Weekends and Back to Fitness

It's been a while since my last post but finals are finally done!!! And it's the first week of winter break :D it's been so nice to just relax in my apartment and I am SO excited to be going home next week to be with my family. I miss them so much and it will be nice to just be with them for Christmas. And of course I get to see my fatcat coco :)

This weekend at work was super long. Friday I clocked in at 8:30 a.m. and didn't clock out till around 10:30 p.m. We worked a grizzly game (salt lake city's hockey team) and as you can see by my picture of Bo sleeping on my shoulder below it was super exciting. I also realized that apparently chihuahuas who have issues with people tend to like me? I don't know why.. I've never been a huge fan of small dogs but this weekend the super shy Rudy and the stray who hated everyone Kipper both gave me kisses and got really happy to see me whenever I was around.. It might have been the treats ;)

I also got to deal with the wildest pit puppy you'll ever meet. His name is Chips and as you can see below he is a handful! He is so cute but he really needs a person who will spend a lot of time training him and making sure he learns his doggie manners.

Because I'm on break this week I've also had more time to get back into exercise and eating healthily. Yesterday I worked out with Sam and we were really feeling it! Today it was snowing so I wasn't sure about doing for a run outside but I decided to woman up anyways and just do it! It was cold but I made it through! Only to have it stop snowing about 5 minutes after I got back -_- story of my life . I also just made a really delicious wrap with spinach, avocado, and hummus. It feels so good to be back on track (minus a few chip slips but hey nobody's perfect).

As a future teacher I've also been thinking a lot the past few days about the horrible school shooting that happened a few days ago. I can get my mind off those brave kids and faculty who didn't make it home from school that day. School is supposed to be a safe place for people to grow and learn. It is horrible to think about parents having to be scared about sending their kids to school fearing that they might not come back. I only hope that those parents, children, and everyone else affected can find some way to peace and that we as a country and as a world can focus on helping others, supporting each other, and spreading love to everyone we encounter in our daily lives.

So that's a range of thoughts for the day but yeah.. That's pretty much where my brain has been for the past couple days.

Vegan baking is a Success!!!!

So today I'm baking a bunch of vegan goodies for my final project in class tomorrow. The chocolate chip cookies were awesome! I've made them before and I think I prefer them to non-vegan cookies :) I also tried making strawberry cupcakes with buttercream frosting which I hadn't tried before! They took a lot of work.. And the frosting had to be done twice because the first time it was buttercream soup.. But finally the cupcakes are done and ready to be eaten! So I hope the class appreciates this..

And the disaster that my kitchen is at the moment. But this time tomorrow my finals will be done and the first semester of grad school complete! :D I can't wait!!!!!!!!

Pitbulls Pitbulls Pitbulls

I've know for a while that I absolutely love pitbulls. They are such amazing dogs and don't deserve the reputation they have at all. Working at a shelter I'm more afraid of getting bit by the chihuahuas I have to handle than by a pitbull. But for pitbull lovers and people who are iffy about them the documentary "Beyond the Myth is absolutely amazing! It goes into the horrible stereotypes being spread about pitbulls and the way they are demonized by the media. Yes.. Some pitbulls have done bad things but it is not the breed that is bad. It is the fault of irresponsible owners. And any breed of dog that is not trained properly or is mistreated can lash out against people in an aggressive way. So before you judge an entire breed think about judging the people on the other end of the leash. And don't push for the extermination of an entire breed of dog based on the actions of a few bad cases.

On the same topic this is Carlton :) He's an 8 month old pit mix pup at the shelter that I got to hang out with all weekend. He is seriously the sweetest dog and all he wants in return for his good behavior is a belly rub and maybe some treats! I want to take every animal home that I meet but he is one of the few that if I could I would absolutely adopt him permanently. Just look at that face!

2 More weeks of School...

There are 2 weeks left of my first semester of the Master's program and I am SO ready for a break.  It has been such a long semester going to school 4-5 days a week and then working 32 hours between the other 3 days..Some time off sounds great right now!

And I got an update from the people who adopted Halo :) The family came back to my store yesterday and told me he did great with all of the animals and kids at the home! And that he and the older dog who was diagnosed with cancer recently snuggled all night on the couch. I am so excited for him and hope to see him soon! Oh and his new name is Duke :)

Now off to the mountain of assignments I have to accomplish in the next few days..

Saturday...

Shelter story of the day... Why would anyone adopt an 8 year old dog and less than 24 hours later return him to the shelter for being "too big?" Come on people.. You obviously met this dog before you took him home..and he definitely did not grow overnight. Now he's one step closer to not making it out of the shelter... Thanks a lot.

On a happier note.. This little man got adopted today! Good luck in your new home Halo!! :)

A Day with Meme..

Today was a super long day at work.. But my big orange fluffy girl pancakes got adopted! I love when older cats get adopted :) and I got to hang out with this grump all day.. She really wasn't a grump and was a total sweetheart. But that face...

First Post!

So after making a bunch of teacher blogs for school and seeing that one of my best friends is also starting a blog (Hi Sam!!) I decided to make a personal one.  I really don't go on Facebook that much so this will kind of be my headquarters now.  So hello world of blogging! I'm excited to have a new (and hopefully more fun) relationship with you.

I named this blog the 23rd year because for the past year I've had a really good feeling about turning 23.  22 has been great! But something about the number 23 is calling to me.  So 2 more months of being 22 and then..the party begins.

Here we go!!

Warning: I will probably talk nonstop and post countless pictures of animals on here.  But hey, if you don't like animals...I probably don't like you. :)

This is Max!! He was one of my first friends at the shelter a year ago when I was just a wee volunteer. :)

Now I work there and am even happier!