morning walks with ruby

every morning ruby and i go out for a stroll about the neighborhood. living in an apartment, she doesn't have a backyard to stretch her legs in. i don't want her to get plump and lazy and have hip issues or other health issues, so even when i'm having lazy mornings and really just want to lay on the couch and get plump and lazy, i force myself out with my brown eyed girl.

the beagle in her will stop every five steps to smell something... and every time a dog, cat, possum, bird, cricket, squirrel or beetle passes by, she about rips my arm off to get to them. She is still learning her leash manners, but she's getting better.

sometimes {most times} when she's too excited over bug and is chewing on her tail, i get upset and frustrated and have to tell her "NO" and stick her in her cage for a "time out". other times, she will want to play with poor bug and will chase her around the apartment. again, she gets her punishment.

honestly, though? she makes me smile. she makes jake smile. and i'm pretty sure that bug is even smiling half the time... she was a little bored before ruby joined the family, i know it. she is a sweet little thing and loves to snuggle up to us while we're on the couch watching a movie. she gets as close as she can... and then a little closer still. she generally ends up on our lap. belly in the air, a big grin on her face.

she has a vicious sounding bark, but she doesn't use it unless something spooks her. which i really love, actually. she makes me feel safe when i'm home alone. she sleeps through the night and is 100% potty trained. she gets so excited when we come home from being gone all day, or especially when we've just returned from a trip. she loves us.

i have days where i feel down... where i don't feel like life is being very fair or i merely just don't want to leave the house. she makes me. if even just for a walk around the block, she forces me to take in some sun and get exercise.

she makes me responsible for something other than myself... and for that, she gets a treat. :)

xo lauren

starting fresh and pretty

welcome to the new blog!! isn't it so incredibly cute?! i'm dying over here... erika (the fairy blogmother... and so much more!) is amazing and did such a lovely job. i need to give her a big shout out because she is a "stranger friend" of mine who has been so supportive of my evil infertility over the last year since i reached out to her. there really are some incredible people out there... and to be honest, she's the one that inspired me to actually put my infertility troubles out in the open for the world to see and for that, i am so grateful. it's truly helped me to let go of some of the bottled up angst and emotion i was feeling those first couple years and just be... real. so anyway, that is that. and here i am.

so let's just get it out of the way, because if you read my last post, you're probably wondering... i am not pregnant. my fifth iui was a failure, yet again. so no need to say how completely bummed i was... you've heard it before. this time i was in las vegas visiting family when i found out. i'm not sure if it was better that way, but it did give me some good distraction. to be completely honest, the only thing that did give me comfort this time was when i was standing in the shower, taking ten minutes to myself to cry and carry on after i got the negative pregnancy test, when i suddenly had this thought as clear as day that we are meant to adopt. we are. that's how we're supposed to start our family. i stopped crying then and was able to function the rest of the day... believe it or not.

all in all, it was a great trip and i had a really fun time with family and friends. i was pretty excited to see jake, though, and to walk in the door to a very excited ruby and a perfectly content bug. it feels like home when they're here.

from the fourth of july... jake and i went to spiderman.

from the trip...

     some of the nieces and nephews

    we made a trip up to southern utah to visit my heaven on earth. zions.

   the bestie even came!

   
   my dad and the california side of the family were in las vegas celebrating my step brothers' (ton and jimmy) birthdays.

  sitting at the airport after getting four hours sleep the night before... i was exhausted, but i really liked how this self portrait turned out! :P

until next time!!

xo lauren