Day Eight: A piece of advice you have for others.

Do what you love or what gets you what you need to be happy with life. 

TRY to think things through a bit, but don't be afraid to make the jump every once and awhile. 

It is not a bad thing to ask for help. 

You are smarter than you think you are (Well...except for some of you, you aren't as smart as you think you are). We are our hardest critic. 

Be proud of your accomplishments and don't let people make you feel bad about them. 

Be there for your friends and family, helping others and making them happy is the greatest gift in the world, but don't sacrifice your happiness/principals to do it. Ensure that what you are doing is actually helping and not enabling. 

Day Seven: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Spiders and snakes...I don't want to talk about it.

Day Six: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer thequestion, 'what do you do'?

What don't I do? 

I try to do everything and then sometimes turn on the breaks and do nothing. I am active and I am a pet parent, a daughter, a sister, a problem solver, a friend, a best friend, a bestie, a room mate,  hard working, driven. I travel, run, walk, workout, play indoor soccer, play outdoor soccer, am on facebook too much, should be working but am blogging. I love, I rarely fight, I shop, I spend, I return after I have buyer's remorse. I am impulsive and don't always think things all the way through.

I love to spend time with all parts of my family and my perfect day is chilling at home with family/friends on a nice day.

Day Four: Favorite quote

- Oscar Wilde

This is my mantra. I tend to fall in line with things and not always follow my own thoughts/opinion (part of being a people please-er).  Panda has actually been a key person in helping me with this. He always encourages me to make decisions and not just leave it all to him or others. On the other hand, sometimes this is hard because I don't really care what we eat or what we do. :)

Day Three: Things that make me uncomfortable

Hmmm...there are a lot of things that make me uncomfortable, although nothing really stands out.

- Animal cruelty or pets that need homes/better homes. - This fish ownership stuff has been hard for me. Even going to the pet store and seeing all those fish makes me sad.

- People crying or showing significant emotions, especially at work.

- Silence with people that I don't know that well (I think this is a common one).

- People being upset with me or not liking me. I am a people please-er and like people to like me. I don't do well when people are angry or upset with me, even when it isn't my fault. This usually ends up working to others advantage because the situation is so uncomfortable to me that I will do whatever I need to just end it and get back to normal (ie caving on a fight). I am trying to be better about it, but I just don't hold a grudge well and I just want to move on with life.

There have been a few times where I reached my breaking point and those people are just not active parts of my life...granted, it takes A LOT to get there.

Day Two: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at.

I am good at SO many things...this could be difficult (read sarcastic font).  I am going to go with being a good pet parent on road trips or knowing what Gabs needs, primarily because I just recently did it. 

So, Gabby and I are probably over packers, but we like to be prepared. Recently her and I did a road trip over to Idaho to see my Auntie Jams (aka Jan). She is my mom's best friend from college and like another mom to me. She means the world to me. Gabs and I decided that since Panda was out of town for work, that we should skip on over to visit her. Although not really a skip, more like a ridiculously boring 5+ hr drive, but she is totally worth it.

So...what does her highness need while traveling or just in her day to day life? We have this down pretty well, because we are always heading over to Panda's for the night or something.

1) This may or may not be a legit LV. I will let you decide. This is a great size bag to keep all of her stuff in.

2) Her remote collar, as mentioned in earlier posts, this is a must and it is great for on the farm because there is so much space she can run and run without me worrying.

3) Door Bells - these are great. My mom gave me a set of these when I moved into my apartment. Gabby picked it up pretty quick that if she rang them, we would go outside. They are also nice on doors because if someone does open them, it is a bit of a warning. Many people have thought I had them on my door as a type of alarm.

4) Harness - This is a gentle lead harness, you can hook the leash to the front or the back. If you hook it to the front, then kind of stops the dog from pulling so much. I use this for running and with #8.

5) Puppy pads, given that Gabs is a city dog and I used to work long hours, she is trained (mostly) to use these. I keep a few in my bag so that if I am leaving her at someone's place, she knows where she can go.

6) A water bowl and a ziplock bowl with food in it. I love these ziplock bowls because the lock down tight, great for soups/chili and why not dog food. There is always a full one in her bag in case we are staying out one night.

7) Chuck-it/balls - Saying that Gabs loves to play ball would be an understatement. I keep the short chuck-it and a few balls with us at all times. I like the shorter version because it fits in her bag easier. I also like the orange and blue rubber balls because they tend to hold up a bit longer and are easier to locate.

8) This is a great little invention - it is a short leash. I hook it to her harness and then the handle of the leash goes through the seat belt of the car. Usually gabby travels in the back in her crate (not pictured, but also a must for us), however, for long road trips with just the two of us, I set her up in the seat next to me with this and a blanket. It is nice because she is secure, so we can drive around with all the windows down and I don't have to worry about her jumping out.

9) Thunder shirt - I was surprised that this actually worked. It is supposed to calm your dog down and it actually works, now is gabby a mellow (insert name of mellow dog here) with it? No, but definitely a bit calmer and it also keeps her from getting quite so much hair everywhere. It is great for when we are visiting friends or have just vacuumed my car.

10) Long leash - I got hooked on these with Gab's training for her remote collar. It is nice to have for rest stops or what not. I don't like the retractable leashes because I think they encourage dogs to pull on the leash since with those, there is always a bit of tension. 

11) Chicken Strips or Lamb Strips - Any treat of choice will do.

12) Water bottle and travel attachment for pups - my friend Bart got this attachment for me for my birthday a few years back. It is nice because it attaches to any water bottle. It is nice for when we are on the move or hiking.

13) This is a new item and in all honesty we haven't tried it yet. It is a natural flea/tick repellent. We got this for our trip to Idaho because we were concerned about ticks, but didn't have any issues and haven't used it yet. The ladies at Mud Bay (http://www.mudbay.us/) were recommending it as they don't carry the chemical stuff. I liked the idea, but can't...at this moment comment on how well it works. A later post I am sure.

14) Bully bone or similar - just a nice bone for her to chew on or what she seems to be doing recently is just hiding them, I will have to start an album of funny places she hides her bones.

15) Hedgehog - Gabs actually has a couple of these. It is a nice durable go to toy. It still squeaks and honks.

16) Of course, a leash and bags on board - We just have a basic leash and I found that ordering replacement bags on amazon is the cheap way to go about it.

17)  Gabby recommends that there be an additional ball or two in the mix.

....wow...gabby has a lot of crap.

Some other things to consider carrying along that aren't pictured

- Proof of vaccinations

- ID tags with local names/phone numbers of where you are staying. For example, Gabby has a tag that says she is Jan's dog and has Jan's phone number. You can actually get ID tags really cheap online. It is nice because then if something happens, they know where she is from or a local contact. It is also nice for Idaho because my cell doesn't work well over there. I also have one for when my mom is watching her and I am out of the country or don't have access to my cell.

Hope this little pack helps you to plan for your pup's trips....

a blog post for every day of May challenge...

So...I haven't be able to think of things to blog about for a bit (hence my lack of blogging), but in comes May and someone else has my blogging brain freeze answer. Thanks to my fabulous best friend and her blog reading she found this to help us both power up out of this blogging rut.

Blog every day in May challenge...

So here we go...

Day One: The story of your life in 250 words or less

Me...well, I grew up in Duvall, WA with my mom. My parents divorced when I was 1 (I should really stop making this a key part of my life). I can't even imagine them together, just wouldn't even make sense to me. 

My mom did so much for me growing up and continues to go above and beyond as a mom. I don't know how she did it. I love her so so much!!!

I loved growing up small town and never thought I would live in the city, I was going to end up with a guy and a truck and live on some property. I played basketball...typical sport of a tall gal. After high school, I went to WSU, missed the family and came back to this side of the mountains. I finished up college at UW (I know...who does that?). Straight from College I started work at Moss Adams. I then found my two partners in crime (Gabs and Panda).

Now, I live in the city in a small apartment, work downtown and couldn't image leaving the city (although a vacation place in the country might be nice. I am also not a vet, which I also planned to be as a child...oh how things don't turn out as planned but are still fabulous!