News

Last night I finally heard the news that I had been anticipating for a few weeks. My brother proposed to his girlfriend, she said yes, and there will be a wedding!

As the big sister, and one who is slow to appreciate change, I wondered how I would feel when this happened. Well here's how I feel: I am completely excited and happy for the two of them. I am looking forward to getting to know his fiance better over the years. I will admit that it is hard for me to recognize that he is actually old enough to be getting married, but I will be praying for them as they begin a new, exciting phase of life.

Congratulations to my brother and future sister-in-law!

A New Home

In the past 3 days we have acquired not one, but two dog crates. We have placed one in the living room

and one in the sun room.

It would be absolutely amazing if Ransom chewed through these crates. They are made with super thick steel and weigh about 50-lbs each. They come apart super easily for traveling, and after a weekend in which we feared leaving our house and wondering what would be chewed next, we absolutely needed to get something for Ransom to live in. However, since we had so much trouble with the first crate, we are taking this process nice and slow.

Ransom has actually gone inside to explore and sniff around. We put treats in there and he even has laid down inside the crate without us asking him. Perhaps he likes these better since we haven't used physical force by shoving him inside like the first night we got him.

We have yet to close the door on him, we are trying to just let him explore and feel comfortable with it. Maybe tonight will be the first time we leave him in there while we go out. I have high hopes and good feelings about this.

He fits in there very nicely and looks comfortable. I went to K-Mart and purchased two blankets for $4 each to make it seem more homey. I know he could care less, but it makes me feel better.

Dear Kansas

Dear Kansas,

On Monday we drove over a hill and really liked it. Could you please grow some more of those?

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Most of you know by now that the midwest is not my favorite place on earth. For so long I have loathed the flatness, the yellowness, the nothingness. But as it seems to have me in its grasps, for now at least, I have had to make adjustments in my mind and actually have found things to appreciate about the prairie and the town in which we now reside.

The big sky. For years, Hubs has encouraged me to look up at the sky. I am an early riser and now take Ransom walking right as the sun is rising. The sky turns all sorts of beautiful colors. Now, during the day, during the night, and even during storms, I find myself gazing up at the sky and being amazed at its vastness. This is how I can see God's greatness in, what I consider, a boring land.

The sunflowers. Right now, there are fields of sunflowers along the highways. These huge happy flowers always make me smile and are very pretty against the bright blue sky.

The church. I do not think we would be happy here if we did not have a church where we are weekly fed the word of God. I have always felt as though church was an extended family and here we are with young couples our age, going through the same life experiences, learning to serve God through their marriage and actions.

Starbucks. I have to admit that Starbucks is a huge comfort. Laugh if you want, but I love taking Ransom with me and just sitting outside reading and studying while he lays by my feet. He strikes up great conversations with interesting people; it is one of my favorite things to do.

I will always prefer trees and hills to wide open spaces, but I am glad that I can now look up and appreciate the big sky. I am also glad that scenery does not make one feel at home, and instead, our friends, my Hubs, and our church make us feel at home.

I am also thankful that Hubs likes to travel.

What do you like most about where you live? I'd like to know, especially those of you who live in the midwest.

Views

And now, the views we experienced on our recent Colorado hiking trip.

I love it when the mountains look hazy in the distance.

Poor Hubs. He had a grand view of my backside for most of the hike.

I love flowers. Whether the gorgeous tropical ones from Hawai'i or the simple wildflowers in the mountains - I love them all.

These were pretty and blue and hung down just like bells.

This is probably my favorite view of the entire trip. Words like "grand" and "majestic" can only be used to describe these mountains. It reminds me of how much more majestic and awesome is the Creator God.

How to get the skunk odor out of your house.

After Ransom was nice and shiny and odor-free, I had a larger problem. Everywhere I read online stated emphatically, Do not let your dog back into the house! If you have to, lock them up in one room that is away from most of your home. 

Not only did we let him into our house; we let him sleep in our bedroom for the rest of the night. Hey, it was 4:30am and we don't trust him anywhere else.

The worst area was the sun room because the skunk practically sprayed directly into that room. I held my breath and opened all the windows to start airing it out. It figures that the one day it was perfectly calm outside with not even a breeze, was the day I was doing this. I then continued opening all the windows in the house up. Even the garage smelled.

After a couple of hours, it was bearable to enter the sun room, so I dumped baking soda all over the carpet, let it sit, then vacuumed it up. Then I dumped that air freshener powder (the entire bottle) all over the floor, let it sit, then vacuumed. Now, I had a very concentrated smell of fresh linen. Of course, Ransom was traumatized by all this vacuuming and curled up into as small of a ball as possible on the couch.

In the rest of the house, I began burning all the smelly candles I own - one in each room. Since the only place besides the sun room that Ransom actually laid down was our bedroom, I mixed a vinegar and water solution and put it in a spray bottle. Then, I sprayed that on the areas where he slept. Then, I vacuumed the rest of the house. 

The last items that really smelled were my clothes that I was wearing when he got sprayed. I put them, and anything else that was exposed to the oil, in the washer and washed as normal. They came out smelling fine, although I worry what will happen when they get dirty again - if that will bring the smell out.

I started this process at 8:30am and was done at 12:30pm. By then, it was beginning to smell like all my candles and air fresheners, so I really couldn't tell what it was like. My aunt came over to smell for me and said she didn't smell any thing gross. Hubs could still smell it a little and I could still taste it whenever I ate.

The next morning, I opened up the house again until it got too warm. We haven't smelled skunk in our house since.

How to get the skunk odor out of your dog's fur.

I am happy to say I have a clean, beautiful, odor-free dog after yesterday's disaster. 

As we went on our morning walk yesterday, dogs that I never knew were even in the neighborhood, dogs that couldn't see us through their fences, were barking at us. I'm sure they were telling Ransom how horrible he smelled. Ransom's head was down as he, too, knew he was the source of the worst smell ever. While we walked, I was sure that this smell would be on him for weeks. Visions of a my beautiful dog's soft, shiny black coat being shaved off were entering my mind.

So, after reading a few articles online and a frantic call to the vet at 8:01am, I locked Ransom in the sunroom (which also got hit with the skunk's spray) and took off to Wal-Mart for some frantic shopping. As I now could be considered an expert in this field, here is the sure way to rid your dog and your house of skunk odor.

Step 1 - Take 1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide, 1/4 cup Baking Soda, and 1 Tbsp. Dish Soap and mix together in a bucket. I know you may be thinking can't I use shampoo instead of dish soap? The dish soap is important. Skunk odor is an oil and dish soap is made to break down oils and grease while you wash your pans, right? So, I used Dawn - it's supposed to be "tough on grease." Put this beside your shower or bathtub and put on clothes that you can be comfortable in while wet. Then, get your dog and coax use all of your might to lift him into the shower and shut the door so he can't get out.

Step 2 - Put on rubber gloves. This is important because you do not want to get the skunk oil on your body. It helps to know exactly where he was sprayed so you can make sure to really clean that area. Turn on the shower and get the dog wet.

Step 3 - Lather the peroxide mixture into the dog's fur. Let it sit for 3 minutes. I wouldn't let it sit for too much longer in case the peroxide starts to bleach the fur. Rinse the dog off. 

That was the extent of the vet's orders and Ransom had no odor from him after this. But, I wanted to be extra sure.

Step 4 - Wash the dog using the over-the-counter skunk odor remover shampoo. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Keep your mouth closed while your dog shakes for all 5 minutes. Rinse the dog off.

Step 5 - Wash the dog using your regular dog shampoo. I actually use horse shampoo to make his coat nice and pretty. By now, your dog is getting really sick of being locked in the shower so you will probably get really, really wet.

Step 6 - Dry your dog off, and let him out of the shower. Take a shower for yourself now.

I promise, your dog will smell better than he ever has. But, that doesn't end your skunk removal process. You still have your house, which reeks. 

To be continued...

Three.

Yesterday, Hubs and I celebrated our three-year anniversary. After three years, I am not really sure what my life would be like if he wasn't in it. We went out to dinner and Hubs brought me flowers. It was extremely low-key, but exactly what we needed.  The staff at our restaurant was taking guesses on how old we were. They guessed 22, and were very surprised to hear we were 25 and had been married three years. After three years, I still love my Hubs and am so thankful for him!

Three seconds too late. This morning I had to take Ransom out for a middle-of-the-night potty break. We walked out the sliding glass door and Ransom darted towards something right off of the patio. I noticed the skunk three seconds too late. I immediately pulled Ransom in the house and slammed the sliding glass door. I then pulled him out of the sunroom and slammed the other sliding glass door. I said, I think Ransom just got sprayed by a skunk. Richard, in the bedroom, could already smell the proof.

I guess you know what I will be doing today. HELP!!!!!