words can not describe the adorableness. and the fluffiness. and melting hearts.  We have named our Sammy pup Ellie.  after all the paperwork, last minute guidance and tips, we were in the car on our way back home!

First car ride home

Lots of first today – our first Samoyed Puppy Selfie!

Ellie was quite good in the car in my arms – she whined very little at first, and then settled down, and even took a nap

For the baby lovers – don’t get excited – it’s not what you think.  it’s T-3 days till we get our new puppy!  It’s been 5 years of debate on getting this said dog, many questions, doubts, fears turned into excitement, and elation as we concluded that this is now the time –  we are pulling the trigger!  yes, people still like to debate with us on the whole “kids first then the dog”.  But Nick and I felt this is a better approach for us.  We want to solely love and welcome our puppy, get into a routine now, and then think about the whole kid thing.

yes, we understand the responsibility and commitment of what we are about to do.

yes, we are prepared to walk it at least twice a day.

yes, we are prepared for the massive shedding.

yes, we are going to need to house train.

We have spent countless hours researching online.  lots of opinions on how to house train; how to be a dog owner; what it means to your life/stuff/house/time.  We can only read so much – we will figure it out our way, and make mistakes and learn from it. hopefully without much mishaps!

o, what kind of dog are we getting?

Samoyed! aka. fluff ball. aka polar bear cub doppelganger. aka the chewing/shedding/smiling faced dog.

will post pictures next week!  for now, we are just preparing – make trips to pet stores for supplies.  Trying not to go crazy at buying it all – sticking with the basics for now.  These stuff sure adds up $ real fast.

Nick and I had an original plan of buying a condo and staying for 3-5 years. Well, we’re about to head into our 4th year – so we’ve been slowly checking out homes for sale.  (yay for husband being a real estate agent!)  Nothing has piqued our interest in the 3-4 months that we’ve been on a casual look out.  We figure, if we do see something we both like, then we would make an offer, but no need to be super aggressive in our home search yet.

This weekend, we made a few appointments and on the 3rd house we went to – we found it – our potential future home.  We were immediate wowed by the space, the layout, the potential.  Long story short – we made an offer, got a counter, made another offer, and voila – we’re a HOUSE owner now!  It’s a 15-20 year Green Park home with original state of structure, design, layout – so some home renos will be required to fit our style.  But it’s literally a blank canvas for me to go nuts on.

we’re so excited!! Let the Home Reno Project begin!

gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

my precious computer has forsaken me.  blue screen of death without any signs of revival.  Nick is trying to get my harddrive back…but apparently I was not dilligent at all at backing up – last back up was in 2009!  which means all my wedding prep pictures, notes, files, designs are all gone! *cry*  Now i’m just kicking myself for being lazy about backing up.  and lazy about posting – then at least it would have been on the blog. sigh.

that on top of rental car being broken into, carry on luggage stolen really topped this weekend.

Update:   I DID back up!!! well, some stuff – at least my wedding prep stuff are safe and so are my blog post images! hooray for small victories!

My friend Steph introduced me to an iPhone game called Diamond Dash.  First thing I asked – is it free?  check.  Then I started to play.  That was 2 days ago.  Since then I have been on non-stop – every chance I get.  The drive for higher scores further fueled by my other friend’s scores, and them leaping over me in the weekly tournament pool.   My high score thus far is a mere 465,000.  Puzzled at the dexterity of my fellow facebook friends who are scoring north of 600,000.  Must be some secret I have yet to learn.  My continuous quest for silver coins to gain magic powers consumes my every spare minute.  (literally).    Currently in a new weekly tournament, and I’m at 3rd place.  I must keep playing as it is a matter of time before others over take me.

It’s official – I’m addicted to Diamond Dash.

update 1 day later: I have achieved a new high score: 631,484, 2nd place.  I think I should retire now.

Update several weeks later of continuous playing: 930,330.

Finally beginning to review our wonderful honeymoon pics and writing our travel journal.  Still lots more to go, but post by post, it’ll all be there!

Our Travel Journal on Italy

Best part of writing in the journal?  you get to relive all the memories and smile.