Our 1st week with Bella :)

Happy Wednesday! I hope y'all have had a wonderful start to your week. We have been soooo busy this week. I knew having a puppy was going to be a big responsibility and it has completely worn both Mitch and I out ha! Bella has been the best dog, but she is a puppy ha! I think we are already ready to get out of that puppy stage, but it has been so much fun.

Here is a little update about her...
We went and got her Friday, and we also picked up Michelle's new dog.  We picked the dogs up just outside of St. Louis and so we made a trip through Springfield to eat at Lamberts! That was definitely a good choice :) Caleb and Summer also went with us.. it was so nice to have the extra help. Michelle had no idea that Will was getting her the dog, and they were coming over that night to see our dog and we surprised her by decorating the crate!

She was shocked! Now we both have little puppies to take care of :)

Saturday, we took all the dogs to the Farmers Market up on the square and we found out quick that Bella is very shy and does NOT like the heat! Even when we are home, she will not go outside in the afternoon. I don't really blame her when it is averaging 105 outside! I never though I would say this, but I am so ready for Fall. I absolutely fell in love with fall in Arkansas. It is so pretty! 

Over the past day, she has began to come out of her shell. She is a very scared dog until she gets to know her surroundings and she is finally figuring everything out. All she does at home is explore the house. You literally cannot take your eye off her for one second! She is the sweetest dog and very calm, but has started bitting. She is catching on quick, but she is still a puppy, so it normal. 

One thing we are very lucky with is she actually likes her crate! She goes in it very easy and usually does not bark when we put her in it. She also has been sleeping all through the night. The very first night we had her, we were up a lot, but that was because we had no idea when she would have to go to the bathroom, so we took her out a lot trying to avoid and accident. But after that, we don't take her out at all in the night. She goes to bed around 10 and wakes up about 7! Its so nice and unusual that as a puppy she doesn't bark all night! 

Monday night we started our puppy classes! We figured the earlier the better and that is probably a good thing. We are learning a lot and have a lot of stuff to practice on before next Monday. Bella has started to bite the furniture and so our puppy trainer told us about this stuff called Bitter Apple and it is just in a spray bottle and it has no oder, but tastes horrible to dogs. It can go on anything- bed, couch, shoes and even feet/hands. Once you spray that area, the dogs will not bite it anymore! Also if your dog barks a lot,  when they bark you can spray it on their nose and they will stop! It has worked well for us! And if your dog is having trouble bitting/barking this is a great investment. 

Tuesday Mitch was off work, so he was on puppy duty all day. I think Bella wore him out :) He was out before 10:00 last night ha! They made a trip to Lowes and PetsMart and played all day long! He also bought her a new toy since she was so good! 

We are having to make adjustments to having a dog, but it has been so worth it. She is so sweet and I have completely fallen in love with her. We just got back in from playing and now she is asleep (she takes naps a lot)- that is the only reason I am getting to write this ha! We are grilling out streaks tonight when Mitch gets home and probably taking Bella on another walk. We are trying to get her use to her leash- she does not like it right now ha! 

Here are a few pictures of her from this weekend..

Hope y'all have a great rest of the week. Bella loves visitors (and so do we) so come see her before she gets big :)

I never know when I am going to get to post again- I get to spend all my time watching Bella when I am not at work :) Hope to update y'all soon! 

One day!!

Sorry it's been a while... we have had a busy busy week/weekend. Last weekend, I made the trip to Tulsa for Katie's bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing all the OBU girls and catching up! We stayed at the Mayo and it was neat getting to go back in it.. it was the first time since Mitch and I stayed there after our wedding! On Sunday, I met Natalie and we had lunch at The Blue Rose then went shopping for Bella! I loved getting to spend some time with her, even if it was short time.

Mitch played in our golf clubs championship tournament last weekend with Taylor. It was nice he had something to do while I was gone. He also starting building our fence. When we moved in, we had all but one side finished, so is trying to get it done before we get our dog. It will be so nice to have a fenced in backyard!

Well the time is finally here! We are getting Bella in one day!! We have spent the past few days getting everything organized and ready. Mitch and I both only had to work half days today, so we ran some last minute errands.
We literally have been to Petsmart 10 times in the past week ha. The workers there know us very well. We have bought and returned and bought and returned.... I think this whole process will be trial and error for us, but it has been fun! We got her crate put together and had her collar made!.. I think those were the last major things to get done!

This pink collar was the only cute one I could find (since I was kind of on a time frame), but we are looking for a razorback one and a OSU one.. so if any of you know where we can find those, please let me know!

More exciting news... Summer is getting here tomorrow!! This has been the 3rd time in the past two months!! I love getting to see her so often. I am going to try and get off a little early tomorrow and we are going to probably do some last minute shopping for Bella before meeting Mitch for dinner.

Friday morning we are headed to Missouri to pick up Bella and we might make a little stop at Lamberts for lunch :)

This post was short and sweet, but I am tired and of course my allergies decide to start acting up tonight... just my luck :(
I am headed to bed and will do a post soon about our trip to pick up Bella!
Hope ya'all have a wonderful Thursday!

Update on Bella

Well we have a lot to fill y'all in on regarding Bella! A lot has changed..  and lets just say Bella looks a little different than when you last saw her!

So this is what happened..
Monday night we were set on this specific westie and told told the breeders we were going to buy it. Well last minute we started questioning our decision. We had heard some bad stuff about Westies, lots of health problems, and so we decided to take a step back and make sure this was the kind of dog we wanted (which was so hard since we have been looking for a dog for 6 months).
The next morning, we were still set on a Westie, but were open to keep looking around for a little longer. We weren't finding much, so we asked for some suggestions from friends.

We researched a couple different breeds and then I found a puppy I fell in love with on the internet. I did not know what it was, sometimes it is hard when they are so little. Well I figured out it was a golden doodle. When I found out I was kind of dissapointed because I have always wanted a golden doodle, but heard they are outrageously expensive. So I didn't think anything of it and continued looking.
Well... My sister-in-law, Michelle called and told me the place where they bought their golden retriever also sells golden doodles. She highly recommended the breeder and so we looked into it.

Lets just say these past few days have been so stressful and finally we heard back from them this afternoon and he has some available and ready to go home now! He sent me some pictures and we decided this was what we wanted to do. So the breeder had us pick which one we wanted and we are putting our deposit down in the morning!! I can't believe we finally have a dog! I was in shock all afternoon!

We have already made two trips to pets mart trying to figure out what we need. Just imagine two people who have never owned any dogs, much less any pets before, trying to buy for a dog. So if y'all have any suggestions we would greatly appreciate them :)

And here is the most exciting news... we get her on Friday! One week from tomorrow we are making the trip to Missouri to pick her up!! I can't believe for the past several months we were planning on a little dog and now we are getting a golden doodle!! I researched the westies and I would still get one in a heartbeat. We just saw these others and I have wanted on forever. I immediately fell in love with them!

Here is a new and updated picture of Bella...

She is the one peaking out from behind the wall :) Told ya she looks a little different ha!

Well thats all we have for now. Tomorrow I am going to go buy puppy stuff and puppy proof our house. I feel a week is so long to wait to get her, but on the other hand, I feel I have such little time to get everything ready for a puppy!!
There is this CUTE dog boutique in Fayetteville, and I am going to get Bella's collar made there tomorrow! I am so excited!

I hope y'all have had a wonderful week and if you have any puppy tips.. feel free to send them our way!!

Wonderful Weekend!

Hello!
I hope y'all have had a wonderful weekend! We have had a pretty exciting week/weekend- so here's an update on us!

Mitch had class all last week to get ACLS certified. He had to go through this course now that he is working in ICU and it was a pretty intense class. He came home from class, ate dinner and studied all night. But good news is.... HE PASSED! So now he is ACLS certified :)
I was actually sick last week, so it prob worked out better for Mitch. I slept the whole time he studied. Ha!
I came home from work Wed at noon and went to sleep. I was feeling horrible and I usually don't sleep a lot during the day, and I know when I do I am usually getting sick. But I slept all afternoon, I did have to wake up to go to my hair appt. I came home from that and was in bed asleep by 8 :)
I woke up at 6:30 to call my boss and tell him I wasn't going in and then went back to sleep and didn't wak up until 12! I have never slept that late. I slept on and off all day thursday and was finally starting to feel a little better friday. I usually don't work Friday's, but since I missed Thursday I went in for a couple hours to get some stuff done.

Mitch got out of class at 1:30 and we went and played tennis! That evening he took me BoneFish Grill and very spur of the moment decision- he asked if we should go to Tulsa this weekend! I always love going to Tulsa, but it was our first weekend we haven't had anything planned and I was kind of looking forward to relaxing here at home, but I really never turn down a trip to Tulsa. I am trying to soak up being able to just drive there when we want, b/c I have a feeling when Mitch goes to school that will not be the case :)

So after dinner- we ran home, packed and headed out. We got to Tulsa about 10pm and just visited with my parents and went to bed. Saturday I went and had lunch with one of my best friends, Tayler, at In The Raw and it was so nice to catch up with her!
That afternoon, we went out with my parents and played a round of golf and it was so hot!! It was 107 the whole time and we about died. ha! I love the hot weather, but no one else seamed to enjoy it as much as me.
We got some new water bottles this weekend, and I know what your thinking... thats not very exciting. But these are so awesome and we have been wanting some new ones for a while..

They are the Polar Bottle and if you have never used one, we recommend them. They stay so cold and are perfect for Mitch and I to take out golfing or to play tennis (esp when the average is 107 outside) They are the best!
That night we went to Los Cabos on the Riverwalk and enjoyed some yummy mexican food!!

Some more exciting news is that we finally got our patio furniture for our back porch.. well kind of.. ha
We bought it and didn't realize it said box 1 of 2 on the side. So when we were unpacking it tonight, we realized we only have the chairs. So now we have to figure out to prove to them we only got home with one box. I will post pics when we get it all set up! We have been searching forever and also go matching lounge chairs to lay out in! The only thing we are looking for now is a big umbrella. I can't decide what color to go with?

The most exciting news of all is that we are going to have a new addition to our family :) I talked with our breeder tonight and we are finally getting our dog! We have been waiting for the right one and to have all our money saved up from purchasing the dog to all the things we need to get to have a dog.. bed, crate, all that fun stuff! And we are ready and our breeder has three girls that were born on June 26 (our anniversary!) and will  be ready the last week of Aug! We didn't really want to wait that long, but they are the best ones we have found so far and come with all the extras- microchip, etc. So I think it will be worth the wait. We are calling her tomorrow to pick which of the three we want!!! I am so excited. We have been waiting and saving up and it feels so nice that everything is already paid for- now is the fun part.. picking her out and shopping for her :) Here is a picture she sent me of the three- one of these is Miss Bella and we just have to figure out which one to choose :)

So we are pretty excited! I know I prob don't know what I am getting into- but I have been so excited about getting a dog and it will be nice to have some company when Mitch goes on night shift.

That's a little update on us! If y'all have any suggestions on which dog, we would love input :)

Have a good week and we will be updating y'all soon on Bella!

Fireworks and Friends

I hope y'all had a wonderful and safe fourth! I love the fourth of July!! We usually spend the weekend at our lake house on Grand Lake, but these past couple of years we have just all been too busy. Last year on the fourth was when we got back from or honeymoon and we spent the afternoon unpacking and moving into our house! I can not believe I have been living in Arkansas for a year... time has flown by!
Here is a little recap of our fourth of July weekend...

Friday we headed to Tulsa just for the evening. It was my brothers 16th birthday, so went all went over to my grandparents and celebrated! We drove back to b'vill that night and we got in really late and went straight to bed. Mitch had to work Saturday and I got up early and cleaned the house. I don't know why but, I love getting up early and cleaning...
My good friend Summer was coming into town for the weekend and she get here around 11 on Saturday morning. We spend the morning at the farmers market and I got some gorgeous flowers! I just love getting fresh flowers from the farmers market.. they are always so unique and sooo pretty! I forgot to take a picture, but they were bright colors and it made a perfect centerpiece for my kitchen table.

After the market, we went to lunch with Michelle and her cousin. We went to the Crumpet Tea Room and it was so good. Michelle had been there before, and ever since I went to that tea room in OK, I have become obsessed. I am sure we will be going back there a lot! It was so good and they had the best orange rolls for dessert!

We then headed to the mall! We walked around and did some shopping for the rest of the day. We were tired and hot by about 4:00 so we came home and relaxed before we had to start dinner.
We had more friends coming in town that evening and we were cooking a big dinner for everyone! Peter Scotty and Libby got there around 7 and we had chicken spaghetti, salad and rolls for dinner!
After dinner, we went to the Wal-Mart visitors center. Summer, Peter and Scott had all been there before, but Libby had never seen it and they just remodeled it and it looks very different. They have a huge museum and a cafe. I had been through the old one several times, but the new one is so nice!
After that, we walked up to the Crystal Bridges lookout area. By the time we got up there it was pretty dark, but it pretty much finished and was really cool to see!

We headed back to our house to roast s'mores and Peter shot off fireworks in our backyard.. I am sure our neighbors love that.. ha!

Saturday, we got up early and went and hiked Lake Fayetteville. Mitch and I both have really been into hiking and we had never been around the lake. It was a 6 mile hike and it was about 95 degrees, but worth it! We had so much fun and the views were really pretty! I am def. going to miss how beautiful AR is and all he good hiking when we move :(

This picture is really dark, but it was the best we could get... 

We had lunch at Tropical Smoothie Cafe and then Peter, Scott and Libby had to head back to Tulsa.

That night, Mitch, Summer, Caleb and I went to the Naturals baseball game.

It was a good game and they had a fireworks show after the game! I love watching fireworks! We spend the rest of the night hanging out at Caleb's house.

Monday morning, Summer and I got up early and went walking on a trail across town, but we were only out there for about 30 min and we got stormed on .. ha! 

That afternoon, we met Michelle at On the Border and had lunch. Summer and Michelle left after lunch.. I hated say by to both of them :( 

The golf club that we are members of had a cookout, so we spend the afternoon at the pool and got free ice cream and apple pie! :)

The Bentonville fireworks were that night, we around 7 we headed up to Orchards Park and it was PACKED!! I could not believe it was 2 1/2 hours before the show an that many people were out there. 

We finally got parked (quickly realized we should have walked) and found a place to set our blanket and chairs. There was a band playing and vendors all around. It was so much fun and we met up with Caleb and walked around before the show.

The fireworks were amazing and ended a little after 10. By the time we walked all the way back to our car it was about 10:25 and it took us about 30 more min to get out of the parking lot! We only like about 30 seconds from the park, but it took us about 45 min to get home! I have never seen so many cars! But it was well worth it! 

That was our weekend.. we had so much fun with all our friends and I wish it didn't have to end. 

Mitch is in class all week for ACLS, so he has a little shorter days than usual and I am super busy at work this week.

We are really looking forward to this weekend.. It is the first weekend in along time we do not have anything planned( as of now) and we are planning on relaxing at home and playing lots of golf.

I hope y'all have a great week!