DANCE!

This last year for Christmas, Adam got me one of the best, most fun gifts I've ever gotten! He got us Couples Dance Lessons! They were held at the Moonlight Dance Studio in Downtown La Crosse, and let me tell you, I was EXCITED! He set us up for Swing & Foxtrot lessons. It was every Tuesday night for 4 weeks, 1 Hr each.
Now, I was prepared for how dance lessons go. When I was in High School, I was in Grand Central Station Show Choir, so I was familiar with counting steps, watching the choreographer closely, working on technique, etc. Adam, however, was new to these concepts. He's a natural when it comes to Snowboarding and Skateboarding, Kayaking, and even Running. (All of which are quite a challenge for me!) So needless to say, the first class to him was a bit stressful. However, as the classes went on, he picked up on things incredibly quickly! The instructors do go pretty fast, but in a thorough way. They want you to learn as much as possible in just 4 lessons-and they did it!
One weekend, Adam and I decided to practice. We went upstairs at the Radio Station where there is a big open room called the Liquid Lounge. We brought a boom box with our rehearsal CD that you get at the end of your first class. We popped it in, and danced away! It was an absolute blast.
By the time our last class rolled around, we were flowing all over that dance floor.
The class was a great way for us to spend time together, laugh, learn, and grow closer. (I know, that probably sounds corny, but it's true!) It's really fun to learn things that your significant other enjoys, and I have to give Adam credit. Lots of it. He decided to try something new for me. Something he knew I was already familiar with. He said he really enjoyed himself, and he would love to do more lessons! And yes, I DID try Snowboarding once...however, it not go nearly as smoothly! OUCH!
Anyway, it was an incredible experience, and I hope we can do more lessons in the future! Something we would DEFINITELY recommend to other couples!

No Colon and Still Rollin!

As many of you know, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis back in 2006. In 2009 I had my first of 3 surgeries to remove my colon and have been feeling incredible!

Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colits (along with many other digestive diseases) are commonly kept "hush-hush". People may find them embarassing, degrading, unattractive, or even icky! I, however, wanted to embrase my opportunity to learn from this disease and my surgeries, and to educate people on these diseases to create more awareness. When I was diagnosed, I had never heard of UC and I had to do a lot of research. Adam always says that he had never heard of it either, and then as soon as he learned I had it, he started meeting all kinds of people with those diseases that would finally open up after they heard about my story. I'm proud to be the reason they decided to come out of the dark and into the light of awareness!

There are many great websites out there where you can learn about these diseases, talk to people with the same problems, and get involved in raising funds to help research. Some of my favorite websites are
1) www.livingwithuc.com

2) www.ccfa.org

3) www.uncoverostomy.org

Uncover Ostomy is especially near and dear to my heart, because I did have a temporary ostomy bag. As a woman, you tend to feel shy, embarassed, and the exact opposite of the sexy desirable beauty that every woman wants to be. However, a woman by the name of Jessica Grossman (a young beautiful woman!) decided to fight back! She wanted to embrase her permanent ostomy, and show off how beautiful and sexy and fun you can still be with the "poop bag"! She is an incredible inspiration!

I recently learned of a fundraiser called "Take Steps Be Heard for Crohn's and Colitis". It is a group walk (nothing too strenuous!) to raise money and awareness for these types of diseases. People with "crappy poopers" from all over the place get together, walk, talk, take potty breaks, and share stories all while bringing us closer to more information and even cures! Needless to say, I was SO excited to be a part of this event! There is one in Milwaukee Wisconsin called "Take Steps Milwaukee". My mother, myself, and Adam formed a team called "No Colon and Still Rollin" and plan to grow our team to a few more people! It's on June 24th, 2012 and we hope to exceed our goal of raising $1,500 by then!

The link to our page is:

http://online.ccfa.org/goto/stillrollin

PLEASE take a few moments to visit our page. Feel free to donate, or even join our team! If you would like to, you can even form your own team! We'll be making shirts, and dogs are allowed to walk with us!

Ok, I've typed for too long-I must take a potty break! ;)

Pet First Aid: Saving a Dog's Life.

On Tuesday, November 15th I came in for my shift at the Doggie Daycare/Boarding Facility that I manage. I got in around 3pm and my boss was planning to leave right away because she had a headache and wanted to go  home to rest. I was up in the office talking with her for about 5-10min. when all of a sudden I heard one of the dogs screaming. I ran back to see if there was a fight. I saw two dogs, Boo and Hobbes (Boo is a 1 yr. old Black Labrador Retriever and Hobbes is a 1 yr. old Golden Retriever), and what looked like Hobbes attacking Boo. Now, this was very strange, because Boo and Hobbes have both been coming to daycare since they were puppies and have always been best buds! I yelled for Hobbes to stop, but they didn't separate. Right then, I knew something was wrong. I ran over to find that in the midst of wrestling, Hobbes had gotten Boo's collar stuck on his bottom jaw. Boo had a buckle collar on (like the buckle of a belt) and Hobbes's bottom canine got wedged into the buckle.

In fear of getting stuck, Hobbes went into panick mode and started flipping and twisting to try and free himself. What he didn't realize, was that he was not only making it MORE twisted, but he was, in turn, choking his best friend.
I reached my hand in to try and pull the collar loose, and somehow got bitten  by one of them. The bite was totally out of fear and pain from whichever dog it was, and it was not on purpose. I yelled for Karla to come help and she flew back in a matter of seconds. Each of us took a dog (Boo weighing in at about 100lbs and Hobbes around 70) Karla and I took turns trying to get Hobbes free from Boo's collar, but it was SO tight and so slobbery that our hands kept slipping. We couldn't cut the collar because it was so tight around Boo's neck, AND it was thick leather. I started noticing that Boo was becoming more and more limp in my arms and I was planning for the worst. I knew that for the past 20 seconds, Boo had not been able to breathe at all. I kept begging "Please Boo don't leave me. Stay with me Boo"
Finally, Karla yelled "THE COLLAR IS TWISTED!" and was able to manouver Hobbes in a way that the entire collar was loosened. Hobbes's mouth was full of  blood from the collar and from his teeth trying to get it free himself. As soon as he was loose, he backed away (tail wagging, of course) and stood and watched as his best friend lay there motionless. Meanwhile, all of the other dogs in the daycare facility were dead silent. They all stood or sat around us (with a good distance away) and just watched.
Karla pulled the collar off of Boo's neck and he fell right out of my arms and onto the floor. Motionless. Not breathing. Eyes bugging out. He even released his feces and urine. At that point, I thought we lost him. I leaned down and listened for a heartbeat and was overwhelemed with relief that Boo had a very faint, uneven, but existing heartbeat. I screamed "HE'S ALIVE! CPR! CPR!"
**Earlier this year, Myself, Karla, and our trainer Sarah had all been Pet First Aid certified through the American Red Cross where we were taught Dog CPR. At this point, that class had paid for itself.
Karla leaned down and grabbed his snout. With dog CPR, you close their mouth and blow into their nostrils. (Opposite of CPR for a human.) As she blew, I held my hands gently on his ribcage so that I could feel the air blowing into his lungs. The first 2 or 3 times she blew, I felt nothing. She stopped blowing and I proceeded to push 1, 2, 3, 4, onto his chest. Then she began to blow again. Still nothing. I reached into his mouth and pulled out his tongue to make sure he wasn't choking on that too.
I pumped on his ribs one more time and she blew into his nose afterwards. Finally, Boo took in  a deep raspy, cough-like breath. A huge sigh of relief fell over both of us. Just to make sure he continued to breathe, we repeated the CPR one more time. I held his head up and snapped my fingers in front of his eyes to make sure he was responsive. What did Boo do? He licked my face.
Immediately, Hobbes, and a couple of the other dogs slowly walked over to Boo with worry in their eyes. They began licking him and cleaning him very gently. Karla got up to get a mop to clean up his mess, and Boo actually got up and followed her. He was very wobbly, but walking nonetheless. Still, none of the dogs made a peep.
I have never been so scared in my life. The adrenaline that you experience during a crisis like that is beyond what words can describe. I had totally forgotten about my hand until I looked down to see it covered in blood. (I was fine. I was just a puncture wound to the palm). We called both dogs' parents and Boo's mom came right away to take him to the vet to make sure there was no permanent brain or throat damage. She was grateful that we saved her baby "Boo Bear" and hugged us both as they drove off.
The irony in all of this? Boo is by far the naughtiest boy here! He has always been our biggest trouble maker and we always joke about how "Boo did it." He has eaten numerous water bottles, toys, couch cushions, sheets, books, magazines, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls...the list goes on and on. If Boo can reach it, he will destroy it. (Let's face it...he's a Labrador!) And the moment that Boo became concious again and leaned up and licked my face....there are no words to describe the joy I felt. I grabbed him by the face and I said "Boo, you pain in the ass! I've never been SO happy for you to be alive!"
I'm happy to report that both Boo and Hobbes are doing great. Boo, in fact, is coming back to daycare today! Just 1 day off at home, and he's ready to come back! Only a dog...
Hobbes is also coming back today, and I know that they will be happy to see eachother. We are now going to recommend that owners bring their dogs on a snap (or quick-release) collar. That way, if that ever happens again, we can just snap it open!

Karla and I were thankful that we decided to take that course. I am thankful that she didn't go home right away as planned (there is NO way I could have saved Boo and Hobbes myself!) And we're all thankful that Boo and Hobbes are happy and well!
Needless to say, Karla's headache went away!

Saving a life during a crisis...there is no feeling like it.

Halloween 2011

Well, as many of you  may know, Halloween is probably our favorite holiday for several reasons. We both LOVE haunted houses and painting pumpkins and dressing up funny. Even moreso than that, we like to see everyone else's costumes! Whether it's scary or funny, it's entertaining!
Now, our origonal plan was to go as eachother. I was going to go as Adam or "Dio" and Adam was going to go as me. However, farther into our thoughts, Adam decided he wanted to be Front Row Amy, the infamous Hot and Sexy Brewers fan. I still wanted to go as Dio ;) It was just too easy! Basically, all I had to do was buy a "Muscle shirt" and raid his closet! Adam, on the other hand, had to feminize just a little bit more! Take a look and have yourselves a laugh ;)

Since half of the people downtown had no clue who "Front Row Amy" was, and they knew I was dressed as Adam, they all just assumed Adam was dressed as me anyway and got a huge kick out of it. All in all, 'twas a good time!

Happy 31st Birthday, Adam!

This is a little past due, but that's ok! Saturday, October 15th was Adam's 31st birthday, and naturally, I threw him another party! We had it at Happenings Bar in La Crosse and invited all of his close friends and coworkers in the area. As you can see below, the party turned out better than any of us could hope for! Adam decided to bring out the infamous "Sgt. Pepper" outfits that he discovered at the radio station about 3 years ago. Let me just say, people LOVED it! Following Adam's Birthday Wishes, we visited quite a number of bars that night just to "Make peoples' nights" by seeing their attire! I'm just glad he had a good birthday!

Milwaukee Brewers win game 2 of the NLDS!

As most of you know, Adam and I really love going to baseball games. He's a little bit more of a "Baseball Freak" than I am. He likes to keep up with stats, other teams, other players, averages, all that stuff. Me, on the other hand? I just enjoy watching the game. The environment, the energy, the smell of hotdogs and peanuts, etc.
Lucky for me, Adam got 2 tickets on the bus to the game on Sunday, Oct. 2nd at Miller Park. (Bus trips are ALWAYS the way to go!) We got all the water, pop, and beer we wanted, plus we got fed Ribeye Steaks, Potatoe Salad, Biscuits, and Cheesecake at the Tailgate party! YUMM!!!
The game was incredible to watch! We were practically in the nosebleeds. Well, no, we WERE in the nosebleeds. But as I always say, there's really no bad seat at Miller Park. I enjoyed our view very much! Plus we sat next to this baby that couldn't have been more than a week or two old. SO TINY! Super cute :)
Anyway, the Brewers won 9-4 and we had a blast as always!!!!

I Love Bats!

So how often do you have bats near you or near your house? How often do you enjoy their company? Well, I happen to LOVE bats, and before work one morning, I had a pleasant surprise! I was walking our dogs out to the garage getting ready to take them to work with me when I felt something hit my shoe. I thought it was one of their leashes, so I flicked my leg to kick the leash off my foot and proceeded to load them up. When I noticed that the feeling of something on my foot didn't go away, I looked down to see what it was! And, to my astonishment, I had a little bat on my shoe! And boy was he clinging on for dear life! He must have fallen from the side of our garage door when I opened it. I'm so glad he landed on my shoe and didn't hit the ground! I quickly pulled out my phone to A) Snap pictures, and B) Call Adam. "You HAVE to come down and see this!!" We checked him over to make sure he wasn't injured, and then Adam grabbed a pair of gloves and slowly and carefully peeled him off of my shoes. We named him Charles Xavier, and planned on hiding him somewhere safe (since so many people are afraid of bats and would possibly try to hurt him);  but as soon as we went to place him somewhere, he took off! Glad that he wasn't injured, I waved goodbye to him and asked him to visit again soon!

Fact: You are more likely to get Rabies from a stray cat than from a bat. Fact: The reason they "Swoop" by your head at night is because your head creates heat and that is where all of those yummy bugs like to buzz around and annoy the heck out of you! So, really, you should thank those bats!