halloween

this year, it was fun to have two pumpkins to dress up for halloween!  the trick-or-treaters loved seeing jefferson and brooks in their pumpkin costumes, and we definitely had kids who wanted to come into our house to get the pumpkins as well as parents taking pictures of the dogs dressed up. 

waiting for the kids to arrive :)

jefferson was apparently very stressed out in his pumpkin suit

brooks didn't really care and even wore the pumpkin hat for most of the evening (don't have a picture of that since i was busy handing out candy)

jefferson opening up his halloween card from kendall

unfortunately i didn't get a shot of him when his head got stuck in the pop-up pumpkin's mouth :)

cute little brooks

vacation part 2

after getting back from florida and working for just six days, we hopped in the car and headed to georgia to visit my family (and friends :)).  we met everyone up at lake burton, which we always love - and the dogs love more!  it was little brooks' first big water experience, and he thoroughly enjoyed it except for when i almost drowned him under the tube (in an attempt to save him!).  

here are some pictures from our trip:

jefferson about to jump onto the tube (not pictured)

brooks hanging out on the dock

we had a great time up at the lake!  friday night, we relaxed and had a great low key evening.  my family has worked really hard the past few months to make the lakehouse much more livable and nice...now it's not quite as much of a rustic cabin feel but a little cuter and cleaner :)  saturday, we had lots of good time in the water, and we were joined by laura, andrew, and kendall later in the day.  we did some tubing and skurfing (yes, we brought our surfboard to the lake to test this out, and it was pretty fun...not quite like the youtube videos yet, but maybe next time!) earlier in the day, then when andrew arrived, laura, he, billy, and i went to laprades for a cocktail on the water, which was lots of fun!  we ate a late dinner and then hung out on the dock for awhile that night, which was great!  sunday, we had more time out on the lake, hanging out, and eating good food!  the dogs loved being there too and were very good!  i'm excited to take them back when brooks is a little bigger and can hopefully enjoy the water more (since he's still pretty tiny compared to my parents' labs!).

heading to atl

jefferson bundled up after some pool time

we ran the dogs down to island ford park, where they got in some more swimming, this time in the chattahoochee (they had a great trip, getting to swim in the lake, pool, and river!)

billy getting jefferson to swim after him...it was a little chilly for me!

while we were in atl, the pga championship was going on at the athletic club, so we headed out for a few hours on tuesday afternoon, which was lots of fun!  the course looks great, and it was fun to see some players we recognized - and become new fans of some players too!

18th tee...we couldn't figure out who this was (as was the case with most of the golfers :))

mom and me

billy and me (i look like i'm going to a polo match or horse race more than a golf tournament :))

phil mickelson's group on the 16th green

18th hole...cute little houses/tents for the big sponsors!

on wednesday, we went to sweetwater brewery, which was lots of fun!  we will definitely be back there :)  billy and i did the brewery tour while my mom enjoyed drinks with laura, andrew, and kendall!  then all of us hung out in the tasting room and enjoyed some yummy beer!  

sadly, this is the only picture from our brewery trip...the "dank tank" where they have a one-time specialty brew (should've gotten some pictures with our friends but dropped the ball)

so, it was a great trip to see our family and have some good hangout time with friends!  in addition to the documented things we did above, we went to dinner at los rancheros with bryan, kristin, and my parents on monday, trivia at neighbors with bryan, kel, tyler, brittany, and my parents on tuesday, tried out a new dog park, got some good workouts in, got to see both of our sisters' new apartments, and ate at a couple different frozen yogurt places, which is always a hit :)  it was sad to go, but hopefully we'll be back before too long.  and we needed to get back up here to make some money to support our travels - haha!

vacation - part one

i've had a lot going on the past month, so my posts from our family trips this summer are long overdue...

at the end of july, we went to the florida panhandle for several days with billy's family and stayed in a pretty beach house just a couple miles down the road from seaside, alys beach, rosemary beach, etc.  i loved getting to see those neighborhoods again after being there for a work conference when i was still working at east beach.  i think i like the atlantic beaches better because of the waves (and they're closer), but the white sand and blue-green water of the gulf was really pretty!!  and warmer than the ocean around here! 

by the gulf-front green in rosemary beach...LOVE the architecture there!!

sunset outside red bar

horses in alys beach

dinner at great southern cafe in seaside

the whole crew in rosemary beach

this trip, i didn't take any house pictures, but there are so many great developments in that area, and i think our favorite ended up being alys beach.  it's so unique and well done!!  and they have a super cool pool, bridges, and courtyards leading to the homes.  

it was a great time with billy's family and we enjoyed lots of good meals, time on the beach, getting lots of exercise, and spending time together! 

more dog videos

brooks loves getting sprayed with the hose (or in this case, the water i'm kicking at him)

they are nuts!!

two dogs

life has been crazy lately, hence my lack of blog posts and being a super-bad-correspondent with most of my family and friends for the past several weeks...i guess it's the combination of being overly occupied with managing two dogs and work also picking up (which unfortunately does not mean market is turning upward...just that i've been busier around the office).  my day usually goes like this - get up, get dressed, walk dogs, grab breakfast (if i remember, which doesn't often happen :)), go to work, spend my lunchbreak walking or playing with dogs and occasionally doing a chore or two, back to work, possibly workout (i've been trying to be better about this!), help with dinner, watch tv and play with dogs, pick up house (sometimes), go to bed.  i have not been very good about calling people back, cleaning the house, making dinner, etc. - fortunately, billy is a great cook and cleaner, and we are a good team with sharing household duties (sometimes he does more, but he has a more flexible work schedule so that's ok). 

so, here are some pictures of life lately...

OBSESSED with water...even more so than jefferson i think

yes, the couch is soaking wet from the dogs

i'm super excited for my family to come up here in a few weeks and get to spend time with them and also introduce them to brooks.  kind of sad they haven't gotten to see him yet in his very small size, but hopefully he won't grow too much between now and the beginning of august!  when we have kids, we'll have to make an effort to get to see them much more often than we do now...ideally, we'd be living closer, but not too promising for now. 

lastly, here are a couple of videos i took with our camera shortly after getting brooks, so i'm not sure how the quality will be...first time uploading a camera video to the blog :)  i'll do another post with more, as it's limiting me to two videos for now, and i have more recent ones too. 

the dogs are crazy!!  but i love it.

first week with two dogs

before jefe's summer haircut :)  (his hair is much more puppy-resistant now)



family weekend

this past weekend, my aunt, uncle, and grandparents came to visit. we had a lot of fun, and i even did some activities i hadn't yet done in the area, so that was great! my grandparents hadn't ever come up here to visit since i've been living here (for the past 7 years), so it was so nice to show them my life here, and it was so sweet of my aunt and uncle to come as well, even though they've visited several times!

thursday, uncle frank got into town from new jersey, so after work, he and i ran to the grocery for some snacks for the weekend and then met billy at cazadores, our favorite local mexican place.

friday, frank went to harborfest for a bit and picked up everyone else at the airport (they were coming from south carolina) while i worked. that evening, we were supposed to go to a tides game, but it was storming, so we decided to hang out at our house and invited billy's parents over for some pizza instead.

saturday, billy had to work, so the rest of us headed into norfolk to grab a quick lunch at taste unlimited (love the newest location on hampton boulevard...i hadn't been there since it was bazemore's market!) and went out to the naval base. i had driven around the base before, but this time, my grandpa talked his way onto a destroyer, so we all got a tour of the deck. that was really neat - it's amazing how big those ships are and how much they can do! we drove down admiral's row, went by all of the piers, and got some cheap gas before we left the base :)

on our way home, we ran into running etc, and billy fitted my grandparents and aunt for new shoes, so that was fun to see him work with them! my grandparents had super old shoes with no support, and my aunt was wearing the wrong size, so hopefully everyone's feet problems will be corrected!!

that evening, we went to harborside marina restaurant, which is always a fun place to take visitors since it's right on the river and has very good seafood. we ran into one of billy's co-workers there who also had family in town, so that was kind of fun too.

sunday, we got up and went to church, and then billy had to do some work, so the rest of us headed to the oceanfront for a yummy lunch at waterman's. it's always fun to sit outside there, and my grandma was the only one who had ever been to virginia beach (which is now way different from when she was there!). we thought about going to the aquarium but didn't have time, so we led frank back to the airport (he flew out sunday instead of monday with the rest of the crew) and then drove around east beach where i used to work. they've done a really nice job there! it's such a beautiful neighborhood, and it was fun to see it much more built up than the last time i was out there. so charming!

that evening, sal and i took a good walk around town (5+ miles) and then everyone went to cazadores for dinner. we had lots of fun hanging out and visiting and playing with the puppies that evening as well!

monday, sal and i walked, and then we headed to the botanical gardens, which i had never been to before, and they were so pretty! i actually ended up upgrading to a year membership, since i think billy and i would enjoy running/walking/biking there, and it's a really beautiful place. we grabbed a quick lunch at the cafe there, and then i dropped everyone off at the airport to head back down south.

building with green roof at the botanical garden - so neat!

so, it was a fun weekend filled with nice visits, good food, and lots of wine :) hopefully i'll be getting more pictures soon that my grandparents and frank too, and i can post those too, since the only pictures i took were at the botanical gardens!

puppy love

about 6 1/2 days ago, i was seriously questioning our decision to get another dog, as jefferson was sooo sad about the new little guy.  well, the verdict after almost a week of life with two dogs is that jefferson LOVES the puppy.  he is basically obsessed with him, and despite the occasional reprimand (when the puppy gets his food, bone, etc), he wants to play with the puppy all the time.  in fact, potty training has proved to be a bit more difficult with our new little guy because whenever i want the puppy to go out and focus on going potty, jefferson wants to come out with him, and they just end up playing. 

the massive amount of playing they do is great for sleep though!  last night, i only got up once (5:30am), which one of us normally does with jefferson anyways.  jefferson, on the other hand, has been sleeping through the night - or when i get up to let the puppy out, he gets into my spot, so i end up sleeping on the edge of the bed or crammed between him and billy.  we'll see what happens once both of them are sleeping up there (if we end up allowing that)!  it's definitely easier the second time around in terms of scheduling...with jefferson, i got up every other hour to let him out for probably 6 weeks.  with this guy, we're not allowing that to happen, so it'll make our period of fatigue from frequently interrupted sleep much shorter!  and, it's just nice being able to let them play together while we get other things done around the house. 

here are some pictures from what is now the norm around our house :)

jefferson can fit the puppy's head in his mouth...and the puppy constantly latches onto jefferson's beard or whatever fur he can grab :)

tired dogs :)

my favorite!

sharing the big dog :)

and after much research and brainstorming, the puppy's name (for now) is brooks.  we think it's cute, although i'm kind of wanting him to have a name that ends in the "y" sound.  also, brooks is a name i'd like to possibly use for a future child of ours, so we may end up changing the dog's name then or just having a kid and dog with the same name (which could be funny).  so, brooks and jefferson are fast on their way to becoming bff's, and i'm thoroughly enjoying it :)