Sunday, October 30, 2011

Breckyn turns 2

Two years ago we began searching for a little Siberian Husky puppy.  We were lucky enough to find a breeder who lived about 75 east of Cleveland who had just had a litter of puppies.  We were so excited and could not wait to go see them.

About 3 weeks later we headed out and found the cutest little puppies we had ever seen.  It was so hard to decide which one belonged to us, but after playing with them for awhile, one just kind of seemed to stick around.  She seemed like the perfect little puppy and we could not wait for her to be big enough for us to take home.


We got to pick her up in the middle of December when she was 6 1/2 weeks old and there really hasn't been a dull moment since.  To call her a spoiled dog is an understatement.  She knows exactly what to do to get us to cave in and give her what she wants.  She knows that I feel bad for leaving her in her crate all day while we are gone.  I swear sometimes she knows exactly what I mean when I'm talking to her.

Yes, I know she is just a dog.  But if you have ever seen her listen to you and turn her head and look at you right in the eye as if she wished she could give you a response, you might think otherwise.

She has torn through two couches,  killed a few birds,  found a few dead squirrels, eaten her fair share of garbage, and still has not learned that it is not polite to jump on people when you see them.

But she is our dog and she is so sweet.  She is always happy to see you when you come home and it's the best when she sits next to you on the couch after a long day.  She loves to sleep at your feet in bed, which is much easier to do when only one of us has gone to bed but proves to be a little more difficult when we all get in there!

She is awesome and we love her.  Do we spoil her? Yes.  Do we talk to much about her?  Probably.  Does she give us a reason to go on long walks and bike rides?  Yes.  Would we change anything about her?  No (okay well maybe it would be nice if she actually listened to us, just maybe).

Happy 2nd Birthday Breckyn!

her first Christmas present

first snow!
her ears look huge...dumbo?
so important in the passenger seat
hanging out on the front porch
playing with her new birthday present
Ok, enough about my dog (at least for a little while!)


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Christmas Countdown

Yesterday while driving to work I was listening to the morning radio and heard that there were only 2 months until Christmas. 

At first I was thinking there is no way this is possible and actually sat and pondered whether or not it was true (why, I have no idea, it just didn't seem possible!)  Once I realized that the radio was telling me the truth, I drove to work with my mouth hanging open thinking how is this year going so fast?

And why are we counting down until Christmas?  What happened to enjoying the moment?  I love fall and I'm not ready for it to be over.  It isn't even Halloween yet!  After that we have Thanksgiving and then Christmas is allowed to start.  Not. any. sooner.

I think the real reason I am so not ready for it to be Christmas yet is because I just started crafting again and I am looking at my to-do list and thinking there is no way I have enough time for all of this.  I started and finished a blanket for little baby Luke in two days (success!).  His birthday is Saturday and he is going to be one, which seems crazy because it feels like he was just born.  We will be going to his party on Sunday and I can't wait to see how big he has gotten.

in the works
Other things on my list so far are:
  • a hat for Ben
  • a few 7x9 pieces for Knitting Clubs charity project
  • a cross stitch stocking
  • cross stitch baby booties
  • a baby blanket
  • some scarves (if there is any time left!)
We will see how it goes.  I love crafting and love that colder weather brings me back to knitting and crafting.  I can't wait to see what else I can get my hands on!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

a monthly dinner and cleveland beer week

A quick little recap of the last two days:

Tuesday night I headed out to the eastside to meet up with Katie, Mary, and Kristen for our monthly dinner.  It is always great to catch up with those girls.  We talked jobs, friends, boys, husbands (theirs not mine!), weddings (for engagements that haven't happened yet), and everything else you could think of.

We spent a decent amount of time chatting about whether or not it is okay to have your wedding semi planned even if you are not engaged.  More just as a joke than anything else, but don't all girls kind of know what they want in a wedding?  And if you are in a serious relationship that is eventually headed down that road you have those conversations with your significant other.  So why not talk about it with your girlfriends?

And good news...there is another baby on the way!  It's new news so there's not much to share but we are all very excited for Kristen's expanding family.

Wednesday night Ben and I met up with Melis and Anthony to celebrate Cleveland Beer Week.  We had dinner at XYZ the Tavern and it was delicious (aside from the meat and cheese board that is).  Dinner was great, beer was delicious, and the company was the best as always.

I wish we had more time to celebrate Beer Week, but working weekends doesn't really allow for all the fun that we'd like to have.  Oh well, going out to dinner on Wednesday works for me!

Yay for tomorrow being Friday!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

ben's first tailgate

We just got back from a very delicious brunch with Melis and Anthony and are headed out again to watch the games and tailgate at today's big event at Market Garden Brewery

Before we go out I needed to post about Ben's first tailgate which was a few weeks ago (I know I'm totally slacking).

Anthony and Melis hosted a tailgate that was absolutely awesome!  Lots of us met up and had some very delicious food prepared by our hosts.  We enjoyed some beverages and all in all it was a beautiful fall day and we could not have had better weather.

I tried my best to document our fun since it is one of my new goals so here are some of the pics.  (I'm working on figuring out how to better display pictures on this blog.  Please bear with me while I figure it out.  This will just be the boring old list of pictures.)

myself, hillary, and melis
delicious stuffed cabbage

thank you for the yummy treats!



siblings

I guess we are going to shotgun beers?

one dollar pencils? yea we will take 5 of them please

Yay for wonderful friends and for Ben's first tailgate.  Let's hope the Brown's win today!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

halloween costume

So, I need a Halloween costume.  I love coming up with creative costumes for Ben and I to wear (I know, super cheesy but I think it's fun).

However, this year we will both be working Friday and Saturday of Halloween weekend.  We need costumes because of course everyone will be dressed up, but not a couples costume.  It just wouldn't make any sense and it would be weird.  I mean how do you Fred and Wilma Flinstone when one of you is behind a host stand and the other is behind the bar?

circa 2008, ignore the face I'm making

Popeye and Olive Oyl is the same way.  It just isn't the same if you aren't together.

Halloween 2009, the only good picture we had

I have to come up with something though, and I'm not the girl who can put on something short and cute and call it an outfit.  It's just not me and I'm just not comfortable.  I feel like time is running out...the month is half over and I feel so over scheduled these days I really need to get on this project! 

Help!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

my best friend is back

Yesterday was a wonderful little day, despite the gloom and rain that has been pretty much every day this fall.

In the afternoon I headed to the eastside for Adrianna's first birthday party.  She was adorable as always and it was hilarious to watch her dig in to her smash cake.  It was great to see my group of eastside friends because it is not that often that we all get together.  (they have a really hard time crossing the threshold that is the eastside/westside)

Since I had to take the night off for the party during the day, I was conveniently able to celebrate the big 26 with Melis.  She is officially back in the CLE.  I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am to have her home.  We thought we were going to have a nice group of people to go out with but it ended up just being the two of us and we were okay with that.

We had dinner here and it was delicious.  I am never disappointed and give that place two thumbs up.  Then we headed to the old MGB because I clearly can't get enough of the place.

I'll take one glass of delicious

After a few hours of talking and a few Pumkings, we headed home.  This morning I remembered why it is much easier to go to work on the weekends instead of going out drinking.  I had every intention of meeting up for brunch today but I just couldn't do it.  I'm getting to old to drink all night and be productive anytime before 2 pm!

Instead Ben and I had a lazy Sunday with a very lazy dog.  We made chili in the crockpot which was delicious and I'm so glad it is crockpot weather again!  The parents even came over to enjoy dinner with us.

What a nice little Sunday.  Here's looking forward to a great week!