School and Cake Stuff

My titles are so interesting.  :)  Megan and I made this cake yesterday.  It's been  awhile since we've made a cake, so it felt good to get the chance to make one.  Megan was asked by a neighbor friend to make it and I just helped out.  I think it turned out beautiful.  It's the tallest cake we've ever made so we were pretty proud that we were able to cover the tiers with fondant.  Yadda, yadda, cake stuff.... here's some pictures.  Enjoy.

These next few pictures are mainly for me so I remember what I did.  (Because I know I'll forget by next year).  :)  Btw, I love my class and I love my teaching partner and I love having two part time jobs and well, life is just wonderful at the moment.  The end.

Holiday Decor and stuff

Scout experienced his first snowfall a few weeks ago and he loved it!  I wasn't able to get a good picture of it, but his favorite thing to do was head dive into it.  He's such a weird dog.  

We thought it was so hilarious that his dog tag collected so much snow.  This is nothing!  That snowball got so huge.  

 Isn't he the cutest dog ever?  Love that weirdo.

I decorated for Christmas last night...in like less than an hour.  That's a world record folks!  I usually spend DAYS decorating for Christmas.  Alas, we just don't have the space for all my decor this year so I had to be very selective.  The biggest thing I had to leave out was our tree.   I LOVE our tree.  I know it's silly, but it's seriously so hard for me to not have that set up.  (I'm weird, I know).  

I had high hopes of getting a real tree this year, but those were dashed quickly.  I couldn't find one small enough for our space, I didn't realize the up-keep that was required of real trees, we have a PUPPY that would most likely tear it to shreds...  So, we settled on this... 

But I wouldn't really call it "settling".  It's not real, and it's only about 3 feet tall, but I think it's adorable.  Plus, we have it resting on our plant stand so that Scout can't get to it. Win, win right!?  I decorated it with all the ornaments we've collected throughout our marriage.  We also painted some ornaments a few weeks ago.  

We've got this thing going where we each plan a date night each month and you HAVE to do what we plan. I planned painting one night, so we each painted two ornaments.  Other date nights include going to Heebeegeebeez, buying Magic cards, going home and playing Magic the Gathering.  (Who do you think planned that date night?!).  :)

 Here's just a little taste of the ornaments we made.  Those that understand Dave's sense of humor will understand his.  If you can't tell, the penguin is smoking a cigarette.  So festive.  His words... "That poor penguin is down on his luck."  That man, I tell you...

 Here's our ornament for this year.  I'm Dopey and Dave is Grumpy.  (Dave isn't really too fond of the holidays)  so when I saw this ornament I just knew we had to get it.  He was not pleased with my humor.  Haha.  Oh well, I still think it's funny.  :)

 Happy holidays everyone!

For those of you that are preparing for finals, GOOD LUCK!  I do NOT envy you, but I'll be thinking of you.  :)

An Update

I'm back.  That 2 1/2 months went by fast!  So our lives are busy busy busy.  Sort of.  You know when you're done with college and you start your careers and you think "OMG, how did we get anything done during school!?"  It's like your life is super busy but super not busy at the same time?  I don't know how to explain that (as you can see), but that's what it feels like.  Adult life is kind of monotonous but we are welcoming it with open arms!  This no school business is amazing!  All those years through college our neighbors would say to us "Oh, you'll look back on these years and miss them.  You'll realize they were the best years of your life."  Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but you were wrong...oh SO wrong.  I've never thought "Wow, I sure wish I could go back to school.  This no homework, no staying up until past midnight business is such a drag."  If college was the best years of your life, I'm sorry for you.

We celebrated Halloween..a month or so ago.  :)  Here are some pictures for history's sake.  We went to Grandma's Annual Halloween Party. It was awesome, as always.  Check out this sweet cupcake that we decorated.  :)

 Dave actually dressed up this year!  I was Rosie the Riveter and Dave was Dave with a black mustache instead of a ginger one.  Baby steps here people.  Baby steps.  :)

Teaching is amazing and I love it.  It's takes up SOOOO much of your time (even being part time), but that was expected and I couldn't be happier.  Dave also has a new job.  He'd been looking for a job all summer and he accepted a position with Mountain Land Rehab this past September.  His official title is Assistant Systems Admin.  (whatever that means... :))  He is one of three IT people for the entire company and he is loving it!  It's SOOOO nice to have us BOTH be in jobs that we love.  I've been  incredibly lucky when it comes to jobs, but Dave, not so much.  It's makes all the difference when you actually like what you're doing.  Yay for Dave!

Scout is getting huge and is cuter than ever.  He's a little trouble maker, but we still love him...even when it's seems to be an impossible emotion to have.  For instance... Scout has been sick and has been one poop storm after the other.  :)  He was constipated a couple weeks ago so we gave him some pumpkin to "get things going".  (I know you want all these juicy details)...Well, I think it worked because he had a poop party in his kennel in the middle of the night.  We woke up to the basement smelling like death.  IT WAS SO BAD!!  Lo and behold, we look in his kennel and there is crap EVERYWHERE!!!  The poor thing had to sleep in his own crap!  :(  THAT was a fun morning.  Dave cleaned out the kennel and I gave Scout a bath,  FUN stuff.

Fast forward one week...  He seemed to be fine but he would just NOT sleep.  Dave got so annoyed with him because he kept moving around in his kennel so we'd take him out, but when he'd go outside he'd just try and try but nothing would happen.  Poor dog.  So, in order for us to get some sleep, we took his kennel to the upstairs bathroom and had him sleep there.  WELL, the next morning, the same distinct smell enveloped the house.  YOU CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE how bad it was.  Ugh, there is no amount of candle to get rid of that smell.  His kennel was CAKED in poop.  Amazingly, he wasn't covered in it this time.  ANYWAY, we both had to work early in the mornings this week so we both scrambled to get the kennel out of the house, feed Scout, and get ourselves ready.  It was snowing and really cold so we couldn't let Scout stay outside so I had to lock him up in the bathroom and hope for the best.  I came home from work to a bathroom that had been covered in the most foul smelling dog diarrhea ever.  There was NO spot on the floor that hadn't been covered in poo.  In fact, he was so desperate to get out of there that he jumped up on the door and walls...leading to what I like to call "dog finger-painting" masterpieces all over the place.  SUPER fun.  I spent two and a half hours cleaning the bathroom, kennel and giving Scout his second bath in two weeks.  I felt so bad for him.  Poor thing!  Can you imagine being locked in a room covered in your own poo?!  So sad!

 Happily, there hasn't been any other poopscapades (that's what I like to call them) since then.  I don't know what he got into, but I sure hope he never gets into it again!  He may make us want to pull our hair out sometimes, but we still love him.  How could you not?  Ok...I'm done with the sappy dog talk.  :)  Those with dogs understand.  

Super blurry, but I just love this picture.  

Congrats to you for getting through all that.  Hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later to share Thanksgiving memories and Christmas decorations.  We're getting a real Christmas tree this year.  

SO excited!  

My Classroom

I spent A LOT of time this summer putting my classroom together.  I was incredibly lucky to have a partner to help me get ready.  As many of you already know, my partner is Karen Sutherland and SHE. IS. AMAZING!!  We have had such a fun time preparing for the year and have spent many days laughing until we cried.  Here is our classroom for your viewing pleasure:

Last week was my first week teaching.  It was so great!  I'm only teaching part time, but after last week, I realized that I was meant to take this part time job.  I DO NOT KNOW how full time teachers do it.  I was exhausted!  I do have another part time job, but teaching is SO much work!  If you have children in school, PLEASE tell their teachers thank you!  I know you hear it a lot, but teachers do A LOT for your kids and they care about your child more than you could ever know!  

I'm very excited that the school year has begun.  (I'm even more excited that I went back as the teacher and NOT the student!)  :)  It's going to be quite the year, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun.  Wish me luck!  

Puppy Pictures!

Scout pretty much rules our life right now.  I hate to say it, but he's turned us into full blown dog people.  As expected, we've taken about a gazillion pictures of him.  So, if you're not a dog person, feel free to skip this post.  OR, you could look at all of the pictures because my dog is the most adorable thing you'll ever lay your eyes on.  And yes, that includes human babies.  THAT'S how cute he is people.  Enjoy.  

Our Pad

So, as a I mentioned awhile back, we moved.  About a month ago we moved into Dave's parents house (the basement, precisely).  We did a little bit (no, a lot) of painting and I have to say that I am thrilled with the results.  (I've loved all of the apartments that we've lived in, but not being able to paint them just about killed me!  There's not much I hate more than plain white walls!  Eck!)

  Some have asked me to show off our new "pad" if you will.  So here it is! 

   It's a small space, but it's working well for us.  We are hoping to get all of our student loans (darn those things!) paid off and start saving up for a house.  Luckily, we didn't need to take out a lot of loans, so we should be able to pay them off fairly quickly.  If I have my way, they'll be paid off by next summer.  Here's to praying that it will happen!  :)  

Sister Carlie Eddy

We took Carlie to the MTC on July 25th.  I have missed her so much, but have had a lot of fun receiving letters from her.  I've created a blog for her so that anyone who wants to can be updated on how things are going for her.  If you'd like to follow that blog, here's the link:  sistereddy.blogspot.com

We're really excited for her and all that she'll learn during her time at the MTC and Japan.  We all miss her but know that she will be such a fantastic missionary!  

A Dog, and More

I've been MIA for the past week or so due to some MAJOR changes in our day to day lives.  So, Carlie left on her mission on July 25th (a separate post on THAT next).  That same weekend, Dave and I moved out of our apartment and into his parents' basement.  During this move, we realized that we have moved 5 times in four years of marriage!  Ugh... I'm so over it at this point.  But, this was a needed move for us, and I think it's going to work well.  (And, knock on wood, the next time we move, it will be into a house)!  

Those first few days after the move were Dave's FINAL days of college (Yeah, we decided to move during the WORST possible time ever, I know).  While Dave was working on last minute projects and studying for his finals, I somehow managed to get the house put together and get our apartment deep cleaned.  By "somehow" I mean Dave's parents and siblings took A LOT of time helping us move and are amazingly awesome.  Oh, and my parents are pretty much the greatest because they let us store A LOT of our stuff (crap) in their basement since space is a little limited.  It looks like an episode of Hoarders over there at the moment.  (Don't worry Mom, some time soon I'll be going through it to organize it some more).  :)  Thanks to everyone who helped us with the move!  We are so grateful!

So, last week was Dave's LAST week of class.  He's graduated!  I'm so proud of him and all his hard work!  We've both been going to school since we've been married, so having us BOTH graduated is a HUGE step for us!  We're so excited for the future!  Dave's parents asked him what he wanted for graduation and you guessed it, he wanted a dog.  :)

Meet the newest member of the Bland Fam:  Scout Fluffypants.  :)

 He's a Mini Australian Shepherd and he's so fluffy and soft.  

Get ready for a picture overload!  :)  

 Enjoying the AC.  Haha

 We got him a few toys to chew on and all he wanted to play with was this empty plastic water bottle.  Figures.  Oh, and, that amazing quilt he's laying on??  Megan made it.  In ONE day.  Amazing I tell you.  

 Haha. Those eyes.  He was chasing a fly.  Herp Derp.  :)

 He basically lives in a giant diaper.  :)  Potty training has been....interesting...

 He fell asleep like this in my arms the other day.  Such a weirdo.  

He's really sweet and it's been a blast having him.  We got him one week ago today, and it's been quite the week.  He is SUPER smart and can already jump the gates we have to keep him somewhat contained.  (Don't really like that too much).  He LOVES wet grass, and refuses to play anywhere that isn't shaded.  :)

This should definitely be a fun adventure.  New living space, new dog, new jobs...Are we crazy??  Sometimes I wonder.  It should be fun nonetheless though!