Aloha!

Aloha friends! I have about 4 blog posts to do to catch up from our Hawaii Trip. However, this picture is all I can manage for now. I am going to bed- it's 8:30 pm. I will post soon!

Scary Beary

Well some of you may or may not already know this story, so I will go ahead and share anyway. Last spring, Bear gave us quite a scare. She started to act VERY lethargic and really calm and just wanted to lay down under our bed and not really interact with us. Then, one day, she threw up in her kennel. Then, she kept throwing up. Then, she stopped going to the bathroom. So, I figured that she had some sort of stomach virus. We went to see Dr. House and he told us that she could have a "bowl obstruction" but that maybe she was just sick. So, we bought some special bland food and tried to get her to eat that. She did eat it, and then threw it up. Then, that Sunday morning, she simply refused to eat. She has NEVER refused to eat, ok? So I knew something was up.

We took her to the emergency vet. They performed a series of barium x-rays and determined that something was in fact blocking her intestinal tract. Bear needed emergency surgery to remove the obstruction. So, we were devastated because 1. Bear was just miserable and now needed to have an operation to remove whatever she swallowed and 2. We knew it would be super expensive. But of course, she is our sweet Beary Loo and we are going to do what she needs done. Here is what Dr. Ray found...



This long thing covered in dog poo is two of Matt's dress socks that I had tied together for her as a toy. I don't know what I was thinking. She had swallowed several things whole since she was a puppy, and her mommy, like a moron, tied these together for her to play with. The knot that is at the top right by her forceps is what kept the socks from passing. The knot got stuck in her small intestine. If we hadn't taken her in that day, the vet says it would have inched its way into her colon and could have killed her.

Anyway, I say all this to tell you that we thought that she did it again. Last Saturday night, she threw up. Last Sunday morning she refused to eat. Her mommy panicked and rushed to the Doggie ER and demanded a barium x-ray series. 12 hours, 18 x-rays and a lot of barium later, we determined that she had eaten a ton of grass and had a ton of gas and that's why she wouldn't eat. What a silly girl. (And I'm talking about her mommy.)


Here she is, happy as a clam, after coming home.

Sleep Number Bed

Listen. Matt and I have different preferences for sleeping. He likes a hard bed (crazy!) and I like a soft, gushy bed that envelopes you when you lie in it. We bought a pillow top mattress for our queen bed when we got married. Back that up, my very generous parents purchased the mattress for us since we were 2 broke college kids. You can not flip a pillow top mattress. So, for 2 1/2 years, we slept on this pillow top mattress. Matt's side got an indention which we were later told ALWAYS happens with a pillow top mattress. Matt, as a result, constantly had a back ache.

SO, when we bought house number dos, at the same time we purchased a king bed so both Bear and Midas (who was shortly coming to live with us) could sleep on the bed. We decided at that time that we should buy a firm mattress and a topper to go on it and make it a bit softer. Now, my back always hurts. We have to get another padding or something.

If we had infinite funds or won the lottery, I would purchase us a Sleep Number and then we could BOTH be happy! However, if I had to pick one of us to have a back ache, it would DEFINITELY be me and not him. Thus, the purchase of the hard mattress. Love him!!! :)

Least Favorite Post to Date

Those of you who know me know that I am not an indulgent person. I buy 90% of my wardrobe at Target. I shop for groceries primarily at Walmart buying the Walmart brand (if the Walmart Brand is in fact a better deal which sometimes it is not.) Anything that I don't buy from those 2 places I purchase ONLY if it is on sale. I can't stand to purchase something if it's not on sale because I know that eventually it WILL be on sale and then I would have been ripped off.

HOWEVER, there is one thing that I have majorly splurged on. It's my favorite purchase (minus our house and the dogs of course) that I've made since Matt and I have been married. This is my Yukon. I've always wanted one. When I got promoted in 2007 and I was going to be on call 24/7 I told myself I deserved this purchase. (Side note: This was THE MOST SELFISH decision I have ever made and I look back in astonishment at myself and think, "Who was that person and why did she think she deserved anything?" I am embarrassed to even share it with you at this time. But I digress. The selfish decision was made and we move on. We live and learn. I can assure you that no other decision like that will ever be made by me.)

Anyhoo. I was coming home Friday around 5pm after just dropping the dogs off to be boarded for our trip to Paragould. I am about to exit onto Maumelle Blvd as I do everyday at this time and I slow down to approach the traffic that is stopped ahead of me. The person in front of me slows down even more abruptly and stops as I do too (you expect this at this time and in this place). But the person behind me does not slow down. I see this in my rear view mirror and think, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NOT MY TRUCK NO!"

BOOM, BOOM! The joker knocks the fire out of me. He was driving an F150 4 door and let me tell you, my trailer hitch did a bang up job on the front of his truck. It was MESSED UP. Poor guy. So anyway. I immediately called the police and they responded quite quickly. His car was barely drive able, but we moved into the New Life Church parking lot. Dude got a ticket, we exchanged insurance information, yadda yadda yadda. I was pretty shaken up. Not only from seeing the impact coming and being whipped in my truck, but I was just plain upset. I KNOW it's a material thing. I KNOW I can't take it with me. I KNOW that moths and rust destroy and that will happen in this case. I KNOW the dogs could have been with me and gotten hurt. I KNOW I should just be thankful to be ok. I KNOW that the dude that hit me could have been hurt and I am thankful that he wasn't! I KNOW. But I am still upset. I bought this truck planning to drive it for 10 years. No really, 10 years or until the thing just falls apart and we have to tow it to the dealership to trade in. I just wonder now if we can still do that. I know I need a new back door and bumper. Hopefully, it will be allright! Here is the pic.

Birthday Boy

Isn't he cute? Matt's Birthday is July 1. I love this day every year. It's fun to go get him a cake and attempt to buy him a present. See, Matt is one of those guys who gets himself what he wants at the time and is really hard to buy for. So, I bought him a massage which he loves. Matt is funny because he doesn't really like me to spend money on him. Every year after tax season I want to buy him a massage to pamper him. I've done it twice, BUT, I am always worried that he will get upset if I do that so I've only done it the 2 times. I think that I am going to just make a deal with myself to do it every year.

He is holding his cupcakes from Cupcakes on Kavenaugh. They NEVER disappoint. I got Yellow Cake with Chocolate Butter Cream Icing and Red Velvet. That's our favorite one. We had a bunch of friends come over and it was just a blast. It was mostly our Lifegroup plus a few friends, Ashton, Griffin, Zach, Joe, Tiffany, and Juli. WHY DIDN'T I TAKE MORE PICTURES?! I suck at pictures. Anyhoo back to the cake. He loves an ice cream cake and I do think I will go back to that next year. He likes it to come from Baskin Robbins and have World Class Chocolate in it. I also get to get a cone when I pick these up so... everybody wins! Happy Birthday Babe!

Gilbert Family Vacation

Well, I've been meaning to blog about this for 3 weeks now, so I am finally getting around to it. The Ole Gilbert Clan actually planned a vacation together this year! We were going to spend a glorious week together in Dauphin Island, Alabama. House on the beach, seafood galore, quality time spent in the water and in the sun, etc. Then, Oil Spill 2010 happened and Dauphin Island was basically the first place that got hit. (Did I mention we had planned to go to Nashville the same weekend as the flood? Yeah we need to stop making travel plans. Disasters tend to follow.) Anyhoo, Lauren and Dad came up with a solution. We all met at Dad's Quack Shack instead!


Now it may not look like much from the outside, but this dude extends in the back over Horseshoe Lake. There are 3 bedrooms/ 2 baths, a giant living area, a big kitchen, an outdoor gazebo, a huge yard, etc. So guess who got to come with us????

Here are Bear and Midas! See the huge little smiles on their faces. We all brought our dogs. Jett, Boo, Fib, Liza Boo, Jo Jo, Cooper, Bear and Midas! (Getting a picture with all 8 is basically impossible.) Those 8 dogs had the best time. They ran around and chased each other in the fenced in yard. They ate sticks. They chewed grass. They licked each other. They bit each other's whiskers.

Here is Midas with his sister Liza Boo Little. She is my mommy's dog. She is so stinking cute and itty bitty teeny tiny. Behind Liza is Boo Mama. She is the mama to the 5 pups in the group of 8 dogs.

This is Widdle Fibbie. He is Daddy's dog. Super sweet and really smart, Fib's favorite things to do that week were play with Midas and steal shoes. You have to watch him!

Here is Wackie Jackie supervising the dogs outside. They can get a bit rowdy. Especially when cousin Jo Jo and Liza Boo get together. Oh man!

Now this, THIS is my parent's dog trailer. Those dogs ride in style! There are 4 little cubbies (the black doors) to haul 4 labs. Those cubbies are vented inside and there is actually a fan beside which you can put ice blocks that will blow and act like an air conditioner to cool the dogs. It is also insulated so their body heat keeps them warm during the winter time. Each of those compartments you see on the side (outlined in silver) hold all sorts of dog training goodies and water bowls. The front silver part is a water tank. It stores several gallons of water so that the dogs can get something to drink (a hose poors water in to bowls) or you can give them a bath. Also, underneath the silver top is a sink to clean ducks or whatever else you may need to do. Pretty amazing huh?

It was also my mom's birthday this week! I forgot to get a picture with the birthday girl. I am terrible about taking pictures.

Anyway, during the week, here is what we did:

We all arrived Tuesday and ate lunch together and hung out. Did we do anything else? I can't really remember... Mom made a brisket that was delicious. I think we all napped. That's all I remember.

Wednesday Dad took me, Lauren and Zac fishing! It was really fun! They all caught several. I didn't catch one. Really, that is quite surprising. I was quite the fisherman in college. That was only 4 years ago though... Anyhoo. Mom met us for lunch in Bald Knob at the Bulldog. Delicious as always. We went back to the Quack Shack and napped and Lauren made us some delicious Fajitas.

Thursday, mom's birthday, I made her Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. They are my favorite kind because of the maple icing and she really enjoyed them! Then, Zac and Dad fished while us girls hung out and went to Searcy for the day. We ate lunch at the Cookie Basket and shopped around a bit. We couldn't go to Searcy without making a trip to Midnight Oil, so of course we did that after lunch. We went back to Searcy that night (when Matt was able to come) and ate supper at Colton's. Then we went back and played dominoes until really late that night. Matt had to work that week and wasn't able to come down until Thursday night. We sure missed him, but we all understand about not being able to take off work!

Friday we all packed up and slowly made our way home. It was such a fun week! We need to make a point to get together more often!