Spotlight Hour!

Current Weather in Fargo: 16 degrees, feels like 16 degrees and cloudy.

Now, onto today's spotlight:

Name: Romulus

Nickname(s): Rom, Rombo, Rom-a-dog, Rombone, Rombo-dilly-dorg, Romster

Origin of name: Romulus of Romulus and Remus, the legendary brothers who founded Rome. Not Romulus as in the planet in Star Trek...although, if you choose to see it that way...

Age: 7.5 months

Weight: 11.5 pounds

Tricks: Spin, Sit, Down, Stay, Up

Favorite Color: Whatever "mom" is wearing.

Best Friend: Rubio

Favorite Food(s): Marshmallows, Popcorn, Carrots, Dog Food, Meat

Hobbies: Chewing on anything, carrying clothes around the house, snarfing down food so Rubio can't steal it, warning mom and dad of "stranger danger", car rides, long walks on the beach, short walks in the snow, medium walks in the summer (pretty much any type of walk will do), staring at mom/dad while they eat until they give me little tastes (who can resist this face?).

Fears: The vacuum. The treadmill.

Near-death Experience: At the tender age of 8 weeks, Rom came down with the deadly virus Parvo. Parvo carries a mortality rate in the 70s. He had to be hospitalized for 6 days.

Anything else you wanna know?

Categories:

Getting Settled

Current Weather: -19, feels like -29.

Well, usually I'm a "don't-sit-down-'til-it's-done" kinda gal. However, given the fact that it took a 24-hour drive to and from CA, a 20-hour drive to get to Fargo, 2 days to find an apartment, one day to move in, and then I started work...unpacking kind of fell pretty far on my priority list.

Tonight, however, I started attacking it. Geoff and I got the living room set up a couple days ago...but the room had also become a receptical for stuff. Ya know...the stuff the accumulates when nothing has a home yet? Oh yeah, that stuff.

Tonight I cleared it out and took some pics. I also finished emptying out any boxes that were still in the workout room. Then I spent 40 minutes working out while I wrote my menu and grocery list for the next week. It's so awesome having the ability to work out in my apartment! Woot! I also have some pics of the bathroom. It's pretty big (pictures of bathrooms ALWAYS suck, have you ever noticed that?).

The job is going well. I was telling my mom today that it's a little hard for me to go from being the expert at my old job to feeling like an idiot at my new job. I guess it's just incentive to work really hard and become the expert here! :) Everyone is great and I'm so excited to learn more.
That's all for now. Just a quick update. I've got some fun posts coming up, though, that you won't wanna miss!

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I've Been Tagged

Well, I don't usually do stuff like this. However, my cousin tagged me, and since I was the only person tagged who had an official title (I'm proposing that 'My amazing niece Marissa, who just returned from the Middle East bearing love and fun and a sweet scarf for me' is a description and not a title; 'The Cousin', however, 100% title, baby) , I must acquiesce.

The instructions are to list 10 things that make me happy, do at least one of these today and then pass along to 10 other bloggers. Easy 'nuff.

1) The hub. He is, easily and unequivocally my perfect match. Doesn't make him perfect, but it does make me very happy.

2) Those little dogs of mine. Rubio and his perseverance despite his blindness. There is no cuter, sweeter, softer, kinder, more lovable little guy in the whole world. Anywhere. And Rom, he has added a whole new dimension to our lives. He's rambunctious and sweet, speaks his mind, and gives Rubio a chance to be a dog when the play together.

3) My Amanda-friend. I really think you only get one or two friends who become more then than. AD is more then my friend...and someday we will live close enough to each other to spend TONS of time together.

4) Cardio. I can't remember ever feeling worse after a good, heart-pounding workout. I've got my treadmill all set up in my new place! I'm ready to go!

5) My fam. My mom, dad, bro and SIL are the best support group around. And, perhaps, the most hilarious.

6) Red Vines and Diet Mountain Dew. Sure, the sugar in the red vines probably offsets that fact that I'm drinking diet...but it doesn't diminish how each of them are so fantastic.

7) Efficiency. I used to think I was a patient person. Turns out...I'm not. Getting something done quickly, efficiently, and excellently makes my soul happy.

8) Winter clothes. I'm adapting to the Fargo chill (currently 8 degrees, feels like -11), but I already owned 3 wool coats (white, tan, black), 2 down coats, 10 scarves, 2 pairs of leather gloves, etc...cuz they make me feel snuggly.

9) G-chat. No explanation needed. Google makes my world go 'round.

10) Shopping. Obviously.

Today - I've had Diet Mt Dew, I'll get some cardio in on my treadmill, I've already mastered the art of the G-chat, and I'll love those doggies when I get home. I wish, oh, I wish I could go shopping...but there are a plethora of reasons I cannot. Perhaps I will touch on them later (i.e. the woes of the missing wallets!).

I tag:
1) Mama G
2) Geoffrey
3) Stephanie D
4) Steffanie
5) Amanda E
6) Latissa
7) Katrina S
8) Liz
9) Jen
10) Matty G

Categories:

New State, New Job, New Year

Current weather in Fargo: -23, feels like -23 (in case you are wondering what -23 degrees feels like, it's cold. But not so cold you can't go out and take care of business, or, at least not so cold that you don't.)

I know I haven't been able to blog enough about our adventures, and inquiring minds want to know (mostly mom). So, here's a quick recap.

1) When apartment hunting in Fargo, it is your best interest to be pet-free. If you must have a pet, one is apparently the only acceptable number. We found only 4 apartments that would let us have our dogs. Fortunately for us, one of them was awesome. So we snagged it up (pictures later in the post). P.S. When someone asks you if you are "committed to keeping both your pets" it is hard not to bop them on the head.

2) When unloading your moving truck in Fargo, it is helpful to have the assistance of anyone who will help, in our case that was 6 of my Allegiance co-workers who took time to help us haul all our stuff in 5 degree weather. They rock.

3) When unpacking boxes of stuff in Fargo, be aware that everything is going to be frozen. Solid. This includes canned goods, dish soap, olive oil and red wine vinegar. Do not expect to be able to cook anything your first couple days.

4) When ringing in the New Year in Fargo, I highly recommend a delicious dinner at Famous Dave's followed by Martinelli's and Welch's Sparkling Grape juice enjoyed in your brand new apartment with your hub and dogs. P.S. Don't let the dogs drink and drive.

5) When first moving into your apartment in Fargo, make sure to stock up on the necessities.

Just in case you think I moved those items to the door to make it seem like that's all I had, here's proof.

So, all in all, things are going great. It's cold outside...but with the right clothes on and the right attitude, it's really not that bad. Even the dogs are making do (although doggy shoes are definitely in their future). To hear it all from Geoff's perspective, visit his blog here.

Now, here are a few shots of the apartment, I'll post more once we are unpacked and our stuff isin it:

Categories:

Wait...Blind Means You Can't See?

Santa Rosa, CA weather: foggy and 51 degrees (feels like 51 degrees)

Fargo weather: cloudy and 18 degrees (feels like 7 degrees)

Maybe this little stint to CA was a mistake...we'll get used to 50 degree weather just to head out to 10 degree weather. Oops. :-)

So, today was a lovely day in the neighborhood. Daddio had a meeting in Oakland, so Ma, Geoff and I came along and after the meeting we went to Bay Street and Ikea in Emeryville. After that we came home. When we got back to the house, Geoff and I took the dogs outside to "do business." They prefer grass for businessing, so we took them up to the 3rd level of my parents backyard - the level with the hot tub. Rubio and Rom were wandering around the grass sniffing and peeing. At one point, Rubio walked toward the hot tub and Geoff headed him off. I scoffed and said, "Geoff, he can feel when there's a drop, he won't fall in."

Geoff looked at me skeptically, but said, "okay, honey." As he stepped away from the tub's edge, Rubio started off in that direction again and walked right into the hot tub without hesitation. I learned my lesson in blind dog ettiquette. Poor dog. Lest there was any speculation, he really is blind. And, occasionally, very wet.

Categories:

Spare Some Change?

Provo Weather: currently cloudy and 36 degrees (feels like 27)

Fargo Weather: currently cloudy and -3 degrees (feels like -20)

Countdown to Fargo: 14 days

Well, my clock just switched over to midnight, which means that today is my second-to-last day of work at BYUB. It's still all a little surreal for me. I mean...tomorrow will be my last day there? I'm going to go to Fargo? In a matter of days, my whole life will change into a new life I've never imagined?

As a girl who doesn't embrace change much (a character flaw I am working to change), I feel like all of this should be freaking me out...but I'm feeling surprisingly at ease. I don't know if it's that fact that I'm going to be working for a great company, the fact that everything still feels a little make-believe, or the fact that I get to go with my amazing hub, but I just feel like I don't have anything that I need to fear. Things will be different, and certainly hard at times, but, ultimately, the whole experience of North Dakota can be nothing but a good one if we choose to make it that way.

I have to pack up all the stuff in our current apartment tomorrow night so it can go on the moving truck Tuesday. Yowza. I can't even begin to say how much I DO NOT want to box stuff up again...but I do want it to go with us, so I must.

P.S. NEVER get your cell phones through Best Buy Mobile over the phone. In store, I'm sure is a great experience. The phone ordering, however, was a nightmare. Seriously. Barely made it worth the $150 bucks I saved. Seriously.

Categories:

Double Trouble

Provo Weather: currently clear and 9 degrees (feels like 9 degrees)

Fargo Weather: currently clear and -9 degrees (feels like -21 degrees)

Countdown to Fargo: 19 days

Well, things are carrying on. I'm working on training my co-workers in the many tedious tasks that make up my job. They are doing a great job learning everything. It puts me in this weird limbo at work, though. My supervisor told everyone to "pretend like I'm not there" and only ask me questions when needed, but I'm not to really do anything. Hopefully I don't forget about anything on which to train the others!

My dogs had a rough day yesterday. Well, for Rubio it started on Sunday or Monday. He got "the runs." Which mostly means Geoff and I got greeted with more then our fair share of "mistakes" around the house. (Yuck). So, anyway, by Tuesday morning...things were getting, well, honestly, bloody. So, I knew he needed to see the vet. Diarrhea + Blood = time for a professional. Anyway, I called the vet early and made an appointment for a little later that morning. I then hopped in the shower.

At this point I had (what I thought) was a stupendous idea. Move all the rugs out of the bathroom and bring the dogs in with me. That way if Rubio had another accident, it would be easy to clean up. However, I didn't anticipate that during my 7 minute shower Romulus would throw up. Four times. (Double Yuck). I called the vet back and told him to make that a double.

Both dogs were diagnosed with stress and tummy aches (note to self: you just paid to find out that your dogs are fine). However, the vet gave each dog a couple shots of drugs to harden their poops and stop anyone from throwing up. I also got prescriptions for the dogs (two pills per dog two times daily. note to reader: dogs don't like to take pills). But neither dog has thrown up or blown up (or out?) since. Hallelujah.

If only they knew the stress (and scary-cold weather) that lies before them.

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