Weekend Adventures at the Coast!

I haven't shared my weekend adventures lately, because quite honestly my weekends have been pretty lazy laid back, and I am guessing that reading about grocery shopping and laundry won't hold anyone's attention.
This weekend I went to the beautiful Oregon coast!

Friday night we were at home, when my husband looks over and asks if I wanted to stay at the coast this weekend. After a quick search, I had booked a pet friendly hotel in Newport, Oregon. The next morning we packed up and headed out.

We haven't taken Gus to the beach with us in quite a while, and I forgot how much he loves it. He spent a good hour or so just running around in and out of the water. One of the big reasons we don't take Gus to the coast more often is he's not great in the car. He whines, barks and gets car sick. Poor boy. He also gets scared at new places. And he was scared of the foam the tide left on the sand.

The weather was gorgeous, which is not always the case on the central Oregon coast. Weather.com said it was supposed to rain the entire time, but we didn't see any rain until a quick shower Sunday morning before we went out for a walk.

Every time we go to Newport we talk about eating dinner at Local Ocean Seafood, which overlooks the docks. For whatever reason, we never have tried it, even though we have drooled over the menu. I seriously don't know what we were waiting for. We started dinner with grilled calamari, then we split a crab po' boy and a bowl of Brazilian seafood stew with a coconut milk broth. So yummy. I highly recommend it!

It was a quick trip, but it was so good to be at the ocean. Gus is super worn out now

Winner winner chicken dinner!

I think a lot of us sign up for blog giveaways. I mean, who doesn't want to win cool free stuff? I have won a couple things before. Actually, the first give away I had ever signed up for I won. It was this lady's book. After that, I thought I wold win them all. Then I hit a year long giveaway dry spell until I won a gift pack from this awesome girl. That was back in September. Then just last month, my lucky dog won 2 giveaways. I mean technically I won them, but I am not going to use his stuff. Check it out.

First Gus won a Frosty Paws prize pack from Sarah and Floyd. It included that cute little Frosty Paws stuffy and coupons for free packs of doggie fro-yo. Since it has just now started to get sunny here, we haven't cashed in yet. He has had it before and he loves it. 

The other half of that picture is the contents of Gus's Bark Box. He  We won a one month subscription from Jessica and Avery. While I loved the box, Gus was not impressed.

I mean, he likes the treats, but he eats cat poop, so I don't think that is a good measure. He has only sniffed at the pink thing but he has torn up that duck looking stuffy.

One thing that I am impressed with is the prizes I won from Resolutions in Motion. One of two prizes was a print from Olive and Birch. I chose the Beetles print that she has. Check out her stuff. It is super cute. Check out the other thing I won

Look at my cute new sweatshirt from Nutrition Snob. For reals, go look at her stuff. It is so cute. I also won a tank from her as well. It took me forever to decide what I wanted. I could have chosen anything in the shop and been so happy with it. This is my new favorite sweatshirt. Great quality, super comfy, and I love the message. She is also gorgeous which make her stuff look all that much better. 

Have you ever won a blog giveaway?

Meet the Furbabies

Today Gus is over trying to make some friends over at Total Basset Case. Floyd (and Sarah) are super cute. Go over and say "hi" and  see Gus's pathetic attempt at online dating.

Since Gus is having his day over there, I thought I would formally introduce blogland to our other furbabies. I now have two cats. One has always been mine, and the other started off as mine and now he's back. Let's back up to my sophomore year of high school. My mom finally let me have a cat  (after a good 10 years of me asking for one.) My brother's cat had kittens and mom let me go over and choose one. I have really cute kitten pictures of him somewhere. I named him Kanobi and he was cute as can be. Two years later, I had to move off to college. Once I was finally in an apartment and could have a cat, I asked for mine back. Mom said that he was happy with her. So I adopted this little girl.

This is Allison. I got her when she was just 8 weeks old. She became extremely spoiled. And now here she is... at 7 1/2 years old. And fat.

After my mom passed away, Kanobi came back to live with us. He is adjusting as well as he can. Allison however, is not to keen on another feline living in the house.

He's part Siamese, 15 years old, and he is VERY talkative. He has already warmed up to Gus and he loves the Mister. He probably would tolerate Allison, if she would just let him out of his room. She will growl at him if her starts to go out. And she will go into his room and just stare at him. And eat his food. We've had him for about a month and a half, so I am hoping that it gets better soon.

Any ideas on how to make my cat stop being such a witch? Any pets of your own?

Fourth of July Adventures

Yikes! It is already the end of the 6th, and I have yet to share the my Fourth of July holiday with you all. First off, you have to realize that I live in a town called Independence, therefore, Independence Day is a big deal around here. Every year, my town (and the neighboring town) host two festivals, a parade and a "mini-marathon" for the holiday. We take this holiday very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that people set up their chairs for the parade at least 24 hours in advance.

This is a shaded spot, but there were chairs lined up on both sides of the road.

Right before the parade is the mini-marathon, a 2.6 mile run along the parade route. People are already in their chairs cheering for us, and cooling us off with squirt guns, hoses and sprinklers. I don't have any pictures of the run, but here is what I wore to run in.

In true fashion blogger style, I am not looking at the camera. My friend Kim and I made these matching tutus a couple weeks ago for the run, but like a dummy, I don't have a picture of us together. Boo! 

If you haven't had the pleasure of attending a small town parade, these pictures will give you a glimpse into the big event. Please remember, people put their chairs out a full 24 hours in advance for this.

There were plenty of tractors.// And a giant stretch truck thing. (Complete with a man singing on the top)//This was a float by one of the churches. It made the Mister uncomfortable.//Mini pony inside a van.

Carpet Hero is at every parade//Lots of horses. The mayors and city managers of the two towns act as a "clean up crew" at the end of the parade.// These are local violin students. One year a kid fell off the float. I laughed. Then felt bad.// See, we have some fancy floats.

The trike bikes//A tricked out lawn mower. My guess it will be used at the lawn mower races in September.//Yes, that is a man in a motorized wheelchair pulling a trailer.// Landscapers have floats too.

There were also the Shriners, a bunch of tricked out cars and classic cars, the cable company van, the towing company's trucks and more, but this was the highlight of the parade for me:

She wasn't part of a business, or a church or a club or anything. Just an old lady wearing red, white and blue, riding on her motorized wheelchair, with a curly cue horn. 

After the parade we walked down to the festival to eat a healthy lunch:

Tacos al pastor, hand dipped corn dog and apple pie fries. Yummy!

Gus wanted to get in on the Fourth of July festivities. And really, I wanted to do this to him since I made it:

That was pretty much it. The heat(all 78 degrees of it!) combined with the crummy food and not enough water was enough to trigger a migraine. Boo. After a nap and some Advil, I was still kind of out of it. Since the Mister had to work the next day, we opted out of the fireworks and watched some on TV like 70 year olds.

Does your town do anything for Independence Day? Do you dress your pets up? I can't be the only one!

Do cats get jealous?

Do cats get jealous? Because I think mine did. Yesterday I posted about the cute new dog bed I made for Gus. Allison, knew something was up with the fabric. The entire time I was making it she sat right next to me, looking at the soft, fluffy fleece. Then she watched as I put the final product in Gus's crate and he climbed in and laid down.

Then, Monday morning, I discovered that the little princess Allison, had POOPED on his new blanket inside Gus's crate! I have never even seen her go into Gus's crate, much less leave a little present behind. I think she was jealous that Gus got a new blankie and she didn't.

Do your pets get jealous? Am I the only one who thinks of their pets as little, furry people?

Gus and Allison

Blogland, I have two very important reasons for you to head out to your local animal shelters today! Please, meet Gus Dog and Allison Kitty.

Gus and Allison are both shelter pets, and they. are. awesome.

Let's start with Allison, shall we?

I adopted Allison 6+ years ago when she was just 8 weeks old. She has been the best kitty and companion I could have asked for. She is extremely feisty (still!) and will randomly just run around for no good reason. She is an indoor only cat, unless of course she has her leash on. As she is getting older she also enjoys cuddling on the couch and napping. She did just learn how to open the bedroom closet, so now to find away to keep that from happening! (She sheds. A lot.)

Blogland, meet Mister Gus Dog.

After the Mister and I bought our house, we started looking at shelters for a dog. This decision was completely mutual and I did not have to beg or bring it up 1000 times a day. (Is there a sarcasm font?) Our requirements for a dog was this: not a puppy, house trained, and MUST get along with cats. We also didn't really want a small dog, more of a medium sized one. We were hoping to get a dog at the beginning of summer so I could be home with him at first. We visited many dogs in 4 or 5 shelters before we met Gus. His name was McFly, and honestly, he didn't impress me much. He was super drooly and his white face just made him look old. We passed on him and put a deposit down on this younger golden retriever mix. In the end, that dog did not like cats, despite what her paperwork said. The shelter worker suggested we go back to McFly because he was so calm around cats. We took him outside, played a little fetch and decided we would be his forever family. That was 2 1/2 years ago.

Allison was given to the Humane Society as part of a litter of kittens. She and her sisters were fostered and then put up for adoption. When I met her, she was the last one left. Her paperwork even said "would be great if adopted with one of her sisters." Sad! I remember seeing her trying to climb up the side of her little kitty jail and I knew she had to come home with me. Gus had a little bit rougher of a story. He was a stray when he came to the Humane Society. After 2 months he was adopted, and then brought back. Sad! We met Gus about a month after that. He is pretty fearful of other dogs, fireworks, the dark etc. but he is also very loving and friendly with every person he meets.

Shelters everywhere are full of loving pets just looking for a forever family. If you are looking for a furry addition to your family, please consider going to a shelter instead of a breeder. Shelters have pets of all ages, shapes, colors and sizes. A lot of times they even have purebred dogs and puppies. If you are not able to adopt, please, please, please think about donating pet food, toys and beds. The economy is real rough right now, and our furry friends are suffering too. Many shelters have seen an increase in animals being surrendered and a decrease in donations.

And of course, there is one thing all responsible pet owners should do: have your pets spayed and neutered!

I'm linking this post to Kelly's Korner and her Show us your Life Series!