Getting Pretty for Christmas

I just dropped Gus off for his first ever professional grooming appointment. We wanted to get him groomed before the onslaught of burrs awaiting us in Texas.

A grooming appointment at this particular groomer consists of several things. First, he will get his hair cut with strict instructions to leave the hair over his eyes so that he isn't completely traumatized. Next, he gets a bath in which he will soak in a medicated oatmeal shampoo for ten minutes to help with the dry skin he gets every winter. After that, his toenails will be clipped and his ears cleaned. For the rest of the afternoon, he will get to play with the other dogs and go for a walk.

When I was telling my brother about Gus's spa day, he said, "That's going to be the worst day of his life, isn't it?"

Yeah, probably.

The search is on

We don't like having only one dog in the house. We are a two-dog kind of family. So the search is on. We are looking for the next puppy. Since I won't be workin for two weeks due to the holidays, we are hoping to get a puppy in Texas as it will give us more time to train. Also, all of our dogs have been Texans so far, so why not keep up that little tradition?

My dad, who happens to be a Classifieds-junky (meaning he reads them everyday whether or not he is looking for anything), has been busy looking for us a puppy. He is also good at networking. He has got friends and friends of friends asking about puppies.

My brother, who happens to have an opinion on everything, has decided we need either a basset hound or a catahoula leopard dog. He is in a search for one of these dogs. I don't think you could pick two more different breeds.

Mom is staying out of all of this. As far out as she can possibly be.

BJ is just set on getting the biggest dog he can find.

As for me, well, you know I'm going to love any puppy that is plopped in my lap. In fact, while I've been looking at puppies on-line, me heart has broken at least a thousand times due to the overwhelming cuteness that causes me to fall immediately in love. Puppies are so cute it seriously hurts me a little bit.

Of course, whatever puppy we get will in all reality be Gus's puppy. He needs another dog more than me or BJ. He's lonely, and he has whined more in the past week than I have ever heard him whine in the previous almost 3 years we have had him. Hopefully, in about a week or so, I will be posting a picture of our new puppy. I have no idea what it we be, but I have a funny feeling we will all love it.

I haven't lost a pet since I was a kid, so I wasn't sure what to expect. So far, it's just hard. Life feels uncomfortable right now. When we go home, everything is off kilter.

Gus seems lost. He keeps doing that thing he does to let us know he needs out, but when we let him out he just sits on the patio and stares off into the distance. In fact, we've had to go outside and walk around with him the past few days just to get him to do his 'business'. He's restless because he has no one to play with. We would play with him, but we don't know how. He isn't the kind of dog you play fetch with. He's the kind of dog who wrestles with another dogs. He's never been without another dog.

Everywhere I go in our house, I am reminded of her. She's left her mark everywhere, and I can't bring myself to clean it up yet. Her kennel is still out with her pillow. Her hair is still everywhere (Labs shed more than just about any dog). She snuck a tennis ball into the house Saturday morning that I almost tripped over. And, of course, every picture I have hanging in our house of me and BJ has Sienna somewhere in it, usually intentionally but sometimes just because she wandered into it.

Tony is even lost. He did something he never does yesterday: he cuddled with Gus. He always cuddled with Sienna, but never with Gus. I guess he figured if he can't have his favorite dog, he'd settle for the big-black-panting-dumb one. I'm pretty sure that's what he calls Gus.

And BJ...well, BJ just misses his dog, and there isn't a thing we can do about that. I think we are all going to have a few weeks of feeling out of sorts ahead of us, because, despite her whining and horrendous gas and bad breath and all those other weird dog things, we all really loved her.

A Sad Day

This morning, Sienna passed away. She had been in a lot of pain due to sever hip displacia, so we decided that the most loving option we had was to have her put down.

All I'm going to say is that she left us with a lot of happy memories (many of which sprinkle this blog), and our home is feeling not quite right this morning. We miss her very much.

Ta Da

We have the tree. And it is really magnificent. Or at least it is as magnificent as a small, 5 foot tree can be.

We decided to take a picture in front of the tree. Unfortunately, we are taller than the tree, and I set the camera too low, so you can't see the tree and it looks like a star is coming out of BJ's head.

For our second try, we set the camera higher. I decided this should be a romantic shot. Instead, the camera timer took longer than we were expecting and we ended up in this rather uncomfortable pose for several more seconds than was convenient or romantic.

In the third shot, the star is growing out of my head. At this point, I decided to leave well enough alone.

As is tradition in the Pierce family, I wrapped the first present as soon as the tree was completed.


Guess who it is to?

I just love buying that guy presents.

Holiday Season

I'm back after a week and a half of not blogging (that's a long time for me). We had a great Thanksgiving with BJ's family. A few weeks ago, BJ's mom bought the family a Wii, so we were pretty well entertained the whole holiday. I scored a 233 in bowling, so I consider it a very successful holiday.

Tonight, BJ and I are putting up the Christmas tree, so hopefully I'll have pics in the next few days. All I can think about this morning is how three weeks from today I'll be pulling into Menard! It has been nine months since I've seen my home, so I can't help being horribly homesick. I'm so ready to sleep in this bed...

and stay up late talking to this guy...

and give this guy a big hug...

and cook all day with this lady...

I know those are really old pictures, but they're all I've got right now. And you get the point. I miss my family and my old house, and I can't wait to get to Texas.

A tired little man

Ever had one of those mornings?


You know. One of those mornings after a long night of sleeplessness when you just don't want to face another long day. When your eyes are fluttering shut, and you can barely keep the sleep away. And to make it even worse, your mother thinks it's cute and keeps taking pictures of you.


Yeah, one of those mornings.

Gus's new thing

Gus is a friendly dog. In fact, I am convinced that if humans would be even half as friendly as Gus, the world would be a remarkably better place.

Gus is also a sociable dog. If you come to our house, he will be excited to meet you. That is, after he has barked so loud he has scared you half to death. But it is only because he loves you. Even if he has never met you before, he loves you. I think Jesus would like that about Gus.

We are blessed not only with a very nice dog, but also with a very nice neighbor named Tom. Tom and Gus are friends. I don't know when it happened, but Gus managed to sneak over to Tom's yard enough times in the past year to establish a bond.

So this is Gus's new thing. Gus never runs off, but he does occasionally disappear for about thirty minutes when I let him out for his morning business. And I recently discovered where he disappears to. He goes on walks with Tom. They go on morning walks in the corn fields behind our yard. Why? Because Gus is the kind of dog you take on walks without a leash, and he just quietly keeps you company. He may nudge you around a little bit, but that is only to herd you in a better direction. Don't ask what makes it a better direction; it just is.

Dr. Beck (the chair of Psychology at ACU) did a blog post a few weeks ago about how the relationship between man and pets (especially dogs) is a reflection of the way things were meant to be in Eden. I entirely agree. There is something deeply good about Gus. He is loyal, kind, obedient, and unconditionally loving. All of these things make for a very good dog and a very good friend. So if you are feeling blue or people are being mean to you, come over to our house. BJ and I may not help very much, but Gus will make it all better.

A little stupid

Yesterday, BJ and I overheard a conversation between some church members in which they talked about a long-deceased woman named Sunshine. Her real, on-the-birth-certificate name was Sunshine. Here is the conversation that followed in the car as BJ and I drove home later that night.

Me: Sunshine is a cool name. But I think I would rather be called moonlight (said in my mock sexy voice).
BJ (in his effeminate voice that he and his friend Josh reserve for their most politically-incorrect moments): I want to be called Starspunk.

I have no idea where he comes up with these things, but please, the next time you see BJ, call him Starspunk. Really, he likes that name.

Just so everyone know, the world is not that bad of a place after all. I have seen the sun four days in a row. After the month that was October, that is nothing short of a miracle.

Apparently, KY usually gets 3 inches of rain in October, and we got something like 15 inches this year. 15 inches in one month! So all you people in Texas, be grateful for the abundance of sun and the longer days. It is truly a blessing.

An Eeyore Moment

I am feeling generally blah. It has nothing to do with anything going on in my life. Instead, it is due to the weather. I have seen the sun about once in every five days for the past month (or two). It is getting really old. So I'd love to write a nice blog post, but I'm too hum drum to think of anything. I'm a Texan, and Texans should probably not live in places where the sun only exist about twenty percent of the time. It is just wrong.

Supposedly, the sun is going to come out on Monday. I'll believe it when I see. Excuse the pessimism, but I've been disappointed more than once by unfulfilled promises from Yahoo Weather. But if it is sunny on Monday, I'll write a really cheery blogpost, one that will make your day bright and wonderful. If it isn't sunny, I'll probably write a blogpost on decay, depression, the fallenness of the world. Either way, it would probably be best to skip reading that blogpost all together.

The car that never dies, but comes awfully close

BJ has been driving the same car for a very long time, much longer than I have actually known him. This car has, to put it mildly, seen better days. Here is a quick list of everything that is broken/damaged/decayed on this little Acura Integra:

1- tree damage: smashed in side panel, broke plastic around side view mirror, cracked windshield, dented top of car (this happened when a tree fell on the car during the ice storm in January).
2- paint worn away to steal on top of car
3- no door handle on driver's side
4- can't put license plate on front of car because the bolts are rusted solid
5- car won't idle right and the throttle bounces up and down (this makes me feel really cool when he comes to pick me up at work)
6- heater doesn't work
7- AC doesn't work
8- rear-view mirror is held on by electrical tape
9- hole in driver seat and enough padding missing that the steal frame shows through
10- dash lights only work part of the time
11- automatic seat belt on the driver's side doesn't work so it is unplugged in the right place
12- rear windshield washer doesn't spray
13- rear windshield defroster doesn't work
14-sometimes the turn signal indicator light on the dash doesn't work. It still makes the clicky sound, though.
15- board over the spare tire in trunk has fallen apart, so everything you put in the trunk falls down by the spare tire
16- when you turn the car on during a rain storm, water rushes onto the passenger-side floor.

All of this, though inconvenient, has been bearable. Unfortunately, something else broke last night. When we got in the car to head home from church, the seat belt light start blinking red and a loud beep started going off. I have never seen/heard either of these things happen in my five years of riding around in this car. We both started to fiddle with our seat belts trying to make the really annoying beeping and flashing stop. Suddenly, awareness dawned on BJ. Due to problem number 11, the sensor that says the seat belt is locked has been bumped. Which means there is nothing he can do short of killing his car to stop it. The light and beeping are yet another quirk he is going to have to learn to live with. As BJ realized the constant irritation that is going to accompany every drive he takes in that car from now on, BJ started yelling "No" and hitting his head on the steering wheel in frustration. It was kind of sad. Except that I was laughing too hard to appreciate the sadness of it at the time.

For the record, I really love that old beat up car. I fell in love in that car. I told BJ I loved him for the first time in that car. We took our first long road trips in that car. It has a certain smell that immediately shoots me back five years to when I would get butterflies every time I got in the car of the boy I really, really liked. My heart will break (and no, I am not being over-dramatic when I say 'break') when we sell that car. I will weep sentimental tears of anguish and woe. It will be a monumental heartbreak. But until then, BJ has to drive around in a decaying car that beeps at him constantly. And that, well, that's just funny.

My fashion-forward soap box

I have been following The Sartorialist for over a year. It is a fabulous blog that chronicles street fashion. The photographer behind the blog, Scott Schuman, is rather mysterious. There isn't a lot of biographical information out there. However, today he did a post that shed a little light on him.

Due to stereotypes that are hard to ignore, I've always assumed that most of the men who frequent high fashion or who care at all about fashion must be homosexual. I know it is wrong to stereotype, but it is also really hard to separate the images we see in media from reality. So anyways, Schuman is an impeccable dresser who has an eye for both the beautiful and the avant garde in fashion. So I had thought he was probably...well, you know. But today, he posted a picture his girlfriend took of him. Which means the guy is straight. Which mean something else really, really important.

You are probably wondering at this point why I care, so here it is: if Scott Schuman can put that much care and thought into his appearance, so can other straight men. In fact, heterosexuality can't be an excuse for wearing nothing but cargo shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops. So BJ doesn't really have an excuse for wearing that ratty, torn mustard-yellow t-shirt on our first date (not that I'm holding a grudge or anything). So the cover of straight men everywhere is blown: they aren't fashionally annept due to their straightness, but instead, it is due to laziness and generally not caring. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, careless dressing became a badge of masculinity.

So that is my rant for the day. It is probably totally inappropriate, but I do enjoy a nicely planned outfit. I really do.

Predestination and Deontolgy: Just Another Date with BJ Gensic

BJ budgets every facet of our lives. Each penny has a purpose and a plan. (Since I'm married to a theologian, it is very tempting to insert a joke about predestination here. I'll refrain.)

Each week, we have exactly $20 set aside for 'date money.' This leaves us with few options. We either go out to eat, go to the movies and get a latte on the way, or rent movies and get ice cream. That's it. I don't like wasting this money on non-date activities. This week, we have been planning on a lunch date for today (Thursday) because we will be in St. Louis for part of the weekend and busy with church-related activities the rest of the weekend.

Unfortunately, I did a stupid thing yesterday that is jeopardizing my date life. Yesterday afternoon as I was leaving work, I forgot to grab BJ's sermon that I had proofed. This sermon, though good, has more than a few foibles that need addressing. Normally, forgetting such a thing on Wednesday is no big deal because we can easily go over it Thursday night, and he can fix it Friday, but this week we have been frantically trying to take care of business so that we can both leave work early Friday and hit the road. Which means he needs to fix the sermon today. Which means our lunch date has turned into a business meeting in which we will go over his sermon. Which means our $20 dollars of 'date money' is going toward us dissecting the theological implications of deontology. Which means life isn't fair, kiddos. It just isn't fair, so if you were expecting it to be fair, you are in for a world of disappointment and despair.

(I don't know how I just worked my way into bemoaning the unfairness of the world, but it probably has something to do with me being a depressing, pessimistic, and, quite possibly, bad person. But that's a whole other blog post for another day.)

For the first time in my life, I maintained a flower bed this year. I wasn't good at it, but things lived for the most part. I have resisted cutting flowers and bringing them inside all summer because I liked the way they looked in the bed, but the lows in the coming week are in the thirties, so I figured I might as well cut away.

Being me, I didn't want normal flowers. Basically, I went through the seed packets at Lowes and picked the wierdest looking flowers. Here below is a cockscomb. It is a fuzzy, HUGE flower. this one is about five to six inches lengthwise.


Here's a close-up of the freak-a-zoid flower:


I've always loved zinnias, so I was really excited when I came across the seeds for candy cane zinnias. It's one of my favorite flowers with a twist! Here are some photos of the candy cane zinnias.

Hopefully, these photos will serve as reminders next spring that outdoor work is not the worst thing ever, and that it does in fact yield good results. I'm one of those people who could be perfectly content never leaving my kitchen and/or artroom. But these flowers are pretty, so I'll consider that incentive.

These are a few of my favorite things

I was thinking this morning about how many wonderful things in my life brighten my day. I'm a person who tends to feel very passionately about anything I happen to like. I thought sharing some of these favorite things might introduce whoever reads this blog to something that will brighten their own days, so here are a few of the things I'm currently adoring.

1. NPR: BJ and I don't have any sort of TV plan. We just do without. I use to miss TV, but now I hardly think of it. This is mainly because NPR provides all the entertainment/news/education of TV but with better quality and depth. If you've never paid much attention to this radio gem, go to their website and listen to a pod cast of The Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, anything Frank Deford does, or my favorite, Story Corp, a five-minute segment done every Friday morning at 7:30. I could list more, but these are a sampling of my favorites.

2. The Office and 30 Rock: On Friday evenings, BJ and I take our dinners into the computer room and watch the new episodes of these two shows. It is the perfect way to relax after a long week.

3. Anthropologie: I can't actually afford anything on this website, but I love to go look at it for the inspiration in provides. I especially love, love, love their jewelry. In fact, if you really loved me, you would go buy me this or this or this.

4. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: This is the book I am currently reading. It is so engrossing. In fact, it is preventing me from doing a lot of things that are more important and/or urgent.

5. High heels and scarves: If I had to choose an outfit to wear everyday for the rest of my life, it would include my tan linen scarf with a teal flower and my navy blue, peep-toe heels. I don't care if it is impractical.

6. The Pioneer Woman: I never knew a blog could be as addictive or engaging as a book or sitcom until I began following this blog. I have gone back in the archives and read almost everything she's written. My favorite is Black Heels, a blog book she wrote about how she met and fell in love with her husband. She also has fabulous recipes (I've made a ton of them, so I should know), and she recently started the website Tasty Kitchen where other foodies can post their favorite recipes. I found one of the best desserts ever on this website, You Rock My World Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake.

7. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking: The best cook book. Just the best. And after learning only a few recipes, I've been able to do impromptu cooking with whatever ingredients I have that turn into lovely Italian dishes. This book really teaches you a foundation on which you can significantly expand your cooking repertoire.

8. The Sartorialist: This is a blog that chronicles street fashion in America and Europe. Although I don't wear all of these trends, I love following them. And the photography is beautiful.

9. Historic Properties: I love looking at real estate websites. When I'm bored or restless, real estate websites offer page after page of potential. Historic Properties is my favorite real estate website for obvious reasons, it is only old houses. One day, I want to buy a real junker and fix it up. This is one of my favorite daydreams.

10. Gus, Gus, and Gus: But you knew that already.

To Texas and back

Last week, BJ and I traveled to Texas for BJ to attend the ACU Summit. As always, Texas delivered with a wonderful time. Here is our trip in pictures.

We started the trip in Alton because we had to fly out from St. Louis. I got BJ's mom to take a picture of I because I haven't really had pictures taken in the past three years. Here we are before taking off:

The dogs stayed with BJ's mom in Alton. This meant I had to say goodbye to Gus *sniffle*. But I had to get one good picture of Gus before I left to show the man at Nugent who gave him to us. Sienna, as is often her habit, snuck into the picture. She's a ham.

Upon arrival in Abilene, Josh and Allie picked us up and took us on a whirlwind trip to Lubbock to see there new house. While there, we played games. This is Josh reading the instructions while the rest of us daydream about gumdrops and jelly beans. Why gumdrops and jelly beans? Lets just say this game had really, really long instructions.

We took a quick group picture before we left. The guys were surprisingly cooperative about this picture. Maybe they're maturing? No, that can't be it.

Monday, my parents came up and took me to Waco. This is me a Bro walking around Waco. Actually, it is a totally staged photo we were forced to do for Mom's scrapbooking purposes.

This is the four of us taking a photo in his tiny, miniscule, walk-in closet size apartment. Maybe it wasn't that small, but it was really small. I like it.

When I finally settled in Abilene on Tuesday (two days before it was time to leave), I had a game night with the Gensics. I'm not sure what everyone is laughing about in this photo, but knowing the Gensics, it probably has something to do with bodily function.

And then, perhaps most importanty, I got to meet Emerald's precious daughter, Lily Vienne. She let me hold her for a solid 3 hours. Her fingernails are extremely small. I know that there are probably more significant things I could say about meeting her, but I really couldn't get over how small the fingernails are.

Lastly, here is a photo of the luggage the airport managed to ruined. They broke this zipper. Gotta love traveling!

Composing life

Stories matter. I'm twenty-four years old and rapidly approaching twenty-five. That has given me a quarter of a century to form my own stories, to collect moments that compose my life.

I started this blog over three years ago because my brother kept nagging me about it. There weren't any noble reasons behind it or a clear purpose. I was simply writing about life, about how I was learning to be a wife, how Sienna and Tony and then Gus were salting our life with countless moments of humor (or disgust), about mourning the loss of Grandma and struggling through the uncertainties of financial problems and employment, and during the good times, about laughing with my family and friends and growing into BJ's family. All of these stories and more are chronicled in my archives, my own virtual life-library.

I've been drudging through a rough patch here lately. Six months ago, I lost a pregnancy after only a few days of knowing. I thought the disappointment would pass quickly, but it keeps creeping up on me. Even though I've always wanted to be candid on my blog, I didn't post about this incident when it happened. I could think of no words at the time. But now I'm writing it down so that I have the story recorded.

Although I'm six-ish years into adulthood, I still catch myself gawking at just how hard and unpredictable this story keeps proving to be. Some days, when things are moving slowly, I shuffle through my blog archives. There are a lot of happy, funny stories there. They are good to read when life is heavy. There are also many times of difficulty. Those are also good to read. I am reminded that those times passed, and BJ and I stayed in motion, and as cliche as it sounds, we grew through those trials.

A constant theme in BJ's sermons is the role of story in Christianity. For me, stories in books, poems, television shows, movies, my blog, other peoples blogs, and in conversations with friends and family are all part of my faith just as the stories of the Bible ground that faith. They are all instructing me and accompanying me through life, and for that reason, I know that my current slump is not without hope and that God's mercy is active in moments even like these.

Random thoughts

I'm currently wearing a skirt that I bought in either late junior high or early high school. I'm wondering, does that make it old enough for me to call it 'vintage'?

We took communion to shut-ins Sunday after church. One of the older gentlemen we visited asked me where I live, and I said that I live with BJ down the road. At first he was shocked, but then he figured out that I was BJ's wife. His reaction: "I thought you were just 15 or something." Gotta love those freckles.

One week and one day until we head out to Texas!!!!!!!!!!! And some more exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got accepted to a creative writing program last week, but I couldn't decide if I should do it or not. So I made my friend, Kayla, decide. We've decided to postpone it until I feel more certain. All indecisive people should make at least one friend who is good at planning life.

I just spent the past hour reviewing BJ's sermon for the coming Sunday. I had worked on it earlier today for an hour, and it was one of those times when he was saying good things, but they were coming out border-line heretical. We got it fixed, I think.

BJ cut Gus's torso hair last week, but his leg hair, tail, and head remain uncut. He looks ridiculous.

Sienna's hips are getting really bad. It breaks my heart seeing that dog cripple around. I know I'm not supposed to like her, but I still love her. It just can't be helped. She's too pretty not to love.

Tony is still evil. BJ still hates him.

That's all for now.

What's up

Nothing has really been happening that merits a full blog post, but here is what's been going on in my life:

-This week I am wearing white shoes or clothing in mourning of the approaching Labor Day. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to have a Monday off of work, but Labor Day means summer is ending and the destruction of winter cometh. And it suddenly becomes taboo to wear my white wedge sandals and white pant, which makes me sad.

-One of my best friends from college is having a baby this week. She is my first close friend to get pregnant, and I really wish I could have been nearer during the past nine months. This is making Texas seem even farther away.

-BJ has recently started wearing his Sunday dress shirt, blue jeans, a belt, and dress shoes for Sunday night church. He came up with the new look all on his own, and I am really liking it. In fact, I'm liking it enough that I can't remember for the life of me what his sermon was on last Sunday night.

-Even though I usually look down on people freaking out when celebrities they never actually knew die, I found myself feeling really sad over Ted Kennedy's passing. For me, the Democrat party has a familial element to it. My dad raised me on the teachings of FDR and the New Deal and the Great Society. So yeah, I shed a few tears for the fierce advocate of those ideals.

-We had the youth group over to our house Sunday night. During a game where BJ and I had to go hide and the kids had to look for us, a few of our youth-groupers tried to manipulate our dogs into tracking us down with pleas of "Gus and Sienna, go find mommy." It didn't work. For once, our dogs' general denseness worked in our favor.

-I bought fresh mozzarella last night for our eggplant-parmesan dinner. It was expensive, but let me say, fresh mozzarella is so worth the extra few bucks. So worth it.

That's all for now. I know. It's pretty boring, but I do live in the middle of nowhere, so be forgiving.