My Hairy Home.

So who would've thought that two short-haired Labradors would SHED SO MUCH! Holy crap there's a mess of hair around our home! I swear I'm sweeping up MOUNDS of hair every couple of days. Apparently labs shed their undercoat every Spring and Fall and frankly its quite disgusting. We could superglue their hair onto a stuffed animal and we'd have another Labrador.

I'm so not kidding.

Then you factor in a shedding cat and its just outright nasty around our house right now. So our plan of defense is this - I introduce you to the FUR-MI-NA-TOR! These bad boys are $45 and apparently comb out all the undercoat decreasing the shedding by 90%. Oh but of course I wasn't willing to pay that much, so I found a brand new one on Ebay for $13.50 - holla! So as soon as it arrives in the mail, we'll be having ourselves a Furminator party in the backyard. And I do hope to take pictures of the removed hair in all its glory. I'm REALLY hoping this does the trick!

These are the images of how much hair this little miracle worker can remove: (see the black lab in the center picture?)
And speaking of labs - thankfully both Jeep & Seven are doing much better with the infections they both had. Seven's eyes are back to normal and looking beautiful and Jeep's bacterial infection on his face is starting to clear up. Even with all the vet bills, they are the best dogs in the world. And I know I sound crazy, but as soon as we get more land and a bigger house, I would love to get one or two more! After all, we don't have our Chocolate Lab and I would love a Silver one too!

Have you ever seen a silver lab? GORGEOUS! I think if we get one, we should name him Sterling.

I know what you're all thinking - I'm crazy for wanting so many pets. But they are so fun and they bring so much joy to our lives. And ultimately I want a house full of kids, dogs, and my cat Banks!~

Not an ounce of inspiration.

So yeah, I've been asked lately why I haven't updated the blog. *big sigh* I just haven't been inspired to do so. It might have something to do with the fact that I spend 40 hours a week typing my butt off as my job. So anything extra in front of the computer is oftentimes just more work. And these last two weeks have been A TON of work.

Ok so enough whining about it. Here's some random thoughts Jason and I have been throwing out there lately.

First of all - Jason was offered his friend's landscaping business. Jason has been working for his friend Moke over the last summer as a way to earn some extra cash when work at the restaurant is slow. But just recently Moke and his wife Tracy decided they were going to put their house on the market come spring and head to California. We've been praying about this a lot trying to hear the Lord's direction on whether we should do it. Jason's done some number crunching and I've even discussed it with one of my attorneys. It's looking like an awesome opportunity for us because 1. it will provide us with some serious cash next spring, summer & fall to pay off our car & hopefully get our roof replaced and 2. it will allow Jason to cut back nights at the restaurant to spend more time at home!!!! (I love this one most!) AND 3. he can be his own boss determining when he works, for how long and how much. We're thinking the plan will be to give this business a couple years and see where it goes and where we're at with things.

(Jeep likes to wear Jason's protective goggles.)

Hmmm...second. We're trying very hard to find some good flights out to Seattle to see family and friends over Christmas. The difficulty this year is the added financial burden of boarding the puppies while we're gone. We found a great place for a great price, but it still adds to the cost of flights and gifts. Holidays don't come cheap for us. :-) This year, we may just have to wrap a big bow around ourselves and show up. Merry Christmas - we're your gifts! That, or I'll be making handmade ornaments again like I did back in the MC days. Ha! (So all you crafty people out there, feel free to send some clever homemade ideas my way!) Oh and baking always works wonders with my family, so at least there's that.

What else...I'm trying desperately this afternoon to focus on the fun things coming up in the next couple months so I don't start getting anxious over my 3 hour dental appointment tomorrow afternoon. I broke part of a tooth off and it needs a crown, along with the tooth behind it also needing a crown. They're hoping they can save the broken tooth, otherwise they're going to have to pull it and put in a graft for an implant. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I should start charging my iPod as soon as I get home, I'm going to need lots of music to listen to.

And so what are these fun things I'm choosing to think on instead??? WELL LET ME TELL YOU!

Next month Jason and I are taking a few days and heading down to Chattanooga for some good 'ol fashioned camping. Just us and the dogs. I'm so pumped to just relax, snuggle with my man, sleep in, read and walk with the pups. And of course we have to stop at Rembrandt's Coffee Company to stock up on their delicious roasted coffee and grab a quick bite to eat!

(This is where I plan to spend most of the weekend while camping!)

Then in November, I'll be joining my friend Julie and some other girls for a Fall Reading Weekend at a farm/lodge near town. It'll be two nights & three days of hearty soups, cozy blankets, fuzzy jammies, dear friends and good books. I can hardly wait!!!

And finally December, where I hope to spend a good amount of time with family and friends over Christmas and maybe even the New Year. My dear friend Jess will be in town and I can hardly contain myself at being able to spend some time with her!

Lots of awesome things to day dream about other than this nasty dentist appointment tomorrow.

I'm ready for fall....

I guess we've "unofficially" had our last day of summer, but you wouldn't know it here in Nashville. It's still been a gorgeous 75-85 degrees on average and no signs of the leaves turning or cooler weather. But I am looking forward to putting the dresses and skirts away (yes you heard me right, I wear those now) and get out the cords, jeans and sweaters.



I'm ready for simmering soups, warm pies and soft blankets. In October, Jason and I are taking the dogs camping for a long weekend in Chattanooga. Just us, nature, a campfire, some books and lots of relaxation - I'm already excited about it and trying to resist writing out a packing list.

Thankfully the weekend is here and I'm looking forward to chillaxin a while. This week was a tad busy with the Memorial Day BBQ at our friends house with the small group, then cleaning my house and making caramel popcorn all Wednesday night for Book Club at our house last night. Nothing on the calendar this weekend and its just the way I like it!

Hope you all have a great weekend!