When Life is Sad

There's a common theme in the Facebook/Instagram/Blogging world - everyone and everything looks beautiful and perfect all the time. But I'm pretty sure we all know that that isn't the case. In my life, things are beautiful and perfect in a very flawed way a good portion of the time. But I like to be real, and to share when things get messy. And for me, lately things have been just a little bit sad.

First of all, on the most shallow note ever, I have gained all the weight back that I lost from breastfeeding, and I'm exactly where I was when I got pregnant last time - which is the heaviest I've ever been, aside from during pregnancy. Any woman out there knows that this is enough to give you the blahs for days on end. I know I need to do something about it, especially since I just turned 30 and apparently your metabolism takes a nosedive at that point, buuuuuut...I just keep thinking, do I really want to put in a ton of effort to lose 10 pounds, and then get pregnant?

Which brings me to my second issue. I'm right at the point where thoughts of a second baby are popping up here and there. Part of me is super excited to jump in and have another precious little bebe in my world, but there's another part that feels a little sad about it. Only because I'm so obsessed and in love with Grayson that it scares me a little to think of losing the relationship that we have. I don't want to have to share my time and my love and my devotion, even though as an only child I am fully aware that a sibling is the greatest gift I could ever give him. I know I'll love another baby just as much, but in my emotional brain it's just too much to handle sometimes.

Aaaaand.....Addie Jane. My precious, insane, sweet little "first-born" baby. This is the most heartbreaking thing of all in my world right now. Addie is a peculiar little dog. She's a shelter pup, and we don't know what type of life she had before she came to us because she was just found wandering the streets. But she's got a lot of issues. She's extremely aggressive when it comes to food, she doesn't seem to like any other female dogs, she definitely needs to be the "alpha" dog in all situations, she has issues with men, she has issues with being groomed...and she absolutely, positively can't stand Grayson.

This is probably partially my fault. She was incredibly spoiled before he came around. She was my first baby, and I treated her that way. I doted on her, gave her so much attention and love, cuddled her constantly, took her on long walks, played with her whenever she wanted...and even though he might deny it now, A really loved her and gave her a lot of sweet attention, too. Once Grayson entered the picture, the thing that I swore would NEVER happen did, and she just wasn't my first priority anymore. Obviously I still adore her and dote on her when I can, and play with her when I can, and take her on long walks and love on her when I can...but those times aren't near what they used to be.

I remember one night after Grayson came home from the hospital, maybe four or five days after he was home with us. I had nursed him to sleep and laid him in between A and I in bed, right where Addie had always slept. She hopped in bed and started to go to her spot, then saw Grayson and slowly went down by my feet and curled up. She just knew that it wasn't her spot anymore. I crawled down by her and just cried and cried and cried while I held her, because I knew it would never be the same and it absolutely broke my heart for both of us. But especially for my poor little abandoned shelter dog.

She's smart. She knew things were different, and she knew why. And I'm pretty sure since that first week she's resented Grayson. She just watches him very skeptically, and stays out of the way. It was okay when he was just a baby, but since he's been up and moving she has grown more and more irritated. He's obsessed with her, and chases her around all day, calling her name, grabbing her, trying to hug her, throwing toys at her to try to get her to play. We try to keep him away, but for anyone that has ever had a toddler, you know that's impossible. And she's just so sad. She drags her tail, she lays on the back of the couch, and she just looks like all the joy in her world is gone.

It got to the point that we knew she couldn't be here anymore. She and Grayson just can't be in the same house. She's miserable, we're all nervous, and he just can't keep his hands off of her. Right now, she's staying with my dad, until we can figure out what to do. Every time I think of actually giving her to a new family it causes a near panic attack, so I'm trying to figure out a temporary solution until she can eventually go to my mom. But it hasn't been easy to find anyone willing to take her for several months, and sometimes I think I should just let her go to a new home. But I just can't do it. No matter what happens, I love that little dog more than I could ever explain, and I just can't bare the thought of her not being a part of my life anymore.

So even though on a day-to-day basis, life is pretty freaking fantastic and I couldn't be happier, sometimes parts of life are sad. I think it's important to acknowledge that in a world where everything is seen through an Instagram filter. If you made it to the end of this very lengthy post, thanks for reading :) Every once in awhile a girl just needs to vent, and apparently today was the day for me.

Movember & Dog Bearding

I'm pretty sure just about everyone under the sun has heard of Movember or No Shave November at this point. For the entire month of November, men around the US refrain from shaving to raise awareness for men's health. The folks at DogVacay wanted the pups to be able to get in on the action, so they've asked Addie Jane and myself to participate.

Now, I don't know if you're familiar with dog bearding or not, but if you aren't...OMG, check it out. Seriously, some of them make me laugh til I cry. So when I asked my lovely husband for assistance in creating one of these dog bearding photos with Miss Addison, he thought it was so funny he wanted to do it himself. Guys...I don't think Arsen has ever been excited to participate in my blogging world before, so I decided to let him have this one.

Umm. Have you ever seen anything more hilarious? I didn't think so.

So by now you all are well aware how much I love my sweet Addie, and are equally aware that I have a hard time finding people I trust to watch her when we leave town and have to leave her behind. In the past I've done exhaustive Google searches to try and find a place with good reviews that looked clean and homey. Not an easy task. Luckily, those days are over! Now it's as easy as clicking on over to dogvacay.com and searching by your area and the dates you need a sitter. Seriously, easiest thing ever. All my local Dallas people, there are TONS of options for us! There is a description from the owner, all the info you need, and reviews from previous customers. I can guarantee the next time I can't take my sweet girl with me, I will most definitely be using DogVacay!

Addie's Birthday Celebration

For Addie's 6th birthday last week, we had a little mini-celebration to remind her how special she is. She's been feeling a little neglected for the past several months since Grayson made his arrival, so I wanted to make her day extra fun.

I went out that day and bought her several little gifts. A couple of new toys, some Busy Bones, and some treats. Then I cooked her homemade puppy cupcakes. I normally do a cake, but I decided to switch it up this year. She's a tiny dog, so a cupcake is about the right size for her.

I've had the recipe pinned for quite some time now, so I was excited to finally get to try it out. I must say, it was definitely a hit. She couldn't gulp it down fast enough! Since the recipe made around 10 cupcakes I gave a few away to some of her doggie friends and froze the rest. 

Here is the recipe as I found it from one of the sweetest bloggers I "know", Amanda from Maggiano Takes Austin. I followed the recipe exactly other than the shredded carrot, and I used cottage cheese as the "icing". I would highly suggest this for any of your doggy friends :)

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup all natural peanut butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup shredded carrots (I just did a little shredded carrot)

1 tsp vanilla 

1/3 cup honey

1 egg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together flour and baking soda
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well
4. Pour mixture into a 12 cupcake cups in non-stick muffin pan 
5. Bake for 30 minutes 
6. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes. 

Happy Birthday Baby Dog!

Today is my Addie Jane's birthday, and every year we celebrate with a homemade doggie cake and presents. Except last year. Last year I was three months pregnant and miserably sick, so she didn't get her cake. I felt like an awful dog mommy.

We don't know Addie's actual birthday, but October 3, 2009 is when we adopted her from the Oklahoma City shelter. We always have said that she must have been in her terrible twos when we got her, so this will be her 6th birthday according to our made up calculations. Not a young pup anymore. If I think about it I start to cry, so we'll just breeze by that part...

In our four years with her, Addie has brought us so much happiness. She has made us laugh uncontrollably when she does her "crazy dog", made us scream in frustration when she chews holes into the carpet, broke our hearts when she's been sick, and taught us what it means to be responsible for another life. She was the first challenge we had as a couple together, and was definitely the source of many of our first fights.

She is my first baby, and I love her with all of my heart. The last five months of her life have been tough on that sweet girl. She's been forced to share the love and devotion that was once all hers with this new baby that she isn't so sure about. She mopes around a lot, and still hasn't ever voluntarily had anything to do with Grayson. I'm hoping that eventually they become best friends...a girl can dream, right?

So tonight we will have puppy cake and ice cream, open presents and celebrate our furbaby. I hope in her little doggie heart somehow she understands how much she is truly adored.

Puppy Problems

Everyone who has read my blog for any significant amount of time is probably aware of my intense adoration for my pup Addie Jane. She's been my baby girl for over three years and I've already talked about how worried I am about how she'll deal with the baby's arrival. For awhile now I've said that I think she knows something is going on, but the past month or so I can tell she definitely knows something's up.

She's been potty trained since we've had her, but we keep a potty pad out in our room because she isn't great about letting us know when she needs to go out in the middle of the night. So we keep the pad there, and she has rarely ever had an accident. 

Well...that seems to be a thing of the past. She has started peeing on the carpet in our room a lot. Like, a lot a lot. She seriously will get up in the middle of the night and go just a few feet away from the pad. I know she knows it's there, I know she knows better...I just can't fathom what is going on with her. She's so quiet that I hardly ever notice, but there have been a few nights recently that the little clanking sound of her tags will wake me up and I'll see her finishing up her business. It is so beyond frustrating, but since it's so out of character I know something is definitely going on.

Last night it happened again, and I was just so upset because she looked so sad after we got onto her. Like I said, I know she knows better, and she just looked so sad and guilty. So I got up and started Googling to figure out what's going on. Of course my first thought is that she has some horrible medical condition and this is a side effect of that. And that was the first thing that most articles said. But the second thing mentioned was that this is often something that happens when there is a lot of change in a dog's life. Which is what I thought was possibly the case, but when I started reading about it it just made so much sense. It even said as one of the top examples that this often happens when a dog's owner becomes pregnant. 

The one thing all this research didn't tell me was how to fix the problem. Things are changing around here, there's no denying that. There's also no changing it any time soon. I'm pregnant, my mom is staying with us, Arsen has started traveling, she doesn't go to daycare anymore, we've made some changes to the house (new floors upstairs, new landscaping, etc) so we've had workers in and out, we've had a lot of company, we're bringing new baby stuff in all the time...that's A LOT of changes for a little pup to take in. But there's literally nothing I can do to change any of that. 

So basically what I'm doing is asking for advice. Has anyone dealt with a situation like this in the past? And if so, what did you do? I feel so terrible for her and I want to fix it...I just feel like I'm at a loss as to what to do! And it's making me so worried about what will happen when Baby A gets here...which could be any day. Dog and baby mama's, help a girl out!

Worries of a Dog Mama

On Friday morning, Arsen got up earlier than normal, showered, and came back to bed to cuddle with me for a few minutes before I had to get up and get ready for work. We were laying in bed chatting about the baby, he had his hand on my belly and was feeling him kick, and it was all very sweet. I reached down to the foot of the bed and pulled Addie up to join in on the cuddling, and it was this perfect little cheesy moment of happiness for me. I had my love and my little baby dog and my boy kicking around in my belly. And then I started getting a little sad.

Addie will always be my first "baby". I've gone on and on about how nervous I am about how much her little life is going to change when baby boy arrives, and the closer we get the more I worry. As we laid there talking, I started telling Arsen a bit about how concerned I am.

Arsen is Addie's world. She loves her mama, don't get me wrong, but I'm more the one she wants at night when she's sleepy and she wants to curl up in a warm lap, or who she wants when she's feeling sick and needs to cuddle. She comes to me for food and love, and I'm perfectly happy with that arrangement. But her dad...man oh man does she love him. If she wants to play, he's her guy. And when it gets to be the time of night when he should be getting home from work she seems to sense it and she starts watching the back door.

Right now, anytime Arsen or I come home Addie runs to the door and jumps around and wags her tail and jumps up to be petted. Then she runs over to the chair in the living room and jumps up on the back of it so she can be on our level and get in some more affection. We both dote on her for a few minutes after we get home no matter how long we've been gone. I always ask her about her day, if she was a good girl, etc....I know, ridiculous. Arsen, on the other hand, almost always says something along the lines of "Hi mamiczka (mom-ich-ka)" or "Hi solniczka (sol-nich-ka)" and loves on her for awhile. (By the way, what he's saying is hi mama or hi sunshine in Russian. And that spelling was my terrible attempt at guessing how it might possibly be spelled, but I'm sure I was horribly off base.) She gets 100% of our attention for several minutes, and she just eats it up.

The thing I'm concerned about is how much this will change here in a year or so. When the baby is big enough, I know he will run to the door the minute he hears his papa coming in. And I know that Arsen is going to immediately pick that little guy up and love on him like crazy. And in my mind, I see poor Addie jumping up, begging for attention, and getting ignored. And it breaks my freaking heart!

When I was telling Arsen about it, I started crying. Seriously. Just a few tears and a shaky voice, but enough for him to feel the need to assure me that he will never forget about Addie and will always give her the attention she deserves. And I hope that he's right, and that she is always loved as much as she is today.  People keep telling me once the baby is here it just won't matter as much to me, that I'll love the baby so much that it will seem silly how much I care about Addie. And every time someone tells me that it makes me furious. Just because that's how it happened for you doesn't mean it will for me....and if it does, that's not something to be happy about! I think it's awful! These little pups love their owners more than anything in the world, and to suddenly be replaced is such a sad thing.

She's my baby, my "first-born", the one who taught me what it is to be completely responsible for another life. She taught Arsen and I both so much about responsibility, about balancing our time, about being patient. She came to us more than three years ago as a scrawny little 9 pound abandoned pup who honestly looked more like a rat than a dog, and has turned in to a spoiled little 13 pound diva who has more love than most doggies will ever know.

I know when our little man arrives I will love him with a fierceness I can't even imagine at this moment, even though the love I feel for him already is insane. But I never, ever want to forget how much I adore this little fur-baby of mine. She's my girl and she means the world to me, and I want her to feel adored and loved and content and happy until the day she's no longer with us. 

very first pic!

 

so teeny tiny

 early days with dad

healthy and happy one year later

 

 Cowboys fans for life

 our diva

family of three :) 

 mama's girl

melts my heart

Sicky Sick

My immune system is down or something, because I am getting sick or getting eye infections or something non-stop lately. I've been home from work the past two days with the worst sore throat of my life! I can't even swallow water it hurts so bad. My doc finally called an antibiotic in for me this morning, so hopefully that will kick it soon.

I have been a super slacker when it comes to blogging lately. We've been so busy that I just haven't had the time to check in on the regular. It also feels like nothing too super exciting has been going on, so I haven't had a lot to chat about with you guys.

However, this past Saturday we did have an eventful evening. My uncles came through on their way to Dallas and dropped off two doggies for us to watch Saturday and Sunday. Addie is "friends" with them, and the three of them have spent quite a bit of time together in the past at my uncles place, so I wasn't too worried about it. Unfortunately, Saturday is when I started getting sick, so I didn't have a whole lot of energy to deal with them. Thankfully they were pretty calm.

We did have to yell at Addie and Solomon a few times to break things up....they were getting a little too friendly for our liking. For the most part they just chased each other around until they were exhausted, then would nap for awhile, then they would wake back up and do it all over again.

Addie and Sophie, however, did not have a love affair. Not even close. Poor Sophie is the most nervous little dog you've ever seen. She can't relax, and just runs around non-stop with all her nervous energy. I kept trying to get her to come over and sit with me, but the minute she would, Addie would get in her face and growl. It was so sad! And it made me and Arsen both so mad. Addie can be such a brat, and she is so territorial, and anytime I pay attention to another dog she gets mad. She seriously is spoiled to the point of it being obnoxious. We kept putting her in her crate as punishment (yes, we've heard not to do that, but nothing works with this child), and the minute we would let her out she would run right back up to Sophie like, yeah, I'm out. What now? It was awful! She finally calmed down and left her alone after a few hours, but good Lord it was annoying. I just don't know what to do with her.

So that's the most exciting thing in our lives lately. I started decorating for Halloween, but stopped about 3/4 of the way through when I started feeling too tired and sick. Now I've just got random Halloween decor laying all over our dining table waiting to be set up. Hopefully I'll find the energy to finish it up in the next couple of days and can do a post about it!

Howl It Out

I'm trying to be a brave dog mom. I'm trying to teach her hard lessons that I know she needs to succeed in her little doggie life. But it's so tough.

Arsen is very clearly the disciplinarian in the relationship (I have a feeling this will always be the case), but even when he is reprimanding her for something she's done, it typically ends up breaking my heart and I have to hold myself back from grabbing her up and cuddling away the pain her mean daddy has caused. My mother has informed me this does indeed get worse with children, and that I absolutely must always stand by any discipline that comes down from dad, because if not they will know I'm weak and come straight to me...so I'm trying to learn early with Addie.

I was met with a challenge this morning, and I think I did OK. Arsen and I carpool several times a week now that we work within 10 minutes or so of each other. Arsen drives, Addie sits on my lap, we usually don't talk a lot...I'm admittedly not a morning person. However, this morning was full of activity.

I had a cup of some honey and almond granola stuff. Apparently the smell was just intoxicating, because Addie couldn't hardly contain herself. She sat facing me, staring up at my cup, watching every bite with the saddest puppy eyes I've ever seen. After just a few bites it wasn't really sitting right with me, so I set it in the cup holder and was done. Well, that was just too much for Addie. She put her face on her paws and had her tiny nose just an inch away, sniffing it in and whining quietly. When she saw this wasn't working, she sat up, starting growling, and pawed my hand several times. After I told her no, she was really upset. She started pulling back the blanket she was sitting on, digging on it like it would bring the cereal closer. I told her no, Arsen told her no....and that was it. She sat on the very edge of my lap, stared straight at Arsen, and started howling.

Now, when Addie howls, it is impossible to keep a straight face. It's a terribly high pitched sound, and she throws her tiny head back and her mouth is shaped in this cute little O. She gets herself really worked up and snorts between every howl. I tried not to give her attention. I tried not to laugh. I tried to let her howl it out. But after maybe a minute I couldn't stand it...she was breaking my heart! And she was thoroughly angering her dad. At first he was laughing, but within a few seconds of her piercing screams he was not as amused.

Naturally I wanted to give in and give her a bite of granola, because clearly this was just killing her. I said "Addie, I really wanted to give you a bite, but now I don't know what to do!", and Arsen immediately said "Do NOT give her anything!". Leave it to dad to be the mean guy....and the smart guy. Because I am fully aware that if I gave her a tiny bite, she would continue to howl away any time she wanted something that she didn't immediately get. But it's just SO hard to tell that cute little face no!

So I guess the moral of the story is that, even with a tiny dog, you really need a fur-mom and a fur-dad. Can you imagine what a ridiculously bratty and spoiled pup I would have on my hands if papa Arsen wasn't around to run the show? Thank goodness I'm not raising her as a single parent, I would be doomed.

Isn't it crazy the lessons you can learn from a 12 pound ball of fur?

Well That Was Just Awesome...

Today started out on a not-so-great note. I woke up about 10 minutes late, but that's no big deal, so I just rushed and was out the door about 5 minutes later than what I was hoping. I remembered that Addie's seat belt and blanket were in Arsen's car, so I tried to rig her a little set up with a leash. Didn't work the best. After I got her settled in and turned on my car, I was reminded that I was out of gas. Awesome.

I stopped to get gas and got back on the road...I was definitely behind schedule, but I could still make it to work about 10 minutes early (I try to get there about 15 minutes early every day, although the past week hasn't been going according to plan). Since she wasn't strapped in the right way, Addie kept going back and forth from my lap to the passenger seat, which was annoying, but nothing too bad. And then the unthinkable happened.

She peed in my car.

She has never, ever done that before. Ever. I didn't even register what was happening at first. She always spins around several times before she pees, but she also spins before she lays down. I saw her spin, but OF COURSE I assumed she was going to lay down. Nope. She just squatted there, peeing on her blanket, her toys, and my freaking seat belt. I was yelling "Addie STOP! Addie Stop It Right Now! ADDIE!!!!", and she was just staring at me while she continued to pee.

Needless to say I was not happy. Actually, I was so shocked I didn't know what to think. I called Arsen freaking out, but he was already at work so he just listened to me, told me to get some paper towels at a gas station to clean it up, and said he needed to go. So I just cried frustrated tears the rest of the way to daycare. Then Arsen sent me about 10 text messages with tips of what I should do. Helpful, yes, but I was looking for "Oh my God babe that sucks! I'm so SO sorry your morning is going so rotten!". Somehow men always think they need to give a solution, not sympathy...oh well, the solutions can be quite helpful I suppose ;) You know they mean well....

I dropped Addie off, made it to work right after 8...and then decided I would really rather not leave a urine covered blanket, toys, and seat belt to sit in my car all day long in 100 degree heat. I can't even imagine what that would smell like after 10 hours...goodness. So I picked Addie back up a couple hours later, came back home, cleaned everything up, and have been working from home the rest of the day.

Of course my mind goes to the worst place...maybe she's sick? That's just not like her. Something has to be wrong...and then my mom sends me an email about shih tzu's being prone to kidney disease. Gooooood Lord. Let the paranoia begin!

How could I stay mad at this tiny dog?

Last Weekend = Somewhat of a Fail

It's funny how you can be so excited about something, plan it all so well, and then it just doesn't quite work out. That pretty much sums up a good chunk of my weekend, which is unfortunate.

Friday night went pretty well...I got my yummy sushi dinner that I wanted, and we relaxed like I was hoping. We went to bed decently early, and I got an amazing amount of sleep.

Saturday morning we got up early and dropped off Addie to be groomed and stay the night at her favorite daycare place. She went to the same place in Plano for almost two years, and when I got my new job we had to switch. She still loves that place so much and gets excited whenever she gets to go back. It's pretty cute. Check out her new haircut. Adorbs.

After dropping off the fur baby we picked up Arsen's parents and dropped them off at DFW airport. They're spending a little over a week in Salt Lake City visiting his dad's sister. One observation I made is that the amount of luggage that they take for a week long trip is less than what Arsen and I take for an overnight stay. Not surprising.

Then we went back home to get ready to head out for our fun day in Fort Worth. This is where it all fell apart. We started watching Lost while we ate our lunch, and then we were sucked in for like two episodes. That show does it every time! Then I somehow got inspired to mop the hardwood floors, do the dishes, and a little laundry before showering and getting ready. By the time we finally got around and left the house it was almost four, and we were supposed to be at Arsen's friend Adam's house by 5:30, so...

Needless to say we didn't get to do my fun tour of Fort Worth that I had planned. But we did end up having a really fun night with a lot of good friends. It's so funny how different things are than when I met all these guys in college. We sat at a few tables talking and having a few drinks for a few hours, then left to go home around one. In the past none of us ever would have considered leaving before the lights came on at the end of the night..now we were home in our sweats eating pizza by that time. Unbelievable.

One super exciting thing that happened this weekend is that I got my package in the mail from Amanda at Maggiano Takes Austin. I won her big giveaway last week and I couldn't be more excited...it was like my birthday or Christmas! It's the perfect way to brighten my day, a bunch of free stuff :) Look at all my fun little goodies!

Now that the week has started, it's back to reality (blah). Tonight we did some grocery shopping and cooked a super delicious recipe for Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese I got from Sam over at Reddy or Knot. Seriously people, she has the best recipes over there...I think I've pinned every single one of them to my recipes board. And they are all "skinny" versions, so even better! Go check her out :)

I ended the night cuddling with my husband, playing catch with my crazy little dog, and you guessed it, watching Lost. I'm so predictable. Now, on to the rest of the week...

Come Visit Me!

Hey friends! Today you can find me over at Our Love and Our Blessing. Jen is the sweetest thing ever, and she was kind enough to ask me to guest post while she's taking the week off. I would love it if you'd come check out my post, and definitely take a few moments to browse around Jen's blog! You will NOT be disappointed!

I'll be back this evening/early tomorrow, depending on how much energy I have after work, (I'm going on very little sleep today thanks to my darling Addie dog) with a "real" post about my fabulous weekend. I know, you can't wait.

But for real though, be sure to go visit Jen. She was nice enough to have me, I'd love it if you guys could show her some love!

What's a post without a picture of Addie? Worthless, that's what it is.

A Day in the Life of Addie Jane

Today has been a challenging day with Addie. After a night out last night, all I really want to do is lay here, eat bad food and watch Lost. Addie, on the other hand, has wanted to do nothing but whine, lay rightontopofme, and do bad things, like escape from the yard.

First she thought it would be a good idea to destroy the new toy I got her last week. Anytime I get her a stuffed toy, she rips into it and pulls all of the stuffing out within a matter of days. Which leaves tons of stuffing all over the house to be cleaned up. She seems to enjoy this process greatly.

Then she decided to partake in her new favorite activity, escaping from the backyard. There is a small gap underneath the fence and anytime we leave her out there unattended for more than three minutes, she takes off. This is super obnoxious since she wants to be outside all of the time, and the last thing Arsen or I want to do is sit in 100 degree heat and watch her snoop around the yard. So today while Arsen was gone getting a haircut, I let her out there for a few minutes. I went out to check on her maybe five minutes later, and she was gone. So I take off running up and down the little alley behind our house, yelling her name over and over. Finally, I check the neighbors yard, and she's just snooping around back there. She finally crawled back under after I rang the front doorbell...it's a surefire way to get her to come running.

After all that drama, she was just exhausted. She had to stretch out in the dining room to cool off and recover.

Then she decided to destroy a water bottle, another of her favorite activities. She likes to chew the lid until it comes off, rip the paper label off, and then roll around on top of the bottle and chew on it until she's completely worn herself out. You can see it just took every ounce of energy in her little body. She finally passed out in the middle of her destruction.

And now she's decided to camp out on the pillow beside me and stare me down. Occasionally she'll whimper a little bit or growl at me. I'm not sure why she's been so crazy today, but I know one little dog who will definitely be going to daycare tomorrow!

Speed Date!

Hi friends! I'm super excited to be linking up with This Little Momma for her Speed Dating Party. Being pretty new to the blog world I'm always looking for new bloggers to follow, and hopefully get to know. I thought today I would start with the very most basic of information about me. So here we go!

I'm originally from a teeny, tiny town in Oklahoma. Population less than 3000. 

I am an only child, and I both love and hate it. I was pretty spoiled growing up, so I can't complain, but I do feel like I've missed out on that special bond people have with their siblings. 

My parents are amazing, and I consider them to be some of my very best friends. They divorced when I was about 22, and I think it was the best thing that could have happened for all of us. They now get along wonderfully, and are both in happy relationships. 

I have had the same best friend since the age of about nine (with one little friend break-up in junior high). She is an amazing lady and I adore her and look up to her more than she knows. She's more like a sister than a friend.

After a failed attempt at college (I hated it SO much) straight out of high school, I decided to move to Los Angeles to try and make it as an actress. I moved out there knowing basically no one, with a roommate I had met once or twice, and not a whole lot of experience. Needless to say I was back in a year. I was way too homesick to stay.

After returning from L.A., I wandered around aimlessly for a bit before ending up at Oklahoma State University. Best. Decision. Ever.

I met my second best friend, and my future husband at OSU. I also finally completed my Bachelor's Degree in Public Relations.

I married my husband (Arsen) in September of last year. He is funny, charming, kind, outgoing, crazy, thoughtful and super duper ambitious. He is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I feel incredibly lucky to have found him.

Arsen is Armenian, and moved here at the age of six. Actually, today is the 20th anniversary to the day of them arriving in America!

Since my husband is Armenian, my children will be half (obviously) like the Kardashians. Here's hoping we have children who are that exotically gorgeous...

I am the proud, proud mama of a little furry shih tzu named Addie. Addison Jane to be exact. She is the apple of my eye, and I am shamelessly obsessed with her. 

My favorite things in the world are laughing, reading great books, shopping (for clothes, home decor, plants, paint, books, you name it), working on projects, lounging on the couch with my hubby and dog watching good TV, being outside when the weather is gorgeous (rare in TX), traveling to new places, learning new things, and spending time with family.

I am a super friendly person, but I'm also very reserved. I hold back before getting to know people. This has not helped my social life since moving to Texas, but I can't help it. I would rather have two great friends than 20 so-so friends.

Marriage has been quite a learning experience thus far. It's the best thing I've ever done, but it's also super challenging. I'm lucky that Arsen and I communicate wonderfully...if we didn't, I can't even imagine.

I am love, love, loving everything about blogging, and hope to be able to take it more seriously in the near future. It's a bit intimidating coming into something like this with not a lot of knowledge, but I'm excited to be giving it a try!

My Brilliant Baby Dog

The entire drive to work today Addie was trying to talk to us. She was sitting by my feet in the floor board, looking up at me. She refused to sit in my lap because she wanted to make eye contact. She kept opening her mouth in a little O and making a noise, not like a yelp or cry, just a little sound. It's like she was honestly trying to tell us something. When she could tell I wasn't getting it, she would look over at Arsen like, come on, surely you understand!

I think what led to this was that she had been chewing on a piece of fuzz from her favorite orange squeaky ball, and I pulled it out of her mouth and threw it out the window. This was just too much for her. She started growling very quietly, and yelping a little. I swear she was giving me a look of disgust. And she couldn't let it go. She kept talking until we dropped her off at daycare.

I know every dog is special and wonderful, and I love every dog in the world more than what is probably normal. But I swear to you Addie is exceptionally brilliant.

She's not one of those dogs that gets excited over everything that happens. She only gets excited if it's really worth her time. It's like she debates everything before she reacts. And she gets uncomfortable with extended eye contact like a human would. Staring contests are really fun, because she just can't handle it. She also sighs when she's annoyed with us. And when she's mad at me, she will go hours without looking directly at me. I can pick her up and put her directly in my face, and she will look everywhere but at me. She's cold-hearted sometimes.

She also understands English. Not like, she knows when I'm asking if she wants to go outside or when we say "treat". I really think she understands every word. I'll give you an example, because I'm sure you're doubting me.

The other night I took her out to potty before bed, so we went to the kitchen afterward so she could get her treat. She took it and ran to her normal treat-eating spot in the living room. As soon as she sat down I said, "No, take it in the bedroom, it's time for bed". She picked up her treat and trotted off to the bedroom. I hadn't even started walking that way, I was still in the kitchen, so it's not like she was following me. Basically, it's just that she's a genius.

Now I know all of you other dog mommies out there probably have similar stories, or think your dog is just as intelligent as mine. And that's fine. But I know the truth.

Can you imagine what kind of mother I'm going to be?