Margo!!!

My husband is a dog lover. Like, hard core dog lover. He got his very own dog for Christmas when he was 17 and she was part of the deal when we got married. I was horrified at first, but then fell in love with our sweet Molly Brown. She died from kidney disease almost four years ago and Brett has had a hole in his heart ever since. He has looked at dogs online from breeders ever since, but I was just not in a hurry for another creature to take care of! Lord knows I have my hands full as it is.

However.....

Over Christmas break we dog sat for some friends and Emersyn fell in love with having a pet. The dog slept with her, Emersyn fed her, took her on walks, etc. When the dog went home after her owners returned, Emersyn sobbed for days, especially at bed time when she would miss her buddy.

That triggered something in my mama heart and I decided that I could handle having a doggy if it meant that my husband and daughter would be so so happy.

We decided to adopt a pet from a pet society at the mall. They have some really neat services and make pet ownership very easy. The food is even delivered to your house every month! We initially looked at a very small Yorkie Poo named Enzo....he was darling but ultimately just too small for our family. Then I got a picture of "Coco" and we decided to go meet her.

The only night we could find to go see Coco was on Valentine's Day! We headed to the mall and met her and it was love at first sight! She is a MaltiPoo (Maltese and Poodle) and is just darling! She is 8 months old and still a puppy but pretty much house broken and very sweet. The adoption process took a few days so we couldn't take Coco home that night which made Emersyn very sad.

We weren't in love with the name Coco so we decided to change it to Margo. It's kind of silly but there's a character on the movie "Christmas Vacation" named Margo and there is this one part that always makes Brett and I laugh where the husband says Margo's name funny and we have known for awhile that when we got a dog, we wanted to name her Margo. Of course, I leaned towards an E name but then realized that Molly had been an M name, Margo would keep up the trend. :)

We got Margo last Wednesday and it's been an adventure for sure. The kids love her and so do Brett and I. It's a fun new chapter in our lives!

Lent

Today marks the beginning of Lent. I decided to sacrifice sweets last year for Lent and did well. Something food related is always hard for me. I could give up things like Facebook or TV but truth me told, I use FB for many business related things and TV is how I preserve my sanity in the morning and in the evening too with my husband. I don't feel addicted to those things like I sometimes do with food.

This year I am on my program so I am already giving up a lot food wise. However, I am allowed optional *snacks* and sometimes really depend on them to get through the day. I've decided to sacrifice those and use those cravings that come especially during nap time to press in to the Lord and His strength. I am hoping to incorporate giving up sleep too with Lent.....I long to have mornings with the Lord. Working on it. How is it that I could pass out at 5pm and then come 10pm I am wide awake and excited to hang out with my husband?

Are you giving up anything for Lent?

February already?

Well, here we go.....another year on fast forward, or that's how it seems anyways! I can't believe it's February already!

I've been a bad blogger as of late but such is life with two kids and a career that hasn't been as part time lately as it usually is. I'm thankful though, working = money and money is a good thing!

We had an AMAZING trip in Vegas!!! We left last Monday afternoon and got back Thursday evening. Highlights of our trip include getting to stay up late and sleep in, going to Fremont Street and seeing a lady who is possibly the worlds oldest cocktail waitress (she looked like she was 80 years old, no joke), getting scared out of our minds when we man in full KISS attire was in the elevator kind of hiding in the parking garage of the Fremont Street experience (pretty sure our friend James almost peed his pants), going to super fun happy hours and enjoying some adult beverages (Sangria is magical), going to our first Cirque show (!!!!!!!!) thanks to discount tickets from a kiosk thingy, going to the dueling piano bar (which we had to pay a cover to get into, my first cover ever!) which is something I've always wanted to do, driving around the strip, seeing all the casinos, getting to chat with friends uninterrupted by kids, getting my birthday present (purse and wallet at the Fossil outlet) and more......it was SO fun! 

 It was so fun to vacation with friends....this was the only picture we got of the four of us. Funny how when you don't have kids with you, pictures aren't as big of a priority. 

I'm excited to go back to Vegas with friends again. The only thing we would have changed is that we would have liked to take advantage of the pools. It was hard to find things to do during the day because it's such a night life place. Not that having too much free time was a problem, it was actually kind of awesome. But we would end up walking forever and then be sore at night, ha! Laying by a pool reading would have been a great addition to our trip. I read a whole book on our trip, "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielson, a popular blogger that survived a horrific plane crash. I always forget how much I love reading until I get to do it. I wished I would have brought my other book that I had rented from the library, a Jodi Picoult one, but I thought there was no way I'd get through the one. Turns out I was wrong! 

My mom came into town to watch the kids while we were gone which was nice. I'm sure my in-laws would have watched them but my sister-in-law is due with her first baby in California and so I didn't want to risk her going into labor and making it so my MIL couldn't get down there because she had my kids. Plus, my kids love time with their Mimi. When we came home Everett was sick though and now Emersyn is sick. Oh the life of winters in Oregon. UGH! 

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday! It was very fun to have my mom here to celebrate and she pampered me all day. We went to coffee in the morning, she took me shopping to buy a few things, then she gave me a priceless gift....TIME! Time to go eat lunch by myself (so nice) and then get a manicure. We went to dinner with the kids which was fun but my poor Ems wasn't feeling well and Everett was being a terror typical toddler so dinner was a bit of a workout. Came home and opened some cards (thanks for the cash mom and dad!!!) and Ems had asked Brett if she could get me a lip gloss for my bday so Brett got me one on her behalf from Macy's. 

It was a great birthday. I can't believe I'm 32....geez. I'm so so blessed though and looking forward to each and every year to come. 32 will be the age where I hit my goal weight, and be a better wife and mother than ever!!