sampson turns one

my baby bear turned one this past may.
one. tear.
he only wanted two things for his birthday:
a bow tie and a frost paw treat.
so, got him both {not pictured: frosty paw}. 

sampson is the best dog. 

totally a momma's boy but prefers to snuggle with his dad at night. 

that being said, sleeps in the bed with us. 

will do anything for green beans or turkey. 

loves to play with anything that squeaks. 

loves swimming. going on walks & sitting on our new patio couch. 

can find any black sock within a 10 foot radius. 

still has the puppy cray cray in him. but we love it. 

i love you boo boo. happy belated birthday!

{picture: sampson on his 1st birthday}

december?!

i'm not exactly sure how it happened,
but i barely had a chance to celebrate fall this year!

we didn't carve pumpkins or decorate our front porch w/ hay bales.
we didn't go to a haunted house or see a scary movie.
unless you count hocus pocus.
we didn't decorate inside the house for fall either,
unless you count the four orange dish towels that i got out.

i did manage to celebrate fall in a few small ways.
by consuming my fair share of salted carmel mochas.
by taking in the turning leaves on morning & evening walks with the pup.
by attending the college homecoming football games of both of our alma maters.
by taking my cowboy boots out for a fall weekend in nashville w/ the girls.
by restocking & then consuming my supply of red wines.
by wearing skinny jeans & aldo boots every chance I could.
& by dressing up Sampson for halloween as a shark, for all of three minutes.

here's to hoping that i fully celebrate winter for all that it's worth!
peppermint mochas. hats & gloves. warm fireplace. cozy blankets.
twinkling lights. more red wine. baked goods. puppy's first romp in the snow.

photo is a print as seen on the raceytay etsy shop

puppy class

yesterday sampson started an 8 week puppy obedience class.
& i have to brag, for a second.
because sampson is clearly the smartest puppy in the class.
{the smartest out of a total of 3 dogs, but that's beside the point}

the instructor noticed right away that he could already:
walk properly on a leash, sit & recognize his name.
to say that i was basking in the compliment would be an understatement.
proud momma.
there's really no point to this blog post.
other than to brag about my puppy. i just can't help it.
sure, he has his moments. but, to be honest, he's pretty much the perfect pup.
for example, as i type this {while finishing my glass of wine @ 11pm}
he's snuggled atop a pile of his daddy's clothes on the bedroom floor.
he hasn't moved an inch or made a peep in the last hour and a half.
neither has his daddy, who is snuggled up next to him.

they are both so precious there on the bedroom floor.
well behaved and snuggly, just the way i like them.

picture above is of sampson on the bed in our guest room at some point in august.
he has since doubled in size.
so there's that.

it was a perfect day

i'm quite a fan of country music. there's a lady antebellum song that goes:
it was the perfect day/what I'd give if I could find a way to stay/
lost in this moment now/ain't worried about tomorrow
when you're busy living in a perfect day.

yesterday {& today} was that perfect day.
the puppy let us sleep in.
we rewarded him with a 4 hour boat ride.
complete with a free boat-in country concert that we stumbled upon.
sampson loves being on the boat.
he stands up on the bow of the boat. looking so handsome. king of the world.
we camped out & spent the night at the state park.
it was sampson's first camp out, but he was too tied to experience it all.
passed out by 10pm. we weren't far behind him though.
we had a few beers by the fire & admired the stars before calling it a night.
a whole day with my 2 faves - boating and camping.
it was a perfect day.

after packing up camp the next morning we were back out on the water.
we pulled our boat up on a shore & coerced sampson into swimming a bit.
the weather was perfect & the sun was shinning.
it was a perfect day.

sampson: puppy to pup

our little sampson is no longer little.
not so much a puppy anymore & even pup is stretching it.
every morning he crawls out of his crate i swear he's an inch taller & longer.

he can now sit, shake, lay down, get his hedgehog, fetch, come & stay.
he's had a few baths & doesn't mind them too much. as long as treats are involved.
he's gone on long walks with us @ the park & loves the extra pats on the head & treats.
he's even gone on a few rides with us on our speedboat. loves it.
he sleeps through the night {amen}.
he has huge paws. huge.
he's getting so big.

so, a few weeks ago nicole captured photos of us with little 12 week old sampson.
he is very very very loved.

and he is getting very very big very fast.

holding on to my little puppy as long as i can.

meet sampson

i have always wanted a puppy.
for years on my christmas list to santa i had the same top 2 requests:
1. a dog.
2. a cash register {i am a nerd}.

i never received either from my parents or santa claus.
from the day chris & i started dating, our lives became busy.
traveling to see eachother. traveling to see friends. traveling to see family.
camping. partying at the lake. summer vacations. weekends of non-stop fun.
always on the road & having fun together.

almost 6 years later we're still living the life.
& on july 4th our lives got a whole lot more exciting.
meet sampson. our 8 week old goldendoodle.
the day we picked him up he endured a 3 hour car ride & a petsmart trip.
on day 2 {at 4am} he had mastered the "sit" command.
by day 3 he learned to respond to "sampson, come."
by day 4 he was getting the hang of "go get your ball."
day 5 he endured his first thunderstorm.
day 6 brought his first visit to the vet. he was a champ through it all.

he loves to be held but doesn't love his leash.
he loves to play with his monkey, hedgehog & pheasant.
he devours peanut butter.
he is cute when he plays, sleeps & walks. he is cute all the time.
he has chris & i wrapped around all four of his paws.

he is a perfect little pup.