Charlie's 3rd class and some random info

Today we had our third week of doggy classes and it went really well!!! We were the only ones who showed up (I told you everybody hated us!!!-well one family was on vacation and the other just didn't come) So Charlie, myself and our two trainers had the ring all to ourselves. He only barked one time when we entered the building (progress!!!) and at class we practiced our walking, sitting, and controlling his jumping. He did SO GOOD. I don't have anything to really post because it went so smooth. He did however learn to jump over his baby gate today so that throws a whole new spin on keeping him in the bathroom during the day. I have to contact a doggy day care and get him in for his "interview" to see if he is appropriate or not. (I mean really?? They do that kind of stuff. I am paying you to babysit my dog during the day, don't they take anybody?)

 Charlie was fixed last week but I was a little confused because it didn't look like they did anything. I asked about it tonight at class (and felt a little stupid) and they advised me that they indeed took his "manhood" away (not sure the best way to word this next part so here goes....) and that after some time he will no longer look like a boy. So not only did we learn a few new training techniques we learned some dog anatomy as well. Life is all about learning new things, right?!??

The day he got fixed he was such a baby. He kept trying to climb up in my dad's lap.

And this is what I came home to the day after taking Charlie's "manhood". I guess it is payback. 

Tomorrow I get to go pick up my dress for the reception! I am super super excited. My mom and dad are going with me. I can't wait to try it on again, I ABSOLUTELY love it!!!! I got the contract in the mail yesterday for the reception hall and am going to sign that and mail it back soon. I need to really start planning this thing... it is going to be February before I know it! I do not have a lot of fun doing this kind of thing so any help is much appreciated.

Dave is doing good. His birthday is next week and I mailed his birthday box today. He won "Company Grade Officer of the Month" and has an award ceremony tomorrow. I have no clue what that means but it is an award so I am guessing he is doing a good job! (which is no surprise to me at all!) We are now in our 8th week of deployment (woooohoooooo), approximately 29% complete. 

I have been at Children's for 1 year this week! (time flies when you are having fun AND when you work with the most AMAZING group of people ever) Today I had a great day at work!!! I think I have the best job, it can be very stressful at times BUT at the end of the day I don't think I could have picked a more rewarding job. Below is a picture of a candy bouquet one of my kiddos brought me.

New PIcs from Dave

Here are some new pictures Dave sent me. Enjoy! 

Charlie's Class Week 2

Okay-so this will be short because I am exhausted. We had Charlie's second week of class today and I wish I could say it went better than last week but it didn't. Class stated off horrible because as we were walking in he kept barking at everybody again and I smacked his nose (very very lightly). During class my teacher came up to me and reminded me that I should not hit my dog while we are at class..... somebody freaking told on me! I lightly smacked his nose for barking, come on people! (If they don't like that they should see what happens to him when he eats our house!) I have to add that Kathlyn came up to us as soon as we walked in and gave me her phone number so if I ever have any questions I can call her. (She is the one with a GSD and is the sweetest thing ever!)

Then during class we got a new collar and it helped some and by the end of the class I had also purchased a new leash as well. Our new leash is leather so when he is pulling away from me the nylon doesn't burn my hand. I didn't get this leash until about half way thru the class so right now my hand is still burning. We worked on walking and stopping and then turning. Surprisingly Charlie didn't do too bad at this. Our major problem for today was non-stop barking at every other dog in the place! 

Some things I learned this week: apparently I give him too much affection (but I beat him right? So how am I too nice also?) so I have to work on making him "earn my affection". Also Charlie thinks he is the leader of the house and I have to change that before next week. Just like last week we had one on one training the entire session while the others in the class were getting taught things.  (I think the people in my class most likely hate us).

After class was over I ended up staying for another 30 minutes while 4 of the woman that work there taught me more things and gave me advice on having a big dog. They also gave me a book to read and told me I have to get him fixed because that is a huge part of our problem. (I need to talk to Dave about this one.)  Here's to hoping next week is better! (it has to be right?!!!?) 

Friends 

Dave is doing good. I haven't heard from him all day because he had/has a big inspection by some big wig Airforce Pharmacy people. I am sure he did great but I will let you know when I know anything. His birthday is coming up soon so if you would like to mail him some cookies or something his address is in an earlier post or email me and I can get it to you (wink wink :)! ) 

Weekend Project

One of our guest bedrooms is going to have a "Beatles Theme" in it. This was inspired by the pillow below. My sister and I were shopping and I found this pillow and loved it. I already had bought a black quilt and white sheets for the bed in that room and this pillow would go perfect. Then after we bought it my sister said "that pillow reminds me of the Beatles "blackbird" song. From there we decided to put in Beatles inspired decor! 

For my birthday my sister bought me a yellow submarine radio to put on the nightstand: 

This weekend I re-finished Dave's childhood dresser to go in the Beatles guest room. Here is a before picture (and that ugly bird is some Airforce thing that I have to find a place for in my house!? I think a closet is the best place for it????) 

Also our house does not look like this dresser! I HATE clutter and just looking at this picture makes me want to scream. Most of this is Dave's office stuff that I need to go thru and organize. It has now been moved downstairs to the office and I am going shopping today for furniture! 

Before dresser picture:

On Friday I took off all the hardware and started to sand it with a hand sander. After 2 hours of sanding by hand I had finished one and 1/2 drawers. I had a LONG way to go and my arms were sore. 

On Saturday my parents came up to help finish the dresser and to put up the ceiling fan. We went to Home Depot and I bought a power sander. After we had that the project went much quicker. My mom did a little, I tried it out too but ultimately we let my dad do most of the work. I had bought masks for him to wear but he refused. After about an hour of nonstop sanding he went outside to "clear out his lungs". Here is a picture of my mom in action: 

Here are the after pictures. I think it looks great! 

The mirror is going to hang above the center of the dresser. It is the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" inspired mirror and our strawberry candle for "Strawberry Fields Forever." If you have any suggestions for how to incorporate more Beatles songs let me know! I will show you more pictures of the room once it is completely finished. I think I have caught the renovation bug because after this dresser I am on the look out for my next project! It was so much fun and I think it turned out great!

Have a great day! LIFE IS GOOD : ) 

Charlie's first day of school

So let me start of with telling you what Charlie did today. He is SO smart and sneaky! I got home from work and could see him sitting in the big front window, he obviously got out of the bathroom. I walk into the house prepared to get jumped on and he is not there. I call his name, nothing. Then I walk upstairs and he is sitting right in the bathroom door by the knocked over baby gate. With this "What mom? I have been in here the whole day" kind of look on his face. He is such a little brat!

Anyway we had our first day of class today and keeping with "Charlie and Me" fashion, it was entertaining. I think I should get a movie out of these 6 months Dave is gone based on the comical situations I have been in. We are going to Dayton Dog Training Club. If anybody is wanting to take classes for their dog I would really recommend this place. The people there were GREAT and prices were cheap compared to other places I looked.

When we walked in Charlie was barking at every single dog, I couldn't control him ( I know you are surprised by that!). A very kind lady named Suzie came over and grabbed his collar pushed him to the ground and smacked his dog treat bag in his face. So needless to say, Suzie put him in his place rather quickly. She said "Does he have balls?". Umm yes..... "okay that is why he is acting like this, he wants to show everybody he is in charge" she said.  I immediately love her! She showed me how to hold his collar and control him and what to do when he is barking. We went right to our area because she didn't want him to be around other dogs. Good start to class... already getting put in "time out".

Then another wonderful woman, Kathlyn came over and started talking to me about Charlie. She also works there and has GSD (German Shepard Dogs-learned some new lingo). She said his markings were absolutely beautiful about 15 times. (In my head I was thinking "good, can you put him in some shows and make him earn some money so he can pay for all the stuff he has destroyed!).

Then class started and Ron came over and told me I did not look very confident with Charlie. (yeah I would say that is true!) He is wonderful and told me a lot of great stuff and made me feel very good to be there. I LOVED every single person I met there. I am excited to go back! Ron is going to get Charlie a choke collar next week so I can have better control of him when we walk/run.
During class Charlie kept barking at Baxter and I had to hit him in the face with the treat bag like Suzie taught me. There are only 3 dogs in our class and one dog is a repeat which made me feel good because that might be me and Charlie!
Half the class we had to have one on one training by Ron because Charlie did not want to cooperate. He would not eat any of his treats or others that were offered to him. As the class went on, he did much better. I found out he loves hot dogs! Next week I will bring those and I need to go get a fanny pack (o yeah!) or a tool belt from Lowe's to wear. (Both pretty good looks for me!)
All in all the class was a success. I met some really great people, we got a start on our training and I am looking forward to going back. We have to work on our stuff everyday (attention, sit, stay, down are our targets this week.) Everybody seems to think I have a great dog, we just have to unleash (haha) his potential. I will keep you posted on our progress!

Since this post is all about Charlie, here are some of my favorite pictures of him:

Charlie and Sammy

 Window he destroyed! 

He LOVES his frisbee. He sits like this all the time wanting to go outside, too cute!

Hope you enjoyed...... life is good!

My first pot of chili

So nothing here is really new except I made white chicken chili for dinner tonight and it is AMAZING if I do say so myself. I am not much of a cook, at all, but I figured there is no better time to learn than now. (I am determined to find all of the positives I can out of this time we have apart. I am making myself a better person while he is gone, which will only make our marriage stronger when he gets back! I think improving my cooking skills can only help everyone!) I made the whole pot by myself WITHOUT calling my mom, which is a miracle. (I did google a couple of things!) I am very proud of myself. I also cut raw chicken, I usually won't even touch it. If anybody would like me to make them dinner one night, let me know :) I am watching SYTYCD, drinking red wine and eating chili! I am in a good place this evening.

Dave is doing well. He calls just about every night with facetime. Being able to talk to him every single day is making this experience a much more bearable one. I feel like it is back to when we were in Washington and West Virginia and not 6,700 miles and an ocean apart.

I have had a break through with Charlie. We start classes next Tuesday and I am excited to see how that works out for us. I took some advice from my friend Tabitha who uses squirt bottles with her dogs. Now when I get home from work I grab a squirt bottle before I let him out of the bathroom (he is breaking out of there on an average of 2 times a week.....). If he trys to jump I squirt him in the face and he hates it! His face is so funny, I will try to get a picture. I must say the jumping has decreased drastically.

I bought a dress for the reception on Friday when I went shopping with my mom and sister. It is absolutely amazing! I can not wait to wear it. On Saturday we are going to the reception place to fill out the contract and get measurements so we can start planning more.

One of the things I keep doing since Dave left is randomly thinking of some of the trips we have taken together. I will be in therapy with a kid and my mind will be like "wow remember when we went to Atlanta for the weekend, that was really fun" lol. So one of the trips I was thinking about this week was when we went to Atlanta in March after Dave got done with COT. This is us at the Coke Museum before a 3-D movie. Surprisingly Dave did not get sick after the movie!

Hope you all have a great day! Thanks for stopping by to see what is new with us! : ) 

Dave Update

Here are some pictures Dave sent me. He is doing good, working really long hours, eating and sleeping. One of his jobs is helping injured people get out of the desert. The other day he was able to watch the UFC fight and tonight before work he watched some of the Bengals game. Enjoy the pictures, I will keep you updated!

Dave on a C-17

Dave on an Air Evac mission

Reception Update!

This weekend my mom, sister and I went to the Dayton Bridal Show. It was kind of small but we still got a lot of good information. We are going to have the reception on February 12, 2011 unless something changes. I am just nervous about the weather being bad. Lets just hope for no snow like last year! The place we are having it is called Shaker Run Golf Course. They have a cute little pavilion with a big stone fireplace that is surrounded by trees and a lake. Dave and I went and looked at it before he left and we both really liked it. I am going next week to meet with that lady and sign the contract. My mom and sister are going to go with me so we can start to think about centerpieces, decorations, etc.

On Friday I am going to try on dresses at a place called Alfred Angelo. They have really cute dresses and what I really like about this place is that all of their bridesmaid dresses can be ordered in ivory. This way if there is a bridesmaid dress I like I can get that instead of an actual bridal gown. I like this option because I like things simple and since this is less formal than a wedding one of those dresses might fit the evening better. I still have to look into a DJ, photographer, flowers, etc. I think we have the cake part done just need to get the stand. 

I found a tie that I really liked and am going to use the colors from the tie for the reception colors. Gage was so kind to model it for me: 

It is sage green, navy blue and white. 

Still trying to figure out the best way to do this reception since it is a bit non traditional. If anybody has any suggestions or has been to a reception like ours please let me know! I am open for any ideas/suggestions! 

Tonight my best friend Liz and her husband came over and helped me hang a ceiling fan in one of the guest bedrooms. It took longer than I thought it would so that pretty much consumed our entire evening. I really have the best family and friends ever! This deployment is making me realize this even more than I did before and it makes me so thankful for everybody I have in my life! I will put pictures up of the fan and the room as well as the installation of the fan soon. 

I have talked to Dave pretty much everyday since my last post. Things are the same with him. He is working a lot and sleeping when he isn't working. He seems to be doing very good. He is going to send me pictures soon and I will post them when I get them!