Chronicling Charlie

This "puppy" of ours is hilarious. (And I use "puppy" loosely, he is a 5 month old puppy trapped in a 40lb, large pawed-big nosed-body. We often forget how young he is because of his giantness. I may have made that word up...)

It's so fun to see Charlie's HUGE personality starting to come out as he gets older. Charlie is now almost 5 months old and is incredibly smart, and super goofy. He's always making us laugh--- which is good, cause after some of the stuff he's pulled (most recently : constantly "trimming" our Christmas tree for us when our backs are turned---and I'm not talking about with ornaments or decor, and spilling a 32 oz Pepsi and frantically licking up the puddle before he got caught) we definitely deserve some sort of "payment".

So, have you ever wondered what it's like to be an Airedale (who are notorious for having one of the biggest sense of humor among other breeds), let alone having one live in your house? See the chronicles of Charlie below:

The difference 3 months makes (referring to Charlie's growth, not the fact that Brad may or may not have laid in that position for 3 months straight ;0) :


Lets start with a little anatomy, Charlie-style of course--
Charlie can often be found looking just like this....when he's not looking for trouble of course. It's kind of awkward looking and makes me giggle.



Fashion--
We're not sure why he does this, but I'm pretty sure it's a "Charlie thing". Whenever he is playing or out for walks you can often find his right ear "combed-over" the top of his head. We've also seen him have both ears folded up onto of his head once or twice before, but I've not been able to get it caught on camera.


Sleeping habits--
(he is ALWAYS laying in some variation of this while in his kennel sleeping, and he's pretty much done this since we first brought him home)



The details (at 5 months old)---
Keep in mind the paw is in comparison to BRAD'S hand

Happy Holidays!

I had a lot of fun designing our Christmas card this year, in fact I started it and had it completed even before Thanksgiving. I get so excited about these types of things...can ya tell? I of course love designing, but on top of that I love the idea of actually MAILING something to my friends and family, it's such a lost form of communication and if holiday cards give me the excuse to do something like that I get all the more excited.

I choose to go a little more modern/less traditional this year and I really ended up liking how it turned out. I thought the colors were fun, the design clean, and the wording fun & different. I realize you will most likely classify us under "those types of people who put their dogs on their Christmas cards", and that's just fine, we can handle it :0) And as if that's not bad enough...Charlie got his very own Christmas stocking, that is hung with care next to ours, in hopes that Santa will fill it with Puperoni's, cookies, and chewie toys. I bet you have a new category for us now, don't you....?

Happy holidays!

Amidst the Choas of Everyday Life, We Are Alive

Seems like my posts are getting far and fewer inbetween in recent months...not sure why that is other than it seems like the time is going by quicker and quicker each week. It's insane. Have no fear though, we are alive!

A little break down of what's been happening, nothing out of this world, it's sure managed to take over our time lately:

Charlie: Growing like a weed. Really. We're talking a weight gain of 2-3lbs per week. (I need to get some pics up) He loves playing with Lucy and knows her by name. He also gets super exicted for rides in the car, and then sleeps the whole time. He has had diarrhea (TMI, sorry. But it's never really gone away since he was first sick as a really little puppy) and so he's been in out and of the vet office quiet often since last post, poor little guy. We tease that he's a drug seeker. Again, poor guy. :0) But he's still a very happy and active puppy and he's starting to find his place in our little family. He loves to stand up to the back of the couch and look at the front window, especially when either Brad and I are coming or going.

Erica: Working, school, cleaning, dishes, laundry, repeat. Seriously, repeat. I don't know whats going on but these things have slowly consumed any free time I may have ever had. Granted, I have been doing some design stuff in between for various people/events and have anxiously been working on our Christmas card. (Soon to come to your mailbox!) I am getting excited to graduate the middle of December and should be, and will be (hopefully soon before I start panicking) working on my design portfolio for graduation & anticipate that will keep me busy for a while. I am really looking forward to the little bit of free-time graduating will make for me as I really want to focus on building up Purple Paisely Designs and getting some creative juices flowing!

Brad: Work, school and homework keeps this poor kid tied up pretty tight. He's doing really well in his classes (he never gives himself enough credit) and has a full schedule ahead of him already next semester. When he's not incredibly busy with homework, which is a rarity it seems these days, he has really gotten into reloading lately and sometimes I find him doing his "homework" in the reloading room he has set up downstairs.....not quiet sure when reloading bullets became a core requirement for a degree in Computer Science....I must've missed that concept somewhere along the way. But hey, everyone needs a break and he deserves it most of the time, so I'll cut him some slack.

That about sums up whats been going on in our lives recently, minus photos of course...seems to have become a commonality in recent months, but I am hoping to post some within the next week from our holiday festivities. We have some fun things planned in the next few weeks:

1. Thanksgiving at my parents house this year
2. A trip to Blanding to visit my aunt, uncle & cousins Thanksgiving weekend (be it that Charlie's feeling better). We're skipping Black Friday and heading away from the craziness!
3. A Dixon family Christmas/December Birthday party the first week of Decemeber
4. My dad's bday party
5. A few other family Christmas parties
6. Christmas shopping

Ah yes....the holidays. I love the feeling in the air, the time spent with family, and better remembering what it is in life that matters most.

Photo Update

Um...yes, I am one of those weirdos who post pics of their animals as if they were their child, but I've really wanted to "journal" Charlie's growth so that one day when he is full grown and 70lbs we can remember what a little tike he once was. My ability to do this has been poor, at best--I guess I'm a bad puppy mama ;0) -- but here are some pics of Charlie over the past 2-3 weeks at which times he was 8,9,10 weeks old. (Pardon the sideways photos, I'm not quiet sure whats goin on there). Isn't he a cutie?

Recent Happenings

We have had a lot going on since last post, and it seems I just haven't been able to find the time to post. As imagined, our lives have been super busy since bringing Charlie into our home. Super busy to say the least. The poor lil guy was really sick the first week we had him home and after numerous tests, xrays, and IV meds the culprit was thought to be a really bad case of gastroenteritis. After a night on IV/meds at the pet hospital, we were really glad to have him back. You never would've known he was on his death bed (when we took him to the hospital the vet told us that he about about a 40% chance of surviving in the state he was in) and he's been going, going, going ever since. He is getting really big and is incredibly smart and independent. He is now almost 10 weeks old and has been sitting and shaking on command since 2 weeks ago and is now working on perfecting the "lay down" command. He also has a sense of humor and "yells back" by barking at us when we are trying to discipline him and tell him "no" when he's being naughty. It's hard not to laugh while reprimanding him when his cute face is accompanied by his own little attitude.

In September we also welcomed a new niece into the family, Ava. She is Jen and Nate's daughter and is a cutie with auburn red hair. We enjoyed a trip to see her a few days after she was born.

October snuck up on us from out of nowhere. My cousin Hailey was married on the 2nd and I had the opportunity to design her wedding invitation as well as make and decorate cupcakes to use for her centerpieces, they were the cupcake topiaries (frosted in her wedding colors) that I did for Mother's Day last May, seen here. Both the invite and the centerpieces turned out really cute and I had a lot of fun helping out especially since it's the type of thing I dream of doing some day on my own.

Another big happening in October, thus far, was the celebration of our 2nd wedding anniversary. This year we decided to celebrate by sticking around the area, and we really had a great time. It just goes to show that you don't always need something big and extravagant, sometimes the little things really are the best. We enjoyed a breakfast out together like we used to some weekends when we were first married, took a ride around the Alpine Loop to see the colors starting to change, went to the theater to see Inception (great movie by the way) and then hit up Texas Roadhouse for dinner and home for some lounging together on the couch. We both has a lot of fun, and it was really nice for us as Brad has been so busy with his school work lately that we've hardly had much time to spend together. By the time Monday rolled around we were both wishing we could re-live the weekend. There is nothing better than being able to spend some simple and much needed time with your best friend, and I am realizing how often I take that time for granted.

So, that's been what we've been up to since last post, as always along with the daily demands of work and school. And it's not over yet! We have a lot in store for the rest of the month as we will be celebrating numerous family members' birthdays (October is jam packed with birthdays for us between the two families), my parent's big 25th wedding anniversary on the 12th, fall break (long awaited and well deserved), and somewhere in between all of those I will be working on Ava's baby announcement (which I'm really excited for), as well as designing some pages to go in a book for my friend's vinyl business. Phew! I think that about covers it. Hopefully I can better keep up on blogging over the next little while and cut down on these ginormous posts!

(I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to post some really cute pics and a video of Charlie :0)

Meet Charlie!

Brad and I have found ourselves quiet busy this week. In fact, probably a lot busier than we had initially anticipated. We finally got to bring Charlie home, and he's been keeping us on our toes! We were suppose to pick Charlie up today, but I got a text from the owner of the puppies on Monday saying the puppies' mom had been hit by a car and killed that day, and so she had no need to keep the puppies clear until the weekend, at which time they'd be 6 weeks old.

So Brad and I headed up to Peoa Tuesday evening and picked our little guy out. As soon as I this one little puppy come out from the room they were being kept in, and was told he was a boy, I knew he was the one I wanted to bring home. Luckily, Brad felt the same. He had longer fur with some wave to it and an irresistible face, and that was that, he was coming home with us!

Charlie loves to nibble on toes, play tug a war, and especially sleep. Really. He sleeps a LOT....but I guess thats what growing puppies do, right? He almost refuses to wake up from his naps, and does a pig-like grunting noise when you insist on waking him. He has a cute little run and enjoys running after us (and towards random people walking down the sidewalk outside our house). He is not quite coordinated yet, and so much of his movements are spastic, rigid, or just simply goofy like. He makes us laugh. A lot. We are in the process of potty-training (not as much a laughing matter as some of the other things we get to do with him)...and he has caught onto the fact that after he goes potty he gets a treat, and instantly runs to you as if to say "okay, I did a good job. where's my treat!?"

Here are some(okay, a lot of) pics of our new lil guy. While we've only had him 3 days, and 3 almost sleepless nights, we already love his stinkin guts and cute teddy bear face.


Rough Life:
First Bath: (not what he would call the highlight of his life thus far, I dont think..he shivered for hours afterwards)
Sleepy Lil' Guy:

He loves to sleep in weird ways. This pic is not upside down. Charlie is.

Pooped from playing Tug-a-War:

Charlie and his puppy: (I expected Charlie to be bigger when we got him than he is)

Making himself at home:

Did I mention he's a tough guy?

Lately.....

We've been keeping pretty busy. To be honest, I'm not even sure where the end of summer went. I'm not sure I ever saw it. We moved the beginning of August (this type of event has quickly became our yearly tradition it seems). Brad's dad was offered a teaching job in Logan, so his family moved to Providence and we have moved into their house to rent it while they are gone. We love have so much room, almost more than we can fill (if you can imagine that...I'm sure with time that could change :0) and it's definitely a good change from an apartment. Janice was kind enough to let me do some painting and decorating upon moving in and I have really had a lot of fun. A good friend of mine owns a vinyl company and so I designed some wall art and had her cut them for me. I love the way the turned out.

In the kitchen I painted an accent wall chocolate brown, and had large 4 foot utensils cut in metallic brass vinyl. I really love how big and bold the design is. (Blurry photo)

In the living room I choose to paint a warm tan color, almost straw like (no photo), with a palmy-olive green accent wall on which I put my other wall art design, which has a great quote that I love from Pres. Hinckley.
Next stop is our bedroom. I'm not quite done decorating in there yet, but I got a really cute bedspread from Ross and repainted the make-shift headboard I made while in our last apartment chocolate brown with cream damask graphics. The walls are a warm pale green. I am hoping to make some red accent pillows soon to replace our ghetto sleeping pillows on the bed.

Last month Brad's brother Dave and his wife, Jana, set up a weekend at Jana's aunt's cabin (which is just outside of Logan) in which we could all go up and spend the night and visit. I wish I had some photos from this trip (I'll have to steal some from somebody), but it was really a lot of fun. We spent time together just hanging out, playing games, and went on a short little hike. Our nephew Jasher had just turned one and we used some of the time together up there for a birthday party for him. (Speaking of stealing photos....I stole the one below from their blog. :0S Hope you guys don't mind!)


School has started, once again, and I am looking forward to this being my last semester, am taking my last class that is required. I will be graduating with an associate degree in Art & Visual Communications in December! This has been a long time coming, seeing how I changed majors at least 3 times in the 6 years I've been attending school. (Kind of depressing figures, I know). Brad is busy as well with school. In fact, he's super busy and is thinking this will be one of his toughest semesters yet. He is taking a computer class and calculus and is quickly finding himself buried in piles of homework. What a trooper! He is very smart though and I know that he'll do great, last semester was kind of tough on him as well but he pulled through with excellent grades. He even surprised himself I think :0)

Aside from what's BEEN going on, we've been looking forward to what's to come. We will be attending my cousin Hailey's wedding next month (I have been busy designing a very cute wedding invite for her, and will be helping make her cupcake topiary centerpieces for the reception). We will be also celebrating our 2 year anniversary on the 3rd of next month. Can't believe how time has flown! In the more recent future though we have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of.......

......Our puppy! He is an Airedale Terrier (breed seen below as a puppy and full grown) who Brad and I have called Charlie. We are picking him up next Friday and have been so excited since we put a deposit down on him a month ago. They are a large sized dog, weighing between 60-70lbs, and growing up to 2 feet at the shoulders when full grown. Better yet, they don't shed, which to me, seems to be a rarity in a large-sized dog. We can't wait to bring our lil guy home!

Uintah Backpacking Trip

Brad finally did it. He somehow convinced me to do my first backpacking trip this past weekend. I am not one for hiking usually and was afraid I was going to die on this trip due to lack of "physical endurance". Seriously. But it ended up being such a blast and I am actually willing to go out and do it again! My parents joined us for the trip as well. Three days in gym clothes and no makeup....can't be that bad, right? (Don't judge, I never claimed to be a beauty queen).

Brad and I think that Utah is one of the coolest places to live, as you can see between this post and the previous Moab post Utah has so much to offer for recreation. There are beautiful red deserts with lots of recreation opportunities as well as gorgeous mountains tucked far away from life's "conveniences" and all the little petty things we get caught up in everyday of our lives. We are so fortunate to live in such an awesome state with all of the beautiful and diverse areas to enjoy!

We chose to backpack to Granddaddy Lake, which was 4.5 miles from the parking lot to where we decided to camp just a little ways from the lake itself. This was for my sake of course. It was so beautiful up there, lots and lots of green landscape & crystal clear lakes. We headed out Friday morning at 5am and spent the morning getting to where we decided to camp. We then spent some time at the lake, did some fishing, and hung out around a fire. Brad was the first to catch a fish that day, and my mom the second (and sadly the last) to catch one on Saturday. The fishing success was a little disappointing, but we had a lot of fun anyway. Saturday morning we got up and hiked to Betsy Lake and Mohawk Lake and spent some time fishing at each one.

The weather was beautiful and it was so nice to get away from everything and just be. I got to try my first portions of freeze-dried food and I have to say, I was impressed! We had Sweet and Sour Pork the first night, and Beef Stroganoff the second. We even had desserts! My mom brought a Raspberry Crumble & Blueberry Cheesecake, and for my treat/reward for agreeing to backpack, Brad let me get freeze-dried Neopalotin Ice Cream. Yes, I will obviously do almost anything for ice cream. Aside from the meringue-like texture, it was actually really good. My mom was even woman enough to pack a couple of cans of Coke Zero in her pack....sometimes you just can't leave ALL of the world behind. ;0)
Sunday was Brad's 24th birthday, and we spent it hiking out of the Uintahs & following that up with a dinner and cheesecake at his parents house with some of his family. (We had a great together the week before with all of the family to celebrate Brad and his sister, Lisa's, birthday). Brad loves the outdoors so it was a very fitting way to spend his birthday.

Over the course of our Friday-Sunday trip we hiked just over 15 miles. I was pretty sore to say the least as that is probably the furthest I've hiked in my whole lifetime combined, but I am excited to get out there and load up for another trip! Thanks to Brad and my parents for being patient with me this weekend. And I do need to mention that I didn't even cry once on this trip....both my mom and I have been known to be drawn to tears during hikes out of slot canyons, so not crying on this trip was a feat in and of itself ! :0)
















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