Molly Mechanic aka Beans aka Molly

Just about one month ago today we adopted another dog, Molly. As some of you know, I have been looking for another Boston Terrier for about 3-4 years, ever since I wore Nick down enough to let me get another dog. Dexter came from a breeder (and most likely not a very nice one) and while I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world, I knew the second time around I wanted to go the rescue route.

I had applied for Boston Terrier's before and we even had one come into the shelter, but they were just never the right fit.

In mid-February, my friend Jessie tagged me in this post on Facebook:

I filled out an application and was called the next day, and arranged to make the almost 3 hour trip down to Connecticut a few days later. I took Nicholas and Dexter down with me, Nick had to work but told me he trusted my judgement. Molly is about half the size of Dexter, and when they first met she was a bit growly with him and I thought oh man, this is not going to work out. But, come to find out she's actually very submissive and had been living with a not so nice dog that pretty much forced her to start sticking up for herself. After a few moments of them checking each other out, they were able to co exist just fine (I think she realized Dexter posed no threat whatsoever). She also immediately took to Nicholas (and that hasn't changed since the day we brought her home).

Here is the one picture I could get as she was running around like crazy when we met her:

As much as I wanted to adopt her right there, I knew the right thing to do was to sleep on it, so I did. She went back into foster care and when I was sent this picture it pretty much sold me. THE ATTITUDE in this picture! OMG- it's so funny, because she really doesn't have an attitude at all- that's just her face, haha:

Nicholas immediately took to calling her Molly Mechanic for some reason. I really liked the name Molly so we kept it. I had contemplated changing it to Morgan (i.e.: Dexter Morgan) but I don't think my sister in law Morgan would appreciate that very much :)

We picked Molly up on a Friday and I crated her in the back of my car for safety reasons. When we stopped at a drive thru for lunch, I called her name and saw her little ears perk up out of the crate in my rear view mirror. I told her not to worry, that no one would leave her again and that she was going home, where she would stay forever. I got a little choked up thinking about what could have happened to her, as she was in a high kill shelter when she was rescued by Murphy's Paws. The first night that we had her, I sent a sappy post to my shelter friends telling them I've only had Molly for a few hours and knew that she was meant to be ours. That I understand even more now while people rescue, and how lucky I feel to be a part of the Lowell Humane Society Family.

Since then, Molly has settled in well. We've had some trying times with house training- the few feet of snow in the back yard did not help I am sure- I don't even know if she's ever seen snow before as she came from California. But, she loves to snuggle, loves Nicholas, is warming up to Nick (haha), and really loves me. I am so happy that she found her way to us (thanks to Jessie) and we love her so much.

Well

Well, I've already fallen off the wagon with posting, haha. But honestly, we have not had too much going on, which is a pretty great thing! The last few weekends have been pretty low key, we had a children's party here and there, but we've had a really great time just relaxing, and just "being." With all the terrible and insane things that are happening in the world right now, it's nice to just focus on the things that are most important- family, friends, and being happy.

I'm really enjoying school and as this is my last class, I will be sad when it is over. I'm taking Fundamentals of Animal Health and it's very interesting and exciting for me, which makes it easy to go to class when I have it. I have a relatively big class (25 students) and I see a lot of familiar faces and friends so that is nice too.

We celebrated Alice's 3rd birthday a few weeks ago and our friends Andrew and Shaela had a party for their 2 and 1 year old, Ashlyn and Kailyn. It's always good to be with friends we've known for years and to see their beautiful children grow (and same goes for family, of course).

Hope you are all well and enjoying life. I know I am.

xoxo

A Great New Year

Last Wednesday I headed to New York for a few days. Nicholas will be starting kindergarten (!!!) in the fall and I realized we won’t be able to just get up and go visit whenever we want. My last class starts next week and I will be graduating from my certificate program this May and plan on getting a job once Nicholas starts school as well. The type of work I will be looking for (anything with dogs, really!) will most likely have me working weekends and even holidays. My Dad recently also turned 71 and as much as I do not like to admit it, he’s not a spring chicken anymore. I want him to get to see Nicholas and spend as much time with him as possible, so I’m glad we were able to make the long trip down.

The week before we were leaving I heard from my long time friend Lisa, and she invited me to her stepfather Steve’s 75th birthday. I thought that was such a wonderful gesture (I’ve known her and Steve since we were kids) and I was glad I got to make it there. Her Mom told me that Lisa was so excited when she learned that I could go, and that just made my heart happy. We played trivia about Steve and I actually did pretty well- the memories of the farm where we worked as teenagers had me laughing so hard. Nicholas ran around with another young boy and Lisa said it was really great because the boy was usually pretty shy- if anyone can bring someone out of their shell, it’s Nicholas. That’s one of the many things I love about him. Nicholas made so many friends and Steve told me that he was simply adorable :)

Nicholas and I also got to meet my brother Dylan and his wife Mariana’s son, our new nephew and cousin Ethan, for the first time. Our plan was to visit for a few hours but we ended up getting snowed in and spending the night. Mariana was wonderfully welcoming and Dylan picked up dinner on his way home from work- we had a great time and I don’t get to see them nearly as often as I would like so it was great to spend time with them.

Erik and Joe’s house was wonderful as always, not too much chaos with the dogs- I left Dexter at home this time around and we missed him (oh and Nick too, haha), so much! Nicholas is really attached to and loves Uncle Joe so much- as we were driving down I asked if he was excited to see everyone and he said ‘I’m so excited to see Uncle Joe.” It’s good to be home and I’m looking forward to the upcoming celebrations we have in the coming weekend.

xoxo

Happy New Year!

Hey Everyone!

Long time, no blog. As always, life has been busy and crazy and wonderful. Nicholas is growing so fast, he'll be 5 in just a few short months and start kindergarten this coming fall. I'm going to keep this short and sweet, as I'm visiting family for the next 5 days.

My "simple" New Year resolutions (I rarely make these, but felt like doing it this year- as you'll see, they will be pretty easy to keep).


1. Blog once a week, most likely on Wednesday and after Nicholas is in bed.
2. Work out a minimum of 3 times a week- I have been doing this consistently for over a year now, so I don't see this as being a tough one to follow, I just want to stick with it.
3. Stretch for 5 minutes every morning- I always slack on stretching and really want to get back into it.
4. Spent less time on my phone, and more time with friends and family.

That's all, folks!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that you all have a happy and healthy new year.

xoxo

Life is Grand, You Guys.

Kahler's Pond, Center Moriches- Long Island. I used to love this place as a kid and Nicholas did too.

Holtsville Ecology Site in Brookhaven, on Long Island. I haven't been here in over 20 years, it was just as I remembered but more grand. Nicholas had so much fun seeing all different types of animals and playing on the super cool playground. Staff was friendly, and for all that you could do it was only $5 to park!

Being silly with Grampa

Soaking up the last wonderful rays of summer

Hello, September!

xoxo
Crystal

Family Weekend

This past weekend we went to Long Island to see family we hadn't seen in far too long for the Kangas Family Reunion. Also, as many of you know my brother was very sick last year so we had not seen him or Joe since Thanksgiving. We try to get down to NY a few times a year but with Erik not feeling well, our plans were put on hold. I'm beyond grateful to say that he is doing really well and feeling so much better, and really loving and enjoying life.

We got to New York early Saturday morning and headed to my Uncle Gerry and Aunt Joy's house around 1pm for the family reunion. I started the family reunion event 3 years ago when my Uncle Tim unexpectedly passed away. It got me thinking about how we are not a close knit family- and how lucky we are that Nicholas knows what a close knit family is as I am close with my parents and siblings, and Nick's parents and siblings as well. My Dad came from a large family, he is 1 of 9, and we are spread out all over the place. Two of my Dad's brother's have passed away but with the wonderful creation of the internet, it really is not that hard to stay connected. I was lucky enough a few years ago to find my cousin's Destiny and Dylan, who up until a few years ago when we started the reunion, I do not ever remember meeting (and if I did we were very very young).

Anyway- it was a bit of a small group this year. The first two years I was very stressed out and upset/let down when people did not want to come or backed out at the last minute. This year, I stopped feeling that way and knew that the people that really wanted to/could come, would. We had a great time with our group and it was so nice to be together, kick back, eat some delicious food, and relax. My brother's wife and cousin's wife are both pregnant, so it was great to see them looking beyond adorable. I'm very excited to think that next year we will have to little baby boys at the reunion, and hopefully the tradition will continue for many years to come. A major thank you also needs to go to my Uncle Gerry and Aunt Joy for hosting- they have a wonderful home and made a point to make sure we had a good time, and we did!

Years ago, my Dad made a real effort to reconnect with his family, and that made me so happy. All but one of my Dad's (living) siblings came to mine and Nick's wedding- I know they love me, but I know they really came for my Dad and that meant the world to me. We've got pictures of them all together that I will cherish forever.

Although we may not all get along all the time, family is a wonderful thing to have. I am very lucky to have some pretty great people in my family.

On another note- we stayed with Erik and Joe this weekend and Nicholas really loved spending time with Joe. It made my heart so happy to know that Nicholas knows and loves his "Uncle Erik and Uncle Doe." It was truly the most wonderful thing to see and be a part of. My heart is so full.

I didn't take too many pictures (shocker, I know), but here are some from the weekend.

Nicholas' 4th Birthday

For the last 6 months or so Nicholas has gone back and forth with 5-10 ideas about what he wanted for his 4th birthday. For those of you that know me, I am a super organized gal so the faster I could nail the plan down, the better. Being a Mom, I realize know matter how much you try and plan, that doesn't always work out. Well I kinda SWAYED him in to the construction vehicle theme, and I am thankful to say that it all worked out. I tried to tone it down this year with guests, but we are so beyond lucky to have so many wonderful friends that it was a huge party.

I also want to note that Nick has maintained friendships for the last 20+ years and it is just so awesome to see all the kiddos growing up together. It is truly what life is all about.