Furbabies' Moment

I'd like to introduce you to our furbabies.  They will be mentioned often on the blog so you should be able to place a name to a pretty little face :)

Our first furbaby is Turco.   I was with a friend at a petstore in October of 2004, just looking, and this kitten with the biggest kitten eyes you ever have seen was starring back at us. He was 100% an impulse buy.  I do not suggest this to anyone, but I am so glad I did!  He was $70, but the lady at the petstore gave me his sob story, "He was the only male kitten in the litter and all his sisters were adopted so quickly.  He doesn't like being taken out of the cage, so he turns people off with his crying, but he is the sweetest kitten ever."  To top it off she loaded me up with cat food, cat littler, litter box, toys and treats FOR FREE...just for adopting him!

Turco, also known as Turk, Turkey, fat cat, and mountain lion. (Just a few days after coming home)

Turco got his name from my friends boyfriend, I wasn't coming up with anything I liked and he was a huge hockey fan and suggested Turco, after former Dallas Star goalie, Marty Turco.  It was better than anything I had come up with!  He is the laziest, fattest (he weighs 18 lbs.) cat I've ever seen, but I love him!  He is such a snuggly, lovey cat.  When Clayton and I first started dating it took Clayton a long time to warm up to Turk, but now he sees how awesome he truly is!

Our second furbaby is Jake.  I had wanted a dog (why at 19 I thought I needed/wanted a dog and cat are still beyond me...I would also not suggest adopting pets until you are 100% on your own....still I don't regret adopting either of them!) but I wanted to make sure I got my puppy while Turco was still little so they would get along.  I went to the SPCA in May 2005 and picked out the cutest puppy ever!!

Jake also known as Jakey, Jakers, Swamp fox, Snip, Snake, Jakey Bo Bakey

Jakey did not have an easy beginning though.  I adopted him on Saturday and by Wednesday he was in the overnight ER vet.  I found out he had parvovirus.  Parvo is a deadly disease, causing Jake not to eat or drink.  Typically parvo puppies dies of dehydration.  He was at the vet for 5 days...they treated him with an iv to keep fluids in him and by the fourth day he had regained enough strength to bark at the vet technicians and chew through his iv.  Jake and I were EXTREMELY lucky...Please please make sure to get your puppy vaccinated!!!  And just because you've adopted a dog who supposedly has had their vaccinations, take them to your vet and get them a checkup, at the minimum.

Jakey is now almost 6 and the greatest dog.  He loves to swim in the creek, lake or anything natural, but won't even get near a pool...we've tried!  He will lay with you on the couch or walk 2 miles around the park.  He is just so easy going plus incredibly cute!

Our third and FINAL furbaby is Mattison.  My in-laws had been thinking about getting a puppy for some time and finally decided in February of this year that it was time.  They knew they wanted an australian shepherd as the dog Clayton had growing up was an aussie mix.  They went to look at the puppies and came home with not one, but two!!  We were all so surprised!

Me playing with Mattison (left) and Rowen (right) the day they came home

They were 7 weeks old and the cutest little furry things ever!  Once they were a little bigger we started taking Jake over to play.  They both really looked up to Jake, literally, haha!  But Rowen would follow him and mimick whatever Jake was doing and Mattison was happy to watch from a distance.  Fast forward to the middle of August, Mattison and Rowen have grown....quite a bit....



And were getting into A LOT of trouble.  Imagine two 50+ pound PUPPIES in the mud :)  My in-laws made an extremely tough decision to give them up for adoption.  Well, my sister in law and her husband really wanted Rowen, and we loved little Mattison so we all decided it would be best for the four of us to adopt them.  We were a little nervous how Jake would handle having a puppy in the house but luckily they are thick as thieves.



We were so lucky to have Mattison come into our lives so smoothly and now we can't imagine not having her around!!  She is still a handful as any almost 9 month old puppy would be, but she is so sweet-she loves laying in your lap (it doesn't last too long though as she is soon off to find something else to do).  We can't wait to start frisbee and agility classes with her in January.

         Mattison, also known as Mattie, MatPat, Fattie Mattie, & Mattie bo battie

I just love her freckles...too cute! 

So those are our furbabies, sorry some of the picture quality is bad, camera phones :-/ We have a little zoo, but we really wouldn't have it any other way!  How about you?  Do you have a pet or two?! 



Tough Realization

I probably should have come to this conclusion a long time ago.  But I just wasn't ready to give up on it, not quite yet.  But two weekends ago, it happened.....I realized I am too old to be shopping in the juniors department.  *sigh*

I have started to realize this over time, I just didn't want it to be true.  Juniors prices are so much better than women's!!  So Clayton and I had a wedding to attend and I needed a dress!  I was browsing online on Friday (yes, the day before the wedding...the shame!) but nothing in the junior section really seemed appropriate for a "grown up" party.  And I am a grown up, right?!  So I decided I'd just have to go to the store and see what they had...great idea!!!  Uhm, yeah not!!!!

I got to big department store at about 2:00 on Saturday.  Started browsing through the dress section, of the juniors, grabbed a few hopefuls and headed to the dressing room.  Where I had to wait in a 15 minute line because of coure no one should EVER go shopping for dresses, in the junior section, in September aka HOMECOMING SEASON *face palm*  And it was during my 15 minute wait that really drilled home the fact that I am too old to be shopping in the junior section...it went a little like this...
Mom of TEENAGER looking for homecoming dress: "Oh!  That's a pretty dress!! (pointing to one in my hands) What school do you go to?"
Me: stumbling over words..."Oh, no!  Haha, I am not in high school.  I'm 25...and married!"
Mom: "Oh, that's nice."
Me: Turning bright red....LIGHTBULB turning on above head.

Of course I had already waited 15 minutes so when my turn came, I went into the dressing room, tried on and absolutely hated all of the dresses I had picked out.  Surprise surprise, I look like I'm 15 when wearing a junior girls dress.

So I succumbed and went shopping in the women's section...hey, not so bad!  Ouch, minus the price.  Well, I understood that a nice dress was going to cost me a little more than a juniors dress, but it would be worth it.  And I can wear it more than once
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=477945&CategoryID=26513

...I had learned a lesson and managed to get out of there with a super cute dress for $50!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yep, I had somehow found a great dress for less than I would have paid for for a juniors dress that made me look 15, SCORE!!!!!

Anyone else come to the realization they are too old for the juniors department?  Been mistaken for a high school homecomer?  Please tell me I'm not the only one!!

Music Monday Issue 2

All weekend Clayton and I have been singing this week's song.  Clayton introduced me to it so this is his fault :)




Enjoy!  Oh and you learn something new everyday, right? 
Well thanks to our friend James, drummer extraordinaire (seriously check out http://www.myspace.com/mattboggsband/music and http://www.myspace.com/rigbyrock to check out some songs James has been involved in), I was made aware that Gnarls Barkley isn't a real person but a collaboration of Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse...So now you know!

Family Moments

Family is a HUGE deal to Clayton and I.  We both come from what I consider to be normal sized families who are spread out all over the country.  We were extremely blessed to have almost everyone in attendance at our May wedding.  It was the first time Clayton met some of my family and the first time I met some of his.

You know that feeling when you meet someone for the first time, and you know the two of you have a special bond?  That bond could be friendship, admiration for each other, love, respect or anything in between.  It's a bond that happens, not because it "has" to, but because it just did. 

I want to introduce you to Clayton's cousin, L-man.  L-man is 13 and the sweetest kid you'll ever meet.  His family doesn't live in Texas, so my first time to meet him was Thursday before our wedding.  *Instant bond* I was told L was shy, and I saw that in him, but not with me.  Immediately he was showing me their "awesome" rental car and we were talking about movies like we had always known each other!  Since it was the wedding weekend and there was so much going on I didn't get to spend much more time with L.  But there sitting in my facebook inbox, on a horrible Monday morning, 4 months after our wedding, was this message...

"hi maria,

I'm glad you are my cousin. I hope you are having fun with Mattison."

The sweetest message I've ever received!  It turned my day completely around...I called Clayton in tears (good tears) to tell him just how cool I thought it was.  It is such a great feeling to know that you made just as much of an impression on someone as they have made on you.  I guess that's the best we can hope for isn't it?!

L-man with my sister-in-law E

Anyone else have a special bond they are thankful for?  Or received sweet messages that completely turned your Monday around?!

Music Monday Issue 1

So Mondays are rough days...for everyone.  Thought I'd make Monday a little more fun...okay okay not FUN, but a tad more enjoyable maybe?

I love music so why not share the song I've been really into...and I am actually ashamed of my choice for today, but I just can't help it!!



There's just something about this song that I LOVE...Next week I promise not to be so "hit list" and share something different!  I've already got something in mind :)

First Moment

My first blog post...wow!  I found my first blog in October of 2009.  Clayton and I were recently engaged and I was googling for some wedding inspiration when I ran across weddingbee.com.  I started following all the engagement and wedding stories daily, it was an addiction!  Soon after I found more blogs that interested me and now my google reader is full of amazing blogs and growing almost daily :)

Since October I had thought about starting my own blog, I just wasn't confident enough.  Every blog I read has amazing writers and I didn't want to have a blog that couldn't live up to my own expectations.  Fast forward a year later and here I am, blogging...Will it live up to my expectations?  Hopefully someday, but for now I am content to just write.  Oh yes and kick myself for not starting this sooner!

I am a wife, sister, daughter, pet parent, niece, granddaughter, and soon to be aunt!  I plan to post about daily life in all of my roles and everything that comes with it!  Thanks for reading!