a boy, a girl and a pug

book shopping

2012-01-23T13:53:00.004-06:00

this past month i've been trying to finish up some books that i've had sitting around, along with some new ones too. sadly, nothing has rocked my socks off so i'd love to hear what y'all are reading and get some inspiration.

read:

"mockingjay" by suzanne collins. i had read the first two from the series earlier last year and just never got around to reading the last one. i pretty much agree with what most had to say about it, good just not my favorite from the series. i just wish i had read it right away because for a little bit i was reading it and having a hard time remembering what had happened from the last one. amazing series though if you haven't read it.

"the best of me" by nicholas sparks. i really don't like being negative about a book, but this one wore me out. so not my favorite of his. sorry wish i could say i loved it.

"extremely loud and incredibly close" by jonathan safran foer. i received this for Christmas and sadly had no idea it was book first. i had seen the previews for the movies and am anxious to see it, but was so surprised i hadn't seen it on the bookshelves before. absolutely beautifully written. although can we rename the title to "extremely loud and incredibly sad". bring your tissues for this one folks.

"the marriage plot" by jeffrey eugenides. i picked it up because it's been on the bestseller list for so long, i thought surely this has to be an awesome read. wrong. just wasn't my cup of tea.

reading:

"safe haven" by nicholas sparks. i know i'm diving back into the sparks. i have had this for awhile and figured i give it ago. so far i'm enjoying it much better than the last one i read. well see though.

after i finish "safe haven" i'm lost, so would love to hear what's on your nightstand or kindle.

the groomers

2012-01-19T22:30:00.001-06:00

today i took the pugs to the puppy spa to get their nails trimmed...

and then i had them drop me off at the looney bin on the way home.

pug just will not have anyone or anything touching his paws. you'd think after 6 years of doing this same song and dance he'd learn that it only takes a few minutes, they had him a yummy treat and we're outta there.

nope.

i'm running out of ways to disguise my voice when i call and make an appointment. i know they have to be thinking "oh no the blonde with the crazy pug is on her way". so bless those sweet spa owners who take us in. they are so patient with him as they wrangle him and he's screaming away being a major drama king.

although i do think he had some people in the waiting room convinced he was actually just acting out a scene from the musical Cats.

and thankfully landry is just to scared of everything to make a fuss. he politely sits there and patiently lets the lady trim his nails. could my dogs be anymore opposite?

at that moment with a line of people standing behind me gawking at the scene of a woman wrestling a pug and the pug winning i really want to avoid the whole dog owner judgement look and be like "man, whose's horribly behaved pug is that?" and beeline it out of there.

but i don't, i take both my sweet and crazy boys, toss a hefty tip to the groomers and proceed to the car where we all pant in exhaustion.

until the next time.

a whole lot of worthless nothingness

2012-01-18T18:30:00.002-06:00

1. i miss wikipedia today. i miss googling random stuff that "i just have to know at that exact moment about or i would explode".

2. speaking of the internet, i shouldn't have to google "why does my pug's gas smell like a skunk?" i was cleaning the bathroom and he walked in, tooted, then left me for dead. it was the worst moment of my life.

3. my doorbell rang, and normally i don't answer, but i thought it was the ups man since he comes around that time. i opened the door to find a lady selling something. i thought bummer. then she asked if my parents were home. i said no. best excuse while technically not lying. awesome. i also stopped feeling so old at that moment.

4. after finding out i was lactose intolerant forever ago, i just avoided some foods (like mashed potatoes) instead of trying to find subsitutes. but now i'm really branching out and redoing my old favorite recipes and am loving it. if only i could get back that mac and cheese.

5. i have a confession...i really don't like watching awards shows. i like a recap of them with the winners and dresses, but they are seriously long y'all. it's also very frustrating when the movie no one has ever heard of wins over the good stuff. but, i'm no critic, says the lady that watches lifetime movies.

that is all for today my friends...happy wednesday!

the one where we discuss jeans

2012-01-09T15:30:00.002-06:00

i need another pair of jeans, like i need another pug.

seriously, this girl has an unhealthy love for jeans. during my teen/college years i was fiercely loyal to gap jeans. particularly at one point the boot cut style. the gap knew how to rock the boot cut stretch. years ago though i started, ever so hesitantly, branching out of the gap store and expanding my denim horizons. since then i've fallen for the seven for all mankind "A" pocket jean, citizens of humanity and the hollister skinny jean. let me add that i am not plopping down those prices, i'm ebay all the way on the $200 brands.

i'd love to hear your favorite brands/styles, particularly a cute skinny jean that you love. that seems to be my go to this winter tucked into a riding boot.

backing up

2012-01-05T17:53:00.002-06:00

we're doing our final christmas get together tomorrow...so i'm still kind of in christmas mode even though i spent the first part of the week hauling up all the decorations into the attic. i'm calling that my workout for the whole week. i realized i didn't chat much about christmas on the blog. it just flew by so quickly and we were so blessed to have such a wonderful time with family. here our a few highlights from the festivities.

1. in case you were wondering what would be the worst day for your oven to go out, do not worry, i found it. christmas eve. of course it would go out that day. it couldn't have gone out the week before or the day after, but that day. fortunately we made do, but sadly it was a carbless/breadless/cakeless christmas.

2. pug took it upon himself to catch our christmas dinner at the in-laws. he caught a bird. i was mortified. so was landry. and that's why pug spent a good half of the day in a bath tub.

3. we had a blast playing tons of games. we thought we'd be really good at the new logo board game, but we're not. i think our downfall is our love of our tivo. but it's still a really fun game.

4. the whole present unwrapping wasn't landry's cup of tea (he hid behind big daddy during present time)...so pug being the pro took over. he is my little camera ham. i'm also learning i now have to buy 2 of everything to make it equal...it's like children i tell you!

happy new year

2012-01-03T00:03:00.002-06:00

happy 2012 everyone!! over the last couple days it feels like everyone i've run into has asked how our new year's was and then they follow it up with did y'all do anything exciting? define exciting? they usually have some awesome new year's adventure to share and i'm hesitant to tell them i rang in the new year just as lame as i have over the past 2.7 decades. a good chuck of those new years were spent babysitting with the kid's sound asleep upstairs and myself parked in front of the tv watching TVland and now i think the only thing that's changed since then is the shows on TVland and i'm not getting paid 10 bucks an hour to watch it. bummer. now, truthfully, ours is spent lounged in front of the tv doing absolutely nothing and y'all it's pure bliss. i love a quiet and relaxing new years!

for the past few years on the blog instead of posting a resolution of something i'm going to do that year, i post a fashion resoultion of something i'm going to avoid that year. i'm proud to say i have not yet once broken a resolution. i've had the bump-it, shiny leggings, and crazy shoes. this year was a bit tough. i was thinking i was going for the safe bet of the drop seat footed pajamas.

but then over the last few weeks i've noticed an increased selection of ponchos hitting the store racks and frankly it's making me a little nervous.

their being sneaky about it too, calling them capes, but i'm not fooled. it's a poncho. so dear friends i will not be sporting a poncho or dusting off my poncho from the gap circa 2003 when i was fooled into thinking it was cool then too. nope not going to do it in 2012.

image via here

merry christmas

2011-12-26T20:40:00.000-06:00

we hope you and your loved ones had a very merry christmas!!

lots of blog love,

a boy, a girl and a pug...and another pug :-)

leopard ornaments part 2

2011-12-22T16:40:00.000-06:00

mama enjoyed my leopard print ornaments so much she showed up with some glass ornaments and threatened i wouldn't get any presents this Christmas if i didn't make her some too.

i kid. although i was surprised she didn't drop the fact she was in labor with me for 36 hours. i would have.

she politely asked and i told her absolutely, but had to break it to her they probably wouldn't be gracing her tree this year. my fingers needed a mod podge break.

i've gotten some e-mails on what i used, so before i forget and with all the materials pretty much on sale i thought i'd kind of explain how i did them. sorry there's not a picture tutorial...i'm just not coordinated enough to mod podge and work my camera at the same time.

i used this shiny leopard print wrapping paper from hobby lobby. it was like $5 a roll and truthfully for the dozen i made i only used a yard or so. then i peeled the white backing off so your left with just a thin foil. then i cut the leopard foil in dime sized squares.

i grabbed some craft glass ornaments in a variety of sizes (the large ones are actually the easiest to work with i thought) taking off the tops. pour some mod podge in a container and add a little water so it's not so thick. then i dipped the pieces in the mod podge and placed them overlapping a little on the ornament. once i covered it and it had dried, i went back and brushed about 4 coats of mod podge over the ornament letting it dry after each coat. on the last coat i sprinkled clear glitter over it and that's it!!

hot chocolate bar

2011-12-21T13:59:00.001-06:00

we hosted a little family get together last night. it was super causal and we just got to hang out and play games and eat some bbq. i ended up having a little hot chocolate bar set up for dessert and it was so easy and fun. not to mention yummy. i'm lactose intolerant and i can't remember the last time i had a delicious warm cup of hot chocolate from starbucks. so when i recently found a lactose free recipe i was thrilled and it totally makes up for the real deal. so, i've been making up for lost time with my hot mug of cocoa over the last few weeks ha!

for the cocoa bar, i had a little set up of some add ins for everyone to kind of make their own.

i did plain marshmallows, dark chocolate dipped marshmallows, marshmallows dipped in dark chocolate then dipped in crushed oreos and some candy canes dipped in chocolate for stirring.

seriously super easy to put together, so we will be doing this again for sure.

hot chocolate recipe can be found here. if you're making it lactose free you can either use soy or almond milk.

christmas brain

2011-12-15T17:31:00.002-06:00

how is Christmas only 10 days away y'all? i feel this month has just flown by and with that this week i'm thinking i'm suffering from full on Christmas brain.

i'm self diagnosing here because my i feel like i have this never ending list of stuff that needs to get done and normally i don't go around leaving my back hatch on my suv wide open when it's sprinkling out (for who knows how long) or the best part driving down the road and exclaiming out loud "i forgot to but a bra on today". this was after i had been to the grocery store and various other shops. at that moment i'm just thankful the Lord didn't bless me in that area if you know what i mean.

i love the bustle of this season though, i'm just praying i get my ducks in a row for fear out of what else i might forget to wear that day.

a memo to pug #9

2011-12-10T19:27:00.001-06:00

To: Pug
From: Upper Management
Date: 12/10/11
RE: The Christmas Tree

Dearest Pug,

As you may have noticed our usual pre-lit Christmas tree has not made an appearance this year...nor will it ever again. Instead a brand new one has taken it's place. This is sadly do to the fact that we as upper management, felt the old tree needed to be placed to the curb do to a series of unfortunate events. The first being it had obviously become a fire hazard with the growing number of lights that had been bitten, chewed and gnawed off over the last few years. Also, if you stood next to the old tree in just the right spot as a breeze passed through the room, our old tree gave off a scent from you trying to claim it as your own. Although faux trees don't have a scent, if it did I'm pretty sure we'd all prefer a pine scent to urine. And finally, the branches on the new one hang perfectly. They haven't been violated from a certain pug trying to pull them or climb up to sit on them.

So, pug we'd be ever so thankful this Christmas if you'd respect the tree and not give baby bro. Landry any ideas.

Much love,
Girl

P.S. No, you will not be getting a Christmas bonus.

past memos to pug can be found here 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8}

decking the halls

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

it's been really cold here in texas.

i don't think it'd be so bad if the fact that the day before it hits miserably cold weather, we have 70 degree weather.

it messes with you and your wardrobe selections.

despite the chilly weather, i was anxious to get some outdoor lights put up, not on the house, i just do the plants in front with a few topiaries. i love just love outdoor Christmas lights! i did this on my own for two reasons, i'm a bit ocd about just the right amount of lights here and there and boy was working like crazy last week so i tackled them myself (which i don't think he minded missing out on this debacle). i got them spaced just right and decided to call it quits. but later i thought maybe i should go all "clark griswold" and add just a few more strands to add some zest.

note to self forget the zest.

the next day my sinuses are killing me and i feel a cold a comin', but one must persist on for Christmas cheer, so i head out to buy a few more boxes during some errands and then put them on. they work for all of an hour then go out. next day boy fixes them, pretty lights for a few hours then out again.

by now i've got a full blown cold and lights that don't light.

these bulbs are going to shine this Christmas even if it kills me.

so while staring out at my light-less lights and sneezing away...i tackled the interior decorations. i had ordered landry his very own stocking to match all ours, so i was thrilled that came early.

and then i really wanted to incorporate some of the leopard print from the stockings onto the tree (kind of going for a ballard leopard theme here). i looked everywhere for leopard print ornaments, but couldn't find any so i made some with wrapping paper. i love how they turned out, even if my house still has the faint smell of modge podge leangering in the air.

i'm so excited the house is decorated because i love having all the lights off and just the glow from the tree next to a few pugs that use it as a personal tanning bed. it's my absolute favorite!

favorite things (to give)

2011-11-30T13:52:00.001-06:00

the nester is doing a fun linky party this week of favorite things. i've loved reading all the posts and ooh'ing and aah'ing at what everyone's listed. i thought i'd join in and list a few of my favorite gift items to give, all just happen to be under $15.

$8-$10 a fun and easy gift to give for either a friend or a party host is to buy one of these adorable glass canisters from wal-mart ($7.50) and then fill it with some cookies or dog treats or powdered laundry detergent or my favorite way to give it is with some sugar inside and a fun vintage teacup to use as a scoop. really cute, but also really functional for the rest of the year. who doesn't love a useful year round gift?

$11 this is an amazing 365 days devotional that was gifted to me and it has been such a blessing and encouragement i thought this year it might be fun to pass it on. it's "streams in the desert" by l.b. cowman. i even need to make sure the hubs gets a copy too.

$14 we love games, especially around this time of the year, so i love giving another family a fun board game. this is one of our all time favorites...rummikub. buy one for yourself too, it's a blast!

$11-$15 for the dr. pepper or other caffeine addict in your life...i love the tervis tumblers. these are bananas...and the best part they're dishwasher safe. which is a huge bonus for people like me who have a tendency to toss stuff that's not supposed to be in the dishwasher in the dishwasher.

$6 and last we love Christmas movies so i think it's fun for another host gift or family gift to give them your favorite Christmas DVD. we love both "home alone" and of course "christmas vacation".

thanks so much for stopping by...and happy gift giving!! :-)

the one with the scary tv show

2011-11-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

the other evening boy and i were catching up on our tivo'd shows. first show on the list, the new show "american horror story". now normally this type of show is far from my cup of tea, but when it first came out we recorded a few and then got hooked. it's kind of like how "the hunger games" book series was for me....when someone would tell me about it i'd shove it aside because i don't like fantasy books, but then when i read it i couldn't put it down. sorry that makes no sense, but kind of like that.

so now i spend my wednesdays trying to figure out why they don't just pack up and leave that scary house and how does connie britton get her gorgeous red hair so perfectly wavy.

two mysteries in one show.

well the other night i was sitting in my chair and boy had the pugs with him on the sofa watching this show. i was holding my breath because something scary in this scense was about to happen when i hear our front door trying to be open.

are you kidding me?

someone is trying to get into our home.

during the one scary show (besides all things dateline) that we watch.

i turn to boy, who surprisingly didn't hear it, and the rational thing to do would have been to turn to him and say "turn off the tv, someone's trying to open the door". instead i look at him eyes bulging from my head and flail my arms up and down.

i learned that day that i'm useless in frantic situations.

he pauses the tv trying to figure out what in the world i am doing when he hears it too.

can i add our pug security was useless too as they snored away.

so, boy heads to the front door and sees a truck in our driveway and a man getting into it. he flicks on the porch light and the man turns around and says "so sorry wrong house" and he watched him pull into the neighbor's drive way and explain to the neighbor what he just did.

so to the strange man in the truck thank you for making me near wet my pants and adding a little interactive feature to the horror show.

thankfully my heart rate just returned to normal.

making a list

2011-11-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

honestly, i don't think i've ever woken up early and gone shopping on black friday.

each year i do fear i might be missing out on some amazing deal. but then that friday morning rolls around and i'm sound asleep drowning in my down duvet and i don't think it bothers me so much.

maybe one year i'll go.

thankfully, i managed to get about 90% of our Christmas shopping done already this year. and i did score some great deals online in the last week with the pre black friday. so just a few small things to pick up now.

boy and i got to talking the other day about childhood Christmas lists. and although waking up Christmas morning to see what santa left is such a small part of the season we had fun remembering those lists and if there was ever a time when santa might have failed on a gift.

boy could never think of anything specific except the fact that without fail on Christmas eve he would think of something and ask to write a note to santa last minute just in case he had an extra in his bag (course it was a little late for santa ha)

one year i put on my list a baby brother ha (still an only child) and the big family joke is for years i put a barbie powerwheel on my list. we crack jokes about this all the time and "santa" has never explained himself on that one, but does insist that it'll be the first gift for his future grandchild just to make me jealous. i don't doubt that he will either :-)

so i have to ask did santa ever disappoint or maybe even pull a "Christmas Story" and have that special gift hidden?

so thankful

2011-11-24T22:45:00.001-06:00

i hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving this year! we had a wonderful day with my family and some delicious food too!

well almost delicious....this is a picture of big daddy's pie before he dove into it alone.

i say alone because it's mince meat.

it's so gross the pug's pass on it.

so every year mom graciously makes him a mince meat pie and we sit around and tell him how gross it is while he eats a slice.

i pray that your homes are spared from the odor of a mince meat pie.

i honestly am not even sure what's in mince meat and i'm sort of afraid to find out ha!

so thankful for such an amazing day, sadly i didn't bring out my camera once, so sorry for the iphone pictures.

here's what are evening looks like now...pug in his yearly turkey coma.

city loving

2011-11-17T17:30:00.001-06:00

Earlier today I was headed to downtown Fort Worth for an appointment. I love downtown Fort Worth it has so many amazing shops and restaurants. Sadly, we just don't head that way all the time because a trip from the 'burbs to the city means lots of traffic, one way streets and frankly we've gotten lazy over the years. We've hit that point where we opt for ordering in in our pj's, rather then dressing up and hitting the town ha!

As I was heading that way a sweet friend of mine called and said "hey I'm headed downtown do you want to drive over and meet for lunch and shopping?"

Couldn't have been better timing. Love a spontaneous get together to catch up and chat.

We grabbed a bite at Reata, one of my favorites, and then walked around shopping. While we were shopping I also realized this month marks my 15th anniversary as a Texan! Crazy how fast time goes. My family and I moved here from Chicago. It was quite a weather change as well as an accent change. Didn't take long for me to pick it up though and make "y'all" an every day vocabulary staple. Today made me realize how truly thankful I am to be a Texan. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Unless it was Fiji.

Then I think I might be able to go for that.

wocka wocka wocka

2011-11-14T20:40:00.001-06:00

I'm going to play catch-up a little on my thankful for list. I was still relishing in my weekend...which brings me to the first on my list.

11.12 i'm thankful for...lazy weekends with no where to be.

followed by

11.13 i'm thankful for...grocery store rotissere chickens. is there anything better? i'm thinking i could live off them.

and today

11.14 i'm thankful for...not waiting until the last minute and ordering our Christmas cards. this might be a first for me.

On a totally different note, who's ready for the Muppet movie? I am!!

My preschool years and probably far too into my elementary school years (if we're being honest) were spent living and breathing anything and everything Muppet related. I have some fond memories of growing up with the Muppets. So, I'm so excited to see they made a movie and I get to relive the days with Fozzie and Gonzo. Did y'all have a favorite Muppet or Muppet movie?

image via

11.11.11

2011-11-11T17:17:00.001-06:00

today i'm thankful...

for all the soldiers protecting our country, the many veterans and their families.

Source: Uploaded by user via Meghan on Pinterest

day 10

2011-11-10T23:02:00.001-06:00

today i'm thankful for my dad.

he makes me laugh,

he makes me proud

and he makes me check out his latest deer sightings from one of his hunting cameras because, bless his heart, he has so much faith that one day i'll care about hunting.

i am blessed.

my mama- day 9

2011-11-09T22:44:00.001-06:00

today i am ever so grateful for my mom and that she called me this afternoon just to tell me a funny joke. love ya mama!

the things they sell on tv

2011-11-09T11:43:00.000-06:00

I was flipping through the guide on our TV one boring evening and saw a name on one of the home shopping channels that I thought was the chick from "Private Practice" so I clicked on it because it would bug me if I didn't solve this mystery. I was thinking surely it's not really her...do celebrities show up on this thing?

But, oh apparently they do.

And It was her and it has nothing to do with what I'm about to tell you, I just felt the need to let you know how I ended up on one of this channel. I don't want you worrying about me. Rest assured that I made a promise to myself long ago, that no matter how old I get I will never call in (as hard as it may be to resist) and give a phone review chat. Nope, not going to be me.

But I do see how watching 5 minutes can turn into 30 because the celebrity and her overzealous sales lady were wrapping up their segment when they start chatting about the next segment.

The YONANA.

Now I'm intrigued. For starters, please say it out loud. It's hilarious to say. Go on I'll wait. Try to incorporate it into a conversation, it's even funnier. And two, how long do you own it before you start hating bananas?

So I sat and watched the ENTIRE program before I came out of my Yonana coma.

I'm going to resist my gadget fascination on this one, although I'm sure it's lovely.

Im just still mourning the failure of the NO NO! and don't know if I'll ever be able to trust again.

blue skies

2011-11-08T23:38:00.003-06:00

today i'm thankful for when rainy mornings

turn into sunny afternoons

smushed faces

2011-11-07T21:29:00.003-06:00

today i am thankful for smushed faces

& curly tails

thankfully thankful

2011-11-06T18:12:00.001-06:00

i know so many bloggers, including this one, are posting each day throughout the month of november blogging something you're thankful for. i love the idea and really wanted to join in. only problem i'm a little behind. so if it's alright i'm going to be a little fashionably late to the party. also knowing me i wouldn't expect a whole lot of deep and thoughtful thankfulness. y'all know i can't be that serious for an entire month.

so here we go:

today i am so unbelievably thankful for daylights saving time. such a joyful moment when i rolled over looked at the clock and was reminded that it's lying and i get one more hour of sleep.

some randomness

2011-11-02T17:56:00.002-05:00

1. my favorite trick-or-treater was the little one that after i placed the candy in his bucket, then sat down right on our doorstep to check out and announce his treat. purely precious and happy to report he was pleased with what we handed out.

2. big daddy, aka my dad, joined the iPhone world recently. he refused for quite sometime, and now we're regretting all the convincing we did. we created an apple addict. also, we learned that he cannot operate his iPhone while driving a golf cart. sadly, my mom had to find that one out.

3. how funny is this in the latest wisteria catalog? can it be used for pugs and husbands?

4. right before "homeland" premiered i told boy i think this might be a series we wished we waited for the whole thing to end and then watch on dvd. oh, how i wish i wasn't right. such a great and suspenseful show.

5. prepare your tivos...hallmark channel starts their christmas movies this weekend. we're going to be so loaded up on christmas cheer by thanksgiving we won't know what to do with ourselves.

a hawaiian halloween

2011-10-31T18:27:00.001-05:00

aloha & trick or treat from two pretty cute hawaiian tourists!

hope everyone has a wonderful & safe halloween!

the puglorette

2011-10-28T15:06:00.001-05:00

well we got our own little bachelorette season going down over here.

meet the pugs new friend stella!

y'all this is the cutest thing i have ever seen. seriously, how sweet is this pug? my parent's friends/neighbors just got her and of course we had to meet. she was the runt of the liter, so right now she weighs less than my iPhone and will probably not weigh anymore than 12 lbs. fully grown.

be still my pug loving heart.

she's just so tiny.

and the best part she squeaks!!

we had her over full a little "cocktail party" minus chris harrison, actual cocktails and roses at my parent's house. the boys weren't sure what to think at first because she's seriously like a 1/16th of their size. landry i think was the most smitten and she really took to him too. pug was laying low, playing hard to get as usual ha! We're looking forward to lots more playdates and maybe if we're lucky in the words of chris harrison "the most shocking rose ceremony in history" will be thrown in their too.

book shopping

2011-10-25T16:18:00.001-05:00

I'm in the middle of what I think I can truly call my favorite book of 2011. Oh how I love finding those great page turners that keep you up way past bedtime.

I'm reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. It came out a few years ago and I've had friends raving to me about it for months and I'm sad it took me this long to finally pick it up. So if you need a good read you must pick this one up!!

Also, as I was reading it, I was curious to see if it will become a movie sometime in the future. That seems to be the trend these days. Didn't really find much on my google search, but did come across this fun website where this creative blogger dishes up her own fantasy castings for books. Very fun and totally loved her picks. I was reading her posts going "yes she'd be perfect for it" over and over...I think hollywood needs to hire her on.

I've also finished in the last couple weeks a few others.

1. "What Women Fear" by Angie Smith- the girl rocked this one! I might even need to go back and read it again, it was that encouraging.

2. "One Fifth Avenue" by Candace Bushnell- yeah so I'm a sucker for some chick lit and picked it up super cheap at a used bookstore. I haven't read any of her stuff, but did love the sadly cancelled tv show "Lipstick Jungle" a few years back. I really did enjoy this one...just kind of a perfect light end of summer read.

3. "One Day" by David Nicholls had a hard time getting into it at first, but once I got into a few chapters I just adored it. Haven't seen the movie yet, so I'll be anxious to rent it when it comes out I think next month.

What's on your nightstand or kindle friends? Love hearing what your reading and getting some suggestions on what to pick up next. I'm thinking I'm going to have a hard time topping "The Book Thief" once I finish it.

father time

2011-10-24T13:56:00.003-05:00

Well I once again fell off the blog wagon. I think that's twice in one month and I have no excuses.

Well except, the fact that I am one more Real Housewives of New Jersey episode away from adding a faux fur vest to my winter wardrobe and the fact that pug discovered mornings.

Our first vet had recommended when pug was just a puppy to do a once a day feeding. Now don't feel too sorry for him he fills up on loads of treats, kleenexes and the occasional magazine cover throughout the day. It's just worked over the last six years. I'm such a night owl catching up on work or the laundry that we'd feed him around midnight and he'd fall right asleep. I'd finish up a few more things, then head to bed myself. I honestly don't think my head has hit the pillow before midnight in a decade.

And no matter what pug happened to be doing when the clock struck midnight he'd be sure to remind you over and over until that food hits his bowl. It's the weirdest thing, you'd think we had a grandfather clock or a hidden alarm in the house. How do they know this stuff? So, that's how he got the nickname "father time".

Then comes Landry. He was used to 2 feedings a day split in half, so we thought it would be easier to change pug to that routine. Why I was worried it would mess him up still baffles me. He took to it well. A little too well in fact because he now has something worth getting his sleepy self up before the double digit hours. So "father time" has know been striking twice, once at midnight and once around six, seven, or eight (if I'm lucky).

Oh the wee morning hours, it's punishment for this night owl. I beg for just five more minutes, but they never let me have it. But rest assured, once they finish their breakfast they head to the couch for a nap while I watch on in envy.

a list for you

2011-10-11T19:32:00.001-05:00

1. I cannot, nor do I think I will ever be able to, see a bottle of ranch dressing and not think of the SNL skit with Melissa McCarthy. Pure hilariousness I tell you.

2. I need to update my blog header. I am just going to keep the same name, but for crying out loud I at least need to get sweet Landry's picture up there. His coat was a hot mess when we first got him and we are so thankful how fast he's healed. Poor thing just needed some love. Look at those pitiful eyes!!

3. Last week we were out at the lake. If you can even call it that ha!

Can you say drought? It's usually bad up until August or so where we can't get the boat out, but this year has been crazy and the fact that it's October and we're missing 9 feet of water. Thankfully, we got some rain this weekend, so now we only have 7 feet to go.

4. Is it weird that I have never eaten squash in my life? I'm trying to expand my picky palate and they're all over the produce section, anyone have any good recipes to try with it?

Have a great Tuesday y'all!

ketchup day

2011-10-10T17:19:00.001-05:00

Back in the days of my crimped hair and my obsession with slap bracelets, I had a teacher that every couple weeks would have a ginormous cut out of a bottle of ketchup stuck to the chalkboard. When you saw that you knew it was "catch-up" day and we got to spend the whole day catching up on projects, reading and assignments. I was most definitely the only kid in my class that got so much joy from this day, because this meant the type A in me wouldn't have to lay in bed at night worrying about that shoe box diorama I was going to have to whip up or the reading assignment due by next week. I am all about the crossing things off the to do list.

Oh, how I'd love one of those days now. I guess that's the fun in being all grown up that the list keeps on going and instead of construction paper covered shoe boxes you have your family, your work, a floor that always needs sweeping and a phone call that always needs returning. I can't complain at all, I love what I do and try very hard to do it with a grateful heart. We also don't have kiddos, so I really can't complain anyway. I just need to work on my balancing act and somehow learn to convince myself it's okay that I went to bed without it all complete.

I also need to find the balance with technology....anyone with me? Between the blog that I sadly neglected for over a week, the blog reader that is about ready to overflow and the twitter and pinterest account that haven't seen the light of day in weeks. I love them all but just can't keep up.

The Nester has a 31 day challenge link up going on and it has been so wonderful. I have kept up with a few of those, one in particular, Clean Mama. She's got a great system that I'm loving with some great tips. I'm all for a little guidance there and she's speaking my clean house love language.

So, I'm curious how do find the balance between "real" world and the "blog" world? I'd love to hear your tips or thoughts. Or even some of the other 31 day challenges from The Nester that we must check out.

ruffle curtain: take 2

2011-10-01T18:12:00.001-05:00

I got this idea in my head to do another ruffle curtain, but this time use it as a headboard on a twin bed. And when I saw this lovely shade of gray in the sheet aisle at walmart...I could resist. This is done with a set of queen flat sheets, rather than the twin sheet from the previous tutorial. The finished piece will measure about 80 x 49 inches give or take. I also went ahead and re-did my original tutorial and put it into a pdf so you can easily download it and print it off if you'd like (I just hope it works now).

Ruffle Curtain

Enjoy and if you make one, I'd love to hear how it turned out, especially if it's in a nursery...I just think it would be so cute in a baby girl's room.

gated community living

2011-09-27T22:24:00.003-05:00

meet the real house pugs of snorts-a-lot...in their new gated community.

sadly, for them the gate thing isn't as glamorous as it sounds.

but, trust me there's just as much drama as the show.

we had a baby gate originally propped up against that entrance and pug never messed with it, but we found baby bro's one negative and that's that he's was smart enough to figure out an escape route and taught it to his partner in crime.

(poor landry you can't even see him...he just blends right on into the floors)

i figured if i have to invest in another baby gate i'm getting one i don't have to hike over all day. so, with my toilet paper delivery i got to use my coupon for wag.com. on this gate; the internet is so handy these days.

now we're just counting down the days till they figure out where the pedal is to open it and take over the house.

oh, and i recently did another ruffle curtain. this time in a queen sized sheet set and instead of a drapery i did a headboard. if i can get my act together, i'll hopefully have an updated tutorial for you.

night y'all.

say cheese

2011-09-24T20:52:00.000-05:00

Well, good news folks, we successfully survived our family photo shoot this weekend.

And when I mean successfully, I mean that a few certain pugs didn't act all a fool, that the wardrobe issue was resolved, that my stressing out the day of didn't cause anyone to pull out their eyebrows (please tell me you've seen that "Raising Hope" episode), that boy didn't protest the idea for him to carry a gorgeous vintage chair down a rather dangerous rocky trail for the lighting, that the giant red zit on my face was easily cured thanks to a google search and some ice and lemon juice (go figure) and most importantly it cooled down enough so I didn't have to stick tissues up my arm pits.

It's the small things folks.

These have been our first really formal pictures since our wedding six years ago. And have I told y'all about how our wedding album has a huge gap of events missing from it because our photographer misinterpreted "feel free to grab a bite to eat" to "feel free to put your camera away and grab seat at the cousin's table"? Yeah that was a fun surprise.

Although the pictures we did get turned out fine, I've just always really wanted to get some updated ones with the pug (now 2 pugs) and the hubby and have a really fun outdoor session. I really wish I would have made the time before.

Can't wait to see them, because I know it's probably going to be another 6 years before I can convince the gang to do it again.

strolling along

2011-09-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

it's so surreal around here having two pugs now...twice the fun and definitely twice the snoring!! pug's adjusting i think...he's got such a big personality and he definitely likes to make sure everyone knows whose in charge and he's not a fan of sharing either. sweet landry is the complete opposite personality wise. he's my people pleaser that comes when you call for him and stays when you tell him too. boy and i were like "what... that actually works on dogs?". landry's coat is looking so much better each day and i think he's trusting us more and more.

thankfully we got some rain last week and have had some cooler evenings so the boys and i have been going on lots of walks. pug spends the walk body bumping landry off the sidewalk and landry just lovingly puts up with his craziness :-) love to hear from y'all on how your doggies adjusted when you added a new one to the mix.

bloggy book swap.a.roo

2011-09-15T23:56:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all welcome to the Bloggy Book Swap.a.roo! I'm thrilled you stopped by. This came about when I thought instead of just sharing book recommendations, why not just swap books with my blog friends. We get to save a few bucks and clear off some shelf space. I did my best brainstorming and getting other's opinions on the best way to work this, so bare with me if we come across a few hiccups. Also, if you have any suggestions along the way I'm all ears. Please take a quick look at the guidelines and then browse about the linky's below. Happy book swapping!!

1. You must have an active blog to participate.

2. Please write a post including the books you have for trade. 1 book or 20 books doesn't matter feel free to join in. If you could include the author or even a picture of the book that'd be great.

3. Include in your post a few books you may be hoping to trade for and if you'd prefer people to comment or e-mail for a trade.

4. Link up to this post below using your blog name.

5. Browse through the linky's below and do some shopping. Hopefully come across some new blog friends too! Linky will be up until Tuesday.

6. Once you make a trade with a blogger, please make note on your post that the book has been traded.

7. Ship off your traded books right away. I recommend requesting Media Mail at the post office. It's very economical, especially for hardbacks.

8. Sit by your mail box and wait anxiously for the mail man to bring you your new reads (i kid).

Thanks everyone...again have fun!

bloggy book swap.a.roo

2011-09-15T23:40:00.001-05:00

my books for trade:

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

"One Day" by David Nicholls

"Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffin

"Hope in a Jar" by Beth Harbison

"Baby Proof" by Emily Giffin

"Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella

"The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson

"The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs

a few i'm looking for:

"Room" by Emily Donoghue

"Something Blue" by Emily Giffin

"Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah

"Distant Shores" by Kristin Hannah

please e-mail me at aboyagirlandapug {at} gmail {dot} com or leave a comment if you'd like to make a trade.

tivo heads back to work

2011-09-14T16:51:00.000-05:00

It's bittersweet in the TiVo department...our beloved Big Brother comes to an end tonight, but over the next few weeks lots of new shows return and begin. Y'all know I love me some fall tv, so here's some that I've missed, new shows I'm excited for and the ones I'm going to pass on. Which one's strike your fancy this season?

I've missed...

"Raising Hope" this is hands down one of our favorites!! maw maw cracks me up...definitely go rent this if you missed last season.

"Parenthood" tivo let me down and didn't record this last night...so bummed out. hopefully, i can catch it online later.

"Modern Family"

"The Middle" this show is so true in so many ways.

"How I Met Your Mother"

"Parks & Rec" it's so weird i was so disappointed on the first season of this show, but we gave it a second chance and so glad we did. it's hysterical.

"Private Practice" I'm addicted to the craziness.

"The Office" not going to lie, a little nervous how it's going to work without Michael Scott.

"Dexter"

Looking forward to...

"Up All Night" such a good cast this has to be good!

"2 Broke Girls"

"Pan Am" so bummed this is taking over "Brothers & Sisters"

Passing on:

"Charlie's Angels" hasn't it been remade enough?

"Free Agents"

"Person of Interest"

Also, don't forget the bloggy book swap.a.roo begins this Friday the 16th. Hope you'll grab your old books and join in!!

the one where we get another pug

2011-09-12T09:30:00.000-05:00

yes...we caved. big time.

we adopted our sweet little foster landry this past week.

his sweetness just overwhelmed us and there was no way this dog was going anywhere.

boy and i started praying about it really hard after only a few days of fostering him and one day boy said "i just can't imagine our family without him".

i couldn't agree more.

so there you have it...were foster failures!!

never will we forget

2011-09-11T18:44:00.000-05:00

I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that it's been 10 years. In some ways it's seems like it was just yesterday as the memories of that horrific day remain fresh, and then in other ways it seems so long ago as you see how far the nation has come.

I remember the day so clearly, as I sat in first period during my senior year of high school, but I still wanted to make sure that I never forgot. Months after the attacks I scoured through the magazines and newspapers from that week and headed to kinko's and had them copied and shrunken down. Then using my mom's Creative Memories addiction at the time, I started putting them in a protective album and journaling not just my memories of the day, but our families as well. There are also tons of pictures from a trip to New York shortly months after the devastation. One picture always seems to stand out in my mind from that trip and that is of a building near ground center that had "triage" spray painted on it. Standing there looking at that in the eery silence of the streets humbled me to my core.

10 years later, I'm really glad I took the time to put this together. I even need to update it as well. Not so much for me but for my family and future family. I hope they will look through it and see the hero's, God's sovereignty and the strength of our great country despite these horrific and unimaginable event.

Praying for those that lost loved ones!

bloggy book swap.a.roo

2011-09-07T18:01:00.000-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that I can no longer hang on to every.single.book that I read. For some reason, I've always loved to have them on my shelves, a sort of trophy if you will. But with all the reading I love to do and all the books I've purchased my shelves are looking a little crowded.

So, I thought since we swap book recommendations so often, why not swap actual books?

On Friday, September 16th I'll be hosting on the blog a {bloggy book swap.a.roo}!! I'm very excited and hope you will join in.

How it will work:

1. Create a blog post on your blog listing the books you have for trade. Feel free to include a picture, your own review, or even a link to amazon.com or bn.com for us to read a description on the book. You can even add on your post a few titles of books that you're hoping to trade in return for.

2. I'll have a linky up on Friday allowing you to post a link to your book swap.a.roo blog post. You can then browse around each link and hopefully make a trade with a fellow blogger and maybe even find a few new blog friends.

3. Ship off your books to their new homes. I highly recommend that you send your books USPS media mail. It usually takes 2-8 business days, but way more economical. I've sent hardbacks for under $3 before. So, please remember to request this option at your post office or if you ship from home.

A few other things to cover my hiney...my thought in this is that we can find some new reads, clear off our shelves, and save a few bucks that we'd spend on new books. Please only make trades with those that have blogs and please use the honor system in doing this. Thanks!

Hope you'll join in and link up on Friday, September 16th! I'd be ever so grateful if you shared this with your tweeters and fellow bloggers. If you have any questions or suggestions give me a shout!

girl's guide to hunting part 2

2011-09-06T01:28:00.000-05:00

Y'all, it's hunting season time again!! I know this because 1. my husband has reminded me every day for the last month that it's the 1st weekend of September, 2. because my husband has asked me multiple times if I was as excited as he was about dove season beginning the 1st weekend of September, 3. because my dad has called to discuss the wonder and excitement of the 2011 hunting season as well.

Only if the Gap came knocking on my front door with a truck full of free loot could I get as excited as those two.

I'm thrilled to report back that it was a great weekend, despite the drought, and most importantly that I can update my "girl's guide to hunting" so here we go. Here's a link to the first volume if you want to catch up.

You know you're married to a hunter when...

1. you can zone out and still pretend to look interested at stories about dove meat, deer blinds and how you got a feeder working.

2. you get so tired of hearing about your husband and dad talk about a sale on tripods that you run out and pick them up yourself from Cabela's when their swamped.

3. you haul out said tripods to the front of the store by yourself all while taking a picture to use later to remind them how much they owe you.

4. you've organized the hunting gear into bins using your label maker.

5. and you no longer gag when doing his laundry from the long hunting weekend.

Here's where all the hunting fun happens. These were all taken in the spring when it's nice and pretty on the land.

Happy hunting season to my fellow hunter's wives!

some randomness

2011-08-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

1. It's Sunday and we're still mourning Thursday's Big Brother episode. You know you're too hooked to the show when you're still walking around baffled saying, "but she gave her the phone call home"! It's crazy how fast this season has gone.

2. So sad for those out there hit by Irene. I'm thankful this girl (my cousin) wasn't hit too terribly. She's probably annoyed with my frantic texts and phone calls, but I just had to be sure she wasn't blowing away or in need of a canoe like my pessimistic weather man was leading me to believe.

3. I'm trying to organize myself. The back to school supplies have provided some inspiration. So far I haven't made much progress, actually I haven't done anything. I'm hoping to sort out all the manuals for stuff that are taking over my house and get rid of some books that I've read and really don't need to hang on to. We need to have like a blog book swap or something. Anyone interested?

4. Meet Landry. Our latest foster pug as of this weekend. Why do they keep getting sweeter and more lovable? We're smitten with this dog, especially my husband. They've really bonded. He's two and bless his heart is just so shy and timid. He's just content to be near you. I need a doggy Bjorn. He does have some skin problems, which I'm not really familiar in dealing with so if you have any tips I'd be so grateful. He's has some bald spots and some dryness. I think a lot of that was caused by stress so I've already noticed a huge difference in a few days. Pug is a little jealous, but really is getting along pretty good with him. They make good napping buddies!

#247

2011-08-24T19:05:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I decided to treat myself to a day at the DMV.

Are you jealous?

Oh my word. How could I possibly forget that the word "quick" and "DMV" can never ever be in the same sentence? But I did. It took all of about 15 minutes packed into a hot stuffy room full of miserable people to contemplate if driving again was even worth it. Maybe I'll just get a bike instead of renewing my license? But I was there, it needed to be done and most importantly I primped for a good hour before I came because by golly that driver's license photo was going to be my best!

45 minutes in of standing and trying to maneuvor my body so the guy on my left would quit watching over my shoulder as I played words with friends on my phone, another man near me exclaims he's entering his 3rd hour.

Are you kidding me? I would have cried if I wasn't so dehydrated and concerned about all the maybelline on my eyelashes. 3 hours!

We got to talking and he told me that he left for a bit then came back. Smart. So I headed off to wander amongst a few air conditioned stores included Target to give me a good energy boost. The home section of Target is always a wise choice of refugee.

Then I headed back to endure listening to one DMV worker bark at anyone that opened the front door for more than 2 seconds, chat with a sweet older man, overhear a dad gripe at his teenager for failing the test and watch a 3 year old sleep curled up on the narly lineolum next to a trash can snoring peacefully.

Did I mention the narly lineolum? Bless his heart and the OCD in me kept having to pull out my Purell just watching it.

1 hour and 20 minutes later plus some melting MAC foundation, my number was called. The excitement I felt at that moment would have made you think I won millions in the lottery. The older man cheered, I cheered and then skipped to greet the annoyed worker behind the counter.

And that my friends is why my driver's license picture looks like I was beat silly with a bat.

six

2011-08-22T19:11:00.000-05:00

boy and i celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary on saturday.

i'm speechless how fast it's gone by.

most of the time.

there have been a few days here and there where it seemed the football seasons and the baseball and the basketball and the sports center kind of dragged on.

but i still wouldn't change a thing. i feel this past year we've grown the most. we're learning to be patient and content and that's a good place to be. i'm just so thankful for where the Lord has us at this moment.

on saturday, boy surprised me with the most gorgeous bouquet of calla lilies and white roses. these were the flowers at our wedding, and the fact that he hunted down lilies that are so hard to find is a precious memory on it's own. good job babe!

i hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

apparently you can fry just about anything

2011-08-12T18:14:00.000-05:00

my mailman just brought me the latest issue of one of my favorite magazines ever!

i heart the food network.

boy was looking through it and found an article on fried foods. the fair lover in him immediately got excited, as well as his college age metabolism. me not so much. my digestive system started hating me a few years ago, so i finally caved and realized no item of fried goodness is worth the awfulness that would follow. but being the good wife that i am i had him pick out a few things he'd like to try and gave it my best in the kitchen.

he choose strawberries & oreos.

do you know how hard it is to slave over a hot stove making a fried oreo that smells too good to be true and knowing you're not going to get to savour it??

i told boy he can present me my wife of the year trophy now...i'll have my speech prepared.

so here's how it turned out. boy said the oreos where his favorite and the strawberries just were on the weird side.

i'm sure his dreaming up what treat i get to fry for him next.

happy FRYday everyone!!

sad faces

2011-08-10T15:40:00.001-05:00

this weekend we said goodbye to our sweet 1st foster pug goosey. i wish to tell you i sent him off like a dignified woman, but i did not. i at least kept the ugly tears in until his forever family had driven away. then we laid around all while complaining how our hearts had been riped out and stomped on and how would we move on. we were quite a sorry sight i'm sure.

we are so grateful for the opportunity to have loved on him and get loved by him over the last month. it took pug a little bit longer to adjust and bond, but once they did they became quite the dynamic duo often referred to as batman & robin, shake n' bake (talladega nights) and starsky & hutch. many times one of us would say let's just keep him and i'm pretty sure when they left i said call them back make him an offer. but as tough as the good-byes are i know we're where we need to be. there are so many pugs in need of homes and even in places to live before they find their forever homes so were following this for now.

here are some pictures i took right before we said good-bye...already some sad faces all around.

well boy howdy

2011-08-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I visited one of my daily read blogs, Nesting Place, and as I scrolled down a picture caught my eye. I was like "that looks familiar" and then it my word "that's my guest bedroom ruffle curtain!". I about peed my pants I was so thrilled.

Speaking of pee. Just an FYI, and this is a total hypothetical situation, if your dog decides to lift his leg and pee on your ruffle curtain. Do not panic or cry...it's totally washable and will come out. Just saying.

I've gotten some e-mails and comments saying there were going to try it, so if you do PRETTY PLEASE send me a pic. showing how it turned out. I'm dying to see them. I also saw an adorable shade of pink from walmart's sheet collection and am really hoping someone will give it ago.

So thank you Miss Nester for sharing my tutorial.

Oh and did anyone watch "Picker Sisters" on Lifetime! I am loving this show. I adored Tracy on Extreme Home Makeover and they turn the most random finds into the coolest pieces. And their southern accents had me at "y'all"!

random thoughts from the weekend

2011-08-01T12:55:00.001-05:00

1. foster puggy discovered a taste for drywall. lovely.

2. saturday night pug began violently coughing and having trouble breathing. we whisked him in the car and drove like mad to the pet ER. thankfully they brought him right on back because he was coughing so bad. he really sounded like an old man that smoked. the other folks in the waiting room were trying very hard not to laugh at him. thankfully we got him all fixed up with some good old drug filled cough syrup and he is living in lala land as we speak. so thankful it was nothing serious.

3. i'm suffering from "words with friends" hand claw. i also may need an intervention before long.

4. i discovered pinterest this weekend, which i'm still navigating and figuring out. but all i can say is i get it now! also, is there a way to pin things from an iPad.

5. i am ever so delighted that the lovely pioneer woman has added a section dedicated to all things real housewives on her blog. be still my bravo loving heart.

add in some laundry, cleaning and complaining about the heat and that about sums it up. hope everyone had a great weekend.

p.s. how is it august already?

the sofa that was meant to be

2011-07-29T00:47:00.000-05:00

once upon a time i began redecorating our upstairs game room. with a crazy busy summer it's taking me a whole lot longer than my impatient self would like.

for the past few years this room, which i should add is the only room on the second floor, has been the "catch-all/man cave/dungeon" in our house. it was embarrassing. we have a fooseball table and an air hockey table up there, but they rarely got any use because you'd trip over christmas decorations or a box containing all my boys II men cd's just to get to them. so it was time for a redo.

a redo on the cheap i might add, because it is very hard to convince a frugal husband why the old oversized leather man chairs don't work in the space.

i knew i wanted something that fit the space and was comfy. i fell in love with this sofa from ikea. i loved the lounger on it, the price and the idea of being able to toss the slipcover in the wash. i'm thinking future here and hopefully some kiddos will be jumping and spitting up on this thing one day, so i didn't want to fork out an arm and a leg.

i was hesitant on making the drive to ikea to pick it up and was tempted to just pay for delivery when i decided i'm going to check out craigslist. y'all there was only one listing for this sofa and it just happened to be literally 5 minutes from my house. that's crazy for how big the dfw area is. also, the best part, the thing was brand flipping new. they bought it, changed their minds and were selling it. they hadn't even put the slipcover on yet. my husband thought i had lost it. he was so weirded out by this, but he lovingly obliged and hauled it home for me.

this sofa and i were meant to be i tell ya! my steal of a deal sofa with some fun pillows i made and added. hopefully, before the end of the summer i'll have the rest of the room finished!!

floors, fraud & farkle

2011-07-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

this week we had our floors redone in the living and dining room. this came to be after we decided the carpet needed to go because of boy's sinus problems (we don't want to do surgery again), my bissell on it's last leg because of pug's lack of ability to use the backyard to potty and in all honesty it just looks pretty. they assured us it would take a day, so boy had the day off to help me with the puggies and we all camped out upstairs while they redid it. we also played farkle to pass the time and i think it's become are new favorite game. have y'all played it? at about 9:45 pm with the racket still going on downstairs we realized this was not going to be just a one day affair.

so, the next day i wake up bright and early to prepare myself for day two of construction with pugs. and of course i just happened to have a doctor's appointment scheduled that day, and since it was under 24 hours notice i had to pay (bummer). as i'm wrangling the pug's together to head upstairs my credit card company called to inform me their was some fraudulent activity on my business credit card.

i wanted to cry.

thankfully they finished up the floors and we're so pleased with it. i kept telling myself "so worth it for the floors" as i carried one squirmy pug at a time up and down the stairs for potty breaks in 103 degree heat. and it so was. i'm also thankful we talked ourselves out of installing them by ourselves. once we got a bid from a professional and compared it with our cost for materials and marriage counseling sessions that would most likely be needed afterwards it came out to be about even ha!

here's the before: (sorry these are all from my iphone)

and the after: (my rug hasn't come in yet so it looks a bit overwhelming right now)

and one blurry one of goofy goose trying out the new floors frog style.

tis the season

2011-07-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

Tis' the Season...for me to start on our Christmas shopping.

Hobby Lobby reminded me of this over two month ago when they started decking aisles. They never a miss a beat being first to remind everyone.

Then mama reminded me during one of our daily phone conversations that I had to yet to start bugging everyone with questions on what they wanted this year.

Goodness, I best get myself and my list in gear.

I like to get my shopping out of the way for a few reasons:

1. my sanity
2. lack of personal space at mall during the November & December months
3. more time left for Falala Lifetime.

But I'm kind of stuck on gift ideas. I love coming up with stuff that I know the person will really love and use. Last year I came across this site, That's My Pan, and it was the perfect gift. Everyone that I gave it to loved it, but now I need something just as cool. So I'm curious what was your favorite gift to give out last year?

And the countdown begins, 5 months people!

"what gets out hummus? what gets out hummus?"

2011-07-14T14:55:00.000-05:00

i cannot think of hummus without thinking of that episode from "friends".

truth betold i think everything reminds me of a "friends" episode. i'm pretty sure i'm going to be 90 quoting "friends" episodes.

back to the hummus though. we've recently fallen in love with this greek chain resturant and they make the world's best hummus and fresh hot pitas to go with it. it's divine. and you can buy it in tubs there too and then go home and eat it with a spoon if you like and no one will judge you except maybe the dog.

i got the idea that i'd like to try to make hummus. it's been on my mental list of culinary challenges for awhile so i thought i'd knock it off the list. well i tried it and it failed. it was just bland. there are so many recipes out there that it's overwhelming choosing one, so i'm begging if you have found a good recipe for hummus, would you help a girl out? because gosh darn i'm going to master the art of hummus if it kills me.

in pug related news, pug is warming up to our foster. the first night was a little bit like a scene from "stepbrothers" where he was telling the foster what he can and cannot do so we're working on the whole sharing thing. and our foster is such a love, unfortunately not a fully potty trained love, but still such a sweet cuddly pug.

double trouble

2011-07-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

today we rocked pug's world.

meet goose.

we get to love on him for a bit.

i say bit, because we are foster pug parents now.

he's a 7 months old and a total cuddle bug.

as one of my birthday gifts, boy gave me the choice of adopting a foster dog or joining our local pug rescue (something we'd been thinking about doing for awhile). i was really nervous because pug is my only spoiled four legged baby. we joined the program last week and went through the process and got matched with this sweet thing today! pug's a little unsure, but i know he will love having a playmate.

so i'm sure i will have many more stories to blog about through this journey.

happy fourth!

2011-07-05T00:26:00.000-05:00

I know a day late, but Happy 4th everyone!! Hope y'all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend with good food and lots of fireworks.

In other unrelated, non-interesting but yet earth shattering news, pug has discovered the world's most comfy dog bed.

His little world is complete.

We go through dog beds fairly quickly around here because I wash the thing multiple times a month and we never miss a day where pug decides to drag his bed out of his room (the laundry room) and into the family room. He does this for two reasons, (1) to drive me crazy (2) to show off his bed to any guests that might have stopped by.

He can be quite the showboater.

So, I saw the Martha ones at PetSmart, and thought they'd be perfect. I had to call around to a few stores to find the right size, but finally found it. I brought it home for pug to give it his paw of approval.

At first a little weary that it didn't come with a sleep number, but I poor thing is making do.

It even passes his chin rule (does anyone else have a pug that has to have their chin resting up when they sleep? ha)

I think it's increased the volume of his snoring though.

the one where we discuss summer tv

2011-06-28T16:18:00.000-05:00

Praise the Lord boy is finally feeling better. He had an allergic reaction to the pain pills so we had to add in some benadryl, which made him rather loopy and some great humorous entertainment over the long weekend. For my memory and to embarrass him I'll share one with you. I walked into the room to check on him and pug sleeping next to him and our conversation went a little like this:

boy: he's playing tricks on me.

me: who, hon, is playing tricks on you?

boy: that dog.

{insert pug looking at me with a this dude's lost it face}

me: how is he playing tricks on you?

boy: he's just being really sneaky.

poor pug...this sweet face always the blame.

So, go figure I get a weekend to just be at home, stay in my jammies and there is not a single good thing on tv. Isn't that how it always goes? Even my Lifetime back-up channel was a bummer in selection. Because I have nothing more exciting to discuss I felt today's post would be a good one to discuss the happenings of summer tv.

1. AMC's "The Killing": This had us hooked from the first episode...so good. If you haven't watched it you must. I can't wait for season 2!!

2. My Yard Goes Disney: Super cute for the family getting the backyard, but I don't know how I'd feel if I was the neighbor and had to stare at a giant Fantasia Mickey hat from my kitchen window. The fuddy duddy in me also goes "isn't the kid going to outgrow this stuff in 2 years?".

3. Food Network Star: Love that it's back on. Can't tell though yet who I'm rooting for...anyone else watching. I try and workout while I watch this otherwise I'd sit there and eat...makes me so hungry all the yummy food.

4. Big Brother: Only 8.5 days away!!!! Cannot wait. Always the highlight of summer around our house.

5. Hot In Cleveland: Two words...Betty White! Super cute show.

6. Real Housewives of New Jersey: I am enjoying this season way more than I ever have. I think it's because the tension with Danielle was so overwhelming in the past. Also can't wait for Dina's new show on HGTV...I've missed her.

7. Flipping Out: Can't wait for this tomorrow...Jeff cracks me up.

Sadly, this our just a few I try and catch during the week. What summer shows are you watching?

nurse pug

2011-06-24T16:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was boy's sinus surgery. Praise the Lord everything went smoothly and no one had to pick me off the floor due to a panic attack. It turned out to be a little more invasive than we thought and I was so unbelievably grateful for his parents and sister to help and support both of us throughout the day. It's been a long and painful day for him, so I'm praying he gets some relief by the end of the weekend.

Oh and note to self I still am not a fan of hospitals even ones that offer valet parking or have high tech waiting rooms. No I will not fall for it. I did discover where our deductible is going though. Have you seen these?

It's a hospital gown that you plug into a machine and there's various pockets in the gown that inflate and heats or cools you down. You would of thought we were Jed and Ellie Mae checking out this fangled contraption while waiting for the surgeon. I might need to get one to wear around during this hot summer.

So pug and I are off to check on our patient. I've become a rather talented gauze expert and pug is still determined to get that gauze off his face.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

hodge podge of happenings

2011-06-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

1. Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day weekend! We sure did. We were blessed to spend it with both our dads. I found this card for boy and just had to get it, so pug generously gave boy a card this year. Love it!

2. Boy's sweet grandmother went home to be with the Lord this past week. Her home and graciousness just looked like it fell right out of a Southern Living magazine. I've also never meet anyone that loved pink more than her. I just had to share a picture of some of the flowers we brought home from the funeral. They were absolutely gorgeous.

3. You must try this recipe. It's Lemon Buddies, kind of a summer take on Chex mix puppy chow. I made some this weekend and it didn't last long. Delicious!!

4. Boy is having sinus surgery Thursday. I am a hot mess of nerves. I know it's a simple outpatient procedure, but oh I hate seeing anyone in pain or being at hospitals either. I think it's fair to say that I'm ready for June to be over....it's been a long month.

dear sonic

2011-06-17T20:11:00.000-05:00

Dear Sonic Drive-Thru,

We go way back. I love you dearly for your ice nuggets and your happy hours. I'm afraid to even try to add up the miles driven to you in a rush to be there by 4 o'clock to get my refreshing fix. But I have a bone to pick with you dear Sonic. Two summers ago you brought to your summer menu the Mango Breeze and we were hooked. It's deliciousness rocked our world. And I think I shed a tear when you took it away that fall. But I thought no worries there is hope it might return, and then the summer of 2010 came and no Mango, but you brought the Sparkling Lemonade and I fell hard for it. Me and that Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade became inseperable. So, this spring I have anxiously awaited your new summer drink. Might it be the return of the Mango Breeze or something unfathomably better. Oh the hope my little heart had.

But nothing.

Why dear Sonic, why no summer drink? You're killing me here. I need my summer fix and a break from my usual sprite.

Sincerely,
Thirsty with a broken heart

the birthday pug

2011-06-11T17:20:00.002-05:00

my little puglet turns six today!!

birthdays wear him out!

book shopping

2011-06-10T18:10:00.000-05:00

I've been on a Diane Chamberlain book kick lately so i need to mix it up a little. Time to try something new. Here' s what's been on my list, on my shelf and soon to be read. And of course I'm always anxious to hear what's on your list too.

just read:

"Swimsuit" - James Patterson: Don't judge I can't resist a Patterson novel. I have to say this one may have even been a little too cheesy for me. I love a good mystery novel, but this one was missing the mystery. I won't give up you Patterson.

"The Midwive's Confession- Diane Chamberlain: good read, but honestly not my favorite of hers. I don't know if I'm being too picky with my reads or what, but this was hard to get into.

reading:

"Love the One Your With"- Emily Giffin

to read:

"One Day"- David Nicholls

So tell me what are you reading poolside this summer?

today's smiles

2011-06-10T01:09:00.000-05:00

1. the mavs won- i'm not so much the pro sports fan as i am with college sports, but it's fun watching them do so well. hubs is on cloud nine!

2. fresh strawberries- ours store's selection has been so picked over for the last few weeks so i was thrilled to see tons today in the store. and love my little strawberry stem remover...whoever invented this thing is a genius.

3. an empty laundry basket- enough said!!

4. freshly painted toes- i ever so gracefully tripped over a ginormous hose in the home depot parking lot this week (how i spent my teen years in pointe shoes still amazes me) and hurt my back. i'm thinking it was my purse that weighs a trillion pounds that did it oh and boy laughing hysterically at me didn't help either. so after a long day i headed over this evening to get a polish change on my toes JUST so i could sit in one of their awesome massage chairs. i curled up in that thing and could have stayed all night. now my back feels better and my piggies are pretty in pink.

5. a lazy weekend on the horizon.

being real

2011-06-05T18:55:00.001-05:00

I'm always real on my blog. But truth be told I prefer to share the fun real stuff and leave out the sad real stuff. I've prayed on this post over the last couple days and feel really called to share this realness going on in my life. Trust me when I tell you I'd much rather share about pug dirtying up 6 yards of white fabric or talk about the Housewives of New Jersey, but I'll save that for another day.

Almost 4 years ago my dear sweet grandfather, my mother's father, committed suicide. On that day my family was thrown onto a path we never knew existed and one we never wanted to be on. We kept thinking this thing isn't supposed to happen; this isn't part of our journey. But there we were left shocked, hopeless, alone and ill equipped. It was a dark and long path friends. But slowly we found our footing, my family got involved with Survivors of Suicide and received wonderful guidance and support and for the last two years my mom and dad facilitate their own groups to help other families walk that long ugly path. I was driving home Sunday alone in the car and just praising God that we made it out and better yet stronger than ever.

I tell you this back story, because the next night we received a phone call that our precious family friend of twenty two years committed suicide. It has been a rough week. She and her twin grew up with me. All my childhood memories involve her and her laughter and that place I went to to remember all those good times feels so empty now. We're left with a million whys...which won't get answered.

I mentioned I really felt called to share and not as a poor family or whoa is us, but unfortunately it does exist and it effects WAY too many people. If anyone has been effected please know we weep with you and I truly believe God does too. If we can pray for you or someone you know on this path, please know my family would be honored to.

Thanks for listening to my heart today and I'll be back with a happier post quickly.

ramblings

2011-05-25T20:27:00.000-05:00

Today I somehow spent a majority of my day returning phone calls and being put on hold. I feel a migraine coming on with all the muzak I've endured. One can only listen to the best of smooth jazz for so long before their thoughts make no sense. So pardon my list of ramblings.

1. I have to say first that my prayers are with all those from Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas effected by the storms. My heart breaks for you and your families. DFW got hit by some bad storms yesterday and we spent some time huddled in our windowless bathroom waiting it out. Just the sound of a tornado siren going off has me running for cover with my pug. Thankfully it passed and we just had lots of hail. Here's a pic I took when it first started. The hail got a little bigger later on.

2. Good-bye Oprah! I have lots memories growing up of getting off the school bus and walking in the front door and hearing Oprah on the television. Then growing up to watch the occasional episode at 4:00 myself while working or folding laundry. Some days she made me laugh, some days she made me ugly cry and even some days she made me disagree. But I will miss her voice filling my house in the afternoons.

3. I dragged boy with me to Hallmark the other day. We were out and drove by one and because we don't have one real close I made him stop. I love Hallmark. Give me the funny card aisle and I'll be entertained all day. So, I grabbed a few cards and head to check out and hand over my debit card. The older lady asked to see my ID. I've never been asked to show ID when I use my debit, but I handed it over. Then she made me stand up tall and smile and held my ID up close to my face to compare (for a many seconds). I was trying so hard not to laugh because whose out stealing birthday cards. I might have been offended if she didn't do it to the lady behind me. Kudos to Hallmark for being thorough.

4. I'm redoing our game room/man cave. I'm disappointed I didn't take a before. Actually, no I'm not because it was horrendous, but I'm anxious to show you the after. Once I add some finishing touches I'll share. I love a good room redo!!

never too old

2011-05-22T16:13:00.001-05:00

i do believe one is never too old for a push-pop.

i myself had many memorable summers rocking a slap bracelet on one hand and a flinestone push-pop in the other.

good times.

i've seen the push-pop cupcakes around and knew i had to try them out for our birthday treat so i ordered a few containers.

they turned out really fun and made us feel young again.

**update- i purchased the containers off etsy, but the seller i ordered from doesn't seem to have them in their shop anymore. here are a few other links i found that carry them.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/72097105/2-dozen-push-pop-containers-with-lids

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74461788/12-cupcake-push-up-pops

catch up

2011-05-19T00:51:00.000-05:00

hey y'all...

i've missed you. i honestly didn't mean to take a vacation from the blog and visiting blogs, but the time is seriously flying away too fast!! i need it to slow down...i mean how is it almost june? we've been busy with life. we celebrated boy's 29th birthday last friday (gulp) and my 27th is this friday (double gulp). this why i need time to slow down...i'm not ready for 27 yet!! so we've been celebrating it up since boy took the week off which was well needed to catch up with family and friends, hang out at the lake and get some projects done around the house oh and can i add in morn the loss of my beloved sunday show "brothers & sisters" (i'll miss the walkers).

i started editing some pics off my camera tonight and found this one of pug watching boy kayak away into the sunset...so sweet!!

be back soon!

reason #589 why we don't check out library books

2011-05-04T11:54:00.000-05:00

Six years ago I loved going to the library.

You couldn't tear me away.

And then I got a dog.

Specifically a bookworm breed of pug who once in a blue moon has gotten his paws on a few other literary pieces here and here.

I was on day two of reading Ms. Fey's new book. Which I might add is hilarious. So hilarious in fact that you may want to avoid reading it in public places due to the occasional embarrassing laughing outbursts. Oh and you may even wear a pair of depends because it's just that funny of a read. Well I had about 15 pages left and got up to use the restroom (see sentence above) and was not gone half a minute and came back to find a guilty looking pug and the remains of the book.

I guess he thought it was good too.

I stood there stunned.

"Seriously, this book...you couldn't even wait to till I was finished"

And that it why we avoid all libraries and will most definitely never get to meet Liz Lemon.

royally different

2011-04-26T08:14:00.004-05:00

Unless you live under rock you know the royal wedding is this weekend. I indeed do live under a rock because I thought it was last weekend until my hair dresser was like "uh no it's next weekend dum dum".

I blame my confusion on the blonde highlighting chemicals.

I don't know where I stand on my feelings for the wedding. I'm not losing sleep over it much less polishing my tea set to use while watching it, but I also did not banish the Lifetime movie from being tivo'd or forbid we continue to practice our British accents to each other.

It did get me thinking about my wedding...almost six years ago (gulp) and how strikingly similar the royal wedding might be to our own humble country club wedding.

NOT!

1. I'm pretty sure Kate won't roll up to the altar in a golf cart. The folks on 18 we're exclaiming "look at that overdressed caddy popping xanax and sweating profusely!"

2. I'm guessing that Kate and William will probably not have a chocolate fountain like we did. Word on the bridal street is that is so last decade. Which is a royal shame because you can't go wrong with three different melted chocolates cascading onto marshmallows and fifty people lined up to get their fix.

3. I'm also guessing their will be no mashed potato bar (served out of martini glasses btw) that was ever so scrumptious. Again a tragedy because to this day we still have people tell us they dream of those mashed potatoes and boy and I hug them tightly and whisper "so do we".

4. I'm pretty sure their photographer and his assistant won't take a 90 minute break to sit down and enjoy a feast at the cousin in law table leaving a big gaping hole in the photo album.

5. I bet that their programs won't show up hours before their wedding because the company got confused as to the date of the event. The date and time were on the front cover of the program..."oh what you actually want these programs for your wedding??"

6. I'm also going out on a limb in saying that when the bride and groom leave no one will yell out "get 'er done" either. That would never get past Her Royal Highness.

Happy Royal Wedding Week!

{happy easter}

2011-04-24T19:55:00.000-05:00

"If Easter says anything to us today, it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb, but it will rise!"

Clarence W. Hall

book shopping

2011-04-20T13:40:00.002-05:00

let's talk books, shall we?

pool season is just weeks away and i cannot wait to grab a book and lounge by the pool and try to tan my paleness away. i'm hoping you've got some good pool read suggestions, because my to-read list is dwindling fast.

here's a few things that i've read lately that i highly recommend.

"Black Heels to Tractor Wheels"-this would make a great beach/pool read if you need one yourself.

"One Thousand Gifts"- beautifully poetic.

"Breaking the Silence"- thanks Erin for the recommendation...could not put it down!

"House Rules" also good.

"The Art of Dancing in the Rain"- my book swap buddy loaned this to me and so far loving it. i have a strong feeling i'll be needing some kleenex the further i get into it.

so what's been on your list? i have to admit i really am digging any chick lit and a good ole' patterson like mystery. for some reason i always like to read those by the pool to drown out the screaming kiddos ha!

also find me here on goodreads...love this site!

left behind

2011-04-19T00:19:00.001-05:00

boy and i have this conversation over and over...

me: hey, why don't you take pug with you when you head out the ranch.

boy: let me think about it...nope.

me: please.

boy: no, i think he really wants to stay.

me: no, i think he really wants to go.

boy: he might get bite by a snake.

me: but you've told me their are no snakes out there.

boy: (silent) he likes to tell me their are no snakes out there so i'll come more willingly.

it always ends the same with pug staying and watching lifetime with the women folk. this last time before boy and big daddy headed out to the land to do lots of manly hunting things i put pug in the back of the truck.

surely they wouldn't notice.

see he really wants to go. look at that excitement.

and then they noticed.

low key

2011-04-12T14:34:00.000-05:00

i know it's already tuesday and i'm a little late on a weekend recap, but this past weekend was just wonderful!! i'm so grateful for days like this where it's laid back yet productive and we have beautiful weather to top it off.

i got an itch to paint. someone please stop me next time because now my whole body hurts. but i love the color and the fact i got it all done in two days makes me even more thrilled.

then i recouped with this book. love a good read!

we rented this movie...which i may be a sissy but the way they filmed it made me totally dizzy. so i just followed along with the dialogue with my eyes closed trying to stop the spinning.

then we grilled pizzas...love having the grill up and going again!

hope y'all had a wonderful weekend too.

the one where i discuss reality tv

2011-04-07T00:34:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been climbing into bed a little earlier and trying to catch up on all the many reality shows that have lured me in with bait.

I'm pretty sure if Bravo came out with a show titled The Real Housewives of Timbuktu I'd watch it.

I felt like today we must discuss the present happenings of reality tv. I'll start with a few of my latest favorites.

1. Pregnant in Heels- I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. I mostly laughed, then called boy in to tell him our first born would be named Fox. I kid. That is if the ridiculous baby naming focus group approves first. I do have to say I just adored Rosie and am excited to be very entertained on Tuesdays.

2. Real Housewives of Orange County- I'm not sure why I'm still watching this one. I dearly miss the old school days of the O.C. one. Anyone else? It just seems sad and there's a little too much plastic surgery for me.

3. Extreme Couponing- holy coupon cutting batman! $600 of stuff for $6. My hat goes totally off to them...it truly is a talent. Also, I've decided I need to make friends with an extreme couponer so I can come shop in their stock piles. My very least favorite part of my week is grocery shopping. If I had to spend 5 hours in a grocery store like many of them do hunting down deals, I'm pretty sure you'd have to drop me off at the looney bin on my way home.

3. The Apprentice- One word Busey.
Baby
Unicorns
Say
Eat
Yogurt
Do you get it? I think Busey makes my week with his phrases. I'm rooting for Marlee, Nee Nee, or Rich.

4. My favorite Bethenny Ever After...love her! And how sweet is Jason. I hope they do this show more than once a year because I can't get enough.

5. Oh, and whose excited for some Real Housewives of New York?!?!

I know I'm forgetting others, but it's late as I'm blogging this...oh and I'm probably going to bum a few of you out when I tell you I have never watched an episode of Dancing with the Stars or Idol. So, sorry I'm clueless on those.

spring lovin'

2011-03-31T17:01:00.001-05:00

Where can I move so I can get spring weather 365 days a year?

My bags will be packed in no time.

I love spring.

I love the breeze coming threw my windows.

I love the return sound of lawn mowers (just not at 8 in the morning) and the smell of fresh cut grass.

I love strawberry smoothies from smoothie factory or king...I can't remember which one.

I love the sun hanging around a little longer in the evenings.

I love my neighbor's tulips.

I love flutter tees and flip flops.

I love peeps and reese's shaped like eggs...for some reason they taste so much better in an egg shape.

I even love the rainy showers.

I love spring!

second favorite

2011-03-28T22:33:00.001-05:00

Even though pug was my wedding gift and is technically my dog.

He likes boy best. One is never far from the other.

Unless, I'm eating AppleJacks then I'm definitely his favorite.

Boy was in Seattle most of last week and I thought great, I get pug all to myself. I'm for sure getting the better end of this deal.

And then boy sends me a text of the claw foot tub with a view of the ocean from his hotel room.

He's so mean...he knows I dream of claw foot tubs.

And then he texts me a picture of his lobster mac & cheese.

I don't even like lobster and I'm lactose intolerant now, but boy howdy I'd eat it in a claw foot tub.

I realized quickly I did not get the better end of this deal as pug and I munch on our stale AppleJacks.

He's missing boy badly I do believe. He gets in a funk when boy travels.

I decided to cheer him up with some Lifetime movies.

I'm not sure it's working.

I will say pug and I were ever so thrilled to see boy home safely!

a few thoughts

2011-03-22T17:42:00.000-05:00

1. Thank you all for your sweet comments on pug. My poor little anxious pug. I've been reading my vet recommended pamphlets and re-potty training this week. He's been a little calmer...I say little because that Febreeze commerical with it's stupid whistling sent him into a flying tizzy. Also, I feel compelled to add in that I really hope I'm not changing anyone's mind about getting a dog or pug for that matter. I don't think they're all this crazy. And I'd totally do it again in a heartbeat because his little bug eyes and curly tail just melt my heart. He's the sweetest!

2. Oh and more on that beam that came through our window. It could have been worse...I can't complain...just laugh about it now. My favorite part was that I stood their for a few minutes in complete shock of the crazy mess and thought surely someone should have come rung my door bell by now...but no one did. So I go out there and their all busy working away like nothing happened. They stopped when they saw a crazy blond woman flailing her arms hollering "el window is brokeno!!" At that moment I regretted taking that 7 am spanish class in college that I may or may not have dozed off in. And by the end of the day and all glass I had been picked up...I told boy I think I'm done playing grown-up and I need to go back to Barbie's dream house asap.

3. Is anyone watching "Celebrity Apprentice"...I love it!! It is truly a runaway train this year with quite a cast of characters on board. I hope Busey stays on a little longer because I need to hear some more of his word definitions. He fascinates me.

4. I just finished Pioneer Woman's "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" and it was delicious! A perfect read over a relaxing weekend. Do pick it up if you haven't.

And that is all friends!

my anxious pug

2011-03-17T23:16:00.000-05:00

First: How was your St. Patty's Day? I would like to confess that I did not wear green at all. I really don't look good in it or own anything green now that I think about it. Oh and boy has his St. Patty's tradition of watching "The Departed", but this year he didn't watch it because of a late meeting so I'm not sure what this means.

Second: The vet robbed me blind today...again. I've mentioned that pug has been doing a lot of tt'ing in the house lately. At first I thought he was just doing it because he enjoys watching me pull out my hair every time I have to clean it up, but then talking to my aunt she suggested we make sure it's not something medical like a urinary tract infection.

Did you know dogs can get these?

I did not.

I bet it's in that manual I never got around to reading though.

So, I made an appointment for him today. They wanted me to just drop him off so they could run some tests and then I'd come back and pick him up. Perfect I thought I can get all my errands run. But we show up and I guess his nurse didn't get the same memo because she was appalled I was just dropping him off and so I my plans quickly changed and I felt like a mama that didn't show up for her kid's first play.

Oh and did I mention I hadn't eaten anything yet.

So pug and I are shuffled into a 2x2 room full of cat posters. And we wait.

And the appointment was full of lots of pug wrangling and treat bribery.

And then they'd disappear for long periods of time and pug and I are just left to stare at one another wishing he could playing 20 questions or tic tac toe.

And he's got his pitiful face on and I'm tempted to eat a dog biscuit because I am starving and growing increasingly claustrophobic.

Thankfully, it's was not a urinary tract infection, he's just stressed. I know I crack jokes at pug a lot on the blog and even to his face, but in all seriousness poor little guy has had a rough month. There's a house being built by us and we recently had a large beam from said house fall and come crashing into a bedroom shattering everything.

We were very grateful no one was hurt. But the crash was loud enough that I'm pretty sure both pug and myself peed our pants. So with the construction mess and multiple people coming in through the house for repairs, add the fact he's seriously territorial, and the recent Sheen phrase "winning"...he's just beat.

So 2 hours later we leave with a phamplet on having a territorial pug, empty pockets and some anxiety medication.

Which I was tempted try myself when I finally got to the car.

Gotta love these pugs!

it's madness i tell you!

2011-03-13T17:18:00.000-05:00

This is one of our favorite times of the year....March Madness!!

Rock Chalk!!

We had a wonderful weekend cheering on our beloved Jayhawks in the Big 12 tournament and now the fun really begins this week with the selections and first games. We're just hoping we can hang on a little longer in the tournament this year! ha!

This came out of my laundry from just this week (not ironed yet). Sadly, it's only a quarter of our KU gear.

And Pug even gets involved with his KU toys.

But that's probably because we take away all his others and only let him play with these for good luck. I kid. But maybe that might get us to the Final Four.

So who are you cheering for?

his & hers

2011-03-08T14:43:00.001-06:00

Nothing says romance like cleaning out your sinuses next to the one you love.

It's like a new trend apparently.

Only super gross.

But seriously this little thing has become my allergy fighting best friend and the person who thought this up is genius I tell you.

hello allergy season!

my dream tv home

2011-03-07T16:09:00.001-06:00

Every Sunday when I sit to watch Brothers & Sisters I can't help but drool over Nora's Pasadena home. The kitchen is calling my name! I started thinking and if you could pick any tv show house to live in which one screams home to you?

Would it you pick Nora's gorgeous pad on Brother's & Sisters with that amazing subway tile back splash and gorgeous lighting?

Or maybe Adam & Kristina's house on Parenthood. I'm obsessed with the striped roman blinds throughout the house.

Look at those roman shades...stunning!

And then there's Phil & Claire's cozy and cute home from Modern Family.

Or maybe something from the past like Monica's dreamy lavender eclectic apartment.

So what home would you pick it can be anything past or present...did you have a favorite growing up or one on a show right now that you love? There's so many I love!

images via here and here

miscellaneous bin

2011-03-02T01:12:00.000-06:00

1. "The Bachelor" & "Private Practice" have done it again. They've sucked me in. I didn't watch the previous season when Brad was on and decided not to watch this time around because everyone was like "he's the biggest jerk ever!!" and even the previews when he got slapped didn't drag me in. But one lonely Monday when boy was gone and from mama's persistent phone calls that I had to watch "the craziest girl EVER on the show!!" I caved. And can I say:

a. I think Brad is really sweet and genuine
b. I heart Emily and will be ever so sad if she doesn't get picked
c. I liked the added touch of everyone wearing safari/cargo attire for their dates
d. ABC is so cruel with their editing in the previews for the next episode each week

And then Private Practice...I came into this season around Christmas. What can I say...it's my southern fondness for Charlotte and my bafflement at an all in one traveling doctor's office that gets me!

2. I made a return visit to the dentist again today. Such fun I know. They took my blood pressure and the assistant said that it was the highest she's ever seen in all her years. Not really a record you want to hold. I asked if my prize for that was a defibrillator.

3. I finished "Catching Fire" this weekend and loved it. I'm trying to decide if I should just end the series there or pick up the last one. I've heard some people say it was dissapointing.

4. I am so happy that it's March! I love Spring!!

5. I can't believe it's been a week since my last post...I'll try and get better this month.

root canals and presidents

2011-02-23T17:18:00.000-06:00

On Monday I was all pumped up for celebrating President's Day.

And then I broke my tooth.

I couldn't see it, so I had boy look in my mouth and when he screamed "gross!!", I figured it be best if I started making my way to the dentist.

Dentists make me nervous. I am not a fan of going to the dentist, especially when they tell me I'm too old to get pick something from the treasure chest after a cleaning. What's with that?

They were super sweet to get me in within a matter of minutes and after a few x-rays he concluded some damage from the filling that broke.

I'd need a root canal first thing the next day. Bummer!

I'm an anxious person anyways and then add the dread of a root canal the next day and I was a nervous nelly all night.

Tuesday came. The hygentist takes me back. The dentist comments on how high my blood pressure is (not surprised because I'm convinced my heart is leaping out of my chest). They numb me up. Lots of drills. Anesthetic wore off not once, but three times. Notice hygentist is wearing scrubs that have a label that says Grey's Anatomy (is this a brand?). Think about how good Grey's used to be back in 2006. Almost 4 hours later I'm done for the day. Praise the Lord.

Then I handed over lots of "Benjamins" & "Jeffersons" and headed home. President's Day!

Hope everyone had a great President's day!

"top of the muffin to you!"

2011-02-18T15:35:00.000-06:00

I made some muffin tops this week and now I'm probably going to be sporting a muffin top because they were ever so delicious. The top of the muffin is hands down my favorite part especially the ones that have sugar crystals on top. Oh the yumminess! These are also totally inspired by one of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld where Elaine gives Mr. Pittman the idea to open up the bakery Top of the Muffin to You. Even though I know that it's really better to just pop the top and dump the stumps! ha!

But these turned out pretty good and didn't last long.

It's impossible to photograph these babies and not take a bite.

dear abby

2011-02-15T17:41:00.000-06:00

One of the most awesome things about having a blog is that y'all never fail at handing out the best advice...so I thought I'd throw a few questions you're way because I desperately need your advice/input on some totally random and unimportant things.

1. My Territorial Pug...oh my heavens this dog is in a peeing on the carpet kind of funk. We have some construction going on around us so I know that has a lot to do with it and also the past few months have been a little too cold for him. When no one's looking he's walking around and marking his spot wherever he can. It's not much, just a little at a time so I know it's not that he just has to pee. It's driving us crazy and my poor bissell is a bit annoyed at having to work so hard to clean it up. Has anyone had this problem? Any tips or ideas before I pull out all my hair? ha!

2. Pug's roommate (aka the dryer) is on it's last leg I'm afraid. I'm thinking if it takes two cycles to dry a towel we may have a problem. I do love the look of the front load washer and dryers, but I've read so many reviews and had a few friends tell me they are not super happy. I've also read that you need to keep the washer door open to help it not mildew and since it's in pug's room that's not going to work. I'm a 100% positive he'd find a way to hop on in and make himself at home if I have to keep it open. Any advice...should we just go with an energy efficient non front load?

3. What should I make for dinner? I'm kidding on that last one...maybe!

happy valentine's day

2011-02-14T19:07:00.002-06:00

winter wardrobe

2011-02-11T16:56:00.000-06:00

I think I'm ready to retire my winter wardrobe to the back of the closet and start bringing out the flip flops and spring clothes. Have I told y'all how much I love spring recently?

But the ole' winter wardrobe of 2010-2011 has been a good friend. I've enjoyed a few old pieces and brought in some new. Here have been a few of my favorites from my closet.

1. Forever 21 leggings- I have loved these and for $4.50 are you kidding me they are such a good deal. They have been super comfy to wear on cold lazy days. I definitely put these to some good use this winter.

2. Forever 21 yoga pants- I love me a good yoga pant and these have been my favorites. Probably haven't seen as much yoga like their intended for I may have to rename them to my errand and grocery shopping pants.

3. Hunter boots- I have lived in these this winter. I love how comfy they are so easy to toss on with a pair of jeans and a cute sweater. I like investing in more classic pieces that I can get a lot of years out of and this has been the best winter purchase ever!

4. Hollister Laguna Skinny Jean- my absolute favorite jean to wear with riding boots. I love the designer jeans, but not the price so I've found some great deals on ebay on these and my other favorites like seven and citizens of humanity. I've never paid more than $30 for a pair of designer jeans and their always in amazing condition when I buy through ebay.

5. wrap cardigan- there are so many cute cardigans out there. I have a couple that I've loved wearing this winter and now will go to some good use next year too.

I've also got my eye on some cute cognac colored riding boots that I'm keeping my fingers crossed will go on sale soon to add to the collection...I love a good deal!

What have been your favorites to wear this winter?

climbing the walls

2011-02-07T17:30:00.000-06:00

well last week was a long one.

some snow and a whole lot of ice came and decided to stay for four days keeping us cooped up in the house.

it was a long 4 days because lets face it you can only watch a pug sleep for so long, do a people crossword puzzle for so long, and watch reruns of seinfeld for so long.

by day 2 we were most definitely climbing the walls.

who else is ready for spring?

memo to pug #8

2011-01-28T08:00:00.002-06:00

To: Pug
From: Upper Management
Date: 1/28/11
RE: Houdini Stunt

Dearest Pug,

The next time you get the urge to escape out of our fenced in backyard and have me chase you down the street first thing in the morning; would you do me a favor and please let me know in advance so I can put a bra on first.

many thanks,
Girl (and probably the neighborhood too)

{past memos to pug can be found here 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7}

book shopping

2011-01-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

Well it's been awhile since we talked books...I always love hearing what books are tickling your fancy! I have to be honest and say I think I went the good month of December without picking up a thing to read. But now that the craziness of the season is over I'm on a book hoarding mission. I also told myself this year I'd utilize the kindle app on my ipad more, but I keep finding these great used books and some great deals on newer ones so my book pile is looking a bit overwhelming at the moment. But here's what's on my nightstand for this month.

Read:

"Decision Points" by George W. Bush - fascinating read and so glad that I had a chance to read it. I loved hearing his thoughts regarding certain events. It's not light reading though so it took me awhile with this one, but worth it.

"The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks- this is an older book of his and it's one that I've had for awhile sitting on my shelf. It's sort of a continuation of "The Notebook" and I have to be honest and say it was just sort of boring. Not my fav. of his is a good way of putting it.

"The Courage Tree" by Diane Chamberlain- good read...kind of predictable though. Anyone have any better recommendations of hers besides Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes?

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins....- ABSOLUTELY loved this book! It's crazy to me because I read the back and was like this is so not my genre of book and even went into it going I'm not going to like this, but I LOVED it and could not put it down. I never read Harry Potter or Twilight if that helps sway you to read it. Definitely worth the read.

Reading:

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen- just started and love this book so far. I figured I'd better read it before the movie comes out. Love Reese Witherspoon!

To Read:

"How to Bake a Perfect Life" by Barbara O'Neal....-Target had this one on a big display shelf on sale...I couldn't resist it's cover is super cute.

"Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins.... -hope it's as good as the first!

"The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" by Ree Drummond- cannot wait to read this!!

What's on your list?

circle of life

2011-01-24T17:27:00.001-06:00

I tweeted about this last night, but thought I'd bring it to the blog because I soon found I'm not alone in this.

Here was my tweet:
Your parents raise you and then you become their tech support for all their electronics.

It's a vicious circle.

One that requires way more patience than God granted me.

For instance, last night Big Daddy (my dad) called because he was trying to find the "plug" (memory card) on my mom's mac so he could see what was on the "plug". I'm really terrible with walking people through something over the phone, especially when that someone is complaining about how confusing apple computers are. I tried. I failed this time though.

Sometimes I do succeed though, like the time my mom called me after she first got her mac and couldn't figure out how to find a document. I told to her to go to the "finder" button at the bottom left hand of the screen. She proclaims "Oh the face". I'm like the what and sure enough I look at my mac screen and the finder button does resemble a face. I lucked out on that one.

And then there are the days when they need to scan something and I'm convinced it would be easier to launch someone to the moon.

But I love them dearly and I'm sure way in the future I'll be calling on our kiddos to help me figure out how to use my robot that irons.

I'm praying really hard for that robot.

pug's survival guide to winter

2011-01-21T16:06:00.000-06:00

So, pug and winter are about on as good of terms as Kim and Kyle from Real Housewives of BH (did y'all watch that finale??) My word the drama. But as I was saying pug is not so fond of the cold or me telling him every time I open the door to go outside that he should be thankful that he's not a pug living in Canada. We really only have a few weeks of the cold and dreary days here in Texas, but I've noticed pug has mastered his own little survival skills to beating the chilly days. He is quite the drama king.

1. Don't go outside.

2. Become resourceful and do your business while your owner is watching Real Housewives.

3. Find a furry blanket or warm lap.

4. Stay there and under no circumstances move. Unless a treat is involved. Then take it and resume position.

5. When the dryer is going in the laundry room, push bed against it so the bed warms up, then curl up on bed.

And this sums up pug's last few weeks. On #5 I'm not sure if he is the laziest dog or the smartest. Jury's still out on that one.

oh goodness help me now

2011-01-20T17:10:00.000-06:00

a moment of silence please for cookie time...i also like to tell myself that these gems are fat free.

could i be anymore random?

2011-01-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

I've been rather absent on the blog front lately. I'd like to blame it on the cold weather and the fact that netflix's brought me "eat pray love". So between a pug that's on an outdoor potty strike because it's too cold and the world's longest movie; there you have it. See some Texas snow...

Oh and there was the 10 hour stretch of time where our water got shut off thanks to a construction mishap and that day I learned I would never had made it in the Ingall family. You really don't realize how precious of a luxury it is until you don't have it. I also realized I wash my hands a lot during the day after putting soap in my hands 4 different times that day and screaming "DOH" when I remembered we were waterless. All turned out well and we smell good again.

I also feel the need to tell you all that right around the first of the year my e-mail had up 2011 horoscopes featured on the homepage. I don't believe in the whole thing, but was intriqued/bored so I read what mine had to say for the year. It started off saying this is the year I would be fearless...I thought cool. Then it started talking finances in 2011 and I kid not stated "this year you've got your mind on your money and your money on your mind".

And that's why I don't read horoscopes...they rip off Sean Paul rap songs.

some randomness to start out 2011

2011-01-06T23:18:00.000-06:00

1. I took down the Christmas decorations earlier this week and my house looks so empty it's depressing me. I feel this week needs to be named "my-house-looks-so-stinkin'-bare-and-i miss-the-Christmas-lights-week". I'm still working on a name. Oh change I loath you so.

2. Speaking of decorations. Boy took down the Christmas tree all by himself and without one complaint. All thanks to a bet. We're a bit competitive over here so the other night we got to talking about old tv shows and "Christy" was brought up. Do you remember it with Kellie Martin? He was telling me how he was forced to watch it in school and how horrible that experience was. Then somehow we got to talking about the spelling of it (don't ask because I'm not sure how we ended up there). He was convinced it was spelled "ChristI" and I was positive it was "ChristY". We bet and then googled it. If he won I had to sit through a football game with him and if I won he had to take down the tree and put it back in the attic all by himself and without a scroogy comment. So I won, the trees peacefully in the attic, and now I have to go write Kellie Martin a thank you letter.

3. Sadly, I did not watch the Bachelor Monday. But no worries, mama called me first thing to give me the 411 and all the juicy details on the face slap.

4. Has anyone ever done a Kelly Minter bible study? I really want one to do at my own pace and like that it's just a workbook, but can't decide between the 2 she offers. I'm excited to get going on that.

And that is all...hope everyone has a great Friday!

guest blogging

2011-01-05T13:01:00.000-06:00

the pug and i are guest blogging today over at my own little corner. and since erin has a pug as well i felt it important to break down the daily schedule of a pug. it's a tough pug life y'all! we'd love for you to hop on over and say hi!

happy new year!

2011-01-03T14:50:00.001-06:00

I still can't believe it's already 2011...just when I finally got used to writing '10 on checks it goes and changes on me ha! I'm excited to see what 2011 brings for us though!

For the last few years instead of posting traditional New Year's Resolutions, I've always posted my Fashion Resolutions and it always involves a trend I am going to avoid for that year and pretty much forever. You'll be proud to know from, last year's, a bump-it never set foot in this girl's hair. amen!

So for this year's I have to be honest and admit I was a little overwhelmed with the options. First you have the padded hiney panties which although clever are just a bit too creepy for my taste. And then you have the pajama bottoms that look like jeans...which make me fear we are one legging away from bringing back stir-up pants (please not the stir-ups). So both are wise choices to avoid and I'm sure Rachel Zoe would back me up, but I think I'm going to have to go with....

The Toner Sneaker

oh friends these things drive me bananas! forgive me if you are a toner shoes wearing fan, but I just can't do it. a. they look wonky and b. I'm fearful you but just rock forward and fall down something or backwards even.

So there we have it... 2011 will be the year of no toner shoes for me!

a pug and his picture

2010-12-27T22:19:00.002-06:00

I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas! How quickly it comes and goes!! I'm waiting one more week before I take down the decorations so I can keep enjoying them...also I'm spent!!

Everyone cracked me up with your comments on pug's Christmas picture. I promise it was pure luck with a tripod and my camera timer. When I went to edit them and saw this I didn't know if I should laugh or cry because that picture really captures his onry-ness! I thought I'd share a little background on the picture with y'all.

I should sadly say too that this was not the card we sent out this year (maybe next year though :-)). The day before Christmas Eve I was running around getting ready for us to go out of town and remembered I'd really wanted a fun picture with pug for the blog. I'd envisioned pug sweetly sitting next to my feet ha! So, I tossed on a pair a boots (with no make-up on I might add), grabbed my tripod, camera, pug and a baggie full of HoneyCombs and headed to the backyard.

It was freezing, pug was so not helpful (he usually is a ham for a camera), the HoneyCombs were not working and just out of shear luck the camera timer went off while pug was proving his defiance towards this picture. The funny thing is he wasn't even TT'ing he just runs around the backyard lifting his leg pretending. I'm sure the neighbors are convinced I've lost it at the amount of times I screamed "sit here" or "do you want a treat?"

Oh the fun with pugs!

::merry christmas::

2010-12-24T12:43:00.000-06:00

wishing you and your family a very wonderful & peaceful Christmas!

with love, a girl and her uncooperative pug

christmas traditions

2010-12-23T16:13:00.000-06:00

I love fun Christmas traditions and Libby had a genius idea of doing a linky party for everyone to share theirs. I'm thinking I might even be stealing some of these ideas for when we have kiddos.

Here are a few of ours:

Growing up my dad would always read "The Night Before Christmas" right before we went to bed. He'd add in some goofy voices to get us to laugh. It's one of my fondest Christmas memories growing up. Then we'd be sure to leave out a plate of cookies and milk for Santa. In the 3rd grade I learned why Dad was so opinionated about the cookies I selected to set out ha!

Boy and I have added some of our own too. We love Christmas movies. So it's a tradition to watch Christmas Vacation on Christmas eve, we started this one even before we were married. We also have to add in a few of our other favorites including Home Alone, Elf, A Christmas Story and Love Actually.

We also spend a lot of time in the car traveling around for Christmas so we love to spend that time belting out Christmas songs and boy will read from some of Luke from the Bible. It's a sweet time just the two of us.

Can't wait to hear about everyone else's traditions! Hope you join in too!