My favorite thus far have been the tulips, which she planted this winter and made it through A LOT of snow, but have now been blooming the past few weeks like champs.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Blooms
I just wanted to do a quick shout out to Courtney for all of the beautiful gardening she does for the front of our apartment. When we moved in, the "landscaping" left a lot to be desired, but she has increased the face value of our house exponentially with her gardening skills (of which I have none).
My favorite thus far have been the tulips, which she planted this winter and made it through A LOT of snow, but have now been blooming the past few weeks like champs.
My favorite thus far have been the tulips, which she planted this winter and made it through A LOT of snow, but have now been blooming the past few weeks like champs.
Look! Squirrel!
In case anyone was wondering, Milly does indeed have her hunting instincts traditional to all spaniels (don't let her spoiled princess mentality fool you).
Every time we go out, I know I have to hold onto the leash tightly or else she'll be sprinting down the street chasing a squirrel or a bird.
Last Saturday, as I was hastily trying to get ready to meet my parents, Milly and I went out for our morning potty walk. As we turned onto a side street, she spotted a squirrel and before I knew what was happening I was left standing on the sidewalk with the handle on my retractable leash, but no more Milly. Yup, she was halfway down the street chasing a squirrel and she pulled SO hard on the leash that she broke the retractable part from the attached fabric part. I was left with the handle and Milly was dragging the fabric part. Luckily, the squirrel went up a tree fairly quickly and he didn't cross the street, so everyone was safe (including the squirrel due to his hasty tree climbing). I had to then try to walk Milly home on the 12'' of fabric that was still left of her leash.
Luckily, the PARENTS were in town, which meant I got a really cute collar and leash for the Mills that day at a cute boutique in Short Pump that we happened to walk into. When I saw this print I KNEW it was meant to be and I had to get it for her.
She is still getting used to the non-retractable, shorter leash (and so am I). She starts panting in about 30 seconds because she is pulling on her leash so hard. She will learn one of these days.
Every time we go out, I know I have to hold onto the leash tightly or else she'll be sprinting down the street chasing a squirrel or a bird.
Last Saturday, as I was hastily trying to get ready to meet my parents, Milly and I went out for our morning potty walk. As we turned onto a side street, she spotted a squirrel and before I knew what was happening I was left standing on the sidewalk with the handle on my retractable leash, but no more Milly. Yup, she was halfway down the street chasing a squirrel and she pulled SO hard on the leash that she broke the retractable part from the attached fabric part. I was left with the handle and Milly was dragging the fabric part. Luckily, the squirrel went up a tree fairly quickly and he didn't cross the street, so everyone was safe (including the squirrel due to his hasty tree climbing). I had to then try to walk Milly home on the 12'' of fabric that was still left of her leash.
Luckily, the PARENTS were in town, which meant I got a really cute collar and leash for the Mills that day at a cute boutique in Short Pump that we happened to walk into. When I saw this print I KNEW it was meant to be and I had to get it for her.
Yep, thats right. Squirrels with pastel acorns.
This is the only pic I could get of her modeling it. She was not diggin it.
She is still getting used to the non-retractable, shorter leash (and so am I). She starts panting in about 30 seconds because she is pulling on her leash so hard. She will learn one of these days.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Happy Hippity Hoppity
Mike and I didn't have any real plans for Easter. He had study for a few hours, and because we are so zealously religious, we like to make sure we make it our day of rest (sleep), per God's instruction.
We didn't make it to church, which I felt pretty guilty about, but we did studiously watch "The Real Face of Jesus?" on the History Channel. It explains the history, the theories, and the most updated technology on the Shroud of Tourin. It was really quite interesting and I feel like I at least focused on Jesus for two hours and listened more intently than I ever would have in church.
In the afternoon, we went to the "Parade on Monument". It's not really a parade at all in the traditional sense, but it has a long history, and I read that people used to get really dressed up in dresses and elaborate hats and "paraded themselves" down the street. It sounds really weird, but now it's just good people/dog watching. I heard that about 40,000 people came out, which was the biggest one to date. There were vendors in the center mall of the street and they had a doggy bonnet contest (they had adult and kid contents too, but who cares about those). I tried to take pictures, but we were far away. The dog that won had just been adopted from the SPCA the day before! (He is on the far left in this pic-clearly it was his story that won it for him)
Milly pretty much jumped up on us the whole time insisting that she be held. She is still not quite calm enough to be around so many people. Here's a picture of us:
I tried to take more pictures, including one of Mike and Milly, proving that he does indeed exist, but I had turned my camera setting to video without realizing. Classic dum-dum mistake.
We finished up the day with a trip to Village Cafe for dinner, as we always try to do on Sundays. It was one of the most beautiful Easters I can remember and it ended up being a great, relaxing day.
We didn't make it to church, which I felt pretty guilty about, but we did studiously watch "The Real Face of Jesus?" on the History Channel. It explains the history, the theories, and the most updated technology on the Shroud of Tourin. It was really quite interesting and I feel like I at least focused on Jesus for two hours and listened more intently than I ever would have in church.
In the afternoon, we went to the "Parade on Monument". It's not really a parade at all in the traditional sense, but it has a long history, and I read that people used to get really dressed up in dresses and elaborate hats and "paraded themselves" down the street. It sounds really weird, but now it's just good people/dog watching. I heard that about 40,000 people came out, which was the biggest one to date. There were vendors in the center mall of the street and they had a doggy bonnet contest (they had adult and kid contents too, but who cares about those). I tried to take pictures, but we were far away. The dog that won had just been adopted from the SPCA the day before! (He is on the far left in this pic-clearly it was his story that won it for him)
Milly pretty much jumped up on us the whole time insisting that she be held. She is still not quite calm enough to be around so many people. Here's a picture of us:
I tried to take more pictures, including one of Mike and Milly, proving that he does indeed exist, but I had turned my camera setting to video without realizing. Classic dum-dum mistake.
We finished up the day with a trip to Village Cafe for dinner, as we always try to do on Sundays. It was one of the most beautiful Easters I can remember and it ended up being a great, relaxing day.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter Eve
Today was one of the first HOT days we've had here in Richmond, and the first day I've had to enjoy it.
This morning, I met my parents in Short Pump and we had lunch and exchanged some things.
This afternoon, Milly and I went over to Mr. Mike's and did some much needed "front porch chillin".
Mike lives on Monument Avenue and has great views.
Obviously, I was working on my tan. So far, only my feet are even half-way presentable on the pale scale.
Milly enjoys getting some sun too and doing some people watching.
Then she's gotta go bein a hob-gob and tries to drink my ML.
We are SO enjoying this warm weather!
This morning, I met my parents in Short Pump and we had lunch and exchanged some things.
This afternoon, Milly and I went over to Mr. Mike's and did some much needed "front porch chillin".
Mike lives on Monument Avenue and has great views.
Obviously, I was working on my tan. So far, only my feet are even half-way presentable on the pale scale.
Milly enjoys getting some sun too and doing some people watching.
Friday, April 2, 2010
House Hunters
Some couples probably look forward to the weekends so they can try new restaurants, get wasted at bars and get crazzyyy. Not Mike and I. Our luxury is sitting down and watching as many DVR'ed episodes of House Hunters as we can handle.
If you haven't seen it, it is a show on HGTV that follows people buying a house in a certain city within a certain budget. The realtor shows them three houses (on camera that is) and then they pick one at the end.
Mike and I both like looking at houses and we also both like critiquing ugliness/making fun of people in the comfort of our own home.
In case you want to be like us and get into it here are some hints:
The people with the lower budgets complain almost more than the people with the highest ones.
Ex: "ohhhhh, wow the neigbors are a little close huh?", "hmmm the master is a little small", "ohhhh we were hoping for a bigger backyard". These people are shocked that they don't get everything they have ever wanted in their $150k budget.
-People will complain the most about a house in their summary at the end, and then end up picking it half of the time
-If people look at a house "a little above budget" they often end up picking that one
Some terms/phrases you'll hear frequently:
"Ohhh nice, look honey, there's crown molding in here!"
"The master has a tray ceiling"
"OMG the bathroom has DOUBLE VANITIES" (this is the holy grail of house hunting)
"And now let's head to the Jack n Jill bathroom" (Mike and I HATE this term)
"Wow, this kitchen needs updating"
"Oh, there's a pool. That makes me nervous for the kids"
"Oh this is a good size breakfast nook"
"Is this an upgrade?"
"Wow, I don't know, this room will DEFINITELY needs to be repainted" (as if they can't buy the house because of the heinous paint color)
Some of our favorite episodes:
The Richmond one with a $750,000 budget---self explanatory why this is our fave
The one where the people get an apt in the city and decide to knock down the wall to the kids bedroom so the living room is bigger, and make the kids sleep on the couch-as if that's a normal, acceptable solution
The one where there's an engaged couple and the woman keeps being obssessed with "kid" aspects of the house ie the playset and the pool. We were really creeped out that she was so baby obsessed until they cut to 3 months after buying the house and the woman is "2 months pregnant" ie-5-6 months pregnant and they want people to think she WASN'T pregnant before they got married.
The Napa Valley one-cause it has cool houses
We also like House Hunters Intl on occassion, but its really hit or miss. Usually the people are weird and the houses are really janky for what people are paying for them.
If you need a new show to get addicted to, I highly recommend House Hunters.
If you haven't seen it, it is a show on HGTV that follows people buying a house in a certain city within a certain budget. The realtor shows them three houses (on camera that is) and then they pick one at the end.
Mike and I both like looking at houses and we also both like critiquing ugliness/making fun of people in the comfort of our own home.
In case you want to be like us and get into it here are some hints:
The people with the lower budgets complain almost more than the people with the highest ones.
Ex: "ohhhhh, wow the neigbors are a little close huh?", "hmmm the master is a little small", "ohhhh we were hoping for a bigger backyard". These people are shocked that they don't get everything they have ever wanted in their $150k budget.
-People will complain the most about a house in their summary at the end, and then end up picking it half of the time
-If people look at a house "a little above budget" they often end up picking that one
Some terms/phrases you'll hear frequently:
"Ohhh nice, look honey, there's crown molding in here!"
"The master has a tray ceiling"
"OMG the bathroom has DOUBLE VANITIES" (this is the holy grail of house hunting)
"And now let's head to the Jack n Jill bathroom" (Mike and I HATE this term)
"Wow, this kitchen needs updating"
"Oh, there's a pool. That makes me nervous for the kids"
"Oh this is a good size breakfast nook"
"Is this an upgrade?"
"Wow, I don't know, this room will DEFINITELY needs to be repainted" (as if they can't buy the house because of the heinous paint color)
Some of our favorite episodes:
The Richmond one with a $750,000 budget---self explanatory why this is our fave
The one where the people get an apt in the city and decide to knock down the wall to the kids bedroom so the living room is bigger, and make the kids sleep on the couch-as if that's a normal, acceptable solution
The one where there's an engaged couple and the woman keeps being obssessed with "kid" aspects of the house ie the playset and the pool. We were really creeped out that she was so baby obsessed until they cut to 3 months after buying the house and the woman is "2 months pregnant" ie-5-6 months pregnant and they want people to think she WASN'T pregnant before they got married.
The Napa Valley one-cause it has cool houses
We also like House Hunters Intl on occassion, but its really hit or miss. Usually the people are weird and the houses are really janky for what people are paying for them.
If you need a new show to get addicted to, I highly recommend House Hunters.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Poop Patrol
Last Saturday was the "Monument Ave 10k". It's a huge run in Richmond on historic Monument Ave., and this year around 37,000 people participated. As previously mentioned, I am not a runner of two blocks (much less 6+ miles!) but Milly and I woke and walked the two blocks down to Monument to do some people watching.
Milly insisted that I held her the whole time because she was afraid of all the people.
After about 30 minutes the novelty wore off and my arms were really tired. I put Milly down and we began our walk home.
Well. Apparently Milly urgently decided she need to do some poops. Unfotunately, she decided to do so smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a cop in his car blocking off said street. No problem. This happens all the time for us city goers. I just reached for my poop bag holder that was on my wrist to grab a bag. Oh, it's empty. Righhtttt.
I stood there for a few seconds and feverishly looked around for a big leaf or stick that I could move it with. Nada.
With the cop seemingly staring me down, and the known threat of a $250 fine for not picking up poop, there was only one thing I could do.
I took the lid off my $10 poop bag holder and scooped said poop into the holder, holding it in with the lid. I then proceeded to walk 1.5 blocks, trying to avoid eye contact with the cop and all other people that may be watching me clearly carrying an overflowing poop holder, to the nearest trash can.
For a moment, I considered trying to dump it out to try to preserve the holder, then pictured how I would try to clean it out and decided to chuck the whole thing.
Yesterday, I finally got around to picking up a new poop bag holder and all is right again in the world.
Here is said poop bag holder so you can really get a full mental pictures of this scenario and what I was working with here. Naturally, ours is pink.
Milly insisted that I held her the whole time because she was afraid of all the people.
After about 30 minutes the novelty wore off and my arms were really tired. I put Milly down and we began our walk home.
Well. Apparently Milly urgently decided she need to do some poops. Unfotunately, she decided to do so smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a cop in his car blocking off said street. No problem. This happens all the time for us city goers. I just reached for my poop bag holder that was on my wrist to grab a bag. Oh, it's empty. Righhtttt.
I stood there for a few seconds and feverishly looked around for a big leaf or stick that I could move it with. Nada.
With the cop seemingly staring me down, and the known threat of a $250 fine for not picking up poop, there was only one thing I could do.
I took the lid off my $10 poop bag holder and scooped said poop into the holder, holding it in with the lid. I then proceeded to walk 1.5 blocks, trying to avoid eye contact with the cop and all other people that may be watching me clearly carrying an overflowing poop holder, to the nearest trash can.
For a moment, I considered trying to dump it out to try to preserve the holder, then pictured how I would try to clean it out and decided to chuck the whole thing.
Yesterday, I finally got around to picking up a new poop bag holder and all is right again in the world.
Here is said poop bag holder so you can really get a full mental pictures of this scenario and what I was working with here. Naturally, ours is pink.
The Many Monikers of Miss Milly
I don't really know any person (or pet) that has more nicknames than Milly.
Her real name is Milly (with a Y, not IE) Rutledge Renaldo.
The Milly comes from one of my favorite clothing lines "Milly"
Her real name is Milly (with a Y, not IE) Rutledge Renaldo.
The Milly comes from one of my favorite clothing lines "Milly"
Rutledge simply comes from where she was born-Rutledge, TN. I also think the name just sounds cool.
Unfortunately this makes for unattractive initials, MRR, which my mom was not too happy about, but I figured that I wouldn't lose sleep over it since she is a dog and all (Milly'd be really pissed if she heard me say that though).
Anyways, onto the nicknames:
Miss Milly--because she demands that kinda respect (and also, she's inherently an honorary Bum Chum)
Milly-Bodilly-Andrew came up with this one as soon as she came home
Boo-Boo
Pooper-duh, cause she poops a lot, and until recently really liked to do so inside. (As an aside, I actually found some of her poops on the bath mat right in front of our toilet a few weeks ago-she ALMOST made it to the potty. How cool would that be?)
Hobgobblin-Mike came up with this one-cause she causes mischief
The Mills
Mill-Mill
Mill-Bill
Minnieeeeee (only allowed to be said in high-pitched voice)
Minnieeeeee (only allowed to be said in high-pitched voice)
Bug-Eyes-self-explanatory
And new ones are created on the daily!
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