endearings...

so it's been a while but i have so many endearing charlie moments that i wanted to get them all down before he grew out of this puppy stage so i

could remember for all times...as i write this particular blog, the little one is curled up in my lap for a quick morning snooze.

~ charlie knows the routine. he starts off sleeping in his crate and then stirs anywhere between 5 - 6am. he quickly goes shi shi & #2 and is invited onto the bed. he excitedly gives papa tons of kisses and then when i return from the bathroom, he waits for the covers to be lifted to snuggle next to scott. within seconds he is on his back for scott to rub his belly and proceeds to pass out and take up 1/3 of the bed...

~ right around 10:30pm he gets his burst of energy and does the crazy run around the whole house! the first time he did i laughed so hard i was snorting...hee hee he's a speedy little guy...he zips around the corners of the island so fast that his two little ears tuck back...i really need to catch a video clip of him...

~ charlie is an expert sleeper/napper. he is also a lover of comfort and for him that means getting in that perfect position and so he turns and moves to get there. most of the time he's on his back with all four paws up in the air. his stretching is B E S T.

~ now that uncle harley (the rottweiler we're taking care of for scott's parents) got the boot and is no longer allowed in the house, charlie makes it a point to say good night and waits by the laundry room every night. charlie also gets so excited when we get harley's food ready. funny pup...

~ when charlie is sleeping and i try to move him he makes this little noise. i L O V E this noise. i move him purposefully to hear it sometimes...

~ one of the most heart-warming things charlie does is when he's home with scott and i come back from wherever i've been, his little face and tail wagging just warms me in such a way that melts my heart. there are no words to describe it...

i know i'm truly becoming "one of those dog owners" but until you have your own, you may never understand the joys of being one and all the little endearing moments you get to encounter each and every day. i LOVE charlie-bear!

a little piece of greece!

i'm sort of all over the place in timing with this blog, but that's okay because this is mostly for me anyways. so, i was in chicago last week visiting my family, june and aleko and also bringing home charlie. the first few days were spent with just june and aleko and i can't tell you enough how much i loved just being with them...

all we did was spend time together. we lounged, took naps, conquered some champions (way to go team!) they also took me to this greek restaurant that served yummy food! i wished my stomach was feeling better so i could have eaten more of the dessert...i also watched some greek futbol with them...man oh man is greek soccer different! at least the fans are anyways...

even after we picked up charlie, i was lucky enough to meet aleko's family. i fell in L O V E with them! his mom, which june calls mana is the essence of living life! she is so full of energy and is always trying to feed you! mmm good! her home cooking is one of the best i've ever had and just the family feel with the rest of aleko's sister's family left me with warm fuzzies inside. i almost didn't want to leave because i wanted to experience more of it...i came back to oregon to explain and describe what it was all like but truly, you just have to experience it yourself.

i loved when mahna says, "BRAVO junaki" and also loved all the toasting that went on during dinner...i had water but they still included me on the toasting.

thank you to the brentano's family...charlie and i miss you already.

so much time, so many possibilities...

so today is the start of my week long media fast. that means, NO: tv, movies, music, facebook (omg!), magazines...you get the point. so after discipleship this morning, charlie and i took a nice long nap to pass the morning. now charlie's been fed, laundry has begun and the dishwasher is loaded. my mind is going blank with all the possibilities that i can cease but when it comes down to it, maybe i'm just plain lazy. like i want to be able to say i've had this long list of books i've wanted to read, but i'm not that cool.

(ADD moment) today, charlie came all the way downstairs by himself! yaayyy for this big first

okay, so back to the media fast. i thought that since this is my way of journaling, blogging doesn't count as media. i find this media fast hard to do being unemployed. i told scott his morning, "at least i have charlie..."

in the next week i am hoping to finish a great book, keep this blog current, do a lot of home-cooking and be with people! i feel very blessed to have family here but selfishly i want them ALL here...that way i can go visit, spend quality time and also do brainless-let's do nothing together-activities. the only thing scheduled is charlie's first offiicial play-date with hurley (another fellow maltese) saturday morning and a few other visitors. besides that, scott and i are doing taxes (which really means my wonderful hubby will be doing them) and a younglife banquet on sunday. to say the least, i am looking forward to being with other human beings...(sigh).

love @ first sight.

his name is charlie. he is the new addition to the wang family and we L O V E him!
as he quietly chews on his chew toy, i can quietly reflect on the past several days. it has been so much fun and also filled with some challenges. to me, getting this new pup was a commitment to myself because the last dog i had i was a horrible dog-owner. so i kind of feel like this is my way to make up for sunshine's life... i don't mind waking up at 4am to have our little charlie relieve himself. i don't mind that when he's invited on the bed that he licks and affectionally paws my face. i don't mind picking up his little #2's. i can't tell you enough how much i crack up when he cries because he can't understand the glass shower door that separates us. he's my little heater and is the best snuggler. i hope he never loses that puppy trait. this morning, in my half sleepy state my husband tells me in passing: i will tell you this, you are way nicer in the mornings since we got charlie. i hope this is telling of how i will be with our kids. let's start that prayer now!