Happy Halloween!!!

Trying to Get Izzy to Eat

At times Izzy can be a finicky eater. This is Adam's way of getting her to eat.

Izzy's First Kayaking Trip

This weekend Izzy went kayaking for the first time. I am still not sure if she liked it but she is going again this weekend. I would love it if she could get to the point where she would just lay at the front of the boat and enjoy the ride.

Izzy's First Encounter With a Turtle

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fairly relaxing weekend. It was nice to have the extra day to get caught up on a bunch of things around the house. I also watched a movie (I don't do this very often). I watched Into The Wild and really liked it. I read the book a few years ago but I thought the movie was well done.

Saturday Adam and I went for a run and then biked. It was the first real workout I did since the Columbia triathlon and it was not pretty. My body was not happy. But as always, I felt good once it was done. Sunday I biked with a friend which was a lot of fun. I took her on the Columbia triathlon course for the first time. It was nice to enjoy the ride instead of worrying about my speed. It was a gorgeous day too.

The rest of the weekend we just cleaned up around the house, took Izzy for a few walks, and just relaxed. Speaking of Izzy, here is a picture update.

Cute picture of Izzy:


Not so cute picture of Izzy:

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A Walk in the Woods

Last Thursday after Adam and I were legally married we took Izzy for a long walk. We walked to the spot where Adam proposed. For being such a little dog, Izzy has a lot of energy outside. We walked for almost two hours and she had just as much energy at the beginning of the walk as she did at the end. Here are a few pictures of our trek:

Adam likes the following picture because he said he is the only normal looking one!

Izzy Update

Izzy is now 16 weeks old. She is a lot of fun most of the time. But sometimes she is just too crazy to deal with. While we were in Costa Rica she stayed with Adam's grandmother and aunt for the first week and Adam's parents the second week. Overall, it seemed uneventful. She gained one pound and is almost completely house trained.

Prior to leaving for Costa Rica I would lock her in the bathroom with me as I showered. I figured she could not do much damage and I was always right there to check on her. She usually whined and would sometimes pop her head into the shower. One time as she looked into the shower, I picked her up and sat her in the tub. Amazingly she just sat there. She would lick up some of the water but mostly she would just sit there. Once I took her out of the shower and dried her off she would race around the house trying to dry off.

I don't lock her in the bathroom anymore because I feel like she can be trusted (somewhat). So this weekend I was showering and I heard her in the bathroom with me. She then proceeded to jump directly in the shower. I am not sure how she jumped over the tub but there she was. Again, she just sat there for a few minutes and then jumped out. Adam said she also jumped in with him but he doesn't find it as cute as I do!

Dog Training

This past weekend my sister sent me a care package. She sent some old toys that her dog doesn't like anymore, a cute pink octopus for Izzy and a dog training book. I am a little concerned because it doesn't seem like the book worked for her dog.

Front cover of book:

Page 256:

Page 258:

Back cover:

Weekend Update

Is it Monday already?! I try so hard to keep my weekends under control but it always seems that Sunday night arrives and I think, "Where did my weekend go?" Even though the weekend went by quickly it was very enjoyable.

• Friday night I came home and tried to get as much housework done as possible so I had the rest of the weekend housework free. That is the sign of getting old...doing housework on a Friday night instead of going out!
• Saturday morning I woke up and did the Bagel Run. The Bagel Run is put on by the Howard County Striders and meets every Saturday morning at 7 am. This has been going on every Saturday since 1971! It is called the Bagel Run because people meet at a bagel shop near by and have bagels after the run. This Saturday morning I met Lisa and Michele and we ran 8 miles. It was a cold run (the water at the first water stop was frozen) but I had a great time.
• After the run I came home, got ready, and then met some girlfriends for sushi. This was a small get together for my wedding as I didn't want a bridal shower or bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun with great food and great company.
• The rest of the day was spent doing things for the wedding. My to do list is getting shorter and shorter!
• Sunday morning I woke up and took Izzy for a walk. This was her first outing with other dogs. The group I was with had a total 7 dogs. There were 3 adult labs, 1 adult Shih Tzu, 1 ten week old German shepherd, and 1 ten week old lab. Izzy was the smallest of the group but she did great. Once all the dogs figured out their pecking order Izzy was running around with all of them. She even barked and growled at the lab and German shepherd. So even though she is small she is not a shrinking violet. I forgot my camera but hope to bring it next Sunday.
• After the walk I came home, dropped Izzy off with Adam (who was very tired at this point) and went to cycling class.
• I came home from cycling class, got ready, and went to another wedding party. For the past 4 years Adam has taught a Boot Camp class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 5:45 am. This is a great group of people and a core group of "regulars" who attend Boot Camp. Two of the regulars, Bob and Fran, threw us a cocktail party in celebration of our upcoming wedding. It was a great afternoon. Everyone was so generous and kind. You can really tell how much these people appreciate what Adam does.
• While we were at the party, Izzy was at Adam's parent’s house. Izzy was able to play with her parents for a bit. It was so nice to see them play around. Izzy was covered in dirt and mud when all was said and done so we had to bring her home and give her a bath. She did so well. She just sat there while I scrubbed!

The finished product:

Introducing Izzy Pearl

Izzy is a 9 week old poodle mix we brought home on Friday. She was born on November 18th. Her mom is half poodle and half bichon, her dad is half poodle and half cocker spaniel. Her owner's are neighbors of Adam's parents. We were able to first see her when she was three weeks old and almost every week after that. She was the smallest of the three girls and two boys in the litter.