Dave and I are still working on furnishing our new place. I left much of my furniture in the OC when I moved up here and Dave's, well, let's just say it went to a better place (bachelor furniture anyone?). Number one on our priority list is a new couch because we only have a small loveseat right now -- and even for a 5'1" midget like me it's too small to share!!! Alas, I fell in love with a slipcovered couch from Pottery Barn (see right) that cost an arm and a leg.

I had planned on sucking it up and spending a retroactive raise check that I'm getting to buy it. But, the other weekend I discovered this from Ikea -- for one third of the cost.



Yippee!!! Now we can buy the couch, a dresser,bedside tables, and maybe a coffe table and end table -- and spend only a little bit more than we would have on a whole new couch. I love a bargain!!!!

As a Christian, how much is too much? Do you know what I mean? We went to a BBQ on Saturday at the home of a couple from church who we didn't know at all. Their house is in a swanky area -- several homes nearby must have been 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. Theirs was not quite so big, but it was definitely bigger than most folks I know, and it was really nice with all sorts of fancy features and upgrades. Seeing all those nice homes has me thinking about how much is too much. I'm not judging, just wondering what I'm okay with for myself -- realizing that one of the challenges of living here in an upper middle class suburban environment is living simply, but still struggling to figure out exactly what that means. Just a random thought from the day.

As if being newlyweds wasn't enough, Dave and I adopted a new Beagle puppy. Her name is Chloe or, to be more exact, Lil Miss Chloe Princess of the Woof Woof. Dave kept calling her princess, and I thought our future daughter might resent that, so she became "princess of the woof woof" so our daughter could someday still be our little princess. She also answers to "Chlo Chlo," "Little Thing," and "Chloester."

She is almost 12 weeks old -- think toddler stage. In fact, I've been told a puppy at this age is actually worse than a baby. After several sleepless nights, we now only have to wake up once a night to take her to go potty. And don't even get me started on the housetraining and constant chewing and biting. But, one look at that cute face and I'm all done in! Totally worth it. :) First photo above is of Chloe the first weekend we got her (about 8 weeks). The one on the left is from last weekend at about 10 weeks. She's getting so big!!!