Gishmas 2011

The Cast:

Me: Sarah, 27, stressed.

Joey: DH, 26, *loves family togetherness

Doc: Min Pin, 2.5, chunky

Chloe: Min Pin, 1, brand new

Mom Davis: Not putting her age on the internet!, Nurturing mother

Dad Davis: Not putting his age out there either!, Friend of all dogs

Laura Davis: 21 today! Happy birthday!

Dakota Davis: 10, Neurotic

Peyton: 25 (?), Amazing chef

*sarcasm

-----------------------

Christmas Eve:

0730: Sarah and Diane (MIL) head up to Gambrills, MD to pick up Chloe.

0900: Joey goes to work and Sarah gets home and realizes 2 Min Pins is twice as much work (duh)

1000: Sarah takes Chloe to the vet.

1100: Peyton shows up at the Gish house.

11:15: Sarah gets home with Chloe (who is fine!)

12:00: Joey gets home from work and cracks a beer with Peyton

12:30: Sarah's family arrives!

CRAZINESS ENSUES!!!!!!!!!!!

Kidding, kidding.  We had a wonderful Christmas.  We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner on Christmas eve before my family and I headed to church and the boys stayed home to make sure Chloe was ok and not alone on her first night.  Joey's family stopped by as well and we exchanged gifts with them before going to sleep so Santa could come!

Christmas morning we woke up and had delicious brunch and coffee.... I have a good story about the coffee for later...and opened our presents.  I had alot of help but I managed to serve dinner only 45 minutes behind schedule!!  We had a full on Christmas dinner including ham, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, salad, cranberry sauce, rolls and probably other stuff I forgot.  And we had delicious pumpkin pie, apple cake, and Christmas cookies for dessert!! (and more coffee!)

We were given such generous gifts as SEVERAL Lowe's gift cards, a new grill, a new microwave that goes over the range, and a Keurig! OMG!

Here are a few pictures from Gishmas 2011.  Enjoy!

Santa has been here!

Min Pin stocking time!

Peyton and one of his gifts...

Dad holding down the dogs

Peyton made the ham

Time to eat!

YUM!

Offering their help

Poooooor Doc

Christmas morning scene

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

~SG

But how do you tell them apart?!



DOC



CHLOE



They might look alot alike, but Doc and Chloe have differences that make them easy to pick out! 

Doc has a black nose.

Chloe has a brown nose (oh yes, the jokes have been happening all week).

Doc has a smaller muzzle.

Chloe has bigger ears!

Doc is a boy, and has man-parts.

Chloe is a girl, and has girl parts.

 Doc has deep brown eyes.

Chloe has hazel eyes.

BOTH pups are hilariously funny, extremely snuggly, loving, intelligent, and eager to please.  In the past 3 days, Chloe has learned "sit" and what a "treat" is.  She is just like her big brother- she loves to sit in the laundry basket and snuggle under the covers.  Doc is doing ok- he doesn't like sharing his Mom and Dad, or his toys.  But he is learning!

We aren't having any trouble telling them apart... until it's the middle of the night and the lights are off. Then it's a fun game called "Guess which Min Pin is in my crotch"!

I hope this bit of useless information serves you well.

~SG

A Christmas Pin!

Our family got a wonderful Christmas present this year.  We recieved word on December 23rd from the Internet Miniature Pinscher Rescue Service that we had been selected as the lucky parents for a little girl named Chloe.  She joined our family first thing the next morning. 

Meet Chloe!

Chloe is about a year old, and a very sweet little girl.  She and Doc were fast friends.  While Christmas was totally insane with a new dog in the house, I wouldn't have had it any other way. 

Welcome to the family, Chloe Gish!

Eagles vs Cowboys? No problem

Part of our home security system

Opening their stocking

Complete as a family of four!

We had a wonderful Christmas with both my and Joey's family, and good friend Peyton.  I'll be back later this week to share more photos and stories from Gishmas 2011.

Love,

Sarah, Joey, Doc and Chloe :)

Blogger Shout Out

So some of you may remember the weekend of December 3rd, I ran a 5k.  I ran the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis and it was a great race.  It was very small, but I enjoyed it anyway.  When I was signing up for a 5k that weekend though, I was disappointed to find out that the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k was sold out :(

I had a bunch of friends running in both the 15k and the 5k, and it would have been cool to see them and to drink free hot chocolate!! But I guess it was a good thing that I didn't attend... because the race turned out to be an epic fail.

Where am I going with this? I promise, you'll see!

Long story short (too late!), I was reading about all the horror stories from the race (people getting stuck in traffic, missing the race, waiting in the freezing cold for hours, etc) and came across a really awesome blog.

Honey I Shrunk the Gretchen

I like her for several reasons. But mainly because I am so inspired by her ability to put it all out there on her blog.  She is making amazing progress and it is really inspiring.  Also I like her because she runs slower than the pack, like me!

And today, I'm posting about her blog because I shamelessly want to win her giveaway.

So here it is:

Win a Vera Bradley tote bag + 3 bottles of V8′s new smoothies via @shrinkinggretch/Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen!‘s sweet #giveaway! http://bit.ly/vBqlMJ

You may know that I have a thing for Vera.  I always have. So this is just calling to me.  Anyway, if you are so inclined, check out her blog and sign up for the giveaway too! She is awesome!

~SG

HOLY WEEKEND, BATMAN!

This time of year is normally crazy, but I feel like it is exponentially crazier when your parents are coming to stay with you for Christmas!  Since I’m busier than a bee, I’ll just give you a quick rundown of how the weekend went:

Friday:

-Work

-ICE at the Gaylord National Hotel with some good girlfriends!  We had a blast, even though I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes.  I even went down the Ice slide!

Slide made out of ice!

Saturday:

-Ran 5 miles. Yep! I reached my first goal! I’ll be accepting all kudos now please! It was awful, but I ran the entire thing. I am super proud of myself!

-Judged Middle/HS Dance team competition (it’s that time of year!)

-Family Christmas Party. Like I said before… ALWAYS a shenanigan.

Yep! The bar is made out of the front of a fire truck!

 

Sunday:

-Dance Rehearsal

-Errands

-Joey did some of his honey do list

-We bought a mattress

-Cleaned

-Managed to cook dinner somewhere in there

-Did Laundry

-Stuffed Christmas cards



Presents are starting to accumulate!



Guest room #2 has a bed! Now it just needs curtains...



WHEW. WHAT A CRAZY WEEKEND.  Only a few more days until Christmas Madness begins!!

~SG













Breaking and Entering

As usual, today's Headline of the Day is about animals.  I guess normal articles about people robbing and killing each other are less entertaining... anyhoo, here you go:

Baby Seal Breaks Into Home, Gets Comfy on Couch

~SG

Family Photo Fails

Well, it's Christmas and you know what that means.... time to take our annual family photo!  This year we got a little more fancy and decided to use parts of our new house as our backdrop.  I am not going to share the photo we actually used for the card, but I would LOVE to share the bloopers. Windy weather and a small dog with a big 'tude don't really make for easy photo shoots...

So, without further ado........here are a few of my favorite fails:

Clearly I was the only one that was ready...

Dammit Doc!

Doc is barking at the neighbors...

Once the cards come and I get them mailed out to everybody I'll post it on here. Just don't expect that to happen before New Years.....

~SG

Oh Gishmas Tree.... Oh Gishmas Tree...

Why must there always be a saga behind everything we attempt to do?!

Wednesday last week it was pouring rain. All day.  And windy. I’m talking hurricane force winds.  Ok maybe not- but we could feel it moving the Suburban at a stoplight, so it was REALLY windy out.  So of course Joey picks this day to decide we need to go out and get our first Christmas tree.  After work we headed to Lowes, in the pouring rain, and got soaked running through the freezing cold wind to the indoor/outdoor tree area.  Um… it’s covered with a canvas.  With holes. That leak.  All of the trees were soaking wet.  Thank GOODNESS Lowes was out of Christmas tree stands, because he actually wanted to buy a soaking wet tree!! Seriously!!

Joey was off work on Thursday, so I went to work and midway through the day, received this picture on my phone!

It’s a little off center, but it’s standing! I was proud.

Friday night we finally got around to a little family decorating time.  Joey worked late, so I cranked the Christmas tunes, poured a glass of wine (or 2…) and cooked a little chicken casserole with some mashed potatoes for dinner. (I know. I deserve a medal.)  After we ate, we started untangling the strands of lights and unwrapping the numerous Christmas ornaments we’ve each collected over the years. 

After only one incident of Doc helping himself to a little teddy bear ornament and dragging it under the sofa to it’s death, we got the ornaments on the tree and I think it doesn’t look half bad!
 

Doc.... "Helping"

The first ornament we hung ceremoniously together...

Working hard!

After we finished with the tree, I decided it was time to clean up the room a little bit.  The “living room” or “library” is so neglected, that it doesn’t even have an official name yet.  No furniture, no nothing.  So we finished hanging the curtains, put down a throw rug (that is too small), and hung a picture.  There! Much better.  



I hope you enjoy our Gishmas tree!

~SG 

Invasion of the Nutcracker Army

Last weekend, we had some unexpected visitors.  38 of them.

Yes. This is my husband's entire Nutcracker collection.  It started in 1992 and as you can see, has grown exponentially since then.  I guess Joey's Mom decided since we have our own house now, WE can figure out what to do with them this year.

Q. What the h-e-double-toothpicks does one do with 38 Nutcrackers?

A.  See the below pictures:

On the media cabinet. (Why yes! That IS Cinderella's castle!)

On top of the kitchen cabinets

On top of the OTHER kitchen cabinets

On the square box thingy

Side table that's completely hidden by the loveseat that I hope soon to replace with a recliner...

Downstairs powder room. (Bonus-we have pictures on the walls!)


AND NOW.... The "Piece de Resistance" ( and the project we spent all weekend on...)

Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes on first, the fireplace

BEFORE
(and if you pay attention, you will know how much I hated it)

And now, after a long weekend of painting, shopping, painting, and Nutcracker-organizing......

AFTER



HOORAY!!!



I'm so glad we spent the time to re-do the fireplace... otherwise there would have been nowhere for those last 5 Nutcrackers to go!  Phew!

~SG

Princess in Training

OK here it is. Another dreaded exercise post.  I think the reason I hate writing these is because I really hate reading them. I have NOTHING against you awesome people who are totally motivated and really into working out. I’m just….. not.  I try really hard but the bottom line is that I grew up going to dance class 7 days a week, so going to a gym and running in place or lifting heavy things just isn’t appealing to me.   

A few years ago I got really into running.  I totally suck at running. Like I said- I never played any sports.  None. Zero. Like, I never even played tee-ball.  I was THAT GIRL in gym class (although I wasn’t the fat girl) but I was the girl who hid in the back and didn’t want to play and wasn’t competitive.  I came in nearly last on the mile run and I only excelled on the flexibility part of the physical fitness test.  But ask me to do 32 fouette turns and I’ll bust em out.

Anyway, I got into running. I ran a lot of races.  I decided I wanted to run a half marathon.  Terrible idea. But you know what sucks about half marathons? They are horribly addicting.  I’ve run 3.  And I am scheduled for a 4^th on February 26^th in Walt Disney World. (Duh. Cause where else would I go?) I’m running (for the second time) the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  And I’ve decided I’m going to actually, -forreal forreal- TRAIN for this one. 

I don’t ever follow training schedules.  They are either too hard or too hard.  I can’t magically bust out 3 miles out of nowhere.  I also have a busy life, a husband, a dog, a house, it’s cold out and it gets dark before I get home from work.  None of these factors really help in the whole training department.  So I made my own schedule. And I started it 100 days before my race. 

I started with 1 mile runs twice per week and a “long” run of 2 or 2.5 miles on Saturdays.  I did that for a few weeks and now I’m at 1.5 mile runs twice per week and a 5k this Saturday.  To those of you who are really athletic or marathon runners, this might sound totally lame. But it’s been amazing to see the progress I’ve made in just 3 weeks of training. My mile has improved by almost 2 entire minutes.  I’m not dying at the end of the run, and since it’s only 3 times per week, I can re-arrange my runs to fit in happy hours… ;)

I also treated myself to 2 new pairs of running shoes.  I hadn’t bought new shoes since like 2009 and my Nikes had run probably 2 half marathonss and way too many miscellaneous miles to be effective.  I got a new pair of Nikes at DSW and those were working just fine. But then I saw that Brooks had a ½ off deal on their Glycerin shoe, and I jumped at it. These are $130 running shoes people!! They arrived on Tuesday and when I took them out of the box I felt like I was looking at alien spaceships.  These are what REAL runners wear! And they made my run magical! I’m really happy to have good shoes, a good GPS watch, and a training plan that I MADE (with the help of several websites/training plans). 

Now that this post is way too long, I just want to write about my goals.  I made a pact with my friend Jess that we would each reach 3 goals and then get to reward ourselves with a winery tour or something equally alcoholic ;)

Goal 1: 5 miles, December 17^th

Goal 2: 8 miles, January 21^st

Goal 3: 10 miles, February 18^th

Race Day: February 26^th

Think I can do it?? I’d love some encouragement. I feel pretty good so far J

~SG