Christmas 2011!

So this year we had a very special Christmas.  In lieu of "traditional" gifts, my parents (Dad and Julie, specifically) decided to give each of us a trip to Alaska for a white Christmas!


We flew out on Christmas Day.  My family has flown on Christmas Day before and it's usually a  pretty slow day at the airport.  What made the flight to Anchorage awesome is that we got to fly with my brother and sister-in-law!  We had two hour layover in Seattle which gave us enough time to eat and call family before hopping back on the plane.  I decided Chinese food sounded good so I walked up to the counter and started looking at my options.  The only thing that looked okay was the "spicy chicken," but I'm a wimp when it comes to spice.  Don't get me wrong, I like a little kick, but I hate that feeling of your mouth being on fire and downing water like there's no tomorrow (only for it to not help).  So I asked the lady behind the counter how spicy it was.  She told me it was "PRETTY strong!" and proceeded to give me a sample.  Yeah.  Spicy : Washington :: Bread : Texas.  Jalapeno bread is spicier than this stuff.  All in all, it wasn't good.  So why tell you the story?  Because I get a kick out of people up North.


So we finally arrived in Anchorage and ALL of our bags made it (there was a mild panic at one point)! 

Yay!  We made it!

We were not the first to arrive, nor were we the last.  Since we still had people coming in, we decided to have our Christmas celebration the next day.  We all slept in - which is hard to do when you're three hours behind!  We spent most of the day cooking a traditional Christmas dinner.  I had my first swing at making my Grandmother's stuffing/dressing...and I bombed.  bad.  :(  Everything else was delicious!  After dinner it was time for presents.  Rather than having a big gift exchange, we did a white elephant swap this year.  Chad and I ended up with a camo baseball cap, BBQ sauce, Tabasco chocolates and a cook book!    We finished off the night with a few rounds of Apples to Apples (my favorite)!

The next morning, we needed to wake up early for our dog mushing adventure.  The drive to Willow took about 2 hours and it seemed that everyone slept but Chad and I.  I had never been north of Anchorage and I wasn't going to let the haze or the fog on the windows keep me from seeing the mountains!


Now let me just go ahead and tell you that this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  Seriously.  I mean, I'm a dog person to begin with, but this made me want to move to the Northwest and start a dog kennel!  I would have been happy just getting kisses all day!


After we went through a short information session on what we were doing and the equipment we were using, we got to go outside and meet the dogs.  The main section had all the older dogs (older as in able to run) and off to the side were the puppies (who weren't really puppies anymore).  Chalk was my personal favorite.  She was one of the puppies, of course.

This is Chalk :)

We actually got to go on a pretty neat trail.  We had three out at a time so Chad and I teamed up and he took the first leg.  The rest of us drove in a van to the midpoint where we could switch out.  My leg of the trail was absolutely amazing.  Yes, I had a professional musher with me, but I felt like it was just me, out in the middle of the wilderness with these dogs.  It. Was. Awesome.  Seriously - I could do that every day of my life.

Chad getting ready to head out.

I'm on my way!

Chad and I with Jesse

So the next day we decided to lay somewhat low.  Travis, Maegan, Chad, and I decided to go to the Anchorage Museum to get out of the house and see some of the city.  The Anchorage Museum is actually really neat.  They have some amazing pieces of art as well as tons of native artifacts from the whole Alaska region.  Now something interesting to know about Alaska - when you say someone is "native Alaskan,"  it means that they are Native American.  Someone can live their whole life in Alaska and not be native.  It is not like we have here in Texas where if you're born here, you're a native Texan.  Also, not every Native is an Eskimo.  Actually, it's considered very naive and, well, stupid to just call all Alaskan natives Eskimos (it's like calling a all Native Americans Cherokees).  There are so many different 'tribes' - each with different cultures and traditions.  The Smithsonian has come in and set up a very nice exhibit with artifacts from each tribe.  After we looked through the museum, Maegan wanted to do a little souvenir shopping.  We walked around for about an hour, then we headed home to dinner with Chef Al!

...or should I say by Chef Al?  One of the Christmas presents we did not know about was that one night, Alaska's famous Chef Al Levinsohn was going to come over and cook dinner for us!  Now Chad and I were in HEAVEN!  Of course we would have loved to just watch him and take a lesson or two home, but the food was phenomenal.  I can't remember how many courses we had, but I do remember it just being out of this world.  Honestly, it was just a really good time for the whole family.

Alaska's famous Chef Al

Let's just say the next morning came waaaaaaay to soon.  The next day was snow machining!  Like dog mushing, it was far enough outside Anchorage that we had a shuttle come pick us up very early in the morning.  Now Chad and I had the opportunity to go snow machining on our first trip to Alaska.  We went on a breathtaking trail where we had the chance to crawl inside and onto of glaciers on a frozen lake.  Since that year, that trip had not been offered due to a lack of snow.  We had our fingers crossed that it would be open again, but we weren't that lucky.


It actually wasn't because there wasn't enough snow - the rivers actually weren't frozen enough.  We still had so much fun on the trails we did get to go on.  Halfway through, we stopped and had hot chocolate and fire-roasted reindeer hot dogs.

After snow machining, we went to the nature preserve just down the road.  This is a really cool little park with a lot of Alaskan animals.  It's kind of like a big drive through zoo.  You can get out at your discretion to take pictures or just observe.  it's a great place to get pictures of wildlife.  We also drove out to a glacier and played in the snow a little before heading home.

Everyone passed out on the way home.

The next day was definitely a day of rest.  I can't remember exactly what we did that day.  I know we planned to go snowshoeing, but we put that off until the next day.  That night we went curling.  Let me tell you - this is a spot that is much much harder than it looks.  

...all smiles now

I don't know why I thought it would be so easy, but I got frustrated very quickly.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed getting to do it all, but I don't hunk I would go for it again on another trip...

Chad was much better than I was.

The next morning (New Year's Eve) Chad and I took off on snowshoes on a short hike.  This trail took you down on the mudflats and down to a bluff.  During the Summer, the tides vary so much that for much of the day there are just the plains of mud.  These are actually very dangerous - and people have dies if they get stuck in their quicksand-like consistency.  Luckily during the winter, the Cook Inlet is frozen over and you can hike over the coasts. 

It's amazing - when you actually get down to the mudflats, you can see until the earth curves.  It's like being out in West Texas, except everything is white and it's dead silent.  Chad and I hiked down to the bluff and back up.  It was nice to get away from the noise for a while and just be us.  Of course Chad and I took our terrible towels with us so we could get pictures :)

That night we celebrated New Years with Champagne and shared out resolutions with those of us who were still in Alaska.  The next morning Chad and I packed up and headed to the airport.  We were sad to go - we had such and amazing trip.  At the same time, I was glad to get home to see sweet Emma. 

As I say after every trip - this is a place YOU have got to go.  Alaska is unlike any place on Earth.  There is so much to do and so many amazing things to see.  I hope you get there one day, if you haven't already been.  

As always, Thanks for reading and God bless!

-Shelley

Graduation

I graduated High School in 2005.  Since then, I have gone through so much (as most people do in their college years): Sorority rush, loosing my grandmother, taking a break from school (and getting a job), living on my own, going through a bad breakup, dating my husband, getting into TCU, getting married and finally graduating!

I'm not going to lie.  I only applied to two schools.  My whole life I wanted to go to A&M.  I bled maroon.  Becoming an aggie was the only consistent dream in my life.  ...until I didn't get in.  I wasn't in the top 10% of my class, but my grades weren't bad - at least I didn't think so.  And I knew people who ranked lower than me (or certainly had grades worse than mine) that got in. But oh well, there I was.  I didn't want to go far from home - my grandmother was battling cancer and the thought of something happening and not being able to be there made me sick.  So on to Sam Houston State University it was.

I didn't know if I wanted to pledge, but I went through rush.  I ended up pledging Sigma Sigma Sigma - and I am still so glad I did.  It made all the difference in my time at Sam.  *To all my Sigma Sisters, SLAM!*

The next semester was a little insane.  I lost my grandmother and then I lost my direction in life.  Not that she WAS my direction, but losing her made me re-evaluate EVERYTHING.  I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.  I decided that I was sick of school.  I'd been doing nothing but school since I could remember and I was just tired of it all.  My grades were reflecting that.  I finally got the nerve to tell my parents that I wanted to take a semester off.  That went well, let me tell you (please note the great deal of sarcasm).  Now I must take a minute to tell you how incredibly blessed I am to have had my parents' emotional and financial support through school.  But, according to them, if I wasn't in school, the financial support wasn't there either.

After spending a summer as a counselor at Heart O' the Hills (the camp I attended as a young girl), I got a job and an apartment and started taking care of myself.  EVERYONE I talked to expressed their concern for me not being in school, and even after I explained that it was just a semester, they would go on to tell me how few people go back.  I never really understood why no one believed me, but I do understand their concern came from a place of love.  I stuck to my word and took a few classes at Kingwood College that spring while still maintaining my job and independent living situation.

The following fall, I went back to Sam.  As I mentioned earlier, my transcripts weren't stellar.  In Texas, we have the option to repeat a class and replace the grade on our transcript.  So I did just that.  For the next two semesters, I made the President's List and the Dean's List all three semesters I spent there.  For the first time in my life, I felt like I was actually smart.  You see, growing up, I never had the grades my brother did and I NEVER felt I could come close to achieving what he had.  At least not academically.  And here I was making the President's list!

Chad decided he wanted to go to fire school (in Rockwall) in the summer of 2009, so I started looking at schools in North Texas to see what there was and decide if I wanted to transfer.  I looked at SMU, UTD and TCU.  SMU never even returned my calls, so I never applied.  I was accepted to UTD and received a scholarship offer from them.

And then I got into TCU.

Up to that point in my life, this was my greatest accomplishment.  Even after classes began, I still wondered if I really belonged here (a feeling that would drastically change by the time I graduated).  It wasn't easy - that's for sure.  I didn't know it then, but over the next two and a half years, I would work harder than I ever had in my life.  I never made the President's List at TCU, but I learned more than I ever had - about the subjects I was studying and about myself. 

And then there was football.  I never attended a game at Sam.  I just never really was into it (and there wasn't really much to get 'into' anyway).  One of the last classes I took at Sam was a public speaking course.  One of our assignments was to give a persuasive speech and so I did mine on the BCS ...and why it sucks.  I will be the first to admit I got a lot of help from Chad on this one.  But this was the first time I really started to care.  I can't remember if I missed any games that first season, but I didn't miss a single one in 2010.  However, I have never been to a bowl game.  We missed the Fiesta Bowl because we were getting married a week later.  After that, we said if they EVER went to a bowl game again, we would BE THERE.  ...then my brother got married on Jan. 1 (for those of you not keeping track, that was the day TCU won the Rose Bowl).  SO, when we go to another bowl game, WE WILL BE THERE!  I mean it this time! :)  I've been to Tech, UT, and A&M games, but there's nothing I've experienced in my life like being at a TCU football game (particularly in the student section).  I'm sure it's the feeling anyone has when they sit in their school's stadium, but I like to think there's something special about TCU.

Speaking of "special," you'll probably hear from just about anyone who attended TCU that it's "a special place."  It's the campus.  It's the students.  It's the faculty and staff.  It's Fort Worth.  I could write a novel on this, but I think I've gotten my point across.  ...and I'm pretty sure you're ready to read about graduation!

Fast forward to the last day as a student at TCU - May 4th.  One of the things I love about TCU is that when we graduate, we get our actual diploma.  All seniors must take their finals and have grades in by the Wednesday before graduation so that they can make sure we actually passed - or we don't get to walk.  It was my last final.  Personal Selling was the class and Bob Akin was the professor.  Akin is one of the reasons I think TCU is such a special place and he is one of the greatest professors I will ever have in my life.  I remember a few of us stuck around after the final was over - just talking and whatnot.  While I was participating in the conversation, the main reason I stuck around was because I didn't want to leave.  Once I walked out of that building, it was over.  Everything I worked for over the last 6 years would be completed.  I don't know how long I stayed, but when I walked out the door, I literally felt this weight off my shoulder, and at the same time, began to cry a little.

Three days later, it was time to put on my purple robe, hat and shoes.  Just about everyone came up for my graduation - which meant more to me than any of them will ever know.  My maw maw and pap were there - 5 months after he had a really had stroke.  I actually didn't think they would come, but they did!  My grandaddy and his wife, Lois, came up and so did my Aunt, Uncle, and my cousins (and one of their boyfriends).  My in-laws came and two of my step siblings came as well.  The one that meant a lot to me was my sister-in-law.  She came in from Mississippi, leaving my brother alone with his studying and came with her mom.  Of course my parents were there.  All four of them!  Honestly, if it hadn't been for my mom, I don't know that Maw Maw and Pap would have made it.

 

We were missing one Aunt and her husband (they were moving), a cousin and her family (they live a LONG way away), a stepsister (who also lives a long way away), my brother (who was studying for his law school finals) and my grandmother. I know many of you who will read this never knew my grandmother and have no idea what she looked like.  She was an amazing person - always happy and a joy to be around.  She was also a master of Southern embellishment.  More than anything though, I think her greatest source of pride were her kids and her grand kids.  She would always introduce my brother as her "only grandson," and my cousin as "Jamie Maxine" (Maxcine was her name).  I like to think she would have told people her granddaughter went to Texas Christian University...  and that that would have made her proud.

That's one of the things I thought about as we waited in line to walk in.  That and that my feet really hurt.  It seemed like we stood there forever!  Finally, we stared to walk.  Down stairs, through halls, down more stairs, then finally onto the coliseum floor.

Most of you know I'm a little corny.  Over the year proceeding up to graduation, I would almost cry at the thought of it actually happening and any time I actually heard "Pomp and Circumstance," I would get overcome with emotion.  So as we're walking out of the tunnel, I expect to hear it - but they NEVER played it!  I was a little disappointed, I must admit.  We took our seats and waited.  The whole time I sat there, I tried to absorb everything that was happening.  I also thought about everything I had gone through since high school.  I thought about Chad and all the support he had given me over the past four years - and how I couldn't have done any of this without him.

As my row got up to receive our diplomas, I thought, "Here I am.  A girl who all but succeeded her first year of school.  And now I'm graduating - from TCU!"  And then it was done!

I refused to take pictures outside.  It was disgustingly hot (as it remained until TODAY).  We went straight to the White Elephant Saloon where we met up with my friends Melanie and Andrew, as well as my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for drinks and hors' d'oeuvres.  Then we headed over to The Lonesome Dove for dinner.  Oh my gosh it was so delicious!  I am a HUGE fan of Chef Tim Love (actually, I'm just a fan of amazing food, regardless of who prepared it) and if you ever find yourself this was of the Trinity River, you should try one of his restaurants (Love Shack is my absolute favorite burger place).

It was such a wonderful weekend and one I won't soon forget.  I am so blessed to have so many people in my life who not only love and support me, but actually wanted to be there for me.  A lot of people don't have that and I am so grateful for it all.

So here I am, writing this post and to my right is my diploma, sitting on the shelf!  Who knows what's next...

Thanks for reading!

God bless!

-Shelley

It's been a while.

See, I've tried to warn everyone how bad I am at posting to my blog.  I've never been good at things like that.  When I was a kid, I had several diaries I would keep for a few days, then never open for another five years. 

Since Chad is working tonight and A&M has all but won this game, I'm going to work on a few posts.  If I don't get them all done today, I'll finish them up in the next couple of days.  Here are the topics I'm hoping to touch on:  Graduation, Our trip to Baylor and just a general update on our family!

Talk to you soon!

-Shelley

6 Christmases, a graduation, and a wedding.

...and it all happened within TWO weeks!

WARNING: This is going to be a very long post...

Okay, I lied.  Two weeks and one day.  It all started with my step-brothers graduation.  I'm so proud of David!  He graduated with his MBA from the University of Houston in mid-December.  Chad and I drove down to Houston that day and met up with the rest of the family at Hofheinz Pavilion.  It's a little poetic because that's where everyone in my family (except me) had their graduation ceremonies from KHS.  Of course the year I graduated, they moved it to Reliant Stadium.  After the ceremony we went to the Flying Saucer where Maegan and I discovered the most amazing raspberry champagne-like drink.  Oh my gosh - YUM!

Of course this made me wonder if I want to continue my education past May ...and I still have no idea.  I think either way, I'm going to take at least a year to get some "real world" experience.  We'll see after that...

I didn't get any pictures I would consider "excellent," so this will have to do.  Also, I have to give a shout out to my best friend from high school who also graduated that same day.  Congratulations, Char!  She graduated with her Bachelor's from Texas State (and had a baby about 3 days later)!

Congratulations, David!

Since we were already in Houston, I decided to schedule Christmas for my mom's family that Saturday.  I didn't get a chance to see any of my side of the family over Thanksgiving so I was NOT going to let Christmas go by without seeing everyone.  We had a delicious dinner of dear steak, beans, homemade yeast rolls and a load of other stuff. 


Traditionally, we do fireworks at the Hon Christmas.  We usually stop on the way and buy a ton of them.  However, the lovely state of Texas has now made it illegal to sell fireworks before a certain date and our Christmas celebration fell before that date.  Enter Uncle C.D.  My brilliant uncle thought to get some extra during the 4th of July!  It wasn't a ton, but the four or five he brought were absolutely spectacular! 

That night, after we got home, we exchanged gifts between Mom, Glenn, Chad and I.  

Our Bonfire - with a hint of purple :)

 

Me and Maw Maw

My favorite!

This is probably really dangerous to do, but we threw the used shells into the fire - just look at the color!

Chad and me before opening presents!

As I mentioned earlier, we didn't see my family at all over Thanksgiving.  Chad and I try to flip-flop holidays as best we can so this year was Christmas with my family.  I'm not really sure what we'll do next year since "Christmas in Alaska" is in the plans...  Anyways, we had already decided my family would have "dibs" on Christmas plans this year.  

My brother-in-law's family has several pilots (including my brother-in-law) so we don't normally celebrate holidays on the actual day (since they have a 50/50 chance of flying) except this year.  Chad and I had already planned to go to the Brackin Christmas on Christmas Day, but I still wanted to at least do something small with Chad's family since we couldn't be there for their big celebration (they do things with both sides of the family at the same time).  Chad and I drove over to Chris and Earl's (my in-laws) house on Christmas Eve so we could do something early in the morning.  


Every Christmas, Chis makes this wonderful sausage cornbread on Christmas morning and I knew my husband's Christmas would not be complete without it.  I look forward to it myself!  Cheryl, Paul, and the kids came over and we quickly opened presents and then went to see Chad's grandpa before heading to Houston.  (Sorry...no pictures)


Chad and I drove straight to my Aunt Sharon's house (Baytown-ish area) for the Brackin Family Christmas.  My Aunt (with the help of my cousins and probably my uncle as well) made all of Grandmother's traditional dishes.  Cornbread Dressing, Poppy Seed Dressing, Deviled Eggs, and the most delicious turkey I have ever had in my life.  YUM!  And yes, all of those things are proper nouns in my book and warrant capitalization.


In the last few years, we have been blessed to have some of the extended family join us.  I LOVE this because my Uncle Billy plays the piano really well and he plays while the rest of us try to sing.  Another new tradition we have is donating our time/money to help someone less fortunate have a better life/Christmas rather than exchanging gifts.  This started after we lost Grandmother in April 2005.  We all sit in a circle and share who/what we gave to.  Unfortunately we didn't get around to the board games this year, but there is always next year!  (again, no pictures...sorry).


After that Brackin Christmas, we all met up (sans Maegan and Travis) at Dad and Julie's apartment for our family Christmas.  I got a lovely scarf from Meredith (it's purple and white - perfect!), Groupons from Courtney (she won the award for most creative), and a Saint Arnold's apron from David (it's purple, too).  From Dad and Julie (and to each other), Chad and I bought a new T.V.  We went from a 32" Westinghouse that was more than a few years old and starting to spaz to a 47" LED Vizio.  Chad is in love.  I am, too - but I think he's a little more excited over it all - ha!

Before.

After.

The day after Christmas we all went to my Aunt Penne's house for the Weidig Christmas.  I love this Christmas because every year we do a white elephant gift exchange.  



Okay then.  So Chad wanted to find an Obama Chi Pet for the exchange.  Turns out  those are not easy to find in Texas. However, while we were at Walgreen's, he spotted Booty Pop.  These ended up being one of the funnier items of the night - especially when my very fashion-conscious Aunt Penne put them on over her jeans! We didn't say too long afterwards because Chad had to be at work at 9:00 the next morning - so back to Fort Worth we went (again, no pictures....again, sorry).


So all the while, my brother's wedding is fast approaching.  With school and everything, I did not have time to go dress shopping.  I found a dress before Christmas, but I had to go back  to Northpark to have it altered.  After leaving the mall, I called Chris to let her know I was on my way to pick up Little Miss Emma (they had been keeping her while we went to Houston for Christmas).  With sadness in her voice, Chris responded, "Oh, alright."  After discussing it briefly, we decided that Emma would just stay there for the week (we would be dropping her off on Wednesday for the wedding weekend anyways).

A "just because" picture

On Thursday morning (the 30th if you're keeping track), Chad and I woke up early to drive down to Houston for the Bachelor Party.  I dropped Chad off at the gun range with the other guys and then I went to spend the day/night with the Marty's.  The Marty girls were the flower girls at our wedding, if you'll remember.  They are moving to AUSTRALIA in mid-January!  The girls are so excited about the move, which I'm glad about.  We spent the afternoon going through all the stuff Debbie has stocked up on and going to Chuy's (my favorite) for dinner.  We stayed up way too late, but I wouldn't trade  one second for anything.  Debbie and I cried our eyes out over pancakes the next morning before I went to pick up Chad and head to Tyler.

Love these girls!

Love this family!

Alright.  We've made it to the last 48 hours.  The wedding.  New Years Eve was the rehearsal.  After arriving in Tyler and fixing Chad's tux (the jacket was four sizes too big and his pants ended up not matching the jacket), we all met at the church.  They ran through everything twice and then headed to the rehearsal dinner.  My parents had planned a marvelous party for the rehearsal and NYE.  Around 10:15, we had fireworks out on the patio and celebrated midnight with New York (since Travis and Maegan couldn't see each other on their wedding day)!

Chad and me before heading to the rehearsal.

Fun with hats...

This one pretty much sums up the night.

Happy New Year!

The following day was the wedding (obviously).  It was a beautiful ceremony and a fabulous reception!  I wish I had more time to spend with Maegan - she was absolutely beautiful!

There are very few people I would miss the rose bowl for.  They were two.

 

Congratulations, Mr & Mrs. Brackin!

All in all, within two weeks, we made 3 trips to Houston, 1 trip to Tyler, 2 trips to Frisco, and 3 trips to Dallas and back.  I. Am. Done. Driving.  However, I wouldn't trade anything.  ...okay...maybe a few things, but I'm glad I got to see everyone and spend quality time!  Love you all!

Oh yeah...

GO FROGS!

Love,
Shell

It's not just about the dog...

So the semester is OVER!  I started this blog as an assignment for class, but now I want to continue it.  In doing so, I am going to talk about our "family" more - not just little Emma.

One thing you must know - I am notoriously terrible about posting to a blog.  I have tried it before and it just didn't work...  but I'm really going to try this time.  I guess I just don't think our lives are that interesting.  We don't have kids and I'm a student.  Our day to day lives are pretty normal (at least I think so).  SO I will start off by "updating" I guess.

Little miss Emma is 8 months old now!  She is an incredibly small corgi - she looks like your normal 6-month-old would look like.  Yes, she still hops.  I just think she always will and I don't mind - just as long as it never becomes an issue for her.  It is a little funny to watch her run after her ball and trip over something.  she literally acts like nothing happened.

We still haven't gotten her spayed yet.  We're waiting till she is full grown at 9 months so we can get x-rays done at the same time.  We're praying that she won't go into heat in the next month...

Our Little Girl

Chad has been working away.  A couple of weeks ago he FINALLY got the transfer he had been asking for for months.  For those of you who don't know,  Chad has been working in Frisco since he moved back to Dallas.  It wasn't a big deal - until we got married and decided to live in Fort Worth.  He was driving one hour and 15 minutes each way.  When he had to be at work at 8 in the morning, he would have to wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 - yeah...no.  So he now works about 5 minutes from our apartment.  In fact, I pass his store on my way to school.  I used to drive if we went anywhere after he got home - since his commute pretty much sucked, but now mine is longer!  I'm just so happy he is closer to home and less stressed!  Of course we're still looking for fire departments, but it's just really competitive and not many are hiring!

15 hours.  That is all that separates me from a Bachelor's degree.  I am unbelievably excited.  Not too sure what I'm going to do after school.  Some things I have thought about are portfolio school, graphic design school, an MBA or just working.  I really have no idea.

This week has been insane with Christmas and with Travis getting married this weekend.  I have been shopping non-stop and now is no exception.  Today eyebrows, shoes, and nail polish are on the list.  I have an appointment at 4:00 so I'm going to run.  I hope to get another post in before the wedding, but no promises!

Until next time!

-Shell

So she barks....

I am what you would call a paranoid (pet) parent. When Emma was a puppy (I know she still is, but I mean a SMALL puppy), I worried about everything. Okay, I still do for the most part, but I digress. I used to worry about her barking.

In the first few weeks we had her, she didn't make a peep. No whining. No crying. No barking. Nothing. She would occasionally do this thing with her mouth where she would open it to bark, but nothing would come out. It was as if she was on 'mute.' I didn't really think there was anything wrong with her, I just didn't understand why she wouldn't bark.

I posted a question on mycorgi.com (a website strictly for corgi owners) asking fellow corgi lovers if they had any takes on my silent dog. The general consensus is that I should thank my lucky stars that she doesn't bark.

Not too many weeks after posting the question, Emma started barking - slightly. She would do a sort of half-bark that wasn't very loud. We encouraged her to "find her voice" by asking her to "speak" for treats and what not. The problem was that the only place she could do that was here at our apartment. Any time we were away from home, we strongly discouraged her barking. I felt like we were sending her mixed messages.

I'm no longer worried that we sent her mixed messages.

The dog barks at everything. Everything. Neighbors going in and out of their door - she barks. Knocking or doorbells on the TV - she barks. Shadows - she barks. Nothing - she barks! Chad took her out last night and I heard her start barking like crazy. When Chad came upstairs, I asked him what Emma went crazy over. "Some one got in their car," he said. The parking lot is on the other side of our building...

There have been countless times she has literally barked at nothing. Possibly the most humorous scenario was a few weeks ago. With the weather "cooling down," we have been opening our patio door more often. At the time, the door was closed but the blinds were open. Emma caught something out of the corner of her eye and started running towards the door barking. At her reflection. We couldn't help but laugh...

It is funny though to notice the different types of barks she does for different situations. When it's just me at home, she does a quiet bark... not too loud. When Chad and I are both at home, she goes into protection mode. Which I guess is a good thing.

All in all, I'm glad our baby has found her voice and that she is protective of us.  Right now she is quietly chewing on one of her bones - but I'm sure 4 AM will be a different story.

Thanks for reading!

God bless!

-Shelley

Pupdate!

Okay, so Emma is now 23 weeks old!  Where did my baby go?!  Now she is a tenacious little dog whose only desire in life is to play - incessantly.  So I know many people are wondering how our little hopping puppy is doing.  Well, she is still hopping.  Anything faster than a slow walk turns into a hop.  However, we think her "knees" are starting to bend a little more!  We don't try to push them or anything, but every now and then we'll just check to see how they're coming along.  I don't know if she's going to keep making progress as she grows, but I'm a little hopeful.  Her legs still do not seem to be bothering her.  We went on a 2-mile walk/run the other day and she was still running when we got back to the car.

We have upgraded her food and water bowl.  They were just getting too small.  Her new ones a little large, but she'll grow into them. :)  We also got a mat for her bowl to sit on.  She's not too sure about that one - so it's a little funny to watch her eat as she stretches her neck over so her feet won't touch the mat.

Emma's favorite toy - in the whole wide world- is a little black squeaky ball that has paw prints all over it.  Her grandparents (my in-laws) got it for her.  Seriously, this is the only thing she wants to play with it seems.  We'll be sitting on the couch, watching TV, then guess what gets dropped on our feet.  And if we don't pick it up, someone starts to bark.  Then she'll try to jump on the couch in a desperate attempt to try and get our attention.  As I type, Chad is on the floor throwing the ball across the room.  Some days I don't mind it so much.  Then there are days like today.  I had a huge project to work on and the incessant squeaking was about to make me chuck the think out the window.  Her other toys of choice include empty coke bottles (coke meaning a variety of soft drinks - for all you non-Texan readers), and a cow we call "ting-ting."  Don't ask.

At this point, Emma has lost all of her teeth except the very back ones.  She has definitely been in pain from it all.  Some days, she could only eat her food if it was wet.  Ice cubes have been a favorite treat as well.  Hopefully this phase will be over soon, but I'm thinkin' those back teeth are going to be the worst ones.

Overall, Emma is doing great.  She's a healthy happy puppy who is staring at me right now with her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.  Oop...now she's walked to the other side of my feet...  better go play...

I leave you with a video I took of Emma the day after we brought her home.  I think she learned this from, Daddy, but I won't rule myself out of the mix....

Snoring Puppy from Shelley Garland on Vimeo.

God Bless!

-Shelley