A baby brother for Jeep & Seven!

So because Jeep & Seven are now 3 1/2 years old, we felt it was time to add another pup to the Keith family! Not only because we've heard it will keep Jeep & Seven active longer, but also because if (God-forbid) something were to happen to either of them, having a third pup around would help ease the transition and grieving for all of us.  Plus, we've just always known at some point that we were going to add a chocolate lab to the fam, so now is as good as time as any! 

I figure since I'm already cleaning up loads of dog hair - why not a little more?  I just hope Banks doesn't decide to freak out or run away from all this puppy love in our home.  Poor Banks. 

Us girls are so outnumbered.

We contacted the breeder we used for Jeep & Seven a few weeks ago, and it turns out that they were expecting a litter of chocolates this month!  

The sire's (dad) name is Jackson and the dame's (mom) name is Missy. 

                 (Jackson)                                                             (Missy - VERY pregnant)

Turns out - Jackson IS JEEP & SEVEN'S FATHER!  We always knew that Jeep & Seven's dad's name was Stonewall.  But what we didn't realize was that Stonewall's full name is Stonewall Jackson and his son's name is Stonewall Jackson Jr. (Jackson).  Thus - Stonewall was their grandfather and Jackson is their dad!  So this little guy we'll be adding to our family, is TRULY going to be a half-brother to them!  This is actually very cool, because the breeders have several dames and sires they breed, so really it was a huge surprise & blessing that we get to keep our pups all in the same family! :-)

CJ was born last Wednesday, August 22nd to a litter of 8 pups; 3 chocolate males, 1 chocolate female, 1 yellow male, and 3 black females.

A tri-liter is actually very rare, so it's kinda cool that when we go to see the litter we can see all of them together.

The breeder sent me this pic of one of the chocolate males just under 24 hours old - this could be our CJ!

Eeek!! I want to smush on him! He's sooo tiny and can't even open his eyes yet!

After talking with Jason this weekend, I would absolutely love to breed Labs if we can find us a house on some serious acreage and it would allow me to be able to work from home! I just love my boys to pieces and know that they bring so much hope and healing to the kids in our neighborhood.  It would be cool to have some of the inner city kids come to our house and spend time with the dogs, learning how to care for them, train them ect.  I know our boys have been a HUGE part of the healing process for the kids in our neighborhood, so it would be awesome to offer something like that for them.  I mean seriously, if we can get a house on like 30 acres with a creek or stream and then build a bunkhouse, we could do some weekend retreats for these boys & girls.  I'm totally dreaming right now, but I can just picture it ;-)

Stay tuned - in mid-September we pick out our CJ and I'll post pics & video of our visit to Confederate Lab Kennels in Chicamauga, Georgia!

Some Shopping & Girl Time

This last weekend, I was surprised with a visit from a couple of the girls who used to live in our neighborhood.  Jonique (on the right) has recently moved with her mom, baby sister and stepdad to the projects across town so every once in a while she comes by to visit her grandparents who still live near us.  Dominique (on the left) and her brothers were also visiting their grandma since their mom had to work Saturday.  So since it was raining and both the girls were just hanging out at our house, I offered to take the girls for a little shopping at Opry Mills Mall.  We had an absolute blast walking around, shopping and munching on cinnamon nuggets from Auntie Anne's.

Could these girls be any cuter? 

They picked out some fun things to buy and I got some great ideas for their upcoming birthdays ;-)

They were so polite and very appreciative, which makes hanging out with them that much more enjoyable! We had fun and will defintely have to go again sometime!

My New Obsession - GlossyBox June 2012

So I'm becoming obsessed with all things face/hair/skin products. I've always enjoyed makeup and can remember how fun it was as a little girl to dig through my aunt's collection of Mary Kay while visiting at her house. But because of how expensive trying out new products can often get, I rarely try something outside of the box! (no pun intended) Back in my single days, I would save up for a weekend trip to Vancouver BC with my sisters and splurge on MAC and Lush products.

It not only saved me money with the currency exchange, but the rush I would get from buying all these yummy smelling and sparkly pretties would keep my adrenaline going for days. Since I've been married and now living in Nashville, it's pretty much been a drugstore budget ever since. And there's just nothing worse than realizing you've blown $12 on a sucky foundation or mascara. Ugh. So I do what I do best and I started researching. I was reading makeupalley.com all the time and taking notes of the best reviewed products out there. Then I discovered the lovely ladies of YouTube with all their eye-opening insight to proper application, tips and tricks. I was HOOKED. While visiting one of these ladie's YouTube channel (Imogen of Foxy Locks), I saw her review on a monthly subscription service called GlossyBox.  She's actually in the UK, so I quickly googled to find out if there was anything like this in the U.S.  Sho-nuff!  I was able to get on the waiting list before it was even started here, and within a few weeks I received my first Glossybox!!

Isn't it pretty?! It seriously comes all wrapped up just like that! Love!

It didn't take much, because now I'm completely smitten with this service!  My first box arrived like this:

In it I received the following 5 Sample/Travel/Full Size high-end products to try out, along with 1 bonus item:

1. ShowOff Mascara by BeautyAddicts - valued at $22 (full size included - .39 oz.)

Review: I freakin love this mascara.  It stays all day, doesn't smudge or flake and is super rich and moisturizing to my lashes, which probably has something to do with the argan oil in it. Some ladies really complained about the clumping issue - and quite honestly the way the tube & brush is designed, a lot is left on the wand and unless you scrape the excess back into the tube, it will clump all over the place. But it is soooo worth it.  I would definitely repurchase again.

2. Marula Whipped Shea Butter Body Creme by SheaTerra Organics (Included sample size - 1 oz) - $18.00 for regular size (9oz.)

Review:  This stuff looks like creamy Avocado, and smells like heaven. I could eat it with a spoon. And a little goes a long way, so seriously the sample size is more than enough to decide if you like it.  I have a ton left and love that I can keep it in my desk or in my purse. It smells like buttery pecans and almonds.  Yuuuuum. Yet another product I was seriously happy about and totally love.  They have a white chocolate hand/body cream that I just might have to order soon!

3. Enrich Moisturizing Treatment by Wella Professionals (Included sample size - .84 oz)  $12.00 for regular size (5.07oz)

Review: Again, a winner!! I got three uses out of this little sample and I really enjoyed it!  It smelled wonderful, moisturized really well and was suited perfectly for my fine hair.  It didn't weigh my hair down, left no reside and my hair was so soft that I would walk around the office asking my friends to feel it.  I would repurchase this again as well.  Highly recommend!

4  Restructure Firming Cream by Kinerase (Included sample size .24 oz) $98.00 for regular size (1.7 oz)

Review.  Um, what the heck? Seriously what exactly am I restructuring with this stuff? I've used a few times now and there's still a lot left in the sample, and it doesn't smell that great and I don't notice any difference. Not really sure what I'm supposed to be noticing anyway and there's no way in hell I'm paying $98.00 for a full size pot of this.  I guess it's for creating collagen and firming around the eyes, reducing wrinkles, blah, blah, blah. Not a fan.

5. Smooth Shave Cream by First Aid Beauty $7.50 (Included full size - 2 oz).

Review: Again, kinda meh about this one.  Cute packaging, smelled decent enough, pretty shimmery shave lotion, but really didn't think it did that great of a job.  Quite honestly, it was so slick that it didn't really stick to my skin, it just kinda slid off which was so pointless when trying to shave. Not a fav and won't be repurchasing.

* Bonus Sample - Urban Organic Perfume Sample by A Perfume Organic (Included sample size - vial 1 ml.)  $65.00 for full size roll-on bottle (12ml.)

Review:  Honestly (I'll always be honest on these reviews), it smelled like a hippy with dirty socks on.  Blech! Nuff said.

When you sign up with GlossyBox you fill out a personal profile indicating your style, preferences and skin/hair type.  So far everything they've sent me has been right on the money. That doesn't necessarily mean I've loved everything, but there's nothing that I haven't been able to test out or doesn't fit my style & preferences.  You pay $21 a month and they select out of a variety of samples and sometimes full-size products 4 items for your box and throw in a bonus free sample. Some items that I did not receive in my box are the following:

1. Mineral Botanic Hibiscus & Fig Velvet Cream Wash by Ahava (Sample Size - 3 oz) valued at $22 for full size (17 oz). (Actually glad I didn't receive this one, since many folks received theirs spilled all over their box. Yikes.)

2. Eye Shadow Ice by Ofra Cosmetics (Sample Size - 14 ml.) valued at $17.50 for full size (.47 oz) (None of these colors are really me, so I'm glad I didn't receive this one either - it's like they read my mind!)

3. Lite Up & Buying Time & Eye Never by VBeaute valued at $150.00 (Lite Up) for full size (1.0 oz); $135.00 (Buying Time) for full size (1.7 oz); $85.00 (Eye Never) for full size (0.5 oz) The sample sizes were little tubes (.033 oz each). (Again, I would never purchase this stuff at full price anyway - HOLY CRAP $150.00?!?!, so I don't mind not receiving this either.)

So there's my first review of GlossyBox!  July's GlossyBox review coming up soon!

*The products in this review was provided specifically for the purpose of writing a review. This in no way effects the quality of the review provided. No monetary exchange occurred in exchange for the writing of the review. The views expressed in this review are strictly that of the reviewer. All reviews provided here are the work of the reviewer and remain completely unbiased. *

A Mower Mishap

Back when our house was broke into and I had lost the diamond from my wedding ring (which I was blessed enough to find!), I prepared myself for one of those "seasons" of trials.  You know that saying, "When it rains, it pours"? Well, after those first couple weeks in July of the break-in & lost diamond, I thought, I need to buckle down and prepare myself for whatever might be coming in the future and not let it stress me out.  After all, it's just a season, God is still in control and this will eventually pass. 

This last week we went through yet another trial - well, Jason did anyway.  It was the day his sister was flying into town and he was working with Doug as usual out on a property.  I had stayed home because my stomach was upset from the hormones I'd been taking and thought I would just go in late to work.  Around 11am, I woke up to Jason standing in the bedroom and saying, "Don't panic." Ok, I won't panic - I thought to myself.  Jason says it again, and this time adds, "I've been seriously hurt and I need to go to the emergency room." Lovely. Because he's calm, I'm actually not too worried.  I felt ok enough to take him myself, since I was worried that the loss of blood might make him too lightheaded to drive himself.  We headed out to the hospital and waited to be seen.

All that red = blood.  He had his hand raised above his head in order to lessen the pain and the bleeding.

 

What happened was that the spring on the bar of the push mower was broken, so out of habit, when he left go of the bar and heard the blades wind down, he automatically reached under the mower to adjust the height.  Yeah, you know where this is going.  Ouch.  The blades nearly severed the entire tip of his left ring finger and completely crushed the bone. Thankfully, the ortho surgeon was able to save the fingertip, but when Jason had asked him what he would do in this situation, the Dr. LITERALLY said he would "lop it off and move on." Um, excuse me? WHOA Ghetto Doctor! Jason did everything in his power to communicate, that he's very attached to his fingertip (no pun intended) and would like to keep it.

 7 numbing shots & 11 stitches later - his finger was saved.

Later that evening, with his entire hand numbed and bandaged, we headed out to see his sister Kelley over at his parents house.  As we were walking out the door, Jason goes to lock up the house and looks at me and says, "Why won't the door close?" I look at him incredulously, "Because your FINGER IS IN THE DOOR!" Yup, that just happened. He had been so numbed, he didn't even feel it.

The next morning, when he closed the door on his finger yet again, before heading to the ortho surgeon, he felt it.  It wasn't until the surgeon removed his bandages 2 days later, that I had the guts to check out his poor finger.  The pic below is how it looked.  Looks kinda like a zombie huh?

  

For those of you who don't want the details (as if you're not grossed out enough already) - the surgeon had to remove what was left of the nail and stitch the layers of his skin back together.  There's actually about 8-9 stitches under his nail.  Then he put the nail back on the finger in order to save the nail bed. 3-4 more stitches are on the outside. I know, so disgusting.

If you're still reading, this last picture is what his finger looked like last night, 1 week after the accident. Not much better really.  Believe it or not, we've been told by the surgeon that finger bones can actually regenerate much like a lizard's tale so maybe he'll once again have a fingertip after all! But for now, it's just all kinds of sick-nast and I'm really not to keen on him touching me with it - ESPECIALLY BEFORE DINNER! (You hear that honey!) blech!!!!  We've been told to expect 6 months for healing, and 9 months before it starts to feel normal. 

Aren't y'all glad I blogged!  Yeah!!! :-)

Hey what do you know...

No one's taken down this blog yet, and I'm sure no one's reading it either~!

I often wonder what it is that keeps me from blogging and I think more than anything, it's worrying what everyone else will think.  I have a hard time writing about stuff that's really not central to what I'm thinking about - but rather just fluff. 

So here goes - my attempt at being more honest and trying to catch up on the going-ons of the Keith homestead.

First of all - my sister Kati and her bearded boyfriend John came out to Nashville for a visit!  It was amazing (yes, family...you can skip all this, since you already know).  Kati didn't tell John that she was coming and it was a fun surprise for him!   I had made a Kahlua Espresso Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake for John and his sister Ann's visit and we all got to catch up over a heavenly slice of dessert and some hot coffee.  Speaking of HOT - it was in the hundreds the entire time they were here.  Sorry guys :-(  That heat wave did a number on our lawncare business cause it caused all the grass to die.  We were seriously praying for rain and it hasn't stopped raining since they left! 

We took them out for some fun local eats at The Pharmacy, which has bomb hamburgers, sweet potato fries and homemade sodas.  They have this burger called The Farm Burger and it's a beef patty, topped with a slice of country ham, topped with bacon & a cooked egg.  I mean seriously?  Only the South folks.

I also took John & Kati to the infamous Pancake Pantry, where we just so happened to be seated next to the founder and original owner, Robert Baldwin.  How cute is this old man??

It worked out perfectly that we all got to celebrate the 4th of July together!  Jason and I had already planned on going to my office party for some free BBQ and say hi to everyone, and it worked out my sister was able to walk up for a few minutes to say hi as well.

John's family happened to be downtown already and planned to watch the fireworks on the riverfront - which is EXACTLY what Jason and I had already planned on! I mean how perfect is that?  And seeing the fireworks up close & in person were incredible - and I'm not just talking about the ones in the sky!

  

I could NOT get enough of their cuteness ;-)  Y'all, my sister has a boyfriend.  It's so weird.

  

It wouldn't be a trip to Nashville, without heading to the Drive-In! Happy to report we were the first ones to share in the Drive-In experience with John! Pretty cozy in our truck with 2 - 100 lb labs in the backseat along with Kati & John (I'm sure they didn't mind ALL that much).

And in other news - we've been dealing with the recent break-in of our house which was a major bummer, but not altogether traumatic either.  We're hoping that something positive comes out of the situation since we think we might know who did it.

On a more adorable note....I mean really.  How could you not love this yellow guy?  His sweet face just kills me.  

I had to include a pic of holding my nugget Kai.  I could kiss on him all day long.  I'm excited to get some snuggle time in with him this weekend and some much needed girl talk with his mama Julie.

And finally - a girls night out with some of my besties Julie, Amy & Jenni.  I know I'm beyond blessed with some seriously amazing friends out here.  I love these girls beyond words.

Ok - so you're all caught up!

Next post is about my experiences with Glossybox, a hot new trend where ladies can subscribe monthly for beauty boxes!! 

Baking Inspiration

This week is our last Home Group for the season, and it happens to be at our home.  I wanted to make something special, but easy and impressive.  So I chose Madeleine Cookies.  And they turned out delightful!

Ok, so that isn't a picture of MY Madeleine cookies, but they look the same, I swear!

Then a couple other recipes I really want to try are a Puffed Pancake - I did one a couple weekends ago and I believe the recipe I used was missing some key ingredients, cause it was bland and flat.  Ugh.  

I WILL conquer the puffed pancake!

And another recipe I came across was the Ebelskivers!!  They are a traditional Danish round puffed pancake that is usually made on Christmas Eve - but I want to try them as soon as I get my hands on the Ebelskiver pan!  How amazing do these look?

You can also make them stuffed, using berries, apples, lemon curd, chocolate, cheese and on the list goes!! Yummy!!!  I'm totally going to do this!

I don't know why, but breakfast foods just sound totally good to me lately. 

Gloomy Days

If you didn't know any better, you would think this is Seattle.  It's been cold, rainy & gloomy around here these last few days.

As much as I love cold, gloomy & rainy days (what can I say, I'm true to my roots!), I'm looking forward to warmer days ahead!!

Little Nugget

Last week was long and exhausting.  I had something going every night and was ready to get some much needed rest over this weekend.  Sadly, I had to say goodbye to our friends Mandy & Shane who moved back to Arkansas, 9 hours away.  We had gone to their wedding last fall and have really enjoyed getting to know them better.  Mandy worked as a Legal Assistant in a law firm only a couple blocks from myself so we would get together for lunch fairly often and catch up.  They are the cutest, sweetest & most genuine couple ever. That's something about Nashville life, that I'm not sure I'll ever get used to - folks coming and going at a moment's notice. 

I will miss my country bumpkins more than they know. 

Thankfully, the week ended on a great note because I was able to be little nugget Kai's first official babysitter!  What a privilege!  This little man is only 7 weeks old and weighs in at 9 pounds of pure deliciousness.  I'm not sure if it curbed my craving in any way for a munchkin of my own or just made it worse!  It definitely took me back to days of snuggling my little Munch Addie back 18 years ago - gah! I'm so old!!!   

Just in case I got in over my head, I brought in reinforcements by having my MIL Sherry come over.  I mean do you see those cute little lips?! They kill me.  Something that was just too adorable was that every time Kai got hungry and would start to cry, Seven could hear him from the backyard and would start to howl.  And I know it was Seven, cause I recognize his howl.  It was so funny.  It was much like this video and I was laughing so hard to hear him in the back howling away with little Kai. 

Unfortunately the rest of the weekend was spent on the couch battling some of the worst allergies I've ever had. I used almost an entire box of kleenex, took 3 steaming, hot showers and slept an insane amount of hours.

Thankfully, I'm doing much better today and and am looking forward to a great week!

Larry & Seven

Our neighbor friend Larry has developed a special bond with our black lab Seven.  I truly believe that Seven has really helped to bring healing to Larry in the recent loss of his dad.  This last weekend, Larry came over to hang out with me while Jason was working.  As I lounged in the back yard in a lawn chair, Larry got out Jason's wheelbarrow & played with the pups.  It brought back memories of when I would take Wicket and put him in our empty swimming pool.

Banks And Her Lovin!

So there's this thing that Banks does that I'm always telling my friend Angela about, where after Jason takes his evening shower Banks will come running and rub her entire body all over the back of his head.  It's as though she's getting her own bath from the moisture left on his hair.  That and the fact that we use a mint shampoo and I think it kinda turns her on, like a sort of catnip!  haa!! 

The other night Jason got through with his shower and we were both reading our study books, when she came up behind him and started doing her thing.  I grabbed my phone and was able to catch her in the act so I could show Angela exactly what I had been talking about.

Now for your viewing pleasure:



Disclosure: Jason isn't a "cat person", but he tolerates Banks.  Whatever. He loves her :-)

Larry

 Last summer, Jason and I made a couple of friends from down the street. The first time they came over was taken at the time of this picture when Jason was working on the front sidewalk. Jonique is on the left and her cousin Larry is on the right. Since then, they have come over almost every weekend and either sat on the front porch with us sipping sweet tea, or played in the back yard with the pups, or even sat inside for some heart-to-heart conversations when the weather was too cold.  They are the sweetest kids with the best manners and though we come from extremely different backgrounds, we can hang out for hours having a blast and talking about school and life.  These sweet kids are 11 and 12 years old and live with their grandparents and several other relatives in a one bedroom house, just four homes down from us. 

Last Friday, I was leaving for work when I noticed an ambulance and fire truck in front of their home.  I unlocked our front door and yelled to Jason inside to keep an eye out.  Later that afternoon as Jason was out by his truck, Larry came walking up the street with his grandmother and mom following closely behind.  Jason asked him why he wasn't in school and he nonchalantly replied, "My dad died this morning." His dad was only 35 years old and sadly had a long history of being in and out of jail. Jason told me that Larry said it as if he'd gotten a B- on a school paper.  Sure enough, his grandmother and mom soon confirmed what Larry said with Jason, their eyes puffy and glazed over.  From what we know, and have been told, he died from chest pain.  I hate that Larry and Jonique witnessed this horrific incident in their tiny little home.  Jason called me at work to give me the news and the first thing I wanted to do was head home to be there for Larry. Jason assured me, he was ok and playing with the dogs in the backyard with some cousins. So I texted Larry from the office.

See that response?  "I miss you."  As soon as I got that text I completely broke down at work.  I was hurting so much for our little buddy, I could barely stand it. My heart completely broke for this boy. A couple hours later I called Jason to see how our friend was doing.  I could hear him in the background laughing and the boys were barking.  Jason put him on the phone and I made him promise to come see me the next day. 

 

Saturday was a bit surreal.  Larry and some of his cousins came to the house to play with the pups as relatives and family friends started filling up his front yard.  Larry has a HUGE family and they were pulling up in droves.  His mom happened to be at their house and I had yet to meet her.  She doesn't live with them but has an apartment in the projects with her boyfriend.  Larry asked if I would come with them to meet his mom.  Of course I wanted to and changed out of my sweats.  Jason and I headed over to the house and Grandma immediately came out to greet me.  I embraced her and she started to cry.  I met all kinds of family members and they welcomed us with open arms.  An uncle from Louisiana was frying up whiting (fish) dipped in cornbread meal and french fries over a propane deep fryer in the front yard.  If any of you know me, I HATE fish.  But because I love this kid and didn't want to offend anyone, I excitedly took that fried piece of cornmeal breaded whiting and chomped away with a big ol smile on my face!

 

Never would I have thought that 4 years after moving into our house I'd be eating fried whiting in our neighbors front yard down the railroad tracks with our little friends and their families.  But I was so blessed that God had truly answered a prayer of mine from when we first moved in - and that was that we could get to know the kids in this neighborhood and be an encouragement and safe place for them.  Larry has stayed home from school all week and every day makes a visit out to see Jason and the boys.  He's asked that we attend his father's funeral on Friday. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

News and Reviews

A couple quick updates!

Jason and I were given a beautiful bookcase from my in-laws for Christmas and just recently put it in our bedroom! I've featured pictures on my book blog of it.

Also - I've just finished reading Nobody's Child by Austin Boyd, which I was graciously given a copy to review! See my review here!

And finally - I'm super pumped to be spending an entire day with my man to celebrate our first actual Valentine's Day together!!  That's right - I'm taking the day off to celebrate!!  Since we've met, Jason has had to work at Morton's every year for Valentine's Day - it's mandatory of all employees.  And since I work days and he would work nights, we rarely saw each other more than maybe a coffee break or a quick lunch downtown.  But since he quit last March, this will be our first VDay together and I've got all kinds of things in mind for us to do! Hey! Get your mind out of the gutter ;-)

No but seriously, I'm thinking of breakfast in bed,

an afternoon trip to the theater to see The Vow

and Jason's special heart-shaped french toast for dinner. 

Restaurants are typically over-crowded on VDay, so I would much prefer a lovely afternoon out with maybe a scoop of Jenni's ice cream

and then home for a cozy evening with soft music and candlelight.

I wish you all a wonderful Valentine's with the ones you hold dear!