Happy Halloween Everyone!! I can't wait to get home tonight and hand out candy to all the trick or treaters. Last year was our first time being in a home where we actually had trick or treaters, and it was so much fun. We are all set, Ryan replaced the burnt out light bulb on the front porch, and I already have chili made for dinner. Trick or Treating hours in Fishers are 6pm - 8pm...over just in time for a bowl of chili, Monday Night Football, and leftover candy : )
We celebrated Halloween this past weekend in Bloomington. We went down to tailgate for Homecoming and then headed to Sports that night. Taylor made us the cutest costumes this year, OPI Nail Polish Bottles. We had fun putting them all together on Friday night, and they were a big hit at the bars on Saturday, at least among all the ladies. Most guys just gave us a funny look until they got it, which some I don't think ever did.
Hope everyone has a fun & safe Halloween this year!!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
"Fake-Bake" Healthy Casserole
A few nights ago I decided I wanted to make some comfort food because of the cold, rainy weather, but I did not want it to ruin our diets. I thought a casserole would be easy, so I searched online for some different recipes. I found 3 that looked interesting and took bits and pieces from each one. It does take a little while to cut everything up, but shouldn't take more than 40 minutes or so to make this, especially by using the 90 second rice...
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Next brown up ground turkey sausage (I already had sweet Italian sausage on hand so I used that).
While the ground sausage is cooking, chop up the following:
2 zucchini
2 peppers (I used red & orange)
1 squash
1 yellow onion
season with salt & pepper
2 cups of low fat milk
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Next brown up ground turkey sausage (I already had sweet Italian sausage on hand so I used that).
While the ground sausage is cooking, chop up the following:
2 zucchini
2 peppers (I used red & orange)
1 squash
1 yellow onion
season with salt & pepper
(remove ground sausage from pan and place aside in baking dish - you can now use the same pan to saute your vegetables in in olive oil.)
While your vegetables are cooking you can prepare the sauce, in sauce pan add:
3 tablespoons of flower
(whisk these together on medium heat until it begins to thicken, then reduce heat)
Stir in:
2 cups of frozen corn
1 1/2 cups of shredded pepper jack cheese
salt & pepper
(if this thickens up to much just add more milk)
Next take two bags of Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Brown Ready Rice and microwave.
Once your veggies are done add a splash of chicken broth to keep everything moist. Then add your veggies, rice, and sauce to the baking dish and mix in with your ground sausage. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove from oven and top with:
1 diced jalapeno
1/2 cup of low fat cream cheese (just dabble this on top and it will melt in)
Return to oven, uncovered, for another 15 minutes.
Hit with a dash of hot sauce. Serve. Enjoy.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Relaxing Fall Weekend
This weekend Ryan and I had a lot of fun, not doing much of anything. I was glad we didn't have a schedule and didn't need to get much done around the house, especially because Ryan leaves tomorrow to go to Dallas for the rest of the week.
Friday after work I met Ryan at Brebeuf where he reffed his last regular season high school football game for the year. The weather was perfect and it was fun to watch him. Well, until about half time when I decided to head out and meet up with some friends. I went over the the Dunn's new house to hang out with them and the Mays. Ryan met us after his game, and we had some drinks around the bonfire. We then found our way to the hot tub, which felt amazing and was so relaxing! It was great getting to catch up with everyone.
Saturday morning Ryan and I got up and went to Starbucks before our counter top search. We went to a few different places and I think we now have a good idea of what we want. We haven't bought anything yet, but we came close. We went to a granite warehouse and got to see the huge slabs as well as remnants that were really neat. After a few hours of this we found ourselves sitting outside at Muldoon's with a cold beer and 9-layer dip. It was just so nice out, we had to be outside. We finished up our snack and walked around downtown Carmel, stopping at Joe's Butcher shop and of course Huddles! About 2:30 we decided to head back home and watch the Hoosiers! After the game we worked out, made dinner, and then got ready to go out downtown. It was our first time at Sensu, and it was really fun. I'm still trying to decide if we liked it because we didn't have to pay cover, we didn't have to pay for our drinks, and we had a VIP booth all night, or if we would go back without all of these perks? It's a great place to dance and I'm sure would be a blast with a bunch of friends.
Sunday I woke up early to pick up Bentley from PupTown. Taylor & Kyle had a wedding in Columbus and had to board him Saturday night. Ryan had to coach at St. Luke's Sunday so Bentley and I enjoyed another nice day and went for a walk at Heritage Park. We got home just in time to watch the Colts game, even though it was pretty disappointing. Ryan and I went to Taylor & Kyle's for dinner and then we all went to our volleyball game later that evening. We won all 3 games, and are on a 9-0 roll : ) Next Sunday is the tournament. Hope everyone else had a great weekend and got enjoy this amazing weather!!
Friday after work I met Ryan at Brebeuf where he reffed his last regular season high school football game for the year. The weather was perfect and it was fun to watch him. Well, until about half time when I decided to head out and meet up with some friends. I went over the the Dunn's new house to hang out with them and the Mays. Ryan met us after his game, and we had some drinks around the bonfire. We then found our way to the hot tub, which felt amazing and was so relaxing! It was great getting to catch up with everyone.
Ry reffing (sorry about the Iphone quality photos) |
Me & Jax by the fire |
Cheers! |
Huddles, Red Velvet & Cake Batter Swirl : ) |
Bentley & the New Cat had a Show Down |
Nap Time! |
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Pet Adoption
I saw this posted online today and thought I would share. It's really sad, but hopefully it will encourage people to adopt pets instead of buying them from breeders and pet stores...
I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.
First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.
That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.
The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".
Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.
Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.
If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.
Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".
First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?
I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.
I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.
Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.
My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!
Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT.
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