See You Later...

This will be our last blog post for a while. Why? Because we are finally taking our long awaited honeymoon! The destination? EUROPE!

The last few months of 2012 were a whirlwind for us. In between home buying, new jobs, our wedding and settling into married life we really didn't have a lot of time or money to take our honeymoon. Jon was actually offered a new job the day we moved into our house and he started on October 1st, just 26 days before our wedding! That meant he didn't have any time off. So he was only able to take off a couple of days for our wedding and then we took a trip to Napa for a few days on a mini (honey) moon. But the plan was always to take a real, fabulous honeymoon once Jon had accrued some vacation time and we saved up a bit more. 

And then life happened. We celebrated our first holidays as a married couple, Poseidon came to live with us and we spent most of our weekends fixing up our home. And the honeymoon got pushed to the back of our minds. 

Then my cousin invited us to her wedding in New York (its actually in New Jersey but my family lives in New York) and we thought "we're already part of the way there... let's just go from there!" That's exactly what we are doing.

We are starting our trip off in New York. We'll be in town for a few days celebrating with my large extended family the marriage of my cousin Paola and her (really) soon to be husband David. We are planning of visiting the 9/11 memorial since it was still under construction on our last visit in 2010. We also plan on visiting Lady Liberty because the last time I was there I was so small my mom carried me up to the top. But the main attraction is the wedding! My sister and I are excited to be bridesmaids and my whole family is excited to see all of our large extended family.

Saturday night (the wedding is Friday) Jon and I will take off for Dublin, Ireland. Naturally Jon wants to visit the Guinness Storehouse and the Old Jameson Distillery. I really want to see the Dublin Castle, Kilmainham Gaol and Trinity College. We're both excited to hang out in Temple Bar at night and go to the pubs.

Next up is Munich, Germany. One word: Oktoberfest! Jonathan and really love Oktoberfest and go to a large one up in Big Bear so it will be so AWESOME to go the real one! We're also going to going to the Hofbrauhaus. We will take a break from the beer drinking to visit Dachau.

Our third stop will be in Salzburg, Austria. I think I'm most excited for this leg of the trip. I did a semester there when I was in college and it holds such a special place in my heart. I'm excited to show Jon around the city since it was such powerful experience for me. Our agenda includes: Mozart's birthplace, the Fortress and the Stiegl Brewery. We're also going to visit the house where I lived during my time there and visit all the places I used to go to.

We'll end (insert super sad face here) our trip in Budapest, Hungary. Neither one of has been there so we're going to be playing this one by ear. We figure we'll be really tired at this point so the only thing that we are doing for sure is visiting on the old baths there. Apparently Budapest is know for thermal baths and we think that sounds incredibly relaxing. We need to recharge before we make the loooong trip back to California. 

The only downside to the trip? Leaving Poseidon behind. We'll miss him but I'm sure my family will take good care of him in our absence. Hopefully he'll miss us too!

Anyway, this means we won't be blogging for a while. But I'm sure the time will fly by and we'll be back to roaming the aisles of Home Depot in no time!

*all images courtesy of my BFF Google*

Poseidon's Post: Sick As A Dog

Poseidon is our chipin (Chihuahua/ Minuature Pinscher mix). Since he’s a big part of our household he likes to give an update on his life every now and then. 

I know I just told you guys about my second birthday but something major happened to me last week and I just had to share so other pet parents don't worry like my humans did. 

Thursday started out like any other day. I woke up, got really excited when my parents woke and went outside to take care of my business. My dad fed me breakfast and I watched my mom get ready to go work. I settled in for my nap when all of sudden my tummy did not feel good and I had an accident in the house. I felt really bad about it because I know my mom doesn't like to clean that up but I couldn't help it. I thought the worst of it was over, drank some water and tried to nap far far away from my mess. Except it wasn't over. Not by a long shot. I'll spare you the smelly details but I spent all day being sick from either end of my body! It was so gross and I had to keep moving around the house to find a clean place to lay down. It was the worst day ever. I just kept throwing up over and over again. Throwing up like that is exhausting and pretty dangerous when you only weigh 7 pounds. 

When my mom finally came home from work I was so happy to see her but I just didn't have energy to meet her at the door like I normally do. She came in, called my name and when she saw the mess she said "Oh buddy, what happened? Are you okay?" She picked me up, gave me a kiss and told me to wait on the couch. She started to go upstairs, saw my bloody (told you it was gross) mess and called my dad to tell him that she was taking me to the vet. I had another accident in the car on my mom's lap but she just rubbed my head and said it was okay. 

Once we got the vet he said that they had to run some expensive tests to see what was wrong with me. My mom started to cry (she always cries) and told him to do whatever he thought I needed. She just wanted me to get better. Moms are the best. 

They took me in the back for some x-rays and blood work. I didn't even make a fuss even though I was scared that's how sick I was. After a little while the vet came out and told my humans (they all showed up to be with me, I love them) I had hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. He explained that vets don't know why dogs get it but basically we get really sick all of a sudden. We get bloody diarrhea and vomit out of nowhere. It can be really dangerous because we get dehydrated and if you don't treat it we could die! 

The vet said I had to spend the night in the hospital so I could get antibiotics, anti-nausea medicine and an IV to give me fluids. My humans were sad but really wanted me to get better so they said good night and they admitted me to the animal hospital. The next morning I felt a lot better and thought I could go home. My uncle picked me up but I got sick again at my grandma's house so he brought me back to the vet. That sucked. I wasn't feeling 100% but staying in the hospital is lonely! At least my family came to see me. 

Saturday afternoon I finally got to go home and I was so exited to be with my parents again. I had to smell the whole house! I guess my parents had to deep clean the house while I was gone. I noticed they also threw away the rug in the living room. I felt bad but my mom said she didn't really like it that much anyways. The couch cushions smelled like fresh laundry so I know they cleaned that too.

Since my tummy was still sensitive my parents had to feed me a tiny portion of chicken and rice every few hours to make sure my tummy could handle it. That part was okay with me since I love people food. 

Poseidon's Recovery from Berennisse Behr on Vimeo.

I also have to take a lot of medicine which I hate. I know its to make me feel better but I still don't like it. I spent most of the weekend recuperating and napping. 

 At least I got to sleep with my parents Saturday and Sunday. They were really worried about me and my mom kept waking me up to make sure I was okay. I also got to go to my grandma's house on Monday because my parents didn't want to leave me alone. Grandma let me sleep in her bed and play outside. 

I'm feeling a lot better and things are getting back to normal. My mom said I have to keep taking my medicine until Saturday but I have enough energy to play with my toys!

Poseidon's Playing from Berennisse Behr on Vimeo.

My parents did buy me some doggie insurance in case I ever sick again and really recommend that all pet parents get some for their fur babies. Although the vet bills were really really expensive my humans said that I am worth it. They said that we are a family and that's what family does. And even though I can be a brat when its medicine time I love my people. Not only do they throw me birthday parties, they also saved my life.

Stop If You Dare

This is the easiest and cheapest craft I've done.

It all started when I spotted this witch at HomeGoods. She was only $20 and has four metal prongs that allow you to stick her in the dirt.

When Jon and I tried to stick her right outside our door we had to move one of the alarm adverting stakes to accommodate her. We didn't really know what to do with it so we left it on the ground. I actually thought I could it for a Christmas decoration but the universe had other plans.

A few weeks later we were at Target in the dollar section perusing the Halloween goodies when I spotted this sign. Thank you Halloween spirits for sending this my way!

After letting sit on the counter for a week (typical) I decided it was time to get my craft on. I washed the stake off and wiped it dry. Then I liberally applied some tacky glue to the front of the preexisting sign and carefully centered the new one over it.

I did try to use my glue gun at first but that really didn't work out so I used the tacky glue. I weighed it down with some old bookends and let it dry.

Once it was dry Jon stuck in the ground on the opposite side from the witch. I didn't get a good photo of it outside since it was already dark but you get the idea.

One more time, side by side.

 Annnnnnd we're done!

The Month in Review: August 2013

Its time for our monthly roundup of our blog posts!

• Jon finally hid the cables hanging from our mounted television
• We accidentally stained our patio orange
• I shared how I made the canvas in our half bath, a Packers' inspired paint chip art and another wee wee dance bathroom canvas
• After I started painting our upstairs hallway Jonathan helped me finish the rest... kind of
• We did a quick update to our ugly florescent lighting 
• And Poseidon shared his love of walks!

We normally share how funny (we think) we are but we didn't have any good moments to share this month. You can read the old ones here! Instead you can see our attempt at a family photo.

You can check my Instagram feed for more but I'll be honest, they're mostly photos of Poseidon! 

Wedding Wall

Sorry for the cell phone photos! It was late....

We finally got around to hanging some stuff in our recently halfway painted hallway!

These frames were previously hung outside our bedroom in a grid formation. After we painted I decided that I didn't really want them there anymore and I thought it would look better on the staircase. So Sunday (before the Packer game!) Jon hung them in a staggered fashion. He didn't measure, just eyeballed it and we're really pleased with the outcome.

These frames were actually on the tables at our wedding. The tables were named for cities and had photos of us at all the different places we'd traveled to as a couple. There's Boise, Salt Lake, San Francisco and Solvang were we had previously vacationed. There's also Redlands, California since that's where we met.

Now we kind of have a wedding wall going on. On the other side of the door (to our heater... I think) is a shadow box with our save the date, invitation, menu and some dried petals from my bouquet. Our guest book is also there. Eventually we want to add our wedding date as decal above the frames. I'm still thinking about what I should hang below the shadow box... its a work in progress! At least we have one wall almost done. 

Haunted Mason Jars

Today I got my Fall craft on.

Yes, I know its still feels like summer outside! But if stores already have Christmas stuff on display then its not its  not too early for fall stuff... right? Labor Day is kind of the unofficial official end of Summer anyway. Fine! I know its early but I can't help that I'm excited for the holiday season. 

I digress, back to the Mason jars. Since its still too early for Christmas decorations I've been focusing on fall decorations. I wanted to make some sort of Halloweeny craft with candles. After scouring Pinterest and blogland I decided to take some old spaghetti jars and paint them. All I did was take a some basic craft paint and painted the inside of jars. Its pretty simple. You just drop some paint into the jar and roll it around. Once its completely covered you flip it upside down so the excess paint can drain out. 

I didn't do a good job with the paint in the jars on purpose because I wanted to look old and cracked to go with the Halloween theme. Once it was dry, I took a black paint pen and outlined "haunt" on the jars. Then I placed some tea lights inside and light them up!

Only to find out that the effect I was going for with the paint didn't turn out as I expected. Ugh. Its frustrating but its an easy fix. So I added more paint and the jars are dying as I type... 

Poseidon's Post: #2

Poseidon is our chipin (Chihuahua/ Minuature Pinscher mix). Since he’s a big part of our household he likes to give an update on his life every now and then. 

Dude, I'm talking about my 2nd birthday not the other number 2. Sickos.  And before you continue reading I ask that you don't judge my humans. Yes, they're embarrassing but I love them. 

Sunday, September 1st was my second birthday and all my humans and my cousin Winston (see him under the table?) helped me celebrate! Where do you go for a doggie birthday party? The Lazy Dog Cafe! 

I love when all my humans are in one place but I have to say the BEST part of the night was my dinner. My parents let me have human food! Without begging! I was so excited. I ordered some brown rice and grilled chicken. I didn't even bark at the waitress when she brought it out. My mom tried to get a photo of me eating it but I was too fast for her! See the empty plate behind me?

I also got presents! My cousin Winnie and his humans got me some new toys. I love new toys. Especially ones that squeak! His humans also gave me homemade doggie ice cream. I wish my mom would have let me eat the whole thing but my humans were worried about upsetting my tummy. Crazies! Ice cream is always ok!

But my favorite toy was this HUGE dragon that had a ton squeakers in it! I couldn't wait to play with it even though my dad said it was bigger than me.

This is one my humans. She doesn't live with us but she helped rescue me from a horrible place called the animal shelter. She's the best. She lets me sleep in her bed and gives me lots of treats. I was supposed to be looking at the camera but I think I spotted more food. Oops! Its still a cute photo of us, right?

This is me with my parents. My mom says this is a cute family photo of us. 

I wasn't even tired when we got home. I really really really wanted to play with my new dragon but my dad said I had to wait until we got home. When they brought it out to give to me I went crazy town!

Poseidon's Favorite Birthday Present from Berennisse Behr on Vimeo.

I have to say that birthdays are pretty awesome! One year ago my brother and I were stealing leftovers in a Del Taco parking lot in Orange County. Now I have a nice home and a family that throws me birthday parties. I am one lucky dog. I only wish all homeless dogs could find families.