LOVE UNFLINCHING

AAAH that is what Remy is to us!!! Love unflinching. He is an incredible little puppy! What is the old saying? Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies. That is sooo incredibly true.

He is already responding to his name, which just shows how willing he is to learn. He is one AMAZING little puppy! What a snuggle bunny he is too!

The trip home was great. He wanted to cuddle on my lap for awhile so who am I to say no! :) But then he started "stinkin" up the vehicle so we had to make a pit stop so he could relieve himself, which was an event in itself! ;) He was so excited that he did his business, that he preceded to step in it! Aaah the joys of puppies! :) We cleaned him up and back on the road we went..... We had him stay in the back so we could eat our lunch. He fell asleep and then when we were about about an hour from home, we let him come back up and snuggle again. :)

When we got home, we took him for a walk around our neighborhood which he thoroughly enjoyed. He was introduced to a few of the dogs in the neighborhood who were extremely excited to meet Remy! :) Once our tour of the neighborhood was completed, we headed back home and gave him the grand tour of his domain. He adjusted very well.

We are learning Puppy Lessons 101 very rapidly.... Like for instance, not leaving his water dish out overnight. We did that the first night and he peed on his new bed... but all was forgiven since it was OUR fault..... last night, we put his dish away and he didn't have any accidents. He is super sweet and smart and goes to the door when he needs to go outside (just like his Foster Mommy Heather said he would).

This morning he was excited to start his day with us although I can't say he wasn't thrilled about the treadmill but he wasn't afraid of it either! :) Just being Curious George.... :) He liked sitting on the futon, like King Remy, while we did our workout.... :)

When we left for work, we put him in his kennel and he was fine for a few minutes until he realized we were leaving and then for the first time since we brought him home, started barking.... :( Of course, it broke our hearts BUT we knew he was used to being kenneled as well. My son said he wasn't barking when he got up. So Scott (my son) let him out for awhile but when he had to leave for school, put him back in the kennel, and the barking routine started again! :)

We are hopelessly and completely in love! What a doll!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

It is official. We are taking a road trip and picking up Remy tomorrow. We will spend our entire Saturday on the road but it will be well worth it!

Time sure has flown by very fast!! We received a sweet little e-mail from Remy with some pictures attached and I thought I would share them with you:

We are overjoyed and extremely excited to add Remy to our family. Here's to a lot of cuddles and a whole lot of love!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

I am very emotional today. We got word yesterday that we will finally be able to pick up Remy. We are ecstatic. Truly we are. It makes me giddy thinking about it.

When Stoli died, the first thing I needed was assurance that he was alright. In order to get reassurance, I looked for signs. EVERYWHERE. And as the days passed I got them.

We REALLY want Remy but I am sad to be closing the chapter on Stoli. I know Stoli would want us to be happy but I feel as though I am shutting him off now. Am I making any sense?

Let me explain. When Stoli died, the next day I bought a leather bracelet memorializing his life, and since that day I have never taken it off. The proceeds from the sale of the bracelets went to local animal shelters. During the night, something very strange happened. The bracelet BROKE….. When I was making my bed, it was laying right next to my bed. Let me tell you, this bracelet is impossible to JUST break. It would have to be unwound and untied about six or seven different times. I know I wasn't tossing and turning that much for it to happen! :( As I stood there and looked at it, Kevin told me it was a sign from Stoli that it was time to move on and that he was happy for us! I believe that statement with all my heart. Do you believe in SIGNS? Because I sure do.

Hence my emotional state......

Tomorrow, I will be happy and giddy again, but for today, I will mourn and grieve for our boy Stoli. Just one last time. Thanks for the beautiful memories Stoli boy, you will never be forgotten, signs or no signs! :)

LETTING GO IN 2009

(This was an e-mail that was sent to me today and I LOVE it sooooo, here you go)! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let It Go
By
T.D. Jakes

There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you, let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]

People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person. It just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth..... Let them go!!!You've got to know when it's over.

Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift. I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay. Let them go!!

If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...... LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains.......LET IT GO!!!

If someone has angered you….LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge.....LET IT GO!!!

If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction......LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents…. LET IT GO!!!

If you have a bad attitude.....LET IT GO!!!

If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better.....LET IT GO!!!

If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him...... LET IT GO!!!

If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship...... LET IT GO!!!

If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves......LET IT GO!!!

If you're feeling depressed and stressed .........LET IT GO!!!

If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you need to.....LET IT GO!!!

Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is doing a new thing for 2009!!! LET IT GO!!!

Get Right or Get Left. Think about it, and then…. LET IT GO!!!"

The Battle is the Lord's!

Take a moment to think and appreciate God's power in your life, for doing what you know is pleasing to Him. "Yes, I love my God. He is my fountain of Life and My Savior. He keeps me going day and night. Without Him, I am no one. But with Him, I can do everything. Christ is my strength. God loves you and watches over you everyday. Be blessed.

CONFESSIONS OF THE SOUL

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else -
Benjamin Franklin

Okay here is the deal! Most of us are not completely honest with ourselves in some area of our lives (no matter what you say). We let ourselves off the hook too quickly when we come up against the hard work of pushing forward toward the things we want most in our lives. In my case, it is always about fitness, about my body.

Every morning it is the same. I wage a war, in my head. I start with “I am exhausted.” “I didn’t get enough sleep last night to lift the proper weights and I might hurt myself which could cause an injury and put me out of the fitness world for awhile.” “You don’t need to lose weight.” Blah, blah, blah!!!!! (I think you get my point here!) :)

This is TOUGH for me because since I started my fitness journey I have NEVER made excuses and last year I was NOT motivated. It really didn’t matter what I had scheduled or what vacations were coming up. To me, nothing really mattered. Yes, I went through some adversities (surgery, Stoli’s death) but bottom line is I should have never used them as an excuse. I worked out but my heart was never quite in it and about 80% of my workouts were done after work, the time that I should have been spending with my hubby! None of them were good enough reasons, none of them were road blocks, they were just excuses from someone who was not fully committed to making her dreams reality. :(

As this New Year starts, I vow (for the whole world to read) to stop making excuses. To stop waging wars in my head. And to begin re-committing myself to a healthier ME! I will just do it…. After all, isn't the hardest part usually just getting started? Surely I can do that! :)

From this day forward I will remind myself that the only one who loses when I don’t workout or eat clean is me. I can either chose to be the best that I can be or suffer the consequences later. I chose to workout in the mornings so I can feel great all day long. After all, I hate the feeling of guilt... I will do anything to not feel guilty about something. :) That in itself is a true motivator! :)

From this day forward, no more excuses, I will not look back. Great people in history never made excuses and neither will I. All I see is a beautiful horizon and a bright tomorrow!

TAKE HOME REMY

We have decided to get a puppy. Falling in love with Remy was entirely to easy. That little brown eye boy waddling around made us laugh and I am sure his puppy kisses are going to capture our hearts even more once he gets to come home with us permanently. He will be all ours at the end of January.

I will be quite frank. We have a lot to learn about puppies. It has been awhile since we have had one in our home. Stoli was almost 7 years old when he passed away so we have long ago forgot about the days of training AND to top everything off, Stoli was a gem. He WAS easy to train. Never pooped or peed in the house, never chewed on our shoes, never did anything that made us too angry. In fact, Stoli was such a clean dog, he really should have been a kitty! :)

We are going to try very hard NOT to compare Remy with Stoli. It just wouldn’t be fair to little ol’ Remy who has his whole life ahead of him. :)

Stoli’s life was incredible. But the last month of his life was not! Lymphoma is a cruel and nasty disease and nothing or no one should suffer the way that he did. When we knew in our hearts it was time to say goodbye to our dearest Stoli, it was human nature to try and change it, grieve it, and even deny it. I selfishly wanted Stoli with me forever and even today I miss him terribly. No one wants to say goodbye. No one wants to let go of a best friend, a confidant, a selfless companion. BUT letting go and grieving is and was part of the emotional process. It is part of the cycle and we all go through it, in one form or another. Releasing what is best for us, and embracing what is best for them, is always a choice. Knowing the answer to what that choice is, is found in the heart. When the time came for us to say goodbye to Stoli, we could have prolonged it, but that would have been just for us and not the right choice.

Each animal in our life brings lessons, challenges, and the purity of their love and spirit. What a gift we give to each other and to ourselves when we bring an animal into our life and sometimes even have to make the difficult choice to end it! :(

Now, we get to welcome a new champ into our life, Remy, and we hope to give him as much love as we did Stoli, just in a different way!

We will keep you posted on when we get to pick him up and actually bring him home! :)