We Got a Puppy!

Let's have a conversation. One that starts with you saying, "Hey Ashley, I've been visiting your site expecting to see Thug Kitchen recipes and the last thing you posted about that was, like, a month ago. What gives?"

To which I reply, "You know, I feel your pain. I set out to accomplish yet another thing I thought I could deliver, and here I am. But let me kind of try to explain? Again?"

Is it normal to have this big a problem with commitment? Or maybe it's not a commitment problem. Maybe it's a "I have time for this right now" but then I overload my plate and then don't have the time I once did problem. It feels more like the latter than the former. We did have the time and energy for the Thug Kitchen challenge, and I think we still will continue it (it may just be into August now . . . ugh, I know). But, something that kind of happened quickly was our opportunity to get a puppy.

My husband is a duck hunting man and has grown up owning labs. It's been a dream of his to own a chocolate lab in adulthood and name him Chip. Get it? Chocolate . . . Chip . . . ? So when his uncle had just hired a woman who breeds labs, and she had two chocolate lab puppies looking for a home, we knew it was our opportunity. We quickly jumped on it, and now we are the proud owners of a mischievous biting bundle of chocolate fur named Chip. And he's adorable.

His green eyes have stolen my heart, even after he's gotten into a pile of stray cat poop in the yard. When he knows he's not supposed to. Trust me, we're trying our best to keep him out of them, but there are like 10 strays around our house alone, FED BY NEIGHBORS, so we're doing what we can. Even though it's highly frustrating, especially since he's already gotten sick from it. Beside the point.

I can see why people say it's good preparation for kids - he gets us up a few times a night. If you're not watching him constantly, he's getting into something or peeing/pooing on something he shouldn't. He needs love and affection often. He's constantly chasing after an anxious cat older sister who dislikes anything other than me. He just wants to play, after all, and doesn't understand why she keeps hissing and batting at him. He needs to, sometimes, be forced to eat his dinner. He's a handful, but a handful we're both thoroughly enjoying. But don't get it twisted, this past week and a half, Robby and I have been nothing short of exhausted.

So please forgive us for choosing easy pasta meals over involved Thug Kitchen meals. Or just going with something we know how to make by heart. Or going for a quick smoothie, or bowl of fruit.

I knew getting a puppy would be a big adventure, but this is the first time either of us have raised one on our own. Wait, what? No parents to handle the constant whining of crate training? No mom to take him out every 30 minutes so he knows not to pee in the house? No dad to make sure he's chewing on his toys and not the couch cushions? Not to mention, vacations. Those spur of the moment trips. We have to actually kind of plan them now?

Of course we had considered all of these things before we got him, and we knew our lives would change once we did. But I think, especially for Robby, it's all sinking in now. Having a puppy is a huge commitment and is a lot of work. With him having off during the summer as a teacher while I still work full time, it's been a challenge to juggle who gets up at night, especially after Robby's been with him all day. I feel guilty some nights when I nudge him to get up after I've had an exhausting day at work and have an early morning the next day. Other nights, like last night, I don't think I ever officially heard Chip crying. Some mornings, I'll get up early with him and let Robby sleep, but I still feel it doesn't make up for the babysitting he does during the hours I'm gone. Is this kind of what parenthood feels like?

We've googled I can't tell you how many puppy articles - "Is it normal for our puppy to . . . ?" "How do we crate train?" "What is the most effective way to potty train?" "When can you start training labs to retrieve?" And even though I feel like we've read countless articles, and we've both owned dogs our whole lives, we still feel like there's a ton more to learn.

We're going on vacation to Rehoboth next week, and the goal is to chronicle some of the new places we visit there so I can write about them. We're taking Chip with us and introducing him to the ocean on our morning walks - that's the goal anyway 😊 I also miss doing travel/foodie posts. I know I wrote something on Rehoboth a couple of times, but it's changed so much within the few years I've been going. As well, I've just started noticing more things to do. So I'm taking my little point-and-shoot to the new places and let's see if I can't get a post or two out of it.

I would apologize for the silence, but I've been gone for longer periods and with way less cuter photos to share, so all I'll say for now is, "I'll see you in the next one!" If you're not following me on Instagram or Facebook, that's normally where the puppy posts live in case you'd like to follow the adventures of Chip the Chocolate Lab moving forward. xoxo