bits & pieces

**I realized that I never published this post from a few weeks ago! I just couldn't let it sit forever as a draft!**
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On Tuesday, we got some exciting news... Derek was admitted to graduate school!

After work, we walked to appointments at the salon down the street, and then we picked up Kaiah and walked to get celebratory pizza. It was a beautiful day and the perfect day to sit outside for dinner. 

The pizza was delicious, and dare I say... possibly better than Tony's! 

As usual, Kaiah enjoyed all the attention she got from people walking by.

My grad student! 

bits & pieces

We had a very cozy, rainy weekend, and gladly accepted the weather as an excuse to take naps and watch movies.


On Friday evening, we made naan pizzas and watched A Thousand Words.

The movie was hilarious, and the perfect way to end the work week. We stole the idea for naan pizzas from my mom, who makes them better than I can and is always coming up with new ideas for toppings. I will post the recipe one of these days, minus a few family secrets ;)

On Saturday morning, we ventured into the city to stop by the farmer's market and go for a long run on the harbor. We expected it to rain lightly, but of course it began to downpour once we were a few miles away from the car. The waterfront was empty, so Kaiah got to run off leash most of the way, with only one... incident.

She spotted a group of baby ducklings and decided that they needed a momma. Derek noticed her crouching and dipping her feet toward the water, and grabbed her by her back legs just before she jumped in the water. She was so quiet about it, not wanting to disturb the babies, so we were lucky to have caught her! I don't even want to think about what a mess it would have been trying to pull her out of the harbor.

We eventually made it home, all soaked. Kaiah couldn't wait to dry off so she rubbed against the wall all the way down our hallway, even turning around to repeat a few times.

Once we were dry, we went and watched Spiderman, and picked up dinner and canollis! I made some fancy mozzarella and tomato appetizers.

Sunday was a lazy day. This sleepy face helped me do laundry before she joined her daddy for a nap.

Kaiah's 3rd Birthday!!

Kaiah has been such a blessing in our life, ever since the day she chose us to be her family at a run down kill-shelter in West Virginia.

That day, after spending a few minutes with Kaiah and the rest of her litter, we left the shelter to get some lunch and think about whether we would take one home. We talked about the one puppy that was sticking out in our memory.. the chubby one.

That chubby one was our Kaiah.

After lunch, we walked back up to the kennel that the puppies were in and saw all of the puppies piled on top of each other, sleeping in their little dog house.

All of them except for one.

Kaiah saw us and ran up to the gate, the exact same way that she now runs up to us every day when we come home from work. At that moment, we knew that she was meant for us and we were meant for her.

I can't even believe it! Our girl is now 3!!

Since Kaiah is a shelter puppy, we don't know when her actual birthday is (we've tried really hard to get her to tell us) so we usually celebrate it for the entire month of May.

Kaiah's favorite thing in the world is having her whole family together, and on Mother's day weekend that is what she got. Derek and I got together with both of our parents and brothers to celebrate our engagement, and Kaiah was a very happy girl. She didn't even mind sharing the attention with us. She got plenty of love and treats, and even her own birthday cupcake!

Three years ago, we named Kaiah for that pretty face of hers. Her name stems from the Native American word which means, "Rare Beauty". We know now that we chose the perfect name for our little bear, because she is not only beautiful inside and out, but she makes our lives more beautiful each and every day.

A Perfect Afternoon

We spent a beautiful Saturday afternoon sitting on the harbor, and browsing waterfront shops. We even found a few dog friendly stores! Kaiah was so excited when she got to go  with us into Su Casa, one of my favorite Baltimore furniture stores. She was extremely well behaved and made herself right at home on a cozy rug, underneath the coffee table that we were considering.

Afterward, we sat by the water with some cold iced tea, enjoying the harbor breeze.

Kaiah gets a visit from her BFF Anny

As we drove home to Northern Virginia for Spring Break, Derek and I kept wondering what in the world Kaiah would do without Anny for a whole week. Kaiah and Anny, now 10- and 8-months old, respectively, had a rough start Believe me when I say that six months ago, I never thought they would end up inseperable.

The very first day that Anny came home from the shelter, she was brought outside to meet Kaiah, Jackson, and Sam (more on them later). She was nervous, but we heard that she had been the bully of her litter. Kaiah did not know what to make of her! She had been playing with 85-pound Jackson and 60-pound Samantha for most of her life. What was this little thing? Kaiah, being the gentle, yet curious, ball of fur that she is, was going to find out. She laid her self down right in front of Anny, with her nose just inches away from Anny's sweet little face. And then...Anny barked! Kaiah's ears shot straight back as if some immeasurable wind had just blown into her face. She quickly returned to wrestling with the big dogs. That little thing had some nerve!

Somewhere between then and now, they became the best of friends. They enjoy staring competitions that resemble something out of an old western movie, tackling each other while making crazy noises, and laying in the grass as they plot how they can next cause trouble. Oh, how they love to cause trouble.

So imagine the chaos that ensued when Anny appeared in my parents' driveway. The two of them were overwhelmed with disbelief, shock, and of course, excitement. They spent the day playing and causing trouble. You didn't really think they could go one day without causing trouble did you? They decided to get loose and explore the golf course, finding mud to swim in along the way. Yes, I said mud to swim in, because that's just what they did. We eventually got them showered and clean and they enjoyed the rest of their day. Just a few more days left until they are causing trouble reunited again in Blacksburg.