Introductions || Gunner

If you follow me on Instagram, I'm sure you'll know who this guy is. I'm pretty sure I give new moms a run for their money on the amount of dog pictures I post. His name is Gunner, and he's the sweetest dog you'll ever meet.

We got him when he was only 2 months old, and we've had quite an adventure with him. Gunner is high energy, as he's half black lab, and half american bull dog. We have countless visits to the dog park, and I'm always pestered when I get home to toss his toy around. As you can see in the top left picture, Gunner wore a t-shirt around his neck for a couple weeks as a puppy. One visit to the dog park went sour.

A husky bee-lined across the park and grabbed my little puppy around the neck when he was 3 months old. Gunner ended up having minor surgery for the puncture wound, but was a total trooper. To this day, I still get nervous when we go to the park. The owner of the husky was a total a-hole, and I made him pay the vet bill.

We haven't had any problems with other dogs since the attack, and I'm glad. I've heard horror stories of puppies who have been attacked, then are aggressive later in life. So far, so good! He thinks he's the size of our cats though, so he's always trampling little dogs without realizing it.

If I had to describe Gunner in only a few words, I would definitely use:

+ Bed hog

+ Cuddly

+ Playful

+ Energetic

We knew what we were getting ourselves in to when we got a lab, and the books were right about his energy. He's also the most cuddly dog, ever! We wouldn't change him for the world, and he really is like having a kid. We've dealt with the sick days, up all night tummy trouble, chewing things he shouldn't, and the amazing feeling we get when he's just SO excited to see us every time that we arrive home.

Coming up next week I'll introduce our cat, Koshka.

What are your animals like? I'd love to be introduced!

xo. Nicole

Canmore 2014

I recently had some time off work for Spring Break, and while it was pretty uneventful, we ventured out to Canmore for my last weekend off. We left bright and early Friday morning for our 4-5 hour drive and arrived at noon. We went there for my father in law's birthday, and I'm so glad that we did! When we arrived,  we still had 4 hours until check-in, so we ventured over to Banff and had a quick look around. I had never been to either city, so it was pretty cool to see.

Warning: Most of these pictures involve Gunner. I just love him so much!

Don't mind my cracked and dirty windshield, but I tried to get a decent picture of the Rocky Mountains when we were going through Calgary! It was also a really beautiful day and the weather stayed like that all weekend. In the first picture,we were only an hour and a half in to our drive and Gunner was just so done.

On our way home, we took Rob's nephew with us. We warned him about Gunner licking his face the entire drive, but he braved it! They quickly became good friends and cuddled for some time. We ended up putting Gunner's muzzle on because he wouldn't settle down. He proceeded to pout for the rest of the drive home.

I didn't take very many pictures, but we generally stayed in our town house/hotel and relaxed. It was much needed, and I look forward to exploring the full city next time, and maybe even all of Banff. 

Have you been on any recent vacations?

xo. Nicole

Lately • December

I've been quiet around here, but Christmas has been hectic this year! We learned the hard way that when we take Gunner to someone else's house for a sleepover with us, bring his crate! That was a sleepless night.

But Christmas was good for us, and we have two more dinners this weekend! I think people are trying to hint at me to bake because I received a stand mixer, a set of baking pans, and a book to put my recipes in...all from different people! Hint taken, as I made Gluten Free Chocolate Chip cookies from Rob's new cookbook!

We've also had our fair share of snow. It's either super super cold at -30*C or it's "warm" at -2 and snowing like crazy. No happy medium here. 

So because working Christmas Eve generally sucks for everyone, my manager bought us some pajama sets from work and let us wear them! We also drank hot chocolate all day and wore Santa hats. It was pretty awesome :)

My new ring! I received this with my set of baking pans, along with a charm bracelet. We picked names this year, so the lady who gave me Christmas gifts didn't know me very well, but she has good taste in rings!

I got a chance to visit my friend and her 6-month old baby on Christmas Eve to give them their gifts. He tried eating it at first, then got some help unwrapping, haha! 

Aaaand there's Gunner. He's just been a huge suck these past couple months. All he wants to do is cuddle, and hog the bed! When we first got him, he wouldn't calm down at all, but now we go to bed and he cuddles in between us and is asleep right away! I love it. We also found out on Christmas day that he is good with toddlers. He still needs to calm down, but all he does is lick their faces to no end.

How was your Christmas?

xo. Nicole

My Lately in Pictures

Things have been super crazy lately! Rob and I got a puppy a week ago and he is a huge handful. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. He's adorable and has so much love to give us. Since nothing new has come of the wedding planning (that's changing pretty quick) I wanted to show you my "lately" in pictures. I hope you're all having a wonderful February so far! xo

How has your "lately" been?

xo. Nicole