Be Our Guest

What does company mean at your house?

via

Chris and I are learning that, at our house, company means frantic cleaning -- also lots of cooking, but MOST IMPORTANTLY IMMENSE Cleaning!

Well, we had friends over on Saturday for lunch (Saturday morning was spent frantically cleaning...) and the house really hasn't gotten very bad from Saturday til now.

So, last night, in addition to lots of cooking, I FINALLY put pictures of US in the new frames we got as wedding presents.  The frames have been on our walls for about a month, but I hadn't filled them with pictures of us yet.  In fairness to me, I also got several pictures in the mail today from our wedding photographer, so that certainly helped my incentive to decorate.

Before
Well, I looked for any pictures I might have snapped of my walls "Before" and I have absolutely NONE!  So, basically imagine almost every one of these pictures filled with smiling pictures of people Chris and I have never seen.

AFTER

The corner of our kitchen -- one of my favorite walls

Another wall in the kitchen

One of these pictures is not us... but yesterday only one
of the pictures on the wall WAS us, so I'm pleased

A closer look at one of the frames from above

Friends of ours framed the article in the paper about our
running the race on our wedding day

Chris' school has a Food Club that meets about once a month and this month (today) they are meeting at OUR HOUSE!  We're really excited to host and to have our house put together enough that we can comfortably host a group like this.  The theme is Indian food, so depending on how hot everything is, I might be making a sandwich when everyone leaves?

What do you do when company is on the way?

P.S.  Today, Chris and I have been married 4 months, and our Lloyd is 4 months old!  YAY!

Big Week Ahead

Chris and I have a big week ahead -- I'm excited and a little tired just typing about it.

Before I write about my big week, I'm realizing that my blog has NOT updated on ANYONE ELSE'S blogs for the past two months.  That means, while I'm typing away EVERY DAY of October, these blog authors are not seeing that there is a new post for them to check out.  I have examined my Site Feed settings and posted to Blogger Help... but if anyone has any ideas as to how I can fix this, PLEASE offer your suggestions.

In addition to a full work week (which is nothing abnormal, just the usual amount of endurance needed) our week will include the following:

Monday -- Cooking and baking for our food club, Attending a Zumba class I've been invited to attend with a few of Chris' female colleagues

Tuesday -- Dropping my work car off for a problem that is STILL not fixed after they had my car the entire time I was off hunting; My first adventure in teaching Ultimate Frisbee to a small group of middle schoolers who have signed up for an after-school Ultimate Frisbee class (prayers appreciated for this endeavor); Food Club eats Indian Food at OUR HOUSE -- we don't have a table large enough to everyone and we don't want to split into two rooms, so we're going to put two tables together -- they're almost the same height.

Wednesday -- This night is looking disturbingly free... give it time

Thursday -- A veterinary appointment for Lloyd

Friday -- Another Zumba class (assuming I survive the first one) and recovering from the week

** Each of these afternoons are made more complicated by the responsibilities of a lab puppy, an agitated and anxious kitty, and a hubby working like crazy on graduate school work **

This week is going to fly by, and I can't believe this is the last week of October and we're four weeks from Thanksgiving -- well, Thanksgiving week.  I guess, as a teacher, I should specify, four weeks form Thanksgiving break.

Chris and I are hosting Thanksgiving for our families this year (my parents, his parents and at least his brother -- possibly more people as well) and so all of this entertaining (and cooking) is very good practice.  We are also praying about buying a dining room table and a queen-sized bed for our guest room before the family arrives.  One month left to get this done.

What's on the docket for your week?

As of Late: October

I love October and I am sad that it is 3/4 of the way through... but it has been a great month, so that makes it easier.

I am a little late for this months "As of Late" (which occurs on the third Thursday of the month) but Christy lets people link up for an entire week, so I'm taking advantage of the grace period.  You still have a few more days to link up, so please do.


 

• Lately, I have become a mom of two animals (up from one).  Chris and I got a black lab puppy last weekend.  We are now a family of four.

We've learned that Lloyd will look at the
camera if the photographer barks

• Lately, Chris and I are learning how we operate as parents of a puppy and how we work together to take care of our family and handle change in our household.  Basically, Chris and Lloyd take change in stride -- Lexie and I require time to adjust.

Lexie has been in high places watching Lloyd
since he arrived

 

• Lately, I am a crazy, chaotic, tired new mother of two.  I know two children will be more work -- but I'm having a hard time imagining that.  Lexie and I have our relationship and our routine.  Now Lloyd is in our house and he needs a relationship and a routine.  I am competing with the energy of the puppy and trying to meet the needs of a three-year-old kitty who's world has just changed drastically and I feel like I'm doing neither well.  I'm having my closest experience to motherhood yet.  One day last week, I was worried that Lloyd needed to get outside ASAP, so I rushed home at lunch to let him out -- so frantic was I to let him out that I left the door open, forgetting that we have a cat who is not allowed to go outside and loves to take advantage of an open door.  I am sure this is just the beginning of my frantic momma-moments.

Successfully out of the house -- hopefully
I remembered to close the door behind me

• Lately, Chris and I are fascinated by ongoing tumult of the relationship between Lexie and Lloyd.  Originally Lexie chased Lloyd... now Lloyd chases Lexie... we really expect Lexie to rule the roost, but its a fun dynamic to observe these days.

• Lately, Chris and I have been entertaining at our little Rifle home.  We had friends over for dinner a few weeks ago, friends over for lunch this weekend, and our "food club" is meeting at our house this month on Tuesday.  Entertaining is fun and I love that it helps us to keep our house cleaner.

My old roommates came to visit for lunch,
some fall fun and to meet Lloyd

• Lately, Chris and I are in sports HEAVEN as the Cardinals are in the World Series and College Football is in full swing!
• Lately, I've been blogging EVERYDAY and its been a lot of fun.  It has also been a nice routine in a world of change.  :-D
• Lately, I've been convinced that October will be the month I get back in the swing of a regular exercise routine.  I had one really good week, and then the week preparing for hunting and the week of hunting were not as good... and now I have one more week of October to get back to it.  I need to start doing my exercise in the morning... I just am NOT a natural morning person.  I'm currently using Beachbody's Slim in Six.  Right now, Beachbody is having a special where you can get Beachbody's Slim in Six (Slim body in Six weeks) AND a first order of Shakeology (an amazing meal supplement) for one great price.  Chris and I each drink Shakeology nearly every day.  Check it out at my Beachbody website and contact me with your questions.

• Lately, I've become a hunter.  An unsuccessful hunter, but a hunter nonetheless.  Check out my Lessons of a Hunter for reflections from the trip.

Watch out, Elk... oh wait... watch out next year!

• Lately, I've been finding comfort in praying for things outside of my control.  Most of my praying happens on my work travels, which also helps keep me awake in the car.
• Lately, I've been loving my new online creative outlet Pinterest.  Everything from cute pictures to great ideas, this is the place to go.
• Lately (and always), I love the look of my husband's left hand doing different things... I love seeing his wedding band on his hand in any activity.

If I Ran the Circus...

... my house probably would not look much different than it does right now.

I had a high school government teacher, Mr. Morrell, who used to say, "Dogs and Cats living together, mass hysteria" about a chaotic situation.

He must have been speaking of the experience of recently introducing a new puppy to a three-year-old kitty.

Lessons of the Hunter

Hunters are a breed all their own, which I learned when my husband tried to teach me the basics thereof this past weekend.

Should this be our Christmas card picture?

All in all it was a great time with my hubby, his dad, his brother and his brother's friend.  I feel like it was a valuable experience to have with Chris (my hubby) because I feel like we learned more about each other in the process.  Below are various Lessons of the Hunter that I never would have experienced without the patience and insistence of my hubby.

Chris (Hubby), Nate (Nick's friend), Dad Miller, Brother Nick
The Eternal Optimists

• Hunters get up REALLY early!  These are men that often LOVE to sleep in.  These are men that in any other situation will sleep until noon or later... they get up, dressed, traveled to the woods, and in position before dawn.  Actually, before pre-dawn.
• Hunting in Colorado spans from 1/2 hour before sunrise until 1/2 hour after sunset.  It is really hard to see 1/2 hour before sunrise, but its amazing how quickly light fills the sky in that 1/2 an hour.  It really is a beautiful time of day.
• It is also a COLD time of day.  Hunters are CRAZY!  Hunters happily sit in very frigid temperatures many mornings in a row.  I get cold now just from the memories.

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is love in action!

• Hunters are a unique breed that requires an element of delusion.  Let's take the men with which I was hunting this past weekend.  This group has been hunting 4 seasons in this one location with between 4-5 hunters every year.  One man has gotten an elk, two seasons.  So this group approximately 2/18.  Most of the hunters have never SEEN an elk during their time hunting (on the highway on the way to and from hunting, yes, but never during the actual season).  Nevertheless, these men are sincerely CONVINCED each and every year, that not only a couple of them, but ALL of them will get an elk that year.

Here's the group toasting the elk we are getting...
before we get one

• Between the weather, the temperature, and the lack of elk seen by the rest of our party, I really got discouraged by the process; after all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting a different result.  Yet we did the same thing every day and every day all the men expected a different result.  They expected, anticipated, BELIEVED we would each come home with an elk.

The third morning we got 2" of snow in 1/2 an hour
(Picture taken on Chris' truck's tailgate)

• I'm not sure how I would do in a survival situation.  Mentally, I don't know if I can keep the hope enough to survive... because in the elk situation, I was not the most hopeful.

"I don't know how much more of this fun I can take!"

• Female elk are called Cows and male elk are called Bulls.  You definitely need to know the difference if you are going to go elk hunting.  You also need to be able to tell the different between elk and deer (or moose).  You can only hunt what you have a license to hunt.  Every member of our group had a Cow Tag (license to hunt a female, cow elk).
• Speaking of a hunting license, IT IS IMPORTANT TO BRING IT WITH YOU!!!!  This I learned the hard way.  I brought warm clothes, boots, a book for the downtime, heck, I even brought mashed potatoes and bbq pulled pork -- but I did not remember to bring my hunting license.  This is a mistake I will not make again.

We had quite a bit of smoke when I baked
the mashed potatoes... turned out, I didn't
have to worry about the smoke detector
going off.

• Every hunter is a great story teller and every hunt comes with a great story.  Usually, it is a story about the one (or the several) that got away.  I almost feel like its a right of passage, because, even I, after this trip, am coming away with stories about the ones we "could have had... if (enter excuse)."

I don't have an elk in my sights... but I'm ready if one comes by

 Now, to be fair, Chris and I did see elk during the weekend -- we were the ONLY ones of the group to see elk throughout the weekend.  Every member of the group had a cow tag We came within 20 yards of two elk -- one spike (so a year-old bull who cannot be killed, even if we had had a bull tag as he was to young) and a cow.  Chris and I both had a great shot at the young bull (again, we couldn't hunt him), but the cow was in heavy foliage when we had a chance to get her.  Later that afternoon, we came within 30 yards of a BIG BULL.  Chris had the bull in his sights 3 times before he wandered away... of course we had a cow tag, so we could not get this bull.

So, of the three elk we saw, we could have gotten two of them but they were the two we couldn't get.  If Chris or I had had a Bull tag, we could have had a beautiful Bull... but alas, instead this is another infamous story of the ones that got away.

Every hunter in this pictures has an "it got away" story --
and they're all true

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed... at 4:30am

All in all, hunting was a great experience but the Lord did not provide an elk for us to bring home in this particular hunt.  The Lord did provide an amazing puppy for us to bring home and we are grateful.

Lloyd loves his Michigan blanket and we LOVE him!

Our New Family

We have a new family these days and we are all adjusting to what that means.

Lexie and Lloyd met Tuesday afternoon and Chris and I both had a non-work day on Wednesday (to recover from our hunting days -- more about the hunting experience to come) and also to make sure our animals were going to be okay.

Lexie likes to sit right by the door...
They were both surprised to be nose-to-nose
when the door opened

I see him...

Lexie has been kept a constant eye on Lloyd ever since
he walked through the door

Lexie and Lloyd are not doing too badly... they are certainly learning about each other and pulling rank.  Lexie chases Lloyd more often than he chases her... and its not really a game yet.  Chris and I go between telling them to calm down, letting then figure things out themselves and thinking the interactions are really funny.  In the below video, its very amateur filming, but it captures the interactions.  I am on the bed, and Lexie is under the bed, and Lloyd is prancing around the bed trying to "play" with Lexie.  Please ignore our overflowing laundry basket as we just returned from hunting...



Lloyd is such a joy to us and he really is a dog, hand-picked by God for us.  He is small and he hardly barks at all.  I think I list on one hand the number of times I've heard him bark since we got him.  We fell in love with him in the first few minutes of meeting him... and then we found out how completely perfect he is for us... his birthday is June 25, 2011 -- Chris and my wedding day.  Lloyd is my wedding present and he was born on our wedding day!

Lloyd Carr Miller -- cutest puppy on earth!

The frisbee is roughly 4 times as large as his head

Lloyd LOVES to retrieve.  Check out our footage of his jumping off our deck -- sort of like a dock, but without the water.  You should see all the bloopers of this shot (maybe I'll share them later this week...)

Welcome to our family, Lloyd

First meeting of big sister and little brother

I learned its kind of hard to snap a picture of
a puppy and yourself...

Dream Wedding: The Sand

Chris and I did not want to light a unification candle at our wedding.

I love the symbolism of two lives coming together, but something I have never understood is that one candle can light another... so you don't actually need both candles to light the Unity Candle.  In addition -- it gets blown out at the end of the ceremony.  Then, even if you take the candle home, it sits on your mantle, not lit.  Or, maybe you light it once a year on your anniversary... and eventually it burns down to nothing.  The symbolism is beautiful, but consumable.  Our unification is not consumable.

When I mentioned to Chris and I liked the idea of combining sand during some special music during our wedding, he loved the idea and took it a step farther.  He said that sand was perfect and he thought that every person who came to our wedding should contribute some sand to each of our pitchers, to represent their impact on our lives, and then we unite the sand during the ceremony.

My initials thoughts were to ask my husband-to-be if he was crazy.  Tiny pitchers of sand in the back of the church that 200 people would carefully pour into a different little pitcher... it sounded to me like a recipe for disaster.

The compromise came when I thought of two friends that I trusted to guard the tables, pass out programs and graciously explain to guests what they should be doing with the sand.  The result was a very unique, beautiful representation of our lives coming together.

 

These women are the amazing friends who greeted guests,
dispensed programs and guarded the sand!

 

The sand was brought forward by our ushers
with the communion elements

The special music in our wedding was AMAZING
and that is for another post

The result is a beautiful sand combination that sits in our family room.  My hubby has the best ideas, and I have the most amazing friends to make them happen.