I love the colours of Autumn!

Every time I go out into the garden, I always seem find new things. It's always changing, and keeping me on my toes! This fall, I've noticed that the colours are so vibrant compared to last year! Naturally I had to take some photos! It's so gorgeous out!

Double Trouble!

Yesterday had a weird turn of events for more than one reason - the coolest tho, was that we acquired a new doggy!! It's kind of a weird story!

I was outside with Mikey, and I had attached Colt to his chain which is attached to a tree in our front yard. All of a sudden, the winds picked up, and Mikey and I turned our attention to a tarped garage that we had put up the previous day that looked like it was about to blow over...

All of a sudden, Colt started to freak out, and broke through his chain and ran across the highway and over to the neighbors fence where another dog was hanging out - it was another black lab! Mikey and I ran over to get the dog from across the street, all while our tarped garage picks up and blows over into the driveway! Mikey brings Colt back into the yard, and the other lab followed along! So we put the stray dog in the garage while we tackled the garage that was laying upside down in our driveway, and figuring out how to attach Colt back onto his chain.

The stray dog had a collar with a tag so we tried calling the numbers on it, but we weren't getting anywhere with that... all of a sudden an elderly man drove up and asked if we had seen his black dog! He expressed how the dog had constantly been running away when he would let him go out for a pee, and that he was going to take him to the animal shelter because he couldn't handle it anymore. I expressed that I would like to keep the dog, and the man said I could keep him if I really wanted...

I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to have another dog in the house for Colt - recently he has been extremely clingy, whiny, and just seems to be bummed out! The man said that the dog's name is Max, but to make him cooler, we'll call him Maxx... LOL! He is just a bit taller than Colt, but soooo skinny!! His coat isn't shiny and he has bad dandruff! This doggy needs some TLC!

Last night we bought a new harness and leash for him, even at its smallest fit setting it hangs off of him! He'll fill out eventually! We figure he must still be quite young because he is SO energetic and hyper - non stop! I thought it was going to take forever for this dog to fall asleep last night! Other then one accident in the kitchen, he has been very well behaved, knows his name, knows to sit, lay down, and most importantly... knows what "NO!!!" means!

It brings a smile to my face to see how happy Colt is, and how quickly this dog has adapted to our home!

Colt is on the Left, Maxx is on the Right:

Let's Dance!

Frozen and Fuzzy

Pictures of the frost in the garden from this morning.

FROST!

Last night it got down to -5... When I woke up this morning at 9am, the cars in the driveway still had frost on their windshields, and the grass in the shade was still frosty! Other than the frost, it was still a beautiful day out with not a cloud in the sky! Although the high was only 9 - boo, fall is officially here! This isn't the first time we've had frost so far this year - we've actually had frost in some form at least once every month this year. The night before Canada Day, there was frost in some low laying parts.

Because of the frost, and because it was actually nice out today and not raining, Mikey and I decided to pull some veggies from the garden! We found some rather large rutabagas, some great looking carrots, a few beets, some horseradish, and a few potatoes for the week. I honestly couldn't believe a lot of this was growing because the garden was so overtaken by weeds, vines, and whatever else could grab a hold of an empty spot! Here are some photos:

Giant rutabagas!

Carrots!

Aaaaannd a few potatoes!

Music!

I've been featured!

There is this amazing blog that I catch up with as much as possible called "Dig This Chick", read below:

"My name is Nici Holt Cline. I am a fourth generation Montanan raising a fifth in Missoula with my husband (Andy, childhood crush). We have two daughters (Ruby and Margot), one dog (Alice), two cats (Sam and Olive) and five chickens (Ida, Clementine, Bossy P, Lindsay and Paige).

I had a gardening and graphic design business called dig this chick several years ago. I put it on hold to pursue my career at my local art museum and started this blog to scratch my dig-this-chick itch."

Well, Nici has this great feature on her blog called the "Virgin Harvest" where she lists fellow blogger (and non-bloggers) that are growing something new, or even growing for the first time (like myself!). I sent Nici an email, and asked to be added to her list of Virgin Harvesters - Now, I'm on the list! #81!!!!

Please share the love, and give her site a visit. She is truly inspiring and writes a really fun to read blog!

Drivers Licence Update!

Today was the day... the day I finally put on my big girl panties, and wrote my test to get my Drivers Licence (learners). For some reason, I was super nervous about failing... And although I know the rules of the road, I still felt it was necessary to study and mentally prepare myself for my test. Good thing too, because there were some specific questions like "What is the maximum distance you can park from the curb" (50cm). There were also some common sense questions like "When you are passing a large vehicle on a 2 lane highway, how far ahead should your vehicle be before you merge back into the right lane?" Um... yeah... obviously not when your back bumper meets their front bumper... But I guess you never know what people might think - there IS a show called Canada's Worst Driver (I love that show!)

Anywho, when I arrived at the registries office, I was kinda nervous. This was my very first time taking my learners exam, and I had no idea what to expect. I was also kind of embarrassed, I'm 25 years old and I haven't even taken a friggen learners test... Sheesh! So when I got up to the counter and the guy asked me what I needed, I kinda just said "I need to take my learners exam" under my breath. He asked things like... Have I ever taken it before, I confirmed it was my first time, and gave him all my ID and info. He then told me to go over to the middle computer and just follow what it said on the screen. I walked over to the computers, but there was only 2... So I turned to him and asked which one it was just to confirm... He looked at me like I was some idiot, and said "uh, yeah... I said that one..." turned back around, and started playing on his phone...

OK - This guy obviously needs to take the pole out of his ass... but whatever. I couldn't be bothered with his attitude problem, and needed to focus on my test. So I took my time, read everything twice, and .. PASSED! I only got one question wrong! WOO HOO! So once I was finished, the computer told me to go back to the front desk. When I walked back over, the guy that was helping me was still playing on his phone, so I just waited. When he looked up all he said was "So, you passed?" and I told him I did, with a little bit of excitement. He then walked over to the other side of the desk where another woman was working, and was saying something. I just assumed he was talking to her until he whipped around and said "Um, over here PLEASE?!"

WHOA! ... whoa... sorry? I thought you were talking to that other lady, because you definitely were not even facing me, or told me to come over there with you... Anywho, I walked over and sat down for a quick eye exam, and this guys attitude just got worse and worse! He asked me if I could see some numbers along the bottom of the screen. I told him that I couldn't see anything... Then, he let out this obvious sigh of frustration, and with a condescending tone said "You have to lean with your forehead to turn the machine on" ... as if I knew that! Frick...

So once that was done, he got up and walked away, but was still talking to me. So I decided to say something. I said "I'm sorry, but I cannot hear what you are saying to me while you're walking away." Then - and this totally blew my mind - he let out another elongated sigh, and literally rolled his eyes - RIGHT AT ME - and repeated whatever it was that he was saying. This guy was such a jerk! I'm sure I gave him the most disgusted look ever, because it seemed like after that he might have realized how shitty he was being, and you could tell he was trying to be more polite. Or maybe its because the lady waiting behind me gave him a filthy look - or WHATEVER.

Point is, this guy was FUCKED! It really put a damper on my experience, and I cannot even imagine being a terrified 14 year old going in to write their exam and dealing with this guy. It's a stressful and maybe even somewhat scary experience for some! Working in customer service myself, I just could not get over how rude he was, and I think its going to be on my mind until I call and complain. I will never go back their either - in fear of having to deal with him again. I will go out of my way and drive the extra distance to go to the Spruce Grove office.

BUT - I have my learners and thats all that matters! YAY! After Mikey and I went shopping a bit, and ate at Wendy's for my celebratory dinner, I drove all the way home from Carvel - secondary highway and all! I'm so proud of myself! I also bought a new battery for my truck so I don't have to steal the one from the Impala anymore. Then, sometime next week the truck will be dropped off at a local mechanic for some repairs and a general maintenance.

I'm so happy everything is coming together! *SIGH* (of relief!)

SEPTEMBER!

Goodbye August! Welcome September... So I think I'm going to make a beginning of the month update from now on! This way I can review my resolutions, and write out my goals for the next month as well. I think this will be really helpful to myself to track my goals and see what I have accomplished, how my weight loss is progressing, etc, etc. I'm pretty excited to have these these written out finally. So - I'm sorry in advance about the constant updates about these items, but now I promise to do it only once a month!

So where to start.... Weigh in time?!? This morning when I weighed myself, I'm still sitting at 205lbs. My goal for this month is to loose another 5 lbs. I'm still going to walk to and from work, and I will be using the elliptical for 15-20 minutes every second night. I would like to incorporate another activity as well, something suited for a northern fall... like swimming at the leisure center or something... But I guess that would require me to wear a bathing suit - which I don't exactly have... I'll figure out something. Anyway, hopefully by my next monthly update, I weigh 200lbs!!

My other goal - Licence! I'm hoping to get a ride down to the registries office tomorrow after work to take my written test to get my Learners! This is so exciting! I've been studying but... I think I've got it down... lol. It's kinda sad when I think about it... I could have gotten my learners when I was 14! I'm turning 26 at the end of the year! Either way - it's happening now!

It's been super cold out, and has been raining the last few days so I haven't had a good chance to get out into the garden and check the veggies. Not this weekend but next, I'll be in Kelowna, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and will post an update about that trip! I think that's all for now.. Till next time!