Art

We've been gradually going through the house and doing actual decorating (and when I say gradual, I mean VERY SLOWLY). In all of our previous "homes" (apartments), it's been "oh, let's put that here" and "put that over there - it's good enough". But now that we own a home, we've been taking time to really make it ours. It wasn't on purpose, but we've inadvertently ended up with a French theme throughout the house (except for the boys' bedroom and bathroom, but those are their spaces to make decisions about). I keep my eye out for various pieces of art or furniture or decor that would add to our home, but I rarely find the kinds of things that I feel are unique and special enough. Most affordable wall art from Target or Fred Meyer is cheap looking and generic. So I decided to make my own. I wanted a clean, natural looking wooden "baguette" sign for the kitchen, so I had John sand down a piece of leftover wood from a shelving project. I then painted the words I wanted - "La Boulangerie Baguette" (The Baguette Bakery). I added some decorative twirly things to the edges and John is going to put a clear coat on it. Then it will go in the kitchen above the kitchen window. It took a few hours, but I now have exactly what I wanted, in my kitchen colors no less. I would have had a hard time finding that at any store.

Stormy

A little under two weeks ago, I was sitting in my in-law's backyard with my sister-in-law (hi Laura!), feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin, drinking lemonade, wearing sandals, loving the feeling of summer.

Fast forward to today and this is what our sky looks like. Thunder so loud and deep, we could feel it in the floor. Rain coming down so hard, it would have been painful to get caught in it. And it all just generally looking like we're about to have a tornado.

I think we might end up with some funky weather this summer.

Engineer In Training

About a month or so ago, John spent the whole day in Salem taking the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam to finally become an EIT (Engineer in Training). His boss had been bugging him to get it done for about two years, but John is a procrastination expert, so it was put off until I got the application for him and made him send it in. John said he felt really old at the test, as almost everyone was a recent college graduate or just about to graduate. He was getting pretty antsy to get the results of his test and yesterday, the letter came.

John is now a registered EIT (so now he's registered to do all the work he's been doing anyway for the past five years). So what does this mean? It means he gets new business cards with his new title, an increase in paid vacation time (WAHOO!), and another raise (DOUBLE WAHOO!). Plus, it means his boss is happy and that's what really matters, right?

We are very proud of John and now he just needs to figure out how long it will be before he can become a licensed mechanical engineer. Supposedly it's five years of experience, but we're not sure if that's just five years of experience (his five year anniversary with the company is on Sunday) or five years of experience WITH the EIT registration. We're hoping he won't have to wait another five years to take the final engineering exam, but I hear they can be sticklers with that kind of thing.

Way to go, honey!

Buddies

We are slowly adjusting to being a two-dog household. It's definitely more work and the rambunctious puppy play/insane small breed play can quickly turn into a bit of an actual disagreement, but Buster and Honey are doing quite well most of the time. I was able to catch some of their friend time last week, which is hard to do as they rarely hold still!

They had some snuggle time together on the couch. They're both exactly the same size now, but that won't last long as Honey is gaining between 1-2 pounds a week. We think her face structure/snout is starting to get a little more pointy (Border Collie-esque) as she's maturing, but it's still hard to tell. It will be interesting to see how she changes as she continues to grow.

As I was taking pictures, Buster decided to go all hammy for the camera. Oh dog. Yes, he poses on a regular basis. Usually because it gets him a treat.

There are still days where I wonder what in the heck we were thinking, but Honey was definitely an amazing shelter dog find and she's proving to be quite smart. She's an absolute sweetheart and she LOVES playing in the grass. I've never seen a dog do somersaults before! We are very happy with our little (or not so little) Honey.