Christmas..Part one.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everybody had a wonderful, family and friend filled holiday! Keena and I have been pretty busy so far. I had to work this Christmas so Christmas eve was just me, Keena, Manii and  Shelby (their mom and dad are out of town). We watched some movies and went to bed pretty early since I had to work at 6 in the morning and have been sick for a while. Christmas morning I went in to work and got out around 11:30. After coming home and taking care of the dogs, I went to see Charles and his family for the holiday. We had a fantastic time and ate lots of delicious food! We got home and relaxed and then today Charles and I did some shopping. I finished buying Keena's Christmas presents and bought some other family members some gifts. When I came home I gave Keena her gifts! She got a new pretty pink collar (people always say she looks like a boy!), a bag of weight control treats, a scapula (shoulder bone), a nylabone that she isnt really sure of and some christmas rawhides. It sounds like a lot but we went to pet stores and places with some seriously crazy after Christmas sales! Also, her new giant bone was not even 4 dollars! Santa Clause treated Miss Louise very well this year! :)

She loved her weight control treats!

I'm an Aunt....Again!

Keena and I have been busy busy busy. On December 16th, Keena and I drove down to Evansville for a long weekend of family fun! It started on Saturday with the 3rd Annual Boyles Family Christmas night. We get our whole family together (Mom, Dad, Abbie, Brian, Macie Gavin, Allie, and myself) and watch some Christmas movies. It is really nice and helps me get into the Christmas spirit. We made a whole bunch of delicious food and just enjoy each others company. My niece and nephew cannot sit through a whole movie very well with all of the distractions and excitement but overall it was a fantastic time. Keena hung out in my old bedroom because my parents' house is very small and Macie and Gavin do not like Keena very much. She is so much bigger than they are I do not blame them for being frightened. I was proud of Macie, however, who got very close to Keena and ALMOST pet her as long as Aunt Allie was holding her. Someday I hope that they can appreciate what an amazing animal Miss Keena really is. She is so good with the kids she really doesnt do much or seem to care that they are there! Which is exactly what I want. Someday they will be friends.

Lilah Jean. Don't you love the hat?!

Keena loved all of my mom's Christmas decorations. She kept sniffing them all. Here she is snoozing in her own little winter wonderland. :)

   Next for my lovely weekend was a lot of hanging out with friends and family. I even went out to a bar! I haven't done that in quite a while and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The most exciting part of my time in Evansville was on Monday, December 19th, at 9:27 my newest niece, Lilah Jean Mitchell was born! It was fantastic to meet her and spend quality time with my sister, brother in law, Macie, Gavin and my mom, dad, and Allie. It was just a great weekend and I look forward to going home for new years when we celebrate our own family Christmas since I have to work this weekend and Abbie just had a major surgery and needs some time to recover. I cannot wait to see Lilah again and see how much she has changed in the week and a half I will have been gone!

Keena vs. Kong

   When I first started looking for a dog I went out and bought a lot of things because I had no idea what kind of things my new dog would like. One of the kinds of toys I have always loved are puzzle feeders so one of my first purchases was a Kong (gigantic size of course)! I even looked up "recipes" online of different ways to stuff the Kongs and different foods to put in them.  When I first started giving them to Keena I knew I had to make it pretty simple since she had never had one before. Well, let's just say that Keena can be a lot like me (a little lazy.... :)...) and I found that she would simply give up leaving all kinds of tasty treats inside! Well, on this snowy, lazy day off I decided to try the Kong again. I always try to keep a few cans of dog food around as a Kong stuffer. I put a layer of some of her favorite treats, a little kibble and them some dog food on the top.

   I was determined that today Keena was going to finish the whole Kong! I wanted to watch her "methods" and see what we needed to work on. Well, her problem was that she was only trying to use her tong (big as it may be) and not those gigantic paws! I let her go at it for a while then when she gave up, I litterally picked up her paw and hit the Kong with it causing a little piece of kibble fell out. It was like a light bulb went off! She kept batting at it and before long all of the kibble and treats were gone! I was very very proud of my baby! I know she is smart...she just needs to work a little harder at it! :) The next time I stuff the Kong I plan on freezing it overnight so that the canned dog food is a little tougher for her to get through. Who knew all I needed to do was show her how to use her strength to her benifit!

The Meaning of Things

   This evening I received some very disturbing news from my sister when she told me that her home was broken into and she was robbed while at work. I was very upset and sickened at the thought of someone breaking into her home and rifling through all of her things. My sister is one of the hardest working people I know and she has spent a lot of time and put a lot of effort info making her new house a home. I will never understand why people take to stealing and live that kind of life. I do not know why they cannot work like the rest of us and earn what they want and desire in life. Fortunately they police did a wonderful job and cought the three people who did this and recovered most of her belongings. :)
   I asked her if she was upset and hurt....and she said that she was ok. Sure she is angry but she knows that life will go on. She is much braver than I would be. I've been thinking a lot about all of the "things" that I have. Little of them have any real value to the average person. More of my belongings have sentimental value to me than cash value to others. My most prized possession would be my dane love, Keena....if, that is, you can really possess another being. I love her dearly and if I found out that my house had been broken into I would be more worried about her safety than anything else I own. You cannot put a price on unconditional love. The worst part about my dog is that she loves me SO much she wants to cuddle with me which can be dangerous. (140 lbs on top of you is a whole lot of dog).
     Society today puts so much emphasis on objects, pieces of plastic and metal, and I feel like we lose sight of what is really important in our lives. Recently two of my good friends (and roommates) were in a horrible car crash. Their car malfuntioned and their car rolled four times. They had one of their dogs with them too. Thankfully they all came out ok (minus the car :(...) and the worst injury was Caitlyn's broken sternum...OUCH! If it had been Keena and I in that car I am afraid that Keena's weight alone...coming at me at 70 miles an hour...would have killed me. This really made me think. I don't want anything to happen to my beloved fur baby so I took some action. I went to PetSmart and got a "doggy seatbelt" as I call it. It's a safety harness that you put the seatbelt through a special part of the harness and it will hopefully keep Keena in place. I have only put it on her a few times in the house and we have not ventured to the car with it...but as the holidays approach and I begin my usual traveling, I want to make sure we are all as safe as can be.

Keena in her harness....not the most thrilled.

   We all need to take some time each day to think about what we have and how lucky we are. I am like everyone else and often take things for granted. I don't want to do that anymore. I have noticed, however, that as I "grow up" objects become much less important to me. I really don't care about the "finer" things in life. I'm a hard working woman who is lucky enough to have an amazingly supportive family and circle of friends. Also, I have found the most amazing man to spend my life with and I thank the Lord everyday for bringing him into my life. Never before have I felt so loved or have been so adored. We are starting our own little family and as long as I have Charles and Keena (and all the other amazing family I am blessed with) I am good to go. :) Be thankful for what you have! Hug and kiss your loved ones!