Five on Friday - house update (part three)

Things have been so crazy lately!  I have basically spent the last week of my life at Home Depot, Menards, running errands or at the house.  So much has gotten done, it's amazing!  Today is the day we find out if we have gotten enough done to be able to move.  (Cross your fingers!)

 This is my favorite counter top in the house!  It is in the "kids" bathroom, AKA my sister's bathroom.  It is a beautiful blue with some sparkles in it.  I LOVE it!

 My husband finally installed my beautiful orb light!  Everyone that has seen it says it is such an awesome light!  Makes me so happy!

 The dining room chandelier was also installed.  I think it is perfect for this area.

 My beautiful new appliances!  I LOVE them so much and can't wait to start using them!

My beautiful hardwoods!  They turned out amazing and I think Marky Mark might even like them after all!

house update! (part two)

So much has been going on at the house lately!  And so much more will be going on at the house this week!  Here's what's happened so far...

The flooring in the bathrooms was grouted so that the cabinets could be installed.

master bathroom

kids bathroom

half bathroom

 Then the kitchen cabinets were installed.  This was amazing to see because there are SO many cabinets!

looking at it from the great room

looking at it from the dining room

Also the house got completely painted!  You can see some of the paint in the images above and then these are my fun rooms (otherwise everything was kept really neutral)...

future child's bedroom in lime green

laundry room and mud room in aqua

So far I am loving how things are looking.  Everything is turning out just as I had pictured it in my head.  Now onto what is getting done this week...

Basically EVERYTHING!!  We are moving in about a week and a half.

• furnace is getting installed today
• finish the plaster down the stairs to the basement
• doors installed today
• devices and can lights installed (hopefully other light fixtures as well)
• all tile finished (our bathroom shower is really all that is left, along with some grouting and around the fireplace)
• flooring is being installed!! (hardwoods this week and carpeting next)
• garage doors are being installed tomorrow

These last two weeks are gonna be so amazing!  Can't wait to see it all finished!

kitchen cabinets

Yesterday was a very exciting day!  The walls were starting to get painted and the cabinets were starting to get installed.  I wanted to share a little inspiration first... (link to photos)

White cabinets on the walls and dark cabinets for the island!

love the hardware

love the backsplash

I loved the idea of getting white cabinets and at the last minute decided I wanted a contrast in the island.  After going to the Parade of Homes and seeing all white kitchens vs white and dark cabinets, the contrast really won me over.

the island

Just a sneak peak.  Mark did get them all installed on Wednesday and they look awesome!  I can't believe how many cabinets we have :)

lips

My favorite lip gloss lately...

link

I have been wearing this everyday lately!  It is the E.L.F. Essential Lip Gloss Stick.  Yes it does look like a huge crayon.  I have it in red (movie star) and pink (not sure which one).  I love how it gives good color like a lipstick but is light and glossy.  And it is only $2!  Can't beat that! 

"Another Place at the Table" by Kathy Harrison

link

I decided to read this book after I found out from a foster mom that it is a really good look into the foster care system.  She did warn me that it was kind of an extreme take on fostering.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  Kathy took in some of the more extreme cases, dealing with sexual abuse, so there was a lot of problems that would go on in her house because of it.  The book did a good job detailing how the foster care system really is, and showed an interesting look at what it could be like.  Unfortunately for me, I read it and thought to myself that I hope my fostering is nothing like what happened in the book.  Some of it was really nice, her relationship with her kids that she ended up adopting.  I do hope the same thing for me and my husband.  I just know that I wouldn't want to deal with the extreme cases.  It's so sad to see how things really are with such a messed up system for these kids.  These poor kids suffer because of underfunding and not enough resources.  Whether wanting to be a foster parent or not, I still think it's good for people to see how the foster care system really is and that there is a lot of help needed for these poor children. 

Weekend away in the woods...

Last weekend, Mark was away hunting with his boss, so I thought that would be the perfect time to visit my sister.  I invited Starla to go as a little girls weekend away (even though I kinda felt bad about taking her for a weekend away from her hubby).  We headed up Saturday morning around 8am and got to Sara's around 12pm.  When we got there, we hung out for a bit to let the dogs (Stella and Remi) play with Eli for a bit before we would kennel them.  We decided to check out the new Shopko in town (the kids specifically requested me going to check it out with them:).  This was a HUGE deal to those northerners!  They have no big box stores in their town, so everyone decided to make a stop at Shopko that day.  It was PACKED!  I was afraid we weren't going to find a parking spot.  We had a good time walking around and Sara picked up some stuff she needed.  Adalai had a little money and wanted to buy something so she picked out pink zebra print stick on nails (so cute!).  After that, we headed to the Super 8 to go for a swim.  It's so nice that they let people pay to use their pool, even if they aren't staying at the hotel.  We all hung out in the hot tub and relaxed for a bit.  It was much needed after my stressful week.  We let the kids (and Starla) swim for a bit before we headed home.  We had a yummy beef stew that my sister prepared.  After we finished dinner, Adalai and I worked to get her nails on.  All of us adults didn't think to make sure that they were small enough for little kid fingers (which they weren't!).  But Auntie Kira was determined to make it work, so we used all the small ones and got them on.  Let me tell you...I COULD NOT get over how freaking adorable she looked with her fake nails on.  Adalai has never been a girly girl until now, and I LOVE it!  Then we got busy playing Yahtzee and Apples to Apples.  We had SO MUCH fun!!  The kids really got into Apples to Apples.  With a little help from the adults, we made it work.  They are such smart kids. :)

When we got up in the morning, we ate some yummy pumpkin french toast that my sister made.  SO good!!  Then we looked through some photo books, so Starla could see how awesome we were as children.  (Ha!)  After a little big of playdo fun, the kids wanted to play games again!  I'm glad they had such a good time playing games with us.  And of course before we left we also had to do a little bit of Zumba with the kids.  Wyatt hadn't done it before and he had a big grin on his face the whole time.  They loved it!

pirate ship

Starla and Adalai's owls

We had such a good time up north visiting my sister!  So happy Starla got to come and that the kids had a good time with us :)

randomness

I saw something on Facebook with people doing a list of random things about them.  I'm not a huge fan of sharing too much on Facebook so I thought I would share it here.

My list of 25 randoms...
1.  I can't give up soda, even though it's the one thing I need to the most because of my stomach.
2.  My favorite soda just recently became Mello Yello, even though I have spent my life loving Mountain Dew.
3.  Me and my hubby flipped our last house so we could build our dream house, which we are currently in the process of doing.
4.  I have worked since I was 11, so this is the first time in my life that I haven't had a job.
5.  I never thought I would ever get married or have children.  I always wanted to be single forever.
6.  We hope to one day have children of our own, but are very excited to be doing foster to adopt and give a child a good life.
7.  My sister is my best friend.  We are completely opposite in some ways, and completely the same in others.
8.  My family was never close until me and my sister became adults, now we are extremely close.
9.   I am totally Type A, and need everything organized and in it's place before I can relax.
10.  Marrying Mark made me a happier and better person.
11.  I try to be mostly Vegan.
12.  I have had GERD since I was 10, but wasn't diagnosed until I was 15.  The doctors said I was faking sick to get out of school.
13.  I lived in Florida for 3 months.  I'm surprised I made it that long...
14.  I had 15 piercings and now I only have 5, 4 in my ear and my nose never completely closed.
15.  I have 4 tattoos.  The only ones I like are my most recent one on my foot, which is of Luna's actual paw print, and a heart on my hip that my sister has the same one on her back.
16.  I was always a cat person until we got Stella 3 years ago.  I was terrified of dogs because a dog broke my arm at the age of 3.
17.  We foster for dogs, and it has been the most fulfilling thing I have ever done.
18.  I went to Catholic elementary school, but now consider myself a Christian rather than a Catholic.
19.  I can't run and doubt I will ever be able to, which is why I love Zumba.
20.  I love taking my dogs for walks.  I could walk all day long.  I definitely get that from Little Grams.
21.  Big Grams has always been my rock.  I told her she isn't aloud to die because I don't know what I would do without her.
22.  I love when my niece and nephew come and stay with us in the summertime.  It's the most quality time we get with them and we always have a blast.
23.  I am the queen of returning stuff.  I buy stuff and always return it.
24.  I hate moving.  I hope moving to the new house is the last time I will have to move for a very very very long time.
25.  I am extremely indecisive.  I hate making decisions, so building the house has been very difficult for me.  I will be so happy when it's over.

say something

When I hear a song that really touches me, I listen to it over and over again.  I can't get enough of this one.  It's so perfect.  Simple.  Beautiful.

"Say Something"

Say something, I'm giving up on you.
I'll be the one, if you want me to.
Anywhere, I would've followed you.
Say something, I'm giving up on you.

And I am feeling so small.
It was over my head
I know nothing at all.

And I will stumble and fall.
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl.

Say something, I'm giving up on you.
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you.
Anywhere, I would've followed you.
Say something, I'm giving up on you.

And I will swallow my pride.
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye.

Say something, I'm giving up on you.
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you.
And anywhere, I would have followed you.
Oh-oh-oh-oh say something, I'm giving up on you.

Say something, I'm giving up on you.
Say something...

walls and tile

So much progress is happening on the house right now!  We are getting down to the end, and there is so much happening all at once.  We have to move out of our rental in December so the house has to be done in time!

This week the walls and tile were all going at once.

The walls started with blue board and then they came in and plastered over it.  We decided on plaster because the guys we used charged less for plaster than for drywall.  (usually it is more to plaster)

blue board

plaster

For tile, I had picked it out awhile back and now all of the tile is installed on the floor and he started to work on the showers!  My favorite tile I picked was for the guest room and it looks really good.

before tile

my favorite!

I had to order the flooring for the rest of the house.  We are doing carpeting in the bedrooms and office, and wood floors for the great room, kitchen, dining room, entryway, and hallways.  It was SO hard to decide on which flooring to go with but here's what I picked...

The white and espresso cabinets are the colors we will be having in the kitchen.  The walls will have white cabinets, and the island will be espresso.  I picked a darker floor than what I originally wanted because I just thought it was SO pretty.  It is an engineered, hand-scraped hickory wood.  We chose this over real hardwoods because of the dogs. I can't wait to see what it all looks like together!

This week the cement is FINALLY going in!!  I can't wait until that is finished because that means we will have a garage and basement floor, and a front stoop.  It is going to be awesome because that means the furnace can be installed.  We will have HEAT people!!  Then the walls are being finished today which means that this weekend the painter can come in and get working.  As soon as he gets going, the cabinets can be installed in the kitchen, which means the counter-tops can be ordered.  So much to do!

healthy eating

As a child I always had stomach ache's ALL the time!  I was 10 and the doctor's would tell my mom that I was making it up to get out of school.  They would say there is no way that a 10 year old could have ulcers or stress stomach aches.  Well, when I was 15 I finally found a doctor that believed there could really be something wrong.  I had an endoscopy and my wonderful doctor found that I had severe acid reflux disease (GERD) and erosive esophogitis (EE) pretty severely.  Along with that they also discovered that I was allergic to the protein in milk, AKA whey (or casein).  This started my long journey to getting healthy.  They started me on a medication that would help heal my throat and would help with my reflux.  Plus, I had to eliminate dairy from my diet completely.  After about a year, I had another endoscopy and they found that it had really helped my throat, but the reflux was still there.  I continued on my medication and worked to change my diet to help my reflux.  I had always LOVED milk and cheese and ice cream and pizza and mac and cheese and anything dairy.  It was hard to adjust to living without dairy but I worked hard.  At the time, I only drank soda, no water, which was something else I was told to cut back on. 

More recently, I had started to see an acupuncturist.  Not only was I still having stomach problems after all this time, but I was also having trouble with my hormones.  Going to the acupuncturist really helped because she was also a nutritionist.  She was really helpful in understanding how food changes in the body.  She gave me a general guideline and lots of books to read.  I stopped seeing her awhile back, because it was WAY too expensive, but I think it definitely helped overall.  The main thing I learned is too eliminate dairy, which was easy since I already have committed to that.  Then she got me to stop drinking soda, which was a huge accomplishment, since I've never been able to.  The last thing that I never thought I would ever be able to do, was stop eating meat.  I didn't completely stop ever, but I try to keep it to a minimum, and instead focus on eating mostly veggies.

The bad thing is that once we moved and were overcome with all the chaos that is building a house, I have found that I rarely follow my diet!  I am back to at least one soda a day, sometimes two.  I also find it very difficult to cook at this house.  I don't have all of my kitchen stuff, and it's super small and unorganized.  Plus, I have to wash all the dishes by hand, which I have NEVER in my life had to do.  It is a very hard adjustment.  All of these things have contributed to not following my diet.  My goal is to get back on track.

Week one:  eliminate dairy (this should be very easy)
Week two:  cut back on meats (again this should be pretty easy)
Week three:  eliminate soda (this will be the most difficult)
Week four:  work on switching to gluten free
Week five:  cut back on sugars
Week six:  less processed foods (should be fairly easy)

Other things I want to make sure I'm doing along the ways are...

working out 3 times a week (I go to Zumba twice a week, so just have to find one other activity)
take my herbs 3 times daily

I am going to be rereading "The Kind Diet" as a way to help keep me on track.

Zumba!

In September, there was an announcement at church that they were gonna have a free Zumba class on Tuesday nights.  I had never tried Zumba but I knew it was kind of a dance workout class and I though it would be fun to try.  Since we are pretty new to the church and this was the first workout class I had ever been to, I recruited Starla to go to the first class with me so I wasn't so intimidated.  We had a BLAST!  It was the best time ever doing a workout!  We have been going every Tuesday since!  They titled the class Zumba Cares, so instead of paying for the classes, you can make a donation to a cause, which they have a different one every month.  For the month of November we are donating to the food pantry.  Our instructors obviously teach other places as well, so I signed up for classes with them too.  This way when I can't make it to church on Tuesday, like this week and next, I can still get my Zumba on!  The other night me and Starla were being super nerds and looking for our classes music on YouTube.  We found our actual routine for one of our favorite routines!  Here is it...Enjoy!

saying goodbye

This weekend has been busy!  Friday, we spent a lovely afternoon saying goodbye to JoAnn.  They had a really nice luncheon after an awesome balloon release.  It was just perfect! 

After, me and my sister went shopping at Target and Trader Joe's.  She had never been before, but that's where I go grocery shopping every week!  I was excited to be able to take her.  We bought a lot of goodies and then she went back to Grams.  I went home to clean!  My house was a disaster, so I spent the rest of the evening picking up.  It felt good to go to bed that night with everything in it's place.

Saturday, I went to get a flooring quote in the morning.  After that I had to take Remi to the vet because she still had an infection in her tail.  Luckily the vet loaded her up with antibiotics and it seems to be doing better.  Then, I made a run to American TV to get a quote on appliances.  We ended up putting $ down because we are needing them soon.  I later was able to find a much better deal on some of them and ordered those to be delivered in a few weeks.  After all that running around, I met Mark at his mom's to enjoy an evening hanging out with his family.  His step sister was in town from Colorado with her family.  We had a good time playing with the kids, and his mom made a really good dinner!

Sunday, I went to Zumba with Starla in the morning!  Zumba is my favorite work out!  It was quite a bit different then Zumba at church, a little more intense.  I'm definitely feeling it this morning.  Then I had to run a few more errands (buy outdoor lights) yesterday.


House update:

foam spray today
drywall the end of this week
continuing siding
finishing up electrical
tiling

This week is gonna be a lot of transformation!  It's gonna be very exciting!

When a Heart Breaks...

Today we will be celebrating JoAnn's life!

I was thinking about her the other day and a song I had never heard before came on Pandora and I thought it was a fitting song for how everyone is feeling about losing her.

"When A Heart Breaks"

I woke up this morning
And I heard the news
I know the pain of a heartbreak
I don't have answers
And neither do you
I know the pain of a heartbreak

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks

I heard the doctor
But what did he say
I knew I was fine about this time yesterday
I don't need answers
I just need some peace
I just need someone who could help me get some sleep
Who could help me get some sleep

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks
When a heart breaks
When a heart breaks
Oh, when a heart breaks

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks

lighting fixtures

I used pinterest for a lot of my inspiration for the new house.  This was a HUGE help for me when picking out lighting fixtures.  My husband, being the electrician, wanted to know exactly what lighting fixtures I wanted, and I had no idea.  So I headed to my pinterest boards to get inspiration, and then headed to the stores to start looking.  Here are some of my favorites...

 I LOVE the look of the black door and the pendant.  I already have my door but it still has to be painted and after a lot of looking I found the perfect light.  I wanted a square one like in the picture but was having a really hard time finding one.

my door

I wanted a door that would let a lot of light in, because there isn't a ton of light from the front of the house.  When the painter comes in, he will be painting the door black!  So excited for that!

I have always loved chandeliers.  My mom has a really pretty one hanging over her dining room table, so I wanted a chandelier for my dining room as well.  I wanted something like in the picture, but more simple because I have very simple taste.

And this is my absolute favorite.  I know these are all the rage right now and I'm not ashamed to say I followed this trend.  I probably wouldn't have, because these lights are very EXPENSIVE.  But, the lighting store close to home had a 50% off sale on everything in their store for the month of October.  I am so happy I jumped on this.  Can't wait to see my orb light hanging in my office.

 Yesterday I went and picked up two of the lighting fixtures for the new house!

My chandelier, which you can sort of see on top and the orb on the bottom.  I really wanted the orb in the picture above but it was WAY too expensive.  Instead, I found another one that was really beautiful too.

'L Bri order

Along time ago I used to wear 'L Bri often.  More recently I've been trying different things like Treskin RX, which I really like.  The good thing about 'L Bri is that all of their products use aloe, just like Treskin RX, and it's all natural, which I love.  I needed to reorder my FAVORITE lotion, and since 'L Bri offers free shipping on orders over $60, I figured I should find some other things that I need.  Here's what I ordered...

At the top is the Deep Pore Cleanser, this is their face wash for people with oily/acne prone or combination skin.  I have been slowly switching over to this to see how I like it and so far I really like it!  Haven't been noticing too many breakouts, or too oily of skin, so it's working pretty well.

The next product is my FAVORITE lotion, body butter in Cucumber.  I actually use this for my hands, more than anything.  I just LOVE how thick it is, and because the main ingredient is aloe, if you have any cuts on your hands, it is very soothing.  They also have a lotion that is meant for hands, and I love that too.  I just get the body butter because I can really make this last a whole year, whereas I go through the hand lotion much quicker.

The concealer I haven't tried yet.  I use their old concealer, which is the stick (like a lipstick almost) kind, and it works really well.  For some reason they don't carry the stick in any other color than dark.  LAME!  So I thought I would try this liquid concealer, but I probably won't use it until I run out of the other one.

The compact, I used to use when I got married about 2 years ago and I loved it, but with how expensive it was, I went through it too quickly to be able to afford it.  Now I don't wear as much makeup, so I know it will be worth it because it will last much longer.  I still love it!

The little packet is a sample of their face and body scrub.  I used to use it, but it is a little too harsh for my face.  I tried it again, and even though it still feels that way, my face was really smooth and soft after using it, so it did what it was supposed to do!  I might consider buying this or they have a different, more gentle, face exfoliant. 

the tile shop

On Friday night, me and Mark headed to The Tile Shop so he could see what tile me and the tile lady had picked out for the whole house.  It's so nice to go there and they just pick it all out for you based on the countertops and your style.  We had to pick out a new surround for the fireplace.  I had picked marble, but because of the heat, the tile guy was afraid it would discolor.  So we spent about an hour looking at what I had picked and picking out some new stuff.  Of course, we couldn't come to a decision, so my mom ended up going back there with me the next day.  I'm happy she did because we were able to finalize everything and make both me and Mark happy. 

 This is the tile for the "kids" bathroom!  For awhile it will be the kid/guest bathroom, until the basement is finished.  The cabinets will be white with a dark blue granite countertop.  The dark gray tile is the flooring tile.  The light gray tile is for the shower surround with the glass tile as the accent for the niche and a small strip around the whole shower. 

This is the tile for the master bathroom!  The cabinets are going to be espresso, so a really dark brown.  The countertop is the granite in the bottom left corner of the picture.  The floor is going to be the grayish, brownish tile on the bottom. The main shower tile is the whitish, tanish in the middle. The accent for the shower is the glass tile in the top left corner.  It almost looks like a subway tile, and it will be used in the niche and as a waterfall in the middle.  The shower base will be the small square tiles.

Saturday, Mark and the siding guy were out at the house.  This is super exciting for me, because now it will really start to look like a house!  This is the progress at the end of Saturday...

It's a medium gray tone and I love it!!  I can't wait to see it all finished.  The siding guy is saying it'll take him about a week and a half so very soon!!

Also, over the weekend, I found some beautiful white dishes to use for the new house.  They had an amazing deal on them at Home Goods!  Our current set of dishes has a lot of chips and cracks, and we couldn't find them anywhere to replace them.  Plus, we got more place settings then our last one so we have more than enough!  It's been fun, slowly getting things together for the new house, but can't wait to use them!

We went to dinner with some of my old coworkers last night.  We went to Water Street Brewery.  It was Eh...  I've never really loved their food, so for $50(!) it should have been better than it was!  It was nice catching up with some friends, and meeting new people.


This week on the house....

Mark is finishing up the electrical.
Inspector will be out today.
Siding will continue to be put up.
Foam insulation will be going in on Wednesday.
Window will be installed in the basement.
Wall will be moved in the laundry room.
Pretty sure the cement will be finished for the basement and garage soon!
Plaster will be started either end of this week or beginning of next.

Ovarian Cancer 5K walk/run

About a month ago, we participated in a 5K walk for Ovarian Cancer.  My step mom just recently went into remission after having ovarian cancer for about a year.  We were so excited to be able to donate and participate in the walk!  It was awesome how many people came out to support her and the fight against ovarian cancer.  This was only the second year for the walk and they said that there were a lot more people this year than last.  We plan on participating in this every year.

Kaylin (my step sister), Aunt Sandy's bf, Aunt Sandy, and my dad

most handsome guy I know ;)

Dad, me (don't mind my ugly hair), and Mary Lu (my step mom)

This day was also SUPER exciting for us because we got to meet our niece, Audrey.  She is adorable!

how cute is this baby?!

Everyone walking :)

Unfortunately, I'm gonna end this on a sad note.  This has been heavy on my heart...My sister's (step)mother-in-law is very close to losing her battle against colon cancer.  She has fought very long and hard and done everything she could to overcome, but sometimes it's just time to go home to be with God.  Although she is not actually my family, I have always felt like my brother-in-law's family is my family too, because they started dating when I was young.  So I have been thinking about and praying for her often.

Please Lord, help ease JoAnn's pain and bring her home to you.  Please God, help the family to overcome this terrible tragedy that will result.  God, I know that she is ready for her next step, please help the family find comfort in knowing she will be where she is supposed to be, with you in Heaven.

relaxing weekend

This weekend was pretty mellow, compared to what we are used to!  On Friday, Mark got me some VERY pretty flowers (normally I'm not a huge fan of getting flowers) and a card for Sweetest Day (a day early).  It was so sweet of him :)

Saturday, we got up in the morning and when I went to make my cup of tea I realized that my fake Keurig had broken :(  Sad story!  So I had told Mark that if it ever broke I was going to get the real deal.  And that's exactly what I did!  Once I got it home and working, we had fun trying some of the variety pack (although neither of us actually drink coffee! Ha!).  I think Mark ended up liking as much as me!

Happy Sweetest Day to me!

Saturday night we did puppy play date with Jake and Penny (and of course Jett and Maddie too).  We had pizza for dinner, and I made some pumpkin bars too.  It was my first time making them, they were less sugar than usual, and they turned out amazing!  We took a nice walk in the beautiful fall weather (even though it was a little chilly) and the dogs really enjoyed it.  They looked so adorable in their fall sweaters :)

Sunday we went to church in the morning and then I went to an eye exam while Mark went to work on the house.  It was nice to visit with my friends (old coworkers).  And then I went to see how the house was doing.  Mark is working on the rough-in electrical.  The plumbing was already OK'd by inspection.  We need to get the doors installed so Mark can finish the electrical (don't want all the wires stolen).  And one wall still needs to get moved.  As soon as that's all done, the drywall can go up!  I can't wait for that!! It'll really look like a place we can live in then.  Hopefully only about a week or two before that happens.  In the meantime, the siding will be going up sometime this week!

Remi (AKA Missy)

About a month ago, Mark and I decided that it might be time to look into getting a new dog.  We wanted a get a dog that reminded us of Luna, not to replace her, but to help fill a void that we were feeling.  Marley and Stella are full of energy, so we needed a dog that was the complete opposite!  Haha.  We had seen that WBTR had been getting some dogs in for fostering so I emailed Sue to let her know that we would be interested if an "old soul" came in.  She emailed back and said that Missy was the most mellow dog, and loved to just snuggle.  We were interested, but she was about 2 hours away, and we weren't in a huge hurry or anything.  About a week later, Sue contacted me to let me know that Missy was staying with her for the time being.  Since Sue lives only about 20 min away we made plans to meet her immediately!  We came in and sat down, and she came right to us and sat on our laps.  She wasn't our typical look of a Boston that we like but we loved her "old soul" personality.  We didn't take her immediately but after a few days, we thought we would foster her and see how it went.

 We decided to change her name to Remi because that was the name we had chosen for our next dog.  She didn't learn the name as quickly as some of our other fosters but she picked it up pretty quickly.  After only a few days of having her, she ended up getting a really bad UTI and had to be taken to the emergency vet.  We spent THREE HOURS(!) there that day, and it gave us a chance to really bond with her.  She recovered really quickly, once she was on antibiotics, but had a hard time with potty training because of it.  Other than that, she has been adjusting really well.

At first when we got her, it was really hard to tell if she liked us because she always has a very serious face and since she has no tail, there's really no way for us to tell if she is happy. But she has come out of her shell quite a bit.  She loves to run around the house and play with her sisters.

I took her up north with me to visit my sister and she had a great time.  She was the perfect "therapy" dog, just sat and snuggled with my sister.  She has been amazing and really helped us to not be so sad anymore.  I was crying almost everyday over Luna and she has made it much easier to cope.  She has a lot of Luna's personality and does little things that remind us of her.  

Next week is surgery week!  Remi has to have both knees and her tail operated on.  It is gonna be a tough recovery but I'm sure she will do great.  I can't wait til the day we get to see her run around like a normal dog.  And after her recovery, we can finally adopt her!  I can't wait for that :)