It’s Already September!

September means lots of things. To me it’s a hope that this hot, sticky weather won’t hold out much longer. I have noticed it feeling a little cooler in the mornings (or maybe I just want to sit on the back porch with some coffee in the mornings so bad that I’m imagining it) but it still gets disgustingly hot & humid by 8.

I don’t have a super recent picture of the garden – the squash & pumpkins are loving this weather & have completely gone crazy. The squash are starting to bloom, maybe we will have some fruit here soon. I have been tempted on several occasions to pull them out of the ground….they take up so much space. But now that it seems they are on the verge of doing something I guess I can stick it out! Everything else is growing nicely as well, except for my spinach. But I think I have time to plant again before it’s too late.

Yesterday I tried my hand at baking bread. Something I’ve always wanted to do & be good at! I think I got my yeast too hot because my dough was super sticky (kinda like when you make pizza crust) and flat as a pancake! Needless to say, there was no rising action. I knew the loaf wouldn’t turn out, but I went ahead & baked it just to finish. That was the heaviest loaf of bread…ever! It was supposed to be cinnamon raisin. Planning to try again today, hopefully with better results!

I think a lot of y’all know we’ve been church hunting for about the last two months now. Putting on your best smile & meeting new people each week & listening to a new pastor can definitely take a toll. Several Sunday’s I would cry in the car on the way back to the house. Nothing compares to Veritas out here. Veritas felt/feels like home. It’s the first church Chad & I attended together after we were married, where each week we knew we would hear the truth of the Gospel & see again how big our need for the Lord is and we were brought together with an amazing group of people in fellowship throughout the week. It was deep, it was heavy, it was convicting. We haven’t found anything like that in FL. In his book Radical Reformission Pastor Mark Driscoll talks a lot about how important it is for churches to be culturally relevant. Christian cultural commentator Ken Myers says there are 3 forms of Christian culture in the church: High culture (compared to a gourmet meal, connected to tradition & referred to as an art), folk (compared to a home cooked meal from a family recipe, emerges from a community as outpouring of lives lived together, highly personal, endearing & enduring) & pop culture (compared to a fast food meal, easily accessible, less requirement to engage, experience before patience & difficult to distinguish from advertising). Veritas was definitely a folk church. Lots of people living openly in front of each other – sharing struggles & triumphs, grounded in the Truth. We have yet to find a folky church here – all we have seen so far are churches comparable to high culture. Where are the people to connect with? Where is the genuineness? Walking with the Holy Spirit is no easy task, I need a community of someones to do it with me.

I will say this – the lack of what we are looking for has pushed Chad & me even more to become that. We spoke to Matt, the leader of our community group from Veritas, & he told us to be the church that we are looking for. Such simple advice, but so true. Spiritually, Chad & I have grown so much (individually & together) since we have been in FL. Digging out the truth in the Word and taking hold of the things we believe – striving to be ready with Scripture based doctrine if someone asks. Speaking the Gospel to ourselves & each other daily. Extending grace. Striving for humility. We also listen to podcasts from other churches to get the meat that is missing on Sundays. Veritas just started a study of Judges, which we got to skype into for the sermon & it was such a blessing! I can’t say that I wouldn’t jump at the chance to be back at Veritas, but I know right now we are right where God wants us. Laying foundations in our marriage and for whatever is ahead of us.

It’s been hard and frustrating and disappointing and the start of a new adventure. But we are learning and striving to live more Gospel centered lives.

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Go Ahead & Say It…

I know you are thinking it – I’ve neglected my blog. Well let me see if I can make it up to you. Let’s get started!

First – We got our wedding pictures! Here’s a couple of my faves:

Our friend Nate did such a great job!

Basil is growing like a weed – everyday I swear she is taller!! Earlier this week she had her “big girl” surgery (she got spayed) and she also had a gastroplexy to help prevent gastric torsion. Oh our baby is spoiled! She has been on two different pain pills since she came home. The vet said she woke up from the anesthesia with a wagging tail. Which is pretty much how she is all the time! The vet tech carried her out to us like you would hold a baby & as soon as she put Basi in my arms she opened her eyes & started wagging her tail again. Ha! It kinda made me a little emotional!! Basil has also been everywhere with us & meeting everyone along the way. She is going to be a well adjusted doggie when she’s grown up! We took her to the coast with us & up to see the Redwoods. She has also met some horsies that she was so excited to play with! And we took her to Lake Tahoe with us & got to experience snow for the first time – it was hilarious! She definitely did not know what to think of it!!

I’ve also been working to perfect my ice cream making skills! I got the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid for the wedding. And the weather is finally getting warm enough to use it! I made Strawberry ice cream a couple of weeks ago for our Cinco de Mayo party. It may have been beginner’s luck that it turned out so perfect!! Earlier this week I tried to make cookies ‘n cream…that did not go so well. I think I added the cookies too soon & the ice cream never solidified! I tried again this morning & it worked much better. But I am having to freeze the ice cream in two batches because it made so much! So I did half already & added the cookies in the last couple of minutes & am on break now because I had to pop the bucket back into the freezer!

Chad and I have realized how quickly the little bit of time we have left in NorCal is flying by! We are wanting to take advantage of as much as we can before we go. About a month ago I did something I’ve never done before, nor thought I was capable of doing! We participated in our first Duathalon!! Which is running/bike/run. Chad did the full 4mi/13mi/4mi and I did the Sprint which was 2/6.5/2. And….not to brag – but I came in third in my age division… haha! There were only 3 participants in my division too ;) But I did keep close to a 9:30 pace on the runs which was good for me – and I realized I definitely need to be riding my bike more – I think I could have shaved quite a bit of time off if I was better on Vega!!

Here I am finishing the first run & Chad finishing his second run. I was SO nervous on the way to the race & kept asking Chad to turn the car around, but it was SUCH a fun event! I felt like I was just running on adrenaline the whole time – I think I got a rush before each run & the bike section! Definitely looking forward to doing another with my husband!

Ok, obviously I’m having trouble getting the text & pictures lined up together. But I’m too frustrated/lazy to keep messing with it. But these are the highlights of the past couple of months. Of course, there has been tons of great food along the way too. But I’ve done a poor job of documenting the dinners we have had.

Last, but definitely not least – I need to say Happy Birthday to my BFF Jill. My life would not be the same without you! I am so thankful we met that summer at Kanakuk! I have been completely blessed by your humor, creativity, honesty & support & love! I love you!!

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Fried Things, Adventure Dog, Indoor Tornadoes & Other Random Happenings

Buckle up – this is looking like it will be another long post! Every day I think “I need to blog!” and then Basil poops on the back porch or there is another load of laundry to fold or something else to be done. I finally realized the other day that maybe spending time with my family & up keep of the house is more important than a new blog post everyday. Before Basil, it was possible, but now, it’s not. And that’s fine.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, and at Chad’s instance, I started my day off with a huge bowl of Lucky Charms. Very fitting. I don’t think I’ve ever had Lucky Charms. Chad requested some “sugar” cereal the other day & I came home with Frosted Mini Wheats – that was my idea of sugary! We didn’t eat Lucky Charms or Cinnamon Toast Crunch growing up. We ate Cheerios, granola & Honey Bunches of Oats. And on special occasions, Life. I can really attribute my love for healthy food to my mom – I don’t think I ever ate any frozen lunches while she made my lunch or anything overly processed. Not eating Lucky Charms as a kid is probably why I have a stomach ache now – not to mention how creepy those “marshmellows” are – they were crunchy! I’m more of a faux fried egg (a squirt of Pam) and 1/2 english muffin in the morning kind of girl. Anyways, enough of that – but on to other unhealthy eatings!

Last Friday was “date night” & I wanted to fix something wonderful & special for dinner before we went to the movies. Sidenote: {Yes, we saw Alice in 3D & YES we LOVED it!! It wasn’t the traditional Alice in Wonderland story – it still had all the same characters & same general idea, but I think it was a combination of Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. We thought Tim Burton did a great job! Spend the extra $$ to see it in 3D – totally worth it!} Like I was saying – I wanted to fix something extra yummy for date night. We both love Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich and it is SUPER quick & easy. Well, while I was perusing the Pioneer Woman website, I saw a recipe for Onion Strings which sounded perfect together. Oh Baby! But I’ve never “deep fried” anything in my life & I’m still not sure that’s what I did. But there was batter & oil & I smelled like oil after – not good for date night! Here is what we ended up with though: and man were they tasty!! I think that Chad thought he had died & gone to heaven – fried food in our home?! Now life is perfect ;) But this is why I will never be frying anything again: The oil turned dark brown & there was SLUDGE at the bottom. It made my tummy sick & my heart sad that I put that inside of me! Oh but those onion strings did melt in my mouth! And our apartment smelled like oil for the rest of the weekend. I probably won’t fry anything anymore…for a while!

Saturday morning we got up & got everything together to take our adventure dog out to enjoy this awesome weather! We headed up to the Auburn State Recreational Area. Basil had so much fun splashing through all the mud, eating sticks & meeting new people   & dogs. We guessed it was about 3-3.5 miles round trip. Basil was worn out at the end of the day. I’ve read a saying “A tired Wiem is a happy Weim.” I like that!

Sunday we just laid low in the morning. We had big plans to get up early & head up to Wright’s Lake, but we were all too tired! We took Basil to the dog park instead & then headed to church at Veritas that afternoon.

On Monday I realized that at some point during the weekend, a tornado had blown through our apartment. I hate it when that happens! And it stresses me out a bit when things are messy & strewn all over the place. It took me most of Monday morning to clean things up, do laundry & dishes, vacuum etc… Laundry is my arch nemesis – there were several piles of this nature throughout the apartment laying in wait for me! There is an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” where Lily & Marshall get into a fight bc Lily likes a clean sink and would rather do dishes right away & Marshall doesn’t like to do dishes. That’s me & Chad. I hate waking up to this in the morning! And Chad likes to take the “let it soak” approach overnight so all the gunk is extra gunky and now mushy & disgusting for me to deal with in the morning! The plus side to the “let it soak” approach – more time to spend with my honey :) Monday we also had quesadillas for dinner – per Chad’s request! I tried to load them with veg to undo some of the intestinal clogging properties that naturally  come along in quesadillas. They had onion, yellow bell pepper, zucchini & squash & then ground beef with taco seasoning & Monterey Jack cheese. SOOO good & oooey goooey warm & tasty! Not a great picture to show what’s inside – but use your imagination!

Chad and I had also recently watched a documentary we got on Netflix called Running on the Sun. It followed some of the runners of the Badwater 135mi race in Death Valley in July. It was so intense! These crazy people were running in 120 degree heat! And it made me realize that I hadn’t run in at least 2-3 weeks – these people had such drive & determination. And I was feeling guilty about the quesadilla so I decided I would run on Tuesday!

It’s been hard to find a balance between getting Basil the exercise she needs everyday & getting me the exercise I need/want. I like walking with her & I know it’s beneficial to my health – but it’s just such a lower intensity than what I’m used to doing. Chad encouraged me to incorporate her walk into my cool-down from a run. Which is what I did yesterday & it worked out great! I did ~3 miles yesterday – I called it Three to Lonetree. Lonetree is the name of a street close to where I live, so I figured if I made a big loop, it would be about 3 miles. The Map My Run website is a great tool for running. If I could change one thing, I would ask that they could add a thing to tell you pace. Maybe it’s on the app that you pay for. It took me a while to figure out the app for my phone – I would randomly manage to turn it off in the middle of a run & lose the workout, but I’m getting it now! Then I took Basil for a walk – it was probably about 1.5 miles. We stopped to play in the nature reserve again, but the water is all drying up – which is the fun stuff! So we didn’t stay long. This is probably one of my favorite faces that Basil makes – it’s the “I’ve got a mouth full of mud but let me smile at you”! She’s so big!! After we got back Basil got to nap in her crate – and by nap I mean bark – while I did some yoga. I realized while I was running that my hip flexors were SO tight! Yoga has done alot to help me loosen my hips & hamstrings, but I still have a long way to go & want to make sure to keep stretching lots while I’m running. I did the Yoga Today free video for this week – it was a great challenge – working on inversions & preparation for shoulder-stands. I’m so excited! And I can definitely feel that I got a good shoulder/upper back workout in :)

For dinner last night we had the same Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps from a couple of weeks ago that I thought were too dry, but Chad loved. So this time I doubled the stir-fry sauce & added a few things I thought it needed – like extra brown sugar, mirin, & extra sesame oil & it turned out quite nicely. We both enjoyed them this time. And I steamed some baby bok choy to go with – sooo good! A little butter, a little salt & pepper & red pepper flakes & some minced garlic & onion. And just put the lid on until tender. My friend Jen introduced me to bok choy – Yay! No pictures though, sorry. I was so hungry – I scarfed it down too quick!

This might be a record for me as far as length goes – so I’m going to wrap it up! We are planning to head to our community group tonight for what is seeming like will be quite a green food feast! What are your St Patrick’s Day plans?!

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The Last 5 Days in 1000 Words or Less!

Well, I’ve done it again. I’m getting good at the blogging hiatuses. Hiatuses. Is that even a real word? I think I would say it as I karate chopped someone in the throat.

Life is moving so fast these days. I’ll try to hit all the high points. And try to do better at consistently blogging. Try being the key word. ;) Basil is snoring in my lap right now, so I may be able to get in a good long post.

Lets re-wind to the end of last week & and we’ll start with foods we’ve been eating in the Hogue apartmenthold. Haha. I know I made that word up. I made Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops & an easy torn lettuce salad with tomato & feta last week. Yum. I always forget how much I love pork choppies. These totally hit the spot. We really didn’t eat anything interesting this weekend. I was feeling a little under the weather so we didn’t have any food adventures. By Monday I was feeling better though & ready to tickle another pallet. Pot Roast was on the menu. Of course I turned to my favorite place for a recipe, The Pioneer Woman & she did not disappoint! I also blanched some green beans & made Easy Mashed Taters – I love it when they have skin in there! We enjoyed a glass of red wine with our feast & I totally SCARFED it down – it was perfect comfort food!

Last night I made a roast chicken that I don’t really want to talk about. So please don’t ask.

I do want to talk about Basil though. And for this we are going to re-wind again. Saturday. The REI garage sale. We got up early & got in line. Basil went with us. She made lots of new friends. She was a good sport & a good snuggle buddy. Chad & I both have been feeling a bit cooped up lately so we decided to head out after the garage sale & get outside. We packed up our lunch & took some rock climbing gear & headed north towards Placerville. We were in the car for about 90 minutes in Chad’s bumpy truck. Oh, this is after we notice that Basil has a weird bug-bite hard knot looking thing on her belly & we gave her heartworm medicine for the first time with breakfast that morning.

We find the trailhead & park on the side of the road & get all our gear & head out. Maaaaybe 5 or 10 minutes into our walk, Basil hops off to the edge of the trail, heaves once & then barfs up everything she ate that day. Poor girl. But she doesn’t act sick at all. And she was hungry later & managed to keep everything down for the rest of the day. Weird huh? But we were totally impressed with her problem solving ability – if she wasn’t able to go on the same route that we did, she would find her own little way to go. And she was able to climb up pretty steep rocks that neither of us thought she would be able to do! She is going to be a great hiking buddy! I can’t wait to get her trained off leash so we can let her run free while we are out hiking! And she was totally wiped out Saturday which was awesome!!

But when we got up Sunday morning I heard Chad say “Uh-oh.” She had projectile vomited out of her crate & all on the floor in front of her little house. Impressive, no? But she still wasn’t acting sick. We made a vet appointment Monday & she couldn’t find anything wrong with her. She said it could be a number of several small things – but not likely something to worry about since Basil isn’t lethargic or acting like she doesn’t feel well. She is such a daredevil – she jumped off the table in the exam room – a total nosedive. She has gained 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks! It’s amazing how fast she is growing!!

I’ll wrap this up with a really quick version of what happened yesterday morning. Basil LOVEs to sunbathe on the back porch in the morning. And I love to let her do this while I do the dishes. She also loves to dig in the pot of my lemon tree. I do not love this. I went outside to put a stop to this particular behavior & while I was walking across the backporch to put the tree in a higher place out of her reach, I stepped in something soft, warm & smelly. It was poop. Thankfully I was wearing Chacos. Or not thankfully. Because it was aaaalllllll mushed in the treads. And mushed into the hem of my long baggy sweats. While I was dealing with my poopie shoes & sweats in the bathroom, I heard a funny noise in the kitchen. Basil had knocked over the trashcan to get to the meat wrapper from our pot roast from the night before. It was barely 7:45 AM. I can see the humor in the situation now, but at the time, I completely lost it. I spanked her & put her in a time out in her crate. I was so disappointed in how I reacted – just so completely emotionally caught in the moment – I couldn’t step back & use my brain for a moment to say – this is a puppy, she is just doing what puppies do- digging & exploring & smelling.

I am so not ready for children.

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Basil Goes to the Spa

Wow, I’m not sure what happened, but I inadvertently took a weekish long hiatus from blogging.

This last week and a half has been tough. Chad was out of town on work so Basil was pushing her limits with me. Then it was raining & we were both cooped up in the apartment. Then Chad came home and I was so desperate for time with him but Basil still needed attention and, of course, she was needing to test her boundaries with Chad too. The last couple of days, I feel like things have finally settled down a little with Basil. Maybe she is starting to understand where her role is in our pack. But then she does something like pulling the mail off the dashboard & shredding it when I left her in the car for 20 minutes at Target. I feel pretty deflated. She did have a spa day yesterday though…

It’s been raining so much lately, and she’s gotten that “swamp dog” smell. It was time to intervene. I bought the best smelling dog shampoo I could find and warmed the bath water. She really is a cute wet rat. At first she was a little freaked out by everything but with lots of praising and rubbing & massaging, she  seemed to enjoy it. She of course wanted to cuddle when it was all over to warm up again & promptly fell asleep in my lap. I thought this was the perfect time for a pedicure…or would it be a manicure? I couldn’t stop giggling during the process – mostly at the thought of what Chad would say when he came home to the surprise! He was pretty impressed that I was able to pull it off! We did have one small mishap- anybody know how to get hotpink nail polish out of clothes? She jerked her paw while she was sleeping & smeared some on my nylonish pants. I tried nail polish remover, but it didn’t do anything.

I’ve also started yoga in the last week. I thought it would be something that I enjoyed – a good way to incorporate more stretching into my workouts. I know I don’t get enough of that in! My hamstrings are always SO tight. But I have LOVED yoga. Alot, ALOT! It is something I look forward to. I walk out of the studio feeling so relaxed, ready to come back to my life; tackle dinner & Basil & feeling more prepared to give to my sweet husband. It has also given me a chance to spend more time with my friend Marina. Her aunt’s yoga & pilates studio is running a 10 days for $10 so we decided to try it out together. You really can’t beat that with a stick! So if you haven’t tried yoga- DO IT! I’m still poking around on this website myself, but check out the Yoga Journal website & let me know what you think! It’s a magazine, but looks like there is lots of goodies online too :)

So what have I been eating lately, you may be wondering?! Good question!! I’ll narrow it down to two meals: one an utter flop & the other was quite tasty if I do say so myself!

The Flop: This is usually a fail-proof cooking method, so I would definitely recommend it & will post how under the cooking secion, but maybe with a different kind of fish. I was feeling adventurous at the Nugget & let the fish guy pick for me and the Mahi-Mahi was on sale so that’s what I bought. I made a foil boat & tossed in some spinach & mushroom & spices & butter (you can’t go wrong there, right?!). My first red flag should have been the cook time was waaay longer than the fish guy said it would take. But when it was finally done, it did smell great.  Best of all, minimal clean up. Worst of all: minimal flavor. I thought the lemon & the butter would come together nicely, but not this time. I think this fish needed bolder flavors – maybe lime & chili? I’m not sure, because the fish itself has quite a distinct flavor. I don’t cook fish much…

The success: Ironically this is another seafood dish! It is a Pioneer Woman recipe (so you know it’s good!) and I tweaked it just a bit – because I was super distracted at the grocery store & didn’t wind up with everything I needed once I got home – oops! So I made the Pineapple Skewered Shrimp. Really simple – just make the marinade, toss in the shrimpies & let ’em soak. And then while your grill is getting hot, assemble skewers! We also had a Miller family favorite – Roasted Asparagus. Yum.

Tonight we are planning breakfast for dinner – sooo tasty – breakfast burritos here we come! I’m definitely looking forward to that!!

Speaking of things I’m looking forward to – Alice in Wonderland comes out on Friday! I have been looking forward to this for a VERY long time! Johnny Depp & Tim Burton are one of my favorite combinations – I can’t wait to see their work on this movie!! And Friday is my half birthday :) We have dinner plans with friends Friday & are going to scope out the REI garage sale & hopefully rock climb Saturday – so maybe when the hype has died down, we can check it out in 3D!

Time to get moving, I need to wrangle Basil into her house so I can start getting ready for yoga!

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Dog Park

So as some of you know, Basil has been quite the terror lately. I think she finally feels “at home” here & her true puppy instincts are kicking in. Before, things like Chacos, chair legs, trash cans & the taste of human flesh did not interest her; now she must bite, chew & rip anything she can sink her teeth into. Yesterday I was at my wit’s end (yes, again), and cried on the phone with Chad, who was convinced it was bad for Basil to see me cry because then she would know that she had me beat down. There is probably some truth to that.

Sweet Marina to the rescue. I have an awesome picture of her eating peanuts out of the chex mix I took to Community Group tonight, but I don’t want to embarrass her so I’ll just post a picture of the chex mix instead! This stuff is so addicting. I remember smelling it in the house growing up – so warm & tangy! I think I can count on my hand the number of times I’ve eaten store-bought chex mix — nothing measures up to this stuff! We just use the recipe on the box. I like mine a little spicy so I like to add Tabasco sauce & red pepper flakes. Yow!

But I digress…I was telling how Marina texted me last night to check on things with Basil. So thoughtful. And she called this morning. She is such a compassionate person & always goes out of her way to do something nice for a friend. I am so blessed for her to have taken me in!! So she talked to a co-worker with a similarly-high-maintenance puppy at home who likes to take their pup to the dog park. DUH! Such a great idea. But Marina went one step further & Googled for me what parks were in my area & gave me a website. I was wrangling Basil at the time & couldn’t write any of it down, but it was MUCH appreciated!!

So what was there to do, but suit up?! Rain suit up that is! The weather has been pathetic – cool & rainy. How are we going to get a high-energy dog to burn up her energy inside? It doesn’t happen. So I bundled up & grabbed an old grubby towel for Basil & we went to the dog park!

There was an area for small dogs & one for big dogs. You could take them off the leash & let them run free. I had no idea what Basil would think. It was like having a back yard! There were no other pups there. Maybe that was a good thing for her first time. The grass was pretty swampy & she didn’t know what to think of the water at first, but it didn’t take her long to be tromping through it all & thoroughly enjoying every second! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of her at the park today:

For all you dog people, how do you make sure your pup gets enough exercise on those rainy days?!

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Food!!

I have lots of good eats to tell you about – so I’m just going to jump in!

Thursday night I made Chad a Miller family favorite: The Sandwich. It was kind of a test. If he didn’t like it, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, but it was really important that he did like it! This was a recipe that we found in the  Dallas Morning News a several years ago – and I’m not sure if any of us remember what the actual name of the sandwich is but we just say THE Sandwich and everyone knows…it’s delicious. A somewhat strange combination of flavors that pop in your mouth & fall on every single tastebud so that they all tingle at once. It is absolutely wonderful. It has grilled chicken for the protein, brie cheese, tomato (I forgot to buy one), avocado, and a mayo with green apple & rosemary.

But The Sandwich was a success, Chad loved it, so everything can continue as usual in our happy little world!

Friday night we were still feeling inspired from our Chinese New Years celebration last Sunday with all of our church friends so I decided to make Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce & Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps.  We actually had quite a feast between the spring rolls & lettuce wraps! I liked the lettuce wraps but would have liked for the sauce to be a little more…goopy… It was a bit dry. I probably would have doubled the “stir fry” sauce.

(So the food mentioned above should be links to the “Cooking” tab in my blog where I put recipes for everything this week…hopefully they work! Except for the Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps which came from the Tasty Kitchen Blog).

In other news. I was pretty frustrated with Basil the last time I posted. Things have gotten better. Of course she still has her moments. She is still disobedient & outrageously stubborn! But the whining at night has gotten better. Chad & I have been reading a lot more about crate training. At first we heard the crate needed to be where we were the most: so we put it in the living room. Well then we read it should be where the puppy can feel close to you at night. So we moved it into our bedroom at night. Back & forth. But it does seem to be helping. She plays in the crate more during the day & last night she settled in with minimal whimpering & was asleep before I was! We woke up once to go potty in the middle of the night but she has been sleeping like a champ! We have also been making a point of incorporating more outdoor exercise into our routine. We play lots inside but I’m trying to take her for a walk/play in the park at least twice a day. We have a vet appointment & booster shots this afternoon & will hopefully be ready to start socializing with other animals after she gets this round of shots. We have already scoped out a Puppy Primer class where she will get introduced to other puppies & people, toys & activities. It came highly recommended from a guy we ran into at REI, so it’s got to be good right?! The little booger is snoring next to me on the couch as we speak!

I got to go for another run with my friend Marina this morning – we somehow have a knack for picking the coldest days of the week to go running! But we bundled up & hit up the 2 mile loop around my apartment & I think we were both glad to get our mornings started off that way! I’m planning to stick around on base after Basil’s vet visit for Body Pump this afternoon. Marina also told me about a yoga & pilates studio in Granite Bay that is having a special right now: $10 for 10 days – and we are planning to star taking classes this weekend. I’m pretty excited to try something new! Any advice for getting into yoga/pilates?!

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Queso

The little beast Basil is sleeping right now – she tucked herself away in her favorite corner under the kitchen table so I thought I would do a record quick post while there is some peace & quiet.

Last night for Community Group I made Queso. I have a love-hate relationship with Velveeta. It tastes soooo good (especially mixed with rotel, sausage, chiles & cilantro) but I always end up with a tummy ache after…maybe if I would limit my consumption to one bite that would solve the problem? But who does that!? Here’s a picture of the yummyness though:

Is there really any resisting this?!

Community Group last night was lots of fun – it was super laid back – we had great food & great conversation. The kids were a hoot & some of the guys had so much fun spinning them round & round until they couldn’t walk!

So last night we decided that Basil had to sleep in her house. And she did! She cried for maybe 15-20 minutes when we put her in & went to bed – we gave her a night light & warm water in a nalgene…geeze, she’s spoiled. I got up with her around 2 when she whined to take her out & she did her business & went back in her crate. She cried for about 10 minutes & went back to sleep! When Chad’s alarm went off around 6 this morning she was still sleeping but woke up when she heard our voices. I’m not expecting smooth sailing every night from here on out but it does make me feel better that our dog is capable of doing this – she’s not handicapped! Although she is starting to demonstrate some separation anxiety – which is a classic weim characteristic. She gets real whiney if she isn’t right next to you & will shake. It’s pretty pathetic – she’s still young enough, we’ve got to break this habit! We are planning puppy obedience school – SOON!

I took her with me to run a couple of errands & we stopped to play outside at a park – all the sniffing & exploring wore her out – so we played a little more once we got back home & then she willingly went to her house so I could go for a run. I just squeezed in a quick 2 miles & did a few lunges & abs once I was home while she watched me from her house. It’s got to be good that she can see me at home but understand she can stay in her house right?

Any tips on taking on a biting dog? I’ve heard you can bite them back or yelp like a dog. Or just the regular “No!”

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Basil

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentines weekend. We had a looooong weekend at the Hogue apartment – it was AWESOME! Chad was off  until Tuesday! It started Friday when my cute husband came home in his uniform (which is everyday!) but he had a dozen roses in his hands!! I love it when he does that :) We decided to do our Valentines celebration Friday night so we could still hang out with all our friends for Chinese New Year after church Sunday evening.

So here’s how Friday went down:

Like I said, it started with flowers… And a table set with wine & lemon water

And delicious food: mixed green salad w/feta, pears & candied walnuts & pomegranate vinaigrette, steak & a baked potato!

And for dessert there were poached apples & pears floating in a bed of vanilla ice cream! YUM!! It was a great finish to the meal – not to heavy, but the perfect sweetness.

So Saturday we went down close to the Bay to pick up an addition to our family… we got a PUPPY!! Her name is Basil & she is a blue Weimaraner, ~ 8 weeks old. She is absolutely beautiful, but absolutely a mess. I stepped in poop at 4:45 AM two nights ago. That kind of mess. She bites us & chews anything that she can get into her mouth! She is already proving to be more of a test of my patience than I ever thought she would & has brought out characteristics in Chad that make me love him even more & make me more excited to have kids with this man one day!

Basi-Boo is very smart & very stubborn. She grunts when she doesn’t like what you are asking her to do… like “go potty” when it’s 40 degrees outside & the ground is wet. Which is why I think she’s taken to pooping on the concrete. Sorry we jumped from a lovely discussion about delish Valentine’s food to dog poop. When I worked in the hospital I felt like I was on “poop patrol” – making sure the patients had actually had a BM in the last week. This is a different kind of “poop patrol.”

Sunday Chad & I worked in the 3-7 year old classroom at church & had 8 kids, all boys. Hehe. I definitely want to have all boys. I had so much fun. They loved Chad & I loved watching him interact with them. I think we are going to take war-paint & camo headbands next time! After Veritas we headed over to the 313 for Chinese New Year courtesy of Jen Ip. She cooked up quite a feast – minus the chicken feet :) We had lettuce wraps, noodle something, potstickers & all sorts of random Chinese favorites that I don’t remember the names. We also watched the season premiere of the Amazing Race – we like the cowboys from OK & the grandmother/granddaughter team.

Monday we headed off into the country for a little wine tasting with our friends Greg & Marina. And of course Basil already thinks she’s a real person & had to come too! We visited 3 wineries – one had picnic tables & a bocce ball court – we hung out there for quite a while – the weather was PERFECT! It’s so nice to have some relief from all the rain!

Yesterday was a super lazy day – we stayed in the apartment all day playing with Basil. I finally ventured out late in the afternoon for groceries. And we watched V for Vendetta – a pretty interesting movie.

So I need some advice from any dog owners – I can tell already crate training is going to be a real challenge with Basil. She took a nap in her “house” this afternoon & plays in there with the door open but as soon as it shuts she starts wimpering which leads to crying which leads to howling. And she usually does well as long as we stay in her line of sight but it’s the same crying & howling when she can’t see us. Do I just let her cry it out? What about crating at night? Should I move her crate to our bedroom then so she can still see us? Right now it’s in the living room where I spend most of my time during the day. I feel like a bad care-giver when she cries & usually don’t last more than 20-30 minutes before I quiet her down & set her free! HELP!!

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Breakfast for Dinner

Last night our community group was cancelled at the last minute. I hadn’t planned/bought food for a meal for last night & wasn’t really sure what we were going to do. I thought about asking Chad to grab pizza on the way home, but I had a great workout yesterday & didn’t want to ruin it with pizza. So we went with the good old standby: Breakfast for Dinner. Which is dangerous. And not necessarily more healthy than pizza but I did try. I found a recipe from my sister for banana pancakes & we did it up right with eggs & bacon too. I tried to be good & add some fruit by thawing some of the no sugar added strawberries & blueberries that I bought this week.  I had the pancake batter all mixed up by the time Chad got home & popped it in the fridge so we could enjoy the last few minutes of sunshine on ~2mi walk.

Here’s some action shots of what was happening on the stove: it was alot all at once! MMM…bacon…I always think of the Jim Gaffigan bit about bacon on the buffet line “I would have waited….” hehe.

This is when I realized that I truly am a Miller at heart. Once I moved out, I started saving bacon grease. Chad still thinks I’m crazy. But I’ll knock his socks off here soon when I make some amazing biscuits & gravy and use the bacon grease I’ve been saving…so not good for you.
Then the eggs went into the bacon pan. Also not good for you but oh-so-tasty too! Those little pieces of bacon stuck to the bottom of the pan get cooked right into to scrambled egg heaven.

Three pancakes later, I was in a food coma.

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