December 29, 2009

Good riddance 2009! What a horrible, horrible year. I am very much looking forward to a new year, a clean slate. We're going to be careful in 2010, with our money, with Sam, with our hands & blood, and anything else that could potentially be injured. So far, a few good things to come in 2010- big trip to Playa Del Carmen for Abe & Kjer's Wedding, possible loan modification for our home, and more time to plan our wedding. Another big hope for 2010- a new heart and kidney for Andy's dad. C'mon 2010!!

December 26, 2009

Merry day after Christmas! We are still hungover from the mass amount of food consumption, but feeling pretty good today after a quick trip to the gym and spending time putting away all of our wonderful gifts.

This year, Sampson spent the holiday with his sister and Lilly over at Abe & Kjer's house. We drove to Napa for Xmas Eve with my fam. Per usual, we were spoiled with gifts and enjoyed an unbelievable meal of prime rib, cheesy potatoes, and the rest of our holiday meal tradition, which we had been looking forward to the entire year!

On Christmas Day, we drove to Livermore to spend the day with Andy's fam. Again, we were spoiled with wonderful gifts and great company. We laughed a ton during our holiday gift steal/exchange, especially as Andy's cousin opened the gift that Andy provided- a Snuggie & various board games.

After picking up Sam, we gave him a prime rib bone at home that we snagged from my parents, and Sampson ate the entire thing... bone and all! He opened a gift from my parents- he was totally spoiled this year, even after being a bad dog early in '09.

Overall, a great holiday and we are looking forward to the weekend to relax.

December 21, 2009

We think that Sampson can hear Andy's car almost a mile away. He'll sit up, perk his ears, and once he sees his car enter the court, he starts spinning circles on the floor. It'll take Andy a minute or two to get through the door, but as soon as he does the freak-out session begins. Sampson will jump up on him, kiss his face, and eventually find this comfortable spot (see pic) pushed up against Andy to get some serious pets. This is the daily routine. Sampson adores his dad.

December 17, 2009

Meet Faith.

Andy came across this article in The Sacramento Bee today. I found it online and had to post.

Two-legged dog gives hope to disabled Army vets - SacPaws.com - sacbee.com

Source: sacbee.com

December 15, 2009

We definitely have a restless puppy on our hands. We have been trying hard to get Sam out for walks as much as possible, but with this cold/rainy weather, it's been difficult. Once the rain stops, we rush him out the door to get a good walk in. But, this past weekend, it rained nonstop so he was in the house the entire time and was very vocal with his disgust. At one point last night, Andy mentioned "I don't think I've ever heard him make that noise," and I agreed- he sounded like a seal. He pushed himself across the carpet, groaning and barking at us, and he plopped himself at our feet and gnawed at the bottom of the couch. He was pissed. But, he chilled out in the evening and was his usual snuggly self. I love the winter, but have realized, rain/snow/cold is not conducive to a happy puppy.

December 10, 2009

Big news this week regarding the Fluken/Moss Nuptials. We had initially gone forward and set our wedding date at the Napa Valley Country Club, for September 18, 2010. After much conversation and taking into account the difficult year we had in 2009 – we have decided to go ahead and push our wedding date back a year. We feel comfortable with this decision, as it gives us more time to plan/save for our exciting day, and we are thankful that our wedding coordinator is willing to cooperate with our change of plans. We are looking forward to enjoying our long engagement and the planning process. We are now set for September 17, 2011 at the NVCC!

December 7, 2009

It snowed in Sacramento today! Unfortunately, the only snow I saw was either pictures online or on the top of my coworkers' cars. It's freezing outside. Andy and Sampson just walked in the door from their walk. Time to snuggle and warm up.

December 6, 2009

Christmas season is here and it arrived way too fast! Yesterday, we donned our gay apparel and trimmed our tree- it's full of doggy ornaments that we've acquired over the years. It's freezing cold in Sacramento now, and they're predicting 1-2 inches of snow to hit the area tomorrow! I read that this hasn't happened since '76. Luckily, we are fully equipped with our new furnace that heats up our entire house in 5 minutes. Sam is being a total wuss about the weather- he immediately wants back inside once we let him out. He's currently snuggled up on his bed that we placed near a vent.

November 26, 2009

Driving home from the Dog Park on this Thanksgiving Day, I was reminded of all that I am thankful for after this crazy year.

I am thankful for:

-All of my friends that dropped everything they had going on in their busy lives to help us look, tirelessly, for Sam while he was missing. For putting up flyers, riding bikes/hiking around the area, driving around after work w/prime rib scraps in their front seats, and for just being there to talk when I was losing my mind.

-All of those that reached out to me via fb/craigslist/email just to let me know that they were thinking of us and/or keeping their eyes peeled.

-All of the people that called me (even if they didn't know us) to let me know that they had seen the flyers and were looking.

-My coworkers, who put together a donation website to help us with our vet bills, and for all of those people, near and far, that donated what they could to help us during our time of need.

-My amazing husband-to-be, that always kept the hope going that we would find him, even when I was ready to give up. Who always came up with a game plan, when I was feeling lost and dead tired. Who slept in the kitchen with me for weeks, just so we could keep Sam comfortable. Who never had a doubt that after all the surgeries and hospital trips that we would one day have our dog back and living a happy life with us.

-My parents, who took my hysterical phone calls at all hours of the night, and who drove up, every morning to nurse Sampson during the day, so that we could go to work. Who brought food for us, even when we couldn't eat. Who didn't act shocked when they saw his condition, even though I know it was horrible to see. And for helping us financially when we couldn't see the end of the vet bills.

-Andy's parents, who were just as worried about us as we were about Sam. Who drove up to take care of us, even with their busy schedules. Who helped take care of Sam, while we tried to get our lives back to normal. Who really helped front the big bills, that made me sick to my stomach, without batting an eye.

-The Doctors, Nurses, Techs, at the VCA Animal Hospital. These people are the most amazing people I have ever met. They let us stay in the hospital with Sampson, cramped in the ICU long past visiting hours. They took my calls at all hours of the night. They always gave us their honest opinion when we asked for it. They snuggled with him when we were not there. These people saved his life- and we hope to go back there, someday soon, to visit.

And to all our family, friends, and strangers, that were involved in this ordeal- I cannot thank you enough for helping us get through this difficult experience. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
xoxo

November 19, 2009

We have a huge Chinese Maple in our backyard that has become home to many birds, and lately, a few squirrels. Squirrels will bring walnuts over from neighboring yards and they will climb into the tree and chew away. Today, I let Sampson out after I got home from work, he sniffed around the yard and found a severly injured squirrel against the fence. He stood over the dying squirrel and started whimpering. I lured him back into the house with a "treat" and he continued crying for a little while. It was heartbreaking. Andy came home and removed the now dead squirrel.

On a separate note, his skin is very irritated, and he scratched his elbow so badly that he was bleeding. He's all wrapped up, and Andy says that he's "emo" with his black elbow-band.
Note: his bloody elbow had nothing to do with him getting up-close and personal with the dying squirrel. Apparently, I didn't clarify this during my brief texts to Andy, and he ended up freaking out, thinking Sampson had been bitten. (me: "Squirrel with broken neck writhing in yard. Sam checked it out ." next, "Sampson's crying about squirrel." 5 minutes later, "Sampson's elbow is bleeding pretty bad.") Whoops.

November 17, 2009

Still trying to adjust to Andy's busy work schedule. Luckily, he was able to get the weekend off (due to a mess-up by the manager). On Saturday night, Brody & Lily came over for a slumber party. They had too much fun - we woke up on Sunday morning to our living room completely covered in cotton stuffing that was ripped out of a doggy-toy. On Sunday, we celebrated my brother's b-day at his house. Tonight, I'm hanging solo with Sam while Andy works. It makes me nervous being home alone in the evenings, and Sam isn't helping. I had to calm him down in the kitchen after he saw a cat running around in our backyard (scared the crap outta me). He barks at every car that drives through the court and a few times has barked at the house settling.
We have been anxiously awaiting news of Andy's dad being released from the hospital- he had quite a week. He is finally home and resting. www.txtrib.blogspot.com

November 12, 2009

We have been taking Sampson on nightly walks during his recovery. Lately, he's been a bit more.. feisty.. in the evenings, even after his walk. He'll push himself across the floor, bark at us, and throw his tennis ball across the room. He's a bit more restless now, since he's spending more time inside the house. A few nights ago, Andy took him on a longer walk, about a mile loop around our neighborhood, and Sampson didn't appear tired or winded at all. So, we're keeping this up. Today, I walked the mile loop with him and we ended up jogging for the last block. Now he's crashed out on the couch.

November 7, 2009

Quiet around the Fluken-Moss house. Andy has been working long days both training for his new gig at Ten22 and helping out at the granite shop. His first official day is tomorrow (Sunday) as the restaurant is hosting a "family and friends soft-opening." The official opening will be sometime next week. He's excited and ready to get going. This means that I will be spending tons of solo time with Sam.

November 1, 2009

On Friday night, we had a slumber party with Brody & Lilly so Abe & Kjer could go out and enjoy some pre-Halloween festivities. Per usual, we had plenty of snuggle time all around. Saturday morning, Abe & Kjer swung by to pick up all the pups, so that we could go down to Napa and celebrate Halloween with my family. My parents do it up big, and plenty of their neighbors do as well. It's quite the sight - as Nellie learned last year, and Andy was able to see this year. Approximately 1100 kids came by and luckily we were prepared with almost 1300 pieces of candy. Last year, we barely had 1000 pieces, and we ran out at 8:30. We went as Wayne & Garth, and it was "Excellent."

October 28, 2009

It's the most wonderful time of the year! On Halloween, Andy and I will be handing out candy in Napa (dressed as Wayne & Garth) and Sampson will be spending the night with his sister and Lilly. Should be fun for the whole fam.

October 24, 2009

http://www.petinsurance.com/

VPI Pet Insurance. If you don't have your pet insured - do it... if only for piece of mind. As animal hospitals become more advanced and medical procedures for pets become more sophisticated, they also become more costly. Vets today can offer treatments that were unheard of just a few years ago, and parents today are willing to spend the money to help heal their pets. Dog owners can pay an average of $35 per month for coverage. Had we known about this, we never would have thought twice about insuring Sampson, and we are now considering various plans for him. You may never use it, and you may not think you need it. We didn't think we needed it.

October 23, 2009

And I'm back! My feet are sore from walking around Disneyland & California Adventure in flip-flops (not wise). We had a wonderful time checking out the awesome Halloween decorations.

Sampson was mildly excited to see me - I think he had a great time hanging with his dad.

October 15, 2009

Tomorrow is boss's day - and I plan on doing some major kissing-up by bringing this "fruit pizza" to our pot luck. This is a recipe I got from my mom, who now has it absolutely perfected. We'll have to see how it turns out.

I'm leaving for Disneyland on Sunday. Very exciting as I haven't been there since California Adventure was built. Unfortunately, Andy won't be going. Work is getting busy again, and he may have a second job by early next week (fingers crossed). He will spend some quality time with Sampson, and I won't have to worry about our little guy.

October 9, 2009

Disclaimer: This story may appear cuter to me than to you readers.

Sampson walks backwards on our hardwood floors. He has done this since he was a pup, and he still does it today. Therefore, we must carry him down the hallway to the bedroom to sleep, and then carry him out once again in the morning.

Today, we had construction workers drilling and jackhammering in our court, which I believe scared Sampson so much that he ran into the bedroom to hide under the bed. Andy came home during his lunch break, and Sampson was nowhere to be found. After a few minutes of standing in the kitchen, trying to think of where he went, Andy heard Sampson whimpering in the bedroom. Andy looked down the hall, and this is what he saw (see pics). Andy witnessed the same thing once he got home from work this afternoon - Sampson "stuck" in the bedroom. What a weirdo.

October 8, 2009

It has been an ongoing joke with ANYONE who knows my fiance- that he NEVER wears matching socks... I mean, EVER. He frequently sports one white tube sock and one black dress sock, or one brown wool sock and one gray athletic sock. This has been commonplace since I met him. Today, after working the Rental Housing Expo, I came home and noticed that not only was I wearing two difference socks, but one of them was inside out.

In other news, Sampson is doing wonderful, as is Andy. :)

October 5, 2009

Adding on to yesterday's post about our weekend - Sampson had a wonderful weekend too. He had a slumber party with his sister Brody and friend Lilly. They had plenty of quality time hanging in the yard. Today, he's especially itchy, I'm assuming from the drastic change in weather. We're trying to keep warm, and trying not to get sick (Andy and I both have the scratchy throat thang goin on). Yuck.

October 4, 2009

On Thursday October 1, we celebrated Andy's 29th birthday with his parents and sister by going out for a very delicious dinner at Roxy's followed by frozen yogurt - Andy's fave. I surprised Andy with an Amazon Kindle, which I figured he would get good use out of because he's always reading.

For Saturday, our good friend Matt put together a lunch/brewery tour at Sierra Nevada. Our group of 13 people piled into a huge 15-seater van, and drove to Chico. After a quick tour, we enjoyed wonderful food, beer samplers, and finished it off by singing Happy Bday (very loudly) to Andy. On our way back to Sac, we stopped off at Abe & Kjer's house to pick up Brody & Lilly. They hopped into the van and crawled over and under the seats until we got back to our house where we continued celebrating Andy's Bday.

Today, we are recuperating from all of the fun by lounging on the couch, BBQing with friends and watching football.

September 27, 2009

I LOVE Napa! I enjoyed a fun-filled day of hiking - halfway to the top of Mt. St. Helena - with Stephanie (the heat had me feeling pretty crappy and we turned back earlier than expected). We then decided to do some of the touristy crap that we had never done as long-time Napa residents... Took a pic by the Napa Valley sign, romped in the vineyards, visited the Castello di Amorosa, and topped it off with some frozen yogurt. Doesn't get any better than that!

September 23, 2009

Here's a pic of our new "craigs" (crapemyrtles) that we planted in the front. Wedding planning is progressing - my wedding coordinator (aka Mom) and I have most of the details figured out. Now it's "crunches" time :). Andy and I have been hitting the gym hard during the week, running on the weekend mornings, and swimming in the evenings. I'm completely wiped-out today.


Sam is feelin' great. He's pretty pissed that we've been gone so much during the evenings, but we make it up to him. He's sweet.

September 19, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday Sampson & Brody!
This week, Sampson & his sister Brody turned 4 (thank you Kjer for reminding me!). Today, we took Sam to the dog park for the first time since the accident. It felt great, and a bit strange because we have very fond memories of Sunday mornings at the dog park, with Sam roaming (and foaming) around sniffing the trees and visiting with other dogs. We were apprehensive about letting him run around on his own once again. Lucikly, there were very few others at the park today, so we let him off the leash. He ran around, excited to see the new trees, always keeping one eye on us (he never wanders too far away). After a little while he was pretty exhausted. He rested under a tree and smiled at us.

September 16, 2009

Oh, beautiful diamond... how I missed thee, while you were away for 24 hours being resized. I hope never to part with you again.

September 15, 2009

Where did the summer go? Over the weekend, we had our first glimpse of fall in Sacramento. It was overcast, raining, and still in the high 90's! This weekend was the Air Show at Mather Field (near our house). We watched The Thunderbirds fly and flip in formation- from our backyard. It's crazy loud, but very cool. The sun came out today, and Sampson spent the afternoon lounging on the patio in the sun.

Fall is my favorite time of the year because of the cold weather and rain. AND HALLOWEEN! I'm already on the hunt for our costumes, and I've taken a (horrible) picture of Sam, with one of his potential costumes. He could be a camera tripod. Eh?

September 9, 2009

Happy 9/9/09! The wedding planning has begun. Last weekend, Andy & I met up with Bob & Cherie, Neil & Nellie, & my parents in Napa to look at two places - Napa Valley Country Club and Silverado Country Club. I believe it was a unanimous decision after viewing both places, that we would LOVE to have our wedding at the Napa Valley CC. The grounds are beyond beautiful, and the banquet room is warm and rich with numerous fireplaces, dark beams on the ceilings, and a huge wrap-around porch which allows you to see the beautiful views. We are thrilled with this find. And now, to set a date!

Sampson has been enjoying himself. Licking things on the couches all day, getting a ton of exercise in the evenings, licking himself on the bed all night. He's loving life on three legs... and we couldn't be happier!

September 1, 2009

Happy.
Like a dog in a car --->

August 30, 2009

A perfect weekend- to say the least! Friday night, Sam and I hung out with our friend Jess. Caught up with her over a glass of wine while Andy and the guys were "jammin". Saturday, I headed down to Napa to check out numerous potential wedding locations with mom. We now have some front runners, but still have some work (negotiating) to do before we set the date. I'm looking forward to bringing Andy's family down very soon to check out a few places. I had a wonderful date night with my friend Roo- dinner, movie, laughs, drinks... fun walking around downtown Napa. Andy and Sam enjoyed a big boys night with about 6 friends at home- BBQed, swam, chilled. Sunday, Roo and I scarfed down some huevos rancheros at ABC Bakery, and headed out to the driving range in Yountville. Topped off the day with orange creamsicle slurpees. What a perfect weekend - I'm looking forward to many more in the very near future!

August 27, 2009

Finally! Time to look back on this crazy week! Last Saturday, Andy and I went to Berkeley to celebrate his dad's 60th B-day at Leslie & Chris's lovely home. Great food, fun people, beautiful atmosphere, a quiz all about Bob = very fun. The Engagement announcement was made there, among Bob & Cherie's friends & family, and my parents.

On Sunday, the 3 of us (Sam included) went over to Neil & Nellie's house to play games and catch up. Sampson LOVES their house because they have more carpet than we do. He ran all over, sniffing for kitties, and he finally relaxed in a comfy spot on their new couch.

This weekend, I'm going to Napa to visit a few possible wedding/reception locations with my mom. Hopefully, we can get a better feel for what there is in Napa (I've been getting frustrated with the pricing they quote online-- very expensive). I hope to find a venue within the next month or so, but, we will then need to determine a date we want to shoot for, and see what is available. Whew! Wedding planning is craziness, and it's only just begun.

Sorry- Goofin' around, trying to get a good pic of the bling. I know, I know... barf-o-la