Category: Dogs

Random Updates & Puppy Pics

My work has mandated that everyone who is non-essential work from home. No end date. The governor has ordered all bars and restaurants in Oregon close (except for takeout/delivery).

My coworkers:

We have a home gym with weights and kettlebells and a treadmill. We also have a bike trainer, if need be. I decided to go for a REAL bike ride (for the first time in years). It was cold but sunny.

It was nice being on the bike after so long! I will try and do it a few times a week. And if weather holds up, I will run outside, too. I’m hoping Michael and I can start up doing yoga again. It’s better than nothing when I can’t go to the gym.

Recently I started a part time job with Furever Family petsitting. It was going to be about 10 hours a week or so. Obviously that’s kind of on hold right now. People are cancelling vacations and not going anywhere so they are cancelling their pet sitting/dog walking bookings.

Amy (owner of Furever Family) is AMAZING. We started using her almost 7 years ago! When we got Bella! A friend recommended her. Her business was kind of new back then. She used to be a 911 Operator and needed a change (as you can imagine). And it just so happened she was seriously the dog whisperer. She was SO good with Bella. Bella LOVES her. Amy helped so much with Bella’s socialization and training. And Amy was there when Yggdrasil was dying and I needed extra care for him. She even was there when we said goodbye. 🙁

I am super happy to be part of the team now. I’ve done some training for a few weeks. It’s kind of the best job. You get to play with kitties and puppies and go for dog walks. It’s awesome!

So since the world is a scary, crazy place right now and everyone is probably at their max anxiety (I know I am!), here are some of my favorite pictures from my training so far:

It’s cool because Amy is a vet tech, too, so she’s trained to give medicine and fluids to animals that need it. She gets a lot of referrals from vets.

Obviously my job is on hold right now. A lot of people are cancelling trips. It’s going to be hard for a while.

If you are in the Portland area, check her out! She does other pet services, too.

2020

The start of a new decade. As I look back, I think of all of the stuff I did and all the things I accomplished and think “wow.” It was a lot!

I started this blog. I made a lot of friends online through blogging and Twitter. I am grateful for that. It was nice to have a “community.” I maintained my weight loss of 110 pounds for over 10 years.

I was on the cover of a magazine! And on the local news. My 15 minutes of fame. LOL

Michael and I did a TON of traveling! Something I definitely miss. Having kids means that changes, for sure. We still travel but it looks differently. But pre-Logan, we went to Texas a few times (Austin was great!), Vegas a few times, Tucson twice, California, Hawaii twice…so many fun trips.

We did a lot of activities together, too. I ran a bunch of races–half a dozen 5ks, a 10k, Hood To Coast. We biked a lot of events together (Reach the Beach and the Portland Century). You can read about the different events here.

We got a dog! Welcome to the family, Bella! Bella has been a gift to our family. I can’t imagine our life without her. She’s the best dog ever. She’s the best cuddler. 😀 She’s just so happy and sweet.

We got engaged and married. And went to Maui for our honeymoon. That was such a magical time!

I got pregnant and we had Logan:

It’s crazy how different our life is after having a baby. It really does change everything. But like with Bella, I can’t imagine NOT having Logan in our life. Both are a blessing.

Logan was a fairly easy baby with a sweet disposition and a goofy laugh. He loved everything and everyone and was curious and energetic. He grew into a curious and energetic toddler. And now, in 2020 he’s going to turn 4 years old (crazy!) and he’s smart and stubborn and inquisitive and opinionated.

In sad news, I said goodbye to my beloved kitty of 15 years. It was one of the hardest, saddest things I’ve ever done and the grief was real. I cried for months. It took almost a year and a half before I was able to even think about another cat.

In 2018 we welcomed Stevie to our family:

Stevie fit right into our family immediately like he always belonged there. He loves everyone and particularly loves cuddling with Bella! It’s so cute. 🙂

In 2019, Logan and I both had surgery. I had sinus surgery (which has helped me a lot!) and Logan got tubes put in his ears. While both were good things, it added to the stress of 2019 in particular. Healing in general is difficult.

We bought a new house in 2019. Packed up our old house, finished the remodeling projects, moved into our new house, put our house on the market….

And after a VERY stressful summer, our old house SOLD! What a relief! A huge weight off our shoulders. We could finally relax and enjoy our new house and get settled without worrying about the old house selling.

As I sit down and think about the last decade of my life I think “pheww! that was a lot of stuff!” And it was, a lot of big life stuff. Big “adult” stuff. To say that it’s been a lot would be an understatement.

When I think about the new year and what I want to accomplish, my goals are simple. Yes, I am still trying to lose weight. I still have 20 or so pounds to lose. I’ve struggled with my depression and anxiety and medication management. I have been gaining and losing the same 10 pounds since I had Logan. It’s frustrating. So I am hoping that 2020 is the year I end that cycle.

I’d also like to work on being more kind to myself. I often feel like a failure when I don’t reach my goals in a specific time frame, even if they aren’t realistic. Patience is not my forte.

I’d also like to build more me time and more family time/downtime into our schedule. We tend to be very booked and it can get stressful and overwhelming. I miss doing fun stuff on the weekends and going out of town for little getaways. I’d like to do that more.

QUESTION: What were the big highlights of your decade? Any New Year’s Resolutions?