Hmmm...

I want to start off by saying sorry for the horribly boring titles to my posts. I am really bad at coming up something cute and catchy. I was always bad at naming the albums on Facebook too. People would come up with the funniest names or something totally random and mine were always "Christmas 2010" or "Day at the Beach." Anyways...this past week has been really fun and I actually took more pictures to make up for the lack of them last week.

Yesterday Catherine and I decided to try something new and fun and go to Zumba. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a dance workout class. They have classes all over and I had heard of it before, but would have never gone by myself. Catherine's friend Cora teaches Zumba at this new fitness place down here so we decided to give it a try.

All ready for Zumba class!

Man was that an experience!! It was so fun and surprisingly a good workout too! But the dance moves were hilarious! You should just youtube Zumba and you'll see what I mean. You really get your booty shakin'. But we just laughed the whole class and had a really good time! Can't wait to go back next Tuesday because I am going to practice some of the moves they taught us...hahaha, I'm sure Tyler will be thrilled!

Tyler and I also took Trigger to the dog beach last Saturday night. It ended up raining and storming while we were there, but then we got to see this awesome double rainbow!

If you look to the right of the main one, you can kind of see the second one too.

The beach was fun but there were lots of bugs because it had just rained and we got eaten alive! So we only stayed a few min. and then left. But Trigger had fun. We came back home and made steaks and cheese potatoes. Very good dinner!

We have been trying to make better meals for dinner lately so besides the steaks, Tyler also grilled chicken the other night...it was so yummy!! Here is a picture of our dinner that night..

Of course have to have the NC State cup! (Thanks Patty and Mitch!!)


Because our room is so small, Trigger has to go outside while we eat. He is so pathetic and always sits right by the door staring at us making us feel guilty. Poor Bear always hangs out by the door to try and make him feel better...however I think he ends up teasing him.
We also got a surprise package on Monday from my parents!! They sent us a Halloween gift box. There was lots of cool stuff in it, but my favorite was this very cute lunch bag with my new initials! Perfect to take to work each day!

And I can even bring it on my bike, which is great because I have been riding my bike to work everyday now. It fits perfect along the handle bars!

There was also some Halloween decorations...of course!! If you remember, I got some window clings for Valentine's Day, for Easter, and for spring, and now I have some for Halloween!

Mom also sent me some stuff to make spider webs. All thats missing is some lights! haha...but Tyler won't let me buy any lights yet. I guess we'll have to wait until we have our own place before we start going all out on our decorations!

Finally Bear and Trigger got new toys as well from grandma and grandpa. Bear loves his bright green fuzzy mouse and Trigger LOVES his new pumpkin. He will not put it down and it has been a week!

Thanks mom and dad for such an awesome surprise!! We all miss you and love you so much and can't wait until you come visit for Thanksgiving!!

The middle of September?!

I just realized it is the middle of September!! Wow! Time is flying by so quickly! Tyler's parents are coming to visit us the second week of October, and then my whole family is coming to visit for Thanksgiving!! I can't believe how soon everything is happening! And thennn...that means it is almost Christmas! How crazy!

Well this past week has been alright....I've been kind of sick the past couple of days. I am on the verge of getting sick...I keep loading up with vitamins and it will seem to go away, and then it will come back...so that hasn't been too much fun fighting that sickness.

Work has been good though. I have been training one of our dolphins, AJ, a behavior called spiral temper. Its where he goes belly up and smacks his tail, and then belly down and smacks his tail and kind of does a barrel role type thing while hitting his tail. He did it the other day for the first time on signal and I was so excited! I was jumping up and down on the dock and asked everyone around me to come watch!

Tyler is doing great also. He went snorkeling with his boss this past weekend and said he had a lot of fun. I can't wait until we can actually have a day off together and do those things together. He also has been fishing a lot with his friend Pete. They love going out and most of the time they catch really cool stuff.

My weekend so far has been really nice. I got to sleep in both mornings to try and help me feel better. I cleaned our whole "room" yesterday so everything is nice and clean :) I also have been working on a new behavior with Trigger. "Crawl" haha...its where he lays down and then scoots across the floor. He has done it a few times, but he is still learning....so as soon as he knows it, I will post a video of it! Him and Bear have been so sweet together. They even share the futon now..

haha...this picture was just too cute!

Well thanks for reading this week, sorry there is nothing too exciting going on...I'll post if anything changes :)

Everything else :)

Well I know all the previous posts have been about Trigger so I decided to update everyone on everything else that has been going on. Tyler and I are doing great! We are just having so much fun all the time and trying to do as much as possible while we have the time. We are doing great living in our tiny shoebox...it hasn't been all that challenging (so far...). Its amazing what you can do when you have to! We also were looking at houses and getting really excited about buying a house, but we have kind of backed off a little because we realized why rush? We are fine where we are and the more opportunity we have to continue to save, the better! So we are making due with what we have and enjoying every minuet of it!

I have also been playing softball every Tuesday and Thursday. Our team is horrible, but it makes it a lot of fun. I am playing second base and have been doing pretty good in the field, but hitting...I just can't seem not to pop it up to the outfield, which is better than striking out, but still I never get on base unless I get walked... Tyler is so great about coming out and cheering for us even though we don't have a chance most nights.

Other than that, we have just been having fun, working, and hanging out with great friends. Look at this precious picture of little Violet...

Bear is also doing great! I got this sweet picture of Bear's cousin, Jazzy, from T and Kelsey the other day...They really are related because I took this picture of Bear the same day...so much similarity :)

Bear has been doing a great job at fighting off scorpions! One night a few weeks ago, Tyler woke up in the middle of the night to a scorpion crawling on his arm!!! AHH! I was freaking out! I even called my mom at 3 am because neither one of us could go back to sleep...but it was because of Bear, Tyler actually woke up. They have been pretty bad lately, I guess because it's been raining a lot and they seek the dryness inside, but here is a picture of one on the side of our house! Gross!

Well hope everyone else is doing great too and I'm sure its cooling off everywhere else but here, so enjoy your cool air while we still suffocate in the humidity...Thanks for reading :)

Trigger and the Dolphins...

While Trigger was at work for Dolphin Lab, I also let him meet some of the dolphins in our front lagoon. They tried talking to Trigger, but he just got so excited and would bark and try and pull me into the lagoon. I have no idea what would happen if he did go in, luckily he never went in...but here are a few pictures of him by the front wall and on the docks...

He couldn't follow the rules by staying behind the rope...he HAD to be closer to them!!

I think on this one, he was trying to go in...Gypsi was encouraging him to jump!


He was so cute when they would swim away...he would stand there watching so intense like "Where did they go?!"

Trying to get Cayo's attention.

Tina looking at Trigger...he hadn't seen her yet.

He almost pulled me in a few times

So as you can tell Trigger loved the dolphins, and they thought he was pretty cool too! He just wanted to jump in and go swimming with them, but we'll work on it! Hope your enjoyed!

Trigger's Dolphin Lab Experience

Well guys, Trigger did it! He graduated from Dolphin Lab! haha. So he ended up doing really well all week! Everyone at work fell in love with him and he was so tired by the end of the week he would just go right into the office and lay down. He got really good at waiting by the door while people went in and out, and he did calm down around the dolphins some...he still gets really excited and thinks they are all his best friends, but he is getting better slowly.

So his graduation day, he had to present what he had learned. His trainer was Jackie and she was working on "roll over" with him. He never fully got it, but he would lay down and then roll like he does for me at home. I told her that was really good progress because he gets so excited at DRC he doesn't want to listen. So for her to ask him to do the same thing there, was really good. So the big time comes for Jackie to step up and show everyone what she has taught Trigger. There was probably around 35 people there, and it was even being videoed, so Jackie comes up and introduces Trigger. The whole time she is talking, Trigger has decided that he needs to mark this presenting area, so he is wandering around peeing on everything. Everyone laughed, but then she tried to get him re-focused and asked him to sit. He looks up at her like he has no idea what she is talking about and then it came...he squats and took a big poop right in the middle of the presenting area! I was so embarrassed, but everyone was laughing so hard I just laughed. And poor Jackie, she was so embarrassed too! Debbie, who is the leader of dolphin lab, came out and explained to everyone that Trigger is a freshman and its just because he has never done this before....HAAA! None the less, Tyler was quite proud and says that needs to be the next behavior I work on...pooping on command! We'll see how that goes.

Anyways...the main point is that he graduated and did really good overall. The more I bring him up there, the more used to it he will get and hopefully he'll be the best student next time he gets to do it! Here are a few pictures...

So tired he could barley hold his eyes open...

Passed out once we got home.

His certificate!

This picture was just too funny...him posing with his certificate. He was so proud!

Trigger's First few days of camp...

I feel like a mom who just sent their child to school for the first time! Trigger is participating in Dolphin Lab this week at DRC! Dolphin Lab is an awesome camp we offer at work for kids who are interested in becoming trainers. This week the lab is called "Advanced Training Lab." The kids come and learn everything they could to help with training and how to train a behavior! It's an awesome program because not only do they sit in a classroom and learn about it, they actually get to practice on staff member's dogs! Trigger is one of the students this go round! He gets to come to work with me and his new trainer will work with him 3 times a day and work on teaching him something new. Jackie is his trainer and she is going to teach him roll over! I think he is going to do great if he can focus enough! He gets so distracted by everything at DRC...but I can't blame him because there are so many senses! Cats...Sea Lions...iguanas...chickens...dolphins...fish...lizards...and birds! Who could blame the guy right?! So far things are good! He came with me on Sunday and then we skipped Monday because of the holiday, but then today he got to go by himself! I have Tues. Wed. off so i dropped him off (relunctantly i might add) and went back and picked him up around 4! Everyone said he did really well so I am very proud of him! The best part of camp is that he comes home and passes out on the couch! Sunday night he didn't even care Tyler and I were leaving...he stayed right where he was sleeping away! It is awesome!

Here are a few pictures of him in the office at work...



He LOVED Cheryl's bird Shiz....she ended up having to take Shiz home because Trigger wouldn't stop barking at her! He wanted to play with her so bad! If you look close in the pic. you can see Shiz in her cage on the shelf and Trigger is sitting there staring her down!



What a happy dog! He is doing so great and enjoying it! I'll keep everyone posted with how he does at camp this week!

Trigger's New Behavior's!

So since moving to the keys, I've been working with Trigger teaching him some new behaviors. Tyler videoed the other night so I could show everyone how smart he is and how quick he is learning! In this video he shows you his twirl, weave, and roll behaviors!

Welcome Home!

Last week on my day off I went and got my new FL Driver's License! I was so excited to get it and now I am officially a resident of Monroe County! Sorry for the poor image, I took it on my phone on the way home..

I also wanted to share my experience at the Marathon DMV because it was so shocking! So I called just to see the hours and it was about 4 pm. The lady said they closed at 4:45...which, one, who closes at 4:45?? Why not 5? Anyway, I said thank you and went to hang up. The lady stopped me and proceeded to ask me if I had all the correct documents with me. I told her yes and she said are you coming today? I responded with , "well, no...I don't think I have time" and she says, "Why?!" haha...I thought this was so funny because I am used to waiting days at the DMV in North Carolina and I was so surprised she was asking me nicely to actually come in! So I headed down, walked in the door at 4:30...and when I got in the car to leave, my clock said 4:45! Fastest DMV visit ever! The lady who printed it for me was so nice too. When she handed me my new license, she said, "Welcome Home!" with a big smile on her face! Who knew DMV people could be so nice...I love living here in the keys :)