Jitters

Well I have some bad news. We had to put Jitters down yesterday. She had been sick for a couple days, but was doing better on Monday. We decided if she was still sick the next day we'd take her to the vet. But we were too late. Tuesday morning we woke up to find Jitter in a sort of coma. She couldn't move, but she was breathing and she would blink whenever we'd pet her. We rushed her to the vet and waited to hear what was wrong. Her temperature was about 20 degrees lower than normal, and her blood sugar was very low. She was dehydrated and couldn't see. To run all the tests they needed to diagnose her, and to hospitalize her for two days would cost us over $600. And even after all that there was no guarantee she would recover, or if she did recover that she'd get her sight back.
So we then had to make one of the hardest decisions we'll ever have to make. We knew we couldn't afford $600, but we would have happily paid it if we knew Jitters would get better. But the doctor said the chance of that happening was very slim. So we decided to put her down. When they brought her in to say goodbye her tail started wagging when she heard Jake's voice. Our hearts broke right there, knowing our baby was still around but knowing we could do nothing to help her.
It's barely been over a day and we are finding it hard to go on with our normal lives. Jitters was constantly on our minds and we took her almost everywhere. We hate coming home because we know she won't be there to greet us. The smallest things are always reminding me of her, like dropping a piece of food on the floor, or even making the car horn beep when we lock the door. Our cat seems bored and she sometimes goes to where Jitter's bed was, looking for her.
I know for some people this might seem ridiculous. I would have thought so too until we had Jitters. She was so perfect. She had such a great personality and made everyone happy. She was my constant companion for over a year and a half. I find myself feeling like I'm forgetting to do something throughout the day, and then I remember that I should be taking Jitters for a walk but I can't anymore. I had a stomach ache last night but she wasn't there to be my little heater to help me feel better. She's not here to growl at me whenever I've been on the computer too long, or to make me play hide and seek with her. Our apartment is really depressing without her, and I almost want to move somewhere new that doesn't have memories of her.
I'm sorry this is so long. I could go on some more but I won't. Thanks everyone for your concern and kind words. We'll move on eventually, and we will get another dog one day but probably not until we have kids. I put together some collages of some of our favorite Jitter pictures. Hope you like them.

We love you Jitters.

Baby Jitters. The bottom right picture is the day we got her.

Jake and Jitters

Madi and Jitters

Sleeping :)

Fun shots

We'll miss you.

Engagement Anniversary

I don't know how much the rest of the world celebrates little occasions like this, but I like to! I loved growing up when my mom would randomly say, "we went on our first date 20 years ago today." I think it is important to remember little things like that, even if you don't do anything big to celebrate it.

I can't believe it has already been two years. The time has flown by! I still feel like a newlywed and probably will until we have kids. But in remembrance of that joyous day two years ago, I decided to blog about it since I never have before.
Every weekend when I was a sophomore at Utah State I would drive home to work at our restaurant, Zoggers. It was Friday, February 8th, and my brother Taylor and I had taken over the restaurant for the night so my parents could go home. Usually I would be anxious to rush home as well, but I knew that Jake was playing Halo with his buddies that night and probably wouldn't call me until later. I didn't mind though, since I would be flying to AZ next week for Valentine's Day. We had talked about getting married when I visited him for New Years, so I expected to return to UT with a ring on my finger :)
So Taylor and I closed up the shop and made the icy trek home. It was freezing so I was bundled up with my marshmallow coat and multi-colored scarf. When we got home the family was watching a movie, and there was Chinese food waiting on the counter. Normally I would rush downstairs to my room to call Jake, but since I knew he was busy I decided to hang out with my family. That's when my mom came up to me and said, "Madi, why don't you go get your pajama's on and come watch the movie with us." Ok... that was weird. But I took her advice and started toward my bedroom.
The first thing that tipped me off was my door. It is always open. But someone had closed it and hung a wooden heart on the doorknob. I stopped mid staircase, and mentally reviewed my appearance. I smelled like hamburgers and fries, my face and hair were greasy, my puffy winter coat might have been attractive in the 6th grade, and my clothes were baggy and messy. Ugh! So I ran back up the stairs, stripped off my coat and scarf, and attempted to make myself presentable. Then I slowly made my way back downstairs.
When I opened the bedroom door the first thing I noticed was the smell. I was instantly hit by a wonderfully fresh aroma of rose petals. They were strewn all over my floor, and there were two large bouquets on my dresser. There were candles all along the shelving on the walls, and kneeling in the middle of the room, holding a ring, was my beautiful and wonderful Jacob. He was smiling like crazy and I walked right out of the room from of shock and embarrassment. He looked so perfect and I was so gross! But he didn't care. I turned back to him and he asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes!

So that is our happy little story. My mom told me a few days later that she had asked what Jake's plans were for proposing and offered to help with anything, like setting up some place where we could be alone. But Jake wanted my family to be there and be a part of it so he proposed in our house. I love that about him. My family is my life and having them part of this memory just makes it that much sweeter! So happy engagement anniversary Jake! I love you beyond words and I am so happy that you are mine forever!

Churchy-Art

I have some more art to show you! I hope it doesn't get boring. Firstly, the Las Vegas Temple. My friend Megan just got married there, she was my best friend in high school. I couldn't make it to the wedding so i wanted to give her something more special than a gift card to Target (even though those are awesome wedding gifts).

Next is a project Mom Rucker commissioned. She's teaching the Young Women in her ward next week and wanted to talk about the 10 commandments. So she had me draw 10 illustrations that go along with 10 stories that help you memorize the order of the 10 commandments. This one is my favorite.

And here are the rest. 1. Sun, 2. Shoe, 3. Tree, 4. Door, 5. Hive, 6. Sticks, 7. Heaven, 8. Freight, 9. Line, 10. Hen

Tablet Take One

So here are some pictures I've done on my new graphic tablet! I still need a lot of practice and to take a class to learn some new techniques, and of course PRACTICE some more but this is what i have so far. Enjoy!

This one is called snow angel. I liked the idea of having a "snow angel" actually be an angel! I did this around new years and I was really missing snow.

This is my ballerina doll I drew for the book my mom is writing. She has two other versions, a cheerleader and a baseball player. I'll get around to coloring those soon. I think I need to push the darks a little on this one and the hair still bugs me, but other than that I'm happy with it!

This is a work in progress, called "He Loves Me." It makes me think of that part in Beauty and the Beast when she's singing in the field with the daffodils flying around her. I love that movie! Her face and body is done, I just need to fix the dress and obviously the field/background.

Christmas!

Merry late Christmas (and New Year...) from the Ruckers!

We had a lovely holiday season! We woke up early Christmas morning so we could get to Jake's parents early enough to make some breakfast knottybunz! But we opened some presents on our own before we left.

Jake got me a beautiful and amazing graphic tablet to help me do some digital painting. I love it to pieces and I use it everyday! I've finished some paintings and I'll post them later. He also got me all of the Harry Potter movies! He knows me too well :) I love the background of this picture-our fake fire screen saver. It crackled and everything!

Jake got Xbox live for a year, some caramel popcorn seasoning that he gets every time we go to the movies but we can't find in stores anywhere (thank you amazon.com) and tennis rackets!

We also got some beautiful decorations from Jake's family to help cover the bare walls in our apartment, and awesome kitchen stuff from my family.

We had fun hanging out with Jake's family all day. The only bummer was that Jake had to work that afternoon. Seriously, who makes people work on Christmas?? That's what happens when you work for a place that's open 24/7. Here are some pictures of the rest of the day.


No pictures for New Years Eve, but we celebrated the new year with Josh and Rebecca. It was nice and relaxing, except for when the guys started to play with fireworks!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy 2010!!!

Jake's Work Party

Several weeks ago Jake and I went to his work party. It was probably the coolest party we will ever go to. Every year his boss rents out Chase Stadium and holds a wicked awesome party. We got to see some famous people like Muhammad Ali, Melissa Peterman (who plays Barbara Jean in the show Reba), and of course Danika Patrick. There was live music, a comedian, a delicious buffet, cash giveaways, and fireworks! The only downside was that we didn't know anyone! Thousands of people and Jake and I just sat at our table all alone. It really was just great to be a part of it though. Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Danika's sweet cars!

The Temptations

Muhammad Ali! We felt like such losers taking his picture but couldn't pass up the chance.

Jake and his boss

Thanksgiving Weekend

My family came to AZ for Thanksgiving this year. It was so much fun! We spent most of the day hanging out and eating with Jake's family, and then we went to Tucson for the weekend to visit my cousins down there. I love having my family in my home, and I love all the crazy games we play and the inside jokes we have. I didn't get any pictures from Thanksgiving dinner but here are some highlights from the rest of the week.

This was my dad's first time playing Mario Kart Wii. He did really well! I love Jack's face in this picture. And Carson is so talented that he can play and text at the same time :)

My momma and baby Kate.

We visited this really cool old mission south of Tucson called Tumacacori.

Yes, we're sisters.

Remember that cool game where the fish spin around and open and close their mouths and you try to catch them? Well we played it. And I was pretty much awful. Krista won but she totally cheated!

My favorite part of the weekend was going on a walk one morning with my parents and my aunt Clarinda. My dad and I were wearing shorts and t-shirts, we passed an old couple who were adorned in coats, hats, and gloves. They thought we were from Alaska :)

I love these trees! I call them Dr. Seuss trees because they are so crazy and fun, they look like they came out a Dr. Seuss book. They look fuzzy and charming from far away but they're actually pretty spiky, they might be some sort of cactus. Every time I go to Tucson I want to take a picture of these guys and I finally did. My parents were fascinated by some of the desert plants we have down here, especially the huge Saguaro cacti.