Pups

This month has been outrageous when it comes to money that we've spent that has anything to do with the dogs.

1. Allie got hurt somehow in our backyard three weeks ago. She has a 3" gash in the right side of her neck and a puncture wound in the left side. We have no idea what happened, but we're guessing she got hurt on some of the VW parts that Chad had in the backyard. Total cost: $320

2. Due to Allie getting hurt, we took the doggie door out of our sliding glass door so that the dogs wouldn't be able to go outside while we were at work. We kept Allie in her cage, so she wouldn't be able to rough house with Mel and Jetta. While we were at work one day, JETTA or Mel decided that they wanted to eat Chad's PS3 remotes and the remote for our cable box. Needless to say, that night we went and bought them cages too. We bought one from a friend and another from Petsmart. Total cost: $230

3. We got Mel and Allie shaved last month and Chad decided to brush Mel yesterday. When he was brushing her, her hair started falling out and he noticed some sores on her back that looked like mange. We freaked out (after doing some online reading about mange) and Chad took her to the vet. They ran some tests and we'll probably have some results later in the week. It's not mange and at this point, without knowing the test results, they think it's her allergies that are causing all of her issues. We already give her 4 Benedryl at a time, twice a day. They also told him that she was really overweight and she's gained 6 pounds since November. They said that for every pound she gains, it's like 10 human pounds. So basically that's like us gaining 60 pounds since November. They sent Chad home with a bunch of different medications and some sample dog food packets. Total cost: $450

I think that we should be able to deduct pet medical expenses from our taxes, just like we can deduct our own. This is crazy.

No More Minivan

It's official, I am no longer a minivan mommy. This means that Chad will no longer be embarrassed to drive my car. :)

We are the owners of a 2009 Chevy Malibu. I used to bash them because they looked like cars that old people drive but they're actually kinda (sorta) sporty (you know, on the inside).

Exciting News...

We're moving!!

We're heading out to the country! Kind of... more like the middle of the desert!!

We want to buy another house, we're talking about buying out in Queen Creek. It's a smaller town, southeast of Mesa. I lived in QC several years ago and really liked it. Back then, the main roads to get to and from QC were only one lane each way. I drove ten miles to the grocery store. There was no pizza delivery.

Times have changed. Now, there are two lanes of traffic, plus turning lanes. Grocery stores, WalMart and Target have been built. There's a Papa John's now. All of this has changed in five years.

I never thought I'd move back, but the housing market has really taken a turn and there are a million houses for sale in QC. Chad's never lived so far out of town before, so we thought we'd rent there for a year or two and if we like it, then we'll buy.

The people that we are going to rent from have two other rental houses in the same neighborhood. Our friends are actually renting out those two houses, so we'll know our neighbors!! That's how we found out about the house that we're moving in to. It's probably close to 2000 square feet, 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, with a three car garage. It's more like a 3 1/2 car garage though. It's HUGE.

I grew up in a small town and moved to Mesa when I turned 21. Over the last couple years, I have really missed that small town feeling. Chad's from Westminster, CA which is jam-packed with people, so he's never experienced it before. I think this will be a pretty good test for both of us to figure out where we'd like to raise our little family.

We've put a deposit down, turned in our notice to the landlord of the house that we're living in now and we're planning to move at the end of February. We've even started collecting moving boxes. Here's to a new adventure for the West family...

Wish us luck!!

Maintenance

UGH... Stay tuned. My blog is broken and I can't figure out how to fix it!! When I pick a layout that has my links on the right side of the site, they all go to the bottom of the page. When I pick a layout that has my links on the left side of the site, it works but everything is smooshed together and my pictures don't show up as full size.

What the heck do I do?! I can't go back to how I had it set up two days ago and I can't figure this dang thing out!!

Dress Up

For Christmas, Bri sent Brynn a handmade tutu, boa and some gloves that she can play dress up with that belonged to my Great Grandma Lehr (I'm not quite sure what my Great Grandma was thinking... they kind of look like gloves you'd use to clean the bathrooms with!!). Here are a few pictures that we took of her the night she opened the box from Auntie Bri!!

Vacuum vs Sweeper

Tonight, while watching an Oreck commercial:

Chad: What is that Brynn?

Brynn: Vacuum

Chad: What is it?

Brynn: Vacuum

Chad: What does mommy call it?

Brynn: A beeper

Ok, ok. I admit Chad won this one. The funny thing is, when I ask her what it is, she calls it a "beeper". Babe, you and I will never get past this. It's a sweeper, not a vacuum. I love you, even with your weird Californian ways of speaking.