oh the weather outside is frightful...

...or is it?

snow.

white. glistening. soft. powder. quiet. blanket. flakes. clean. blank. crunchy. weightless. flurry.


this gorgeous form of precipitation made middle tennessee quite discombobulated this fine sunday. it seemed everyone was as much in awe as we so cal kids are! there were something like 400 traffic incidences reported on the roads today. schools are closed tomorrow. life seems to have slowed to a snails pace here in nashville. pastor boy and i canceled our plans in honor of the rest of the tennesseans who can't seem to figure out how to drive in the white stuff, and chose to go on a walk instead! we headed over to our dear friends' house (about a mile) with Sir Paddington in tow. all 3 of us were bundled up, in our coats, and i'm the sir wished he had gloves. being the snow-loving girl that i am, i could not bring myself to forgo the camera...thankfully my canon mark III is mostly weather-proof! here are a few shots from out excursion... by the time it really started snowing hard, we were safely in pat & mandy's living room drinking coffee and socializing about the snow. we ended up with about 6 inches as of 10pm tonight!

**disclaimer...there are lots of Z and the sir...we were the only people outside!!!

thanks for taking this one mandy!

the beautiful rowland home! i must say...there's nothing quite like twinkle lights in the snow!

...some beach

it was a perfect hazy Friday morning.

we had been talking about taking sir paddington to the beach, and a week ago was the perfect day to do it! we all jumped in the truck, and headed to dog beach. the one between Newport, and Huntington...you know, right where the river goes under pch, and out into the ocean? it's an off-leash beach. so we grabbed chipotle to-go, sat on a bench at the edge of the sand and observed the butt-sniffing extravaganza before us. as i crinkled my last bit of foil, the good sir was finished waiting patiently, and practically pulled me off the bench.

we walked down to the ocean (p was still on a leash...i'll admit, we were a little nervous about just letting him run wild because he's quite a bit stronger than other dogs) to see how he would react to the waves. it was hilarious! he chased them, almost like a small child would, with inexplicable fascination, and thrill. he attempted to bite them, then quickly resorted to lapping up copious quantities of salt water. (i don't recommend this...it definitely messes with their digestive system...and they wind up with rather wet poo)then, our lovable pooch decided he was going to run...still on leach, mind you...and run he did!! towing z behind him! i was having a hard time shooting (with a camera, of course), because my laughter was NEARLY uncontrollable! Paddy was dragging dad through the waves, across the sand and then yanking him back again. the annoyance on z's face was clear, but he knew our puppy was having way too much fun to really care. we threw the ball for him to catch...i would definitely kill to have hops like that in sand!

we eventually let him off the leash, and he was ecstatic! so ecstatic, in fact, that he took off running...and kept running, and running, and running. finally about 4 lifeguard towers later, way past the dog beach, he turned around and looked at z (who had been trying to catch him) as if to say, "aren't you coming?" then trotted back as if nothing had happened.
we were more worn out than the sir after a couple hours, so we practically dragged him out of the water, and trekked back to the truck, as salty, and sandy as they come...

..and just like with children, we went home, and the good sir promptly got a bath.

Sir Paddington

say hello to my little friend...



ok, so not he's not so little...more like 70lbs of love and muscle! :) his name is Sir Paddington, or Paddy, or Bubba. he joined our little family just about 2 weeks ago.

pastor boy (my amazing hubby), and i have been itching to get a dog for what seems like forever; even though in reality its only been 9 months. pastor boy decided we needed a dog that looked like it could protect me if i was walking it, or even our home. our apartment automatically ruled out rottweilers, dobermans, pitbulls, german shepherds, and any other breed that seems in the least bit threatening. however, boxers were not on the list! our good friends have 2 boxers, and they have only had wonderful things to say about the breed. we researched, and dug around for all the characteristics of this playful breed. being in youth ministry, plus multiple side jobs, neither one of us have the time to train, and raise a puppy. so we looked into adoption! We found a rescue based in santa monica called Take Me Home. they manage to rescue dogs out of shelters, and terrible situations, and place them in foster homes. they then get to know the character of the dog, and eventually use that place them in the perfect family!

we first saw paddington on the website. i fell in love with his innocent look, and big floppy ears. we had to fill out an online application, do a phone interview, a volunteer came out and did a home check, THEN we finally got to meet him! it was love at first sight, and he came home with us! he's still adjusting to our lives, we're constantly on the go, but most of the time, he is right along side!

don't be surprised if often there is a Paddington Post! he's our precious 2 yr old puppy! there will be photos of P, and exciting stories of our adventures...but i just wanted to introduce him today.


You know that if he likes Starbucks, he's in...