The Life of a Little Dog Named Ella

Our dogs bring so much joy to our lives. They make us laugh and they will never stop wanting to cuddle. I hope my kids are as cuddly as they are! Ella is the 2 and 1/2 yr. old puggle that we got for my birthday a couple of summers ago. We got her from a breeder in the Ft. Worth area who I will totally endorse! Kanine Kisses...click puggles on the right. We named her Sorella Belle. Sorella means "sister" in Italian and we felt like it was fitting since Lexi was getting a new sister. We call her Ella for short. In honor of her (and my birthday) I have decided to write a little about her world.

I have decided that Ella has a few main life goals. I don't think she is necessarily aiming for the stars, but she is as content as she can be. No, she will never win Best in Show (I don't think the judges would appreciate her running amok around the arena), and I doubt she would be able to make it through one of those doggy obstacle courses (she gets easily sidetracked), but we sure do love her to death! Having said all that, here are Ella's life goals:

1. Find poop and eat it. (not her own or Lexi's, but anything else's)
2. Eat more ice. (she is like a crackhead when it comes to ice)
3. Get under the covers in our bed.

Ella tends to steal the hearts of many. Most all of our family and friends love her and she has a few boyfriends among our friends' dogs. The video below is a great example of the signature "Ella head turn." I was asking her if she wanted to go visit her friend Raider for the weekend:



Ella also has a neurotic side. She gets freaked out by weird things. We can come home from the grocery store and the grocery bags freak her out. She runs away when the vacuum comes out, and when we turn the shower on, she hides in the closet because she thinks we are going to bathe her. She HATES water and refuses to jump in when we take them to the dog park. BUT, the funniest time she wigged out was one night when Jeremy and I decided to play a game of Gin Rummy in bed. Check it out (it's kind of long but TOTALLY worth watching until the end).



I could go on and on about our little Ella. We have started calling her Kramer because she comes flying in and out of rooms just like the spazzo Seinfeld character. We also call her Buddha Belly because she has this little round belly. I can't imagine our life w/ out her, and I definitely understand the love between a dog and its mommy now. I suppose this only touches the surface of what it will feel like to have kids. One day...

Ella in Photos:

Ella's first visit to the vet the day we got her

She was so tiny and cute!

She loves her mommy.
 

Her first Halloween, we tried the clown hat. No luck.

Second Halloween we tried the pumpkin. She was thinking bad words.

Ella is a dramatic yawner...she sighs really loudly.

Her first road trip to Odessa.

In her favorite spot on the couch.

Waiting by the freezer for ice to magically drop out...w/ her friend Raider.

The beagle in her comes out when she howls.

When we had a bad hailstorm. Ella went outside afterward and didn't know where to begin. God had just poured ice all over the ground and Ella was in Heaven.

Colorado in the Summer

I spent two summers during graduate school in Aspen, Colorado. There truly is nothing like Colorado in the summer. The air is crisp and cool and the sky is just a different color blue. We recently got to travel to Breckenridge, CO with some of our good friends from Austin, Allison and Jordan. We hoped to have more couples join us, but it worked out that just the four of us got to go. Here are the highlights:

http://www.homeaway.com/ Use it, and love it! 
-We rented a home from Home Away and got a STEAL!  The house was tucked up in the mountains about nine miles south of downtown Breckenridge. It had windows everywhere and the most beautiful views.

Pajama Party
-I think one of the best parts of our trip was just laying around in our PJ's and being lazy. I didn't wear any makeup or blow dry my hair for the entire five days. It was amazing. The first day there, we spent the entire morning drinking coffee and putting a 1000-piece puzzle together.Allison and I loved being at home while the guys played golf. We made peach cobbler, cut up the fruit we had gotten at the farmer's market and read our books. Oh, and let's be honest, we caught up on all the trashy gossip about Jake and Vienna (from The Bachelor) thanks to the investigative journalism done by In Touch and People.

The reflection in the puzzle made it super hard...but we did it!

Hats Off to Colorado
-If you ever go to Breck, make sure to stop by the hat store. I honestly can't even remember the name of it, but it provided about an hour of pure entertainment for everyone. We didn't buy anything and I was praying the whole time that we didn't get lice, but here are some of our favorites:

Melted Snow is Cold
-One of the highlights of our trip was whitewater rafting. We went on the Arkansas river on a route called The Numbers. There were 10 rapids all ranging from three to five in difficulty. Since the water is literally melted snow, we got wetsuits and splash jackets. The guide said it was probably about 35-40 degrees. This made Allison feel even better about her first rafting trip! Needless to say, this trip was AWESOME! Our guide decided that we looked young and athletic so he decided to take every rapid head on. We got to one rapid and he asked us if we wanted to do it or go around. We were like, "duh...bring it on!" About 20 seconds later, I flew out. Luckily, I listened to our safety lesson and I was back in the raft in a matter of minutes. Everyone kept asking me if I was okay since I was under water for so long. I had no idea...I thought the little dip was quite refreshing and made the trip more fun! (Thank the Lord I am alive!)

Sexy rafting outfits.

Church on a Mountain
-The only thing I cared about going into our trip was hiking.There is something so spiritual about being on a mountain surrounded by God's creation. I definitely had a few moments of humility, and I was overwhelmed by how much God loves me even though I am so small in the big picture. We found an awesome hike that had everything you could want in a hike: forest, steep/rocky climbs, meadows, waterfalls and a lake at the top. The hike was a 7-mile round trip hike to Mohawk Lake. It was ranked intermediate, but we all decided that it might have been a bit harder. We are all pretty athletic and there were times when it sounded like we had emphysema. But, all that heavy breathing was TOTALLY worth it!

There was one point where it was so steep, we had to use this cable to climb up.

Dude Time
-While Allison and I chilled at home the guys got to play golf. Apparently, golf balls fly farther in Colorado since the air is so thin. Jeremy and Jordan were in Heaven with the mountains surrounding them and their muscles feeling bigger than normal. :) They also enjoyed an evening on the balcony with cigars and dude talk. Allison and I decided they are spoiled, but we are okay with that!

Hook 'Em and Get Your Guns Up!

We are so lucky to be able to travel as much as we do. I suppose that's why we are waiting a little longer to have kiddos. We are also SO blessed to have friends like Allison and Jordan. They are amazing travel buddies since they are so laid back like Jeremy and myself. Plus, we just love spending time with them! We decided while we were in CO that we need to make that a yearly trip. Even after we have kids, it will be fun to all head up to the mountains. I can't wait!!

More Pics

We went to Gianpietro's Pizza and ordered the deep dish. It came in one size...HUGE!!

Allison said it looked like I was floating the clouds.

Thoughtful Jeremy.

Strong Allison!

Strong Allison and Molly!

Our amazing house!!