Love at First Bark

This is Annie.

Four years ago, we adopted Annie from the DFW Lab Rescue organization. 

She was an older dog (not a puppy), with an unknown past, 

but she'd obviously had training, she sat on command, shook hands, 

walked well on a leash, and was house-broken. 

She's the best decision we've ever made! 

Don't underestimate the power of a pet in your life!

I grew up on a ranch around tons of animals, 

and when we adopted Annie, 

it was finally my chance to share a love of animals with my boys.  

And love Annie they do. 

I was excited when I had a chance to read and review Love at First Bark 

by Julie Klam for BlogHer Book Club and Penguin Books.  

The author shares a few of her rescue stories and bits about her life.

It's a quick, easy read, especially if you like dogs, and I enjoyed it.  

But, I'll admit, no matter how huge a dog lover I am...

I don't understand the passion and energy some people put into animal rescues. 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE animals, 

but I've never felt the need to do so much for them on the same level as the author.

However, when you decide to get a pet, please adopt!
There are so many animals out there who need homes.
Rescued animals have lived a harder life and need love.
Donate, adopt, foster.

I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

Dogma

I found Annie fast asleep on her bed in the den last night...along with my husband and two boys all sleep on the couch in the same room, basketball blaring on the TV. Only my elderly father was still awake. I couldn't resist a few pictures of the sleeping dog, husband and kids, but denied permission to post the pictures except of Annie...

She has such a wonderful, simple life. We adopted her from DFW Lab Rescue this summer, and she came with her name. She's two or three years old. She's fed, loved, sleeps with my boys, gets lots of love and car rides. What a wonderful life!

She does have some weird habits. She licks, constantly, herself and others. Then there's the butt scootch. I'll try to capture that on camera someday. It's hilarious. She keeps getting ear infections, more than my kids ever had, apparently that's a lab thing.

Donny, my eleven year old, woke up this morning to her barfing on his bed.

We love you, Annie!!

Coming later today, possible post on a past Mexico trip and/or our experience at the scary roadside circus excursion planned for today!

It's Alive! Easter barf and a bride.

It's ALIVE!! My poor Land Rover (which is about 10 years old) has been out of commission for four months. Yes, FOUR MONTHS!! It blew a head gasket or something technical like that. I don't speak car, but my husband does, and he took on his monsterous project. It took him a while (have I mentioned he's an attorney, not a mechanic by trade?), and I drove the gnome mobile during that time but as of now, my Land Rover is alive again and ready to go! YAY! I've missed it. Yes, it's a gas guzzler, some of the windows don't work so well, the locks stick, the headliner's starting to fall, and the kids have done their best to trash the insides, but I love being high up and, most importantly, it's paid off!


Does your house look like this? Mine does...every room has a small pile of Easter-looking barf; broken plastic eggs, plastic grass, chocolate and candy wrappers. Colorful but messy.

Our sweet Annie, whom we adopted from DFW Lab Rescue this summer, is the love of our life. We spoil her and love her so much. This is her cushy couch-bed she got for Christmas...although she sleeps with my older son in HIS bed every night. So, maybe this is her daybed...

I had to share this next picture, because it is something I look at every day and can't live without. I had lap-band surgery back in November and have lost 30lbs so far. I still have more weight to lose, but it's a huge start. Anyway, I have to take in lots of protein every day, and the way I most enjoy doing this is with protein powder in my homemade smoothies. I'll have to share the recipe sometime soon, ,although it's super simple. Here is one, below, in my favorite Target cup:

Finally, I just couldn't resist sharing this portrait of me, in my wedding dress, taken almost 12 years ago! I can't believe it's been that long.

If you've made it this far down into the post, congrats! This was a long and random post today. The boys' Spring Break ended and they went back to school today. It was hard waking up early this morning. I worked all day as well, so I'm beat and trying to overcome a bad headache. I also banged my head on a cabinet trying to take a picture of the car in the garage. Sigh. The price I pay for my blog. lol