Day 26: National Puppy Day!

Howdy folks, Shane here filling in for the great and wonderful Lauren while she studies for her math test.

National Puppy Day was today and it certainly was a beautiful day! To celebrate I'm going throw up a few of my favorite pictures of our babies Charlie and Sheldon.

Aww look at that beautiful family portrait. Charlie and Sheldon forgot their ugly sweaters but I think they look super cute!

Here we see a Sheldon in the wild worn out from a long day of barking at unknown beings outside the walls of our fortress.

In case you didn't know a maltese can turn into a shoulder mounted defense systems in case of attack from the above unknown beings. 

 When Charlie's nerves are shot from a long day of being defended by Sheldon from unknown beings he likes to snuggle down into a nice electric blanket.

Charlie also does well on the shoulders but he is more of a fashion accessory, than a defense system.

We love our pups and everything they have to offer as man's best friend. I hope you all had a great National Puppy Day, let us know how your day went, did you do anything fun with your puppies?  

Day 14: More SNOW!

Nashville had pretty much recovered from the crazy snow and ice storm two weeks ago. We even had a day here or there that felt pretty warm. I went to the gym in SHORTS and felt fantastic. 

Spring isn't quite here yet though, and that groundhog was so right when he said we'd get six more weeks of winter. Last night around midnight the rain turned into sleet and didn't stop. By the time I woke up this morning, we'd gotten around three inches of snow and it was still falling. 

So pretty! Charlie and Sheldon had a great time hopping around in it today. Charlie wanted to stay out there for a while, we had to make him come back in! Then Shane and I got out and tried to play in the snow a little bit. I was sad to discover it wasn't good snowman snow :( so we walked around our neighborhood to scope out the road situation. We even got to do our good deed for the day when we helped push a neighbor's car over an icy patch. 

Of course Nashville State cancelled classes for the day. Since Thursday is my last class day, I got to start Spring Break early! I cannot tell you how much I was dreading today's biology lecture, so I'm super glad to miss out on that one. Of course both my biology and precalculus teachers made sure to post make-up homework assignments online. Maybe I'll go sit in a hot tub somewhere while reading my bio book to make up for the lack of beach-like atmosphere around here. 

It was a great snow day with Shane and the doggies. I know I'm getting spoiled with another day off, but I can't help it! What can I say? I love spending time with those three, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Day 10: Charlie and Sheldon

One of those famous writers once said, "when your blog is due and you're not sure what to write about, just put up pictures of your dogs." I think it was Shakespeare. I hear he had a similar process while writing King Lear. 

Anyways, I'm following his advice. Here's some photo evidence of just how adorable my dogs have been lately. 

I took this picture to send to Shane while he was away on a business trip. Of course Shane and I both love Charlie and Sheldon equally, but Charlie is definitely a daddy's boy and Sheldon is mine. Charlie cuddles on the couch with Shane all the time, and when Shane's been gone for a couple of days, Charlie gets lonely enough to snuggle with me instead. 

Sheldon is a precious couch snuggler too. In this picture, he was jealous that I was paying attention to Charlie instead of him, so he gave me the sad puppy face. He's good at that one. 

Sheldon's a frantic nest builder. It takes him around 5 minutes of scratching to get the couch blankie fluffed to his liking. 

Charlie and Sheldon don't snuggle often, but when they do, it's the most adorable thing you've ever seen. Here's a picture of them accidentally sleeping so close they touched. 

Sheldon also magically knows right when you're about to take a picture of him, so he opens his eyes, or closes them, licks his lips, moves his head, something. 

You know how I dyed my hair pink? Of course Sheldon had to match! I wanted to do his whole curly tail, but figured an ear would be good enough to start out with. I did it at the worst possible time too...Shane was on a business phone call, and here I am, hands in gloves covered with pink dye and a dog with a wet pink ear, which he would not let me rinse out in the sink. He was sitting on the bed and I couldn't figure out how to pick him up without getting pink everywhere. Somehow I managed to wrangle him to the tub. I'm so thankful for detachable shower heads. 

Isn't he so cute? Next up we've got a picture of a typical Netflix/Hulu night at our house. Our dogs have several different nap spots picked out on the couch. On top of that one cushion is a popular one. 

This is as close to snuggling as they normally get. Remember how I was telling you how Charlie snuggles with Shane all the time? Here's how they normally cuddle. It's so cute it breaks my heart. 

I'm thankful for these little guys! They're so entertaining and they definitely make our lives more worthwhile. 

Day 2: SNOW!

Since Sunday, everything in Nashville has been coated in a layer of ice and topped with a sprinkle of snow. We have even more in the forecast for tonight! 

Based on the way things are going, it's likely my Golf won't make it out of the driveway until spring. They've finally managed to clear most of the major roads, but our neighborhood is treacherous. If I had ice skates, I'd take them for a spin. 

I'm really thankful that we insulated under the house this summer, or we'd be frozen. We've been extra lucky that our power hasn't gone out, I know some have been without for days. 

Our backyard hasn't been so lucky though. Our tropical oasis bamboo privacy screen has turned into a pile of limp spaghetti. 

I'm hoping / guessing that they'll bounce back? If not we're gonna have some problems, because the view of the neighbor's yard is bleak. 

Our gutters also filled and froze, and then overflowed to create an icicle jungle, which is magical. 

Charlie and Sheldon have enjoyed playing around in the snow. We even let them off leash for a while so they could explore. Don't worry, Shane was close by with his daddy voice ready in case he needed to call them back. 

Sheldon had such a good time I could barely get him to sit still for a picture! He spent a lot of time running around the car, hoping we were going for a ride.

Charlie really likes the cold and wants to spend a surprising amount of time in it. We basically have to drag him in after potty breaks. My theory is that the white snow makes the brown squirrels so much easier to spot. 

** Note to readers: if you see Charlie's bare patches on his legs, don't despair. He has pretty serious skin allergies, which we work hard to keep under control with help from his vet. He's okay, I promise.

I am thankful that I got to spend this impromptu vacation with Shane and the doggies. We've had fun watching tons of Hulu and vegging out on the couch for nearly a week. Plus I finally got a chance to take the tags off my snow pants (had them 5 years now?) and break out my snow boots (which I almost got rid of a few weeks ago). 

Three school snow days have spoiled me, I'm not ready to go back to the real world!

Confessions of a terrible parent

When you have kids, furry or not, there are bound to be some disasters. No matter how much we try to watch them, it seems like our dogs are just looking for ways to get hurt and/or make themselves sick. Like the time Charlie ate a mystery mushroom in the backyard and had to get his stomach pump. Or the time Sheldon's tail got broken. When Sheldon was a puppy, he figured out how to open up the bathroom cabinet, climbed in and ate a whole box of caffeine pills. He got his stomach pumped that time too. 

I guess since the score was Sheldon: 2, Charlie: 1...Charlie was due for another injury. Yesterday morning he somehow managed to get a stray screw from the deck wreckage lodged in his side/back. I guess he was rolling around in the grass and it went right in? Thankfully it didn't go straight in, kinda sideways. Shane had to rush him to the vet because we were worried about dog tetanus. Turns out that's not really a thing, but he did have to get a steroid shot and lots of antibiotics.  He also has a lovely bald patch now. 

Sheldon tends to lick EVERYTHING, including Charlie, and we were worried about what would happen when Charlie got home. According to the vet, it's actually an okay thing. He said that we have to make sure the wound doesn't scab over until it starts healing inside to keep it from getting infected. Who knew? Kinda gross, but we'll just call him Nurse Sheldon. 

The picture below is the screw that stabbed Charlie. See the dark patch that goes three threads down? That's how far it went in. Poor Charlie. I'm looking into how to rent one of those gigantic junkyard magnets so we can clear the yard of any more dangerous debris. 

#17: Charlie and Sheldon

It seems like it's been a really long time since I've included Charlie and  Sheldon in a post, so I thought I'd dedicate a whole post just to them!

I feel so lucky to have such adorable dogs in my life. They keep us entertained morning, noon and night. It is so fun to come home from work every day and have them so excited just to see me. It makes me feel so important and loved, and it's such a sweet feeling. Charlie is definitely Shane's baby and Sheldon is mine. You should see when Sheldon gets upset and scared of something, he starts barking and climbs me like a tree. If I'm sitting on the couch or laying in bed, he gets right up next to my head and sits his butt on my shoulder like a little parrot. 

Sheldon's go-to spot when he gets scared.

While we're at home spending time with them, they tend to go between two extremes: 1) super perky and playful or 2) exhausted and cuddly. My computer is filled with adorable pictures of them curled up on the couch and buried under blankets. Charlie's current favorite spot to hang out is on top of Shane's chest while he's laying on the couch. Precious. His second favorite spot is anywhere else as close to Shane as he can get. 

A common view around here. 

They do some goofy stuff, too. Now that we have all hardwood floor in our house, they have started getting really scared when they hop onto the couch, and they absolutely won't hop onto the bed because their paws slip and slide. One of the funniest things I think they've done lately was right at Christmas time. I had bought a bunch of stuff online and they sent it in a gigantic box. Of course, I had to see how Charlie and Sheldon would deal with being in the box. 

Turns out, not well. They took turns in the box while I called their names and tried to get them to hop out. Sheldon just resigned himself to permanent capture and decided to sit. Charlie looked around all distraught looking for Shane to come rescue him. Shane wasn't home at the time, but when he came home later I tried to show him. Naturally, when Shane got home, Charlie had to show off his big boy skills and hop right out of the box. 

You should've seen them when we bought the baby pool last summer. Sheldon wouldn't even get near it, and Charlie stood there like a bump on a pickle. Not quite the cute, splashing doggie pool party I pictured in the Walmart checkout line. 

They're pretty crazy, but so are we. And they put up with our craziness. We're perfect for each other. 

Looking like the cast of Mad Men.

Christmas time is here again!

Only one week until Christmas and our halls are decked to the max! It's our first Christmas in our new home and it has been so fun decorating for the first time. 

A brand new 7.5' tree joined the family this year along with a colorful new tree topper. 

I'm in love!

Of course, our old tree looked so lonely sitting there in that box so it had to join the party too. And don't you love our little Eiffel Tower wrapped in lights?

This wall hanging is my most magical thrift store find, it was only $3 last year! And who knew Walmart would have super cute NOEL tealights?

I know, I know, you're all thinking it..."why aren't the stockings on the mantle?" We actually have our couch pushed up in front of the fireplace and every time we sat down, we knocked the stockings off their hangers. The stair railing made for a great compromise though and I actually kinda like them there better anyways. 

The Christmas flamingo, bought at a Kmart closing sale, is there to guard the stockings against early peekers.

Another compromise this year, wreath on the inside of the door. Our storm door is about an inch away from our front door and no amount of slamming would squeeze that wreath in there.

I finally pulled out our wedding table runner for the first time in five years :) 

And something else we've totally been putting off, dog paw print ornaments! I don't care if anyone thinks we're crazy dog people because we totally are, and I love our new ornaments. Charlie and Sheldon didn't enjoy making them too much but they were mostly cooperative. 

I'm not sure if Sheldon's in the Christmas spirit, but Charlie sure is!

He's even found a favorite new place to hang out. He only has to climb over all the presents and knock off most of the ornaments to get there. 

Happy Holidays from our  home to yours!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I loooooooovvveeeee Christmas. Mostly because of the presents, and because it's only twelve days before my birthday. Which means more presents ;) But my absolute favorite part is decorating!

Hard to take a picture of it in the dark, but I am in love with this wreath, which I made myself :) It's sparkly and colorful, which is the definition of awesome. 

Four years ago before Shane and I got married, I started making stockings for the both of us. And this year, I actually finished them! Plus two more for the doggies. 

Charlie and Sheldon's stockings are my favorite, the little puppies in the Santa hats are just too cute. 

The nativity has a few extra visitors this year, with Santa, Marie Antoinette, and a penguin. We also have two baby Jesuses. It's a long story.

You can never have too many Christmas lights. Or too much garland. I'm thinking about making a Walmart run for some more as I type this...

Even the water dispenser got a little Christmas spirit.

Santa and his reindeer came a little early this year but they decided they liked it and wanted to stay for a while. The elves can handle it, right? 

The tree! Our old tree was a bit gigantic, so we picked up this perfect apartment-sized one for only $20. Christmas bargains are the best.

I get really carried away when I'm decorating the tree. We have a ton of ornaments, and I like to see how many I can squeeze on the tree without it collapsing under the weight of them all. 

Of course my four giant boxes of ornaments can't all possibly fit on the tree, try as I might, so I had to get creative. Also, check out my awesome Martha Stewart poinsettia wreath! It actually was a Martha Stewart kit, and it took forever to make. 

Can't let the tiny ornaments feel left out! 

Can you believe we finished our Christmas shopping like two weeks ago, and the gifts are  already wrapped? The best part was it wasn't even planned. We went to the store to start browsing for gift ideas and somehow Santa worked his magic and we ended up with gifts for everyone. I hope every year is this easy! 

As prepared as we are, it turns out there is a problem with being done with Christmas shopping and decorating this early. You just get on this shopping high and want to buy more and more presents for everyone, and of course you can never have too many decorations. Our Christmas shopping budget is already way over, and I'm sure by the time the 24th rolls around, every surface in this apartment will twinkle or glitter. 

Of course, Shane and I aren't the only ones ready for Christmas! Charlie and Sheldon went for a special day at the doggie spa and got their holiday haircuts. They even spritzed them with some Christmas cookie perfume. Yum!

Now all that's left is to sit out our plate of cookies, scoot our couch away from the fireplace to give Santa some leeway, and wait!

WE'RE MOVING!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you couldn't tell, I'm just a wee bit excited. And about to have a nervous breakdown, because in a little over a month, we'll be back in the Volunteer State. This time hopefully for keeps!

Starting June 18th, Shane will be starting his new job with a company in Franklin, TN. While this is awesome, super duper, wonderfully fabulous news, it's also pretty overwhelming! It seems like it's all happening so fast! Here's a quick rundown of what's happening in the next month or so:

• Two weeks in Maryland, where we get to pack, fix the holes Charlie and Sheldon chewed in our condo wall, attempt to find a new place to live, try to break our current lease, tying up lose ends, and trying to spend as much time with our friends as possible and doing all those things we've missed out on so far.
• Nine days in France. This has been planned for a long time (and I plan on blogging about it while we're there!) but I can't help but feel like we won't really get to fully enjoy the trip. I hope we can take a break and try to relax and have fun.
• A week and a half to finish packing, say our goodbyes, drive to Tennessee, find a place to live (if we haven't done that already), get settled, and try to find me a job so we can get back to our normal routine and not get behind on bills!

While this next month or so is going to be one panic attack after the other, I know we're going to be so glad when we finally make it down there! It will be so wonderful being so close to family and friends. It will be bittersweet though, because Maryland has finally started to feel a bit like home. The place has grown on us both a lot, and we'll be sad to leave (this was going to be the place where I listed all the things I'll miss, but the list got too long. Look for it in my next post).
Okay, I should probably stop writing and get back to packing, but one last thing...if you know of any awesome apartments/houses/condos in the Franklin-ish area that aren't super expensive, or any place that's hiring (I'm basically good at everything, just no fast food, and nothing where I have to see blood) let me know! (They also have to pay in American dollars, I don't accept Trident Layers)

Congrats Charlie and Sheldon!

You know how they say there's a reason for everything? A silver lining to every rain cloud?  

Our downstairs neighbor is hateful and likes to complain about everything. Need to do some laundry? Better not hope it's past 9 pm, or you'll be getting hateful glares in the parking lot the next morning. We stay home most nights, but when we actually do go somewhere, she leaves notes on our door that say stuff like "your dogs bark constantly when you leave, you can't leave the house." Her argument is that the dog across the hall from her is such a little perfect angel, but it's really a little hell raiser. It only lives there on alternate weekends and it barks worse than both of our dogs combined. We admit it, Charlie and Sheldon can be a tad barky, but our lease does say we can have dogs. And it's not our fault she chose to buy a second story condo, you're going to hear noises from your neighbors.

But you know what? If she wasn't such an ill-tempered person, then our dogs wouldn't have just graduated from beginner class at PetSmart. 

 In a roundabout way, we owe it all to our nasty neighbor. Not that she paid for the class or anything, which would have been nice, but at least now we can say they're well trained little boys. 

We're seriously considering framing their certificates and hanging them by the front door.  You know, just for  fun.

A very Merry-land Christmas

Christmas in Maryland is drawing to a close (since we're leaving tomorrow for Tennessee, yay!) so I thought I would share some of the fun things we've been up to for the holiday season :)

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Check out our awesome Christmas tree! And please ignore the partially painted dining room wall.

Shane's parents got to visit the first weekend in December and brought it up here for us. I kinda went crazy decorating and put every ornament ever made on there. Shane's mom went home saying she needed more ornaments for their tree. When I look at it, all I can think is "Holy Christmas that's a lot of ornaments!"

 "Maybe just one more? And another? Well we *have* to hang this one up..."

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Meanwhile, we found some wild animals running around our house one day. Seriously, haven't their owners ever heard of hair cuts? 

Before: 

Being the good people that we are, we decided to take them to the groomer. It was Sheldon's very first trip! Knowing him, that girl really earned her money that day. 

 After, and Christmassy:

I'm probably the only one who finds that funny, but let's face it, those little blank stares on their faces...all they're wondering is "where are the treats?"

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As it turns out, there are a lot of fun things to do in Baltimore around Christmas time.  Like going down to Hampden to see the Miracle on 34th Street. No, not the one where Kris Kringle goes to court for a competency hearing. This is the one with all the lights!

Miracle on 34th Street is a Baltimore tradition that has been going on since 1947. Which is actually the same year the movie came out. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. 

For one block, residents on both sides of 34th go crazy with lights, decorations, plastic Santas and more. It's probably just easier for me to show you rather than tell you. 

That's a lot of Christmas right there.

They had a parade too but it was kinda cold that day. We decided to stay home instead. 

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Shane participated in Tuba Christmas this year with the Ravens Marching Band, which was really fun. Tuba Christmas is a huge concert where the only instruments are, you guessed it, various types of tubas (yes there *is*  more than one kind). The final count of participants was somewhere in the 230s. And they play all Christmas songs! The whole crowd gets to sing along. And then they played one Hannukah song. No one knew the words to that one. 

Aww, doesn't he look adorable in his little uniform? 

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Well I think that's enough blabber, why don't you just check out this super awesome wonderful fantastic holiday video I made?

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And as a gift for all you wonderful people who have stuck it out til the end of this post, here's an early Christmas present from yours truly. You're welcome :)