Our family is about to grow......

....by 4 paws!!!

Haha! I just freaked your freak didn't I???

That's right people, we are getting a dog! A puggle to be exact. Our landlord thinks we are so cool that not only is he letting us have a dog, (only restriction- can't be a big doggie) he's going to fence in the rest of our backyard (if you can even really call it a backyard I'd say it's a rectangle 25 feet long by 15 feet wide)! We'll be seeding the yard and putting in a step so it's not such a jump from our mini porch to the ground. We must be excellent tenants. Which is awesome because now we don't have to move just so we can have a puppy!

I've been eyeballing a puggle for a few years now. Just ask my pal Anna about her first week at work at the office I worked for in Oklahoma. I took her to lunch and when she mentioned that she had two dogs, a beagle and a pug, I'm pretty sure all of CityBites heard me shriek "DO YOU BREED PUGGLES?? I WANT A PUGGLE SO BAD!".

Turns out Boomer and Winston are both boys.

These are some of the past puppies from the breeder we've chosen.

We went back and forth between getting a puppy from a breeder and getting a young 1-2 year old shelter dog (benefits being -one, that you gave a dog a home, and two, you can get a well behaved, friendly, potty trained young dog from a shelter, and of course it's significantly cheaper). I know at some point (if the spouse permits) we'll most likely add a shelter pup so our puggle has a buddy but we are going to see how living with one animal goes first.

Unfortunately, Daniel is not convinced that a puggle can ever be named Farfel. He thinks a shaggier, larger dog would best suit that particular monkier. We both love Senifeld, which is where the name Farfel came from, but Newman and Kramer have also been tossed into the ring as potential names. Any sname suggestions are welcome! Look at those adorable mugs above and let me know if a good dog name jumps to mind.

As soon as we moved to Oregon I found the breeder I wanted to get our puggle from, they are a Portland couple and they only have 1 litter a year. We are on the waiting list for the litter due in just a few days, so I'm hoping that all the people before us on the list have maybe gotten their pup from another breeder or have decided to adopt from a shelter or moved far far away! Ha ha!

Every year for Christmas and my birthday Daniel always asks what I want and my first answer is always "a dog!". The puppies will be ready to go to their homes at the beginning of August, right before my 30th birthday! This has the potential to be the greatest birthday in the history of planet earth.

Unless all the people ahead of us get the puppies first.

Then it will be a little less spectacular.

If only I could hack the breeders list and change all the potential puppy owner's e-mail addresses to mine....

Somewhat-patiently-waiting-for-a-puppy,

Adrienne 

My Houseguest...

This weekend while Daniel was gone I got to dog-sit a friend's dog. It also meant another living creature besides my husband to take pictures of ! Meet Ripken....

Ripken is a big, slobbery, sweet pound puppy who occasionally snores! He literally followed me around all weekend like a big furry shadow. He would have sat in my lap if I would have let him.

He tried.

He was denied.

He started by walking up to me and laying his head on my lap. I thought it was sweet so I sat there petting his noggin'. Then he put a paw up. Still cute. Then the other paw... I was on to his sneaky game.

He settled with laying by my feet.

Checking out the action in the neighborhood!

This is his tough guy look.

Crashed out after a trip to the dog park.

I thought at least Ripken wouldn't give me the "cut it out with the camera" look I get from Daniel. I was wrong. I got the "no more pictures" paw....

Now that Ripken is back home with his mom, I'm back to shooting pics of Daniel- hehe! Daniel eating, Daniel working on his computer, Daniel on his phone, Daniel washing dishes......for the sake of my husband's sanity someone send your kid over!

Happy Monday!

A list

Thought I'd share my weekend in list form....

1.) Did some serious laundry (which I'm oddly starting to enjoy..hurry, someone knock the sense back into me!).

2.) Burned 3,000 calories setting up, running around for, and cleaning up a donor reception and an alumni event both occurring at the same time.

The Alumni cocoa and cider stand was a huge hit!

Huge food spread at the donor reception!

3.) Consumed several hundred calories in the form of delicious wine & appetizers at my favorite wine bar after finishing up at aforementioned events. A much needed end to the day.

4.) Came 2 inches from having 5- 10 gallons of hot cocoa tumble off my cart while transferring it across campus in front of a bazillion people who were there for the tree lighting.

5.) Forgot that wearing heels for 13 hours does not make for happy feet the following day.

6.) Finished wrapping presents for the hubby's side of the family and have packed them up and dropped them at the post office!

7.) Used the insane amount of great football on TV Saturday as a valid excuse to not run into town for errands.

8.) Started 3 DIY projects, all of which you will be seeing here sometime in the next 2 weeks to 2 years depending on my motivation. :)

9.) Promised my husband fresh baked cookies, only to discover we were out of eggs.

10.) Used Sunday football as an excuse to not run to buy more eggs.

11.)  Wrote a novel of a grocery list.

12.) Online Christmas shopped.

13.) Online shop shopped....I get sidetracked easily.

14.) Enjoyed a wonderful service at church Sunday morning.

15.) Started planning my outfit for our mystery murder dinner this weekend! (My character is a music diva....I'm thinking something with a LOT of sequins)

16.) Made my husband play 2 person Taboo with me. We can't figure out who wins, I mean at the end- if I guessed more does that mean I win because I a good guesser or should he win for being a good clue giver? (I suppose we ought to try maybe making some friends so we don't run into this dilemma anymore. )

17.) Oh and finally I watched this....I watch it at least twice a week. It's the most adorable video I've ever seen. If you don't feel the same way we may not be able to be friends. Just kidding...maybe....

What were you up to this weekend??

Cheers!

All dogs go to heaven....

Right????

This February my mom had to take our dog Tanner to be put down. The muscles in his hind legs were deteriorating. He couldn't walk, run, or play like he use to and was needing help doing basic things like going potty and walking over to his food bowl.

He never was the perfect dog. To be honest, he was pretty socially awkward if you ask me. He was darn near impossible to train, he wouldn't let you touch his feet (which meant we had to drug the guy just to clip his nails!), he had a crazy eye, and I was always a little nervous about letting him around other dogs.

It was spring of 1999. My friend Tanya and I were at one of the million graduation parties, this one at the Lakewood Tennis Club. There was a stray there that had a litter of puppies out by one of the buildings, there were four or five little puppies about 4ish weeks old. Tanya and I decided we'd save a puppy and each take one home. (If you'd seen this stray you would have reconsidered taking on one of these little guys...she wasn't exactly the prettiest dog on the block if ya know what I mean.)

So I picked the cutest one. The fattest one. I later found out that his belly was fat because he had worms. Eew. Not as cute anymore.

I knew my parents wouldn't let me keep a dog that I had brought home "just because".... No, Tanya and I were already trying to figure out the best way to market these pups to our parents. We knew the boring old "but they're puppies and they need a good home" routine wasn't gonna cut it, not in the Davis household at least. We'd have a herd of dogs if that line worked in our house. Somehow my family has a lost/stray dog tracker embedded in our DNA, and based on past "found" canines and failed attempts to keep said canines, I knew better than to try something so simple...so whiny, on my parents. I had to go big or go home.

I justified the fact that I was about to attempt to pull of the biggest lie of all time to my parents by telling myself the entire ride home "it's for a good cause, God will totally forgive me". Tanya and I got our "story" straight on the ride to the house, we were ready...that's our story and we're sticking to it.

I walked in with the flea-ridden mongrel and yelled "Mom! You'll never guess what happened!..."

my brother with Tanner

remember it was 1999 and I liked boxed hair color...a lot.

time for a snack...part 2 is on it's way!