Thursday, September 11, 2014

Door County 2014



We try to take a trip to Door County at least once a year.  We LOVE Door County!  The beach is beautiful, they are super dog friendly, and we love to hike the trails.

love the doggy heads out the window

Marley thought she was the driver

Had to make a quick stop for an Oprah Chai.  Yummy!


This year was especially exciting because it was Remi's first time enjoying the great outdoors in Door County.  We were a little worried about bringing her with because she still wasn't walking great on a leash for us and she wasn't a big fan of swimming.

Lovin' life in Door County


Well she proved us wrong!  Not only did she start swimming on her own, she also hiked a difficult trail through Peninsula State Park without stopping once!  That means she had to climb rocks, which did give her a bit of hesitation, but in some spots, she was pulling me along.

Waiting for her sisters

The water was FREEZING!

We did a little shopping and got a few things for the house.  We had some great meals out (minus one terrible experience!  Don't go to the Log Den, their service was the worst ever!).



We've been doing this every year and we always feel like we should stay for longer.  We are even considering getting a pop up camper!  I'm not a huge fan of camping, but it would be much more affordable and I think it would make it easier for traveling with the dogs.  We will see!


We saw this while we were eating lunch...  Hilarious!


Marley was hopping through the water like a kangaroo!
 The dogs slept for two days straight after getting back!  They were so worn out!!

Exhausted!
Can't wait for next year!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

life lately

things have been so crazy busy for me these last few weeks!

my niece and nephew came to visit for a week.  my dad has been inviting me to many Brewer's games.  i have started helping to take over WBTR (wisconsin boston terrier rescue).  i've been helping my husband more with his business.  there have been many trips out to the lake, especially now that i've found my new love for paddle boarding.  i've decided to sign up to start selling norwex.  i've formed a new passion for working out, and even running.

all of these things are SUPER exciting, but extremely time consuming.

i haven't even been able to start a new book in the last two weeks!

i'm hoping to get back on track with blogging because it's fun to keep track of all of the fun things i've been doing in my life.  i love to look back at old posts and see all of the wonderful blessings i have in my life.


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

pontooning



last summer we weren't able to make it out to the lake very often because we were building the house.  we are very lucky that mark's mom lives on a lake close by and we try to make it out there as often as possible.

last week, we were able to make it out for our first afternoon at the lake.  the dogs had a BLAST swimming and then we took them out on the boat.



we didn't bring Vito along because we weren't sure how he would do at the lake.  but all the girls had a great time.



Remi got to go for her first ride on the pontoon!  i don't think she ever got a chance to go for a ride on it last year.  she doesn't love riding in the car, so i didn't think she would like the boat.  but she actually seemed to enjoy herself.  even took a little snooze towards the end.



i know Remi had tried swimming last year and didn't love it.  the results were the same this year.  haha



hoping we can make it out for many pontoon and jet ski rides this summer!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

while mom was away...

me and grams had a little get together last week while we were watching mom's cats.  she wanted to go shopping at Peebles (a small version of Boston Store) because it is her favorite, so i tagged along.


i found these super cute shoes on clearance with an additional sale for $20!  they actually have a wedge, which isn't something i would typically wear, but i love how they look.  these will be better for wearing in fall though.

grams was bummed cause she didn't find anything.

after shopping, we headed for lunch.  we decided on Culver's, because it was better than our other options of McDonald's or Taco Bell.

we were very happy when we discovered that 10% of the sales for the day went to the veteran's!


i love days that i get to spend with grams!  isn't she just the cutest?!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

our first stray

this last week, my mom and step-dad were away in North Carolina (so jealous!).  so me and grams switched off watching the cats.

sunday after the vision walk, we made our way to their house to check on the cats.  after we left, Mark noticed that there was a little Schnauzer mix that had run across the street and was extremely close to the railroad tracks.  he asked if we should stop, and i of course said yes!

we got out of the car and tried to coax the dog to us.  she was pretty timid and when i went to grab her, she just cowered.  i noticed right away that she didn't have a collar on.  we had an extra collar with us to we put it on her with a leash and took her back to the house who's yard she had run from.

i rang the doorbell and no one came to the door, so i rang again.  this time a man answered and i asked if she was his dog.  he said "no" and then i heard his wife in the background yell "and we don't want one!"  haha.  she came to the door and they mentioned that they had never seen the dog before so they didn't think it was one of the neighbors.

we called her Daisy even though she didn't respond to it

we decided to call over to HAWS to see if they had any calls on her yet.  they didn't, so i made the trip over there to drop her off.  they gave me her ID number so i could call and check on her, otherwise if no one claimed her, they were sure she would go to the President of HAWS rescue for schnauzers.

i'm happy to report that i called back two days later and found out that she had a chip and the family was able to pick her up the same day!!  so happy she went home to her family!  they were probably worried sick about her.  we also found out that she does live on the same street that i found her on, my mom's street.  now every time we drive to my mom's i look to see if i can see her at any of the houses.



such a good girl!  i hope i get to see her again someday!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

vision walk 5K


on Sunday we were asked to participate in the vision walk for Walmart.  they were sponsoring the event, and since i was a previous employee, Starla asked if i wanted to be a walker.  i immediately said yes and had Mark join in on the fun.

the walk was down in Milwaukee at the Veteran's park, right by Lake Michigan.  we were able to bring the dogs with, so we brought the crazy ones, Stella and Marley.

doggies playing before the walk
we met down there around 9am, and the walk started at 10am.  they had tons of activities and tables and food!  it was a bit breezy when we got down there, but by the time the walk started it was BEAUTIFUL out.

Starla and me

walking is easy for me, so the walk was a breeze.  it made it much better that is was about 65 so the weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold.  it was fun catching up with friends on the walk.

me, Mark, Marley and Stella

walmart donated $100 per associate that attended the walk.  they surpassed their goal of $1,000!  next year, they are going to try to get even more people to participate!!

they announced that the walk had raised close to $80,000!!  yay!

we are looking forward to participating next year  :)

Friday, May 16, 2014

high five for friday!

1.  i got my Norwex products and i am super excited to try it out.  i'm even considering selling it if it's as great as they say it is!

2.  i went to the Brewer's game on Wednesday with my dad and we had a great time!  unfortunately there was major traffic and he could barely talk so he asked for a redo in a couple weeks :)



Reynolds is mine and my dad's favorite player :)

3.  i finished the book "Hollywood Wives: a new generation" by Jackie Collins.  she was on the Bethenny show so i thought i would give her a shot.  it was a really good book actually!  a little bit of raunchiness but not as bad as i was worried it would be.



4.  Starla and i are going vegan for a month!  well, she said she would try.  haha.  i just need to be more conscious of what i'm putting into my body!  i probably won't go completely off of meat, but i'm gonna try my hardest, just like with the soda.  i just need to get on track with my eating, because my belly has been hurting me lately from eating stuff i shouldn't be.

this book has BEAUTIFUL pictures!  some good recipes too!
5.  we are officially fosters for midwest boston terrier rescue (MWBTR)!  we are super excited to work with them, and very sad to not be working as closely with WBTR.  we should be getting our next foster in a week or so.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

nosy, crabby neighbors

i don't know what it is, but we haven't had the best of luck with neighbors.

at our last house we had the best neighbors across the street but our next door neighbor was a jerk.  luckily his wife, kids and mom were nice so it was something we could deal with.  he was a "wigger" and thought he was too cool to be kind and say "hello".  oh yeah and there was that one time when he got extremely drunk at our house that he almost fell down the stairs, stumbled his way home, and then his wife had to call the cops on him cause he was beating on her.  there was that too.

when we bought our lot, i had a feeling we would have trouble with the neighbors for a couple of reasons.

1.  the lots had gone into foreclosure.  it would tick them off that we only paid half the price of what they paid for their lot.

2.  they were older and we were younger.  not trying to be ageist but they are our parents age so they weren't going to like us kids coming in and taking over the neighborhood.

3.  they have lived here for 10ish years with only each other as neighbors.

4.  all of the construction noise and traffic that we would be causing.

5.  she had a flamingo in her yard.

ok so #5 might not be a good reason for you, but for us it was a bad sign.  Mark's mom has a "witchy-poo" neighbor and her yard is COVERED in flamingos.  she is a complete and total bitch and has like 50 flamingos in her yard.  to us, a flamingo could mean a very bad thing.

when we started building the house, our mound system was put in first.  since the lots have been here a long time the grass is pretty overgrown.  the guy that installed the mound took his mower and cut himself a path to get to the area he needed to get to for the mound.  right after he did this, the lady walked outside with a rake in hand, and started raking the grass back into our yard.  like really?!  are you for real?  i was hoping it was just to show the workers they couldn't do stuff like that, and wasn't an indication of how she would treat us.

next, maybe a month after the grass incident, i was leaving the neighborhood and almost hit her dog with my car.  the damn thing ran right out in front of me.  i, being the dog mom that i am, got out of my car to make sure the dog was ok and then took the dog back into it's yard safely.  there was a lot of construction traffic and i didn't want it to get hit by a truck or something.  i get into their yard and realize she is already in the front yard. so i say "hello" and continue to tell her that the dog ran out in the road and i was worried about it getting hit.  she turns to look at me and very coldly says "ok".  that's it!  not a thank you or nice to meet you, or thanks for not hitting my dog.  nothing.

then, same thing again with the yard.  it's been super windy and stuff has been flying everywhere and i caught her again throwing stuff back in our yard.

let's just say we avoid her as much as we can.

now the neighbors on the other side of us, we haven't really talked to.  i don't ever really see them in their yard or anything so we haven't really had a chance to say hello.  there was one time when i was out with the dogs and this lady was in her backyard and i tried to yell "hi" to her but i figured she must not have heard me.  or so i thought...

2 weekends ago, her husband came over while i was out with the dogs.  he said that a few tennis balls had landed in his yard so he brought them back and introduced himself.  i told him that i thought Mark's uncle knew his wife, and he informed me that they did know each other.  he seemed really kind and friendly and i was glad that he had come over to chat.

that same day, my husband and his friends decided to be idiots and do something really stupid and loud outside.  i got really upset with them because i didn't want to deal with crabby neighbors.  Mark eventually realized why i was so upset and said it wouldn't happen again.

this last weekend, Mark decided to finish burning up some of the wood that was in the front yard left over from building.  for some reason he burned it on the side of the house, rather than in the back and i told him i thought it was a bad idea, but i was glad he was finally getting rid of it.

next thing you know there is a cop pounding on the front door.  he said that he had gotten a complaint about the fire.  after talking to my husband, he informed him that we shouldn't be burning building material, and to put the fire out, but everything was fine.  while the cop was here, the neighbor next door was outside "cleaning his windows", aka snooping.

Mark went straight next door to apologize.  not only did he apologize for the fire, he also made sure to apologize for being loud.  she kind blew it off and he thought that she seemed a little cold but that everything was ok.  she also said she hadn't called the cops.

now today...  Mark gets an email from his uncle which was forwarded from the crabby lady next door.  she claimed she was writing to inform him of Mark's "reckless" behavior, and hoping that he will straighten things out so that she doesn't have to seek other ways of getting things taken care of, aka police.  not only did she complain about the things he had already apologized for, she also threw in a few other things.  things that are, first of all, none of her business.  but second of all, if she had just mentioned it to Mark when he was over apologizing, he could have told her we had gotten permission to do those other things.

i just can't believe she would run and "tell on him" to his uncle.  like for real lady?!  aren't you a grown ass woman that can walk your ass over here and talk to my husband like an adult??

i am so sad because i didn't want to have to deal with crabby neighbors.  i was hoping we would all just be happy and get along.  we had dreams of the whole neighborhood getting together and hanging out.  unfortunately that will not be happening.  such a bummer.

Monday, May 12, 2014

our weekend in the dells

my hubby wanted to surprise me with a night away.  he planned it for friday night, so we could be back in time to host Mother's Day here.

we have been needing a night away for awhile.  we have been through a lot the last couple of months, between Owen being put down and our foster child coming and going.

he didn't want to tell me where we were going but said it was somewhere we had been before.  which either meant the dells or door county.

the night before we left, we stopped to get him a hair cut and as we were leaving the girl said "hope you have a great time at the Kalahari!"  and i turned around and said "HA!"  because now i knew where we were headed :)

i was really excited because we hadn't been to the dells since we were last at the Kalahari for his graduation FOUR years ago!

we ended up leaving around 1pm.  when we got there, we decided to drive around a bit to see all the new stuff that they had been done around town.  it was surprising to see how much it had changed in those four years.

when we went to check in they said the room wasn't ready yet, so we headed to the outlet mall across the street.  after a bit of shopping, we decided it wouldn't make sense to check in before we ate an early dinner.  that way, once we were checked in, we could just head to the waterpark and stay at the hotel the rest of the night.

we went to Marley's for dinner, of course!  they have great food and drinks (but WAY overpriced!)  i had a bahama mama and coconut shimp.  mark had rum and coke and a fish fry.


once we were checked into the hotel, we realized our room was ridiculous!  they tried to claim that there were two queen size beds in our room.  there was NO WAY they were queen sized beds, plus we didn't need TWO beds!  they offered to measure the beds, but after some persuading we got a free upgrade to a king size bed room.  the room was fantastic, and a bit unnecessary for our one night.  it had a kitchen and living room and a separate bedroom.




after getting settled in, we headed to the water park.  we spent a little over an hour at the indoor waterpark.  we had a really good time and then headed back to our room to hang out and go to bed.

unfortunately we both didn't sleep very well, so we were up around 7 and went to Cracker Barrel for a yummy breakfast.  and then of course had to do a little shopping.

salt and pepper Coke bottles!  so cute!
we went back to the hotel and i headed to the gym to work out.  it was wonderful!

then when the water park opened, we went back to hang out for awhile until it was time to head home!

it was so nice to get away with the hubby!  we really enjoyed ourselves and were able to relax a little.

and we had a great time celebrating Mother's Day with our mom's yesterday.   :)

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

update on master bedroom

i am happy to say that i have checked off a few of the items on my "to do" list for the master bedroom.


previously, i wrote about my master bedroom back in January.  my "to do" list consisted of...


  • paint door, trim and step for doggies
  • curtains
  • bedside tables
  • lamps
  • hang some photos on the wall
  • art?
  • fix closet racks
  • door for closet


  • here are some photos of the room now...






    we finally got some curtains hung!  they change the whole look of the room.  i love the circle detail and that they aren't just plain.




    we found these really cute nightstands online at Target.  i got them because they were the only nightstands i could find that fit what i was looking for and didn't break the bank (i got them on sale!). 

    i ended up LOVING them because the little space at the top is meant for books, but i had the BRILLIANT idea of making holes in the back for our charging cords to fit through.  now these spaces are our version of charging stations!  told you it was a brilliant idea.  plus, we all know that my husband was not going to be storing books in there. #willneverreadabook

    i decided that the lamps we had were good for the room, and couldn't find any other lamps i liked.  so i decided to just get some plain lampshades to update them a bit.  i think they look much better now :)

    so now the list looks like this...

  • paint door, trim and step for doggies
  • curtains
  • bedside tables
  • lamps
  • hang some photos on the wall
  • art?
  • fix closet racks
  • door for closet

  • i've added some pictures to the walls, and have a few more things to hang.  i still would like to find something for above the bed, so i will continue to search for that.  i've found a few things i like but nothing i've made a decision on yet.

    Tuesday, May 6, 2014

    last weekend

    last weekend was fabulous!

    it all started on Friday when I met up with Starla and Beth at Chili's for lunch.  one of my favorite places for lunch!  reminds me of when me and little grams would go for lunch there.

    after lunch we headed to a winery close to my house.  it's called Pieper Porch Winery and Vineyard.

    they give you 5 free tastes, so we each started with that.  Starla and I decided to pay the $5 for 5 more tastings and a wine glass.

    the wine was VERY good.  it made it a fun experience because the owner of the winery was the one giving us the tasting and she gave us a lot of background info on the wines.

    my favorite wines were the lime wine and the riesling.  i had never heard of a lime wine until going there, and it was really good.  tastes like a margarita!

    unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us so we weren't able to hang there and drink after on the porch.  we went back to my house and had wine in some fancy wine glasses that Beth got us for the tasting :)

    after taking a much needed nap (wine always makes me so tired!), i headed to my mom's to meet her. we headed over to her friends for a norwex party.

    i had heard of norwex a few times before going to this party, but didn't understand it and wanted to see what all the hype was about.

    it was amazing!  the demos and personal stories made it sound like it does magic!  i had read a few reviews on some of their products on blogs before so i ordered a few things.  can't wait to get them to give them a try!  hoping they really are as great as they seem!

    saturday was puppy playdate day!  we get together once a month with our friend's who have two boston's and let them all play.

    they came over to our house this time.  their female, Maddie, didn't really love Vito, our foster, when we brought him over to their house.  we thought maybe they would hit it off better on our territory, rather than hers.  unfortunately, she still didn't love him, but at least she didn't attack him!

    we had pizza for dinner and celebrated Maddie's birthday!  they brought over an angel food cake so that the dogs could each have a little of it too.  they were so happy!  they also brought over some bones to chew which unfortunately ended up in a lot of spit up.  oh well!  the dogs seemed very happy!

    sunday morning was a great time at church!  they had a special guest speaker come, Michael Franzese.  he was a former mob leader and was the only one would made it out without dying or ending up in jail for life.  he was an amazing speaker and had some amazing stories to share.

    Friday, May 2, 2014

    you win some, you lose some

    so i've known my husband for a VERY long time.  we worked together at Pick N Save when we were just 14 and 15 years old.

    he always had a big crush on me.  as he would put it, i was his "fantasy girl".  but, because i was older, i just thought he was my little dorky friend (poor guy).

    when we got a little older, he finally got a girlfriend.  and of course i did what any girl would do...i got jealous.  especially when his girlfriend forbid him to talk to me, which only made me like him more.

    anyways, fast forward to present time...

    we are happily married, most days anyway ;) he broke up with that girl years ago, and hasn't really spoken to her since.

    but we see her and her family.  all.  the.  time.  they are everywhere!  at the grocery store, at Friday Night Live, at Kohl's, and most of all, at church.

    they are usually nice to Mark and say hello, but do not acknowledge my existence.  sometimes her mom will stand directly in front of me facing Mark, talking only to him.

    when i started Zumba, i forced Starla into coming with me because i was terrified her and her mom would be there.  they weren't there that first day and didn't attend for many months.  but as luck would have it, they started coming a few months ago.

    and it is SO awkward!!  they still won't look at me or acknowledge me or anything.

    so i decided i wanted to be the bigger person.  i hate having any sort of tension with anyone, so i thought i would try and talk to her and get it over with.  i didn't want to be friends or anything, just wanted to be able to say hi and not continue ignoring each other.

    i had to spit out my gum and of course the only garbage can in the humongous room was right next to her.  i walked over and spit it out and she was just  standing there alone so i took that as my opportunity.

    here's how it went...

    me: "hey, um, so i think it might be ok, if um, we say hi to each other every once in awhile?"
    her: "well since this is MY church and people at MY church are nice, they usually do say hi to me."
    me: (mouth gaping open for a moment) "i guess i just never felt comfortable because you all say hi to mark but don't acknowledge me at all.  like i don't exist.  and there are more of you, so i just didn't know what to do"
    her: (rolling her eyes) "um ok"

    and i walked away.  went back to chatting with Starla and other NICE people that attend HER church.

    you win some, you lose some.  at least i tried...

    Thursday, May 1, 2014

    new furniture

    when we first decided to build the house, my main concern was that we wouldn't have $ to afford furniture to put in the house!  (there were many families that i worked for as a nanny that lived that way, and i didn't want to be like them)

    my husband insisted that we would, and that we could get new furniture for the living room whenever i wanted.

    we have lived here for about 4 months now so it was time.  there wasn't enough seating in the living room for when we had guests over.

    before...

     



    where Remi is standing there had been a brown chaise lounge there.  no one used it, so pretty much the only seating was the couch.

    after...



    these aren't the best pictures, but you get the idea.

    i absolutely love the new furniture.  it is very traditional.

    we originally wanted to get a sectional but the one we REALLY wanted didn't fit.  it was way too long and would have blocked some walking room.  that would have made NO sense, because the whole reason we have such a large open room is so that we don't feel cramped, or like there isn't enough space.

    hope you like it as much as we do :)

    Monday, April 28, 2014

    Drinking and Tweeting: and other Brandi Blunders by Brandi Glanville

    i have a confession...

    i am obsessed with the real housewives.  all of them.  every city.

    whenever one of them writes a book, which has happened a few times, i always read them.

    Brandi is one of my favorite housewives.  another confession is that i love celebrity gossip.  which means i followed her story of her husband cheating with LeAnn Rimes.  i wanted to find out what else she had to say about it.

    although i was a little late to the game, i finally got a chance to read Brandi's book...


    it only took me 2 or 3 days to get through it.  and she is hilarious!

    i loved all of her funny stories about her ex and LeAnn.  but it wasn't all about that.  it was mostly about getting back on her feet after the divorce (like vaginal rejuvenation hahaha).

    this a book for a good laugh.  and definitely a must read.

    Wednesday, April 23, 2014

    Vito (foster)

    meet our newest foster, Vito...


    he is such an awesome little guy.

    we got him the day that our foster child left.  no one was able to foster him and Sue from WBTR thought he would be a good dog for us, because he is so good and would have no trouble getting adopted.


    he fit right in with us from the start.  he is snorty and tiny and looks a lot like our Remi.


    he, of course, loves Marley!  like every other boy dog that meets her.  he spends all morning playing with her, every morning.  they play like crazy and then he zonks out in the evening.


    he loves to play tug with the girls, retrieve toys, and chew bones.  it took him awhile to open up, but now that he has, he is such a sweet dog.  he was so timid in the beginning that i felt sorry for him.  he will definitely be a good dog for any family because he is so sweet.


    he's definitely more of a momma's boy.  he loves to snuggle with me.

    he did have a rough time in the beginning.  he has double ear and double eye infections.  and we found out he will have to have double knee surgery.  poor guy.  but that just means he will be staying with us for a few months until he is ready for his forever home.