Getting bigger (the dog, not me)!

It's been a while since I've posted about Charlie, so I thought I'd do so and give a little update. Charlie is one heck of a feisty little guy and very stubborn, lol. He has his good days, they are very few and far between. He really just prefers to keep to himself. But I still can't help but love the little booger. You should she him "play" with Maya, it's hilarious! You see, Maya thinks he's playing, but he's not. He gets really mad at her and chases her all around the apartment; Maya thinks it's the best game ever, lol. Poor Charlie! ;) And I can't get him to stop biting me, luckily it never hurts much. It's more of a pinch than anything. We still let him out all the time, he does his own thing. I think I can say it's a love-hate relationship. We love him, he hates us (most of the time). I think he's the cutest when he's mad, so I have no problem with his attitude. His tude just makes him unique.
He does love his dog treats, below I've posted a video is him eating them. That's one of the few times he nice to me, he just wants the food, lol. He's such a terd! :)
Look at that fat face. How could you not love a little face like that?!?
He looks like he's up to something...
Aha! I caught you chewing on Arthur's shoelaces. Shame on you, Charlie!!! ;)
I love seeing him sleep. He's so cute when he starts having his prairie doggy dreams.
He's having one here, lol.

Yummy!!! I prefer to hand feed him his dog food; it always makes for a pleasant experience. Anything to have a happy Charlie.

Hand painted cakes

So I received an e-mail today from a friend with all of these gorgeous cakes. Most of them done in fondant, some buttercream, but my favorite was one I saw with a sugarpaste. This cake had been handpainted, and it was truely exquisite! This,now this is something I want to do! I've always thought I was pretty artistic (not trying to come off conceited in any way, though), and I know this could be something I can do. I love to paint too; I haven't had much practice with painting but could work on that. Here are just a few examples of some hand painted cakes, my favorite one (the one in the e-mail I received today) is the last. I would just love to learn how to do this!!! :)

Here it is, the masterpiece of them all! Love it!!!

A little boost never hurt anyone, right?!?

So, I've been doing really well on my weight-loss "program", if you can call it that. I basically do what I feel I need to do to lose weight, nothing special. Just watching what I eat, trying to exercise frequently. However, I have been thinking that maybe I should add something to my daily regimen to help shed those ugly unwanted pounds faster. I've heard of alli before, I know of the side effects too. But when I went to the website to view the Q&A, it was really funny to read about it. With side effects like these (which won't likely happen if I'm eating as I should), it makes you think twice about wanting to take alli, lol. I still may give it a go, though. Like I said, I eat pretty good these days; hopefully I won't have any "accidents". Below are a few suggestions I found on their webpage. I have put all of these suggestions in laymans terms for anyone who may need help understanding what is being said. If you are easily offended (in other words, have no sense of humor), you may want to discontinue reading.
***
"Start trimming fat from your diet now, even before you begin taking alli. Then pick a day to begin taking alli, such as a weekend day so you can stay close to home if you experience a treatment effect. Make the timing work for you. If you're getting ready to travel or attend a social event, hold off on starting with alli until the event is over." (You'd better stop eating junk food now, or else... Stay home for the first few days because your diarrhea is going to be off the charts! Now is not the time to stray too far from the toilet; you're going to need it more than you know.)
"While no one likes experiencing treatment effects, they might help you think twice about eating questionable fat content. If you think of it like that, alli can act like a security guard for your late-night cravings" (Alli will affect you in ways you cannot imagine. Not only will your bowel movements be unpredictable, but you'll be in so much pain that you'll never want to fall off your diet plan again. Thank you, alli!!!)
"You can't "save fat grams" from lunch and "spend them" at dinner. Spread your daily fat gram allowance of 15 grams on average per meal over the whole day" (Use common sense and don't be an idiot. This ain't no Weight Watchers!)
"You may feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Until you have a sense of any treatment effects, it's probably a smart idea to wear dark pants, and bring a change of clothes with you to work" (Since you'll probably crap your pants a few times, always bring a change of clothes! I'd suggest some wipes, as well.)
"You may not usually get gassy, but it's a possibility when you take alli. The bathroom is really the best place to go when that happens " (So if you're a normally gassy person to begin with, you're in trouble! I hope you can run real fast, too.)
"You can use a food journal to recognize what foods can lead to treatment effects. For example, writing down what you eat may help you learn that marinara sauce is a better option than Alfredo sauce" (Note to self: stay away from Alfredo sauce! And I don't think I'd call this a food journal...)

Happy Birthday to My Mother!!!

My mother turned another year younger today- I kid you not, she's getting better with age. ;) Mom, I'm glad you've had a great day. Can't wait to see pictures of what you got for your birthday, I'm sure it's fabulous!!! I wish I was there to help eat the cake, it sounded delicious. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm starving over here either, lol. And I want to thank my grandmother for bringing you into the world. I am so lucky to have you as my mother. You're the best! I love you so much!!! Happy Birthday! And I'll be seeing you soon. I can't wait. Yay!!!
Love,
Tara
P.S. I chose this song that's playing right now because it couldn't fit more perfectly.

Drumroll...

...Aimee!!!! Turns out that 7 really is a lucky number afterall. Yay for Aimee, boo for everyone else. ;) Aimee, do you still have my e-mail address? If so, give me your mailing address and I'll send it out to you as soon as possible. Congratulations!

Funny video!

I saw this on a cat rescue website and just loved it. P.S. I will be announcing the winner of the giveaway soon! :)

Trying to get the perfect shot

"Huh?"

Even with her hair in her face, I really do love this picture. :)

Isn't my Chloe just as sweet as can be?!?

I don't know if you can see it too clearly, but Maya is sticking her tongue out at me, lol.

Maya is telling Chloe a secret, I think.

Last but not least, one of my favorites. It's just so cute! fyi, I finally updated their pictures I have of them on my sidebar. Maya still had her puppy pictures up- they needed to be updated. She's no longer a little baby- she'll be turning 2 years old in just a couple of weeks. We're hoping to breed her in September; we know she'll be a great mommy and have beautiful little babies. We can't wait!

200th Post Giveaway!

Who doesn't love a giftcard from Bath & Bodyworks?!? A $15 giftcard can be yours just for commenting on my blog either today or tomorrow. Not only is this a celebration on my bloggin' success (lol), but also a way to thank all of my faithful followers and commenters. I LOVE comments! The winner of this giveaway will be chosen by a random number generator. Good luck!!!

***And to answer a few questions about the dog I found last week. After a couple of days of having him, he was starting to get a little over protective of me and ended up biting Chloe when she came up to cuddle. Poor Chloe, I know! My babies always come first, and the dog had to go. It wasn't a difficult decision to make, although I had become quite attached to him. He really was a good dog, one of the sweetest I've known. He just didn't like to share me and was a better fit for someone who didn't have any other pets. You should have seen the way he followed me around and how he would block the doorway when I showered, lol. He was so cute! But anyways, the next day we dropped him off at the shelter and had the employees there keep us updated. He was held there for 3 days to allow his owners yet another chance to claim him, they did not. I now strongly believe that he had to have been abandoned. I did EVERYTHING I could to find his owners and got nothing. :( But the good news is that the shelter workers notified me (before his hold was even up) that someone was already interested in adopting him. And yes, she adopted him as soon as she could, and he now has a new family- one that will hopefully love him throughout the rest of his life. And in case you were wondering, we would have pulled him from the shelter ourselves (and taken the liberty of finding a new home for him) if for any reason he hadn't been adopted in time or taken in by a rescue group. We wouldn't have allowed him to be put down for any reason.

It's Possible! And hey, this is my 200th post!!!

I finally did it! I finished Spider Solitaire in less than 100 moves, 96 to be exact. I was so excited, I still am. Yay me!!! lol And as far as the 200th post goes- details of what kind of giveaway I will have will be announced soon in my next post. Thanks! :)

What a day!

Okay, well the apartment I now reside in is officially a zoo, as of today. Ugh! This poor little doggy was wandering the streets near my work yesterday, he clearly belongs to someone. He's pretty well-mannered and very sweet. Not being able to just let him be, I decided to take him home until his owner could be located. So far, no luck, but I will continue to put up flyers in the area and at the shelter and vets' offices. He gets along just great with Maya, Chloe too (Chloe isn't in love with him though- just tolerates him, lol). Just when I thought the house was pretty full, the new dog (I call him Lucas- Luke for short), started whining at the sliding glass door. I had heard a noise earlier, but it sounded like a bird to me and ignored it. But since Luke was so insistent on it, I listened closer and discovered it was a kitten meowing. I went outside and found that it was inside a car, under the hood. I had to get ahold of the neighbor and have him pop the hood, and out came the little black 5 week old kitty cat. So now, I have a new dog and new kitten, temporary of course. They both received well needed baths, those dirty little things. But I just thought I'd share with you my little adventures yesterday. Any of you want a free little kitten??? Anyone know of someone missing their doggy???
***Update: I have found a home for the kitty! Yay!!! One down, one to go...

Happy Birthday Bro!

I meant to post this yesterday, but got distracted. There was a lot going on, sorry little brother. But Mark, I didn't forget about you. I hope you had a great birthday. And to second what my sister said on her blog, he is single and super hunky. ;) Ladies, please stop your drooling, it'll get you no where. Happy 25th Birthday Mark!!! Enjoy the 25 while it lasts, because 26 just sucks.

Love you,

Your favorite sister (just keeding),

Tara

I wanna be the biggest loser!

So finally, we've decided over here at work to have a Biggest Loser contest. I'm so excited; I so want to win, too. We have our first weigh in tomorrow, at least six of us are playing. This means the grand prize will be a total of $180.00, more if others join in. I'm going to win that money, gosh darnit and look great doing it. I'll keep ya posted on my progress! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, but especially to my own mother. I hope today is a special one. Mark, Austin, and Taylor- make sure you make her breakfast in bed, give her plenty of backrubs, do your chores, and shower her with gifts! ;) I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Free KFC, yummmmm

For those of you who don't know (most everyone in the US does right about now), Oprah bought everyone lunch! To download your coupon for a free 2 piece grilled chicken meal, click here. I just went and had mine, it was super delicious! And to my surprise, the line wasn't too bad. The drive thru is the best way, it goes much faster than waiting in line inside. Just another helpful hint from Tara!!!! Now go get your coupon and enjoy! Thank you Oprah!

Driving along...

Yeah, so I was on my lunch break the other day, heading on over to Taco Bell when I drove past this garbage truck. I kept on driving, but had to do a double-take. "What the heck?!?"

Look closely...






Now, this is just plain creepy. This picture really doesn't do it justice, its eyes were so crazy looking. And he's blue! Ewwww I even think I may have shivered when I saw him hanging there, but that didn't stop me from busting out my camera phone, now did it?!?