Things that have been keeping me busy

It has been a very busy few weeks so here is a recap.

I think the most exciting thing that has happened is I purchased a wedding dress. It's very girly of me but I'm truly excited about my dress. It feels like me, and I feel comfortable in it. Plus it looks amazing and I just love it.

The actual dress is a surprise until the big day, but I haven't told you the most awesome part. It was 50% off! I tried it on ages ago but because I got really busy with moving and Ollie I couldn't get back to the store for awhile. By the time I did, the dress had gone on sale.

In other news, Ollie is growing like crazy. I swear that his tail doubled overnight, his legs are suddenly long and he quickly outgrew the first harness that we got him. Remember this photo from when we first met him?

Well now it's more like this:

Ollie just isn't going to fit on my lap for much longer

Giant paw

Also a very special someone had a birthday. Happy birthday my David!

Homemade birthday cake, and it was perfectly delicious

Birthday wish

Our Puppy Mugged a Child

Yep, you read that right. Our sweet innocent little puppy mugged a child on the weekend and it was hilarious.

For this to happen, picture these:

held by one of these:

Throw in a sweet, little puppy (or should I say a scary, intimidating puppy)

End result, one petrified child:

Ollie absolutely loves kids, so when he saw a small child on the weekend he immediately wanted to make friends and play. Problem was the little boy was terrified of such a bouncing, excited puppy and he kept saying 'go away'. Not to be deterred so easily Olllie continued on his quest.

So how did the child respond? Well he threw the biscuit he was consuming behind him and ran. Ollie ran to the biscuit and I could almost see him going 'oh well not the reaction I wanted but I'll accept that' and he scoffed the biscuit. It was hilarious, I was keeled over laughing!

By the end of the day the small child and Ollie were the best of friends. It just took some time for the kids to realise Ollie wanted to play with them. After that all we could hear for the rest of the day was "Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie" and our puppy became the centre of attention.

The kids left begging their parents for a puppy, so everyone was happy (well maybe not the parents). Ollie was especially happy because he got himself a bonus biscuit and new friends, not a bad days work for a puppy.

Things That Change With a Puppy

Number One
Bye bye sleeping in, and hello 5.30am wake up calls. There's no Saturday or Sunday privileges either. 5.30am is the 'I've just woken up and I have to go to the toilet NOW' . This is all worthwhile when this face is looking at us:

Cuddles with David

Number Two

Constant supervision, gone are our carefree days  - 'if it's on the ground it's mine to eat, even if it is bad for me or not one of my chew toys'. It's a small price to pay for a snuggly little man.

My stick, all the way from the backyard. It's very necessary that it remains indoors with me.

Number Three
We've gone from a clean house, to a muddy one and we're not worried:

Rain + puppy = wet and muddy paws

The gardening assistant - Ollie already loves water and had a blast jumping in puddles

Number Four
Every day that we come home, Ollie is waiting for us and is super excited to see us again. It makes our house more like a home :)

Ollie - the cutest little puppy ever.

Number Five
Responsibility - we fuss over him, ensure that he always has clean drinking water and jot down his next scheduled vet appointments.

Olie went to the vets for a 2nd vaccination and took it so well that he fell asleep on the vets table!

In Summary
Having a pet again is fantastic and we absolutely wouldn't change a thing

Our Family is Expanding!

We are going to be parents to our new little fur baby. I'm excited to announce the arrival next week of our fur-son Ollie (Oliver).

The snuggly little guy on the left is Ollie. As cute and adorable as his brother is, our yard is just not big enough for 2 dogs.

Cuddles

What's this? Lets eat it and find out.

I've always wanted an English Springer Spaniel. My grandparents had one called Casper when I was younger and he was wonderful - intelligent, a fantastic temperament and protective of his family. For a very long time after Casper passed away I missed him. This is what made me know that I wanted an English Springer Spaniel.

Ollie joins us very soon. We've spent all weekend puppy-proofing our yard to get things ready for him. It was a bit sooner than either of us expected to get a pet, but Ollie was available and the breed isn't widespread in Australia so I didn't want to miss out on an available litter.

Things That Are Awesome

Photo from here

If you are a Pride and Prejudice fan and haven't already seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, do yourself a favour and go get hooked. Seriously these video diaries will have you wanting more but persevere through the first couple - it takes a couple of episodes to appreciate them fully.

I'm totally loving Rachael Hale right now - I mean cute kitties and puppies what isn't to love! I have one of the puppy mugs that I use at work and I love my mug.

Photo from here

David and I loved reading this hilarious Contract for Potential Future Wives. No resemblance to any current real-life situation is implied or inferred (for the record, my future Mother-In-Law is totally awesome - as I tell David frequently).

Last time I was sick, David introduced me to this Sick Day comic. It's was a totally accurate account of my days off.

NBN Has Arrived!

As I mentioned in my last post we finally got the internet at our new home, and with the much talked about NBN.

I was really excited about this one, not just because I like the convenience of the internet but historically the NBN is a pretty significant event. As a result I was determined to be present to see it get installed.

It all went smoothly enough, but here's a little known fact - the NBN involves drilling a hole in your home's outside wall. Concequently we received information from our service provider about this to prepare us for the moment well before it was installed. It's a small price to pay to future proof our home.

Installation Begins

Once it had finished we were left with 2 really ugly and surprisingly large boxes inside. Whilst they are our connection to the outside world, it's 2013 and the age of small technology - do they really need to be that big? Thank goodness they can be tucked away in a corner:

Moving Tales

So we have moved in to our new house and we finally have internet again! Not just any internet either - we have NBN. The last 2 and a bit weeks without the internet were ok, but I have to say I really missed blogging the most.

After a stressful time packing and discovering exactly how much we own, moving day was suddenly upon us. It looked like this:

 Upon arrival, for at least a week afterward it looked like this:

I unpacked most of the boxes very quickly. There are still a few remaining but the important things we need are unpacked.

My new house has lots of storage. Including a cupboard under the stairs that everyone keeps comparing to Harry Potter. You walk to the end of the cupboard and turn left and it keeps going. It's also a great place to hide and forget about boxes.

Ever since I was a small child I've wanted a buffet and hutch. I think it comes from a rural upbringing and regularly seeing them in country homes. So now that I had space for one I could finally fulfill that wish. I found this stunning one second hand and I absolutely adore it:

Now that the boxes are clear let me show you pictures of our new home:

We couldn't resist using nails in the wall to hang pictures, and I think it gives it a much nicer homier feel. Our dining room and living room are North facing so we are already enjoying breakfast in the sun and it really warms up the house nicely.

It's so peaceful and in such a beautiful location. We have a family of ducks in the nearby pond and so many walking trails yet to be explored. I recently declared to David that I think when you buy a home your workplace should instantly give you 1 month off work (paid of course) just so you can enjoy your new home properly :)