Finally Friday

Ok, finally had time to answer some of the questions from last week.

Frances Louise asked "How did you come to love pugs so much? Was there any other dog breeds you were considering?"
AB and I kind of fell in love with pugs when we were living in our apartment downtown. I girl across the hall had a pug named Winston and we would get a kick out of him racing up and down the hallway when they were going outside for a walk. We also kind of like Boston Terriers but we both kind of knew that as soon as we got a house, we would probably get a pug. AB ended up surprising me with Napoleon about 2 months after we bought our house.

Leah asked "How did you and AB meet? Do you guys plan on human kids? "
AB and I actually met in High School. I moved to Bowling Green from Canada when I was 16 and started high school. AB and I were friends for about a year and a half and then started dating when I was a senior and he was going to Western Kentucky University. I ended up going to WKU also and we stayed together all through university and he proposed in March, two months before we graduated. We got married the following June. We definitely plan on human kids in the near future. Luckily, both Napoleon and Zoe are crazy for kids!

Goodboy Norman Featherstone asked "Did you have big hair in high school? What fad are you most embarrassed about having been a part of? What is your biggest pet peeve? "
I had big bangs in junior high.... remember mall bangs? Yep, I was all about them. I kind of had big hair in high school but that was just due to having naturally curly (aka crazy hair) and moving to a severely humid climate. Yep, I was hot..... just kidding. I am most embarrassed of joining the New Kids on the Block craze. I can't believe I actually like a boy band. My biggest pet peeve is people being late!! I can't stand it and I take it as people thinking that their time is more valuable than mine.

Wilson & Henry want to know "What's the best vacation you've been on? Where was it? Why was it the best?"
Hmmmm... that is a hard one. I would say it was our trip to Sandals in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The vacation was really relaxing and it was the best because the hardest decision we had to make was if we wanted to lay by the pool or by the beach and where we felt like eating dinner. We took that trip soon after we both started our "real" jobs after college and I think we both needed a major destresser.

The Devil Dog wants to know Do you like broccoli?"
I actually like broccoli, but only raw. I really can't stand any cooked or canned veggies but will eat steamed frozen veggies or raw ones.

Punchbugpug asked "If you could live anywhere, where would you live? Did you attend college and where?"
If I was independently wealthy I would live in NYC. I love the city but would need to be wealthy so I could actually afford a decent size place. I couldn't live in a shoe box. Both AB and I attended WKU (Western Kentucky University). I graduated with a major in Chemistry and a double minor in Biology and Dance. AB double majored in Print Journalism and Finance.

Question & Answer Thursday

I am quite boring today and don't have much to write about, so.... I think I will take a cue from what other have done on their blogs and open up the blog for some questions. If you have a question about me, AB or the puggies, leave me a comment and I will answer them in the days to come.

In the meantime, here is Napoleon anticipating AB giving him attention. Watch his tail wiggle. What a cutie.


Sorry for the noise in the background; we were watching an Obama interview on the news. Go Barack!!

Pug Pic Extravaganza!

Ok, finally some puggie pics. Enjoy!

Here is Napoleon looking longingly at the chewy that Zoe is currently chewing on.


Napoleon -- big strong puggie boy.


Now Zoe wants the chewy that Nappy has...


My pretty girl.


The chewy that everyone wants tonight.


ok, this picture of me is TERRIBLE but it made me laugh so I have to post it anyway. Here is Zoe catching me by surprise when I was trying to take a cute picture of the 2 of us.


She looks so innocent, but she can be evil...

Meme

Got this meme of several people's blogs, so here we go.

1. What were you doing 5 years ago today?

I was probably doing the same thing I am today, working! I do know that AB and I were probably furiously planning our wedding because it was just over 6 weeks away and we were living in our apartment downtown. This was pre-pug time so we were probably very lonely and longing for a pug to fill our laps.

2. Name 5 snacks that you love:

* Chocolate Cheesecake
* Jalepeno Kettle Chips
* Cereal
* Chocolate Milkshakes
* Pretty much anything involving chocolate

3. What are 5 things on your ‘To-Do’ list for today/ Or things you’ve already done today:

* Take out the trash can and the garbage can on the side of the house filled with lawn crap
* Take the pugs for a walk
* Do the monthly budget
* Grocery Shopping
* Take the load of whites out of the dryer and hang them up.

4. Name 5 things I would do if I won five million dollars:

* Move into a larger house
* Replace our other car with something newer.
* Quit my job and either open own buisness, volunteer or stay home with the future babies
* Travel, travel, travel.
* Personal house cleaner / chef.

5. Name 5 bad habits you have:

* Not eating enough dinner and then wanting cereal at night.
* Emailing instead of calling. I’m not a phone person and would much rather email. (stole this from Mandagirl, I am so bad for this too.)
* Being overly anal / organized
* Picking at my face when I am nervous.
* Turning into the devil when woken up.

6. Name 5 places you’ve lived:

* Calgary, Alberta
* Denver, Colorado
* Cochrane, Alberta
* Bowling Green, KY
* That's it, only 4....

7. Name 5 jobs you’ve had:
* Clerk at a Campground
* Telemarketer for Medicare Supplements (I know, the bottom of the barrel, but I was a poor college student)
* Bridal gown salesperson
* Pool Attendant
* Chemist

Anybody else want to play?

I Swear We Still Have The Pugs

Ok, I swear I will post some new pics of the pugs this week! I promise. I have a good excuse though, the camera rechargeable batteries are dead and for some reason, will not longer recharge... at all. I guess I need to break down and get some new ones, or at least some real batteries.

We had a crazy weekend. Friday night we had tickets to a play called The Exact Center of The Universe. It was decent but not our favorite. Saturday morning was my nieces dance recital and then lunch with AB's dad and then a wedding on Saturday night. The wedding was a lot of fun. The coolest thing they did was have everyone light sparklers outside the church as they were leaving. The wedding was at 7:30 so it was dark by then and the sparklers were very cool, it was just hard getting everyone to get them lit at the same time.

We vegged a bit today. I did go to Target with my mom briefly and to PetCo to get Zoe some food. I also finished reading "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Siebold which was a very good book, I highly recommend it and started reading "The Last Lecture". We also watched Charlie Wilson's War. It was decent, but not awesome.

How was your weekend?

Smoky Mountain Weekend

Well, as it turns out, the pugs were right; we were up to something. AB and I went to the Smoky Mountains last weekend and rented a cabin and did some hiking. The pugs spend two nights at the pug motel (aka. the kennel) and one night with AB’s mom. Napoleon was not happy to go to the kennel and pitched a fit and refused to walk with the lady. Please note, that I LOVE our kennel. It is the same place as our vet and the people there totally love animals and take great care of the pugs, so I have no idea why Napoleon hates it so much. Zoe seemed fine and Maggie never minded going either, but Nappy HATES it. Anyway, when AB’s mom heard about Nappy, she said she would rescue them on Saturday morning so they only had to spend 2 days at the kennel.

Anyway, more about our trip now. Here we are on our first trail of the day – Chimney Tops.


This trail was a fairly strenuous 2-mile climb followed by scaling 100 foot rock wall at the end. See below.


I came this close to chickening out when I saw what we had to climb but ended up “putting on my big girl panties” and doing it. It was very scary and when I got to the top, my heart was pounding, hands were shaking and adrenaline pumping, but OMG! it was so worth it. Here are AB and I at the top. You are seriously on top of a mountain (or a Chimney top as these are called) and you can see 360 degrees around you. Beautiful.


This trail also had a ton of beautiful creeks and waterfalls and footbridges. The weather was perfect too; warm enough for shorts and tank tops, Yay!




Next we moved on to Grotto Falls trail off of the Rolling Fork Motor Trail. It was about a 1.5 mile moderate hike up to the waterfall. This one was pretty cool because you could actually walk behind the waterfall.


We went into Gatlinburg that night and ate dinner and checked out all the shops, etc. Gatlinburg is a pretty cool little town, very touristy but not nearly as bad as Pigeon Forge. That place is complete tourist / gift shop / bungee jumping / go cart hell. The cabin we stayed in was awesome, with a hot tub, beautiful deck and movie room.

The next day we did 9.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail. We hiked from Newfound Gap to Charlies Bunion. It was a lot colder that day and slightly rainy but it ended up clearing up and being a very comfy 55ish degrees. Here are some pics of us on and around the bunion.



We also took a 1-mile side trail to “The Jump Off”. By the time we got up there, the fog had rolled in and we were completely surrounded by white clouds. It was really cool and kind of felt like you were on the edge of the world.


Anyway, that is what we have been up to. Sorry for the lack of posts, but I have been trying to catch up after taking a couple days off.

Up to Something

It think the pugs know we are up to something. They are giving us that "look".


Isn't my baby girl getting big! I love the way her foot turns out sometimes.

Race Day

The big race day was Saturday. My sister in law and I ran the 5K and AB and his mom ran the 1/2 marathon. Well, actually everyone else ran, and I ran / walked. I finished in 36:04 minutes... pretty slow but for as sore as I am today, you would think I ran a marathon. I guess it just goes to show how different exercises work different muscles. I have been going to kick boxing and step classes for the past year and only running once and I am so dead. My thighs are screaming when I pick up my legs and my shins hurt when I step down. Fun times. AB is pretty sore too, but he should be since he ran 13.1 miles! I have no desire to run that far but have great respect for anyone who can. AB and his mom finished in 2:26 hours and looked and felt much better than last year.

Here is our 2008 picture. We are holding up eight finger to the year 2008. I have no idea what we will when it is the year 2018.


Caroline and I after finishing the 5K. She did totally awesome and ran the whole way.


Caroline and Mark (AB's step dad) hanging out waiting for AB and his mom to finish. It was a beautiful day except for the wind.


Here they come!


They look pretty happy for 2 people who just ran 13.1 miles. Well, happy than I would look anyway.


I only down side to the day was that I got a migraine aura right after I finished the race and didn't have my medicine since I didn't bring my purse. By the time we got home, I had a migraine and had a wedding shower to attend with my sister who had come in from out of town. I loaded up on Advil and made it half way through the shower before it got really bad again. After the shower I went home and took my migraine meds and then slept for almost 3 hours which helped alot. The medicine I am on right now helps but it makes me so dopey / groggy and generally tired right after I take it. Sucks.

Anyway, later that night we went out for dinner with a good friend, and we rented Awake and There Will Be Blood. Both were pretty good. AB really wanted to see Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story but is was out.

The puggies are good except they keep going out in the yard and digging up something that makes them come inside smelling like someone took a dump on them. I am about to give them a bath because I cannot cuddle with horrible disgusting puggies. I promise I will post some puggies pics this week.

Spring Is/Was Here

Hey folks. Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I can't really say we have been exceptionally busy but I guess it has been steady. I think I wrote a little while ago that we were looking at getting a new car. We finally got one this weekend; we ended up going with the Saturn Vue and it is AWESOME. We got rid of AB's car so now we are switching up driving the new car and my old car because we both like driving the Vue so much.

It was SO nice here on Sunday -- 75ish degrees outside. We finally got outside and mowed the lawn for the first time this year and cleaned up the yard, flower beds, etc. We also had to fix a part in the fence where Zoe has started escaping. On Friday and all day Saturday we would go outside to let Zoe in and find her staring back at us from the neighbours yard. Keep in mind, the pugs have a whole half acre fenced yard to run in, but she has decided that the neighbours yard is better for some reason. Crazy pugs. She is still so small she was just belly crawling right through a low spot in the fence. Luckily for us, Napoleon usually rats her out by barking at her and running back and forth at the fence.

We also watched a couple movies this weekend: Sweeney Todd (very good if you like Johnny Depp and musicals) and The Mist (very good, but the ending!!... WTF!?!?!) I finished The Bell Jar and started reading Vanishing Act by Jodi Picoult. Thanks for everyone's book suggestions, I have added them to my "want to read" list.

AB and I have been pretty lazy tonight. I went to the gym last night and they have changed my Monday night kickboxing class to a circuit / group personal training class. Can you say pain? I can hardly walk today because my quads are so sore and sitting down causes me to wince. The instructor at the gym that teaches the classes I go to is completely awesome. She is totally down to earth and makes us work so hard. She is also a big fan of "The Biggest Loser" so I think she is channelling her inner Jillian.

Speaking of new shows, AB and I are super excited about new episodes of The Office staring up on Thursday. I am having Office withdrawals. We have also been watching Hell's Kitchen and of course, we will watch Lost when it returns in a couple weeks.

That is about all new with us this week. This weekend AB is running a half marathon and I am running a 5K so I will try and get some pictures of that, as well as some pics of the puggies running around in the backyard.

Annoyed

Things that annoy me today.

1. People that say "excuse me" while walking past me when I am no where near them!
2. 3/4 length sleeves -- they don't go down and you can't slide them up over the elbow. Hate it.
3. Road construction for the next 75 days that makes my commute take 30 minutes instead of 10.
4. AB hitting the snooze button repeatedly instead of just setting it for the time he actually needs to get up.
5. The fact that they only see Cadbury Mini Eggs at Easter even though they are the best thing on earth.
6. Forgetting to put laundry in the dryer and then having to rewash it because it smells moldy.
7. People at the gym wearing little tiny outfits and full makeup on who hog the treadmills to just WALK and talk on their cell phones.
8. People that are constantly late. You being late says to me, "I think my time is more valuable than yours."
9. Gas being $3.25 / gallon while oil execs report record profits.
10. Zoe chewing on my couch and blankets instead of the approximately 1 million toys she has to play with.

What's buggin' you guys today?

Best Buddies

I caught this picture of Zoe and Nappy cuddling on the couch while AB and I were watching I Am Legend this weekend. The more time they spend together, they are getting closer and closer. They play hard but take turns being the chaser and then also have calm times together where they just snooze together. Zoe also really likes to lick Napoleon's face and clean his eyes and ears. Gross, but cute to watch.



We had a pretty normal weekend. We watched I Am Legend and American Gangster and both were very good. We also rented Atonement (to AB's delight) but we haven't watched it yet. I had to go to a wedding shower on Saturday which was fun and I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in some time. Unfortunately I won't be able to go to the wedding because of another more important event on the same day, my sister's graduation from U of Louisville. I can't believe that she is almost done her undergrad, it makes me feel so old... but I am happy for her of course!

I have been reading a lot lately and recently finished Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauerand My Sisters Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. I started reading The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath this weekend because I would like to start reading a couple of classics every now and then instead of the usual fluffy stuff I read. Any one else read anything really good lately?

Random Tuesday

Today is Tuesday and nothing much is going on here at the Pug Farm. We just got done watching the Biggest Loser and the girls finally came out triumphant!! Yeah!

Zoe was cracking us up tonight because she always sticks out her tongue when she gets hot. Even when she is not full on panting, the tongue is always out. Here is AB and Zoe sticking out their tongues at Nappy and me.


Napoleon is not amused.


Zombie pug!


On a side note... it is getting warm again and people are starting to wear summer shoes. I HATE these shoes and don't understand why anyone would wear these unless a gun was pointed to their head.


Now, I know they are popular, so some of you probably wear them and love them and yes, I know... "they are SO comfortable!".... etc. I don't care. Sometimes not wearing ugly shoes means that your feet might hurt at the end of the day. I am willing to accept this.

This picture exemplifies everything I hate about Crocks.


Nuff said.