2nd Anniversary

Oh the luxuries of a hot shower!! Dustin and I shared a few laughs on our anniversary about last year as we remembered the no water pressure resulting in Dustin's unannounced ice cold water on my head to help me rinse my hair. Oh the laughs. (If you haven't read that one, go to our anniversary blog from last July.)

We spent our second anniversary with dinner at a quaint little downtown restaurant called Stardust. We enjoyed a delicious meal complete with yummy desserts.

The second year gift is traditionally made of plastic. We got creative and bought a vacuum cleaner for our anniversary because our other one did everything except explode!! We got the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser that we didn't win in the picture contest that we entered Koda into. HA HA.

White Water Rafting Picture

I thought I would post pictures and videos as I received them. This is one my dad sent me. No video yet, but it is still in the works. In this picture you only see one side of our raft. From front to back you will see Dustin, me, and my dad. You can see that we are getting pretty wet because of the rain and the river water. Check back, hopefully very soon we will have a video for you.

Koda's Day At The Salon

Before Salon Day


After Salon Day




Today we finally gave in and gave Koda a haircut. I called a groomer yesterday and I was quoted $90 to give Koda a haircut. Obviously we were not going to pay that for a haircut, so today Dustin and I got his hair clippers and opened our one day salon for Koda. At first he was not enjoying it, but as the special treats came out, he would even roll over on his back and let me cut his belly hair. I was so amazed at how mellow he became when we helped him associate getting his hair cut with yummy treats. Hopefully that will make next years salon day that much easier.

As you can see from the pictures, we left his head hair and tail the same. His ego doesn't seem to be hurt like I thought. I anticipated him being more humbled, but that is not the case so far. He is already panting less in this humid weather. I think he likes his haircut.

Also, by yesterday evening, the swelling in his eye had completely gone away. He is just fine now!!

My New Friend, Charles

Charles


Here is a picture of my newest friend. His name is Charles. He certainly isn't camera shy because as I began taking pictures of him, he came right to the camera and posed for me. He seems to enjoy his new home. He will get a new habitat above his fish bowl as soon as the pet shop gets in a new order of them. Until then, he will just have to eat fish food and anticipate the plant that will soon be on top of his bowl.

White Water Rafting

Our two friends and Dustin and I floating down an almost current free area


A raft going down a small rapid


While my parents were here the four of us and two friends went white water rafting down the new River Gorge (the second oldest river in the world). We began our floating trip around 8:30am and it concluded around 3:00pm. What an amazing day!! It was sooooo much fun! I would do it again!!

The trip included rapids from class 2 to class 5 (class 5 being the largest rapid). There was once or twice that I thought I was going to be flung out of the raft, but I kept my toe wedged under to keep myself in the raft. We bought a video of our rafting trip, so as soon as we get that file transfered, I will put a video of us going down a nice rapid. I will also get some better pictures soon. These pictures are those that we took, but the professional photographer/vidoegrapher got much better shots. I will post those very soon as well. They are hilarious!!!

Anyway, check back soon and I will have them up.....hopefully by Monday!!

Float Like a Butterfly, STING LIKE A BEE

Koda around 12:30 pm


Koda around 12:33 pm


The puppies have enjoyed their newest place to hang out and relax, which is on stakes in the yard. They have 30 feet cords that are connected to stakes, and this allows them to roam most of the yard while being able to play with one another or laying down in the comfy grass alone. The stakes are in such a place where they can be together or have their own space. Well......I was looking out the window and I noticed that Koda was in a place by himself (which is abnormal because he and cocoa usually play together outside) jumping very high in the air and coming down to land on his face and he would rub his face on the ground between his whimpers. I ran out to get him to see what was wrong and I noticed his eye looked the slightest bit swollen. That is the first picture you see. Then about three minutes later, it seemed as though we could actually see the swelling get worse and worse each moment. It only took a few minutes, but as you can see, he is now barely able to see out of his right eye.

We were advised by his veterinary clinic that Benadryl would help his swelling and if that was not successful they would be able to inject a steroid into the swollen area.

All in all, Koda acts fine. The Benadryl is beginning to take action as he is very calm and mellow right now. It is somewhat ironic that we lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere for a year that had all kinds of creepy, crawly, bitey things and he stayed on Dustin's parents' ranch for a week and a half, but it wasn't until we got back here to the CITY that he gets bit/stung. I will keep you posted on Koda's well-being.

Also, I have some thrilling pictures that I will be putting up in the next couple of days. You are going to love them!! Keep checking back!

Fishin' in Georgia

The fish that didn't get away!

Some of our vacation was spent in GA with Dustin's family. We spent our time in the pool, riding horses, playing with the dogs, and fishing. The last time Dustin and I visited GA we left knowing without a doubt that there were no fish in their pond. No one even got the smallest nibble on their line and we fished for a while. Well, we were proven wrong this time. Maybe the fish food had something to do with it, but regardless, fish were caught this time. So, to put everyone's mind at ease, there are fish in their pond. Here is a picture of Dustin and his dad with a catfish. This was one of four fish caught that afternoon in just a matter of one hour.