September Already?

I haven't had anymore wheels go flying off my Jeep, so I haven't really had anything very exciting to blog about.  Life keeps moving along and I can't believe that fall is upon us.  It's weird not being back in Logan this time of year.

Natasha is coming along and has made great strides in the 2.5 months we've had her.  She's lost seven pounds and is about five pounds shy of her ideal weight.  She's very talkative and makes all kinds of funny noises.  She doesn't just bark or whine like dogs do; she has a whole vocabulary.  It's really quite hilarious.  She does this thing we call "the silent woof" where she just makes this very quiet "hooah" sound.  She typically does it when she wants our attention, but we're really closeby so she doesn't feel the need to do a full on bark.  One of these days when I come home from work, I need to have my video camera out because she'll follow me around and "talk" to me for several minutes like she's telling me all about her day.  Again, it's not barking; she makes noises that sound like, "Roo roo roo" and "wah wah wah wah".  It's hard to describe, which is why I need to record it, but it's very funny.

Natasha's training is coming along as well.  She will now sit and lay down on command without bribes or hand signals, and she's starting to understand the concept of stay.  When I take her for walks and I tell her to "wait", she will stop, look back at me, and then sit down.  We're also working on the recall command, and that too is only starting to sink in.  Peter and I love having her around, even though she's a lot of work.  She keeps us very entertained, and she does these silly little random things that we can't help but find incredibly endearing.

Natasha usually hangs out under my chair...

...or under Peter's.

I love these two

Natasha loves nomming on a good stick

My sweet girl after a long day of hiking

My job is going well, but some days I feel overwhelmed.  Working in a doctor's office is not easy.  Things get busy and I'm trying to check in patients and answer questions or concerns while every phone line is ringing off the hook.  It's days like those where I just have to take a deep calming breath and take it one step at a time.  It is rather fun to work with animals, though.  Even though most of the time they're coming in because they're sick.

Peter's job is winding down a little.  He's lost most of his crew to school, but I think he kind of enjoys working alone.  He's still gone all of the time, and I'll be glad when he's back at home again.  We've been told that he'll have work through most of winter which is good.  I like being able to pay rent and eat food.

We have had some fun little excursions this summer, like a trip to Moab with some friends of ours.  We kayaked a stretch of the Colorado River and we also went to Arches National Park, which is something I will never do again in the middle of the summer.  It was way too hot.

Peter and Nick

Kelly and Me

The four of us at Delicate Arch

Ute indian rock painting

Me, Nick, and Kelly at Landscape Arch

Last weekend for Labor Day, my parents came to visit and we had a lot of fun showing them around Gunnison and Crested Butte.  One of the things we tried to do was take a picnic on "Gunnison Beach" out on Blue Mesa Reservoir, but it was so windy that day that we were being pelted by sand.  Even Natasha, who is always excited to go outside, was content to stick nearby and use us as shields from the wind.

In other news, we had an opportunity present itself to us this last week that could change a lot of things around here (and no, I am not pregnant).  I can't quite talk about it yet, but some big changes could be happening soon...or not.  It's all up in the air at this point, and merely speculation.  I know that's terribly cryptic, but I'll post more about it when I know more as well.  That's pretty much it from us.  I hope you all enjoyed the summer because it's going to be cold and snowy before we know it!