Mutt Monday!

The results are in!!!

Well, actually, they've been in... but I've been a slacker lately, remember?

You won't believe it anyway. We didn't. We don't. Ed wants a re-do.

Apparently... My Zoey Monster is a Rottweiler/Chow chow/Borzoi. See? told ya you wouldn't believe it. In fact, they tell me that she is MOSTLY Rottweiler. Does this look like a Rottweiler to you!?!?!?!

I mean, I've heard from the vet and from sites online that you could be completely shocked with results, and that your dog might not resemble what they are mixed with at all... but these results are nuts! I do have to admit that some of the descriptions of SOME of the breeds do somewhat resemble her behavior. But that's about it...

The test rates each breed on a level 1-5.

Level 1 - over 75% of the DNA is from that breed

Level 2 - 37-74%

Level 3 - 20-36%

Level 4 - 10-19%

Level 5 - less than 10%

Zoey came back as being..

Level 2 - Rottweiler

(Calm and reliable, devoted to their family, extremely protective. Must be firmly trained or may become aggressive. Natural guard dogs. Highly intelligent and hard working. Can be aggressive toward other dogs) fyi... Zoey has NEVER shown aggression towards anything.

Level 3 - Chow chow

(Innate sense of dignity, may seem aloof and detached. May be restrained with their affections and are very independent. Usually well mannered but can be protective and suspicious of strangers. Can learn, but do not have a desire to please their owners, and must see the point of commands given. May be self-willed to the point of obstinate.) She sure can be a GOOF, and obstinate, but she is totally attached.

Level 4 - Borzoi

(Sweet and intelligent, extremely loyal. Affectionate to people that they know well, but free thinking and less willing to please their owners than other breeds. Quiet, rarely bark. Very quick, have no territorial instinct, should not be trusted off leash. Will chase small animals.) She's the fastest dog I've ever seen, she hardly ever barks, she has ADHD and will chase anything that moves, doesn't seem to care what I think, and is sweet as sugar. Maybe our results came in backwards?????

Ornaments!

So we all know I've been a little behind on my blogging lately... but I certainly did not forget that I need to share with you the LOVELY ornaments that my swap partner Leanne sent me! I even have lovely pictures of them hanging on my tree now :)

This is my very first Hallmark ornament of my own, for my very own tree :)

And this pretty ornament was hand made by Leanne herself!!!

Thanks again Leanne! It was so great getting to know you, and I LOVE my ornaments!

While Leanne and I were exchanging emails trying to get to know each other a little bit, we got on the subject of traditions and such. I think it's great to have something that you do with your loved ones every year. When I was growing up we used to collect series of Hallmark ornaments, and my parents bought a dated Christmas ball every year that they were married and they hung them on garland in the living room instead of putting them on the tree. All this talk got me thinking that I should share with you a tradition that Ed and I have started. For our first Christmas in our house, I picked up a picture frame ornament on a whim while I was at CVS just because I thought it was cute. Later on, I got to thinking that I really liked the idea of documenting our years together with a dated photo ornament every year! And so, "our" tradition began :)

Last years ornament...

This years... waiting on a picture!

Do you have any traditions?

Ready for Christmas!

I can't believe it, all the "work" of Christmas is DONE! I'm ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the holidays with friends and family.

The tree is up and decorated...

The house decorations are up...

(aren't my snowman's cute?!?!?! they are my new addition this year!)

The shopping is done...The presents are wrapped....

(yup, that's camo paper... we're cool like that.)

Ornament swaps are done (well one is wrapped and ready to go, but the other went out a few weeks ago)... and I just finished writing out all of our Christmas cards!

Whew! I'm DONE! I can hardly believe it!

Anti-Christmas?

We have a year-round Christmas store down here that my Aunt used to take me to when I was younger. She is a bit of a nut about Christmas and decorations, so whenever we/she was having a bad day, we would go Christmas shopping and she would give me a price limit and let me pick out whatever ornament I wanted. Sadly, I haven't been there in YEARS, and that Aunt moved away to Tennessee. :( Fast forward to present day.... A few weeks ago I was on the hunt for a perfect ornament for my swap partner and I hit the Christmas Place. They have ALWAYS had an upside down Christmas tree in the store somewhere decorated gorgeously, it's just what they do. So I was standing near this tree, and this lady walks into the room and says to her friend "Why on earth do they have an upside-down Christmas tree!?!?!?!? That's like anti-Christmas or something! It's like.... the equivalent of hanging a flag upside down!!!!" This lady's friend replied that it was just probably artistic and quickly moved on to the next room...

So... my question to you: Is an upside down Christmas tree the equivalent of hanging a flag upside down!?!?!? And possibly a symbol of Anti-Christmas!?!??! I don't think so... but I just thought it was an interesting opinion that this lady had, and I'm curious as to what your opinions are.

Farewell Sweet November...

I can't believe November has come and gone so fast! I must have been really busy, I only blogged twice in the WHOLE month!!!!!

We started the month off with a bang celebrating my "not-so-little" brother's 14th Birthday.The boy and I took him to his very first concert without parents! We were rockin' out to Chicken Fried and Toes while laying on a blanket under the stars at a Zac Brown Band Concert!!!!

The rest of my days were filled with some of my favorite things, and I'm sad that I didn't take the time to share them with you throughout the month. Things such as Pumpkin Spice candles, fall leaf decorations (since we don't get real fall leaves in S. Florida), Turkey-lurkey dinner, Wii time with the family, and PIE!!!! Mommy makes some AWESOME pie. And I think I've eaten about 2 loaves of Pumpkin bread this month for breakfast too...

(btw. this is an actual picture of the pies my mom made for Thanksgiving)

Right after Thanksgiving dinner we loaded up the truck and headed to the Keys for the weekend where we froze our booty's off fishing offshore when it was 50 degrees out!!! It's hardly ever cold down here, but it was just our luck! :(We were troopers though. We bundled up and stuck it out!

We still had a good time, and brought home a big ol' Kingfish that we smoked and I'm about ready to whip it up into some Smoked Fish Dip. Yum yum!

So.... even though it flew by in the blink of an eye, November was filled with good things, and I'm thankful for each and every one of them. Especially all the wonderful days spent with family.

If you'll excuse me now, I need to go make my dip and bust out some Christmas decorations!!! See ya later Pumpkin Spice! It's time for some Christmas cheer!

Another Ornament Swap!

Yup, another one. Told ya I love Christmas!!!!

This one is hosted by

Deals, Steals and Heels and Mrs. Southern Belle.

They have 2 categories that you can sign up for, a Shopaholic category, and a Crafty category! Since this is my second swap, and I am already purchasing an ornament for a great bloggy partner, I signed up for the Crafty swap. I'm gonna be paired with another crafter and we get to make each other ornaments.

How fun is that!?!?!? I'm so excited.

Head on over to either of their pages and sign up.

You have until November 15th.

A smooch a day keeps the doctor away!

So I was watching the news this afternoon and they were discussing all the ways we can ward off the flu. Things such as eating fruits and veggies, oysters, taking vitamins, etc etc etc.... You know, all those things that don't taste good. And then... my ears perked up. They said that people who kiss the same partner for 6 consecutive months have a less likely chance of acquiring the flu. (Probably because they aren't swapping spit with strangers who have who knows what! But that's beside the point..) So, my lesson for you all today? Grab that cute boy of yours and tell him to pucker up! Nobody wants to get the Swine Flu do they!?!?!?!?