Countdown!

Nick and I have started the countdown to puppy time (and a much more messy house)! Gus will be coming home with us on December 23rd, just in time for Christmas. We're very excited and I thought I'd share a couple of the photos Diana (his mommy/breeder) has sent us.

This is one of Gus at about 5 weeks. This was on one of the really cold nights we had about a week ago when they brought the puppies in and did individual photos for all the future owners.

And this one is Gus this weekend at 6 weeks. They had a very successful trip to the vet in which all the babies were healthy and growing at a great pace. The vet was apparently very impressed with their temperament and attitudes. They are very gentle and sweet as a whole litter. Now Gus weighed in at 8.6 pounds, which was right in the middle. Most of the babies were between 7 and 9.5 pounds, however, one little porker, a female named Paisley, came in at a whopping 11.6 pounds. She's a bit of a butterball, but also so cute!

We are really looking forward to adding to our little family. With Nick gone at night, it gets a little lonely around here sometimes and I know that Gus is going to keep me very busy. Nick and I were over at my parents a couple days ago and Mom produced a huge bag of puppy toys she's already bought for Gus. I know this is going to be one spoiled dog, and it makes me think about babies and how ridiculously spoiled they will be too! Gus is just practice.

For anyone who isn't an animal lover, my posts about our new "baby" Gus may seem over the top. However, in my family animals are family, so seeing him as a member of the Pritchetts isn't strange to us. My parents' first "child" was a springer spaniel named Tucker and he was a uniting force for them in hard times. I truly believe that receiving the undying and unconditional love of a pet makes it easier and more rewarding to love others in return. Nick and I love our Budda cat and are really excited for another being to love in this house. Babies to come soon too, but not too soon!

Furniture and poop

I think we've found it. We've only spent the last three days shopping for the perfect couch, loveseat, and bedroom set, so we better be ready to buy by tomorrow! There is one more sale we want to check out tomorrow morning, but if that doesn't pan out, we'll be heading to a store in Tacoma for our new furniture. I'll post photos when we are sure of what we're getting, but the sets we've picked out are gorgeous! I'm so excited to actually have a dresser so I can stop diving into the giant clothes boxes that have been housing my tees, undies, and socks. The other day I had Nick dump one of the boxes out on the floor so I could find one stupid brown tee. I was just going to leave the pile on the floor for easier access, but then Nick pointed out that the pile of clothes looked exactly like the nest of blankets that Budda is so fond of on the couch. I can just imagine coming home and finding orange and white cat hair all over an entire pile of clean clothes. I feel the temper tantrum coming on as I write this . . .

And speaking of Budda . . . So, many of our friends know that Budda has an issue with pooping outside his litter box. It's like he's unaware that his little butt is hanging out of the box because his front feet are in when he does this (usually), but he is pooping on the floor right in front of the box. It's not an every day thing, but he will also do this when he's mad. Like if I haven't fed him yet or if his box is too dirty. He has an attitude, what can I say? Well, the other day Nick and I kicked him out of the room so we could have some "alone time," and apparently Budda didn't appreciate that. He's used to having run of the house and considers our bedroom his, especially if we are in it. I knew he'd be mad, so after the stuff *ahem* I went downstairs to find him and bring him back in the room. I walked into the utility room and there he was pooping in the middle of the floor. He had food and I had just cleaned his box an hour or two before. He did it because he was pissed that we kicked him out of the room (apparently he's a bit of a voyeur). Nick was so mad! I thought it was pretty funny, especially after we rock, paper, scissored to figure out who had to clean it up and Nick lost. Hehe.

And to change the subject completely--some good news: We're hoping to go see Gus either tomorrow or Sunday. He's five weeks old now! I'm so excited for our new baby!

Why?

5 police officers senselessly shot down in the span of a month. Why? How am I supposed to send my husband off to work every day without a feeling of panic? How can I sleep knowing he's out there doing his job, which causes him to put his life on the line every shift? When do the feelings of helplessness and anger go away?

If you are not the wife or husband of a police officer, you can't possibly understand this feeling. We knowingly send our best friends, lovers, and other halves out to risk their lives because we support them. We know they love their jobs. It's an integral part of who they are and we're proud of them for that and proud to call them "husband" or "wife." But that does not make it any easier. I watch my husband drive away at the beginning of every shift. I bring his lunch out to his car and I tell him, "Be safe, drive safe, come home to me safe" every night. I wave as he leaves to go out to this unpredictable job, not knowing what could happen to him in the span of his eight hour shift. I pray to God every day that He will bring my husband home safely every night. And I do this five days a week. Then I try to find some way to occupy my time so that I don't dwell on Nick's job and his safety all night long. I watch Friends over and over again. I clean. I read. I call my mom and chat about mindless topics. All are coping mechanisms. All are things we spouses must learn and cultivate over the course of our officers' careers. There is no knowing, so teetering on the brink of panic on a daily basis is something we understand completely.

I hope that explanation gives some insight into this situation for those of us who wait at home, praying for the return of our loved ones. Asking us how we are doing will always elicit the same response: "I'm fine." It's a lie, but we don't want to talk about it. Part of the coping is keeping those scary thoughts at bay with the mundane routine of life. Give us a hug or chat about anything else, but don't ask us how we are doing. We're not fine, but you can't understand and trying to explain it only makes it worse for us. We pray, we love, we laugh, we cherish the small moments, and yet our hearts still break every time they go on duty.

Prayers for the families of the officers slain this past month. Love and support from those of us who understand.

Moving on up!

Well, we are all moved in to the new house (for the most part . . . ). We're still working on furnishing it, but fortunately I am on top of things. I know if I left it up to Nick, we'd never have a set of couches for the living room and I'd be living out of a box for months because that's how long it would take to get a new bed set. I love him, but he is the ultimate procrastinator!

The day we moved in we had help from Dave and Austin, which saved us. We decided to go look at a dining room set that night as we still had the moving truck. It turned out to be a great deal! It was purchased at an antique store for $5600. It's a rich dark wood table with two leaves, eight chairs, and a gorgeous china cabinet. We got the set for $1700. Besides our entertainment center, it is the first piece of furniture I am truly proud to own. And it was a steal!

The big problem lately is that Nick has had no time off, which has been really tough. I can't buy a couch or a bed set without his input because those pieces are so important. (And I can't make the decision by myself because I'm so indecisive about it.) We also have some little things that need to get done, like cleaning out the gutters, which Nick needs to do. Poor guy, he's already got a honey-do list! But he's decided to take Wednesday off, so we're going to work on getting as much done as possible on the four days he'll have off. I'm excited to finish our registry and get the 5 bookcases I've been dying for so I can set up the office and my books can have a home again. We also found out from Nick's mom that we can have his grandfather's cherry and leather antique desk and it is gorgeous, so that is one less thing we have to buy and another piece of furniture that will be special to us. We also have my mom's and grandma's rocking chairs, which will eventually go in the baby's rooms. The only bad thing about the desk is that it is buried in Nick's parent's garage. And when I say buried, I mean buried! It'll take a bit of elbow grease to get it out . . .

And finally, our super amazing and exciting news: we are getting a puppy! We put a down payment on a golden retriever puppy last weekend. They are four weeks old today and we will be able to bring the little guy home right before Christmas. We are still working on names . . . that's something we always have a hard time agreeing on, whether it's for pets or babies. We've gone from Luke to Ike to Charlie to Teddy. My top three right now are Noah, Toby, and Gus. I really like Gus, but that is just today's consensus. Indecisive? Yes.

Another thing to be excited for: A real Christmas tree! We're getting our first tree this week too! Life is not just good, it's amazing!

Appliances!

Our stainless steel appliances are in! They were delivered on Friday and installed yesterday and they have already completely changed the look of the kitchen. We got an over the range microwave, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, and a stove. The stove is my pride and joy at this point. It's beautiful! It has a ceramic top with a quick boil burner in two sizes, a warming burner, and the oven is a convection oven (which means quicker cooking times) and has a hidden element (meaning the red hot thing at the bottom of the oven, which usually gets covered with junk is covered by a panel and means easier clean-up).

On top of the appliances, my mom, dad, and brother bought us a washer and dryer. We purchased everything at Best Buy from the same girl and she found a 50% off coupon for a Samsung steam washer and dryer pair. In other words, we got my gorgeous washer and dryer, which would have been $1600 per piece, for only $1600. It was the best day! And my mom is jealous because my washer and dryer are nicer than hers.

So my next job in the kitchen is to replace the white knobs on the cabinet with metal pulls or knobs. I'd also like to price sinks and faucets and maybe do that too. The countertops and floors are going to wait for a while, maybe after we get our first-time home buyers tax credit. And today I'm going to go look at living room furniture. And I'm going to buy if I find the right pieces for the family room. The rest of the furniture will be in this week. The goal is to be completely moved into the house by Thursday. Now that our appliances are in, I am so excited to be IN the house!

On a side note: Funny story. Nick had swift water rescue training on Friday. Because of the Howard Hanson dam potentially failing and the fact that, if it does fail, much of King County will have massive flooding (up to 20 feet in Kent!), all King County guys (and other departments across the state I'm sure) will be on alert for the winter and early spring. If the dam fails, Nick will be working 12-hour days every day until the crisis is over. All that=not funny. But Nick's mishap at training was pretty funny. Part of the training was about throwing life ropes and donut things into the water at the Green River to "save" potential victims. It was very cold outside and Nick's hands were freezing. When your hands get cold, they tend to "shrink" a little . . . anyone know where I am going with this?

So Nick calls me to tell me this "funny story" about how midway through the training he looked down and his wedding ring was gone. Yep, gone. As he's standing on the banks of the Green River. He told the other guys and their first question was, "Is she an old wife or a new wife?" Nick's response: "We've been married for a month."

"Oh, shit, dude! She's going to kill you!"

Yep.

So, being the cops they are, they set out in a grid pattern, like you would do when searching for evidence. Can you just imagine them with locked arms walking along the banks of the river looking for a ring so their big, bad cop buddy doesn't get murdered by his new wife? It's freaking hilarious! And I can laugh because . . . they found it. Thank goodness! I told Nick that maybe for some things he doesn't need to wear his ring, like when dealing with water and ropes. He agreed, probably because he knows what's good for him.

I love my husband.

Keys!

Oh, and we got the keys to our house yesterday! Now we seriously need help moving. Remember how much we love you all and remember how much you love us . . . furniture movers anyone?

(Owning a home is AWESOME, by the way!)

Survival!

We did it! We survived the wedding and the aftermath. The only reason I can say this is because my aunts came and took over the final planning and the coordinating the day of and saved my life and the lives of my parents. They were wonderful and I can't thank them enough!

So, a recap of the day:

I went and got my nails done the day before, just French tips (in other words, just some paint). By the time I got out of the shower, it was all chipped so after doing my makeup, I ran out to Vivian and had her fix it. Then I was running a little late (shocking, I know) and made it home just in time for Laura to get there and do my hair. The photographers came at about 11:45 and took some pictures while my mom and the aunts were making the bouquet and loading the cars. Laura finished my hair around 12:15 and Nick and I left for Thornewood a few minutes after that.

Imagine our surprise when, 20 minutes later, we show up at Thornewood to find that no one else is there, even though the aunts left about 45 minutes before we did. My dad told them to go some ridiculous back way, which he also took, and I guess a road was closed or something. Anyway, Nick and I stood around and waited for about 15 minutes before anyone showed up. Can you say stressed? Everyone eventually came upstairs and my Aunt Kris and Mom started to lace me into my dress. And the breathing stopped there! We did photos in the room for a while and then decided to meet up with Nick and do some pictures outside. We hadn't really planned this well, as our wedding guests quickly found out.

We ended up walking through the ceremony area, where many of our guests were milling around. So much for the element of surprise, huh? After we were done with the outdoor photos (and I was sufficiently blinded, haha!) we walked back through the house, which was now filled with people. At this point, I was ready for the ceremony to be done. We were already married and only did the ceremony as a courtesy to the people who weren't at the Catholic one in September. I rushed my dad and mom upstairs, Dave was sent to the mantle and we got going right at 3. Not the original plan. We said 3, but intended to start at 3:15ish so that people wouldn't interrupt the ceremony by coming in through the creaky front doors. The doors ended up being a guest in and of themselves during our vows . . .

Poor Dave. We didn't give him a moment to prepare or rehearse, which we should have taken time to do and I forgot to tell everyone where I expected them to be before the ceremony, so Nick's parents were already seated when we got started. Once Nick and I were at the altar, Nick kept crowding Dave closer and closer to the fireplace, which caused him to sweat pretty profusely. We said our vows and skipped the prayer of the couple. Nick forgot to repeat after Dave and the door creaked open a few times for a few "late" (but not really) arrivals. If we weren't already married, I might have been frustrated, but as it was, I found it to be pretty funny. And it broke up any emotional moments we had, so it all worked out for the best.

The relief upon having the ceremony completed was amazing. Then we took a bunch more photos and rushed the caterer into having dinner completed by 4:15 since we started the ceremony early. I was concerned about down-time, but people seemed to be enjoying themselves. A few guests left after the ceremony was over, which was fine, and by the time dinner was started, we were down to 80 or so people.

(P.S. Having a Thanksgiving-style meal was genius on our part. Everyone loved it, as far as I know, and it was GOOD! Not like some dry, yucky food I've had at other weddings. Everyone likes turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and sweet potatoes! And it's a good thing, because all the leftovers were sent home with us. We're going to be eating this stuff for DAYS!)

After dinner Nick and I gave our toasts. I started by thanking the aunts and my family and pointing out the missing guests, like my Nana, Grandpa Harvey, and Nick's grandma . . . Julianna. Unfortunately, her name wasn't in my head when I was talking and instead of Julianna, I said Gloria. As in Nick's mom. I won't be living that one down for years to come. After recovering my composure (a little bit-hard to recover completely when one of Nick's aunts kept teasing me and Gloria about it, haha), I thanked my wonderful husband, who then proceeded with his speech. He said some beautiful things about me, which made me cry and thanked the aunts, but forgot to thank his parents . . . poor Brad and Gloria! We also mistakenly gave Brad's boutonniere to Papa, so Brad didn't get one. I realize now the importance of a rehearsal. Thought I didn't need one and was SO wrong, haha! Oh well, it wouldn't be Nick's and my wedding without a few silly moments and a couple of hiccups.

We didn't have alcohol at the wedding (and we hope this didn't disappoint too many people, but my family doesn't really drink too much and it was very expensive to purchase, so we decided against it), but the sparkling cider was flowing and there were some beautiful toasts. Each of us had family say a few words: my dad, mom, brother, and aunt, and Nick's mom. Plus we had friends and loved ones give some wonderful toasts. Nick's friend Austin talked about their crazy adventures and then mentioned his late mother, which got Nick very misty. We really wish she could have been there. There were a lot of faces Nick and I would have given a lot to see . . .

After the emotional and funny toasts, we had pumpkin cheesecake (we also have a LOT of those leftover and 10 bottles of sparkling cider too-anyone want to have a cider and cheesecake party?), which I thought was a hit. Way better than wedding cake! Then it was mingling and thanking people for coming. Nick and I were at the end of our ability to function by this point and starting to say our good nights before we climbed the stairs with our photographers for a few last photos. All of my family, except my wedding coordinating aunts were already gone. We were all exhausted from the planning and running and stress of the last few days. This wedding was paid for and planned completely between me, my mom, and my aunts, so exhaustion was absolutely the word of the hour. I think the aunts corralled everyone out by 7ish and then we had Thornewood almost to ourselves.

The last wedding photo we took was of Nick cutting me out of the wedding dress. Yes, he cut my laces because I hadn't breathed or peed for over 7 hours at that point. Before that we took some fun photos of our tired selves. I am so, so excited to get those back in 4-6 weeks! We invited our photographer, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Robin, to come visit us in the new house when the photos are done, so we'll hopefully be able to have a nice salmon dinner with them in a month or so.

Overall, we had a great time. I hope that everyone else did too! We were trying for an intimate family-style wedding, so I hope that's how it came off. Big thanks to my family and my aunts for making it all possible and for helping it to run as smoothly as it did. They took care of all the little details so that I only had to worry about not tripping down the 500-year-old staircase with my dad as we walked in. They also helped clean up and loaded all the gifts and cards, leftover food, and favors into the cars. They mingled and kept the party going and saved my mom tons of stress, as this was way out of our comfort zone. They made it fun and I LOVE them for it!

Also, thanks to our guests. We love everyone that came to the wedding and each of you is meaningful to us in some way, so sharing this day with you was so special for Nick and me. Thank you cards will be in the mail as soon as I can find some time between moving and Nick having his final board of evaluators meeting (WOO-HOO!), which means he'll be off the job's probationary period very soon! Hopefully in the next two weeks I will have those in the mail.

Thanks again for being there for our special day. We love you all!