First Vacation of the Year!

We decided to pack up the pups and take advantage of having a three day weekend! After over a year of living in Arizona I finally made it up to the Grand Canyon. It was awesome!
We left early Saturday morning and headed up to our hotel just outside the South Rim. The more north we got, the colder it was! Then we started seeing SNOW! I never in a million years thought I'd be excited to see snow. It was probably because it still wasn't all that cold outside and so you could actually go out and enjoy it.
We arrived at the hotel and got the dogs all comfy and headed out to Flagstaff.

Flagstaff was fun, lots of little shops and places to see. We had dinner at the Weatherford Hotel. This place was cool, it was a hotel that has been around since Flagstaff was founded, they have 11 rooms, 3 bars and a restaurant. We decided to stay there next time we go to town, the waiter recommended room 42. I think that was a sign this place is going to totally rock.
We stopped at a couple of neat little shops, my favorite was a bath store called Fizz. I got some of those stones you heat up and massage with and some shower steamers. Then we found an awesome candle store, you could actually dip your own candles. Very cool, I got some floating rose candles to float around in my bath.
Before we left we stopped at a coffee house/bar where the waiter was either a total asshole or we were stupid. He asked what we wanted and Nick asked what kind of coffee they had, all he said was "double espresso" so I said ok I would like one with cream, he says "ok double espresso" I'm like, "yes, with cream" then Nick says "I'll have a coffee" and the waiter goes "ok two double espresso". According to the menu they had much more than double espresso so I am not exactly sure what happened there but we had our espresso and went on our way. Totally reminded me of the Coffee Snobs

Sunday morning we woke up extra early and headed to the canyon to see the sunrise. Unfortunately they were having a snowstorm and it was too cold/snowy/cloudy to see anything. So we drove around to the watch points seeing what we could see and learning how to properly layer in freezing temps. We went back to the hotel for awhile and went back to the canyon later after it cleared up.

Lucky for us, Monday was clear and sunny! We got to spend all day on the rim, letting the dogs play in the snow and taking in the sights. All in all it was a great vacation. Here's the album of photos:

Grand Canyon 2012

Christmas/Birthday time of year

If you know me you know I love unwrapping gifts almost more than actually getting a gift! I knew Nick would use that for my Christmas gift, but I had no idea just how far he'd take it. I thought I'd get something that needed batteries and get individually wrapped batteries or something like that. I never expected to wake up and get to unwrap my apartment!!



Aside from that I got an upgrade to my graphics card, some Aperture Science glasses, caffeinated root beer and the best possible thing to drink said root beer from...A replica of the Top Gun Stein from Battlestar Galactica!!! OH and I think he got sick of me taking all his dollars to try and win a DOMO from the crane game at the grocery store, because he got me a lil Domo too :)

I got him the outfit Dexter wears to kill people (he looks incredibly hot in it), a book of photos of us from 2011, a gift card to buy some climbing gear at REI and some tools for his cool new toolbox so he can be manly and fix things.

My birthday is Sunday and in the spirit of never being a real grown up this year my birthday party is going to be at a place called Xtreme Air jump park! My family went in together and bought me a Kindle for my birthday. I opened it by accident the other day thinking it was the Furminator I bought for Ginger and Enzo. Needless to say I was STOKED to find it.

My friend Shannon found a dog about a month ago. He was wandering around her neighborhood for some time so she decided to take him in and try to find his family. He was malnourished and skiddish but she did a good job of making him friendly again. She called Animal Control to see if anyone had reported him and decided not to turn him in because she didn't want to risk having him being put down. Animal control told her to post on craigslist to search for the owner.

She posted on Craigslist and around the neighborhood looking for the possible owners but nobody responded. After about a month of searching she made the decision to go ahead and just keep him. He's a nice guy and makes a good playmate for her other dog.

Yesterday Shannon got a call that her dog was out. Apparently the UPS man didn't close the gate fully after he left a package. Someone read his tag and called her, she was at work so by the time she called back they had called Animal Control to come get him. The animal control person was actually at the house when she called and told her that it was required that he take the dog even though she's on the phone saying she's coming to get him right now.

Upset, she called the police station to see if there was any way they would talk the animal control guy into just letting her have the dog. They agreed and gave an address to meet him at. When she arrived he asked for her ID and when she gave it to him, he refused to hand over the dog because the address on her ID didn't match the address on his tag. Whats worse, is he actually said "didn't you call me a month ago trying to see if someone lost this dog?". He knew she had been taking care of him yet still wouldn't let her have the dog. He also threatened to give her tickets for keeping the dog and for letting it get loose again. He was condescending and very rude about the whole thing. In the end, he took the dog, refused to give her the address of where he'd be and just kept repeating "he'll be at county". "Where is county?" "Maricopa County". Seriously dude?

Anyway. So she's gonna have to pay tickets, fees and fines to get this dog now. A dog she took off the street, tried to find a home for and fed and cared for.

***UPDATE***
Though she had to pay the fines and overnight fees from the pound, they spayed and microchipped him as well. So it ended up being cheaper than a vet visit. A little light for a very upsetting situation..

Also, upon research of the Maricopa County Animal control she found that there was a lot of issues of not giving pets back, putting pets down and just bad customer service all around.

Story about a guy that raised a stray kitten and brought it in for medical help. tl;dr: The humane society took it, wouldn't give it back and put it down within hours of having it.

Pushing limits

So the puppies aren't allowed in the bedroom. This is where they hang out if the door is open. Enzo likes to push the boundary as far as he can without getting yelled at.

...and this is what he does when the door isn't open:

Introducing Enzo!

Meet Enzo!

I've been wanting a dog as a companion for Ginger for awhile now. I only work 4 days a week but when I'm there I'm gone for 10 hours or more so I thought having someone to play with would be good for her. Boy was I right! Enzo has been a great addition. They are quickly learning to play together, respecting each others boundaries and learning from each other. Ginger is still a little jealous of her new little brother but we play close attention to give them equal lovins.

The day we got Enzo we were just going to check him out. I found him on Craigslist and Nick made an appointment to go visit him out at VJ Ranch. We met him and he was so friendly, not too hyper and so cuddly. Ginger and him didn't play right away so I was a little iffy about getting him. Usually she's scared of other dogs and occasionally we meet one she clicks with right off the bat. We decided to sleep on it and we left. Got about a mile down the road and Nick and I looked at each other and said, we just can't leave him, he's perfect. As you can see in the photo, Ginger was very curious about this new little guy!




First thing we did was give his stinky butt a bath. He's not the biggest fan of the bath but he was easier to clean than Ginger is (she HATES water!). First test of leaving him alone in the house he tore everything he could reach down! I guess this part of having him is good and bad. I can't leave anything out but it keeps my place super clean! Hopefully he gets better, I really don't' want to crate him while I'm gone.
The first couple days he ate all Gingers food on top of his own but this morning he finally let her eat and only ate what was in his bowl.
Nick is doing some leash training with him and has him almost sitting on command after only 2 days! Enzo is super smart, he really picks up on stuff fast.

All in all I am really happy with this choice. He was an anniversary gift. Its good that we celebrate each month together, even weeks in advance, right? :D

This weekend we're planning a mini vacation to Joshua Tree National Park in California. I am extra excited to check out Keys View you're supposed to have a great view of the valley and the San Andreas fault. I just like the idea of us hiking all day with the dogs, camping at night and hiking back in the morning. Hopefully there will be some great photos to follow!

I got a dog!!

This is Ginger!

I have been thinking for awhile that I would like to get a pet. I need something to take care of, something to motivate me to get out of the house and be active, and a companion. SO, when I got back from Japan I made a trip to the Columbia Humane Society. I looked at all the dogs there for quite awhile and didn't really click with any of them in particular. I was walking between 2 cages deciding on them when Ginger caught my eye. She must have been outside and just came in. She was so sweet looking and the dog in her cage was jumping all over her and barking and she was keeping her cool. So I took her outside for a walk and when I kneeled down to greet her she put her paws up on me and gave me a hug! I fell in love and adopted her that day. lol.

I've had Ginger for 3 weeks. She's perfect for me. She has a good demeanor, she loves to cuddle and she listens to me! We go for walks (we're working on jogging...well she's got jogging I'M working on jogging lol), meetups with other dog owners in the park, we play and she's learning tricks. Having a dog has changed my daily activities for the better, I highly recommend it to anyone.

Ginger is a 2 year old pointer mix. She was brought to the Humane Society by her owner who said she couldn't afford to care for Ginger and her brother Roscoe anymore (if you know ANYONE that wants a dog please PLEASE go adopt Roscoe!). She left a sweet note talking about what Ginger likes and even said when she likes you she will hug you with her paws :)