Puppy Training

Ok so maybe Hank isn't a puppy anymore...he is almost 3, but he's still my puppy :)  Well we've gone to 2 one-on-one sessions and I think he's doing good...and honestly so am I. I really like our trainer, Terry. He has a really good philosophy on training and outlook for Hankers. He doesn't think he's "hopeless" and is "right in the head", haha.

In all seriousness he is doing really well and it's reminding me of all the things that I learned when I took Stanley through training all those years ago. We're going to continue one-on-one sessions for a while longer until I'm confident he won't tackle another dog in a group class setting.

Plus after a few hours of training Hank is really tired :)

Funk continues

Yes, the funk continues...I celebrated my birthday multiple times (out to dinner with Matt, once out to dinner with Matt's parents and Matt, once with my parents and my sister, and then again with Matt's parents and his siblings and grandma) but it was kind of difficult. I tried my hardest to be in a good mood and grateful for the time spent together, but it was hard and I'm pretty sure my mom noticed.

I think part of the issue is that I thought I would have "things figured out" by now. What I mean is I thought I would have a stronger direction/purpose in my life.

I was talking with a good friend of mine about this and she suggested thinking about all of the things I have completed/accomplished since graduating from college. I don't think it's a bad idea...I'm just not in the mood.

On the upside I got some pretty amazing gifts for my birthday and these beautiful flowers:

Happy Birthday to Me...ugh

So this year I am turning the big 2-8...and am wondering where the hell the time went. I seriously feel like I was JUST 22! Usually I am all about my birthday and having a day that is all about me...but this year I have been nothing but in a funk. I don't really know where this funk came from but all I know is that I don't feel happy about my birthday this year but rather just feel one step closer to being "old".

Now I know I am not "old" but I feel like I'm in a weird stage that is between "young" and "old" and I don't know where that leaves me. I know it's a new year but I am not a fan of this age. Even Hubs commented on my unusual view of my birthday and said he didn't know what to do about it. I told him to just leave me alone to wallow. Yes, pathetic, I know.

So, because of the funk I took today off of work and I spent my birthday laying on the couch watching mindless tv for hours, wandering around Target for an unnecessary amount of time, and then grocery shopping. What I didn't know was that hubs left work early to take me to dinner (aw sweet) but I was in the grocery store. So after I got home we went to a local Mexican restaurant in our jeans and sweatshirts (yep I wasn't even getting dressed up) and then watched a movie that night...on the couch.

This birthday hit me hard...like a slap in the face saying "wake up, what have you been doing with your life?!?" And you know what...I have no answer.

Tutu Time

I had made a tutu for my niece's 1st birthday and a friend of mine wanted one for her daughter who is starting dance classes so of course I had to make another one. And I love the colors she chose!

Puppy Sitting

This past weekend we puppy sat for our neighbors while they went out of town for the day. They have a pit-mix who gets along fabulously with our dogs so it's always been fun to watch him. However, most weekends our dogs stay outside the entire day playing and just enjoying not being in their kennels. Well our neighbor dog prefers to be around people and this is what I saw when I looked out the window most of the day:

Trust me, it was not a horrible day for them. They played together and this was one of the casualties...a dead fox:

And Stanley so very tired after a day of playing hard:

Wedding Wednesday :)

This past weekend Matt & I went to a wedding for his cousin and this is how our night started:

And this is how our night ended...

haha so much fun was had :)

Back to the Basics

So for the past few months I've felt as though "something needs to be done" about Hank's behaviors. Walks with him have become frustrating and embarrassing by the excess amount of pulling and general "bad behaviors". Well where we live in combination with my non-traditional work schedule (I work M-Th until 8pm...but it's about 45min from home) didn't leave many options for training classes.

But I also wasn't confident that group classes would be the best thing for us as Hank goes bazerk when he's around new dogs. He doesn't "attack" them by any means, but rather gets soooo excited that he can't stop from barreling into them and forcing them to play with him...(insert eye roll here). Well lets just say not every dog appreciates his enthusiasm for them.

Well after a week of Internet searching I found a trainer in our area and after discussing our situation it was decided that individual training sessions would be the best place to start in order to assess where we should go with training.

So although some people might not think it's necessary...hubs and I do and that's all that matters. I am really excited to see what happens in these coming weeks :)

Here are some recent pics of my happy puppy that I just couldn't resist posting:

Quote of the Day

Recently sold all our wedding centerpieces, feeling a little nostalgic...

Baby Sis is Growing Up

Happy Happy Birthday to my baby sister! She is the only sibling I have and I can not express how much I love her. For the past few birthdays she had been living in Cali so this year was very fun to help her celebrate and what better way to celebrate than with a mariachi band and cake!

The Great Minnesota Get Together

That's right hubs and I made our way to the greatest summer event in the state of MN. To say that we "like" or "enjoy" the fair is a major understatement! We go fully prepared to see sights you don't see elsewhere and eat treats you don't eat elsewhere! And this year was no exception...except that I brought my new photog skills :)

It might be weird but our first food was this tray of ah-mazing garlic fries. Although hubs and I are big garlic fans even we had to stop at this point. And when I laughed about something later...hubs said my breath still stunk :(

 New to the fair this year was the Giant Sing Along which was pretty cool.

A Fair favorite this year was deep fried peanut butter cups, all I can say is O-M-G! We split these and that was the perfect amount.

And of course the day wouldn't be complete without checking out the animals. Below is one of my favorite pics of the whole day. There is just nothing sweeter than these little piggies that were only 6 days old!

One of my FAVORITE places the check out is the pet barn! I just love seeing everything that is dog related and trying to catch any demonstrations. I was able to get some fun shots of the trainer that was showing off his spaniel:

And then there was this guy! I LOVE Great Danes! And this one was no exception, look at that face!

Hubs and I walked and walked all day long and overall had a great day together. It wasn't until we were almost to the truck that I remembered we didn't get a pic of us yet. So, please excuse that the background is a parking lot and we look a little tired and full.

I Heart Photography

So over the past few months I have really taken a liking to photography. I have always loved great photographs but had never thought that I could produce anything that I would be proud to show off.

It all started with a couple classes at my local National Camera Exchange store. I had some tickets to classes there and thought, hey why not. So me and my shiny, new Nikon D3000 headed off to learn what all those confusing buttons do ;)

After a few classes I have to say, I am hooked! Seriously hooked! I am so in love with trying to get better and better that I look for any opportunity to try out my skills. Earlier this summer I attended (not hosted) a bridal shower for Matt's cousin and it turned out that none of the aunts had remembered a camera so....I oh so humbly offered to take some pics. By the end of the afternoon I had 210+ new pictures to edit and play with! Well I won't bog this down with ALL of those so I will just share some of my favs. These are of the church where the shower was held. During the shower a horrible thunder storm occured (the tornado sirens went off), but afterwards b-e-a-utiful sun rays came poking thru perfectly placed, white, fluffy clouds and fresh, shiny, raindrops sparkled! Heaven! Enjoy!