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Monday, September 28, 2009

Long Time no Post!

Just wanted to do a quick post to let ya know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Things have just been a little hectic. New post coming soon………

Reveal of a BIG surprise

Adventures in hair coloring

Halloween Extravaganza!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

New Blog!



One of my VERY good friends has joined the blogging world. She’s a mommy, wife, teacher, and lover of cost effective home décor. Stop by her blog and say hi. I know sure she would LOVE to hear from you.



Jennifer and I have been friends since the 8th grade! This was taken at her baby shower. Can you tell we’re a little goofy when we get together?


Monday, September 14, 2009

Parker was Attacked by a Bull Mastiff

Sunday started off with much promise. I went to see a movie I’ve wanted to see for some time (Julie and Julia) while Kent watched the Cowboys game at home. I LOVED Julie and Julia and would recommend it to anyone with loves to cook. After the movie I headed home with high hopes to clean and workout.

Kent left to run an errand and I jumped on the treadmill. Well, our little treadmill had other plans in mind and decided it wanted to take a little "work vacation". I wasn't going to let our broken treadmill get me down and decided to move my workout outside. My Yorkie Parker LOVES to go for walks so I put his harness on and we hit the pavement.



This is when my relaxing Sunday turned into one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. Out of nowhere a Bull Mastiff charged my little Parker. I didn’t even see it coming; I picked Parker up which did not stop the attack. The Mastiff tighten it's grip on my little guys hind leg, pulled him from my arms and began to viciously attacking Parker. I fought with all my might to free my little one but the Mastiff would not release it's grip from Parker's neck. I pulled at the dogs neck, I pulled it's legs, I tried to pull Parker away from it's mouth, I even shouted NO! NO! BAD DOG! (I know it sounds silly now but I tried everything). Nothing seemed to faze the Mastiff. I began to scream for help hoping someone from a surrounding house would come to my aid. A gentleman who was driving by pulled over and ran to help tackle the vicious dog but was not able to loosen her grip from Parker's neck. I felt so helpless and started to envision Parker being taken away from me. I continued to scream as loud as I could for help.


Picture of a Bull Mastiff.This is not a picture of the actual dog that attacked Parker; just wanted to give you an idea of what she looks like.


I may not have been strong enough to help Parker but my screams turned out to be a major aid in the attack. All the sudden a teenage boy ran from a house and tried to pry the dogs mouth open. He was shouting at the dog and calling her by name her name…..that’s when I knew that this huge dog must belong to him. After a bit more struggling he pried her mouth open and Parker was free.


Parker's neck. Sorry these pictures are not the best quality. I had a hard time getting him to be still.

There was blood and fur all over the ground. I scooped Parker up and began my walk home trembling with tears running down my face. I’ve never been more horrified in my life. I was so shaken I couldn’t even keep my hand steal long enough to search for an emergency vet. I called a friend who was kind enough to call Kent and tell him where one was


The vet could not believe that Parker survived the attack with minimal bruising and a few bite marks. We were able to take him home later that evening.


The vet gave him avangard hair cut!

These were taken Monday evening. The attack happened Sunday afternoon.....he's already looking MUCH better!
I can’t stop thinking about how lucky we both are. I have a very small bite mark on my thumb, a bruise on my arm and my back and arms are very sore from trying to pull the Mastiff off Parker. All in all, I call that extremely lucky! Parker is getting better everyday. He’s been sleeping most of the day and still limps when he walks around but I can see his little personality coming back to life. He’s started eating and drinking which make me feel a lot better. He's going to make a full recovery!


Parker's hind leg. This is where the initial bite was.

I'm having a hard time sleeping at night. I'm fine during the day but for some reason when I start to unwind for the evening I start to get flashes of the attack, my mind races with "I should have done this or what if I did that." I breaks my heart that I was not able to stop the attack on my own. If the owner did not come to my rescue.....Parker would be dead. I took some Night Quill last night to knock me out and it did the trick. I think with each day things will get better and better but I do not foresee me taking any walks around the neighbored for a LONG time.


I really wanted to share this story to make others aware. I LOVE dogs and would never imagine that I would be in the middle of situation as vicious as this one. I’m taking this as a learning lesson and want to educate myself on how to react incase I’m ever met with a situation like this again.
Disclaimer: If you are an owner of a Mastiff I'm by no means trying to be negative towards the breed. Mastiffs are usually very good natured. It just so happens that Parker and I crossed paths with one that's different from the norm.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Fallalicious Candle Review

The smell of Fall is in the air (well, at least it is in my house). Like many others out there in blog land I’m a confessed Fall fanatic. I love the colors, weather, smells, clothing, pretty much anything associated with Fall! I was at Wally World (aka Walmart) the other day and decided I needed some Fall scented candles for our home. I fell in love with one of their holiday scents last year but for the life of me cannot remember which one it was so I went with Paula Dean's Mystery Pecan Pie and Mainstays Pumpkin Spice.


I’m usually pretty picky about candles and of course want ones you can smell throughout our home. Since I was so please with the candle I picked up a Walmart last year I figured it was worth a try. These guys were each under $5.00 and let me tell you it was $10.00 well spent!


My favorite out of the two I purchased was the pumpkin spice which is the one in the picture below. It has that nice pumpkin smell (not too strong and not too sweet) with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. We live in a two story home and I can smell this bad boy even when I'm upstairs. This best part is after I've blown it out I can still smell it hours later. Now that's what I call a good candle!




The Paula Dean candle below is another good one. Even though the candle is cheap it burns well and the smell is long lasting. I love the little canister it comes in too. I will say this guy is a little too sweet in smell for me. Not enough to keep me from burning it but I usually don’t leave it burning very long. If you love candles that are sweeter in smell then you’ll love this one! She had a few others scents that smelled good. I will definitely buy her candles again.


All in all I was very happy with both of them. My favorite of the two is the pumpkin spice but I liked the Paula Dean candle as well. I think I will just need to try a different smell. The pumpkin spice candle was actually a little cheaper than the Paula Dean one. Lesson learned…….you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good quality candle!

Let me know if you have either of these or if you try one out what you think about it.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Model Home FUN!

As I mentioned in my birthday post my family and I went on a little model home tour last week on my birthday. I love looking at model homes and always leave with pictures full of decorating ideas and inspirations. I thought I would share a few highlights from our tour.




House # 3


Isn’t this a great idea? Start collecting those thrift store mirrors. It might take awhile to recreate this if you are doing it frugally.



I love the soft colors of this room. It feels comfy and elegant at the same time.




These were in a nursery. What a great way to put your a personal touch on your décor! If you are childless (like myself) what about doing something like this with black and white pictures of an old oak tree, your dog, or pictures from your wedding; possibilities are endless and no need to be a skilled photographer to recreate this one.



Another simple but great idea; layering two plates on a plate stand.




This was a candy and chocolate themed girl’s room. What little girl wouldn’t love this bed? Isn’t it cute how they wrapped the rounded pillows to make them look like candy wrappers?



They used jars of candy throughout the room. Not too sure I would want candy that accessible in my little ones room…but hey, it sure looks cute! It would be fun to recreate and end table like this one in a play room.




All the bathrooms were Amazing with huge steam showers and pool sized bathtubs. Ok, not really pool sized but they were BIG!





These mirrors were my favorite thing we saw during our tour. I REALLY want them but I’m sure beveled mirrors like these come along with a hefty price tag. Oh well, I’ll just have to drool over this picture.




Beach elements were sprinkled throughout all the homes we visited. I love how they grouped the starfish and coral with a bit of sand in this dish.




This was our favorite home of the day! The décor was light and airy with fresh greens, butter yellow, cream, and dark wood tones. I just love this place setting!





The dining room opened to a beautiful sunroom that just begged us to make ourselves at home!



My Mom enjoying the sunroom.



See what I mean, we really did make ourselves at home. This is Saundra who is like an aunt to me; she walked around the home talking about all the fun parties she was going to throw in her “new home”. We even made plans to have my wedding there! Too bad we were just being silly. I would have really considered it.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Pumpkin Spice Latte


Strabucks pumpkin spice goodness is back!!! I made a trip to pick up one of these bad boys as as soon as I heard they were back in action. Kent gave me a Starbucks gift card to help supply my addiction to this fall flavored goodness.
As much as I love Starbucks drinks I’m more in love with the experiences I’ve had at Starbucks. One of my favorite things is to have a cup of joe and a nice chat with my gal pals. I love the warm colors of the decor and the eclectic music that plays in the background. During a school term you may find me studying away at the local Starbucks. One of my good friends often pops in during my study sessions so we can catchup and I can have a little study break :o)

Are you a Starbucks fan? If so what’s your drink of choice.



Thursday, September 03, 2009

Birthday Celebration

I celebrated my 27th birthday last Saturday…..oh boy did I celebrate it! I was spoiled by my family and friends and had a birthday extravaganza that started on Friday and ended on Sunday. I had so much fun and took wayyy too many pictures. I tried to narrow it do to a few that summed up the weekend.
Let's get started
Friday started off with lunch at Conner Bakery. My Mom had the table all decorated. This is what I saw when I walked in the door. I was so thrilled that I had birthday balloons!! Can you tell which one of these lovely ladies is my Mom? She’s the one standing up by the balloons.

I was showered with cards and presents. This picture was a gift from my Mom. I’m toying with the idea of painting Parker’s name somewhere on it. Once I get our laundry room painted this little guy will be hung on the wall right next to the dog beds.
After lunch we hit up Sam Moon. No one left empty handed! If you’ve ever been to Sam Moon you know it’s really hard to go in that place without buying something. After shopping we headed on to tour a few model homes (I’ll be posting about our tour later) and rounded out the afternoon with a chit-chat break at Starbucks (another one of my favorite spots).
Me and my Mom. Isn't she pretty?


I manage to spill my drink all over my white shirt while we were at Starbucks. My Mom felt bad for me and treated me to another birthday gift……a new shirt to replace the one I ruined. A quick outfit change and we were on to our next location.


Cru Wine Bar for a glass of wine and……..


a visit with my brother who is the bartender at Cru.


On to Saturday (which was my actual birthday). Kent had been asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday for weeks. I could not make my mind up but knew I wanted to start the morning off feeding the local horses. I LOVE HORSES and hope to have one of my own in the future. We loaded up a bag with carrots and apples. I was their best friend, until we ran out of goodies.

Can you tell that I have their attention!




Ahhh I just LOVE them! I could have stayed there All day!



After we fed the horses we made our way to my favorite Indian restaurant. Look at the scrumptious cupcakes my friend surprised me with. They were delish!




Me and my pal Jen-Jen. We’ve been friends since middle school. I promise I’m wearing clothes even though it looks like I’m not in the next few pics ;o)




Jennifer's hubby and their little one; isn’t he a doll! Jen dressed him in a little outfit I that I gave her at his baby shower. He looked soooo cute and was a little angel at lunch. He melts my heart and I was so happy to have him there with us.



Me and Angela



Andrea and Troy


After lunch we headed to Starbucks (are you noticing a trend) and played a few board games. We ended the evening with a movie and a burger from Whataburger. Umm, no I’m not weighing in at Weight Watchers this week. They would probably kick me out if they knew all the bad food I ate over the weekend. Don’t worry I’m on damage control :o)


On to Sunday…..


a nice relaxing day at the lake with some good friends.

See what I mean when I said I was spoiled this year? I had a birthday weekend fit for a princess, domestic princess that is. I’m so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends that care enough about me to make my birthday such a special event.
I’m sure you can tell my pictures are looking a little wacky this time. I’ve been playing around with picnic.com. If you don’t know who they are check them out. I’ve had a lot of fun with their site!



Kent joined in on the fun once he was done with work. After a glass of wine we walked over to a local pizzeria and had a lovely dinner together.