The Past Few Months (In Pictures and Words)

You may have noticed a real lack of blogging going on in the past few months. There has been a lot going on in our lives, but not a lot of it has been dog-related. Here's an explanation of what we've been up to these past few months:

September 2, 2009: The story begins...

When you take a pregnancy test and it's positive, isn't it normal to take like 50 more just to be sure?

How Bailey and I broke the news to Brian that he was going to be a dad (to a human baby). Her bandana says "I'm going to be a big sister."

The story of Brian's reaction is worth telling, because it was pretty funny. Brian came home from work and Bailey greeted him at the door wearing her new "big sister" bandana. Here is the conversation that followed:

Brian (reading the bandana aloud): "I'm going to be a big sister..." Then he looked around, looked at me, and said "To WHO?"

Me: "To our baby!"

Brian: "WHOSE baby?"

Me: "OURS. Mine and yours!"

Brian: Nuh-uh. No way. (And this went on for awhile until I convinced him that there was indeed a human baby on the way. It was easier for him to believe once he saw my impressive plethora of pregnancy tests).

The funny part is that the reason he did not understand at first that he was going to be a dad to our human baby is that when he read the bandana, his first thought was that I had adopted a dog. Yes, I have quite the reputation as a crazy dog person.

Bailey wearing her bandana proudly. If the poor baby had any idea what's in store for her, she would probably not look so happy.

Our first pic as a family with kids! Note the baby gate in the background...fostering dogs has at least somewhat prepared us for human babies!

Finding out I was pregnant and getting to tell the happy news to Brian was, at the time, the happiest day of my life. Until...

October 2, 2009

TWO babies and TWO nice, strong heartbeats. The most beautiful (albeit a bit shocking!) sight and sound in the world!

That's right, Bailey is going to be a big sister to not one, but two babies. We are excited, scared, overjoyed, nervous, and pretty much every other emotion you can imagine. But most of all, we feel blessed. Things have been progressing nicely and fairly uneventfully, and we are very thankful for that. This past Friday was a big day for us--we had our "big" ultrasound. The date was especially meaningful as December 18 was the birthday of my late grandfather, who was a twin himself!

The biggest and best news of the day was that both babies look healthy and are growing right on track. In the past, I have heard my pregnant friends say that they don't care if their baby is a boy or a girl, as long as it is healthy. It is hard to comprehend this feeling until you are lying on an exam table waiting to see if all is well with your baby...the absolute very last thing we were concerned about was whether we were having boys or girls. Here are a few pics from that day:

December 18, 2009

Yes, Twin A is a girl! We had all of these grand ideas of having the ultrasound tech write down the sex of the babies in an envelope and opening it at a later time, but it turns out we have zero willpower and we found out as soon as we possibly could! Once the tech said it everything looked good and that the baby was a girl, Brian's face was priceless. He was just beaming. I was torn between looking at the screen and watching the expressions on his face.

Then, it was on to Twin B...

This twin has been the wild one from the start. On every ultrasound he is bouncing around, and this time was no different. He would not hold still for very long, so it took awhile to find out that he is indeed a "he!" We were both a bit shocked as we thought we were having two girls. But we are so excited for this combo!

One last pic. If you look closely you can see both profiles: Twin A (girl) is on the bottom and her brother is on the top. The tech said that all the kicks I have been feeling are from the boy baby...the girl baby is positioned so that when she kicks, her target is her brother! We found this pretty funny...fighting already!

Soooo...that is what we have been up to. Being pregnant with the twins has unfortunately led to a big change in our lives, which is that we are no longer fostering goldens. There were a couple of instances early in the pregnancy in which we still had Brax and he jumped right on my stomach...a bit scary, but not uncommon with a scared foster dog. I am really thankful that we were able to see him through to his adoption to his forever family, but we have been foster-less ever since. I have still been able to stay involved with the rescue group by mailing out tags to foster homes and I have even still been able to do transports. If I'm getting a dog from a shelter, I just make sure someone helps me load the dog into the car, and if I'm getting a dog from someone's house, I try to have someone go with me to help. I love doing transports and I want to keep doing them until I'm too big to fit behind the wheel!

But I do miss having a foster dog in our home, and it has been really hard for me not having one (and knowing that it will probably be a while before we are able to foster again). Fostering was a huge part of my life and I almost feel like I have lost a little piece of my identity. I think the worst part is feeling like I am just not doing enough to help. BUT I know that growing two healthy babies is important work, so I'm giving it my best. And I will also do my best to raise kids who treat animals with kindness and are aware of the vital importance of pet adoption. Hopefully, I will soon have two little helpers to ride along on transports and take care of foster dogs.

PICNIC!

Last Saturday was the picnic that the rescue group puts on every year in October. A couple hundred goldens and their families enjoyed a great time at Lake Grapevine...the weather was beautiful, which was an awesome stroke of luck since it has been so disgusting outside for most of the past few weeks. There was barbecue, a silent auction, a raffle, a doggie bandana contest, and a foster parade. The organizers of the picnic always do such a great job and the event always helps earn much-needed money for the rescue group.


One of my favorite parts of the picnic every year is that I get the chance to see some of my former foster dogs with their 'forever families.' This year was no exception: I got to see one of my very favorite fosters, Samuel, with his wonderful new family. Samuel was very sick with heartworms and it took him a while to recover. He is now one of the most athletic dogs at the picnic--he barely stopped running around long enough to say hello to me--but I'll forgive him for that. I also got to see a former foster named Huckleberry. I fostered Huck for a couple of weeks when he was only a few months old. He is now a beautiful 93 pound golden. Here he is enjoying himself on Saturday:

We did have one minor picnic mishap...which was unfortunately not discovered until Monday. For a while now, I have been trying my darndest to convince Brian that I REALLY need a nice new Audi Q7 to replace my current ride. I always get shot down, with the primary reason being that all the (often dirty, stinky) dogs I chauffeur around town have trashed my current car and will certainly trash the nice new car as well. I suppose this is probably true, but I keep persisting nonetheless. But, my parents' dog Jasmine did not do much to help my case when she PEED on the floorboard of the backseat of my car on the way home from the picnic. Unfortunately, all four of us who were in the car on Saturday failed to notice this little incident and, even more unfortunately, I did not drive my car again until Monday, when the smell was nice and set in. Long story short, the car wash did not quite do the trick, the car still smells a bit rank, and Brian is more insistent than ever that I will be driving my current dog-mobile for many years to come. Thanks for nothing, Jasmine!

Mansfield Music Fest

Last weekend, my little hometown put on a music festival with bands, beer, wine and lots of food...so we bundled up, grabbed some lawn chairs, and headed to check it out. After all, it's not every day that Mansfield has something like this (plus, it was free!). I think the highlight ended up being the food. A ton of local restaurants, including Houlihan's, Suzushi (I passed on this--sushi brought in in coolers seemed a bit suspicious to me), Black Fin, Palio's, Oliver's, and even The Keg set up booths and sold food, and nothing was priced over $2.00.

The headliner was Delbert McClinton--apparently he was big in our parents' day. I was not familiar with him, but Brian's dad loves him so Brian grew up listening to his music. My appreciation of him grew when I found out that he wrote, recorded and won a Grammy for the song "Have a Little Faith in Me"--I love that song!

Tiff samples the wine.

It got a little chilly!

Thanks, chauffeur Tommy!

One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

Last week I did an unusual transport. It involved going to the town of Thurber, Texas (pop. 5) and meeting another volunteer who lives in Abilene who had pulled two dogs from the Abilene animal shelter. This girl is awesome and regularly pulls dogs from the shelter for us and meets a volunteer somewhere along I-20 so that one of us doesn't have to drive all the way to Abilene (which I have done in the past--three very stinky dogs in my car on the way home was not fun). The transport went off without a hitch and I even talked my mom into riding with me so that I would not be so bored in the car.

The unusual part of the transport was that instead of two golden retrievers, my passengers were one golden and one dalmatian. The girl who pulls the dogs for us had also been in contact with a DFW area dalmatian rescue group who agreed to take the dog if we could find a way to get it to Fort Worth...so I agreed to help (hey, what's one more dog in my car?). The golden (named Talon) was a bit clingy and kept trying to climb into the front seat. As I drove, my mom channeled her inner 5-year-old and kept repeating, "Can't he please just come sit in the front with me?" until I gave in and allowed Talon to ride up front with her.

Once allowed in the front seat, Talon was content and fell asleep. And check out my mom texting!


The sweet dalmatian, Daisy. She was dumped at the shelter by her family and was obviously scared but she was a great passenger and I'm glad she's on her way to a new family!

It's Official

Brax's potential adoptive family loves him. I believe their exact words were, "He is a mess and we love every bit of it." Haha, he is indeed a mess but I'm glad they see that as a positive! I have mailed all the adoption paperwork in, so he has officially found his new home and I am so happy for the big boy. We now find ourselves foster-less for awhile. My parents are going on a cruise around Italy in a couple of weeks and we will be keeping their two goldens, Jazzie and Bear, while they are away. I love those two, so I'm very excited to have a house full of dogs...triple the dog food, fur and fun! Until then, Bailey is enjoying her status as an only dog, and I'm sure I will have some transports to keep me busy. PLUS, the rescue group's annual picnic is in TWO WEEKS! Picnic day is pretty much like Christmas to me...literally hundreds of goldens running around and swimming at Lake Grapevine. I can't wait!

Hair, There & Everywhere!

Here's a newsflash for you: golden retrievers shed. A lot. I did a transport today for a dog named Ellie Mae whose owner gave her up because she sheds. Had this woman done even the tiniest bit of research before getting the dog, she would have known that a golden is probably not the right dog for her, but whatever. Her loss and someone else's gain, because little Ellie Mae is too cute and such a sweetheart.


Yes, goldens do shed but in my opinion they are so worth it. My three secret weapons against shedding are my Furminator dog brush, my beloved Dyson Animal vacuum, and the ability to come to terms with the fact that I will always have tumbleweeds of dog hair blowing through my house. If you have a dog who sheds, the Furminator is well worth the money. Here is an example of what the Furminator can do:

This is all hair that we got from brushing Brax for about 15 minutes. We always try to pick up all the hair after brushing the dogs, but I have a feeling that there are some birds in our neighborhood with nice, cozy, furry nests!

On Trial

On Saturday, we took Braxy to meet his potential forever family. They are just what I was looking for in a family for Brax...a couple with no kids, one other golden, and experience with dogs who have thunderstorm anxiety. They also live on almost an acre, so I know Brax will have a fun time running around the yard. It was a bittersweet day...since the family has previously adopted a dog from our rescue group, they are not required to wait the usual 24 hours before keeping the dog. So we drove to Dallas with Braxy, then drove home without him. He will stay with his new family for a couple of weeks for a trial adoption to make sure he's a perfect fit before we make it official...but I don't think there will be any problems (the couple decided pretty much the minute Braxy walked in the door that they loved him). So we are Brax-less. The house feels empty without the big guy, but as usual, Bailey is glad to be an only dog again!

We'll miss you, big Brax!

The Doctor and the Beauty Shop

Today our girl had to go to the vet's office to get her vaccinations and exam, so we decided to make a day of it and get her groomed while she was there. Shots and a haircut = a very bad day for Bailey and a very expensive day for me! But she was a trooper, as usual...and we even got some good news. Bay struggles a bit with her weight (what gal doesn't?!) but she has actually lost 8 pounds since her last vet visit so we are very proud of her. On another note, did you know they are now recommending flu shots for dogs? So Bailey is now prepared for flu season. Can dogs even catch the flu or does the vet just look at us and see crazy dog people who might as well have "Sucker" stamped on our foreheads? Oh well. Better safe than sorry I guess!


Here is our girl looking pretty (and a bit irritated by her vet visit). Isn't the cotton ball/bandage combo just about the most pitiful sight ever?

Dinner with Dot

Last night Brian was out of town, so naturally I called my brother to see what he would be making me for dinner. Turns out my dad was out of town as well, so Dot ended up cooking for the three ladies in his life: my mom, Tiff, and me. As is usually the case at a Morlock dinner, he made quite the variety of dishes: spicy shrimp and chicken pasta for me (and him), grilled chicken, (for Tiff), grilled salmon (for mom), and green beans, salad, and mashed potatoes (for everyone). Yes, we are a high-maintenance crew and he made something different for each of us. It was all delicious...my little bro takes such good care of us ladies!

Cooking the pasta

Yummy salad

Spicy Shrimp and Chicken Pasta

Movin' On Up

Last week I got to babysit (or dogsit) a very sweet golden boy. He was turned into the rescue group when his owners went through a messy divorce. The stress in the home had caused him to develop the nervous habit of chewing on his legs (the vet says he is a very sensitive dog who is eager to please, and the unhappiness in the home was really hard on him).

He was so sweet and I fell in love immediately, despite the fact that he peed on me at the vet's office (hey, it happens). And I was thrilled to hear that he has already been adopted and is soon to be living the good life...his new home is 16,000 square feet (if you live in/near Fort Worth, you've probably heard of his new family!) and comes complete with 24-hour security, two housekeepers, personal assistants, and more (11 staff members total attend to his new owners, and now, to him!). I hear everyone was so excited to meet him and welcome him to the family. What a happy ending for a deserving dog!

Two Transports & The Home Show

In my last post, I commented on the lack of transports I've done lately...yeah, I should know better than to say something like that! Last week, two dogs were awaiting intake to the rescue group, so I got to take both from Mansfield to the vet in Fort Worth. And when I use the phrase, "got to take" as opposed to "had to take," it's with good reason. Even though transports involve me loading a stinky dog (who may not be a model passenger) into my car and driving him/her all around the metroplex before unloading him/her at the vet's office, I love doing transports. I feel like it is such a privilege to get to spend even a little bit of time with these dogs. It was explained to me when I first started working with the rescue group that the person doing the transport is important because, often, you are the first kind face the dog has seen in a while (if ever). And these dogs never, ever cease to amaze me. They usually haven't had the easiest lives, they are scared, they are sometimes in pain, and yet they always let me (a total stranger) pick them up and take them to an unknown destination. I have never so much as been growled at by one of these dogs. They have the most trusting and beautiful spirits, and getting to be the one who is with them during the very first phase of their new lives is really amazing.

Fletch was happy to be sprung from the shelter!

My friends Jonathan and Nick have decided that it's fun to help me name the transport dogs (and I always need help!) so they made it into a contest. So far Nick is winning--he picked the name Fletch for the cute boy from the shelter. The second dog of the week already came with a name, so the contest is on hold until I have to name another one!

Yesterday, the rescue group had a booth at the Fort Worth Home & Garden Show. Mr. Bear went with me to do what he does best: look cute and gather donations. The Home & Garden Show is one of Mr. Bear's favorite things because he gets attention from all kinds of people and kids...he just soaks it all in. And speaking of dogs who had a bad start in life but are now extremely trusting, Mr. Bear decided to roll over onto his back in the middle of the aisle at the Home Show and offer everyone who walked by the chance to rub his tummy.

Here he is with one new friend (and future professional dog groomer?) who came at him with a dog brush. Mr. Bear was in heaven!

"Um...who told you to stop?"

Mr. Bear had a great time, gathered lots of donations, and went home exhausted. Another successful Home & Garden Show!

Adoption FAIL

Brax met a potential adoptive family the other day. Usually, when one of my fosters meets a potential family, it goes like this: Family meets dog. Family loves dog. Family either a) professes their love for dog and practically begs to adopt him, or b) goes home, thinks it over for about 1.5 seconds, then sends me an email professing their love for the dog and convincing me why they are the perfect family for him. When Brax met his potential adopter the other day, I was convinced that this is what would happen again...the woman was young, no kids, had lost her own golden a few years ago and is just now at the place where she is ready for another dog. She also has experience dealing with thunderstorm anxiety--a perfect match!

Or apparently not. After she met him, she sent me an email saying she had also met another dog within our rescue group and realized that the other dog was the one for her. Braxy got rejected. The logical side of me is fine with this--the potential adopter picked the dog she felt was best for her, and she is giving a home to a dog who needs one. Brax will find the right home. The emotional side of me is feeling sad for Braxy. Fortunately he didn't know what was going on, so he's not feeling rejected and sad, but I am an over-sensitive weirdo, so I'm feeling it for him.

Braxy Update

I have officially become the world's worst blogger. I am not proud of myself for this, so I am going to try to be better. So let's see...what dog-related news do I have? Actually, not very much. I have a new job within the rescue group of mailing out tags and heartworm preventative to all of the foster homes, but I don't think tales of me standing in line at the Mansfield post office would make for very enthralling summer reading, and I don't have any fun pics of me licking stamps, so that would make for a somewhat dull post. Transports have also been on the slow side. I guess there are not very many dogs from my neck of the woods getting turned in to the rescue group, which is a good thing.

I still have my foster boy Brax to keep me occupied. Braxy is doing very well, and we actually had a breakthrough last week. Brax HATED the car at first and would freak out every time I had to take him somewhere. Even trips to Starbucks were no fun for Braxy. But all of a sudden, it was like a light switch went off--he realized that rides in the car are fun, and that the destination of the car ride is never going to be anywhere terrible. Now any time I open the door into the garage, he bolts to the car and tries to get in. A small triumph, but so exciting to me nonetheless.

Braxy is also chugging along through his heartworm treatment--we had a vet appointment yesterday, and he got a great report. He should be able to resume somewhat normal activity in two weeks, which means he will be ready to go to his forever home at that point. Now, we just have to FIND him his forever home!

The Thunder Rolls*

*for some reason, I have two post titles in a row that reference country songs...I don't know what's gotten into me but I promise to cut it out immediately!

There are many firsts when we get a new foster dog. The first time the vet tech brings him out, and I get to see just what we're getting ourselves into for the next few months. Timid? Rambunctious? Skinny? Hairy? Then there's the first night we have him home, and we get to find out what kind of sleep we're going to be getting for the next few months. Will he whine all night in his crate or sleep quietly beside us in the dog bed? And then, there's my very least favorite foster dog first: the first clap of thunder. Lots of our fosters have thunderstorm anxiety, and Brax is unfortunately no exception.

The first clap of thunder was a couple of weeks ago. It was followed immediately by all 86 pounds of Brax jumping into the bed and directly on top of my head. Brax KNOWS he is not allowed in the bed, but the poor guy was panting and shaking uncontrollably. I got out of bed and tried to show him some "safe spots" around the house (we've had fosters that liked to get in the closet, under the bed, or in the shower). He was not interested. It seemed the only way we were going to get any sleep is if Brax was in the bed with us. (A note to moms who let their babies sleep in bed with them because they say it's the only way that they and their baby will get any sleep: I get it now!)

There are, of course, other options, none of which I can bring myself to do: I could put him in a bathroom and close the door. Not a good choice, since he would probably try to claw his way out. I could put him in his crate in another room. We had a beagle who had thunderstorm anxiety, and we tried this with her...until she actually cut her gums trying to chew her way out of the metal crate. We could put him outside...yeah, NOT an option.

So that first night of storms, Brax made himself comfortable, panting uncontrollably in between my pillow and Brian's pillow...head towards Brian, rear end towards me. All was well until Brian sat up and yelled, "Gross! He peed in the bed!" Further inspection proved that Brax had not peed, but had drooled SO much that it resulted in a large puddle by Brian's head (that Brian had rolled onto). I thought it was rather funny; Brian, not so much.

Brax tried out the bathtub as a possible "safe spot." He soon decided the tub wasn't as safe as drooling on our heads, so he went back to doing that.

Since that night, it has been a rainy couple of weeks. I swear if one more person tells me how wonderful this rain is and how they just LOVE to sleep in the thunderstorms, they are going to get a swift kick in the pants. But Braxy and I are hanging in there and have a new thunderstorm routine. I give him a doggie sedative to relax him a bit (and fight the urge to take one myself!), then we head out to sleep on the couch together. Either Brian or I has to sleep with him, and I figure it should be me because Brian is both a) the one of us who DOES have a job, and b) the one of us who DOESN'T have grand ideas like, "Let's foster golden retrievers! It will be super fun!".

Possibly the world's cutest case of thunderstorm anxiety is Mr. Bear in the dryer. My dad went looking for him one stormy morning and couldn't find him anywhere...until he walked past the laundry room and found him asleep on top of some clean laundry in the dryer.

They Call Him the Fireman...

A little over a year ago, my brother Todd decided to go through the application process to become a firefighter for the city of Dallas...and I was proud. After going through several rounds of the intense selection process, he was chosen from a group of over a thousand as one of 50 who got to attend the fire academy...and again, I was proud. He attended the fire academy and worked so hard, physically and mentally, to do his best...once again, I was so proud.

Then, a couple of months before our trip to Europe, Todd was telling us about his upcoming graduation from the Dallas Fire Academy, an event the firefighters call "Burn Night." He was so excited because this is a special event for the new firefighters, an opportunity for them to show their friends and family all the cool stuff they have worked so hard to learn over the past months. I asked him the date of Burn Night, and my heart sank when he grabbed the calendar and pointed to a Saturday when we would be halfway around the world in Greece.

So, while we were in Santorini, Todd graduated from the Dallas Fire Academy. We missed his Burn Night. I absolutely hate that I was not there, and I think it's one of those things that I'm always going to regret. Here are a few pictures from that night:

My dad (ex-firefighter for the city of Buffalo), and Todd

One of those specks rappelling down the wall is Todd.

Look, the back of his jacket says 'Morlock.' Isn't it cute?

Friends that came to support Todd at Burn Night.

These days, Todd is a rookie at a fire station in south Dallas. He even helped fight a five-alarm apartment fire a couple of weeks ago. He also made the mistake of showing me (and my mom, which was an even bigger mistake!) this website, which lists all the active fire-rescue incidents in Dallas and which stations are responding. That means I can keep track of where he is when he's at work...is he currently at the station or out responding to a fire? If so, how big a fire and where? It's a neurotic older sister's dream come true!

When we were younger, Todd and I didn't get along so well. And although there is still no one else in the world who can get under my skin like he can, he is now one of my best friends. I can't think of anyone better suited to the job of fighting fires and saving lives...and as his older sister, I could not be more proud.

Over the Hill

So if my friends are starting to turn 30, what does that make me? Their much-younger friend, of course! I recently helped celebrate the 30th birthdays of two very special friends, Chris and Nick.

Chris and I have been friends since my freshman year in high school. His first date with his wife, Cristi (also a good friend), took place at my parents' house, where they watched a movie while sitting on opposite ends of the sofa...who'd have thought they'd be married today?! Anyways, I was really happy to be there to celebrate Chris' 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago, the same way he was there with me to celebrate when I turned 16 back in 1996!

Chris and me on my 16th birthday in 1996, about to take the Civic for a test drive.


Chris and me at his 30th birthday party, after taking a few tequila shots for a test drive.

Next to turn 30 was Nick, my high school boyfriend. We've been through a lot together and I'm so fortunate to have him in my life. Hey, we're living proof that the often-used breakup phrase, "We'll always be friends" is not always total b.s.!

Nick and me in 1997 at Don Pablo's (may it rest in peace).


And at a wedding in June 2009.

So happy birthday, guys! As my lovely friend Robin was shocked to realize the other day, I'm almost 29--so I will be over the hill soon also! But for now, I'm still these two guys' much-younger friend.

Puppy Smoothie

Bailey likes to run errands with us. The bank and the dry cleaners are usually her favorite destinations--she knows that when we pull up to one of those places, a treat is in her near future (and the drooling begins). But I think it's safe to say Bailey has a new favorite place: Starbucks. The guy at the Mansfield Starbucks drive-thru has come to know me and my car full of dogs (he jokes that I am transporting prisoners, and on the rare occasion that I don't have at least one dog in the car, he asks where my prisoners are). I've decided that when the guy at Starbucks notices when there are no dogs in your car, it means that either a) you go to Starbucks way too often, b) you have entirely too many dogs in your car, or c) both of the above. Anyways, this very nice Starbucks employee has started giving me "Puppy Smoothies," aka a small cup full of whipped cream. Bailey LOVES whipped cream, and has ever since she was a puppy, when my dad would squirt it directly from the can into her mouth (I only wish I were kidding). Here's a pic of Bay enjoying her smoothie.

Note the intense concentration in her eyes as she makes sure she gets every last drop!

Brax

Ahhh...the many joys of a new foster dog! The sight of a big, hairy golden retriever bounding towards you. The sound of the incessant panting and pacing of a poor dog who has been uprooted from his home and is nervous in his new surroundings. The constant feeling of hot breath on the back of your legs because he follows.you.everywhere. The sight of tumbleweeds of golden retriever hair rolling through your living room. The feeling of a cold wet nose in your face as you try to sleep in on weekend mornings (not happening!).

Yes, we had a nice vacation from the world of fostering, but as of last Tuesday, the fun has started again! Our new foster boy, Brax, is big (86 pounds, NOT fat), hairy, sweet, clumsy, and has a tongue that I don't believe actually fits in his mouth (which results in lots of drool...on me, on the floor, etc. Nice.). He was given to the rescue group by his family because he knocked down a child while retrieving a tennis ball. (Side rant: Seriously? If you're throwing a tennis ball to a golden retriever, don't do it in the vicinity of a small child. The chances of the child getting knocked over are good to excellent. Common sense, people.) Anyways, he is a sweetheart who was of course not neutered and of course heartworm positive.

Big Brax. We sometimes call him Yogi because doesn't it look like if you met him while hiking in a national park, he would probably steal your picnic basket?

Uh oh...looks like Bailey is about to become the latest victim of his tennis ball chasing.

Home at Last

Two weeks, four cities, ten flights and one wedding later...we're home! I have never been happier to see my bed, my shower, my dog...even my toilet! We had a really great trip--here are some of the 350 or so pictures we took (and a brief trip summary).


First stop: Santorini, Greece. This is the place I have always wanted to visit and it absolutely lived up to every expectation. It was just beautiful beyond words. We had an amazing, relaxing time. If you are ever looking for a place to spend a romantic vacation, I can't recommend Santorini enough. We hung out by the pool, took a really long hike one day (I know, how uncharacteristically active of us!), and rented a four wheeler and drove around the island one day.

So happy to finally be in Greece!

Some of the pretty sights we saw during a hike we took one day.

Sunset from our hotel.

The infinity pool at our hotel.

I used to have a picture like this on my refrigerator because it was such a big dream for me to go to Santorini...I couldn't believe I was finally there.

This was the view from our balcony. Not bad to wake up to this in the morning.

Part two of our trip took us to Venice. Unfortunately, the minute we got off the plane, the chaos began. It started with a lost suitcase (which was actually (shockingly) delivered to us about 24 hours later). The fun continued when we were contacted by the Italian postal service to let us know that the package we had shipped to Tuscany was stuck in Italian customs. (Back story: we decided to ship our wedding clothes to Tuscany because we were going to be gone for so long and had so much to pack. We decided that the wedding clothes would take up too much room in our suitcases, so it would be easier to ship them. We were, it turns out, wrong.)

Sooo...we spent much of our time in Venice arguing with the postal service, arguing with Italian customs (who apparently thought we were trying to smuggle who knows what into their country), and running around looking for places where we could fax and email the ridiculous forms we were asked to fill out by Italian customs (including one that made us declare that our leather shoes were not dyed using oil from whales??).

In between all that madness, we saw some sights:

The Grand Canal

Brian on the Accademia Bridge

The gondolas (no, we didn't ride in one!)

Saint Mark's Cathedral

Venice was really pretty, and I'm glad we got to see it. But I have to say, I think we would have been okay with just spending one day there. It was just very crowded, expensive, hot and actually dirty (graffiti everywhere). Not to sound like a downer, but it wasn't our favorite place of the trip. :) Admittedly, we were not really in the mindset to enjoy it as much as we should have.

Moving on...part three of the trip took us to Tuscany. The main reason for our European vacation was to attend the wedding of our friend Sarah from high school. She got married at an old castle near Siena, and that's where we stayed for three nights.

The view from our room at the castle

The castle grounds

The church at the castle where the wedding was held

The beautiful bride and the Mansfield friends who made the trip to Italy!
Chris, Cristi, Sarah, me and Brian

Brian and I enjoying our champagne during cocktail hour. Aren't we fancy?



So why aren't there more pics of the Tuscan countryside? Well, remember that package that got stuck in Italian customs? Yes, it is probably still there. We had no clothes to wear to the wedding, so we had to set out to buy ourselves some new attire. It was actually really funny: I said to Brian, "Where the heck are we supposed to buy clothes in Tuscany?" Brian said, "I have no idea; it's not like there's going to be a mall nearby." So we go ask the staff at the castle and they hand us a map showing the new outlet mall that has just been built about 15 minutes away! Hilarious...an outlet mall in Tuscany. So the attire you see us wearing in the pics above was purchased at an outlet mall that resembled something you would see here in Texas. We even found a place that would hem Brian's pants in time for the wedding! Shopping at an outlet mall is not how I would have chosen to spend a day in Tuscany, but we found clothes and made it to the wedding, which was a really fun time. We are happy that we got to be there to see Sarah get married.

Modeling our new Tuscan outlet mall attire

Our original plane for the trip had been to drive to Rome late Sunday afternoon and crash at our hotel before flying home early the next morning. Our plans changed for the better when Chris and Cristi asked if they could hitch a ride to Rome with us...we piled our tiny rental car full of our suitcases and the four of us set off, National Lampoon's European Vacation style, for Rome.

We were only in Rome from about 4 p.m. to very early the next morning, but we managed to pack in a lot into one evening. We saw the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain,the Pantheon and lots of other cool stuff that I admittedly could not identify. We also had a great dinner on the patio of a little restaurant, then drinks on a square overlooking the Pantheon.

Brian and I in front of the Colosseum

And in front of the Spanish Steps

Drinks by the Pantheon

The Trevi Fountain

I am really happy that we ended up getting to see Rome, if only for one evening. We had a great time and we both absolutely loved the city and would like to go back some day. I never really thought of Rome as someplace I would love to visit, but everywhere you look, there is something fascinating to explore. We had a really fun night.

So now our trip is over and I feel thrilled to be home, but kind of blah...I think it's the feeling some brides get when the wedding is over. It seems like I spent so much time planning the trip and now it's over! But overall we had a great time...now back to the real world!