Her Favorite Perch

Once the weather was warm enough to allow for open windows, Cleo has been quite taken with the outside world. She will flit from window to window each morning, checking out the birds, looking for bugs flying outside....and always watching. She will occasionally make a little chirping noise when she sees a bird nearby. This cat of ours is really quite entertaining. Last night around 3:30 I felt Chadwick move the bed. I thought he must be twitching in his sleep until the "twitches" progressed to full out kicks. It wasn't until I heard a small "thud" that I realized he was kicking at the cat - who was biting his feet in protest because he tried to rearrange his sleeping position. She didn't return the rest of the night.

And Chadwick has arrived safely to Champagne-Urbana, IL, where he will be spending the next two weeks at the vet school learning about life as an ophthalmology resident and making connections. Thanks to my brother Sean and his girlfriend, Beth, for letting Chadwick crash at their place while in town!

Happy Fourth of July!

We spent Independence Day with Chadwick's family at their cabin north of Boise - his sister, Emily and brother, Stephen and their families came into town for the fun as did one of his cousins and family who now live in Boise. It was a big group! We had a late breakfast Saturday morning, went to the shooting range to put some holes into paper targets, and spent the afternoon canoeing on the Middle Fork of the Payette River. So much fun! I'm not sure the little kids had a good time, but we made it without mishap or capsizing. Saturday night was spent at the Starlight Mountain Theater watching "Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It's an outdoor theater in a town called Crouch - the production was impresive! The lead singers were great and the worst part about the whole evening was the mosquitoes that came out in force once the sun set. A city fireworks display completed the night.









I hope everyone had a great weekend!

On a side note, Chadwick officially finished his internship last Friday - he will be working at WestVet with their ophthalmologist once a week and then working for his Dad 4 days a week while he re-applies for residencies this fall.
And our cat is doing well.

When I Said I Do

Three years ago on June 24, Chadwick and I were sealed in the Albuquerque, NM Temple and I walked down the aisle in a ring ceremony next to my two fathers. It was a wonderful day and amazing to think that it was already three years ago! Time has really gone quickly. Unfortunately, reality set in and we spent our anniversary working. Chadwick worked late that evening so I had dinner alone....even the cat was gone for the night. However, I sent Chadwick flowers at work (pictured above) and made him a little album of words. I got a nice box of chocolates and some polish to care for my leather shoes. Turns out that the "traditional" gift for year three of marriage is leather - I'm not much for leather so he will help me care for the little bit of leather I do own. The "modern" gifts are glass/silver, thus the flower vase and picture album from me.

To celebrate our anniversary early, we went backpacking for the weekend to Blue Lake, north of Boise near Cascade. It was about a mile into the lake - where, by the way, there is still snow on the ground - and we had a very relaxing day. Chadwick was a depressed fisherman as he packed everything but his reel. No reel = no line = no fishing. We went on a hike instead.

View of Blue Lake from above near the trailhead






The evening stillness





This is our "Hubba Hubba," the two-man backpacking tent which was a gift from my step-dad. Apparently, there is a whole "Hubba" family of tents! The one-man tent is the "Hubba," two-man is "Hubba-Hubba," and the three-man tent is appropriately named the "Motha Hubba." I don't know if this is true or if Mark was pulling my leg, but we got a kick out of the name. It's an awesome tent!

One Year Come and Gone

One of my New Year's resolutions was to update the blog weekly.....it is now June and I'm adding my first post since Cleo came into the family. Better late than never?

The beginning of June marked our one-year anniversary as veterinarians, and it went by so quickly! Chadwick finishes his internship at WestVet at the end of the month and will start working at his father's small animal clinic in July. I am excited to have him home more often!

We have no interesting news to report, but each day is full of stories - weird clients, cool animals, dumb animals, a neat case, a sad case. We enjoy sharing tales of our day in the evenings and comparing notes on treatment of such-and-such.

In April, we spent a week in New Mexico - the first part of the week was vacation to the southern part of the state just the two of us, and the second part was spent with my family. We went to White Sands National Park and Carlsbad Caverns and basically spent the time enjoying one another's company.



My oldest brother, David, was married in Mexico to an amazing girl he met since moving to Alaska several years ago. They had a dinner reception in Albuquerque which was the primary reason for our little vacation. David's wife, Amanda, is wonderful and they make a great pair.






My other trip was back to my old stomping grounds in Pullman, WA to attend the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2009 graduation ceremony. I know quite a few people from that class and it was great to be there as they made the transition from "student" to "veterinarian." I also got to see a few other friends, Chad and Jessica Christensen as well as my old mentor and professor, Phil Senger. Pictured below are me with my old roomie, Anne Gardner (who is now a married woman!) and me with my good friend, Alexis.

Never Say Never

Meet the newest addition to our little family - Cleopatra.

I swore that I would never obtain an indoor only cat, but I learned from this experience never to say, "never." Cleo, as we affectionately call her, is about 4 months old. We adpoted her 6 weeks ago from Chadwick's veterinary clinic where someone had dropped her off as a stray. She has quite the personality and huge amount of energy she puts into pouncing on anything that moves...or might move. She jumps on toes, fingers, string, plants, rolls in the rug, and the corners of the couch cushions. Our furniture has so far survived her arrival, for which I am grateful.

Despite my previous hesitations of cats in general, I have to admit that I am getting quite fond of the little thing.....

Our First Ride

Last Friday, Cherokee and I had our first ride together out of the pasture. We were accompanied by Chadwick and my father-in-law, Steve, who owns the other two horses. We rode just east of Boise about 45 minutes in the foothills, which were still quite green. It was a beautiful day for a ride, though I haven't been able to walk normally after being on horseback for 4 hours! My saddle was a graduation gift to me from a group of dear friends, the saddle blanket and pad an anniversary gift from my hubby, and the bridle a gift to myself. This was the first ride of many, and I am so grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to have Cherokee in my life - thanks!!

The Hard Work Paid Off!

And we graduated on May 4, 2008.

What a great feeling to be done, though it's weird to think that our days of summer vacation, Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks are now over. Our families and several close friends were able to join us in our celebration. We also celebrated the graduation of my youngest brother, Sean, from a bachelor's program in engineering. He will be attending the University of Illinois in the fall for a masters degree.

Where are we now? We said good-bye to Pullman and moved south to Boise, Idaho to start our careers. I am working at a mixed animal practice in Caldwell (~30 miles west of Boise) and Chadwick will start his internship at the referral center, WestVet, on July 7. We are renting the house next to his parents, and part of the rent includes yardwork. Chadwick has been busy building a new corral fence, moving dirt, and pulling weeds. He is anxious to start his internship as he is getting tired of the daily manual labor. I am enjoying my job at Blayney Veterinary Clinic - our staff is wonderful, the clients have been nice, and my veterinary collegues have been so helpful and patient as I strive to get my feet under me! Each day is a challenge, and this week I will start hitting the dairies with the other large animal veterinarians to learn the ropes. Whee!