Knowing Me is Loving My Dog.

Hey Y'all, 

I'm going to tell you about the most important person in my life. That's right, I said person.  

Meet Lainey. 

I say person, because she may have four legs and a wicked piece of weaponry with her tail, but she's got the temperament of a four-year-old child. She's my baby. 

I adopted Lainey from the DFW Cocker Spaniel Rescue, about a year and a half ago.  I was looking at the dogs and asked to see her outside her cage.  They opened the cage and she promptly jumped right on top of it.  I couldn't stop laughing, and she hasn't made me stop laughing in the past 19 months. The girl's got spunk.

Her favorite activities are making new friends, although mostly human ones, at the dog park. She plays fetch and returns the ball, ohhh about 45% of the time.  

 

So what really gets her tail wagging? Birds. Squirrels. Anything close in size and runs fast is her kryptonite. She's practiced and nearly perfected her sneak attack skills, although she has yet to catch anything. Sad face.

She specializes in stealing your seat 5 seconds after you've vacated it and tries to butter you up by cuddling (FYI, it usually works).  If needed, she'll stay close by, by walking on the top of the couch (yes, you heard right - she's a gymnast too), and perching on the most comfortable pillow.

Every morning, without a doubt, I find her army-crawling on the floor.  It's her way of stretching, but to see her army crawling from the bedroom to the living room and back, is just a riot. 

Lainey always prefers a mans lap to my own.  This weekend, she was laying in my lap, and after the boy sat down next to me, she got up and moved to his lap instead.  It was possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life. And unfortunately, nothing new. Sad all the same though.  

She enjoys Pupcakes, and doggie ice cream (don't worry, I swear she's not spoiled!) (HA, I kid!) 

She knows when she's being a bad pup, and is royally rewarded when she's being a good one! 

Knowing me is loving my dog.  If you don't love this sweet and insane personality, you have a much harder time getting to know me! Because, she's my person. 

 

As Always,

AJ

Dancing with Myself

I don't have a whole lot this week - due to an unfortunately avocado slicing incident. My palm was the only casualty. (If you're keeping track, the score is Cooking - 1 Alyssa - 1). Typing too long proves to be a difficult task and full of entirely too many spelling errors.  So, I'll leave you with the current song in my head (as it has been for the past week).  And let you do your own slide and snap dance! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've clearly never seen me dance to oldies music. Sorry I'm not sorry. 

Also - if someone can fill me in on this Harlem Shake business, I'd appreciate it.  I don't care to take the time to try to listen to the song and see what this phenomenon is. (I felt the same way about Gagnam Style)  I've been about 4 months late on these dance trends lately.  It's made me feel insanely old and frankly, blonde hair don't care. (Except the pop culture fanatic inside me - I NEED TO UNDERSTAND!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuqHlv1YPe0 

Enjoy your St Patrick's Weekend! 

String Arts

I love being crafty.  It soothes me, makes me feel like Martha Stewart, and 8 times out of 10, I'll get something really cool out of the deal.  (The other 2 out of 10 usually end up in disaster - with fingers glued together and paint everywhere).  

However, I tend to lack motivation, time, and the financial aspect of being able to do projects.  That being said, over the holiday vacation, I was able to spend some time with my favorite ladies for a weekend getaway. (GIRLS WEEKEND, WOO!) While we caught up on each others lives, had spontaneous dance parties, we also were able to do something even more fun - CRAFTS! 

These girls get together a few times a year and do a craft at their gatherings.  I've always been incredibly jealous, being so far away in Texas - so I was pretty pumped to do crafts with my girls during our weekend.  

Long story short, this inspired me to want to start something similar.  It's motivating, and I can combine my social life with DIY projects.  I may have to start up something similar and get together with my friends and have a few hours on a weekend devoted to crafts.  Who's in!?

I found a project that I am already in love with on Green Wedding Shoes.  String Art.  It may have to involve the boy - seeing as it involves hammering and nailing, and I tend to bend nails when I hammer into them.  (Maybe that should be my New Years resolution??) But the finished project can be whatever you like, a heart, stars, butterfly, shoes, WHATEVER! You can hang it anywhere and frankly it's a pretty sweet project because you did it.  And let's face it, anything you do, is better than anything else you can purchase, because you understand the time and effort put into the project.  

Life. Love. Candid Moments

The following pictures are the reason I love event planning.  I love the staged proper photos because I love tradition and it's always wonderful to have beautiful, nice photos of you and your loved ones.

But by far my favorite moments come from catching something wonderful - unplanned and full of raw emotion.  Candid.  Candid pictures help capture the happiness, insanity, and love between everybody.

Love.

Mission Statements

Quotes are great, for motivation, inspiration, and to use as a mantra.  I've always loved quotes and seek out quotes almost daily for these specific reasons! Sometimes they help you find guidance, purpose, positivity and even empathy.

Quotes can even keep things interesting at a party.  You can print them off in different fonts, forms, colors and frame them.  It's a great conversation topic, and hopefully can keep the mood light and fun.   You can bounce off ideas of the hidden meanings, or the topic at hand!

They're also a great decoration idea for a home.  For a family.  You can even come up with your own, much like these I found on the wonderful blog - Love, Actually. (Like the awesome movie!) This can provide a sense of camaraderie for your family as each is different from the next!

Bust out your inner writer/artist - and have a go! Whatever is most important in your life.  What you strive for, strive to be.  Announce it to the world! :)

Dance like nobody's watching

Sing like nobody's listening

Live like it's heaven on earth