It's been a week since the "I Do".  It's been a very sweet week.  A very busy week, but tender and loving in all of the right ways.

The professional pictures are being edited, but my lovely sister in law, Cori, was kind enough to pass this one along. 

Shoes and I planned for this day for a long time (long before we were actually engaged).  And I, as you well know, have been thinking about what it would be like to be married again for longer than that.

Remember the training that happened the week before the wedding?  Oh, that was torturous.  8 hours a day, sitting on my rear, re-vising suicide risk assessment, how to keep safe in unsafe situations and Washington laws regarding how to involuntarily commit a person to a psychiatric hold ... all while answering multiple texts and emails regarding the wedding.

(Very grateful for Shoes' generous graduation present of an I Phone.  It helped ... immensely.)

Left the training a little early on Friday and made it in town just in time to make the rehearsal dinner.  Busy, busy, busy ... and at that point, starting to feel a little strung out.  The rehearsal dinner was a lovely time of catching up with old friends, new babies and missed family members.

And the next day, we got married.  I married Shoes.  Shoes married me.  We married each other.  We finally did it.

I cried buckets at the ceremony.  Because God is so faithful.  Because it was a gorgeous (albeit 100 degree!) day.  Because my sweet friends helped so much the day before to get everything ready while I was gone.  Because I am wholly in love with Shoes.  Because our vows were meaningful and heartfelt (we actually did end up writing them together and, if we're FB friends, the video has been posted to my timeline). 

Shoes teared up a little, too, during our vows.

That made me cry a little more.

I cannot even begin to tell you  how grateful I am.  For Shoes.  For this life.  For everything.

Now, we are married.
And we have a dog.
And we are looking for a house.
And Cougar football season is about to start.
And I have this new job in a town that's 30 miles away (which, as all you social service / LEA / counselor types out there, is definitely advantageous).
And now that my life has a new rhythm, there will be more posting.

In closing, our going away car (also courtesy of Cori) and a new pic of Rosie.  Because we are finally, finally a family.




... in 4 days.

I am!  4 days!  Oh my word!
O, we've got it.
Her name is Rosie.
She's a handle.
She's one of the things my life revolves around.
She pawed at the glass for the first time today to be let outside.
I almost cried.
Potty Training a puppy is hard.
I know I'm supposed to be the leader of my pack.
And put her second.
But those brown eyes just kill me.
But we still try.
Shoes is In Love, too, and is the Master of Coddling.
(but i can't blame him ....)
Also, taking pictures of a puppy is impossible.


She likes to double fist the bully stick and the cotton bone. 
At least the bully stick is not my finger.  Or heel.  Or elbow.  Or toe.
Puppy teeth are razor sharp.


She likes to roll around on her bed a lot.
A lot.


She loves carrots.
After her first time outside after the carrot, I realized she only needed ...
half a carrot....


The brown eyes that slay.


She likes to be up in the gym, just working on her fitness.


She has also been enjoying the arrival of wedding presents.
For different reasons.

She is relatively mellow, except from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, where the devil takes over and she reminds us she is only 9 weeks old.  We're working on "Pay Attention" and "Sit".  She's exhausting.  And.  She's amazing. 

Here is messy.

1.  On Tuesday, Shoes and I finally brought home the Golden Retriever Puppy we've been dreaming about for three years.  We're in love.  She's amazing and sweet and smart (only I can't be sure about any of those things because we've only had her for three days).  The next post will be all things Puppy.

While we love her, and, o, how we do ... oh my good word.

What work.  What constant, vigilant, work.

2.  Shoes and I are getting married in 2 weeks.

3.  Shoes will work up to the day before the wedding.  New job = he can't ask for any real time off until about October.

4.  We have 14 people coming to stay with us at the Big House the week of the wedding. 

Fourteen people.  Five Children.  A new Puppy.  A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

5.  In a random stroke of amazing good luck and terrible misfortune, I've accepted employment as a Mental Health Therapist in a nearby town. 

That.  Is.  Amazing.  One month after graduation.  Awesome. 

Not awesome:  I have a mandatory training to attend in Spokane (one hour North) the 13th - 17th to learn how to complete the legal process of involuntarily committing a person to a psychiatric hospital.  This is the only time it's offered this year on this side of the State, and it's only offered twice a year. 

I get married on the 18th. 

I hope I make my own rehearsal in time.

6.  2012 is kicking my rear ... in the best, craziest, most unexpected of ways.  I'm breathing in and breathing out ... and breathing in ... and breathing out ...  And hoping for the best ... and believing that Shoes and I have everything we need, and a Supplier for what we don't, for the next few weeks...

Messy.