Updated on September 14, 2015
The Story of a Rescue!
Hello, hello!
Happy weekend! I cannot believe what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. Bryan and I took a (somewhat impromptu!) trip down south to investigate some different cities (and landed in Myrtle Beach which was SO much fun). We came back for about three days before we headed off for Cape Cod with my family. Needless to say, it has been crazy times trying to get everything back to normal and I feel like I will never be fully unpacked, but one step at a time, I suppose.
ANYWAY, today, I thought I would share a dog-related post with you guys. Read on for the story of how Allie came into our lives and how I came to be obsessed with pet rescues and animal shelters. Don’t get me wrong, I love ALL animals no matter where they come from, but there is a little (okay fine, it’s not so little at all…) piece of my heart that has RESCUE written allllll over it. Just the other day at work, someone was showing off pictures of their purebred Newfoundland puppies and boasting about how much she paid for them… #don’tcare. Honestly, I suppose I do understand the appeal of choosing your “dream” dog —size, colors, parents, blah blah blah. But with the number of sweet, loving, desperate dogs and puppies in shelters, I can NOT understand buying breeder pups. I know there are perks and pluses, but it’s not for me.
As you all know, back in May, Bryan and I adopted our first dog together! I grew up with a dog (Rudy, she lives with my mama. She’s a riot and I’m just as obsessed with her as I am with Allie,) but Bryan had never had one before! We talked about it a TON, there were so many things to consider: Were we ready for a new addition? Could we comfortably afford it? Did we have the room in our apartment? We thought on it for quite a while and finally, just before my birthday, we decided to take the plunge! For my 25th birthday, Bryan presented me with a birthday card saying “let’s go pick our puppy!”
There was a short time where I was convinced that I wanted a bull dog.
One of these little dudes:
I’m not sure when my bulldog obsession began (probably when one of my Instagram friends adopted a bulldog puppy and started posting the silliest, cutest pictures of him. Suggestible, much?)
Well, come to find out, these dogs have, what may be, the world’s shortest life expectancy. They are oftentimes plagued with some pretty serious health problems and are generally just tough to care for. Their many health problems have led to some SERIOUS breeding issues and some major interventions need to happen in order to have a litter (think: artificial insemination, C-sections, and more). After tons and tons of research, it just didn’t seem like the smartest choice for us.
We talked about whether we wanted to: find a breeder (we quickly vetoed that idea…see above rant); look for a specific breed (either at shelters or in the newspaper); or head to a shelter randomly to find our new addition.
Just a couple of days later, we made a trek to a rescue shelter that was about 15 miles away from home and played with some of the world’s sweetest puppies around.
We were very open to dogs of age–from puppies to adult dogs, we met them all!
(Note: I am THRILLED to report that both of these sweet little lovebugs got homes that very same week! God bless the work of no-kill shelters.)
Animal shelters really are so incredibly heartbreaking. I really did just want to save them all. I can NOT believe the pain that some of them have seen, and thinking about their sweet faces waiting for a forever home kills me.
As we wandered up and down the aisles of pups, we met little Allie May!
Allie May was a 6-month old puppy from down south who was found on the side of a busy highway. The thing that struck us (but also made us nearly miss her!!!!!!) was the fact that she didn’t bark! At all! Even in the midst of dozens of barking, jumping, howling, noisy dogs, she was content and quiet in her small run. I pointed her sweet face out to Bryan and before we knew it, we were playing with her out on the lawn, grabbing sticks to play with and falling more and more in love with her.
Before we left the site, we filled out the adoption application for her and made plans to return just a few days later for pickup!
Leaving that wiggly little thing behind, even knowing that we would soon return, was so, so hard, but I swear she knew what it meant when we promised her that we’d be back soon.
That night, we spent our time puppy-proofing our home and collecting all of the necessities to bring our fur baby home with us!
Since that day, Allie has gained over twelve pounds! She has grown into a sweet, loving, incredibly feisty little thing who keeps us on our toes! She has filled our days with love and laughs and we couldn’t be more grateful.
If you are considering welcoming a pet into your life, please, please, please consider rescuing. It will change your world. I really do think that there are just so many misconceptions about rescuing animals (they get a bad rap, they really, really do) that many people are needlessly sheepish about it! Also, keep in mind that with the advent of some very popular animal adoption websites, it is now easier than EVER to find just about any breed that you could ever want.
I keep seeing t-shirts and bumper stickers and coffee mugs with the saying “Who Rescued Who?” and a big paw print. I couldn’t agree more.
Xoxo
Me!
Posted on August 19, 2015
Dunkin’ Donuts with a Side of Butter
From June of 2013 to today, I have gained about 35 pounds.
Holy. Freaking. Carbdensedietcoveredinsugarwithasideofdunkindonuts.
It happened fast. My senior year in college, I basically threw caution to the wind and decided to step away from the scale and allow myself to enjoy the last year of my life when Starbucks was a part of my meal plan, drinking was legal (and encouraged. See: Senior Nights and School-Sponsored Drunk Buses), my roommates were my best friend, and when the nights where ordering chicken wings with grape soda and ranch dip were as sacred as Thanksgiving dinners.
And then I graduated, realized that I was heavier than I had ever been in my life and I decided to make a change. I got myself a new pair of running shoes for my birthday and starting on June 1st of that year, I hit the road. Literally. I started training for races and I loved it. It made me feel strong and healthy and I was addicted. My jobs were active and it was easy to fit in well over 10,000 steps a day. I was lifting and hauling things, hustling and schlepping. I lost about 25 pounds and was in the best shape of my life by Christmas of that year. I was a huge fan of the BodyPump classes at my gym (which was about 2 minutes away from where I was living at the time…convenient, right?). I would go to that about three times a week, (although I was convinced it was making my hips thicker– and not in a good way). I ate all of the healthy things. All of them. Even the ones I didn’t like, but it worked.
I took another job that, while still very active, also involved a LOT of travel and a LOT of road/ festival food. For a while, I kept up with my regimens. I would exercise in the hotels, try to pack healthy snacks (so that the funnel cakes seemed less funnel-y and delicious) and that worked for a while.
And then, I moved. I moved into an over-priced apartment in the middle of nowhere that was miserable. Getting a parking spot that was in a safe part of the area and that didn’t involve a 20-mile trek was a feat. One that involved careful traffic-timing and absolutely NO after-work outings. That’s when my yoga practicing went to the wayside. I slowly became stressed and depressed and even though I knew the isolation wasn’t helping anything, I continued to take the path of least resistance and stayed home most of the time when I wasn’t working (which I worked a LOT at the time, so that’s not saying much.)
My meals went from being full of nutrients and power-packed ingredients to being mostly made of carbs and nitrates (see: lots and lots and LOTS of pasta).
Eventually, I landed myself at a desk job that sucked up all of my days. It was stressful and upsetting and when I got home, the last thing I had ANY interest in doing was exercising.
So, add all of those factors up and you have a girl who went from being a lean, mean, fighting machine, to the me of today. A little bit slower, a little bit softer, and a little bit weaker.
Well the good news is, that I have decided AGAIN that it’s all going to change.
No more of this “I-don’t-have-a-gym-buddy-I-can’t-find-socks-I’m-way-too-tired-fat-is-fun” excuse-making anymore. I’ve got some new sneaks and I’m going to lace ’em up and hit the road again.
And here’s my plan:
- Incorporate as much activity as possible in my daily life. Bryan and I love spending time outside, we love going for walks (especially with the Allie Dog!) and hiking and kayaking, but we don’t do it enough! There is SUCH a short window of time where the weather is nice in Upstate New York and it’s time to start taking full advantage of it.
- Stop making excuses. I have been saying for the longest time that I need a gym buddy. Well, right now, that’s just not the case. So I need to start being my OWN gym buddy. I should be just as careful not to break gym dates with myself as I am with others, right?
- Cut the carbs. I like pasta. A lot. But here’s the thing, it’s really not that filling and is void of essentially ANY nutritional value whatsoever.
- Think ahead. I am a pretty organized person (as long as we don’t count what the inside of my purse looks like…), but for some reason, planning snacks and meals ahead of time is NOT my strong suit. In fact, there was a time when I was making a conscious effort to double, or even triple, recipes so that I would have enough for leftovers at work, but for some reason, I could never get it quite right and would end up making an awkward amount of food that which ended up being a GREAT way to make over-eating real easy.
- Sleep. I know how important sleeping is, and sleeping WELL, but it’s also just so easy to talk myself out of. This really became a problem when I was working at my last job and was so miserable all of the time. When I would get home, it seemed like my night was already shot, so rather than calling it a day at a reasonable time, I would stay up too late deescalating, reading, watching TV etc. so that I didn’t feel like my time had been robbed.
- Use the tools. I have a FitBit. I have the health apps. I have the workout apps. I have sneakers. I have a gym (and a reasonable membership). I have built-in accountability partner in my fiancé.
So here’s a new chapter of BeeingFancy the health and well-being chapter. I have no intentions of turning this blog into a “Healthy Living Blog,” BUT I do plan to chronicle my tales as I RE-embark on a get-fit-get-healthy kick.
Extra motiviation? My wedding is in less than 275 days!
Posted on August 5, 2015
Stress Down, Angst Up
Good morning!
I am in AWE of the beautiful summer days that we have been having around here recently. The temperature is perfect, the skies are blue and clear, it’s breezy (not balmy, for once!). I feel so lucky and blessed to have this time of ALL times to sit back and enjoy my surroundings for once.
In the days immediately after my departure from my last job, I was SO psyched (<– who says that anymore…) to have some free time, but dudes. Holy. Cripes. I have been at my wits end these last few days!
Now, to be fair, I think a good part of the strife has come from a variety of bizarre medical things that have popped up here and there. (Seriously, it is the weirdest thing. I am usually a pretty (knock-on-wood) healthy girl, but it’s like the minute I left my job, my body decided to plague me with all of the things that it’s been holding back for the past decade during which I never. stopped. moving.) Last week, I nearly landed myself in the emergency room with a migraine unlike anything I had ever experienced. That whole night knocked me back for about two days. On top of that, I am getting (unnecessarily) frustrated about trying to purge, deep-clean, and organize our apartment. Ironically, I LOVE cleaning and organizing, but it can also be quite an undertaking.
Add to that two parts of “What Do I Want to be When I Grow Up?” and a dash of puppy training and you have a little bit of a mess. A joyfully under-scheduled, constantly ruminating, slightly broke, but actually pretty happy mess.
I am 100% confident that my little streak of bad luck will soon be over. I have a very exciting trip coming up with the Almost-Mister that I cannot wait for! I am also spending more time writing, reading, and am finally beginning to learn how my camera works! Thanks for our patience in the posting schedule. In no time flat I will be back to posting once a day, if not twice!
Thanks for reading!
Xoxo
Me!
Updated on July 30, 2015
The After-Party
Hey, hey, hey friends. How the heck are you??
In the days (weeks?) since I’ve seen you last, there have been some pretty hefty changes ’round here. And no, I am not referring to my new logo image. (But she IS a beaut, ain’t she!?)
1. I quit my job.
2. Bryan and I purchased a home carpet shampooer.
3. I decided to give the wild and crazy vegetarian lifestyle a shot.
4. I realized that the only meat that I will ever really “miss” is bacon. (Directly related to number three.)
5. We booked a DJ.
6. Allie the Dog can now react to the hand signals for sit, lay down, and bite my hand.
Clearly, I have had a busy couple of weeks.
The namesake for today’s post comes directly from the very first item on the above list. The fact that I quit my job.
Even in posts prior to today’s, it really didn’t take much reading-between-the-lines to figure out that I was unhappy at work. What I think I did a relatively decent job of doing was masking the depth of my misery. From the time I first started working (I had my first babysitting job at twelve and landed my first part-time job (which ultimately turned into a full-time job in college and provided me with my first foray into management in time) when I was just 15), I loved working hard. I was that (ridiculously over-committed) girl in college who worked full-time, went to school full-time and picked up as many gigs on the side as I could.
I am no stranger to hard work. In fact, for a while, it defined me.
I’ve managed reluctant teenage workers, lived and worked at the state fair as a brand-ambassador for a winery, I have nannied, pitched out donkey runs, and so much more. But nothing, nothing at all could have prepared me for the undertaking that I began late last fall.
The issues that I faced were not at all related to the actual work that I was doing, although it was fast-paced and cutthroat, I could handle that. In fact, sometimes, the nature of the work sparked my inner competitive edge that allowed me to succeed and even thrive. At times, I was recognized, I was given occasional bonuses, and praised.
None of that buffered the fact that I worked for a someone whose sense of self was strongest when she made others hurt. Her satisfaction in herself came from her coldness: towards colleagues and others alike. With diamonds the size of satellites and shoes that cost more than my car, her self-worth came from things and her power came from belittling. It was an environment where cattiness, deceit, and insults ruled.
For months, I tried to make things work, but ultimately, I felt like I was trying to make me work. I was trying to change Brittany for the sake of fitting in, not unlike a less-confident version of my high school self may have done. I hated it. Consistently compared to the girl that came before, I lost my motivation. There was very little reason to excel when all that I had was never enough, and so I stopped. Over time, I stopped trying. At the beginning of the end, I was disengaged, but in time, I had checked out entirely and that is perhaps what hurt me the most. Emotionally, I was entirely exhausted. An outwardly “lazy” version of Brittany had taken over my usually spirited, positive, and hard-working self. Traits that I was once praised for had gone to the wayside as I did my best to tough it out day after day. I had my fight face on, but that was draining.
And so, I recognized that the end was near. I hated myself for not feeling like Brittany. Yes, I was affected largely at work, but I was also impacted at home. My Sundays were spent fighting an almost inescapable feeling of dread as the new work week approached. I was short, impatient, snappy, and exhausted. I had a big choice to make.
After a thinking and stewing and talking and list-making and praying and hoping, it was clear that there was only one thing to do: I had to get out.
I put in my notice and that was that. As quickly as the whole thing began, it was over.
And now it’s time for the after. It’s time for me to be Brittany, to embrace my little Brittany, Bryan, and Allie-the-Dog family. It is time for me to regain my confidence and to pursue all of the things that I have continually said would come “later.” It hit me like a ton of bricks; I am way too young and far too feisty to be beaten down on the daily…by anything or anyone. And especially not for a job.
Stay tuned, friends. The fun is just beginning.
Xoxo
Me
Posted on May 31, 2015
Guess Who’s Back!
WELL HELLO, STRANGER.
Did you miss me? This hiatus has been a little ridiculous! I have so many updates, I’m not even quite sure where to start!
Well let’s start with this:
This week, our little family got considerably furrier.
After a LOT of thinking and talking and hypothesizing and number-crunching, Bryan and I finally decided that we were ready (or at least as ready as we’d ever be!) to welcome a doggy into our lives.
Honestly, until very recently, I have been pretty ignorant about animal rescues. In fact, until very recently, I had certain dog breeds in mind that I thought we could check out breeders for. And then one day (thank God), something clicked and I started looking at local pounds. For who KNOWS what reason, the variety of dogs that were available for adoption was shocking to me: big dogs, small dogs, in-between dogs, purebred dogs, mixed breed dogs, young dogs, dog dogs, older dogs and they all needed homes so desperately! (Yes, I realize that I sounded a little bit like Dr. Seuss right there…) Right then, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t adopt.
Can I tell you that going to a pound to adopt a dog was one of the hardest things that I have ever done? We knew right away that this little girl would be the perfect fit for us, but naturally, I couldn’t leave without giving ALL of the possible pups tons and TONS of love and attention. (Seriously, it was awful, they were all so sweet and friendly and unique! That very first day, we met our sweet puppy. Two days later, we brought her home and the rest is history! She is sweet and playful and loving and a ridiculously good listener. We have so much to learn, but she’s making it awfully easy!!!
I’m going to try REALLY hard not to turn into a crazy dog lady (or at least not subject you guys to that in blog form….), BUT I can’t promise anything!! Heh. : P
ON an unrelated note, you can also look forward to FAR better photography on the blog from here on out along with a nifty new theme that is in currently in the making!
I am planning for this week is be a bit of a hodge podge of recipes, essays, random update posts, doggy information and crafting business.
I am going to run for now, but please come back soon! (And I will too! I promise.)
xoxo
Bee