Colorado Vacation 2012: A Fishy Tale

So I'm only about 3 months behind on this one, but I want to tell the world of yet another strawberry blonde moment before I move on to other things in my life.

To refresh your memory, on July 4, Levi's lovely sister, got married in a simple, beautiful ceremony in Grand Lake, Colorado. Levi and I stood up as witnesses for them. We stayed in this cute cabin and the parents stayed in one a few miles outside of town. On Thursday, the day after the wedding, we headed out to their cabin for breakfast of mush, sausage, bacon, and coffee! Yum!

After breakfast, Levi and I headed out to the lake to do a little fishing. I cast the pole a few times and then we decided we should go out in the canoe or paddle boat and try fishing! I love canoeing so I was game. I told him I needed to go to the cabin real quick to get some sunscreen and then we could head out. As soon as I came out, he told me to go grab his pole and we'd load up. I walked over to grab the pole but it was gone. He asked if I'd secured it when I went inside and the obvious answer was "no, you didn't tell me." So, there it was, gone in a matter of seconds. A very expensive fishing pole. As we stood looking out over the clear water, trying to spot the pole, we saw the bobber pop to the top and then right back down.

We ran over to the paddle boat, grabbed an oar just in case and paddled out to where we kept seeing the bobber make its way to the surface. For about 10 minutes we moved around the area chasing the bobber until Levi slyly put his oar under the line and flopped a beautiful rainbow trout into the boat. We followed the line until we finally pulled in the pole. And then burst out laughing...we just chased a stupid fish around for 10 minutes to catch him in the most unconventional way. We paddled back to shore and worked on unhooking the fish to keep him for dinner.

In the meantime, Papa, Levi's dad had caught another rainbow trout by fly fishing from the shore. So as Levi rushed to help him and I untangled the fishing line, our poor paddle boat drifted away. I looked up panicked that again I'd forgotten to tie yet something else down. Papa's fish was under control so Levi and I hopped in the canoe and rescued the paddle boat. As we reached shore again with both boats, Levi hopped out to pull the paddle boat to shore and I almost ended up in the lake as the canoe wobbled in the shallow water.

The mess of tangled line and boats.

Thankfully I stayed dry and both boats were safe. Needless to say it was the most exciting 20 minutes of our vacation. And I think Levi decided I wasn't allowed to go fishing anymore. But I did catch a keeper so take a look:

Labor Day Weekend 2012

I had a great Labor Day weekend! It started off on Friday night with our final Cinema at City Hall for the summer! We showed The Lorax and had an exceptional turnout considering it was the holiday weekend and there was an away high school football game...which I got crap for but haters gonna hate.

After the movie was over and we took down all the equipment, Levi and I headed to his parents house where I was going to meet my new puppy Charley! I'm so thankful that Ashley and Tyler took care of Charley the past few weeks! She's on a good path to potty training. It was really cute to see her playing with Bella and Colby - Ashley's pups!

Let me tell you...she is absolutely adorable! I was so nervous at first because I've never had a dog this small. Usually the puppies my family got were the same size as she will be when she's full grown. Also, I've never had to potty train a puppy before...all our dogs were outside dogs. Whole new experience. I never thought I would be as stressed as I am now. Don't get me wrong...I love her to pieces and I don't mind cleaning up the poop and pee but I try and help her get outside in time and she doesn't do it out there.



Here she is! So Cute! Sorry about the ugly toe.

All day Saturday I bonded with her at Levi's house while he was dove hunting with some buddies. Saturday afternoon I went to my friend Aimee's house. Aimee and I made dog biscuits for our pups...she has two dogs, a cocker spaniel named Bubba Gump and a bulldog named Daisy! Then we just relaxed and drank sangria the rest of the afternoon. I love chill days like that. Charley wasn't as playful that day, but as I soon found out, she had a tummy ache.

On Sunday, Levi and I loaded up and headed up to see my parents. We went to a lake in Nebraska and fished all afternoon! It was a lot of fun! I'd never been out on my dad's new boat so that was pretty neat! Growing up we only had a little bass boat and now he has a big old speed boat. It's always so nice when Levi and I get to spend time with my family! We stayed with my parents and got on the road around noon on Monday! Charley liked to snuggle right in our laps and ride.

Snoozing on Levi's lap!

Levi has got me some amazing gifts in the past year and two months, but Charley is pretty close to being my favorite! The only reason she isn't my down right favorite is mostly because as much as I worry about a puppy and whether I'm a good puppy mom, it really makes me doubt my future abilities to be a mom to a human! What if Levi sees all my faults and lack of patience and decides I'll be a terrible mom? Besides enjoying all the family time and puppy snuggling, I've been really freaking out about my ability to be a mom to future kids. I love her and I love that he got her for me, but what if I fail her and in turn fail him?!

If you have any puppy training tips, please let me know!!