Wedding Pics Galore!

Our professional wedding photos arrived in the mail from our photographer yesterday! It was a long wait (8 weeks!) but very well worth it.

So far, we've only gotten through the first 185 that the photographer deemed 'the best'. Here are a few of our faves - a bunch of others are on my Flickr site. We'll get the rest uploaded to Flickr too, as soon as we have a chance to check them all out.


My dad and I at the end of the aisle.


Corey and I mid-ceremony.

We have the best parents.


The Moran men.


The wedding party.


The wedding party cheers us on during our 73rd kiss of the day.


I think this is my very favorite of all the pics we've seen so far.


Corey is trying not to drop me on the beach.


Another beach shot.


Corey could almost pass as a native Hawaiian in this shot, don't you think?


Good shot of the beautiful jewelry Kels made me!


Thought this was a fun pic.


I'm getting inducted into the Moran family.


My girls know how to get the dancing started!


The rings!

Nothing beats this sunset.

Roxy Takes on Ballard

Yesterday was a BIG day at the Moran house. Roxy went in for her last puppy shot, which meant that we finally can start taking her out for walks! In addition to her shots, she was weighed again...and she's gained an unbelievable 3 pounds since the last time she was weighed 3 weeks ago! She went from 8 lbs 4 oz. to 11 lbs 7 oz. Good thing we'll be able to start exercising her now!

It was a beautiful day here yesterday so in the afternoon, we took her outside for her very first walk. She had a blast. She loved smelling anything and everything she could get her paws on, rolling in the bushes, meeting (and sniffing) other dogs (we came across about 5 yesterday alone!) and getting petted by all kinds of strangers who stopped to pet her because they were taken by her cuteness almost as much as we are. She even met two other French Bulldogs! They were both male and belonged to the same owners and they were huge - a solid 36 pounds! Roxy wasn't too scared though and the other owners LOVED seeing a puppy Frenchie again.


Finally - some grass to play in!


Apparently it feels good to roll around in the bushes.


Stopping to smell the roses (or marigolds in this case)...


Not the most ladylike shot, but is a great example of how she spent
most of her walk.


All tuckered out after lots of walking and rolling around.

Though Roxy spent a lot of time outside yesterday, we weren't able to get her to go to the bathroom, even though we probably took her outside about 10-15 times. We were getting a little disappointed by the end of the day since we want her primary bathroom to be outdoors but we didn't give up hope...and it's a good thing because on her second trip outside today, she had two good bathroom pit stops. Wahoo! Corey and I are very happy campers. It's SO nice to not constantly be cleaning up dirty newspapers.

Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the day and week goes as we continue to try to housebreak her.

And stay tuned - next weekend is Roxy's first trip to the beach. Hopefully we'll come back with lots of great photos (thanks to Corey) and funny stories (thanks to Roxy).

Kindergarten for Roxy

Today was Roxy's first day of puppy training! What fun we all had.

Every week for the next four weeks, we'll spend one hour every Thursday with four other puppies in Puppy Kindergarten. Today was spent allowing the five puppies enrolled in the class to run around and play together, on a short walk down the block for a bathroom break and then forcing each puppy to lay on their back while we handled them in all kinds of weird ways to get them used to being handled differently (i.e. for when they go to the vet, etc). This will help ensure they don't get scared when people pick them up, grab or hold them in ways that they are not used to and ensure they don't bit the person doing this to them.

Roxy was the perfect puppy throughout the whole class! Even though she hadn't been around other dogs / puppies except for at the breeder's, she ran right up to Lulu, a lab puppy that arrived at the same time and they played together the entire time. Though the lab was younger, she was bigger than Roxy but that didn't scare Roxy away. Two of the five dogs were pretty reserved but Roxy did her fair share of playing and was dead tired by the time we got home. She was in heaven.

Roxy held her own against Lulu.

Go Roxy! Show Lulu who's boss.

Not even this scared Roxy away.

We're looking forward to next week! And in the meantime, we can't wait for Saturday - she gets her last shot and we'll be able to start going for walks!

After puppy class, Corey's mom, dad and his dad's friend Jim came over to go to dinner at La Isla with us. Corey's dad was in town on the way to a conference in Portland next week and his friend Jim, who also lives in Butte, came along to visit family over here. We had a delicious dinner and then Jim and Curtis were able to meet Roxy for the first time. She loved them!

Jim, Roxy and Curtis (getting a puppy kiss).

Fremont Brew-HA HA 5K

This morning, I ran the Fremont Brew-HA HA 5K. I was supposed to run it with David, my boss at Wunderman, but he was a no-show. He called later to say he 'forgot and was very sorry', but I like to think he didn't show because he was afraid of me beating him (though I wasn't really expecting to, with his 8:00 mile pace).

It is a pretty flat course for the most part (just a mid-sized hill at the beginning) and it was nice and cool out so it was a perfect course and day for a race. I finished in 24:30 (7:55 pace per mile). I was surprised and happy with my time - I was expecting a time more along the lines of 27 minutes.

After a grocery shopping trip and some cleaning, Roxy and I are settling in for an afternoon of playing and napping while Corey heads to another Seahawks game.

I'll leave you with a cute picture Corey took last week - Roxy was napping in-between us and had her back legs stretched out and crossed behind her. Too cute!

Bathtime & Fashion Show

We started the day out with bath time for Roxy. This is only the second bath we've given her - she absolutely hated the first (trying to jump out of the bathtub and shivering uncontrollably gave that away) but this one wasn't quite as bad. Now she looks and smells much better. :)


I don't think that's pure hatred in her eyes...


I think it looks like she's totally lovin' it, don't you?

We cleaned her up just in time for Joan to stop by for a visit. Not only did she come to play with Roxy, she brought her a new pink bear (which Roxy loved) and some new puppy food that we'll have to try out soon. Roxy was SO excited to see Grandma Joan - couldn't stop jumping on her and licking her.

Then I was able to sneak away this afternoon / evening (thanks for watching Roxy, Corey!) to spend a bit of quality time with my girls - Kelsey, Gina, Sara and Kels' friend Tara. We started out with appetizers and wine at Kels' and then made our way to Lincoln Square for The Collective - a fashion show that is the finale of Bellevue Fashion Week. The show was AWESOME. It started out with a swanky cocktail hour - delicious appetizers and fruity cocktails were served for free with admission (entire total of $43K raised throughout the week was donated to the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club - pretty cool, huh?!) and then we moved into another room for the show. The show was amazing (tons of cute dresses, jackets, cardigans and shoes) and it was all topped off with a huge goodie bag full of great stuff (candles, coupons, trial size spa items...need I say more?). Not only that but I got to see all the gals I worked with when I interned at Bellevue Square a few years back - they put on the entire event, which I signed up to help with next year. I highly recommend this show - watch for it next year!


Kels, Gina, Me, Sara & Tara enjoying cocktail hour.

Oktoberfest Friday

We started out the day yesterday working from home due to some fire alarm testing happening in our building. Because getting to work is kind of a trek for me (from Ballard to Factoria) and because my boss is so willing to let us, I worked from home the rest of the day. I got to spend some good quality time with Roxy.

Roxy was a great puppy all day. She spent time playing with her toys while I worked, eating a new bone we got for her and sleeping next to me on the couch while I worked.


Roxy spent some quality time with Corey before he left for work.


What a good puppy, napping away while I did some work!

After I finished work, Roxy and I played for a bit before I met up with Sara, Gina, Kelsey, Nick and some of Sara's co-workers for the Fremont Oktoberfest. It's a huge outdoor event in Fremont, with TONS of breweries offering tastes / samples of beer for cheap (you get four free tastes with your entrance fee) like jumbo pretzels and bratwursts. My fave taste? Wyder's Pear Cider, which I've had before at Taphouse Grill. Though it wasn't sunny and warm yesterday like it was the rest of the week, it wasn't raining and we had a great time.


Me, Kels, Gina, Sara and Katie (Sara's co-worker)

Oktoberfest ends tomorrow and David (my boss at Wunderman) and I are running the Brew Ha Ha Oktoberfest 5K in the morning. Should be a fun time, though I'm sure he'll beat me with his 8-minute mile pace. Stay tuned!

Another Trick!

Our smart pup has learned another trick! Now, from a sitting position, she will lay down (if she's rewarded with a treat) on command (sometimes). And I am proud to say that this is finally a trick I taught her!

Check it out!



The other thing we've been working on is letting her get used to having a collar on because come next Saturday, she'll be able to go for walks. We've also been trying to get her to walk next to us when the collar and leash are on. The first few times she wouldn't budge but now I can get her to walk down the hall to the trash with me as long as I bribe her with a treat. Stay tuned for a video on that as soon as it's perfected.

A Celebration With the Ashers

Tonight the Ashers (Katy & Tyler and Sandy, Adam & Addy) invited us over for dinner to celebrate our wedding. It was great to see everyone - we hadn't all gotten together since before the wedding. Addy is so cute and she's growing like crazy. She was a doll the entire night.

Between a delicious dinner and awesome wedding gifts, we were totally spoiled. We're looking forward to using all the new cooking and dinning supplies Sandy, Adam and Addy got us and using the Pottery Barn gift card and picking out a wedding photo to put in the frame Katy & Tyler got us.


Sandy, Addy and Adam Asher.

Sandy & Adam are obviously starving Addy.

Yummy cupcakes to celebrate Mr. & Mrs. Moran.

Katy & Tyler Asher.


The Morans (still sounds so funny to hear that when
referring to us!)

Thanks for everything guys - you totally spoiled us!

Roxy's Adventure

Roxy found her way out of her pen today and had some fun. She left lots of accidents throughout the dining room and den and chewed on both the coffee table and the molding on the corner of our bar. Good thing we're getting a new couch at some point too, because she left lots of little scratches and a puncture on it from trying to jump up on it all day. Just got done cleaning everything up and re-mopping the floor because she likes to walk through her accidents and had left lots of trails all over the floor.


Here's a shot of the molding that she tore into.



Looks like a beaver chewed on the coffee table.

She had squeezed out between the bars of our newest baby gate on Sunday but we blocked the opening she snuck out of with an old Xbox game cover. This morning before we left, she proceeded to chew through tape that was holding the game cover on so we put up another gate in front of that baby gate before we left. She must have either climbed up the extra baby gate or found a way to squeeze around it in order to escape.

We'll have to be creative and figure out another way to keep her in her den for tomorrow.

Fun times at the Morans.

Look who's ears are up!

I got home from work last Thursday to find both of Roxy's ears standing straight up (for those of you who haven't met her, her ears will ultimately both stand up straight but they don't stand up straight right away - it happens sometime during their puppy-hood). The right one quickly fell down but tonight, they've both been up for quite some time!

We've decided she has ears like a bat, a snapping jaw like a turtle (when she gets excited, she runs around chomping her teeth), and a butt and belly like a pig. What a mixture!


Good view of the bat ears.


Another view of the ears and showing
off the fact that she apparently thinks
the bottom self of the end table is her
new bed.

For more Roxy photos, click here.

Well, Corey and I had a fun, relaxing weekend. We started it off by having dinner at the Allen's house. Heidi made us a fabulous dinner and we were able to eat out on their apartment's roof-top deck. They have an amazing view and their 5-month old daughter Luci was on her best behavior. They also have a super cute black lab named Annie. Annie is a great, well-behaved dog - looking forward to when Roxy becomes more mature like Annie.

Saturday shaped up to be a beautiful day in Seattle so Corey and I went to the Matador for Happy Hour with Nick, Gina and Sara. Then, back at our place, they all took turns playing with Roxy and helped get her all worn out and ready for bed.


The girls and I after Happy Hour.

Sunday was the first official day of football so Roxy and Corey spent many hours on the couch together watching TV. Unfortunately Roxy's Seahawks jersey that I got Corey for his birthday is still a little too big so she couldn't wear it quite yet. Brooke joined us later in the day to meet Roxy, eat dinner and watch the VMA's.

All-in-all, a great weekend. Up this week - teaching Roxy to like her collar and leash and to stay next to us when it's on her and consistently going to the bathroom on her newspaper. Wish us luck!

Roxy's First Trick

So we are probably a bit partial, but I think we are puppy parents to the world's smartest dog. We have had Roxy just 5 days and she can already not just sit but also stay while we back up holding her toy / treat and then call her to come get it. Pretty good for a little puppy, right?! We think so.

Check out her trick here!

Fun Fiesta!

Last night, we had the Gossetts, Reeders, Smith-Gorden's, Kelsey, Mark and Sara over to celebrate Corey's birthday. Since Corey loves Mexican food, and that was what we served, we turned the event into a fiesta, complete with margaritas, festive decorations and a pinata.

We had a great time and everyone loved meeting Roxy - she was quite a hit. She was the perfect puppy around everyone - she didn't seem shy or nervous and didn't have any accidents! She also received some gifts from the Gossetts and Reeders. The Gossetts brought over a fabulous gift basket for Roxy, complete with a personalized fleece lap blanket (which Natalie made!), dog toys and puppy snacks. The Reeders brought Roxy a rhinestone 'R' for her collar (love the bling!) and a hedgehog dog toy.

Here are some pics from the evening:


Festive fiesta decorations.

Roxy enjoying the personalized blanket Natalie

made for her.

Lisa with Roxy and her new hedgehog.

Corey loved ripping open the pinata.

Corey, Roxy and I.

You can check out all the photos from the fiesta here. Muchas gracias to everyone for coming over to help celebrate and to meet Roxy!