Engagement Photos!

We have officially taken them, and they are now up to view! Yayyy!!!

Our friend Lauren so graciously took the time out of her day to take our pictures for us. I was so grateful. They turned out BEAUTIFUL and I am so excited! I love looking at them over and over!

Below is the link to the pictures. The ones I posted are almost every single one we did. We actually took about 240, but I didn't post all because some were doubles.

Right now, we're in the process of choosing which ones we love and then getting them all re-touched and fancied up. The one's you're viewing are the raw originals. Let Tyson and I know which ones you like! We would love your opinions since we love so many. It'll help us narrow it down.


HERE ARE THE ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS:

http://picasaweb.google.com/reannins/EngagementPhotos

Take Your Fiance to Work Day

I would just like to say that this Tuesday, May 6, Tyson and I are going to take our engagement pictures!!! YAY!!!! I can't seem to decide on what we're going to wear. I'm toggling between two ideas. I'm almost thinking that I might just have us bring the two outfits I'm considering to be photographed in since I can't make up my mind. Oh decisions, decisions! But, anyways, hopefully we'll get the pictures developed quickly after taking them so I can post them up for everyone to see.

This past Wednesday, I stayed home sick, and I pretty much layed on the couch all day. Tyson was gone all day at K9 training, and when he got home, he was supposed to go to his extra job. I was looking all sad and everything because we never get to really be with and see each other often, and I most certainly was sad that I was going to stay at home sick by myself. All of the sudden, he got this bright idea to bring me to his extra job. It is one where all he has to do is sit in his car and watch over a business. This was a PERFECT opportunity for us to spend time with each other because he couldn't grab the remote and watch the T.V. HA! All in all, it was nice to spend some quality time just sitting in a car together.

While Tyson was at K9 training this Wednesday, the trainer told Tyson some more stuff that he's figuring out about Rosco. Apparently, while the trainer was teaching Rosco to "Platz" (lie down) Rosco was lying down, but, at the same time, creeping towards the treat. The trainer kept saying, "Ah! Fooey!" to tell him, "No," and that he wasn't going to get it till he was pefectly lying down. After a few of the Ah Fooeys, the trainer was talking to Tyson. All of the sudden Rosco sneakily just lied down still. The trainer told Tyson, "Aha! Did you see that! He knew all along, but he's looking into how to do the least amount of work to get the treat! He's smart." Basically, the trainer says we have a very smart dog. This can be both good and bad. It's good because he'll learn quickly, but it's bad because he will try to out smart us. We're going to have to keep on our toes with him. Overall, Rosco is quite the handful and is TOTALLY different compared to what Precious was like as a puppy. I tell Rosco every day, "I'm glad that I'm young while raising you or else I wouldn't be able to keep up with you." I still love him to death though even if he drives me crazy most days.

The Break is Almost Here!!!

Ah yes! I have one more class day until I'm OFFICIALLY on a break. Well, actually, I have another class that goes till May, but it's a joke. I'm getting the tough class out of the way. I had my exit conference with my professors and they had GREAT news to tell me! Let's just say I got three "A's" for their class. This one class equaled three classes in one, so that's why I get three grades for those that don't know. Buuuuut.....I did receive some other excellent news that I'm only keeping to my family and REALLY close friends.

Also....do you know what this means......WEDDING PLANNING TIME!!! Now I'm able to REALLY start to focus on some things that need to be taken care of. First on the list is the engagement photos and save the date cards. I know I have been saying for a long time now that these will be finished, and I'm here to say that Tyson and I will be getting started on it REAL soon. I promise! I'm taking a two week break where I'm going to just "revive" myself and "freshen up" from this semester, and then I'm going to schedule with our friend, Lauren, to take the pictures. We are super excited!

Tyson is doing great,working hard as usual. Bless his heart. I don't know how he does it with his weird schedule, but I sure am grateful for all that he does for me so I can focus on school. It was because of him that got me those three "A's" in one of the toughest classes I've ever taken. If he didn't tell me to cut back on work, I don't know how I would have done it. Now I have to convince him to stop taking so many extra jobs and relax. He's going to wear himself thin if he keeps up with this. Anyways...He took Rosco to the Trainer and the K9 training on Wednesday. From what the trainer told him....we have a good dog. Rosco has a good bite, he's courageous, and he's going to be big for a malinois. Yayyy! I want my big boy! The only poopy thing that the trainer told Tyson is that it looks to him like we have a stubborn dog. I was like, "Tell me something I don't know!" It's okay. I love him to death. He's doing so good, and he learns really fast. He's hyper as can be, and he frustrates us some days, but he's a good boy. Once we get started with some obedience training with him, he's going to be a good dog. The one thing I wish he'd do is when I go to give him love and attention, he likes to bite out of excitement instead of "giving kisses" like some other dogs do. I wish he'd just give kisses. :( My arms sure are sore. :(

Overall, Tyson and I are hanging in there! We hope all is well with everyone!

Welcome Home Rosco!!!

Tyson and I would like you to meet.................ROSCO!

Currently, he is 7 weeks old and is the SAME SIZE as Precious. Oh yes! He's a big boy. His dad was about 90 lbs, and mom was about 60 lbs. We'll just see what size he decides to take. Rosco is EXTREMELY playful and is already quite the biter. His insticts are to bite anything in sight. Sometimes it's really annoying, but, we have to remember.... A)He's a puppy B)He comes from a background of bite dogs and C)We have to tolerate it because we don't want to discourage him from biting right now. Our trainer says we can help him learn to differentiate between what's appropriate to bite and what's not appropriate to bite.

The first night in the kennel was a bit of a nightmare. Tyson and I got absolutely no sleep! But, last night was the third night in the kennel, and he's getting better. He barely makes a peep now! He only whines a little when he wants to get out. He does not like going into his kennel. He plants all of his body weight on the floor to where we have to force him in it.

The potty training thing is going good so far. He's realized that outside is where he potties...but we still have accidents. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!! He gets SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO distracted when we're outside. He loves the little wood chips from the mulch and wants to chew on those. He'll start to sniff like he's ready to go potty, but then he sees a chip and pulls us to it.......COMPLETELY forgetting that he had to go to the bathroom. We're constantly redirecting! He also likes to stick his nose deep into the grass, lie down, and eat it. Sometimes he realizes outside is potty time, and sometimes he just wants to explore and play.

I would just like to say that juggling two dogs is QUITE the adventure!!! It's REALLY REALLY REALLY hard! The apartment isn't quiet anymore, and it's hard to get them both in one place at once. The best example I can give is during outside time. Tyson and I have found that we have to try to take them out one by one right now. Rosco wants to play with Precious while Precious is trying to go to the bathroom, thus, Rosco forgets he needs to go. If we do take both of them out, they are both too stubborn to come back in. If I have to take both of them out at the same time, I'll usually keep Rosco on a leash because he'll try to play instead of focus. I'll let Precious not be on one so she can go do her business while I hold him. When I'm trying to get both of them in, I'm holding Rosco in one arm while pulling Precious by the collar with the other hand (because she won't come in unless I do that). If I'm not doing that......I've got one in each arm. WHEW! I'm going to lose a lot of weight by the end of all of this!!!

Right now, Rosco is trying to be the alpha dog. It seems like he's also trying to "claim me" with Precious. When I'm sitting down and Rosco is off playing with a toy, Precious will try to come sit in my lap. I'll give her attention and love on her, BUUUUUUUUT.......Rosco will seem me doing this with her, he'll stop what he's doing and try to nudge her off of me and then HE'LL sit on my lap. He does this EVERY TIME. Apparently, he doesn't do this with Tyson. Right now, my poor baby girl isn't getting much attention like she used to . Also, they both like to play on Tyson and me, or around and near Tyson and me. They can never go off into an open space to play. They have to be touching us or something.

Anyways! Rosco is a cutie and a handful. It's certainly a huge handful with two dogs now. I'll keep you guys updated with every little adventure! Below is a link to MANY pictures of Rosco. ENJOY!

http://picasaweb.google.com/reannins/WelcomeHomeRosco

A Few Updates

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Tyson and I have been so busy. This week started my "teach week." On Tuesdays for the next two weeks, I have to teach a full blown lesson. It is a skill that the children HAVE NOT LEARNED YET. Yes. I WAS nervous, but yesterday, I taught my first lesson on verbs to my first grade class, and it went really well. I got a lot of positive feedback from my mentor and observers who came and watched me, and the children seemed to have caught on to what verbs are. Thank goodness I didn't ruin them for life!

Yesterday, the dog breeder emailed Tyson a couple of pictures of our puppy......or I should say...........Tyson's K9 bite dog. He's SOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!!! Tyson can't wait to get him NEXT WEEK!!! I can't believe it has come up so soon. I'm excited, but a little nervous because we have to go through all of the "puppy" things like the potty training and the crying and whining at night. Say goodbye to some more sleep. :( It's okay though! I can't wait to hold him and play with him, and I can't wait to see how him and Precious interact. Here are a few pictures of our puppy!

Also, here's Precious with the "new do," or as I'd like to call it, "the ugly cut." Poor thing has to meet her brother looking scary, but she needed to be shaved to save us from the matting.

OH YEAH.....NOT SO FLUFFY ANYMORE!

I'M STARTING TO THINK WE PICKED UP THE WRONG DOG AT THE GROOMERS.

Anyways! That's pretty much it. I started teaching, the new puppy is coming, and Precious got an ugly haircut. We're still busy as ever. This week, Tyson is taking classes to get his Intermidiate Police Officers Certificate, so he's unable to go to the K9 trainings. He won't be able to go for a couple more weeks because he's driving up to Mississippi to get the new pup all of next week.

This upcoming month, Tyson and I should be taking engagement photos, and hopefully, I can get started on the Save the Date cards to send out. That's it for now..........We love you all!

There's No Place Like Home...

At the beginning of Tyson and my Spring Break, we took some time to go to Austin/Georgetown and visit our family. There is definitely no place like home. You feel more relaxed, and it is so nice to get away and have mom and dad there for ya. I had so much fun going birthday shopping and celebrating an early birthday for me with my mom. THANK YOU mommy for the awesome BCBG top that we got for an unbelievable price! I'm still telling the story! Ha! Ha! Anyways! I truly feel I don't get to see my mom enough, and every time I do, I feel like I'm home again. As my mom would like to say it, "It's my oasis."
Also, when Tyson and I go to visit his mom and dad.......they, too, make it feel so relaxed and "homey." They also did an early celebration for my birthday. YAY for the spa gift card so I can go get a well deserved massage, and YAY for the yummy strawberry cheesecake that I oh so love! THANK YOU Nancy and Hugh!
It was so nice to see Tyson so excited on Sunday morning while on our way up to Austin. I know he was excited to see his mom and dad. He is always so thrilled!
Today, Tyson and I went up to Heather's Glen to go make a payment for our wedding. I got to see (somewhat) how much of the flowers are in bloom around this time since this will be about the time we get married next year. I was disappointed to see that the vines still looked dry and dead, and there weren't many flowers blooming. Hopefully, the case is that it is still the beginning of March, and we're getting married at the end of March, so things will progress towards the end of the month. Or, I'm hoping it's just because it was cold for an extended period of time, and the flowers haven't gotten a chance. Maybe we've lacked in rain???? I don't know. Oh well. Maybe next year it will all be lush.
Otherwise, Tyson and I are still soaking up the last few days of our Spring Break together, and I'm certainly catching up on sleep. I can't tell you how good it feels to not have to wake up to an alarm buzzing at 5:30 in the morning, and being able to be with Tyson for a full day. Tyson certainly enjoys all of the relaxation time. YAY FOR A VACATION! Anyways! Keep in touch everyone! Again, Tyson and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from all of you!

Fun Stuff!

Hello everyone! Everything is going great for Tyson and me. Spring break is coming up, and Tyson was able to get off from work, which is VERY rare! We're so excited to be able to spend a whole week together! During this week, I get to go to one of Tyson's bite/narcotic dog training sessions with him. I'M SO EXCITED!

On another note......I'm so excited to tell everyone that I made the National Honor's Society and the Dean's List at Sam Houston State University! Yay for a few more things to stick on the resume!

As I told everyone in the last blog entry, Tyson just went through decoy school where he trained with some bite dogs, and how to work with them. We just received a CD of a bunch of pictures from his eventful week. It is really neat to see how these dogs work. I can't wait to get ours in one more month! Below are some pictures of Tyson training with some dogs. Also, below all of the taining pictures is a video of Tyson in action! Don't be scared. He knows what he is doing. :)

The "jist" of what this bite training is all about:

Every dog has an owner/trainer, and those dogs are taught to only attack on a command. They are trained on commands in either dutch, german, french, etc. Basically, mainly not in english. The dogs are trained to get excited to want to attack a "bad guy." When they get a bite, that is their reward, and they get so excited. You will see their tails wagging because it is like a game to them. Again, they are only taught to do this ON THE OWNERS COMMAND. They are just like a normal, fun, loving dog otherwise. Trust me.....it took me a while to understand this. They aren't trained to be mean, just to know if they see someone trying to intimidate them, or run from them, and the owner/trainer says the command.........they go. Other than that, they have to stay. During training, the "decoy" (the one who wears the bite suit and gets attacked for training purposes) must try to get the dog ready to attack. They start to run, the dog is released, and then the dog jumps up in the air and grabs what is put in front of him/her. Usually, the decoy is to try to pretend to fight the dog by hitting it with a rubber stick, or picking the dog up and pretending to throw it to the ground. I was AMAZED to see how many dogs just would not let go no matter how many times they were tossed around. Don't worry, the dogs aren't being hurt. The decoy does it GENTLY to try to emmulate real life. This is to see if the dog knows not to let go no matter the circumstances, unless it is given a command. The decoy is also supposed to pretend like they are hurt or screaming. This is the dog's rewards, and builds the dogs confidence by letting him/her know that they are winning. Usually, if the decoy pretends to go to the ground, this is also the reward. Well, there is the "jist" to make sense of some of these pictures.

There's no need to fear!

UNDERDOG is here!