Morgan

This is one of the hardest blog posts that I've had to write but last Thursday we had to put our dog Morgan to sleep.  He started feeling sick the previous Saturday and had been vomiting.  We just thought it was something that he ate outside but when Chris took him to the vet and they did x-rays they found things on either side of his intestines.  So they scheduled surgery for later that afternoon.  We went and saw him at lunch and he looked much better.  I really thought it was just something he ate but it turns out that wasn't the case he had several perforations in his stomach and intestines.  So Chris made the decision that it was best for them not to awake Morgan back up.

It's been really hard not having him here.  He was the one that you could always hear howling as soon as you got home and when I would be running in the subdivision I could hear him howling the whole time I was gone.  It just doesn't seem like he's gone.  I keep expecting to find him somewhere in the house laying on his pillow or locked in a closet.  The only time Morgan didn't bark was when he was left outside or locked in a closet.

It's been a huge adjustment for Baxter and Newton too.  Newton and Morgan were best friends.  They played together all the time especially on Friday afternoons when Chris was working.  Newton has been going from room to room looking for him.  Baxter and Newton are now trying to figure out how to be friends they've never really gotten along.  So far they're doing pretty good with each other.

Morgan's idea of playing was to bark at the other dogs.

We got Morgan from the animal shelter in November of 2007.  I wanted another dog and I saw that they had a Scotty mix.  So my sister and I went the next day to go look at him.  I couldn't leave the animal shelter without him.  It was a good thing we got him since he was scheduled for death row.  He was the sweetest and most loving dog that I'd ever meet.  There was never a person that he meet that he didn't like.  He did escape from the house the first day and I had to chase him down in high heels from house to house.  He just wanted someone to pat him.  We could definitely tell that whoever his previous owners were that they abused him.  Whenever he would hear a loud noise he would run into the corner and shake.  It took awhile for Morgan to realize that when Chris was yelling at football games that Chris wasn't yelling at him.

Morgan the first day we brought him home.

Morgan absolutely loved tv.  He would spend hours watching it all day.  That's another reason why the house is so quiet.  He would wake up in the morning and come over to you and start head butting you until you either started giving him attention or when you turned the tv on.

Morgan even watched the tv when it wasn't even turned on!

I'm definitely going to miss my Morgie Porgie.  I'll miss seeing your tail wag while you watched your favorite show Too Cute and try to bite the animals because you thought they were real.  I'll miss you howl when you wanted me to feed you and when you greeted me home.  I'll miss you coming over and head butting me when you wanted to me pet you. You were one of the best dogs that I've ever had and no other dog will ever compare to how sweet and loving you were. I leave you with some of my favorite photos of Morgan.

His first Christmas with us 2007.

I'm really going to miss that big wet nose!

Morgan hated wearing clothes.  He would walk backwards when we made him wear outfits.

This is one of my absolute favorite photos of Morgan.  He always let the other dogs bite him and he never fought back.  He was such a chill dog.

He loved rolling outside in the grass.

31

So last Wednesday I turned 31.  For some reason turning 31 was harder than turning 30.  I guess it felt like I was actually in my 30s now.  I started off my birthday festivities with Kathleen.  We of course had to stop by Bliss Cupcakes to celebrate.  I really didn't do anything fun for my actual birthday since Chris was out of town and didn't get back until 10 that night.  I did go to the eye doctor and got some new glasses ordered so that I can see.

I went with black frames and I hope they look okay.  I decided to go with something that I've never had before.  My other option was a wear that was pretty similar to what I already have.

I do love the side details on the frames. 

My sister made this for my birthday.  She knows that I love chevron and she put the heart were we where married at.

She also got me this initial bracelet. 

Thursday Chris took me to Tulsa for the day to celebrate and of course eat some really good food.  We also scooped out the route for the Color Run.  I was worried there might be some hills but it looks pretty flat.  Which is a good thing for me.  Friday and Saturday we went to the baseball games and Saturday night we went out with our friends to celebrate.

We stopped by Garden Ridge in Tulsa and bought a new rug for the living room.

I think I've decided I like the new ribbon boards at Baum.

February Recap

February went by with a whirl of activities.  Our friend Valerie came back from Germany to visit some local universities to recruit for Black Forest Academy.  We all went to Hugo's one of her favorite restaurants.  She stayed the night with us so we got to visit with her for a little bit longer.  We definitely miss them!

Chris surprised me for Valentine's Day with an antique picture frame from the Cellar Door Antiques.  One of my coworkers owns this store and they have great antiques.  If you love to go antique shopping you need to stop by her store.

We printed off a picture of the Bridge of Sighs from Venice, Italy.

We also decided to replace the other pictures on the mantel with pictures that we took in Venice.

The other thing that Chris got me for Valentine's Day goes along with one of my favorite things, Razorback Baseball! You guys have probably noticed I have an obsession with a particular mascot called Ribby. I just can't believe that it's baseball season again.  If you want to know where we'll be for the next several months you should probably check Baum Stadium.

Opening Day was pretty cold!

Poor Stephen was so cold that he wore his ski mask!! 

You know I had to have my picture taken with Ribby for opening Day!

Greg & Becky

Pretty good crowd for it being so cold.

Game 2 was pretty chilly too.

Chris wearing his hog hat his mom got him.

Thankfully game 3 was warm enough so that I could wear my new Ribby shirt.

One day

For the past several months I have been attempting to run.  I started back in August but since January I've been trying to run more constantly.  If you would have asked me three months ago if I thought that I could run for 30 minutes I would have laughed at you.  But yesterday I officially ran for 30 minutes straight!  This is a huge accomplishment for me since I have never been an athletic person.  I don't consider myself a runner yet since I'm extremely slow but hopefully one day I can call myself that.  I've decided to do my first 5K next month in Tulsa.  I wanted to do a fun 5K so I'm going to do the Color Run.  I may have to crawl across the finish line to finish but one way or another I'm going to do it!  I think the thing that is really holding my running back are my shin splints.  I'm not really sure what else I can do for them but my left shin hurts so bad sometimes that it feels like it's broken.  I've been professionally fitted for running shoes and I have inserts.  I do all of the stretches for shin splints but it my be something that I just have to get use to.  If there are any runners out there that have any advice please leave me a comment.  Chris has been training for the Hogeye half marathon.  I've been so proud of how hard he is working towards his goals.  He's lost 70 pounds and he's up to running 9 miles!  He's been such an inspiration to some many people and especially to me!! So if you've been wondering why I haven't updated the blog in awhile that's one of the reasons why.  Hopefully there will be a blog post soon with pictures from my first 5K!

I look like an old lady wearing compression sleeves!

I highly recommend compression sleeves to anyone who has shin splints!!  This is one of the only reasons I have been able to keep running.