And Then There Were Three

Two nights ago we picked up our third lab, a chocolate puppy we named CJ! He is the sweetest thing ever.  He loves to snuggle and other than a couple small accidents, he's housetrained already.   Jason and I headed down to Chattanooga on Sunday evening and met Susan Ellis of Confederate Labs to pick up our guy at 7 1/2 weeks old.  As soon as we picked him up, we headed down the street to Sonic and spent a little time playing with him and letting him go potty.  

I am so in love.

Here's a video of us playing with him at Sonic in Chattanooga.

He is just the sweetest & cuddliest thing ever!  Three weeks ago we drove down to Chickamauga, GA to see where the puppies are bred and pick out CJ from the litter.  Last time with Jeep & Seven, Jason met the breeder halfway and picked out Jeep & Seven while I was at work.  This time I went along and we played with all the puppies to see which one might be a good fit for our home.  Look how tiny he is! (below)

In the end, I think CJ picked us.  The pic above is when we had all three chocolate males out and were playing with them, when this little guy cuddled right into Jason's side and stayed there completely content.  He was just so darn sweet. 

I mean look at that face?!

As soon as we held him, we just knew that he was our guy.

He even began answering to his name right away!  Below is a video where we (I) played with him for the first time.

Once we had made our decision, we had the breeder mark him just for us! Those little green x's didn't last long though ;-) But even still, he was the largest chocolate male in the litter and the most perfect.

We were very lucky to meet Jeep, Seven & CJ's dad, Jackson (below).  He was so much like Seven in personality and even grunted just like him.  However, Jeep definitely takes after his mama Peaches, who had been given to another family. We also got to meet CJ's mama Missy who's also in the previous video.

Here's a great shot of what I believe is little CJ with his daddy Jackson.

It is so fun, and yet so much work, having a little puppy around again.  More than anything, I really want Jeep & Seven to get used to him.  So far, things have been a little rough.  The boys are extremely threatened and not thrilled at all with having to share Jason and I.  And surprisingly when we introduced them to CJ, instead of CJ rolling over and submitting himself to them, he instead stood his ground and growled and barked at them! haha!! Who knows, we may have a new Alpha in the making! 

One last video - Jeep & Seven meet CJ for the first time :-)



It was a bit scary with the boys being very territorial, but they're warming up veeerrrry slowly. Below is a pic from last night when it was late and we were all sleepy.  Jason fell asleep on Jeep & Seven, and CJ kept trying to snuggle up to Jeep who wasn't having it one bit.  Every time CJ tried to nuzzle Jeep's tail, Jeep would pull further away from him.  Poor little guy, he just wants to be loved. 

Currently

Watching: Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, Parenthood and I'm Having Their Baby.  I heard a rumor that this may be Private Practice's last season and that Addison (Kate Walsh) is leaving the show.  I would seriously freak out if that is the case, since PP is one of my all-time favorite shows ever.  I recently started getting into I'm Having Thier Baby which is a reality show where they show birthmom's picking out adoptive parents and the process of giving up their child.  I think this show is actually hugely beneficial in helping many people understand the amount of strength and selflessness some of these birth mothers have - it truly astounds me.  I've always heard the side from the adoptive parents, but never the birthmothers.  It's so addicting and so moving, love that show.

Listening To: While Jason and I were in Seattle we picked up the new Matchbox 20 CD and the new Maroon 5 CD - both are amazing and I listen to them constantly.  I'm not even that big of a Matchbox 20 fan (my hubs is a die-hard), but this album might just convince me!

Thinking About: All these horrible cases of Fungal Meningitis that has been breaking out in Tennessee from tainted steroid injections that hospitals and clinics were administering here in Nashville.  There's already something like 5 deaths in our area from it and thousands have received the contaminated shot, including a woman I work with!  So freakin scary and only confirms why I try not to do anything invasive if at all possible!

Trying To Figure Out: How on earth I'm going to get my house completely cleaned and ready to go before my parents visit.  And what type of meals I'll be cooking for them!  Yesterday I made a turkey chili that was bomb.  I think my parents would really like it and might add it to the list.  So excited!

Looking Forward To: Again my parents visit next week, but also picking up our new puppy CJ on Friday!!!  Yeah!!!!!  I may or may not be planning on sneaking him into the office on Monday afternoon ;-)

Wearing:  Speaking of the office - I can't for the life of me figure out why it's so difficult to figure out the AC/Heat situation in our area of the office!  It's freezing!! And when I've had enough, I have no other choice but to bust out my Forever Lazy. 

Reading:  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  I've been so busy on house projects, cleaning, starting up home group and other various things that I haven't had much time to get into this book.  It's our book club's pick for September & October and we're going to discuss it over our annual Book Club Retreat in a couple weeks ;-)  But so far I'm really enjoying it! 

Making Me Happy: My sweet husband whose patience and love continues to dumbfound me. My well-behaved pups that makes me laugh uncontrollably.  My work friends that make the day that much easier to get through and humor keeps me rolling.  My personal friends and their faithfulness and loyalty. My Father God who has blessed me abundantly.

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.