Sami found a comfy place to sleep. About a minute later she leaned too far back and fell off the counter. I thought I was going to die laughing.









Shane bought an inflatable boat and today we spent the day out on the river.

prepping the night before











We took the puppy and she wasn't loving being in the boat. She spent most of the trip in my lap.















Getting ready to leave













It was a beautiful day. We were on the river for about 6 hours. It was much further than we knew because by the end the sun had almost set and it was much colder. Especially since we were wet and in bathing suits. It was about a 10 mile trip. The store didn't sell boat oars (weird right?) so were used bamboo. It actually worked fairly well. There were a few issues though.




We had a ton of fun. (we're looking directly into the sun. Hence the squint)












Shane fished some. Unfortunately there weren't very many good fishing areas. The boat trips and the fishing trips need to be two separate trips.











This is the other place where she slept. I'm not sure why but she was comfy there. And it was nice for me since I wanted to be up looking around and stuff. I think she just really didn't like sitting in the water that had collected in the boat.

So we went to the river again today. It's still really cold. We took Leia and she was ok with the water, it was just too cold for her. She wouldn't go in after the first time, and she kept freaking out when we went too far in. I coasted with the current some, but it was too cold for Shane apparently too.





First river trip!!












All worn out













Awesome.

We got a puppy!! Her name's Leia and she's a mutt. We're pretty sure she's part collie and part german shepard. Although if our apartments ask she's a collie mix.

Being a good girl at the vet. She even slept through her temperature being taken in an uncomfortable fashion. Vet says she looks awesome and healthy






























Eating each other's food. Apparently the grass really is greener.




















Aren't they cute?





Bald belly!












House training is rough. I forgot how much work it was. Cats train themselves. Plus With Tandee we had the big yard so I just let her outside and that was it. It's completely different in an apartment setting because it means walking her and making sure we take her out in time.
I got a new job. I'm starting tomorrow which is also my last day at Vogue. So it's going to be a looong day. I'm now the assistant manager at the Dollar Tree which is cool. I'm also hanging out with a girl that I worked with at Vogue, so that's cool too cause I miss my friends and family.
We hung out with Shane's mom last night. We had dinner because his little brother Bryan is going to Chicago for spring break to visit his dad. So it was a little going away dinner. Bummed to be missing March birthday dinner though.
Missing you all and counting the days until Mom and Tom come out and after that until we come out for my birthday. Only three more months!!
Love

Yesterday we went and saw this fountain that's apparently world famous. I've never heard of it but it was cool anyway. They made it green occasionally for St. Patrick's day. It was even cooler then.

















Then today we spent a bunch of time designing our own family tarta. I asked Grandma Lu about ours to see if we have one. And Shane couldn't find an Irish one for his family. So we decided to start our own. And we're working on a family crest as well.

Hiking again yesterday. His mom thinks we're crazy, she's not the hiking type I guess. We've been enjoying it tho. We went trailblazing this time. Just hiked down the side of the mountain.It was fun, although we can't do it for much longer cause it's getting warm enough that all the snakes will be waking up soon. Pretty much the same trail as last time so not as many pictures. We were throwing rocks off and in the distance some guy yelled at us to stop. Really? Is it that big of a deal?














this is what we hiked down.













When we came home we barbequed. So far we're living the life I always wanted to. Although it would be nice if we were in San Diego.
Thursday night we went and saw Alice in Wonderland. It was good. After we went to Islands because I thought I'd never been. Turns out I have I just have no idea when. It just all felt vaguely familiar.
Today Shane's at work and I'm still off so it looks like a laundry day. Although he's off at 230 so that's nice.
Love and miss you all

On Friday Shane found out that there's a hiking trail right down the road from us, so yesterday after he go toff work we decided to head down there. He thought it was a pretty short hike since the mountain wasn't very tall. Once you got to the top of that mountain though you can see that there's miles and miles of hiking trails that spread out all over the mountains and land behind it.
This is the view from the top of the first mountain.



Us at the top













King of the mountain













There were poppies and I was so excited because I love poppies and I can pick them here because it's not the state flower.











If you look closely you can see lots of the trails that are everywhere. This is where we decided to hike to.











This memorial was off to the side a little ways. It was really sad because it said something about going to the highest point and it had three names and ages and it was a dad and his two daughters that were eight and six. We couldn't decide what had happened.








We walked a little ways off the trail past the memorial and there was some cliffs that had loose stones and Shane enjoyed nature by throwing them onto the rocks below to watch the explode. The echo was pretty crazy too. I helped a little, until he picked up one rock and right before he threw it he noticed a GIANT spider on it. Then I wanted to leave.













This was in between some of the cliffs that we were throwing the rocks off. It was only about thirty feet here but off the the side where Shane was it was more like fifty feet. This was just like a terrifying death corridor.













Hey you dum dum give me gum gum?













So we hiked all the way up to the top of that mountain, at this point it has been like two hours, the sun is going down. We got down to the bottom and we're thinking we're almost done, but the we notice that the car is still behind this mountain. Overall the hike was about four miles. It was awesome. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy doing things like that. Plus this hike was better because I'd rather hike longer and less strenuous than shorter and straight up like the last hike was. This one also felt more like we were just hiking around because there wasn't nearly as many people. And we were trying the edible plants that Shane was finding along the way. His knowledge makes it way cooler. It's like a lesson on how to survive in the wild. At least I won't have to resort to eating bugs hopefully since now I know which plants I can eat.

So it's been a while since I've posted. I haven't really been doing anything exciting. I had like four days off in a row recently. It really sucks, but it should be getitng better. I was pretty much just filling in whatever hours were available, but now with the new month starting I should be getting more hours and it'll be even better in April. It's wierd cause we pretty much make our own schedule.
I'm so excited for Mom and Tom to come out in April. We're also planning on coming out in June from like the 25-1. I wanna turn 21 where I've got friends. And I have to be in town to go see Eclipse with Mom on the 30th. I'm excited because I really miss everybody. I'm hoping that my friend Sam will be moving soon cause I hate just sitting around at home on my days off, but I don't really know anyone. I've been getting to know one of my co-workers so that's cool. And I've been in contact with my cousins.
So far I like Phoenix. Except for a couple things. When I get directions offline, it'll say it's like 5 miles away, but it'll take me 20 minutes to get there. It's really annoying, I always feel like I must have missed the turn because there's no way it should be taking this long. But then I'll find it. Also pretty much all the left turns are left turn yields, so it's possible that you'll sit at the light FOREVER. And if you pull into the intersection then don't get a chance to turn you either have to run the red or backup. It's ridiculous. There's also speeding cameras all over. When we were going hiking that day Shane got flashed by one and we thought it was no big deal cause he was only going like 9 miles over the speed limit and you have to be doing at least 11 to get a ticket, turns out he was doing 15 over and totally got a ticket. The awesome part was that they send the picture with the ticket and they put a giant white circle over my face, like protecting the innocent.
Shane's been amazing. He feels really bad about taking me from my family though. On the days when he has to work at 6am he gets up at 4:30, and he'll be on the computer or whatever but sitting around in the dark so I can sleep. Sami refuses to allow the bedroom door to be closed cause she can't decide where she'd rather be. She likes him better than me cause he feeds her cereal and stuff. Shane bought me a beautiful freesia plant which I am doing my best to keep alive although with my natural talent for killing things isn't going so well. Also Sami keeps trying to eat them. I'm not sure if she actually wants to eat them or just taste them. There's so few things that she's not allowed to do and yet those are the things she wants to do most. Just like a cat.
I can't wait to get paid so we can actually do things. I've been living off my last paycheck from Kitchen Collection and I also sold one of my dresses on Ebay. Shane and I have just been hanging out watching movies and swimming. The other day we were swimming while our laundry was washing (they're right next to each other) and he went to go check on it while I stayed at the pool. The gate slipped and slammed shut and this woman that was in the pool really loudly said " geez don't slam the gate shithead." I about died laughing. We call her shithead lady now. She and her husband are in the pool from about 3 until 9 at night just sitting around listening to music and drinking. It's pretty ridiculous, they're about 60. I hope I never reach a point in my life where I've really got that much nothing to do.
Well I miss you all. I'd love if anyone else wanted to come out and visit. We'll be there in June if nothing else, but of course you're welcome. Love you all