Things have been busy around here, so that's probably why we haven't posted in awhile. Chris spent the first three weeks of this quarter living in Fresno and conducting a field study on air quality, then came home and has been madly studying to catch up, taking tests and TAing.
I've been taking classes as well. I am currently working on getting a certification and permit through the state of California, registering myself as an Early Childhood Educator and care provider. I am taking two early childhood education classes, a total of 6 semester units- "Health, Safety and Nutrition", and "Supervised Field Experience". I am also currently going through the RCIA process (Catechism for adults), and taking weekly classes at Saint James Catholic Church.
We are still somewhat involved with supporting the SPCA. We haven't fostered any dogs since adopting Luke, because we've been working so intensively with him. The SPCA hooked us up with an amazing dog trainer named Cayce Wallace, and paid for her to do a home visit for Luke and Scout, as well as provide us with free training classes for both dogs. She is an amazing trainer, and animal lover, with lots of experience rescuing troubled dogs, and she has helped us immensely. Since working with her, both of our little creatures have turned into very good dogs.
I've been taking classes as well. I am currently working on getting a certification and permit through the state of California, registering myself as an Early Childhood Educator and care provider. I am taking two early childhood education classes, a total of 6 semester units- "Health, Safety and Nutrition", and "Supervised Field Experience". I am also currently going through the RCIA process (Catechism for adults), and taking weekly classes at Saint James Catholic Church.
We are still somewhat involved with supporting the SPCA. We haven't fostered any dogs since adopting Luke, because we've been working so intensively with him. The SPCA hooked us up with an amazing dog trainer named Cayce Wallace, and paid for her to do a home visit for Luke and Scout, as well as provide us with free training classes for both dogs. She is an amazing trainer, and animal lover, with lots of experience rescuing troubled dogs, and she has helped us immensely. Since working with her, both of our little creatures have turned into very good dogs.
She has really helped us work with Luke on his separation anxiety, destructive behaviors, and bad doggie social skills. Where there was once a little demon, we now have a great little boy- his compulsive barking, anxious spinning, shadowing me from room to room while whimpering, weird social interactions, destructive behavior, and anxiety-driven accidents in the house are ALL things of the past. It's a truly amazing contrast. My boss's daughter dog sat both dogs for the weekend, and she couldn't believe what a good and well-behaved dog Luke is, after hearing the horror stories of his past misbehaviors. She said that out of the 5 dogs in their home that weekend, he was the best behaved! We are SO thankful that the SPCA was able to help us financially to work with him. They are such a great organization, and have resources and people to help the dogs they adopt out become good citizens with permanent homes. When we adopted Luke, my goal for him was that he could walk with us in the SPCA walk-a-thon for 2009. There were times that I honestly didn't think that he would be able to do it--deal with the chaos of lots of dogs and people and noises without freaking out, pulling the leash, and frantically barking and spinning non-stop. Today at dog class, she called us up to the front as an example of good handler-dog leash work, then talked about how Luke is a great example of behavior modification. I am SO proud of him! We are definitely ready for the walk-a-thon! Now, I am brainstorming ways to fund raise, so that we can help repay the SPCA for their help and effort! My next goal is to get involved at the Petco adoption center, and start doing short-term and emergency foster work. :)
I also realized that since we moved, we only put up pictures of the dogs and yard. I have posted some more pictures of our place, and some of our new furniture- including our cool new Dining Room table with bench, and our new futon. Courtney and Mom are both coming to visit in the next month, so now they'll actually have someplace to sleep! (don't worry, we invested in the extra-comfortable mattress)
We have also started working in the yard. The weather here is already very spring-like. Occasional rain showers, and highs between 60-70. We felt inspired, and spent a day picking out plants at Home Depot for our garden. We got two dwarf, blood orange trees that we are hoping will eventually fruit- they are tropical, so you have to baby them a little more when it is cold outside, but I have faith that they will give us oranges before we leave Davis (we probably can't bring them back with us unless we have a greenhouse). We also bought some ferns, a climbing rose bush with orange flowers, some big Icelandic poppies, and some herbs to put in a little wooden planter box. I'm excited to try and grow some colorful stuff in our otherwise green and brown yard. We have some little yellow apples on our tree, but they sour, lumpy little things that aren't fit to eat. The only depressing aspect is, we spent a ton of money on plants, but then when we spread them out across our big yard it looks like hardly anything. I hope I don't kill everything.
Another one of our projects has been learning to groom the dogs. Getting the dogs bathed and groomed costs between 40-50 bucks, and Chris really hated to pay for it. He decided to try to do it himself. After watching a couple of how-to videos, and investing in a nice pair of clippers, we gave it a try. I was VERY impressed- both by Chris's grooming skills, and the patience and tolerance of our dogs. Chris did point out that he has been trimming his beard for years, so he's experienced with the clippers. We are definitely doing it ourselves from now on!
Also, congratulations to Mom, Dad, and Celeste on their cute new puppy- a mixed breed rescue boy named Toby!
I also realized that since we moved, we only put up pictures of the dogs and yard. I have posted some more pictures of our place, and some of our new furniture- including our cool new Dining Room table with bench, and our new futon. Courtney and Mom are both coming to visit in the next month, so now they'll actually have someplace to sleep! (don't worry, we invested in the extra-comfortable mattress)
We have also started working in the yard. The weather here is already very spring-like. Occasional rain showers, and highs between 60-70. We felt inspired, and spent a day picking out plants at Home Depot for our garden. We got two dwarf, blood orange trees that we are hoping will eventually fruit- they are tropical, so you have to baby them a little more when it is cold outside, but I have faith that they will give us oranges before we leave Davis (we probably can't bring them back with us unless we have a greenhouse). We also bought some ferns, a climbing rose bush with orange flowers, some big Icelandic poppies, and some herbs to put in a little wooden planter box. I'm excited to try and grow some colorful stuff in our otherwise green and brown yard. We have some little yellow apples on our tree, but they sour, lumpy little things that aren't fit to eat. The only depressing aspect is, we spent a ton of money on plants, but then when we spread them out across our big yard it looks like hardly anything. I hope I don't kill everything.
Another one of our projects has been learning to groom the dogs. Getting the dogs bathed and groomed costs between 40-50 bucks, and Chris really hated to pay for it. He decided to try to do it himself. After watching a couple of how-to videos, and investing in a nice pair of clippers, we gave it a try. I was VERY impressed- both by Chris's grooming skills, and the patience and tolerance of our dogs. Chris did point out that he has been trimming his beard for years, so he's experienced with the clippers. We are definitely doing it ourselves from now on!
Also, congratulations to Mom, Dad, and Celeste on their cute new puppy- a mixed breed rescue boy named Toby!
above: Our living room
below: our blue and brown bathroom
above: The dogs request an encore, as Chris plays guitar on the new futon-
in our office/2nd bedroom
in our office/2nd bedroom
above: Our new dining room table, with leather covered bench, and chairs. Made by an eco-friendly company, and it has a leaf so that we can have lots of guests!
above: The beginings of my shade garden... a few lonely ferns
below: spring sunshine hitsone of the blood orange trees and the rosemary.
above: shaggy Luke, pre-home groom
below: Luke after bath, fur-strip, and trim
above: Scout, pre- home groom
below: Scout, post bath and trim
below: Toby, the cutest new puppy in Woodinville
3 comments:
Yay for updates! I love the pictures, the pillows look great! I think you have the same coffee and side table as my parents (which I really like). Tip for the dining table (because Aaron and Kara have a similar one) use placemats or a table cloth often, because crumbs are difficult to get out of the grooves on the surface. I miss you guys! Chris did an amazing job grooming the dogs!
Thank you, thank you. I'm available to do other dogs...for a price. ;)
Yeah, we actually closely inspected the groove diameter of the table prior to purchase (1.8mm), because having stuff get stuck in there is gross and annoying. You should ask Reagan about placemats and table cloths, I am beyond anal about not scratching up the table. Sometimes I think I must be a pain to live with, then I look in the mirror. . .
Lovely update.
I should get out my camera and start taking pictures of progress on the home-front.
You never feel like you bought enough, but then it all grows and you feel better about your purchases.
Ben and I are going to be in San Fran the last weekend of May. I know it's not really close to Davis, but it certainly would be fun to meet somewhere. I'm attending a health conference Tuesday through Friday night but have Saturday, Sunday and Monday to hang out. We're hoping to go to Napa for a day trip over the weekend.
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