Farewell Fishy

When we moved into our current apartment 3 years ago there was a "no pets" agreement. A year later I really missed having a little creature to look after so I decided that a fish would be ok.

I got a beautiful blue betta and put him in the goldfish bowl Em bought me years ago.

After a while I felt guilty for keeping him in such a small bowl with a plastic plant so I bought him a 2.5 gallon tank with a filter, live plants and a little house to hang out in. He would come up to me and puff up when he was hungry. Fishy loved his new home and did great for over 2 years. 

When we came home from the hospital with our new baby I noticed A white, moldy looking spot and a tear in his fin. We got medicine right away, but he soon developed white spots all over his body that look like salt. It's a parasite called "ich" that is very itchy. We found him floating lifelessly like the picture below and thought that he was dead. When I went to remove him from the tank he sprung to life. It turns out the ich also make them very lethargic.

I bought new medicine specifically for ich and spent the next 5 days changing his water every day and treating him, but fishy died anyways. I felt so guilty that I couldn't heal him.

 

I didn't want to replace fishy right away but I had live plants that I didn't want to die also. For a week I was constantly reminded by looking at the tank, wondering if I had fed the fish yet. I decided to go ahead and get a new one, a beautiful silvery purple guy that flutters his fins when he swims. I got him a very active snail friend too. RIP my sweet little blue boy. You are missed.

Springtime~New Beginnings

     Wow, I haven't written in a while. I have been in a funk lately, feeling a little spread thin. Nathaniel opened his gaming store in December and it has been an adjustment. I was used to having him around all the time and now he works 60 hours a week at the shop. I could go and visit him there any time, but he is often busy with customers and I usually want to be home in my free time. I am still working 50 hours a week and in my off time I open the shop at least once a week to give Nathaniel the morning off and I run all the errands. More about the shop later...

     I am resolved to journal or blog more, depending on whether or not I want the content out there on the internet. I have kept a journal ever since I was nine, but I stopped writing after a particularly difficult time in my life (Dad dying, marital issues) and haven't picked it up since. It is therapeutic to get my thoughts down on paper and wish I hadn't stopped. The past 5 years have gone by SO fast. I will say that I am doing a fantastic job of chronicling my day to day life in my Audubon engagement calendar. I've always admired that Mom wrote something for every day for over 30 years. Last year was my first book of writing in every day!
    
     So here I am, making an effort. Spring is in full bloom and I went on a lovely run at sunset. Despite having a 3 day weekend ahead of me and doing nothing today except going out for a massage, I still felt down. I don't know if it was endorphins from the run or if it was prayer, but I am feeling more motivated and optimistic. Enjoy the pictures of the yard I took the other day and I hope to be back soon!

First few days in Maryland

Our first day was spent traveling. On our flight from Seattle to Chicago, I told Em how good a Cinnabon sounded. I jumped up and down with glee when I spotted one at the Chicago airport right where our gate was. How random is that?!

We've spent the majority of our time just hanging out, playing with the babies and eating good food.

It has been fun to see Noah and Lyla together again:

About to go for a walk with Aunt Katie,

Diaper party!

Eating chips and guac together at the kids table,

Lyla quietly playing with Playdoh.

Noah warmed up to me after a few days. He would hardly look at me at first.

Uncle Scott was so kind to wash Lyla's dirty feet.

The first day, I noticed this furry creature hanging out by a neighbor's porch that I thought was a cat. It turns out at closer inspection that it's a GROUNDHOG! Supposedly they are nuisances that burrow under people stoops and eat all of their plants, but I thought that it was absolutely awesome to see a real groundhog in person.

Holly and Emily dove right in making flower fairies. I'll post a picture of one later.

Today we went to the Amish market and checked out all the goodies. We all got one of their famous soft pretzels. We went on to the temple where we got the baptism and confirmation work done on behalf of our grandpa Rostad. We plan on going back and doing more work for that side of the family.

We were here just last year to witness Noah getting sealed to Scott and Holly. That was a special day.

Next we drove through D.C. I really enjoyed checking out the beautiful fall foliage.

Little Poof

Little poof, that's what Nathaniel would call our sweet kitty Annie. We had to put her to sleep yesterday. Her health has been failing slowly over the past year and even though she still seemed like she was in good shape, she starting going to the bathroom all over the house, which is very unlike her. We hoped that she would last a lot longer because she was a great companion. As you can see from the pictures, she didn't do much besides move from one nap place to the other. We just loved having her around.
Annie was found as a kitten in 1992 by my uncle Paul. He was in college at the time so my Gramma Thompson took her in. That's how she got her name, little orphan Annie. We lived with my Gramma the first year of our marriage. Gramma asked me if I would take care of Annie after she died and of course I said yes. I was told later than even on her deathbed, that was her main concern, is Annie going to be taken care of? At the time, we were in transition from one house to the other and didn't want to shock Annie by moving her twice, so we left in Gramma's empty house for 2 months until we moved into our new home. Even though people dropped in to check on her and feed her, I feel that those 2 months really affected her. I didn't know what else to do.
Once she moved into our home, she was the star. She was showered with affection and attention. She loved nothing more than to take a nap in the sun or in front of the fireplace. She practically lived on our bed. Her favorite sleeping spot was on your chest right below your face. I loved nuzzling my face into her soft fur. She slept right next to me almost every night. She was such a gentle spirit and my greatest comfort came from my mom when she said, "You are sending her back to Gramma." We love you Annie and you will be missed.

Ring around the rosie

My sister Holly and her son Noah came for a visit from Maryland. We had a lot of fun watching Lyla and Noah play together.

Noah and Lyla kiss

It was fun to see my neice and nephew play together while Holly and Noah were here for a visit. They are only 4 days apart and had alot of fun together.

A New Friend

We went to the in-laws yesterday for a BBQ and croquet. It was a lovely day. The only pictures I managed to rustle up were of us and this adorable chihuahua that my distant sister-in-law brought. She was a puppy mill rescue dog. SO sweet. She really liked Nathaniel and snuggled up on the couch next to him for little nap.