Bringing Amelia Home

On Tuesday, I came back from visiting family in California. I had a fantastic time there, visiting Fort Bragg, shopping in Sacramento, eating all my favorite foods that Tyler doesn't like, and spending time with family. I took so many pictures there, close to 300, but I'll save that for a couple posts in the future. For now, Amelia!

Towards the end of my vacation, I started to make plans with Amelia's breeder to pick her up. Turned out, we didn't have to wait until that Saturday, like we originally thought. We ended up picking her up Tuesday evening. It was a huge day for me, I had woken up at 1:45am, left the place I was staying at at 2:30am to catch a 6:15am flight. After traveling all morning, I arrived back in Iowa at around 1:30 in the afternoon. I had made plans to pick up Amelia at six that same evening. We made the two hour drive back to my home, dropped off my luggage, and we were off again.

I was exhausted. Regardless, e drove up to LeMars, and picked her up. She came to us with her AKC paperwork, unbathed (and completely dirty from being in an outside kennel with her littermates), and without the small package of the kibble she was currently on, for easy switching to her new food. After a tiring day, I was getting grouchy and at that point, just wanted to go home. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as I perceive it to be, I was just cranky? Don't know.

I held her the entire way home, and as we got off of the freeway to come back home... she got carsick, and threw up all over me, herself, and the car. It was a mess. By the time we pulled into the parking lot to the apartment, I was practically falling asleep.

While I took Amelia into the building, and cleaned her up, Tyler cleaned up the car (personally, I think he got the worst end of that stick). Then I showered, and let her explore the apartment. A little while later, she got her bath, dried off, and we went to bed.

She's extremely active a majority of the time, and whenever I try to get my camera out to take pictures, she runs up and sticks her snout in the lens. I feel like I can never get good photos of her. I made a serious effort this morning, and finally got a couple.

Crate training the first night, went really well. We went to be around 11pm, she only whined for less than 2 minutes, then was out like a light. She woke up again around three in the morning to potty, and again around five. By seven, she was up for the day. And apparently, so was I.

She'd started to get really good with her crate. The night before last, she went in with no whining, no nothing. Just laid down and slept. Last night, however... was not a good night. She went in, and cried for about 5 minutes. Really loud, obnoxious crying. We were unimpressed. Once she settled down, she was up every hour, on the hour, ready to potty... whining for about 5 minutes each time after being put back in her crate. I felt bad for our upstairs neighbor who had to listen to that.

When she comes out of her crate every morning, she is an absolute terror. Of course, I expected some of it. But, I guess it has been too long since I had a puppy, I've forgotten most. This morning, we have decided to take her out on a walk around the complex to get out some of the pent-up energy from the crate. That was huge fail in itself. The whole walk was me literally just dragging her down the street because she refused to walk on the leash. Loose leash walking training is coming next.

We are doing terrible with potty training too. In the mornings, she give us absolutely no notice of when it will happen, and just squats to pee right on the carpet (hence, trying to take her for a walk), usually standing right in front of me. We are attempting to bell train her (having her ring a bell hanging from the doorknob whenever she wants to go outside), but she isn't getting it, and I think the bells are more scary for her than anything. So, she doesn't ring it by herself.

I watch her like a hawk every day while Tyler is at work, we go out as soon as she wakes up from a nap, which really helps with the accidents on the carpet, but I'm getting slightly annoyed that she's not even associating the bells with going outside at this point. I expected her to at least be acknowledging them by now. But she's not. I know it's not her fault, but we do this every single time we go outside, I am not sure what else to do.

We joke that my husband is her personal chew toy, because she is always latching onto his hand, jumping up to his face when he is sitting down. But, I think this is a bigger issue than what it appears to be (he has never had a dog before, so I'm not sure he knows how to act with a dog, at all). I feel like both Amelia, and Tyler need some training on how to act with each other.

Yes, I understand that she is a puppy, this is to be expected. We have only had her a little less than one week, and we still have loads of training to do. However, I feel like I have all the bad puppy traits to deal with, and no enjoyment out of owning a dog. So please, don't mind my venting here.

Wedding Preparations

As my few blog readers might know, I got engaged a while ago. There as been really no rush in getting married. I have been perfectly happy waiting for getting married as long as I can... until now. Due to health care issues on Tyler's check, there has been a huge hurry to our marriage. He had listed me as a domestic partner on his benefits from his work, and because of that, he had over $400 taken out because of taxes and everything for benefits. We were only expecting a little over $200. This was a huge blow to his paycheck, one that we couldn't afford. Especially when we are trying to have a baby, and move to a nicer apartment, at the same time.

We had two options: one was that he could go down to 30 hours a week for 4 weeks, and not accrue any paid vacation or time off for the next 6 months, and lose all that extra income that we need to live... or... get married. On our way home one day, we stopped off at the courthouse to see what kind of cost it will be and how to proceed. We found out that to get married, it would cost $35, and 4 days for the license to be valid. (And of course, ceremony, which is performed in the courthouse for free on business days).

So guess what? We are getting married... and soon! I've kind of wanted a courthouse marriage, because I don't like to be center of attention, and I honestly don't have anyone to invite. I have no bridal party, and my mother is in California. So this works out fine for me, Tyler was the one who wanted a big church wedding, and reception. I was so not into the big-wedding thing, that I was even going to purchase a bridal gown online. I searched on David's Bridal website for a dress.

I had two requirements: It has to be able to be worn again (like for a fancy dinner at Luciano's), and I need it to be low-cost, because this wedding is simple and in a courthouse in a few weeks. I couldn't find any actual bridal gowns that fit my requirements, but one look at this particular bridesmaid dress... I was in love.

I made an appointment last night to my local David's Bridal, and went in when they opened early this morning. They had the dress for me to try on, but didn't have either colors I was looking at in stock. I had fallen for the dress, but was a little undecided on the color they had. Tyler liked a red swatch they had, but once I tried on a different dress in the red color, I decided it wasn't for me. The other color I thought I liked on the website, I tried on in yet a different dress, and loved the color. Once I tried on a dress in the Malibu, I couldn't imagine any other color I would wear. I ordered the dress in Malibu color.

After I purchased my dress online with them (to be shipped to my house next week), they handed me a booklet of coupons, one of which was one to Helzberg Diamonds, for a free pair of earrings. Of course I went across the street to grab them!

While I'm not sure if I would use them, they are definitely pretty. Freshwater pearl earrings, and free. The guy who I gave the coupon to wasn't the friendliest, but hey, earrings! I wanted to go to JCPenney to find another piece of jewelry for my dress. Maybe a necklace that matches the earrings?

Checked out some pearls, but for some reason I couldn't decide on one that I would like with my blue dress. But I came across these bracelets. They would go absolutely perfect with the color of dress I chose! I am not the biggest fan of the gold of course, I prefer silver, but how often can you find a bracelet this perfect to the dress? The best part: these also had a clearance sticker on them for $6.97. JCPenney was also doing some kind of extra percent off clearance, and after my associate discount... I ended up paying $4.13 for the set. Can't beat that!

Dress is expected to be here next week, so be on the look out for photos of the dress!

Meet: Athena and Nyxie

So, it's been a while since I have posted here, hasn't it? Lots of things has changed since then. I quit my job at the call center that I was working at, and got a new job working retail at JC Penney. While it was a substantial pay cut from working at the call center, I find I am much happier and less stressed now.

Also, we welcomed two cats into our house over the past year. Being so far from home and my mother, there was a point where I needed a taste of my life in California, early this year, it really hit me that I miss my hometown. Tyler suggested that we look into getting a kitten. That day, we found a post on Craigslist, advertising free kittens. One look at the photo they posted, I was in love. Within the hour, we were in the car, heading to Petco, and purchasing everything I would need for a kitten. Then, we spent the next 2 hours, driving to Dunlap, Iowa. She was a barn cat, raised on a farm with pigs, and chickens. She's all grown up now, but she is an amazing at, and just what I needed at that point in my life.

Meet Athena. She's beautiful, calm, and seems to know just when you need her. She's got the nickname "Mom" now, because she seems to take care of us, comforting us when we need it the most, and will come looking for us, just so she knows we are still okay. She'll share my pillow with me, making sure I get to sleep okay, then sometime in the night, she will come next to me just so I can put my arm over her, and she will sleep like that with me. She's a great cat.

Athena will literally let you do what you want with her. She'll let you put her on her back and scratch her belly, she will let you look at her teeth, and claws. She will even let you carry her around the house like a baby.

 

Nyxie was a cat who was likely going to be dropped off at the shelter. Tyler had called me one day from work, to ask me if I wanted another kitten. Of course I did! A woman at his work was going around asking if anyone wanted a kitten, because her cat had had kittens a while ago, and she had found homes for all of them, except one. So, we went that night and picked up a small, average looking cat that we call Nyxie. She's our adventuring cat, who loves exploring the closet (which we now call Narnia), and is always on a constant mission to escape from the front door of the apartment.

We had worried about the possibility of them not getting along, because Athena was older, and getting set in her ways, but we were shocked when Nyxie was the one who was hissing and not getting along with Athena. But, once Nyxie got used to the apartment, they became inseparable. They sleep together, groom each other, and run around the house like children together.

They are the most spoiled cats on the planet, I think. They have a Littermaid automatic litterbox, and even a drinking fountain. They eat only grain free Wellness food, and also won't eat any treat that isn't healthy either. They ate turkey with us for Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Ahh, the things we do for our cats, right?

The Apartment - Bedroom

Last post, I blogged about my trip to get here to Iowa. Now, I'll take a couple days and show the small apartment where we live. The fiance picked this apartment out pretty much by himself, I didn't even see it in person until a month after he finalized it all. The apartment has it's problems - it is an old building, but it has charm, beautiful woodwork, lots of windows, and tons of potential. We don't plan on moving any time soon, we intend to stay here a while, and we are in the process of making it our own. A lot of our furniture and things are passed down to us, but we are slowly replacing furniture that we pick out ourselves. It's a slow process, but we are getting there. We pretty much started with just a few pieces, considering I only came with whatever I could fit in luggage.

Anyway, I'll start off with the bedroom for this post. We are allowed to paint the walls, just as long as it isn't a "funky color". Pink isn't funky, right? No? I didn't think so. The bedroom actually has this really ugly dropped ceiling, which I didn't photograph. I have come to the conclusion that a smoker lived here before us, because literally, all the tiles on the ceiling are brown. The little bit where they sit on the metal piece? Perfectly white. Eventually, we intend to replace the tiles. They really don't look good with my pink walls.

A quick story: Shortly after I arrived here, I was alone in the house and laying in bed reading a book. All of a sudden, there were LOUD flapping noises, which seemed to be right above the bed, then heard it move (or fly?) across the room. I just knew it was something like a bird that was trapped between the dropped ceiling and the actual ceiling. I ran out of the room and didn't go back in until Tyler came home and poked at the tiles with a broom handle. But of course, nothing moved. I still think something is living up there, but am too afraid of what I'd find if Iput my face up there.



When we were deciding on wall color, I told the fiance that I wanted pink (jokingly), and he agreed. We went shopping for paint, he was intent on the pink color and wouldn't take any other color considerations. We grabbed a bunch of pink swatches and taped them to the walls at home. We eventually decided on a lighter pink called "Pink Breeze" by Valspar, because it matched perfectly with a pink on my comforter. It is very pink, and hits you as soon as you walk down the hallway into the bedroom. But, it looks fabulous with the dark woodwork of the apartment.



We have a teensy little closet. Ironically though, it isn't the space of the closet we have issues with, it is the hangers. For some reason, we keep running out of them. We buy more packs of hangers, and somehow run out of hangers again. We don't get more clothes, the hangers don't leave the house. It's like... the closet is eating them - maybe it's the mystery creature in the ceiling?  And, that ridiculous white laundry basket serves no other purpose than to put our decorative pillows in before we go to sleep.



The bedding that inspired the wall color. This was one of the first things I bought to come with me, back in California. I knew I was moving, and I was wandering around HomeGoods. Iowa does not have a HomeGoods, so when I saw this set, I knew if I didn't get it then, I would never get it. So, I purchased it, and stuffed it into a SpaceBag in my luggage to bring on the train with me. The stuffed Wall-e, was a gift from Tyler the first time we met in person. He's been on my bed for years. We all have our emotional attached stuffed animals, right?

Moving by Amtrak

At the end of November, I moved from California to be with my fiance in Iowa. We weighed many options for this move, from traveling by rental car, to taking a plane. But all had disadvantages. Rental cars charge a huge fee to return the vehicle - if we went this route, it would have cost almost two thousand dollars to move my things. On a plane, you are only allowed a couple pieces of baggage, and the cost for additional luggage? No thanks! We decided that a train was the best option. I could take a total of 5 luggage pieces (size allowances are even larger than on a plane), and I could check in 3 additional luggage pieces. It sounded perfect.

I spend the couple months before the move collecting things, I purchased several luggage pieces, bought new housewares to pack, purchased a better quality camera, and I stuffed a small duffel bag filled with snacks. I had cracker sandwiches, nutella, cookies, a few ready to eat tuna salad packages, and several bottles of water. I also had two books, portable game systems, and my camera. November 30th, I had my last In-N-Out burger, and left for the Sacramento Amtrak train station. I had a total of 5 checked baggage pieces (3 were allowed, I paid only $20 extra for the additional two pieces), and also 2 carry-on pieces.

Boarding the train was confusing. People had no idea where they were supposed to be, what end of the train they needed to be on, and the staff was absolutely no help. But, anyway. Eventually I made my way on, and found an empty seat. I settled in, and the train took off. I took out my camera, and started taking photos. I took tons, but will only share a couple of my favorites.

Surprisingly, the train ride was pretty fantastic, I think. There was certain things though, for example... the water on the train was really, really, bad. Several times I subconsciously checked the color of the water, because it tasted not right. Watching other people get water from the same area, they did a double check as well. Towards the middle of the trip, the bathroom facilities, got really messy, and they didn't seem to be very sterile. Though, they looked really good when I first boarded. Lastly, the cost of things. At the snack car, I paid $6 for a microwaved cheeseburger, and $2 for a single can of soda. Not to mention, I also dined in the dining car for lunch one afternoon, and paid $17 for that.

At night, the lights turned off and the staff passed out pillows. I was actually really shocked at how many people slept. I didn't plan to sleep, but when I leaned my head against the pillow, I was out. There's got to be something about the movement of the train that just sends you to sleep. Though, I didn't sleep well, I was up about every half hour or so, and once during the night, I seen that we had stopped just outside Salt Lake City, Utah for a good 4 hours. When the lights came back on the next morning, the conductor described that we were stopped due to high winds.

In Denver, Colorado, they announced that there was going to be a maintenance stop, and that they were going to be stopped for a longer time. I took the opportunity to step off the train and get some cold, fresh air. It was 14 degrees that night. They finished their maintenance, and the train trudged on to it's destination. My fiance had traveled to the nearest stop in Omaha, Nebraska, and stayed at a hotel, so he could come pick me up when I arrived, very early in the morning. Unfortunately, the train was still late and I was a couple hours behind. But he was waiting there when I stepped off, on December 2nd. Of course, I hadn't bathed since I got on the train, I felt pretty gross, and I'm sure I looked it as well. I bee-lined it to the bath when I first walked in the door to the apartment, that's for sure.

So, did I have a good trip? Yes, it was fabulous. Would I do it again? Definitely! Was it worth it? Oh yes, it really was. I'm glad I went on Amtrak. It was quiet, beautiful, All 7 pieces of luggage made it to Omaha safely, the staff was great for the most part. However, if you are planning on making a trip: Make sure you bring essentials to freshen up in the bathroom (facial soap, toothpaste), and, be sure to pack some snacks, because the costs of food on the train is insane.

My Week in Iowa

After a lot of planning, and excitement, I took my trip to Iowa to see my fiance, finally. It's been a while since I returned from the trip, but ever since saying goodbye to him at Omaha airport, I've been really emotional about leaving. It was so much worse saying goodbye this time than it was when he came to California back in April. I had a really difficult time after I came home, but I'm feeling better about it, so I can now blog about my trip!

I've had a lot of anxiety about flying on a plane. I've never been out of California, let alone on a plane. Understandably, I was terrified. I left Sacramento International on July 13th, at 9:00AM, and boarded a Frontier flight. The poor man sitting next to me had to deal with my freaking out, nearly hyperventilating and panicking as we hit turbulence coming into Denver (turbulence was bad, as I understand, several people were throwing up around me). Once I landed in Denver, Colorado, I only had around 45 minutes to make it to my next flight, and I practically started running to my next gate, until I realized I was running the wrong way, had to backtrack and barely made it to my flight in time. My next flight to Omaha, Nebraska was much better, most likely because I knew what to expect this time. I was next to a window, and really got to experience how beautiful taking off and landing was.

I arrived at Omaha airport, still shaken up and nervous about being so far away from home. And worse, nervous about meeting Tyler's mother, who I knew was waiting to greet me at the airport. Navigating through the terminals, I finally found Tyler and my welcoming party, and experienced my first awkward silence with his mother. After that, I waited for my bag I checked in with the airline, and we started the 2 hour drive to the hotel Tyler reserved for us. Man, the corn. I've never seen so much corn. From my understanding, most of the crops growing was either corn, or soybeans. When we finally made it to our hotel, I was exhausted.

He put on some kind of little treasure hunt in the room, which was really cute, where he had fixed my engagement ring (the band had broken a couple days before leaving), and gifted me with a locket, complete with a photo that was taken when he visited me back in April. We made chocolate dipped strawberries, and he let me relax and calm down after my emotional day. The room had some jacuzzi tub, which was so funny to me - it took about an hour to fill up halfway, seemed like it was the size of a small swimming pool, and Tyler had... a slight problem with the jets. He turned them on when they weren't covered up by water, and yes... it sprayed all over the place. It was crazy, but extremely funny when I needed a good laugh. Not to mention he slipped when getting out of the tub, which had me laughing even harder.

Early the next morning, we went to grab some donuts for breakfast, and he showed me a park, which we visited several times during the week. It was spacious, and had this gorgeous rose garden. He'd mentioned to me before that it was a contender to a place to get married, and I agree. This park was so big though, I think the park alone was three times the size of any park we have in Rocklin, California. It was really enjoyable, but even so early in the morning, the humidity was making me miserable. Humidity is something I'm really not used to, considering I live in California, where its just HOT. All the time. So, it was a huge change for me. I was miserable for the first couple days, but I think I started to get used to it towards the end of my stay.

Day 2, I had told him that I wanted to get photos for my family back home. So, he took me alongside of the Missouri river (I believe thats what it was), where there was several things to look at. We walked through some little park, and a little area where a couple guys were fishing. Also came across this area with boat docks, and a lone picnic bench by the shore. We walked along a little more and found another little garden, a museum, and a statue of 2 men and a dog, which I assume was important in Iowa's founding somehow. I think he tried to explain the significance of these men to me once time, but I've never been great with history.

He also took me to the other side of the park area, where there was some sort of flight memorial, and where I took this shot of this bridge. The river was moving really fast, and every time I tried to get close to the water, he pulled me away. Then once I really started paying attention to the water, I noticed that it had small whirlpools going around in it, so I thought maybe he was right, and I should really stay away. Didn't help that the rocks around were jagged and looked very easy to fall into the water. But, it was pretty, the humidity was crazy, and there was tons of areas to walk through and enjoy together.

Somewhere in the chaos of the second day, we changed hotel rooms. They had put us in some crappy room that looked from the 70s. It was rediculous. When we changed rooms, he went to get the key and turn on the air conditioning in the room... the first thing he said to me when he came back to me was: "Oh, you are really going to love the new room." I walked in it and yep. Horrible. We only really stayed in this room for a couple days, before we got to change away from the 70s room. The orange and green was a little too depressing for me. It even had matching bean bag chairs, and a broken futon. Really.

Day 3, he took me to... I'm not even sure what he called it. But, it was some really pretty park with a (what I called) a giant pond. Apparently it was great for fishing in, but you couldn't swim in it, or really go in the water. But it was still, probably one of the most beautiful places he took me to in Iowa. It had adorable little piers where you can walk on, and I suppose fish at, but I enjoyed just watching the fish in the pond... from afar.

I took a silly amount of photos of this giant pond, I could not get over how peaceful it was, how still the water was, and the most mind boggling thing of all - why wasn't anyone allowed to swim in it? I still had a great time with just watching the ducks, fish and admiring how green and lush the scenery is. Tyler and I found a good place to sit and talk for a while though, which was really great and calming.

That same day, we went to a really great nature park. It was a museum, then you picked up a map and headed outside in the wilderness for a nature trail. It was really beautiful, and something I've never really done before. I'm not really a nature type of person, and we literally walked a whole nature trail. It was really fun at first, seeing all the weird looking insects and bugs they have in Iowa. I wasn't too keen on him spraying me with mosquito repellent though, but I suppose it was necessary.

About halfway through the trail, the heat and humidity definitely started to get to me. Then about three-quarters of the way through I kept asking, "How much further?", as I huffed and puffed. He took my complaining calmly, and while I loved the trail, I think the route we took was just a tiny bit too long. But, I kept wondering how beautiful the trail would be in the winter, covered in snow. Stunning, I'll bet. But, he kept patiently waiting for me as I slowed down on the trail, carefully holding my hand through it all. It was really sweet.

Day 5, Saturday, we went early in the morning to their farmer's market, and he bought some really good bread. We went a little later to Walmart for some sandwich making supplies and we made a couple sandwiches for a picnic with a movie in the park. The idea of a movie in the park was bizarre to me, I've never heard of anything like it where I live in California. It was just as it sounds. We brought our snacks, a blanket, and bug repellent, laid down the blanket on the grass and watched The Goonies together with a parkful of people. It was really great, he laid his head in my lap and we (supposedly) watched the movie together. He'd seen it tons of times, and I was bored with the movie, but just enjoyed my time with him instead.

Sunday, we took a trip to the lake. It was a long drive, and I couldn't help but marvel at the amount of corn along the way. It was about an hour drive to the lake, and the whole drive, all I seen was corn. I grabbed a photo while he was driving, so it's not the greatest quality, but it still turned out pretty well, I think. There was a TON of corn.

Once we got to the lake, I realized I didn't have any cash for their soda machines. So, I had him go all the way back to the nearest town, so I can use my bank card to purchase a couple Dr. Peppers (2 for the price of one deal! Win!). But anyway, once we got back to the lake, it was an interesting time. We laid down our blanket, our stuff, and realized: the beach is filled with mosquitos. So, the duration of our lake trip was really just me clutching onto him in fear of the giant fish swimming around us, and him trying to catch the fish. I've never swam in such close proximity of fish, I seriously thought they were going to bite me, or swim up my bathing suit.

I didn't get photos of everything we did. I'd never seen a firefly before, so he took me to a park to see them, and I tell you, I've never seen anything more beautiful than the fireflies. They were romantic and exciting to see. We also went swimming at his mother's house, then sat on the floor and watched a movie together. We watched Shrek in the hotel on TV (which ironically, we also watched Shrek in April when he came to California). I got to see a couple deer, just hanging out on the side of the road. Tyler pulled over so I could snap a photo, but of course - by the time I got out of the car, they were gone. And, I experienced the most tasty fast food place ever - Taco Johns. And the best take out ever - Townhouse. So yummy. I keep telling him he needs to ship me Taco Johns via US Mail because we don't have them here in California. We had a really sweet date night as well. We dressed up in formal wear, ate from Applebees, and it was a really cute idea.

The day before I left, I was extremely emotional, and I didn't want to leave the hotel. I knew I didn't want to leave, and I was having a really hard time with it. It got worse as him and his mother were taking me to the airport, all I did was cry almost the whole way. I tried really hard not to, but I could not help it. He walked me almost to the security checkpoint, and my crying was worse than ever. And once I thought it couldn't get more worse, he started crying too, which set me off even more. I partially joked that next time he came to California, we were going to drive to Las Vegas and elope, and then forced myself to go through the airport security. I cried the whole time I was waiting for my plane. The whole time. I forced myself to stop crying when I boarded, and was okay on the plane. In fact, I was much calmer on the plane back than I was on the way to Omaha airport. I stopped in Denver once again on the way back, and go figure - the plane was delayed. I cried even more at the Denver airport, until I was finally able to board to come back to Sacramento International.

I really enjoyed my week long stay there. Somewhere during the trip, I really fell in love with Iowa. It has houses with charm, peaceful landscapes, good food, no congested traffic, beautiful fireflies, family oriented activities, and I felt really at peace there. I'm looking forward to the day that I can live them permanently with him, and do the activities we did during the week on a regular basis together.