Saying Good-bye to our Furbabe

August 3rd has so many bitter sweet feelings for me. I have tried to write this post for what seems like forever as I knew this day would be coming. It just came quicker than I had expected or even wanted. Even now I know it was the right decision but one that was very heavy hearted for us. After seven amazing years of adventures, Toby, our sweet first furbabe, has found a new forever home. Sadly over the years, he has exhibited territorial issues with Mattie, but it wasn't until he started showing signs toward Auby that it became real. He really does love Aubrey. She was his favorite little friend, especially when it came to meal time. But it was something that we couldn't risk. After a small little incident at home, I knew it was sadly time to say good-bye. Ray had sent information and posts about him, but sadly nothing was available. We weren't just going to send him away to just anyone as it had to be the perfect situation. He was our first baby. How could I just give him to anyone. It wasn't but a few weeks later, maybe a month, that Ray received a call. The gentleman let us know that he and his wife had recently lost their beagle, Molly, due to cancer. I couldn't imagine the heart break of a loss of what is like a family member. After much conversation, Ray couldn't imagine a more perfect home and family. The next day, Toby was introduced to the couple. They were so loving. I couldn't bring myself to go but am so thankful that Ray could. We had Toby for the rest of the week. I enjoyed our daily cuddles. Toby really is my sweet baby. Our home just wouldn't be right for him. That Sunday after church, Ray took him to his new home. I cried for what seemed like forever. It was so hard to say good-bye even though I know he would be exactly where he needed to be. All I could ever ask is for him to find a home where he is loved and is happy. The family was so excited they even brought home another little beagle girl named Belle. As explained to us, the two are getting along great and they are loving him. I still wonder if he misses us, but I know it was the right decision. We love you sweet Toby!

Toby Turns Six!

Our beagle, Toby, turned six today! Our first born furbabe celebrated his birthday Saturday, February 2, 2013. As our independent baby, he enjoys his blanky, barking at the bunnies, eating all food types and many things he shouldn't, and bugging his little sister. But with all that being said, I love our little boy more than words. I love his puppy breath, cuddles, and playful disposition. Happy Birthday Sir Toby the Red!

Our White Return!

During our trip to Sugar Land, I had received a text that said, "Hurry home. It's snowing!" I was so excited to hear that our home in Northern Dallas was covered in beautiful, white snow. Sadly our Houston temperatures were in the mid 70s. Our Christmas day had even been hit with countless power outages due to the wind and cold front that quickly came flooding in. We returned from our trip Thursday afternoon to snow still on the ground. I was so excited to see that we hadn't missed a white Christmas! When we came inside the house, boy was it cold. This is what our thermometer read. I quickly turned up the heat.

After a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a and a stop to pick up our pups, we enjoyed a few pictures in the snow.  

Toby has mastered his look of apology. I'm sure he ate something he shouldn't have. I just love this sweet, but super spoiled baby. ANYWAY... I loved our white return. It was good to see our furbabes. We spent the rest of the afternoon, house a mess and laundry all over the floor, in the bed watching movies and relaxing.

Puppy Love: Dog Sitting

 

This weekend we are puppy sitting for our friends, the Dukes. Miss Bella and Toby go way back. They were first introduced in college and while they have not seen each other in some time, as you can see, they were able to pick up exactly where they left off. Toby is in love. Adam dropped off Miss Bells early Friday morning. From the moment she arrived, Toby has loved every moment and played or as you can see in the picture... given tons of kisses.

He has had a blast! Now Mattie is a bit unsure but has enjoyed tagging along in many of the games (from her perch on the couch of course)
Saturday morning, Ray and I awoke pretty early and took the pups out for a walk.

I would have to say our walk while good to get the dogs out of the house for a brief mile excursion was probably a bit of a fail as both the husband and I were not used to three independent pups that walked in all directions. After our walk, we enjoyed a relaxing weekend at home! Here's to puppy love and dog sitting all three:)

For Whom The Bell Told...

Today we began a new training regime for the puppies. Living in a house that is connected on all three sides with other animal owners has become a bit of a struggle. Do not get me wrong. I love our house and our neighborhood. There is NOTHING that would change my mind; however, dealing with four dogs that inhabit the house directly behind us is challenging and loud to say the least. I cannot fully complain as we have a beagle that sounds off to many types of noises; however, having all four dogs outside that bark the moment I open the back door has not been the best situation. Toby then runs to the fence and sounds like a siren. It is pretty hard to get him to stop. So while this may sound a bit weird, we are planning on trainning him with a bell. Today I've randomly rung the bell, whether it was when they went outside to potty or when we were in the house. After I ring the bell, I make sure the dogs come inside or come to me and sit. I do not say a word. It has worked exremely well; however, the neighbor's dogs have been inside this afternoon. I guess the true test will be when they are outside and the bell is rung to see what course of action our dogs will take. So we shall see how this all works out.

For any dog owners... does this sound crazy? Have any of you had this issue? How did you solve it? Any thoughts/comments? More will be updated as it comes:) Wish us luck:)

Spring Break 2012 Recap!

As you may have read under my "Spring Break To Dos" that this was a very low key week for me. Sadly for many days of my week, I was a bit frustrated with our one car situation and I was honestly a little bored with the idea of studying all day... but realized it could be totally worse and I was thankful for the opportunity to get some much needed things done. Once I got over myself (ha!) I was super excited about having the opportunity to do several fun dinners with friends and relaxing time at home with our little fam. So I wanted to provide a little breakdown for me to remember my weekly activities.

Monday... Let Spring Break begin! My Monday afternoon was filled with two of my least favorite things including cleaning and studying for the PPR. I tried to keep myself busy as the real fun of Spring Break would begin that night where I would meet my old roommate Daniela for dinner at Blue Goose. I had such a blast with her. Sadly I didn't have my camera on me and was unable to record our ladies date night. But I am thankful for our time together as we always are able to pick up exactly where we left off.

Tuesday... Ray dropped me off bright and early at my team leader's house. We made a quick trip to Staples for some additional school supplies and then set off for our classrooms to spend a few hours to set up for the following week. Tuesday night, I spent the evening at home with Ray and the pups. It was nice to relax in bed and watch a few movies.

Wednesday... I met my girl Gellner for a morning Starbucks date. It was nice getting to catch up with her. For lunch, I met up with Ray at Buffalo Wild Wings. I was afraid this would be the beginning of March Madness, but it worked out that we were a day early. If it had been Thursday, the tables would be filled. After lunch, I went back for more daily studying.

Thursday: I spent my morning in, completing the usual tasks. By today I was over being at home without a car or companion. Thursday night, Jennifer, my old high school friend, picked me up for dinner at Christinas. I had so much fun with my girl. Jennifer and I were on high school dance team together and shared in so many funny, wild and crazy moments. Speaking of funny, on our after dinner trip to Kohls, I decided that I must try on some of these ridiculous heels. Enjoy a picture of our pumps.



Sadly the picture that was taken at dinner had a file error and the picture will not display:( This simply means that we'll have to get together soon to make more memories. :) Thanks Jennennenifer for a great ladies night out!

Friday: The last day of Spring Break, I layed low with the pups. I finished a few additional things for school as well as my internship program through Texas Teachers. For lunch, Ray picked me up to go get some soup and salad from the Olive Garden. Gosh I think I have eaten my weight in food this Spring Break. Wow, I feel another blog post coming. Ha! Friday night, Ray and I made dinner for our Duke friends. It was really exciting to visit with our sweet friends!

Update on Toby: This week the furbabes went to the vet to get checked out. It was Mattie's annual visit, but this time we wanted to ask a few questions about Toby's seizures. Basically unless the seizures are consistently a month or less apart then he is fine. At that point if they continue to worsen, then we can have a blood test done and put him on seizure medication. So currently we are just to watch him and we'll go from there. Here is a sweet picture of the sleepy boy after he came back from the vet.



Well that's about it. I'm thankful for lazy days, for the time with my husband and friends, and for extra study time. Happy Spring Break friends! I'm ready to get back to the usual grind. 10 more weeks of school before Summer!

St. Patty's Impromptu Picnic in the Park!

This morning after sleeping in until almost 9:30, the realization of not making it out to Greenville officially set in. But as we awoke the sun was beating through the blinds, and I knew that today was going to be an absolutely beautiful St. Patty's Day. So instead, the husband and I put together some of our favorite foods and gathered our basket and blanket as we were going to take the furbabes to enjoy a St. Patty's Impromptu Picnic in the Park.



While we adorned ourselves with some fabulous green options, I realized that it just wouldn't be right unless the pups were dressed in Irish themed clothing as well. I could not resist putting these two bandanas around their neck. They were so stinking cute! They also didn't seem to really mind the extra material. Usually my pups hate getting dressed up but I guess the extra treats helped persuade them.



Ray and I knew exactly where we were headed when we packed our family and picnic foods in the car. With less than two weeks standing between us, we headed out to the park next to our new home. We could not have been more excited. When we first arrived, we decided to take the pups on a nice walk around the park to get them acclimated to their new home. The path is about a half mile and figured they could get some of their energy out before we settled down for the picnic. They sure seemed to enjoy it. The weather had now changed to overcast and was pretty windy, but still a great morning.




After our walk, we found a great bench to sit on in between some trees next to the basketball court. While there was a lot of space to choose from the ground was filled with lots of twigs that wouldn't be too conducive for a typical picnic. So the bench was great. We enjoyed foods such as bread that we attempted to turn green. Ha! It kind of looked like moldy bread. But hey we were trying to get in the spirit. We also had strawberries, fruit snacks, and for dessert Andie's mints. YUM!



While we ate, Mattie our stray puppy found herself a comfortable spot on top of our blanket picnic. She likes to be center of attention and for a stray hates dirt. Ha while Toby was sniffing and enjoying his wide open spaces.

Regardless the day was a pretty perfect day. I am so thankful for our St. Patty's Picnic in the Park and for my lucky charms!

House Hunting, Babysitting B-Rice, and Fun Days in February!

While we are only a few weeks into the month of February, that doesn't stop us from enjoying every moment of it... From house hunting, to Gellner ladies hair salon days, lunch dates, lazy nights at home with our furbabes, and hanging out with our favorite little Fant, we sure are having a blast.

First Day of House Hunting

Starbucks Drinks and Hair day with my Gellner

Sunday Lunch Date at Rosas. YUM!

Our little boy and girl

Babysitting B-Rice

Here is to more enjoyable, high-energy, and even lazy nights with the ones I love!

Lazy Day with Mattie Mae!

Almost four years ago, this little cutie joined our little family. We were never looking to be a two dog family, but after a sweet puppy sitting weekend, we knew that Mattie Mae was ours. I love spending cozy snuggle time with this sweet pup. Oh how I love my lazy day with Mattie Mae!

Puppy Love

It is clearly evident that we love our puppies.

Our furbabies

Mattie and Toby

But we are not the only ones...

Becky and Todd's puppies
Falkor and Rory

and Rhino (the newest addition)

The Zellner Pooches
Pancho and Walley

The Waldrup lady
Aggie

Here's to puppy love and to all the best friend's in our lives that make us happy.

Zellner Christmas 2011

On Tuesday, Ray and I continued our Christmas celebration with our Zellner family. It was a day filled with celebration, morning mosas, puppy play dates, gift exchanging, and memory making. While it was a short visit, it (as always) was a memorable one.

We arrived around early afternoon where we then spent the afternoon with Ray's parents making holiday treats for the family and enjoyed "morning mosas." Within moments of his sisters' arrival, it was time to unwrap presents and go through our stockings. PS. The stripes were NOT planned. ha

From Aggie gear, drink glasses, perfume, winter hats, to clothing, teacher supplies, coffee machines, and as seen on tv materials... it was a fun gift giving season. After presents we spent the night enjoying a wonderful dinner with family and play dates with the pups including Ray's two family pups, Pancho and Waley, as well as his sister's mama Rory and seven week old Falkor.

Thank you to my Zellner family for another amazing Christmas filled with so many wonderful blessings and gifts... the greatest gift of all... love!

What an amazing holiday spent with those we love. Next year we will be greeted by Ray's older brother, Ryan, our niece Olivia, Ryan's new fiance Tassie, and her two children Kendall and Jacob. While we missed our extended family this year, we are so looking forward to being with those we love next year and for many days in between.

Merry Christmas

love the Zellners

Superheroes of Shopping!

Today was a very special day in the Zellner home as it was our first day of Christmas vacation. To celebrate, Ray and I decided to spend our day Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, movie watching, treat making, and picture taking.

Our morning began as we made our list and checked it twice. (yes sadly we waited until the last few days to finish our shopping... but really it wasn't too crowded as it was a weekday:) We first enjoyed a delicious brunch at IHOP then quickly made our way to the stores. But of course we had to play around in the toy section:) My husband is my favorite partner in crime;)

Once we returned home, we wrapped our special gifts... including this cutie... our Mattison girl and enjoyed a few pictures with our furry friends.

(as you can tell... Toby was not a fan of the photo session:)

My sweet family, my blessing!

After wrapping and a few family photos, we made some very delicious treats.

Our delicious smore cake balls

It was definitely two days of fun adventure, of waiting until the last minute, standing in lines, but all worth the time, effort, and excitement!