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!!! :-)