My Day at Work

It was door decorating day at work and the theme this year was your favorite Christmas movie. Another co-worker and I teamed up and picked the movie Elf (one of the best Christmas movies ever made). Anyway the idea of our door went with three scenes that we printed out: Buddy making his breakfast, Buddy singing, and the snowball fight.

This was the snowball scene in the lower left hand and we decorated the outside with cotton balls and snowflakes.

Here's a picture of Buddy with the words "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!". I printed out some music notes that are going to go in that blank space underneath the word Santa which just makes me think of the scene in Gimbles where he yells "SANTAAAAAA!".


This one is a little blurry but this is the scene w/ buddy eating breakfast and dumping chocolate and syrup all over everything. We decorated the outside with peppermints and that's a bottle of maple syrup in the top corner. I made the felt hats to the right and Laura glued jelly beans and pixy stix sporadically throughout the door.

I may not have gotten many financial analyses done today, but I did do Buddy great justice.

(These were taken on my cell phone so the quality isn't that great)

So this is Christmas

A little follow through of our holiday preparations.

Usually starts with a husband untangling lights.



Which ended up with a very nicely decorated deck.



One family all bundled up and ready to go on a Christmas tree search.



Which leads to a tree tied to the top of our car which said husband must then drag up the steps



But it ends with a very nicely decorated tree.


On Nov 15th of every year we exchange ornaments. It's the day we started dating and even though we're married it's still a tradition we like to follow. It was 7 years last month, holy crap.

Casey got me a little black and white dog with an '08 around his neck to symbolize the year I got Tuck. Very thoughtful ;)


I got him some shirtless elf ESPN fans.



Stockings are hung and ready to go...



Christmas cookies are made and already being devoured. I got the recipe from Katie at Good Things Catered if you want an awesome sugar cookie recipe. I also made peanut butter blossoms but they didn't make it in our house long enough to be photographed.


My Secret Santa gift is out and I've already received mine (Thanks Danielle by the way!)


One Christmas wedding attended which resulted in a good time =)

And last but not least, one very unhappy shih tzu in an elf costume.

Can't think of anything missing so far =) Shopping is almost done. I would say by this weekend it should be finished and that will leave me 2 weeks to relax and enjoy the holiday season.

Enjoy it while it's here =)

Getting on my soapbox...

I think everyone has their cause and this is something that I feel really strongly about. This is not an opinion that I have that you can argue against. These are facts that can't be disputed. First let me tell you something so that I don't sound like a hypocrite. My dog is from a breeder. Never ever would I buy from a breeder again. There are entirely too many dogs that die in shelters (purebreds as well, in fact 25% of shelter dogs are purebreds) every year due to back yard breeders and puppy mills. There is such a thing as a good breeder, but they are very hard to find. I would like to think in my head that Tuck came from a good breeder b/c her life was showing dogs and that's usually one sign of a good breeder. I didn't check to see if she did any genetic testing or any of the millions of other checks that should be done before you buy from a breeder. Here is a list to show the few differences from a backyard breeder and a reputable breeder. Basically a reputable breeder has a love for a certain breed and works to improve that breed by doing extensive genetic testing and breeding in a responsible manner (one dog should only have one litter, usually *always* has a waiting list and would never breed without knowing the pups had homes in advance, neuter contracts, etc.). You can read more about what to expect from a reputable breeder from the above link.

Back yard breeders are killing dogs in shelters regardless of what you think. If you have a cute little maltese and so does your friend and you would just love to breed them to create another cute little maltese. You ARE a back yard breeder and you are responsible for the deaths of these shelter animals. Your pets that you breed are no better than all of the purebreds that are lying in shelters across America. I beg you PLEASE, do not contribute to this problem. I'm sure you think that one little litter is no big deal, but if that litter has 6 puppies, and those 6 puppies have puppies, you can see how easily our country has become overpopulated with dogs.

Here's a clip from a special that Oprah did not too long ago. It's not pleasant to watch but if it makes it more real to someone than it's worth it.

7 million dogs die a year in a shelter.

99% of dogs that are in pet stores ARE from a puppy mill. If you buy from a petstore you are contributing so much to these problems. I beg you to search the web for some pictures of the horrendous conditions that these dogs live in at a puppy mill. These dogs are forced to have litter after litter in inhumane conditions. These dogs usually have severe health problems and they're put in a petstore at an unreasonable price. I don't even buy toys or set foot in a pet store anymore.

I love my dog, don't get me wrong, but there are tons of shih tzus that are in shelters. If I really wanted to go through a breeder, I know I could've done a lot more research than what I did. I really want to spend my life educating people about the mistakes I've made and that other people make all the time. Some people are just simply uneducated about this, just like I was before I started doing some research.

One more paragraph that I feel I need to add. There is no such thing as a "cockapoo" or a "maltipoo". These are mutts at incredibly jacked up prices and NO responsible, reputable, breeder would ever breed these dogs. If you want a cockerspaniel poodle mix (it is insulting to call these dogs by their 'designer breed' name), check petfinder online and rescue one. They are out there and they need homes. There is no such thing as a 'teacup' chihuahua or a 'minature' shih tzu. A bad breeder is taking the runt of these litters (they usually have health problems due to being small) and breeding them with other runts to create these so called minature dogs and then they add $1k to the price. Why would you pay more for that and support that, why?

I truly didn't write this post in order to get on a high horse. I wrote this post to educate people b/c I remember how little I knew before I started my own research. This is a serious problem and I really hope we can all do our part and rescue, support reputable breeders, and shut these pet stores/puppy mills down. These babies don't deserve it, and get your puppy spayed or neutered!

*Someone* was neutered today and is doing awesome =) All it takes is for me to look at him and imagine him cramped into a cage at a puppy mill, or sitting by himself at the shelter waiting for a home and it's enough to break my heart.

I can't remember where I found this poem, but I really like it.

I Rescued a Human Today

I rescued a human today.

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.

I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life. She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of myhead up against the bars to comfort her.

Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

-Author Unknown

Thankful

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Sorry for the lack of blog updates. The holidays are slowly sneaking up on me and we've been busy this week preparing for Thanksgiving. I decided to undertake the bird this year for some reason, and it actually turned out pretty good. Word to the wise, almost every single turkey that is frozen is already pre-basted even though it won't say so on the turkey anywhere. Pre-basted turkeys are not supposed to be brined. I brined mine for a shorter amount of time. It turned out juicy, but the whole time I had this huge fear that this big 23 lb salty bird was going to give everyone high blood pressure as an early Christmas present. I also made deviled eggs, pumpkin rolls, sweet potato casserole, and mashed potatoes. I enjoy cooking obviously, so I didn't mind at all. The food was good and I have a ton of leftovers leering at me from my refrigerator. I actually just had a piece of pumpkin roll for breakfast and I feel no shame.

I think that everyone, regardless of what you have going on this time of the year, should really think about what you're thankful for. I know I tend to think about all the things in my life that could be better, or that need working on, or if only I didn't have this to deal with etc.. You realize what a good position you are in life when you think about all of the positives. I have a huge list of things in my life that I couldn't begin to be thankful enough for. I have a savior that loves me unconditionally regardless of my mistakes. I have a loving husband that I'm thankful for every single day that I get out of bed. I have a family that I enjoy seeing and that I look forward to seeing on the holidays. I feel sorry for those people that dread the holidays b/c of their family. I don't consider myself unlucky that I was horribly homesick when I went away to college. I consider myself lucky that I have a familiy that I'm lucky enough to miss instead of the people who were glad to be getting away from home. I have an awesome puppy that loves me and shakes because he is so happy to see me everyday when I get home =) I'm thankful that I *do* have a job right now in this awful economy. I'm thankful that I have a home to go to everyday and that Casey and I never have to go without. There are so many things that I listed above that sooo many people don't have. It's nice to look at what you do have instead of constantly looking at what the person beside you has that you don't.

Well that ended up being a little more long-winded than I expected. I guess I could post some pictures from my holiday. I didn't take as many as I would've liked, but I tried to remember to take them when I could!

In attendance of our family dinner was: me, casey, mom, dad, my sister, her husband, my aunt and uncle, my grandma, my sister's lab (Maddy), Tuck, 3 cats, and Lillian.

This is my mom with her brother and his wife

My sister and her family

Miss Lillian

My turkey!

The inside

It's kind of blurry, but you can see Tuck, Maddy, and one of the cats swarming the dinner table

Me and Casey

These aren't from Thanksgiving but they were on my camera

I was on the phone one day after work and Casey decided to throw all of the baskets of laundry on top of me. This is why things don't get accomplished in my house if I'm not supervising ;)

My Dog Has More Friends Than I Do

I was looking at pictures from this weekend and I realized as I was going through them that on Friday Tuck went to go see his buddies Sox and CatDog and then he had a date with Mason at the park on Saturday and we just brought him back from seeing Coal a couple of hours ago. Dude, how does he have more of a social life than I do? Well, since I apparently didn't do as much as he did this weekend, I'll post some pictures of his exciting weekend.

This is from his trip to visit CatDog and Sox on Friday evening. He was still sniffing out the parameters at this point.

It didn't take him long before he started sprinting around the yard with Sox. Sox would be the black blur in front of him. My dog is a sprinter, definitely not an endurance runner. Sox has somehow nailed down sprinting and endurance.

The ears! They shoot up in the air when he runs and it makes him look like Mickey Mouse.

CatDog didn't get in on the fun very much, but she kept an eye on her little brother. That would be Adrienne, my co-worker, holding her.

They played until it got dark and then they just hung out like old homies.

Switching over to Saturday... this is from our day at the park with Mase-diggy and Kara

Tuck doesn't really know a lot about tennis balls, but he knows to run after Mason when he chases them until he's tired. It works for him.

The Mickey Mouse ears kills me

Mason with his pointer tail being kind of crooked =)

Both of them checking out this man in the background

This is Kara. I kind of love her. She keeps me sane and she loves me back, what more could I ask for?

I feel like I've managed to photograph my whole weekend. I also realize that people might think I'm a big loser once they realize what I do on the weekends but that's ok with me. Friday we actually did go to dinner with a couple of friends after my dog's playdate, and we did go see a movie and do some shopping on Saturday. We went to see The Changeling and I would recommend it to you if you were thinking about going to see it. It's different. I think it's different in a good way though. The movie does a good job of placing you in the time period that exists in the movie and Angelina Jolie does an amazing job as Christine Collins, a woman who rebels against the LAPD when they try to return a child to her that isn't her son when he goes missing (holy run on sentence). It's a true story and an interesting one. It's also a little liberating to see what one woman accomplished by refusing to by quiet. So women, just remember that ;)

Today we had my family over for some of Pioneer Woman's lasagna. We have a few slices left over so hopefully I can get some pictures of that to blog about. I was supposed to blog about my last TWD recipe which was rugelach but I deleted the picture of the cookies and gave the cookies away. Dumb.

This morning at church we also made the decision to become a member at the church we've been going to off and on since January. It just felt right this morning and we're really happy with our decision and have really enjoyed our time there. So that's a step in the right direction!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Lazy Saturday Morning

This is what happens when my boys don't want to wake up in the morning. I crawl back in bed and blind them with the camera until they wake up or until Tuck starts to bark insanely at the red light on my camera which then wakes up Casey and achieves the desired effect. Before you think I'm a harsh wife waking up her husband, it was noon. Come on people, I can only entertain myself so much in the morning. Well actually, I did entertain myself at least for an hour doing this.

My puppy is lazy and that's my arm he likes to sleep on in the morning, and that's my ratty VMI t-shirt that I'll never get rid of.

"Seriously mom? Is it hurting anyone for us to be sleeping in a little later?"

"Seeeeeeeeeeeeriously?"

I then opened the blinds in hopes of brightening the room even more and I received just a pure look of scorn.

Then he thought about it and came over to my side. Waking dad up won't be too bad of an idea.

"Dad, are you up?"

"Dad?"

"Oh well.. I'll just sleep on your face for a little bit until you wake up."

I lost him back to the dark side of the late sleeper inners.

::sigh:: I guess a few more minutes won't hurt...

Grandma's Hard Rolls

I recently went through a lot of my grandma's recipes and transferred them over to my own recipe box so that I wouldn't have to call everytime I wanted to make something of hers. I remember her making these rolls when I was little. They were little oval rolls of heaven. That might be a little dramatic, but I really do like these rolls. I feel like she used to always make these with italian dishes and they complimented really well. When I decided to make this recipe for the first time I decided that instead of making 24 rolls like the recipe called for, I would make a dozen and turn them into big fluffy rolls. We made these into meatball sandwiches and they were sooooo good.

The instructions aren't very specific because this recipe was passed down and I'm sure was written down from memory. I'm no expert roll maker, but I haven't made a mistake with these rolls yet so they seem pretty foolproof.


(Source: Grandma)
Servings: 24 rolls (or you can make 12 big ones like I made)

4 c. unbleached flour
2/3 tsp. salt
2/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. of warm water
2 pkgs of dry yeast
2 eggs
Vegetable oil

Add yeast to water and let set until you see the yeast start to work and then add the two eggs. Combine dry ingredients. Pour yeast mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Knead dough. Coat bowl and ball of dough with vegetable oil. Cover bowl and let dough rise until it reaches the top of the bowl.

Divide dough in half by squeezing in the center to get two balls. Divide those two balls in half to get 4. Divide those 4 to get 8. Divide those 8 into 1/3 to get 24. Shape these into oval rolls and place on greased baking sheet to rise again. When dough has risen bake at 450 degrees until tops are brown.

Since I was slaving away at bread, I made meatballs the lazy way. I bought a bag of frozen meatballs and added a couple of jars of Prego. I topped the meatballs with provolone and banana peppers. These rolls aren't meant to be subs, so they're very messy to eat with meatballs, but it's worth it and I make them with meatballs everytime =)