Update

I've been told by a few faithful followers that I haven't updated my blog lately. My response was we haven't been doing much. Today, I walked around the house searching for clues that we have been somewhat productive.

Besides going to work and doing the daily boring things, I guess we've done some other things along the way.

1. I am becoming more of a Michiganian every week! I finally got my MI driver's license, had my name and address changed on my Visa (very important), and PASSED my Michigan teacher's test. Yes, folks, I can now legally teach in MI. :) I had nightmares about failing for weeks and getting fired, but I passed. :)

2. A couple weeks ago I went home for the weekend. It was my first weekend away from Steve since we were married. I had a blast w/ the Retherfords and Rausches on Friday night making Lyre Lather (green cleaning products).

Then, on Saturday, Kar and I went fabric shopping, and I headed to New Castle for a little basketball fix. First, we went to see my 5 year old cousin play, and, then, we headed to the High School for another game.

3. Moose has been getting bigger and more mischevious. He can now EASILY reach most tables and desks. He can even stick his head in the washer...SCARY! He gets a bath every Sunday. I know, most people think I am crazy, but he's a big dog and gets very smelly by the end of the week. He's actually really good in the bath tub. He's been getting a weekly bath since we got him so I guess he's just used to it. A few weeks ago, he realized he could see himself in the bathroom mirror. I had to get a picture of it.

He's 6 1/2 months now. I'm guessing he's about 95 pounds. He doesn't seem to be gaining as fast, but maybe it's just because he's so big now.

4. For months we had at least a foot or two of snow pretty much everywhere. Then, along with the rest of the midwest, it all melted in a couple 50 degree days. Moose was NOT happy. He loves to play in the snow, and even refused to "go" on the grass for a few days. Luckily, the snow came back on Valentine's day morning. We have about 4 inches on the ground. Just enough for Moose to play in.

The only good thing about the snow melting was that he found some of his bones he had lost in the piles.

5. Steve has been really busy since Christmas working out in the yard. After he got his chainsaw for Christmas, he went crazy cutting down dead trees in our yard, but then the snow fell and covered them. Friday, he spent the day cutting up the trees and splitting wood before the snow came again. Check out our wood pile!

I never thought I would be so excited about a wood pile, but now I look at it and see our gas bill going down.

6. We have tomatoes in our Aerogrow! I don't like tomatoes, but it's exciting to see them grow. Steve eat's them right off the plant....ewww!

7. I've been sewing more. A week or so ago, I made this cute scarf with some fat quarters that Kar and I picked out when we went fabric shopping. I cut up a cheap fleece blanket for the back and made some cute fabric covered buttons for each end.

Then, a couple days ago we had Woods' family craft night with the girls and Steve's aunt taught us how to make these cute mittens out of "felted" sweaters and fleece.

8. Yesterday was our first Valentine's day as a married couple. Steve started v-day a bit early by sending me pink tulips (my favorite) to work on Thursday. Saturday morning, he got up early and picked up Louie's doughnuts and Biggby coffee (our usual) while I slept. When he went outside to work, I got busy and made my first attempt at his favorite, red velvet cake with wonder icing (his aunt's recipe).

While the cake was baking, I made his v-day gift, the other boxing glove I was promising. For weeks he was asking me to sew him a boxing glove so he and Moose could "box." Finally, I did, but I only made one. So, after seeing how much he and Moose liked the glove, I promised to make him another for v-day so he could have a set. I even personalized the 2nd one with some Michigan State stuff.

Moosie and Us

So I just finished "reading" Marley and Me. I put quotes around reading because I am pretty sure I just saw parts of the last chapter or two through tears and inferred the rest. Around here, it takes to long for a movie to come to town so I finally just bit the bullet and bought the book.

Obviously, I LOVE my dog, but it really did give me a new respect for the big guy. He's not so bad after all.

Moose turned 6 months old yesterday. He's a whopping 85pounds-ish (it's hard to get him on the scale). He continues to grow at a rapid rate but his eating and playing have begun to slow down. I'm sure all of the growing really wears a big puppy out. He sleeps until 4, naps and plays until 8 and is back down for the rest of the night! I hope we have this much luck when we have children!

Check him out!

Soon, he'll be taller than me! (Pay no attention to the dorky pj's)

Moose is one of the funniest dogs ever. We laugh at him on a daily basis. He's gaining about 5lbs a week. That means he has no time to get used to his size before he gets even bigger. He's constantly tripping, bumping into things, and falling, but the funniest part is watching him try to get comfortable on the couch. He LOVES lounging on the couch with us, but lately, he just hasn't been able to do it.

Here, Steve tryed to help him off the couch to go to bed, but he was too tired to move. So, he just stayed like this for a bit.

He fits!...well...all but a leg fits.

This works for him! :)

This didn't work for me.

During one of our snow days, I made Moose this bed. He loves it. He would love it more if I would make one big enough for all three of us to cuddle up on. If he can't get comfortable on the couch, his bed is his next choice. Isn't he a cutie!? Look at those awesome paws!

Moose Update

I just realized how mean Moose looks in the picture I posted earlier of his collar. Really, he's a sweet dog, but I caught him while he was playing with Steve. They play a bit rough.

Every time I post new pictures, I always see the puppy pictures of Moose from September like this:

Luckily, he doesn't have a cone head any more, and he's growing into those paws, but he also weighs 50 pounds more. Here's what he looked like a month ago:

Here he is now:

I love watching him grow up, but I must admit I am ready for him to be full grown. The way I look at it, he's already a big dog (70+ lbs) so why not have a BIG dog?

He is SO smart (in some ways....he's still a puppy). He learned to sit, shake, and lay down very early. Now, he can jump up to put his front paws on my arm while I am standing, spin, and take a bow (so cute).

Sometimes, we don't remember that he is only a 5 month old pup because he's so big, but he certainly reminds us when he starts doing laps around the room and pulling all of his toys out of the basket, but mostly he likes to sleep on the couch (that's my kind of dog!).

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

For Christmas, I asked for a sewing machine. I mostly asked for it because I was so impressed with all of the cute stuff Karla was making. Steve continued to tell me I wasn't going to get a sewing machine because I would never use it. HA!

I got a sewing machine!

Then, I got real nervous because I don't/didn't know hot to sew. HA!

I figured it out!

First, I made Steve some not-so-fancy curtains/panels to cover the windows in the garage and basement. I had to...he bought me the sewing machine. I'm sure one day I will look at them in disgust at how bad they are and make new ones. :)

Then, Steve gave me a pair of jeans he was going to throw away and we made some new toys for Moose. He didn't really care about them at first (he was tired), but now he's a fan.

This morning, I decided to make something for me...a coffee coolie! Then, I made Steve one!

I made a collar cover for Moose. I snapped it on real quick while he was playing outside. He doesn't nomally wear 3 collars. He wears 1 all the time and his shock collar while he's outside. I have the third so I decided to make a cool Michigan State cover for it. He can wear it on game days because Steve refuses to let me dress him up.

My next plan is to make a bed for Moose that fits in his giant crate. I'm waiting (praying) for a snow day.

Happy New Year!

Last night, we hosted our first New Years Eve party. It was quite a success. Since Moose just had his surgery (yeah, THAT surgery), we weren't sure how he would do. He loves it when people come over, but since the party started past his bedtime, he chose to just find a place on the couch and snooze. As he gets older, we are beginning to learn that Great Danes really are GIANT couch potatoes.

We had lots of fun eating (wings and fries...yum), drinking, and playing games with our Marshall friends.

After cleaning up this morning, the day looked like this...

Happy New Year to everyone! I'm not sure how 2009 can top 2008 (Steve's graduation, moving, new jobs, wedding, new house, Moose), but I am excited to find out what is to come.

Holiday Hustle and Bustle

I feel a bit guilty about not blogging, but then again, I don't. We've been so busy with the holidays that blogging just hasn't been a priority. I am sure most of you would agree!

Today I found the time and energy to blog because today is my first Michigan snow day! That means I will have 11 days off for Christmas break instead of 10. Soooooooo nice! In Carrollton, snow days were lots of fun because I could sleep in, and by 10 the snow would be nearly melted so I could go shopping and be out and about. Here, it's snowing 1 inch an hour. We have about 5 or 6 now on top of the 5 from the other day, and it just keeps coming!

I'm pretty proud of myself. I resisted the temptation to sleep all afternoon and woke up and made my husband waffles. After he left for work, I did take a 45 minute nap but woke up and played with Moose and gave him a bath. I also took out the trash, cleaned the bathroom, packed up Steve's clothes, and I am in the process of making cookies.

Every snow day I have the urge to bake. Because of this, I always stock up on baking supplies when I know the snow days are coming. Today, I went traditional and made the plain ol' chocolate chip cookies using the recipe from the back of the bag. I figure I will take some to my dad tonight.

We're heading to New Castle for Christmas as soon as Steve gets home from work. Of course, I am not ready, but I have a few hours. Moose is coming with us as well as his giant crate. He's so big he's a bit of a burdon, but he's so sweet and fun I couldn't leave him at home. We're really lucky my parents like him and are ok with having our "bull" in their "china shop."

We're staying 2 nights in New Castle and then going to Betsy and Kyle's to have Christmas with Bets, Kyle, Owen, Kar, and Justin. I'm really excited about the menu betsy e-mailed me! She's awesome. Moose will get to meet Linus as well. It should be interesting! A BIG black dog with a LITTLE white dog. :)

Christmas cards have been sent, packages are wrapped, bracelets and bookmarks have been made, and dog bones are now (white) chocolate covered.

It's time to celebrate the holidays! :) Merry Christmas!

(Here is our Christmas card this year. My talented husband drew it for me.)

1/2 Year Anniversary!

Today is our 1/2 year anniversary! It's hard to believe 6 months ago we were married. Since then, we've moved into an apartment, moved out of an apartment, moved into a new house, started 2 new jobs, bought a dog, and started to celebrate our first holiday season. We're having so much fun!

Friday, Steve and I headed to the tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was 18 degrees outside. We had the tree picked out, shaken, wrapped, and loaded in 10 minutes. Now, we realize maybe we should have looked it over a little better. It's pretty dry and will look like Charlie Brown's tree by Christmas....oh well!

Last night, we went to Steve's company Christmas party. It was a very fancy occasion with great food. It was nice to meet all of the "characters" that are in Steve's work stories.

Over the weekend, it has snowed quite a bit. I had to take a picture of "White Fang" in the snow for Karla. When Justin and Karla came to visit, Kar panicked for a second because she thought the husky in our backyard was a wolf. Since then, he has been referred to as White Fang. Now, in the snow, he looks even more wolflike.

Moose got his first Christmas present this week. I bought him a new collar for Christmas, and I was trying to save it for Christmas morning. I know, I know, dogs don't know it's Christmas, but, anyway, I had to give it to him early. He has grown out of his "medium" collar that he wore as a new puppy. Now, he's wearing a "large." Hopefully, that will last him a while.

Since today is our anniversary, I decided to make Steve his favorite cookies. The recipe is from a cookie cookbook by Betty Crocker (or her people...is Betty alive?) that Betsy got us for a wedding shower gift.

Giant Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c butter or margarine, softened

1/2 c shortening

1/4 c honey

1 egg

2 c flour

1t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 package semisweet choc chips

1 package almond brickle chips (Heath)

Heat oven to 350.

Beat brown sugar, butter, shortening, honey and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and heath chips.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Enjoy! :)