If Your Heart Is In Your Dream, No Request Is Too Extreme

News flash! Jiminy Cricket is not a liar!

Remember years ago, when he told you, "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." Well folks, I am here to tell you that is a true statement. 

A wish, (a lot of) hard work, and a belief in yourself will take you just about anywhere you want to go. 

Allow me to clarify, we have been presented with an opportunity to move back to Jackson, WY, and have taken it. (please excuse me while I take a dance break)

It has always been our dream to one day be able to move back to Jackson. H is the eternal optimist and believed that we could make it work sooner rather than later. I however, thought this would mean that we would have to simply settle on retiring there. Years ago, as we were pulling out of town with our U-Haul, H told me he had a 5 year plan to be back, with a job in finance. I'm pretty sure that through my tears I was also emphatically rolling my eyes. Jackson is not the largest financial hub as I am sure you can imagine so, I thought he was crazy. Well, guess what, he was right. (please read that again, I don't say it very often so, let it soak in for a moment.)

Five years later, and we, (mostly H) have shot for the moon and have landed among the stars. Or at least landed in a place where you can see the stars. We can't wait to start our next chapter back where it all started.

Despite this being a dream come true for us it has also been a bitter sweet choice to make. We are brokenhearted  to be leaving our beautiful home and the close proximity to our family and friends on the East side, but in the end, we are sure that we are making the best decision for us. 

For now, please join us as we celebrate our very exciting news. Cheers!

Funny story about the picture above: I bought a bottle of champagne which, (shockingly) sat in the fridge for a few weeks UNOPENED. The night that we went through our list of pros and cons and eventually decided to 'take the plunge', we popped the top and indulged in some bubbles. Unbeknownst to us, this shooting star was on the bottom of the cork. We took it as a sign that we were headed in the right direction. 

Follow your dreams friends. 

P.S. Maui is pretty dang excited too! Wide open spaces, no leash laws and, no more Eastern grass allergies!

Tricky Tricky

H and I went from renting rooms with friends to renting a small home with each other to buying an even bigger home. We have slowly been accumulating furniture throughout the years but, once in our new house we had some empty space that needed to be filled. 

We purchased a beautiful new couch from Crate and Barrel. It is an über comfortable, linen blend which means that I had a new challenge; a need to keep a certain someone off of it. Occasionally, Miss Maui likes to play Goldilocks. She bounces from dog bed to dog bed and recently she has been testing the waters with the furniture. 

Her bed just isn't cozy enough for some reason.

Want to know my trick? 

It costs next to nothing and you chances are already have it in your home.

Tin foil! 

I have actually found that I do not need nearly as much as shown. We can fold it up quickly and throw it in a drawer when needed. 

So, if you've ever tried to keep your dog off of your furniture, I'd recommend giving this a try. Although, fair warning: Maui is a nearly perfect pooch who listens and trains easily. 

Dang, You're Old

Happy birthday America.

We will be celebrating today in Charm City.

With our favorite pooch. 

And some special guests. Hint...

Happy Fourth!

Adding Some Green

A few weeks ago, I decided that our house needed a little curb appeal. So, I made a trip to Home Depot to purchase a couple planters, some soil, and plants. I was being rather indecisive about planters so I decided to buy two of the wooden variety there, and move on to plan B. 

I have been in a galvanize tub kind of mood and found one for pretty cheap on Amazon. Two days later (thank you Amazon Prime) and this 16 gallon, shiny, trough arrived.

Then it rained. So my plants spent a little time indoors. 

Once it dried up, I was able to plant the two little, green trees that I purchased. 

 One for each side of the garage.

This one is also concealing our gas line (that couldn't be moved for whatever reason the City gave Mr. Contractor during the building stages). I am thinking now that I should paint the rest of it Navy. #mentalnote #todolist

This tree is not big enough to conceal our neighbors garbage can but, I have high hopes for it. 

After that, I was exhausted so, I hired out the rest of the work. No, not really. 

H was very excited to help plant at this stage. 

Having H help is a little bit like having a toddler around. They don't want to shop, prep, or clean up but, they certainly do want to get their hands dirty and jump in for the fun part. 

I call it 'stealing the glory'.  

Maui even decided to get in on the fun. Thankfully, she is a lady and doesn't pee on flowers. 

The ornamental grass and Celocia turned out pretty lovely if you ask me. 

And just in case one of us ever has a tapeworm we can ingest the flower for its medicinal properties to treat it.  

Seriously. Google it.

Help! I've Fallen...

... and I am trying to get back up. Clearly, I have fallen off of the posting train. My apologies if any of you out there are still reading (or trying to).

What the heck happened? Well...

Frustratingly, all things house related (wires, electricity, closing, etc) took a serious halt through the December and most of January. In the past week we finally powered through all of that nonsense. (I will divulge details & pictures soon.)

While we were waiting to move things along on the housing front the holidays came and went. Actually, right before the holidays was my birthday. Disclosure: I do not make a big deal about my birthday and prefer everyone else follows suite. The people out there who insist force others to participate in their "birthday week" (or month-yikes!) make absolutely no sense to me. You are not that cool "princess". But, for that night H did just that, he made me feel pretty special. He took me out to a fancy, French restaurant here in Charm City that was beautiful and delicious! 

He also surprised the hell out of me by giving me this bad boy.

I have been dreaming of a big-girl camera for a couple of years now but, had no expectation of receiving one anytime soon. SPOILED! Thank you H! xo

This is where things started going downhill for me. I am pretty sure it is a combination of a lot of things but, here are the top three: 

• First, I.MISS.MY.FAMILY!!! & I.MISS.MY.FRIENDS!!!
• Second, I finally understand why so many people out here dislike winter. It is because east coast winters suck: Cold. Grey. Dirty. Dark. Rain. = Blechh!                                   NOT like J Hole: White. Soft. Fluffy. Activity-filled. Beauty=Amazing!
• Third, I have not been exercising. At least not more than a walk a day with Miss Maui and a day (maybe two) at the gym. We all know that exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. 

Then came Christmas. I was having a particularly difficult time getting into "the spirit" this year (see reasons above) and was hoping to have a little help in that department when we traveled town to Lynchburg. I fondly refer to H's home town as "Pleasantville" and the past few years we have spent Christmas there with H's family. It has been great, we have shared a lot of laughs, and had an all around good time. 

Little did we know, this year, Christmas was canceled in Pleasantville. (For a multitude of reasons that are not mine to divulge.)

After that (not so fun) trip we decided to spend a quiet, uneventful night at home for NYE. Which, would have been perfect had we not gotten into a tiff at 11:58. 

Lesson: Breathe. Then live, learn, & don't sweat the small stuff.

Into 2013 we dove, trying to make the start of this year better than the end of last. It has been slowly but, steadily progressing in that direction. As soon as this awful football season is over (7 hours and counting) I am hoping to start focusing on my goals and what will make me happy. In case you're wondering, this is how I feel about living in Baltimore while the dirty birds are in the Super Bowl.

My new approach at turning things around for myself is this: Perspective is instrumental. Energy is powerful. Align those two in a positive way and (sing it with me now) every little thing is gonna be alright!

Maui, I've Got A Feeling We Aren't in Wyoming Anymore

As the weather turns colder and the sun shines fewer and fewer minutes every day I am becoming more safety conscious. H and I spend a lot of time walking the mean streets of Baltimore, between our walks to work and taking care of lil MauMau, safety is becoming a huge concern. 

Today, at work I received (yet another) "Security Alert" from the Security Department reporting that an assailant robbed a fellow colleague. A "teenager" grabbed her iPhone out of her hand and sprinted away while she was on her way to work. These occurrences happen almost biweekly. 

Then on my way home from work I passed another colleague standing by her SUV with her husband/boyfriend, a police officer, and shards of broken glass at their feet. Her driver's side window had been shattered and she was listing objects that she noticed missing. "...Oh, and my EZ Pass too." 

Photo Credit

After I was home for about an hour I heard some noise in our street. The commotion was coming a few houses down. An ambulance, police car, and a lot of shouting were what I observed. I tried to apply investigative techniques (err, sitting on the floor hunched down with my ear to a cracked window) to gain a better perspective of what was happening. I do believe I missed the majority of the action and I wish I had more details to share. All that  I gathered was it seemed like some sort of domestic dispute had occurred.

Those events occurring all within a few hours of one another plus the usual hum of the Ghetto Birds flying around the city was enough for me to spend the remainder of the night looking up personal safety devices and tips.

Photo Credit

I have an old key chain sprayer from college but, it may not be good anymore. We also have bear spray (duh, I'm from Wyoming!) which, I will probably start toting around until I purchase something more easily concealed. 

I found this Mace Pepper Gun. It seems to be a happy median between the key chain pepper spray and the full on, huge a** can of bear spray. 

Photo Credit

It even comes in Black, Blue, Silver, Navy, and Pink. If anyone is thinking of sending me a, hmmm... Halloween (?) gift this may or may not be on my wish list.

Here is the video that accompanies the Mace Gun.

Looks kind of spiffy right?!

To recap, here is a list of things I learned or were reenforced today: 

• Electronic theft is on the rise
• Victims are being targeted as they talk, text, or use other features on their phone while not paying attention to their surroundings
• Keep your phone or other valuables secure and out of view 
• Always pay attention to your surroundings while out and about
• If you are robbed: stay calm, listen and observe, give up your property, and report the crime ASAP. (do not chase the suspect as apparently, my colleague did today)
• Keep the interior of your care clean. Don't keep expensive or important items inside but, if you do make sure they are well hidden. Remember my car break in?
• Don't play with (some of) our neighbors. 

For more Charm City safety tips go here:

Our First Week

Admittedly, I have been a bad girl and have not updated enough. Pictures of the house will be up tomorrow. But, until then I thought I'd share a little bit about how our first week in Charm City went.

Here are some stats.

Days H walked to work: 5
Hours I spent commuting to work: 5
Hours spent looking for parking after work: 1.5 (Cannot wait until the garage is free and clear!)
Hours spent watching TV: 0 (No cable yet and kinda loving it. H, not so much.)
Sutures needed for me: 5
Emergency surgeries for Miss Maui: 1

To keep it brief. Someone (H) thought they were doing a good thing for the dog by playing fetch (with a stick as opposed to a ball) with her. I have always tried to impose a "no stick" rule because I have heard the horror stories of dog vs stick mishaps. But, I can't always be around to ensure the rules are being followed. Needless to say, while Maui was chasing down said stick it jammed in the back of her throat and a large piece broke off. I came home to her hacking, drooling foamy blood, and acting a little out of sorts. If a lab won't eat... there is a problem. 

H and I took her first thing Saturday morning to a nearby veterinarian clinic and she was whisked back for surgery. 
To remove this piece of wood which was almost entirely embedded in the back of her throat.

This made for a rather unproductive and costly Saturday. 

The good thing was that we found our new vet. A little more dramatically than we would have liked but, we were so pleased with her. Thank you Dr. McMichael! 

By, Sunday she was feeling a little more like herself. After all that trauma I thought she deserved a little popsicle on the RTD.

If you look closely at my thumb you will notice some little blue sutures. Small work mishap that also made the week just a tad more interesting.

While all of that was happening here, I was getting updates on my cousin B and her husband M (who I referred to as our "first house guests") who welcomed their first child into the world. 

Introducing Jack Michael! Isn't he just the most handsome boy?!

 Photo credit: Matty Liv (thanks!)

Counting the days we can get to Pittsburgh to meet this little angel! 

So, all in all this week things were new and interesting; the ride was a little bumpy but, the outcome has been splendid. 

Such is life. 

Home Sweet Home

I didn't even let the paint (on the garage door) dry before I started moving us in. When you're homeless (ish) you'll do what ya gotta do.

Piece by piece our furniture started making its way inside.

Maui didn't quite know what to think at first.

But, then she settled right in and took her first snooze on the RTD.

We don't have Internet until Tuesday and have been rather busy trying to settle in. I do promise to elaborate on all subjects but, the iPhone is not the easiest thing to blog from. So, until I can give you move details. H, Maui, and I are happy to report we are finally, home sweet home.