Paws for a Cause

Mark Twain once said, "The more I know about people, the better I like my dogs." That pretty much sums up how I feel about my fur kids. Josh and I are the proud parents of four: Motorhead and Tiger, the cats; and Tinker and Tipsy, the dogs. The cats have been with me since they were born in 2004. They moved with me to my first home in Stockton, then back to Almena before we finally settled down in Phillipsburg. Tinker, a miniature pinscher mix, joined the family on Thanksgiving weekend in 2007. Tipsy, a rat terrier mix, rounded out the crew in the spring of 2009.

I'm not sure when the decision was made to get a dog, but I knew that if we were going to get one, I wanted it to be a shelter dog. The idea of buying a dog from a pet store or breeder just didn't sit right with me, especially knowing that there are so many dogs and cats in shelters in need of a good home. Plus, my grandparents had always been huge advocates of shelter dogs so that was also a big factor in our decision to adopt. Josh decided on a min pin, and I went to work searching on www.petfinder.com. Tinker was adopted from a shelter in Wamego. Tipsy came from a shelter in Junction City. She had been advertised as a min pin, but when we got there, we clearly saw that she was anything but! There was no way I was going to leave her in the shelter though, so home to Phillipsburg she went and became our fourth, and final (for the moment) fur kid. Aren't they cute???

Tiger and Motorhead

 

 Tinker and Tipsy

 

So while some people have human kids that walk on two legs, mine are covered in fur and walk on all fours. Since we adopted the girls, I too have become an advocate for animal shelters. For the past couple of years, Josh and I have put together a team to participate in the trivia night fundraiser for our local shelter, the Second Chance Homeless Pet Society. We've also made it a birthday tradition treat my dad to lunch at the Humane Society of the High Plains' Soup'r Bowl soup cook-off. My newest conquest is to complete the Mutts and Monsters 5K Walk/Run and Costume Contest to benefit the Western Plains Animal Refuge.

 

The run is scheduled for October 26, which gives me right at 6 weeks to prepare. Thank goodness for the Couch to 5K app on iTunes. Yesterday was day 1 of week 1 of the workout and I'm still alive today to tell about it. I've never had the desire or motivation to complete a 5K, but figured this would be a good reason and place to start. Plus, you can even run it with your dog and participate in the costume contest if you want! I'm still debating on that part. Registration starts soon and more information can be found at http://www.westernplainsanimalrefuge.org/.

 



Fab Five: Vegas Edition

Yes, I have been absent from the blog for the past couple of weeks...but I have a very good reason. I went to Vegas! J-Rock and I took a Labor Day weekend trip to Sin City. Those of you who know us know that we got married in Vegas so it was a bit of a homage to our upcoming "Lucky 7" anniversary.

For being a girl that likes quiet and low key, I absolutely love Vegas! I don't know what it is about it, but every time I go there, I never want to come home. And for at least two weeks afterwards, I look for jobs and houses in Vegas, and end my tweets with #imissvegas. Obsessed? Maybe a little. But a fellow tweeter sums it up best:

"Until you've been to Vegas, you don't know what you're missing. Once you're home, you just want to go back. #imissvegas"

When I started the blog, one of the things I wanted to try was a "Fab Five" feature. Sort of an abbreviated version of Letterman's Top 10 list if you will. What better way to kick it off than by doing a Vegas version of my top 5 highlights from our trip? Here we go...

5. Allegiant Air: Flying Allegiant out of Grand Island rocks! That 2 1/2 hour drive versus the 4-5 hour drives we used to make from Denver or Wichita is soooo nice. Those used to be brutal after a long weekend in Vegas. Plus, not having to leave a night early in order to get to the airport on time is an added bonus.

4. Miracle Mile Shops and Fashion Show Mall (tie): Shopping wasn't really high on my priority list for the trip, although a visit to the H&M store was a must for me ever since I saw Stacey and Clinton shopping there on an episode of "What Not to Wear." Considering our shopping selections are pretty limited in Western Kansas, we were able to shop a lot of places we wouldn't normally get to visit. My favorites? Definitely H&M, Lush, the Walking Company and the Puma store. And yes, I did score a cute outfit at H&M that I think Stacey and Clinton would approve of...I think!

3. Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay: Even thought I'd "been there, done that" on our wedding trip, J-Rock hadn't seen it yet (he was too busy at a naughty show). Earlier this year, he couldn't understand why I was a little disappointed in the Sea Life Aquarium in Kansas City, but I think he gets it now. That boy went camera crazy taking pics of all the fish and sea creatures! The coolest parts have to be the shipwreck room, the shark tunnel and, most definitely, touching the manta rays.

2. Criss Angel BeLIEve: If you don't know who Criss Angel is, we probably shouldn't be friends. Ok, maybe that's a little extreme. But seriously, go check him out! He's only the world's greatest magician, and a good looking one at that! I was soooo lucky (and excited) to get to meet and have a pic taken with him during our wedding trip. Since then, he has started performing in his own Cirque du Soleil show at the Luxor. Even though there weren't a lot of the acrobatics and pageantry that Cirque is known for, the illusions are MIND BLOWING. I'm still trying to figure out how those birds flew out of the projection screen...and how he sawed the lady in half...and how he teleported out of the box...Extra bonus: he has a new show coming out in October on Spike TV!

1. Rick's Restorations: This was the thing I was most excited about to see. Rick's shop is featured on the show "American Restoration," which is one of my absolute favorite shows. We got a free tour of the shop and it was so cool to see the workspaces and projects in person. Unfortunately most of the crew had gone home for the day by the time we get there, but I was excited to be able to get a pic with my favorite crew member, Brettly, and catch a glimpse of his cute dog, Nana! I also got to see Rick, Tyler, Ron, Kelly and Ally, and they are all as nice and genuine as they seem on TV. They had a few of their projects on display and for sale in the showroom. J-Rock put his foot down about me buying the gas pump kegerator...something about it not fitting in the overhead compartment in the airplane. Whatever. This is a definite must-see again on a future Vegas trip!

 Me and Brettly!

 

So that's my Vegas top 5! I'm already trying to talk J-Rock into another trip after the first of the year. We'll see how that goes. What are some of your Vegas top 5? Post some comments so I can start on the to-do list for the next trip!