Product Review

I am a mom to an 8 year old little girl... dog that is!  C is a Memphis Police officer and one rainy night he was on patrol he saw a large cardboard box in the middle of the road.  He pulled over to remove the box from the roadway and when he picked it up he felt the weight shift.  C opened the box and found 5 little puppies, only one was still alive and she was soon named Hershie.  C and I have only been married for 939 days and well, I have taken Hershie over as my dog.  She wasn't allowed to sleep in bed, get on the couch or eat people food... well... all that has changed.  I have spoiled her!!

My little fur baby 

 Hershie & her favorite rope bone

Anyhow, I could brag about her all day long but I will get to the point of this post.  For a while now Hershie has been chewing on her paws (and no it isn't because she is in desperate need of a grooming appointment), the vet suspects she has a food allergy.  I was seriously considering making all of her meals from human food so I would know exactly what she is eating, but lets face it, C doesn't even get all homemade meals.  So, Halloween weekend we went on a mission to find her the best dog food out there!  After we checked out a few different places we decided to go to PetSmart.  We were back in the "All Natural" dog food section when a sweet lady approached us and started asking us what we wanted out of our dog food.  Well, I must say she either has a great sales pitch or Natural Balance dog food can work miracles... She did give us a doggie bag of their products to test out but C has the "go big or go home" attitude and we walked out of the store with 55 dollars worth of dog food, treats and other goodies.

Doggie Bag

Contents of the Bag, 2 types of dog good, brochure and coupon.

Natures Balance has many different formulas of their products we ended up choosing Venison and Sweet Potato, grain free, limited ingredient diet.  From everything that C & I read and the sales woman told us, this formula should help with her allergies.  By the end of this weekend she will have made the total switch over to Natures Balance food and hopefully within 2 to 4 weeks we will see a difference!  I will keep you all posted if this food is all its cracked to be or not.  Do any of you have additional advice on how to conquer dog allergies? 

@ Noble

Halloween Fun

I'm kinda out of words today so here are some pictures of my Halloween! 

Atlanta & Texas  

Representing 

C was a traitor this Halloween 

Hershie the lady bug

She isn't happy with her mommy rite now!

I'm bribing her with a treat at this moment 

Sweet little bug

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!!  

@ Noble

Because Voting is the New Black

I couldn't wait for my 18th birthday.  I wasn't looking forward to finally being able drive with an unrestricted drivers license or to gamble (in MI it's legal to gamble on Indian reservations at 18) or to buy cigarettes (let's face it, I had been doing that for a while lol).  I didn't even seem to care that it was the year I would to be graduating... I was finally able to VOTE!

At this point in history it wasn't "cool" to be a registered voter.  There was no "rock the vote" sponsored by MTV.  The movie stars weren't out politicking for their favorite candidate... There was just the same old mud slinging adds running on T.V. and the voting booth.  That being said, I still couldn't wait to cast my first ballot which would be in the presidential election between Gorge W and that guy who invented the Internet... what's his name... Oh-yeah Al Gore.  What an election it was ending in a supreme court ruling and all. 

Now many years later, as usual, the 2nd Tuesday in November is looming upon us and it's time to vote again.  Not for the president but for our governor, senator, and other local reps. So do your research, get out there and  vote... if you aren't the voting type, please don't complain to me about the government because I won't take your complaints seriously.  Also if you are tying to be elected to anything please don't have a name like Cookie, Shanaynay or Demontravius because I won't take you seriously either.  

@ Noble 

I'm feeling crafty

I love being my own boss and getting paid for something that I would gladly do for free.  Like most everything my job has a busy season and a slower season... My schedule has slowed down a bit and I find myself becoming a stay at home mom but without the kids and all.  That being said, I decided to make cookies for C to take to work (I'm a total suck up! He was appointed to his current job position, so as long as he is on every higher ups good side that means he stays where he's at.).  I'm clearly NOT Susie homemaker but here's a glimpse at my little crafty cookie project. Bon Appetite!

I felt a wee bit like Paula Dean when I dropped 2 cups of butter into my mixing bowl... I can already feel my heart ceasing up.

 There is a whole lotta health in that bowl!  Btw I got the recipe from HERE...

The weird shape to the right is the word "Boo"

I think I made total 52 cookies... Ay Crumba!

I had a few cookie casualties... Mostly the damn bat wings kept breaking off and I wanted to see what they tasted like, so I ate part of a pumpkin. 

Finished Product

I know they look like they were decorated by a 2nd grader but I was getting tired!

If these cookies don't score some points with the boss, I don't know what will! 

@ Noble 

Support the Youth

About 3 to 4 times a year my 3 nieces send me booklets to buy something to support their school.  So far this school year I have renewed my magazine subscriptions, bought some cute Paula Dean kitchen items and just recently it was time to buy cookies.  C is trying to get in shape/loose some weigh and I'm just trying not to eat every piece of junk food in sight!  So this year I decided to support them in a different way... a way that would keep on giving.  I decided that each of my nieces should pick out what type of cookie dough they would like and I would buy it for them. The day cookie dough arrived at their school the kids were half cracked out on raw cookie dough before they got home and for the next week or so they would continue their sugar high/sugar crashes.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

So here's to you Brother!!  While your girls are running wild on sugar I want you to remembered how much I hated it when you tied me to the tree, convinced me I wasn't playing in poison ivy when I really was, embarrassed me in front of your/my friends, made me watch scary movie, shoved me in the pool with all my clothes on and just over all was a typical big brother.  Enjoy the cookies :-)

@ Noble 

P.S. Brother, what do your kids want for Christmas... choose wisely lol

Silver Lining...

I started blogging so I could get my mind off of some things... but when it comes to actually writing down what's bothering me I'm terrified.  It's like if I actually type the words out that are in my head & heart it means they are true and I'm just not ready to face that yet.  But every time I sit down to write, the words I'm so afraid of are the only ones that come to mind.  So here it goes... 

April 18, 2010 will forever be a day that I remember... the 18th of every month is just another dagger into my oh so tender heart.  It's just a reminder that another month has gone by.  Another month that I don't have my dad.  My dad was one of my best friends.  He and I talked nearly every day.  We have always had a strong bond, I was always "daddy's little girl"  But he was taken away from me too quickly... I'm only 25 I still need my father.  We aren't sure if it was the Cancer or the surgery that took him from us but all I know is that there is a hole in my heart that I wish wasn't there.  I wasn't raised in a religious home, but what faith I had has been stripped away.... I long for it to come back but I'm not there yet.  I'm still so confused, mad and hurting.... Tears fall from my eyes every day, when will the death of my father stop hurting so bad? God hasn't been able to answer that question yet... Will he ever? 

Dad & Mom

My parents would have been married 43 years this December and they had so many plans, so much more life to live with each other.... People say every cloud has a silver lining, well if this could ever be consider a positive, it's that my 29 year old brother (military man, husband, father of 3 girls) came home for the memorial service.  He was complaining that his back/stomach has been hurting him again.  He had been to the doctors on base for months on end, they just kept giving him steroid shots in his back and kept sending him on his way.  While he was home, my mom finally made him go to the hospital... 4 hours later we found out that he has stage 4 stomach cancer.  He had previously had testicular cancer and doctors said that his cancer may have spread to his stomach from his operation to remove his testicular cancer.  He is currently undergoing chemo and radiation treatments and may have surgery in mid November.  He is so sick all the time and it breaks my heart that my 7 year old niece has to see her daddy that way because she is starting to learn what a beast cancer can be.  

All I know is that I'm not ready to loose another family member to cancer... this isn't the first time.  My grandfather had brain cancer and he died within a month from being diagnosed, my cousin fought and won breast cancer, but my great aunt wasn't so lucky with her battle.  From a very young age whenever I heard the word cancer I knew it to be bad and well, it hasn't proven to be anything different... I'm really searching for that silver lining... 

Stand up to Cancer

@ Noble 

Just thought you should know

Americans watch more television than any other country (we watch on average of 151 hours a month!). Also we have the highest percent of reality t.v. programs...  I do love to watch t.v. but there are times my body screams at me to unglue my eyes from the screen, get my booty off the couch and actually exercise my brain that is quickly turning to M-U-S-H from the t.v. overload. Occasionally I listen and go read a book.  I have fallen in love with the New York Times best selling author Jen Lancaster. She writes memoirs, so when reading her books, it's practically like watching reality t.v. (because if you aren't watching t.v. you are practically Un-American right?)  I have all 5 of her books and I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of her 6th!  She is a brutally honest, lacoste & pearl necklace wearing, absolutely hilarious writer!!  So, any of you that are interested in exercising your brain and getting a big laugh, I suggest you pick up one of her books here or head to your local book store.  Also, you should read them in order... once you start reading her books you will understand why.

      

 

        

 

 So, what are some of your favorite books and/or authors?  I will share more of my favorites next week!!

@ Noble