.. new start ..

as i am sure most of you know out there.. we lost our dog Tyke in january of 2010 to cancer. since then we have always known that we wanted another dog, just weren't quite sure when it would be right. every time we talked about getting one, we were always kind of tentative and not 100 percent with the idea. we would always kind of look and we always knew we wanted another bulldog of some sort. every once and a while we would find a dog that looked cute and then both of us would feel like it wasn't the right one or time. so we would just carry on.

last week we were looking on petfinder.com and found him. instantly we both felt a connection, i loved his wrinkles and cody loved his sly demeanor. we emailed the lady and asked about him. we didn't have any information other than he was 8 weeks old, and was healthy. when she emailed back there was a whole story on him. apparently he, and his liter mates, had been saved from a puppy broker who sells purebred pups for dirt cheap and if they aren't purchased then they are put in a puppy mill to have more liters. this rescue site saved him from being turned into a stud at a puppy mill. my heart melted and so did cody's. he was the one we needed after tyke. so we started to go through their adoption process. we filled out a 4 page questionnaire and had all our vets and family members called. the next day we got a call saying we were approved and he was ours. we were so excited. and following policies we are required to pick him up within 7 days of approval. so.. we get to pick him up on thursday.

{just if you were wondering.. he is a french bulldog.}

we don't have a name yet, hence me calling him puppy and just him.. but could use everyone's help on this one. we have had a ton of nominees for names, the top two have been Zeus and Hercules. (we were thinking of following suit with this pup like with Tyke. Tyke was a greek god of light and endearment it actually spelled Tyche, but we changed the spelling. so we were trying to think of greek, roman, etruscan, egyptian or whatever mythology god to follow what we did with Tyke.)

SO.. if you could leave a vote or a new nomination for his name that would be great! And as soon as we pick this little cuteness up, i will post more pictures!

.. shake it like a polaroid picture ..

lately i have been trying to shoot more film, and just shoot in general. i feel like by the time i get home from work that the night is upon us and the lighting although nice for about 30 minutes is gone short after. so cody and i have been doing things on saturday afternoons instead. a few weeks ago we went down to utah lake to look at the ever growing ice sculptures. the lake had frozen over and when parts started to thaw out they would wave and push huge ice chunks up on the shore lines. it was quite beautiful. so we ventured down there.

we walked out on the dike and took some pictures {polaroid, instax mini and film} and did walk out on to the frozen solid harbor. i was scared spitless to walk on the water, but it was cool.

{ our feet standing on the ice in the middle of the harbor }

so see some more polaroids, click here.

.. the alchemyst ..

it's been a while i know. we have been so busy with things that it is surprising to find a moment to spare. cody has been prepping to graduate, taking tests and standing in lines to get his graduation gear. he has also been in the process of applying for a job with the air force as a pilot of a kc135.

{yep a re fueler plane..}

we won't find out about that for a while, he finds out in a few weeks if he is even eligible to apply. i on the other hand have been working, trying to solve my arm issues, and now i am the young women advisor in the laurel class. and we have made a goal to go to the gym together at least 3 times a week if not more. AND.. my parents are hosting a japanese student for another week, his name is Daiki. he speaks GREAT english and fun to have here, it just takes up time doing things as a family for him.

somehow in the midst of working and what nots i have still found time for reading. i LOVE reading. like love. i have a 'problem' with it, like i'm an addict. i can't go to barnes and noble and leave without something without feeling incomplete. i love the smell of books and if i could spend all my days reading i would be fine. so.. as you remember from my list, that i am trying to expand my reading and i made a goal to read a book from another author than i normally read. i have always been a murder mystery / thriller person. i love it.

a few weeks ago i was talking to a good friend of mine and she told me about this book called 'the alchemyst'. i asked her what it was about and she said it was the story of Nicholas Flamel, the guy who found the philosophers stone and lives forever cause he never ages. it was about him, his wife, a mess of immortal beings, a set of twins and a bunch of evil creatures. now like i said before i don't usual read sci-fi / fantasy things. but, i read the twilight series because my sister wanted someone to talk to about it, and someone mentioned i might like it. i read harry potter to stay up with my siblings and also cause i wanted to compare them to the movies. so i have read a few of those, but i wasn't so sure. she told me that she couldn't put them down and that they were and easy read. i didn't think much of it cause i was in the middle of a murder mystery. well i finished it about a week ago and was looking for another book. i have more of the murder mystery type books, like 25 + to read but i felt like i needed a little break for a bit. so i decided to give this book a try. AND it crossed a goal off my list. (#6)

OMG! this book is SOOOOOO good. if you liked harry potter and twilight and crazy legends then you will definitely like this book. i would recommend it! in fact i read the first book in 3 days and told my dad he and i had to make a pit stop at b&n to pick up the next 3. only 4 books total are out right now, book 5 comes out may 24th and book 6 is set for next year. but they are good! so if you need a book and have some free time for reading, give it a try. if you aren't quite sure, click here to read the first chapter of the book.

happy reading!