The Adventures of Ford Swofford

Well, Ford spent his first night at Casa de Swofford scratching at our bed trying to weasel his way in, keeping both of us up and being quite annoying...not to mention the potential damage to my beautiful dust ruffle, so we decided to make a huge mistake that many parents make and give in to the child. Yes, that's correct. Ford was allowed to sleep in our bed with us. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! He was actually pretty decently behaved in our bed, until he wakes up and barks at any movement or noise. We have to keep reminding ourselves that he is a "puppy" and puppies are different than Coach. He doesn't quite sleep through the night yet, and he is so wound up when he comes in the house after being outside, he isn't quite leash trained, and he wants to be in your lap 100% of the time. Coach, in hindsight, is the perfect dog and we were very blessed. Time to stop strolling down memory lane, because it could take a while to address everything that is awesome about Coach, we will look to the future -awesome thing about Coach and his little brother Ford, so here we are... after being sleep deprived and trying to give Ford many chances to prove he is worthy of sleeping in the bed, we've decided to take control of the situation and purchase (drum roll, please) A KENNEL. I said the "k" word. So, we hiked up-hill barefoot in the snow to our local wal mart (maybe a big of an exaggeration for how far out we live) and picked out the proper size kennel for our little friend. Andrew assembled it in the kitchen floor, which was so wonderful because he hates putting things together, but he hates losing sleep more! Thank you Drew! We lined the bottom with an old soft towel, and made a trail of treats all the way from the entrance to the back. Coach was coaxed into the area because of the treats, but lets all be honest... only Coach's head would fit in the kennel, so he wasn't much help! Ford, our brave little friend, was not a soldier (or a Mike Leach pirate for that matter) and cowered at the kennel. But like any child, curiosity killed the cat and the treats won. He slowly but surely built up to walking inside this new entrapment he discovered in the land of kitchen. Eventually, we upped the bribe to a pig ear chew and he went right in, and did not make a peep!!! SUCCESS! He sat inside his new bedroom willingly with the door open, and was quite pleasant. The true test now, is night time... Andrew has the boys in our bedroom, while I'm up writing this lovely & informative post-- so only time will tell. I've heard him whimper/growl a few times (our fierce little guard dog) but it has not been as much of a fight as we were expecting! I know each of you is falling off the edge of your seats in suspense to know the ending (LOL) but you're just going to have to wait... I'll update tomorrow with the events of the night, and Ford's brand new enclosed bedroom extravaganza! To clarify: That's an embellished term for kennel. Stay tuned, there's plenty more where that came from!

Big Bertha

Big Bertha is the name of the paint extension stick we used all weekend while painting the very high ceilings in the living room, phew! My sweet brother did so much work, and stood on top of a very tall ladder to cut in near the ceiling! We call him the monkey!

So after every one's hard work the house is looking GREAT! We have a beautiful new entry that is mudded/fauxed, as well as faux around the cabinets and in our hallway nooks! It all looks so different, and we are thrilled! The new color adds so much warmth and drama, it's all coming together! Yay! Thank you so much Mama, Daddy, & Alexander for all your hard work and help... we are so appreciative!

Hickory Dickory Dock

For my birthday, Betty & Duane, Chad and Allison got me a beautiful station clock for the house... and now that the walls are painted, the clock is up and running! Thank y'all so much, it's perfect!

More than turkey

Since its Thanksgiving, I'm remembering many things i'm thankful for, this is a pic from one of the funnier moments of our wedding, we are both so blessed to have all these people in our lives. What a wonderful memory! These are a few things/people i'm thankful for on Thanksgiving: Family, Friends, our dogs, the color pink, dr. pepper, high heels, hand sanitizer, bronzer, pedicures, good books and movies, a fire in the fireplace, Rosa's, fabric softner, snowflakes, dvr, Tech Football, good smelling candles, sweet puppy kisses, decorating magazines, black and white pictures, text messages, schnitzel pants, fresh flowers, and chandeliers. But most of all, I'm thankful for my relationship with the awesome God who gives me all these things, and takes care of the people i love. All the blessings i'm thankful for are gifts from Him! -- so in honor of Thanksgiving, thank you Jesus for all the goodness of thanksgiving dinner, mmm mmm good!

Four Sweet Little Paws

We have a new member of the Swofford Family: his name is Ford. He is an 8 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and he's just adorable.

We adopted him from a young married couple who were caring for her parents, and they have a dog that didn't get along with him, and they felt it was unfair to always leave him couped up in an apartment and not allowed to go when they were away so often.

He's got a precious personality, and we are hoping that he and Coach are the best of friends, although tonight... that is not the case. Coach is adjusting. We are trying to give them both lots of love and attention, but its just going to take some time! So, here he is!!!

One Wall at a Time

So, in order to put up our Christmas tree, i needed to go ahead and paint one wall -- which is good to also see a sample of the color we picked before we do the whole living room! I really like it, luckily! So here is the before/during/after of "nomadic desert" --oh and, the banister is black to match the kitchen cabinets! phew! one more thing off the list :)

Ornaments!

I was originally afriad we would only have enough ornaments to decorate the front side of our tree, turns out... we had plenty!!! So, here's a little something I came up with to use up all the extras!

The Adventures of Coach Swofford

Yesterday, or before but we did not know... Coach has once again graced us with his brilliance, and displayed his ability to escape from being enclosed. That's right, let's all think back to August 2008 and the incidents with the kennel and pad-locks, resulting in the shredding of the mattress/bedding, the pudding in the carpet, the entire loaf of bread he ate, and last but not least when Andrew thought he ate my wedding ring! Phew! He has come a long way since then, but is still just a little boy testing his limits! "Coach The Brilliant" has learned how to open the gate and let himself out of our backyard. Apparently he wanted to go check out the new neighborhood and see what there was to smell. Our neighbor two doors down found him, consequently she is horrified of dogs and called the pet sitter/dog walker Savannah recommends to come put him back in the yard. She left a note on our door, Andrew called her to make sure everything was okay, she just wanted our cell phone numbers "just in case" he gets out again. She was very nice and understanding, but made it clear that she is not a dog lover!!! Anyway, here is a picture of how the dog walker lady secured the fence to make sure he didn't sneak out again. Sweet Coach, he was so scared of them trying to put him back in the yard, he wouldn't hurt anyone, but we do understand that he looks a bit intimidating!

In other news, Andrew got his truck fixed, instead of buying the Tahoe. The financing didn't work out quite the way we wanted to take on a new car payment, so he's going to keep his truck a while longer, we will look again another time! So, the red truck has a new heater core!

Stay tuned... Drew & I put the Christmas tree up tonight, the decorating isn't finished yet but should be soon-- it's looking GREAT!!!

The Pink Closet

The first order of business in the new house was to paint our closet "princess pink" as i like to call it. I told Drew that its something i just really really wanted, and he's pretty agreeable about things that don't show much being pink, so here are the before and afters of the awesomeness that is: our super huge wonderful closet! Before everyone starts feeling too sorry for Drew, rest assured, HE IS GETTING A MAN ROOM. And not just any man room, a media room complete with deer heads, boots, gun paraphernalia, barbed wire, and of course... a really big TV. The pink closet only cost me an hour of time and the paint was donated by GB and HJ-- the man room is looking to be less cost effective. But, whats better than a little bit of wonderful that doesn't cost a dime and cheers you up every single day? Andrew has learned the truth of the statement "Happy Wife, Happy Life" so without further delay, i give you "the pink closet" ... ta da....

Let the blogging begin

Hello Friends and Family-- welcome to my first blog!

I'm not sure how great at this I'm going to be, but I figured it would be a good way to keep everyone updated and share a little of our life with those we love.

Our latest news: we bought a house! Ironically, our blog title is fitting, although its really just Andrew's nickname. We have loved being in our new house, especially the kitchen. I've been doing lots of work and making lots of changes to the new casa de swofford (aka SwoffHouse) and it's been so fun! We are hoping everyone comes to visit us and check out the new house, Savannah, TX is a lovely little town! I'll have lots of before/after pictures to show soon!

That's all for now! Check back soon...