Sunday, January 24, 2010

Congrats Brian and April**



I got a call from my Aunt Lori a couple of days ago... I was in the shower and when I got out I had two missed calls, a voicemail, and a text message to call her because she has some news. At the time I was sort of freaking out because I thought there was something bad or wrong she needed to tell me. Luckily, I was the first one to call back out of all of the cousins and all of the other aunts and uncles. She called to tell me that my cousin Brian and his girlfriend April are now ENGAGED!! =) Phew... good news! I am so excited for them and cannot wait for their wedding in summer 2011! I love them both and this was great news to get after getting out of a steaming hot shower!! =) I pray that God will bless their engagement as they prepare for their lives together!! Woo Hoo!!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

:::ice ice baby:::

Last night we had a very relaxing night! On the 17th was Shelby's birthday and unfortunately we were unable to hang out at all on that day. So, we had Shelby and Tim over to our place for a nice dinner and a little hang out time! I made some Chicken Parmesan. It was really good and super easy! Here's the recipe:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg with a little water for the egg wash
Italian breadcrumbs
Mozzarella cheese slices
Shredded Mozzarella/Parmesan cheese if you have it
Traditional Spaghetti sauce
Spaghetti noodles (I use angel hair!!)

-Take each tenderized breast and put it in the egg wash. Then dip them in the bread crumbs until they are completely coated. Put them in the skilled with a little vegetable or olive oil. Fry them up so they are browned on each side. (3-4 minutes per side)

-When each breast is done, place them in a sprayed 9x13 pan

-Cover each breast with a slice of mozzarella (or 2 if you like them cheesey!!)

-Spread the spaghetti sauce over the pan- USE IT ALL!

-Sprinkle shredded mozzarella/little Parmesan cheese over the top (if you have it)

-Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes

-Cook your spaghetti noodles like normal and serve the chicken over top the noodles!

ENJOY!!!!!

So we had chicken parmesan, salad, and bread cooked over the grill. My dad can get loaves of bread (sort of like Panera Bread) at a store near his office! They are so yummy with butter, garlic pepper, a little garlic salt, and chunks of garlic! Toast them up over the grill and it is so delicious! Pretty simple meal but so yummy! I only make things that are easy and this is one of them!

After we ate we pretty much couldn't move because we were so full! We watched the newest episode of CSI! Taylor as usual was sleeping on the couch in all sorts of crazy positions! All of a sudden we heard a loud pop and bang! The dogs were barking (Brooklyn was over). We go to the door and this is what we see!!!




Okay!! Scary. All of this ice fell off of our roof! It may not look like much but it was seriously the loudest noise I've ever heard! The next picture shows how stinkin thick it was!!! That could have killed someone!



Luckily we had the grill out last night because that would have smashed our grill! Look at how far the overhang of the ice is!



We were so lucky that Taylor wasn't grilling under there when it decided to fall off the roof!



Overall, besides the ice falling, we had a great night with the Walsten's and we look forward to another hangout soon!! Happy Birthday Shelby!

My last blog noted that Ellie is in Heat... yup, and I said dog's wear diapers. Well we got one for Ellie. It is making life a whole lot easier but looks totally goofy! This is her little bum snuggled up underneath Taylor's sweatshirt this morning! =)



Too cute! I love my little hunnies!! =)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

HEAT!!!


So, this may be TMI for some people but hey, it's part of life! Ellie is just over seven months old and we had been talking about getting her spayed soon. (removing the ovaries and uterus so she can no longer have puppies) We knew that we should probably be getting this operation done before she is one year old but we had kind of been putting it off. Usually, you would want to get them spayed otherwise they will go into "heat" and if male dogs are attracted the female dog will get pregnant during heat.

Two weeks ago or so, is when Shelby (SIL) informed me that when dog's go into heat they will bleed. (similar to that of a woman) I have never been a dog owner before and had no idea that they did. This morning Ellie was just walking around our place and she started dry heaving. She has been known to have a sensitive stomach so I thought nothing of it. She threw up a little bit on the kitchen floor and Taylor cleaned it up, no big deal. Then he was like... "um, is she bleeding somewhere?" Well, just a while ago she had a toenail ripped off when she was playing with the other dogs so I figured she had just irritated that again. Taylor picked her up for me to see her nail and nothing was on it. Hmm... that was weird we thought to ourselves. Taylor was holding her on her back and he looked down. "Am... I think I know where it came from. She's in HEAT." WHHHHAAAT?! Oh my goodness, yeah right... this CANNOT be happening! Sure enough there was blood. Taylor and I had no idea what to do. We were passing her around like she was a toxic puppy or something. Which I feel bad about now! He called his mom and told us the vet's number and we called. They said she couldn't be spayed for two to three weeks because that is how long dog's can stay in heat for. Two to three weeks? Are you serious? I feel so bad for her. Now she can't sleep with us, she has to be in her kennel! Ugh, we're bad parents for not getting this done sooner!

I did some frantic searching on the internet to catch up on my doggie knowledge. It was confirmed... dogs are usually in heat for 21 days and have three different cycles, each being seven days. The first seven days is called the Proestrus stage. During this time is similar to a women's cycle where she will be secreting blood. (Now don't get too grossed out... it isn't like spilling out of her it just comes out every once in awhile.) This is way worse in larger breed dogs. They actually make doggie diaper pad thingys. haha The dog also has a decreased appetite. The second seven days is called the Estrus stage. During this time a female dog is more receptive to allow a mate to mate with her. This is usually shown by flirting with other dogs. The secretions are now a light color/clear. (THANK GOODNESS) The third seven days is called diestrus and the dog will end her flirting with male dogs and the secretions will STOP! I hope this 21 days goes by quickly so we can have her spayed at the end of February and never have to deal with this again.

As far as our place is concerned. I have towels on our couches and floor just in case it were to get on anything. We are being very proactive and she has been in her kennel with a bunch of towels cuddling up.



Ellie actually walked into her kennel with a rawhide and sat in her kennel without us even telling her to go in there! What a good puppy... I just hope she knows her life will soon be revolving around that kennel for at least the next 21 days! Poor girl!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I'm officially a blogger

Woah! I never thought the day would come when I would create a blog! I love reading other people's blogs and finally it hit me... why don't I create one! So, I have no idea what I am doing but I am hoping I can figure it out as I go!

I am hoping this blog will allow family and friends to stay connected with our life. So....enjoy! Leave a comment if you wish, we would love to hear from you!!! =)