It's 6:08am and I should be getting ready for work, but I thought I'd update you instead. :-)

Mark left for the boat on Monday...I cried when I had to say goodbye. Yes, I know he will only be gone for a little more than a week, but there were tears anyway! I wonder if it gets any easier. I miss him. It's hard to sleep in a big empty bed again and be alone in a big empty home again. Actually, this seems strange to me. I was "alone" for 31 years before we were married, slept in a big empty bed and lived in an empty apartment. We've only been married for a month! So why is it so hard for me to have him gone?

Well anyway, here are some new pictures for you to enjoy. :-) First, I know I promised some pictures of the new tv stand, but I took the picture vertically and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make it look that way in my blog (stinkin Macs!  I want my pc!).  Sooo...we'll skip that for now.  Instead, puppy pictures!  Who wouldn't want to look at cute puppies...rather than a tv stand? :-)  

Mark and I had a busy Saturday!  We went to Visalia to buy a BBQ at Lowe's...but I forgot the 10% off coupon that would have saved us $50, so we decided to wait and just go to Costco instead.  The puppies needed beds and my parents have always bought Chloe's beds there...so we thought we'd look.  And we ended up buying two fluffy beds for the dogs, which they love.  Here are a few pictures:

They haven't quite figured out that they need to sleep ON the bed....

Getting closer.....

Duke has got it down!  He loves his new bed!

And yes, we bought them two beds but they sleep curled up next to each other on one.  

Oh well!  Pretty soon they will be too big for just one bed, so they will each have their own. 

Since we bought them new beds, Mark wanted to give them a bath.  They didn't like it much (we thought)...but they were cleaner!  This is actually taken on Sunday--the day after the baths.  They ran right up the stairs and hopped into the tub!  It was really cute...  
After costco on Saturday we went home, got the coupon, and went to Hanford to buy the BBQ. We ended up getting the floor model (they don't have anyone in the store to assemble BBQs on the weekends?!?!) and a great deal on it with the coupon and the floor model discount. My mom said that a BBQ is what my dad really wanted to give us as a wedding gift, so she gave us a gift card and we were able to put that towards the cost and get the kind of BBQ some men only dream about.  My dad would be so proud.  hehe.  It has a bucket attached to one of the side shelves for ice and beer with a little tray for snacks, and even has a bottle opener attached to the front!  Mark loves it, of course.  :-)  It's nice!  On the way home, we discussed how having a BBQ has DOUBLED the amount of menu options for our meals now. Saturday night we BBQd for the first time...hamburgers.  Mark did a great job (and it was nice to not be responsible for cooking for the night!).  He loves his new toy!  (Thanks mom!!)

Here's Daisy, sitting like a good girl...I think she is hoping something will fly off the grill into her mouth. :-)

And Duke...not as patient as Daisy. :-)  He wants to see what smells so good!

A few more pics from the Conrad household...

First, our new corner tv stand--we like it and it makes our room look SO much bigger! (I'll post a pic of that soon!) Here is Mark working on it...

By the way, that's MY drill he is using. :-) He bought it for me, but he seems to be the only one who ever uses it. :-)

Duke and Daisy learning to climb the stairs....going down....

...and up...over and over and over again until their little legs get tired. :-)

Duke thinks that is HIS couch. But they are primarily outside dogs...so coming inside is a TREAT and sitting on the couch is a SUPER treat (that has only happened once, because promptly after I took this picture he proceeded to chew on my pillow!)

Enjoying the treats our good friends Amanda and Carl gave the puppies...I think they were puppywarming gifts! hehe. Rawhides in the shape of toothbrushes. So funny because when they chew on them it actually looks like they are brushing their teeth!

Our loving Duke....

And our precious Daisy...

So it's been just about a month...and so much has happened!  I'm married now, to a wonderful man, we enjoyed a week-long honeymoon in warm, sunny Hawai'i, we've moved into our home and have started the long process of unpacking, and we have adopted two boxer/golden retriever puppies.  They are adorable!

Here are some pictures from the past month.

The wedding
Jen, me, Ashley, Kristin - my girls!

Being a little silly, but I love this picture!!

the best man Carl, Mark, and another groomsman Brett "Woody"

the ceremony...someone told me that the sun peeked through just as the ceremony was starting! so pretty. the trees are why we chose this church.

fun picture of the wedding party AFTER the ceremony, and Woody on the floor--a funny guy :-)

our wedding cake!
with pine cones to go along with the outdoor wintery theme--the cake turned out SO great! I was very happy with it!

Mark and I at the reception

Mark and I, our first dance

Duey, Luey, and Huey, back together again! So fun!

The ADX girls in attendance. So fun to have everyone there together!

The honeymoon
Maui, we went on a sunset/whale watching cruise - and saw whales! :-)

Mark and I on the catamaran for the sunset cruise

Mark and I at a state park in Maui

Then off to Oahu! We stayed at Ford Island (Pearl Harbor), so we were able to visit the memorials from the Dec 1941 attack
Mark and I at the USS Arizona memorial

Me at the USS Utah memorial

The puppies
Daisy and Duke watching Mark rake

Daisy and Duke loving each other :-)

Mark holding Duke...who at the time of this picture weighed 36 lbs!