Our dog is part penguin...

So I was looking at our dog the other day, and, besides the fact that she is soooooo adorable, I was struck by a thought. A few minutes with Google Images confirmed my suspicions. With her ears back and the little tufts of hair sticking out, Diesel looks remarkably like a rockhopper pengiun! Don't believe me? Here's the proof...

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A Little Happy Moment

My very lovely sister gave this to me for Christmas.
It's a knitted coffee sleeve.
I used it for the first time this week and, I have to say, it made the
already enjoyable act of coffee drinking even more beautiful.
I know. Crazy and cheesy. But seriously, it was so much fun
drinking coffee with this cute red sleeve around my cup.
Thanks Ape!
I just thought I would share this joyous moment of my week. :)

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It's going to be good.

So about this time every year I start to break down. I have just gotten through designing all of the Christmas and New Years ads for work. My mind is flustered with thoughts and ideas for the perfect gift for everyone. I go full-force into hiking through all of the frustrating holiday crowds. Christmas cards are usually at the printer, since I waited till the last minute to get them done....

I hear others talk about how this is their favorite season and I so wish I could agree. I love the snow and the lights and the trees and the decorations....but still, there's just too much stress and pressure. Why? This is supposed to be the time to enjoy life and people. Instead I find myself stressing out about where I'm going to be; who I'll get to see; what to get every aunt, cousin, friend and family member; what our Christmas card will look like;who to send it to; when I need to send out packages and how much it will cost to send them with express or priority shipping (since I was too busy stressing about everything else and missed the normal shipping time.)

So as of now, I have decided to slow down and enjoy this years' holiday season. I'm tired of trying to please everyone, and in turn, killing the holiday cheer for me. I'll get the best gifts I can find; design the best card I can; be where I can, when I can; sit back a little and even crack a smile maybe. It's going to be nice. I can tell.

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I'm Thankful for...

A very cute puppy dog!
Her chair. Her mess.
We have our very own personal paper shredder.
Resting very comfortably while Dad works.

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Weekend Trails

This past weekend we went backpacking.
Yes, it was very very cold!!

We left Friday night after everyone got off work,
which meant we hiked
in and set up camp in the dark.

Here we are trying to figure out where we are and where we missed our turn.

It was a cold weekend, with very cold nights.
It was also opening weekend of deer season.
And we picked a very safe trail.

We all sported bright orange and yellow colors.
No one felt the need to feel the sting of a hunter's bullet.

There were many beautiful views along the way.
We peaked at about 1200 feet.
But we were up and down most of the walk.

He claims he was not hugging me, he was holding on for dear life!

Saturday night was especially cold.
I (Stacey) wore 7 shirts (long sleeve, sweatshirts, t-shirts...),
3 pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, a hat, gloves, handwarmers,
and I was stuffed inside a very warm mummy bag with
only my nose sticking out. I was still too cold to sleep!
Sunday morning, we woke up to frost on our sleeping bags inside
our tents and frozen water and gear.
The dogs had fun too. Though we wore them out.
Here they are very studiously watching their boys eat their lunch
and hoping they will drop just one little crumb of moose-goo or beef jerky for them to eat.

Cold, yes. Fun, definitely!

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The End Of An Era

Last week, I finally worked my last day at Steak-n-Shake.

Yahoo!!! I am now a one-job woman!!

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Week of Firsts

First Shopping ExperienceFirst Favorite Chew Toy (paper)
First Bath

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