Matt, Steph, Jack, & RB too!: fall in Charleston

September 23rd officially marked the first day of fall and I promised myself that I wouldn't wish for fall weather until then. And I'm happy to report that we are definitely getting some fall weather! Right now, it's actually 3 degrees cooler in Charleston than in Billings and only 2 degrees warmer than Seattle. The best part is that it is chilly in the mornings and evenings and heats up just enough during the day to head to the beach. Yesterday, it was in the upper 70's so Melissa and I spent the afternoon at the Isle of Palms chatting about life and talking once again about how random it was that we are here together. Matt's season in Alabama seem like such a mystery to me because we weren't dating at that time in his life so it's fun to hear Melissa reminisce about their year there.

Last Thursday, we finally moved into our new house! We are renting a small, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in Mount Pleasant that is approximately 5 minutes from the beach. It's perfect. It has a fenced yard for the puppy and a one car garage which will primarily be used for storage (such a blessing beings Matt has so many outdoor items that don't need to be inside). People have been asking to see photos of the house but for now, I'm just going to post one of the house from the outside. I will post photos of the inside this weekend but I need just a few more days to get it all put together!


This is the photo that was on the MLS listing...that's not our car in the driveway :)

I promise to give you the full tour this weekend! In other news, we picked our puppy from the litter we had put a deposit on! The breeder performed the temperament testing of the 11 puppies this past weekend and paired us up with 3 dogs that matched what we thought we wanted in a puppy...so here she is, meet Raleigh Belle :)

Raleigh Belle @ 6 weeks

Here is the lowdown on Raleigh according to the breeder:

Pink (the nickname the breeder gave her) is our “sweet puppy”. Abigail has adopted her as the mascot puppy from this litter. Whenever anyone new pops in for a visit that hasn’t met the litter, she brings Pink out immediately to meet them and says, “She’s sweet, cuddly and playful like a puppy should be.” She loves to be petted and especially loves sweet talking. When you scratch under her chin she will lift her head up and look in your eyes. Eye contact is a very important tool in training and this should help her learn quickly. She is also a people pleaser which goes a long way with basic obedience training. She really loves people and plays nicely with the kids and other dogs/puppies. She has soulful eyes.

This puppy’s temperament testing indicated that it will accept human leaders easily with regular training and exercise. She is a good prospect for the average owner and is a bit more submissive then some of its litter mates. She adapts well to new situations but will look to you for leadership at times. This puppy is generally good with children and the elderly. She usually has a common sense approach to life and trains well. This puppy scored well in the social attraction categories and may be more easily taught to come and is cuddly and friendly. Its interest in people can be a useful tool in training.

Pink has a curly coat. She is apricot in color. She has a boxy head and short muzzle and her build is small to medium. Currently the pull test for shedding was positive for possible mild shedding (1-2 hairs were removed when a small area above the base of the tail was pulled firmly.) Remember the pull test is a guide only and may not always be accurate we have seen dogs in the past go either way but we like to use it as a general guide.

I am SO excited to go pick her up next Saturday. In the meantime, we'll be finishing house projects and enjoying sleeping in on this last weekend without having to get up to let the dog out for potty time!

Lastly, I wanted to share this little project that Matt designed this weekend. We are trying to be creative with storage space in our kitchen. We have a lot more space than we did in Seattle but we still have SO much kitchen stuff that it's pretty ridiculous...we do use it all though so I don't want to get rid of anything. So...Matt came up with this! We went to this antique store just to look around and found this ladder. I wish I would've taken a picture of it before Matt broke it in half but I didn't...