Summer!

Ever since we got married, Koy has talked about getting another dog. I came into the marriage with my dog Minnie who is a black wire-haired dachshund with a little white on her chest and beard. I got her from a shelter in Clifton, TX on January 26, 2007. We think she was about two years old at the time. So, that would make her seven now. She is the cutest, sweetest dog in the world, but she is getting a little older and she wasn't all that playful to begin with. She prefers to lounge around on the couch next to us instead of running and chasing toys in the yard. Koy loves Minnie and is a wonderful dad to her, and I think she now loves him more than me since he is home with her more often. Koy still wanted a big dog, though; one he could play around with, toss the ball to, take to the lake, etc. I have never owned a big dog before. Growing up, my family always had small dogs. So that's all I have known. I love all dogs, though, big and small, and was willing to get another dog when the timing was right. I was most worried, though, that Minnie wouldn't like a new dog in the household and would be stressed, depressed or aggressive.

We eventually decided that we would adopt a young, large-breed dog after we moved into a house with a yard and when we would be around a lot to care for the new arrival. We moved into our new home with a nice-sized backyard in April of this year. Then, we had contractors in the house painting and installing hardwood floors, and we went to Colorado for a week at the beginning of August for my friend Lea's wedding. Once we got back from our trip (and all the current work was done on the house), we decided it was the right time to start looking for a new dog/puppy.

We were interested in labs and golden retrievers, and we started looked at adoptable dogs on animal shelter and rescue group websites. Then on Saturday, August 11th, we took Minnie for a walk around the lake and decided to go by a few rescue group adoption events around town. That afternoon, we went to the DFW Rescue Me adoption event outside the World Market in Plano. We were interested in a couple different dogs, but we ended up deciding on an adorable lab mix puppy with red hair. Her foster family had named her Sara Lee because they said she was as sweet as pie, but we renamed her "Summer". She was at the event with her three brothers and sisters who were all born on 4/1/2012. Two of them were all black, and the other one had dapple coloring. Summer seemed to be the most energetic one of the bunch. We asked to see her and talked to the foster mom Robyn about her. We decided that we wanted to move forward with her and schedule a home visit which is the next step in the adoption process. Robyn said we could go ahead and take her home with us right then, and then one of the volunteers would come by our house later that afternoon for the home visit. I think we were a little shocked because we didn't really expect to go home with a dog that same day, but we said yes, wrote the check, and took her with us!

We have had Summer now for about 2 months and she is slowly starting to come out of her shell.  She was very timid when we first brought her home and had a hard time getting her to come out of her crate to eat and go to the bathroom.  She is now a very good eater and is sleeping in the bed with us.  She is still skittish when there are loud noises or if we move around too fast around her, but I think she is getting better each day.  She loves Minnie and tries to play with her, but Minnie doesn't play too much.  Minnie doesn't seem to mind her, though, which is good.  Koy even said he saw Minnie lay down by Summer in her bed/crate one day.  I wish I would have seen that.  Anyway, we are loving having her as a new addition to our family and hope she will be completely adjusted very soon. 

On my lap on the car ride home when we first got her.

She was so little!

Bonding with Minnie during the first couple of days.

In the bed...

Begging for food and licking Koy.  So funny!

Riding in the new Tahoe on Columbus Day 10/8/12.  She's getting so big!

Colorado!

August 4, 2012 was a very special day as it was the day my best friend Lea got married in a gorgeous ceremony in Frisco, Colorado, and my precious nephew Phoenix turned three.  I can't believe he is getting so big.  I was sad to miss his carnival-themed pool party, but I was also honored and excited to be a bridesmaid in my dear friend Lea's wedding.

Koy and I flew up to Denver on Wednesday, August 1st.  We arrived in Frisco pretty late that evening so we just got settled into the condo and went to sleep pretty early.  Thursday morning, all the ladies went with Lea to get manicures and pedicures at the local nail salon on Main Street.  Main Street in Frisco is so adorable with quaint little shops and restaurants and a gorgeous view of the montains in the background.  We then had lunch and got ready for the welcome happy hour at the marina later that afternoon.  We had fun mingling with the other wedding guests, but the temperature was probably only in the 60's, and I was freezing as I didn't dress appropriately.  It's hard to think of wearing anything other than a summer dress when it was about 110 degrees when we left Dallas the day before. 

Friday morning, we left early for a white water rafting trip that Lea and Matt planned.  I think about 60 people from the wedding went on the trip, and we were separated into 10 different rafts.  Koy and I luckily got put in a raft with Lea, Matt, Lexi, and another Matt.  Our guide was really cool and was the lead guide so we would go through the rapids and then wait to watch everyone else get through them to make sure they made it safely.  It was so much fun!  I was a little terrified after hearing all the safety instructions on the bus ride up to the river, but it was much tamer than I was expecting.  I think they said the rapids were a level 3 out of 6.  We had so much fun, and I'd love to do it again sometime.  It was also really cool to experience it with Koy, Lea, Matt & Lexi as well.  The sun was shining the whole time which made it really warm, and the views were amazing.  Lexi got a lot of pictures with a water proof camera.  So, I'll have to post some of those once she shares them.

Friday night, we went to Matt's parents' house (Becky & Sam) for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  They had the rehearsal down in the park where the ceremony and reception would be, and the dinner was at their house which is a short walk from the park.  The barbecue they had was really good and their house and backyard were breathtaking. 
The bride and groom-to-be- Lea and Matt


Kathy, Paul, Heather, and sweet little Mattox

Mia, Heather, and me

Amber, Brian, Lisa and Dustin

The next morning, we headed to Becky and Sam's house bright and early to start getting ready for the big event.  Becca and Megan came to do our hair, and a make-up artist from Breckenridge came as well.  We had fun hanging out and taking care of last minute details.  Lea looked absolutely stunning from her hair to make-up to beautiful dress and gold glitter shoes!  She was a beautiful bride! 


Sarah did her make-up and it looked fabulous!

The weather was perfect that day.  It had been pretty chilly and rainy the past few days, but Saturday was gorgeous, sunny, and in the low 90's if I remember correctly.  The ceremony was beautiful out in the park with the mountains and stream in the background, and the reception was so much fun in the beautiful tent.  They had a nice sit down dinner, adorable first dance and father/daughter, mother/son dances, and a great band.  I danced all night with the girls, and Koy even joined me for a while.  It was sad to see it end, but when it was over most everyone walked over to Bagali's bar/restaurant that the bride and groom rented out to continue the party. 


Mr. and Mrs. Sherstad

Adorable first dance to Dave Matthews "You and Me Together"


Koy and I during cocktail hour

Lexi, Mia, Heather, me and Erin

Sporting our USA glasses (for the Olympics) and fun glow in the dark necklaces

Amber, Heather, Erin, Mia and me being silly.  You can see how many people were on the dance floor in the back ground.  So much fun!

Sunday, Koy and I left Frisco and headed out to my aunt and uncle's house in Edwards which was about an hour East of Frisco I believe.  I had never seen their house before so it was nice to see them and finally see the place they escape to every summer.  I could definitely see why.  Their house was so beautiful, and the views from their balcony were amazing.  We stayed the night there one night and went on a couple different hikes in the mountains and watched the Olympics at night.  It was a very nice, relaxing visit. 

Koy standing on my aunt and uncle's balcony

View from the downstairs patio

My aunt Marci and me on a hike around their neighborhood

Me and Koy at the top of a more strenuous hike. The altitude kicked my butt!  :)

Monday afternoon, we went into Boulder for a few hours and had lunch and checked out CrossFit Roots. We then headed to Denver for the rest of our trip. Tuesday morning, we went to Crossfit Verve (Matt Chan's box) to do a lifting workout during their open gym hour. It was a pretty cool set-up. We then had breakfast at a really good place called Snooze that had cage-free eggs and a lot of local produce. The rest of the afternoon we spent going to different parks and seeing some of the city. That afternoon, we got ready and headed out to Morrison to go to dinner and head to the Justice concert at Red Rocks. Neither of us had ever been before, and it really was amazing. It was so gorgeous and huge. It was quite a workout just getting up to the amphitheatre and then to your seat. It ended up getting really cold when the sun went down, and Justice is definitely not my favorite band, but I was glad I got to experience the place and Koy really enjoyed the concert.

Eating dinner at Beso de Arte in Morrison before heading to Red Rocks.  Very nice patio and good food and drinks.

Justice concert at the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheatre

We left for the airport super early on Wednesday morning to head home. It was a long day on not much sleep, but overall we had a wonderful trip and I will remember it forever. xoxo

Bride-to-Be's weekend getaway!

This past weekend, we headed down to Austin for Lea's bachelorette party. We rented a beautiful house with a an awesome set-up including a pool and hot tub and beautiful views of the Texas Hill Country. We had a great group of girls that came in to celebrate Lea's final days as a single lady. There were 16 of us in all, and everyone got along great. We cooked out, had drinks, and hung out by/in the pool on Friday night. Then, we partied in the pool during the day Saturday before getting ready for a lingerie shower for Lea and a trip out on the town. All the food and drinks at the shower were delicious; Lea got some great gifts; and we watched a video that Sarah and her husband Justin produced where Matt answered some questions about Lea, and a few of her friends' husbands answered questions about their wives as well, including Koy. It was adorable/hilarious and a really cool thing for Lea to have as a keepsake from the weekend. Sarah and Justin did a fantastic job! We watched the video and then had a party bus we rented take us down to the Rainey Street neighborhood where we went to a couple different bars which were once run-down bungalow-style homes. They were so cool and had great big back yards to hang out, drink, hula-hoop, whatever. It was so much fun! All in all, I think everyone had a wonderful time including Lea which is the most important. I have been friends with Lea since we met at church in elementary school. She is one of my oldest, dearest friends. So, it was extra special to celebrate this milestone in her life with her. I can't wait for the wedding in a few short weeks. She will be a beautiful bride!

The Bachelorette- Future Mrs. Sherstad

Erin, Mia, and Lea

Lea and me

All the ladies posing behind the pool

Silly pose

Serious shot

Nicole and me at Icenhauer.

Nichols Family Reunion

Last weekend, Koy and I headed down to the Kingsland/Marble Falls area for a family trip to Lake LBJ with his dad's side of the family.  We stayed in houses/condos very close to the water and had about seven or eight houses for everyone.  He has a huge family which is so much different than my own.  I only have one aunt, one uncle, and two cousins, where Koy has like 8 sets of aunts/uncles and like 50 or 60 first cousins just on his dad's side alone.  Needless to say, it was a very entertaining trip with that many people and so many little ones running around.  I definitely felt a little out of place not having any babies of our own yet, but that will just have to wait a year or two.  :)  We had a great time with everyone, going tubing, jet skiing and just hanging out on the boats and the shore.  I'm already excited for next year's trip!

 Here are the "adults" playing washers, and the kids playing with bean bags.

Kay, Jane, and Rita in her "doggles" on the jet ski.  She is so cute and would even put her paws up on the steering wheel.  Brave little dog!

 

Catch Up

It has been ages since I've posted.  So, I wanted to do a post to catch up on everything that has been happening in my life since last August.  Don't worry, I won't list every detail of the past 10 months.  I will just hit the highlights! 

In September 2011, Koy and I went down to Austin for ACL with our friends Eric and Jodi.  We went to the concert on Sunday and had a great time even though it rained a little.  We got to hang out with our friends Nicole and Zac that live in ATX so that was a bonus!



On October 8, 2011, I competed in my first olympic weightlifting competition- the Copperhead Invitational put on by Spoon Barbell Club at the Van Alstyn Fine Arts Center.  It was a little nerve-wracking but fun at the same time.  I got first place in my weight class, but I was the ONLY person in that weight class.  Ha ha!  I did manage to make one of my three attempts at snatch at 83.6 lbs. and two of my three clean and jerk attempts with the best being 108# for a competition total of 191.6 lbs or 87 kg.  I was a little disappointed since I have lifted more than that in the gym, but I was glad to have made at least one successful lift of each movement.  I'm not sure if I will do another competition in the future or not.  My wrist and back have been bothering me a little so I haven't been lifting quite as much as I was, but I might want to try it again sometime.  One big drawback of these, though, is the little singlet you have to wear.  It is definitely not the most flattering outfit, especially when everyone is starting at you.  Oh well.  :)



Koy and I went to Maui for a vacation on January 10-16, 2012 and had an amazing time.  My grandma used to take me and my family to Maui during Spring Break when I was little, but I hadn't been back since 2001.  It was great to be back and to experience it with my husband this time.  We stayed at the Westin Villas in Kannapali and really enjoyed the condo and the hotel amenities.  We relaxed at the pool and on the beach a lot, but we also did some excursions.  We drove up the Haleakala volcano one afternoon, but it was too cloudy to see much.  We took a snorkel trip out to Molokini and saw tons of beautiful fish in the crater and came upon a lot of whales and turtles on the way to and from the marina.  We went to Lahaina Crossfit for a workout one morning and enjoyed meeting the owner/coach and getting a good workout in.  He also recommended a great breakfast place called the Gazebo that we tried out later that morning in Napili.  It was literally a little bitty gazebo right on the water with a million dollar view and awesome food.  We had omelets and amazing pancakes with coconut, macadamia nuts and bananas.  I will definitely go back there next time we visit.  We also went to a Luau while we were there, went shopping, and drove around Kapalua which is where we used to stay when I was little.  We had a great time and cannot wait to go back! 





In March, I went with a few of my girl friends to Painting with a Twist on Lovers Lane in Dallas.  Everyone gets their own canvas, brushes, and paint, and the teacher walks you through how to paint the designated picture as a class.  You can eat and drink while you paint too.  So, we brought wine to sip on.  It was so much fun!  I definitely wouldn't say that I have much talent as a painter, but it doesn't even matter.  It is just a fun, different thing to do with family and friends.  My sister and I took our mom to the one in Arlington for her birthday in April, and we had a blast.  I definitely want to go back again soon.


A really big life event occured in March when we bought our first house! It is in Lake Highlands, has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, an attached garage, and decent-sized backyard for Minnie. We closed on March 22nd and moved in on April 24th. We absolutely love having more space and not having to deal with the noise of apartment living any longer. We are doing some work to the house like installing hardwood floors and painting, and we are slowly getting it furnished. It takes some time when you move from a one bedroom apartment. We definitely are not used to having so much space. We are quickly getting adjusted, though, and love the neighborhood so far. I'll post more pics later, but here is a shot of Minnie enjoying the front yard while we did yard work a few weeks ago.

On April 6th, I turned 30! It sounds so weird and old, but I definitely don't feel old and am very excited about this year with settling into the new house and celebrating our one year wedding anniversary! Speaking of, April 9th was my and Koy's one year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's already been a year. It has flown by! We went to dinner at Javier's to celebrate. It was amazing, as usual!
Koy turned 30 on May 11th and we celebrated at St. Ann's on Harwood that night. The following night, we had Lea & Matt's wedding party- Matt insisted it not be called a shower! :) We had a fabulous time celebrating the happy couple and cannot wait for their wedding in Colorado in August.

The last major event was the birth of my dear friend Heather's baby- Mattox Lucy Ellis. She was born on June 1st, and is so tiny and precious! I cannot wait to spend more time with her. Heather is such a great, laid back mom already. It definitely suits her well! Congratulations again Heather and Paul! xoxo

Girls Trip!

Back in August, I went on a girls' trip to float the river in Gruene/New Braunfels. Courtney drove Darcy, Heather, Amber and me down there on Friday afternoon, and Nicole drove down from Austin and met us at the condo we rented. It was really cute, right down the street from Gruene Hall, and had a balcony that looked out over the river. We got in pretty late on Friday night so we just hung out at the condo, had some drinks and chatted. Then Saturday morning, we made breakfast and got ready to go float. We weren't positive we were going to be able to float because the drought had been so bad and the river levels were really low, but we called the tube rental company that morning and they said it was floatable; it was just a "slow float". We packed up a couple of coolers of beer, water, snacks, and Courtney's drink "Savannah" which was a huge cup of sweet tea vodka and lemonade (I think) and walked down to the tube rental place. There were actually quite a few people on the river even with the water level so low. We really didn't have any issues except when I got stuck on some rocks and had to get out and walk down the side to catch up with my friends. Oops! We were on there for about 3 or 4 hours, played some games, and got kind of tipsy. When we got to the end, Amber had gotten out first and we were calling her name to help us out with our tubes and stuff, and some random guy in the river started yelling her name too and then a whole group of people was yelling her name. It was hysterical! One of the older guys working at the tube rental company said they would never name their daughter Amber after hearing that name so much. So weird, but we thought it was the funniest thing ever. When we got back to the condo, we ate and rested a little before getting ready for dinner. We went and ate at the Gristmill down by the river, and it was really good. Then, Amber, Darcy and Courtney went back to the condo, and Heather, Nicole and I went to Gruene Hall and watched some country band play for a while. They were pretty good and the place was packed.

The next morning, we cleaned the condo and got packed up and ready to head home. We were going to eat brunch somewhere with Nicole before heading out, but when we went to leave we realized that Nicole's car had been towed. It was so frustrating since she had a parking decal hanging on her rear view mirror. Apparently, the condo owner didn't give me very good information on the parking situation. So, Nicole's husband Zac came to pick her up and go get her car. I felt so terrible that happened to her. It was a bad way to ruin the trip, but overall we had a blast, and it was so nice to spend time with some of my best girl friends and get caught up. :) We'll have to do it again next year!

Here are a few pictures from the trip. Please excuse the quality. They were taken on my phone.

Darcy, Amber, Heather, Nicole & Courtney

Heather and me

View of the river from the condo balcony