Winnie the Puppy!

Besides eating watermelon and walking, one of my favorite Palo Alto activities is playing with my aunt's 6-month-old puppy, Winnie. Isn't she cute? And she is very smart, too. She has a lot of energy, but is very good at her obedience commands. We (Reed, Aunt Heather and I) took her to the dog park yesterday -- it's pretty much Disneyland for dogs! She is fearless, and loves to meet other dogs, but its great because she is very submissive and friendly, and does not give the other dogs attitude, so she makes friends with everybody. I love love LOVE her!!!

Pictures of Our Current Place

Hello everyone!

This is mainly for the parents, who have been asking to see pictures of the apartment we're subletting, but perhaps you'll enjoy them, too!

This is our front door:

The building is essentially three stories: small garage on the bottom, then the main room and kitchen, and then two bedrooms upstairs.

This is the living room on the main floor:

This is our kitchen:

This is in the main room again -- a little door that leads out to the balcony:

Shot of the balcony:

This is our view from the balcony -- a very cute little neighborhood:

This next shot is terrible. It is a picture taken from the other side of the main room. I was trying to show where the kitchen and the stairs were in relation to the main room, and this is the picture that resulted -- sorry!

This is our bedroom -- on the top floor. There is also a kids' room and a bathroom on this floor.

Another shot of the bedroom + closet:

These are the stairs that lead from the main room/kitchen down to the front door and the garage. The garage door is the one on the right, and the front door is straight ahead. This is where I cornered "El Jefe," -- the scene of the kitty slasher movie.

Here is the little garage -- where the cats live in exile now:

Just to prove that the cats have food and water, and their big stinky love-sac bed thing, which I dragged down two flights of stairs pregnant. The little box and scratching post are in here, too.

This is the view from our front door:

This is the main building, just down the street from us:

Man vs. Cat

Did I say the cats and I would be friends soon? Let me re-phrase that: we are mortal enemies for all time.

While we were getting ready to come out here, I was considering moving them and their litter box and stuff to the garage, because I'm not supposed to be around them while I'm pregnant. But then, I would just imagine their sweet little kitty faces, and suddenly I'd be flooded with nesting hormones and would banish the thought.

Lucky for me, these are awful, beastly cats.

Well, I should specify. One cat is like...a South American dictator: Lazy and corrupted, waiting around all day for the things he wants, no humane interests, etc.

I like to call him "El Jefe," after Trujillo of the Dominican Republic.

The other, I've decided, is one of his mindless women -- bless her heart she is as dumb as a post -- you know, just sort of along for the ride, looks pretty and doesn't say too much.

On Monday, I decided that they needed to be exiled to the garage. After moving all of their stuff down two flights of townhouse stairs, I went in search of the pair. I found the dumb one very quickly. She didn't really put up a fight, just kept looking at me every 30 minutes or so, freshly surprised.

El Jefe proved much less cooperative. He wouldn't let me get near him, so I had to spook him from one room to the next, shutting doors behind me as I went to cut down his options. Finally, I chased him down the second set of stairs, which ends in an entryway with only two doors: the front door and the door to the garage.

It was like a kitty slasher film.

Jefe started meowing a meow that seriously sounded like he thought I was going to kill him. He reached up and pawed at the doorknob and kept looking frantically back at me as I came down the stairs.

Well, when I opened the door to the garage and threw him in, he turned and bolted out and up the stairs so fast I couldn't shut the door in time. The dumb cat followed him. They both raced up the stairs, but tried to jump through the bars of the kid-gate at the top and got stuck. They were both struggling frantically, but I think the dumb one forgot what was happening, because I had no problem putting her back in the garage. Jefe was determined. Finally, the humane person in me helped him get unstuck, but then he clawed me and bolted, and the whole process started over again.

In the end, however, I was triumphant. The evil kitties are confined to the garage with all their food and poop, and I have since vacuumed every inch of the cat-hair-covered apartment and scrubbed everything with Lysol.

Be assured, they are safe, well-fed, and comfy on their stupid cat beds. I don't abuse animals, I just don't allow them to abuse me!

Hotel California

Well, we've finally done it...we've moved to California -- only for the summer, though. Reed has an internship with Apple until August, and so we are currently sub-letting a cute condo in Palo Alto. There's a workout room and a pool, so my summer schedule is taken care of. We are taking care of two kitties while we're here (Reed couldn't be more thrilled), named Oliver and Loralei. They are sort of scared of us, but Reed dragged them out from under the bed and pet them so that they'd know we were friendly. They'll be out soon. A cat's gotta eat, right?

I have already found beautiful, delicious fruit, which now covers our kitchen counter...but I have yet to find a little stand that I can buy from. Better yet, a guy in a lawn chair on the side of the road...very good fruit is usually where the lawn chair man is -- at least that's how it works with the "corn man" in Provo. So delicious! I think I'm going to like it here, but it is a bit lonely. I miss my friends and family, but I'm sure I'll find projects to pass the time.

Baby Dreams

I had a very vivid dream last week, and I have not stopped thinking about it, so I thought I'd post it, since this is my version of a journal...

I dreamed about our baby -- that he was already here. But he wasn't just an accessory or a little toy or something. In the dream, I felt his personality so strongly!

Well when I woke up, I was ticked! I thought, "Hey, my friend is gone! Great...what am I supposed to do all day?"

Needless to say, I'm getting anxious to have him here.

Graduation

Yay for graduation!!! This is the whole group who came to celebrate with us after commencement. Elder Nelson and President Uchdorf spoke to the graduates and their comments were beautiful! Just a few highlights:

President Uchdorf instructed us never to waste our time. He said that time is the only resource that is divided fairly between every man, and how we use it is an indication of our character. No one has more or less time in a day than anyone else, and we must spend our time wisely, in the service of others, in gaining education, in helping those around us.

Elder Nelson told a beautiful story about faith. Years ago, he and many of his colleagues were attending a volunteer medical conference in a remote village in Mexico. Suddenly, one of their friends, and a fellow doctor, began bleeding without warning. Even though the room was full of doctors, they had no equipment, and were helpless to apply their medical training to assist their friend.

Elder Nelson and the other doctors prayed to God and gave the man a blessing, and the bleeding stopped.

The lesson, he said, was that we must always trust the Lord, not ourselves alone, to handle what life gives us. The doctors in the room had done their part by studying and preparing, but when they found themselves in a helpless situation, they turned to God, and God healed the bleeding man.

Both of the speaker emphasized how education is a righteous ambition, and is made powerful when combined with a humility toward God, and with faith that He will direct you in using your education to better the lives of the people around us. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Graduation was wonderful -- and I am so happy to be done with my Master's!!!!

Gillian's Baby Shower

Last week, all of our Utah-based Richey girl cousins got together for Gillian's baby shower. She is due in three weeks and is having a little boy. We are so excited for her!


Lindsay, another cousin (and Gill's sister-in-law) hosted the party and it was delicious...I mean wonderful! Here are some of the treat we got to devour:









Another highlight was getting to hold Lindsay's new little baby, Skylar Jane...

I think the following picture may be my favorite:





This is my sister, Meredith, holding the new baby. Welcome, Skylar!