second anniversary part 2: puppy vacation

For our second anniversary, Steve and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to a real hidden gem in Brown County - Story Inn.  You can read Part 1 of our trip here.  Since Story Inn is pet-friendly, we took Lyla with us and she had an absolute ball.

spring in the dunes

While Steve attended a conference last weekend, this little cutie and I traveled up to the Indiana Dunes for a girls' getaway. 

the cuddle bun

Being a dog owner has many perks.  One of my favorite parts of being Lyla's owner/mom is that she absolutely loves to cuddle.  No matter the place or time of day, if you call her she will come running to snuggle up next to you and plant a few tons of wet kisses on you.  It's a dream come true for her when she can smoosh her body between Steve and me, thereby maximizing cuddle space and loving on both of us simultaneously.  She's hilarious. 

Here's her, "Mom, can you stop what you're doing and cuddle me please?" face.

One of Lyla's favorite times to cuddle is when Steve and I are working out in the morning.  I'll be in the middle of a round of squats and next thing I know, she is between my legs begging for me to pick her up.  Which, oftentimes I do.  Between Steve and me, I'm clearly the sucker. 

 

Steve snapped these pictures while testing out my new camera over Christmas.  I was trying to mess around with the new camera software, but Lyla was having none of it.  To her, it was clearly time to cuddle.  And so cuddle we did.

Notice how she's on her back legs - that's to get more of her body closer to me.  Just a little ridiculous, but she is a sweet little cuddlebun.

You can tell just how affectionate she is - it warms my heart.  It's amazing how much love can be crammed into such a little body. 

 

There's not a day that goes by when I'm not thankful for this little pup.    

the thankful project day 14: a blessing

{Linking up with Kenzie at Chasing Happy}

November 14th: A Blessing

This is Lyla.  Not Layla, not Lilah - Lyla.  Aka the Pupster, the Baby, Lylabun, Lylabell, and quite the doll-baby.  She's my three and a half year old Westie, and such a blessing in my life.

When I was in law school, I found Lyla through a breeder in Ohio and drove six hours to pick her up at a random abandoned Sonic in small-town OH.  It was a little sketchy, I'll be honest, but the moment I saw her sprinting in circles in grass next to the parking lot, it was love at first sight. 

 When Steve and I started dating, she won his heart pretty much immediately and both of us are head over heels for her. 

 

She has some of the quirkiest habits, which make me laugh (like sleeping halfway out of her bed), but the best thing about her is her sweet personality.  She just loves life! 

She's a cheerful goober, but she also has a huge heart.  She wants nothing more than to be as close to you as possible, and she loves meeting new friends - canine and human.  She has boundless energy but loves to snuggle (especially under the covers of our bed, which doesn't happen often but when it does it's quite the treat!).

Since the day that I first brought her home, not a day goes by that she doesn't make me laugh or that I don't think, "I am so blessed by this little white fluffy dog." Just a minute with her in my lap is all I need to lift my spirits on a dreary day or to bring a smile to my face.

I like to tell Steve that besides marrying him, Lyla was the best decision I ever made.  It's amazing how much joy one little pup can bring to our lives.  So today, I'm thankful for this big blessing in the form of a little spunky Westie.



the chili-serving miracle of 2013

It's Friday!  If you are new to my blog, welcome!  Please feel free to stick around for a while and check out a little more about me here.  I don't know about you, but I can't believe we're almost halfway through October already.  I'm linking up with Lauren for five silver linings from this week:

1.  I'm working my way through my Fall To-Do's and am going to cross one off of the list this weekend - visiting an apple orchard and pumpkin patch with a good friend.  We're going to head out to my hometown and hopefully will find some apple cider while we're there - another one to cross of my list!

2.  I'm still on a high from our trip to Wheaton for the hubby's class reunion (you can read about it here).

 3.  This little pup was so worn out from her weekend at the boarding kennel.  She loves it there and always comes home exhausted from playing.  So much for feeling guilty about leaving the dog behind!

4.  Our small group spent yesterday evening serving a potato bar to a local inner-city high school football team.  I was in charge of serving chili and somehow managed to not spill it all over myself - which is a miracle, let me tell you.  It was a blast! 

5.  Speaking of my small group, after the Chili-Serving Miracle of 2013 we all went out for dinner and stuffed our faces with pizza.  YUM.  I am so thankful to have such great friends. 

 

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

a golden birthday

Steve turned 28 on the 28th yesterday.  We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather - low 80s and sunny - all day, which was great because we had a full day of outdoor festivities planned!

We began the morning with a birthday breakfast and then took off for our first ever Westie Walk.  We heard about the event through a random Starbucks bulletin board post and figured we'd give it a try.  None of us really knew what to expect.

Turns out, the Westie Walk was amazing.  Imagine one hundred and fifty little Westies all gathered in one place, and then a parade of the cheerful pups on a twenty-minute walk led by bagpipers.  It was absolutely precious.

There were Westies everywhere.  Some wore kilts, others had dresses on - there were even some Colts uniforms.  Some of the owners went all-out in Westie sweaters and Westie hats.  We weren't that hard-core but it was still fun to people- and dog-watch.  Lyla absolutely loved it.

Lyla is a social butterfly and loved meeting as many other dogs as she could.  She was worn out when the event was over!

After the Westie Walk, it was time to start getting ready for Steve's birthday party.  Since Steve loves Mexican food, we decided to make fajitas for our guests.  We marinated steak and chicken for about eight hours.  In the meantime, I cut up red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers, along with sweet onions and mushrooms.  We had about 15 guests for the party, so there were lots of veggies to chop!

(the little 4x6 in the corner is Steve and his twin back in the day.  Such sweet birthday boys.)

Next up was the birthday cake - a chocolate cake and yellow cake cupcakes w/ chocolate icing!

Next came present-opening for Steve.  He got a new firepit from me, and some great presents from family members.

Finally it was time for the twins' party!  The party itself was a huge success.  We have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and it was great just spending the evening outside enjoying the weather and each other's company.  There were a few games of cornhole and bocce ball, and Lyla of course was in the middle of all the excitement.

The birthday boys...

 Time for cake!

We hung out as the sun set and lit the firepit as the night sky set in.  

 Steve and I ended the night exhausted but with full hearts.  I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate my love's golden birthday (and his twin's!) than with so many sweet and wonderful people.

Today, we are recovering and enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon watching the Colts game.  Life is good, my friends.  Hope you had a great weekend!