If you ever want to know what kinds of things roll around in my head, this post is for you. If I ever own a restaraunt, I will never ever use the word "appetizers" for the various snack items meant to eat before a meal. To me the word appetizer should describe a feeling of getting more hungry; an increased appetite.
If I were to open my own restaraunt, the various snack items meant to be eaten before a meal would be called "satisfiers". You are satisfying your intense hunger so that you don't go crazy waiting for your main meal. By eating these various snack items, you are actually decreasing your appetite.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
It's like having a baby in the house
Okay, so I have to vent some frustration. Our amazing-in-almost-every-way dog Belle has been having some potty issues, and after following the advice of both professionals and non-professionals alike we don't know what to do anymore.
Belle is about a year and a half old, and we have had her living at our house for about 6 months. Of course we had the initial potty training concerns, but she did imporove and had no incidents for relatively a long time. She gets us up at about 4:30 or 5am every morning to go potty. And this is after just taking her outside when we go to bed around midnight. During the span of the day, I would say she gets to go outside at least 10-15 times, sometimes staying out there for over an hour.
We did discover that she had urinary incontinence, as a result from spaying her. But putting her on daily medicene took care of that. When she was dealing with urinary incontinence she would only pee in her sleep, which is an unusual thing for dogs to pee in their "den" or bed. Now, we are almost sure that it is a behavior issue.
The front living room in our house is the only place she has ever gone potty. I don't know what it is about that room, but from day 1 that has been her spot to potty in the house. Even after barracading it off, she somehow has gone under/over/past the barriers. Last night was also a "first". Until last night, she would only tinkle in the house...but this time she left some poo. (and not to get too graphic here, but it wasn't runny so we know its not likely due to a medical reason) There was nothing out of routine for her that day, including a trip to the park. So we don't know why she is going out of her way to potty in the front room.
Belle is not a dog to crate. We tried for months, but she gets very distressed. Try as we did to make it a positive experience, she looks at it like punishment. Who knows, maybe her past owners who abandoned her used the crate for punishment? Most dogs do not crate well if you miss the window of opportunity when they are young puppies. Besides all of that, she is a great...no....aweseome dog around the rest of the entire house.
If anyone has any other suggestions...please pass them along!
Belle is about a year and a half old, and we have had her living at our house for about 6 months. Of course we had the initial potty training concerns, but she did imporove and had no incidents for relatively a long time. She gets us up at about 4:30 or 5am every morning to go potty. And this is after just taking her outside when we go to bed around midnight. During the span of the day, I would say she gets to go outside at least 10-15 times, sometimes staying out there for over an hour.
We did discover that she had urinary incontinence, as a result from spaying her. But putting her on daily medicene took care of that. When she was dealing with urinary incontinence she would only pee in her sleep, which is an unusual thing for dogs to pee in their "den" or bed. Now, we are almost sure that it is a behavior issue.
The front living room in our house is the only place she has ever gone potty. I don't know what it is about that room, but from day 1 that has been her spot to potty in the house. Even after barracading it off, she somehow has gone under/over/past the barriers. Last night was also a "first". Until last night, she would only tinkle in the house...but this time she left some poo. (and not to get too graphic here, but it wasn't runny so we know its not likely due to a medical reason) There was nothing out of routine for her that day, including a trip to the park. So we don't know why she is going out of her way to potty in the front room.
Belle is not a dog to crate. We tried for months, but she gets very distressed. Try as we did to make it a positive experience, she looks at it like punishment. Who knows, maybe her past owners who abandoned her used the crate for punishment? Most dogs do not crate well if you miss the window of opportunity when they are young puppies. Besides all of that, she is a great...no....aweseome dog around the rest of the entire house.
If anyone has any other suggestions...please pass them along!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Point of Accountability
So Robbie and I started a new work out regimine last night...and we got our booties kicked! I was sore lifting up the tube of toothpaste this morning. It is an intensive 7-days a week, 1 hour each night rotation of muscle toning, cardio, and yoga/pilates. But the really cool thing is that you can still work at your own pace in the comfort of your own home. The other really great thing is that the only equipment you may need to buy is some tension cords or free weights.
The overall goal of the program is to achieve noticeable results within 90 days, and still improve thereafter. I know that it is physiologically impossible, but I swear I felt skinnier waking up this morning.
Why post this on the world wide web? Hopefully making this announcement will keep me accountable to stick with it. Someday I will look like this:
The overall goal of the program is to achieve noticeable results within 90 days, and still improve thereafter. I know that it is physiologically impossible, but I swear I felt skinnier waking up this morning.
Why post this on the world wide web? Hopefully making this announcement will keep me accountable to stick with it. Someday I will look like this:
Friday, June 6, 2008
1st anniversary
This has got to be a record for me, look how many posts I've made just this week! It must be that I have time on my hands....hmmm. Anyway, on May 26 Robbie and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. He suprised me with the plans to go horseback riding...but unfortunately that got rained out on our actual anniversary. So we went this past Sunday. I can't say enough thank-you's to the owners of this ranch, because they let us go horseback riding for however long we wanted, and where-ever we wanted on the ranch, by ourselves.
I was a bit nervous about being on our own because I've had a pretty bad experience horseback riding before. Let's just say it involved being tossed off and having to walk back a couple miles in mud & poo. But the horses they let us ride were amazing. Robbie rode "Ginger" and I rode "Red". They were very sweet and obedient. Robbie always suprises me with the best ideas!
I was a bit nervous about being on our own because I've had a pretty bad experience horseback riding before. Let's just say it involved being tossed off and having to walk back a couple miles in mud & poo. But the horses they let us ride were amazing. Robbie rode "Ginger" and I rode "Red". They were very sweet and obedient. Robbie always suprises me with the best ideas!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Imagine waking up and seeing this...
Okay, so you could be the most cold-hearted person alive...and you're heart would still melt if you woke up and saw this coming down your street:
As I was getting ready for church last Sunday, I was looking outside our living room window and I saw this adorable family of geese walking down the street. As I am a mush for anything small and fuzzy, I quickly grabbed my camera. We were actually late for church because I just had to capture this moment forever.
As I was getting ready for church last Sunday, I was looking outside our living room window and I saw this adorable family of geese walking down the street. As I am a mush for anything small and fuzzy, I quickly grabbed my camera. We were actually late for church because I just had to capture this moment forever.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Our Dog's Story
We have wanted a dog since before we were married. Both of us grew up in homes that had amazing dogs. To name a few in honor of their memory: Smokey (siberian husky), Captain (beagle), Snickers (Austrailian cattle dog/lab), Lucky (lab mix), and Spankie (still alive golden retriever). Once we had our own home, we immediately went on the search for our own dog.
Strong believers in giving unwanted dogs a second chance, our first destination was the Humane Society. We knew we really wanted a husky, but chances of finding one in a shelter are slim because they are so desirable...and we could love any breed of dog. We happened upon the shelter one Sunday in November to look at another dog. While we were outside looking at him, the most beautiful dog caught my eye. She was being walked by an employee and kept separate from all the other dogs because it appeared that she had some sort of surgery. (giant cone around her head) Politely declining interest in the original dog we came to see (who was adopted soon thereafter) we inquired about the siberian husky off to herself. The employee said that she wasn't available for adoption due to medical and legal reasons...but she let us go over to visit her anyway. It was like she chose us. As soon as we walked over to her, she leaned on me so much that she was soon sitting in my lap. Let me introduce her: Belle the incredible Siberian Husky
The first thing you notice about her is her piercing eyes. I have to admit, she looked almost too intimidating at first. But give her 2 seconds and you will find that she has more love to give than you can handle. The next thing that I noticed about her was her tail. The tip of it was shriveled and looked to fall off any moment. That is when we asked about her story.
Belle was abandoned by her previous owners. Probably for a few weeks. By the time help had come she was so emaciated that she was too malnurished to feed her puppies. All of her puppies had died. Having no fresh water to drink and being outside she picked up heartworms so severe that they didn't know if they would be able to cure her of them. And lastly, her tail became infected.
Interested in adopting her, the employee said there was a very small chance that would happen. Belle had too many strikes against her. With all her medical problems, the shelter has little money to spread between all the dogs there. One more medical issue, she would have to be put down because she would be too expensive for them to treat. She had to overcome an intensive heartworm treatment and recover from surgery to remove part of her tail.
Thankfully, Belle was awarded the "Cinderella Fund". This fund is money set aside for dogs who need more care than the normal budget can provide. She was given her heartworm treatment and the surgery for her tail. Now she needed a place to stay while she was recovering. When I learned that she would need a foster home to stay in, I immediately signed up to be a foster parent with the Humane Society. I got to meet incredible people who sacrifice their time and homes to help animals that are in need of a loving environment to regain their strength and health.
We were given Belle to foster in December. She had to be completely non-active for at least 4 weeks in order for the heartworm treatment to be effective. Her tail had healed wonderfully from the surgery. The hardest part for us was not being able to take her on walks or play with her actively. It paid off in the end, because she was declared heartworm free a month later and ready for adoption. Belle offically became ours in January of 2008. And we couldn't have asked for a better dog. You would think that with her abandonment experience she would be apprehensive of humans. But she only has love to give.
Now her time is occupied going on walks/jogging with me and playing tug of war with Robbie. She is such a fast learner, and has learned many new commands. She has officially clamied the couch as her throne and is ready to snuggle. Belle loves to ride in the car and she goes everywhere with us. It makes us proud to take her everywhere. Not because she is so beautiful (well maybe a little bit), but we love to share her story.
Strong believers in giving unwanted dogs a second chance, our first destination was the Humane Society. We knew we really wanted a husky, but chances of finding one in a shelter are slim because they are so desirable...and we could love any breed of dog. We happened upon the shelter one Sunday in November to look at another dog. While we were outside looking at him, the most beautiful dog caught my eye. She was being walked by an employee and kept separate from all the other dogs because it appeared that she had some sort of surgery. (giant cone around her head) Politely declining interest in the original dog we came to see (who was adopted soon thereafter) we inquired about the siberian husky off to herself. The employee said that she wasn't available for adoption due to medical and legal reasons...but she let us go over to visit her anyway. It was like she chose us. As soon as we walked over to her, she leaned on me so much that she was soon sitting in my lap. Let me introduce her: Belle the incredible Siberian Husky
The first thing you notice about her is her piercing eyes. I have to admit, she looked almost too intimidating at first. But give her 2 seconds and you will find that she has more love to give than you can handle. The next thing that I noticed about her was her tail. The tip of it was shriveled and looked to fall off any moment. That is when we asked about her story.
Belle was abandoned by her previous owners. Probably for a few weeks. By the time help had come she was so emaciated that she was too malnurished to feed her puppies. All of her puppies had died. Having no fresh water to drink and being outside she picked up heartworms so severe that they didn't know if they would be able to cure her of them. And lastly, her tail became infected.
Interested in adopting her, the employee said there was a very small chance that would happen. Belle had too many strikes against her. With all her medical problems, the shelter has little money to spread between all the dogs there. One more medical issue, she would have to be put down because she would be too expensive for them to treat. She had to overcome an intensive heartworm treatment and recover from surgery to remove part of her tail.
Thankfully, Belle was awarded the "Cinderella Fund". This fund is money set aside for dogs who need more care than the normal budget can provide. She was given her heartworm treatment and the surgery for her tail. Now she needed a place to stay while she was recovering. When I learned that she would need a foster home to stay in, I immediately signed up to be a foster parent with the Humane Society. I got to meet incredible people who sacrifice their time and homes to help animals that are in need of a loving environment to regain their strength and health.
We were given Belle to foster in December. She had to be completely non-active for at least 4 weeks in order for the heartworm treatment to be effective. Her tail had healed wonderfully from the surgery. The hardest part for us was not being able to take her on walks or play with her actively. It paid off in the end, because she was declared heartworm free a month later and ready for adoption. Belle offically became ours in January of 2008. And we couldn't have asked for a better dog. You would think that with her abandonment experience she would be apprehensive of humans. But she only has love to give.
Now her time is occupied going on walks/jogging with me and playing tug of war with Robbie. She is such a fast learner, and has learned many new commands. She has officially clamied the couch as her throne and is ready to snuggle. Belle loves to ride in the car and she goes everywhere with us. It makes us proud to take her everywhere. Not because she is so beautiful (well maybe a little bit), but we love to share her story.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Wait for it....
So just in case there is anyone out there who has actually read this blog...and has wondered why we've gone on a more-than-a-few-months hiatus on our postings its because we don't have internet at our home. When we do have the lucky chance to surf the beautiful web, time is spent on more precious web activities such as paying bills, email, etc.
I am writing today to let you know that there should be regular postings coming soon. For many reasons:
1. 4 Days 'till summer break for me, so I will have time to kill
2. We will have internet in July when our cell phone contract runs out and we switch carriers and do a "bundle package".
3. We spent a good part of our economic stimulus check on a new Canon Rebel XTI Digital SLR camera. So now we will actually be able to illustrate our amazing adventures.
4. I want to get in a good habit of blogging so that our friends and family know where to go to catch up on their favorite relatives. :)
My sincerest apologies for letting the world down. We can all walk in a straight line now that Jenni and Robbie's official blog is set to fire up again.
I am writing today to let you know that there should be regular postings coming soon. For many reasons:
1. 4 Days 'till summer break for me, so I will have time to kill
2. We will have internet in July when our cell phone contract runs out and we switch carriers and do a "bundle package".
3. We spent a good part of our economic stimulus check on a new Canon Rebel XTI Digital SLR camera. So now we will actually be able to illustrate our amazing adventures.
4. I want to get in a good habit of blogging so that our friends and family know where to go to catch up on their favorite relatives. :)
My sincerest apologies for letting the world down. We can all walk in a straight line now that Jenni and Robbie's official blog is set to fire up again.
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