to call us if they were returning our beagle. Lacy decided to stay at her parents that night then come the next day and hopefully Char would be home by then...
Next morning...
I'm on my way to work and was about 30 minutes away and-- my car decides to overheat. Awesome... perfect. The thing about my job (I'm a sign language interpreter) is that if I'm not there it's pretty difficult to find a replacement and nothing can really happen without someone there. So, because I have an amazing dad, once again he saved me. He had my sister bring her truck up to me so I could make it to work. My dad figures out how to get it smoking and hot to the Flyng J just off the exit. Diagnosis for my car: Blown Head Gasket... I was going to change the oil that afternoon- Too late. My car was old- I guess just think of it as assisted Suicide.
Fast forward a few hours;
I'm at work and get a text "Charlie's home!" YAY! Apparently someone had found him and put him in our backyard. He's got a few battlewounds, including a fat eye and a limp, but he's doing well and is still the same Charlie. We think he may have been hit too by another car. They took him to the vet last night and everything checked out. I'm SOOOO glad we found him!
Fast forward a few more hours...
I'm driving home and I start to notice the same smell my car had this morning. "It's no big deal I'm probably making up stuff because I'm paranoid" about 1/4 mile from the same flying J exit my other car was chilling at the truck decides to overheat as well... Yes. That is the awesomeness of my life. My poor dad is on vacation with the rest of my famlily (I had to work so couldn't go) so after I called him I called my hero- Lindsey, to rescue me. She came and saved me while my dad drove home to diagnose the truck to try and bring it home... the verdict is: a blown head gasket. Yes, that's right TWO in one day!!! Impossible you say? Well... It can happen and I am living proof of that! So that makes today Car shopping day for me... Yay :-S Not really... Wish me luck!
I told Linds she'd better watch out- things are dying all over the place here!

Monet meets Vinnie

Why I love Vinnie:
1. He's soooo adorable- who couldn't love that just smashed into a wall face?

2. He's the sweetest Male Yellow Labbie EVER! (never mind the first 14 months of his life that we had him- it doesn't count- we were first time raisers)
3. He's such a fabulous honorary co-raiser. He teaches the puppies what is good play.

Why I love Monet:

1. She's pretty adorable herself- I'm not gonna lie- I think she's the cutest Black Lab in the house!
2. She's SUCH a nice dog... for being only 6 months old she really is SO good!

3. She loves Vinnie and learns quickly from him.

I <3>

I think we'll keep them :)

It's a puppy! It's a puppy!!

Yup That's right... now that the puppy is officially picked up I can now tell you I'm getting a puppy! She's currently on her way home with Lindsey (we'll be co-raising)... I'll let her tell you more about the newest puppy. I'm super excited and will get to meet her next friday when I get home from Disneyland. She will be home Tuesday morning- but I'll already be gone. :( So keep an eye on Lindsey's blog.

Peter Pan Syndrome

Did anyone ever see the old Merrie Martin Peter Pan? You know the song "I won't grow up"? That's my dream. I don't like growing up-- and I don't like other people growing up. Having to worry about life stinks. The thing that triggered this is a conversation I had with my Best Friend. She's dating a guy pretty seriously and it's a huge problem for me. I don't know why. It's like I'm super jealous... So I just decided today I want to be 13 again. Where I could do what I wanted (I wasn't a bad kid so what I wanted to do was just raise Guide Dog Puppies, hang out with friends, and just be 13), there were no boys to get in the way- they were all just crushes, and if I had to do something- my mom would just tell me to do it and that was the end. When I was little I used to tell my mom I never wanted to grow up-- well... I think it's happening... If anyone learns how to time travel let me know :)

Puppysitting

This week I get to hang out with Missy the Pug and Cricket the Guide Dog...

They are both fun dogs... even if Missy is a little old and poor Cricket just wants to play with her! We're lucky to have the park to go play in this afternoon... Cricket was in heaven! It reminds me why I love dogs-- Cricket is such a happy girl and LOVES everyone. She just loves people in general and would love anyone no matter who you are. Missy is just cuddly- I don't remember her being that way when I watched her last but she really does love it. She will just sit near me while I'm on the floor breathing on me until I pick her to pet her...I'm crossing my fingers for a puppy soon. I don't know how much longer I can last!

Extreme Makeover

Hey everyone-- so I got really motivated this morning and decided why not give my blog a remodel? I deleted most links- so if youw ant yours added leave a comment and I will hopefully get around to having a list again. :) Let me know what you think... It took me forever to figure things out but it was fun :)

A week off?

What? How does that happen? I don't even know what to do with myself- good thing I don't have to decide what to do because I already have a million people asking for when we can hang out. What can I say... people love me. Just kidding. They just want to remind themselves of why they are glad I'm gone for most of the summer ;)
Last week was one of the most eventful weeks of EFY- and also one of my favorites. I am in love with last week. I had a great group (as usual) and some awesome experiences-- and only slightly fell in love with a toy pufferfish named Seth from the BYU bookstore. You know you're jealous.
Next week is Deaf week and I'm really excited for that. There is a chance I might not get Deaf kids but I reallllllly hope I do. Plus it would really help with the fact that I'm taking an interpreting test next week as well.
So, after next week I will have one more week then I'm home for good (mostly) I'll be in and out housesitting with a trip to California right in the middle of all that. Then school starts. This is my life-- We are hoping Lindsey will be able to bring home a transfer puppy with her in August. So, that's the excitement of it ll. I really miss going to puppy classes while i've been out of town- but I really have had one of the best summers so far!

Sleep Deprived

Yes... that is what it is. Sleep Deprivation... 3 weeks of going to sleep at midnight and waking up at 5 am is not a good thing. But what do you do? Nothing... that's what you do. Why? Because I love my summer job.
Anyway... I talked to Lindsey today. She is alive and gets to go to the beach tomorrow- for which I am only sightly jealous. I get to stay here in Utah and go camping. Now I'm TOTALLY not a camper- honestly I don't even like it. When I was younger my requirements for camping was there had to be a) a shower and b) flushing toilets. These demands were pretty set in stone- not flexible. There were a few times we ended up with no showers (the toilet one is non-negotiable) but not as I've gotten older- I'm willing to leave camp for a few hours, find a shower, wash all that grime and smell off, then come back to camp. How's that for being a non-camper? Yeah. That's what I thought. Okay maybe I have a problem...

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!... E-F-Y!

Hey Everyone... so I've had a pretty stinking amazing week. What makes it so stinking amazing you ask? Weeeellll... I get to be a counselor for Especially for Youth (EFY) this summer at BYU and I just finished my first week. I'm soooo tired but it was a blast and I met so many amazing people. My company (group of kids) consisted of 22 girls and 12 boys- although I was just in charge of 12 of those girls (there were 2 other counselors) all of them were 16-18. I love my girls so much- they are so amazing! Our company was named "Full of Love"- Remember how that was the best name on the plane? Yeah, that's what I thought. So let me give you a small taste of what EFY is all about.

Monday was nuts- about 2,500 kids trying to check in for a week of EFY is crazy. Amidst my crushing of boxes and handing out of handbooks/CD's/DVD's I got the chance to talk to and get to know the other counselors before my first real week. I met my girls later and we got play some awesome games (in the rain I might add) then set some goals for the week.

Tuesday we had some pretty fantabulous classes. All by amazing intelligent, spiritual, talented, and FUNNY teachers. Afterwards was a super amazing dance where we partied like rockstars! Can I just tell you how much I LOVE EFY dances? Well, I do. They are fantastic. This is a Mormon dance unlike any other. Really- Everyone dances!

Wednesday I was sure my feet would fall off because of this amazing thing called 2 blisters on my feet (Darn 3 song jump challenge)- thank goodness for sitting down in classes after which was GAMES. We played some awesome relay games and performed an amazing cheer created by our kids (complete with banner). Fortunately, I made it to what we lovingly refer to as PIZZA NIGHT at EFY. We partied it up ONCE again... as we got 6 pizzas and 2 breadsticks for 12 girls... 2 1/2 pizzas ended up in my fridge for later munchies for late night chats. (Okay so late night is 11 pm- lights out. I'm so grateful for that though- I have to sit in the hall until they fall asleep and I had to wake up at 5:45 for a meeting every morning. I still got an average of 5-ish hrs a night)

Thursday is everyone's favorite day- we party hard again- in the spritual way :) We have some great classes- We all wear our church clothes and have a musical program and testimony meeting. It's pretty great.

Friday- everyone is drained. The counselors are in charge of teaching classes today- I didn't have to this week so I was off the hook. It was really hard to stay awake though. I started getting a little loopy- you know when you'er so tired you get to the point that EVERYTHING is funny- and ridiculously funny? yeah- that was me... times ten! I went to bed at about 1:30 am then was up at 5:45 ready for...

Saturday! Checkout. All kids had to be out by 7:00 am. Awesome I know. What for? So Counselors can head to eat breakfast and off of a final wrap up meeting. It's pretty hillarious to watch the counselors stumble around after a looooong week. Why do I love this so much? I don't know... but It's amazing. From now on anytime anyone says "alright" I'll want to finish it off with the EFY cheer... "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT hey...."

Hiking and Puppysitting

I've decided that one of the saddest things of having a dog is watching your dog get old. This week we took Vinnie up on the Moutain for the hike I've taken him on hundreds of times. It's his favorite because of the creek a few miles in. He loves just chilling in the water and being a dog. Watching him take the hike made me realize my boy is getting old :( He had a little bit of a hard time at the end and was quite glad to get to the creek- more than usual. Although after a nice cool down he was off to more exploring- trying to run off without me- past the point we normally turn around at.


This weekend I was supoposed to go with Lindsey and my other roomate, Lacy to take Ontario to his new home but a million things kept coming up so while my roommates are gone I'm watching Marlowe- a new FBL in our club. She's a sweet girl and is right now sleeping at my feet. She likes being an only dog I think. ;)

and last but not least- why I like Black Labs:

I puppysat Jared and Cash again this Friday and Saturday and I got to groom them. By the time I was done I think I had enough to make a sweater for each of them :) I'm like 500% sure yellow Labs shed more than black Labs... thank goodness for my fur-minator. it's pretty much the best!

Jared (was CC'ed for Eye Cancer) and Cash (CC'ed for Confidence) --and cute Marlowe in the background.

GOOD LUCK TO ONTARIO! It sounds like he's got an amazing home and I'm sure we'll get some updates from his new mom on how he's doing!

Party

Happy Birthday to you... Happy birthday to you...

It was 9 years ago today that Vinnie was born! Happy Birthday, Beans!

Eagles and changes

This past weekend we (Lindsey and I) had the opportunity to go to the Eagles Utah State meeting to represent GDB along with a couple other raisers around the state and a graduate from San Rafael. It was a pretty entertaining weekend to say the least, but the best part was I got to steal Teesha for the weekend. I love this girl. One day I'll get a current picture of her up. Really I just need to suck it up and admit to myself that my camera cord is never going to show up again- then go buy a card reader. One day... eventually. :) She's getting so big- almost 10 months now! Remember when I first came home and she was like 10 weeks? I can't believe what a good girl she is. She was absolutely perfect- even when a overly rambunctious 12 week old puppy was all over her at the dinner. I was so proud of her. I think that's one of my favorite parts of raising Guide Dog puppies- watching the little crazy puppies become what they are meant to be and I get to be a little part of something in their change (hopefully for the most part it's a good thing ;) ) Sometimes I like to look back at my puppies very first monthly reports and their last one and see how far they've come. It makes me feel so good for them and really does help me feel like I'm making a difference. Anyway- now I'm rambling- I shouldn't be allowed to do that. Thank you and goodnight- you can tip your waitress at the door.

Alive again...just in time for summer

That's right- the car is alive again. Thanks to an amazing dad who can figure out anything and everything. I love him. So now... Summer is underway. All the classes are done, the cerimonial trashing of the notes/old tests/handouts has happened, and the old books are sold (mostly excepting my Math book- anyone up for an old Math 1030 book for $45?) EFY starts in 2-ish weeks :) (YAY!) and I'm filling out an application for a new puppy this weekend! That's the excitingness of my life. I like it. Thanks for reading.