Naughty Puppy Thursday: Leash Pulling

I will admit it, I'm the mother of a naughty little leash puller - a most undesirable behavior. We go for a walk every night when I get home from work, and every night, I am dragged down the driveway and the sidewalk by a little 12 pound dog. How embarrassing. Most nights, we only make it around the block before going home. Why you ask? Well, we would make it farther if we didn't have to constantly stop so I could say, "No pulling" and try to get that point across before starting up again.

We must be quite the sight, Chester and I. Stop. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Start. Sometimes we even make it a few feet down the sidewalk before having to stop, but usually it's just a few steps. I thought this routine would teach him not to pull as he doesn't get anywhere doing it. But no, of course not, it only succeeds in giving me whiplash. This has been going on for weeks.

This is what we look like on a typical walk.

I don't know what to try next. Chester LOVES going for walks. As soon as you get out his blue walking leash, he gets all excited and sits by the door eagerly waiting for you. If you aren't getting ready fast enough for him, he will whine. So not going for walks anymore isn't an option, but the pulling is getting ridiculous. He always wears a harness, but he's still managing to choke himself with the ferocity of his pulls.

He used to be a good little walker last fall, but we didn't go much in the winter due to the cold and ice. He seems to have completely forgotten good leash behavior in the meantime. I thought about buying a Gentle Leader to try, but will probably wait until his Obedience class in two weeks to see what they suggest first. It's so frustrating! I want to enjoy walks with my little buddy, but the pulling is making it somewhat miserable.

Wedding Wednesday: The Dress

My hunt for a wedding dress all began with an extensive photo search online and in magazines to get an idea of what I liked. There I found pictures of two dresses I loved. I took these pictures with me when I went dress shopping to show the consultants what I liked.

On left - Demetrios B162, on right - Sophia Tolli Y2804 Irene

At first, I thought I really wanted a strapless ballgown with a lot of tulle layers. I hated satin because I didn't like the feel and just thought it looked cheap. I also didn't want a lot of embellishment and sequins because I thought it usually looked tacky. Yet I ended up with a silk satin gown encrusted with Swarovski crystals on the bodice. How did that happen?!

I really only went wedding dress shopping twice before finding my gown. Which was quite sad really, being that I loved trying on wedding dresses. My first time was when I was in La Crosse for Easter. It was with my mom, sister and Laura B. There was one dress I liked, but knew it just wasn't "the one." It reminded me of a snowflake, and would have been perfect for a winter wedding.

I believe it was a Maggie Sottero. It had everything I was looking for (strapless, ballgown with tulle skirt), but I just didn't love the dropped waist, lace up back, or sweetheart neckline. This shopping excursion was productive though, because I determined I absolutely had to have a long veil with blusher.

Another dress I liked on my first shopping trip was this San Patrick - only because I loved the train. It was a separate piece from the dress that attached on the back, and it was just so different.

A few weeks after my first wedding dress shopping experience, I met my mom and sister at Mestad's in Rochester. I definitely didn't think I would find the dress on this trip, and before we went in, handed my mom a list of places to call to see if they had the Sophia Tolli gown I was obsessed with and REALLY wanted to try.

At Mestad's, I went through the racks of dresses and found quite a few to try that were tulle. I walked by one of the displays, and saw a beaded satin one. Now I didn't really want satin, but thought I'd give it a try because I just loved the beading (which was rare for me). I tried it on, and LOVED it. But how? I hated satin dresses. Was I missing out on all kinds of satin dresses that could have been "the one" just because of my prejudice? Then the consultant told me it was silk, which is a completely different material than the polyester satin most dresses are made of. He also informed me the beading was Swarovski crystal, which would explain why I liked it when I usually hated the beading and sequins. This was an Eve of Milady gown.

He had me try on a similar dress that he had girls who liked the Eve but didn't want to pay the price for it try. I hated it. It was heavy, shiny like I hate, and had in my opinion tacky beading and sequins (which puckered as they usually do). I tried on at least 15 different dresses, but I kept coming back to the Eve of Milady and another gown by Emerald Bridal. I loved the Emerald gown's full tulle skirt, but really didn't like the bodice. I loved the Eve as well, but couldn't quite get over my hang-up on having a poofy tulle skirt.

I loved the tulle skirt, but the bodice was underwhelming.

 

But after trying on the Eve with a big crinoline on underneath, it was poofy enough for me and I knew it was the gown. After I decided, my consultant told me it was really the only dress that I smiled and glowed in.

 I never did try on the Sophia Tolli, and to this day, still think it looks like a gorgeous dress. But I am happy with the dress I got, even though it was completely different than what I thought I wanted.

Beading on the bodice detail

Trying on the dress before alterations:

  

Tuesday needs a theme too

Every weekday on my blog has a theme (Weekend Recap on Monday, Wedding Wednesday, Naughty Puppy Thursday, Foodie Friday), except for Tuesday. I need to remedy that situation as I need to have something to actually post about on Tuesdays. I've decided that I will be posting an older photo (1+ years old) and a memory associated with it. That should give me something to do. I'm not sure what I will be naming this segment yet though.

So here we go, Week 1 of Photo Memory Tuesday (better name coming soon I hope):

Montana the summer of 2005

This was a fun family vacation with a lot of great memories associated with it.

Christine and I at Glacier National Park

Memory 1:
On our way out to Montana, we drove through North Dakota on I-90, which is a very flat, boring drive. Halfway across the state, Christine and I looked out the window to see a giant cowboy boot being pulled on a trailer ahead of us. This was one large cowboy boot - like you would see in a parade. It had the name Harold "stitched" onto it. Christine and I couldn't stop laughing at Harold. Just like it is now, once one of us starts laughing, it's impossible to stop because we both feed off of each other. Harold the cowboy boot was amazing, and a sign of good times ahead.

Memory 2:
We were staying by the cabins my dad's uncle has in the Little Rockies. We were there over the Fourth of July, so we drove the four wheelers down from the cabins to watch the fireworks in Zortman, a mining "ghost town." I thought this was going to be a planned display, but it was actually locals lighting off fireworks at random on the main street through town (graveled of course). Definitely an experience. It should come as no surprise then that I got firework remnants in my eye. Mom and I went to the local saloon to use the bathroom so I could try to rinse it out. When I came out, mom went in to wash up, and I went to the bar to get a bag of chips. While there I was accosted by an elderly cowboy who said, "Hey good lookin'" and proceeded to hit on me until I was rescued by my mom. Mind you, my eye was all red and puffy from the firework debris, and my face was covered with dust from the four wheeler ride. It was a funny story to tell everyone back outside.

Memory 3:
The beauty of Glacier National Park. I was leaning over to take a photo along the top of Going to the Sun Road in Glacier. All of a sudden, I felt something ice cold on my back. Christine had taken a snowball and put it down my back when I was bent over. It was a crazy sight to see snow in July!

Bonus photo just because it makes me laugh:

Wall Drug (on the same trip out west)

Weekend Recap: New Camera!

This weekend was a relaxing and lazy one for me. Adam had a Fantasy Baseball Draft at a friend's house on Saturday afternoon. Chester and I did some snuggling, I finally got around to posting most of our professional wedding photos on facebook, took Chester for a walk, watched "Say Yes to the Dress" on Netflix instant, and worked on our wedding scrapbook. That night Adam and I ordered a pizza from Savoy's (best pizza in the Cities) and watched a movie - "The Other Guys." It had some funny moments, but was mostly just bad and kind of boring...

Sunday was our running errands/shopping day. We went to Best Buy so Adam could get a new video game and I could get the new Bright Eyes CD, "The People's Key," in anticipation of their upcoming concert which Adam is really excited about going to with me (or not). I haven't bought a CD for years, so it felt really strange!

I also looked at digital SLR cameras while we were there. It was rather difficult to get any idea of how a camera feels when it's attached to a giant plastic theft deterrent device and wiring. I picked up one of the Nikon's to look at, and the alarm went off. A Best Buy employee finally came over, and asked which one it was. He reset the alarm, picked it up, and said, "Well it's not doing it now" as he eyed me suspiciously. Then the alarm went off, and I had to try not to smirk. Sweet vindication.

Next, we went to one of Adam's least favorite stores, JoAnn fabrics so I could pick up some more double sided tape and a picture frame. I think JoAnn's has such great deals. It always seems like everything is on sale, and then I had a 25% off sale prices coupon. It must be like Kohl's (not that I really shop there) - you'd be silly to pay full price for something there.

Then it was lunch at Chipotle. My favorite "fast-casual" restaurant. As we sat there, I was telling Adam that Chipotle was one of the things I missed most from home when I was in London for four months. I missed the guac a lot. They really didn't have "Mexican" food over there. It makes sense why they wouldn't, but it's just not something you would even think about missing.

After a quick stop at the Lancome counter at Herberger's, we were off to our main reason for going shopping - National Camera Exchange. I have been wanting a Digital SLR for ages, and Sunday was finally the day to go for it. After comparing the Canon Rebel T3i with the EOS 60D, we opted for the 60D. It wasn't much more expensive, and we both liked the size, feel, and higher burst shooting speed (5.3 vs 3.7) better.

Here's a website that compares the two -
http://www.lightandmatter.org/2011/equipment-reviews/canon-rebel-t3i-vs-60d-who-should-buy-the-t3i/

I am not a professional, nor do I want to be, so this camera has more than enough features and was in our price range.
Canon EOS 60D

It was really busy in the store, but we had a very helpful salesman. Most of his photography lingo went right over our heads, but we hope to learn more in the upcoming classes we'll be taking. National Camera puts on introductory classes that you can attend for free if you buy a camera from them. Adam and I will both be going. We may have been able to find the 60D cheaper elsewhere, but really appreciated the knowledgeable employees at National Camera, the free classes, and of course we always like to support local businesses. 

Adam is just as excited as me about the camera
(pictured here without the lens on)

We're really looking forward to learning all about our new camera. Hopefully we'll be proficient enough with it by the summer for trips.

Foodie Friday: Corned Beef Hash, French Onion Soup

We had many good things to eat in the past week, so it was hard to pick just one for Foodie Friday. So I present you with two.

Up first: Corned Beef Hash

Corned beef hash being cooked by Adam.

We made corned beef in the crockpot (super easy) for having friends over on Saturday. We used it for Reubens, and then Adam made corned beef hash with the leftover meat. It looked really easy. First, he melted some clarified butter (thanks Kasey!) in the cast iron pan. Then he added the chopped potatoes (about 5) and diced onions (1). He cooked those for a while until the potatoes were close to tender, and then added the corned beef which had been rough chopped. He cooked for a bit longer so the corned beef would get a little bit of char on the edges. It was sooooooo good.

Excellent Meal #2:
Next was French Onion Soup made by me on Monday night, though Adam did help by chopping the onions (they make my eyes water - BAD). This was also really easy but also very time consuming. The onions took an hour to cook down and carmelize. This is the recipe I followed -
French Onion Soup - Food Network

It turned out great and I'll definitely make it again, but maybe not on a week night since it takes so long.

Kind of a bad photo I took of the soup the next day at lunch time.
You get the idea though.

The Story of Chester

Chester hasn't done anything exceptionally naughty this week, so I thought I would use the weekly "Naughty Puppy" post to share the story of how Chester came to be in our family.

The Story of Chester

Our tale takes place in the summer/fall of 2010, but it really began much earlier than that. Growing up, I had always wanted a dog, but my dad was allergic and we thought I was too (I'm not - just allergic to cats). I had to settle for dressing up, teaching school, and the occasional sleepover with my grandparent's schnauzers, Max and General. I found out years later that my parents had almost gotten me a dog since I wanted one so badly, but I got a sister instead (Hi Christine!).

Fast forward to June of 2009, when we were vacationing in Montana with my dad's cousins that live there. Each family had a pug - Winston and Ben. At first, Adam and I weren't sure what to think of them, but we grew to become obsessed with Winston and his little blue hooded sweatshirt. Both pugs had such personalities! We loved them, their smushie faces and small size.

It all began with two pugs in Montana - Ben (left) and Winston (right).

Upon returning from Montana, I wanted a pug... BAD. But I was living in an apartment and planning a wedding, so it just wasn't possible. In October, we bought a house. I also discovered MN Midwest Pug Rescue at this time, and would frequently check their site and eventually, their facebook. I was very tempted to start looking for a pug then, but convinced myself to wait after the wedding and traveling. I knew we were going to have a very busy summer with 5 weddings including our own (3 of my cousins were also getting married that summer), our honeymoon, and traveling to La Crosse to plan the wedding. It just wouldn't be fair to a puppy to be gone so much and to not have our full attention. So we waited...

In the mean time, we had decided we were going to get a boy pug and name him Chester. I have no idea how I came up with that name, just that it had been decided on for a good six months before we actually got Chester. We would often talk about little Chester, even though we didn't even have him yet (we're cool, I know).

While we were on our honeymoon the end of July/beginning of August, I saw photos online of Martha and her new litter of puppies. They were so tiny and adorable! I was a little wary to even apply for one as I had heard that rescues were really strict and picky as to who they would adopt to. Being that neither of us had ever had a dog (or really any pet other than hamster/mouse/fish/hermit crabs, etc), and thus no experience or vet references, I didn't think they would adopt to us. I didn't think we had a chance, and we were on our honeymoon, so we waited.

A few weeks later, adorable new photos were added of Martha's litter. After seeing Puppy H's photo, we fell in love and decided to give it a shot. I talked to people to be references, filled out the application, and then we waited.

The "love at first sight" Puppy H photo that compelled us to apply. Photo by his foster mom Ginny.

Unfortunately, after applying I was informed that Puppy H, and all of Martha's babies for that matter, were already spoken for. Jean from the rescue suggested that we have her process the application anyway (contact our references, home visit, etc) in case one of the families fell through or more puppies were born in the rescue. I was so bummed that I told her we'd have to think about it; I couldn't think of anything but Puppy H.

I had saved a photo of Puppy H to my desktop at work, and would look at it everyday and think about how I wished we could have adopted him. I even prayed about it and asked God to find and lead us to the perfect puppy for our family. About a week after finding out that Puppy H already had a home, we decided to tell Jean to process our application so we'd be ready if another opportunity arose. When I went on to e-mail her, I discovered she had just e-mailed me to say a few of the puppies homes had fallen through. I tried to not get my hopes up and was afraid to even ask, "Is Puppy H one of them?" She replied that Puppy H was one of the three, but there were others who had applied for puppies and she still needed to figure out the application order. She also said that Martha's litter probably wasn't "pure" pug because she had come in pregnant from Animal Control. Of course we didn't care. I was so excited, but so anxious - nervous that Puppy H would slip by us again.

We were in Cleveland for a wedding when we got the news that Puppy H would be ours pending a home inspection! It was thrilling. I had to tell my fellow pug loving sister right away. Ginny, the foster mom, contacted me soon after with photos and information on Puppy H. She asked what we wanted to name him so she could start calling him by name. So Puppy H became Chester. She also had videos to share, and we couldn't believe how much Chester and his sister Gertie looked alike. It was hard to tell them apart. Of course I had to share all of these photos and videos with family and friends.

First row: Albert and Chester
Second Row: Gertie and Max
Photo by Ginny

I was nervous, but our home visit went really well and we were cleared to adopt Chester. Adam and I were so excited. I got a bunch of books at the library about pugs and puppies and would read tips out loud to him. When my family was visiting for the State Fair, Adam, Stine and I went to Chuck & Don's and got all the supplies we would need for the puppy.

On September 11, adoption day, we were so excited to meet Chester. I was ridiculously nervous, with butterflies in my tummy and silly questions to Adam like, "What if he doesn't like us?" I shouldn't have been concerned. He was my little buddy right away.

Chester and his brother Max when we picked him up at the pug play date.

We picked him up at a pug play date. He was so much smaller and cuter than we even thought he'd be. When we picked him up, we also got to see his three brothers; Albert, Max (Puppy I at the time) and Bubba (Puppy F at the time). They all looked so different from Chester, but were adorable. Chester seemed so shy around all the other dogs at the event, but when we got him home, he was very curious and playful. We couldn't believe he slept through the night with no whining right off the bat.

Chester on his first day home with us. 

And that my friends, is how Chester came to live with us. Six and a half months later, Chester is a valued (and very spoiled) member of our little family. I look forward to coming home from work so we can snuggle and play. Even when he's being naughty, he's just so cute and loveable. And he has such a personality! He's very curious and doesn't miss much. Chester just loves to be by you - sometimes this means chewing his bone which is balanced against your leg as you cook dinner. We just love our little guy and can't imagine life without him.

We really appreciate MN Midwest Pug Rescue and all that they do for pugs. Everyone I interacted with during the adoption process was so kind and helpful. We love Chester so much, and my heart just breaks for all of these pugs that need to be rescued from bad situations. How can anyone mistreat a dog? They are so loving. If you are looking for a pug, please consider adopting from them.

http://www.mnmidwestpugrescue.com/

More photos of Chester from when he first came to live with us:

First day home with us

Sleeping in his new kennel (2nd day with us)

Kisses for Dad (after 1 week)

2 weeks with us

Wedding Wednesday - Wedding Cakes!

I woke up this morning to Adam leaving. I asked half asleep, "Is it raining?" He said, "No, it's snowing!" ughhhh. We're supposed to get 4-7 inches. Of course this made my morning commute painful. It seemed like the roads hadn't been cleared at all. Cars were sliding all over the place and not staying in their lanes.

The only good thing about all this snow is that Chester doesn't take forever to go to the bathroom. He's used to going in snow and loves it. This morning he just went on the snowy driveway. It was like a blank slate to him. I much preferred it to yesterday's debacle where I finally ended up holding an umbrella over him in the pouring rain so he would go.

Anyway, enough complaining about this ridiculous weather... moving on to the post for Wedding Wednesday - Wedding Cakes!

I LOVE wedding cakes. I don't necessarily like eating them because I'm not a big cake fan, but I love looking at them. I think they're a really important element of a wedding reception. It's fun to see how the cake design incorporates the look and feel of the wedding.

It was important to us to have a big, beautiful wedding cake (even though neither of us like to eat cake). You'll notice we didn't have a wedding topper, because I generally don't like them. Our cake ended up being 5 layers, and could feed 250. The design of it was inspired by our invitations.

Here's our RSVP cards, I can't find a photo of our invites right now, but you get the idea.

Adam & Stefany's July 24th Wedding in La Crosse.

I really liked how our cake turned out. We also used my parent's cake cutting set, which they used on their wedding day twenty-eight years before - July 24, 1982. They already had their names and date engraved on the knife, so they added ours as well, which was really special. There's enough room for Christine to have hers added as well someday! Just as long as she doesn't marry someone with a REALLY long first name. 

(Photo on left from Laura B., photo on right from Carey K.)

2010 seemed to be the year of weddings. Three of my cousins on the Doll side also got married last summer, and in addition, we attended the wedding of Adam's friend Jason to Tracy in Cleveland. Like I said, I love wedding cakes, so I thought I would share the fun cakes from those weddings as well. I think they say a lot about each couple and their wedding.

 
Tan & Lanette's May Wedding in Madison:

Lanette & Tan's wedding cake matched their invites, which was a nice touch.



Steven & Samantha's July 10th Wedding in La Crosse:

Steven and Samantha's wedding cake incorporated their wedding colors 
of green and purple, along with peacock feathers.

 Jason & Tracy's August Wedding in Cleveland: 

Tracy and Jason's wedding cake design reminded me of the sweep 
of her dress. The flowers also reflected their wedding colors of 
cornflower blue and light pink.

Frank & Kelly's September Wedding in Waupaca:

Frank and Kelly's wedding cake topper tied into their theme of hearts
which were used on their invites and incorporated in other ways at the wedding.

I love how each cake was just so different. Aren't they fun to look at?!?



And because I thought it was just so perfect, here's more of our cake taken by our wedding photographer, Tiffany Brubaker.

Photo taken by Tiffany Brubaker Photography
www.tiffanybrubaker.com

Photo taken by Tiffany Brubaker Photography
www.tiffanybrubaker.com

The Twins and Virtual Waiting Room Hell

Adam LOVES baseball and the Minnesota Twins. I much prefer football, but do enjoy the occasional baseball game. Target Field is beautiful, and it's something fun we can do together.

Twins suite on my birthday last year

Wednesday was the Twins pre-sale, so after waiting in virtual waiting room hell for an hour plus, I had the opportunity to buy tickets. This virtual waiting room was random. It said you were pulled out and able to buy tickets randomly, not based on when you entered it.

Of course there weren't any weekend games available as they were sold out for the pre-sale (they save a bunch for the general sale). So I settled for some weekday games. I wanted to get some games bought before the general sale on Saturday so I wouldn't have so many to try to get in a short time frame.

Saturday was the big general sale day at 10 am. Adam was working, so I got up at 9 with the pug. I took Chester outside, fed him, got him situated with a bone on my lap, and then got the computer going. For some reason it froze, so I had to restart. In the mean time, I had been checking the site on my phone, and noticed the Virtual Waiting Room was open. AHH!!! I quick got on it a few minutes later on the laptop, so I had two going. This was at 9:25/9:30. This virtual waiting room didn't say anything about being taken out randomly, just that you would move on based on the order you entered. I liked this much better. It's much more fair - the longer you wait, the sooner you should be let in to buy tickets.

At about 9:56, my phone took me to the Electronic Line. This was a new thing they didn't have for the pre-sale. In theory it sounds really cool. You're a little stick figure in a line of like 10 boxes, and when you reach the first box, you are the next up to get tickets. It said you would never go backwards in line, only forwards. I was immediately put in the first spot. I thought, "Great! When it hits 10 am I'll be able to get on right away." Au contraire.

At about 10 am, the laptop entered the Electronic Line at spot #7. I couldn't believe a few minutes made such a different in the placement. My little man remained at spot #7 and #1 until about 10:35. Then #7 moved to #5. #1 stick man was still at spot #1. UGHHHH. How does this work?! FINALLY, at 10:40, my #1 stick man got in and was able to buy tickets. Of course this was on my iPhone, so that was interesting. It was hard to click through the calendar, pick different seats, do the captchas, and get all the games I wanted in 15 minutes (or they would have been released).

At the time, I was annoyed with all the waiting, but after reading about some people's experience of waiting for hours only to have the site crash and lose their spot, I was thankful. I was able to get tickets for all the games I wanted (including opening weekend and the Yankees on a weekend), and even found better seats than I got in the pre-sale for a game we're taking Christine to in August (Detroit on a Saturday).

I know a lot of people don't start trying to buy tickets until 10 am or a few minutes before, not realizing that the Virtual Waiting Room starts earlier. Big mistake. The virtual waiting room seems to open randomly anytime between 9 and 10. I just kept checking it. I think those were the same people still waiting to buy tickets 6 hours later...

So yes, I spent about 2 1/2 hours or so getting Twins tickets online. Oh, the things I do for my husband.

As an aside, we bought tickets to see the Twins in Kansas City in June the day Royals tickets went on sale (Feb. 26). We were on 3 different computers/devices, but hardly waited at all and got great seats. Of course, the Royals aren't exactly in high demand. It'll be a fun road trip for us though. We'll be going to the Friday and Saturday games at the recently renovated Kaufmann stadium, where the All Star Game will be played this summer. We're excited to check out a different stadium - last year's new stadium for us was Progressive Field in Cleveland. We hope to visit a different one every year to see the Twins. We're also looking forward to some great barbeque. I can't wait for summer!!!

Weekend Recap: St. Patrick's Day Parties

Over the weekend we attended two different St. Patrick's Day parties. The first one was with Adam's friends at David and Sarah's place in Minnetonka. It was fun to finally see their new condo and get together with everyone. They had a lot of fun "green" food and snacks. I had a few too many of the cookies!

On the way there we almost ran out of gas - which was a bit nerve-racking. We were by downtown Minneapolis when the warning light came on, but we didn't see any gas stations. We kept going, got off the highway, but couldn't find anything. Eventually we found one in Minnetonka. Adam said when he filled up he put 15.4 gallons in, and it's a 16 gallon tank. So we didn't have much extra... I've never run out of gas before, and I hope never to.

On Saturday, we had some of my friends over. The dinner was Irish themed and everyone brought something. Adam and I had a corned beef brisket cooking in the crockpot all day, so we enjoyed Reubens. Adam made a really good hot artichoke dip with pita bread as well. Alan also brought an artichoke and vegetable dip with french bread, which was really good along with grapes. Michael brought cole slaw (Adam's fav), and Thousand Island dressing for the Reubens because Adam and I don't eat it and forgot to buy some. Caitlin and Rusell brought supplies for an Irish whiskey, lime and ginger ale drink that I can't think of the name for. I don't like whiskey, but this was actually a very refreshing drink. Caitlin also tried her hand at Irish soda bread which turned out great. Laura brought the dessert - Guinness ice cream from Izzy's, chocolate cake, and the supplies to make whipped cream with Bailey's (I think it was 2 c. heavy cream, 1/2 c. sugar, and a few teaspoons of Bailey's). YUM. We used the Kitchenaid to make it and it turned out nice and fluffy. Whipped cream tastes wonderful like that, and is so easy with the Kitchenaid. It was truly a fantastic meal and a lot of fun.

Once again, I have no photos, but my camera charger just arrived so I should have photos for the blog going forward.

Foodie Friday: Shepherd's Pie

For St. Patrick's Day, Adam and I made Shepherd's Pie. This version was much better than the one we made last November for our Guy Fawkes Day party with friends. It had a lot more flavor, and had cheese on top! Yum. The potato was garlic mashed, and for the filling we used ground venison and beer.

This picture doesn't do it justice. It was REALLY good.

Here's the recipe we followed (and made a few changes to):
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/shepherds-pie-recipe/index.html

It looks like it takes a lot longer to prepare than it actually does. To cut down the prep time, Adam and I worked together, and made the filling and topping at the same time. We'll definitely be making this again.

Naughty Puppy Thursday: Picky Eater

This week, Chester has decided he no longer likes his Orijen food. When it's time to eat, he'll sit while he waits for his food bowl, walk over, sniff it, and then walk away. He'll do this a few times until we finally coax him into eating it. I know there's nothing wrong with him because he will eventually, and begrudgingly, eat his Orijen. This has been his favorite food since November, so we were surprised by his sudden disdain for it.

He pulled this same routine around Christmas when I tried to switch him to Innova Puppy. I had received a coupon for a free bag, and thought it might be a good idea to have him alternate foods every other bag so he wouldn't get sick of one. He didn't want to eat it, and would pick the Orijen kibbles out when we tried to transition him. So, we abandoned our efforts and left him with his beloved Orijen. Apparently now he's sick of that. Ugh. What will this dog eat and enjoy?!

Enter the taste test. Luckily, last time we were in La Crosse we had picked up some adult food samples to prepare him for the switch from puppy food to adult. We picked up two different kinds of Fromm, three varieties of Taste of the Wild (TOTW) and two of Orijen (which we thought was going to be the slam dunk winner). We had been planning to wait until his Orijen Puppy was closer to being gone before we did the taste test, but this recent development sped up that process.

Puppy Taste Test

On Monday, we began a series of three different taste tests. This may sound silly, but we weren't about to spend the money on a bag of food that our picky little eater decides he doesn't like.

Taste Test 1: TOTW Pacific Stream, Fromm Chicken a la Veg, Orijen Adult, and Orijen Puppy (just to see what he'd do)
After sniffing them all, he definitely had a preference for the Fromm followed by the TOTW pile. Orijen Adult was eaten, but not preferred, and Orijen Puppy was outright rejected. This further confirmed that he is just sick of that flavor.

Tuesday morning, the day after the first Taste Test, I couldn't get him to show any interest in his breakfast. I put in a few kibbles of TOTW Pacific Stream and all of a sudden he was interested. Though he mostly picked them out to eat and left half of his Orijen. Tricky.

Taste Test 2: TOTW High Prairie, TOTW Sierra Mountain, Fromm Surf & Turf, Orijen Regional Red
After sniffing them all and tasting a few, he finished all of the TOTW High Prairie, followed by the Fromm Surf & Turf. TOTW Sierra Mountain was also eaten, but he was not at all interested in the Orijen Regional Red. I was surprised about that as Regional Red has different ingredients than the Puppy/Adult. He must just really be over Orijen now.

Taste Test 3 (The Finals): the top 2 from the previous nights - TOTW High Prairie, TOTW Pacific Stream, Fromm Surf & Turf, Fromm Chicken a la Veg
Chester made a beeline for the Fromm Chicken a la Veg. This made me sad because we probably won't be buying that for him (I'll explain below). He then ate all the TOTW High Prairie, followed by Fromm Surf & Turf. He didn't seem like the hugest fan of the TOTW Pacific Stream, but of course he made sure to eat every crumb.

Why not get him Chicken a la Veg? I know, I know. I feel like I'm depriving my little guy of his #1 choice. But, when I grabbed the sample I didn't look closely enough because it is not grain-free. We like to feed him a grain-free diet because it is more natural for his body. It also has some filler in it according to my favorite dog food rating websites.

These websites are VERY helpful when determining healthy dog food. Iams, Eukanoba, Pedigree, Science Diet, etc. are NOT good quality foods for your animal. If you are feeding them to your dog, please check out these sites for ratings and better options. I've found them to be incredibly helpful.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
- Rates from 1-5 stars
- TOTW High Prairie gets 5 stars

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
- Rates from 1-6 stars
- TOTW High Prairie gets 6 stars

Today, Adam picked up a bag of the TOTW High Prairie at Chuck & Don's (our favorite dog supply store). Hopefully this switch will please our little dog food connoisseur. Though he's going to have to deal with eating some Orjien for a bit longer while we make the switch gradually; so as not to upset his little tummy.

Wedding Wednesday: Blogged

Well, since it is a beautiful day out and I don't want to spend a lot of time blogging, I'm just going to post links.

These are our photos on our awesome photographer Tiffany Brubaker's blog:
http://www.tiffanybrubaker.com/?p=1617
Her blog also describes a bit about the day and lists our vendors.

And her second shooter for the day, Steph Neprud:
http://stephanieneprudphotography.blogspot.com/2010/07/stefany-adam-married.html

I'm sure many of you have seen these by now, but if you haven't, well there you go.

Also, we won a few categories on Tiffany's Best of the Best 2010 contest:
http://www.tiffanybrubaker.com/?p=1810

I really love our wedding photos and enjoy sharing them with everyone we know. Tiffany did such a great job.

New Over-the-range Microwave Installed!

After about 3 weeks of the giant box sitting in our kitchen, Adam installed our new Kenmore Elite over-the-range microwave with his dad's help. My version of helping was taking Chester for a walk while they worked on it (where he barked wildly at a very large dog we encountered... dummy).

After

Before

We had narrowed it down between this one and an Electrolux. We ended up going with this one because it had better reviews, a strong exhaust fan, and we liked it's clean look without a handle sticking out. We also really liked that it didn't have a bunch of stupid presets like "chicken nuggets" and "soften ice cream." We never use those, and they just make the display look cluttered. 

Adam likes it because you can open it from either side....

He's easily impressed.

We're really excited about this microwave because now our stainless kitchen is complete and we're done buying appliances for a while (we hope anyway!). When we bought the house, all that came with in the kitchen was an outdated white refrigerator. There was just a hole for the oven, dishwasher, and over the range microwave. We bought our gas oven right away, but didn't get around to the dishwasher until last March. Then, last fall we replaced the very inefficient and ugly white fridge with a Fisher & Paykel, which we love. This microwave was the last piece we needed. I'm really looking forward to having more counter space now that we can reclaim the corner currently housing the counter microwave.

The boys are tired after their productive day