Taylor's favorite things

We decided to make another post about Taylor. This is volume 1 in a series of favorite things. Jay's favorite things and Marie's favorite things will be coming shortly.

(Yes, we're aware that Taylor is just a dog)

Taylor enjoys sitting outside on our balcony. He has his own chair that he sits in and looks over his kingdom.

Despite Marie's daily reminders that I'm not allowed to let Taylor in the bed with us... he still finds a way. He loves sleeping under the covers near our feet.

Taylor goes through a lot of chew bones. Few can withstand 24 hours with this guy (see below).

This toy was his most recent victim. My sister gave this to him about a month ago, and we're surprised he made it this long. When taylor saw the stuffing, he was like a shark smelling blood. We had to take it away and give it a proper funeral (aka the dumpster)

Unlike most dogs, Taylor loves his cage. He runs right to it when he knows you're leaving and just hangs out there when we watch TV. We just bought this cage for him at Target. 5 bucks. Seriously. 5 bucks.

That's all for now. More posts to come!

February Christmas

Okay. I know when you read this blog post title you're saying, "huh?".

Here's the deal. Our holiday season was hectic with my sister being pregnant, everyone having birthday's and Marie and I living in NC. So, my family decided to push back Christmas until they came to visit in February. Parker was even able to sport his favorite (and only) christmas outfit.


My mom, sister and her new baby boy Parker came to Charlotte on Tuesday evening. They made the drive from Indianapolis, which I am convinced is a very easy 10 hour drive (if there is such a thing). On Thursday evening, Ken (sister's husband) flew in as well. It was great seeing my family and getting to spend a lot of time with them. Since I moved, I only came back in town for weddings, work meetings, etc so it was good to not have anything else on my mind. I had the entire week off and we try to fill the time as best as we could.

We spent the days traveling around the area. We went to the Concord Mills (think giant mall) and downtown to the South Park Mall (think fancy mall). I was also able to show them around Birkdale Village. My mom also went on a lot of walks with Taylor exploring the surroundings, she was very happy with the area and liked it a lot.

When Ken came in town, he and I went to Bojangles for Lunch. My sister was under the weather and mad that she wasn't able to eat at this delicious blessing of a restaurant.

In the evening, Marie would come home from work and we would have dinner. We ordered out a few times and Marie made dinner a few times as well. Highlights of these meals included a Christmas brunch of waffles, breakfast casserole and sausage links. In addition, we had Christmas lasagna with mini cheesecakes. Marie once again made food more delicious and classy than my attacking style of eating deserves.

Sunday morning everyone got up and hit the road. It was great having them in town and we hope to see them again soon!

Taylor Boy

Feeling like we have neglected our little guy, I decided to make a blog post about Taylor.

For those who don't know, Taylor is our 5 year old Min-Pin. He has been accused of being a bad boy by just about everyone who has come into contact with him. He's a little territorial and doesn't like strangers. I have never met this Taylor. The Taylor I know is very good, well trained and has openly accepted small children and new people. If he could, I bet Taylor would sign up for community service.

Here are some pictures of our little guy in action.

Taylor love's babies. He gave Parker kisses and even let Parker play with his favorite bone.

Taylor enjoys looking out the window... or just posing for the camera. I think this look is blue steel.

Taylor loves Grannie Annie. He slept with my mom and sister while they were in town. Maybe my mom feeding him cheesecake and taking him on hour long walks had something to do with it.

Taylor loves his new toy. It's a stuffed animal. Due to censorship, I cannot go into the details of his stuffed animal. Let's just say it's funny when you tell him to go get it.

Engaged!

On Friday, Marie and I got engaged! We've talked about it for a while and I finally made the move.

Background Disclaimer: My family decided to have Christmas in February this year because of several reasons. My sister was 8 months pregnant, all of our birthday's are around Christmas, Marie and I were visiting her family in Goshen and living in Charlotte now all contributed to the decision. My mom, sister, her new baby and Ken decided to come to Charlotte to check out the area and exchange gifts.

I spent a long time trying to figure out the perfect way to give Marie the ring and decided that I should delegate to someone far better at these type of things... our dog Taylor. I placed the ring on his collar without anyone noticing earlier. Taylor sat by me while we opened presents and then I told Marie that Taylor got her a gift. Taylor got on my lap and sat in front of Marie and I asked her to marry me.

Surprise #1 - She didn't hesitate giving me an answer

Surprise #2 - The answer wasn't "why would I want to do that?"

We spent the rest of the night with my family texting and calling and texting and calling.

These are pictures of the ring. I got a diamond from my Grandmother and had it set into a new ring. The diamond is about 100 years old. I also just barely missed the size for Marie (I guessed 6, but she is closer to a 5.5). Marie really likes it and I feel good about my ring selecting ability... or she's just really good at lying.

Wedding details are still being discussed. We are thinking next spring in Indianapolis. More info to come!