Two Dog Adventures

Sorry for no update this past week. Things have been busy around the McCarl household. We're finally getting settled and used to having two dogs. We love them both so much but are really different.

Patsy is so sweet, independent, and sleepy. I think she gets that from her Mommy. She is a complete Daddy's girl.

Jacob is active, cuddly, and curious. He is more like his Daddy. Jacob is definitly already a Mommy's boy.

Together, these two make a wonderful pair. They LOVE to play!! They LOVE treats!! They LOVE each other!!

Here are some things that we've been figuring out about our two two dogs.

*We have discovered that the neighbors have a beautiful white cat. Well, she's beautiful when she's not in our backyard trying to attack the dogs. Jacob was very curious about her but when she hissed and pawed at him, he changed his attitude a little.

*Jacob LOVES to be outside. However, he thinks that anytime the door opens he must go out. Last Tuesday morning, Mommy had to chase him around our neighborhood. I was so upset but finally got some help from above. A man down the street was walking his dog and Jacob went to sniff his dog. Then, the man grabbed Jacob and I was able to get him and carry his 34 lb. self back to our house. I was NOT happy!! We now have a trick for getting out the door. Get to the door, throw a treat across the room, and run out the door.

*Toys are for sharing! Patsy has always loved her "babies" and likes to put them where she wants them. Jacob likes to carry them around everywhere. We have had many little "arguments" about the "babies" and who should have them and where they should be.

*The blue chair belongs to Patsy only. Patsy has always loved her chair but now that Jacob is here, she loves it even more. Jacob may sit on the blue couch with Mat or on the black couch with me. That is unless they both want to cuddle with Daddy on the couch.


*The treat cabinet is not safe. Last night, we had friends over for a movie. Courtney came into the living room and had to tell on Jacob. He was seen opening up the treat cabinet with his nose. Now, he loves to do this all the time. Trash cans and food aren't safe either!!

*Pink dog beds=boy dogs and Blue dog beds=girl dogs. Patsy started here with an old comforter. Then, we bought her a cute blue bed to match our bedroom and then Mat's mom gave her an old one from their dog Molly. Patsy loves her comforter which is in the living room and her pink bed. Well, now that she has to share, she would much rather have the blue bed. A girl's gotta have a nice bed.

*Dog baths are fun - not! Well, Jacob loves the bath but Patsy hates it. Jacob is so cute when he gets out. He tries to dry himself off but rubbing up against the towels and the carpet. Patsy would just much rather be dirty all her life. Too bad we insist on bathing her all the time.

*Jacob has severe separation anxiety. Not only does he want to escape when we leave but he always wants to do his loud beagle bark. I hate leaving him because he crawls up in the window and starts barking as soon as I get the door closed. It is so sad to hear! I always want to go back in and love on him.

*Everyone should have at least one dog. We have truly been blessed by all of the love that these two dogs can give. We joke about how we can't imagine our lives without them. We are so happy to have them!

Introducing...

Jacob B. (Beagle) McCarl!

We are excited to announce that we have a new member of our family.

We just adopted Jacob from the Animal Shelter. We had been thinking about getting another dog since we got Patsy. However, it finally seemed to be the right time and we were financially able to take on another dog. On Sunday, we received a call from the shelter that they had Jacob and would put a hold on him until we could get there. We went Monday and visited him. Then, Tuesday we took Patsy to meet him. Today, we went to pick him up and bring him home!

He was recently given up because his first family was losing their home to foreclosure and they couldn't keep him anymore. We're sad to hear that about his other family but are blessed to have him with us. He and Patsy are having a lot of fun together and Mat and I love him already. He is a great addition to our family!

Enjoy the pictures of our afternoon!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I love a Blog Makeover!

Just in time for Spring, I asked my bloggy friend, Faith to make over my blog. Don't you love this new look? It is so colorful and cheerful.

Head over to her design blog and get one of your own. She is so talented and it was a pleasure to work with her. She is such a sweet Christian woman.

Thank you, Faith, for my new blog look! I LOVE IT!!

http://adesignoffaith.blogspot.com/

Dress for Less

Kelly at Kelly's Korner (one of my favorite blogs) is hosting "Recession Fashion - Dress for Less!". I had to join in on sharing my ideas because my two favorite things (other than people) are shopping and good deals. Here are some of the many things I love that are $30 and under.

If you haven't checked out Old Navy lately, go NOW. I was there on Saturday and found so many things I wanted. I had self control though and only bought a few things.

I got this dress in black. It was only $15!! I wore it today with a white t-shirt underneath. I got so many compliments on it. It is cotton and comfortable too. Love it!

While you're at Old Navy, pick up one of these t-shirts in every color. I wear these under a lot of stuff. They are only $5!

Also, try on this dress. I saw it on Saturday but forgot to try it on. :( I want to go back and pick it up. It is only $29.50.

I also love Forever 21. They have cute and trendy stuff for great prices.

This dress is only $22.80 and so cute. I love it!!

You must have jewelry. You can get this set of earrings for $3.80! I love the colors of them.

As you can tell I, I love dresses. I'm so excited that Spring is close because I can't wait to get out all of my dresses. Of course, I have to buy some new ones too. :)

One thing I am having a hard time finding is shoes. I love flip flops but I can't wear them to work. I need some cute Spring/Summer shoes for work. Any ideas?

I hope you enjoyed this post and come back soon. If you are visiting from Kelly's Korner, please leave a comment so I can visit your blog. I LOVE bloggy visitors.

Serious Life Magazine

Go check out Serious Life Magazine. It is written by Brent Riggs (Abby's Dad). Abby is one of the little girls I've been asking you to pray for.

http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

Pay close attention to page 177.

And, as always, pray for Abby.

Answers from Q & A

Wow! I have to start updating this more often. Don't I say that every time?

I'm finally getting around to answering the questions from Q & A. Thanks Ann and Patrick for your questions.

Ann asked if I had tried the Wii Fit for weight loss.
I have not tried it yet. Mat actually bought me a Wii for my birthday and grad. school graduation (neither of these occurs until August) but couldn't wait to give it to me. I was going to go out and get one for myself so he thought he better go ahead and give it to me. It is so much fun!! We don't have the Wii Fit yet because all of the stores around us are out. Hopefully we'll have one soon. Our neighbor has one and he's already lost 5 pounds using it. :)

Ann asked what different eating habits I have now.
I am starting out with the basics. I'm drinking water and eating healthier. I am actually thinking about what goes in my mouth which is always difficult for me. Also, I'm giving up fast food. McDonalds and Wendys had become our favorite places to eat. No more of those! Also, I'm trying to eat more protein because that keeps you full longer. My mother-in-law taught me that after she had surgery. Even peanut butter has protein!

Ann's last question was to tell the strangest thing that has happened in the last 3 days.
Well, let's see. I'm a teacher so strange things don't happen. HA!!
Probably the strangest thing that has happened was our dog, Patsy, eating chicken bones (no, they're not good for dogs). We had wings (yummy!) the other night and put the bones in the trash. Well, our little sniffer decided to pull them out and eat them while we weren't here. She's never been too interested in the trash can before so we didn't think about it. However, when I got home, she had trash all over our floor. She was sick all day Friday. I think she was rethinking that decision to eat chicken bones.

Patrick asked about recipes.
I don't cook a lot. I'm learning but I'm not great at coming up with meal ideas or recipes. I love cookbooks that are like "3 ingredients or less" because I don't have to have tons of stuff to make them. I've also discovered the Crock Pot and love it because I can start something in the morning and it is done when we get home. Melodie is a much better cook than me. Fish?! That girl is talented.

Patrick also asked for 10 reasons that he, Melodie, and Jamie (their son) should move up here to DC.
They currently live in Georgia (right outside of Savannah - my favorite city ever!!). But, they are going to move up here soon. YIPPEE!! Here are my 10 reasons they should move up here.
1. Free babysitting. Mat and I will babysit anytime!!
2. Playgrounds and parks. There are playgrounds and parks everywhere up here. Our neighborhood has several and we're right down the road from a HUGE park.
3. Great teaching opportunity. Patrick and Melodie are both teachers. Our school system is the 13th largest school district in the country. We have our own professional development department, get paid a lot more than in Georgia, and I work with lots of awesome people.
4. Great schools for Jamie. Because the school system is so big, we have tons of opportunities for kids.
5. There is never a lack of stuff to do. The Smithsonian museums are free, there are lots of malls, and all of those playgrounds and parks. SO much stuff to do.
6. The Cheesecake Factory! Just this week I found out that the Cheesecake Factory is the greatest restaurant ever. You should move here just for that. Yes, I think they do have them all across the country but our's is the best. :)
7. A great group of friends. We've already pre-selected friends for you to hang out with. We are of course the best of those but there are more.
8. Bad Movie Club. Every other weekend, Mat goes to "Bad Movie Club". Him and some of his friends get together and watch horrible movies. It isn't my kind of thing but you and Melodie might like it.
9. Wii Competition. We can all play games on the Wii. It would be much more fun than me trying to beat Mat all the time.
10. You would give Mat's mom a grandson. She cannot wait until Mat and I have kids because she wants grandchildren. She could be Jamie's adopted grandmother and that would take the pressure off of me and Mat. :)
There are lots of reasons but these are what came to mind.

I think everyone is probably tired of reading so I'll update more later.

Have a great Sunday! I hope your weather is nice like it is here. Bring on Spring!!!

My Weekend

I hope that you are all having a great weekend. Mine (Jess) hasn't been so great. Yesterday, we took Patsy to the vet and then to have lunch with Mat's Mom and sister. I was very tired there and got a stomach ache after eating. However, if you know me at all, you know this is normal for me. I came home and took a nap (again normal) but woke up feeling hot and achy all over. BLAH!!

Last night, things got worse. I laid on the couch all evening and finally decided to move to the bed about 1am. Well, Patsy couldn't sleep and neither could I. We woke up at 2am, 3am, 4am, 5:30am, and finally slept until 9:30am. It was a pretty miserable night. Once I moved back down to the couch this morning, things were the same. I've slept a little on and off. Mat did go get me a thermometer, Gatorade, and soup. I'm feeling a little better since I ate and slept a solid hour. I'm working on graduate school work now and hope that I can get that done.

There is supposed to be snow tonight and tomorrow so I'm praying for that!!

Once I feel better, I'll answer the questions from my last blog post.

Have a good rest of your weekend!