I heart...House Rabbit Society of Missouri

If you have known Chet* and I for more than five minutes, you know we are proud parents of three furry children, Odin, Frigga and Studio. Our rabbits mean the world to us, and I know we have bored our friends, relatives and total strangers to stories about how smart Studio is, how Odin is too cute for words or how Frigga has an attitude.

All three of them were adopted by the House Rabbit Society of Missouri, a fantastic, all volunteer-run organization dedicated to the fostering and ultimately the adoption of abandoned

rabbits. (Un-fun fact: After dogs and cats, domestic rabbits are the most-likely pet to be surrendered or dumped.)

When we first encountered the organization, our knowledge level about our rabbit, Thor, was rather lacking. He had never been to a vet, was not getting a balanced diet, and he needed to lose a few ounces. (Which when you only weigh 8 pounds, is a bigger deal.) Joy, who is so dedicated to the cause that her basement is the main foster home, sat down with us and explained the ins and outs of being responsible rabbit parents. She also helped us introduce Thor to his bondmate, Valkyrie. (Sadly, we lost both of them around the holidays.)

In addition to single rabbits which are given up when children lose interest or the rabbits are more work than expected, the HRS helps rescue and rehabilitate rabbits from larger scale raids. Studio and Odin were initially fosters from raids.

Just recently, we took in two adorable foster bunnies who were abandoned during the recent flooding. Artemus (Artie) and Apollo will be staying with us for a while through the summer, and will hopefully be adopted to a loving permanent home.

(No, not ours. I realize that we don't have a good track record with only fostering rabbits, but this time we will succeed. I have faith that there is a good rabbit parent out there for them.)

Rabbits in the greater St. Louis region have a much better shot because of these dedicated volunteers.

I heart the House Rabbit Society of Missouri.

*Greg has requested he be known as Chet on the blog from here on out.

I heart...neighbors

A few weeks ago, our neighbor from across the street, Albert, was out grilling, and we were talking about what a beautiful day it was and how he just had to get out and barbecue. As I got ready to come in, he said, I'll bring you a sample. About 10 minutes later, he showed up on our front doorstep, fish bowl in hand containing three pork steaks for us to try. Albert watches out over our street. He sits on his front porch and keeps an eye on things to make sure it's ok.

When I come home from work, there are frequently people outside, hanging out in their front yards, listening to music, watching their kids. It's nice to have people to wave to and say hello.

The kids they are watching include a couple of groups of little girls who range from six to 10 that ride up and down our block on scooters, bikes, power wheels, what ever is the vehicle du jour. Their turn around spot is right in front of our house. (That's where the sidewalk goes from a slight decline to flattening out.) They are always polite and say hi, and giggle and do cheesy cheers so loud I can hear them word for word inside the house.

Our neighbors extend beyond our block. Neighbors were really a big reason for why we chose to stay in this area when we bought a house. Our neighbors, now friends, see the potential and want to see it become a reality. They are doing their best to focus on the positive.

I know Greg and I have tried to get as involved as we can, to watch out for our neighbors as much as we can. It's tough sometimes because there are only so many hours in the day, but I know that my neighbors are doing their part to make this a great place to live.

I heart...neighbors.

I heart...summer in the City

Note: Blogger was down for a couple of days, so my blogging life got a bit behind...
I do not like winter in St. Louis. To me, it is really not winter at all. There is too much rain, not enough snow. It doesn't get cold enough, and there is way too much ice. (Seriously, why so much ice?)

It's the middle of May and the oppressive heat started last week. Tuesday and Wednesday were almost. Now I'm not a big fan of heat or humidity, but they are a fact of life in the Midwest in the summer.

What I do love about summer in St. Louis is everything that comes with it- Outdoor concerts, farmers' markets, sitting in the backyard with an ice cold Schlafly Summer Lager (both you and the beer sweating profusely), flowers blooming everywhere, having a legitimate excuse to be lazy.

My absolute favorite thing to do in the summer is to go to one of the many bars or restaurants with outside seating and eat or drink (or both) slowly and watch people go by. I was really sad when one of my favorite places, Riddle's Penultimate, closed last year, but Three Kings Public House just opened in it's place and I'm hoping it will still be fantastic. I know the people watching will continue to be great!

The sun, and the eventual heat that comes with it, are especially welcome after the last several weeks of rain and clouds. Tonight I have to mow my postage stamp yard because it is starting to look a little out of sorts, but it will be nice to spend some time outside!

I heart...postage stamp lawns

Between the monsoon and school, this weekend was one of the first I could really enjoy our backyard. Between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening I spent probably 12 hours perched in a patio chair with Bossypants, about three bottles of wine (shared with Greg) and our iPod radio. (Bossypants was great, by the way.)

Little rectangular lawns are something exclusive to the City and inner belt suburbs. As you get farther from the urban core, the lawns get bigger and require more time, energy and sometimes a landscape company to maintain. In the City, the backyards are the perfect ratio of lawn care to enjoyment.

I can mow our lawn in less than a half an hour (including our even tinier front yard.) If I get adventurous and decide to edge, I’m looking at an hour commitment, max. This is in comparison to the many activities that fit within our backyard. Since we moved in to the house in September of 2008, we have:

• Grown vegetables
• Smelled the roses, literally
• Played soccer with my parents' dog
• Barbecued, lots
• Sat in lawn chairs while the sprinkler cooled us down
• Enjoyed fires in the firepit
• Watched a squirrel battle a pigeon (Squirrel won.)
• Watched a squirrel chew on a chicken bone
• Generally relaxed

Since the semester is now over, I am looking forward to a summer with lots of time spent in the backyard. If you are so inclined, feel free to join us.

I heart postage stamp lawns.

I heart...St. Louis

I am a firm believer that your attitude can change everything. As a kid when I complained about school or my lot as a middle class, white kid in eastern Iowa, my mom was pretty quick to point out that the only thing I could control was my attitude. Now, I will readily admit that I am not always so quick to adopt my own advice, but when I do it makes the world appear better.

That being said, after living here for nearly six years, I think St. Louis needs a collective attitude adjustment. It seems like so much time and energy in the local media, online comments, the blogosphere or in casual conversation focuses on what is bad about the area— how we aren’t as cool as other cities, or how we’re deficient at this or that. I certainly agree that there are a lot of things that can and should be improved about my adopted home, but there are a lot of fantastic things taking place as well.

—

I do have a confession to make: When I first moved here, I wasn’t completely sold on St. Louis. I moved here after I graduated from college for love. My boyfriend (now husband), Greg, had moved here after he graduated in 2004, and I followed a year later. St. Louis was ok, but I had my eyes on bigger and better things.

After a vacation to Chicago in the summer of 2006 we had one of the most intense fights of our almost 10 year relationship. I’ll spare you the details, but basically it can be summed up as: I am only here because of you. I should be someplace better, and this is your fault. Luckily, I came to my senses, apologized profusely, didn’t up and leave for Chicago or someplace else. In the intervening five years, we have put down roots in St. Louis, making more and more friends, becoming attached to our neighborhood, building careers, discovering the eccentricities of a city that is not quite Midwestern and not quite Southern, and buying a 1909 two-story brick house that needs some serious TLC.

There are so many great things in St. Louis. Yes, it is easy to focus on the negative, but the positive, the good is what makes it worthwhile to live someplace. If you are fortunate enough to be somewhat mobile, you don’t stay someplace because it smells like feet and traffic sucks. You stay some place because of something else. It may be big popular attractions that everyone knows about, or it may be small private things that keep you somewhere— like the people you care about.

For me it’s somewhere in the middle. That’s what I want to do, share what I love about my home. You may disagree with what I love about St. Louis, and that’s fine—this is my love letter that I want to share about a city I have grown to love (probably with five people, three of whom are my husband and parents.)

I heart St. Louis.