My dogs bark... your kids yell!

People... my dogs bark, I know. They bark when they play. They bark when they get excited because I am reaching for the leash (it's walk time!). They bark when they get nervous or agitated. And they bark when they are scared or trying to protect me. My dogs bark. My dogs bark because, well, they are dogs. And here is the crazy thing - I will let my dogs bark... when it is appropriate. But if the barking isn't warranted or is getting out of control I try to put a stop to it. And when my neighbors come and tell be that Finn barked for an hour straight in the morning, I am mortified and come up with a solution so it doesn't happen again (Solution - I built a dog run on the side of my house so they were confined to a smaller area and not able to bark at the kids and dogs in the neighboring yard). I really don't want to be that neighbor who has dogs that bark all of the time. And for the most part, I don't think I am. The only time my dogs are outside is when I am at work. And even then they spend most of their time inside the garage.


Now here is what really pisses me off. Yes people, I said pisses me off, is that I can't go to the same neighbors and say, "Hey, your kids were playing outside and yelled bloody murder for two hours straight... just thought you would like to know." Or, "So, I noticed you stayed inside your house all day while your spawns played in the street yelling all day. I find this disturbing." Why can't I say this? Well, because while it is ok to tell me my dogs are loud, it isn't acceptable to tell other people their kids are loud. Ugh.

Road Trip

OK... I know I am way behind on my posts. I have a bunch of pictures to upload and will work on doing it this week. Until then... I will give you this one. We were heading back from camping in Maupin, OR and I guess little Finn was tired (and didn't want to admit it). He fell asleep on my shoulder while I was driving.

Katie

I was going through some pictures yesterday and I came across a bunch I took of my niece last year. My niece asked me to come out and take pictures of her one day so she could give them to my brother for Father's Day. Little did I know at the time, it was all really just a ruse to keep me occupied while my mom set-up a surprise birthday party for me. Ah, my mom is a great.


While revisiting the pictures, I remembered how much fun we had taking them. So this weekend I am going to go over and take some more. I thought I would share a few of the older ones with you. This is my sweet Katie...

Week 5 (June 30-July 6)

What a great week! 4th of July, long weekend, beautiful weather and hanging out with friends I don't see often. Ahh... it really was a great week. 

Wednesday

I am so in love with this picture! I was able to capture most of Finn's little quirks with one shot. I was getting ready to leave for work and the dogs were just sitting in my living room behaving so nicely. (I think they were hoping I wouldn't notice them and let them stay in the house for the day.) I decided to reward their good behavior with a treat - which prompted Finn's ears to pop-up. His ears pop-up like a Gremlin! Poor Finn also suffers from a little under bite (again... captured in this photo). I don't think the under bite bothers him too much - after all, it does make him look pretty tough. To top of this lovely look, Finn decided to do some odd squinty thing that reminds me off a pirate! So there you have it... Finn - my tough pirate Gremlin. 

Thursday

The dogs are always so excited in the morning for me to get up and start the day. Why? Because as soon as I hop in the shower, they make themselves at home on my bed. Here we have Gidget burrowing down on my pillow surrounded by my duvet (that I just took the cover off of).

As I am taking the picture of Gidget I feel something on my arm. Yes, Finn is licking it... he doesn't like being ignored. This is what I see when I turn the camera.

I turn back to Gidge to get a better picture... but Finn has already gotten in on the action.

Friday

I tried again to get a picture of Gidget sleeping on my bed... you might notice that there is a furry little leg on the left. Finn REALLY doesn't like to be left out.

Saturday

This is what I look like after I try to give my dogs a quick bath outside. Finn is fast and slippery.

Sunday

So many pictures from today... but I am only going to post a few.

I felt privileged to get a picture of my friend Jenny's daughter, Libby, smiling before the Pet Parade... she had her game face on for all of the other ones I took (aka - very serious)

Peyton (Jenny's other sweet little girl) willing to let Mike share with her...

... not sure if she was willing to share with Julie.

I am stealing this picture from Jenny because I like it! Julie, myself, Hollie and Jenny.

Monday

A extra day off of work found me and the dogs hiking along the river. 

Getting out of the river can be tough when you are wet and tired.

Week 4 (June 23-29)

Yikes... I have this fear that all of my posts for this project will end up with pictures of my dogs. Eh... who am I kidding? I really don't care. So let's take a look at my pictures from the past week... shall we?

Wednesday

Can't you see I am trying to sleep? Leave me alone.

Thursday

Check out the blue skies and snow capped mountains. Ah... Bend - I think I love you.

Friday

OK... lame picture. But this is my view leaving work.

Saturday

Start the day with a Barre 3 class (this is the studio)

Bite of Bend - Beer Run!!!

Roberta, Jennifer, and Patti

Sunday

Breakfast

Eggs and potatoes - yummy

Monday/Tuesday

oops.. I forgot

Week 3 (June 16-22)

I am not gonna lie... this is the week I remembered I was doing this little project. So, I don't have a ton of pictures for this week... but I will give you what I have (maybe even double up on a few days).

June 17 - Learn to Run potluck. Pam and Ashleigh

Part of the LTR group... had to move the chairs into the sun. It was chilly.

My running peeps - Roberta and Lisa

June 19 - A little project. It was an old brown coffee table with two extent ions on the side. Now it is a bench.

June 20 - View from my brother's deck. It is rough, but someone has to live there.

June 20 - Happy Father's Day. My brother took this a few years ago out at his place. My dad just hit his nose (see the blood) on something... I love this picture. It is my dad.

Week 2 (June 9-15)

Back in Oregon... gearing up for my first half marathon.

June 9 - got to my parents house at 3:30 am... my dogs were happy to see me (really)

June 10 - the new flower/kayak sculpture at Riverbend Park

June 11 - I got nothing for today - so here is a picture of Gidget from this spring

June 12 - The day before the Dirty Half... hanging out with Pamela and Jennifer at 10 Barrel. Yummy food, sun, and beer... perfect pre-run activities. Well, unless you get a sunburn like I did.

June 13 - After the Dirty Half (I finished). I was so tired... even my dogs were tired. We lounged on my bed for a good portion of the afternoon.

June 14-15... oops.

Week 1 (June 2-8)

You say it's your birthday (da, da duh da duh), it's my birthday, too! And today I am 37?!? What??? How in the world did this happen? Ugh... who knows. 


So for my birthday I went to Portland for a video shoot for one of the training videos I am working on and then I hopped on a plane for New York, baby!

June 2 - video shoot

June 3 - In NY, post run relaxing on the patio

June 4 -  Izzie tries on dance costumes from years past... a little trip down memory lane.

June 5 - Spent a few hours with my sweet Charity and her daughter Audrey. You can see Charity's preggers bump in the background ans we all enjoy getting a pedicure... Audrey's first

June 6 - Ah, Daniel... trying to make poached eggs ala Julia Childs. It didn't work.

June 6 (part 2) - This is the Izzie I know and love. 

June 7 - So, I take a picture at Grand Central Station and when I am looking at it later - hello! There is a guy in an Oregon shirt. How random!

June 8 - Last day in NYC... shopping on Canal Street with Julie

Project 365

OK... so many of you have heard about Project 365... it is when you take a photo a day for a whole year. Well, you were supposed to start at the first of the year and obviously that didn't happen. So I am taking a page out of my friend Julie's book and will start it on my birthday. That was the plan anyway... too bad my birthday was three weeks ago!!! So here I am  - three weeks later and no pictures posted. Ah, but since no one reads this anyway - I can fool you all!!! Buhahahaha! Today I will post for the past three weeks... kind of like I never forgot!

A Little Prayer

Dear God-


Thank you for giving me the strength to get out there and train for my very first half marathon. Thanks for letting me see some physical changes as a result of all of this training. But please, God, there is one place I really don't need to loose weight and have the inches melt away. Yet, everyday when I get dressed I notice one piece of clothing is getting looser and baggier..... please - stop shrinking my boobs!

If I Ever Start a Band...

... I will call it, "I Need to Shave." Hmm.. or maybe that would be a better name for a song? I don't know. What I do know is I say "I need to shave" a little too often in life. It is always sneaks up on me (as if shaving is a normal part of every girls regime) and then one day, usually when I am in public, I will look down at my legs and say, "I need to shave." This is usually accompanied by a look of shock and deep concentration on my face. I am shocked because I can swear I just shaved my legs. And then after a little mental calculation (hence the look of concentration) I realize it has been a little longer than I remembered. What I want to know is why this thought never occurs to me while I am by myself? Do I look at my legs while I am watching tv and blindly ignore the forest that is growing there? Have there been times I thought I was petting my dogs but am really stroking my own legs? Sadly, I don't have the answers. I just know when I am in public or with a group of friends I suddenly become aware of my ability to attract Big Foot with my sasquatsh-worthy legs.

What a Weekend!

Last weekend was jam-packed for me. I felt like I was running around all weekend and barely had time to catch my breath. It was wonderful! Well, let me rephrase, the things I did were wonderful. Why don't I give you a quick recap... I know you are dying to see what I did.

FRIDAY NIGHT

My friend Jennifer and I went to the grand opening of Serendipity – one of the cutest stationary stores ever! Next time you are in Bend, head down to the Old Mill and check them out. Julie is the one who told me about the store (she doesn't live in Bend and still knows where all the cute places are!) since it is her darling friends, Jessica and Megan, who own it. They had a great music (I forgot his name, but added his picture), wine, and tasty snacks. Three things that will always bring a smile to my face.

After Serendipity we headed downtown for First Friday art walk. More music, wine and snacks.... plus some fun window shopping. This was also the perfect time to go in to Bend's newest Hotel, the Oxford. The lobby is super cute and if you hop on the elevator and take it down to the basement, you will arrive at 10 Below – their restaurant. Very cool... but not nearly as cool as the bathrooms. Yes, the bathrooms. Is it weird that I took pictures? It is? Oh, well... here are the pictures for your viewing pleasure. Is it weird that you are looking at them?

SATURDAY

Started the day off volunteering for the Horse Butte 10-miler. Ah... sun, wind and 27 degrees. Great day to work on my tan. I can't say enough great things about this race and the people.... so I won't. Instead, I will share some pictures of my favorite things. If you want to read more about it, go to my other blog (click here).

Saturday night I went with my mom and nephew to see West Side Story at Summit High School. It was better than I thought it would be... and that is all I will say.

SUNDAY

Easter! Started the day with a 6 mile run (well, run/walk). And then spent the afternoon with the family. My niece Katie had an equestrian meet, so we all gathered there. 

Katie opening an Easter basket while Kyler and a friend look on.

Katie's Team

A very blurry picture of Katie's horse, Star, not playing nicely. Way to stay on, Katie!