Oh Bailey, I Love Your Way

Kyle and I got Bailey on Valentine's 2009. She was six weeks old when we brought her home. As 22 and 23 year olds, we didn't quite think over how much work it takes to care for a puppy. Not to mention, Bailey was going to be living at the apartment with Kyle, so he was really left  to train and care for the dog on his own.

We were under the impression that by buying a bulldog we were buying a lazy dog. Boy were we wrong. All puppies are active, and Bailey was no different. When she was only months old, Kyle kept her in the bathroom when he went to work. He thought she would have room to play and stretch out, and by knowing that she wasn't technically locked up in a small cage, he felt okay about leaving her while he was at work. This was all until the apartment complex called in the middle of the work day asking why water was leaking all into the hallway. Our precious little girl had chewed her way through the pipes on the toilet. Kyle hurried home only to find a soaking wet dog and a flooded bathroom. Bailey, welcome to your cage.

For the next year, Bailey stayed in the cage any time Kyle wasn't home. Surprisingly, she liked the cage. All Kyle would have to say was "Bailey, go to your cage," and into the cage she would go. However, the wild child would emerge once Kyle got home. We loved how happy and active she was, but where was this lazy dog and would she ever come?

Well, she definitely has calmed down in some regards. She loves sleeping in the bathroom on her Aggie blanket or under the kitchen table while we are at work (no longer confined to the cage). When we get home, she is ready to play. She loves watching t.v. (seriously, she does), and Kyle and I have perfected picking out "Baily-proof" toys... the girl's got the strongest jaws so most toys don't stand a chance. When it's time to rest, she is the sweetest cuddle bug.

I'm so sleepy in the morning. Can we go back to bed?

Watching t.v. and chewing on my favorite toy

2nd favorite toy :)

Watching t.v. with Kyle

Chin on the couch= Can you please take me outside?

Just back from a walk. Happy girl!

Recipes With a Story

Beginning in middle school, I started to like the idea of learning to cook. I pulled old church cookbooks out of my mom's kitchen cookbook drawer, and I would sit and read through recipes. Usually I would look for one's that had the fewest and most simple ingrediants. However, I never actually started cooking any of these recipes until I got out of college. Finding a good recipe can be a fun process, but since there are so many recipes all over the place (cookbooks, internet, magazines), I generally find myself trying the recipe with the best story.

Back when I was looking through my mom's cookbooks I would always stop and read a recipe that had a note at the bottom that told about the histroy of the recipe. People always seem to put recipes that have been in their families for years or ones that evoke special memories. Those stories would instantly make me want to try the food that had been so special to those particular people.

I now find myself drawn to those same type of recipes; however, my method is sometimes different. I love doing a random search on the internet and then spending time reading through the comments that others have left. It's fun to read different people's reactions to food. I would say that the people's comments generally end up becoming my opinion as well once I have tried the recipe.

Since I have really had to start cooking once we got married, I often wonder which experimental recipes will become those that Kyle and I put in our own personal cookbook. What will be our recipe stories, and which ones will we choose to pass on?

Being a newlywed is too fun. I love wondering what our future holds.

Hopefully good recipes... :)

Allie and Kyle Firsts: SNOW DAY!

Well, actually it wasn't. All week long the weathermen warned us all of the snowy weather that was inevitably coming our way. Well, after a sleepless night of wondering if it had snowed yet, all I woke up too was a very heated apartment and little ice. I am by no means complaining because neither Kyle or I had to go to work today, but I think Houston got jipped.

Snow would have been a lot more fun than a bit of ice, but ice reminds of a special night four years ago. On a literally freezing night in January 2007, my college roommate Marisa and I invited some friends over for dinner and games. This particular night stands out not only because classes at A&M were cancelled for the next few days because of the ice storm, but also, this was the night Kyle and I hung out for the first time. And, as cheesy as this sounds, it was pretty much love at first sight. We literally spent hours dancing in the apartment living room, and from that night on we were always together (well, it took a few days of Kyle randomly appearing at my apartment the next week before I realized that he was serious about me...).

It was on February 4, 2007 (exactly 4 years ago), that we officially started dating, and I think things turned out pretty well...



Ice Storm Night-our first picture together





...4 years later