Holiday Spirit and Dog Snatchers don't mix in my world

It's a few minutes before 8am, Apollo and I are sleepily occupying the dining room, and I can't believe its already December 1st...I've got candy cane socks on, our very different themed stockings are hung above the fireplace, and I've plugged in our Christmas tree to see if the lights make me feel anymore in the holiday spirit. This time last year, I was eagerly awaiting my trip home to Iowa to see family, the few friends from HS that I still have, and (of course) most of all- Chase. This year however, is a different story. Chase is here with me in Seattle and as some of you know, it sometimes takes more than a few months to become financially stable in a new city before you can do everything and go everywhere you want. In OCTOBER, plane tickets to fly from Seattle to DesMoines were $600-$700 on every travel website I found. Take that x2 plus boarding costs for Apollo, on top of Christmas present, & shipping costs :-( Back in 2008, I wasn't able to go home for Christmas and I spent Christmas Eve on the phone with my Dad crying about it...literally. This Christmas will be Chase & I's official 1 year anniversary! Hopefully we can think of something to do to get our minds off of not being home for the holidays. We plan to Skype with our families as we open our presents from them and they open theirs from us. Chase & I's presents to eachother are as follows:

#1- Main Awesomeness

#2- Something under $1.00

#3- Something the other can READ

#4- Something the other can EAT

#5- Something the other can WEAR

So far, I have #1. I'm about to go & wrap it as soon as I'm done here so we'll have at least one present under our $10 Goodwill tree :) Speaking of, I couldn't believe it was only $10!! Granted it's only 4 feet tall, but as you can see from the photos I will be attaching below, it's a good-lookin tree! I'm not sure what to get Apollo...I'm thinking a nice, huge dog bed so he'll stop taking up the entire couch!

Chase's car started acting up last Friday, so I've been taking him to/picking him up from work this past week meaning getting up at 7am as opposed to lying in bed while he gets up then going back to sleep after he leaves. Seattle traffic SUCKS. To go the 12 miles it takes to get to his work, it normally takes 40-45 minutes on I5 (as well as getting back). I've been bringing Apollo with me so we can stop at Greenlake Park and go for our 3mile walk early rather than around our neighborhood in the afternoons. I normally don't worry about Apollo if I tie his leash up outside a bathroom, or a Starbucks...but that has all changed since he almost got taken on Monday at Greenlake.
We were about halfway through our walk when I stopped at the only bathroom that is available on the trail around the lake. I tied his leash up to a railing, went in & as I was stepping out of the stall, heard him barking/growling. I know he doesn't become vocal unless he feels threatened, so I ran out to see what was wrong. Upon coming outside I heard someone say, "She's coming back..." and then saw an asian man about to unhook his leash. I said, "UHHHH, EXCUSE ME?! THAT'S MY DOG!" Then he backed up & started mumbling, "Oh, dis a Great Dane? He so beautiful..." I replied, "yes, he is. Can I help you?" To which he replied "no" then took off. Apollo was growling low the entire time & for the rest of the walk I had to process the fact that I can no longer leave my dog tied up outside a public place, for fear that someone will want to take him!! On Tuesday, I took him into Starbucks with me when we took our walk around U Village, & yesterday I took him into the bathroom stall with me when I used the restroom at Greenlake. (The handicapped stall, because lets face it...a regular stall would NOT be possible with both of us.)

Heater, Thanksgiving, and Seattle Hockey

At 3am this morning, Chase very lovingly turned on our little heater by the bed before he head out the door to go set up for the Seahawks pre-game show for the KIRO news team. (Luckily, he doesn't have to go back this time at 1pm to tear it down!) He knows I get cold & lonely on Sunday's when he has to leave at that un-Godly hour. I end up death-gripping his pillow, diagonal across the bed until he gets back to replace said-pillow...BUT, back to the heater discussion: As it turns out, its really great for the first hour or so...but then I start to sweat in my sleep under all those blankets, with the heat trapped in the bedroom with nowhere to go but my pores. When my hair gets wet from my scalp sweating, it dries & becomes a wavy mess! I used to wear it this way when I first moved to WA, & Chase loves it, but I think I look like I belong indoors for the remainder of the day if not taken care of. Why am I telling you this, you ask? There's a mirror by where I am sitting...and I'm looking GREAT :-/


Onto Thanksgiving!


Thanksgiving was spent at my adopted WA Mom & Dad's house (Jane & Roy) in Sequim, which is on the Olympic Peninsula (a 2.5 hour drive from Seattle). We had to bring Apollo with us because we can't leave him at home all day with no one to take him out/feed him. He did great riding in the car for that long & not making a fuss while we were inside eating & he wasn't :) So proud of him!
Before we went to Jane & Roy's though, we stopped by my Uncle Brad's house. Uncle Brad has been my dad's best friend since before my older sister (Gina) & I were born. He's part of the reason we moved up to WA back in 2005, as my dad was helping him open up a restaurant. Brad lives on 5 acres with a beautiful view of the mountains. He has goats, chickens, & horses. Apollo got to get out & run around, mainly chasing chickens & spooking goats, but you could tell by the look on his face that he was having a ball!! Brad invited us back in a few weekends to go crabbing with him, which neither of us have ever done! We're pretty excited... 
At Jane & Roy's we had turkey, homemade mashed potatoes/gravy, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie & APPLE SNICKER SALAD (provided by Chase & I). It's exactly how it sounds: Cut up granny smith apples, snickers & toss in 1.5 containers of whipped cream! It was a big hit.
Roy is an amateur photographer & when we expressed interest in his work, he led us into his office where he let us pick out some photos we liked so he could print them off for us to hang in our apartment! He has won numerous awards for his photography, though it is only a hobby for him.
After letting our food settle, & picking out photos, we head over to our friends' Rodney & Kodi's house. Apollo was very excited that he was invited into their house & tried his hardest to make friends with little Riko, & dwarfed their dog Diesel in comparison to himself. Kodi found this very amusing. We wish that Kodi & Rodney still lived in Seattle, but alas, they moved back to Sequim to be closer to family :(
We didn't hit too much traffic on the way home, which was nice because it was raining pretty hard.


The day after Thanksgiving, Chase & I both had to work at 9am. I was subbing a Zumba class at the Seattle Athletic Club & he was headed into the PNTA warehouse. After I got done teaching, I noticed I had 2 new voicemails from Chase. His car had broken down on the way to work!! The one day I'm subbing, & of COURSE I can't get to my phone to answer it...he got it to Pep Boys & got a ride from someone from work. I had planned on picking him up from work anyways because we were going to a Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey game. So, we both went about our days until I picked him up for the game. We drove to the ShoWare Center (gorgeous place) & then changed into our Chicago Blackhawks jerseys for some midwest pride :) I was afraid we were going to get shit for wearing them...a LOT of Vancouver fans are here in WA. BUT, we didn't!! Walking up the stairs to get to our places, row 6 seats 5&6, it felt a lot like when I used to go to the DesMoines Bucs games with my dad. He had season tickets for YEARS & would always take my sister & I like a daddy-daughter date. Something Chase & I noticed about Seattle Hockey fans is that they're not very loud. I have a really loud wolf-whistle, & the old lady sitting in front of me shot me a dirrrrrrrty look. Listen, if you're going to a sporting event, you can't expect everyone to be quiet & well-behaved the whole game. People are going to be loud, obnoxious, & yell profanity. Its like an un-written rule!! We had a good time, all in all...but you better believe the next game we go to, I'm going to be packing an air-horn like I used to take to Bucs games. Get ready to REALLY hate me, old lady!!!