Leo the Cat Update

Leo is our little man. He is our fur baby, and the sweetest cat around. Leo is 2 years old. He will turn 3 in July. We adopted Mr. Leo in September from a local woman who rescues cats. She cared for Leo since he was found abandoned as a kitten as was so happy to see Leo move into a good home. Since Leo moved into our home he has been the light of our home. I consider us to be a very happy family, but Leo made it that much brighter and happier. He is cleaver, funny, and clumsy. He kept Tracey company while she waited for her work authorization and green card. We are incredibly thankful for the happiness he brings to our life. We are so lucky to be his moms.

When we adopted Leo he was checked out by the vet as we adopted him at the animal clinic. The vet noticed that he was in need of a dental and recommended we schedule one. A week later the vet called asking for us to come in for blood work. He was concerned Leo had feline leukemia. He was tested and fortunately the test came back negative. The vet commented again on his inflamed gums.

Leo was settling into life as an only child and started developing mouth sores. His lips and gums would get these angry sores that would take days to clear up. Despite what looked like very uncomfortable sores, Leo remained happy, loving and obsessed with his mum. 

The vet explained that Leo has a disease where his body rejects his teeth. His gums and mouth are extremely  painful and sore due to his body's negative reaction to his teeth. Leo was prescribed medication which he believes will help with his pain. We were absolutely devastated to hear that the vet believed Leo was in a lot of pain. As Leo was new to us we were unable to notice any changes in behavior that would let us know he was in pain.  He never stopped eating. The only sign was that he became increasingly vocal on the evening. Leo began his medicine and seemed calmer and happier. We also scheduled his dental.

Leo went in for his dental appointment and had his teeth cleaned by our fantastic vet. As the vet predicted, Leo's gums are extremely raw and inflamed. Unfortunately Leo's teeth are not the problem so cleaning them, provided little relief. The vet has recommended we continue medication for pain management and monitor him for pain. He also connected us with a vet who specializes in oral surgery. The only other option at this point would be extraction of all of Leo's teeth. The medication Leo takes is a  very strong allergy medication that suppresses his body's extreme reaction to his teeth. We are happy to say that Leo has had no mouth sores since he started taking the medication. 

We are giving the medication time to work, and plan to make an appointment with the vet specialist. Leo continues to spend his days sleeping, playing with his many toys, watching the neighbors out the window, convincing us to give him cat treats, and obsessing over his mum. Leo is highly attached to Tracey. She is his person. His best friend. His soulmate. Watching them together brings me so much happiness. 

Leo has the best vet in the world. His aunt works at the animal clinic and ensures he receives the best care possible. I only hope that we can provide him all of the care he needs to be as happy as possible considering his complex medical needs.

- Shannae Johnson 

February Festivities

February has been a fabulous month so far! We decorated our house to bring more love, cheer, and warmth into our home. We also got some Valentine's Day leggings to feel extra festive. Leo fell in love with our heart table runner and seems to love sitting anywhere we place fabric or a blanket. He is such a snuggler. I also enjoyed a molten chocolate latte from Starbucks thanks to my love.I love all things seasonal.

I also consider heart shaped sugar cookies as a requirement for Valentine's day. My grandmother made them for us each year and I like to continue the tradition. I have been working on finding the perfect sugar cookie recipe and feel like I am so close.The current recipe I use is mostly sugar, butter, and flower with vanilla, almond extract, and coconut extract.

We also painted a string of wooden heart lights. I found these lights at Target for around five dollars and felt they were an absolute steal. We spent a Saturday night in painting them. The whole family got involved including Leo who jumped on the drying project and spread paint all over the place. He is such a character! My favorite heart is the rainbow heart Tracey painted right in the center of the string of lights. We had so much fun preparing for Valentine's Day together. It was our very first one we were able to celebrate in person. 

After Valentine's Day we went out for a date at one of my favorite pizza restaurants. We had hoped to spend the long weekend by the pool, but the rainy weather had different plans for us, so we went out for pizza and worked on a home improvement project. I also got a cannoli which is one of my favorite desserts. Tracey went with her classic favorite, cheesecake. 

For the last two months we have considered many options about where we want to live as our lease is up at the end of March. We looked at bigger apartments at our complex, visited other complexes, and researched rental houses. After much debate, we decided to remain in our apartment for another year and decided to finally hang up photos on the main wall in our family room. It was so much fun buying the last few frames and hanging up pictures and art that is very special to us. We both love looking at all of the memories displayed on our wall. The wall includes wedding photos,map art, photos from our travels, the drawing of our family I got Tracey for Valentine's Day, the Mrs and Mrs sign Tracey got me for our anniversary, and other favorites. We have a little room on the end to expand our photo wall and look forward to adding more memories to our wall.  

In February, I got my new passport in my married name. We are planning a trip to England this summer to spend some time with our family in England. We are looking forward to time with family and friends, sightseeing in London, and Nandos. My parents plan to come on our trip. It will be the first time our families will meet each other. We are so excited to show England to our American family and for some quality time with our family in England. Here are some photos from our very first trip to together in England. 

As we live in a desert, this is really a beautiful time to soak up the sun and enjoy the lovely weather. We plan to spend as much time as we can outside and together. As I write this post, I have 9 days of work left until spring break. Tracey was lucky enough to get a few days off so we are already planning out our time together.  

What fun February festivities have you been up to? We would love to hear from you. 

- Shannae Johnson 

Valentine's Day

"I choose you. And I'll choose you over and over and over. Without pause, without a doubt, in a heartbeat. I'll keep choosing you." — (Unknown)

 To those who know me it is no surprise that I started preparing for Valentine's Day in mid January. Valentine's Day is my second favorite holiday after Christmas. I love hearts, cards, flowers, and chocolate. I also am a big fan of love. This year Valentine's Day is extra special because for the first time we will actually be together. We both work much of the day, but after spending months apart, any time we get together feels special.

This year for Valentine's Day we decided to celebrate like we did last year. Last year we celebrated with a Skype date. We both made lasagna and enjoyed dinner "together" on Skype. As a tribute to last year, this year I made lasagna and chocolate lava cakes. I also made another strawberry lemon heart shaped cake. We both felt it would be more fun to celebrate together at home than to try to go out to dinner on such a busy night. We plan to go out to eat sometime over the weekend so we can continue our Valentine's Day celebration.

Valentine's Day morning started out with a stressful commute to work for me. I had an early meeting and traffic was worse than normal. Another car hit my car from behind while on the freeway. Luckily no-one was hurt and the other driver took responsibility for the accident. My car had only a minor dent a scratched paint. Other than being very late for work, everything turned out alright.

We both had to work during the day on Valentine's Day, so we did not open presents until we go home that night. We had planned to have dinner and then open presents, but I was so excited by my present for Tracey that I made her open the present the second she walked in the door. I gave her a picture of our family I ordered from a wonderful, extremely helpful, and kind shop on Etsy called DrawmePlease. The drawing of our family makes me smile every time I look at it. Tracey ended up liking the drawing just as much as I do. Leo really makes the drawing complete, and our family whole.

Tracey gave me a stuffed love pug (I have a slight pug obsession), Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a London themed pillow case, a stunning engraved wooden card, and a beautiful card. She did a wonderful job making me feel loved, and spoiled. The pillow case was my favorite part because it is adorable, super soft, and reminds me that is just a few months we will be heading back to England to spend some time exploring London and visiting with our English family and friends.

By the end of the evening I was feeling very sore from the car accident so I went to bed early so happy for the chance to celebrate our first Valentine's  day together.

Valentine's day was a fun excuse to remind each other how much we love each other. Being a long distance couple really helps us appreciate all of the time we are fortunate enough to spend together. Although we celebrated this holiday before whole apart, I had no idea how much fun it would be to celebrate Valentine's day together. I hope you were able to share your love with those who matter most this month. I also hope you felt loved, because you are so very loved.
- Shannae Johnson

January Recap

At the end of January we were really feeling the winter blues. We had worked opposite shifts for several weeks and had not had a day off together since boxing day. On a Friday night, after a long week at work, we decided to go out and have some fun.We drove around town and ended up at Dave and Busters. We shared chicken wings, a strawberry mango snow cone, and mini donuts before playing games, and taking photos in the photo booth. This spontaneous night out was a perfect end to a very hard week for both of us. Our goal is to learn how to make these strawberry mango snow cones just in time for summer so we can drink them by the pool. Our photos from the night are proudly displayed on our fridge with the reminder that it is so important to take time to have fun together.

Photo Booth Fun

Tracey was able to take a Saturday off the last week in January so we planned a day together. It was the first day we both had off together in weeks and happened to be our 8th month wedding anniversary. We started the day at Lulu's Chicken and Waffles and then went to As You Wish Pottery to create painted pottery projects. Tracey loves being crafty so painting pottery has quickly become one of our favorite date activities. I pained a plate for valentines day and Tracey created a London themed platter that holds out jewelry and watches in our bedroom. We loved our finished projects and Leo loves playing with our shiny jewelry in the London platter Tracey made. We ended the night having dinner and watching a movie at my mom's home with my grandma and grandpa. Mom mom even bought us a bottle of wine to celebrate. I was finally able to see the Girl on the Train. I just wish the film had been made in England like in the book.

As Valentine's Day is my second favorite holiday I began decorating in January so I could have several weeks to enjoy. I made a Strawberry Lemon heart shaped cake which was so delicious I made it two more times before Valentines day. We also kept flowers on the table to keep our spirits light. These gorgeous colorful flowers Tracey brought me home from work the night before a big meeting to brighten my mood and our home. How did I get so lucky??? 

 "When I say I love you more, I don't mean I love you more than you love me. I mean I love you more than the bad days ahead of us, I love you more than any fight we will ever have. I love you more than the distance between us, I love you more than any obstacle that could try and come between us. I love you the most." unknown 

We hope you found some ways to curb the winter blues. For us the cure was time together, spontaneous fun, seasonal decor, fresh flowers, and appreciating living together after 2 years apart. 

 - Shannae Johnson