The lake house!

This last weekend we drove down to Logo Vista, around Lake Travis, to visit my grandparents for my grandgather's (Papa) 89th birthday. It was the first time Mark has seen the lake house and I haven't been in 10 years. It is always fun to see family, but was a little extra fun to be at the lake.

Their lake house. (It isn't really on the lake, but rather a golf course. Still great views though.)

The back deck.

Around here the deer come right into the yards and sometimes even up to the front doors.

This is a picture of the lake. It is REALLY low. Something like 40 ft I think. The water should be up to the tree line.

Another view of the lake. You can see how low it is again. All that rock is normally covered.

It was nice to be able to have a great weekend relaxing and celebrating Papa's birthday. I hope we have many more to celebrate.

Raisins could kill dogs?

Last week, Wednesday I think it was, Mark and I came home from work and found Dutch with a box of raisins in his mouth. (We are have been trying to ween him into staying out of his crate during the day.) It appears that our precious little boy got bored towards the end of the day and went searching for something to do. He normally likes to get dish towels off the counter and while looking for one he found a box of raisins that was left out.

After we got home Mark looked up the effect of raisins on dogs and found they are VERY VERY toxic. So we called our vet, which was closed, so we called the emergency clinic. The had real concern about the raisins and told us to bring him in IMMEDIATELY. This concerned me, so we brought him in. They made him throw up and he only threw up about half the raisins. (They counted them to make sure.) So they decided that he needed to stay over night for observation and to be given fluids and charcoal to help flush his system.

We were told raisins (and grapes) are very toxic to dogs. It can cause kidney failure, which once it happens they is no way to correct the problem. We were even told that they have seen a maltese go into kidney failure after only consuming 3 raisins. 3! I was shocked. I know Dutch is a larger dogs, but he still had at least 20 raisins in his system! So although the price was high we decided that the best course was to leave him there for observation and fluids. They made it sound like raisins are more toxic then chocolate even, and about as bad as a dog ingesting antifreeze.

Poor guy, we picked him up the next morning and he had a "cone of shame" on and an IV still in his leg. We took him to our vet that day and they kept him a whole day to make sure he was fine. Here are some pics...

We brought him home Thursday night and had to watch him VERY closely as he still had his IV in. So when he went to bed we had to put the cone of shame back on him. 

Thankfully he is all well now. We have him home and he is VERY happy to be home!

BTW... I threw out the rest of the raisins in the house. It just isn't worth it.

May - Date #2: Rangers game!

If you will remember for Mark and I's anniversary I game him 12 months worth of dates. So this month for our date I got him tickets to the Ranger's game! It was a really good time! We saw them play the Angels and they won! This is exciting because although we have been to several Ranger's games since Mark has been living in Dallas, he has only been to one game where they won. So we like it we are there and they win.

This was our vantage point. 9 rows up from right field. Unfortunately no home runs were hit out there for us to catch. 

So date number 2 was a success! I hope that all the rest are as awesome.

2nd Anniversary... Part 2

In my last post I mentioned that since it is Mark and I's 2 year wedding anniversary we are celebrating 2 times. Mark was in charge of last Tuesday, which was our actual anniversary. It was a wonderful date to Eddie V's. Today was my day of planning. 

I gave him his present on Tuesday which was a date each month for a whole year. The first one he opened was April, that is when he found out what we were doing for today. 

As I was doing some research trying to figure out what to do for our date I ran across some interesting information. The traditional gift for your 2nd anniversary is cotton, where the modern take is a gift of china. So keeping with the theme of 2 I decided to embrace both. 

For cotton we went and got a massage. I know it isn't a literal meaning, but I was thinking cotton/something cozy. I thought a massage would be nice and relaxing. So we went to Massage Envy. It was a nice place and we both came out feeling relaxed. Definitely some place we will go back to.

For china I decided to go a touch more literal. The website I was looking at suggested buying another place setting to our wedding china. While I am not apposed to that idea, I thought that wasn't very fun. So I needed to find something else. Now Mark and I LOVE food. All kinds from a dive to fine dining, we love to try everything. So I decided on a chinese restaurant. I searched on open table and came up with Yao Fuzi Cuisine. The food was delicious, it really brought up your traditional chinese food. We both really enjoyed ourselves and our meals. I just have to say that has some SERIOUSLY delicious curry calamari. 

So thus ends the celebration of our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was a great time and we both really enjoyed planning our separate date and surprising each other.

2 Year Anniversary... Part 1

Today Mark and I have been married for a wonderful 2 years. It is surprising to me that it has been that long. It honestly feels like just yesterday. It has been a great 2 years.  We decided that since it has been 2 years we would celebrate 2 times. So Mark was in charge of tonight, our actually anniversary.

First I received these beautiful flowers at my office.

Then we exchanged gifts. He got me a really pretty light pink pearl necklace. I gave him 12 months of dates. 

I thought this would be a fun gift, and something different. I feel like even though our lives aren't super busy right now, we sometimes forget to have romantic or fun dates. We go out to eat, or we go to a movie, but it normally is about the same. I think this is going to be a year full of fun. Plus he has something to open every month. The gift that keeps on giving.

Then Mark took me to Eddie V's! Mark and I first went there last August for Restaurant week. We love fine dining and like to take that chance to find nice places that we really like. We enjoyed it so much and knew we wanted to go back. It was a nice surprise. 

We had a great waiter and everyone was very nice, coming over to wish us a happy anniversary. They even gave us a wonderful dessert. We had Banana Foster Cake. It was amazing.

When we came home we lit our wedding candle.

My parents got us this candle for our wedding. It is a family tradition to get your wedding invitation turned into a candle. My parents have one as well and light their wedding candle every year on their anniversary. We hope to keep up the tradition.

Keep the spark alive! ;)

That concludes part 1 of our 2 year wedding anniversary. Come back this weekend to see part 2.

Oh How I Love My Bird Dog!

As I have mentioned before, Mark and I have a one year old chocolate lab. He is just one of the cutest dogs in the world. Labs are known as hunting dogs.... specifically bird hunting. They normally are trained to flush out birds and then retrieve them. They are also well known water dogs, they love to swim. So it is a interesting display of domestication how sometimes the natural characteristics of an animal can change when put into a different environment. This was never more apparent as it was today. When I let Dutch out for lunch this is what I saw....

Three ducks had landed in our back yard. Dutch of course immediately noticed them and alerted me with a bark. (Such a good guard dog.) What he did not do is run after them chasing them off. In fact the ducks just kept on keeping on after noticing him. Only when I tried to get closer to get a better picture did they fly off. 

Perhaps in the feature these guys will be friends. 

7 Years With Mark!

On this day 7 years ago, Mark and I started dating. That is the day that we decided that we were more then just hanging out, but that we were actually dating. AND since nothing is ever official till it is put on Facebook we changed our status to "in a relationship".

Mark and I have had some great times together. He is a wonderful man that I am so happy I get to share my life with. He is my very best friend. He calms me down when I get crazy. He is there for me when I am down and always willing to listen to me. Which if you know me is often. (I like to talk ;)) I am very blessed to be able to share my life with him and look forward to the coming years together. Here is a pictorial  glimpse into the last 7 years together.

We met in the Kansas State University marching band.  "The Pride" of wildcat land. (This is where I slyly say a "Thank You" to my mom for pushing me to be in a marching band all those years. I wouldn't have met Mark if I had quit any of the number of times I tried.)

Our first photo together at the 2004 band banquet. Terry, our section leader, had spent the whole marching season saying we should get together. Guess that was a good call.




The next year neither of us were in band. So we got to just hang out and go to football games with friends. This is us tailgating before a game.

Christmas 2005. That night it had been snowing so hard. We went to my mom's cousin's wedding and poor Mark had to drive my mom, my grandmother, and I heavy snow to the wedding. 

On our one year anniversary we went to Sears and got or photos taken. 

At the Steel Ring, an organization I was in, dinner. 

My college graduation!

Visiting each other during the 1.5 years we did long distance between my graduation and Marks graduation.

Mark graduation from college. (I couldn't find one with me in it quickly.)

We are both members of the Oder of the Engineer.

Mark and I both really enjoy fine dining. This is us in 2009 at the French Room during Dallas restaurant week.

On our first Valentines's day, just 2 days after we starting dating, Mark got me this stuffed animal named Domanic. Little did I know then that 4 and a half years later Mark would use Dommi to propose to me.

Engagement Photos!

Wedding Photos!

We honeymooned in Napa! It was amazing!

Since we got married almost 2 years ago we have done so much! We have been on a cruise to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. We purchased a home and added a puppy to our family. We have so much and I love being able to share it with my best friend. 

Signing for our first home.

Picking up Dutch from the breeder. (I will post a whole bunch more photos of Dutch in a week. We will have had Dutch for a whole year then.)

Mark I love you more and more every day. I am so happy to be sharing my life with you. The last 7 years have flown by. I can't wait to spend the next 7 with you!