"It's a Beautiful Day"

What a fabulous day. Started of with Zumba (which is the best work out I may have ever had...well, in my adult life). I freakin' love going to Zumba! Everytime I get out of that class I feel alive. It's wonderful. Our instructor did more Reggaetone than usual and I love love love that! To end class we did belly dancing and she called me out and made me wear a belly dancing skirt...boy was that fun lol. Zumba is a great outlet for me. It's a time when I can just dance and not worry about teaching or my technique and just let loose and have a good time. I need it.

After Zumba and Matt's work out we went grocery shopping and decided to grill out despite the crappy weather we are currently having. (seriously...it's summer. where is the sun?...just wondering.) Then..........we took Cogsworth out for a trip to a few pet stores for new toys and his first time to a dog park. There were no other dogs there today (which we were happy about because he is so young and has 2 sets of shots left to get) but boy did he love running free in the field! He is just a little ball of energy, he's hilarious. Cogsy discovered the joy of fetch this afternoon at home so we decided to purchase a chuck it to play with him at the park with only to find that even the smallest ball is still too big for him to grab lol...couple more weeks we're thinking. We put his leash on him for the first time (first time more than a couple minutes) and went on our first walk together as a little family. We loved every second of it. We've been talking about having a dog for months now for that exact purpose. To get us out of the house more and spend more time together doing simple things like just taking walks and exploring. It was great! I can't wait to go again...

*my boys*

Lucky? I think so!

Knock on wood...but I do believe that we are the luckiest puppy parents ever. For one, Cogsworth could not be any cuter. (really). He has been using his litter box like a champ--in the past week I'd say he had 4 or 5 accidents...that's pretty amazing for an 8 week old puppy *note: accidents in the kitchen are super easy to clean up, almost doesn't count*. We are going to get him into puppy classes within the next 2 weeks and I know he is going to do great. He had a lot of fun this week meeting so many new people and visiting a lot of new places; all the while greeting everyone with his kisses (and terrible pug puppy breath...so far the only flaw I have found in him lol). Matt said he can tell he's already getting a lot bigger than when we got him. I haven't noticed, but I think that's because I don't want to...

Brought him to the park and he played with all the preschool kids...aaannnd, he was out as soon as we got in the car on the way home...slept through two pet stores and an hour long commute home--in my arms. Loved every second of it. Pretty soon he'll be too big to just want to lay there like a baby...sad.)

Adorable.

The little man had his first of many, many, many days with my nanny kids today (I get to bring him with me to work everyday...amazing) and it was so much fun. The kids were loving the sillyness that came along with playing with Cogsworth. Can you tell?

He fell asleep about 10 minutes into the car ride home at 5pm and almost 3 hours later...he is still crashed in his little bed...it's going to be another looonngg night! (but kind of totally worth it)

summer time!

New Cabochon Hair Pins...so dainty and beautiful!
I have finally created a felt flower that I absolutely love and can't stop making...

New Items... http://jackandnorah.etsy.com/

San Juan Island

We fell in love with San Juan Island.

We needed this long vacation so bad and loved every second of it. We went to the island knowing we wanted to get married there, just didn't know where and we found it...the perfect location. Roche Harbor Resort.

It's a beautiful old resort town. Hotel de Haro is the main hotel that was built for Theodore Roosevelt. I will no longer have to try to accomplish a vintage feel at our wedding, it just will be. Our wedding is going to be the perfect mix of relaxation and fun.

While we were on the island for our long weekend with friends we explored as much as we could. This summer I'll be going back for 3 weeks with my nanny family and I'm counting down the days until I can enjoy the beauty and relaxation again. Here are some more pictures from our weekend. Just looking at them I feel more relaxed. *sigh* I can't wait until this man is my husband...he's everything that I could ever want and need. I can't wait for us to go back...

Cogsworth! (Day 1)

We are officially the proud owners of the most adorable pug puppy in the world. We finally got to pick up Cogsworth this afternoon after waiting four long weeks to bring him home. We have already learned that taking care of him is definitely not going to be an easy task. He is getting along great with our cat, Miley (1 years old)...although, Miley is not so sure of him yet. She is very stressed and has suddenly turned from kitten to cat all in one day. She likes to stare at him and study him from afar, but then as soon as he gets anywhere near her, she bolts. It's hilarious the way he runs...his little butt shakes from side to side with each little jog he takes. He isn't quite 8 weeks old yet so we know that potty training is definitely going to take some time. It's nice because his messes are quite small so far. He only had 3 today (1 while we were gone) so we're pretty proud. He even managed to use his litter box once today and Matt and I got so excited clapping and telling him what a good puppy he is : ). He did amazingly well on his long journey home, no messes there and he was very calm and patient. Matt already said, "it's exhausting," and it's just the first day with him...hehe. We tried to have one of us constantly watching him all night (taking turns at times) so that potty training and obedience training will be easier and shorter.

We're so happy and excited about our new addition and can't wait to see how this little guy turns out : ) We love him so much already!

Busy, Busy, Busy.

What a wonderful last few weekends we have been having...
My mom was in town and then 2 weekends ago we spent a long weekend on San Juan Island and this past weekend was Memorial Day weekend and we did a lot more relaxing. It's been lovely.

While we were on San Juan Island we found the most amazing and perfect wedding location. I have had such a hard time making decisions about our wedding because I just want everything to be perfect (which is frustrating a lot of the time). Anyways, while we were there we visited Roche Harbor Resort which we ended up falling in love with and are now going to have our wedding there. We can't wait! There's a lot of planning to do and we are so close now. Just a little over a year away. When we get married we will have been engaged for 25 months...yikes. This month we are focusing on getting our deposit down on the location and also on paying for our new puppy...yes, a puppy!...Cogsworth, the pug!

We are very excited about picking up our new baby, just 12 days from now. Matt has been so cute about it all. He has read 2 books about pugs cover to cover, has his crate all set up and we have also purchased a car seat for him lol. I am currently in the process of sewing him his new doggy bed and it's pretty dang cute. Getting Cogsworth is going to change so many things for us and for our relationship. It's going to give us a huge sense of responsibility..not that my job doesn't do that already... We are going to love going on walks together every night as a little "family." I can't wait for that. I'm so excited to take him to dog parks when he gets older too. It's going to be great fun.

Other exciting news is that I have re-boosted my etsy and have created a few new hair designs that I'm thrilled about. So far so good, lots of views and 3 treasuries just this weekend. That's great.

Today has been absolutely fabulous. I am down to just one nanny family now and have been really enjoying my one on one time all morning with Maclin. He's so funny. We went for a nice 2 1/2 mile power walk around Greenlake today (Mac in the stroller of course) and then went to Starbucks and the park. Following that we had lunch together and then picked Charlie up from school at 12:45. They were both fast asleep by 1:15 and now I have been relaxing and just folding laundry in the quiet...it's amazing. My days are suddenly much less stressful and filled with much more laughs then yelling and loud voices...it's perfect. I'm very happy :)