I can't stand the name of this movie, but...

seriously, it's hilarious!

Extreme Makeover: Dog Edition

Before:

After:


Theo got his hair cut the other day and I swear, if I wasn't his puppy mother, I would never know he was the same dog! He looks so completely different, and even his personality has changed a bit since his haircut. I have to admit, I loved his fluffiness, and I cried the first time I saw him with all of his hair gone. I love him just the same, he just seems more "handsome" than "cute" now.

Blog Re-Design!

I was tired of my blog looking so boring, so I re-designed it. It's not exactly professional looking...but it's much more fun and bright now. I'm happy with it!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A couple of months ago David and I joined a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, every week we go to a nearby pick-up location and pick up a big box with our name on it, containing 12-14 different kinds of fruits and vegetables (all organic and locally grown when possible). We love it!!



We have been eating so much healthier now because of all the fresh produce we've been getting. And you definitely notice a difference between certain veggies that are grown organically and ones that are not. I sent David to the store to buy green bell peppers the other day because we ran out, and he was rather grossed out by the thick coat of wax covering all of them. It's something that we never noticed before, but now that we've had fresh from the ground stuff it's easy to see a difference. Plus, we've gotten to try things that we've never eaten before and that I would probably never think of to buy...like sunchokes (a little like a water chesnut and yummy in salads or omlettes) and rainbow chard. As the summer gets closer, I'm excited at the thought of all the yummy fresh fruit that will be coming our way!



My biggest reason for wanting to join a CSA is because I really want to support local organic farms. I think it's pretty silly that in our culture that we often go to the store and buy items that have traveled 10,000+ miles to get to us, when we could buy the same item and have it come from a local farm where it only traveled 30 miles to get to us. By buying fruits and veggies that are locally grown we save resources and also wind up getting fresher produce in the process! I will say, that it is a much harder task to buy only local produce items in the winter and spring months. Our CSA is one of the few that even operates outside of the summer season. They get by by having partnerships with other organic farms throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. But, they always try to buy as local as possible while still maintaining quality (which is obviously much easier done in the summer and fall).

Some info on how to find and pick a CSA:
There are so many CSA's popping up everywhere, that it was very hard for me to choose one. I went to the Local Harvest website and spent several days weighing the pros and cons of each CSA. I wound up choosing Full Circle Farm. It is probably one of the biggest CSA's around, which comes with pluses and minuses. A huge plus for me is that each Friday we are e-mailed the list of what items will be in our box the next week, and I can then make up to 5 substitutions from a "substitution list." This is incredibly convenient, because then we don't wind up getting brussel sprouts or asparagus (which David and I both hate) and have it go to waste. Full Circle Farm also operates all year round, which most CSA's dont. Most of the smaller CSA's have a set "growing season" (often 12-16 weeks during the summer/early fall), and often you have to buy what they call a "share" ahead of time, usually in early spring (we pay weekly since ours is year-round). This share entitles you to pick up a box of produce each week during the growing season. A lot of the smaller CSA's also have u-pick flowers, herbs, and oftentimes, berries...which is something I had to sacrifice by going with a larger CSA. I've thought about switching to a different CSA for the summer, because I looove the idea of getting to visit a farm and do the u-pick stuff, but I would miss the ability to do substitutions an awful lot. So we'll probably stick with the one we have for this summer. Anyway, if anyone has ever thought about joining a CSA, I would highly recommend it! There are so many options out there, that you can really choose the one that's right for you and your family.

Being a Christian Democrat...

I've decided that my blog is far too bland. In the past I've been hesitant to ever state any real opinions on certain topics...but now, I'm over that...because this blog is supposed to be about my life and my opinions are a part of my life.

I've been thinking about politics a lot lately, as are a lot of people I'm sure, and I'm finding the whole pre-Presidential election quite frustrating in certain ways.

For one thing, I'm having a very hard time dealing with certain segments of the Christian population that think any true Christian would only vote for a Republican. I don't care who people vote for...vote Republican, vote Democrat, vote for Nader...whatever, as long as you vote. But don't judge me (or others) for having opinions that differ from your own. A person can be a Christian and still vote Democrat, it's not an oxymoron.

I've had several people tell me "I don't believe in abortion and I don't believe in gay marriage so I obviously vote Republican." A certain member of my family has even questioned me in the past on why I don't think that way as well, since I am very pro-life. Umm, because I've done a lot of research on the major campaign issues, more than most people my age that I know, and I've decided on what issues are most important to me and which ones I think will impact my life and my future children's lives the most, and those two issues just aren't it.

No candidate and no political party are perfect in my opinion, and most people (me very much included) probably hold views on different issues that fall on both sides of the political map. But everyone has to choose the candidate that they feel best reflects their overall opinions on how the country should be run. If that's a Republican for you, then great. But for me, it's usually a Democrat...and I don't think that makes me a bad Christian.

Happy 1st Birthday My Darling Theo!

In woolly mammoth mode!

After his recent haircut!


I love this little dog soo much! I know some people think it's irrational to love a doggy as much as I do, but I can't help it. Sometimes my heart just aches when I look at him. This has been a really, really hard year for me personally...but Theo has been the one thing (besides David) that has brought some light and joy to my life. I'm actually a bit scared to have human kids for fear I won't feel as strongly about them as I do my Theo. I truly feel like he was a gift from God when I needed one most!

Snow Puppy!

I loooove snow, so I was very excited that it snowed a bit today and that Theo got to experience his first real snow! He wasn't quite sure what to make of it and he wasn't too happy that his mom kept trying to make him sit still so she could take pictures!

"What is this wacky stuff?"

"Mooom, my tushy is getting really cold!"

"Dad, pick me up and save from the psychotic picture taking lady!"

Wal-Mart documentary

Last night I watched the documentary WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price , and if you haven't watched it you should! I have never been a fan of Wal-Mart...in fact, I think I've only been in one about 3 times ever. But after learning about some of their business practices and how they treat their "associates" it is safe to say I am never stepping foot in another Wal-Mart for as long as I live!

I think one of the facts that struck me the most in the documentary was that The Walton Family, which is worth over $95 billion dollars, has only donated 1% of their net worth to philanthropic organizations. Yes, that is still a lot of money. But seriously people, what do you really need with the $94 billion dollars that are left over! Bill and Melinda Gates on the other hand, have donated 58% of their net worth and plan to increase that percentage. It's just such a staggering difference that it is astonishing to me.

I do realize that all documentaries are pretty much shown from one person's point of view, but if even half of what is talked about in this documentary is true (and it is, because I've done a lot of reading on the subject lately), it is just a horrible, horrible company that I do not wish to support with my money. I would much rather spend a bit more money on items and support a company whose ideals are much more in line with my own!

Pirate Puppy

David won't normally let me dress Theo up, so I've told him I at least get Halloween. He didn't even want to walk Theo out to the car when he was dressed up though, lol. Luckily, my friend Elisa finds doggy dress-up just as hilarious as I do, so we went over to her house on Halloween. :)

My grandma is 92 today!

I know she doesn't even really know what the internet is and surely will not see this birthday greeting, but I just wanted to wish my grandma a Happy 92nd Birthday anyway. She is the sweetest woman and I just love her to pieces. So much so that any daughter I have will be named after her...luckily she has a nice name! :)

Here is a picture of her 2 years ago at her 90th birthday party. She looks sooo pretty!

An answer to a prayer...

I hadn't talked to my mom in a while, like over a week, and I finally talked to her last night and she told me that she had been avoiding talking to me because she didn't want to have to tell me that one of her dogs, Toby, had gone missing. Mom and John have a very large fenced yard, but they often leave the front gate open and had never had any probelms with Toby leaving before, but he must have seen a cat or other small snimal and chased it out of the yard and gotten himself lost. She was hoping that he would just show back up before she had to tell me, but it had been a few days (he went missing Tues. night) and she wasn't so sure that was going to happen anymore.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE dogs...so I did not take the news of him being gone very well at all! I literally cried all of last night, so much that I had a headache for about 8 hours straight until I finally fell asleep. I just kept imagining all the terrible things that might have happened to him and I just felt sick thinking of him out there all scared and alone. You see, Toby is kind of a wimp...one of the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet, but a wimp...and I did not have high hopes for him surviving well on his own. When we first got him a couple of Christmases ago from the Humane Society he was terrified of concrete, being put in a car, and even being taken out of the house. He had been at the pound for a long time before mom adopted him, and he had been adopted out twice before and then taken back both times, which is why I think the poor thing had all these issues. But he has made so much progress living with my mom and is such a well-behaved boy now. I just prayed and prayed that he would find his way home...for Toby's sake and because I knew my mom felt incredibly sad and kind of guilty about him running away. But in my heart, I truly didn't believe that he would ever be home again. I'm ashamed to say it, but I had so little faith!

But early this morning a mini-miracle happened! My uncle Joe was on the way to take some stuff out to the city dump (a way he doesn't even normally take mind you) and he saw a dog wandering around by DeSale's (the Catholic high-school in town) and the baseball field complex right next to it and thought it looked vaguely like Toby. The area is about 2 1/2 miles from my mom's house! My uncle saw a guy out in his yard and asked if the dog was his and he said "nope" so my uncle raced up the couple of blocks back to his house and grabbed my aunt Susie (we're not really sure why, but we think my uncle thought Toby might run and wanted a reinforcement) and then went back down to where Toby was and luckily he was still roaming around there. My aunt called his name out and he shot his head up and came running over to them! They put Toby in the truck and brought him home.

Mom said she saw uncle Joe at the door and then saw Toby sitting right beside him and just started bawling! Soo many people had driven around looking for him and had been praying that he would come back and he finally did! Mom said he was so tired from walking around for the last 3 1/2 days that he didn't even have the strength to act happy to see her (and this dog looooves my mom). She said that he is so stiff and sore that all he managed to do before going to sleep was drink a bunch of water, but he seems like he will be fine. I am just sooo thankful that Toby is home. My heart just ached thinking of him being gone. Especially now that I have my own little doggy, I just can't even imagine how I would feel. I mean I know in theory they're just dogs, but in my family they are very much important members of household, and I am just so happy that Toby is back where he belongs!

One year ago today...

It's been a hard 1st year in many ways, but never because of our marriage. That has always been the rock that made everything else okay. I am just so thankful to have David in my life! And I know it's kind of a cliche, but I truly do love him more each day.