Yoshi Bear

As some of you may know Wednesday, May 21st my pup Sammie passed away.  I had her for 14 years!  I can't believe I was 13 years old when we got her.  I don't think I was the best dog mommy to Sammie, I was a young, lazy, and stupid teenager.  It wasn't until my late twenties that I really started caring for her better.  I regret my actions, but I plan to be the best dog mom to my new little pup.  Before Sam passed, I had been bringing her to the Saturday adoption events at Petsmart.  I actually dragged my sister and brother-in-law along and they ended up getting a pup of their own, Max!

He is an akita/husky mix with one brown and one blue eye. 

I actually didn't plan on getting another dog after Sammie and was really looking forward to some freedom, but then I came across Yoshi (formerly known as Shortcake...they thought he was a girl at first!) I knew I couldn't adopt him so I just held the little booger for almost three hours and the rescue foundation had to pry him out of my hands! 
For the next week all I could think about was this puppy. 
I mean look at this face...Can you blame me!?  I gave myself a week to mull over having another big commitment in my life, oh and my sister was getting married the next week.  (A lot was going on in our lives) 

Sooo of course I put in the application on Wednesday and then checked my email, facebook and phone constantly waiting to hear back.  It wasn't until Friday night at 9pm that I finally got a call!  I was shaking when I spoke to Louie's Legacy (the rescue).  The call was an interview first to make sure I was a good fit for Yoshi.  I passed the test and was able to pick Yoshi up the next day!  Of course I had to work that weekend and Matt had to go pick up the pup.  That day of work was almost impossible!  I kept getting updates from Amanda and Cheese with the cutest pictures of our little baby boy.

He is growing like a weed!  I'm pretty sure he has already doubled in size since I first got him.  He's a big ol' six pounder now.  I just want him to stay a baby forever.  He brings me so much joy, but I am being quite the helicopter mom and need to learn to back off a little. .

Time to go love on the pup!

See ya,
Tracie

A Day in the Life of a Foodie: Canadian Edition

This is going to sound crazy, but a couple times a year my family will take a weekend trip (8 hours!) up to Canada to eat. Yes, EAT.  There is a large Chinese population in Toronto with the best authentic Chinese food (well, I take my parents word for it that it's authentic since I have never been).

In Canada, we don't sight see or visit museums, we EAT

We eat breakfast
These "finger foods" are referred to as Dim Sum and often either steamed or fried

We shop for food

We look at food

 And get energy to eat more food!

 Most meals are family style, so we order a bunch of dishes for everyone to share.  Instead of having water, the servers ask what type of tea you want before you even sit down at the table.  Here are some dinner pictures.

 And last but not least the obligatory midnight snack.

As we get older I can tell we can't eat as much as we used to, but it is always a great time up in Canada.  The atmosphere and food just don't compare to any restaurant I know at home. 

Now I need a snack!

Toodles,
Tracie

It's a love story, baby, just say... "Yes."

My love story...

So this may sound a little dramatic, but I had planned my life in preparation of living single ...forever.  I never had boyfriends or went on dates like "normal" girls and to be honest I was okay with that.

Then one day Cheeseball was transferred to my store.  I am a shy and quiet person and he says it took a lot of work to get me to talk to him.  Since we worked together it was not really a consideration that we would be anything more than friends.

After the Cheese was transferred and I thought we would never see each other again, I received a "group" text which I later found out only went to me that said " Beers?" (how romantic)

***side note*** the fact that we went out drinking for our first date is extra funny to me since I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to alcohol now and convinced I will die even if I drink a sip...I don't know maybe my younger self forced myself to not be allergic to "fit in" ... Maybe I'm like Dwight Schrute and can train my veins to constrict on command...hmmm

The very next day I actually went to Canada with my family and had to turn off my phone for 4 days...(oh the suspense).  When I came back to the country we became inseparable.

One Year!

Fast forward a degree, new house and four years later we are now engaged!  Matt did a great job planning our engagement and I had absolutely NO idea it was coming any time soon.

It all happened on an especially blizzardy day back in January. (January 25th, 2013 to be exact, Matt's birthday! )  We had already planned in advance to go to a Brazilian steak house in Indianapolis and apparently I was unintentionally sabotaging his whole plan.

I had to get my grandma up that morning and she was taking particularly long and I was getting really, really frustrated (the yelling and slamming doors kind of frustrated) and then I was getting nauseous in the car ride..ugh.(Tracie sabotage #1)  Plus my parents were calling me every 10 minutes because the roads weren't the greatest.

When we finally got to the restaurant, I was feeling much better.  But before we could eat, Matt cryptically asked, "Do you promise not to be mad at me today?" (Oh boy..this can't be good.)  I hesitantly said yes and then received a small jewelry box (I don't like when he spends too much money on me).  And NOOO it's not what you were thinking, he gave me a pair of diamond earrings to replace the ones I lost on a vacation.  Don't forget it's his birthday, shouldn't I be giving the gifts!?

During lunch, I attempted to call my parents to tell them we had made it to our destination in one piece, but Matt quickly told me to do that after lunch because then I'll be stuck on the phone forever (Tracie sabotage #2) Apparently my parents already new he was going to pop the question.

After dinner, we were pleasantly plump but Matt all of a sudden wanted a coffee... and here comes Tracie sabotage #3.  He says I was a little irritated but I had planned on getting coffees at the mall so we could sip on while we were walking around, oh well.  While we lingered while he drank his coffee, Matt goes, "Can I have one more thing for my birthday?" and whips out the REAL DEAL this time...

 So I guess I made quite the scene when the Cheese proposed and was crying so hysterically that people were looking to see what was wrong.  At the end we received a round of applause.  I don't normally like attention, but that was nice :)

I suppose the next step is wedding planning...and that my friends is a whole other story...

peace out until next time,
Tracie

Why I Joined the Blog-wagon

Hi my name is Tracie, thanks for stopping by my blog.

So here is a little bit about me...

I am 26 years old and finally working in the real world.  I graduated from pharmacy school last June 2012 and this year has flown by.  I have amazing family, soon-to-be family, friends, a job, a doctorate and a new ring on my finger! 

One of my favorite activities is eating .  I guess you could say I'm a foodie.
This is me during an eating challenge in Columbus,
2.5 lb of dagwood
1 lb of fries
30 minutes...GO

lets just say I failed miserably.  My family was actually shocked that I didn't complete the challenge because I'm known for my four stomachs.

 These are my parents holding their melons...(hehe ☺ ).  They are the best parents in the world..even though I'm a brat some a lot of times

 

and these crazy cats are my sister Amanda (aka Man-poo or Amanda Panda) and my baby brother, who is bigger than all of us, Alex or "Almo". I'm really big on giving nick names

And this is my fiance Matt or "Cheeseball" on his first ever plane ride.  He was very calm 

and last but not least, Sammie or sam-poo, sama-lama-ding-dong, the list doesn't really end so I'll spare you (she is the one in the middle)

I wanted to start a blog to help me keep track of everything.  Lately I feel as though I am just living life and going through the motions, I'm not taking the time to fully appreciate all that I have.  I want to be able to look back at my memories and also share them with others.  Enjoy!

Bleed Blood Give Blood

 

Today I donated blood at Hoxworth right after work.  They prefer you eat a good meal before you donate so I chowed down on my second Egg McMuffin of the day that my lovely fiance (still feels so weird to say that!!) brought to me at work.  (Food is the way to this girl's heart :) )

This got me thinking of how I started donating.  I was the kind of kid who was terrified of needles, I remember getting shots in my leg and and holding my mommy's hand probably until I was 12.  For some reason when I got older, I thought to myself in order to get over this fear I have to donate blood.  (Now that's a gigantic needle!). And I have been donating ever since.

There are pretty many perks to donating blood as well.  I have gotten numerous t-shirts, a cup, movie tickets, food coupons, etc...oh and the saving two lives thing!

Now donors can get points for donating good towards movie tickets, restaurants, t-shirts every time they donate.  It's really a nice program.

The people at Hoxworth are also a riot.  I love joking around with them.  Today I pulled out all the stops and amazed them with my knowledge on blood labs, they were pretty impressed.  I encourage anyone who can, to donate and help save some lives.