A Dedication

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 Nearer My God to Thee seemed appropriate, especially the lines: "Then with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise; So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee."

Last night, I had some devastating news, I learned that this world lost a great friend and my family lost a member. Our family dog, Madison, died. Madison had been battling cancer for the last month and the cancer won out last night. My sister and my mother fought hard to save her life but there was nothing more they could do. To many this may seem ridiculous, but to me it's like a death in the family because she was family. For twelve years she was there for us, she comforted us when we cried, she was excited with us when we were happy, and all the in between times she was there. Maddie was so sweet, so loving, so loyal and so fantastic, she was the best dog we had ever encountered and it is truly a devastating loss. We all loved her so much. I know that God gained a loyal companion in Heaven last night and I know now that she is free of her pain but I can't help but be a little sad that she's no longer on this Earth with us.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers today. Thank you all so much.

Is it a full moon or something?

I have to tell you there is something weird in the air around the SalTal household. It started a few days ago, our older kitty Izzy started getting more and more anti-social. Now this isn't too unusual for her, Izzy is a very low-maintenance kitty, she hangs out by herself and comes around when she wants attention or food and basically pals around with our other kitty Josie. However, she seems to be extra agitated lately, no one can get near her and she absolutely will not tolerate Josie within 5 feet of her. Andy and I have both picked her up and examined her to make sure she wasn't physically hurt somewhere and she doesn't seem to be sore anywhere, but we thought we would take her to the vet to be sure. Well, Andy couldn't even get her into the carrier this morning to go to said vet. She now is in her own private room (my office) quarantined in hopes that less stimulation will be good for her.

As if that wasn't worrisome enough, our Pepper pup will not go outside. She gets all scared and cowers down and we have to literally carry her outside and then she tries to run back into the house. This started last night. I have no idea what to think except that maybe there is some weird cosmic force at work that my very sensitive animals are picking up on and making them act funny.

Anyone have any experience with some sudden weird behavior in their animals? What did you do, if anything?

Lame-O

Do you remember when you were a kid and it was around Christmas time (or another holiday or your birthday) and you were opening presents, digging into that pretty wrapping and finding some of the coolest things, only to reach one that wasn't so cool, like socks? Then you'd get that fake, frozen smile and say thank you, when really your eyes are saying "What the heck man? Where is the Barbie?" I know that you all know what I'm talking about, now the real question, when does that all change? When do the Barbie dolls and race cars turn into clothes and socks and other practical nonsense?

I say this because Andy and I are currently in the process of making out our Christmas lists to send to our families and I'm looking these over and thinking, really? When did I become so lame? Need an example:

Amanda's List
-Attachable book light for kindle
-The Talavera Split Ender
- Slipper Socks
- Gift Cards to Home Depot or Lowe's

Andy's List
- Sweaters size M
- Craftsman Standard Wrenches
- Big comfy socks (not slipper socks) wool/ not too itchy
- Knife from Bed Bath and Beyond registry

Seriously? We are lame. But in all honesty, it's cool because I'm probably more excited about some of these items then I was about toys when I was a little kid. Maybe I'm just boring or maybe I've grown-up and realized that practical gifts that I will use every day rather than just on Christmas morning are so much better. Oh, and just so you know, those aren't the complete lists, we really aren't that boring. I do have some fun items written down (some that I know for a fact I won't get but it's fun to dream, like a Coach purse), as does Andy but quite a few of them are just like the ones listed above and made me scratch my head.

So what do all of you want for the holidays? Are you practical or fun? Or are you like Andy and I and have a little mix of both?

Bad Newlyweds

We are very bad newlyweds. There are multiple that I say this, our thank-you's haven't gone out yet (Don't judge, I feel awful, the only thing making me feel a little less guilty is Miss Manner's rule that we have one year after the wedding to get those suckers out), we haven't unpacked completely, and we haven't done anything with the wedding pictures. Trust me when I say, we are working on it. Everything kind of took the backseat in the months after the wedding. Between my graduation, both of us getting new jobs and moving, we had a lot on our plate, but the dust is (finally) starting to settle and we are getting things done.

First of all, we finally located the gift list to write out our thank-you's this week so we will be able to write them this weekend. Woo hoo! Cross that momentous undertaking off the list (soon), hopefully the guilt of not getting them out yet will stop and our friends and family will understand why there was a six month delay in getting those suckers out (I think we have a pretty legit reasons). Second, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel with the whole unpacking nonsense. The garage is cleaned out and there are only 4 boxes with stuff in them still and more than likely it will stay that way. Finally, my project for the next couple weeks is going to be to organize our wedding photos into a photo book. Christmas is just around the corner and I know a few parents that would love some pretty pictures to show off. Plus my hope is that by loading our pictures onto the computer I will be inspired to print a few copies of my favorites and actually have some of the beautiful pictures of our wedding day hanging around the house.

So tell us that we are not alone in being a bad newlyweds, is there anyone else out there that hasn't got any other there post-wedding to-do's done yet?

Kitty & Canine Holiday Blogger Gift Exchange

Yesterday I ran across the cutest and best idea in the world:

A fellow blogger Kelly over at KJPugs and her friend Hannah at GatorTales had posted this and I couldn't resist, I signed up Pepper and Murphy right away. I totally encourage you to participate as well! It should be fun, but take a look at the rules to make sure you can participate:

1. You have to have a living, breathing pet. Unfortunately, your pet rock is awkward.
2. Each pet has to be signed up individually, so if you have 3 pets – fill the form out 3 times! (It’s that easy.)
3. Deadline to sign up is Wednesday, November 24th
4. Deadline to send your gift to a cute little pet is Friday, December 10th
5. If you sign up you are promising to participate. No one likes a holiday Grinch!
6. Please keep the gift under $10 – it doesn’t cost a lot to send some love!

Read the rules? Want to participate? Then Click Here and fill out the form do it, you know you want to.

Newlywed Challenge: The Holidays

It seems like it's that time of year again, the decorations are out in stores, people are making plans and shopping lists, and I log into Weddingbee and see posts about splitting the holidays. I use to love the holidays, spending time with family and friends, tons of food and of course presents. I say use to because this year thinking about the holidays is giving me hives, because I simply have no idea what to do. Splitting the holidays seems to be a big challenge for every couple and we are no exception. It's hard, obviously, you are talking about adding  whole new sets of traditions and places to visit, which logistically and emotionally provides problems. I think as a child I had it pretty sweet, my parents had the holidays figured out to a T, actually, it was more that my parents lucked out.

My grandparents live within ten minutes of each other so for Thanksgiving we would have lunch at one and dinner at the other. For Christmas eve we would head to Grandparent S and stay from early to late afternoon, then the evening would be spent with Grandparents M. We would head off home and spend Christmas morning at our house, just my sisters and parents. It worked out super well. In a perfect world, Andy and I would be able to do something like that but this is not a perfect world and our families live 3+ hours away from each other. Add to that fact that we live 3 hours away from my family and nearly 5 hours away from Andy's family and you see that dinner here, dessert there doesn't work out too hot.  It's frustrating because I want to make everyone happy, but I also have a tiny little part of me that wants to just please me. That part of me is there because it isn't like it use to be, things have changed and it's hard to accept that. More than that I miss my family like crazy. The move has been extremely hard on me because of the time it's taken away from my family, who I am use to seeing on a regular basis. Andy knows how hard it's been on me so he's being extremely patient and kind, telling me that we could separate for Thanksgiving if I really need to see my family by then, but I'm trying to be a mature married lady and present our united front.

So what are we going to do? The answer is simple, I had no idea. So far Thanksgiving is planned out with Andy's family. More than likely we will go to my Grandma's for Christmas Eve and spend Christmas morning with my family then Christmas evening will be ours (which has been our own little tradition for the past three years), but I'm not positive. We have to do another Christmas with my other Grandparents which will be a different day, prior to Christmas Eve, since schedules aren't working in our favor for a one day all-inclusive family fest. Plus we have to do Christmas with Andy's family as well. I know that it will all work out in the end, it's just going to take some careful planning.

What about you? How are your holidays shaping up? Do you have an easy time with the splitting or are your holidays challenging as well?

New Obsession

Ever since the wedding I have had this hole, I mean for the year or so before the wedding I spent my time looking up ideas, trying to find things that I could make myself to make the wedding unique and pretty. When there was no more wedding I had a hard time with all the free time I had and crafting had turned into a drug for me. See I have a lot of nervous energy and I get anxious at times, crafting really helped me to calm those feelings and  let me feel useful. Now that I'm working I feel useful but a lot of the time I still have no projects (other than cleaning) to put that anxious/nervous energy in to. That is until I found http://ana-white.com/ and fell in love. This was the answer to my crafting withdraw. I obviously need furniture for our house and what better way to save money than to make it. So this past weekend, Andy and I set out for Home Depot and bought wood and supplies for this project and this project. The first project (the crate shelf) was my own undertaking, and in my humble opinion the result turned out pretty good:

As for the chair, I'll admit that was a bit too much for me by myself so I more or less just assisted Andy but it is looking like it will turn out pretty well. It is by no means done yet, there was a problem with the leg and I want to paint it too but I think it will be fantastic once it is completed. Here's some pictures from the work site and the nearly completed chair:

There were a few shots of him bending over but I thought he might not appreciate it (trust me though, he looks hot, well, to me). Isn't my husband truly awesome? I think that we might make a habit of this woodworking together thing. It's a great way for us to bond and we have something really great as an end product. Though I think if it becomes habit I'm going to have to learn how to not be afraid of the saw. And just for fun, some future plans I think we might be working on: a headboard (as we currently have none) and a bench/storage (our hall is looking a little drab), plus another chair or two for the deck plus a little coffee table. Love it.

What projects do you and your significant other do together?