This weekend is going to be busy on Saturday with Jamie's bridal shower and bachelorette party, but on Sunday I will have the day to myself! :)

Bryan is traveling down to Toledo for some random work thing in the afternoon, so I am thinking it would be a good day to finally paint the bathroom.  Or the front door, since the teal was shot down.  I would much rather go shopping, though, to get a cute dress or outfit for Jamie's rehearsal dinner, but I have had the paint for the bathroom for the past month and a half and it needs to be done.  We'll see once, I guess.

They're taking over my life!! ;)

These are pictures from last week's puppy graduation. I am not sure what Bryan is doing in the second one.

Here are a few recent pictures of Graham and Thatcher.  I have not weighed them in a while, but I think they're at least 30 pounds.  We went to the dog park yesterday and it was a lot of fun.  Thatcher loves playing with all the dogs, and Graham loves the attention from all of the people. :)

Today's our one year anniversary.  This past year has flown by - I can't believe that it's already been a year since our wedding day!  What a great year, too. :)

13 random things about my first year of marriage

1. The first several months (probably nine) were tough. We fought and bickered a lot, about the smallest things. Now we have learned pick our battles wisely. ;)
2. It’s both scary and comforting to realize that, for better or worse, I will be spending the rest of my life with the same person.
3. I think that we've both matured a lot in this past year due to numbers one and two, which made us a lot wiser than we once were.
4. We moved twice. The first time was into a suite we were renting within a home while looking for a house. The second was on January 31 to our first home. It was freezing and I hope to never again move in the winter, but we learned a lot through the home buying procees.
5. Since we moved in the winter we did not start doing anything to the house until the end of April, and then it was a whirlwind.
6. On a whim decision we adopted two adorable puppies on May 25.
7. While they’re still adorable they are now quite large (at least 25 pounds) and six months old. I wanted a small dog and Bryan wanted a beast, so I suppose we compromised.
8. We had our open house on May 31 and since then we’ve done very little to our house. I think our next move will be to install and electric fence for the hounds.
9. We’ve been able to go on several small trips, in addition to our honeymoon to Aruba. We went to San Francisco and the Silicon Valley in October, and then this summer we visited Chicago, Mackinac Island, Traverse City, and Bay Harbor.
10. I hope to go on a wonderful trip to the Caribbean this winter, as I have said before, in lieu of any random first anniversary gifts. Cruise or resort is still T.B.D.
11. We’ve had some conflicts about household duties that culminated in him agreeing to do everything. And then not remembering that. Recently I have done the majority of the cleaning since he’s been pretty busy at work, but he’s usually very helpful with the dishes.
12. We’ve been trying to find a church together, but it’s been a slow process. We both grew up in different denominations and think we may have found a church that fits both of us. We both are challenged to keep an open mind in the process.
13. Our family is very important to both of us and that is fundamental for our marriage, even if my family is occasionally crazy.

Monday, September 22, is the official anniversary day. I can’t believe it’s been a full year already!

The season premier of House was last night.  Bryan is a huge fan of the show.  I think it's okay.  It was definitely better in seasons 1-3.  Season 4 (last year) was lacking, and I probably only watched half of the episodes.  The debut of Season 5 was not too bad, and I hope the rest of the season will prove to be better than last year.  I really hope Wilson stays on the show - he's one of my favorite characters. 

Here's what I am really looking forward to:

The Office - Premiers September 25.  This show is hilarious.  Since working at my current company I have a new-found appreciation for its humor and topics.  :)

Grey's Anatomy - Also premiers September 25 AT THE SAME TIME as The Office.  What to do, what to do.  I really should not let TV take over my life and stop watching it all together, but what fun would that be?  So I think we'll either get TiVo or DVR or watch The Office the next day on NBC.com.  We have to decide very soon either way!

Desperate Housewives - Premiers September 28.

And that's it.  I think these are the three main shows that I really follow.

As Bryan and I are quickly approaching our one-year anniversary, here's a fun little wedding survey that Preppy Little Dress posted.

What time of year did you get married? September!

What did the groomsmen where? Black tuxedos.

Color of bridesmaid dresses? Pink.

How may bridesmaids, including maid/matron of honor? 4.

Are you still friends with all your bridesmaids? Yes.  Three are family, and one is my good friend (whose wedding I am in on October 25).

Location for reception: Golf Course hall.

Band, DJ or other? String trio for the ceremony and coctail hour, DJ for the reception.

Something unique about your wedding? We changed our reception location less than a month before the big day.  Our new reception location was a really unique golf course hall/restaurant.  It was a covered outdoor extension of the building, with great views of the golf course.

Murphy’s law, you know if anything can go wrong it would? Not that I can remember!  It was a perfect day. :) 

Where did you go on your honeymoon? Aruba.

Name one thing looking back you would of changed? I would have made sure to take pictures with all of my family.

Amazingly, they passed the two tests in class yesterday!  They had to sit and stay, and then come to you.  Then they had to lay down.  Graham and Thatcher were stars.  I still want to work on the laying a little more, so that we don't have to coax them so much with a treat, but all in all they were impressive. 

They also passed the Canine Good Citizens test, where a stranger comes up to greet you and asks to pet your dog.  The point is for your dog to stay calm and not jump.  Graham sat perfectly the entire time, and Thatcher laid the entire time.  It's great - they're getting a little more calm.

Last night after puppy training we finished the Disk One - Season 4 of Grey's Anatomy.  It's good so far.  I look forward to finishing the season (~12 more episodes) before the fifth season premier on September 25.  That gives us about a week, and without commercials on the DVDs it could happen.  I am currently debating if we should get TiVo or DVR.  It would save a lot of wasted commercial time, and I like the flexibility that it provides.

Bryan and I hung out with Katie on Saturday while she took a break from all of her law school studying.  We went to Costco where they helped me select a new pair of Modo eyeglasses very similar to these.

I am a contact wearer, but working on a computer all day can take its toll on my eyes so I am hoping that I will be comfortable enough in these to start wearing glasses more often.  I think the last time I wore glasses in public was in math class in sixth grade in order to see the black board. 

After the successful glasses mission we went to dinner at CheeBurger and then saw Burn After Reading. It was a very funny movie and I recommend it.  The characters are all played exceptionally well, especially Brad Pitt’s.  Katie and Bryan also enjoyed it.

Sunday Bryan and I went to church in the morning.  After visiting three Clarkston area Lutheran churches I think we have settled on the one that we feel the most comfortable at.  Now it’s just a matter of attending regularly to decide if we want to become members.

After church we took the dogs to the Bark Park during a brief pause in the rain to let them get some much needed exercise.  We did not do too much for the rest of the afternoon.  I watched Georgia Rules and just laid low while Bryan worked a little bit on his computer.  It rained all afternoon and into the night.

And now here we are… Another work week after a nice weekend. :)

Tonight's the last night of puppy training, and I don't think our puppies deserve to graduate.  It's not their fault - Bryan and I have been very busy lately and have not taken the time to review and practice each week's lessons with them.  I hope that we can at least take what we've learned, though, and apply it in the future.

And finally, after several days of non-stop rain and gloomy weather, today is a beautiful fall day!  I look forward to grilling out tonight.  And the fall breeze and smells really makes me think of our wedding last September. :)