A new kind of baby book

There are sentimental things at this point in my life that I wish I would have documented from the beginning. Things like a scrapbook of every vacation, collecting sand from all the exotic beaches I've visited, take significant photos on the same day every year... things like that. However, when I think about just starting up now, my OCD starts to tremble and quietly whispers, "yeah that's great, but your collection will never be complete because you didn't think of these things in the beginning." Stupid reason, but that's seriously what goes through my brain.

In the spirit of documenting exciting life occurrences, I figure if I can't start over on my life, I'm going to document a few things about my future child's life. Sure, I have a baby book as do most people, but I've been especially inspired with the awesome ways people are starting to record their pregnancy, child's first year, etc. Check out these awesome keepsakes that I'm sure will be a great thing to look back on someday:

LilSugar

I made cards similar to these for my wedding. It's so great to look back on them now and read everyone's marriage advice and what they thought about our special day. What a great idea for a baby shower! 

Baby Space

Hanna Mac

Simply Bloom Photography + unknown

I love the idea (in book or picture form) of keeping track of things during your pregnancy. Things like what food you were craving the most, how big your baby was, when you announced it to everyone, etc. And chalkboard art is always way cool.

Making It Lovely

Susie Leggett

Reaves, Party of  Four

Interviewing your child with the same questions on their birthday every year could become an awesome little book to give them someday. Ask them things like what their favorite food, show, toy is and who's their best friend, etc.

"My name's Clay, wanna mold me?"

Many moons ago, I played club volleyball with (my now sister-in-law) Abbey. Discouraged by the lack of male height at Mona Shores, I asked Abbey is there were any good-looking, tall guys at her high school. She gave me the screen name (yes, this was back in the AOL days) of her friend Bobby. I chatted online with Bobby and few times and we eventually suggested a group date. Bobby had also given my screen name to his buddy Clay (who I had never met before despite knowing his parents and sister through volleyball). We also chatted a few times online. Probably very intellectual conversations considering we were very mature 15 and 16 year olds. (Riiight.)

Anywho, Bobby and I decided to attempt this so-called "group date." I brought along a few of my girl friends and Bobby with his friends (Clay included). Clay brought along his cheerleader date. Back up... I had mentioned to him during one of our chats that I didn't care much for cheerleading... didn't consider it a sport. So what does Clay do? Goes, "Hi, I'm Clay. Tell my date what you think of cheerleaders!" Charming, isn't he? He also spent the entire movie throwing pieces of candy at me. Girls, do you remember back in elementary school if a boy picked on you, that meant he liked you? Apparently Clay hadn't grown out of that stage.

To make a long story short, I went to Bobby's house, Clay informed my parents that Bobby's parents weren't home, my dad storms over, tells me to get my ass in the car, yells at Bobby and that was about the end of that "relationship." As you can imagine, calling me out about my dislike of cheerleaders, throwing things at me and then embarrassing me to no end by calling my dad.... I did not care for Mr. Clayton one bit. Hell, if I remember right, I believe I first described him to people as this arrogant prick.

Then... for some unknown reason... Clay stopped his childish flirting (including his awesome pickup line), won me over and we started dating. He asked me to be his girlfriend on February 16, 2002. Ten years later, he's my husband but still is a 16 year old boy at heart. I don't even remember what life was like before Clay and am so blessed to have him by my side. We've been through ever major milestone in life together, good times and bad, and I can't wait to take on what's next with him.

Lop eared, I love you.

These are all photos taken of us on our "anniversary" every year... xoxo

Available for Adoption: Siberian Huskies

Tonight's featured breed, my other first love... Siberian Huskies. My family rescued Miss Zayla after she was found roaming our neighborhood. We contact the owner via microchip and they came to pick her up and took her directly to the pound. Why? No clue. We visited her at the pound every day until the week long waiting period was over. She's been a permanent fixture in my parent's house ever since.

AVALANCHE: Male Siberian Husky

KATIYANA: Female Siberian Husky

SARGE: Male Siberian Husky

SELENA: Female Siberian Husky

SPARK: Male Siberian Husky

SPARKY (SNOWBIE): Male Siberian Husky

All of these dog are available for adoption. Click on the photo for more information.

Happy 1st Birthday Zora!

Happy 1st birthday to my favorite long-legged ball of fur! We adopted Miss Zora when she was only 4 months old... I can't believe time has already gone THAT fast. We're so thankful she's part of our lives and are so pleased with what an amazing dog she is!

These are all pictures taken of Zora before we adopted her

Her first night with us!

My favorite picture of her

Her CRAZY ears!

Peak!

Always eating... just like her momma.

We swapped bandanas and were each other for Halloween!

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Year's Eve

Giraffes + babies

For some odd reason, giraffes hold a special lil place in my heart (right next to doggies). I think it's because I've had so many nicknames associated with giraffes and have been compared to them so many times in my life... it just sort of stuck. For example, my high school volleyball coach told me my senior year of high school that the first time he saw me play (back in 6th grade), he thought I looked like a baby giraffe on ice skates. Embarrassing, I know.

Anyways, I saw this nursery on Pinterest awhile back and I just knew... without a doubt in my mind... that I was going to paint my future nursery like that. No joke. Love at first sight.

Behold! Giraffe baby Mecca!

Pinterest must have read my mind too because all this adorable baby-related giraffe stuff kept popping up. Couldn't resist putting together a little collage of all it's adorableness.

Available for Adoption: Chihuahuas

Today I realized I kinda miss doing my weekly shelter dogs post. So here I am again! Instead of featuring a specific rescue group, I decided to search a specific breed in Petfinder. Tonight's post is going to feature Chihuahuas since lil Peanut was my first furry love. Also, Chihuahuas are the second most euthanized breed. This saddens me. Go forth and save the wee furry ones!

LENNY: Male Dachshund/Chihuahua mix

TEQUILA: Female Chihuahua

CHEWY: Male Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix

SHOOTER: Male Chihuahua

TILLIE: Female Chihuahua mix

GITANO: Male Chihuahua

L.T.: Male Chihuahua/Dachshund mix

All of these dog are available for adoption. Click on the photo for more information.

Football inspired snacks

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone! Hosting or going to a party this afternoon? Here are some cool snacks to get everyone in the football spirit!

     

     

     

Floors, crafts and boo-boos.

First of all, I'd like to apologize to my mom and Clay for the insane nervous breakdowns I've had this week. I'm sure my mom was slightly hesitant to pick up the phone during the noon hour when I was heading back to work. It was pretty much a for sure thing that I would be sobbing like a lunatic carrying on about how I fail at life. (Sorry mom.) Between the ever growing to do list, Zora's sad infected toe and upcoming household projects.... I'm thinking I either need a week off from everything else or a entourage of personal assistants.

On a happy note, our new floor is being installed tomorrow!!! I'm sooooooooo tired of scrubbing carpets, I could scream. Thank you original owners for putting white carpet in the dining room and in front of the sliding door. Our solid mud backyard and Zora's feet thank you. Although the super heavy-duty carpet scrubber was the best investment ever, I think it's a tad extreme that I use it more than my vacuum. The new floor that's coming in is a solid vinyl tile and will be consistent from the entryway, laundry room, kitchen, dining room, hallway and main bath. Zora and I are spending the day with my sister in Muskegon so Clay and his buddies can work on the floor uninterrupted. (A huge huge thank you to Jason and Eric for spending your Saturday helping us out!)

Adios crappy flooring!

Really!? Where else on the property did they hide ivy!?

I made another emergency trip to the vet before closing time today. I took a picture of Zora's gross toe to send to my mom and the way the flash hit it or something made all the nastiness really stand out. I'm hoping that it just looked that way because the Neosporin was drawing the infection out... but to be on the safe side, I had the vet fill me up a prescription for some heavy duty cream. I'd rather be safe than sorry at this point. I need pup to keep all her piggies. :(

This makes me sad... and a little queasy. 

In other news, Ashley and I are going to apply for a booth at the Mona Shores holiday craft fair this year. So we're in the process of figuring out displays, making product, etc. It should be really fun. I'm a little nervous that I'm setting myself up to fail, but we'll see how this goes. I'll confirm whether we are given a booth or not, but if we are, keep an eye out for us!

I think that's about it for now. Better get some shut eye since Clay's supposedly getting a very early start on things tomorrow. Stay tuned for photos of our new flooring in the upcoming days and keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for the guys tomorrow! 'Night!