Sam Allen and Aurora

Playing fetch while I relaxed in the sun!

We are all settled in at the waterfront cottage the owners have named "Sam Allen". It's so peaceful and even though it's furnished with the owner's things, we have felt so at home here. We have been able to go canoeing, and Devin is making use of the kayak and fishing equipment. The dogs LOVE it here. They love sitting in the sun room and watching the water and the birds. All the dogs roam free around here, so we regularly have several dogs in the yard playing. Roxi will even run off and visit her friends (her favorites being a little white dog named Jack, and a golden retriever who also is named Roxi), and then return home later. We even took them out in the canoe one day! Roxi thought it was amazing. Zombie was a little more nervous but got used to it. I fell in the water by accident, and to my surprise it wasn't very cold considering it was only 70 degrees out. Roxi has gone for a swim a few times after watching the lab next door jump off the dock and chase down toys in the water. Zombie is not so interested in swimming, but I think that will change when the heat of summer comes. We have to drive a little further to get to town and work, but we have no regrets.

Spectacular sunsets from the back deck - every night.

Devin's doing well in school. He currently has a 95% in class. They take several tests a week, and he is constantly studying or doing homework. In 3 months (to the day!) Devin will be graduating, and we will be moving to wherever the Coast Guard decides to send us next. We won't know until May where that might be. The suspense is killing me! I'm not even going to tell you where we want to go, because we literally change our minds every day based on which aircraft Devin likes most each day. Not every aircraft is at every air station, so whichever one he picks will narrow down the places we are able to go. There are just so many factors to consider!

Aunt Chynee and baby Aurora!

Last week, I was able to take the week off work and visit my sister, brother-in-law, and their new baby, Aurora. It seriously blows my mind that my sister grew that little girl in her belly for 9 months! I haven't been able to spend that much time around that young of a baby before, so it was a learning experience on many levels. It was such a nice trip.

The only downside is that those harborers of all things germy, AKA airplanes, seem to have infected me with a mean cold now. I'm already on my second box of tissues. Ah, well! It seems my obsession with hand sanitizer did not spare me this time...

I think that's all for now!

love,
chianne.

We made it!

I know this is almost a month overdue, but we did make it safely to the East Coast. It was a crazy trek involving lots of weather, family, and friends. Poor Devin got food poisoning the day after his birthday, and I came down with a nasty cold, but we pressed on.

two of our nieces

Devin carrying around Gus.

Funny photo time!

Devin's bite from Dillon

our nephew!

How said bite occured

In Vegas with family and friends!

Roxi chasing cranes in Albuquerque

Albuquerque

a crazy amount of birds in Oklahoma...you don't want to know what our car looked like the next morning.

potty break!

Roxi being a parrot in Tennessee

Poor Zombie got his tail caught in the door :(

Roxi preferred to sleep on the cooler.

Our new home for the next 5 months!

The dogs are really enjoying this backyard!

Devin is doing well in school. I was blessed with a job as soon as we got here in a salon. It's very busy, so that is great! I'm going to try to be more diligent in updating this thing!

love,

chianne

Official

Well, I'm officially slacking at uploading pictures as I promised. I'm also slacking as updating as much as I would like. It's amazing what isn't done for us moving in 3 weeks. Yep, it's official. We got the orders yesterday. We knew we were going to go to North Carolina eventually, but I still don't really feel like it was going to happen until we had that piece of paper in our hands. Provo, expect us the 25th-28th of this month. Location TBD. Las Vegas, expect us the 28th-30th of this month. I think we'll be staying at the La Quinta on Tenaya (closest place to the NW area that allowed dogs.), but of course during the day you can find us at my Mom's. Please let us know if you want to spend time with us before we venture to the East Coast!

North Carolina, expect us the 2nd or 3rd of February! :)

-Chianne

relief

My plea was heard. In August, Devin received airman orders. Last week, he became an Airman and started working at the air station here. He loves it so much, and that makes me happy. I'm also thankful we get so much more time together now.
We adopted a mystery mutt (we think she's a Yorkie Dachshund mix) from a rescue here. She is furry and wild. They said she was a stray living on the streets which is crazy since she was still a puppy! We named her "Roxanne" but "Roxi" for short. Our inspiration was the song by the Police, "Roxanne! You don't have to put on the red light!! Those days are over! You don't have to sell your body to the night!" We figured this was appropriate considering her past. I think she is the only dog crazier than Zombie if that is even possible. Though Zombie has mellowed out quite a bit since his 3rd birthday.
Right now we are focusing on decluttering and packing so we will be ready to move to North Carolina next year. I'm excited for this new adventure.

-chianne