Sydney

We all know Sydney was probably human in a former life, but he is taking it to new levels. We got home the other day to find him literally sitting at the dining room table :)

Zoe is Home

Zoe returns! We got her home on Wednesday night and she is a changed being. Not only has she grown (which she will continue to do - her back paws are still way too big for her body), but she is well behaved and FUN! We have to continue with her training of course and she has puppy energy but she is good enough to keep the other dogs in line! And if you have met our other dogs, that is no easy feat.

Winter in Spring

April 26th in Minnesota! AHHH! I told Brandon if we got any more snow I was going to the airport and buying a one way ticket on the first flight available to a tropical location, Note: a one-way!

Well, yesterday was the big day, we made the jump and bought land in Colorado! We have 5 acres southwest of Pueblo. Great views of the mountains, southern CO so they don't get quite as much snow as the northern ski resort areas. It was a bit impulsive, but not totally. We have been looking passively for a few years and this one parcel is exactly what we were looking for. We have yet to see it but the broker has sent quite a few pictures and we will fly out to take a look in a few weeks:)

The Masterpiece is complete! My Atlantis is ready to ride, however Mother Nature has not kept pace. It is absolutely beautiful (those of you how know me well know I buy my bikes on beauty). The seat is one of my favorite parts, it is a tooled leather Brooks. LOVE IT! I refuse to ride in the snow and ice so it will not be tested until things warm up around here.

Sydney....biding his time until we decide he is the only dog we should have :)

Zoe goes to boarding school tomorrow! We went last night and met Irina, the trainer and toured the facility. She will have a very clean, nice place to sleep, lots of room to run around, very personalized attention from what seems to be a master trainer. And come home in 8 weeks a perfectly trained dog (ha ha)! It will be a long 8 weeks of her gone, but we are pretty confident Sydney will be in heaven, though Madeline will be lost. The training facility is Red Star (www.red-star-kennel.com) and they seem to be fantastic, came highly recommended and hopefully will be exactly what we need to have a perfectly behaved Zoe.

Zoe, looking in the back door when she wants to come in.

I had my first acupuncture (the use of a very fine needle on specific points on the body) treatment yesterday - and so far am very impressed. A few hours after I got him I suddenly could easily breath through my nose - sounds like a small feat but something that has been elusive for the past five plus years for me.

Most everyone who knows me knows I am deathly afraid of needles, specifically needles coming at my body:) When the practioner started I took a deep breath, shut my eyes and hoped for the best. To my surprise I could not even feel the needles! A few seconds later the area with the needle felt warm - not even uncomfortable. About 30 minutes later, the needles painlessly were taken out. An experience I am going to try again next Saturday.

A little history of Chinese Medicine: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) originated over 5000 years ago. It is based on a theory of vital energy called Qi. Qi flows with in the body along specific pathways called meridians. Each meridian has a specific physiological system and internal organ. In TCM theory when there is an imbalance of Qi poor health and disease may arise. TCM has developed a comprehensive system of health care. TCM has also developed diagnosis and treatment for the prevention and treatment of disease.

Our pretty girl needs a walk - it has been so cold here we have not taken her out for a few days and she is a little too curious for her own good when she has all this puppy energy built up.
She is going to do a commercial shoot on Saturday for a local dog food company - our little starlet :)

Brandon, being the proud Bike Geek that he is just had to build me a bicycle. The frame, fork and wheels came yesterday. As is usual when I pick out bikes, I love the color! Here is some scary food for thought- I told him how he builds it up is up to him - yikes!

The bicycle builder is a pretty cool company - http://www.rivbike.com/.

As most of you know, Brandon had a big birthday last Saturday - hence a long weekend in Vegas. Instead of involving ourselves in the craziness that is the Wynn as we normally do - we decided to try Red Rock Resort & Spa. It was incredible, a few miles off the strip, its understated extravagence was fantastic. They have successfully brought colors and themes from nature indoors. The service was great, the Spa was a dream come true, and the 800 square foot resort room gave us the room to relax and unwind. If you are looking for a place in Vegas without the 24/7 party of the Strip, check it out, www.redrocklasvegas.com.

Just a reminder of what size she was when we got her!

Everyone has been asking for more pictures of Zoe - here she is!

This is Sydney's reaction to his crazy sisters - find his pillow in the corner of my office and get away from it all.

Madeline has become quite the "big" sister to Zoe, showing her the ropes, helping her get in trouble, and hording her toys! She loves toys that squeak. BUT they only last a few days because she then tears them apart to get the squeaker out :)

Zoe is growing by the day - literally. She is about 1/3 the size she will get, hence the large kennel. She has passed both kindergarden and junior high with flying colors - ha! We will be focusing on getting her perfectly trained over the next few months so that when she is full grown she won't be jumping on all guests as they enter the house to give them a welcome kiss!

Hello! Our old blog will now be saved as it is in history forever. Due to some error of cyberspace, I cannot "manage" it, so after putting in some time and energy trying to figure out the problem, I decided to put that energy in to a new blog. Welcome.