Christmas in the Desert

I still can't believe we're more than half way through January.  Christmas seems like it was just yesterday!  C and I spent Christmas in Arizona this year, and his whole family joined us which was really nice.  Hard to be away from my family, but they did a great job at trying to keep me involved, including mailing a bunch of presents all the way from Michigan. Nothing more exciting than a tree with unopened gifts underneath!

Lucky Mia playing dress up with her snowman toy - which lasted approximately two hours.

C's Mom and brother opening gifts.

Mia about to open some treats from me.  Had to do the special wrapping for her too :)  And a little preview of some of my favorite gifts this year - a homemade shopping bag with a little Spartan flavor!

C's Dad looking over his new photography book.

Presents all opened, time for a nap!

The table all set for dinner.

Now that's a good looking plate.

Christmas cake from Tammie Coe Cakes to finish the dinner, delish! 

It was a great Christmas, full of family, laughter, and good food.  Can't ask for much more, it flew by way too fast.  Already can't wait for the holidays next year :)

3 Things I'm Loving Right Now - Christmas Edition

Trying something new when wrapping presents this year.  Simple, and I like it a lot! 

Mia's stocking.. full of presents already :) 

Peppermint creamer.  I love when they come out with all the holiday flavors!

Happy Friday, have a great weekend! 

Mia is One (or Seven)

I know there are many (most) people that believe dogs are pets and nothing more.  I am not one of these people.  Mia is a dog, but she is also like my child, and I treat her as such.  Enter - Mia's first birthday extravaganza!!  We are very strict about never feeding her human food, so as a treat on her birthday I made her chicken and rice.  This was recommended by the vet when she was a puppy and had an upset stomach.  She really enjoyed it then, so I figured it would be a good treat.  She ate it all up pretty fast!

I also made her some homemade dog treats.  Recipe will be posted tomorrow!  And then might have gone a little too far and made dog friendly frosting and got a candle.  

It is really hard to take a picture of her because she hates the flash, but I snapped a few good ones of the exciting events.  Here she is about to blow out her candle.  She did it all by herself I swear! 

She really liked the dog treats too :)

Opening her gifts.  She really likes to tear paper up, so I had to wrap them for extra birthday fun.

She got some new toys and a new dog bone.

Which she ate in approximately two minutes.

Wrapping paper after the attack of Mia.

Here she is in, what I'm assuming, was a food coma.

Happy 1st (or 7th) birthday Mia!! 

Note: if you feel the need to make a "you need children" comment, please refrain.  My good friends have already let me in on that fact.  Thanks. 

Getting Back In The Swing

Just wanted to pop in and tell you I'm still here!  It's been a busy week for me, after being gone for a little over a month I'm finally back in Arizona.  Welcoming me home was C, Mia and a cold.  Safe to say getting back in the swing is taking a little longer than normal.

Also welcoming me home: a to do list, and a VERY empty fridge. What else can I say other than... men.   P.S. The bowl in the back was spaghetti squash that I made before I left.  Yum.

Many new and fun posts to come next week, stay tuned and have a great weekend :)

Mia Now & Then

I have finally made it to Phoenix, and am elated to be back with my little family!  This past month without C and Mia has been a little challenging.  I enjoyed my last month in Dallas making time for the people and places I will miss the most, but it's nice to finally be all back together again.  Mia is 8 months old now, which I can't believe, and I also still can't believe how much she continues to grow.  It's especially apparent when you don't see her for a month!

Or when you compare her now to what she looked like when we first got her.  Disclaimer: toy pig was indeed harmed and no longer exists in the toy rotation.  

Here's our big girl now.... amazing how much she's grown!  Vet says she might end up around 40-50 pounds, compared to the 4 pound puppy we had at first, a lot has changed.  I guess even though she's not my cute little baby anymore, at least she's potty trained, and still cute :)

Little Mia

Mia has eaten some kind of rock or something and has been sick for about a week.  She spent Thursday night at the vet and came back on Friday still out of it with a bandage on her leg from the IV.  Sunday she started feeling better and was back to her normal crazy self.  I couldn't help but post this cute picture of her sleeping.. she looks so adorable.

Happy Monday, have a great week! 

Mia Update

 Thought I would give you all an update on Mia.  She's growing fast, and biting everything -- but you can't help but love her!  We took her on a hike yesterday and she had fun exploring.

Could barely keep her eyes open afterward though. 

Good night Mia!  More pictures to come and she get's older and older :) 

Say Hello To Mia...

After much consideration and back and forth, we finally found a puppy that both of us liked.  We took her home and named her Mia.  She's a chocolate lab mix with blue eyes that make you instantly love her.  Thought I'd share some pictures with all of you since this is what my weekend looked like :)

Much to C's dismay, she LOVES the pink toy I got her! 

She also likes sleeping on C's jeans.  For once him not picking up his dirty clothes is cute ;) 

Love!

Wordless Wednesday - oldies but goodies