Meet our pets!

For those who don't know yet, AJ and I have acquired two pets this summer! We love animals and would love to have a dog, but our lifestyle doesn't allow for a dog yet. Between the expenses and living in an apartment with no private outdoor space, it's not ideal right now. So, we settled for two very cute, smaller mammals :)

Meet Otis and Ron the guinea pigs! The name "Ron" is short for "Old Ironsides", the name of the 1st Armored Division. So we're poking a little fun at the Army with our guinea pig ;) We first got them in June, but ended up having to take them back to the vet for about a month when they got colds. Now they are back to their old selves! They love to run around the cage and "popcorn", which is when guinea pigs twitch and jump seemingly uncontrollably. Ron really gets some air! They love to squeak too. The only bummer is that they're still rather shy--Otis in particular is afraid of just about everything. Once you get them in your lap they're pretty cuddly though!

This past weekend we also had some visitors. AJ's grandparents came from Arizona to spend some time with us. This was only the third time I had seen them in the six years AJ and I have been together, so I'm still getting to know them. Even so, we appreciate their willingness to drive out to see us and their interest in our lives over here. We spend a relaxing Saturday with them, hosting them for a last minute lunch to begin with. They have the honor of being the first people we've hosted for a meal here! They were very sweet to bring some vegetables, fruit, and chips to help. After that we went on another tour of post. I learn something new every time! We even looked inside the museum on post, which is pretty big. Next we enjoyed the scenic drive and snapped a couple pictures, chatting the entire way. We treated them to a belated birthday dinner at one of our favorite Mexican fast food restaurants and then brought them back to our apartment to play with our pets. Before long we were all tired, so we said goodbye. All in all, it was a good day. Maybe we'll see them again someday while we're down here.


I'm finished with the summer semester of school, and did really well. So now we're just regrouping before the fall starts--which is way too soon! AJ's busy with deployment-related things, and he is officially going to some training for about three weeks coming up in a couple months. So, we're busy enough these days, but just trying to focus on enjoying our time together as husband and wife. I am one lucky girl!