Put a White Crayon on Your Windowsill...

That was the announcement that was made over the speakers on Thursday as the kids went home from school. Teachers are very superstitious about their snow days haha. I have also heard of people wearing their pajamas inside out, flushing ice cubes down the toilet and doing the snow dance. I'm the opposite, I do NOTHING because I feel like it will jinx our chances. But anyways, we got our snow day yesterday and it was magnificent!

The snow kept falling for a couple of hours after I got up on Friday and it was so pretty. Laila had a great time getting snow covered outside.

 I wasn't super productive yesterday, to be honest, but that's the nice thing about snow days, there's no expectation of productivity! I did force myself onto the treadmill for a quick 20 minute run. Now I just have to keep that going!

Now I'm off to enjoy my weekend...love extra long weekends! Thank you, snow!!!

Sidenote: On Thursday, one of my first graders told me she thinks I'm really young for my age...it just kinda cracked me up & I didn't want to forget. :)

So about this 3 day a week workout thing...

It hasn't been happening lately. At all. Not because I'm particularly busy. Simply because I don't want to. Lame, I know! I just get extremely lethargic in the winter. It's a pattern. For some reason, I'm not feeling particularly guilty about not working out. This is good and bad. Good because I don't feel bad (obviously) but bad because that feeling that I "should" work out often spurs on some activity for me.

For the last week it's actually still been light out when I get home from work. Let me tell you, it makes all the difference in the world to my activity level. I took Laila on some long, long walks and it was great. I can't wait for spring (although I know we've been so lucky with this mild winter)! And now I will leave you with some Laila pictures because that's all I have on my phone (surprise, surprise).

Paws!

Had some bows from being groomed

Passed out as usual

Not Missin' Meat...

Well it's a week later & I haven't been missing meat. In fact, being a veg is going great! Last night we went out to eat & I thought that for the first time, I might be tempted to eat something w/meat in it. But I have to say, I haven't felt like I'm keeping myself from eating something I want yet. I had an awesome grilled veggie foccacia sandwich...it was so yummy!

I've tried some really good veg recipes for dinner & it's been really nice not having to prepare meat! We do have some meat left in the fridge, so this morning I made pancakes and made Gil

eat the bacon that was left. I thought for sure I'd miss having bacon, but...nope, not really. So this tells me that maybe I really am meant to be a veg! It helps that Gil is willing to try all the recipes I've made so far!

I have to say, although I think I'm eating more veggies and fruits lately, I feel like I've been eating extremely badly. Can you say Halloween Candy!?!? Get me away from the chocolate...I can't control myself!!

This week I made sweet potato and lentil chili, using the recipe from Daily Garnish.

It was pretty good! I made it in the pumpkin bowls from this recipe. The pumpkin gets roasted in the oven and you're supposed to be able to eat the insides. Mine didn't go that well, but it was still cute!

On another note, we made our poor pup dress up again this year. Needless to say, her costume does not fit like it did last year. This was Laila last year:

This was Laila this year! She definitely has fluffy Newf elbows and paws now!

We could barely fit her ears through the hat this year. I think she was pretty mad at us again. The trick or treaters thought she was cute though!

P.S. I'm getting prematurely excited about being finished with my Masters program in May. I forgot what it's like to have free time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great week!

Summer Day

Happy 4th of July!

This weekend we brought Laila to Lake Michigan to try out swimming again. We brought her last year when she was just a little pup and the waves were a bit intimidating to her.

Laila at Lake Michigan Last Summer

First of all can I just say, sometimes I don't realize how much growing she did in a year until I look at baby pictures next to current pictures. Wow, she's large. Anyways, this year we thought she would handle it a lot better & that she'd be excited to dive in. Indulge me as I pretend to be my dog. I'll be honest, I spend a lot of my time narrating Laila's life. Go ahead and judge.

Laila: "I would love to roll in this sand right now. The beach is great!"

"Water? I could go for that."

"Wait a minute...I'm not so sure about this. Why is the water moving like that!?"

Sue: "Maybe if you go out, she'll follow you!" Fail.

Gil proceeded to lead her out to the water and she proceeded to lead him back to shore.

"I don't think so."

"You guys go, I'm good here."

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the next 30 minutes of beach time, but we decided that Laila was probably freaked out by having the leash on her in the water. We took her off the leash and threw the ball into the water and she practically dove in. It was pretty cute seeing her swim around. She played fetch and swam in the water for a while before she got too tired. So we had a rocky start, but she ended up loving it in the end.

Back in the Car...Crimpy Girl

Today we headed over to our friends house, where we grilled out and the dogs played. If you recall, Erin and Matt are the owners of Wrigley, who just happens to be Laila's boyfriend. Something we noticed today was how much our dogs have calmed down since they turned one. They played here and there, but spent a lot of the time sprawled out in the shade.

Erin & I

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Ah, Heavenly 85 Degree Days!

First things first, I slept until 11 today! Wow, I haven't done that in who knows how long. I think I might be fighting something off because I started getting a sore throat last night and it's still hanging around. Go away, sore throat, I refuse to be sick in the summer.

I got up and made breakfast...well, lunch and then we took Laila to the dog park. There were a few other dogs there and everyone was lounging in the shade. Laila, being the puppy she is, tried to instigate some play but none of the other dogs were really having it. We took her on the wooded trails behind the dog park and she frolicked for a while. Then we took her home and turned on the sprinkler, which provided us with 20+ minutes of entertainment as she attacked the water. Here's an example from last summer when she was just a wee baby.

Aw, so little.

On another note...I don't typically buy home decor at Meijer, but I was there the other day and thought this vase was super cute.

It ended up being on clearance for $11. Woot! I think I'm going to buy some fake white hydrangea to put in it. Also, I found a plain white frame at Meijer that I bought for the Detroit picture that I bought from Etsy. I don't know where I'm hanging it yet, but I like it framed!

Crimpy Crimpington

Gil & I were out of town this weekend, so Laila went off to the kennel (which sounds sad, but she likes it there and she has lots of other dogs to play with). However, the past two times I picked her up, they've asked me, "Does she pee in the house at home?" Uhhhh, no. She does not.

She has the problem of peeing in her "suite" whenever she stays overnight there. I think she gets confused. Last time she was groomed before we picked her up, but this time the groomer was booked. So they advised me that she probably needed a bath.

Giving Laila a bath in the winter is a terrible ordeal because it has to be done in the house & it's the worst, messiest thing ever. Summer? Not a huge deal.

I have to to tie her to the fence so she doesn't run away. Once she knows she can't go anywhere she is pretty content to stand there and get it over with as fast as possible.

The funny thing about giving her baths is that her fur gets totally and completely crimpy.

The end.

Exhale!

I'm done with school and I'm done with class (for the week)...time to take a deep breath and relax! I feel like I have no obligations for the next few days & that's an awesome feeling!

I just have one little paper to get done by July 2nd...but I'm not going to think about that right now!

I'm pretty sure Laila is excited to hang out everyday. Her favorite thing to do is lay at our feet under the desk...

On a side note, we were at bowling this week and someone had a Paws with a Cause puppy in the bowling alley. It reminded me that we had talked about training Laila to be a therapy dog so she can go into schools to "read" with the kids. I think she needs to calm down a bit still, as she still gets very excited with new people and likes to jump...which is not really acceptable when you weigh 100 pounds! She loves being around people & really loves kids so I know it would be a great role for her if she were super well-trained. Something to work on over the summer!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Back to my original reason for writing this... Goooooooooooooooooooo Summer!

Laila is embracing her heritage...

As you may recall in this post from last summer, Laila was not yet aware that she comes from a breed of water rescue dogs.

Well, today is going to be 87 degrees outside, so Gil pulled out the baby pool for Laila. She was not timid this time around, got right in and started splashing. Pretty cute.

P.S. I just went to tag this post with the usual "Newfoundland Dog" and "Puppy" labels and remembered that she turned one...our little pup is growing up. Tear!

Summer is Right Around the Corner!!

Technically, I have to work until June 22 but it feels like summer & freedom is right around the corner. No summer school for this girl. Woot.

I'll be taking a class this summer, but it is online so it won't be too inconvenient. Besides that, I have a list of projects that I want to work on around the house.

House To Dos:

• Organize "Treadmill" Room- (bookshelves, closet)

• Gather pictures and hang frames on upstairs landing- Something similar to this, but smaller scale

• Style bookshelves on either side of fireplace

• Reorganize laundry room

• Organize old pictures into photograph boxes

• Put up two floating shelves in master bath

• Hang pictures in basement bath

• Hang pictures in master bath

• Hang pictures in guest room & organize guest closet

• Organize closets in master bedroom

• Organize space behind wet bar in basement

• Install cabinets in basement for tv area (I will not be tackling this one)

• Paint main floor? (Gil is not convinced on this one haha)

• Paint or find fabric to accent cutouts:

Lots to do...can't wait to tackle our house!

On another note, Laila is passed out and snoring at my feet. She had a play date with her boyfriend, Wrigley, yesterday. She was pretty happy about that. Of course they stopped playing when I whipped out the iPhone.

Last summer when they played, she was so little! And I forgot to mention at the beginning of May, Laila turned one! This has been great in our household because she hasn't been chewing as much so we've been able to leave her out of her crate for short periods of time when we leave the house. I think she likes her newfound freedom. Hopefully it won't be too long until we can always leave her out. She still has slip-ups every now and then, like this:

Dang it, Laila!

...Now I'm off to go enjoy this sunny, 80 degree day. Three cheers for long weekends!

"Does the toilet in your basement usually overflow?"

Not a question I was fond of receiving by phone while at work today! Let me back up...

Gil's employer is now offering a concierge service to their employees to take care of everyday needs that employees may not have time for since they often work intense hours. Awesome for us since we had been paying for a dog walking service, but the concierge service offers dog walking.

We met the dog walker last week, parted ways with our French dog walker, Claudine, and were all set up to start with the new service today.

We asked her to come around 12 or 12:30 and walk Laila for about 45 minutes. Around 2:00, I got a call from the new dog walker. She casually posed the previously stated question. Hmmm. Immediately I started picturing ridiculous scenes of our basement flooding and being destroyed. See, like this. Yes, I'm a bit touchy when it comes to the plumbing. The fact that it was already 2:00 and she was still at our house made me imagine a big, disgusting mess.

Plumbing issues? Bad luck? I'm not really sure, but I'm not lovin' the start of this!! Ironically, I hardly hardly ever mop that bathroom floor (I know, bad homeowner) but I just happened to mop it yesterday.

Luckily I'm home and can see that no one dug up our basement and all is well here. I am a bit scared of that toilet now though...and maybe the dog walker too.

City Life...

There are a lot of things that I love about living near a large city. There are great restaurants, concerts and sporting events. There's always something to do.

But every once in a while, I get a little sick of all the noise, traffic, and row after row of houses.

This happens too often on my way to work...There I am, sitting and waiting to get on the highway. Not a good way to start the morning, if you ask me!

Sometimes I daydream about more yard space and space between the houses, two lane highways, and the sounds of nature. I think I'm just going through a restless phase related to winter. I'm so excited for it to get warm outside- you don't even know! Sandals? Yes please.

Laila, on the other hand, is not enjoying the temperatures warming up. She has been panting since March started.

On Selecting a Doggy Daycare...

So...I think it's safe to say that Gil & I are going to end up being neurotic parents. Here's why.

We had been talking about having Laila start going to doggy daycare once a week instead of just getting her normal walks each day. Since I am going out of town this weekend and Gil is going to be busy, we needed to find a kennel for Laila.

So I began the search and found a dog "camp" that sounded good and brought her for a trial run. Welllll...I got there and got a tour of the place and have to say, not as cute and fuzzy as the website made it out to be. Yes, it was clean and safe but I was surprised at how loud it was in there. The barking...ugh, how do those people work their all day?? I wasn't thrilled with the size of the play area either (I think we've been spoiled at the huge dog park) and the kenne

l situation seemed a bit overwhelming. The cages were lined up one after the other and were just wire, so the dogs could see into each other's cages. Seemed stressful to me.

So by that point, I knew I didn't really want her staying overnight in that setting, but I felt okay about the daycare part so she stayed to play. This particular place has cameras so you can check in on your dog during the day. I left to do errands and because he knew Laila was there, Gil checked the doggy cam from work to see how she was doing.

A while later, I got a text from him saying that another dog was harassing Laila and wouldn't leave her alone. So of course I got worried and decided to go pick her up. Shouldn't the employees be watching them?? So just as I was arriving at the doggy daycare, I got another text from Gil that said, "It was actually not her. She's fine." Either way, someone's dog was being harassed even if it hadn't been ours. All in all, although nothing traumatic happened, Laila will not be returning to that "camp".

Today she went for a trial run at a different place, closer to our house, and on the way to work so it'll be convenient for dropping her off. She did great and I'm much happier with the kennel situation there. Dogs that are being boarded have a separate room, away from the play area, the kennels are bigger, and it was a much calmer environment. The dogs can't see into each other's crates, so she won't be stressed out.

So there you have it...we are the neurotic parents of a four-legged, furry baby.

This is what puppies look like four hours after doggy day care...

Pet Owner Guilt

So I know I'm ridiculous and treat my dog like a person, but I can't help it. I think it's because I don't have human kids yet. This weekend, Laila is going in the kennel for the first time and I'm starting to feel really bad about it!

She's only going to be there from Friday morning until Sunday morning, but I just picture her sitting in the kennel all by herself wondering where Gil & I are. I know she will probably be just fine, but I don't want her to be scarred for life. Again, I realize she's just a dog...but...

Tomorrow she is going to have a test-run with a half day of doggy day care just to make sure she does ok. I'm sure she'll love it.

Hopefully this weekend she'll get so tired during daycare that she'll just crash at night and won't even notice that we're not there!

Sporting her hot pink Gentle Leader

Laila in the backseat of the car...She loves a good car ride

Yes, This Did Happen...

Laila was invited to a [dog] birthday party last Saturday. Yes, those are party hats on top of their heads. The dogs were pretty excited about the party...Laila may or may not have caused the most havoc during the party.

I Was Sooo Over Winter...Until We Got 2 Snow Days in a Row!!

I have been feeling the winter blahs lately. I haven't felt like doing a single thing when I get home from work- not homework, not running, nothin'. But my spirits have been lifted since we were given the gift of two snow days in a row this week! Gotta love a winter storm. Now I'm back to wanting spring to arrive.

I was playing out in the backyard with Laila today. She can't get enough of winter. She likes laying outside and sleeping. I, on the other hand, can't wait to come inside.

Happy Pup...

Laila has been introduced to another life experience- the dog park. Gil & I felt like parents watching our child play with other kids for the first time. It was really funny & cute to see how she interacted with other dogs. There was even a full grown Newfoundland the second day we went.

Laila's interactions with other dogs pretty much goes like this- sniffing with her tail between her legs, rolling over, letting other dogs tackle her and pin her to the ground. She's pretty much the most submissive dog ever.

She also looks like the happiest dog of all time when she's around people and other dogs. She runs around with her tongue hanging out of her mouth trying to make friends with everyone. I heart her. If only we could get her to stop jumping on people to show her love...

Laila & Cash on their way to the dog park.

Did I mention that Laila loves Cash?

Well, she does.

Cash, on the other hand, could do without Laila.

She found a new friend to follow around.

Laila is now 8 months and about 80 pounds. She's growing fast, but showing us that she's a smart pup. She can sit, lay down, stay, come, "leave it", shake, wait, and she knows what "out of there" and "get down" mean. She's not an expert at these, but as she calms down with age I think she'll get even better.

Wordless Wednesday...

Happy Snow Day!

Well, I am one happy girl. Today was a snow day!! Snow days really are the best way to start a week...

I'm also glad that I could stay home with Laila one more day as she continues healing from surgery. Have I mentioned that it's nearly impossible to keep a 75 pound puppy from wanting to run, jump, and play? Well, those were the directions post-surgery. She isn't supposed to have a walk for 6-10 days. She's used to getting two walks a day. Yikes.

Right now she's lounging around and acting pretty sleepy though.

We finally got our Christmas tree decorated and it's pretty much my favorite. I love having our house decorated for the holidays.

I'm so thankful for an extra day off and I plan to get a lot done including:

• Cleaning the house

• Getting ahead with homework

• Laundry

• Start Christmas shopping (ahhh so behind this year!)

• Find a dress for the Gil's work Christmas party on Friday

Wish me lots of motivation today!

Winter Storm?

Supposedly we are getting a good amount of snow tomorrow. I for one never believe the weather reports until I actually see the snow falling. I tend to get excited for a snow day and then it doesn't actually happen. Having grown up on the west side of the state, I love getting huge winter storms because I'm used to lake effect snow. I hate driving in it, but I love the snow when I can stay inside. :)

On Friday, Laila was spayed and she's pretty much been sleeping ever since. She also had a tooth removed that was extra- growing behind the normal row of teeth. The vet tech was really excited about this...apparently it was pretty slow around their office this week and they were excited to find that. Haha. They gave us the extra tooth in a container when we picked her up. What they expect us to do with her extra tooth I'm really not sure. They also found one FLEA on Laila. Gulp. That was less than exciting news for me to hear. Hence I will be cleaning our entire house from top to bottom today- steaming the floors, lots of laundry etc. Ew. I guess this is what happens when you bring animals into your house!