We Did It!! Registered Therapy Team!

    (We're officially a Registered Therapy Team through Delta Society, Intermountain Therapy Animals, & Mid-South Therapy Dogs & Friends! Ya!)

                                  
On Sunday March 20th, Ranger and I sat for our PPSAT test through Delta Society, and I'm thrilled to say that we passed! We are officially a registered therapy team! Out of the nine dogs tested that day, only Ranger and our friend's dog passed (I'm glad they told me about that little statistic AFTER we tested, otherwise I would have been a nervous wreck lol!) 


It's been a fun and crazy journey so far as his handler, and I'm soo excited to see what the future holds as far as our therapy visits go. We will be working with Delta Society, Mid-South Therapy Dogs, and Intermountain Therapy Animals. I hope that Ranger is able to bring as much joy and happiness into the lives of the clients we will visit as he already brings into my life! He is such a sweet boy and I am such a proud puppy momma this week! He turned 1 yr old in January and he has already passed Puppy, Intermediate, and Advanced Obedience classes as well as Beginner Agility, his CGC test, and now his PPSAT test. We are currently training him in a more intense Advanced Obedience class right now and he is starting up Intermediate Agility as well as Rally Obedience soon. I also plan to start competing him in the future for Obedience, Rally, and Agility titles; I absolutely love the bonding experiences that the different training classes and such offer us. The thing I really love about Australian Shepherds is that they are sort of a "jack of all trades"; any job you give them, they absolutely love and seem to thrive at with proper guidance!


In a bit of exciting news, later today Ranger, and I are taking a road trip to Missouri to scout out potential Therapy Dog #2 from Ranger's breeder!! I'm soo excited! (We were going to take Macy with us also, but the vet didn't think  it would be wise to take her that far from home with her heart conditions, so my sister will be checking on her while we are gone). If all goes well and the right pup is there, will be adding a third pup to our pack! (The timing couldn't be better either, since I'm planning to move into a nice rental house when my lease is up....can we say "fenced in back yard"?!?!) Hopefully Macy will be a calm, loving example for the new pup, and Ranger will teach it all about therapy work and competition! If we bring one home, I will be sure to post lots of pictures for you lovely blog readers! :)

John 6:27

(Our homemade potato salad! Soo yummy!)

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."

~John 6:27~

What a great verse! Every morning when I wake up I like to read a Bible verse; sometimes this is in the forum of  an application on my cell phone. This was the daily Bible verse for this morning and I thought it was quite appropriate! 

This week is my nephew Cooper's spring break, so he has been spending the night with me since Saturday. Last night/today we have been doing one of our favorite activities: Cooking (and laboring around the kitchen slicing, dicing, and all sorts of things, just having a great time). Last night we made my Aunt Syliva's homemade potato salad recipe and some smoothies. A little background on that potato salad recipe: my grandfather used to own a Kosher deli & meat market in the Memphis area years ago and this is the recipe that my Aunt Sylivia used to prepare for their customers! In addition to last nights recipes, this afternoon we started in on a homemade spaghetti and meatball recipe that I've been wanting to try out (Katie Lee's recipe). This recipe is fantastic and almost has a bruschetta taste to it; delicious! How appropriate is it that in the midst of our culinary adventures, we're reminded by God that we should also be focusing on the bigger picture. :)

New Fruit Topping!

So tonight I spoke with my Cousin Barton for a while. (He's actually my father's first cousin and like a second father to me). Among the myrid of our conversation pieces (dogs, politics, weather, and such) I mentioned that I had picked up some fresh fruit at the grocery store yesterday.(Since most of their produce left something to be desired, I decided on a pre mixed fruit cup that had strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.) He mentioned that my Aunt Sylvia used to mix sour cream and sugar together and put it on top of her fresh fruit. Being a recipe junkie, I thought I'd give it a try. It was delicious!!!!

So, new fruit topper recipe is simple:  I eyeballed my ingredients, but for reference it looks to be about 1 tablespoon Sour Cream + 1 teaspoon Sugar : mix it together and the voila! You have a delightful fruit topping that is to die for! I'm also thinking at if you add a pinch of vanilla, kaluah, vanilla liquor, or even orange juice to the mixture that it would be quite delicious!

Wordless Wednesday

(My dad had an open house the other day and bought some flowers to decorate with. He was nice and brought them over to my apartment today since he was done with them. I thought it was a sweet surprise. :) )

Dust Bunnies, Be Gone!

I'll preface this by saying that I have 3 cats and  two dogs. (Two dogs that shed quite a bit despite daily brushings, premium food, and regular baths! I think I've tried everything...) I typically vaccume my apartment every day, if not every other day to keep this place nice and tidy and to keep everyone healthy. My mom has owned her own cleaning business since I was a baby, so I definitely grew up a bit of a neat freak haha. This week I got a little busy and let things slide however. It has now been 4 days since I vaccumed my apartment and now you'd think that some mega dust bunnies had rolled into town and took a leisurely trip throughout my apartment. ICK!  I love my furbabies, but I prefer their fur stay on them and off of my carpet! So, I suppose I'll be devoting part of today to a little deep cleaning of the apartment...time to break out the Dyson and get to work!

(For those of you in the market for a new vaccume, I've had my Dyson for 3 years now and it is the only vaccume I will ever use from now on! Mine was a gift several years ago, but I will defintiely say it's worth every penny and I've never had issues with mine! I definitely think it's worth if if you have pets or allergies/asthma! The model that I have is a Dyson Animal DC 17 and it picks up EVERYTHING!) 

Cheese Please!

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a cheese freak...I'm obsessed with the stuff actually! (This might not be my best obsession considering I'm Lactose Intolerant haha). I am always trying out new cheeses when I visit the grocery store.) Several months ago while I was at Costco of all places, I discovered my new favorite: Dubliner by Kerrygold! It's AMAZING! It is a delicious snack when you chop it and pair it with whole wheat crackers, wine, or fresh fruit. It also mixes incredably well into homemade alfredo sauces, makes an amazing mixture with onion, garlic, and bell peppers for stuffed chicken, and is an amazing topping when you mince it up with blue cheese and broil steak or chicken with it...yummy! (It also makes amazing dips,etc...the options are endless with this gem of a gourmet cheese!) For my local blog readers, I've bought this at Costco and Kroger. (It's pretty inexpensive too! Remember that with a lot of gourmet cheeses, a little goes a long way ;) ) Enjoy!

Dubliner Cheese Link