Pound Puppy

So since I have known my husband he has CONSTANTLY asked me for another dog! I was able to put off the subject by using the excuse that we should wait until we were in a house......but I don't have that excuse anymore.

It seemed like since before we even closed on the house, Evan started asking me about getting a dog. I kept coming up with excuses why not to get a dog such as the shedding, potty - training, and overall I just didn't want one. Eventually he wore me down.

After Ev got the green light he threw himself into the task of finding his perfect dog. He toyed with the idea of puppy vs. older dog and breed. Finally he had it narrowed down to 3 dogs. His top 2 picks were out of town, and there was one locally. He agreed to see the Jackson dog first, but had you asked him he would have told you he didn't think it was going to work out......he was wrong! Ev took one visit and fell in LOVE!!! Over the course of the next couple days he saw this puppy twice a day. On Monday I went to see the dog as well. She was gorgeous. The first day I met her she was very calm and I secretly liked how she followed me around so much and wouldn't even budge when Ev tried to take her outside on the leash!

The big test came on Thursday afternoon. Cascades Humae Society has a policy that if you already have a dog you must do a "Meet 'n Greet" to make sure neither dog is aggressive towards each other. We didn't think Mason would have a problem with this since he's Mason, but we were a little concerned about Sugar (that's what Cascades called her). It didn't go great. All Mason wanted to do was hide and all Sugar did was bark......alot. We took some time to rethink if this was something we really wanted, but in the end it was Sugar that helped us decide to take her home!!!

Sugar, now renamed Saige (mix of Gage and Sarge) is doing great! Ev and her are attached at the hip. Wherever Ev is, Saige is close at his heels. We have only had her for 4 days now and already she knows how to sit and lay on command. Ev is soooo happy he finally has his puppy and I am surprisingly happy too. Mason on the other hand is less than thrilled.

Home Sweet Home

We are officially homeowners again!! Truthfully we have been since February I've just been a little delayed with the posting, but better late than never right?! We are already settling into the new house. We've hosted some family get togethers and are very slowly starting to unpack all our our crap, I mean stuff!!! This weekend Ev and our our going to tackle the front landscaping. My mom is letting us split some of her hostas and we will lay some mulch done in front as well. Right now there's just a gray retaining wall with gray stone as ground cover. It's nice but with the house being gray and the hardscape gray..it's a little too much as you can tell from the picture!

In other news, Ev is still training for his marathon which is just over a month away. Last Saturday he went for an 18 mile run!!! Until this week he has been injury free with his training. Nothing major thank goodness. Just an old sports injury flare-up. So for the rest of the week he's taking it easy. Hopefully a weeks rest and a new pair of running shoes will do the trick. He put over 400 miles on his old ones and the recommended max is about 300!!!

House Hunting

Well we are officially house hunting again! We began looking for our new home last week. The process began in Spring Arbor, where we looked at 4-5 homes. Unfortunately, we weren't in love with anything we saw and the houses that are available in that area are either too expensive or too small :(

Then I came across a hopeful in the Stonegate Farms subdivision of Jackson. Ev was a little hesitant at first, only because he really wanted to be in the Spring Arbor area in a more country setting. The more I told him about the house, the more he kept joking that he was in trouble! It was perfect!!! Ev and I both loved the house. It is a two story home with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. Full size kitchen with an island, large dining room, and living room with a gas fireplace. It even has an unfinished basement and large backyard with a deck and a hottub!!! After going home and thinking about it, we put in an offer the next day. We haven't heard back yet, but were told from our realtor that she was able to speak to the seller's agent and they assured us we would have an answer back by tomorrow!!! Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers!!!

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! Evan and I had a wonderful, blessed Christmas this year, with lots of time spent with family and friends. This year was the first year in many that we were able to spend together. I was luckily enough to get cancelled from work, leaving lots of time for Christmas fun.


We started getting into the holiday spirit by going to Christmas Eve mass in Albion with Barb, Bob, Alaina, Colby, Breslin, and Dharia! It was a wonderful service put on with a huge helping hand by Alaina!!! She did a fantastic job. Evan and Alaina even performed a solo together! They sang beautifully. It was such a treat to hear them sing.



Evan and I went home to relax after spending some time with the Linderman side of the family, enjoying yummy treats and wine. We curled up on the couch and watched "Its a Wonderful Life", one of our holiday traditions together. We stayed up so late, that we actually opened our stockings at 1am!!!


On Christmas morning we slept in, ate a delcious breakfast and relaxed before the madness began. Our first stop was at Stan and Suzs' for the Stuart family Christmas. It was fun to hang out with everyone and watch the little ones open their stockings. The next stop on the holiday express was to Baci and Papa's for dinner and more presents. Dinner was fantastic and it was fun to relax with family. After playing some Wii bowling, we made our way to Albion. There we caught up with Barb, Bob, and the Sharp gang. The kids were amazing and everyone had a great time just enjoying everyone's company.


We are truly thankful for eveyone's wonderful generosity. We loved spending so much time with all of you and are looking forward to many more Michigan Christmas'.



P.S. I tried to upload the video of Alaina and Evan singing at church, but I couldn't figure it out. I'll try again later and will get it online asap!

It's Finally Here

I know I have been a little slacking on the blog updates, well maybe that is a bit of an understatement! But the official update is officially here.

Evan has started coaching the JCC Golden Jets Hockey team again this year. Unfortunately the team is off to a slow start. They lost their first two games last week, but there is hope. All the coaches have faith in this years team that they may make another run at Nationals!!! The last JCC team to do that was Ev's last year as a player, so they definitely have some high standards to overcome. If anyone is interested in checking out the team this year, the next home game is tomorrow October 10 at 5:30 pm at Optimist Ice Arena. I hope to see some friendly faces in the crowd!

Also, Evan and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary this past Tuesday. I still can't believe I have been married to such a wonderful man for 2 years already!!! We had a very low key celebration night together, due to both of us over coming the flu a few days earlier :( Neither of us really felt up to doing too much, but the couple that flu's together stays together....or something like that.

In Vegas updates, Evan has been scheduled for his second oral board interview and polygraph examination. He will be heading out to Vegas again in November from the 15th - 18th. Until he gets home from this trip, we are still in the dark of what's next! Hopefully we will know more information in December, but for now it's a game of hurry up and wait.

Back home in the Mitten

Well I know it's a little late, but the much awaited Vegas pics are finally here! The trip was fantastic. Evan did great on all of his tests and all of us loved relaxing and enjoying the sights of Vegas.

Suprisingly we already have good news about Evan. He passed his reading/writing exam and his first oral board interview with a 92% overall!!! Out of 2000 applicants he is ranked #29. Right now we are waiting to hear back from his assigned background investigator to tell him when he needs to return for a second interview and polygraph exam. So again we are back to waiting, but at least we have some good news this time.

Testing Day 1 & 2

Well good news everyone ...... Evan has passed both the written tests and the physical fitness!!!!!! Thank you so much for everyones thoughts and prayers. Evan did amazing both days. He scored an 86% on the reading/writing exam and in the fitness portion the only candidate to beat him in the timed mile was an ex-Army Ranger!!!!

We have one more big day, as far as testing goes. Evan has been scheduled to do his oral board interview at 10am Vegas time ( 1pm time back home). So PLEASE think good thoughts and a quick prayer of encouragement for Evan! Unfortunately after tomorrows interview he won't hear anything back from the department for about 6 weeks!

In other news I have done my Baci proud on the slots! I won $30 on the Price is Right slot machine. It was so much fun, I got to play Plink and was the Showcase winner!!! You are all secretly jealous, I know!

This is probably our last Vegas post, we will be coming home Saturday evening. We look forward to showing everyone our pictures and more fun stories!