About Us

I saw this quiz on Dooce and after reading it I decided that it was a good quiz for the blog because well it was about both of us. Since this blog is written by both of us from time to time it was definitely better than the 25 things about me which would have resulted in 50 things and no one wants to read that.

So, here we are again being narcissistic but really isn't that what having a blog is all about.

1. What are your middle names?

Renee and Matthew, I think you can figure out whose is whose.

2. How long have you been together?

Almost 9 years this May. We started dating in May of 2000 and then decided that we should make it official on November 11, 2006 (our 6 1/2 year anniversary of being together).

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating?

About 10 months. We met each other at the beginning of my freshman year (his senior year) of college although we didn't socialize much we would run into each other every once in awhile. Things changed at the end of the school year and Brett was graduating. He decided that this would be his last chance to date a co-ed so he went for it.

4. Who asked whom out?

Brett asked me out. Although for the first couple of weeks we both thought we were just two friends that were hanging out together and were too shy and inexperienced to do anything about it but really we wanted each other badly.

5. How old are each of you?

27 and 31, Brett is my old man.

6. Whose siblings do you see the most?

My siblings, sadly. Jennifer, my sister, lives only minutes away from us and has been known to drop by for dinner every now and again. Plus being sisters we are close and hang out a lot. There are 4 siblings (not including spouses) total, 2 on my side and 2 on Brett's side. Interestingly enough on both sides we each have a sibling living in town and 1 living afar. I really wish we did see all of our siblings more.

7. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?

Long distance dating. We did the whole long distance dating thing for almost 5 years. Only months after we had started dating Brett informed me that he was moving to San Francisco to pursue his dream of working in Advertising. He then asked me if we wanted to stay together. I am not sure if it was the fact that I was still in that stupor of butterflies in my stomach, lovey dovey early romance but I said yes not really knowing what was in store for us by long distance dating. It was hard, we missed each other so much and we missed out on so much in each others lives, we fought about being apart and the time we spent together, and we were exhausted. Even through all of that at the end of the day there was no one else I wanted to be with, I love Brett so much. So eventually I moved to San Francisco and we decided that if we could make it through the last 5 years that marriage would be cake and it has been.

8. Did you go to the same school?

Yes, we both went to Nevada, but we weren't college sweethearts as Brett had graduated before we started dating.

9. Are you from the same home town?

Not really, I guess I consider Reno my hometown since I have lived here since I was 10 years old. Brett grew up in Fallon, a town an hour east of Reno. So not the same towns, but we are both Northern Nevadans and have a strong love for Nevada.

10. Who is smarter?

Hands down Brett is the smartest. Little known fact is that he went to the Scripps Howard Spelling Bee twice, even finishing 12th (which isn't bad considering how many kids participate). He has an extensive knowledge of the history of baseball but it doesn't stop there it feels like he could talk about anything. I am always amazed at the things he know. He reads the Wikipedia home page daily for this day in history and to learn something new. His smarts is really what turned me on when we first met, what can I say I am sucker for a nerd.

11. Who is most senstive?

Hands down me, I have a huge heart that I wear on my sleeve and I cry alot, almost so much it is embarassing. Brett is sensitive as well but he just can't compete and I don't think he minds one bit.

12. Where do you eat out most as a couple?

Qdoba, but that is mostly due to my love of their chicken burritos and lime salted chips.

13. Where is the furthest you have travelled together?

Boston, MA for Giants vs. Red Sox Game in 2007. We really need to work on travelling farther together.

14. Who has the craziest exes?

Brett by defninition since I don't have any exes (Brett was my first boyfriend) but his exes havne't really been crazy or even an issue in our relationship.

15. Who has the worst temper?

Me, it's actually proven to be a gene that I was born with. Just kidding but really it is a Smith Girl trait to have a temper. Brett on the other hand is one of the calmest people I know and I admire it often.

16. Who does the cooking?

I do most of the cooking. I love to cook. Brett does cook as well but I would prefer to cook becuase then Brett has to do the dishes, I absolutely loathe doing dishes.

17. Who is the neat-freak?

Neither of us are really neat-freaks but I am a freak about things being put back in the correct place and I get very particular with how things look. Really both of us have a messy streak and if we aren't careful it can be dangerous.

18. Who is more stubborn?

Well, Brett naturally says me because I am more vocally stubborn BUT I would have to say Brett. He just does it more subtly but he can be very stubborn about things.

19. Who hogs the bed?

The dogs, even with a California King bed we are always feeling cramped or pushed off the bed. Such is the life with two 15 lbs dogs. Seriously who would have thought such small dogs would take up so much space in our bed.

20. Who wakes up earlier?

On weekdays its Brett but that is because he needs to get up and get ready for work. On weekends its me because I don't really need to sleep in on the weekends.

21. Where was your first date?

We went mini golfing and I kicked his ass (in case you were wondering).

22. Who is more jealous?

Neither of us have a jealous streak, I think we have always really trusted each other and have known everything about each other so there was never anything to be jealous about.

23. How long did it take to get serious?

About a couple of months into dating when Brett decided to move to San Francisco, our relationship went from a summer fling to serious as we both realized that this was the person we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with.

24. Who does the laundry?

After attempting different models for how to do the laundry (i.e. I do it all or he does it all) I think we came up with a perfect model. We both do our own clothes and then I handle all the laundry that is shared like towels and sheets. Although Brett has been known to help out with those when necessary. I just think it makes doing laundry not so daunting.

25. Who drives when you are together?

Brett drives. My driving scares Brett and I have learned to deal with Brett's slower more cautious driving over my so-called "defensive driving". Plus I can easily fall asleep in the car and Brett can't. So it works out I get to sleep and Brett gets to drive without me nagging him for driving in the slow lane.

So that's us.

Waging a battle against embitterment

I'm not the first person to participate in this and I know that we have all been seeing it popping up on the interwebs like the flu. I read about this about a month ago over at Schmutzie's blog and I loved the idea. I just didn't know how to get started and kept putting it off.

Then on Sunday I realized I needed it more than ever. Even after an amazing start of a weekend I found myself being the biggest Debbie Downer on Sunday (I do this quite often and usually just days before I start my period- ask Brett he can attest to this). I was picking fights with Brett, with my sister and just being an overall pity party of 1. Needless to say I get in these moods where I feel as though everything sucks, that I am not where I imagined myself at this age and what the hell am I doing with my life. Then I get overwhelmed and I explode into this person that no one wants to be around.

I am not going to lie not everything is peaches over here but I do have a great life; I have a husband who loves me despise the whole paragraph above, I have a family that loves and supports me unconditionally and I have a job that I love, even better coworkers that I love and even consider family, and two pups that I couldn't imagine my life without. Okay, don't tell me that this paragraph leaves you a lot more warm and fuzzy than the previous one. Well, that's the point.

The project is easy just take a couple of minutes each day and list 5 things that have graced my life or really that make me happy. It's been good and very therapeutic for me. I have also been combining it with my photo of the day. So instead of listing my 5 things here everyday on the blog I am listing them in my flickr photo stream. You can access it by clicking the link above my daily photo on my sidebar. Better yet, if you are feeling that you want to wage your own battle against embitterment join Grace in Small Things Social Network on Ning.

This is the photo from my 2nd day of Grace, its a rainbow I saw on my way to the gym. It was breathtakingly beautiful and definitely made getting up and going to the gym worth it.

All I know is taking time every day to appreciate things in my life has already given me a better perspective already.

Stop Toying with Us

This is all too common of a sight in our house; not being able to turn a corner or walk down a hall with out spotting a dog toy. Yesterday though it seemed as every. single. dog. toy. was strewn about the house.

Let me take you on a little tour of our house after the toys have been brought out.

Here you have where the two halls meet and the entry way were we have puppy, red lobster and orange weiner dog.


Next is my office (where the dogs spend most of their weekdays); this is the end of the bed. We have ducky, bear and blue thingy.


Up on the guest bed in my office we have frosty and squeaky bee.


Next walking down the hall towards the master bedroom we have Sammy sitting innocently with skeleton bear and froggy. While making my bed I also stumbled upon green sheep in the comforter, which isn't uncommon as a certain pup likes to bring green sheep to be with her every night.


Really Sammy is the innocent one and these photos prove it. One dog and one dog alone brings out every single toy and leaves them all over the house. That dog would be Maggie (she also is the one that brings green sheep to bed with her)


So if this is also a familiar sight at your house we can only guess that you have pups as well and we feel your pain.

No matter how much time I spend picking up toys usually Maggie is right behind me pulling them out of the toy box. Oh the joys of puppy parenthood.

Now I must go and attempt to pick up all the toys that I put away just 10 minutes ago.

Courage Campaign

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Please go here and sign. Please don't allow them to divorce all the same-sex couples who said "I do" last year.

Could you imagine being forced to divorce someone you loved? I know I couldn't.

money, money, moneeeaaaay

As part of our New Years Resolutions and part of my 101 in 1001 things (see #13, #31, and #76) Brett and I are doing all we can to live on a (tight) budget. Seriously, this is one of the hardest things that I think we have ever done as a couple. Budgeting is hard and it sucks. We have planned out a budget for the next twelve months and have high hopes of paying off debt, saving money for a house and maybe even a vacation (please let there be money for a vacation).

Well, only a month and half into our budget we realized that we are going to be short at the end of February (some small yet surprisingly significant bills came out of nowhere). So we spent tonight rolling coins from our spare change jar. Oh yes, that is how us crazy kids spent our evening. Even though rolling our spare change is not so sexy we are really trying to be serious about this budget. It's shocking that we actually have enough money in spare change to not have to dip into savings or use some other method (like Brett resorting to street walking).

One of our main goals is to not use our credit cards anymore. It is such a bad habit and we would do it so often in the past because it's easy and we don't have to think about it. Even our debit card is as dangerous as our credit cards. It's doesn't suprise me how people get in debt so easily nowadays.

Being on a tight budget sucks; we don't eat out anymore, we aren't buying non-essential items, we aren't using our credit cards, and we are thinking long and hard about every dollar we spend. Even though right now is not as much fun and kind of tough we are optimistic that this will only help us in the future. Right?

What are some money tips and tricks that you guys use? Please, please share because we can use all the advice we can get to make it through the next year.

Help!

"The bamboo... it's everywhere! Send pandas now!"

This Day in Fake History

February 11, 660 BC- Japan founded by Emperor Jimmu.

(Who bore a striking resemblance to the modern-day emperor of Julie's Sign Shoppe, Travis Landes.)

Also, happy birthday Travis!

Why is it I have to learn about these things through Facebook?

This is what happens......

when you leave the bedroom door open to go to work (you know down the hall) and after awhile you wonder where the dogs are.



Our bedroom faces the east and because of a whole wall of windows it is the warmest room in the house during the winter. The pups love this, I hate it because you CAN NOT sleep in past 6:00 am.



Usually we close the door to our bedroom during the day but since I forgot today they totally took advantage of that and stayed in bed as long as possible. Such bums, seriously couldn't they get a job and help out around here? or maybe do some dishes or vaccum, oooh.....or clean the toilets (I hate cleaning the toilets).



It's a good thing they are so darn cute and cuddly and that I love them so much.

About Me in 5 Questions

Have you checked out the new header? I have been creating a new blog header every month, it was one of the 101 things in 1001 days. Not too shabby, I have done one for December, January and now, February. It's all a work in progress.

So this 5 question blogger interview has been floating around the blogosphere and well if everyone else is doing it I want to do it too...just kidding :) Last week, Emily posted her interview on her blog and then invited other bloggers to be interviewed by her so I volunteered, naturally.

Here are the questions that Emily had for me.

1. If you had to declare one of your pups your all time fave, which would it be and why?
Is it wrong that I didn't even have to think about it? Sammy is my favorite. I got Sammy my last year in graduate school when I lived by myself. Brett and I had been long distance dating for about 4 years already and I will not lie that I was lonely. Sammy was so sweet and so protective of me, when Brett would come to visit Sammy would sit on my lap and growl when Brett came near. That stopped as soon as Brett and him spent more time together. Sammy really helped make that last year before I moved to San Francisco fly by. He will always be my baby and no one cuddles better than he does. Even though Sammy is my favorite Maggie does have a special place in my heart, but I will save that story for another time.


Sammy as a puppy spending time with me at my graduate assistantship.

2. Are there topics that are off limits on your blog?
Brett and I never sat down and decided what is off limits on our blog, maybe we should have. Although in the year and half we have been blogging I think we have done a good job about not writing about things we would regret later. I think it is just the way we approach the blog that there really aren't things that are off limits because we try to keep things light and fun on the blog. I am sure we do a lot more censoring that we realize but our blog isn't necessarily private so we do have to be careful.

3. Ever been to another country or state that you liked better than where you currently live?
I have this public love affair with San Francisco but after living there for two and half years I realized that San Francisco don't work. I wasn't the best me in San Francisco, I stressed out about the money, the traffic and well all I seemed to do when I lived there was worry. I love going back to visit, cause a little loving never hurts anyone. I also have this secret love affair with Boston. I visit there a lot for work the last couple of years and there is just something about that city. I have never spent a winter there, so I am not sure if we would work out (I am kind of wuss in harsh winters). Currently, I am loving living in Reno and being close to family BUT I have this feeling that there is some city out there that I haven't been to that I will immediately fall in love with. I just know it is out there.

4. Please give a link to your favorite post on your blog. This doesn't have to be your most popular post. Just the post which is your own favorite.
This is by far my favorite post, SARA- My Leinenkugel. Brett has the best sense of humor and he makes me laugh harder than anyone I know. I love being able to share the blog with him because of gems like these.

5. Does your family know about your blog? If so, what do they think about it? If not, do you prefer they not know about it?
Yes, both of our families know about our blog. Sometimes they even get brave or remember and comment on the blog. We are okay with them knowing since we started our blog when we lived in San Francisco to keep in touch with our families. Our blog has just kind of grew from there, I never imgained anyone but my family and close friends reading it. Now I have amazing blogging friends all over the country (and even in Canada). The only thing I do worry about is alienating our families, it does feel like the more our blog friends comment on our blogs the less our families do, I don't know if it a direct correlation but I want to make sure we always find that balance.

Emily, thanks these were great questions and I had fun doing it. Now readers it's your turn. If you would like to be interviewed leave a comment with your e-mail and I will come up with 5 awesome interview questions just for you.

Dog Parking

The weather this weekend has been so gorgeous and surprisingly warm for this time of year. We knew that we had to take advantage of it while we could because well it can't possibly stay like this, it's February there should be snow on the ground still. So we are enjoying every day like tomorrow a snow storm is going to come in and bring us back to reality that it is still winter. Yesterday we took the dogs for a walk and were surprised at hot we were after only walking them for about 20 minutes and no surprise at how much they loved it. During our walk we talked about how nice it would be to take them to a dog park so they could run around and enjoy the weather, and the sniffing and the peeing on everything without the leashes.

So today we decided that we were going to take Sammy and Maggie to a dog park and we thought about the old standbys on the other end of town BUT they were on the side of town. Then I remembered about a dog park that opened near our end of town, the Link Piazzo Dog Park that just opened up back in September, and we decided to try it out. So we loaded the pups in the car and headed out. The best part about car rides is that Maggie jumps in the car excitingly wondering what kind of adventure we are going on while you have to chase Sammy and pick him up and put him in the car because he is pretty sure you are taking him to the vet. The entire way to the dog park Maggie was jumping between the windows in the backseat whining excitedly while Sammy just sat there moping until I let him sit in my lap. It's just the differences in their personalities and it's always amazing to watch.


The dog park is located in east Reno in Hidden Valley, a very gorgeous part of town that is built up on this hillside with amazing views of Reno.


We get to the park and as we are walking up we start seeing a bunch of smaller dogs and Brett and I start asking each other if they only had a small dog section and how cool would that be? Oh yes, it was true, the dog park was split up into large dog section and a small dog section. This couldn't have been more perfect if we had planned it ourselves.


We get into the park and there were more dogs than we thought would be there considering it was SuperBowl Sunday and only a few hours before the big game. All the dogs were so cute and around Sammy and Maggie's size. The place was so clean (and didn't smell) and the dog owners were really nice.


I don't know what it was but there wasn't any barking or alpha dog business, the dogs just ran around chased each other and played to their heart's content. Seriously look at these pictures and tell me that you can't see how happy they are.


um...yes Sammy IS smiling.


We are so glad that we found this dog park and can see ourselves there at least once a week. It is so good for the pups and we love the fact that they end up being so tired that they can do nothing but sleep for the rest of the day. It's a win win situation.

This is my favorite photo of the day, I just can't get over how much fun they had.


For those dog owners out there, do you take your dogs to dog parks? AND do you think your dog can smile? That last question is just because I want to find out if I am the only one ;)