Showing posts with label creatures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creatures. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
dearest deer
Dearest Deer,
Don't get us wrong, we love you. We just feel that an attitude adjustment is needed...on YOUR part.
You see, we think you guys are kinda being jerks. You would think that after months of lovingly watching you (that's right, LOVINGLY WATCHING, not stalking), getting to know you and your habits, and providing food for you, you would let us get close enough to cuddle you, or - at the very least - let us leave the house to go to campus without making us feel like we're monsters for waking you up from your morning naps. We can't even move around in our own apartment without worrying about disturbing you, because you can see us through the windows and that "startles" you. Ridiculous.
I mean, have we done ANYTHING to make you believe we're going to harm you? We feed you at least twice a day during the week, and EVERY TIME you deign to grace us with your presence on the weekends. We include food for YOU on our shopping list, and make special trips to the store for YOU. Yet, you continue to act like we're trying to catch you and eat you. And it's getting WORSE. For a while there, it really felt like we were making progress, but now it seems like this whole relationship is moving backwards.
Don't play stupid with us. WE KNOW that YOU KNOW that we are the ones providing you with all those yummy treats. Sure, you play stupid now, but we all know that there was a time when we could just shake a bag of goodies, and all of you would just come trotting over the creek on that fallen tree to get your fill.
Now, you think its okay to make us wait around like a couple of schmucks with a giant sack of yummies in the freezing cold, while you hang out in a group and laugh at us? Not cool. You're making us feel like that deer you were bullying back in October:
At the time, we felt bad for that poor deer, but we never thought that you would ostracize us that way. Now we know better. You don't even care, do you?
Is this about the zucchini? Did you not like it? We noticed that you seem willing to eat pine needles and roots, but you are actively rejecting the bell peppers. What's up with that?
Also, what's up with this whole, "we will only eat off of the first two stairs to the apartment, but ignore anything from the third stair on" thing? We know you can reach the food on the third step - you're just leaving it there to insult us, aren't you?
So what if Lane is trying to get you to come closer to our door? So what if we're doing this in an effort to lure you into our home? Are you telling us that you prefer to stay out in the cold? That you WANT to sleep in the snow? That you WANT to eat bark? That you would rather stay outside in the freezing weather with the coyotes and coy-dogs than let us spend a little quality time with you in our AWESOME apartment? We would fill our bathtub with food for you, if you wanted us to, do you hear us? OUR BATHTUB.
We're not asking for much, maybe just a little more give in addition to your take. Is that too much to ask, given our history? Remember the good times? Remember that time you came right up to our porch? Remember how we were all friends? Maybe this will jog your memory:
Just think about it. Please?
Your friends forever (or at least until we move in May),
The Puppy and the Penguin
P.S. We know you can be sweet - we saw you cleaning snow off baby.
P.P.S. And do you really want to stay out in this?!
Don't get us wrong, we love you. We just feel that an attitude adjustment is needed...on YOUR part.
You see, we think you guys are kinda being jerks. You would think that after months of lovingly watching you (that's right, LOVINGLY WATCHING, not stalking), getting to know you and your habits, and providing food for you, you would let us get close enough to cuddle you, or - at the very least - let us leave the house to go to campus without making us feel like we're monsters for waking you up from your morning naps. We can't even move around in our own apartment without worrying about disturbing you, because you can see us through the windows and that "startles" you. Ridiculous.
I mean, have we done ANYTHING to make you believe we're going to harm you? We feed you at least twice a day during the week, and EVERY TIME you deign to grace us with your presence on the weekends. We include food for YOU on our shopping list, and make special trips to the store for YOU. Yet, you continue to act like we're trying to catch you and eat you. And it's getting WORSE. For a while there, it really felt like we were making progress, but now it seems like this whole relationship is moving backwards.
Don't play stupid with us. WE KNOW that YOU KNOW that we are the ones providing you with all those yummy treats. Sure, you play stupid now, but we all know that there was a time when we could just shake a bag of goodies, and all of you would just come trotting over the creek on that fallen tree to get your fill.
Now, you think its okay to make us wait around like a couple of schmucks with a giant sack of yummies in the freezing cold, while you hang out in a group and laugh at us? Not cool. You're making us feel like that deer you were bullying back in October:
At the time, we felt bad for that poor deer, but we never thought that you would ostracize us that way. Now we know better. You don't even care, do you?
Is this about the zucchini? Did you not like it? We noticed that you seem willing to eat pine needles and roots, but you are actively rejecting the bell peppers. What's up with that?
Also, what's up with this whole, "we will only eat off of the first two stairs to the apartment, but ignore anything from the third stair on" thing? We know you can reach the food on the third step - you're just leaving it there to insult us, aren't you?
So what if Lane is trying to get you to come closer to our door? So what if we're doing this in an effort to lure you into our home? Are you telling us that you prefer to stay out in the cold? That you WANT to sleep in the snow? That you WANT to eat bark? That you would rather stay outside in the freezing weather with the coyotes and coy-dogs than let us spend a little quality time with you in our AWESOME apartment? We would fill our bathtub with food for you, if you wanted us to, do you hear us? OUR BATHTUB.
We're not asking for much, maybe just a little more give in addition to your take. Is that too much to ask, given our history? Remember the good times? Remember that time you came right up to our porch? Remember how we were all friends? Maybe this will jog your memory:
Just think about it. Please?
Your friends forever (or at least until we move in May),
The Puppy and the Penguin
P.S. We know you can be sweet - we saw you cleaning snow off baby.
P.P.S. And do you really want to stay out in this?!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
BEHOLD!
our shame.
One of my coworkers was taking girl scout cookie orders for her daughter, and I, being the selfless person I am (I mean, really truly selfless, willing to eat cookies selfless), ordered a few boxes for Lane and me. Okay, we ordered five boxes - I guess certain grinchy people might consider that more than a few. 3 boxes of Thin Mints(how cruel is it that the word 'thin' is in their name?), 1 box of Savannah Smiles lemon cookies, and one box of Dulce de Leche cookies. You would think this would be enough, yes? Sadly, no. We've already gone through two and a half boxes of cookies - we got them a week ago. Also, we've bought two more boxes of the Dulce de Leche cookies. We are awful human beings... but the girl scouts are the scum of the earth for doing this to us and all of America.
On a happier note, here's Jake.
We got to take care of him while his parents were away in Connecticut. He was a very, shall we say, special, pup. He was extremely affectionate so my life at home was filled with joy and puppy cuddles. Maybe too many puppy cuddles.. but is there such a thing?
He enjoyed sleeping in our bed - something which was adorable the first night, somewhat less welcome the second night, and a bit annoying the third night. He always made sure to sleep on my side of the bed (I think he knew not to invade Lane's personal sleeping space, a lesson I have yet to learn), but as much as I love having a pup in my bed, the leg cramping which accompanies scrunching up and staying still for that pup can result in quite the restless night. At one point I woke screaming with a charlie horse. That kinda freaked Lane out.
Poor Lane, people at school actually started to comment on how exhausted he looked - and this was only after two nights with Jake in our bed. On the last night, Lane insisted that Jake sleep out in the living room, but the combination of Jake crying outside of our door and me looking at Lane like he was a monster forced him to give in and let Jake sleep in the room, ONLY on the condition that he stayed on his cushion, and not on our bed. Of course, Jake would have none of that, and Lane finally had to really yell at him to stay off the bed. Down went Jake, going straight under the bed to hide from the 'bad man'. He stayed there for about half an hour, until we turned off the light, then back he jumped onto the bed, and we could not keep him off. So that was it. Jake won.
But then, can we really blame Jake? He was just used to sleeping in a bed... and he missed his parents! We were somewhat concerned because he did seem pretty depressed the first night they dropped him off, and then the next day he didn't eat anything ALL DAY. His food bowl hadn't been touched, but he kept following us around the kitchen like he was starving. We would point to his food bowl and tell him to eat. He would the sniff the bowl and walk away. Finally Lane came up with the idea to pretend the kibble pieces were treats and toss them one at a time to Jake. Jake liked this. For the next few days, Lane had to feed Jake this way. Poor Lane - Jake totally owned him.
We tried to understand Jake's behavior, and here are a few theories we came up with.
* this incident was actually pretty hilarious - especially since the dogs across the street are really neither big nor aggressive.
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| girl scout cookies are evil. |
One of my coworkers was taking girl scout cookie orders for her daughter, and I, being the selfless person I am (I mean, really truly selfless, willing to eat cookies selfless), ordered a few boxes for Lane and me. Okay, we ordered five boxes - I guess certain grinchy people might consider that more than a few. 3 boxes of Thin Mints(how cruel is it that the word 'thin' is in their name?), 1 box of Savannah Smiles lemon cookies, and one box of Dulce de Leche cookies. You would think this would be enough, yes? Sadly, no. We've already gone through two and a half boxes of cookies - we got them a week ago. Also, we've bought two more boxes of the Dulce de Leche cookies. We are awful human beings... but the girl scouts are the scum of the earth for doing this to us and all of America.
On a happier note, here's Jake.
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| his near-permanent position. "rub my belly!! love me!!! love me!!!" |
We got to take care of him while his parents were away in Connecticut. He was a very, shall we say, special, pup. He was extremely affectionate so my life at home was filled with joy and puppy cuddles. Maybe too many puppy cuddles.. but is there such a thing?
He enjoyed sleeping in our bed - something which was adorable the first night, somewhat less welcome the second night, and a bit annoying the third night. He always made sure to sleep on my side of the bed (I think he knew not to invade Lane's personal sleeping space, a lesson I have yet to learn), but as much as I love having a pup in my bed, the leg cramping which accompanies scrunching up and staying still for that pup can result in quite the restless night. At one point I woke screaming with a charlie horse. That kinda freaked Lane out.
Poor Lane, people at school actually started to comment on how exhausted he looked - and this was only after two nights with Jake in our bed. On the last night, Lane insisted that Jake sleep out in the living room, but the combination of Jake crying outside of our door and me looking at Lane like he was a monster forced him to give in and let Jake sleep in the room, ONLY on the condition that he stayed on his cushion, and not on our bed. Of course, Jake would have none of that, and Lane finally had to really yell at him to stay off the bed. Down went Jake, going straight under the bed to hide from the 'bad man'. He stayed there for about half an hour, until we turned off the light, then back he jumped onto the bed, and we could not keep him off. So that was it. Jake won.
But then, can we really blame Jake? He was just used to sleeping in a bed... and he missed his parents! We were somewhat concerned because he did seem pretty depressed the first night they dropped him off, and then the next day he didn't eat anything ALL DAY. His food bowl hadn't been touched, but he kept following us around the kitchen like he was starving. We would point to his food bowl and tell him to eat. He would the sniff the bowl and walk away. Finally Lane came up with the idea to pretend the kibble pieces were treats and toss them one at a time to Jake. Jake liked this. For the next few days, Lane had to feed Jake this way. Poor Lane - Jake totally owned him.
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| lane: "treat! treat!" jake: "feed me!" |
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| jake: "i love treats!" lane: "i think this dog might be slow" |
We tried to understand Jake's behavior, and here are a few theories we came up with.
- For some reason, he was scared of the kitchen cabinets (he would always hide or shake when we were opening and closing them). Maybe he needed someone there to protect him from them while he ate.
- Since he was away from home, he thought he deserved special treatment, and thus deserved treats in place of regular food.
- He was really freaked out when the dogs across the street started barking at him (like seriously freaked out, trying to crawl and hide behind the bushes to get back inside the house as quickly as possible freaked out*), and might have been scared about the food potentially belonging to them.
- He was too full from eating the deer poop he found on his walks outside.
* this incident was actually pretty hilarious - especially since the dogs across the street are really neither big nor aggressive.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
little white goat, standard brown goat, little white goat, standard brooown goat!
Back in the fall, before Lane started taking the bus to school, I would drive him to and from campus. I - being the excellent driver that I am, and yes, I AM ASIAN - would watch the road, and Lane would watch the scenery. About a couple weeks into classes, on our way back home, Lane told me that he had noticed a brown goat and a little white goat living in a small fenced-in area next to a house along the side of the road. Of course, I found all of this very exciting. After, all, as I've mentioned in the past, goats are perfect companions for puppies. I wasn't able to see the goats that day, but after keeping a lookout for them for a few days, I finally saw them! Ever since then, Lane and I have taken a keen interest in the two. We call them 'little white goat' and 'standard brown goat', and look out for them every time we pass by. If we're not together, we always make sure to text each other updates as we go past.
At first we thought they were the best of friends because we saw them cuddling one day. Then we were kind of worried that standard brown was bullying little white, because standard brown wouldn't let little white up on his ramp, and because we saw little white standing out in the cold, reduced to eating chicken feed (oh yeah, did we mention they live with chickens? yeah). We think maybe standard brown was concerned that little white was planning to stage a coup to become king of the coop (of course, little white would never do this, Lane and I believe he would have just waited for his time in the sun).
We felt bad for little white. Then we became even more concerned, because a third goat, we call him 'shaggy brown goat', was seen in the pen, and he seemed really aggressive towards both standard brown and little white. At this point it looked like little white was always out in the cold, even when it was dark, and even the chickens didn't hang out with him. It was EXTREMELY upsetting.
Thankfully, after a few weeks we no longer saw shaggy brown - we think he might have just been a visiting cousin of standard brown or something. At any rate, after that, standard brown started being nice to little white again, so Lane and I were happy again. I think maybe standard brown had gotten a taste of his own medicine from shaggy brown, and realized the error of his ways. Let's not over-analyze it, though.
Lane and I cannot even describe how much we love these goats. A couple weeks ago we finally got the courage to pull over to see them - we honked the horn and they came out and "maaaah"ed at us. We were so stinking thrilled. We stayed for what some people would say is way too long; I was scared that the owners would come out, find us, and shoot us for trespassing. Still, the lure of little white and standard brown are too great to resist - we stopped by again today and got these images and video. Enjoy!
Lane couldn't resist - he got out of the car and went to pet them. According to him, their faces felt bristly, but they were friendly and enjoyed smelling him. I was jealous, but didn't want to get shot by their owners - even though it probably would have been worth it.
Here's another video - this time of them nuzzling. You can hear standard brown make a little "maaaaah" at the end.
In other très exciting news, Lane and I will be dogsitting this week! Our landlords are going out of town for a few days, and Lane and I volunteered to take care of their funny little dog, Jake. When I found out we would get to dogsit, I could not contain myself. It seriously took me forever to fall asleep that night, I was so excited. Pictures and videos to come!
.... ahhhh! okay! i can't resist! one last video of little white and standard brown - note the chicken running in the background at 00:19 - for some reason, just soooo hilarious.
I love them. I really, truly love them.
At first we thought they were the best of friends because we saw them cuddling one day. Then we were kind of worried that standard brown was bullying little white, because standard brown wouldn't let little white up on his ramp, and because we saw little white standing out in the cold, reduced to eating chicken feed (oh yeah, did we mention they live with chickens? yeah). We think maybe standard brown was concerned that little white was planning to stage a coup to become king of the coop (of course, little white would never do this, Lane and I believe he would have just waited for his time in the sun).
We felt bad for little white. Then we became even more concerned, because a third goat, we call him 'shaggy brown goat', was seen in the pen, and he seemed really aggressive towards both standard brown and little white. At this point it looked like little white was always out in the cold, even when it was dark, and even the chickens didn't hang out with him. It was EXTREMELY upsetting.
Thankfully, after a few weeks we no longer saw shaggy brown - we think he might have just been a visiting cousin of standard brown or something. At any rate, after that, standard brown started being nice to little white again, so Lane and I were happy again. I think maybe standard brown had gotten a taste of his own medicine from shaggy brown, and realized the error of his ways. Let's not over-analyze it, though.
Lane and I cannot even describe how much we love these goats. A couple weeks ago we finally got the courage to pull over to see them - we honked the horn and they came out and "maaaah"ed at us. We were so stinking thrilled. We stayed for what some people would say is way too long; I was scared that the owners would come out, find us, and shoot us for trespassing. Still, the lure of little white and standard brown are too great to resist - we stopped by again today and got these images and video. Enjoy!
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| little white in all his glory |
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| standard brown rocking the goatee look |
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| the dynamic duo, oh how we love them! |
Here's another video - this time of them nuzzling. You can hear standard brown make a little "maaaaah" at the end.
In other très exciting news, Lane and I will be dogsitting this week! Our landlords are going out of town for a few days, and Lane and I volunteered to take care of their funny little dog, Jake. When I found out we would get to dogsit, I could not contain myself. It seriously took me forever to fall asleep that night, I was so excited. Pictures and videos to come!
.... ahhhh! okay! i can't resist! one last video of little white and standard brown - note the chicken running in the background at 00:19 - for some reason, just soooo hilarious.
I love them. I really, truly love them.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
apple fest 2011!
Lane and I woke up this morning to a cold DARK dreary day. At first we thought it was just too early to get up... but it was 7am, and pitch black outside. FOG. Lots of FOG. Can't see 20 feet in front of you fog. We resigned ourselves to staying inside all day, but then we realized it was Apple Fest.
What is Apple Fest, you ask? Ah, you poor ignorant non-upstate New Yorkers, it is just one of the most glorious Fall activities ever to grace the face of Ithaca Commons. This, however, is coming from the view of someone who has been stuck in the house or reading in the car day in and day out for the past month or so. Apple Fest has lots of apples (which, funnily, we got no actual pictures of)... and apple-related deliciousness... as well as just general deliciousness (these, thankfully, we did get pictures of)
apple related deliciousness:
general deliciousness... Lane and I were very happy about lunch
we didn't want to stay too late, but if we had, we would have tried to go see this:
That, my friends, is what we call bitter cold. It was pretty much drizzling the whole time.
We tried to convince a sheep goat thing to lend me its sweater...
We noticed it eyeing the bag of baked goods in my hand... Lane and I backed away.
There's no way we would ever give these up:
So, like I said, pretty much one of the best Fall activities ever... Even if we count the applicious-baked-good-coveting-never-learned-how-to-share (only knows how to be sheared) sheep goat thing.
What is Apple Fest, you ask? Ah, you poor ignorant non-upstate New Yorkers, it is just one of the most glorious Fall activities ever to grace the face of Ithaca Commons. This, however, is coming from the view of someone who has been stuck in the house or reading in the car day in and day out for the past month or so. Apple Fest has lots of apples (which, funnily, we got no actual pictures of)... and apple-related deliciousness... as well as just general deliciousness (these, thankfully, we did get pictures of)
apple related deliciousness:
 | |||
| we couldn't figure out if the sign on the left meant "Apple Cider & Donuts" OR the mindblowing option of actual "Apple Cider Donuts". THAT would be incredible. |
general deliciousness... Lane and I were very happy about lunch
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| yum yum |
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| yummy Italian sausages one with peppers, the other without, with DELICIOUS sauce. *drool* |
we didn't want to stay too late, but if we had, we would have tried to go see this:
Even though the fog had lifted, it was still pretty cold. We were able to nobly fight the chill off for a while with hot apple cider and funnel cake, but really there is only so much you can do. Look how cold people were!
We tried to convince a sheep goat thing to lend me its sweater...
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| me: "please pretty please?" sheep goat thing: "no". |
We noticed it eyeing the bag of baked goods in my hand... Lane and I backed away.
There's no way we would ever give these up:
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| yum. |
So, like I said, pretty much one of the best Fall activities ever... Even if we count the applicious-baked-good-coveting-never-learned-how-to-share (only knows how to be sheared) sheep goat thing.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
sometimes...
Sometimes, I try to be a good wife.
Sometimes, it works:
Sometimes, it doesn't:
Then, sometimes, it works again:
This was one of those times. It was Lane's birthday on Thursday, so I decided I would try to be an impressive wife, and bake him a cake.
It was a fun little birthday celebration for Lane. We went out to dinner at an Italian place in downtown T-burg, then headed home for cake. We had a fun little surprise as we drove home.
She was absolutely adorable! She was just a little skunk, and she waddled along super slowly and in a somewhat disoriented fashion. Do skunks get drunk? Maybe she was looking for a beer bottle in the recycling bin?
Sometimes, it works:
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| labels so I can play chords for Lane as he jams on his guitar |
Sometimes, it doesn't:
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| a pair of Lane's khakis. can you tell what's wrong? |
 | |||
| I burned them with an iron. |
Then, sometimes, it works again:
This was one of those times. It was Lane's birthday on Thursday, so I decided I would try to be an impressive wife, and bake him a cake.
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| After some debate, I only used 3 of the 4 layers. Mostly because I ran out of frosting. Oh well. |
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| Hmm... still missing something. |
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| That helps, but still not quite ready... |
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| Fork, yes, helpful but not necessary... what does it still need? |
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| Ah, happy birthday boy. Perfect. |
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| Yum. |
It was a fun little birthday celebration for Lane. We went out to dinner at an Italian place in downtown T-burg, then headed home for cake. We had a fun little surprise as we drove home.
 |
| Do you see it? |
She was absolutely adorable! She was just a little skunk, and she waddled along super slowly and in a somewhat disoriented fashion. Do skunks get drunk? Maybe she was looking for a beer bottle in the recycling bin?
 |
| sad. |
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
the puppy and the penguin
So Lane and I decided to start a blog together. I'm not really sure how much Lane plans to write on this, and not really sure what to do with my own blog which I've had for years, but I guess we'll just see how this works. Mostly the thought of a new blog was exciting because I got to make a puppy and penguin graphic for it. Isn't it fun?
We've been married for over a month now, and, after the insanity of the wedding, the reception in Utah, and the drive across the country, we are finally settled in our little house about 20 minutes outside of Ithaca. It really feels like we're playing house. When Lane's not too busy with his studies, we cook together, clean together, and eat bounteous amounts of ice cream together (as a very conservative estimate, about 1 gallon of ice cream/two of us/1.5 weeks. I swear it's not my fault. Lane is addicted - I'm just his enabler).
There's not too much to do out here. Lane has been busy with his studies, and I'm just looking for work and trying not to go stir crazy. Ithaca itself is smaller than I thought it would be, as is the village we now live in. Still, we have the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi just five minutes away from us, and plenty of wildlife to adore. On Sunday morning, as I was getting ready for church, Lane came into the room with his hands clasped together. Guess what he had?
Yup! A toad! Lane had been looking out of our kitchen window, and saw it hopping under one of our trees. He couldn't tell what it was at first, and, thinking that maybe it was a baby bunny (we have a larger bunny we've named Frankfurt who visits us everyday, but this was obviously too small to be him), went out to see if he could catch it to show it to me. Luckily, Tommy the Toad was very accommodating, and consented to being brought into the house to hop around for a while.
Sadly, we knew we had to let him go, though we really wanted to keep him. You can't tell from the pictures, but he had a cute fat little tuckus, of which thing we approved. Lane misses him quite a bit. Lane's cute like that.
Well, hopefully more pictures of our adventures and our new creature friends (and foes) will be coming soon. I have yet to figure out how to upload images from Lane's camera.
We've been married for over a month now, and, after the insanity of the wedding, the reception in Utah, and the drive across the country, we are finally settled in our little house about 20 minutes outside of Ithaca. It really feels like we're playing house. When Lane's not too busy with his studies, we cook together, clean together, and eat bounteous amounts of ice cream together (as a very conservative estimate, about 1 gallon of ice cream/two of us/1.5 weeks. I swear it's not my fault. Lane is addicted - I'm just his enabler).
There's not too much to do out here. Lane has been busy with his studies, and I'm just looking for work and trying not to go stir crazy. Ithaca itself is smaller than I thought it would be, as is the village we now live in. Still, we have the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi just five minutes away from us, and plenty of wildlife to adore. On Sunday morning, as I was getting ready for church, Lane came into the room with his hands clasped together. Guess what he had?
Yup! A toad! Lane had been looking out of our kitchen window, and saw it hopping under one of our trees. He couldn't tell what it was at first, and, thinking that maybe it was a baby bunny (we have a larger bunny we've named Frankfurt who visits us everyday, but this was obviously too small to be him), went out to see if he could catch it to show it to me. Luckily, Tommy the Toad was very accommodating, and consented to being brought into the house to hop around for a while.
Sadly, we knew we had to let him go, though we really wanted to keep him. You can't tell from the pictures, but he had a cute fat little tuckus, of which thing we approved. Lane misses him quite a bit. Lane's cute like that.
Well, hopefully more pictures of our adventures and our new creature friends (and foes) will be coming soon. I have yet to figure out how to upload images from Lane's camera.
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