Summer Lovin' part 2

So much love happening this summer that I couldn't fit it all in one post! Just a few more exciting and fun events until I'm all caught up! Why you ask? Because this blog is a way that my family and I can look back and recap life. I don't know about you, but without pictures I would likely forget so many moments. Pictures AND words are the best way to keep track of those moments that you want to remember :) We also have friends and family all over the country and so I want to make a better effort of keeping them in the loop so that we can stay connected! So without further adieu....

Bryan and I in Columbus celebrating Sean's Law School Graduation! 

Celebrating Father's Day with the BEST DAD EVER!!!

If you haven't been to Tremont Tap House on a Tuesday, it's a must go! It's bring your doggy day on the patio! Our friend Mary Jo brought a litter of puppies that she recently fostered and they were a huge hit! Here's one little guy just hanging out with us as we enjoy some delicious food and brews.

Summer time means breaking out the mini-bike for some fun! Mike felt like a kid again!

Yes, this is still the mini-bike. Our friend Tricia is mini too, lol. 

Surprise date night dinner @ Pier W! Isn't he the best?!

Gorgeous views of the Cleveland skyline!

I tried my first oyster! They were delicious!

Crab cakes appetizer

Fried Perch on top of a risotto

Simply prepared Halibut and veggies--YUM

Nautical decor inside was pretty cool

He's so thoughtful :) We love date nights!

We've spent lots of time with family this summer with all of the summer birthday parties! Here's a kodak moment with Bryan and little Scottie! Scottie loves to RUN! So this is a rare moment to catch! lol

Another one from 4th of July Fireworks:)

Just a little cuddle time

Dad came to visit us for the day and we got to hit a bucket of balls together at the driving range. Believe it or not, only a couple hours before this a tornado came through our area! 

There's something so relaxing about being at the pool....

Oh and our little Tiger. Tiger turned 18 this past April. He has definitely slowed down and loves to sleep and lay in the sun. We are treasuring our days with him as we know they are numbered.

Who doesn't love Christmas decorations?!

 I’m SO thankful for the Christmas season to finally be here!!! Bryan and I have been decorating, watching Christmas movies, and Christmas music since last Thursday. I don’t know about you, but something about this season just makes me happy. I suppose one could find negatives to the attitudes and behaviors that come out during this time of year, but if those are avoided it really is a beautiful time. It is a time of year where Christ is probably most talked about and recognized. Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Which brings me to my #27: Christmas décor. Our goal for this month, as far as décor goes, is to transform our house into a Christmas wonderland, lol. I wish I was joking, but Bryan and I seriously LOVE decorating. When we were engaged, we were given an engagement party and the guests all brought us a Christmas ornament to decorate our tree. This was the most amazing idea, because every time we decorate our tree  we are reminisce about each ornament. They each hold so much sentimental value. 

Us with all the ornaments we received at our Engagement Party 2010

We had two very special additions this year: 1.) a mini replica of Tiger! Tiger definitely needed a spot on our tree. When we visited Amish country for our one year anniversary in July, we visited Ohio’s largest Christmas store called ‘Tis the Season. 

It was amazing! We wanted to buy everything in it; however, we restrained ourselves and walked away with a lil’ Tiger for our  Christmas tree. We can’t wait to go back!

2.) An August Wendell hammered ornament to symbolize Amish country. Again, we got this on our anniversary trip to Amish Country, which was beautiful by the way. We stayed at Donna’s Premier Lodging in Berlin, Ohio. Donna gave us a coupon for a free gift with purchase for the Wendell August store. Who doesn’t love free stuff?! Naturally, we went to the store and sought out to find something to purchase. We ended up finding a hammered plate of a picture of the place we were engaged, McConnell’s Mills! 

McConnell's Mills- Where Bryan proposed!

We were so surprised to see it there considering this place is in PA. Well, we came to find out that this store originates from PA! Ah ha! Either way, we thought we had to have it considering it was our anniversary and it was the place we were engaged! We got that and our Amish country Wendell August ornament!

We did get a few other new things and repurposed others. New tree skirt from TJ Maxx. A new star to top our tree from Target. Some new stocking hangers from Target. We are still on a hunt for a choo-choo train. Bryan REALLY wants a train that will run on a track around our tree and I’m all about new Christmas décor! It certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas and we LOVE it!

My dog, Tiger, the superhero!

It's been a couple days now that we've been living with plastic covered floors! Yesterday when I got home, I rolled up the ones Tiger had pooped on and threw them out and replaced them. I promptly noticed that he was feeling even worse than before. He was moping, not really wanting to move. He felt very unsettled and couldn't lay in one place for very long. He wouldn't eat ANYTHING. I even tried making his favorites tuna fish and edamame...nothing. I cried and told Bryan I didn't want him to die, but if he was then I wanted him to know I loved him. So I laid on the floor with him and held him. Would blow dry him off every time he went outside and got wet in the rain, the whole nine yards. I made Bryan get out his stethoscope and take his heart rate. I'm quite the worrier. haha

Then all of a sudden at 11 p.m., after trying to coax him to eat ALL night, he went over to his food and ate all of the boiled chicken I set out, the tuna fish, AND his treat! I couldn't believe it! However, he was still pretty mopey.

We went to bed unsure of what the morning would bring us.

Bryan woke up first and tried to get Tiger out of bed to go to the bathroom, but Tiger was not wanting to get out of bed. I told Bryan to let him be, that he probably wasn't feeling well. A couple hours later, I woke up and he jumped out of bed, wagging his tail and went outside. I could immediately tell he was more chipper! I made him his boiled chicken and he gobbled it up! He did poop and pee in a couple of spots, but no where near as bad as it has been and it's gaining consistency. (Thank God for the plastic I laid down!)

As Bryan and I are cutting away the plastic that has poop or pee on it, Tiger goes over to his toys and starts playing! He does this thing where he wrestles with his toys and whips them around. He will even throw it over his head for himself to fetch. You can tell he's been an only child for the last 15 years, lol. When we let him outside, he started running after and barking at the dogs that were walking by. As I'm sending a friendly, apologetic wave to the neighbor walking his dog, I said to Bryan, "Well, I think he's feeling better!"

As we are watching him do this, we are in disbelief. After last night, we did not think this was going to get better this time. Bryan said, "He's a miracle dog!" He's totally right! Every time we think, okay this is it....Tiger turns around and proves himself to be the superhero dog!

I'm still going to keep the plastic down for a little while to be safe, but I sure am glad to see my happy, playful Tiger feeling so much better! Oh and note to self, I discovered that Walmart's plastic tablecloths are cheaper than the Dollar Store. Walmart has them for 97 cents. Every penny counts! Oh and somehow my mom was able to score some free plastic from Lowe's, that was even better!

Superhero Tiger getting his toys out of his dog house

Owning a pet = Parenthood Training

After my last post I am overwhelmed by the love and kindness from so many of my readers. Some of you shared your personal stories of miracles and provided me with encouragement, others dropped a note just to say “I’m praying for you”, and others still may have not said anything but I certainly just feel an overwhelming sense of God in my day-to-day. So thank you for those of you who have been praying for us!

Matthew 18:19-20 

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

This was the first scripture I had ever memorized, because my Grandma would constantly say this whenever we would come together to pray. We would petition to God using this scripture. So again thank you to those of you who are praying for us for God is surely amidst them all.

In my last post, I shared how I was feeling like God was calling me to grow in love during this time of waiting. Not just loving when it was easy, but loving through being patient, kind, slow to anger, etc. Well I don’t know about you, but when God calls me to grow…it’s not always the easiest thing to do, because He usually does so through trying experiences that test you in many ways. This brings me to my post title: Tiger, my 15 year old miniature poodle. Tiger is the best dog ever; you would never know  he’s 15, considering how playful, smart, well-behaved and active he is. Everyone that meets little Tiger is amazed that he is 15 because minus the gray hair and the loss of hearing, he acts like a puppy. 

Isn't he cute?!

He’s not the dog who has regular accidents in the house unless there’s something wrong, so you can imagine Bryan’s surprise when he woke up on Tuesday morning to splatters of diarrhea in 3 spots in our living room. He spent allllll morning scrubbing the carpet clean. Then Tiger seemed fine! Fast forward to Wednesday evening when we got home from work, POOP! Diarrhea EVERYWHERE! Beware: pictures below. Every dark spot is poop. The white powdery stuff is baking soda that I put down from the first round, only for him to poop on top of it.

Each dark spot is...you guessed it...poop.

 Oh man God, you are surely giving me some practice in parenting. God is SURELY trying to grow my patience, kindness, being slow to anger, and putting myself last because I can confidently say in that moment each of those was truly being tested! I knew he was sick so of course I felt extremely bad, but the last thing I wanted to do that day after a long day of work was scrub every inch of my carpet…literally. I'm sure parents find themselves in these predicaments all the time. That night we put in a call to Stanley Steamer, because my carpet certainly was a victim to my dog’s sickness. A special thanks to my mom for helping us through this week's dilemma. A mom never stops being a mom! Before going to bed I laid down plastic, blankets, towels…anything just in case the blowout would happen again before the cleaners came. Sure enough, it did. More poop in multiple locations; at least this time it was on plastic and washable towels and blankets. Stanley Steamers came, cleaned the carpets and deodorized them, THANK GOD! Upon their departure, I promptly took Tiger to the vet. Turns out he has colitis (inflammation of the colon), which they think is from something he ate. Somehow, I have no idea how, he must’ve got into (or was given by some knucklehead) something fried, greasy, or spicy. We hosted a birthday party last weekend and served chicken parmesan, pasta, and meatballs. The vet said any one of those things would be enough to tear him up for a little bit. We were given some Imodium, an antibiotic, and instructed to feed him boiled chicken and rice until the diarrhea goes away. So now we’re in the waiting game and PRAYING for it to be over soon. Sick doggies are no fun! In the meantime, after I paid to have clean carpets, I went to the Dollar Store and got tons of plastic tablecloths. I spread them out all over the room so that if there are more accidents, I can just roll up the tablecloth and throw it away!

No more scrubbing carpet…I hope. Anyways, talk about God trying to grow me in these areas! If this isn’t a trying and growing experience for preparation of parenthood, then I don’t know what is! Haha. I’m thankful for God’s presence in my life and even though I’ve been stressed beyond belief, I know that His gracious hand is in it and He will support me through it! Owning a pet feels like having a child in so many ways, doesn't it? I wouldn't change it for the world, because I sure do love my Tiger and dread the day he passes. Until we have our babies, Tiger is our baby. One day I will be glad for the parenthood training, because I'm sure being a parent will bring about all kinds of messiness and more poop stories!