Birthday Puppy

It's hard to believe my not so little pup turns one today!

She was obviously wayyyy smaller than this when she was first born, but it's crazy to see how much she's grown in just the 9 months we've had her. 

She wasn't a huge fan of the hat.

But she did love her Zu-Zu Pet. 

Even though my family always had a dog,
I was never really a dog person growing up. 

And she has now made me into a crazy dog person.

Even with all her water drool.

We are so blessed to have her as part of our little family.

Sorry for the crazy picture overload, but I'm pretty sure if you've caught on that I'm weird and obsessed :) But I needed to document this for her puppy book.


















J/k I don't really have a puppy book. 
Well not an official one anyway...

Extreme Couponer

I am not.

I feel like I have the heart,

and I find the joy in couponing.

I do get excited and think of it like a game.

I have a special coupon binder.

I almost never miss out on steals from Walgreens and CVS.

But as far as being a true grocery couponer, I guess I am missing the drive.

I've been watching TLC's show "Extreme Couponing",

I think it's inspiring 

and pathetic, all at the same time.

I think extreme might even be an understatement for some of these people.

I admire a stockpile.

I admire all the money saved- ridiculous amounts of money saved.

I am pretty jealous.

I do wish I could save that much money.

I feel like the stores around here don't have those crazy sales or double or triple coupons.

Maybe they do, I just need to investigate more.

Here's the other thing though, do these people even buy normal groceries? 

I feel like I try and use my coupons on things that are on sale and that we use.

Key words: that we use. 

Not all grocery staples are on sale all the time.

After watching the show a couple days ago, I was making lunch and I needed some Miracle Whip.

I didn't have any in the fridge, and I was all proud of myself as I went to look in the pantry at my little 

stockpile.  

Knowing that one day it was on a sale and I had a coupon and I snatched the good deal.

I take it, feeling a little cocky {yes, I am was home alone, but you can still have those feelings by yourself}.

I'm all ready to open it and then I catch a glimpse of the expiration date.

December 2010.

Fail. 

How do these people buy 77 items of something and have it last forever?! 

So this awesome deal that I once purchased quickly became a waste of money!

Moral of the story- stick to stocking up on paper goods and toiletries. 

I'm pretty good at that.

Are you a couponer???

What grocery store do you get your good deals?? 

Misc. Monday: Weekend Recap

{one} Friday the weather was finally beautiful {and I think it might be here to stay, but I don't want to jinx it so pretend I didn't say anything} and we spent lots of time outside. The little boy I watched fell asleep on the swing and it looked so uncomfortable, but so cute and apparently not too uncomfortable or he wouldn't have been sleeping.

{two} As the evening came it was getting a little cooler, but everyone {may be a slight exaggeration since I am just talking about the 4 people at Hayward's} wanted to still believe that it was warm and summer-like. I was laughing as I sat in the warm car, parked next to 3 other cars filled with women whose significant other was buying them the first ice cream of the season. Okay, so I don't really know if it was their first of the season, but it was mine and I was thankful for my wonderful husband to stand in the semi-chilled air to get me my black raspberry ice cream with chocolate jimmies. Delish. 

{three} Jimmies = sprinkles for those of you who are from a different part of the country. I think when we were in Florida, they didn't know what jimmies were. For the record, I only call the chocolate ones jimmies and the rainbow ones are sprinkles. And on the same record, I only like chocolate jimmies, not a fan of sprinkles. I love jimmies so much that I've bought a container and eaten them with a spoon.

{four} I don't know why I am bragging about that, I don't really think that is something to be proud of. And to add to this list of honesty I will also add that on Saturday I got another black raspberry with chocolate jimmies. This one was soft served though so it was completely different and doesn't count as the same as Friday.

{five} I was blow drying my hair and I had a little knot that I needed to comb out. While I was combing I apparently put the opposite side of the blowdryer to my head and my hairs got caught in the fan. It smelled. It was painful. I had to rip those hairs out! There was no other way!! So frustrating. This is why a. I just put my hair up in bun on top of my head and b. I miss my shorter hair. Lesson learned: be more careful, the blow dryer is a weapon.
 And of course when it happened my initial reaction was to take a picture in case I need something to blog about. That's how exciting my life is. 

P.S Ignore the lint in the fan area as well, ok. Thanks.

{six} Today is supposed to be 75, but it's cloudy so that doesn't really count. I was hoping to get a lot accomplished, but there is something about cloudy rainy days that just paralyze you and make you glued to the couch, still wearing your pjs and watching silly abc family movies all day.
 Okay, maybe the weather didn't make me DVR the movie or press play...but still.

{seven} Today is my little brother's 21st birthday. Sooo crazy!! Happy birthday little bro {who doesn't read my blog and is most likely not even aware that it exists}!! 

He's turned into some crazy mountain man since living in NC.
The only thing we can do is love and try to look past it ;)

It's That Time of Year Again

When the sun shines all day,

and there's no clouds in the sky,

and the weather warms up,

and all the snow is melted,

and all the obnoxious {primarily white trash, but who's to judge} people find their way to the park.

And Roxie and I sit on the couch by the window

and stalk. 

Apparently stalking isn't complete without something in your mouth.

We have upgraded from the blind cord to a beef wrap.

It could be because the plastic part of the blind cord is no longer there because during the winter months when there were no people to watch we don't just hold the cord in the mouth, but tend to chew it. off.

Or it could be because she is bigger now and requires something a little larger to help in with the stalking process. Who knows. She appeared to be satisfied and people watched like this for about 20 minutes.

Looked a little uncomfortable to me,
but to each their own, right?

So today we are thankful that we could have a window open {not quite warm enough for multiple windows},

and let the fresh air in.

Even if it also means letting the sounds of screaming parents, and sometimes their kids, 

into our living room as well.

Spring is just around the corner,

even though it officially arrived a couple weeks ago. 

NH missed them memo.

Wordless Wednesday: Silly Sisters

Just thought I would brag about my lovely little sisters who are filled with many talents:

So proud.

Big Fat Joke

This guy...

and his shadow = a big fat joke.
via

Whoever invented this accurate test for the winter season is quite possibly a joke as well.

How do we even know if he sees his shadow?

Last I knew groundhog's didn't talk unless they were Disney characters, of course.

So on April 1st, we woke up to this....

On Wednesday it was sunny and 55.

What a tease.

 Punxsutawney Phil should be fired. 

End of story.

So today we are sad.

And SO ready for spring.

Wishing we could be out for a walk.

And longing to be back at the Dog Park enjoying some friends and the sunshine.

A New Kind of Lazy

Ok it is time for a new post because I am long overdue once again 

AND

 I have lost 4 followers during this lack of posting time. 

This is not cool. 

I feel bad.

In my defense I have come to my blog multiple times trying to write a post, but had zippo energy to actually form a decent one. So I didn't. Is that a good argument or what??

So for my "decent post" today I thought I would share a little tidbit on my life this morning.

 You may want to pay close attention if your self-esteem is a little on the low side today or if you are thinking you are being really lazy etc because I think I might make you feel better about yourself.

I just spent 30 minutes watching a new workout DVD. 

Yes, watching.

I typically watch any new workout I buy to make sure I like it.

Because you know, I would hate to find out by actually doing the workout. 

That would be lame.

So I watch it, see if I like it, see if I think I would be able to do it, get an idea of how sore I would be, any equipment I would need, does it require a shower after...you know a good solid run down of the workout before I actually do it. 

Also, if that didn't make you feel better, I will be honest enough to tell you that I usually don't watch and do on the same day. Especially if it's midweek or later, if I watched it on a Tuesday there is a slight {really slight} possibility that I would be able to watch it and do it after. 

But today is Thursday. 

Who starts a workout at the end of the week?? 

Not me.

So I watched it.

I liked it.

It's certainly doable. 

And I will begin on Monday.

You know, along with the healthy eating and Spring cleaning.

If you feel compelled to make me feel better with one of your lazy actions, feel free :)

If not, I understand and I hope that in some way my laziness has brightened your day. 

No Photos

No Posts.
Big Problem.

{Sung to the tune of Kenny Chesney}

The device that uploads/stores our pictures is currently dead.
Although I am praying that it's really just in a deep sleep.
I'm quite confident not all of my pictures are backed up so this would be sad.

In the meantime, I don't know how to post without pictures.
I feel like I have nothing to say without them.
So I don't.

For a quick random update:
I'm not too impressed with DWTS, I fast forward through like every one.
Jenelle on Teen Mom is completely ridiculous.
We are back from vacation and the winter weather is still lingering in NH. Not cool.
I have a new favorite hobby that's been keeping me busy. It starts with an S ends with a G and the middle part is EWIN. {that's about a creative as I can be without pictures. Now you know why they're so important.}

Another Line Crossed

I've reached a new level in the {fairly new} life of a crazy dog obsessed person...

I'm on vacation and I miss my pup.




It will be a week tomorrow.

So pathetic, I know.

It's just a dog.




But she's so cute.

And I love her.

And miss her.

I'm a loser.

And I have reached a new level with the whole weirdo dog lady thing.

Hmmm to be proud or not? ;)








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Island Time....

is wonderful.


Sun burn,
Not so much.

But I'm on island time,
So it's worth it.

Always a Mystery

When packing my toiletries for vacation these were two of the items that were necessary....






A perfect example of this crazy season of my life.

This has been quite the pair for the past 10 months.

A mystery every month.

Kinda funny, right?

I chuckled a little as I stuffed them in the bag.

Seriously.

Sometimes you gotta just laugh.




PS
This is my first post using my new iPad 2 so I have no idea how this is going to look! And the whole iPad story is a post of its own for another day!



PPS {or is it PSS??}
Don't forget to Spring ahead!!

Bathing Suits and Butt Cracks

Our lovely tropical vacation to the islands is quickly approaching,

and the bags are starting to be packed and special new articles of clothing are being purchased.

And the 30 Day Shred quickly turned into the 3 day shred.

Seriously, this time I am going to complete it....

St. John is the perfect motivation....

but not really.

Anyways, as if shopping for summer clothes in the winter isn't bad enough-
hairy legs, pasty skin and some extra flub that was created in order to stay warm, naturally. 

As if bathing suits aren't bad enough to wear in general. 

And you've got to love that material that is made to be tight, even in the larger sizes. 

In addition to lack of material in order to expose even more.

Through all the "ewws" and "definitely not!"

Through all the sighs. 

Through all the "thank goodness it's not really summer yet and I have a couple months to really fit into these clothes",

I discovered something new today.

First of all, for those who don't really know me....

the Lord has so graciously blessed me with an abnormally high butt crack. 

::Are you feeling like this friendship has gone to a whole new level?::

Anyways, I choose my pants and my shirts carefully in order to not be mistaken for any type of plumber. 

It's not always easy though. 

Anyone else with a high butt crack can tell you that. 

Some people are extra tall and need some extra fabric in the length of the pants.

Some people are extra short and need some fabric removed.

And some people need to have pants with extra fabric on the backside, but it's extremely important to no give the appearance of wearing "mom jeans". 

via

It's hard to find. 

And btw- I need the extra short and the no butt crackin'. 

Imagine the difficulty.

Oh and PS if you haven't seen the SNL skit about mom jeans. 

Do it.

Seriously.

But this post isn't about jeans...

this is about my recent experience with bathing suit bottoms. 

I now have to choose extra butt cheeks or butt crack.

It was really hard to find a middle ground.

And of course it needs to be able to match the top so you can't just choose any normal bottom.

This is the most modest image I could find to demonstrate any type of visual.
via

Yes, there are other options. 

I could do a skirt bottom, but it can't be too long or too short or it doesn't look good. 

I can't do the boy short bottoms because my thighs and my booty are too big.

So if I was to get a bottom, with a majority of my options today....

 it's cheeks or crack.

Ya'll that is an very difficult place to be in. 

Which I guess in the end of the day I should be thankful that that is the most difficult choice I have to make. 

But we do need to take into consideration that this decision also affects anyone around me.....

{Sidenote: I originally had "effects anyone" then I googled it to see if it was right, and it was wrong. I will never understand the difference between those two, I thought I did...but obvs I didn't! I finally have "then" and "than" down though, so that's good enough for now.]

Needless to say, I am going back out tomorrow with hopes of finding a wider bottom.

Bathing suit bottom, that is.

I obviously don't need a wider bottom.

And I guess if I am on the search for a wider bottom, that says something about my bottom.

You would think that would be some motivation for the 30 Day Shred, wouldn't you....

To cheek or crack? 

That is the question.

Although I know we would all prefer none of the above.

Steammmy

Well, the results are in....

I am very pleased with my steam mop.

Our floors look so clean and new!

It's a little hard to tell because our tiles have natural blotches of dark in them, which comes in handy when you hardly clean your floors.

But that won't be necessary anymore, now it's actually kind of annoying because when it is really clean it still looks a little dirty. 

I've been a fan of steam mops because I love how well it cleans with zero chemicals. 

It's amazing.

From what I researched this Eureka one gets quite a bit hotter than the Shark and the Bissell therefore not just cleaning the areas, but disinfecting them as well. 

It's super easy to use.

It dries so quickly, no need to make sure no body {or paws} walk on your just cleaned floor.

I didn't notice any streaks.

The water lasts about 15 minutes- which is great for our place since it's not very big. 

At the moment, my only negative is that it's not too great at getting the corners. It just takes some extra finagling {I can't believe I spelled that right on my first try}.

All in all Mr. B and I were very impressed and we love our clean floors.

We also learned some lessons along the way.

Like don't leave the mop standing on the wood floors while vacuuming an area real quick.

That whole "the steam is so hot it kills germs" thing...it is also so hot it takes wax off the floor.

This was in the manual btw.

I read it. 

Mr. B didn't. 

You live and you learn.

I also wish I took a picture of the cloth, maybe I will post it another day, but ewww.

It was once white and quickly became black. 

So the moral of the story- if you are looking for a steam mop, but still a little unsure, I would get this one. 

It is only $68 so it's not completely breaking the bank.

It definitely works and it's super easy to use. 

And you will enjoy your brand new looking floors.

Unless of course you melt them. 

Oh and I have never had to say anything like this, but I know other people say it so I will too just to be safe. I am not being compensated for this review, although it would be really cool if I was.  This is just a product that I found and love and felt the need to share :)

And here's a really dumb video.  This area took a couple minutes to get this area real clean because it was so dirty. Those are little scuff marks from some wheels on a an island. And also please ignore the drip marks all down the wall. My rootbeer spilled one day....apparently I forgot to clean the wall. But this gives you an idea of how it works. 

Happy Day

After almost two years,

I am finally getting a steam mop and it should be arriving any moment.

via

No, it hasn't been in the process of shipping for two years.

That would be crazy.

I have had my eye on getting one ever since I got sucked into one of those super-convincing-gotta-have-it-how-have-I-been-living-without-it-infomercials.

I convinced my mom to get one.

I convinced my mother-in-law to get one.

And now my time has come.

Of course, after two years, some minor details have changed like which steam mop I have chosen to grace our household with.

It's not the Shark like Mama Grace.

It's not the Bissell like Mama K.

It's surprisingly the Eureka Envirosteam.

Less expensive than both of those.

And supposedly works a lot better.

Now I feel kind of bad for them.

But it's fleeting because I am too excited for mine.

Maybe I will post some before and after pictures,

if I get the results I am hoping for.

Our kitchen is in major need of a steam mop makeover lift.

I don't think that makes sense, I think those two words- makeover lift-  are an "either/or" situation but I am sure you get my drift.

Do any of you have a steam mop??

Which one?

Love it?

Hate it?

Well, I keep checking the tracking for this wonderful mop and it has been in my city since 6 AM.

So I now keep checking out the window.

It's still not here yet.

Any moment....

It's the little things in life :)




Update: 5 minutes after I publish.....

She's herrrrrre.