Halloween

The Reed family’s first Halloween together was spent at the Hood household partying and handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  On an earlier visit, we made the mistake of mentioning carving pumpkins to Hannah.  She thought it sounded like a grand idea and called us on a regular basis to remind us that we needed to come carve a pumpkin with her on Halloween.  So, promptly after our arrival on Halloween Hannah drew out on a piece of paper what she wanted her pumpkin to look like and we proceeded to help her carve out the face.  As per William’s request, we also roasted the pumpkin seeds.  They were pretty tasty even though we did leave them in the oven a little too long.  After all the messy work was done, we helped Hannah get all dressed up and ready for her evening as the officially candy hander-outer.

Kylie stayed at home, but Payton was very excited to go play with Uncle Ruger and show off her Halloween costume to Grandma and Grandpa.  We also provided costumes for Hannah and Ruger, the procrastinators.  Payton appropriately dressed up as an angel for Halloween.  The mystery of how the angel’s halo got chewed up still hasn’t been solved.  Who would do such a thing?  Ruger posed for the evening as the devil, and Hannah made a very beautiful witch with all of her accessories.  

Everyone had a great time at the party and ate way too much candy.  Payton had her first photo shoot with Ruger and Hannah.  They all did a great job posing as long as Payton wasn’t touching Ruger.  Hannah shared with us her love note she received earlier that week from her classmate and played a little monkey in the middle against Payton.  After tucking Hannah into bed and saying our goodbyes we headed home.  Payton promptly passed out in the back seat as a result of her hectic evening.  The evening was a success!

Moving Time

Will and I have thoroughly enjoyed our little house.  The size and location couldn’t be much more perfect for us.  Unfortunately, though, we have been having some health issues due to large amounts of mold in the house caused by continuous water intrusion.  Since the problems are not being addressed, we have decided to relocate.  This weekend we will be moving from Jonesborough to Kingsport.  We will still be attending school at ETSU and will stay for now at our current jobs. I have been working at Pier 1 Imports and Will has been working at E. Luke Green Co.  As much as we hate to move again, we are excited to get a fresh start in a healthier atmosphere.

Addition to the Family

Will and I are pleased to announce the new addition to our little family.  Kylie, a long haired kitten, came home with us today.  When we met her she purred and loved on us until we couldn’t part with her.  Thru the travel home and everything we hadn’t heard a meow out of her, just purring.  We were trying to decide what to name her.  We both were suggesting names, but when Will suggested Kylie, she looked up at us and meowed.  So Kylie it is.

Payton loves her new little sister!  She was excited from the very beginning.  Kylie finds her a little intimidating however, and when Payton gets too playful she will hiss at Payton to tell her to calm down.  And usually she does.  Payton loves to snuggle her head against Kylie and lick her.  We have great hopes that they will grow up to be the best of friends!

Peyton Manning



Peyton Manning



When we showed Hannah a picture of Payton for the first time and told her we named her Payton, Hannah was most excited.  She looked up from the picture and said, “Peyton Manning????”  Hannah couldn’t believe we were naming our dog after her favorite football player!



Peyton Manning????



Hannah finally made it over to our house to see Payton about a week later.  We all got inside the house and Hannah said, “Mom, look! Peyton Manning!”  Mom and Dad had another wedding to photograph that day so Hannah was spending the night with me and Will.  Being as Payton is only about 6 months old, she is still very easily excited and very easily forgets who to act like a lady.  Hannah wasn’t too sure of it at first, but it didn’t take too long for her to get comfortable with bossing Peyton Manning around.  All evening we heard, “Peyton Manning, cute dog…Sweet Peyton Manning.”  I’m not sure Payton has gotten used to the addition Hannah added onto her name.

Me and Hannah

That night after Hannah was tucked into bed, she wanted to give Mom a call to tell her goodnight.  Mom didn’t answer.  While we were waiting for her to call back, I went about taking care of some things around the house.  Before long I heard Hannah whispering for Will.  She was saying, “William? William, look!”  I went to see what was so exciting.  When I walked into the living room (Hannah decided she wanted to sleep on the couch), Payton was up on the couch with Hannah.  Hannah, who was on the outside, was about to be pushed off the couch by how much space Payton was taking up.  I grabbed Payton and scolded her, because she is not allowed on the furniture.  Hannah thought it was the greatest thing ever though.  When Mom finally called back, Hannah told Mom all about how Peyton Manning climbed in bed with her.  It was at that point we realized Hannah’s misunderstanding could raise some questions if she went to school talking about all this.  Hannah will not be deterred, however.  She knows a Peyton Manning when she sees one!

Baby Girl

Payton has been in our family for nearly a month now.  It seems like much longer.  At this point it is hard to imagine not having her with us.  She is still doing great with her training, though we haven’t been working with her as diligently as we should.

Payton had a successful first visit to the vet two weeks ago.  In the waiting room she just wanted to play with all of the dogs and kittens that came in.  And then a little grey Chihuahua came in.  She just couldn’t figure out what that thing was, but she was willing to play with it just the same if only she could get close enough.

Payton weighed in at a whopping 32 lbs.  She loved all of the attention she got from the vet and her assistant.  When the vet pulled out that first shot, however, Payton let out a yelp before the vet even approached her.  The treat at the end made it all worthwhile, though.

Ruger after Mom hurt his feelings

  

Last Sunday, Payton met her Uncle Ruger.  Ruger is a seven year old male Doberman Pincher.  The introduction went well, especially considering Ruger is not used to sharing his house with other dogs…I mean, children.  All thru the first session of General Conference, Ruger and Payton crawled, squirmed, scooted or whatever it took to get close to each other.  We took them both outside between sessions to play.  It was very amusing.  It started off with Ruger chasing Payton around the yard.  Payton, being a third of the size of Ruger, was slightly intimidated at first.  It wasn’t long before she got her confidence up though.  Before we knew it, Payton was jumping over Ruger’s back like it was nothing.  Ruger didn’t know what to think about that poorly behaved dog.  What he did know, however, is that he didn’t have the energy to keep up with her.  Needless to say, once we went back into the house both Payton and Ruger passed out and had a good nap.

Publish Post

Payton does not like for either of us to leave the house.  When Will is gone, any time a car with a loud exhaust passes the house Payton jumps up and runs to the door.  When I don’t go open the door for her, she starts ringing the bells relentlessly until I break down and take her outside.  Whenever either of us takes a shower, she sits outside the bathroom door waiting for it to open.  When she sees us putting our shoes on she does her best to distract us.  We always put her in her kennel when we leave the house.  She fights going into that kennel.  We practically have to throw her in.  When she sees us coming for her she runs and once we have hold of her she fights us the whole way to the kennel.  However, if we are relaxing at home and she knows we aren’t going to leave, she loves her kennel and is constantly in and out of it on her own.

Payton passed out in her kennel with her head hanging out.

As attached as she seems to be to us, however, we are every bit as much attached to her.  We are definitely the type of owners who (if home phones and answering machines were still in style) would call home while we are out and talk to our baby girl over the answering machine just to “make sure she is doing okay.”

Music Appreciation

Tonight Will and I had the joy of attending a concert by the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra.  Truth be told, it was a requirement for my music appreciation class.  We did find it somewhat enjoyable, however.  The most exciting part was we got in free for being students!  It was the first symphony orchestra either of us had attended.  When we got to our seats and looked at the program we saw that they were only doing three pieces.  We thought for sure we would be out of there within about 45 minutes.  We were wrong.  We didn’t head home until nearly two hours later.  Next weekend we’ll head to Ashville to attend Ashville’s symphony orchestra.  Will and I are both excited for this semester to end.

One Week Down, Thirteen to Go!

Yes, we are already counting down to the end of the semester!  We have made it far enough into the semester for the tests to begin.  Will had two tests this week: one in Anatomy and Physiology, and one in his math class.  My tests begin next week.  I have four to prepare for on Thursday.  Overall, our classes are going well.  We are still enjoying being here at ETSU.  It has definitely been a better experience for us here.  We have enjoyed some of the events on campus as well.

I started work at Pier 1 Imports last Tuesday.  I’m still excited to have a job there, so I guess that is a good thing.  My only concern is being disciplined enough not to spend my entire paycheck at work!  After I got off work Will and I took Payton and Whitney to the soccer game on campus.  It was ETSU vs. Virginia Tech.  The game was intense.  ETSU won, 1-0.  When ETSU scored, everyone started cheering and celebrating.  To say Payton was startled by the cheering would be an understatement.  She was terrified and instantly jumped into my lap where she remained until well after the crowd calmed down.

On Wednesday evening we packed Payton up again and headed to Memaw’s house for supper.  It was delicious!  Payton doesn’t get car sick, but she is a little bit afraid of the car.  As long as someone sits in the back seat with her, she does fine.  This week we’ve noticed she’s gotten better and better about it, so Wednesday we let her ride in the back seat all by herself.  She wasn’t totally okay with it, but she came up with a compromise.

Yesterday my crafting skills (or lack thereof) were put to the test.  We needed a better way for Payton to tell us she needed outside to potty.  Unless we are paying close attention, we don’t always notice when so goes and sits by the back door.  Sometimes by the time she gets our attention, she barely has time to stop and squat outside before she starts to pee.  I remembered years ago my parents had our Doberman Paige trained to ring a bell to let us know she needed outside.  So Payton and I headed to Michaels for some bells.  We bought our pack of bells and a discounted roll of ribbon and made a doggy doorbell for both the front and back door.  Payton is still learning how to use it, but the bells definitely caught her attention.  We don’t think it will be much longer before she understands how they work.

Wild Weekend

Friday night Will and I went to South High’s football game with Will’s family.  The game proved to be a fairly exciting one!  After giving Will as many reasons as possible to critique how poorly South’s team was playing, they pulled it together at the end and went into overtime.  The overtime paid off.  South walked away with a win.

Saturday was another exciting day for me and Will.  Due to help from Will’s dad, we were finally able to get our fridge moved from Will’s granny’s house to our own.  Our landlord provided a fridge, which we have been using, but it is nice to have a much larger fridge in our kitchen at last.  Now all we need to do is get rid of the landlord’s fridge!  That kitchen definitely is not big enough for two fridges!

But the most excitement on Saturday comes from the fact that our little family increased by one.  Will and I have wanted to get a dog for a while now. We've been doing a lot of research to figure out what breed would be best for us.  We started off with a long list of dogs we were both interested in owning, then we read up on each of them.  We finally came to the conclusion that the boxer breed was the dog we wanted.

Boxers are a very energetic breed.  They love running and playing, however, they are best as a house dog because they chill and overheat very quickly and easily.  Boxers are very friendly, and they are supposed to be particularly fond of children.  Being as we planned on still having the dog by the time we start having kids, this was our main point of interest.  We wanted to choose a breed that is well known for naturally being good with kids.

We couldn’t wait to get Payton home.  Over the past three days that we’ve had her, she has learned so much!  At her last home, she lacked much human contact, let along training.  We were slightly worried that we would have a difficult time training her.  All our worries have ceased, however.  Payton has shown us just how intelligent and loving she is.  We love how attentive she is and how quickly she picks up on things.  She has learned to sit and lay down on command, and we have begun teaching her how to heel.  She does get easily distracted still, but that is only to be expected with a 6 month old pup.  After we show her something once she remembers it well.  She loves praise and is willing to earn it.  Of course training treats are pretty good encouragement as well.

Semester Sets In

It is the third week of the semester here at ETSU.  Will and I are enjoying the differences in school here versus school at BYUI.  It is always nice to know that in math class, you will receive a lecture about math and in science class, you will receive a lecture on science.  Also, if you ever have a question all you have to do is call the school.  Half the time the operator can answer your question, if it is a basic one.  If it is a little more complicated, the operator knows what department you need to speak to. 

Will is starting as a freshman and trying to get his prerequisites for the nursing program taken care of right now.  So far, everything is going great.  Right now the plan is to do nursing and minor in Spanish.  Will’s advisor made him sign up for one of the entry level Spanish classes despite the fact he speaks Spanish fluently.  He only had three years of Spanish in high school and let’s face it; high school was a few years ago.  After wowing his professor, maybe next semester they will allow him to sign up for a Spanish class at his level.  Hopefully things continue to go smoothly for him.

I am still doing education.  Here at ETSU, however, I am considered a sophomore with about 70 unused credits.  Life can be very depressing at times…I was late getting started this semester with my classes.  ETSU requires each student to show proof of certain vaccinations.  One of these vaccinations is the chicken pox vaccination.  Being raised in a home where you only visit the doctor if you have insane amounts of blood gushing from your body, I had missed out on this vaccination as a child.  The shocking part is, in a college town where this is a requirement to attend school, no one, including the school clinic, has any chicken pox vaccinations to give.  I was eventually able to find a doctor in Gray who had it and could administer it.  Now it is just a waiting game to see if the insurance will pay for it, given my age. 

The only thing we are missing at this point is our books for our classes.  Our financial aid has been taking its dear sweet time making its way to our bank accounts.  So for now our grades depend on our sponge like minds, our aggressive note taking, and the internet.  Maybe we’ll get our financial aid this week…

Weekend With Family

It was my sister Caitlin's 18th birthday on Friday.  Will and I went to celebrate her birthday with my family.  After dinner at Pizza Hut, we all headed back to the house for Triple Layer Cheesecake made by none other than the birthday girl.  At least Mom and Dad remembered to buy candles this time.  The cheesecake was delicious. 

Even though it wasn't Hannah's birthday, Will brought her a gift too.  He gave her a small bottle of Victoria Secret perfume.  Hannah loved it!  She was so proud to have her own bottle of perfume.  She went around making everyone smell it on her neck and then from the bottle as well.  Will made her day.

Because I was going to be working with my parents the next day photographing a wedding at the Martha Washington Inn, we decided to save on a second trip and just stay the night.  It was the first time Will and I stayed at my parent's house since we got married.  Since there isn't a lot of extra space for overnight guests at their house, in the past I always would sleep with my youngest sister Hannah.  Sure enough, once bedtime starting rolling around Hannah began making her request to sleep with me.  Will and I blew up the air mattress in the living room.  Meanwhile, we all tried to explain to Hannah that Will and I are married now.  We sleep in the same bed like Mom and Dad.  She just wrinkled up her nose at us with an obviously disapproving look.  She wasn't about to be jipped out of her bedtime companion.  When Will and I laid down on the mattress together Hannah decided there was just enough room for the three of us.  She climbed in next to me and requested that Mom get her some pajamas to change into.

Seeing that Hannah was determined, we finally talked her into letting us pull her mattress off her bed and placing it on the floor next to our air mattress.  This way, she still got her way, but none of us had to suffer thru the night packed on to the air mattress.  Hannah was happy.

The next day, Saturday, Hannah was excited to get some one on one time with her new brother-in-law.  While Caitlin continued packing for her move west and my parents and I were off at the wedding, Hannah sat on the couch with Will watching football and solving Sudoku puzzles.  Will offered to play Old Maid with her or watch one of her movies with her but she was perfectly content with the way things were.  There's other way she would have rathered spend her day than sitting with her handsome sweet boy, watching football, and playing Sudoku.  All in all, it was a successful day.

A Blast From The Past

Last night I walked into my bedroom to get ready for bed and there was my husband sitting on the edge of the bed playing video games.  A couple days earlier we picked up the first edition Nintendo from Will’s parent’s house with plans to sell it and all of the games.  Will hooked it up “to make sure it was still working properly.”  Much past our bedtime and after so many two player games on Mario Brothers and Mario Brothers 3 we finally retired.

It was crazy to see the difference in graphics and sound effects of the video games Will and I grew up playing versus the video games that are popular today.  We will see if we ever get around to posting the Nintendo for sell.