Ok...we're back!

Alright, so I know we aren't the worst bloggers out there, but I feel like we're getting close. I refuse to let it be another couple / few months before our next post after this one...and I WILL get better!

Let's see...where did we leave off, I don't even remember..? At last glance of our main page, I see that the last thing I talked about was Nellie finally getting allergy tested. Well. Can I just say that I feel like a mom who went ahead and bit the bullet and got the expensive braces for her kid? Instead of it being a pretty new smile with straight teeth, it's a clear face with no more bumps, no more rashes, and a significant decrease in intching/scratching. We are so happy...and so is she! We've been giving her the shots (we're at one every other week now) and she's no longer on any other kind of  medicine, and she looks SO good! Ahh, it really is just a joy because she is sooo beautiful and now everyone can really see it! Here's as good of a "before and after" as I'll be able to find:

These were taken the weekend of Blake's birthday (around April 5th)

And this was taken last week (July 28th-ish) - woohoo!

Another great thing is that throughout this process we've decided that she doesn't need to be fed the high dollar prescription hypo-allergenic dog food (meaning...we don't believe she has food allergies like everyone originally thought..). Finally, a break! Go Nellie! :)

The only downside of the past couple of months concerning Nellie was that we had to deal with her going into heat for the first (and ONLY) time. Ugh. We were instructed to let her go through her first heat cycle when she was a teeny tiny puppy to cure her juvenile vaginitis (gross, I know..), so we didn't have much of a choice, but now we do! And we're taking care of it this month! So no more heats! Yay! And that's the end of that discussion.

Let's see...moving on to something other than Nellie...the rest of May proved to be fairly uneventful, with the exception, of course, of my dear friend Lindsay's graduation from vet school in College Station - WHOOP! I am a very proud friend when it comes to her - she's one of the most determined, goal-oriented, hardworking friends I have, and she deserves every bit of success she's had and will continue to have! I'm so happy for her and her transition into "the real world" - finally! 

After the ceremony..



then after the 'formal' festivities, we celebrated at Northgate :)

June started off with the wedding of our good friends Kyle & Kristen. We traveled up to the Denton area for their ceremony & reception and had a great time! Here they are, little cuties...

after Muster 2011 in downtown Dallas

June is also when Blake and I started Crossfit. Wow. There is a lot of happy stuff in this post already with Nellie and a graduation and a wedding, but for us, personally, we couldn't be happier that we did this. Before, our "normal routine" consisted of work, coming home, playing with Nellie some, watching tv (probably NCIS or whatever show I might have been trying to catch up on through "unapproved" internet sources...yeah, I did, and still am...), me cooking dinner, then going to bed not too long after that. BUT, now, instead of going home right after work we head straight to crossfit, get a great workout, and come home feeling so much better about ourselves! We've also met and made friends with some great people there, and our instructor, Chris, is awesome. In case you can't tell...we LOVE it there. :)

The end of June brought my wonderful momma's birthday, my Grandpa's birthday, and Father's Day. I'm not a father, or father figure, or anything close to resembling either of those, so I can't do a whole "Tribute to Moms" like I did before, BUT, I can say how happy and thankful I am that I have an absolutely amazing Dad in my life, and the rest of the dads in my family (and friends...and some soon-to-be dads) are just awesome and I'm thankful every day for each and every one of them! Here is a fun picture I found of me and my dad:

wish I could tell you what year this was...I'm going to guess that I'm about 5 here...

and here's his dad, my grandpa, with me at Christmas this past year..

I'm going to go ahead and end this one with the end of June. I'll continue July-present soon...er than later! Hope everyone out there is having a wonderful start to a fresh, new week!

Finally...

We finally broke down and took Nellie to the dermatologist on Monday. This is something we've known we needed to do for probably about 6 months or so, but we'd delayed until now. The main reason for delay was probably money, because we knew it would be an expensive trip, but while we were delaying, we visited the regular vet several times to see if we could get anything else figured out in the meantime.

It seems like for as long as we can remember Nellie has had a serious problem with itching/scratching. I think she's had every test possible that a regular vet can perform for skin issues, which ultimately led us to this point. We've even been on a strict hypo-allergenic diet for the past 6-7 months which, unfortunately, did not alleviate any of her itching. BUT, instead of ruling out the food allergies, we'll keep her on it for another 3 months or so while she undergoes her new "injection immunotherapy" - just in case.

Her "testing site" - there were several positives, but this is about 3 hours after her appointment.

This might be hard to see, but it's a list of everything she reacted to during the test. Some were more severe than others, but still...seriously? That's a lot of stuff! :(

So! We're on a new schedule with her. We start a weekly injection tomorrow, which will eventually become bi-weekly. After a couple of months, we can try out a regular food to see if there is any change or reaction. By then, the itching should have started to subside some, and if we switch the food and nothing changes, we can switch for good! If not, and she starts to scratch more, then food allergies might still be an issue.  I am really hoping that food allergies is not a culprit because 1) hypoallergenic prescription dog food is expensive! We're talking about $83 for a 27 lb. bag of food... and 2) well...cost of food is probably the main thing right now. 

We're also starting her on a month's worth of antibiotics and anti-yeast medicine (I don't know the technical name for it). Her worst reaction during the test was to yeast, and the vet apparently found a lot of yeast on her feet / in between her toes (paws?). I thought this was very strange, but apparently it's common with dogs like Nellie who have similar problems. The antibiotics are for the infected hair follicles under her chin that she's ALSO dealing with at the moment. This has been a big issue because bleeding is common (from her scratching) and she's gotten blood on several things around the house. Gross, but true. Apparently boxers and bulldogs have this happen quite often. I knew beforehand that boxers come with a handful of possible ailments, but come on! :) Oh well, we love her anyway and will do whatever's needed to make sure she's healthy and happy!

Tribute to Moms!

I love it when Mother's Day rolls around each year. A day to celebrate that lovely lady who brought you into this world. Who put up with your crying, changed your diapers, bought you all the toys that you "needed", dealt with your pubescent mood swings, happily sent you off to college...you know. Not everyone's situation might have been what could be described as the "norm", but more than likely, it involved a woman who cared for and loved you no matter what. No matter what. That's the cool thing about moms! Among tons of other things, obviously, but really...no matter what! Phew.

The closest I've come to this (understanding a mom's perspective) is loving Nellie no matter what. Raising a dog for almost a year now has really made me realize that people who do not own a dog before they have children are really missing out on some valuable training. Having Nellie is what I imagine having a young child is like. We plan several parts of our day according to her needs. We wake up early on the weekends because of her. She will put anything her mouth...and probably swallow it, therefore we have to watch what we leave on the floor, or anywhere within her reach for that matter. The maximum amount of time I would be comfortable leaving her home alone, outside of her kennel, is about an hour. A couple of posts back, I put up a picture of what happens after two hours. Here it is again:

Also, any travel plans we might ever want to make HAVE to involve her in one way or the other. (Stewie, on the other hand, can be left in his cage for a week+...like what we did when we went on our honeymoon. We just made sure he had two bowls of food and two containers of water, and he was set. A dog is a smidge bit different.) This dog, in particular, also feels like she is just as expensive as a kid. At this point, we have yet to take her to the dermatologist - yes, dermatologist - but that is our next step after several inconclusive trips to the vet and will cost around $600. We already feed her hypo-allergenic limited ingredient prescription food that runs at about $80 per 30lb bag, and at 50 pounds herself, it doesn't take long to finish the bag off. Soo....long story short, I love her despite her health shortcomings and bouts of misbehavior.

Anyway! Back to moms! I wanted to share some pictures of the moms in my life...well, some of them at least. There are a lot! Hallmark loves families like mine on holidays like these :)

Me & my mom on Ring Day! :)

While getting ready for the wedding

My Grandma Balser 

My Granny Baker...whose thought on picture-taking is that "you should always have a drink in your hand...", even though hers is already empty here! 

I just wanted to add this one of her playing beer pong with us at my graduation party...love it!

My future mother-in-law at the time (our engagement)

Blake and his momma Junior Year

 And finally Mama D, Blake's grandmother :)

Mama D there in the front...I just love her!

Blake and I love you all, and all the moms in our lives that we didn't mention, very much! We also have several friends that are becoming moms/parents, which is crazy! :) But, we love you guys too and are so excited for you and your new families! 

St. Patty's and a Marathon

March was definitely a month for the books! For St. Patrick's Day, I headed (solo) to Savannah to hang out with Jamie. This was my second trip to Georgia to visit her, and as fun as the first trip was, this one simply redefined a "fun trip". St. Patty's was crazy and there were so many people everywhere! I loved roaming the streets, green beer in hand (because yes, that's legal and perfectly acceptable in Georgia) visiting with Jamie, and people-watching, of course! We met some interesting people throughout the course of the weekend, and after staying up past 5am three nights in a row, I think I can safely say that this was the most fun we'd both had in a LONG time! Who knew we still had that kind of stamina in us, ha! Anyway, of course, here are pictures...

St. Patty's Day Parade in Savannah

Mae Mae & a green beer

Jello shots!

I can't say that I've ever had a shot out of a cow syringe before...but it was clean & effective :)

On River Street

Ready for Bataan next week!

This was a fun group of married guys...the guy in the middle was celebrating a "last hoorah" before having a baby...

This guy was a little strange...

Yay for St. Patty's!

Drinks @ The Crab Shack

Parade of people playing loud drums and wearing crazy costumes...through the restaurant...

Wine tasting in downtown Savannah

This was the most delicious spinach-artichoke dip I've ever had...and I was having it with great company and a very good drink - a good night!

Moon River beer flight, round two

The following weekend, Jamie flew into Texas then we flew out to New Mexico together to run our first marathon, the Bataan Memorial Death March. Several people "chuckled" when we told them this was our first marathon - make that first running event of ANY kind, including a 5K - but we didn't care! We had been training since the fall and we were determined to finish! It was definitely an experience that I won't soon forget - one of determination and triumph, along with several other emotions along the way. :) Completing 26.2 miles was definitely on my "bucket list", and I couldn't be happier to finish it (in good health). What made the experience even better was running it with Jamie - I was so proud of her strength and will to not only finish, but finish ahead of others! We made a good team that day and I look forward to facing Bataan again next year!

It was very windy and very cold that morning. This is around 4am.

We look ready, don't we? I think we look pretty bright for already being up for 3 hours...and it's only about 4:30am...

Marching into the sunrise

Of course she came along...

This was around mile 10 or so

Hiking up and around the mountain

This picture just shows me that some things really are mind over matter...I was in a little pain - but still smiling and still going!

I'm pretty sure this was somewhere around the halfway point

Mile 21 - A lovely sand pit...for the whole mile

Getting close!

I think this was around mile 24

The final mile, woohoo!

Right after crossing the finish line - what a great feeling!

This really was one of the best experiences of my life to date.

Tired feet.