Wow, I can’t believe 2014 is here. Before I post about my resolutions for 2014, I wanted to take a quick peek back at 2013 and what happened to us last year.
This is going to be a long one, so TL;DR: Stuff happened this year. We lost a dog to cancer, we got a new puppy named Rigby, we got in car accidents, and got sick, but overall, 2013 was a pretty good year.
January started out with a bang… literally. I was slammed into by a woman who didn’t see me stopped, waiting to make a left turn (legally, I might add!) into a park and ride. My first car, my Mustang, was totaled.
I went car shopping for a few weeks and ended up with a Volvo C30, which I love.
February started off fun – I took my dad to see a RAIN, a Beatles tribute band at the Moore.
We also saw Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Built to Spill, and Cody Chesnutt play at the Neptune for the Sasquatch Music Festival reveal party.
Then February got sad… we had to put our 11.5 year old pittie, Bonnie, to sleep after I noticed jaundice (yellowing skin/eyes) and rushed her to the emergency vet. She was diagnosed with cancer of the liver/spleen, and there were so many tumors the doctor had a hard time distinguishing where it originated.
I also celebrated my 24th birthday, and Dave gave me a trip for us to go to Vegas to see the Beatles LOVE Cirque show.
Following the Cirque theme, for Valentine’s Day we went to Cafe Juanita for dinner and went to see the Amaluna Cirque show at Marymoor Park. The acrobatics blew our minds.
March was a weird month. Dave got a new job and we went to celebrate at El Gaucho. In the middle of the night, someone threw a gigantic rock through our bedroom window (and thankfully we weren’t in there, we had fallen asleep to a movie on the couch!). At 4am we were calling to have an emergency glass repair guy out to put up a temporary wood window. Way to celebrate a new job…
That same morning, we were off to meet two Shiba puppies from two different breeders. The first one was “LJ” a 3.5 month old spunky guy with an underbite that she couldn’t keep for her breeding program. The second was a TBD boy – the breeder hadn’t picked out who would be going where yet, so we were meeting the two little boys who were 5 weeks.
We choose “LJ” and went back to pick him up later that day. He was renamed Rigby (after Eleanor Rigby, the Beatles song… see a theme here? :P), and the rest is history.
A couple weeks after that, we were off to Vegas. We were there for a few days and had some delicious food – our favorites were Le Cirque, Sage, Firefly, and of course, Inn-n-Out. We also saw the Beatles LOVE show, which I highly recommend to any Beatles fan.
When we came back home, we were reunited with our little man. He started going to work with me, and my co-workers dog and him didn’t get along so well.
We also went to Rover’s before it closed and had an amazing 8 course meal.
For Easter, I baked my delicious GF carrot cake and my mom made us a nice dinner.
In April, we were busy with puppy classes. We dog-sat my co-worker’s dog while he was in NYC and we learned how difficult dog management can be when they don’t get along 100% of the time.
Rigby also started teething and becoming a little nightmare. He also went to his first dog park for the Seattle Shiba meetup.
We also went to my cousin Amy’s wedding, which was held at a little church near Greenlake.
In May, Rigby went to his first day of Doggie Daycare. He had lots of fun and did great, much to our relief!
Rigby also got neutered that month, and oh boy that was fun. Not. He was the worst patient in the world. He would do the “spin and scream” when we took him out to go potty, and had a terrible time with the cone.
In June, Rigby started his second set of puppy classes. He learned manners and better impulse control. We also celebrated Father’s day with both families.
In July, we took a road trip down to Portland to see our friends who moved down from Seattle. Rigby really enjoyed their backyard, and pestering their cat.
Dave also celebrated his birthday. I took him on a surprise trip to Whidbey Island, where we stayed and dined at the Inn at Langley. So much delicious food, and we also treated ourselves to a spa day.
Later that month, my dad took me to the Paul McCartney concert at Safeco Field. We enjoyed some tasty small plates at Local 360 before, and ended up UBERing it over to Safeco after my dad got stuck on the longest bus ride into downtown ever.
That same weekend, my 88 year old grandmother passed away. We celebrated her life the next week in Edmonds, and held a beautiful reception at her home. The more time that passes, the more I realize how important my grandma really was in my life.
In August, we went to an outdoor concert at Seattle Center and saw Cloud Cult and Deep Sea Diver.
We also went to see Jackson Galaxy, the cat daddy, speak at the Seattle Humane Society in Bellevue.
Rigby also received his first Barkbox, which was probably the best day of his life. Teehee.
In September, we went to Herbfarm for the 100-mile dinner with our friends Megan and Josh. Dinner was an elaborate 9 course meal, with 9 courses of wine pairings. I was quite inebriated, and we stayed at Willows Lodge. The next day, we treated ourselves to massages and pedicures.
We also took Rigby to Marymoor Dog Park, where he was totally typical Shiba and was terrible off-leash. We haven’t been back to an off-leash park since.
Dave, Rigby and I helped PLAY Doggie Daycare celebrate their first birthday. It was fun watching him play with his doggie friends from daycare.
In October, I started this blog! I still have no idea what I’m doing, but someday I’ll get this blogging thing down. ;)
We also completed our first 5k9 with little Rig.
Rigby got dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween and hated every minute of it. He says, “Not amused, human.”
The humans went to the pumpkin patch and completed the corn maze. Fun was had by all. Afterwards, we got pizza and had the best bread pudding ever with Dave’s mom and siblings.
In November, the power went out and we were bored out of our minds for a day. Rigby was freaking out because the fire alarm was going off all day, and it’s high pitched and terrible. Poor guy. The upside? He was cute and snuggly.
Rigby also got some mysterious lump on his foot, and I found out how terrified of the vet he really is. Bless his heart, the vet recommended an at-home vet or anti-anxiety meds for next time. :(
We celebrated his first birthday on November 10. He got a delicious raw duck patty with a sardine and bully flake sprinkles for dinner. Oh the life of a dog.
The humans went to see Ra Ra Riot and Aqueduct at the Sunset. We realized that we’re getting old when we complained about how loud it was immediately after the show. The music was great however.
We also visited the Seattle Aquarium with our friends and their little girl. I think the adults may have enjoyed the Aquarium more than the kids. ;)
We took in a foster Shiba for a long weekend, and we learned a lot about managing a two adult dog household.
December started out pretty miserable – I got really, really sick. I posted a bit about it, but I got an awful sore throat that turned into some sort of bacterial infection (congestion, coughing and vomiting) and had to be hospitalized for the night. I was running a low fever but had a heart rate of 160 and couldn’t keep food or water down, when I went to Urgent Care for the second time. They sent me to the ER and I was stuck in there for about 8 hours getting IV fluids and IV antibiotics. I was released just before midnight and spent the next 3 days recovering. Rigby stayed by my bedside and cried a lot.
By the time I was done with the illness, I was way behind on Christmas shopping and decorating. We didn’t even get the tree decorated until Christmas Eve!
When I was on my way out the door to go shopping for Christmas goods, I got a call that Dave had been in the middle of a 5 car accident. I rushed over there, and luckily no one (especially him!) was hurt. His car, however, is totaled. We’re still waiting on the at-faults insurance claim to be finalized.
The next night, we celebrated the holidays with my work’s holiday party, which was held at Lecosho. I organized a white elephant gift exchange, which was a lot of fun, and I ended up with a lava lamp. It’s now glowing proudly on my desk at work.
Snow Day! On December 20, Seattle saw its first snow fall! We stayed home from work and walked to get breakfast with the pup.
Christmas festivities were lots of fun this year. Christmas Eve was held at my mom’s house and we had a wonderful dinner and ornament exchange.
Christmas morning was held at our house, and we had a delicious brunch. Rigby was exhausted after, thank goodness because I was too!
With all the craziness that December brought, we had a low-key New Years Eve last night. We got take out, watched movies, and rang in the New Year with the pup.
Happy New Year! What was your 2013 like? What are you hoping for in 2014?
xo.
