This dog is so cute!

For your viewing pleasure

This is what happens when you are at home with a new puppy and your wife is out of town. You put your puppy in a cooler and then take pictures of her. Pippin is doing well. She is getting better on walks, and doing pretty well with potty training, so we keep moving forward!

Pippin Comes Home!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while since we have posted anything. Sarah and I have been on a double vacation in New York and Arizona for job interviews/family bonding. We got back on Tuesday, and the next day we picked up our new puppy Pippin. She seemed a little tentative getting into the car, but she enjoyed the ride home from Maryland (as evidenced above).
Most new parents try and take a picture of their baby's first steps, so I figured I would try to record our puppy's first walk outside on a leash, which seemed to contain a lack of much actual walking. Apparently, she had never been on a leash before and didn't enjoy it. So I was able to capture Pippin in the act of not walking/not enjoying herself. Fortunately, she got better, and our walks have improved to some extent.
Here's an action photo of her not enjoying her leash further. But she seems to be doing a bit better today on her walks and her potty training today. So things are looking up for the new addition to the family.

Ryan's Solo Trip to Chicago

Here are some pictures of my trip to Chicago. I got to go to Chi-Town for the ABA Annual Conference, which was pretty interesting. It's a really cool town. Unfortunately, I am not actually in any of these photos, since I was flying solo and didn't have anyone to take pictures of me most of the time. But I promise I was actually there, and I didn't just find these pictures on the internet. Here's the view of Lake Michigan outside our hotel window.
The Field Museum was really interesting. It had lots of stuffed animals (not toys, but actual animals), including the lions of Tsavo. Apparently these lions killed 140 people in the late 1800s before they were finally shot. Also, they were the inspiration for Hall & Oates' chart-topper "Maneater" (I may have made that last fact up).
Finally, this is a picture of the "bean" in Millenium Park. It's essentially a giant bean-shaped mirror, but it's pretty famous. Overall, my trip to Chicago was fun, but I missed the wife. Fortunately, we will be headed to New York this weekend, and then off to Arizona for a week. I'll check back in once we get back.

Blog-o-Rama (Part 1)

Hey everyone! I realize I have been neglecting my blogging duties lately, so I spent tonight completely updating the blog on all the things that we have been up to for the last months. So be sure to check out the three new posts underneath this one as well. I figured I would start off with some new pics of Pippin the puppy (also known as the Pirate Puppy because she sort of has an eyepatch).
We decided to drive out to visit her last Sunday. Even though it has only been a month, we could tell that she had grown a little. She seemed quite attached to Sarah especially, and even whimpered a bit when she left. She must love us already.
Here's one of Pippin with her sister, who has yet to be adopted. I feel like Pippin just told a hilarious joke, and her sister is laughing hysterically.

So, it was nice to get away for a bit and go visit our puppy. Unfortunately, we won't pick her up until August after we get back from our visit to Arizona. So, life is currently pretty good. Go ahead and check out the posts underneath to see what else we have been up to, unless of course you're not really interested, in which case I would wonder why you are on this blog to begin with. Also there is yet more exciting news that I didn't have time to put in an individual posting, namely the I am traveling to Chicago this weekend for the ABA Annual Meeting, and that Sarah and I will be heading to New York in a couple of weeks for a job interview with a big law firm. Wish me luck!

Blog-o-Rama (Part 2)

So long, Kotters! This post is to say goodbye to our good friends, Jason and Kay Kotter. They are an awesome family that befriended us here in the ward, and unfortunately, they are leaving so Jason can go to grad school in Michigan. We wish them the best, and we will miss them and their two children, Abby and Oliver.

Blog-o-Rama (Part 3)

Here's a glimpse into the madness from moving out of our last apartment. We got to the point where we couldn't find anything. A couple of days before we left the house, I could not figure out why our house smelled so bad. I searched forever before I found a plastic bag full of ex-frozen chicken that had been sitting on top of our buffet for two days. We had so many other bags lying around, we didn't even know it was there. I think you might even be able to see it stinking up our house in this picture.

Fortunately, the move is now behind us, and our new place looks great. I'll put some pictures up as soon as get it all together, as we have yet to put all our paintings up on the wall. But so far, everything looks great (and it doesn't smell like raw chicken).