Oh hey summer heyyy

 We got a new grill! It's our first one, compliments of the Exchange and we grilled chicken on it for the first time last night.  We also picked up a kiddie pool for the dogs so they can enjoy this gorgeous weather.  All we need is some outdoor furniture and we are set to enjoy Montana's beautiful summers.

 Blu recently went to the vet for a check-up but he also has a staph infection, poor little guy.

I swear he will eat anything and it's incredibly annoying.  Holly sheds a lot and so we're constantly patrolling Blu to make sure he's not munching on her hair.  He acts like we don't feed him!

This is one of his favorite spots on the yard.  I don't know how he figured this out or why he likes to sit on it but he does and we call it his "throne" as he watches over his backyard kingdom.

His recent vet visit had him weighing 48 lbs and he's only 4 months old aka he is going to be humongous!  Right now the pups are running around outside, enjoying the wonders of a backyard lawn sprinkler.

How is summer looking in your parts?

Holly's First Birthday

Top O' the Mornin' to Ya! As my Saturday is filled with first attempts at making traditional Irish food, I thought I would share these photos from Holly's first birthday.  Holly turned 1 earlier this week and I did a photoshoot with her and Blu.

Happiest of birthdays to my sweet girl!

P U P P Y =]

Puppies have a magical power to make you feel better in every situation. Holly and Blu are both snuggle bugs and have foot fetishes. Holly likes to lick toes and Blu likes to bite teeth (ouch, those puppy needle teeth!).  Blu has learned how to scale things, just like Holly did at his age, and he also loves his "babies."  This usually involves a small, colorful lion toy that I got him from PETCO.  I'm also trying Nylabones with him, as well as toys you can freeze.  Today we got him reusable puppy diapers and liners.  The first use was rather unfortunate, leading to a very gross interaction, and me informing Ryan that's what having a baby consists of (lots of diapers).  For some reason, I felt very much like a mom. Although Ryan and I have talked about having babies, I think having Blu and Holly was a very real reminder of what goes into raising and developing anything, from a dog to a baby.  So enjoy this video of Blu and Holly romping around.  The song is "Sweet Thing" by Keith Urban.

Thanks for reading and watching!

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Be sure to check out this month's featured blog:

Favorite Things Friday

 I have been loving magazines lately.  My favorite thing is getting them in the mail, because if I haven't already set it, getting mail is like Christmas morning.  I absolutely love getting letters, magazines, packages, etc.  It's probably 80% of the reasoning on why I have an Amazon Prime account...free two day shipping.  Living in Podunckville, CA (not really the name), I have become more obsessed with online shopping than ever before.

Speaking of Podunkville, did I tell you all about my salon experience?  I got my haircut this week.  I didn't actually ask how much hair was cut off but my ends are right about at the end of my ears and my hair was more than halfway down my back.  I'm guessing a good 12+ inches.  I had my hair cut about this length a couple of years ago and I hated it.  I was home for a break or a weekend and I had already joined ROTC.  I was also an avid moped rider on campus and we most definitely had to wear helmets.  Well combine helmet hair and a military bun and you've got yourself one messy hairdo.  Walking around in a blues uniform with messy hair is never fun so I decided to cut it off.  Well back in 2010, the hairdresser epically messed up the inverted bob and it didn't look right to me.  When I got back on campus, I had one of the Aveda salon school students (yep, the students) fix it and it was significantly better.  I literally lived across the street from the Aveda school my senior year.  My hair always looked nice due to the trip to the salon being a 5 minute walk away.

But back to the story, it was a bad time to get my hair cut short because of course, I wanted to do all of these hairstyles which required long hair.  I started using extensions again, etc. and couldn't wait until my hair could fit properly back into a bun.

Flash forward to a couple of days ago and I'm back with short hair!  The difference this time is that I had an awesome stylist.  I looked up reviews for salons in Podunckville and one salon came up with five Google reviews.  I thought, "well that's better than nothing." I thought it was well worth the effort to at least check it out.  I walked in and the seating area had plastic chairs, the kind you use at your neighborhood block party.  I definitely was judging the salon, but I think I was within good reason.  If your trusting someone to cut your hair, especially the length that I was going to, then they need to know what they're doing.  The salon had a bad paint job, cracked tiles, and some of the hairdressers were questionably on something other than the fumes of hair products.  Maybe that's a little rash, but this salon seriously needed a heavy dose of Tabitha's Salon Takeover.  This is when you ask me, "Kim, why did you trust them with your hair?"

I can't give you an honest answer to that.  I have no idea why I trusted them.  Probably because I was there, already sitting in a plastic chair and wanting to get my hair cut.  They failed to inform my hairdresser (whom I had never met) that they booked her for a 2:30 appointment, while she was gone on lunch.  This probably added to my dislike of the salon more.  Don't set up your co-workers for failure, ya know?  Well in walks the sweetest Asian lady I have ever met.  I think she kind of reminded me of my mom and then all of a sudden, everything got better.  I know it sounds strange. But she was amazing.  She explained every aspect of what she was going to do to my hair and did it exactly how I wanted it.  A couple of days later, I went back in  to make sure the back was trimmed up to military regulations (above the collar) and she did it for free! She was awesome and I'm not joking about that.  I really appreciated that she listened to exactly what I wanted and just had excellent customer service. 

We have some exciting news....

We're expecting....

A German Shepherd Puppy!

Haha did we fool you?  I thought it would be a clever play on an adorable Pinterest idea.  But we are actually getting another German Shepherd.  Right now, he is known as "Puppy C."

 

Have you seen anything more perfect?  After attempts of working with over five rescue agencies in the past year, it became obvious that for whatever reason- our age, being a young married couple, or being in the military, were actually deterring factors in rescue agencies working with us.  Which is actually incredibly frustrating since we have the financial means to add another dog to our home and a ton of love -- Holly is one spoiled pooch and we would love to have another dog.  After a recent attempt to get a dog named Max, it just didn't work out.  We went to the dog park to have Holly and him visit and he was a couple years older than her.  They didn't have the same energy level or drive to play, which is understandable due to their age, and one of the foster parents just didn't want to seem to want to give him up.  Fostering animals is hard, as I've heard, because you get attached.  It was such an awkward meeting as it seemed like the male foster parent was attempting to play devil's advocate, when in reality he was on the brink of just being rude and the female foster parent was doing the complete opposite.  It was a basically a hot and cold meeting that resulted in them not responding to an e-mail explaining that we have lousy reception and we would like to schedule a phone call and then we heard nothing back.   

I think it was irritating for us in working with these rescue agencies for several reasons but mainly for that feeling that we just wasted a lot of time.  Numerous applications, visits, phone calls, e-mails, and physical meetings have taken their toll on us and we finally just said, maybe another time.  I was constantly disappointed and willing to try another rescue agency to see if something else might work.  I love rescue agencies and all that they do for animals, because I love dogs, but each organization is different.  

Finally we just decided to get a dog through other means and we found a reputable breeder in Montana and we're getting that adorable little guy.  Ryan is going through a few name ideas, including "Blue," "Oden" and "Wilhelm." I'm excited to have this little guy around and for Holly to have a little GSD brother.    

Those were probably my two most favorite things of the week, but what about the interwebs?

 

This article from Feministing actually doing a review on how another article was trying to slut shame Beyonce.  Now if you didn't know, Beyonce's my girl and I won't stand for folks trying to slut shame her or anyone for that matter.  Not only that, but Beyonce is one helluva confident woman and business savvy.  She is iconic and going to rock the stage at the Superbowl halftime show.  She knows exactly what she's doing and in case you missed her performance of "I Was Here" for the United Nations World Humanitarian Day, you need to watch it. #loveher  

Speaking of iconic, amazing people, how about the couple from Young House Love?  I mean they're not as iconic as Beyonce, unless you love DIY.  John's recent post covered a leg of their book tour and I just love that they blog as a couple.  I really want to get their book and I wish I was somewhere close to one of their book signings. Grrr.  Neverthless, they're adorable and with a free download from them.  I was able to make our new calendar for this year.  I made it after I had a tequila shot and glass of White Zin...so it's a little bit sassy.

 

  

And December just wants to hang out over there --->

So that was my pretty awesome week thus far.  I have friends visiting from Camp Pendleton this weekend and a big upcoming test.  Wish me luck and thanks for reading!

Holly Bear & Someone Got a DSLR

I must have been super good this year because I got a Nikon DSLR for my birthday/Christmas present! I've been wanting a DSLR for years now and I am so excited to have received one.  Of course, being obsessed with my dog, Holly was my first subject.  She's such an adorable model.  Please do not take or copy these photos without my permission.  Thanks everybody!

Thanks for reading!

Sinus Pressure & Carpets that Smell...Off

I don't know what it is...

it could be allergies,

a wicked cold,

or life just spitting on me in the form of copious amounts of snot.

ewwwww

But, I'm sick.

Nevertheless, I thought this would be an ideal time to reminisce on the move up to my new base.

My roommate Brittany and I are renting a house.

It's big, it's nice, it's ballin-shock-callin.

It seriously is a nice house in a beautiful neighborhood.
I Google Mapped that ish before we moved.

I mean it was key that I figure out the distance from work because I don't like long commutes and to figure out if the neighborhood was majorly sketchy.

It's not...that's a good thing.

We also have a big yard which is perfect for the Hollinator and all of her romping around adventures.

I'm debating whether or not to post pictures...I may post a few in the next couple of days but I do like my privacy so please don't be offended if I ask you to use the brilliance of your imaginations.

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Ok so we arrive on base and are staying at base lodging.

Brit and I are total newbs.

Wee lil babes lost in the world of becoming a part of the "real Air Force."

Everything is going well until we drive to our property manager's
office which is over a half hour away to sign our lease.

As the reader, I'm sure you'll recognize several key "red flags" in this post.

Like hey Kim, you should have had your property manager meet you at the house instead of haulin' your booties all the way to their office.

I would promptly respond, why thank you reader for saving me the time and hassle.

I really could have used you in my backseat at the time.

So we drive to their office, have a little difficulty finding it and then sit down to sign the lease.

SHE (the property manager staff member that we've been working with) basically pro-rated us for the days that we haven't been living there.

Mind you we just moved, so there is no way that the military has our stuffed moved from multiple states yet, plus we're staying at base lodging.

We even expressed this to her before we left our respective dwellings.

Since the earlier date was on the application, that's what she went with.

Of course, she didn't tell me this until the day of 

but hey there's nothing like scamming two fresh-out-of-college butter bars.

It gets better.

So we drive back to our new house and it's amazing.

Three bedrooms, two full baths, a living room, kitchen, dining room, two-car garage...the works!

The kicker is that the previous owners basically ran their house into the ground.

The carpet reeked of animal.

Like they just let their dog and/or cat just mark everything.

Oh hey every corner in the house, if I haven't peed on you yet, 

don't worry I have you booked for after lunch.

It also didn't have a working smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector.

Joyous.

Well after several phone calls and some detective work on my part,

everything was taken care of...except for the carpet.

Brittany autobahned (I don't think that's even remotely close to how it's spelled) the carpet when I went to pick up my dog (she was back in the old town) and then I rented a Rug Doctor and we went to work on the house.  

I videotaped every aspect of the house.

There are holes in the walls where nails used to be, weeds in the cracks of the back patio, lack of door stoppers, mildew underneath the sinks because of the lack of exhaust fans and just some jankiness going about.

With a little TLC- it's back in business.

We have our things moved in, fully utilized Bath and Body Works candles, and the carpets are amazing because we cleaned them ourselves.

Btw, I am obsessed with B&BW candles, scents, plug-ins, etc.

Holy geez it smells so good and I'm doubly obsessed with fall scents,

especially anything with a pumpkin scent.

I also went to Home Depot and got my DIY on.

I installed new doorstops where they didn't exist, put up new blinds, and I think something else but let's just say I was pumped to be a handy lady.

Yes, they were really simple jobs but I had never done them before so I was and still am excited.

Walking through the enormous aisles of Home Depot almost made me wish the house was ours so we could actually invest time and money into it.

It's a shame that the previous owners did such a crap job.

I'm now waiting on one more shipment of goods from Wisconsin and I will have so many awesome things to remind me of home.

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Have you ever gotten jealous of someone else because of the stuff that they had?

My roommate has a kickass bedroom set...I'm jealous.

Her room actually looks like a bedroom and mine looks like I'm a starving artist that enjoys Pinterest.

 However, I have been making the occasional trip to Marshals and Goodwill.

I'm determined to make my little space a beautiful room without breaking the bank.

The Goodwill here has the most amazing book selection that I have ever seen.

I seriously am loving it.

Insta-Tuesday: Week Three

Eeee my first link-up! Checking out the Insta Tuesday with Jane over at Taingamala.

Top Left: Ryan and I driving to our friends' house (Meagan and Jeff) to enjoy a Sunday lunch with them.  Meagan made a ton of wings (in three different flavors) and had french bread with spinach dip.  There were also slices of cucumber with a type of cheese spread.  It was super yummy!  Not only did she make that awesome lunch but then she whipped up double chocolate chip cookies.  The girl knows me oh too well.

Top Right: Waiting for an oil change and there was an "O Magazine" for my reading pleasure.  I've never had a chance to check it out and I loved it!  Oprah is amazing and so incredibly successful.  Her magazine has such a positive message, filled with great content, beautiful glossy photos and I definitely want to subscribe.  My car got its carbon filter changed, so now it no longer smells like death.  Huzzah!

Bottom Left: That's my beautiful German Shepherd, Holly.  She's a beauty and getting bigger every week.  Any chance that she gets to snuggle on our bed, we find her already tucked in between pillows.  She's such a cuddle bug!  Recently we've been having difficulties finding a place to live once we go to Vandenberg AFB due to various factors.  Apartments just seem not plausible due to the fact that we have a dog, she's a large breed and she's a German Shepherd.  I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another.  I just wish these insurance companies could see how sweet she is and her love for licking toes and giving kisses (not necessarily in that order lol).

Bottom Right: One of my most recent crafts, an Americana Frame.  I've been meaning to send a great "thank you" to the officer that gave me my oath for commissioning but I felt a card didn't do it justice.  I bought an American-themed bandana from Michael's, soaked it in green tea and sewed it in bunches to create the bundled effect that you see.  The burlap layer was a specialty sheet in scrapbooking- how convenient!

It's almost hump day, ladies and gents!

xoxo,