Day 1 of PetSmart Beginner Training Course

 When we got Penny, no one had bothered to ever train her to do anything.  The word "no" was absolutely foreign to her.  Since both J and I work full-time, we thought it would be beneficial for all 3 of us to take obedience courses.  We decided on PetSmart because we've always had a good experience with their store and their class scheduled worked with our already crazy schedules.

Even though Penny is still a puppy, the dog has to be under 5 months old to be enrolled in the puppy training course, so we enrolled her in the beginner class.  This class is meant for dogs who need very basic training.

We have only two other dogs in our course, which is great!  It allows our trainer to give individualized attention to each dog.

Our trainer gave us a small orientation on the best methods to train your dog and how to use the clicker.  Then, we taught our dogs how to pay attention to us when asked and how to sit.  Penny responded wonderfully to the treats and could care less about the clicker!

The first week was great and I can't wait to see how the rest of the training sessions are!  The training session wore her out!

 I paid for these classes with my own money and I'm not being compensated in any way for posting about these classes.  I just had a hard time finding information when googling it and I thought it would be helpful to someone else.

New Addition in Our Family

Meet Penny!

Ever since our sweet Tally passed away a couple months ago, our house has been way too quiet.  For the past couple of months, I had been searching rescues and animal shelters for the perfect dog to add to our family.

I happened to be looking on a local yard sale group on Facebook and I stumbled across this little girl.  The family adopted her for the humane society, but didn't realize how much work a puppy was, so they needed to find her a new home.  I fell in love the second I saw her, so I had to meet her.  She warmed up to us right away and we brought her home with us.

She's been with us for almost 2 weeks now and has really been adapting well.  We started obedience training this week and she's learning quickly.  I can't wait to get to know this little girl as she grows up!

Shave Time, Shave Money

I've been a member of the Dollar Shave Club for a couple months, so when they asked if I would write an article on how to shave time and money, I happily obliged! 

This time of year is especially crazy for our family since J is a teacher and I work at a university.  Back to school is nuts and we don't even have kids!  Here are a few of my favorite tips for saving yourself some time, while also saving yourself some money.

1. Every Sunday, I go grocery shopping.  As soon as I get home, I portion out the fruits and veggies into smaller packages.  This saves so much time when making lunches for the week because I just have to put them in our lunchbox.  I've found that being prepared for lunches makes me more likely to actually take my lunch and not eat out.

2. Bouncing off of lunch, I make sure both of us have reusable lunch boxes and water bottles so that we don't waste paper bags and plastic bottles all the time.  Good for the environment and our wallet!

3. New clothes are always a necessity for fall.  Instead of doing one huge shopping trip, we plan it out over a couple weeks so that we can shop the sales.  Yes, it doesn't save time, but it saves so much money! 

4. I've recently developed a cleaning schedule for our house which is working wonderfully for us.  Instead of letting everything pile up and then spending hours deep cleaning the house, we have a couple tasks to do every night and that helps us keep up with the cleaning and organizing. 

5. For a lot of our household necessities (cleaning supplies, toiletries, paper products, etc), I've turned to shopping online.  I don't have to run out to the store which saves me time and you can find a ton of great deals on the internet.  Amazon Subscribe and Save is a great way to order things you need for a great price.

As I mentioned above, I recently signed up for Dollar Shave Club which has definitely saved me time and money.  If you didn't already know, razor blades are expensive!  I use the most expensive blades they have at $9 a delivery and have them delivered every 2 months.  They're drastically cheaper than the blades I used to use and work just as well!  I highly recommend it if you're in the market for some cheaper razors. 

Check Out How the Dollar Shave Club can help Shave Time, Shave Money


What are you doing to help Shave Time, Shave Money?

I was not compensated for this post.  I love the Dollar Shave Club and wanted to help them out with their Shave Time, Shave Money campaign.  My referral link is included in the post and I get $5 off my subscription for every person who signs up under me.  You can do the same if you sign up!

runDisney Princess Registration Information

I've always wanted to do a runDisney race, so I'm currently training to run the Enchanted 10K during the Princess Half Marathon weekend (hopefully will eventually be able to do the full half!).

If you're interested in also running one of the races during the Princess Half weekend, I wanted to give you the information so that you were informed and ready to register.  These races fill up fast!

- Registration opens up on July 15th for the general public.  Annual passholders and DVC members are able to register today at noon EST.

- Just like last year, you have the option to run a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or the Glass Slipper Challenge (10K and then half marathon)

- Entry fee is non-refundable, so make sure to commit before you actually register

- Proof of time for the half marathon must be submitted by December 1st or you will be placed in the last corral


If you would like to register for any of the events during the Princess Half weekend, I suggest you not wait! Keep an eye on runDisney.com and register ASAP if you notice them starting to fill up.


Have you done any of the runDisney races?  Are you planning on signing up for the Princess Half in 2015?

Crockpot Chili

My husband loves chili.  He doesn't care whether it's 30 degrees outside or 100 degrees, he'll eat chili any time of the year.

Chili is a classic American dish, so I figured I'd make some over Fourth of July weekend.  Just throw all the ingredients in the crockpot and let it simmer for hours.  You really can't go wrong.

Crockpot Chili

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs. hamburger meat
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles
3 (8 oz) cans of tomato sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (15 oz) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:
Cook hamburger meat using skillet over medium heat.  Drain oil out of pan, reserving about 2 Tbsp.  Put ground beef and 2 Tbsp. of oil in slow cooker.

Add garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasonings, cocoa powder, and sugar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on low 4-5 hours.

Stir in kidney beans and cook on low for another hour.  Serve warm with desired toppings.

Optional toppings: Shredded cheese, sour cream, chives, hot sauce

Five on Friday

Sorry I haven't been around much.  My sweet dog that I've had since college recently passed away from cancer.  I'm having a hard time with it and not really feeling much like doing anything around the house, so I don't have too much to blog about.

I figured I'd do a Five on Friday though because I'm so excited that it's the weekend.  I need some sleep!

- ONE - Peonies are my favorite flower.  I spent a ton of money to use them in my bridal bouquet for our wedding.  I was giddy when Trader Joes had a bunch of them for only $6.

- TWO - Summer is my favorite time of year to go to Chick-fil-a because they have peach milkshakes!  I never order milkshakes anywhere, except for the peach milkshakes at Chick-fil-a.  Yum!

- THREE - Razors are expensive!  One of my friends recommended the Dollar Shave Club to me, so I decided to try it out.  For only $9 a month (I actually signed up for every other month), I get 4 blades, plus the handle.  I tried the blades out last night and they make my legs silky smooth.  Way cheaper than my Venus razors.

- FOUR - It's hot as heck in Florida!  I'm ready for the fall.

- FIVE - Bought me a pretty pink canopy to use for vendor events.  Love it!

I linked up to Carolina Charm.

Local Tourist: Florida Caverns

 I've always heard about the Florida Caverns, but after almost 10 years of here, I had never made the trip.  J and I were having a little bit of wanderlust this past weekend so we decided to make the hour drive over to Marianna to check it out.  It costs $5 to park and then $8 per person for the cave tour.  Tickets for the tour are sold on a first come, first serve basis and only 25 people can go on each tour.

During the tour you are about 50 feet underground.  It's about 3/4 miles long and takes about 45 minutes.  The average temperature in the caverns is 65 degrees, so it's fabulous after walking outside in the 90 degree heat.

The caverns were very pretty and had an interesting history to them.  We got to see how a sinkhole was created from underneath, which was very neat.  I have toured many caves in the midwest which are a lot bigger and more spectacular, but it was interesting seeing the differences between those and Florida.  We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and would definitely go again.  I highly recommend it if you're in the area.