Learning to Appreciate the Desert

Sorry it's been so long! I have tons to blog about, but I have the hardest time motivating myself to do it. So I'll try to knock one out each day until I'm all caught up.

I wanted to write this post before it gets too hot here and I change my mind! But I've been trying to be more optimistic about living in the desert. A few weeks ago Jake, Cleo, and I went hiking up South Mountain, on the Mormon trail! It was super fun! Cleo did really well and it was nice to do something different. I also started to pay attention to the terrain and found some interestingly pretty flowers. So I took lots of pictures in hopes that they will remind me that there are some good things in this ridiculous climate we live in.

Allergies=Suck.

I NEVER had allergies growing up. I think they first started when I moved to MA, but they have never been this bad! Jake and I both hate taking any kind of medicine (unless absolutely necessary), but last week I had to give in. Itchy eyes, itchy throat, frustratingly annoying runny nose, everything was so fuzzy!! So now I basically can't get through the day without some form of allergy medication. I hope this allergy season is almost over. On the bright side, allergy season brings beautiful things like this...

These pretty trees were all over our complex a few weeks ago, and I couldn't help taking a picture. This desert of ours will only be pretty for so long!

Cleo Complex

So... we got a new dog a few weeks ago. I've delayed blogging about it because it's still sort of up in the air if we will keep her or not. We found her at a shelter and instantly liked her. She was loving and happy and liked lots of attention. She was listed as a Chinese Shar pei mix, but we can't see the resemblance. So Jake and I decided that she looks more like a mix between a border collie and a pharaoh hound. We named her Cleo (Cleopatra) because of how Egyptian she looks. She really is a gorgeous dog.


Well about a day or two after we got her I started having second thoughts. I don't think I was ready for a new dog (I still miss Jitters) and especially not a bigger dog. I was having the hardest time adjusting to a big creature that I couldn't pick up and move it where it wouldn't bother me. I hated taking her outside because whenever we saw a dog she'd freak out and jump all over the place. I didn't enjoy playing with her, because she could jump high and nip at me (where the worst Jitters could do was scratch at your shins). I couldn't sit on my couch because she was constantly in my face, and whenever I pushed her away she would think I was playing and came back for more. And to make matters worse our cat hates us again. I knew that getting a bigger dog would take some adjusting, I just wasn't willing to do that.
On top of that, I lost my job a week after we got her. So we had a dog I didn't want, and we couldn't afford.
Things are slowly getting tolerable. I started a new job yesterday working as a receptionist at a cosmetology school (so there goes the "we can't afford her" excuse). And she is getting better. Or maybe I'm getting better haha. The only thing that really bothers me now is how she reacts to other dogs. Whenever a dog gets too close she nips at them. I also miss my cat. She lives under our bed these days.
So if any of you out there know of anyone looking for a dog, we've got one for ya! She really is super sweet and loves to play. And I know that over time I'll learn to love her but right now she just seems like more a burden or a chore. I think she'd do better in a house with a yard, and someone who could give her lots of love (now that both Jake and I work nights she's locked up all night). But for now I just need to suck it up and learn to live (and be happy) with this decision we made.

This is my favorite thing about Cleo. Her ears! She is a short haired dog, but her ears are really fuzzy. It's cute :)

Home Again Home Again

Well, a couple weeks ago we made the trek up to UT again to visit my family. Jake needed a break from work and I missed my family so... yeah! I honestly can't even remember doing a whole lot, and we hardly took any pictures, gr! But here were some highlights of the trip.

• We were able to visit my friend Megan and her new husband Randy. I'd never met him before and it was nice to see them together and visit them in their home.
• SNOW! We drove through a storm on the way up and on the way back. It was lovely.
  

• Cool rock formations! We drove a different way this time and found this neat little place on the side of the road. Jake had fun running around and being goofy :) I told him this place is NOTHING compared to Goblin Valley. So next time we drive up to UT we'll be stopping there so he can see its wonderment.

• On the drive up we stopped in Taylorsville to visit Rory and Rebecca. They just got a German Shepherd puppy named Mowgli. He is super cute and HUGE (and of course I left the camera in the car). I'm glad we visited them then because they were both pretty sick that weekend or were busy with work so we hardly got to see them.
• We got to spend lots of time with Emery! I haven't seen her walking yet so that was fun. She is such a good baby! We took her swimming which she loved, and when we all went to play tennis (in 45 degree weather :D) she was happy just to sit on one of our laps and watch the others play. My favorite part though was her falling asleep on me while we were watching a movie. Love love love. I'm so glad we were able to visit on a weekend that Taylor gets his daughter.

• Learning that we have a new nephew! Of course he had to come on the one weekend we're out of town! Braxton was born on March 7 (11-ish weeks early) he is still in the hospital but is doing great! We were able to visit him the day after we got home, what a cute little bugger he is!
  
• On Sunday we had both the Zaugg and Little Grandparents over, which was nice! The original plan was to have dinner in Logan but my grandparents decided to come visit us instead. This was kinda a bummer because I was planning on visiting some friends in Logan... but I guess that will have to wait for the next UT trip! Dinner was great and it was nice to have both sets of grandparents in one place.

I know my mom looks funny in this one, but it's the only one I could find with my grandpa and dad looking normal. That's how awful I was at taking pictures this trip, that is 1 of 2 pictures of my dad, and this is the good one.

• Learning new card games! Oh how I love playing games with my family. I think Jake is getting used to it, he seemed to enjoy playing them more this trip (or he just faked it). He's so good to me!
  
• We played a lot of Wii. Funniest thing is watching my dad bowl. Best technique ever haha. And my mom is a pro BTW. They have finally found a video game where they can beat their children!

Taylor golfs sitting down :)

• We saw the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I think Jake enjoyed it more than he was expecting to, which is awesome! If he can live through that then I think there will be many more musicals in our future!
• Before the play we went out to eat with our good friends the Krebs. I haven't seen them since our wedding, so it was nice to catch up.
• Rainbow on the drive home! It was a nice ending to a great trip. Really we didn't do anything monumental, it was just fun to get away and relax.
  

• And last but not least, coming home to a clean house! Seriously it feels so good to walk into a clutter free space after being cooped up in a car for 12 hours.

New Job and Finished Art. Sort of.

So Jake got a new job! Sort of. He's with the same company, but he is now answering emails instead of answering phones. He started today and he was so excited not to have to deal with obnoxious people on the phone. He has to work in Gilbert though, and his schedule is back to 3:30 to midnight, but it'll be worth it just knowing he enjoys his work that much better! I'm really happy for him and so proud! I've got such a talented guy!

And I finished this piece. Sort of. I'm still not happy with the field, and her one arm disappears weirdly, but I got sick of working on it and called it quits. It's called "He Loves Me." Also, I'm kinda taking a break from the digital stuff because I really need to work on illustrating my mom's book and that requires lots and lots of sketching. So probably no art for a while.. sorry!

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!