Brandt is Employed!

Brandt has not just one job, but two! The stock photo to the right depicts his excitement at being so awesome at working. 

He started working as a part-time seasonal team member at Target on November 1. Of course, they love him and already have him working in electronics. Our schedules haven't overlapped much this month, in fact, we've had mostly opposite shifts. It's fun to see him at work when we do have shifts together.

Brandt had orientation this morning for his new position as a teller at Wells Fargo. He won't officially start until December though. The leads at Target have whispered about keeping Brandt past seasonal, which he is considering. He'll be working a lot of hours but hopefully it's something that won't be necessary for the long term.

Now here's a picture of a businessman with a trophy. Why? Because it's almost as funny as the first stock photo. But seriously, Brandt should win a major award for how hard he works to do his part to support our little family. The dogs and I love him!

Cedric Turned 2!

Cedric's birthday was this weekend and our little guy is two years old. I attempted to take cute pictures of him with the birthday hat but he refuses to cooperate in most situations, including this one. He mostly tried to eat the hat or ran away. I did get one though!

It hadn't rained in a few days, so after work, I scooped up the pups and we went to the dog park. It felt like the wind was an icy hand slapping my face for daring to go outside but the dogs had fun. Cedric's favorite activity is running. When it's paired with other dogs and chasing balls, he's the happiest boy in the world.

Adding Cedric to Our Pack
When I met Brandt, he had the sweetest chunkiest pit bull named Sandy. She was his first dog and helped me get over my slight fear of big dogs. I'd had some bad experiences with larger dogs and I had no desire to own one until I met Sandy. She got very sick just before Christmas and we made the difficult decision to end her suffering. Brandt was distraught and deeply missed his Sandy Bear. While Ellie and Sparrow are good dogs, they don't play much.

My mom knew I'd always wanted a Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle) and found one near Wichita a few months later! We'd been looking around at dogs and puppies but nothing seriously. When we saw the picture of the little guy, we decided to take my mom up on the offer of adding a puppy to our pack.

Cedric looked very different when we got him. He was black and tan with almost no curls. I doubted he had much poodle in him but when we shaved him that summer, his hair grew back much curlier.
He was spunky and definitely a terrier. He was very bitey and always barking. Cedric brought excitement back into our grieving house.

Right after we got Cedric.

Where is the puppy?

He loved to crawl under the coffee table.

Ellie couldn't stand him at first but they grew to love each other. 

He had creepy vampire teeth and used them all the time.

Cedric was the dominate dog when it came to boxes!

All of our pups waiting for my sister to come inside.

My buddy.

Brandt was excited to have a dog with a beard and still is. They're beard buddies! Cedric is the best cuddle buddy with me and he goes crazy when it's time to play, which is what Brandt loves. Cedric runs up to us when he's done eating and burps to display his pleasure with the meal. When he gets excited, his stub wags so hard that his entire back side wiggles. 

He wants to do nothing more than play fetch and is constantly doing whatever he can to make us throw anything. He has a great maneuver where he puts the toy on the couch, sets his head on it, then wags his stub and whines until you reach for it. He's ridiculous because he never lets you grab the toy. He always pulls it away, brings it back, and whines because you didn't throw it.

Now time for Cedric pictures!!

Before Cedric's first haircut.

Cedric with his first haircut and fancy bow!

We weren't allowed to go to the bathroom without him.

Cedric is comfortable in the oddest position.

Cedric thinks he's a parrot even though he's huge now.

He can be high maintenance but he's so darn cute.

Cedric doesn't like to be left out when I'm on the hammock.

Buddy with his bee squeaker. Few squeakers lasted as long as that one.

Weird cuddler.

This is my favorite cuddle. He's so hard core when
it comes to cuddle time.

Cedric's second favorite activity is keeping guard.

Cedric loved Oregon and sniffing while I drive!

We watch the sun set together.

I love my boys!

Voting

Brandt and I both fulfilled our civic duties this weekend, and voted. In Oregon, voting is done by mail. It was extremely easy and I preferred this method because they also mailed a large booklet of information about all candidates and proposed measures that we could reference.

Voting doesn't matter in the presidential election because your vote is thrown away due to the electoral college, unless you live in a swing state. However, I still vote in the presidential election and firmly believe in voting at the local and state level. Brandt was watching Boardwalk Empire and thought of me during the first season because it was about women's suffrage. We shouldn't take for granted what our predecessors fought for and voting can make a difference.

"...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or Representation." - Abigail Adams 

How Voting Works in Oregon

We registered like normal and received postcards informing us that our ballots would be mailed in late October. I wasn't sure what I thought about it but kept an open mind. First, we received the Voters' Pamphlet, shown to the right. It contained write ups from every candidate and details about each ballot measure. The part I appreciated the most was arguments in favor of and opposed to the  measures. I found it helpful to consider the positives and negatives before making a decision. I don't like to make uninformed votes but researching measures can be difficult because the internet isn't always reliable. I also rarely took to the time to look in depth beforehand either. Then, when in the voting booth, it's nearly impossible to decipher what the measures propose and what they mean.

My Safeway card next to the booklet.

Our ballots came in the mail with a sheet of detailed information about each measure, a privacy envelope, and the return envelope. Of course, we waited and didn't mail them until Monday. However, we took our time when we voted and each scoured the pamphlet to make our decisions. Finally, we signed the back of our return envelopes and include our return address.

Negatives:

• You must affix a stamp and anymore, who has stamps? However, if you'd prefer, you can go down to polling centers and vote there. Another option is drop boxes placed around the community. So it's not that much of a negative, really.
• If you live with someone manipulative or controlling, they could force you to vote a certain way or do it for you.
• You could forget or not mail it in by 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
• I didn't get a cool sticker to show off that I voted.

Positives:

• This method is very convenient! I sat in our cozy living room with the smell of pumpkin spice filling the air as I voted.
• No need to worry about having an ID or finding the polling place.
• You don't have to leave work or stand in a ridiculously long line. Last time we voted, Brandt and I stood in line to have our IDs checked and then waiting again for a booth. I think it was about 30 minutes of standing and waiting.
• As mentioned above, I loved having the pamphlet with information readily available.

Overall, the process was easy, convenient, and informative. I didn't know about some of the ballot measures before this weekend. I was able to research everything as I was voting and if I'd wanted, I could have looked up more information online. It even helped to have the candidate statements when making a few of my decisions. Now here's one of my favorite quotes: