All About Benton

It's been awhile since I've devoted an entire post to Benton. He is really doing well, and there have been some changes with him.

1. His fur is growing out beautifully. He had been roughly shaved (the volunteers at the KS Humane Society did it) because it was tangled when he was brought in. It is the softest fur, and he is really starting to feather everywhere. I love it!
Compare this picture with the picture below. The picture below was provided by the KS Humane Society on their Web site right before we adopted him. You can tell his fur is much shorter after being shaved.

2. He is such a good boy about going to his crate when it is time for bed or when Kevin or I need to leave. We just say the phrase, "go to bed," and he goes without much hesitation at all.

3. We are still working on jumping on people. He's gotten much better about getting down once we say "down", but he still is motivated to jump, ESPECIALLY when we have guests (doesn't he realize that it makes it look worse to people than it really is? Silly puppy!)

4. He is still the best doggy cuddler I've ever personally known. He and I share an hour a day in particular when I snuggle him. We watch The View together. It's both of our guilty pleasures.

5. He is finally realizing that we don't own the entire subdivision, even though there aren't many houses in our area. For awhile, he would bark at the private school two blocks from us. Thankfully that is no more.

6. Playing in the unfinished basement with his tennis ball is his FAVORITE activity. We only have boxes on the side with the stairs in our basement, so there is a large open area we can throw the ball. It's great for him when it's too cold or wet outside to do in the cul-de-sac. We don't have to worry about putting a rope for a leash on him either, which I know he appreciates.

Grilled to Perfection

I'm one lucky lady. My hubby loves to cook! Don't get me wrong, I love to cook as well. I've noticed lately though as I've been a stay-at-home wife that I enjoy having some of the cooking duties switched a little more to Kevin.

Last night, Kevin made such a yummy new recipe. It's yogurt marinated chicken with a pineapple and roasted pepper salsa. YUMMY! We ate it with warm apple cider. It was a great meal!

Master Bedroom

Our bedroom is an elegant space, and I am enjoying finding the perfect touches to add to it. I love our ceiling fan, and I can't wait to hang up some of our wedding pictures!

Our Bathrooms

Our main level has two bathrooms (one in the hallway and one in the master suite). Eventually when we finish the basement, there will be an additional bathroom in the basement. The hallway bathroom has red and brown for color accents (and will probably be painted tan or beige), and the master bathroom has blue and green accents (and will probably be painted a fresh green).

The Office

We're not sure what color we want to paint our office, but we have several wall decorations to hang in here to give it color if we decide to wait on painting in here. It's a nice room to pay bills, apply for jobs, and stay in touch with friends and family (and blog!)!

Be our guest

Our guest room is such a fun room because we have memorabilia and pictures of our family and friends. We're thinking of painting it a very delicate light grey to coordinate with our linens. If you are ever in the Wichita area, come on over! We love having guests. Kevin's sisters took turns this weekend staying with us, and it was great. My parents have also stayed with us twice.

Living room

Our favorite part of our living room is our fireplace. It's a gas starter, and I can already picture our Christmas stockings and decorations with the fireplace going.

Our kitchen, dining area, and laundry room

We love our kitchen. It has plenty of room for all of our utensils, cookware, and appliances.


Our laundry room is right off of the garage on the way to the kitchen. I love having it on the main floor, and it is a great location to do laundry while I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen.


Our dining area is off the kitchen, and it has access to the covered deck on the right of the table (see previous post).
We are planning on painting eventually. With all the house setup, it just didn't seem like a huge rush to paint since it was newly painted as a new-construction house. For the main area of the house (including kitchen, dining area, and laundry), we are planning on going with a tan or beige color to warm it up a bit. Otherwise, this area just needs a few pictures hung, and we will eventually figure out what type of curtains we want for the deck sliding glass doors.

Way to go Wildcats!

Kevin and I went to the KSU game versus Colorado on Saturday. We had a lot of fun at the game (and we won!), and it was nice to be back in Manhattan. After the game, we ate a late lunch at Houlihan's before heading back to Wichita to eat dinner with Kevin's parents and sisters who were in town for the weekend.

Patience is a virtue

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of our almost-finished house (we are waiting to paint until after the first of the year and Kevin has been busy at work so I haven't been pushy about him hanging up all of our wall items). As I go through the last of the boxes (down to single digits!), I will post the finished rooms. Enjoy! You should definitely check back often as you never know when the next picture might be up!

Our entry table (the basket has Benton's accessories in it for walking, treats, etc.)The newly stained deck and grill - we put the patio table and chairs in the garage when we stained the deck and haven't put them back out yet. The grill is apparently a higher priority :) The deck color is called amberwood, and I like the honey color.

Gluten-free Bliss

Today I ventured out to a food store I had heard some good things about called Food for Thought. It isn't very close to where we live (or even where we sometimes visit), but it was worth it! There were aisles and aisles of gluten free foods, many brand-new brands to me. I had been frustrated with the lack of selection of g-free foods in Wichita (still haven't found a pizza place), so it was a relief to see what was available at this store. The baked goods aren't carried fresh (they are frozen), but they were from local bakeries. Today I bought brown rice tortillas (I'm not a huge fan of corn tortillas for anything except casserole-type dishes), a single-serve pizza, and frozen muffins.

Doggy Play date

On Saturday, we had a doggy play date with Julie's beagle girls (Kevin's aunt's dogs). It was a bit chilly outside, but Benton (and hopefully Mable and Ivy) had a blast! Since we've moved into our new house, Benton has gotten a bit more territorial (he thinks he owns everything he sees and will sometimes bark at people a block away on a walk), so we want to make sure we continue to socialize him.

After the play date, Julie, Kevin, and I headed out for dinner and we crated Benton at her house. It was so fun to chat with Julie. We compared Meyers-Briggs personality types, and Julie and I have the same letters!

Benton was sleepy when we got home!

Who couldn't love this guy?

For those chilly nights...

Last night, Kevin roasted two yummy garlic and thyme chickens (about two pounds each). It was so good! I'm excited too because we can use the chicken in other recipes for the rest of the week! Let's see, I'm thinking chicken and rice soup, quesadillas, and maybe a white bean chili.

The standard response

Kevin and I know you are wondering...

what is the answer to number 4 on the previous post?

Here is our standard response.

Kevin is an engineer, and engineers have to take two exams: the FE (final exam) and the PE (professional engineer exam). He took the FE before he graduated college, which means he can be a practicing engineer with supervision. However, in a couple of years (I think he is down to two or two and a half now), he will take the PE to be an official licensed engineer. Since Kevin and I are planning on me being a stay-at-home mom, we thought the timing of waiting until Kevin is a PE made a lot of sense because of job security and it is just a nice amount of time to be married before having children.

Pass it on! :)

You know you are married when...

I recently saw a blog that I subscribe to do a list like this, and I thought it would be fun to share the changes in Kevin's and my life since we've been married.

You know you are married when...

1. those long, deep conversations you used to have about politics, religion, and news topics now center around how much life insurance and/or disability insurance you should carry.

2. an evening of fun is centered around not having to water the lawn!

3. budget meetings went from flower arrangements and honeymoon discussions to groceries and Benton's dog food.

4. your husband groans on the inside when you are asked when you are planning on having kids, and you both have developed a standard response.

5. you research discipline ideas on the dog, and one of you (ok, me) base your ideas on child psychology for "practice".

6. your upcoming social events include a baby shower, housewarming party, and dinner party, and you are really excited for all of it!

7. you have developed three phases of home projects.

8. you are already looking for outfits for the office's formal Christmas party.

9. you wake up at 5:15 in the morning to work out together (and secretly go to bed with a few excuses just in case it seems too early).

10. you carefully select shirts that don't give your tummy special attention so people don't start to wonder (hopefully the Y will help with this!).

Although some of this may seem like our lives have become a little boring, Kevin and I are both having the time of our lives together. I can't wait for us to continue to grow and have our own little "couple-isms"!

Quintuplets

Well, eventually we will be parents to millions, but right now we only have five: baby grasses!!! On the West side of the front yard we have sprouted BABY GRASS! It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen and about had a heart attack when Benton tried to eat a piece. WOOHOO! It's the first sign of a yard, and I couldn't be happier!