How do you make a smart dog go dumb?

I have a problem right now. My problem revolves around this...

My angel. I literally wept buckets when I gave her to someone else shortly after she came into my life. Thankfully, the other family wasn't able to keep her and my husband gave me one of his greatest gifts; the opportunity to take care of this precious animal. I love Athena to the point of distraction. I am willing to bend rules for her that I never bend for Mya. I let her lay on the couch with me, put her in my lap and cradle her like a baby, and am absolutely responsible for the spoiled brat that she is. That however, is not my problem.

Somehow, my 27-pound darling has figured out how to jump over the six foot fence in the backyard. I do not know if this is a result of the fact that she spends way too much time in the backyard, a fact that I freely (and shamefully) admit, or if she requires greater social stimulation than she is receiving, or maybe she has decided that she doesn't love me anymore and would rather belong to another family. All these possibilities sadden me.

The problem started when Nik and I first moved into our home. We put in a dog run due to the fact that our mutants are ridiculously strong and have the capability to destroy the backyard without breaking a sweat. The only issue at the time was Athena is so skinny she was able to slide in between the wrought iron posts. She started by squeezing out everyday after we left for work. Then she graduated to trying to escape the backyard completely. She figured out how to open our latch gate. Yes, you read correctly. My dog can open gates. This is a problem on many levels. First, she can get out of our backyard and into the neighborhood. Second, she scratches at the post until the latch springs open and thus destroys the wood post. Third, she finds an easier and faster way of opening it each time and therefore requires less and less time for her escape.

When my parents came to visit my father provided what ended up as a temporary solution, putting chicken wire around the fence so that she couldn't squeeze through the openings. Well, my little boo boo solved that problem by eating through the chicken wire. Naturally. So, we wired it shut again. I thought the world was back to normal. Then the ultimate happened.

Athena realized that by climbing on top of her dog house, she could then jump over the fence and escape the confines of her pen. This was rather annoying, especially since she made her great escape when I was in the middle of a facial. Luck was in my corner, the women who found her were very nice and more than happy to hang onto her until I made my way home. Once I picked her up I went to investigate the backyard and made the decision to pull the dog house away from the fence. Problem solved, right.

Wrong. By the next day, she was jumping over the fence without the assistance of the dog house. She was kind enough to do this while mommy was visiting daddy in Northern California. My poor friend Kristin had to drive across town, put her back in the backyard, twice, because escaping wasn't good enough once. Finally, we asked Nik's grandmother to come and pick the dogs up and hold onto them until I came back into town. Does she try and escape Oma's backyard the rest of the weekend? Of course not. My child loves her grandmother more than me, just like most children do. Now, I have to find a way of keeping my animals in my backyard without the possibility of escape.

I do have one very large plus on my side. Thankfully, the neighborhood knows and loves Athena almost as much as I do. She races up to every new person she meets and immediately falls onto her back, exposing her belly. People LOVE her. They don't want to give her back. She's the kind of dog you find on the street and don't bother trying to locate the owner. In this case, me. I don't like the idea of her bothering the people who live in my neighborhood, but my greatest fear is that one day someone will just drive off with her and won't bother to call my cell phone number located around her neck. The thought literally horrifies me.

So now I find myself in a dilemma. What do I do? My little brat is obviously brilliant, so how do I make her dumb? Do I fatten her up? Do I put in electrical fencing? All three? My brain then poses a more frightening question.

What I do if I have children that are smarter than me?

Back in the Blogging Saddle

My life has been a wee bit overwhelming the last few months. With the much anticipated cruise taking place, Nik leaving again for training, my family coming to visit, grant season in full swing, and tax season upon us I have definitely been lacking in a couple areas. Now that I am by myself with my four favorite animals, calmed down from the emotional upheaval of the cruise, FINALLY provided our CPA with all of our tax documents, and gotten over the hump of my grant filled weekend I can share some of my adventures. Let's start with the cruise.

I had every intention of blogging about the cruise while actually on the cruise, but honestly... the combination of the outrageously high prices for internet use and the constant occurrence of glitches in our vacation did not motivate me to share the experience with my favorite people immediately. My honeymoon was a combination of incredible life altering experiences and traumatizing road blocks. I honestly can say that if not for my incredible husband I may not have come home a sane individual. As it was, I spent most of the flight home from Boston crying and trying to sleep away my misery. I only have myself to blame.

When I first found the cruise online at Orbitz back in June of 2009, I saw the list of ports and immediately began fantasizing about how perfect the trip would be. What's not to dream about? Greece, Italy, Egypt, Malta... these are some pretty incredible places to experience. Not just the beauty, though don't get me wrong I saw some of the most exquisite sights of my life, but the history was what really fascinated me and ultimately changed Nik's mind about purchasing the tickets. Originally, Nik was a little hesitant about the trip due to the length of time and a few other aspects. Because he loves me and desperately wanted to give me the honeymoon of my dreams, he let me convince him to go. From that point on I filled my head with romantic visions of all the events that were going to take place. Bad bad idea, Brittney.

I have daily logs on what took place each day and I will upload those entries along with pictures over the next few weeks, but here is a brief on some of the events that occurred...

Flights from LA to Barcelona on British Airways, best flight ever!
Barcelona- beautiful surprise, this country is gorgeous!
Rome- remarkable history, breath-taking sights, freezing cold, lots of rain
Athens- cancelled due to strikes, my heart literally broke
Sicily- replaced Athens, pretty, good wine, nice people
Izmir- missed shore excursions and didn't see to much of the city
Egypt- incredible and remarkable history, changed my view of poverty, stray kittens everywhere!
Malta- best hidden secret in the world, magical
Trip home- British Airways went on strike, our flights got cancelled, tried to reschedule, had to buy new tickets, luggage was lost, arrived home at 4 am.

Definitely different from my prior trips abroad, but then this is the first time I travelled to multiple locations during one vacation. It was an experience, a very memorable one. I learned a tremendous amount and have a new found respect for a variety of cultures. I appreciate my husband in new ways now. He never once let me down, his support was literally unshakable.

My parents trip to Fresno was wonderful. I am always so grateful when they arrange their schedules to accommodate Nik and I. We are saddened by how little time we have to spend with them and pray that one day soon we will be much closer in proximity. It was wonderful spending actual time with them. I realized that it has been almost two years since I spent more than 48 hours with my parents, that thought makes me heart sick. There is always something going on when we get together: a wedding to plan, a house to paint and decorate, two days to celebrate Christmas, etc. It was lovely to cook for them, walk the dogs with them, and just lounge around and discuss the many wonders of the world. This is time that I desperately need with my parents. I rely on it heavily.

Training is back in full swing for Nik, but not for much longer. By the end of May he will have met all his requirements and will be out doing what he does best. Establishing justice. I know neither one of us can wait for him to be home, it will a happy day when the goodbyes are less frequent.

To close up this post, my major time consumer as of late. Work. Work is kicking my butt right now. Grant season is an extremely hectic time of the year. This is my first season and my initiation was neither slow or easy. I was thrust into the responsibility and forced to learn quickly. The experience is incredibly valuable and is providing options to move into administration. I enjoy expanding my knowledge and look forward to the possibilities that open up.

That's about it, my life over the last two months in a post. I will continue to update on the cruise and post pictures of the exotic places I saw. It certainly provides entertainment.

Vacation Badly Needed!

In honor of the cruise the hubby and I are about to go on, I decided to change the background to something more Mediterranean. I know one of my goals in my attempt to slow down and enjoy life was to stop all the countdown's, but really... not getting excited about a Mediterranean cruise that is less than three weeks away? Not gonna happen, people. Truth be told I do not know the exact number of days until we leave, I did uphold my promise in that respect. However, I did graduate from college and I am capable of subtraction, so I can determine the approximate number of weeks left. Sue me.

Life has been so incredibly busy for the last couple of months that the date didn't truly register until recently. My mother being the incredible woman that she is was kind enough to purchase a gorgeous leather sling backpack to take on the cruise next month. Once that backpack arrived, all ignorance of time and place vanished. I knew my time for relaxation was near. Now I can't seem to think of anything BUT this trip. I can't wait to wear the beautiful backpack my Mama found. I can't wait to take that backpack on a ride on a Vespa around Rome, I know... every romantic woman's dream! I can't wait to visit the country that captivated my intrigue through polytheistic belief. Greece. Ahh, Greece. Homer. Athena. The Olympics. Wine. I can feel my heart go pitter patter.

The adventures I am looking forward to are plentiful and so close for the grabbing! I pray that the next three weeks, approximately, go very very fast.

The Love of My Life

I was sitting in my office the other day thinking back over the last three years of my life since Nik came into the picture. Prior to meeting the man who stole my heart I had big plans, plans that included moving to a foreign country and living my life as an independent rather than as part of a unit. Well... I guess we all know that never happened. What I didn't know was that taking a chance on a man that I met one night and then didn't see again for five months would be the best decision of my life.

Looking back at that time, I don't think many of our friends and family thought we were sane. The decision to commit to a man who was leaving for five months to protect our country some-odd 4000 miles away didn't seem difficult at the time. To be honest, it wasn't a difficult decision at all. I know that many of my friends and family were concerned about the intensity of my feelings that seemed to erupt out of the very pores from my body, but I had complete faith in how the situation would turn out. I would not have called my mother to tell her I met the man I was going to marry after knowing him for 24 hours otherwise.

When I go back in time and look at the way everything turned out I realize how lucky we were. Our love story could have turned out much differently than it did, but to be honest I think that our story is a success because of the time we were forced to spend apart. Many months of emailing, instant messaging and rushed phone calls between Arizona and Iraq gave us the opportunity we needed to trust and get to know one another. It was the foundation that led to the amazing communication we now have in our marriage. The communication that has saved us from many a disagreement as a newly wed couple, a military couple and now a law enforcement couple.

Nik was an absolute master at wooing me during those two weeks we had to correspond prior to his deployment. The beauty of his wooing was that he wasn't deliberately trying to do so. He was honest, sincere, genuine and blunt. For those of you who have the privilege of knowing my husband, you know that Nik has little trouble saying exactly what is on his mind. Exactly as he is thinking it. With absolutely no filter. This works very well for me. It's true, I loved the fact that he took the time to send me my favorite flowers, despite the ridiculous price that goes along with those flowers, before he boarded his jet plane. But what really did it for me was the late night phone calls that seemed to last for hours, the Q and A sessions where I learned so much about his true feelings about the world and the emails that always came so close to professing undying love, but were caged because we wanted to share our feelings in person rather than over electronic communication.

I have absolutely no doubt that I loved Nik with every ounce of my being when I married him. What I didn't know then was that I would love him more with every minute that passed. The love that I feel for him now astounds me and I can't even fathom how much more I will love him in ten years, I only know that I will.

Here is how I know...

He dances with me even though he absolutely despises dancing

When he smiles he lights up everything inside me

He's the only man my father trusts to take care of daddy's little girl

He makes even a 6'3 female feel dainty, petite and feminine


He looks me right in the eyes when he tells me that he loves me

He supports my profession even if he doesn't understand it

He makes me heart go pitter patter when he showers me with romance

He is willing to stand with me as I attempt to conquer the world

He doesn't care who knows how much he loves me

He never fails to make me smile and often makes me giggle at his silliness

Our friends and family support and encourage our love

He is going to be the world's greatest father

My friends think he is good enough for me

I am so grateful for what Nik has given me, I only hope I give him just as much. Not one day goes by that I am not thankful for him and our marriage. I can't wait to see what the rest of our lives look like together.

Pictures of the house... FINALLY!

I promised pictures of the house over a month ago, okay probably closer to three months now, so I am sorry for taking so long. Camera's and I are officially on the outs. The beautiful camera that my wonderful darling purchased to replace the last camera I lost is now gone itself. I have requested that another NOT be purchased to replace my latest brain fart. This is the third camera I have gone through in the last five years! I am desperately hoping that someone stole our most recent camera, it would do a lot for my self-esteem. It just makes zero sense to me that I have never lost a cell phone, my purse or wallet, keys or any other important item, but I cannot keep my hands on a camera. So not cool.

The house is coming along beautifully! Sometimes I find myself looking around my home wondering how it can possibly be mine. I am only 25 years old, how did I get here? It amazes me. Nik and I have worked very hard, but we have also had tremendous help and support from our family. If it had not been for all of their generosity, we would not be were we are. They are as much to credit as Nik and I are. I can only hope they know how much we appreciate everything they have done for us.

So here they are, finally!

My beautiful home

The foyer

The dining room, this is one of the rooms that is pretty much completed. This is our Arizona room =) The pictures on the wall were all either taken by my sister or my cousin, Mike. The wedding picture is courtesy of Mike, the other's are my sisters. The table has the decorations from Nik and my wedding. If I ever feel home sick, I only need sit in this room to feel a little bit closer to my childhood home.

More dining room, I absolutely adore the bay windows. They remind me of one of my favorite places, San Francisco.

The beautiful display case from my grandmother. This treasure trove is full of history, my family's, Nik's family's and now our family's history.

The living room, still in the process of being completed. Please take the time to observe the beautiful shelves on the on the wall. My husband is a genius! He went and purchased the wood, stain, wall fixtures and everything else needed to create those shelves. Like my father, his gift to create absolutely astounds me. The large cutout in the wall where the TV currently resides will one day be an entertainment center. Nik and my father have big plans for this area, I cannot wait to see how it turns out!

More living room, I just adore those shelves!

And more...

The breakfast nook

The kitchen, my haven. I could not be more thrilled with how this room turned out.

More kitchen, I really really love this room. I just want to stop and cook whenever I walk in. I had big hopes and dreams for this room, the kitchen has always been the most used room in places I have lived. As a child, this was where my family met to discuss the week's activities, share meals, complete homework and discuss all the world's mysteries. It is still the place I spend most of my time in when I go home to visit even now. My favorite part of my new kitchen is the colors; they are so warm and rich, making the heart of my home very welcoming.

The only concern I had in regards to the kitchen when Nik and I purchased our home was what was going to go above the cabinet's. Our ceilings are very high and there was a lot of space to be filled. Thankfully, my mother and sister solved that issue quickly. I think they did a fantastic job!

The guest bedroom, our Alaska room. All of the pictures were taken by my sister when my family, Nik's grandmother, Nik and I went on an Alaskan cruise almost two years ago. Nik and I are very very simple when it comes to decorating. We loathe nik-naks and unnecessary clutter. We will have to work on that before children come along, but for now we are enjoying keeping our home simple and classy.

The other angle of the guest room...

Guest bathroom, also known as Oma's room. The pictures were taken by my sister, all are from Oma's backyard and some of the decorations are from her backyard as well. I never ever dreamed that I would want a green bathroom, somehow I ended up with two green bathrooms.

The office, for now this room will remain plain and undecorated.

The master bedroom, I always feel so relaxed in my bedroom. The bed is huge, the colors soothing and it is filled with black and white pictures taken by Nik or myself on our travels together. I love looking at the pictures and remembering the many adventures Nik and I have been privileged to partake in.

This picture is a bit too dark, sorry = (

Master bathroom, my favorite thing is the Japanese maple outside the window.

I also love the huge shower!

Dog Run

Backyard, we have an outdoor table and chairs set still at Nik's grandmothers house that we need to go and pick up.

Happy New Year!

Out with the old, in with the new.

Cliches are usually not my thing, but this year I am extremely excited about the events to take place. Here are a few things that I am looking forward to:

*Nik will be completing the last of his training (for me, this is the big one)!

*We will actually have an opportunity to enjoy our new home together, including all the household chores and decorating that goes along with owning a home.

*A house warming party, I can't wait to introduce all our friends and family to our beautiful home!

*After two weddings and almost three years of marriage we will finally be going on our honeymoon (only a couple months to go)!

*New babies, three of my friends are expecting little ones within the next four months =)

*The hype over Michael Jackson, Billy Mayes and Tiger Woods (my two least favorite words currently) finally dying down so that we can focus on real world issues.

*Throwing out countdowns, I feel like most of my life has been a countdown to this, that and the other thing... NO MORE!

*The Unknown. Usually this area unsettles me a bit, but this year I plan on embracing all question marks in my life and enjoying the experience of finding the answers.

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, I think they set people up for failure. My belief is that if you need to make a lifestyle change it shouldn't be set within a time limit or be pursued as a result of a holiday. Do it immediately and dedicate yourself to it fully, otherwise, really, what's the point? Instead, if I feel like there are aspects of my life that I need to change, I will work on them as the realization dawns. I feel very strongly about this and here is why...

Back in September I went to a women's veteran conference in LA. I spent three days being enlightened and educated in area's that literally broke my heart. One of the keynote speakers at this event was a woman by the name of Chellie Campbell. Chellie is not a veteran, but Chellie is definitely a survivor. Ms. Campbell is a more than a motivational speaker, she is a financial guru who leads "Financial Stress Reduction" workshops. Although her area of expertise is money; how to make money, save money, spend money, etc., she provides incredible life advice as well. I signed up for her "Daily Affirmation" emails back in September and have received one email a day religiously since then. These emails have in many ways been life transforming. Despite the fact that I am not in financial distress, praise God, and am not running my own business, I get more from these emails than most self-help books. She begins every email with a quote from a well-known individual. For example:

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within."

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

or

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

Michelangelo

Then, she goes on to tell a story that is always extremely applicable and the lesson that can be learned from that story. These stories usually revolve around her own personal experience or someone that has gone through her workshops. She always ends with the "daily affirmation" which typically looks like this:

"I revel in all the wealth and joy that life has to offer!"

This may seem corny to most, I know it was at first to me, but over time you really start to believe what she is saying. It makes sense. All Chellie is doing is providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) over the internet. She is reinforcing positive thinking on an everyday basis and putting a tremendous amount of enthusiasm behind it. As a result, she is a millionaire and is helping those who take her workshops to become financially stable as well. I highly recommend you check her out. Not because I think she will help make you money, which she most likely will, but because I think she will help you look at life from a different perspective. I know she has accomplished this with me and I haven't even seen her since September.

This year I will pass from the first century of my life into the second, I fully intend on embracing this transition. I have worked hard to get to this point in my life, I do not intend to wish myself back into the past. I hope everyone has a fantastic year, take a moment to stop and be thankful for where you are before you criticize all that is wrong.