Holding Out for a Hero

Wow! So, 2011. Sometimes when I was a tween, I would think about the year I would graduate from high school and the date sounded so futuristic that I thought maybe they would have hover-boards....and that was 1997 which now seems like an incredibly long time ago. Maybe because it was. Anyway, my point is, I don't think I could even fathom 2011 and yet here we are! No hover-boards, but we do have the Interweb, as Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock calls it, and smart phones and tart frozen yogurt and novelty cupcake stores. Life is good. I'm not really going to do a lot of catch up about the last half of 2010, but I do need to hit some fairly big things that transpired.

1) In October, I met my mom in Denver to visit Collin, Tianna, and Liam. It was a quick trip - just 3.5 days, but it was so fun to see where they are living and what the law school looks like. They are adjusting so well and making friends so quickly - like they always do. I really admire my sister-in-law for that. She seems to have a knack for making friends. So for the long weekend, I ran around the apartment with Liam, visited U Denver and walked around the law school, went to the zoo, visited with my cousin Amber and her awesome family, went shopping, and then sadly it was time to leave, but here's evidence of my time there:

The Collin Zundel Family at the Zoo!

Amber and Matt invited Liam to go to Gage's soccer practice. Here they are - all decked out.

Visiting U Denver!

2) End of October: we get rid of Adam's Nissan and buy a new car. Well, new to us, technically the car is used, but it only had 13,000 miles on it and we got a fabulous deal. It's a lovely grey 2007 Honda Accord and I named her Stella, but I actually think I'm kind of over the car naming thing. It used to be whimsical and quirky, but now the magic is gone. Anyway, the new car is fabulous and we don't miss Adam's car primarily because the defrost was so bad it was sometimes scary to drive in the winter and we couldn't use the stereo system anymore due to a high pitched squeal, although sometimes I got so desperate I would just turn up the volume to drown it out. This may explain why when I sleep on my right side, I can't hear very well. I get to drive the new car and I looove it!

3) In the beginning of November, we bought a sweet puppy dog named Hero - thus the title of this post. Oh man, how our lives have changed! Truthfully, if we had known how hard it actually was to have a puppy, I don't think we would have done it. However, even though Adam and I say that frequently to one another, we always finish it by saying we're glad we did. And I really think we are. She's a yellow lab and was just eight weeks old and probably only six pounds when we bought her. She is now almost 5 months old and at least 30 pounds! The decision to by a dog happened gradually and I blame Adam's sister Amber for starting it all. When Adam and I were seriously dating, we talked about pets and he was adamant that he had never wanted one and never would. While I had always liked dogs, I hadn't really missed the responsibility of having one when I was single and so I readily agreed. No pets. Consequently we began our married life with this firm resolve.

Fast forward to probably July or August. Adam, Amber, and I had gone to dinner in Orem. Has anyone been to Cafe Paesan the new Italian Restaurant created by the original Cafe Rio owners? Well we hadn't yet and decided to try (YUM). Afterwards, Amber suggested we stop at this pet store we were driving past because they have actual dogs and cats. We saw the cutest Jack Russell Terrier/Beagle mix puppies and that's when we first got bit by the puppy bug. Still, despite of our sudden desire to nurture a cute little bundle of fur, we were still certain that possible dog ownership would be a long way off. "It wouldn't work since both of us are working full-time. It would be too sad to have to leave a puppy all alone for eight hours." "Maybe once we have kids and they get older." So the arguments went. Fast forward again to my trip to Denver. Adam and I had talked enough about dogs for me to know that if we got one, he would want a beagle. When I was at the mall with my mom and Tianna, as a joke they suggested we go to the pet store where they have dogs, too and I could take a picture with a beagle puppy to send to Adam. So we did and it was the cutest, softest little thing and I fell in love. Then I sent a text to Adam and he fell in love and after that the conversation was more like, "okay, how could we make it work to get a dog." So there you are...a few months of madness and life will never be the same. Be warned from our example!

The beagle at the pet store that drove us down our dark path - we ultimately decided against a beagle because we heard they're a lot harder to train, particularly potty train. Enough said.

Here's Hero a few days after we bought her - pardon Adam's feet.

The most recent picture of our Hero - I think she looks quite noble.

However, I will say that we love her to death and even missed her when we boarded her over Christmas. She's a sweet dog who never ever barks and loves everyone she meets. That said, we are commencing some much needed dog training on Saturday! Woohoo!

Okay so those are the major points. Thanksgiving was spent with Adam's family - good food and great people. Christmas was spent with my family - more good food and great people. This is a really long post....