A Happy Little Family

This is the newest member of our little family, Kohna! She is almost 5 months old now, and so smart and sweet. Her and I have had a rough road together, it's taken her a long time to realize I'm not another puppy to bite and play with, but we're getting along much better now. :)
Speaking of getting along much better...

My baby Onyx! She has been there for me for all the hardest parts of my life, which is saying something, considering she's not even a year old yet. Her and Kohna are starting to become friends now, she was very reluctant at first, but I think she understands that Kohna isn't going anywhere, and so she's trying to make the best of a bad situation. What a little trooper.

Brandon and I are doing great. I would never have imagined that someone could be as sincere and loving and just...everything that I've ever wanted. I can't imagine being with anyone else. In fact, thinking of my life before him, all the bad things that happened, it seems like a bad dream, or something that happened to a close friend. It hardly feels like it was happening to me. Life with him is incredible.

The Tree Comes DOWN!

This is a Globe Willow Tree. I bet you're asking why I would be posting something about a tree like this.

2 months ago I made a big step in my life and purchased my first house. I loved almost everything about this house, except for a large (much larger than the one pictured) Globe Willow tree hanging out on the very corner of my property. To be honest though, I wasn't sure if it was really the best option to get rid of the tree. There is a lot of time and money spent to get rid of something that size, and I wasn't sure how attached to the tree everyone else in the neighborhood was. -I didn't want to move in, cut down the tree, and be #1 on the environmentalist black list.
We had a talk with Brandon's grandma, who (he claims) has redone her yard about 30 times now. We found out that these trees have a couple large drawbacks (take notes if you think you want one of these!).
1- They shed not only leaves, but whole branches all year long. This means at any given time, a branch could just knock itself loose onto my car, onto my house, through the window, etc...
2-They drip sap from everywhere. Imagine how excited I would be to find a large branch I can't move on top of my car, along with some lovely sap all over my windshield. Sounds lovely...
3- The tree is very weak. I got a couple of able-bodied men, who pulled down a branch the width of my body just by tugging on it.
So, we took a big step and cut down the tree. It took about 10-12 hours on a Saturday to get the thing down, and about 9 people to help get it all cleaned up. I had no idea how massive that tree was! Yikes!
In case anyone is ready to comment about how awful I am for taking the tree down, don't worry! I plan to get at least one tree put back up in my front yard, one that is stronger, doesn't shed as much, and is going to give the house a lot of shade. I also want to plant grass, and some bushes and flowers (which don't exist right now).