GreenePony

How much a dog uses the crate depends on the dog. Mine is currently sprawled out in her living room crate, taking a nap and checking up on me. She's happy hanging out on the couch but she's also very happy in her own space in one of her crates. Crate training is certainly not cruel if the dog has plenty of time with their people and it is properly sized- it can be safer in an emergency (first responders can easily locate her and transport her, she can't hide under a bed), easier for house breaking, and can be a safe place (if a dog gets overwhelmed with visitors, they have their own space.) I believe I have mentioned numerous times that I crate my dog when no one is home, but she also gets plenty of exercise. Not including the short walks around meal times, she's done a half marathon this week, even just walking in the evening.

Housebreaking an adult dog *can* be easier than a puppy - depending on the train-ability. Bonus, you don't have to get up every few hours because they have a larger bladder. Definitely crate train with a properly sized crate, most dogs will not mess in their den (crate) and that will help with housebreaking- stick with a schedule though. Two is still young for most breeds, barely into adulthood. Just make sure your roomie (and your lease) is up for a second dog and that you will work together.

Best Breed EVER. I'm a third generation sheltie owner, so I'm a little biased. But how can you not like this face?* *Except when she barks/yodels at the neighbors' kids. Then I could understand.

My hobby isn't a quick one- if everything goes smoothly and we keep the lesson within the typical time-span it takes me at least 4 hours (not including changing and a shower) to ride with the commute to and from the barn. But it has had such a fantastic effect on my well-being. It's exercise, I'm outside, and I'm around people who have *nothing* to do with grad school. Also, horses are great therapy animals (if a bit frustrating at times.) I also crosstrain with pilates (anywhere from 15 mn to 50 mn a day depending on how I feel), and running (20-50 minutes). I'm also getting my dog back in shape from a winter off, I'm getting outside more, and she has a habit of looking up/back at me while running. Since she's a Sheltie she also smiles (technically its a submissive expression - its something the breed is known for, being a very biddable breed) and that's nice to see when I'm getting tired. While DH and I are in a fellowship group with our church, it's not as close knit as our group before we moved, so we started a book study just the two of us. I read on the metro when I commute between classes and we discuss the chapter/section Saturday nights. It's brought up some fun theological debates and we're sure to get time to focus on growth as a couple. I try to read a book before suggesting it for a study so that means I constantly have a new book to read and ponder on my commute. (edit: I forgot I also make a pot of really thick porridge Sunday evenings and put it in tupperware to heat up each morning with fruit so I have a quick breakfast each morning that's healthy- just steel cut oats, almond milk, chia seeds, and cinnamon. Less pots to clean this way too.)

We're in too close to the city for most programs so I drive about an hour each way for my trainer. There's a 20 cent drop in gas out there so I fill up on my way home (and we have a hybrid so I only use a gallon each way, thankfully.) No way I could afford it it were just my (non existent) income, but DH realizes it's necessary for my sanity.

I might- but then I also have a back up career, if I absolutely need to leave my field and I might one day. Right now we can move wherever I find a job since DH works from home. But if his company decides they only want onsite people we have to go where he finds a job because he makes 2-3x/year more than I could. I love my field and I know it's what I'm supposed to do, but also DH would never make me drop it completely (work as a volunteer until someone takes pity, sure but that's what I'm doing now.) I jokingly suggested if I can't get a job in my field in a little while I go to my back up (which does not require any degree necessarily), he didn't find it funny.

That's how it was in undergrad. I had three options- school team, school club, or those all around places. I was never really competitive in hunters so team was out, the club terrified me, and the all around places were like your options. You would think a school sponsored club would have have decent safety but they had one of those by-the-grace-of-God safety records- barbed wire everywhere, people teaching horses to rear, and the kicker was when the "instructors" were terrified that I dropped my stirrups at an AQHA-quality jog, on purpose (it was necessity rather than a desire to show off my eq, I couldn't reach the stirrups on the shortest hole and I was too proud to ask for tagalong stirrups.) I figured I should take advantage of living in horse country (hunters AND dressage) while we're here. My trainer is fantastic, she has a hunter background too so she knows exactly how to fix my hunter princess problems without making me feel like an idiot (anyone who can lengthen my leg 5" in a year deserves a medal.) Also I've gotten to ride horses worth more than my car when it was brand new - the ponies I rode growing up were never that fancy - I'm spoiled

I actually never got flack for not inviting everyone (with the "b list" I sent out maybe 150 invites, had 75 people there.) My wedding was between junior and senior year of undergrad but a peer/friend just got married between our first and second year of masters- neither of us invited many peers. I'm not sure I invited anyone from my department to my wedding, but I did get plenty of congrats when I returned. I also made the rule that couples had to have already been in a committed relationship when we got engaged to get a plus one to the wedding and no one yelled at me. (Caveat, I was at field school in the weeks leading up to the wedding so it was also hard for people to get in touch ) Even Emily Post would say its okay to blame it on the budget if someone asks why you didn't invite x, y, or z We were planning on having a 2nd "reception" (was going to be a cook out) in my hometown since I got married 25 hours away but that never happened and still no one has complained. My parents did that when they got married (similar long distance wedding), definitely not unheard of and can be cheaper than having one giant fancy wedding.

1. DH's best friend is getting married (again.) They decided they needed to have it in the middle of a major city on a Thursday afternoon. Um... some people have to work. DH is mad at me since I'm not going to the wedding because I can't just skip my final presentation in grad school. I've been telling him to tell them that it doesn't work for us for months but nope, now he's mad at me and still hasn't told them. 2. Too many out-of-work people in the field for too few openings.

Like most others have said- scheduling. I currently only ride with my trainer so that is scheduled for every week (kill two birds by working in errands on my way home from the barn.) Desire to improve there meant I had to start scheduling mat work (pilates and a lot of stretching) and then finally replacing my marching sneakers with proper running shoes (3 times what I paid with partial sponsorship in undergrad, ugh) and wanting to get my dog back in shape to start training this summer meant I needed to start scheduling trail time with her. It helps that I have mostly evening classes so I have the benefit of daylight. Also, DH made a walking desk last summer, so if the weather's awful I can pull up Hulu or Amazon and run for an episode or part of a movie, or walk and read for class.

I'm not sure what it is about meat that makes people so defensive. When DH announced he was eating differently to lose weight, people were ecstatic for him; when he said he was cutting out animal products to support my medically necessary diet, people were up in arms. Heaven forbid a grown man choose to support his wife!

- Drink - Smoke - Tattoos (see below) - Donate blood (Can't do needles. DH was on a blood bank's donor council and has his 15 gallon pin and I just can't do it. Nearly passed out during my last flu shot) - Had anything but my lobes pierced, once each (see above) - Eyebrow threading This kind of feels like the "never have I ever" game. For as much as people say they "can't live without" x,y, or z animal product, I can't really say you're missing out. I had to go on a vegan diet for a while to figure out some health issues, and I'm still not supposed to eat that many animal products now- every so often I'll try something off DH's plate and find I really don't miss them after all. That said, smoked salmon and pickled herring are my weakness, even though DH HATES the later.

I love the color advice. My PCP really emphasized that when we put me on a restricted diet- and it helped. Instead of falling into the trap of going all pasta and sandwiches, thinking in colors helped add a wider variety of veggies. I think non-canned legumes taste better too, they get that weird texture in a can that sometimes washing just doesn't get rid of.

See if your grocery store has an in-house-made brand. Harris Teeter has one kind of hummus that has the exact same ingredients I put into my own hummus without DH having to suffer through the cooking chickpeas (he hates the smell and I hate the texture of canned chickpeas.) Less dishes to wash, I know what went into it, and poor DH's nose is spared.

I discovered running knickers (athleta's bare to run, perfect length for my stubby legs) the other week. I still love my jeans but I never want to take the knickers off. Even if I plan to work out in the afternoon I'll put them on in the morning, if I'm just working around the house.

I agree, sounds sort of wishy washy. I don't see having a diversified required course load as novel. I had to take stats, math, lab sciences, English (comp and reading), foreign language, "human performance", political science, religion, humanities, and fine arts classes like everyone else in my undergrad on top of my major and minor classes, and I went to a "normal" college (Baylor.) Sure, I'm more "well rounded" than my current cohort, but most of that doesn't make me more hireable and very few employers are looking for my undergrad CV, so how would they know or why would they care? (Also, companies don't want faster coders? My DH would disagree. Sure, he has job security because he explain it to the business side - because he chose those classes in undergrad- but the slow coders are seen as far more disposable. That whole 'time is money' thing.)

I use Keds and Aris Allens for dancing so I am pretty rough on my shoes. I had one pair of Keds that lasted through three years of dancing on brick and awful modular staging. I did toss my second pair in the washer and dryer for a cycle to accelerate the breaking in period. My AAs broke in faster but I think they only have a sued sole option for their canvas shoes (I only wore these on proper floors so they don't show wear as fast.) I've worn sueded soles as street soles but it seems like extra hassle if you can avoid it (these were AA repros I wanted for work and they didn't offer in a street sole yet.)

So I get what salary histories are, and why companies want them but the problem, what do you do when it's requested and you've been an (unpaid) intern/volunteer for almost all your experience? The closest I've got is a work-study position in undergrad that loosely relates (I usually don't put it towards my years in the field count.) Everything else has been intern positions or volunteer positions. I seriously doubt they want my pay when I taught at a summer camp or worked as a theater coordinator. Thoughts?

I got my friend who then got her whole family addicted to the shows. We don't care if most are staged (seems PB and their shows aren't as much), it's window shopping! (seriously, great way to tell if you're on the same page house-wise as your SO. Discovered DH and I have *very* different opinions on stairs of all things)

I know people who worked for Hershey's who hated chocolate- all chocolate. (for the record, I am *very* picky about my chocolate after working chocolate tastings) Open concept homes. DH loves them. I want center passage, which he hates.

10 lbs can be a lot even to someone who has 100+ lbs to lose. DH (who had to lose that much from his heaviest) is ecstatic when he is down even 5lbs and keeps it off. 5-10lbs can make a huge difference in a person's health, and can set them up for long term success and can equal 1-2 sizes depending how much fat is lost and muscle gained. Small victories should be celebrated

DH (the programmer) says it shouldn't be common, but simply put "people in tech screw things up, there's a reason [his program's] bug counter is over 16,000"

"It's a clear gel, isn't that what B-72/67 is?" No. No it's not.

Please tell me they at least tabbed the tape (but considering they though packing tape was acceptable, I'm going to assume not) Personally, I'm a huge fan of every museum staffer going through at least a basic museology/collections care course (first internship we spent a day teaching the curators how to properly handle objects with gloves and not to use nail polish to number the objects)

We really liked going through Dogvacay to find a sitter. We went with the highest rated sitter in the area (one of the most expensive too) and while they cost slightly less than the big dog daycare sites, my dog is one of 2-3 visitor dogs at the time, stays in the home (can even sleep in their bed), and gets along great with the sitters' oldest dog (they have two toy poodles only slightly smaller than my barely-in-standard Sheltie.) For obedience training, aim for the Canine Good Citizen test sites (STAR puppy if they're under 9 mo I think). Sites that have CGC as a goal usually have pretty decent training standards. There is also certifications the trainers can go for but I'm not as familiar with those. AKC allows "all american" designation for the Permanent Alternative Listing so mixes or unknowns can test and compete in most non conformation sports (dogs that look like a specific breed can be designated a certain breed through PAL.)