My Monday

It was a beautiful day today, I wore flip flops and a t-shirt! Woo Hoo!! We decided to take our puppies to the lake to let them play. When we got up there and it had about 2 feet of snow!! I drove my car and it was really bumpy, pretty much four-wheeling! Needless to say, my car has lots of mud marks on it! I had about 4 backseat drivers also, which made things interesting :o) When we arrived at the lake, I was still wearing my flip flops so I decided to hang out in the car. We were not going to be there long due to the amount of snow still on the ground. (I did attempt to go out and walk around but it was not long until my feet were freezing!!) The dogs had a blast though! We did decide to go to another lake close by that didn't have as much snow. They had so much fun in the water!!

Plus, tonight Kali and I were able to have a l.o.n.g (2 hour!) video chat with Alyssa....it was a great way to end the day!

Makeshift Dryer

This morning was one of those mornings. Oh, you know the kind.....where you wake up and for some reason your (what we call them), "angry eyes" just seem to pop out. It really wasn't too bad just some frustrations with our sweet, darling puppies. (Trust me, if you asked me if I thought so this morning you probably would have wished you didn't ask....lol.) I got ready to go to work,  I confess, I was a little happy to get out of there for a bit, but trust me, it is ALWAYS wonderful to come home and spend time with my family, no matter what! On my way out the door I put my water container that looks a little something like this.....

.....into my purse (which I normally do that way I don't have my hands all full when I enter work, easier you see). Well, apparently I didn't tighten the cap on good enough and most of my water was now in my purse! Arg!! Before I went into work I put my purse on my lap and I noticed an excess amount of liquid in my purse...whoops. I stood up and there was also an excess amount of water on my skirt.....lovely. Anyways, I took it inside tried to dry off my things and my purse. Thankfully nothing of importance was ruined. I placed my purse items in a garbage bag....lol....because we didn't have any other kind of bags. Then I did this to help dry it out.....

Yup, you see right, its a snow shovel. At this point it was only a little after 10 am, one of those mornings that if you don't laugh, you'll cry.... :o)

Deals and Deliciousness

Slowly but surely I am trying to add things to my "hope chest", which right now is my closet. :o) (I seriously need some kind of bin or something) Anyways, about a month or so ago I found an orange tablecloth on clearance and picked one up for myself, then today I found a red tablecloth on major clearance too!! Woo Hoo!! I think I'm set on tablecloths, but I just couldn't pass up those great deals!

Orange Tablecloth:

Regular- $9.00

Sale- $1.00

Red Tablecloth:

Regular- $9.00

Sale- $0.75

Total: $1.75

I love great deals!!!!

I also made a couple things today that were really delicious! First was a Strawberry Orange Smoothie. One word.....Y.U.M! SO simple and SO delicious!! Spring is here people!!

Next was Orange Almond Biscotti, whether its being dipped in coffee, milk, or even eaten by itself, these are just plain delicious...

If ya'll want the biscotti recipe, just let me know and I will post it on here shortly.....

And yes....I am what you call a foodie.....I can't deny it..... I get a star gazed, weak in the knees, flowery type feelings at times, but its not caused by a man..... *smile* I guess us single women need something right?! All I can say is praise the Lord for a good metabolism!!

New Addition(s) to our Family

Initially we weren't planning on getting a dog for a little while, but plans changed today. We got not just one dog but TWO! I know, I know, it sounds crazy, I'm still surprised! They are soooo cute though! They are both from the same litter, pure bred chocolate labs, 4 months old. "Charlie" is the family dog and "Gauge" is Josh's dog he wants to train to hunt with him. Now, without further ado, our sweet puppies.......

Charlie has the red collar on the left, then Gauge is on the right with the black collar

Charlie

Gauge

Texas Tech wannabe's :)

GO RED RAIDERS!!!

I'm seeing/tasting green....

It's a day early, but we decided to make all our food today green! I don't remember ever doing this before, to this extent, but it was fun! It mixed things up a bit! I'm showing dinner and dessert while Kali is posting about breakfast and lunch. So, make sure you check over there to see those green meals!

Dinner: Chicken alfredo (dyed green), green beans, and bread with garlic butter (dyed green)

I know, it looks STRANGE, but it was good!

Dessert: Grasshopper Pie

This has a chocolate crust, mint chip ice cream, then jr. mints and crushed oreos on the top with hot fudge!! Mmmmm....

Our dog, Max

This morning, our 9 year old dog Max, died in the comfort of his home. Everything started last night, let me retrace my steps....

(This is mostly for my own benefit, so I can look back and remember, so don't feel like you have to read what happened)

Last night we let Max out to go to the bathroom, it was dark out and since he has gotten older he really doesn't roam around. Sometimes it would be hard to even get him off the porch to go to the bathroom! We realized after a while he was not barking at the door for us to let him in. (which is his usual custom) Looked outside and couldn't find him, walked outside and couldn't find him. Dad and Josh went on foot to look (this was at about 10:45) while Kali and I drove around the neighborhood. Finally, at almost 11 my dad called saying he found Max at our neighbors house, at their back door. We were thinking that he must have just gotten confused, (he had lost his hearing and had gotten quite a bit slower this past year from age) but then as my dad was trying to get him to come back home he didn't want to come. Dad was having to force him to come, he said he was acting very strange too. Dad brought him in our garage and noticed his stomach was swollen and he was foaming at the mouth. We all, broken-hearted, decided to say our goodbyes, just in case he didn't make it through the night. (It was pretty obvious that something was going on, when dogs know they are about to die they will usually go away from their home to do it, this is why we were cautious, plus it was NOT like Max to leave the yard.) Woke up this morning, he was yelping/barking from the garage, my mom opened it up to find that he just wanted to be with someone, someone to be there. Kali and I have our bedrooms at the end of the hallway, right across from each other. As he was walking down the hallway, he just collasped in the middle of it and didn't get up. His stomach was much more swollen and he was having trouble breathing. (Josh looked on the internet to see what would be the cause of a swollen stomach and he found that it could possibly have been a tumor, don't know for sure though) My parents made the decision to take him to the vet when it opened (9 am) to have him put down because we didn't want to see him suffering like he was. It was a little past 7 am and we were all around him, petting him and watching. Then, we noticed he was not huffing for breath like he was doing before and different muscles in his body gave way. We knew this was the end. (This is hard for me to type right now, but I want to do this as its fresh in my mind) There was no air coming out or into his mouth, but he was flinching, he did a stretching of his legs, then, he was gone. All we could guess is that they were muscle spasms or his final struggle for air.

We were thankful it happened at home with his family, naturally, rather than being on a table with strangers all around him. This might sound strange to those who don't have animals, but when you have a dog from a puppy stage, 9 years of his life/our life, this dog grows up with you and becomes a part of the family. He was such a sweet dog......loved by all who knew him. He...

.....liked pigtails....

.....helped with Sunday School.....

..... and was our messenger...

Did I mention he was VERY easy going?!

I find it just a little bit ironic that Max died only a week and a half after Grandpa did. Grandpa used to call Max his dog, and whenever he would call he would ask how his dog was. So funny to look back on... Now, don't worry, I don't think "All Dogs go to Heaven", I don't believe dogs have souls like human beings. Yet, we will still miss him greatly....