Happy Thanksgiving!

So hard to believe that 2011 is coming to an end and Thanksgiving is 2 short days away! Tomorrow, we are flying up to Wisconsin to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mike's extended family. We haven't been there since Thanksgiving 2008 so it will be nice to head up there. On Saturday morning, we are taking the train to Chicago and spending Saturday and Sunday in the city with our friend, Jenny. Chicago is very near and dear to our hearts since that's where we got engaged last year! I'm also looking forward to some colder weather FINALLY. Our meteorologists down here apparently like to mess with us and keep telling us a "cold front" is coming through. "Cold front" means that the temperature is dropping from 85 to 77...Not cool, meteorologists, not cool at all. How about you use the term "cool front" when it drops below 70 and use the term "cold front" when I'll actually be able to walk out of the house in my boots and wool pea coat. Sound good?
(And to all you northerners reading that who think I'm nuts for wanting colder weather this time of year, imagine waking up Christmas morning and not being able to turn on the fire place because it's 85 degrees out and songs like "Let It Snow!" and "Frosty the Snowman" are playing. Doesn't quite add up. Bing Crosby dreamt of a white Christmas and so do I.)

There's also been some changes around our household... Unfortunately, Mike lost his job about a month ago. After vigorously job searching, an old boss of his hooked him up with a great opportunity...in Georgia. He'll be working for an owner who has purchased several locations around the Georgia area (mostly around the Atlanta area) and is building new fitness centers. It may sound like a risky opportunity, but Mike feels very confident in the job and it's a great chance for him to finally work for his own  company (that he began a few years ago) and expand to new areas. Right now, he's up there for a few days a week and then working the rest of the time from home. What does this mean for us in the long run? Not sure, but there is a lot of potential for him in Georgia and way more potential for me in my industry up there than there is down here in Tampa. We've discussed our options so we'll soon see what 2012 has in store for us...

Penny's doing well. No huge updates on her except that she's getting to be a little chunkster. Mike had to take her to the vet on Saturday for a shot she needs to be boarded this week, and she has gained 5 pounds! We knew she got bigger but not 5 pounds bigger! She eats like a horse, though, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. She started a new basic obedience class and of course, is the most hyper one there in her class of 10 dogs. She thinks it's social hour and has to make sure she says "hi" to everyone there about 10 times. For her graduation next month, we have to teach her a trick on our own and she has to do it for the class. God help us.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! 

Happy November!

Hard to believe it's November 1st already! 2011 has flown right by, that's for sure. It's definitely been a very busy and life-changing year!

This past weekend, we celebrated Halloween. Saturday morning, we took Penny to Davis Island for "Wag-o-ween" - a Halloween event for pets! When I was originally looking for a costume for her, I took her to a few places and tried some costumes on her. Turns out, Penny is not a fan of anything on her head. It also turns out that about 90% of the dog costumes out there consist of some sort of headpiece. I found one at Petco but immediately put it down when I saw it was $30. $30 for a small piece of fabric that my dog will wear for an hour and then probably use as a chew toy? Sorry, Petco, but you failed on this one. I decided to let my creative juices flow and made her a homemade costume - a butterfly! Penny likes to chase them when she sees them out in the yard, so I thought maybe she'd like to see what it's like to be one. A trip to Michael's and Marshalls and $11 later, I had this...

Can't you tell she loves it?

The Wag-o-ween event was a lot of fun! They had a costume contest (some stupid little white dog in a store-bought ladybug outfit won. Lame.). The dogs went "trick or treating" and got bags of treats and food. They also had a dog caricaturist and "paw art." Penny made us a lovely yellow and green paw print canvas.

"Hi mom! I'm sitting nice for the artist."

Yep - it's on the fridge. Until we have kids, this is what you get.

Saturday night, Mike and I went to a friend's house party for Halloween. We did a couples costume and went as Hugh Hefner and a Playboy Bunny. I tried to make myself look like the 1960's bunnies with the ears and tail, though my 60's hair flip fell out after about an hour (I was "blessed" with stick-straight hair...). I got the idea from a recent show that was on (The Playboy Club, which I never watched, but NBC cancelled after 3 episodes so I guess I didn't miss much). I thought the vintage outfits were cute. It was also a pretty cheap way to go. Mike borrowed the robe from a friend and had everything else (If you've seen our honeymoon pics, you'll recognize the hat from Venice...) and I borrowed the corset and bought the accessories, which all came together anyway. Easy enough!

Happy Halloween!

Sadly, we only had one trick-or-treater last night! There's not too many kids in our neighborhood, so I'm not real surprised. For what it's worth, though, the one that we had was absolutely adorable so it was worth it! He couldn't have been more than 3 years old and he was dressed as a dinosaur. He asked if Penny would bite and I said no, but that she was probably scared of him since he was a dinosaur so he "roared" at her and it was probably the cutest thing ever! I did miss seeing all the kids out and about, though. Maybe this time next year we'll live in a neighborhood full of kids so we can actually get more than just one come by. 

That's if for now! Off to Gainesville this weekend to UF homecoming on Friday night and to watch the Gators lose again play on Saturday. It's a noon game so hopefully the good weather gods bless us with a nice day!

Weekend re-cap and some Penny Lane action

Fall FINALLY made an appearance in Tampa last weekend, and it's been such a nice change. I love the cold weather - nothing is more disappointing that seeing my friends up north post pictures of themselves in scarves and boots while standing in front of red and orange-leaved trees, while I have to blast the A/C on high down here since it's still in the upper 80's. Leaving our windows open and the smell of Fall in the air is the best thing!

Last week, my sister came to town and we all went to the Lightning home opener. They lost but it was still a fun time! This weekend was USF's homecoming game so we went out on Saturday morning to tailgate with some friends. We weren't going to the game so of course we brought Penny, decked out in her little Bulls dress. Saturday afternoon, we went to Frenchy's, a restaurant out on Clearwater beach, not too far from where we got married. Every year on a weekend in October, they do their stone crab fest, where they sell stone crabs for a penny over cost. We usually go every year since we love stone crabs! Some friends joined us this time and we were definitely stuffed by the time we left.

Go Bulls!

Mmm...crabs, get in my belly!

This Wednesday, there is an event in the evening that Humane Society sponsors. It's basically an excuse for you to enjoy live music, the great weather and have some drinks while toting your pet around in a costume. I took Penny shopping for a costume and it turns out she hates having anything on her head. Everything else I found was close to $30! Sorry, Petco, I'm not paying that much for a piece of material that my dog will probably take off and chew to pieces. So I decided to let my crafty juices flow and I made her a butterfly costume. She likes to chase them outside and the fact that I only spent $11 for supplies to make it, makes it a winner in my book. I have to put some finishing touches on it, but I'll be sure to post pics later on this week.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this video of Penny from Friday. She loves to run around in the back yard and since it's fenced in, we'll put her out there and let her play and get some exercise. On Friday, I went out to check on her and found that she was having the best time ever with a random plastic bag that the wind blew into our yard. It was pretty amusing and kept her occupied for a long time. And no, you don't need to turn your speakers up. As much as she's battling the bag, what you're hearing is the silent joy of having a barkless dog (for those who don't believe that Basenjis don't bark). Enjoy :)

Watch the video here!

Penny's 15 minutes of fame!

Since I'm a big supporter of the Humane Society, I get their newsletters and mailings every month. They have a section called "Happy Tails" where people can write in their stores about their adoption experience. I decided to write one up for Penny and submit it. To our surprise, they added it to the front page of their October e-newsletter! I didn't expect to open up my email and see her little smiling face there :)

Here's a screen shot of the email page and you can read her story here.

Two month hiatus

Sorry sorry sorry for the lack of posts. It's been a busy 2 months (when are we NOT busy??). I had a work trip to San Antonio (a.k.a the hottest place ever) in August. We had Gator Rompin' which is Tampa Gator Club's big event of the year. We also re-did our backyard and it looks awesome! We put pavers down and created a patio with a covered canopy and a fire pit. We can't wait until the weather gets cooler so we can use it.

At the end of  September, I had a work trip in New Orleans that Mike joined me on and it was a lot of fun! We ate so much...New Orleans definitely has some of the BEST food I've ever eaten! I could live off seafood and cajun food. Yum! We did  a lot of walking to make up for it though! NOLA is a very interesting place - lots of history, lots of old buildings. I love places like that. I'd definitely go back again!

Penny graduated from Puppy School. She did well but still has a few things to learn so she's taking the next step up and we're enrolling her in obedience training. Potty training is about 99% there and she does well with sit/lay down. Crate training totally went out the door since she gets anxiety in the crate, so we now share our bed with a 12 pound ball of fur. We take her to lots of dog parks and try to socialize her as much as possible and she does really well with other dogs! She did excellent on her first road trip. We took her to Gainesville this past weekend and she slept the entire time to and from in the car, and did great when we left her in my sister's apartment.

We're now in October with is BIRTHDAY MONTH! Mike's birthday was this past Sunday, October 2nd. I threw a party for him Friday night and then I happened to win tickets to the UF game on Saturday, so we went up there for the weekend. My birthday is next on the 13th, followed by my dad on the 14th, mom on the 16th and sister on the 18th. I am vowing to try as hard as I can to NOT have kids in October! I don't think we can handle another birthday!

Since I've been MIA on the blog for awhile, here are some new pics of Penny and some of our trip to NOLA. I promise to get back on track with the posting!

Penny says "GO BULLS!"

She also cheers for her dad's team :)

My latest project for our front door.

Smiling away!

Acme Oyster House - NOLA

The best oysters EVER!

The classiness of Bourbon Street.

Probably the best gumbo I've tasted, not to mention one of the best sandwiches too!

Loved seeing buildings like this all over NOLA. So pretty!

St. Louis Cathedral

My 5-times great grandfather. Cool huh?

Local brewery "beer flight."

My favorite - crawfish! I could eat pounds of these...

Alligator, sausage and shrimp cheesecake appetizer. Don't knock it til you try it!

Beautiful Tulane University - my dad's alma mater :)

My dad's old frat house!

Who ate more crawfish? Yep. That would be me...

Where Mike won $1,000 Saturday morning while I was working.

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...

So...as I sit here wondering about all the exciting things that we've been doing to update you on, my mind draws a blank on anything except the dog. When did we become one of those couples whose lives revolved around their dog? About 3 weeks ago, that's when. We're mildly obsessed with her so until that obsession ends, you're stuck reading about a 10 pound ball of constant energy who prefers to yodel instead of bark.

Come on - how can you resist that face?

She started puppy kindergarten last week and has been doing well so far! She's a master at "sit" now. And the potty training has been improving. We've also been bringing her around other dogs and she's super friendly. The only dog she seems to hate is this big shepherd/lab mix that comes in for the dog class after hers. Not sure what he did to piss her off. Maybe he just gives off some negative doggy attitude that only she can see. Or maybe she's angry at his owner since her wardrobe looks like it came straight from the 80's and she has a bad perm. I'll go with that one. I'd growl at her too if I could. Get with the times, lady!

I've also started taking her out to Bayshore for walks in the evening. Seems to be the #1 way to get rid of all her puppy energy. She's doing surprisingly well on them. She seems to love walking up and down the sidewalks and likes to gallop like a horse. She also feels the need to go and say hello to EVERY person who jogs or walks by. She'd be great for single people who are trying to meet someone. If any of our single friends wanna borrow her, have at it. Who needs Match.com when you have Penny to do the work for you? I've also come to the conclusion that she's going to be the world's worst guard dog. If someone ever tries to break in, she'd just run up and lick the crap out of them and then bring them a toy. Then she'd start playing with said toy and ignore the fact that there's anyone in there at all.

On Sunday we took her to the dog beach here at Fort De Soto State Park. She had a blast! She loved running around in the sand and of course, going up to every person and dog that she could. God forbid she doesn't make friends with everyone. We brought a boogie board for her to sit on in the water which she seemed to like better than swimming. She made friends with a corgi named Annie who's coloring was very similar to Penny's. She pretty much looked like a fat version of Penny. Being the polite little girl that we're raising her to be (well, sort of), she shared her boogie board with Annie and the two of them had a swell time.

Modeling her new life jacket. Safety first!

Her new thing is to watch TV. She has a blanket that she's allowed to sit on while on the couch and we've caught her several times reacting to what's on TV and cocking her head side to side when she's amused by something. It's pretty darn cute.

Oh! I did think of one thing to share that's non-dog related. Mike officially took over as president of the Tampa Gator Club. He's got lots of exciting things planned for the year and he's been doing a great job so far. I became "first lady" (and have the badge to prove it) and he bought Penny her first Gator outfit - a little doggy cheerleader outfit. I found a little USF Bulls dress that I'm gonna get for her and she'll be all set for college football season! The bar that we watch all the games at is dog-friendly, so I'm sure she'll be making plenty of appearances decked out in her green and gold and orange and blue. Whoops - guess that did happen to become dog-related after all. Damn!

Anyway...that's all for now! If you're brave enough to watch, the new season of the trash-tastic show, Jersey Shore, premieres tonight at 10:00 on MTV and my sister Stephanie may have made it on camera a few times...She was in Italy over the summer the same time they were filming the show. God help us...

Puppy Fun

We've had Penny for a week now and she seems to be adjusting well! Still a few puppy things to work on like leash training, potty training (though this is improving), etc., but she loves being around us and has had so much fun meeting new people! Tonight, Penny starts her first class of puppy kindergarten. How stinkin' cute is that name?? I wonder if she'll get a little graduation cap when the course is over. Here are a few pics of her first week - they were taken with the camera on my phone so the quality isn't super awesome.

This is her new thing. Since I get up first in the morning, I take her out right away. When I come back in to take a shower and get ready for work, she jumps in bed and sleeps with Mike for a little while. We're trying to train her to only go up on the bed and couch when we invite her, versus her jumping up on her own. The other day after Mike left and I was drying my hair, the little trickster jumped back on the bed and took over Mike's spot since I wasn't looking. I love her face here. It says, "I know I'm not supposed to be up here on my own, but look how cute I am anyway!"

My friend Stacy came over the other night to meet her and she snapped this picture of her. I love it! It looks like she's smiling big for the camera :)

Penny's first shopping trip! I was dying to take her to PetSmart since you're allowed to bring your pets in with you. She did pretty well! Not once did I have to use one of the "Oops!" pet cleanup stations that they have around the store. Go Penny! She also got along really well with all the other dogs walking around the store. I had to pick her up and hold her a few times since she got carried away looking at all the goodies in the store (she takes after her mama...), but she did well and we had a good time.

Aunt Stephie came down from Gainesville this weekend to meet Penny. She thought Penny was a little bigger than she actually is, so she brought her this big, stuffed duck. Penny loves it! She doesn't care that's it's half her size. It's so cute to see her carry it around. 

We also bought her a little red t-shirt at PetSmart that says "Adopted" on it. It was too cute to pass up...

Clearly, she has a thing for giant toys now. Yesterday, I found her in the bar trying to attack Albert. She must be a USF fan. Get that gator, Penny! ;)

You can't really tell in the picture but her paws are stretched out in the air. Doesn't look too comfortable but she seemed to enjoy sleeping like this. If you look closely, you can see her little green "tattoo" on her belly. Every animal at the Humane Society is fixed, so they give them this little tattoo so that vets will know that they have already been fixed. 

That's all for now. Here's hoping puppy kindergarten goes well tonight!