Doggie DNA & A GIVEAWAY (just for dog lovers!)

I feel like I've been wanting to get this post up forever and am SOOOO excited the day is finally here!!! 
(disclosure: I did receive this product in exchange for highlighting the business.)

So for the longest time, Derek and I have been dying to know what Lacy is mixed with. We rescued her in 2002 and although she's obviously part lab, she's definitely mixed with other breeds. Her ultra soft fur would sometimes lead me to think she was mixed with a type of shepherd, but then her furry tail looks like golden retriever. Total crapshoot with this one I tell ya.

But FINALLY, we found something to give us the answers we've been curious about for a decade, and just in time for her 11th birthday!

Let me introduce you to the Wisdom Panel. With a simple swab of the cheek, this mail-in DNA kit identifies the breed ancestry of a dog back to the great-grandparents. How do you know it's legit? Because you don't send in any pictures or information other than the sex and weight of the dog. Pretty cool right?

So let's get to it. Below is what makes up our Lacy-girl!

Chow? So strange but she can get bitchy towards other dogs if they sniff her butt. And we so called the Shepherd part! It was also interesting to find out that she comes from a loooong line of mutts! I'm just excited to finally know what our girl is made up of... or at least some parts.


And now for some fun stuff.... 

Do you have a mutt that you'd like tested?
Here's YOUR chance to win a Wisdom Panel 2.0 kit!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK!

Terms and Conditions: Winner will be determined at random using Rafflecopter. The giveaway begins Friday, August 30th and ends Thursday, September 5th at midnight. Subject to all federal, state and local laws/regulations. Neither Our Journey, Giveaway Sponsor, nor any giveaway affiliates will have any liability whatsoever for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused by any giveaway prize or resulting from acceptance, possession, use and/or misuse of any prize or participation in these promotions. The winner must be located in the United States. All opinions are 100% that of Our Journey. 

Throwback Thursday - Glamour Style

Yes, I got Glamour Shots. 

In 1995. 

They will make your day. 

What I'll Miss Most

You know that saying, you won't miss it until it's gone? Well for years I've hated so much about our old house. I couldn't wait to get back into a new house, but now that we're only weeks away from leaving this house, the nostalgia is hitting me. They built houses with so much character back in the '30s and every day I find something else that I'll miss terribly. So that I would always have a place to look back on, I wanted to do a quick post on what I'll be missing most before we move.

Built in bookshelves - We have these in a few spots within the house and I love them. You just don't see this type of character in new houses.

Mailbox - Although I'll only have to walk 10 feet out the front door, getting mail when it's snowing won't be quite as nice as our current one that drops straight into our living room.

Sunroom - We spent many evenings watching nature, enjoying a glass of wine over good conversation and reading books in that room.

Built in cabinets - We have these all over the 1st floor and they are just beautiful.

Archways - They adorn our 1st floor in three different places and are magical.

Basement sink - Only moms who cloth diaper will have any idea as to why this was fabulous and will be missed greatly.

My porch - This huge, 2nd story porch is right off my office. I can be spotted laying out there in the summers on my lunch breaks. I love it.

Nursery size - Drew's room is huge, like 14'x14', and has beautiful hardwoods, built in shelving and a walk-in closet. His next room, as well as our next nursery, will be a bit smaller.

Stone - We have old, gorgeous stone on the front of our house. It's aged beautifully over the decades and it's coloration can't be replicated with new houses.

And now I have tears in my eyes. I can't wait to move, but I honestly will miss so much about this house!

Happy Meals

We don't frequent fast food that often, so this post isn't about the Happy Meal as you were probably thinking. This is just a quick post about how lucky I feel sometimes as a mother to have a healthy eater. I have friends who struggle with extremely picky eaters and it's a challenge to keep them above the 10th percentile in weight. To me, that's a foreign concept and I'm grateful for that. Who knows how the next kid will be, but for now I'm so appreciative of my turkey's appetite. 

Generally, Drew will eat anything you put in front of him, except for plain chicken and a few other items like peas (just like his daddy) and most fish. He's great at eating fruits and vegetables and because we don't have sweets too often in the house, he understands the occasional cookie or ice cream is a big treat. Obviously, with how obese America is, Derek and I's ultimate goal is to keep him eating a balanced diet for as long as we can. He drinks only 1% milk or water, we always have fruit or veggies with almost every meal and his snacks are something healthy as well. You won't see him sucking down fruit boxes or holding a pack of m&m's anytime soon. Not judging those who do, just a personal choice by his parents!

Drew and his girlfriend enjoying dinner al fresca.

Enjoying a post-dinner special treat.

Have you found it gets harder to keep them eating healthy the older your kids got, or is parental influence really the determiner?

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Also, stay tuned as I have an awesome Giveaway for dog lovers at the end of this week. It's a really fantastic prize and I'll leave you with my two-word hint: Mutts and Molecules!

Southern Peach Cobbler

Since we're swimming in peaches, I figured I'd try my hand at a peach cobbler to enjoy with the boys this week. I found this awesome sounding (and highly reviewed) recipe online and surprisingly had all of the ingredients in my kitchen already. The results were FAB, so much so, that Derek said if he had a FaceBook account he would have posted about it. Those are pretty big words around these parts.

Ingredients
- 8 fresh peaches                     - 1/4 c. white sugar
- 1/4 c. white sugar                 - 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/4 c. brown sugar                - 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon                 - 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg                    - 6 T. unsalted butter
- 1 tsp. lemon juice                  - 1/4 c. boiling water
- 2 tsp. cornstarch                  - 3 T. white sugar
- 1 c. all-purpose flour              - 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Peel, pit and slice peaches into thin wedges.
3. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 c. white sugar, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 c. white sugar, 1/4 c. brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend in the butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles course meal. Stir in the water just until combined.
5. Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Mix together then sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl with a fork, then sprinkle the entire cobbler with the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

ENJOY!

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Three

This last weekend was just perfect. We finalized contingencies for repairs on both the house we are buying and the house we are selling and both are fairly minimal and not too costly. We also visited the zoo with a girlfriend of mine on Saturday, I indulged in a yummy nap Sunday afternoon and lastly, we had a great time picking peaches! 

We had been told by a few people to visit Patterson Fruit Farm out in Chesterland, Ohio and it was worth the 40 min drive. Sure the plump apple fritters and fruit selection were top notch, but they also had a large playground for Drew with a retired tractor. WIN!

Once the monkey was done climbing, it was off to the peach fields. He was given his own basket and was tasting his first fresh-off-a-tree peach within minutes. 

After that, any peach at his level was prone to being picked off with sticky fingers and devoured within seconds. 

And you can't beat just over a $1 a pound for perfectly sweet fresh peaches!

Hope you have a peachy day!

Guest Post - Keepin' Off The Chunk!

Bored? 

Then go check out my guest post today on Mallory's blog about keeping off weight over the years! It's part of her awesome NOtivation series which you should just check out anyway!

Baby Bear

To My Baby Bear - 

       I know it's been a bit rough lately. Between buying a house, selling a house, car trips to our new area 20 min away and just plain busy times, you still remain our happy little guy. Sure you show signs of the 'terrible 2s' once and a while, but overall you are still our goofy, sweet boy who is content doing anything as long as mommy or daddy is around. 

       We've been trying to still get to fun activities as much as we can and I wish you could understand how fun our new neighborhood will be. Yes, moving schools (again) will be rough, but I'm taking time off work to help you transition easier and I know you'll feel right at home in no time. Trust me, it tears me up knowing you'll have to leave your buddies and won't recognize anyone there, but it won't be feasible to drive 40 min both ways to daycare any more. 

       On another note, I think you've been going through a growth spurt lately. You eat such big meals and then still ask for more, never turning down the opportunity for food. It cracks me up though, these phases. One month you'll just not be too hungry when we eat, but the next you can't scarf your food down fast enough. Growing boy.

       Lastly, I currently have a love/hate relationship with your independence. Sometimes it's nice that you can put on your own shoes, but other times it becomes stressful when you want to do it yourself and it takes 29 minutes. I like, though, how you still constantly negotiate and take pride in picking out things on your own. Don't get too independent on me though; hearing that you still need me is what makes my heart flutter.

Love you baby bear.  

Aquarium Visit

It's been a year and a half since last visiting our aquarium here in Cleveland and thanks to Groupon, we decided to purchase an annual membership and get back there! Drew loves sharks, turtles and fish just like every other toddler out there and we knew this would be fun for him. The first picture pretty much sums up the entire visit. The place was pretty empty right before closing on a Sunday and I'm sure the staff could hear him yelling 'sharks!' or 'nemo and dory!' or 'turtles!' all throughout the exhibit. 

The left picture below is his attempt to make a fish face.

It's not often, though, that visitors get to see a freshly laid egg by a tortoise. Although she was old and it wasn't viable, it was still a neat experience to be the only patrons there when it happened!

The Boy Behind the Blog

Since our blog url includes Derek's name and he has his own page at the top, it's only fair he contributes more to our online space. I'm linking up with Mal and Steph this week for their series about the men behind our blogs and the fun questions they answer!



Derek's responses are in blue. Enjoy!

1. What would you do with $1,000,000? 

First I would take Sarah to Australia so she can finally pet a koala bear. After that I would pay off my debts and put a good chunk away toward Drew's college. With the remaining balance, I would find my way to a jewelry store to get that 3 carat she's always wanted. 

2. What is your dream job?

The one I have now. 

3. Who is your celebrity crush?

Marissa Miller

4. What is your favorite sports team?

Kansas Jayhawks

5. What was your AOL/AIM screen name back in the day?

Can't remember, but I wasn't big on it anyways.

6. What is your dream car?

Bentley Continental Supersports ($280,400)

7. What is your favorite post on your wife/girlfriend/fiance’s blog?

I love them all...but without a doubt it's her open letters to our son. To be able to capture her thoughts at some moment in time that we can cherish for many years to come is an amazing thing. She is an incredible writer, and I look forward to reading her thoughts on a variety of topics. She is very talented and I appreciate her for creating a lifetime of memories.  

Good Things Happen

You know how I posted about the potential of owning two houses seeing as how we bought one before ours was even listed? Looks like we won't have to worry about that anymore.

Why? Let me show you with a timeline.

Thursday Evening

House goes on the market

Friday

One showing in the evening

Saturday

Nothing. Boo. 

Sunday

SIX showings (see below for details)

Monday Morning

TWO OFFERS!!!!!

That's right! Our realtor called this morning and we had two offers, both very aggressive as they knew another offer was coming in. We are beyond excited for two main reasons: A) we won't have to carry two mortgages and B) we are getting what we wanted, but more than we realistically thought we could in this market! On top of that, we had our home inspection with the new house this morning and it all checked out ok minus a few minor things that come with buying a 4-year old home. Crazy to think that just 3 weeks ago we decided to move to the burbs and here we are with our house sold and another already bought.

But just for shits and giggles, I'd like to re-live my day with you yesterday. It was probably one of the most stressful days in my entire life. I knew showing a house with a toddler and two dogs would be tough, but yesterday felt like it was 48 hours long. Literally.

Here's how it went.

8:30a - Dunkin for a healthy breakfast

9a - Groceries

10a - Clean for the first showing

10:20a - Take the girls on a jog during the showing

11:30a - Shower up for the day

12:15p - Clean again for more showings

12:20p - Lunch on the Panera patio with the dogs

1p - Run 2 quick errands

1:20p - Head to a friends house to hang out for a while

3p - Head home to drop off the dogs

3:15p - Aquarium with Drew

5p - Pick up dogs

5:05p - Pick up a healthy dinner pizza

5:10p - Head back to our friends house

7:10p - Head home

7:40p - The showing who was supposed to end by 7:30 is still in the house and we've now been sitting like creepers down the street for 20 min.

7:45p - Pull into the driveway only for the realtor to come out and say they are interested and waiting on their parents to come look at the house.

7:50p - Head back to the park

8:15p - Running on empty, way past Drew's bedtime, but watching the beautiful sunset at the park.

8:40p - Finally get the green light to head home.

8:50p - Got Drew in bed.

8:55p - Got myself in bed. Zzzzzz

I mean really? 6 showings in one day? Dealing with two dogs and a toddler away from the house all day is just exhausting. Not to mention Drew only got a 30 min nap in the car, and how trying he became around the 5pm hour. BUT, in the end it was well worth it.

And without further ado, here's the front of the new house.

I'm also including Drew's awesome outfit today to kick off Hawaiian week at school. 

It actually was purchased in Hawaii from Derek's parents roughly 30 years ago as his souvenir.

Aloha!

FBI Fun Day

Our local FBI office hosted a family day where Cleveland kids could enjoy an afternoon full of face painting, bounce houses, balloon animals and food! They got to sit in the SWAT vehicle, have their mug shots taken, give their fingerprints and even see a demonstration by one of the canine unit pups. Although we haven't got the official mug shot pictures back, I still wanted to get some pictures up from this fun event!

And yes, I couldn't resist holding one of those gynormous guns. Truthfully, I hate guns, but it was a good photo opp, right?

That Time We Owned Two Houses

Well, it's official. In 55 days now, we could potentially own two houses in the Cleveland area. Fingers crossed that isn't the case.

Let me back up a bit.

In case you haven't been following this blog for a while, Derek and I moved to Cleveland 3.5 years ago for his job. I stayed on with my awesome ad agency and work from home and the stint up here in Ohio was only supposed to be 3 years. After that amount of time we were probably going to be transferred to another city. Welllll.... things change and so do employers and we're now staying here for a while. I've blogged about it here, but we really don't mind. It's a great city and if we were closer than a 13 hour drive home, we'd probably stay!

Anywho, the original idea was to find a house close to downtown in order to minimize Derek's commute. We were kidless and knew we would be out of here in 3 years so schools and the community weren't really a priority. Once we realized, however, that we could be up here for another good amount of time (we have no idea if it's another 3 years or 10!), we started debating moving out farther to the 'burbs. After interviewing 3 realtors in 2012 when the economy was down, we decided to stay and just send Drew to private school.

Fast forward to last month where we realized the market had been going strong for sellers and discussing potentially expanding our family at some point. The community, neighborhood and schools became a daily discussion. The debate went on for a few weeks as we weighed the pros and cons of moving until we decided that we just had to. We felt that moving would enrich Drew's youth putting him in a better area with top schools and tons more kids. The problem, however, was the availability of housing. The area we're moving to has a lot of new construction and when a house goes on the market, it's plucked up before you finish viewing the first picture. We were all set to build until I checked out realtor.com just one more time last week. That's when the stars aligned.

One new house was listed and it was completely meant to be. The area we wanted, a fantastic neighborhood with amenities, under our budget, top schools, the space we needed and only 4 years old. SOLD? Derek and I quickly made an appointment to see it (along with 13 other families in those first two days it was listed!) and we knew it was perfect. Without even having ours listed yet, we put an aggressive offer in and after over 24 hours of waiting, it was contracted to us!

Here's where you want a picture right? Unfortunately, it's already taken down from the website and my personal phone pic sucks. I'll get one soon enough! For now, we're staging and focusing on our house to be listed within the next couple of days. So again, please cross your fingers for us that we sell our current house decently fast! Trying to clean the house every morning to be 'show ready' after a toddler tears it up is not something I'm looking forward to.

#sendwineplease

The Goodtime was a Good Time

So on Friday, a couple ladies hosted a bachelorette party for our friend Caitlin, taking her on a downtown cruise before heading out for the night. I've actually never been on Cleveland's Goodtime III boat, so it was a new experience, and quite a fun one.

We had some great sites of the city, but even better sites on the boat. Let's just say that the people watching was top notch. Pants that zip all the way down? Camouflage leather pants and matching shirt? Pimp suits with canes? It's Cleveland people.... we got all sorts of craziness.

After schmoozing with the captain and personally negotiating free drinks for all the girls, it was time to exit the ship and head downtown. It was a really fun night full of good people, yummy drinks and fun DJ's who helped us dance the night away.

Congrats again Cait! Can't wait for your wedding!

Six Questions

Here it goes! 

1. Something you don't know about me?
Ok, embarrassing story time? I actually peed in a guys bed while sleeping in college. Yep. But let me briefly elaborate. You see, I went to a date party with a guy friend of mine and had a bit too much of the party punch. He let me utilize his bed at the frat to pass out in and stay there overnight while he slept on a house couch not knowing I would completely soak his bed. Poor guy. But yes, I was known as the "Kappa Peer" for a while in that house. 

2. What's the coolest thing you've made?
Duh, this guy. 

3. My favorite part about marriage?
Certainty. And back rubs. And But mostly certainty. Just knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend makes me so happy and there's nothing better than certainty in a rock solid marriage.

4. Favorite beauty secret or product?
Zero Oil from Origins. It's amazeballs. I have a really oily forehead and this really works.

5. Current dream that I'm hoping to achieve?
Sell this house quickly and find another one out west a bit in a better neighborhood with top schools.

6. One of my favorite pics and why?

I have no idea why I have always loved this pictures so much. Maybe it's the scarf. Maybe it's because it was from an amazing trip to Europe or maybe because it's with my handsome hubs. Either way, I've always had a fondness for this picture.

I was tagged by Renee and am tagging Desiree, Aubrey and Sandy. Just chose 6 of these questions to answer and post in your blog!

1. What is one of your silly quirks? Or something silly that you get excited about.
2. Favorite movie, song, or tv show?
3. Any funny stories to share that has happened recently?
4. Tell us something we don't know about you.
5. What's your favorite beauty secret or product?
6. What's your favorite or go-to outfit? (pics please)
7. What's a personal trial you had to overcome?
8. What's a current dream that you are hoping to achieve?
9. What's the coolest thing you've made? (food, craft, anything)
10. Who or what inspires you?
11. Share one of your favorite pics. Tell us why it's your favorite
12. What's your favorite part about marriage? Or what have you learned since becoming married?

Stranger Danger

Drew used to be the kid that would let anyone give him a high five, hold his hand, or even pick him up. But somewhere around the 26-28 month mark, this changed. Since then, Stranger Danger has been very prevalent. And I mean VERY.

Unless you are a familiar teacher, friend or family member, don't even think of soliciting a verbal response to a question. Don't feel bad if you don't get a high five back, and definitely don't try to pick up the kid.

I realize there is a plus side to Stranger Danger, in that he won't run off with anyone he doesn't know, nor will he allow creepers to get near him, but it's tough for everyday activities.

Take swimming lessons for example. This is his first session without me in the water with him and week #1 was rough. I sat by the edge of the pool with him, but he cried the entire time while the other little boy let the teacher do whatever she wanted. The kid loves water and has no fear jumping off the side into our arms, but apparently if we're out of the water, it's not a fun game.

Week #2 though, I was prepared. I brought my suit, got there early, and played for 10 min before our lesson started. We had no tears, a slight smile or two, and overall much more interaction with the teacher. Although I can show him the basics of actual swimming, but I think this class will help build his confidence in dealing with new people and potentially increase his independence.

For now, I'll just have to see how much clapping and cheering from the sidelines it takes to crack that stoic, I'm-not-smiling-no-matter-what face displayed above.