Sunday, July 27, 2008

Claire: 3, Yard: 0


The yard has yet again been conquered!
I will fight you yard. I will fight you until you grow no more (for winter, that is).

But you look pretty now! Let's be friends.

How about you stop growing now?

Friday, July 25, 2008

Ziesel Visit!

HOORAY!

The Ziesels were here!

Sadly I just said goodbye to them this morning and they are on the road to West Virginia now, but I had them for two nights and it was so nice to see them!

The first night we had ribs and corn and bread and such. It was nice to just sit and have dinner with friends and catch up!




Laura is a cat lover and of course, Dutch shared himself generously.


Initially Josh was not a cat lover.

Slowly but steadily, Dutch won Josh's heart.

He enjoyed the tunnel that Laura's back created immensely.


Josh found Dutch to be quite entertaining.


Last night they got the pleasure of having the Dutch fall asleep next to them on the couch.







In the end, Josh declared Dutch the coolest cat ever, and said that he would be open to the idea of getting a cat in the future. Josh, I will not let you forget you said that :) And if you ever need to remember why, you guys are always welcome to see Dutch and see the proof!

It was great to have visitors, and especially since we missed their wedding it was so awesome to see them in the newlywed stage. Very fun. Also very encouraging to have old friends check in on me, stay in our home, and eat and laugh together. Oh, and watch Project Runway :)


Thank you so much for coming you guys. It was SO great to see you and I hope to see you again soon! Travel safe, you'll be making YOUR home in Boston in less than 6 weeks!

(also, for the record, they declared the air mattress to be TRES comfortable and sleep friendly. That is two positive reviews. Come visit, and see for yourself!)

Days Go By.

So I've been doing the South Beach diet to get myself into a heather habit of eating. I have really enjoyed it!

Here is one of my meals from last week: New York Strip, broiled tomatoes with Goat Cheese, and South Beach "mashed potatoes" (actually cauliflower- it's SO yumm!). Who said you have to deprive yourself to eat well?


Here's a lunch from the other day: homemade gazpacho, turkey and prosciutto, and water which Dutch ALMOST claimed for himself.

He was also pretty interested in the prosciutto :)

Here was a little shot of me, Dutch, the cuddly blanket, and Cooking Light...
the only thing that was missing was Matthew!

Dutch loves to sit in the window.




He also really loves to sit behind my computer and swat at the keys and my typing fingers. I often forget that he's not supposed to be on the table, but I'm TRYING to remember. I swear!


So the other night I hear clinking in the kitchen. I walk in, and THIS is what I see:
(I have no idea how he got up there. That is the cabinet ABOVE the kitchen counter)


He can also get up on the washer and dryer. Yesterday we came in to find his little box of canned kitten food dumped all over the place....


Glamour shots.



Fly hunting.

Dutch Meets Dogs.

This past week was a momentus occasion for the wee Dutch Teter. He came in contact, for the first time, with a puppy! Only days later, he met another dog, nose to nose! Check it out:


Very cautious...


very poufy and trying to look big and scary.


This is Darby, ready to get to know Dutch!

still cautious...

They got close enough to touch noses and Dutch seemed to relax.
Darby was ready to play play play and Dutch was still nervous.


A little mommy comfort.

And a few days later, Dutch met face to face with Tucker.
He was tentative at first but warmed up pretty fast.

Dutch even rolled over and bared his belly to Tuck. Good dog, great cat... pretty easy going pair! Darby was also awesome. Yay for good animals!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Introducing Southerngirl!

Hey all!

Just wanted to call your attention to the newest link on the blog! Kimmy is my sister Kim! Check her out to see what's up with her, my nephew, and my brosef-in-law!

Also, I sent out a big update about Matthew with his mailing address and some info. If you did not receive this but want to, please comment and let me know and I'll add you to my list!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Just. Got. Paid.

I had to tell you all that I have been awarded an assistantship from Austin Peay! That means that grad school, at least this first year, is paid fo'! SWEET!

I'm super excited! I can't wait to get more info about it. I know I'll be working about 20 hours a week, and I'll be in my department which is awesome (Languages and Literature) !

Just had to share!

The Last Beer.


Well as you know, Matthew is a beer lover. One of his favorite beers has often eluded him. He loves New Belgian Brewery out of Ft. Collins, CO's Fat Tire beer.

They have had pretty limited distribution until about 3 weeks ago when it became available in TN! He was VERY excited!

We had to buy a CASE of 20 oz. bottles in order to get any because that's the only way they sold him, but it was worth it to see the smile on his face as he sipped it! It was his last beer before going dry for 6 months of deployment.


Thanks Fat Tire!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Last Day.

Dutch was hoping that he could prevent Matthew from leaving if he laid on his pajamas and pillow and refused to move!

Sadly, the Army didn't find that to be a reasonable excuse to not deploy :(
Thanks for trying Dutch!


Melissa gave Matthew a mini plush Ron Burgundy. If you haven't checked out Matthew's blog on this, go see it (link to the right). Ron has his very own pocket in Matthew's Assault pack!




The last day TOTALLy sucked. We made sure to have time to talk, pray, and enjoy eachother. He also got some good lovin' with the beasty cat!





5 minutes of intense eye contact!


One last day of scruff....

shavin it!

Kitty loves.






We miss you love! Come back safe and soon!