January 30th

So far the puppy is doing well. She is training nicely. It's Vallerie we're having a hard time "training" She is still rather rough with her puppy. She's getting better, but it's really hard to keep it together when you have to "train" them both constantly.

I got some yarn yesterday (it was on sale yay) I am going to make Vallerie a blanket. She has a zillion blankets, but I just want to make something for her, and I figured out how to do a granny square, so that's the plan. I also am going to make some more cat sweaters. My sisters cat apparently likes his, but it is too short, so I am going to make a longer one. A co-worker saw that one and asked me to make her one for her cat.

Got to work from home a couple days this week. It was nice. I was toasty warm in my office with the little heater blasting. I have one for work now too. Last time I used one I blew the fuse. I don't care. I am so sick of wearing 2 long sleeve shirts and my coat while I am working. There's less people hooked up to the cubicles I am at now so I don't think it will be a problem.

Eddie's been making lots of jerky. His latest was deer jerky. He's going to give some to his mom. It's really good. He can barely get one batch done before I eat it all.

We've moved the tent thing my mom made. It is now over Vallerie's bed. I just couldn't let her sleep on the floor every night. The little foam mat is just not the same as a mattress. It fits well, and she seems to like it, so for now, that's where it's going to stay.

Eddie and I have been watching Dexter on Netflix. I started watching it first, and he saw part of an episode and thought it looked good. Now he's ahead of me. If we tried to watch it at the same time/together we would never be able to get through all 8 seasons. Oh well.

January 24th

Exciting news! We have a puppy. We got her last week. Eddie and I had been discussing getting Vallerie a dog, so one night we were just looking online for info on breeds and searching shelters to see what was out there. We came across a shelter about an hour and a half away that had Australian Cattle dog/Shepherd puppies. There were a couple that we thought were super cute, so the next morning Eddie called the shelter. One of the pups was being adopted as he called (right when they opened) so he had them hold the other one so he and Vallerie could get there to check her out. I unfortunately had to work, so I didn't get to go, but they stopped by on their way home to show me the new addition to our family.

Vallerie bounced around some names, but finally settled on Zooka. (Other contenders were: No, Sky, Zuma, Stanky, and Stupid Jerk.) Zooka's middle name is Koopa, because I have brain freezes and can't always remember Zooka, I know. I'm too young to forget names. Sigh.

So far she's been great. She's potty training well. It's Vallerie that we're having problems with. She's just too rough. "No Vallerie, don't pick the puppy up by her neck" "Vallerie, don't pull on her arms" "Vallerie stop rolling over on her" "Vallerie you can't carry her by her neck/arms/legs/collar" "Vallerie, don't hit her with your toys" "Vallerie, don't run holding the dog" "Vallerie the dog doesn't like to dance in your arms" "Vallerie stop laying on her" "Vallerie you can't flip her with your spatula" "Vallerie, the dog doesn't like to play wheelbarrow".... Etc Etc Etc Etc... It's quite draining actually.

I can't really think of anything else that is going on. I've been wanting to crochet, but I can't think of anything to do. I printed off some sweater patterns for Vallerie, but I think those might be too difficult. Plus, by the time I have "free time" (haha) I don't really want to do anything. We'll probably have family movie night sometime next week. Cloudy With Meatballs 2 comes out on DVD Tuesday and I think we'll get that. We wanted to see it in theaters, but never did.

January 13th

A new year!

Last year seems like it flew by. I can't believe it's already the middle of January.

To catch up (since I haven't blogged in a while)...

Christmas was good. We did Eddie's family on Christmas Eve at his sister DaNina's house. There weren't any fights (kids or adults) so it was pretty pleasant, and since it wasn't at our house we didn't have a giant mess to clean up. Vallerie got some great things.

Christmas Day we had my family over to our house. My aunt was sick, so she didn't make it. It was a weird Christmas without her there and being at our house, but it was pretty fun. Vallerie asked Santa for a robot dog and luckily a happy elf named Jessica helped Santa out by getting the robot dog to our house for Vallerie to open on Christmas morning. She also got Hungry Hungry Hippos from Santa. That kid made out like a bandit. Eddie and I got her a really neat kitchen set. A friend of mine sent her a chef hat. She got a bunch of hot wheels and a mat with a city that she can drive them on. She got a bunch of books, some stuffed toys (a doll with a matching dress for her, a woolly mammoth which she named Monte, and a little reindeer with a book) My mom made her a little tent that you hang from the ceiling. She has been sleeping in that for about 2 weeks. (It's awesome, I want one for myself) and much much more.

Eddie got a beef Jerky machine and he's been making lots of jerky. It's delicious. He also made some dried fruit and vegetables. Vallerie really liked the dried fruits.

Exciting news:
Eddie and I are officially engaged!! He proposed on January 9th. The story of the proposal is not all that romantic, but that's ok.

I was in the bathroom hanging out while Vallerie and her cousin were in the tub (warming up after playing in the snow) and Eddie comes in and says "Lauren are you in a good mood?" I said "Sure I guess". Then he pulls out the box and says "Will you marry me?" I sat there in shock for a while and finally said "Of course!"
We haven't set a date yet, but it will likely be on a holiday or a date that Eddie can remember. He's so funny he said "I don't have to remember the day I proposed do I?".

I think that's about all for now. Happy 2014!