Backyard Update!

We spent more time this weekend working in the backyard. It's a never ending project! Rob spent the week figuring out the sprinkler system and we continued digging dormant/dead (we hope dead) bermuda grass out of the areas it wasn't supposed to grow into. We also weeded the side yard, which had pretty much turned into a weed garden. Here are a few pictures of the work in progress...

wood piles all stacked up and waiting for a fire pit! (the wood is from the giant tree in our front yard)

this is the side of the yard with the grass dug out. now, that tree just needs trimmed up so it's not growing so wacko. (at least we think we should be trimming it!)

and this picture gives you a little bit of an idea of what we're up against when it comes to digging out grass!

We also bought a new sunshade this weekend to hang from our patio that will help block some of the setting sun so we can sit comfortably on the patio farther into the warmer season. And! We've just about learned enough about grass to plant seed next weekend. There's just a little research left to do this week. It's all starting to come together :)

Before we started working in the yard, we brought breakfast and Hunter to a local park. While Hunter knows the basic commands of sit and shake and (sometimes) stay, we're trying to teach him more. He is a pretty quick learner. He needs a little work on "come," especially in an environment with lots of new smells and we want him to associate the word "fetch" with permission to run after a ball, and not just chase it down as soon as it is thrown. It was a relaxing, fun morning.

Other things that happened this week? It was a fairly busy one. I worked a lot on an application for grad school. Rob went flying in the plane one evening after work and bike riding with friends another. He biked on a trail in South Mountain that was pretty intense. Here's one of the pictures he sent me from his cell phone of the trail.

Rob also replaced the older bathroom faucets with more modern faucets. I took a picture quick, on my cell phone, before we went out for frozen yogurt :) It's not the best quality, but it gets the idea across!

We're gearing up for another busy week of work and preparing for a round of February guests :) This is my last week without track practice, so I'm hoping to leave work as early as possible while I still have the chance. (We'll see how that one goes!) We hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the end of January and we can't wait to see many of you soon :) Miss and love you all, Sarah, Rob and Hunter

I know you don't want to know this but...

...it's 75 degrees here.

From talking to our parents, Rob and I have both determined that it's significantly colder where you are. So, I thought we'd share some warm weather tales...

We spent the vast majority of yesterday working in the backyard. Let's preface the backyard work with a description of the backyard. It's kind of a mess. Couple foreclosure with a year of not running the sprinklers and you get a mess of dead bushes and grass. There's a nice island in the center of the yard that's outlined with cement blocks and currently boasts a lot of dead bermuda grass. I spent a lot of time raking up the loose, dead grass so we are ready to plant (and this time, water) new grass. Unfortunately, the dead grass popped up all along the outside of its barrier as well, and so Rob spent a lot of time digging up the dead grass where it wasn't supposed to be. We also tore out a few dead bushes. It was a project and a half. That's only about half over. We have big plans for green grass, patio shades and a fire pit, but we're still a ways off. I think this will be a project for a few more weekends to come. (Pictures will have to come in the future as well. Working in the yard kicked my butt and I was too exhausted to pull out the camera!)

Hunter joined us in the backyard and wanted to play more than help, but is feeling much better. He is fairly protective of us and the house, and wasn't too happy when the exterminator came to spray last Thursday, but we're hoping to continue having friends (and friends with other dogs) over to help him get socialized and comfortable around others. Hunter is finally beginning to understand that he's not allowed on the couch or the bed, and is happy sleeping on the giant pillow that we bought him. He sleeps in our bedroom now (on the pillow, not the bed), which means he spends much less time locked up in the kennel. I think he likes it that way.

The last piece of news is exciting! Super exciting! Rob found out last week that he has an interview in early March for a job flying tours in Vegas! It would be a 7 on/7 off schedule, and mean that he lives in Vegas for half of the month, but is a big step toward a more long-term, permanent position (like EMS). He would be flying a bigger helicopter with a turbine engine and air conditioning. (There are probably more specifics to this, but this is the best information I can give you on my own right now :))

We hope all of you are staying warm and well and maybe even planning visits :) You're always welcome to visit the warm weather :) Love, Sarah, Rob and Hunter

A Hunter Update

Hunter has stuck around this past week and Rob and I both have become quite fond of him. I was home alone with him a few days last week when Rob worked later than I did, and again yesterday morning, when Rob went into work at the Phoenix airport, which was busy with flights coming in for tomorrow's national championship game. Each time went very well. I love taking Hunter for walks (except for picking up after him, which makes me gag) and he's always exhausted after the walks and happy to lounge around while I bake or blog or watch tv. He still seems to prefer Rob, but I think is definitely warming up to me.

This morning, after our walk, we took Hunter into the backyard to play fetch. I can never get the rope toy we play with out of his mouth because he's so strong (the vet weighed him in at 86.5 pounds!) and he tends to give up on me and fight for his toy with Rob instead. I still like throwing things for him to bring back though :) Here are a few pictures of Rob and Hunter playing...

The sad part of the Hunter story is that he is sick. On Monday, he started up with this gross coughing/hacking habit that we attributed to kennel cough, which the shelter we adopted him from warned us of. By Tuesday, he had a fever and was shivering when he was laying on the floor. He went to the vet on Tuesday and we filled prescriptions for kennel cough. 

Then on Wednesday, when Rob came home from work, he found a bug on the floor next to Hunter's cage that we thought might have been what was making him sick. I took the bug (in an old plastic container) to the vet (who must have thought I was crazy) and she told me it was a super engorged tick. I was squeamish throughout our entire conversation. She warned us that if he had a bloody nose he could have a disease from the tick called tick fever. I drove all the way out to the pet store to buy tick medication and on Thursday Rob had a light day at work, so he was able to clean the house from top to bottom and be home for the exterminator to treat the inside and outside of our house for ticks.

On Friday evening we noticed that Hunter had a bloody nose. He was back to the vet on Saturday afternoon, where they changed his medication and ran tests for tick fever and valley fever that won't be back from the lab until Monday. He seems to have his energy and appetite back today, but after getting worked up playing outside, he comes inside to drink his water and hack it back up all over our floor. It's lovely.

It's a good thing Hunter is winning us over because he is quickly becoming the most expensive pet ever. I'm hoping that when the results of his tests come back on Monday, the vet will write us whatever new prescription he needs and we will be on the road to being healthy and back into the routine of just needing yearly checkups and shots for this crazy dog!

In other news...at school, my seniors have senioritis really badly. I'm hoping they get their heads on straight soon, or this second semester is going to be a really long one. I start track practice in just about a month, and am sure that will bring a whole new bag of stories (hopefully primarily positive). I'm still a little nervous about this whole coaching thing and how crazy it is going to drive me. Rob's hours have picked up at work, but he is still hoping to move on to the next flying position soon. We became Costco members (a pretty big deal) and are gearing up to seriously improve our landscaping in the backyard. Next weekend, my friend Ryan, from Miami, is coming to visit and we are planning on flying around Phoenix a bit and then out to Glendale for dinner and a Coyotes hockey game. I'm looking forward to the long weekend and catching up with him :)

We hope everyone is well and warm wherever you are! Miss and love you all, Sarah, Rob and Hunter

Welcome 2011 and Hunter! :)

December flew by! (And so did 2010 for that matter!)

I didn't post any pictures of our house decorated for the holidays because we didn't do as much decorating as I thought we would for our first Christmas here. We spent a lot of our weekends on home improvement projects and just had the small tree that worked perfectly in our apartment, but looked very small in our big kitchen! Luckily, we were able to get one in an after Christmas sale that is 7 feet tall. Next year's adventure will be finding ornaments to decorate all that tree with :)

Rob and I were both home for a short visit for the holidays and, as always, wished we could have spent more time with everyone. Rob came back to Phoenix last Sunday and I came back last Wednesday. I really can't say that we've gotten back into a normal routine here because we totally uprooted our routine and adopted a dog!

This is Hunter:

He is a two year old (nearly to the date) chocolate lab. He was set to be euthanized at the pound when a rescue agency saved him, and we adopted him a day later, this past Friday. To be honest, we got off to a bit of a rough start. He definitely prefers Rob and is like his shadow now. But initially, he didn't seem to like me at all. He did a good bit of growling and even gave a snarl or two in my direction. I think it's either that he recognized that I was more nervous around him or that he had a mean female owner previously. It's tough to tell. We put him in his crate on Friday night to go to dinner at Oregano's and he growled and showed his teeth and barked angrily at Rob and I both, and then later at our friends who came over. Needless to say, we were reluctant to let him out of his bed/crate, as prior to all this he had been friendly and very calm.

On Saturday morning, I was about ready to take Hunter back. We took down his crate and were getting ready to put him in the car when I realized he needed one more chance. Rob and I both sat down with him and petted him and talked in nice voices a lot and he seemed to warm up to us again. He was on probation all day yesterday and did very well with it. Needless to say, he is still here and we are both starting to get attached :)

It took us almost an hour and a half (and a lot of treats) to get him back in the crate yesterday afternoon so we could go to the grocery store and when we came back he was calm and happy to go out for a walk. He went in his bed right away last night and even whimpered for us, sad that we had gone to bed. This morning, I let him out by myself and he was in good spirits again. We are thinking it was a fear-based aggression, and as he is realizing that we aren't out to hurt him, he is calm and loving.

We have been going for lots of walks and when I have the leash Hunter sometimes is walking me! He encroaches on my side of the sidewalk and pulls on the leash a lot at first, but as the walk continues and he gets tired, he does a much better job at staying by my side.

It's been chilly these past few days when we have been out walking...a few big puddles of standing water even froze over during the nights! Typically, after our walks, Hunter lays on the tile in the kitchen, in the sun, while we cook breakfast or dinner (since he's been walking twice a day). He chews like crazy on his rawhide bone, but nothing else in the house so far (knock on wood). He did get at a little bit of the sweet bread on the counter, but we've been watching him closely and the only human food he's allowed is peanut butter when he goes into his crate.

We will keep you posted on Hunter as time goes on. Rob and I are both a little nervous about the beginning of this week as we transition back into our work routines and he has to stay in his crate for a longer period of time during the day, but hope it doesn't upset him too much.

We hope 2011 is off to a fantastic start for you all! Love, Sarah, Rob and Hunter