Somebody's A Good Girl

Jazzy has come a long way from the days when she would bolt out the front door and keep on running down the street.  I haven't had to chase Jazzy down the street wearing my snowman pajamas and socks in quite some time.

We have been working with Jazzy on her come command.  We practiced in the backyard and in the house without the fear of Jazzy not listening.  Lately, she's gotten really good about coming when we tell her to. I think she's more comfortable with us and knows she's got a pretty good life here.  It's worth her sweet, little doggy time to come back to us.  

Since Jazzy's been such a good girl, I decided to give her a little more room to roam without her leash. When we are few houses away from ours at the end of our walk, I've been letting her off her leash.  She stays right with me and moseys her way back to the house.  

With that under her belt, I thought I'd take things a step further.  We've had some really nice weather recently and I thought I would take advantage of the nice weather by sitting on the front porch with Jazzy.  

We taught Jazzy to sit and wait at the door before she's invited outside.  She is really good about this and I think this is what has ultimately helped with her bolting.  So, I have been letting Jazzy out on the front porch after she has waited patiently at the door.  

She is such a good girl and stays where's she's supposed to.  Although she likes to stare longingly through the railing, I think she's perfectly content to stay on the porch with me. 

She likes to keep track of all the neighbors on her front step perch.  

Occasionally, she'll wander off the porch and into the driveway.  She knows there are some bunnies in the neighbors' bushes, so she likes to keep watch.  I'm not sure if she would be able to resist the temptation to run after them if she actually saw any bunnies. 

One of Jazzy's favorite hangouts is right against the garage door.  She loves to soak up the sun and take in the warmth of the garage door.  What a life! 

I'm so proud of Jazzy!  She continues to show me how darn smart she is on a daily basis.  Who knows what she'll learn next!  

Fall Is On Its Way!

As much as I adore summer, I am getting excited about fall.  I do love the cooler temperatures and fun outdoor activities.  Who doesn't love a good corn maze or apple-picking adventure?  

I am equally excited to change up the decor around my house.  I have made a few simple changes to welcome in the fall season.  They are easy ideas that can be easily replicated.  Plus, they add a little fall flair to your home.  

To dress up the front of my house, I switched out the summer annuals to mums in the big pot that sits in my driveway.  Instead of buying the bigger plants, I just bought three little ones and potted them close together.  The smaller plants were just 97 cents each, while the bigger plant of equal size was 6 bucks. Hooray for saving money! 

I also switched out the mason jars in my rustic crate centerpiece for some apples. They fit perfectly and were a cute nod to the season.  I went with granny smith apples because I liked the green color and they picked up the green in my table runner.  Pretty simple and pretty cheap.    

Finally, I hung up my fall rag wreath on my front door.  I created it using this method.  Even though all the leaves in my yard are still green, I'm sure they will be changing colors soon.  Once they finally do, the colors will match my wreath.    

Happy fall! 

It's Electric!

I am fully charged now, thanks to my latest acupuncture session.  That's right.  Dr. Mary used electricity in conjunction with my usual needles.  I was a bit scared of the idea when Dr. Mary briefly mentioned that she could try using "an electric needle."  I put the thought out of my mind until she announced that she would try it at my last appointment.  

I guess it works best if you have it done a day before you ovulate.  The timing was right and last week I gave it a go.  When I first came in, I asked Dr. Mary if it would hurt.  I had visions of electroshock therapy running through my brain.  She told me that it wouldn't; It would just feel like someone was repeatedly tapping me.  She also told me that it would offer the power of a race car driving at 300 miles per hour. The comparison was a little lost on me, but I figured she knew what she was talking about.  After all that chit chat, she told me to give her a few minutes so she could get her "machine" set up.  I still wasn't convinced that it wouldn't hurt.

So I put on my brave face and watched as she stuck 10 or so needles in my stomach.  Then she put alligator clips with wires attached to the machine on 6 of the needles.  Once I was all hooked up, she started turning some knobs.  It didn't exactly hurt, but it wasn't very pleasant either.  It kinda felt like someone was repeatedly poking me with a dull pencil.  She told me she would leave me and come back to check on me in about 10 minutes.  

After she left, as I was trying to convince myself I could handle this for 10 minutes, the poking stopped and the machine started beeping.  I had a mild heart attack.  I was worried the wires got crossed somehow and the whole thing would explode.  I couldn't exactly move with all the needles, but I figured this was not how things were supposed to be going.  Luckily, Mary has a very distinct walk and I called out her name as I heard her walk by in the hallway.  She heard me and came inside to check on me.  

Turns out the battery was dead.  So, after the battery was replaced, the poking continued.  It really wasn't that bad.  Eventually, I got used to it and it started to feel numb.  Those 10 minutes didn't exactly fly by, however.  

I ended up with a little bruise in one of the spots and my stomach felt like I had done a bunch of crunches the next day.  But it will all be worth it if it results in a healthy pregnancy.  Hopefully it does the trick this month!  

Little Known Facts About Jazzy

Jazzy joined our family a little over 8 months ago and we are still learning new things about her each and every day.  Most of the time they are adorable things that make Adam and I chuckle.  Here are a few of her latest chuckle-worthy moments:

Jazzy is a snuggle-bug.

Jazzy loves to snuggle up with us.  It doesn't matter if I have the laptop open on my lap, Jazzy plows right over it to get to me.  And she's more than happy to lay on the floor and use your body as a pillow.    

Jazzy has made it her job to guard the window well.  

Jazzy wouldn't come inside from the backyard the other day.  So, I wandered around the yard until I found her standing above the window well.  She was convinced that something was down there.  I'm sure there probably was some kind of bug or critter down there at one time, but Jazzy isn't going to rest until she finds it again.  Now every time I let her out in the backyard, the window well's the first place she runs to. She takes her new job very seriously.  

Jazzy is the best domino partner a person can ask for.  

When Adam's mom came to visit a little while ago, we played a couple games of dominoes.  Jazzy wanted to be a part of the action, so she hung around the dining room table until Adam's mom let her join her. Jazzy is the perfect partner because she won't leak any information about your domino hand.  I tried to get her to tell me what was in Adam's mom's hand, but she wouldn't give me so much as a hint.  

Jazzy is a contortionist.  

Jazzy seems to bend her little body into all sorts of positions.  They look awfully uncomfortable, but Jazzy doesn't mind.  She actually enjoys lounging on the couch in these crazy poses.  I guess the glucosamine tablets we give her each morning really do help her joints.  I think Jazzy should be the new spokesperson for ChondroFlex.    

I promise Jazzy is a very happy little dog, despite her serious face in all her photos.  She just likes to act like a model when I take her picture.  She sure does make me chuckle.  

The Reset Button

Another month has come and gone without getting pregnant.  I'm not gonna lie.  It really sucks.  It's so frustrating to focus all your energy and positive, hopeful thoughts on something only to have it not work out.  

It was rough this month.  I had a bit of a breakdown, complete with lots of tears and lots of feeling sorry for myself.  I even made an exception to the "no Jazzy on our bed" rule and let Jazzy snuggle with me. Adam was kind enough not to say anything about it.  

Thinking about Adam and Jazzy always helps me push the reset button.  That button I have to push to change my thinking from being negative to being hopeful and positive.  I have to push it each month when things don't go my way.  I start to think about all the wonderful things that I do have in my life.  

I have the sweetest husband in the world.  He takes care of me and lets Jazzy sleep in our bed when I'm having a rough time.  I have Jazzy, who brings me an incredible amount of love and joy.  I have parents who have always and continue to love and support me.  I have friends who send me kind thoughts and ask how I'm doing all the time.  I have a beautiful home and the means to decorate it.  I have a job I love.  I have a lot of good going on in my life.    

I have to remind myself that...

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na... BAT HOUSE!

Adam's been busy with his latest project.  He built and hung a bat house in our backyard.

When Adam first told me he was going to build a bat house for our backyard, I was a little iffy.  Bats are spooky to me and I didn't exactly like the idea of them flying around my yard.  But Adam informed me that there were already bats flying around our house at night.  Why not make them a little home to sleep in during the day?  He also informed me that bats eat bugs, which we have plenty of in our backyard.  I liked the idea of bugs disappearing from our backyard.

So Adam gathered inspiration from the bat house plan in this book.  Then he whipped up a plan of his own. He was able to use some of the wood that he has collected, which helped minimize the cost of the project.

Adam even went so far as to burn a bat symbol on the front of the bat house.  He made a template and used it to burn the symbol on the cedar.  I think it's a nice touch.  

He hung in on the trunk of a big tree in our backyard.  I can see it from my bedroom window and it makes me smile when I look out and see it hanging there.  I'm reminded of how creative and handy Adam is.  And how he's always thinking of ways to make our home just a little bit better.  

Jazzy Gets Something in the Mail

Adam and I have been searching for some kind of travel bowl for Jazzy to drink water out of when we go on trips or go on outdoor adventures.  I saw one when we first got Jazzy at TJ Maxx and made the mistake of not buying it.  I didn't think it was a necessity.  But Adam found the perfect doggy travel mug the other day and ordered it.  This company isn't paying us, but they are certainly more than welcome to!  

Anyways, it came in the mail the other day and Jazzy was pretty excited about it.  She eagerly waited for Adam to open up the box it came in.  

Jazzy was equally excited about the peanuts in the box and tried to eat one.  We were mean and didn't let her, however.  

Look at that face!  She can't wait to try it out! 

We washed it out and filled it with water.  Jazzy liked the idea of it and happily slurped water out of the top bowl-like part.  

The handy part is that the water that your dog doesn't drink gets sucked back into the bottle, so there's no mess.  But Jazzy did not care for the sucking noise it make.  It scared poor Jazzy and she would not go near it after it made that sound.  

So we added one of her treats to the top and that seemed to convince her to try it out again.  

We went walking on a trail this past weekend and tried it out.  It worked out great and Jazzy forgot all about how scared she was of it.  Jazzy gives it two paws up.  

A READ! Wreath

I recently found some cheap foam wreaths at an estate sale.  Today, I decided to whip up a rag wreath for my classroom door.  I wanted it to go with the overall classroom theme and promote reading.  

Here are the materials I used:

-9 inch foam wreath

-1/3 yard of 3 different coordinating fabrics

-1 yard of ribbon

-Mini Chalkboard frame (I used one of these.)

-Chalk Marker

-Scissors

-Glue gun

The first thing you do is cut the fabric into about 1 inch strips.  I just laid out the fabric and left it folded in half like it comes off the bolt so you can cut two strips at once.  Don't worry about measuring, just eyeball it.  

Cut strips from each of the fabric selections.  You'll want to pick 3 fabrics that go well together, but aren't too matchy-matchy.  Once you've got all your strips cut, you're ready to start tying the strips on the wreath.  

Wrap each strip around the wreath and tie it with a knot.  

After you tie a few strips on, then you'll want to squish them together so you can't see the wreath peeking out.  Like so...

Jazzy was kind enough to help me out by attacking one of the strips.  What a big help she is.  

Here's what the wreath looks like once all the strips are tied and smashed together.  

Use the ribbon to tie a bow so you'll be able to hang your wreath.  

Then, use the chalk marker to write on the mini chalkboard.  I wrote "READ!" on mine since it's going on my classroom door.  You could write whatever you want, like "Welcome" or even your last name.  

I used a leftover strip of fabric and hot glued it on the back of the mini chalkboard so I would be able to tie it on the wreath.  

Here's the final wreath!  

I adore this wreath!  It was so simple to make and makes an excellent addition to any door.  I've made several of these wreaths for different holidays, like the one I made for Independence Day.  Now I have one for my classroom door!