My Neighborhood

This is my street and it’s been home-sweet-home for the past year. We’re slowly getting to know our neighbors and I have to admit that having Mia has helped. We walk her along this sidewalk, which is on the opposite side of the street from our house, 2 – 3 times a day and she loves people so much that when the neighbors are out, she runs up to them and they think she’s just the sweetest thing!  We’re lucky they’re dog people. One neighbor toward the end and her dog, Andrea and Foster, are usually out in the evenings and look forward to their visits with us; Andrea always has treats! There’s also the lady  that has the really nice yard – the grass is lusciously green in the summer, her mulch is perfect and she has beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees – who loves petting Mia in the mornings.  We’ve seen lots of other dogs in the street but we haven’t met all of them yet. Everyone else has been really nice but we’re still getting to know each other and we have plenty of time.

One year ago today we moved into our house! It was love at first sight then and I can truly say that I love it even more now. I was never really sure I would become a homeowner because of finances and the commitment it took — you have to know you’ll stay in an area for a long time which is the meaning of  “settle down” — but when we got engaged, we knew the time was right. And we knew wanted a simple backyard wedding. I blogged a little about the experience, so I won’t repeat it here, but it was definitely one of the best purchases we’ve made.

We have such smart pups. Chico knows how to sit, shake, lay down, and roll over. Mia has sit and shake down pretty well and we just started on roll over; she’s catching on very quickly. She has much better balance than Chico so I’m hoping to teach her a few balancing tricks as well. Watch them show off their doggy tricks. I love these little babies.

We’re almost through February 2012 and I have to say that this year has been really good for me so far.

I started out strong with my health and fitness motivation where Nick and I regularly visited the gym several times a week for a whole month in preparation of our upcoming 5K race. We’ve slacked off the last few weeks but our motivation is still strong so I’m confident we’ll be back in the swing of things in no time.

I’ve also been following through with my New Year’s resolution. The first new thing that I tried (twice, actually) was a pole fitness class which was so much fun that I’d love to do it again and again. I’m sure I’d be a great pole dancer! Another first, that I probably wouldn’t have done without setting my resolution, was to cook dinner for a co-worker who just had a baby and her family.