Friday, March 25, 2011

Discipline

Ahhh...another cute Bosko picture to draw you into today blog.  Today's post is about a topic I am working on improving not only my dog Bosko, but my own dog training skills which also takes discipline.  Anyone who knows us and knows our dog Bosko knows  all to well that he is not the best behaved dog in the world.  As a family with no children (not yet anways) we tend to treat our dog like a small child.   This becomes a problem when your dog begins to rule the house.  Anyone who is a pet owner knows how difficult it is to scold your pet when they look up at you with those sad eyes as if to say, "Sorry I didn't do that on purpose!"

 The more I read about dog training and discipline, the more it seems like I am doing it all wrong.  It can be frustrating because you can't actually communicate with your dog so when they are upset or distressed they can only give you signs.  We have really begun to focus on this with our dog because we are planning on bringing in a new puppy into our little family.  We don't want the bad habits our dog has to rub off on the new puppy.  However, what I have read is that a lot of the destructive behavior comes from loneliness and lack of exercise and we are working on correcting those problems as well.

I find dogs very interesting.  Understanding the different breeds, adopting vs going through a breeder, and the various training methods.  Stay tuned as we go through the adoption process with our second dog and of course to see pictures of the new puppy!

To all my "DOG" people, you know who you are, feel free to leave any funny stories about your pup.

Julie

A great place to find pets who need a home in your area visit: http://www.petfinder.com/index.html

Monday, March 21, 2011

Runner's Block

Running shoes - Check

Heart Rate Monitor/GPS - Check

iPod Fully Loaded with new songs and play list - Check

Dri-fit from head to toe - Check

I wanted to write about this topic because I am getting very close to my first 1/2 marathon!  So what is runner's block?  I'm not sure if this is a real term, but runner's block is like writer's block.  You get to a certain point and you are stuck.  When I first began running this happened to me after I hit the 3 mile mark.  I know this happens to a lot of people, you get to a certain mile or time and you feel happy that you have been able to go that far and don't even try to go farther.  I ran almost 2-3 times a week for well over a year without going any farther than that 3 mile mark.  After completing a few 5K runs and a sprint triathlon I needed a challenge and that is why I signed up for the 1/2.

It took a lot of psyching myself up, but the first time I ran 4 miles it felt amazing.  It was not that I couldn't physically do it, because it really wasn't much more difficult than running 3 miles but it was a mental road block.  I have now been able to get up to 6 miles I just have a few more in my training to be prepared for my race on April 30th. 

I really love my new training tool which is a GPS heart rate monitor (Forerunner 305 by Garmin) and I would recommend it if you are serious about training outdoors.  This tracks all your workouts, gives you your distance and when you hook it up to your computer you can see a full map of where you just ran and much more: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/73714620 .  This is a great training tool and an amazing early birthday gift (Thanks Honey)!!

Have you ever had "Runner's Block"?

Julie

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A New Travel Partner

This is an interesting topic to me because I have done quite a bit of traveling and usually it is with different people.  Most recently I have gone with my husband, friends, and even by myself, but in a few weeks I will be traveling with someone who I haven't "vacationed" with since I was probably about 13 years old. 

Thankfully when I look back on Suhr Family vacations fun memories always come to mind.  The earliest memory was probably around the time I was in kindergarden.  We took a road trip out to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming with the 5 of us (Mom, Dad, Jason and Rob...oh and a never ending tape cassette of the Beach Boys).  I laugh when I think back about the amount of patience Mom and Dad had taking an 8, 6, and 3 year old on a road trip!

Anyways, it is interesting how relationships change and develop over time.  If you would have asked me when I was 18 who my ideal person to take a trip with I can definitely tell you it would not have been this person.  I can tell you she felt exactly the same way!  However, I have grown up (at least somewhat) and in a couple weeks my Mom and I will be traveling out to Seattle to visit relatives and just get away!  I am extremely excited because over the past years my Mom and I have grown very close.  I am so thankful for that relationship because she is the person I can tell all my secrets (sometimes to Dick's dismay), she makes me feel better when I am sad, and overall she is just fun to be around. 
Sorry Addison you can't come.  Maybe in a couple years :)

So Mom...when you read this (because I know you will)!  This is my little way of saying, "sorry I was such a brat when I was 18"  "you were right, I was wrong" and "we are going to have an AWESOME time in Seattle!"

Julie

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Well Worth the Risk

I'm sure almost everyone has already seen the before and after pictures, but I thought I would post them again anyways.  What a fun experience!  I thought I might be upset, maybe even cry, but I was amazingly calm and it was almost as though a burden had been lifted off my shoulders (literally) when that mop I call my hair was all chopped off!  It sounds silly to say, but I feel like I have a renewed energy!

Do you ever find yourself in a rut and it just takes some sort of change, may be drastic like cutting off 10 inches of your hair or just a simple one like buying a new shade of lipstick?


Is there anything you are thinking about changing (big or small) that you are afraid to make a commitment to? 

Julie

The Chickee La La's

It took us years of discussion to finally pull the trigger on being "Chicken People".  Let me tell you why, our dog Lady has Cock...