Poor Anna

I'm sitting here today at my computer trying to write a cover letter for a job position. We found a new desk for me for only $35 at a garage sale. How cool is that! Anyway...it's thundering outside and going to rain AGAIN. I totally forgot that the South (is Central Kentucky considered South or??) rains all the time. At least this summer it is. Our dog Anna Bear HATES thunder (and fire crackers). She would be the worst hunting dog. So she found a new place to lay down.

Memories are made of these

Yep, we went camping again this year for Thanksgiving and had a ball. Per usual, I had our yearly family photo taken.

Obviously this isn't the one going on the cards, but my sister says it's the one that suits us the best. I'm not sure that's a compliment ;)

Random NYC Photo

Speaking of pups, here's a random photo of our pups in Central Park. We normally take the pups to our neighborhood's park and since we can't throw them on the subway, bus, or cab...they normally don't go to Central Park with us.

But in September I surprised my husband for his birthday by helping get two of his Vegas buddies to fly in to see him for the weekend. We had a gorgeous Sunday that weekend, grabbed the truck, and took them to see Central Park with the pups.

So after that incredibly long story, here's my husband, his friends, the pups, and a weird spirally hedge design in Central Park.

Raining Dogs

It's been raining cats and dogs here in New York City the last few days. And boy are we all tired of it. The weather definitely affects the whole mood of the city...after days of rain and cold we are all a little grumpy. So I have to keep looking on the bright side of things. 1) Our park is now nice and green because of all the rain AND 2) it's sometimes sort of fun to dry down the dogs.

I drop the towel on them and let them go nuts. They look like little puppy ghosts.
Anna was so fast I couldn't keep up. She just spun and spun until she ripped the towel off:
Then she got right in my face to tell me she didn't think it was very funny:
Charlie was a good sport though. I mess with him so much he just sits and takes it:
I call this one Santa Anna:

What do you enjoy about long rainy days?

Anna Talkin'

Anna likes to tell me where the treats are. She's kind of bossy sometimes. Charlie on the other hand, well, he just looks a little confused.

Snowy Day in NYC

Well, it's snowing again today here in New York City. The puppies love it though. So I thought I'd post a few pictures I took while I had the day off from work on MLK day.

Here's our lovely snowy park:

I thought it was so cool that the pond and the river was freezing over.

Even the Harlem River was frozen over. The current was carrying big chunks of ice down.

Anna loved watching the ice. She's a water dog (Chesapeake Bay retriever) and she just wanted to jump in. Charlie just barked at the ice when it moved.
I finally got a good photo of Anna. She's never stays still long enough.
It's a bit hard to take a photos when you have these two dragging you around. But I think I got some good pics.



For some reason, the birds balancing on the ice just cracked me up. I had to hide dogs behind a tree so they didn't scare the birds.Hope you enjoyed the winter photos!

I Voted

Last night an hour before the polls closed, the husband and I walked the dogs and I popped in to vote. Really, it's the best time to go...no lines at all which was NOT the case in the morning.

Here's some things I learned about voting in NYC:

1) They don't give out "I voted" stickers. Aww. It's the little things, really.

2) And I've never voted via levers and toggles. Seriously, check this out (photo taken from this blog):

Are you kidding me? How old school is that? First you pull that red lever all the way to the right to start voting. Then you flip the toggle/switch thing to check who you are voting for. Finally you pull the red thing back to the left to cast your vote. Wow. I'm glad I watched this guy's video (he's from my 'hood) before I went so I would know how it works.

Regardless of which candidate won, I am just excited to see what the next four-year term brings.

Even the puppies are excited (we were non-partisan in picking out the toy...they just liked the elephant..):

Auburn Weekend

We are off this weekend to Auburn, Alabama for to meet up with old friends and watch an Auburn football game. While this hasn't been Auburn's best year, we are still going to cheer the team on. I'll be back hopefully with fun photos. The pups can't go but they will be cheering the team on too.

Anna is Being Sweet

Or is she?

She's actually trying to sucker me into letting her up on the couch.

Not going to happen Anna!

Anna and Book

While walking by a used book store the other day, we saw that all the books outside were only two bucks. So we had to browse. I picked up a hardback copy of The Voyage of the Narwhal, a total splurge since it wasn't even a book on my TBR list. My husband picked up The Dog Lover's Companion to New York City.

So I thought I'd have Anna display it for you all. She was being particularly photogenic that day. Letting me take her picture is definitely a rarity.

Oh!! And Amanda at Click.The Good News recommended the blog Urban Mutt. How cool! Thanks!

Umm..yeah

So I recently got a request from a lovely blogger named Bree at The Things We Read to post more photos, etc. from when I lived in Alaska. And I guess more of NYC. I've definitely enjoyed and am enjoying living in both these places.

So I was busy scanning some photos from back in the day when I waded in the Arctic Ocean...and then it happened. My computer got drunk. Ok. That's sort of a lie. Amanda being the lovely klutz that she is decided to pour a whole glass of wine over her computer. The computer still has a hang-over. So hopefully soon the computer will recover from this head-ache...possibly with a little help from AA (or Best Buy) and will be back on its feet in no time.

Until then, please enjoy this photo of me and The Bear (a.k.a. Anna Bear) in Chugach State Park near Anchorage, Alaska.

Winter Blues = Virtual Vacation

It is freeeeezing here in New York City. It's nice because the sun was out today but sometimes that just makes it all the more freezing :) So I thought I'd take a little trip down memory lane to back when we lived in Las Vegas. Ok, so this little jaunt was in late February, but still...it'll probably still be freezing here in late February. Oh and good tip for people visiting Las Vegas...head just ten minutes out of town and see what you find...gorgeous!!!!!

2006 - Trip to Calico Tank, Red Rock

Robb and Anna at the trail head:



We dared my husband to climb up this rock and in two seconds he was up...I was amazed and a little scared:



I love how red the rocks are...ummm...obvious why it's called "Red Rocks" ;)


Ok, so now we know the dogs weren't supposed to be in the water (I think I read that somewhere) but back then we didn't. Something about wild burros drinking or something. But the dogs were hot and it was fun watching them play (and they have all their shots...so...):


I think Anna looks like a water rat...my husband would kill me if he heard me say that...good thing he doesn't read this :)




This was Charlie's first time around water. He just would not get in the water...


Finally Robb just picked him up and tossed him in.


This is afterwards....he was not pleased (you can tell by that glare):


After the swim I took the dogs up on some rocks for a nice view of the desert and Las Vegas. I didn't have the camera on me....darn:




And back in the truck:



Hope you enjoyed the mini-vacation!

Sunday on Long Island

This past Sunday we decided to get some fresh air and get out of Manhattan. My husband's co-worker gave us a cool book for Christmas about hiking in New York City with dogs. So my husband researched one on Long Island and off we went. It wasn't really a hike so much as a walk. It was about four or five miles around Stump Lake and it was great! Ok...be prepared for an onslaught of photos:

Here's a view of leaving town:
Looking back at the city:
Stump Lake:
I must have taken ten photos before they finally were both looking at me...we'll all most...
Of course it's winter so I thought all the pictures would look kind of dull. So I started playing around with the color accent feature on the camera. This one is picking up the oranges:
This one the greens:
They were so patient while waiting for me to stop take pictures all the time:
My husband said the green moss everywhere reminded him of Ireland:
Me and my Charles:
Loved loved the green:
And the puppies even got to swim a bit...well Anna swims and Charlie pretends to. He waits until she gets the stick and then takes it when she gets to shore.

Here's Anna digging at a stick:
Almost got it!
Finally!
Awww...
Me and Charlie again:
I take a lot of photos of Charlie...can't help it :)
It was a gorgeous day for a walk: