Three's Company (New Puppy, Not a Baby)

Ben and I both grew up with dogs in our homes. He grew up with Golden Retrievers and I with a Cocker Spaniel and yellow Lab. Ben loves dogs and I’m just short of obsessed with them.

Think Kristen Bell and sloths.

It’s been almost ten years that I’ve wanted a dog, but circumstances did not allow for one of my own. Between not having the proper space or time due to either undergrad (cue dorm room aesthetics) or working full-time while in grad school, I couldn’t quite justify bringing one into my life pre-marriage era. After the wedding bells, we still didn’t feel it was the best time since we were both working full-time away from home with school still in the mix. My career changed after graduation which has afforded more flexibility in my schedule. Even better, it also allows me to include a therapy animal in my work so I’ve been eagerly researching and searching for a companion for our family and a four-legged, furry co-therapist.

Cocker Spaniels are great as family dogs because of their gentle, sensitive, and eager-to-please nature, but they also make great therapy dogs for these same reasons. So, without further ado, we are so excited to share that we are bringing home a black and tan cocker spaniel in July! He was born on May 8th so he’s a little over three weeks old. Over the last couple months we’ve been preparing for his homecoming with all the puppy supplies, training skills, and techniques we can find. Since he will work with me, our intent is to have him complete the necessary requirements to be a certified therapy animal. Of course this will take time so for now we’re going to thoroughly enjoy the new addition to our family and look forward to sharing more of our adventures as a family of three!

With love, 

Nat

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Dinner Date

 

Nat and I had a much-needed and "fancy" date on Friday night after I got home from work. We ate at La Jolla Groves, an Italian restaurant in Provo with a lemon theme (see the faux lemon tree in the background). We ordered a cheese tray, pasta, and afterward, we shared a slice of lemon cake. It was a great dinner and I wanted to show off my bombshell wife. 

With Love,

Ben

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The End Of A Semester & We've Found A New Gym!

     Just a little update for the blog today. There really haven't been any large, ground-shaking updates in our lives, which is completely fine. Nat and I are both plugging along, busy with work and school. Nat is slowly honing in her client caseload, trying to not overwork herself, which she can be prone to do. On my end, I have been a bit busier with work lately, which has been a hair difficult as I wrap up my Spring Semester. After my final exams and papers, there won't be much of a break for me because I'll jump right into Summer classes less than a week later.

     We've finally found a new gym to attend and we absolutely love it. It's a smaller barbell and strength training gym called The Forge. There, we've been able to do the workouts we haven't been able to do since we've moved here, met some very friendly people, and beat the crowds that seem to flood all other gyms where we live. The latter part is very important for us, let's hope our gym remains a hidden gem for a while yet.

    Overall, we're generally happy, living healthy, eating well, and taking our vitamins. All that good stuff.

With Love,

Ben

PS I have enjoyed not having social media. Apart from not easily accessing life updates and pictures of my family, I don't miss it too terribly. It has been very freeing and has opened up a lot of time for me.

Barbells for doing big lifts!

Big ol' rocks (Atlas Stones)

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