a girl + her hund

Today is May 17th, Syttende Mai, otherwise known as National Day...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:34:00 -0500

Today is May 17th, Syttende Mai, otherwise known as National Day or Constitution Day in Norway. It celebrates Norway’s Independence. I wish I had some kringla or krumkake or lupskaus here to deliciously celebrate but alas, I do not. Regardless, here’s to Norway from a girl + her hund. Skol! Heia Norge!

Home.

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:01:57 -0500

Home.

This is an early Walt Disney sketch we saw at the Walt Disney...

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:26:15 -0500

This is an early Walt Disney sketch we saw at the Walt Disney Family Museum today at The Presidio. I find this little proverb quite right. Write. Right.

This little chalkboard sign was on Haight near Ashbury. Being on...

Wed, 15 May 2013 03:16:41 -0500

This little chalkboard sign was on Haight near Ashbury. Being on vacation is great but I do miss my puppy…

You guys! I had the Ultimately Delicioso + Perfect Rebecca...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:43:59 -0500

You guys! I had the Ultimately Delicioso + Perfect Rebecca Hanson Dinner last night in Little Italy: penne vodka with pancetta and a pear Bellini. Yes! You read correctly: Pear Bellini! Okay, I should come clean and say I had a pair of Pear Bellinis because it was such a perfectly scrumptious beverage. There is so much more to share but you will have to wait until we get back to Chicago. I will need to have a few more Pear Bellinis before that… San Francisco - you are treating us right!

I do not know which is more majestic: the Bay Bridge, the...

Sat, 11 May 2013 17:21:29 -0500

I do not know which is more majestic: the Bay Bridge, the beautiful San Francisco day or our Hot Love…

I forgot to mention that the hund was frozen for awhile the...

Fri, 10 May 2013 22:00:41 -0500

I forgot to mention that the hund was frozen for awhile the other day due to the sighting of this little friend perched in the corner. Trond was his typical fascinated/terrified self. The cat held total court. It was quite the stand still…

blossoms + lincoln park dogs

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:31:49 -0500

I had a Snuggler with me last night. A ninety pound, four-legged Snuggler. He tends to stay at the foot of the bed but he takes up the entire bottom half of the bed. I had him snuggle with me last night because Tim was gone and … and today I had to drop Trond off at Playful Pets. We woke up and I scooped up his breakfast, then seven mornings and seven evenings worth of food for him for his big vacation. I put his collar and leash on him and asked him if he was ready to be a gentleman for Gemma and Larry?

I think this look means yes.

Tim and I will be heading out for a grand vacation. Some of the trees in Chicago are just now blossoming and I know by the time we return, they will be in their bright green leaves. There is one tree a few houses over that I really look forward to seeing in it’s red blooms for a few days each year. Look at it - it’s beautiful! No?

I asked the hund if he’d be willing to sit in front of the nice tree so I could get a nice picture of the nice puppy in front of the nice tree. This is the sequence of events:

This poor guy. The last picture just cracks me up… and kinda breaks my heart. He is tired of trying to be nice and sit in front of this nice tree to take a nice damn picture. Good boy, buddy. Let’s keep walking.

More pretty trees in our neighborhood. The hund is happily sniffing around while I snap shots of red and purple bursts of blooms.

The hund and I walked into Playful Pets. The hund obediently yet quite excitedly sat down at the white gate, tail thumping on the floor, patiently waiting for Larry. Larry greeted us, let Trond in and saw the huge bag of bagged food I was carrying and said, “Oh, Trond is staying with us for awhile, isn’t he?“ I told Larry how excited Trond was but how it is silly that I feel a little bummed being away from him for so long. Larry said, “Oh. I never do. Maybe it’s because I am around at least 16 dogs everyday but when I’m away from my dogs, I don’t even give a second thought to them. I know they’re in good hands.”

I told Larry that I knew Trond was in great hands here, I just miss him when I’m not around him. Larry said, “Don’t. The big concern might be that they get bored. If that was my biggest concern in life, I’d be happy with that.” I agreed with him and told him how sometimes I wish Trond and I could switch lives for a few days every now and again. We giggled. Then Larry told me, “In my next life, you know I’m coming back as a Lincoln Park dog: designer dog clothes and dog beds, gourmet food and owners that fawn over me? Come on! That’s what I want out of life! I’m going to be a Lincoln Park dog!”

Can’t argue with that. We laughed some more. I thanked him and left. It was nice to leave with that silly thought. I am thankful to have a great place like Playful Pets. I enjoyed my lone walk back to the apartment. How could I not when this is part of my route?

I noticed, too, that the little apple tree a few houses over is finally, FINALLY blossoming. Apple blossoms are simply heaven to me.

I do not know what I would come back as, if I could choose, but I do know I could live under this view forever and never grow tired of it…

spring stroll

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:45:00 -0500

Chicago is absolutely gorgeous today! Danged near perfect, if you ask me. I think it is safe to say that Spring is going to stay here. I wasn’t sure if it forgot about us there for a while but it is here. To stay. Today is beautiful proof. The hund and I took a very long lovely stroll this morning. Just look at all of the bright beauty that was practically on every corner of our neighborhood!

These are some of my most favorite blossoms. Anyone know what they are? I love them! Stay forever, if you’d like to, li’l blooms!

A lot of the trees are wrapped in fabric in a four block radius of the neighborhood. I don’t know what the significance is but it is a festive added touch to all of the blossoming trees.

The hund sniffs in all of the spring scents.

I cannot get over this gorgeous tree! Can. Not!

The hyacinth were really showin’ they stuff this mornin’.

Another tree that I absolutely love. I love the few days they are in bloom like this. Are they magnolias? Do we have magnolia trees in the Midwest or are they only a Southern thing? Why don’t I know this stuff? I freakin’ love it so much but am ignorant on some of these blooms.

Look at these sweet little buds. This tree will soon be breathtaking.

As we were walking down a quiet side street, I heard a bit of a crunching noise. Then a rolling noise. I looked down to see that Trond had found a broken robin egg on the sidewalk. It was so sweet and little and blue.

But at a certain angle, it actually cast a tiny shadow.

For two days in a row now, Trond and I have taken long walks in this warm spring weather. For two days in a row now, it has been around 60 degrees as we have walked. Trond is having to acclimate his hund body to being warm again. For two days in a row now, Trond has flat out stopped walking at the same spot near Ravenswood. He just plops down. He has to take a breather in the cool shade. And all I can do is just stand next to him and wait it out. He is too big for me to do anything else. So… we wait…

Can we head home now, hund? Should we keep walking home you can get a drink of water? Do you want a drink of water, Trond?

I finally convince him to keep going. There is more to see and a few more blocks to go before we get home.

More buds for you.

Another birdhouse for your soul…

This little garden is raised about two feet off of the ground. You would have to be a real tool to let your dog jump up there and destroy these flowers. I don’t think the sign is necessary but I guess these folks think it is. But let’s face it, we have been out walking for over and hour and a half. At this point, Trond and I are both ready for a big drink of water at home. Let us go to our home, Trond, where the sign is “Please Dogs”.

Spring, you are My Favorite!

Enjoy this very dear, small sampling of Banjo Night. This makes...

Mon, 06 May 2013 21:19:32 -0500

Enjoy this very dear, small sampling of Banjo Night. This makes Everything All Better!

becki jo banjo

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:26:00 -0500

On this night, exactly two weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday and had one of The Most Endearing Experiences I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. For years, I have passed by the ‘Monday Night Banjo Night’ sign at the Lincoln Restaurant on Lincoln, near Damen and Irving Park. For years, I have wanted to see what in the world Banjo Night was. For my birthday this year, I decided to cross this curiosity off of my list. My birthday was on a Monday, which let’s fact it, can be kinda ho-hum. But thankfully, this year, was anything but ho-hum.

A lovely group of my friends met Tim and I at Lincoln Restaurant for dinner, drinks and delightful music. Tim was in charge of RSVP’s and making the reservation. This is how they spelled his last name to hold the table.

Here are my wonderful friends. We all enjoyed being called ‘The Young People’ by all of the musicians. In real life they are: Dan, Kate, Tim, Barbara, Megan, Abby, Erica, Fuzzy and Tabitha. Steph joined us a bit later. I took the picture; hence the ‘Ryeder 11’ table.

Tim and I did not realize that when one orders a (and I quote) ‘Big Ass Beer’ at the Lincoln Restaurant, this is what you get. Bottoms up, y’all!

I believe this is The Most Beer Tim Ryder has ever drunk in his entire life. To be fair, we did eat a good ol’ dinner AND we brought cupcakes to share with my friends. We made a stop at the ol’ Swedish Bakery (unfortunately, there is no Norwegian Bakery in Chicago so I have to settle for a Swedish one… but it’s great) in Andersonville and Tim picked out some gourmet cupcakes. (Red Velvet for his taste, Gourmet Chocolate for mine.) We all enjoyed them.

This is how Tim and I are today:

This is how I hope Tim and I are in the future:

Singing our dear little hearts out together but not looking up from the sheet music. Is this not The Sweetest Couple you have ever seen? And it only gets more precious.

The Windy City Jammers is a group of about fifteen gentlemen (women are welcome but none were playing that night) who play every Monday night, fifty weeks a year (Lincoln Restaurant is not open on Memorial or Labor Day or else they’d be playin’) the same fifty songs every week. None of these musicians were under sixty-five years old. There are no auditions to become a part of the group. There are no rehearsals. There was a trombone, trumpet, accordion and electric saxophone player, the rest were banjo players. They would take turns singing if songs had lyrics. Not all of the songs had lyrics. Not all of the songs were played in the same key at the same time, or the same time signature but they were all played with heart.

Some of the songs I recognized were: ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’, ‘Side By Side’, ‘Has Anybody Seen My Gal?’, ‘Tiger Rag’, and the one that really got me, being the Iowan that I am, ‘Lida Rose’ written by Meredith Wilson himself from ‘The Music Man’. Beautiful.

This gentleman is the real instigator. Unfortunately, I did not catch his name. But he got mine. He asked if I was the ‘Birthday Girl’. I said yes. He asked my name and I said, “Rebecca.” He responded with, “Oh yes. Rivka! Happy Birthday to Rivka.“

He made the rounds all evening, greeting everyone. All of us ‘young people’ got the hard sell from him. He was so happy to have us there. He encouraged everyone to try to play the banjo so we could join them. He does not want this music to ‘end up in museum’ we have to ‘keep this music alive’. He was very passionate and very kind.

He told us how easy learning the banjo is. I told him it would be easy for Tim to learn because Tim already plays the guitar. I told him I was learning the accordion but I need to get better before I play with anyone. He said,”Rivka, perfection is the enemy when learning music. Just play.“ When he found out that I was already a performer, he told the entire band that “in less than a year from now, Rivka will join us so we will have two accordions playing with us!” Rivka gots a lot of learning to do. Also - in case you didn’t get a good look at the gentleman at the next table behind us, please enjoy.

Covert picture taking done by Erica. This sweet man was maybe five feet tall, just tiny and dressed to the nine’s. Unfortunately, his top hair did not fit his head or match his bottom hair at all but by golly, was he thrilled to be out and enjoying the night life!

We were all home by 10:30pm - filled with good food, good drink, good music and good vibes. It was such a special evening. Chicagoans: if you have not been to Banjo Night, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is absolutely magical. I’ll go with you if you don’t have a buddy. We will be The Young People. Seriously. It is amazing to see music bring everyone to life and everyone together.

Mange Mange Takk for giving ol’ Rivka such a happy birthday eve, Windy City Jammers! You are delightful! Perhaps I’ll get some guts, bring Floren and join you for a jam session…

rhode island

Fri, 03 May 2013 20:21:35 -0500

I was in Rhode Island on Wednesday and Thursday. Rhode Island is one of the four states I had not been to - until this week! Now I only have three remaining! (Alaska, New Mexico and Delaware are the three left; I am not 100% sure if I have been to Delaware or not so I am counting it as a ‘no’.) And while I try to not write too much about ‘work’, I have to mention this particular gig. It was unlike any other I had been on. In so many ways.

To give you a bit of context, though, let me just in a nutshell say that I do a lot of comedy: improv (non-scripted acting) and sketch (scripted acting) through a well known theatre here in Chicago, for various corporations. It is ‘corporate comedy’ and it is fun, it pays well, it is not always ‘artistically fulfilling’ but it is always a good time. We get a lot of large corporations as clients. We are usually well received by these clients. This particular gig was not for a large corporation, though. And we were received in the Best Way. Normally, we take cabs from the airport to whatever hotel or venue the client has booked for us. Well, when we rode down the escalators at the T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, we were greeted by this sweet girl and her sweet smile, with a tulip (grown in her garden) for each of us.

You guys, her name is Haley. She is Just Six. Her friend, Alex (whom we did not meet) is Six and a Half. Haley and her mom, Amy, greeted us at the airport and drove us to our hotel. They stayed in the lobby to make sure each of us got checked into our rooms okay. They were two of the Kindest people I had ever met. A few hours later we were again picked up by another person and taken to the venue where the event was taking place. My company and I were performing for a fundraiser for a wonderful organization called PeaceLove Studios and what a gift they are! Every person we were in contact with was so delightful and kind. We did a quick tech then explored the venue. The show was fun. The gentleman who owned the venue we were performing in also owned a concert venue downtown so he comped us into an MGMT concert! I’ve never been able to just go up to the door and say, “My name is on the list.” and just be let in. It was pretty cool.

Of course, Kind Amy offered to not only take us from our performance venue, to our hotel, to the concert she also picked us up in the morning to take us from our hotel to the airport. CLIENTS NEVER DO THIS FOR US! She truly went above and beyond. She came to our hotel in the morning bearing gifts: a thank-you card to each of us made by sweet Haley. As if Haley couldn’t get more precious. Here is my tulip and card from my new sweetheart hero, Haley (who, again, remember is Just Six).

Yes - in one scene, our suggestion was ‘dog and cat’ so I was a dog. My friend Beth was a cat. I guess I play a really funny dog. I am glad Haley was able to see some of our show. It got kinda late so she could not stay for all of it. I wish I would have taken a picture with her.

Our time in Rhode Island was all too quick but it made a real impact on me. In our few hours at the fundraiser, you could really feel the powerful, positive impact that PeaceLove Studios has in Rhode Island. In fact, some of us bought t-shirts and wore them later to the concert. A few high-school girls recognized the logo and asked us about it because they had done some artwork there, too. As someone who deals with depression/anxiety, someone who has benefited from various forms of counseling and therapy and someone who not only needs an artistic, creative outlet but feels healed by art, I love what PeaceLove is. It’s good to know I am not the only one who feels this way.

Takk, Providence, Rhode Island! You and your residents are simply lovely! I hope to return to you someday!

birthday hund

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:34:23 -0500

Tim and I have returned from Minneapolis and Trond has returned from Playful Pets. The beginning of this week is starting off nicely with a visit from Josh and Allyn (Tim’s bro and his wife) so it is still quite busy around here. It is the last day of April, the last day of our Birthday Month. I have more to tell about my birthday which I shall do soon but I figure it will be quicker to share with you about the rest of Trond’s birthday first. He was quite spoiled this year. Hopefully you saw the card he received from our friend and neighbor, Barbara. He also received this beautiful bag filled with amazing presents from her (and Gracie, Lucky, Sid and Adina)!

It included this baggie filled with his favorite treats from Barbara - they smell like bacon and he LOVES them! You can see the drool beginning to form at the corner of his mouth the second I pulled this baggie out.

This beautiful little dog-friendly birthday cake - we still have it in the fridge and will give it to him soon - he had to leave for Playful Pets that morning so we are pacing all of the fun times. Look how excited he is to eat this cake! Getting a decent picture of this was a minor challenge - he was jumping up and trying to eat it - box, paper crinkle and all!

Then this awesome, big plush football! It’s great because we can throw it around and it’s soft, so it’s not loud when it lands on the floor. It’s nice and big so Trond can really dig his teeth into it. We let him play with it for about ten minutes before he had to leave. To say it was the Best Ten Minutes Ever is probably an understatement, huh, Hund?

Takk, Barbara! These presents are perfect! We are going to try to make them last as long as they can! Barbara is that awesome aunt or tante (tuhn-tah) as we say in Norwegian, who lovingly spoils Trond with affection and toys and treats and takes good care of him. Speaking of awesome aunts - my awesome Tante Sigrid and Uncle Gregg gave Trond this hilarious card. (I am told that Gregg picked it out.) That Trond, being the highbrow genius that he is, thoroughly enjoyed:

He pondered it thoughtfully, then had to, in fact, sniff the card.

Sigrid is amazing at not only sending the perfect cards, but getting them to you in time (I am not very good at that lately) and remembering special dates. She makes everything special. She remembers the first time I had waffles at her house. And the first time Trond stole waffles off of the counter at her house :) Takk, Tante Siggy and Uncle Gregg! We ‘woof’ you, too! Uff, so terribly much!

Tim picked out a toy for Trond’s birthday - this guy is got so much birthday swag! - but we made Trond work for it a little bit. Tim made him shake before throwing him the toy -

Trond was so excited to get that toy that Tim let a leg shake suffice. The hund received yet another present and was quite happy …

We are so thankful for this silly dingus! We are so very thankful for the people who love him and love us, as well! We are a blessed bunch - aren’t we, birthday hund?

These two polar bears sleep as hard, if not harder, than the...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:19:21 -0500

These two polar bears sleep as hard, if not harder, than the hund does! Look at those huge paws! We witnessed these two nappin’ large at the Polar Bear Odyssey at the Como Zoo in St. Paul, MN, yesterday afternoon. The first warm day of spring up here seemed to assist their deep, dreamy slumbers. Takk for having us, Big Guys!

The hund is a fortunate birthday boy who received a lot of nice...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:00:57 -0500

The hund is a fortunate birthday boy who received a lot of nice gifts. This is a meowing card that he received from our friend and neighbor, Barbara - and her dogs, Gracie and Lucky, and cats, Sid and Adina. Enjoy the Captain reacting to this card. Takk, Barbara and Co!

The hund turns three years old today! I can’t believe he...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:28:17 -0500

The hund turns three years old today! I can’t believe he is a three year old dog now! (In dog years its 21.) Instead of throwing him a ‘kegger’ for his big day, Tim and I left town and let Trond go to his favorite place: Playful Pets. He is having an extraordinary time there while we celebrate two of our friends getting married this weekend.
We will see you on Sunday, hund! In the meantime, we love you so very much! Happy Happy Happy Birthday, Captain Trond Kildahl Ryder!

birthday day

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:02:00 -0500

Monday, April 22nd, was Earth Day. Monday, April 22nd, was my birthday. I had many reasons to celebrate. My day started off in a lovely fashion; my sister, Katie, and brother-in-law, John, calling to sing “Happy Birthday” to me on their way to work, a lovely text message from my lovely neighbor, Barbara, saying she left a birthday package for us on our back steps -

and a sweet, tiny hund awakened me to my lovely birthday!

So far, so ~~good~~ great! I put Barbara’s present on the dining room table with my other presents and the hund would not leave his spot next to the table, you see, the fabulous bag contained a present for me, as well as, Trond because Trond’s birthday is April 25th and Barbara is a sweet heart and spoils us both. Trond could smell some sort of sweet surprise and hoped it would hop off of the table and into his mouth. So he just waited right there as Tim and I ate the special breakfast he brought to me and we got ready for our big Birthday Adventure.

Such a patient, hopeful dingus. Little did he know that there was a big surprise for him in just a few minutes. Tim, Trond and I loaded ourselves up into the car and set our course.

In a mere forty minutes or so outside of the city, we came to a place I had dreamed of being at for months:

It is a huge acreage of trails, fields, lakes and land all fenced in so the hund can be off leash and free to roam, romp and explore safely. A few of my dog owning friends had told me about the Prairie Wolf Dog Exercise Area and how wonderful it was to go visit. I knew that if the weather would let us, that is what I wanted to do on my birthday. And by cracky, the weather was perfect! The sun was actually out and shining! It was in the mid-60’s! We had not seen that in weeks! It was glorious! As we pulled into the parking lot, I thought maybe the hund’s sweet little head was going to explode. He saw and smelled the other dogs on the other side of the fence and was so excited!

We walked through both gates and then took his leash and harness off. Trond just kind of stood there and looked at us. “Go, buddy!” we told him. But he didn’t believe us. It was too good to be true, to be able to just take off full blast without a leash or harness on? You gotta be kidding me, I’m sure the hund was thinking. ‘Really, Trond. Go! Go, Pal! Go!“ He took another look at us and then blasted off!

We caught up with him and decided to take a few pictures together before we all got too muddy and dirty.

Talk about a happy girl + her happy hund! Let’s head towards the water!

The hund had not swum in over half a year and the lake was so very low last year, he didn’t ever swim, per say - he kind of ran through the water so he had to think a little bit and remember how to swim. But in no time, he took to it like a Labrador to a Lake!

Tim and I were very happy that the puppy was so happy and that it was so sunny outside. Look how happy!

We decided to go on another trail and explore some more. Trond was ready to investigate further. We walked and walked. We encountered other dogs and their owners. The dogs would check each other out and play then be off on their own ways. Trond (of course) found a ball and went crazy. The Bullet showed up and we just had to stand clear of him. He was a black, furry, huge, zooming Labrador tornado - all engines go for a few minutes solid then all of the sudden, had to just sit and collect himself. He had managed to excitedly slobber all over himself in The Bullet process.

After that little break, we decided to head into a different part of the lake. To cool him down, wash him off and maybe get a drink. He was cool with that idea.

He explored some more.

Sometimes, not often, I like to try Tim’s patience and see how many pictures he will take with me. I very seldom try his patience. This is quite a rare occurrence in our marriage.

Too bad, Tim! It’s my birthday and you have to do EVERYTHING I tell you to! Heeeee heeee heeeee haaaaaawwwww!!!!

It was so warm that I had to take off my sweat shirt and tie it around my waist and only wear my long-sleeved t-shirt (PHISH, of course) and jacket. What a dream!

Normally, Tim is the tallest living thing around so he was not all that pleased to encounter living things taller than him around. You can endure it, Tim. I know you can.

Soon, it was even too warm to have a jacket on. Once our jackets were off, Tim and I realized that we inadvertently dressed a like, in our outdoor-dog-playing-outfits. Yup, guess we’re that couple. Uff da. Oh well! EMBRACE IT! We truly embrace life… (barf)

We had to head back to the front of the acreage so Trond could get a drink of water and we could put our jackets in the car.

Look at what the water pump says!

The hund and I could have stayed for another few hours but Tim’s allergies were acting up. We decided to head back to the first beach so Trond could rinse some of the mud he walked through off of his paws. Back to the first trail, we go. Trond found another disgusting tennis ball so we played fetch as we walked to the lake. It made me think of his beautiful mama, Bella. He was running after that ball and bringing it right back to us as we made our way towards the water. This time, the hund shared the water with others.

They chased the ball and each other. Trond was cleaner after splashing around. And even though us two Norskies could have stayed longer, we didn’t want our sweet Swede to swelter and snot in the out of doors so we headed back to the car and back to the city.

It was pretty much the perfect way to spend a birthday.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That wraps up my day-time celebration. Stay tuned for what happened during the evening on my birthday - it’s a whole ‘nuther post. :)

One year and one day after I was born, I received One of My Most...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:45:00 -0500

One year and one day after I was born, I received One of My Most Favorite Gifts of Life: my double-cousin, Jennifer Joanne. I celebrate her today with a very thankful heart. To fully describe our relationship in one post is nearly impossible because we have such a unique dynamic. We are cousins but because we’re related on both sides of our family, we are more like sisters. We are only year apart and went to the same school and church. We grew up together, shared birthdays together, we pretended to be twins. Foreign twins who spoke a foreign language that only we could translate. We took piano lessons together. We watched ‘The Golden Girls’ for the first time together. We had matching outfits. We listened to Meatloaf together. We sang together. We were just usually together. I mean, look at us! Little JJ and Becki Jo; Jenn was such an adorable kid. I had horrible hair. It was so bright out that day!
Jenn is my double-cousin and I love her dearly. Jenn is also my friend and I just really like her! She is a woman who runs and owns her own business. She is a loving mother and wife. She handles everything with grace and ease. I admire her so much - it’s actually a combo of adoring her; remembering her as my sweet li’l cousin (although she’s been taller than me since middle school) and respecting her for the extraordinary person she is today.
Mange Takk, Jenn Jenn for always always always being someone I can turn to and truly confide in. Takk for always being so supportive. Takk for giggling with me for all of these years. I love love love you and am so glad we were put on this earth together! I hope you have a very happy birthday!

I am very thankful to spend my birthday outside on this warm,...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:15:59 -0500

I am very thankful to spend my birthday outside on this warm, sunny day with my dreamboat husband and dingus hund. Watch him go! Thanks for all the well wishes- I am one blessed girl.

frown/smile

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:00:00 -0500

Once again, complete and total relaxation is embodied and personified (or hund-ified, as it were) on the big couch.

He is %100 out for the count, man. He is so peacefully asleep, yet viciously passed out at the same time. Look at those big white teeth! Is he frowning or smiling? Give it a good look.

Because a few minutes later, he woke himself up. He had to hoist himself over and up, flipping his ears in the waking up process.

You are a Champion Napper, Captain Trond Kildahl Ryder.

Don’t let nobody tell you otherwise!