Atlas

So, some of you may know, John and I got a new puppy about 3 weeks ago. So far things are going really well. He rarely pees in the house anymore (he knows to pee when we take him out, but he doesn't know to ask to go outside yet, we still have to tell him about every 2 hours or so, or when he starts to sniff suspiciously) and he hasn't poo'd in the house since about the first week. We weren't really looking for a new puppy, we were at PetSmart getting Caly some food and happened by the adoption room and there were about 5 little puppies running around. They were all super cute and came from a litter of 9 (the lady only brought 5 cause I guess they were a handful). We went in just to see them and play with them and ended up leaving with the bigger, more rambunctious of the litter. We aren't exactly sure what he is, we think he is some part yellow lab, some part golden retreiver, and some part terrier (because his tail curls); the lady said the mom was about 40 pounds and was a stray they found pregnant, so we are thinking he will be a little smaller than Caly (she weighs 50 pounds) maybe around 35 or 40, we'll see. He weighed about 4 pounds at 6 weeks when we got him and weighted 9 pounds tonight. We got him because a.) he's really cute b.) Caly now has a playmate and isn't quite so all over us all the time c.) we're idiots!! Anyway...here are a few pics I took today of him, he turned 9 weeks old this weekend.

Las Vegas!!

As many of you know, John and mine 1 year anniversary was last month (sorry it took so long to post the pics!!) and we went on an anniversary/honeymoon trip (since we never took one) to Las Vegas!! We left on a Friday morning and came back on a Wednesday night. We had so much fun!! We basically slept in until 10 or 11 every day, went shopping, saw some shows, and were incredibly lazy...can't get much better than that!! We tried to go all out and stayed at the Bellagio (the hotel Ocean's Eleven was filmed in), it was super nice and the room was amazing!! We even upgraded to a view of the fountain's outside!! So every afternoon/night that we were in the room, we would leave the curtains open and when we would see the fountain's start we would run to the window and turn the tv to the channel with the music that went along and watch. It wasn't until we left that we even realized that we never watched the fountain's from street level, only from the room!! THe view from our room was great, we were across from Paris Paris and had a great view of the Eiffel Tower. We also saw two shows, Mystere by Cirque du Solei (spelling??) was amazing, we couldn't get over all the awesome things they were doing, and The Blue Man Group which was hilarious, we laughed the whole way through!! Anyway, I could go on forever. I put the pictures in a slideshow...Enjoy!!!

Random

So last Friday as I was sleeping off three nights of working, John got home at about 2:30 (his usual time) and noticed that it was mighty hot in the house. Upon further inspection John realized that the air conditioning must have a leak that caused it to freeze over and stop working. So we went all weekend without air conditioning. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, luckily out house has an attic fan, so we have had that on for the most part, with windows open and ceiling fans going full blast, and, since the weather was rainy most of the weekend, it never got too hot outside which helped keep it cool inside. Also, the way our house was built, the main living rooms (the master bedroom and living room) don't get much direct sunlight, if any, which helps keep it cool. So, for now we are going it air condition-less. We decided to see how it goes and if we can bear it for the rest of the summer without air conditioning. We'll see, we might have to break down and get someone to come out and fix it, but we might be able to save some money with the electric bill and be able to wait till next summer to get it fixed. 

Kayaking on the Cahaba 04/18/09

Timothy came up to go kayaking yesterday. We were going to try a new stretch of the Cahaba, but we got a late start and decided to do the five mile run. Somehow I talked Abby into going with us. This is a remarkable feat considering the water was still in the 50's to 60's. About half way through the trip there is a rope swing. Trey and I played on it for a little while Thursday. Yesterday Tim and I adjusted the handle on it and had a blast. By the time we were finished swinging my arms were worn out. I would post the pictures I took, but I was showing Tim how I could stand up in my kayak. I was about to sit down and put too much weight on one side. Anyway, the camera was in a pocket on my life vest. It wasn't our nice camera though. It was an old clunker that I bought five or six years ago.

Kayaking on the Cahaba River

Thursday, Trey and I decided to go kayaking after work. We put in at Buck Creek in Old Town Helena. We traveled two miles down Buck Creek and entered the Cahaba River. We then traveled on the Cahaba for three miles to the take out at Alabama Small Boats on highway 52. Here are a few pictures of our trip.

New Hobby

A few weeks ago John decided that he wanted to try something new, kayaking. He has a friend that had a kayak and was talking about it one day and John thought it sounded fun, so his brother, Timothy, came up one day and they went kayak/canoeing on the Cahaba river near our house. Well, John loved it so much that a few days later he talked me into driving down to the Coosa river (near Montgomery, about an hour away) and kayaking with him, Timothy, and their cousin. I had my doubts, but ended up really enjoying it. It was so peaceful out on the water, looking at the trees. We ended up kayaking 7 1/2 miles that day, which took about 3 hours or so, but the time flew by. So, we now have a new hobby. The picture below is of our new kayaks. The blue one is mine that we bought from John's friend (we also bought the two paddles from him) and the green one is John's that we bought at an outdoor store last weekend. John went out again last Saturday with his cousin, but it was a little too cold for me (about 60 or 65 degrees out) so I stayed home. Also, the plans are in the works for a kayak/camping trip for two nights somewhere in Tennessee (I think, I don't know all the details). So, if anyone wants to go out with us, let us know!!

New Look Part 2

I (John) got rid of the "new" look. Since this is a blog for both of us, I really didn't want blue swirls and diamonds on my background. I switched it back to the plain red and gray background for now.