National "love your pet day" {recipe!}

Guys!

It's national "Love your pet day!"

Although I celebrate my love for my pups everyday, I plan on making today extra special for them!

We're going to take a trip to Petsmart, (Melvin needs a harness), then go play at Walnut Creek Park.

I have another surprise up my sleeve for them, Frosty Paws! We just picked some up last night (for free I might add, Thanks Floyd)! Dog ice cream, imagine that! We don't even buy ourselves ice cream! They're going to think it's their Birthday or something! 

If you're an Austinite, 365 things to do in Austin posted a fun list of things you and your pet can do together. Check it out!

And if you're feeling extra generous, you can make these very easy Dog-I-Y treats!

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• 1/2 cup milk, low or fat free
• 1 cup peanut butter, natural or organic
• 3 cups rolled oats

Combine milk and peanut butter.

Stir in the oats.

Scoop out the peanut butter balls with a cookie scooper or ice cream scoop. With wet hands, roll into a ball.

Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for one hour! 

Meetup Connections

In this post, I told you that I joined a meetup group.

Well, I got my first invite to a wheaten meetup! Melvin and I have a date to West Austin dog park tomorrow. I'm excited to meet more wheatens and their parents. I'm curious if Melvin will act any differently.

And although that's going to be fun, I have even more exciting news!

I was browsing the group and looking at the other wheaten parents and ended up coming across Nicole(and Claire, her puppy). I commented on how cute she was, and Nicole emailed me back and we got to talking. She said they wouldn't be at the meet up on Saturday because Claire was getting spade that day. I told her Melvin just got neutered a few weeks ago and to not worry, they get over it quickly. It occurred to me that they were around the same age. I replied back to her asking where Claire came from... Turns out they came from the same breeder at Kaven ranch.

They are not only from the same breeder, but they have the same parents and they are the same age. We discovered that Melvin and Claire are brother and sister!

You best believe I was freaking out when I found that out!!! Ok, I know there aren't a ton of breeders in Texas, but for them to be the same age and have same parents, just makes my heart happy!!!

Claire is among Melvin in these pictures. Can you believe it?! I can't wait for them to meet. I wonder if Melvin will even know? I wonder what their reactions will be.... I'm excited to find out!

Melvin wears a cone... and throws up on me

Last week, Melvin went under the knife... He got his dog-man-card taken away. But it was for the best. We don't need him going around impregnating innocent bitches at the dog park. Anyways, I have never seen him so out of it before. It lasted for days. He just wanted to lounge around and occasionally bite Mac's face.  I posted a few pictures of him on instagram pre and post surgery...

doesn't he look worried?

That's all he wanted to do, just curl up and sleep all day! Ok, I secretly liked it. I love cuddling with him.

On another note, I joined the Austin wheaten terrier meet up group yesterday. I can't wait to see what these meetups are all about. I think it will be fun to let him play with dogs of his own breed. Plus, I wouldn't mind looking at all the other cute wheatens!

On another other note, I was sitting on the floor putting my shoes on this morning before work and Melvin decided to join me. He likes to put his paws on my legs, chest, shoulders or anywhere to get closer to my face. Well... he was standing on my legs when, in a split second, he threw up... on me! Jeans, shoes and floor. I don't handle that sort of thing very well. I even told Scott what happened, but I had to fend for myself and clean it up. Melvin just looked at my weird and then walked away. Dogs, gotta love 'em.

Fear

Some people fear spiders, the loss of a loved one, not being able to have children, or flying in airplanes... But one of my biggest fears (right now), is the safety and well-being of our fur-babies. They are my children.

Their safety and well-being is one of my top priorities. It's so scary to say that their safety was at risk last night.

Scott let them out into the backyard to take care of business one last time before bed. When he went to let them in, they were nowhere to be found. Toward the back of our yard, Scott saw four pickets laying on the ground, with a hole big enough to herd a cow through. Of course they escaped, being the curious pups that they are. But the worse thing is that our house backs up to a very busy street. I'm sure you can only imagine the worry he was experiencing. I (thankfully) wasn't at home when this happened.

Scott ran through the hole and yelled out for dogs and sure enough they came running. They were about 200 yards away, running across the street with cars dodging them. Yes, we were that couple with dogs running across the street at 9:30 at night.

Mac's been known to be an escape artist, but the two of them together is just plain trouble! Praise Jesus that they weren't hurt or hit by a car during this whole thing. I was seriously so shook up, and so was Scott. I'm pretty sure they are still on Scott's shit list.

But the ironic thing is that I was coming home from small group, where we talked about last weeks session. The topic of last week was fear.

These are quotes from our member books that comforted me, not with just my fear with my dogs, but with all thing I feared. They might help you too.

"Once we are in Christ, Satan has no authority to destroy us, so he settles for the next best thing: threatening to destroy us."

If you're anything like me, then you are a worry-nut! But what I've realized over the last week is that most of the time the things you worry about, never happen to you! So why waste the energy worrying and fearing, when you can take risks and live joyously. We trust that the Lord will keep us safe. We don't just trust him to let us avoid what we fear the most, we just flat out trust him, even if something you fear becomes a reality.

"No one welcomes suffering. Equally, no one can wholly avoid it. Though most of what we fear never happens, our lists roll out so long that some of it probably will. Our only steadfast defenses against life's certain uncertainty is unconditional trust in a Savior who loves us more that His own life."

We can relate these quotes to the world we live in. Our everyday life. A school shooting. My dogs escaping our back yard. Losing your job. Your husband leaving you. Loved ones dying, etc, etc.

You would probably agree that these are all things we fear and worry about. But you have to trust in the Lord.

Tell yourself...
"If _______ then God will take care of me."
"If _______then God has a plan."
"If _______then God desires to accomplish something monumental in me."
"If _______then God's going to demonstrate His sufficiency to me."

God has your back no matter what.

Inspired by Esther: It's tough being a woman By Beth Moore.

Quick Update

Since I haven't posted in a week, I wanted to show you a snip-it of what I've been up to in pictures. I suppose I have been pretty busy trying to catch up from the Holiday. That's pretty sad considering it's been a whole week! So here I am, finally posting!

My holiday break started at 11am on Wednesday.

We met up with Scott's parents and sister for a movie. We saw Life of Pi. Wow! That was a great movie! I def recommend it. Oh and if you can see in in recliners with food, do that too!

Thursday

Turkey day. I made cream cheese brownies and green bean casserole for the family feast.

Friday

We set up our Christmas tree. These are all of our random ornaments. We don't have a theme for our tree :)

Mac was being a bit dramatic, and wanted attention. He kept moving from place to place just sitting alone and crying. Doesn't that sound sad?! He really does get attention, don't worry... Just cracked me up!

Saturday

Melvin had his first adventure to Canyon Lake. We went out to spend the day with Scott's sister and her family. Their new house was just precious!

You must watch these videos!

Melvin wasn't the best swimmer. He just needs a little bit more practice.

Sunday

Thanks to Kyndal for the pic!

I spent Sunday with girl friends celebrating at a baby shower. One of my good friends from high school is expecting, and due in January! Such a fun time.

Got lots of cuddles from this little man

Thursday

Last nights dinner that I cooked all by myself. I'm getting better(kinda) at this whole domestic thing.
That's pork cutlet, stuffing, peas and carrots. Mmmm! I want some more right now.

Tomorrow is the first day of December, CRAZY! It's going to be one busy month, that's for sure. Maybe I'll start my Christmas shopping soon... Maybe not?... Happy Friday everyone!

Highs and Lows

Lately my life has been crazy, the good and bad kind. I'm sure everyone feels that way as they get older though. Not all of it's bad crazy, actually a lot of good crazy. Just to understand what's been going on, I wanted to share some highs and lows I've been going through.

Lows: the bad

Melvin, my 3.5 month old puppy, went in for shots and a de-wormer(for precaution) and is experiencing the side effects in the form of the squirts.(I know, gross) I feel so sorry for him, especially since I can't do anything about it. Any suggestions, or just let it take its course?

brothers.

My sleep schedule. Since Friday Melvin has woken us up 4 times a night to be let out of the kennel because of his issues. I haven't had a solid 7-8 hours of sleep since Thursday night :/ I'm running on zombie mode. And I now know how new mommies feel.

Jealous/sad of Scott being able to sleep in and stay home with the dogs during the day.

Listening to constant negativity at work. That just doesn't put you in the best mindset, am I right?

Taking care of a puppy is hard. But I sure do love him. Even if I have to give him a bath after playing outside...every.time.

Check out those dirty paws. He's precious

Highs: the good.

Seeing friends and letting loose at a Halloween party on Friday. I was very proud of mine and Scott's costumes!

A beautiful wedding shower was thrown for me and Scott on Saturday, which was such a blessing. Lots of my family were able to join the celebration, along with out of town guests, Aunt Connie and Emily(the one we stayed with in CT)! The hostess' did such a great job, it turned out gorgeous!

Jack Johnson pandora station. It really puts me in a great mood.

Making friends with some girls at work.

Having no downtime at work. (good because my day zips by, bad because I can't always catch up on
blogging ;))

Eating brunch at our wedding venue. Seriously the best brunch in Austin. Austinites, check it out!

Small group starting next week.

Gym time.

Spending time with my BFF before she jets off to Florida.

Bridesmaid and MOH

See, there are lots of good things that outweigh the bad. I'm very lucky to have what I do. I also realize things could be a lot worse. It's kinda silly of me to post about my "lows" when people are being evacuated out of their homes, but everyone has their own issues I suppose. I'm send out prayers for those who are affected by hurricane Sandy, especially our family and friends up there.

My Big Surprise Revealed!

If you read my last post, then you'd know I spent the weekend in Ft. Worth, TX. I also said that I was going to share with you my surprise! And it is a BIG one!!! Without further ado, I'd like you to meet Melvin, our newest addition to the family!

If you read this post, then you'd know that I LOVE wheaten terriers. They are my absolute dream dog. This is going to sound so corny, but Scott made that dream come true on Sunday! We had talked and talked and talked about getting a play mate for Mac. But I knew, or thought I knew, that we weren't ready for a puppy. And I was totally fine with waiting. Lots of people would ask when we were going to bite the bullet and get another dog and every time I would respond "It will be a loooooong time before we're ready for another one."(sounds like I'm talking about kids haha)

You may be asking, "ok, so what made getting Melvin a surprise?"

Like I said, we were in Ft. Worth, about 3.5 hrs away from Austin. We saw the TCU game on Saturday, went to visit some friends on Sunday then head back home....SO I THOUGHT! We visit with Scott's our friends, get in the car to head back to the hotel to pick up Milo, and the GPS says 74 miles. I start questioning Scott. Let me give you some dialogue:

S(finally): I have a surprise for you!

B: Uhhhh

S: It's a good one! 

B: Can I try to guess it?

S: Oook (he gives in)

B: Does it involve animals?

S: Yes

B: Black and white ones!!!? (I thought we were going to the zoo to see pandas... I don't even think Texas has a zoo with pandas...?)

S: Yes

B: PANDAS!!! 

S: No

B: ?? Zebras? 

S: No.

By that time we were both cracking up... (I also guessed polar bear, penguins, and other sorts of animals. I wasn't in my right mind.) Then it dawned on me. My puppy fever kicked in full force. Weeks prior I had looked up breeders in Texas. Turns out there only 2! One in Texarkana, and one in Gordonville. Gordonville happens to be 1.5 hrs from Ft. Worth. I knew then where we were going! Gordonville Texas!

Once I figured it out, we started talking about it, and of course I was like, uhh we're not ready! Wait, are we? He told me that there were no expectations of making a decision to get one, but that if one spoke to me, then he was prepared for it. He reassured me that he had done a ton of research and knew how much to plan for. He had made the appointment and had checked out the breeder before hand.

This is what we saw when we got there

PUPPY CUTENESS OVERLOAD!

OMG I was in heaven!

While we were trying to find the one, Scott got some video footage. This is the puppy that would soon become our Melvin.

Just to make you smile!

Life as of Late

With the last post, I was feeling a bit stressed and overwhelmed, but things seem to have subsided for the time being. Thank you to those of you who helped encourage me. Y'alls sweet comments mean so much. It's amazing the friendships I'm already making through blogging!

This weekends forecast included rainy, windy and slightly chilly temperatures. Does that mean fall is here?! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited about the changes! Fall is my favorite time of the year. Boots, football, Thanksgiving, holiday breaks! BRING IT ON!

I planned on staying inside, reading and vegging out this weekend, but my to-do list kept growing and growing and I decided that it was time to get at it.

Starting off with a little bit of shopping...

I purchased some new curtains for our living room from World Market. They have really given the room a different feel. This picture is terrible. Maybe I'll give you a tour when it's closer to being finished. I will say the curtains are the exact colors of my walls in the living room and dining room, and they tie the two rooms together, which is exciting. Am I the only one that loves buying home decor?!

I'm in the market to buy a "Jackie O" style dress for one of my wedding showers later this month, and came across this beauty at Anthropologie. I was in love, but def NOT willing to throw down $187 bones. I'm checking out some vintage shops after work, wish me luck :)

 In other home updates, we are getting closer and closer to our guest bedroom being finished!

This is a new addition to our dining room. I got it from my mom for my Birthday and LOVE it. She did a great job!

We purchased a new couch and loveseat. Scott makes the loveseat look so tiny, but it's my favorite seat in the house! You will see more of them in the home tour!

Got snuggle time with this precious puppy. Isn't she adorable? The sad thing, she's not mine :( But now I have the puppy fever. Scott has been talking more about our future puppy lately... Maybe he's got the fever too? :)

Yesterday we got together with my family and celebrated my Uncle's 50th Birthday! It was so much fun, and great for his "low key" request. We ate at Opal Divines, mmm! This is him with his signature silly smile. Isn't he a goof?

I hope your weekend was fabulous and your Monday isn't too hard on you.

please say dreams come true!

This morning when I took Mac outside, my dream came running back into my mind in light speed. Last night I dreamt that we were celebrating my birthday and for my birthday, Scott surprised me with a puppy! I guess I've been subconsciously thinking about our future puppy a lot lately and my dream couldn't have got me more excited about it. 

Scott and I have talked about getting a puppy friend for Mac for quite sometime but we were waiting until I got a full time job and were living just the two of us at home(we had a roommate before). Technically, Mac is Scott's dog, so of course I want a companion of my own....

I (literally) have dreams of getting a soft coated wheaten terrier. Have you ever seen one of these puppies?! They are infinite amounts of cuteness and cuddles. I've done some research about them and according to this dog quiz, a wheaten has all the criteria that I'm looking for in a dog! Here are a few pictures to make you go "awww!"

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I am in LOVE with these puppies. They are just as sweet as they are cute. I'm hoping we make my dream a reality in the upcoming months! Happy Friday!

What's your dream dog?

p.s. I will post about my east coast trip this weekend. I've had a tough time trying to get in the swing of things and have been lazy about using the computer.