Tag Archives: pug

Waiving the White Flag

I’m sitting here on my couch, hamstrings wrapped tightly with ice packs, watching TV. This is what I’ve done all weekend when I wasn’t at a meeting or my friend Abbey’s baby shower.

No running. No biking. No Yoga. No nothing. Even standing at work for more than 10-15 minutes at a time hurts. I surrender. I’m waiving the white flag. I’m going to do whatever I need to do to make this injury get better. So far, that has been a lot of this:

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I’m getting depressed. I feel helpless, incapable, and broken. I’m not looking for a bunch of sympathy, I am just venting because I am really frustrated. It’s so easy to take health for granted. To take something as simple as running, or being able to run, for granted. It’s kinda crazy how you realize all of the functions your hamstrings serve when they are broken! Even driving hurts. Pointing the toe for an extended period of time (on the worse of the two legs of course) eventually causes pain.

My only hope now to stay in shape is swimming. Once I start feeling a little bit less pain, I want to try it out. I haven’t been able to get myself motivated to do it yet. I will soon, though, and when I do I’ll let you know how it went Smile.

On a happier note, Ms. Tater had her teeth cleaned and a couple of suspicious bumps removed from her neck on Friday. She is doing great! Her puppy breath has gone from stinky back to puppy breath, and I couldn’t be happier! Dr. Iverson will be letting me know what the bumps turned out to be and if she got everything when she removed them (if they turned out to be something bad, that is.) I’ll keep ya’ll posted on that, as well. Look how stinkin’ cute my baby is!!

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This is her thinking if she hides under the chair, maybe she’ll be safe!

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This is her right after surgery. She was just a little stoned, that’s all!

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I don’t have a whole lot else to write about, since I spent most of my weekend in bed or on the couch. Devin and I watched Safe Haven, and it was good! Poor guy had to suffer through a chic flick, and no complaints! What a good guy Smile.

Now I am going to watch the season finale of Revenge. Word on the street (a.k.a. Facebook) is that it leaves quite the good cliffhanger. I hope everyone has a great week!

‘Til next time….

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Petco 5K9 Recap

My love for my dog is so great that I got my sore, exhausted ass up early last Sunday morning to bring her to walk the one mile race of the WalkRunWag 5K9! If it wasn’t for Ali, my booty would’ve stayed in bed alllllll day! How can you resist this face,though!?

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I always wonder what she’s thinking….so deep in thought, that pug.

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Ali would be SO embarrassed if she knew I posted this pic, but they say bet on the dog that pees (or poops) before the race, right!??

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She loved her new “pug stroller”!

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We ran into Rigo and Megan, so Rigo and Ali decided to discuss race strategies. Rigo completed his first 5K with his Mama-congrats you two!

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Ali’s two new friends Wiggles and Jiggles introducing themselves

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This has to be one of my favorite pictures of her in a long time. It’s so funny! Does anyone have a good caption for it? I captioned it with “We’re going to do WHAT?!” on Instagram last week. HeeHee Smile

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We saw this cutie along the race course

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Here’s another pic from along the race course

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The infamous plastic fire hydrants at the finish

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I forget his name, but he was wearing a Broncos collar-Go Peyton Manning!

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I’m looking all gangsta in my dog paw headband Winking smile

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Mommy, I think it’s time for a nap!!

Ali and I got videotaped by the guy on rollerblades because he just loved her little stroller! He said he video would definitely make the website, so I’m keeping my eye out for it and will let you know if it does.

This is our second year doing this, and it’s so much fun!  We saw a couple of good friends-one two and one four-legged, that we hadn’t seen in a long time. We really missed them, and it was great to see them! You know who you are Winking smile.  We are hoping to keep doing this race if it continues to come back to Tempe and everything works out. You should really check it out if you have a dog!

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Taking the Plunge

After my super duper early morning meeting today, I slept in until a time that I will not disclose. Let’s just say when my body needs to catch up on sleep, it doesn’t give me a choice! At my meeting today, a friend had this on his phone, and it’s like God put it there just for me:

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All of the people in my life who are close to me know that I am very impatient. This was exactly what I needed to hear today.

After I got up, I had sautéed scallops, seared rare Ahi tuna, and wonton soup that I made myself.

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I got a chance to watch The Doctors and Ellen. Ellen was hilarious!! She showed some autocorrect fails that were just great! I had some laugh out loud moments with myself and Ali. She just looked at me like I was crazy like she always does.

I decided today to take the plunge and try CrossFit for the first time. I have heard so much about it and read so many blog posts about it that I have become intrigued. Before I left to workout, I had an idea that my new rolling cooler might be useful at the WalkRunWag 5K9 this weekend! If you remember last year when Ali and I did the 1 mile run/walk, I had to carry her about 1/4 mile into the race because little princess got tired. Ali and I met some friends that were nice enough to let her ride in their wagon for a bit. This year, I am going to be more prepared! It looks like the cooler will also double as a pug stroller Smile.

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I mean seriously how cute is she!?? She didn’t even hate it!!

So then I headed over to the Ahwatukee CrossFit box to try out my first WOD. I joined this special program that they have for people new to CrossFit. The first two weeks consist of three days per week of learning different exercises, and then doing a WOD (Workout of the Day for those who don’t know) right after. The last week is a week of unlimited classes to try out the real thing. The WOD today looked like this:

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I couldn’t push it on the run like I would’ve liked, but it still felt pretty good to finally be running again. It didn’t hurt, but I still didn’t feel like I was completely out of the water with the hammies yet. I did the push ups on my knees, because I don’t have a ton of upper body strength yet. I am definitely working hard to get there, though! The ring pulls were hard! They are a precursor to pull ups, and I have a long way to go! I was the first one done out of the 5 of us, finishing at 10:31. If I could run faster, I would’ve knocked a good couple of minutes off of that time, I know it!

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Loved this. TOTALLY true and I think everyone should see it. Don’t you agree!?

After CrossFit, I headed over to Hobby Lobby to pick up stuff to decorate the vans for Ragnar this weekend. They have so much stuff! I love that place!

Then, I went to Ross to pick up something that is going to be a surprise for my Ragnar girls Smile. Of course I had to stop and take a look at the shoes.

Check these out!!

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Two words: Michael Kors

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They were almost 50% off of their original price. These will get a lot of wear. Only you guys will know that I got them at Ross Winking smile. Don’t tell, k?

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Dinner was sautéed then baked halibut, brown rice with quinoa, and mixed steamed veggies with fresh juice for dessert. The juice has kale, spinach, parsley, celery, beets, oranges, apples and ginger.

I work tomorrow, and then have the next 7 days off!! It’s kind of hard to believe I am taking a mini-vacation in February! I have a lot of stuff planned, and will have a lot to blog about, so stay tuned!

I just want to thank those of you that take the time to read my ramblings. This is really fun for me, and I enjoy sharing my life with everyone. I have been told by some people that I inspire them to workout. This is the first time in my life that I have been told such a thing, and it makes me happier than I can even express! The fact that what I am doing with my life can inspire others to do the same makes me want to keep doing it, and keep striving for better everyday.

Two women (of many that inspire me) that I want to give a shout out to today are Jamie M. from Indiana that is faithfully at her Boot Camp every morning getting her sweat on. She is a wife and mom of two, and is a perfect example of someone who cares enough to take time for herself to be healthy everyday. You are an inspiration, and have gotten my lazy ass out of bed before when I wanted to go back to sleep. Thank you for that!

Also, my half sister twice removed Stephanie A. She decided that come hell or high water she was going to get fit this year! No matter what it was that lit a fire under you (we know what it was, and that’s ok!), you are kicking ass and taking names. There’s no stopping you! I wish more people would take the bull by the horns even if they feel like the odds are stacked against them. It just goes to show that you make your life happen. Stop blaming everyone else or your situation for failing. DO something about it. Even if you lose boob on the way, your skinny jeans will thank you and you can join the itty bitty tittie committee with me. You just have to be VP, because I’m prez.

On that note, I am hitting the hay. This girl has worked out a lot over this 4-day weekend, and feels fantastically tired. Excited for another “Friday” at work, and then the real fun begins! T-minus 3 days until Ragnar!!!

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Tater Tot Takeover-SuperBowl Sunday

Does that mean that my dinner bowl will be super big!?? Woohoo snort snort! So Mommy is at Hot Yoga, and that means only one thing: hijack her laptop again!

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Mommy shared her banana with me this morning.

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She offered to share her coffee, but I’m a crack head pug as it is, so I passed…

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I hears that the Colts aren’t in the SuperBowl this year….I need to have a talk with the people that made this game up….

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For now, though, I’m going to make sure I guard our home while Mommy is sweating like a crazy person trying to look like me in the morning (I am the master of downward dog-Mommy wishes she was as cool as me!)

Pugs and Kisses!

Ali

Lazy Recovery Tuesday

I seriously slept in until waaaaay too late today. I’m not even going to tell you guys how late, because it’s ridiculous! I know when my body is telling me to take a break, and today, it definitely was. I had a long weekend of work, a decent run Sunday night, and a long day on Monday.

On my way home from work Monday, I was checking out FB at stop lights and saw that Ari did a blog post on a broccoli cheese soup with roasted corn that she made. (Drop by Ari’s Menu and wish her a happy birthday on Friday!) It has been cloudy, cool, and rainy around here, which is rare if you live in AZ. It only seemed appropriate to make a warm savory soup to enjoy on such a cold evening, so I did!

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I also baked mahi from Costco to go with it. It turned out so amazingly good that I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for dinner tonight! Check out her recipe here.

So after I got up today, I took a bath and shaved my legs, (always makes this girl’s day better!) and threw some quinoa in the crockpot to have for the rest of the week. I was going to paint my nails, but I ran out of time again….

This is the color I will be using soon!

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I love this color! It’s a Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish in Commander in Chic. It is a beautiful neutral taupe that is perfect for winter. The pics don’t do it justice. Ill post a better pic of my nails when they are done. My toes, as you probably remember from this post, have looked a little bit rugged lately and deserved some attention. I almost went to get a pedicure at a nail place, but can never justify going to get my nails done when I have this in my room:

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My biggest problem is sitting still for enough time after they’re done to let them dry. Yeah, I need to learn to relax and quit trying to get so much stuff done at a time.

I also gave Ms. Tater Tot a bath today. She was a dirty pug.

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Now she’s so fresh and so clean clean! She hates to love baths. She will slowly sneak out of the room when she hears the word. She ends up liking it though, especially when it’s over and she gets to play with the towel!

Tonight, I made Herb and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast that I made a few months ago to go with the leftover soup from last night. I had some rosemary and sage left over from cooking last week to use instead of the poultry bouquet. I also sliced some sweet potatoes on my mandolin slicer and threw them in the oven to go on the side. It turned out SO good!!

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The winner of the Rockin’ Refuel Giveaway is: (drumroll….)

Random Number RR Giveaway

Stephanie Andrews!!! Congratulations Stephanie! Please email me with your address, and I will forward it to RR so they can get your prize to you. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

I hope everyone has a great rest of their week! I have 24 hours of work in 2 days to get through, then a 3 day weekend! Smile  I’ll see you guys soon!

 

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Forgot how much I love spaghetti squash!

Today was a busy, but fun and awesome day. I started feeling better from my heinous sinus infection, so I worked out for the first time since Sunday! Thank God because I was going stir crazy. It’s totally true what they say about being in shape and used to working out, then stopping. It sucks. I am so glad it did, though, because I love wanting to work out.

Today, I slept in until 9:30, then went to PT. Yesterday, Lori did trigger point dry needling on my hamstring which, my friends, is not as fun as it is on the IT bands. So my hammie was definitely sore from that. I did feel slightly more flexible, though,so that’s a good sign.

After PT, I went to Pomegranate Café and had their Bountiful Bowl with a Cowgirl Cookie as my appetizer. Yup, damn cookies are so good that I can’t have one in my possession without devouring it.

 

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I once made Cowgirl Cookies, but they were nowhere near as good as these. I need to experiment more with them. SO good!!

Then, I took Ali to the dog park to see Cameron, and she met a new friend named Lola!

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Lola is 8 months old and definitely an active pup! Ali was like “I’m an old lady, quit being so excited.” Lol!

Ali was excited to be out and about, though. Then, we met Abbey at Hillside Spot for an afternoon snack.

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Ali on out way home from our adventures. She loves to go for rides!

Then, I went for a 30 minute run and did 1:15 of hot yoga. I got a little bit overheated about 20 minutes into class, and stepped out for a sec. I was able to finish the rest of the class just fine, though.

Then, I went to Trader Joes and got some random stuff, most of which was fruit. I also got a spaghetti squash.

I made Spaghetti Squash Boats from Ari’s Menu. I didn’t have ground turkey thawed, so I used some cooked chicken tenders I already had, and also added herbed goat cheese to the sauce to make it creamier. They were amazing!! Thanks again for another great one, Ari!!

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It was as amazing as it looks! I will definitely be making this again. Often!

Then, I hung out with Devin and watched the Bachelor (I know, right!? He actually asked about it!!) SO great! I can’t believe how drunk some of the girls get. SO annoying. Deal-breaker if you ask me. That Ford model girl is going to be a catty one. I can’t wait to see next week’s show!

What did you do today?

What did you do for exercise today?

Are you watching the Bachelor? What do you think so far?

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Ali’s Corner

So Mommy’s legs hurt because she is half crazy and ran 13.1 miles or something on Sunday. I am taking advantage of her being passed out in bed, and taking over her computer again!

Last week was my birfday!! Look what Mommy got me!!

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It was so yummy! She’s hiding it in the refrigerator from me. I WILL figure out how to break in while she’s at work….you just wait…

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Mommy says she got it at Bone Appetit’ Dog Bakery!

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Oh Mom, are we done with the pictures yet? You know how I feel about them…. although I am quite the photogenic pug if I do say so myself!

Mommy got me a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!! Look!

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As you can see, I am thrilled….

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What happened to it? Did that neighbor dog get to it and make it his chew toy?

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Or did this guy get his teeth on it? This is Monty! I’ve never seen such an animal

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I had to check him out. Mommy said the lady that helps teach her how to run 13.1 miles is his Mommy. She feeds him tomatoes and lettuce. He is very nice. Very slow, though….dunno what’s up with that….Smile

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Mommy put this up in the living room and told me not to eat any of the things hanging off of it. Don’t worry Mom….if it doesn’t look like bacon, or smell like bacon, I’m probably too lazy to try and eat it. Did you hear that? Bacon……you are getting veerrrrrry sleeeeepy….Santa Paws says I was a good pug, so you want to give me baaaccccooooonnnnnnnnnnn…..

Pugs and Kisses!

Ali

Pugapalooza!!

This past weekend, Ali and I went to Pugapalooza to see a bunch of other pugs and their people raise money for APARN. APARN is the Arizona Pug Adoption and Rescue Network. Pugapalooza is an annual fundraising even that they put on that attracts pug lovers from all over the valley. I have had to work every time it has been held since I can remember (since moving here from Indiana.) This year, I lucked out! (So did Ali!) We got to go, and we had so much fun! Check it out:

Ali was super excited to meet some new friends!

Look at all of the puggly wugglies!!

Bosco was so stinkin’ cute and active!! He has degenerative disc disease and just got his cart this past year, if I remember correctly. This is a great example of how a disabled pug (or any other dog for that matter) can live a happy, healthy life with a little bit of assistance. It is such a huge pet peeve of mine when people make fun of sweet little things like this and say they should be put down. He is vivacious and social and just adorable!!

Look at Bosco and this little cowboy! Or is he a sheriff….

Yes, Ma’am, I am your sheriff….

Ali being a little social butterfly

What an adorable snort-tastic family!

My attempt at getting Ali to pose with them…at least she smiled!

Too cute not to post Smile

Mommy I had so much fun! Will you take me back next year? Maybe we can get me a sister or brother!

Happy Trails!

Stacey and Ali

Tater Tot Takeover

This is Ali, and I’m “borrowing” Mommy’s computer again so I can tell you about how much fun I had on Sunday!

Mommy took me with her to get some new shoes so she can run on the mountain. I got to meet Auntie Melissa and Uncle Joe at the shoe store. They smelled like another doggie I met before….I think it was at the WalkRunWag 5K9. He was tall, and his name was Apollo. He walked faster than me….I think he might have even been running. Crazy canine. Mommy carried me and put me in a wagon with my new pug friends when I got tired. I was a princess for a day! Wait….I’m a princess everyday!!

After the shoe store, we went on a ride so Mommy could get some brown stuff in a cup. She really likes that stuff. She drinks it all of the time. I think it looks yucky. I like my water in my water jug at home.

Then, Mommy took me to a place called Home Depot to look at stuff. Daddy was there, too!

I got to ride on a cart through the store, it was so fun!

I had a very fun day, so I was tired on the way home.

Well, I better put Mommy’s computer back before she finds out I borrowed it and hijacked her blog again.

Pugs and Kisses!

Ali

Tater Tot Takeover

Mommy is trying to sleep right now, so I “borrowed” her computer again Open-mouthed smile.

This is me earlier enjoying Daddy’s dirty work clothes. I think he got the point when I laid down on his pair of dirty socks, so now he always puts his clothes down for me to lay on. Good human.

I like to lay all over the house all day long. I’ll lay anywhere, especially in the sun. I always have to make sure I know what’s going on in that room where the food comes from. If something falls on the floor, well, Mommy and Daddy will need my assistance.

This is me helping Mommy clean the house last week:

Mommy loves using that moving thing to clean the house. She says she works very hard to clean the floors with it.

This is me looking at Mommy like she is crazy. Well, she kind of is when she gets up at 4am to go places dressed in running clothes in the dark. Weird human. All she has to do is take me on a walk! Then we’ll both get our exercise, right?

Are you taking your dog on a walk today?

Pugs and Kisses!

Ali