Vanilla and Spud write Christmas lists

Well.  That time of the year is here at last.  It's after Thanksgiving so there is no more holding back on Christmas music, decorations, shopping, presents, or cooking.  Daisy gets to experience her first year at Christmas time, and I think she is loving it already.  Nilla on the other hand, has seen it all before.  She's my dog who sits and thinks she's made the naughty list because of that time she barked for an hour straight, that time she scratched the hell outta my face, or that favorite pair of underwear she destroyed.  Don't worry guys, Santa will be good to her...he always is.

Daisy on the other hand (ya know, the one who has actually been tearing the apartment to pieces) thinks she does no wrong.  I mean who could blame her, she's absolutely adorable in all ways.  She is experiencing Christmas with mom on a hyper level.  Nothing can be done without her.  Not the cooking, not the cleaning, not the decorating, and definitely not the gift wrapping.  Over the Thanksgiving break, my mother gave me and the girls new minion pillowcases (they are to die for...so cute)!  Well, Daisy loves them.  My roommate captured quite possibly my favorite picture of Daisy and me, curled up on our new pillows.  Needless to say, her tongue isn't short by any means. Haha.

The girls have started their Christmas lists and so far, this is what they have: a self-filling water bowl, bones and antlers, did someone say treats?, and of course...TOYS.  (If you've learned anything about me so far, you know these girls will get it all, and probably more).  

Vanilla and Spud get bored

As we're getting ready for the holidays at home, it seems that my two girls are simply bored.  They have the blues, something, I don't know.  It was hard for me to sort through all of the pictures from this week since I took so many.  I decided that I might be too obsessed with my dogs.  I met a new friend this week, and during our first conversation, I was asked to share something interesting about myself.  Truth be told, I told this new friend that I have a dog blog.  This doesn't embarrass me; it's just proof of the fact that my dogs are truly my life.  Falling asleep at night, I'm happy knowing that I have them by my side.


Another aspect of this past week was the fact that for the first time throughout the semester, I have not had anything to work on towards my senior project as the professor had the draft to look over.  Though it was stressful waiting for feedback, it was peaceful to simply not have any new deadlines to worry about throughout the beginning of the week.  I used this time to catch up on some TV shows that I had fallen behind on watching...you guessed it, Nilla was all about this cuddle time.  She even stole the remotes from me one night while we were curled up in bed.

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I've had a lot on my mind.  A lot to think about and a lot to be thankful for.  I would be truly lost without my family and especially my close friends.  My education at Bradley is coming to a close and my life will be better for it.  I've got a home, food, water, and a bed to call my own.  I have a dependable vehicle to get me from place to place.  This is only the beginning.  Every day, we take things for granted because we live in a privileged world.  OF COURSE, I could never forget just how thankful I am for my four legged friends, always being by my side with smiles on their faces.

Vanilla and Spud catch some zzz's

I don't know about anyone else, but the day my senior project presentation is over, I'm going to need a few drinks to celebrate!  As today was the due date on that massive draft, it's been a long, busy week for me.  We've put countless hours into a document that matters so much towards a business degree at Bradley and I couldn't have been happier to turn that sucker in.  Unfortunately for Nilla and Daisy, that has meant a lot of "no mom" time.  Luckily I have a roommate who knows how much those little girls mean to me so I get frequent updates while I've been away.  Sunday I needed a change of scenery in all of my editing, so I went to my brothers.  My two little nuggets didn't waste any time to curl up together on our couch.

Daisy is such a mommy's girl, it melts my heart.  Earlier in the week, I was watching Netflix on one of my senior project breaks.  I got all curled up on the couch for the hour and my little girl felt the need to be in my lap the entire time.  My roommate called for her; typically Daisy would have gone just for the attention.  However this week has been so dedicated to senior project festivities that I just don't think she wanted to leave my lap.  The look she gave my roommate is priceless and has definitely landed in my top five pictures of her of all time!

Last night was by far the most stressed I've been.  Though the project was pretty much done, I had nightmares during my nap of random headings being orphaned at the bottom of pages, page numbers not matching up to the table of contents, and the ever dreaded "they" appearing in every sentence.  I had to get out of that place before I lost my mind.  After spending some much needed time with a friend to get my mind off of everything consulting related, I came back home and found my girls curled up asleep in my roommate's bed.  I smiled because no matter how rough and tough life gets, I am truly blessed with fur babies who love me.

Vanilla and Spud fan girl over The Hunger Games

I finally got to spend the majority of a weekend home with my beautiful fur babies! I couldn't be happier with the gift of their presence.  Friday after work, I made myself dinner, grabbed a beer, and cuddled up in bed with Nilla and Daisy to watch The Hunger Games.  Whenever I walk into the apartment, Daisy jumps up on her back legs, begging for attention.  It always puts a smile on my face to see her so excited, just because I'm home.  It's a truly beautiful quality that dogs possess.  With Daisy though, it seems that as soon as you acknowledge her, she no longer wants the attention.  She wants to move on and jump to the next thing...must be a puppy thing.  So what do I do?  I hold her real tight and make her love me.

Nilla on the other hand stays relaxed.  She is in it for the long haul.  Coming home Saturday, my routine was much the same.  I stopped to get dog food for the girls, and Panda for me (because Panda fixes everything and I also might have an addiction problem).  While the dog food bag was a bit of a distraction, I still won Nilla's attention.  She was all too ready to jump back in bed with me while I ate dinner and watched the next movie, Catching Fire.  Nilla never used to lay in bed with me if doors were open and there were other areas of the house to explore, but now she seems glued to my side more than ever.  I even caught her yawning this week!

Sunday was another one of those days were you just can't figure out where the day went until it's already gone.  While I spent most of the morning around the apartment, I did have to make the dreaded drive to Peoria to meet with my social media group.  Getting back into town later that night, I decided I might as well finish what I started Friday.  I stopped at Redbox and picked up The Mockingjay.  Nilla and Daisy were also excited to finish the marathon, so it was a winning situation for all of us.  Whether it's watching movies, cleaning, cooking, or just doing homework, it's always better with my girls at my side.  I love seeing them curled up together next to me...as content as I am.

Vanilla and Spud cuddle up

As I eluded to earlier, Halloween was a big deal for us!  We took our boys trick-or-treating on Thursday in Uptown Normal's business district.  It was kind of chilly and slightly rainy, but it was totally worth it for the smiles on the boys' faces every time they got more candy.  On Friday, after work I came home and spent some quality time with my two favorite girls.  My mom gave me a blanket last week (I'm obsessed with blankets, elephants, and black/grey/yellow color schemes).  Needless to say this blanket was perfect.  Daisy was quick to call dibs on the new territory.  Isn't she just angelic?


Saturday after work, I made puppy chow which is a mess and a half to clean up.  I think the dogs took it a little to literal and decided that they needed a taste too when some hit the kitchen floor.  That night I had a party to go to at my friends' house.  I went as a honey bee and to be honest, Daisy still hates it.  She tried to attack me so many times while I was putting the finishing touches on the costume and my makeup...I guess its a good thing I love her.  When I got home later that night, it was Nilla's turn to claim our new blanket.  I have so many to choose from and it cracks me up that they both love this one so very much.

After a long week of work, school, and everything Halloween, Sunday I just wanted to curl up in bed to finish up some homework for the week.  Of course Daisy was all up in my business on the computer.  It's funny how she thinks she's helping because she can see the screen too.  Oh well, maybe now she will have some retailing knowledge for my future shopping needs.  I just couldn't wait to fall asleep that night!

Vanilla and Spud get spooked

Hot topic of the week: Halloween preparations!  If you didn't already know, I am, if nothing else, a holiday fanatic!  Our apartment has random decorations (okay, I won't lie, most of those decorations are dog toys) and I'm getting ready to start baking holiday treats.  My costume was delivered yesterday and I just couldn't wait to try it on.  Only problem: my dogs absolutely hated it.  I don't think they really knew who I was when I had it on.  Being that Nilla is calm and relaxed, my reaction from her was pretty much just along the lines of "what is wrong with you?". Daisy on the other hand even went as far as continuously barking at me the entire time I had the costume on.  I'm not even that scary: just a lil 'ol honey bee.



Needless to say, it will continue to be a busy week at home for me and the girls.  I'm not looking forward to random visitors to my apartment because I know the dogs definitely won't like it.  But it is all worth it for such a fun time of year. 

As much as I'd love to dress my dogs up for Halloween, I know that it wouldn't go over well.  Nilla would absolutely hate it and I know she'd chew her way out of any costumer that I attempt to put her in.  Little Daisy doesn't even need a costume though since she already looks like baby Chewbaca, haha.  She had a dinosaur costume bought for her a couple months ago, but she already outgrew it.

Vanilla and Spud adjust to changes

Well, the morale of this week's story is that life is unexpected.  Everything changed in the matter of days.  Lucas and I are no longer together, and that is the basis for all of my puppy updates this week.  The girls are not happy at home; they can sense that things have changed.  Different rooms are slept in, random people are at the apartment, and we have both been gone a lot.  Don't get me wrong, the dogs will never be neglected, I love them too much for that.  However, things are different now.

One thing that I have always found amazing about my Nilla is that she has always been by my side.  There has been a lot of fighting going on at home, and every time something new starts up, Nilla is right there between us.  Any time that there is anything tense going on, Nilla stands next to me, never leaving my side.  It's small things like this about dogs in general that always inspires me.  I absolutely love it.

As I've been extremely distracted and also absent a lot of this week, I don't have very many picture updates of my pooches.  I will share this rather funny one of Daisy.  She got new toys one day this week and managed to get her head stuck in the ring of one.  Every time I see it, I chuckle.