Puddin'

Puddin's passing was very unexpected. She had been to the vet on Tuesday and she was scheduled to get a small lump on her leg removed on Friday. The vet was not super concerned and had checked her vitals. On Wednesday we had friends over and they brought their dog. Butler and their pup were having a grand old time in the yard and Puddin' was just hanging out, but then she went down to make sure everybody knew who was in charge! She did a couple of laps around the yard and put the younger pups in their place. Later in the evening, she inched her way onto the couch to get double cuddles. She was arched doing her classic "seal dog" move across me and was being such a sweetie. By the end of the night she was sitting upright in the crook of my arm and I just kept laughing at how silly she looked.

On Thursday I headed home from work to grab the dogs and meet Dave at his parents' house for dinner. I quickly let them out to potty and then they both jumped in the car. Butler was sitting in the front because he's a monster in the car, Puddin' laid down in the back... which was completely normal. When I pulled up and parked 10 minutes later, I went to open the door to let her out and I immediately knew something was horribly wrong. She wasn't breathing, she had peed, she was gone. 

We drove about 15 minutes to a local vet hospital since our vet was closed. They knew we were coming, so they immediately took her out of Dave's arms when we got there. But it was too late. She had been gone for probably almost 20 minutes. There was nothing they could do.

When Dave told me he was thinking of adopting his friend Rachel's dog in August of 2010, I was super excited... until he told me it was a pitbull.  I was skeptical of the breed, I didn't really care for short haired dogs, and to top it all off her name was Puddin'.  Puddin'?  Really?  I thought that had to be the stupidest dog name I ever heard!

And then I met her.  And she was Puddin'.

Puddin's life started very rough.  I'm not sure exactly what happened to her, but I know she had a lot of babies because her nipples were very stretched out when Rachel's family adopted her.  Her ears were clipped.  She had scars.  She lived with the Powells, who are the biggest dog lovers I know, until Rachel moved out and she took her with her.  She was a spoiled princess during this time and was Rachel's Puddie-Girlfriend.

When Rachel moved back home, she could not take Puddin' with her, so that's when we ended up with her.  I know this was hard for both Rachel and her parents, but I'd like to think everything happens for a reason.  Puddin' changed my life forever.  She made me fall in love with a misunderstood breed and now I will adopt pitbulls for the rest of my life.

Puddin' could've been the poster doggie for pitties!  She was so laid back and well behaved that we took her everywhere.  She changed so many peoples' minds about the breed.  And every time we were at a party, we'd receive comments about how she was the best dog ever.  I couldn't tell you how many times people told us they were going to steal her!  Both my parents and good friends now have pitties that look like they could be Puddin's sisters.

Puddin' was one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met.  She thought she was a lap dog.  She loved to give lots of kisses.  People would always bend down to pet her and then next thing they knew, her tongue was in their mouth.  If she saw the opportunity, she would go for it.  Whenever we arrived home, her tail would wag so hard that her entire body would wiggle.  I remember waking up at Midgley Lane to her wild tail hitting the radiator because she was so excited and making such a loud dinga-ding-ding noise.  She was always the absolute sweetest in the morning.  She was so happy to start the day.  Over the years, she stopped waking us up and it turned into having to kick sleeping beauty out of bed.

After almost a year, we started getting comfortable with having Puddin' off the leash in our yard.  I remember getting nervous about her running off, but we realized she just wanted to be near us.  My heart was pounding the first time she ran off chasing the deer that were always in our yard, but she'd run to the edge of the treeline and then just give up.  We began to trust her so much we would walk her off leash too.  I only got caught by a park ranger once and I'll never forget it because poor Puddin' was in a cone at the time.  I just couldn't help but laugh at the idea of my "ferocious" dog causing any drama in the park with this giant cone on her head.

Although she would usually listen to us, she was also very stubborn.  Sometimes she would run up to the edge of the field and no matter how many times I called her, she'd just ignore me until I'd walk all the way out to where she was and then she'd run back like "what?  I didn't do anything wrong mom!"  I'll never forget one morning when I let her out to go potty.  I let her out just like normal and then when I came to get her back in she was no where to be found.  Once in a while she disappeared into one of the neighbor's yards and then when I called her she'd come sprinting back, but I kept shouting her name and she never came.  I started to panic and started running around the neighborhood in the rain screaming her name.  I was so scared she had ventured out to the road or disappeared into the park.  I jogged all the way down to the creek in my work clothes and it started pouring.  I was soaking wet, really freaking out, when I spotted her... sitting on our neighbor's porch.  That little dog did not want to get wet in the rain!

She was also known for her hard head.  If Puddin' wanted to get into a room, no closed door could stop her.  And she was very sensitive to certain noises.  One time our smoke detector died and she hated the beeping noises so much that she put her head through a window!  Our neighbor heard a crash and thought we were getting robbed, but when he came over to investigate he only saw Puddin' making her escape.  The poor thing wasn't injured aside from some scratches, but it was pretty traumatic!

Puddin' was a slut mutt.  She would purr when you pet her just right.  If you stopped, she would make weird noises at you letting you know she didn't approve.  People would say "oh Puddin' must love me" and I'd think... no you're not special, she's a whore :)

I think about Puddin' often.  I picture her curled up on the couch next to me.  I reminisce about all the silly things she did.  When it thunderstorms, I picture her shaking like a leaf.  When I get home, I long to see her cute wiggly butt coming to greet me.  I miss her so much.  She was an amazing dog and she will always be in my heart.

The Great Fence Debate!

Before we moved, Puddin' was uneasy and I wasn't sure how she was going to handle the transition.  Two and half weeks later, I can safely say she's settling in quite nicely.  Our old house was small and full of wood floors, so she couldn't really run around and when we did play fetch she would slide all over the place.  At the new house, we have a large family room with carpet that is perfect for a pup!  She's been more interested in playing fetch than I've ever experienced before and she loves wiggling across the floor to scratch her back.

Although the house is great, the outdoor dog situation is not.  As I anticipated, the run we have strung up between two trees is not cutting it.  Puddin' doesn't really understand the run.  When we put her on it, she usually just stays in one general spot or sits down and stares at us.  Why mom why?  We are also lazy.  When I let the dog out in the morning, I know she will run out, do her business, and run right back in.  Walking her out to the run is way more involved.  I have to beg her to come over to the run with my nicest pleas, so she doesn't feel like I'm dragging her there as a punishment, it's not exactly right next to the house (I picked the tree, so Dave will roll his eyes when he reads this), and it's getting cold.  It's supposed to drop down into the 20s next week, yikes!  However, when she sprints into the woods on the other side of our driveway, I'm always terrified she will keep going into the road!

So now installing a fence has become our top priority.  We got an estimate on Saturday from a company our friend highly recommended.  The consultant was extremely nice, made friends with Puddin', and told us about his dogs at home.  The prices he emailed to us a few days later were very close to the ones I had already found on their website, so it wasn't too shocking.  But in case you didn't know, fences are expensive, especially when you need approximately 365'!

And now... The Great Fence Debate: Wood or Aluminum?

Things we want from a fence:

• Keep the dog (& additional future dogs & babies) in the yard and away from the roadway
• Something we don't mind looking at every day (why chain link isn't even in the running)
• Blends in and doesn't completely block the view (hence ruling out vinyl)

And it will never look this good again, since we will not be hiring Bob's landscaper lol.

The aluminum is my first choice.  It's so beautiful.  It's very durable and requires very little maintenance.

Our other option is split rail wood with wire mesh.  Despite the moist conditions of our yard, the fence consultant said it would last for 25 years and I believe split rail fences require less maintenance than regular wood fences.  I still think this option will require more upkeep in the long run.

So what's the deciding factor?  The aluminum is twice as expensive!  We could make either option work financially, but we know we have a lot of other expenses coming up and the wood is the sensible choice.  Even the fence guy suggested the wood saying "you're young, you should spend your money on a cruise or something."  On the flip side, it's something we're going to be looking at every day for the foreseeable future!  I just keep wondering, if I go with something I'm not in love with, am I going to have fence regret for the next 25 years?

What would you do?!  Fancy aluminum or sensible split rail?

Tomorrow!

OMG OMG OMG we're moving tomorrow!!!!!  Most of our house is packed up but I'm still beyond belief that this is actually happening.  I thought our tiny house didn't have that much stuff in it, but when we started going through everything, it ended up being more than I thought!  We've done our best to sort through things as we go, donating what we can and trashing the rest, but as we approach the deadline things are starting to just get shoved into boxes and bags!  We have both friends and family coming first thing tomorrow with some pick up trucks and another set of loved ones coming Sunday to help us unpack.  We've already had so much help with the house and we are so grateful that we have people that care about us so much!

I'm getting so pumped to organize and arrange everything in the new house (I know I'll be taking this back later lol).  I'm excited to dive into the world of decorating and I've been jonesing for a huge shopping trip to Home Goods, Ikea, and Bed Bath & Beyond.  I stopped into Ross yesterday to purchased some new sheets, bath mats, and a shower curtain, but I'm not letting myself do any major shopping until we get in and see what we have.  Our wedding gifts have been sitting in their boxes since my shower in March, opening them is going to be like Christmas!

 Thanks for the photo & the help, Shayna!

Poor Puddin' does not understand what's going on.  She's been to the new house quite a few times and she knows something's up, but it seems like she thinks we're leaving her behind.  She's been anxious and super needy, I feel so bad.  It also seems like she knows that she's losing the freedom she has where we currently live.  Since our neighborhood is so close knit and she's always been so good, we've been letting her roam around unrestricted for a while.  Usually when we call her to come in, she appears a minute or two later, but yesterday she didn't come back.  So I went searching for her up by our neighbors'.  I couldn't find her, but suddenly a bunch of deer came running from the woods with Puddin' right on their tails!  She disappeared a second time and I found her getting love from a bunch of our neighbors standing around having a beer.  At the new house we're surrounded by neighbors we don't know, a new pooch next door, and a semi busy road, so Puddin' will be limited to a run strung up between two trees.  She has access to most of the yard, but it definitely won't be the same.  We want to put in a fence soon (especially since I want to add another pup to our family!), but for the time being... womp womp for Puddin'.

In other news, I skipped the gym all week since I figured any spare time I had should be dedicated to packing (or sleeping).  They're doing maxes all week and everyone is hitting all these new PRs that have been exploding all over Facebook and Instagram.  Let's just say I'm a little jealous!  I've also been eating like crap and (here's a big shocker) feeling like crap because of it.  October is already such a busy time with cheerleading but adding in the move has taken it to another level and cooking healthy meals has not been a priority.  I'm looking forward to getting settled in our new house and breaking in my new kitchen!

Speaking of cheerleading, my girls had their first competition this past weekend.  Unfortunately, most of the squads in our area do not field the max amount of girls (35 - which is how many we have, that's right, I coach 35 13 & 14 year old girls, let that soak in a minute...), so we ended up in the large category by ourselves.  But we still had to meet a minimum score to advance and we wanted to make sure we held up our reputation of last year's National Champions.  Our practices leading up to competition had been a rollercoaster of hard work, injuries, progress, and drama, but the girls looked so great on the warm up mat and I knew they were ready to rock the floor.  Unfortunately, we had some major falls and a few other errors on the mat.  But overall the caliber of the routine was above & beyond all of the other squads and we managed to meet the minimum score to move on!  I believe the day was a good learning experience and perhaps just the kick in the pants the girls needed.  This is my 15th season coaching and my 15th season advancing my squad to Regionals.  Yeah buddy!

From Regionals last year!

This past year has been so full of blessings that it's hard to think it can get any better than this!  I feel like the luckiest girl in the world and I do not take any of it for granted!  Moving out of Midgley Lane is slightly bittersweet and it really feels like the end of an era, but I know soon we'll be settled in, having friends & family over for dinner, and snuggling up on the couch in a place we call home.  Thank you for all the support and for following along on our adventures on this little blog :)

Oh and almost forgot, today marks 5 months of marriage!  Love you husband!

Any last minute moving tips for us?!

A Few Weekend Pics + Pan Fried Chicken with Bacon and Caramelized Onions

This weekend was a good one!  It began with a happy hour date in downtown Phoenixville with Shayna and Puddin'.  We sampled their menu and some martinis, took in some live classic rock covers, and really took advantage of the perfect weather.  Puddin' even got a doggie ice cream treat :)

The rest of my weekend was spent being super productive.  Saturday was a serious day of cleaning!  Sunday was spent at church, running errands, and then starting our Folk Fest prep!  Dave even finished building our brand new industrial wagon.

Obviously we had to test it...

After busting my butt for two days, ordering dinner out started to sound pretty good.  But I had plenty of food in my fridge and I knew ordering out would lead to bad choices.  So we sucked it up, Dave was in charge a frozen veggie side, I made a salad and came up with a quick recipe that may end up in my regular rotation.

This is one of those recipes that I really shouldn't even call a recipe.  It is so easy and simple, but so delicious!  Who knows, maybe you've even made this before.  But if you haven't considered frying some chicken and onions in bacon grease, you probably should!

Pan Fried Chicken with Bacon and Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:

- bacon

- chicken breasts

- chopped onion

- salt & pepper

- garlic powder

- chipotle powder

- oregano

Directions:

1. Fry some bacon in a pan over medium heat.

2. While the bacon is frying, season your chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chipotle powder, oregano, and any other spices that move you at the time.

3. Remove the bacon from the pan when it is done.  Add your onions to the pan.

4. When the onions become translucent, add your chicken.

5. Cook the chicken, flipping throughout, until it is no longer pink inside (slice into it to make sure).

6. Serve the chicken and onions with your crispy bacon on top!

 

So easy, so tasty!  I think next time I'll be adding some mushrooms to the mix too.


How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?

My April Whole30: Days 25, 26, 27, & 28

Day 25

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Avocado chicken salad, leftover brussel sprouts, almond stuffed olives, and strawberries.

Dinner:

A makeshift taco salad aka a burger chopped up with some

black olives, onions, and salsa over a bed of lettuce.

Sleep (Last Night): 7 hours

Workout: Cheer practice

Thoughts:  My tummy was on the fritz all afternoon!  I think I'm blaming the excessive amount of coconut cream I consumed the night before because breakfast and lunch were so simple.  Not fun.

Day 26

Lunch:

Coconut, spinach, banana, frozen pineapple, and a splash of pineapple juice.

Dinner:

Snack:

A few Coconut Macaroons (some consumed in the afternoon when I was baking,
some later in the evening), plus strawberries and Green Apple Coconut Treats

Sleep (Last Night): 5.5 hours, woof!  Since I didn't have work the next day and I wanted to be productive I headed to the grocery store after cheerleading on Thursday night, then I wrote a blog post, packed, caught up on blogs, did some online shopping, etc.  Next thing I knew I was like, OMG I should be in bed!

Workout: I'm going to count shredding 4 sweet potatoes with a hand grater, so labor intensive.  I'm dreaming of a food processor!

Thoughts:  My day off wasn't relaxing at all.  My dentist appointment wasn't exactly fun and then I busted my butt to get all of our weekend eats ready.  Dave helped me when he got home because my cooking plans were a little ambitious.  The Coconut Macaroons came out perfect and I will definitely be making them again.  The Green Apple Coconut Treats never reached the right consistency, which is probably because I used coconut cream instead of coconut cream concentrate (didn't realize there was a difference), so they never really formed into little candies.  I ended up dumping it all into one container and we picked at it throughout the weekend.  It was still delicious and I think the consistency ended up closer to ice cream, so I may be experimenting with the recipe to make some kind of coconut ice cream!

We headed down the shore around 4 pm.  By the time we got there, settled in, and made dinner, I was ready to crash.  We played some hilarious rounds of Scattergories and then went to bed.

Day 27

Brunch:

Dinner:

Plus some swordfish and asparagus I forgot to take a picture of, whoops!

Mocktails:

 The Lava Flows were so yummy!

Late Night:

I made the Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf at 1:30 am for my drunk friends haha!
Plus some Bacon Avocado Cups with Balsamic Glaze.

There were also some Coconut Macaroons, grapes, strawberries, and Green Apple Coconut Treats consumed throughout the day.

Sleep (Last Night): 9 hours

Workout: 20 minute relaxing walk with Puddin', a few random push ups, lots of dancing at the bar!

Thoughts:  I feel like I definitely overindulged with my Paleo treats, but I stayed strong avoiding booze, onion rings, and a very tempting chocolate cupcake.  The Bacon and Maple Meatballs came out great and so did the Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf!  I'll definitely be making both again, nom nom!

We had perfect weather all day!  We hit two different beaches and even Puddin' got to come along.  She loves sunbathing like her mama.

Started in a hoodie and yoga pants... stripped down to just my bathing suit!

Day 28

Brunch: A repeat of yesterday's breakfast meatballs, sweet potato fritters, grapes, and some more buffalo chicken meatloaf.  I also finished the Green Apple Coconut Treats and probably popped a Coconut Macaroon or two.

Dinner:

Leftover kielbasa and sauerkraut with some spinach and mushrooms,

along with some leftover avocado cups.

Sleep (Last Night): 6 hours + 1 hour nap

Workout: Rest

Thoughts:  I stayed up until 3 am on Saturday, which I have not done in quite some time!  I wish that I was able to sleep in, but sleeping in till 9 is late these days!  I felt ok through the first part of the day, but I definitely hit a wall and felt so run down.  An hour nap helped, but I couldn't wait to get home and get in my bed!

I think my friends enjoyed my Paleo cooking, even my (self proclaimed) picky friend!  And we even have some leftovers to enjoy throughout the week.  So close!!!

How was your weekend?  Did you spend some time outside?