I'm here with some INKnBURN love on a Saturday!

Hi everyone!! 

A lot has happened in the past year and a half but I'm finally getting back to blogging. Went through some rough patches but I found that making sure I exercised (even when I really, really didn't want to) kept me going. 

A couple of years ago I came across some awesome looking running gear from INKnBURN that looked like works of art.  This was a big draw to me because things had been so hard that I was struggling to find the motivation to keep working out - I found that every time I opened my dresser drawers it was like the clothes were calling to me to put them on and keep on working out, running and training my dogs :) 

I've been training for a 10k (because it was only a dollar more to buy the couch to 10k app compared to the couch to 5k app :)) and found that INKnBURN is so comfortable to not only run in but to also train my dogs because the capris and tights have pockets that are perfect for treats :) 

Here are some before and after pictures of my run on Thursday where I got completely soaked!! Finished week 4 of couch to 10k! Love this Phoenix shirt and the Liberty shorts from INKnBURN! 

And here's how my typical weekend day went today.. I threw on my INKnBURN Soaring tech and my favorite Liberty capris. Then I took Battlestar to the agility field to train. We both got a workout in and she got nice and tired and dirty!! 

Jump, Battle, jump!!

Always have to end training with a handshake :)

Perfect timing for Battlestar to get dirty because she had a grooming appointment to go to. So I dropped her off, did some shopping and got lots of compliments on my INKnBURN outfit!

I had some time to fit in a run after shopping - really love that I can go from the training field to shopping to running without changing outfits!!

I met a new friend while running in the park :)

After I finished my run it was time to pick up Battle who was nice and pretty after her spa appointment :) Then we headed home to chill for the afternoon.

I really love all the details of INKnBURN clothing - the capris look like denim and even have pocket details in the back!

I actually got the INKnBURN Liberty capris and shorts as a gift to myself for making the 2017 World Team last year - I'll be posting about that crazy, amazing experience sometime soon :) 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July weekend!! 

Trendy Thursday!

Because I'm oh so super fashionable, I thought I'd post the latest trends seen in my household :) 

Starting off with the very best - I caught my husband trying to camouflage himself to look like the couch.... 

As if crocs couldn't get any uglier... they make them in beige now... 

Apparently, he also has tan socks that match the pants, shirt and couch but went with the black socks instead. 

I think little Miss Battlestar has got to have the most fashion sense in the house - just look at how she coordinates her purple tipped tail to her rainbow bandana! And she's such a great sport when I ask her to model things I knit :) 

And now for one of my most fashionable moments - work conference in New Orleans just happened to fall on Halloween so my mom made my Zombie Snow White costume!

Yes, my mom did make this costume - she's awesome!! 

Today's WTF moment.... curtsey of the TN DMV

Nari says belly rubs are always MANDATORY!!

Well... Things kind of blow right now... guess that's what happens when your family gets a call from a a psych hospital in New Mexico informing you that your brother (who was missing on/off for over two years) has been committed and is schizophrenic. Just a little taste of what I've been dealing with this year...

This is Nari's 'GIVE ME ALL YOUR TASTEY FOOD' face. 

So as the title goes, today's WTF moment is curtesy of the not-so-nice person who I talked to at the TN DMV. Long story short... I'm trying to figure out what I need to get my brother a state ID and the conversation went kind of like this:

Me - I'm hoping you can help me get an ID for my brother. What do we need to bring?

Jerk DMV person - Original birth certificate, Social Security card, 2 pieces of mail. 

Me - My brother has been homeless and doesn't have the original Social Security card - what can we use instead?

Jerk - Work ID, insurance ID

Me - He was homeless, he has nothing - the Social Security office won't give us a card without a state ID which is what we're calling you about. What can we do? 

Jerk - A Dollywood season pass will work

Then I tried to clarify this and she hung up on me. 

WTF - even Starbuck has a Dollywood ID :)

Seriously??? They'll take a fucking Dollywood season pass but won't take a photocopy of his Social Security card - WTF?? Lately, I've been encountering lots of WTF moments but at least this one made me laugh :) 

Other than that - dogs are crazy and keeping me busy :) And Nari is SUPER CRAZY happy that she's back to competing and training regularly. She has tons of energy and doesn't let me slack in the dog walking/running/training department. 

Run, Nar, RUN!!

A new start....

The super amazing Nari! Photograph by the amazingly talented Julie Poole - please don't be an asshole and steal this photo, it's a seriously awesome photo and I don't want to waist my time and hunt down photo-stealing assholes.

Well - let's be honest here - I'm terrible at blogging (and barely anyone reads this blog anyway :)). Sometimes it's hard to get on here and write posts about how everything is great and super cute but sometimes reality is that things just fucking suck and aren't pleasant or easy or happy.

I started this blog because people seem to enjoy the super cute pictures of my dogs and I wanted to share what we have been doing with agility. But I haven't really kept up with it because sometimes it's hard to get on here and post a cute picture and talk about how great things are when they just aren't.

I think I'm going to change the focus and just start posting about what's really going on. I think it's just bad to get on Facebook or other social media sites and see that everyone's life is super perfect and awesome - my life's not perfect and quite frankly it's really fucking shitty sometimes. Not all the time - I have plenty of awesomeness going on at times but mixed in the with awesomeness is some bullshit and some okay times.

So... here's to a new start - maybe it will be helpful to people to just be honest with what's really going on.

Nari squeaking in morse code, 'This weather is no party and all bullshit!'

In lame weather news - it's been raining a lot here which means that Nari is super pissed that she can't go on long walks or play agility. So she's been squeaking/yelling/punching us non-stop to make sure we know how tragic her life is right now :) Luckily we had a couple of indoor trials the past two weeks so she at least got to do sometime (although she says it's not enough!).

Don't stop believin'!!

Look at that amazing dog and my simply brilliant skeleton pants!! 

This has all been quite a crazy couple of years for me - Nari getting so sick she can't even walk to making a recovery and running agility faster than ever!! She's like a puppy now - screaming at me, demanding walks even after she had spent an hour at the agility field. There's an amazing artist that lives a few hours from me and she created this special harness tag for Nari - I thought a winged-unicorn was appropriate for Nari because she's pretty much the most amazing being ever she might as well be a winged-unicorn :) 

Nari's kick-ass agility harness tag 

I was so crazy excited that not only was Nari able to get back to agility back in April of this year but she even qualified for Nationals AND earned byes into the semifinals for both Grand Prix and Steeplechase!! And that little amazing girl almost made the finals - she was fast and speedy but a teeter fault kept us out of Grand Prix and a pause to scratch burs stuck on her ear kept us out of Steeplechase but she tried her hardest and was simply amazing! 

I finally put together a highlight video of her runs - enjoy! 

I have some exciting ideas on what we can do in 2016 - so we will see what next year brings us :) 

Big weekend for the Battlestar!!

Battlestar had a big (and busy) weekend! Which meant that I had a very busy weekend...

First up Saturday morning was family pictures at the studio for our annual Christmas cards. The always amazing Julie Poole had her yearly benefit for the local animal shelter so we headed over to her studio around 9 am (40 min drive) with the crew. After about 45 minutes of craziness - Battlestar kept trying to get everyone to chase her so we put a show lead on to get her to finally stay still - pictures were done.

We all headed home, I grabbed lunch and then packed up Starbuck, Nari and Battlestar again and drove to the local agility trial (30 min drive) and the girls got massages. I heard that they were doing CGC tests at the show so I signed Battlestar up and she passed her CGC test!! I drove 30 mins back home - proudly told my husband that Battlestar passed her CGC test which her promptly started laughing at as she ran around the house trying to be a jerk and herd everyone while barking ever so shrilly and loudly.... :)

Starbuck demonstrating the tough life of a canine athlete!!

Nari thinks that massages aren't all that bad - as long as she can occasionally yell and kick the masseuse :) 

Battlestar looking awfully cute while watching her sister get a massage 

                           

Then - packed up the car yet again (this time with all 4 girls) and drove 3 hours to Nashville that evening for a Sunday agility trial. The girls of course had lots of hotel time fun. Sunday I ran all 4 girls in a small trial and they all had a blast!! Battlestar, Alpha and Starbuck all had 3 runs and Nari only had 2 so she was throwing a bloody fit in the car and practically trying to throw herself out of the car whenever I opened the crate door - then screaming when it was her turn to run :) I missed that so much while she was sick - it's so good to have her back :)

The big news of the weekend is that Battlestar is getting better at trials!!! This one was really small with not so many distractions so she didn't freak out on course :) I think she had a great time - she started blowing her startline stays due to excitement and not fear so that is very very good! Hopefully someday we will both get our act together and be able to run at bigger venues.



I feel like that song is very appropriate for us :) I have endured many 'Battle wounds' and even some 'Battle scars' with this girl - she's taught me a lot and kind of makes me want to punch anyone who says that training shelties is easy... but damn she's an awesome dog and hella fast! :)