October is over?!...

So first of all- Once again I failed to link up with Ashley over at Me and My Boys for Motivate Me Monday... :( Whoops! Mondays have just been very hectic days these last couple of weeks. Next week (fingers crossed) will be better! But- I have managed to keep up my "bring snacks to work" goal and so far I've managed to get back to pre-cruise weight! So more on that to come next monday!

Second of all- I did it!! I took one picture every day for a month and so here it is. 

My October :)

(... Looks like the last week and a half has been very "Bentley on the couch" heavy. Truth is, I'm very consistent at taking pictures of him awkwardly sleeping and not so good at capturing the random outings and events of what really goes on in my day!)

October was an interesting month that without a doubt flew by in a single blink. 

Looking back at this conglomeration of "1 photo a day" for 31 days, I think I'll remember this month for-

*The start of gorgeous weather down here in Central Florida

*A Tiffany blue box marking 1 year of happiness with my person

*Food and Wine 2011 deliciousness at Epcot

*Howl o Scream and Halloween Horror Nights, both of not so epic proportions

*Hitting 100 followers

*Carving my very first pumpkin

*The person's big "CarnEvil" Halloween event

* Losing my voice for what felt like the entire month (I'm still coughing!)

*And Bentley starting to get WAY too huge! ... At a whopping 11 pounds so far lol ok, maybe not huge. Just bigger.

No doubt in my mind I'll be doing this again for November. It's such a blast! There's so many little fun things that happen in our day to day lives that we tend to glaze over in the excitement of going from one "main event" to the next. These little pictures help me acknowledge, appreciate, and remember! 

Can't wait to see what I'll have to post on November 1st... Feel free to join me on this! Just let me know if you do. The pictures don't need to be fancy! We at least have our phones with us most of the time and that's enough to snap a quick shot of a quick lunch with a friend or an impromptu Target visit! So have fun!! Excited to see what your months consist of! :)

**Also!!**

If you stop by, head over to my twitter and follow me there so I can let you know when I get a new post up! Seeing my instagrams as they go up might also remind you to keep up with the "Picture a Day" challenge. I'd love to have you all following here and over there to help keep you in the loop!

And don't forget to contact me if you want to do a little blog button swap action! I love seeing the buttons of blogs I love following on my side bar!

Here's to another month down and a hopefully even better November!

A Pet-centric Window Shopping Spree...

If anyone is surprised this weeks window shopping is solely focused on pet goodness, you clearly haven't been by recently...

Day 3 of Bentley being home and so far so good! I was so worried about crate training and house breaking but *knock on wood* we lucked out and got ourselves a pretty kick ass pup!

He took to his crate IMMEDIATELY if not sooner. Why wouldn't he, though? It's the home of his comfy bed, best toys, and where he gets treats and food! I was surprised that he loved his bed too. I feel like pet beds are often for the owners benefit. We buy them thinking- "This is adorable and I'm being so thoughtful investing in a comfy spot for my furry friend," but the pet will inevitably take to a random spot on the tile before going anywhere near said bed. Not the case with Bentley bug. even when he falls asleep off the bed it's only a matter of time before he rearranges himself further back. His crate is SO much his little place, that when we're playing with him, once he's had enough he just walks into the room and straight into his crate. It's perfect!

House breaking has been a breeze so far. I have no doubt I've just officially jinxed myself... I mean, the little guy is 8 weeks old! He's bound to have accidents at some point. Sure have had to take him out at 6 am! But it's easy to tell that he's whining because he has to go potty when he DOES NOT whine otherwise. (Except a couple whimpers when he's having crazy eyes-half-open dreams). I was so concerned about waking neighbors because puppies apparently whine all night when they first come home. Bentley sleeps. Unless he has to go potty, or he's eating, or wants to play. And when I haven't woken up in time, he goes potty on his puppy pads. Thank all that is good for this little blessing in the process. Still working on getting up and down the stairs to go potty though. And burying his face in this grass. Worms are not puppy food!

As for the puppies and cats, I'm proud to say there's been NO hostile behavior or body language. The cats are just really curious but not quite prepared to play with him. There's been no barking or hissing and no negative posturing on either end! I'm really looking forward to the cats not being (for lack of a better word) scaredy cats and actually enjoying their new playmate. I'm sure it's only a matter of time...

And without further ado- My pet-centric window shopping spree...

1. Headless Horseman Halloween Costume- the person gave me the green light for pet halloween costumes and I could not be more sad that this doesn't come in a smaller size!! Target has ADORABLE pet costumes. Quite frankly, Target has everything. I'm on the lookout though!

2. Kitty Cat Pirate Hat- Arrrrrrrrrrgh! Cats do not do as well with costumes but holy goodness, if I wouldn't love to see Rusty in this hat... I'm starting to sound like a crazy lady...

3. Martha Stewart Puppy Harness- I am beyond obsessed with her line at PetSmart. It doesn't help that the puppy model is a Boston...

4. Martha's Puppy Robe- I am very aware this is completely unnecessary. If I only "bought" necessary things during my window shopping sprees, these posts would cease to exist!

5. Martha Pet Food Scoopers- All things Martha Stewart Pets. In my house. Now.

6. Awesome Cat Tower- Overpriced? Yes! Would this stop the cats from sleeping on top of the fridge and kitchen counters? Hell no!

Ahh pointless pet products! How I love you all! I do spoil the zoo we've got but I'm not remotely this crazy. Besides- I've learned quickly that if puppies have a whole lot of toys they are less likely to disturb your stuff. Like the Dog Whisperer taught me- just redirect the behavior! It absolutely works.

Do you all have any pointless goodies for your pets? Please share so I don't feel as bad :)

Until next time...

August ain't so bad...

I cannot believe August is almost over...

It's been one hell of a month people! Lots of stuff going on and no sign of it stopping any time soon. It's crazy to think this year is going by so quickly. 

I'm incredibly blessed to- 

*work at a job I love (even if I have days where I want to turn to crying kids in the audience and stop the show till they shut up), 

*have a ridiculously loving and caring person (even if every once in a blue moon he makes me want to rip my hair out ok, let's be serious I make him want to rip his hair out... I have no idea how he's so patient all the time! And I thought I was good!), 

*and have the most considerate and attentive friends and family a girl could ask for (even though half the time I'd rather relax at home with my kitties!)

Point is- this month, like the year so far, knock on wood, has been chock full of smiles. I thought I'd share some of the highlights of the month so far. 

1. No matter what he says, my person LOVES my our cat Rusty... it always makes me smile seeing them love on each other...

2. I had a little boy (who I solely approached during show because he kept picking his wedgie and I thought is was hilarious) tell me "This was the best stage thing I ever saw!!" Gahh my heart!

3. I started a new job!! I'll be putting up more on this later, but basically I get to have a blast a couple nights a week, singing and dancing while tourists eat dinner. Drunk guests think I'm hilarious!

4. I finally bought my camera! :) Man, I love that thing! 

5. I started Insanity... I don't know if any of you have tried it but this workout program is very appropriately named! But- I'm officially halfway to my weight loss goal! I really wanted to make it all the way before the cruise but I'm going to celebrate my progress so far and keep thinking positively that I'll finish dropping these extra pounds.

 6. Got to celebrate my Broder's birthday!! Nothing says "you're another year older" like breakfast at Cracker Barrel and drinks at an Irish Pub!

I love us...

7. Thanks to my couponing efforts, I've been to the grocery store maybe a third as often! Actually... I kind of miss it. I jump at the chance to go to Publix when we run out of milk- I am so special!

8. We met our newest baby- Bentley! Just 2 weeks before we bring him home...

9. Finally- I just took the step over 50 followers! :) Just in this past month I went from maybe 8 to over 50. Sure it's a baby step in comparison to some other blogs out there- but this is my journey. I'm so glad you guys are following along and I could not be happier when I get comments from you all. You guys rock and thank you for making this month the most exciting of my blogging adventure.

Just because I like you guys so much, I decided to start giving back. I'm working on a little giveaway for next month, but for now I've added a new page to the blog- Freebies. So far, you can find the recipe cards I made a while back when I finally got around to organizing all my recipes! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do...

How's the month going for all of you?