Goodbye APH

So tomorrow is my last day as a veterinary assistant at American Pet Hospital. Part of me is relieved because some of the intense stress and workload I've been facing lately will be lifted off my completely worn out shoulders. I can fully focus on school and my awesome Channel 8 internship. Judd's new job will more than cover what I "contributed", so I'm trying not to feel too guilty about that, even though I hate the feeling of not being helpful financially (more like detrimental, between my shopping addictions and school...).

The other part of me is a little bummed, because I have made so many friends at the hospital. I have loved (most) of the staff I have worked with over the past three years and know I have lifelong friends there. I'm going to miss my favorite clients and their pets a lot. I haven't really told any of the clients I'm leaving mainly because I didn't want to cry in front of them. At least I'll still see my favorite dog Nel once a week when Bindi is ready for Flyball!

Even though there was a lot of drama, I am still thankful for everything the hospital did for me. I was allowed to grow and learn a bunch of skills. They closed early the day of my wedding so they could attend. I've never had a problem adjusting my work schedule with my school schedule. I am really glad I got those three years, and I hope I'm leaving on good terms with everyone.

2009

So I've been reading some Facebook statuses of various friends and family today, and I saw a bunch that said something like "2009 was the worst year ever! Can't wait for 2010!". While I can't say that 2009 was the greatest year of all time, I think it had its highlights. We had a lot to be thankful for, so I'm choosing to focus on the positive in a year that was a downer for so many...

So in no particular order, here's a few of our memorable moments!

We finally got our puppy Bindi (you know, the one we had named before we were engaged!)!!


Speaking of pets, we were the proud foster parents of an adorable little duckling named Tweakers. She is currently living at Gilcrease Bird Sanctuary and doing great!


We both left jobs we had been with for three years for some new experiences. Judd's been having fun at ICM where he's working on the new pool nightclub for the Wynn, and I started my internship at Channel 8 on Monday! I love it so much, especially since all I have to do is ask, and they'll let me go on an interview or whatever!


Shows we saw include U2, Wicked, and we're seeing Flogging Molly on Saturday!


I learned auburn is a fantastic color for my hair, how to Photoshop, how to ride a motorcycle, train a dog, work a professional video camera, edit videos, and cook a turkey.


Judd learned that Blu-Ray looks better than DVD, patience, how to shoot, how to protect his 2nd Amendment Rights, and how to be a super shopper.


We became fans of Smiths, the Atomic Dogs team (which Bindi will be joining at the end of January!) America's Next Top Model, Buffalo Wild Wings, Phur Lovesac covers, Town Square, clean apartments, and Windows 7.


We were amused by Balloon Boy, saddened at the loss of Michael Jackson, avoided getting the Swine Flu, and survived the Great Recession.


We celebrated our one year anniversary and plan on celebrating many more!


We hope 2010 will be rewarding and our hard work will pay off. And that our dog will be better behaved. And that we'll eat better and work out more. And that we'll find a better place to live. And that I'll graduate and Judd can start on finishing his degree. And that we'll be better at keeping in touch with people we love.


And that your year is great!

Our Christmas Puppy Became a Thanksgiving Puppy!

Bindi has arrived!!!!

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving this year. I was wistfully hoping we would bring back our girl a bit early, because who wants to make that drive twice this time of year (snow and deer hazards?!?!?)? I had been diligently searching KSL (a fancier Craig's List for Utah) for a border collie puppy everyday hoping Bindi would pop out at me somewhere. There were so many different litters to go through. We made the drive up to Highland hoping we could find a few to at least look at, but we didn't have a litter we were really super excited about. On Thanksgiving morning, I came across an ad for a litter of puppies in Cedar Fort with this picture:

I was sincerely hoping the 8-week old cutie in the middle was still available...and she was! We visited her that night and fell in puppy love. Her mom and dad were both on site and we got to play with them. They were total outdoor farm dogs. I was a bit hesitant at first because the daddy dog came running at us with a limp and I worried he had hip issues. But as he got closer, I realized he only had three legs, and his owners explained he lost a leg in a cougar trap. They were both gorgeous dogs so I'm hoping Bindi will be too. My mom and Sam came too and approved of the newest family member.

We spent Black Friday looking for puppy supplies instead of electronics (but we did get a killer deal on a Phur Lovesac cover!!!). We picked up Bindi on Saturday. I kind of felt like a jerk taking her from her mom and dad, but I hope she got over it quick enough.

After an eventful night at various homes of Judd's relatives, we were ready to take Bindi on the six-hour drive home. For being such a young pup, I think she did pretty good!

So now we've had our little (for now!) puppy for a little over a week, and she's been doing great! She is so smart and lovable and pretty much potty-trained. Here's a few highlights of our week thus far... (I feel like such a proud parent; since I don't have a baby to post pictures of, you get my dog!

First bath (highlight for us, not neccesarily her!

Getting into trouble (it's a good thing puppies have such cute and forgivable faces...)

AND attending her first flyball event! Bindi can't officially compete until she is a year old, but she will start training with the Atomic Dogs in a few months! They invited us to a tournament and let us work some of the other dogs on the team. I keep saying this, but as much as I love baby puppy Bindi, I can't wait for her to be big enough to compete in sports!

Opportunitiy Hits!

Judd has been looking for change in his career field for a while while I've been looking for an internship with a news channel. Last week, both of those opportunities presented themselves on the same day! Channel 8 called me, and ICM called Judd. We both had interviews (I was super-thrilled to finally have an excuse to buy an awesome suit!), and we both got the jobs! We're really excited, even though it means we'll have to move again (third time in a year and a half, gotta love it!) just to be a bit closer to our new jobs. We can't wait to start! It's a nice feeling to be able to escape this rut we've felt like we've been in job-wise lately. I don't say it often, but I feel we have been blessed.

We're EXPECTING!!!!!!

...a PUPPY!!!


Ha ha, I know what you were thinking there!

This blog may be a bit premature, but we are like 99.9% for sure (as in we better, lol) finally getting our little Bindi for Christmas! She will be a border collie, much like the one that introduced Judd and I two years ago. We've become rather attached to the breed, especially after having said border collie Nel come stay with us several times in our home.

We've seriously had our future dog planned out since before we were engaged. We are so excited to be parents to the breed of dog considered the most intelligent. This is the type of dog that people do agility training and flyball sports with. I've been (slightly) obsessively going on KSL every day to find the perfect pup for us.

Of course every time I announce our puppy plans, everyone has to jump on the Rescue Bandwagon and make sure we are planning on adopting our puppy from an animal shelter. And I would LOVE to do that…except that our lack of a fenced backyard is preventing shelters from wanting to adopt out to us. Our complex has nice grassy areas and we're active people so I don't feel we're cheating the dog out of anything, but I understand why the shelters have to have these rules. I understand the concern everyone has and I'm always recommending rescuing as opposed to spending hundreds of dollars on a puppy-mill product.

So our plan is to buy a pup from Utah that was farm-raised and just needs a good home. There's so many on this website that people bought that they now can't have anymore for whatever reason, or some that are in "oops" litters. I'd like to see the dog's parents if at all possible to look for good health and behavior traits.

It's been awhile since I've had a dog. I miss my Sadie so much, but I can't wait to make new memories with our little Bindi!

U2 Concert!!!

Judd and I went to the AMAZING U2 concert last Friday!!! U2 has been my favorite band since I was 14. This was my second time seeing my favorite Irish boys and Judd's first time. It was absolutely incredible and well worth the 4 year wait from the last time I saw them. The stage was 160 feet tall and brought to Vegas on 120 semi-trucks. The Black Eyed-Peas opened up for them which was fun (except when they started talking).

We made some friends at the show that were crazy U2 fans like myself, so it was fun to sit by people who could sing and dance to the more obscure songs. Unfortunately, some old people (and there were a lot of those, but considering U2 has been around 25ish years, not too surprising)came and kicked the cool fans out of their seats, claiming they were theirs. The old people insisted on smoking and drinking and continually getting up and leaving DURING U2 to get more stuff to fuel their addictions. I gave up on them and invited the cool U2 fans to come back and sit with us. Turns out they were right about those seats being their seats the whole time!

But anyways, as I told Judd before the show, a U2 concert is like going to a religious revival. Bono is seriously one of the most enlightened person and you can just feel how he is connecting to the audience through the strong messages in the songs (and no, he wasn't totally political, even though Bill Clinton was in the crowd). As crazy as it sounds, going to a U2 concert borders on a spiritual experience because as enthralling and exhilarating as the show is, I know I at least felt cleansed afterwards. But I'm a huge fan so maybe it's just me =D.

They sang all my favorites and the new songs, but the best, BEST moment of the show was FINALLY seeing my FAVORITE song in the universe live. They didn't play it last time which was slightly disappointing, but this time, they finally played "With or Without You" as the closing song. Bono came out in this crazy laser jacket that shot red beams across the field and sang "Ultraviolet Light" before melting into the most hauntingly beautiful song ever in my opinion. SO PERFECT!

Other highlights: welding "Amazing Grace" with "Where the Streets Have No Name"; "Viva Las Vegas", "Elevation"; the feeling that the stage was going to blast off at any moment, and all four of them giving each other these cute manly hugs at the end. I appreciated it because they're not going to break up, EVER (they better not!).

So if you ever get the chance to go, GO to a U2 concert!

A Long Overdue Update

Who else votes that Judd should take a turn at this blog? It might get written in more often!
So for those who Blog spot-stalk us...


1) We went to see Wicked in San Diego for our 1st anniversary! I've been slightly obsessed with this show since I was 17, so to finally see it in person was on the amazing side! We had amazing seats on the balcony and I was in heaven the whole time. Judd thought he was going to hate it, but he found it to be funny and clever. He still hasn't committed to downloading my CD on his phone, but he at least can hum the songs.

2) Other highlights from our San Diego trip include Sea World, pretty hotel (Westin), Busters (my favorite restaurant there!), fun car trip, chance to wear hot dress that got tons of compliments, and BEACH! Only low light: having to do homework half the trip =(

3) Molly and Mike got married! Judd's baby sister (he's having such a hard time with this) married Mike September 5. We had a crazy weekend setting everything up, but it was fun, especially the part when us ladies escaped to do nails and eat at the Cheesecake factory.

4) School started for me. This is the most ridiculous schedule I've ever had, but I'm starting to figure it out. I still love Broadcast (thank goodness, I can't handle another major change!) and now I work for UNLV-TV. Today was my first actual paying broadcasting job which was way fun! The lecture I had to help film was boring as heck, but filming it and hanging out with my new team was great.

5) Judd is now the second counselor in the Young Men's as well as a Scout Leader. So he's basically the coolest guy for all the young dudes.

6) Wholphin, my car, got hit by a suicidal deer, and has not been the same ever since. I came this close to being able to write him off and get the Celica of my dreams, but alas, Wholphin is here to stay. My insurance paid for all the body work, but I think the ghost of the deer is still haunting Wholphin because bad things such as rotten batteries and broken alternators keep happening.

7) Shows we're watching: House (who doesn't love House?), America's Next Top Model (slightly addicting), Glee (GLEE!!!!), Malcom in the Middle reruns (I forgot how hysterical that show is), and Gossip Girl. Ok, I'm really the only one watching Gossip Girl. I talked up Gossip Girl to Judd and tried to explain how clever the plot is, but he watched one episode featuring Hilary Duff and gave up. I don't blame him, I almost gave up on it too after that episode!

8) We're dieting. Well, kind of. We're just trying to eat better and exercise more. We're not fatties by any means, but we want to really feel in shape while we're young and can. I have felt so unhealthy lately (well, with this stupid flu I've been recovering from for over a week now I have been!), so I really want to change some lazier eating habits. It's funner to home cook a meal then to get Arby's or Little Caesar's, right?

9) Upcoming events we're looking forward to: Ren Fair, BYU-UNLV football game, and of course, U2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!