Finally Getting a Puppy!

Introducing 

GRENDEL HALLSTROM

Breed: Havacobetan (2 parts Havanese, 1 part Cocker Spaneil, and 1 part Tibetan Terrier)
Personality: Social, Friendly, Smart, Cuddly, Stubborn, and Curious
Likes: Chewing, Toys, Learning New Things, Cheese, Meeting Friends at the Vet, and Her New Family
Dislikes: Peanut Butter, Wind, and The Blow-Dryer
Skills: Barking at Her Reflection in the Sliding Glass Door and Protecting Her Family from Other Imaginary Threats, Sleeping Quietly in Her Crate, Being Brave While Getting Shots, and Sitting on Command

A Quasi-Birth Announcement

It's official.  After much anticipation and second-questioning we are no longer putting it off. We've been considering this for a while but have been held back by a few major concerns: 1. Money 2. Responsibility 3. My Tendency to Over-think/Fret 4. Adjusting to a New Town, New Job, New School, and New Schedule.

Dave and I are seriously looking for a dog.

We got the courage to take the plunge after we had the chance to pet-sit for our friends Kat and John. They have a bichon-maltese mix named Chipper and he is the cutest. Even though we only watched him for the weekend, after he was gone we both started remarking how we missed him. One week later and we visited every shelter in town in search of an adoptee. Our living arrangements limit the size and type of breed that we can get so it is still a work in progress, but we're expecting to add a new member to our family soon! In the meantime, any name suggestions for the potential Hallstrom are welcome. Dave is leaning towards Plato (mostly because he thinks it will be funny when little kids get confused and think its name is Play-dough) but I am not really sold on anything yet.

Looking Back at 2011 and New Years Resolutions for 2012

I know it's a little late but...happy new years and hooray for 2012! Hopefully this year will bring just as much excitement and fun as last year. 2011 will be hard to beat--moving across the country, graduating from college, student teaching, and starting law school were pretty big deals. I still have a feeling that 2012  has a few things tucked up its sleeve (like finally actually getting a puppy...consider that a teaser).
We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it is a new year and that means new goals. I am a firm believer in setting goals at any point during the year (why wait right?) so many of my resolutions are simply continuations of things I've already been working on (exercising being a somewhat perpetual one of late). Still, I enjoy hearing about other people's plans for change and thought I'd share a couple of ours. One that I am particularly excited about is our goal to attend the temple once a month. We have not been since we've moved out here, and I think it will be a nice boost. Plus, we are going to get yearly passes to Universal Studios so that we can give ourselves a little extra incentive to make it down to Orlando. (Only twelve dollars a month! That's cheaper than going to the movies!) One of my personal goals is to read a book each month. So far I've blown that one out of the water--you can check out of my good reads account for proof! Anyone else have any resolutions that they're excited about--or already dropped?

Dreams

It's a little uncanny how your dreams can reflect what's on your mind. The other day I dreamed that we got a dog. It was a Pomeranian-Golden Retriever-Chihuahua mix. (I'm not exactly sure how the logistics of that breeding would work out outside of the dream world). Last night I had a nice dream where Dave surprised me with a trip to Disney World  and we just happened to run into all of our friends and family. In the dream Disney World was a water park, which was convenient because it was a beautiful sunny day.
I told Dave about my dreams this morning while we were procrastinating getting out of bed. His response: "Lately all I dream about is different scenarios, and then I apply the law to them."

Getting a Puppy

For those of you who have known/met me in the last three or so years, you might have heard me mention (maybe once or twice) that one day, when I graduated, I was going to get a puppy. There has never been much of a question that I wanted a dog. Sure, I am deathly allergic to cats---hives, runny nose, red itchy eyes, the whole allergy gambit basically--but even if I wasn't I would definitely still be a dog person. Doggie was my very first word. I'm pretty sure I even brought up the whole getting-a-puppy thing before Dave and I got married in one of those serious engagement talks about money and baby names and who is going to do the dishes. The puppy was even a major criterion in our apartment search in Florida. Seeing as how it was meant to be my graduation present, we wanted to make sure to find a place where we wouldn't have to hide it from the landlord.
With all of this, you'd think by now I'd have a puppy, right? We've spent a lot of time on petfinder.com, gone to visit puppies at the Petsmart on Saturdays, etc.. Surprisingly, the more we looked, the more nervous I've become. I know it sounds a little silly, but I've started to have all sorts of second thoughts. Am I ready to have a puppy? They are a big time commitment after all. No more late nights or waking up at the last second to get ready. Puppies need routine and predictability. Daily walks. Kibble. Water. Discipline. Could I really train a dog, or was I just setting myself up to come home to decimated furniture? The potty-training thing is perhaps the most intimidating part. If we had a yard, this would be no big deal, but an apartment certainly complicates things. How long can you even expect a dog to hold it? At least with a kid there is a diaper involved. Dogs have the charming trait of picking a favorite spot on the carpet. I suppose if worse comes to worse, I could always get rid of the dog--which is a clear advantage of dogs over children--but I know I would be guilt stricken if I did something like that.

So cute!

Obviously I've been putting a lot of thought (and maybe a smidgen too much worry) into this, and I've come to a decision. For now, I am going to practice with some houseplants. This should help me: A. Calm down a bit and B. Save up some puppy money. In the meantime I'm going to set up a meeting with a really nice breeder for Mini Australian Shepherds just south of us. I love the breed, and I want to talk to her and get the total inside scoop before I commit to a dog. I'm hoping she can find us the puppy that will suit us best (one with a relatively low level of energy I think) and I'm willing to wait for awhile until that happens.

It's worth a side note that as I write this Dave is arguing on the phone about American foreign policy--specifically isolationism vs. jingoism. So just in case you were wondering what is going on with him, now you know (although you could have probably guessed that one). Also he just started orientation today. Yikes! Where has the summer gone?