Getting excited!

Because we have first pick of the puppies, Gabi (our breeder in Vegas), wants us to come down first so we can pick our puppy out before everyone else shows up to get theirs. We are going to be gone for two different vacations (the dates we are supposed to pick him up), so she will hold him for us until we can pick him up after all of our cray cray vacations. So the girls and I--Alex and Tiff--are going down to Las Vegas on Thursday July 10th to pick him out! We have booked a room at the Luxor.. woo woo! (Can't wait to ride them sideways elevators!) Then we come back on Friday, and we move. Like that day. I can't believe how fast everything is happening!

This is how it goes down:

July 10-11: Vegas trip to "pick out" our puppy
July 11-13: Moving/Dev's family is visiting (Fun-but crazy I'm sure!)
July 18-21: California- Dev's family reunion
July 29-Aug 3: Lake Powell
Aug 4: Bring Zeus home

I'm not sure how we managed to cram every possible "big" thing that could happen to us this summer in one month, but we did: 3 vacations, moving, and bringing home a puppy. If my hair is pulled out in August... you'll know why!

So, as a stress reliever... I hit TJ Maxx today and got Devin a great shirt, me some new curtains, some new bath rugs, a tommy bahamas candle, and some great new pillows! I even picked up some cute stuff for our puppy :) 

The cutest food and water bowls ever! 

 Bag for dog toys, brush, and toy

Zeus' first toy! A little gray raccoon! 

Maybe I'm going a little overboard... but you only get a new puppy a few times in a lifetime.. right?

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a puppy!

 
This was last Thanksgiving... Brody (big boy) and Luna (puppy girl) are the sweetest dogs ever.

How cute is she??? (this isn't my sister-in-laws puppy- I just wanted a close up
of a puppy and didn't have any.. so I stalked the internet and found one)

As I'm sure you know... I LOVE my sister-in-law's english cream golden retrievers! When Devin and I first got married we knew we wanted to get a big dog pretty quickly (to hold off on those babies!). I thought I wanted an Australian Shepherd (he hated them) so we decided on a Husky (so cool!). We actually met one and realized we would be giving up all cleanliness if we ever adopted one--they shed so much! And they are also VERY independent. Which doesn't work well for me, the cuddler. Devin told me that I would fall in love with his sister's dogs when we met them. I wasn't so sure, but they had my heart the second I saw them.

We actually just decided we wanted to move a few months ago and the search for a new apartment began. I had given up on finding a pet friendly place. I just wanted somewhere nice near our friends. We ended up finding a 2 bedroom condo in our same ward, literally next door to our friends. It has a pool, hot tub, volleyball court, basketball court, barbecue area, huge open grass area, little park, RV parking, and a dog park..... The best part? It was PET FRIENDLY! So we jumped on it.

And the next day I was calling breeders. Unfortunately they don't have litters in Utah that will be ready to go home in August--English Creams are highly desirable but not very popular in the states yet (you have to import studs and bitches from Europe, so it takes time)--or the ones they did were already called for. So I started looking elsewhere. Turns out, there is a breeder in Vegas that charges less than the breeders here, and it worked out perfectly with our timing. The puppies will be ready to go home July 23rd, but because we will be in Lake Powell, she will hold him for us until Aug 4, which is when we will drive back from Lake Powell and pick him up on the way home. Plus, we get FIRST PICK of the litter.  Pretty big deal! We are moving in on July 14, we go to Cali the next weekend, Lake Powell the following, and then we pick up our puppy up in Vegas the day after! We are psyched!

He will be a male puppy named Zeus (Devin's pick for the name). I don't know that there is a puppy in the world that has more people waiting for him to come home. Dev and I are dying! My little brothers can't wait. My sister-in-law is so happy! And all of our friends at the condos can't wait!

I've already ordered a million books on dog training and golden retrievers, I've picked out material to make a dog bed, and I've order tags, leashes, collars, etc. Maybe I'm going overboard? But it's like my baby? They don't do puppy showers do they?

But seriously. If you are thinking about getting a dog- get an english cream golden retriever. They are pricey (save up!), but they are the best family dogs. They become a kid! They love people and aren't aggressive. They are very smart and easily trained. They love to cuddle (yay!). They also have better health than American goldens (check out this website for more info). Basically they look like little polar bear dogs. And what gets better than that?

Material for the dog bed :)

 

The dog tag our puppy NEEDS- of course it will say Zeus.

Matt's home

I can't believe it! I really can't believe how fast the time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday he left on his mission and I got married. But now we've passed our one year anniversary and Matt's home. Shut the front door. (I feel like that's something he would say).

As I'm looking back through our photos to pick the perfect one for this post, I can't help but laugh. We were some weird kids. Okay, okay. Truth is... we still are. But that was the thing about Matt. He could always bring out the real me, the me I hid from a lot of other people. When we were together, I didn't care what he or anyone else thought. We were just friends and that was all that mattered. And that's how we became best friends.

To the past and the future Matty, and for whatever it holds in store. Now get down to BYU. asap.

Devs Birthday

Devin's birthday was Friday, May 23rd. And... he turned 24! He kept telling me how he's almost a quarter of a century old, and how that's supposed to be really freaky. He also pointed out that he is 10 years older than freshman in high school right now. That really freaked me out. But, at the same time, I still feel like we are sooo young. 

Devin's dad came to town a week early for his birthday. We made homemade pizza, went to Texas Roadhouse, watched Tyler compete in his motocross race, watched Harry Potter and the Heat game, and went on a hike! All in all, it was a great weekend! Here's a pic of Dev and his Pops on our way to Stewart Falls. 

On his actual birthday, I told Devin we would go to the movies and dinner just the two of us. And if you know Dev, I could tell was a little bummed out--and I say a little because he is the nicest person on the planet and he didn't want to hurt my feelings--that I didn't have anything more special planned with friends. Because Devin is a social butterfly.  Anyway, I let him think he was going to come home after work, change and go to dinner. But, when he walked in the door, we had a bunch of people waiting to surprise him! We hung out and ate pizza and cake and talked and had fun. It was a blast and he was totally surprised. He loved it.

And here's my attempt at a basketball cake that I made. The coolest part about this cake was that it was his three favorite things: a basketball, the color blue on the inside, and (blue) velvet flavoring! He was pretty thrilled.

Tyler enjoying his blue and orange cake!

On Sunday, everyone wanted to see Devin so my entire family joined us for a hike. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went home and had ribs that my mom made (Dev's favorite) and watched basketball. Devin was pretty elated.

And this is my favorite picture of the entire day. Cooper mimicking Devin, watching basketball and eating food. They are adorable. <3

Gold Herringbone Wall Art

So... this last weekend I had another hour or so of free time, so I decided to try something I've been wanting to do for a long time.  Herringbone wall art! I just love the pattern and I think it goes well pretty much anywhere. And again, I'm terrible at taking before and after pics. But here's the finished product. I'll try to provide some detailed instructions below!

What you will need:
A piece of wood or canvas
1 can of white spray paint (I use THIS one for everything)
1 can of gold spray paint (And THIS one is the best gold spray paint... ever)
Blue painters tape
Painting surface (I use $1 shower curtains from the dollar store.. they're the best!)
Scissors

Directions:

1. Lay your wood/canvas surface face up on your painting surface in a well ventilated area. Don't forget your painters mask! Shake your gold spray paint can for about a minute and then spray a light coat on. Let sit for 30 seconds - 1 minute, then add another. Let dry for 10-30 minutes, until you can put a piece of blue tape on it and pull it off without paint coming up. 
2. Next, start cut off a piece of tape 3-5 inches long, and STARTING AT THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER, put it down diagonally. (See pic below). Then add another piece of tape so they are perpendicular. Continue with the pattern up to the top and then move to right going down.
3. Once you've taped everything off, go over it again once more and push down the tape. Then, shake your white spray paint for a good 1-2 minutes, and spray. Let dry for 1 day. Then pull off the tape, and whala! New wall art. 

So what do you think? Personally, I am very taken with it...