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Maverick

5/11/2016

It's been about three months since our family expanded to the "four best friends that anyone ever had" and it's hard to remember life without our large & loud addition. :) Mav was a surprise in our life - neighbors adopted a female GSD and their male GSD got to her before they even had a chance to take her to the vet. Their unfortunate timing became our happy accident :)

I read another blog about a family who documented the rapid growth of their German so I decided to do the same thing! If people can slap a {3 months} sticker and track their baby's growth, I can force my dog to stand in front of a sign and document it too :)

Here's Mavericks's {picture} story...

PARENTS

Cyrus (male) Black and Tan
Greta (female) Black
Puppies born: January 1, 2016

SIX WEEKS

The day we met! Coincidentally - Valentine's Weekend. Love at first sight.
Maverick picked us. He walked over, asked us to pet his belly, and licked my face.
SOLD!
Weight: 12lbs

TWO MONTHS

Welcome Home Maverick!
So he's actually two months in all these photos. A bit of free advice for all parents: know the age of your child :) You're Welcome.
Weight: 22lbs

THREE MONTHS

The official three month photos :)
Weight: 33.1lbs

FOUR MONTHS

Favorite things: tennis ball. trying to get on the couch. dada <3
Weight: 54.5lbs

FIVE MONTHS

Discovered sprinkler. Loves his bubba. Can jump on the chair himself. Still loves tennis ball.
Weight: 62lbs

Six Months

Tennis Ball is his best friend. Discovered squirrel. Still wants to eat Storm. Can guard the house without being in a crate. Upgraded to a bigger bubba. Right ear still trying to stand up tall.

Weight: 76.2lbs

A behind the scene view of how we captured this perfect shot:

A behind the scenes look at this {Kansas heat!} shot:

Behind the scenes:

6 weeks vs 6 months

Two Months vs Six months

Seven Months

Tennis ball has become a way of life. Went on first family vacation - learned to swim in the lake.
Weight: TBD

1 Comment

Matt Moves Home.

5/5/2016

2 Comments

The title may seem odd as many of you know Matt and I recently bought a house in Kansas. A topic I rarely speak about publicly is the fact that Matt travels for work. Not one or two days a week here and there - Sunday night through Friday afternoon Matt is on the road. Since our move to Kansas, Matt has also had to sacrifice many weekends traveling home because the project required weekend work. This last stint, Matt has been working two weekends in a row and I have not seen him for 14 days. I am happy to announce that tomorrow is Matt's last day with his current company. He accepted a full-time Kansas based position, and he is MOVING HOME FOR GOOD!!

The reason I never shared our long-distance marriage was simply, but sadly, safety. Unfortunately neither Matt nor I felt comfortable sharing that I was living alone. Call it paranoia. Call it smart. We both agreed it was the best decision. Of course our friends and family knew - but coworkers and the general public were kept in the dark. Our last conversation at night would be "Goodnight. I love you. Make sure the doors are locked." We've never lived in seedy neighborhoods but were always aware of the questionable characters that lived around us (and there were some questionable ones). Downside to renting of course.

Living in Franklin we found it extremely difficult to "hide" the fact that Matt was not home because of the car situation. Matt's truck was obviously gone and I was clearly still there. I'm sure neighbors (ahem, Maureen) thought there was trouble in paradise - but Matt was working in Vermont. We rented on the second floor though so we could just swing our full paint cans at intruders and knock them down the stairs. It was a fool-proof plan.

Kansas brought a whole different approach to "hiding" Matt not being home. Our first priority was learning our community, neighbors, and my coworkers (hi friends!). We quickly introduced ourselves to our neighbors - and they are all AMAZING. ::whew:: I probably came across as crazy/standoffish at first with coworkers but living in the country with 20 acres you can never be too cautious. Also, every delivery person who showed up heard Captain and their first response was always "wow I thought he was way bigger than that. That's good. You always want a dog warning everyone who approaches." Great. Good boy! Wait. Should I be worried?

One thing I am extremely proud of is how much I've grown since I've been here. Perhaps I always was capable and just never gave myself credit (insert some meaningful quote on top of a pretty picture that people share on Facebook here). I'll let you in on a little secret. New to Kansas + New House + Captain Scaredy Pants = No Sleep. Captain's bark is LOUD and he is on alert for EVERYTHING. I know every time an ice cube has been thrown from the tray to join his fellow cubes in our freezer. Every owl who comes to visit and spends his night "hoot hooting". Every tree branch that brushes up against the siding in the INTENSE wind. All because Captain is "guarding the house and protecting his Momma."

Since I too was new I would be on full alert every time he barked. Without Matt to save my ass - it was up to me to assess and determine my own level of safety. I'll spare you the ridiculous details - but I quickly learned that my tried and true method from childhood of "just hide under the blanket and the intruder won't see you" was not going to suffice. I'm actually pretty proud of my method of securing the house - which I can't tell you. Otherwise I'd have to kill you (bad joke. I know.) 9 year old me wouldn't even recognize 29 year old me. And that is something to celebrate.

Living in a long-distance relationship has been challenging but I would not change it for the world. Our relationship started on the road which allowed us to build trust, perfect our communication, and strengthen our commitment to one another. The sacrifices Matt has made for our family are appreciated more than I can express. We would not be where we are today without his hard work. Not a day goes by without me sharing how thankful I am for him. For every challenge I had living at home, Matt had an equal challenge on the road.

We also were able to travel to places we've never been before - like that great town in North Carolina "The City of Progress that never progressed" LMAO - we can forget that town (and the bloody hand print).

{Vernon/Syracuse, NY} {Charlotte, NC} and {Charlotte/Hinesburg/Burlington, VT} will all have a very special place in our hearts. And so will Southwest Airlines, Business Select, A-List Preferred, and Companion Pass :) #ballerstatus

CHEERS to the next chapter :)
WELCOME HOME MATT!!

2 Comments

life is about the journey ...

Maverick

PARENTS

SIX WEEKS

TWO MONTHS

THREE MONTHS

FOUR MONTHS

FIVE MONTHS

Six Months

Seven Months

Matt Moves Home.

The Roses

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Categories

life is about the journey ...

Maverick ﻿

PARENTS

SIX WEEKS

TWO MONTHS

THREE MONTHS

FOUR MONTHS

FIVE MONTHS

Six Months

Seven Months

Matt Moves Home.﻿

The Roses

Archives

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Maverick

Matt Moves Home.