Things Addison LOVES this Week - January 15, 2012
1.) Our new Honda Civic! After 16 months of living in Denver with only one car, Jess and I finally decided to bite the bullet and go for a second vehicle. Jess’ mom hooked us up with a small loan at a great rate and we were able to get a great deal on a gently used 2002 Civic with less than 100,000 miles. It only has 2 doors, but it’s super clean, and super cute! Besides, we have the Subaru when we want to haul around lots of people, or stuff. And it gets 10 MPG better than the Suby in city and on the highway, so I’m looking forward to getting tags on it, and getting my commute on!
2.) Facebook. This might sound like an odd one, but I really like being able to keep up with everyone back home, especially my family. Jess and I are fortunate enough to talk with our immediate family pretty regularly, but FB has helped me stay on top of my extended family and friends. (Congrats on the engagement, Blayde!) I feel like I know some people better now that I can see what they do on a regular basis, and that’s pretty cool. Plus it will give us something to talk about the next time I’m in town.
3.) Friends. When we moved to Colorado we knew it would be tough not having our wonderful friends around, and there are still some people in Columbia we miss dearly. But in Denver we have managed to befriend some really wonderful people who have very different backgrounds from me and Jess. Knowing these people has helped me think about things in a very new way, which has been wonderful for my personal growth. Thank you, Denver friends! You’re the best a girl could ask for! : )
4.) Brunch! Brunch has quickly and easily become my favorite meal here in Denver. I didn’t really used to get down with this hybrid meal, and frankly I don’t really love breakfast, but brunch has become a staple of our weekend ritual. On Sunday mornings, we call it “gay church,” because it’s usually our LGBT peeps that accompany us on this outing. There’s one restaurant in particular that always seems to have friends there on Sunday mornings. But there are so many good places to eat brunch here! It almost seems that brunch is a bigger happening than a Friday or Saturday night dinner. Actually, we’re trying a new brunch place with our friends, Shanna and LP, today!
5.) My girls. Jess and Izzie are the highlights of my day, everyday. Jess is so smart, passionate, and damn good at her job. She cares so much and works so hard. And it’s important work. Really, really important work. She’s working so the future she and I imagine with such precise detail can become a reality. She’s fighting for our relationship, our life, every day, and I’m so incredibly grateful for that. And she loves me fiercely. I know that she does, and for that I am even more grateful. Izzie, too! She gets so excited when we come home from work, and it’s nice to know that there are too “people” who love me no matter what. I love my little family!
Things Addison LOVES this Week
1.) Coffee. Jess and I have started making our own iced coffee the Pioneer Woman way, and it’s amazing. Learn more about it here. We’ve been sweetening with simple syrup, and adding some half and half. It’s to die for!
2.) My new tennis shoes. Just owning those super cute, super comfy shoes makes me want to become a runner. Maybe I will! : )
3.) The weather. It’s FINALLY starting to cool down, at least at night and in the early morning. Izzie and I walked Jess to work this morning, and it was quite lovely, if I say so myself!
Actually, this morning was a combination of all of the things on the list. I walked the dog in my new tennis shoes in the cool early morning air and we stopped to get iced coffee. I clearly have a problem…
Today’s forecast is calling for snow, but since it hasn’t happened yet, we took Izzie on a nice walk in City Park this morning. It’s beautiful even in the winter! We’re so lucky to live so close to the park! -Addison
Izzie has had some issues as of late. Most notably, she’s been in an Elizabethan collar since last Tuesday. Why, you might ask? Because Frontline sucks. It sucks bad. Our poor baby had fleas, and lot of them. The drama (and trauma) started a little over a month ago when we were still in Columbia. We noticed that she had been chewing at the base of her tail a lot, and that she was missing hair. So, we took her to the vet, and the vet in Columbia theorized that it was a food allergy, and we had to switch her food. So we did. She’s now on Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Duck and Potato. (And yes, it’s just as fancy and expensive as it sounds.) So we saw some improvement. Or so we thought. But then we flew out to Denver to find a place to live, and Izzie stayed with Caroline for a few days. I’m not sure what happened, I guess a whole bunch of flea eggs hatched or something, but when we got back, the small spot on her tail had turned into the entire lower half of it. At first we thought she was just stressed about being away from us, and all of the chaos that had been going on, but as we drove across the country, and Izzie kept chewing, despite regular doses of Benadryl, we realized that something was really wrong. So we took her to the vet here. Turns out our baby had fleas the whole time. She was just eaten up with them. What really surprised us is that she was on Frontline the entire time. And in fact, when we took her to the vet in Columbia, one of the vet techs said not to use Frontline anymore because it wasn’t working for a lot of animals. Concerned, we asked our vet about it. She said it was fine to continue with Frontline, and so we bought another 3 pack. Obviously, it wasn’t working. Now we’re on a new treatment plan. She’s gotten a flea bath, she’s on Advantage, and we’re giving her medicine so that her tail will heal. She has to wear the funny collar so she won’t chew at her tail. Jess calls her “Shakespeare” because of the Elizabethan collar. We take it off of her when we can watch her, and she’s not nearly as itchy as she was, so I take comfort in the fact that she seems to finally be better. Thank goodness! I hate seeing my baby girl all sickly. -Addison
The Drive: Day 2
So compared to yesterday, today was a bust. Kind of. Well, not technically. We covered 9 hours today, which was good. Yesterday we covered 11 hours, so averaged we covered 10 hours a day, which is technically what we were aiming for. We still have 5 hours to Denver, but after today and yesterday, that will feel like nothing, I’m sure.
Part of the reason that today felt like nothing, is that we’ve been in Missouri and Kansas all day long. Just 2 states compared with yesterday’s 6. Kansas is not my favorite state. It’s not completely flat, but there’s not a whole lot going on. At least Missouri has St. Louis and Kansas City. Kansas has Topeka. And a lot of billboards about not having abortions. Seriously. We did pass a windmill farm. (Side note: is that what they’re called?) It was quite stunning actually, to see these giant windmills, dozens of them as far as you could see. But that’s the only cool thing I’ve seen in the past 6 hours.
Jess and I have been listening to a book on tape (well, iPod, really) and that has really made this drive tolerable for me. Usually I’m a music kind of girl, but 10+ hours in a car would take it’s toll on anyone, even with a Lady Gaga CD. We’re listening to “Plain Truth” by Jodi Picoult. It’s about an Amish girl on trial for murder. It’s very good, and it has gotten me though the last 48 hours relatively unscathed. I’m actually looking forward to finishing it tomorrow. We stopped in WaKeeny, Kansas for the night. I’m praying that a tornado doesn’t come ripping through the Best Western as we sleep. (I’m terribly afraid of tornadoes.) Being here has made me thankful that I’m from South Carolina. At least we have the beach and Columbia, and all that kind of stuff. There’s seriously nothing in Kansas (no offense to the locals.) So we’re watching the True Blood finale, and hitting the hay. I can’t wait to get to Denver tomorrow, and get into my apartment! Even if my stuff isn’t going to arrive until the end of the week… -Addison
I am in love. While you may think that I am referring to my wonderful wife, Jessica, I am not. I am referring to my sweet puppy, Isobel. Izzie has completely captured my heart. I think she is the cutest, funniest dog in the world, not to mention the best pet Jessica and I have ever had. Lord knows we’re had a lot of pets, so you know that I must be pretty serious about this one! We took Izzie to my dad’s house last weekend. She LOVES it there. We love it too, of course, so it’s a good time for all three of us. Dad and Mary Alice have a komodor named Lilly, and she is a giant compared to our little girl. Aunt Lilly is just a love, and Izzie has a blast with her. While I love my Izzie girl to pieces, Lilly is probably the sweetest dog you will ever meet. And she’s quirky, too. Plus she has dreadlocks, so she looks really cool. The girls played ball in the field on Sunday afternoon. It was hilarious! They also chase each other around the yard; I’ve never seen Izzie be so playful with another dog, so I’m very grateful she has Lilly on the weekends! -Addison
So, in case you haven’t noticed/seen the “evidence” on Facebook yet, Jess and I got a dog. We had been on the fence about getting another dog since the Cash fiasco, but we decided to give it one more try. Hell, we already had all of the stuff, and this one came with a 1 week money back guarantee, so we went for it! Izzie is super cute, weighs 17 lbs and is some sort of Lhasa Apso/Shih Tzu mix. She’s black and white, potty trained, and knows how to fetch a ball. Her obedience training needs some work, but she’s very smart (and very focused on food) so with some patience and treats I’m sure we’ll get that under control in no time. She’s 2 1/2 years old, crate trained, and good on a leash. She’s also really sweet and likes to snuggle. She already loves me and Jess. All in all she is the perfect dog for us, and we are so thrilled to have her in our lives. We adopted Izzie from Project Pet. We’ve actually had her since the first weekend since December, but we decided to keep it quiet in case things didn’t, you know, work out. Jess and I are all too aware of our “record” with pets, and there are certain people who are bound to/already have given us a hard time about getting (in their opinion) yet another dog. I really don’t think it’s fair for others to judge our decisions because no one truly knows how we came to make them. So, step off. Seriously. Sorry I had to get so grumpy; let’s finish on a high note! Here are some totally cute pictures of our new little girl, Isobel Rae. (For the record, we call her Izzie, and Jess hates it that I gave her 2 names!) -Addison
