A Rollarcoaster Day ***UPDATED

Sam and I have been seriously looking at adopting a pit bull puppy for the past week or so. Last night I looked at a website that had three beautiful pit bulls up for adoption. I filled out the application. They asked a ton of questions about our house, jobs, past pets, current pets, and asked for a reference. I filled all of that out and this morning found out we were rejected because we would prefer a primarily outdoor dog. According to them, having a dog live outdoors will "lead to behavioral and mental issues." Now I understand leaving a dog outside in a small, bare yard with no interaction and no shade will definitely cause behavioral and mental issues. That is not our plan or our situation at all. Our backyard is huge! There is plenty of shade to cool down and Sam is working on a dog house that will be built in such a way to keep it not too hot or too cold. Sam and I would also spend a lot of time with the dogs to keep them stimulated and happy. And if they are okay with Squeaky, then can be let indoors.

After Sam came home and I told him that we were rejected, we decided to go to the Fulton County Animal Services to look at their dogs. After getting there, we walked through the long row of dogs needing homes. As soon as I started walking down, I was hit with emotion so hard I started crying. I could just feel sadness emanating from the cages and I had to take a break and get it together before going back in. We asked a volunteer about pit bull options and she brought us to a cage with 4 young pit balls, one boy and three girls. She suggested that if we are looking into getting two, to get a boy and a girl. So we played with the boy first. He had blue coloring, a sweet face, and was way too skinny. And was named stupidly Ocho Cinco after the football player. In the playroom, we fell in love with him and started calling him Blue. He was very sweet and energetic and let us pick him up, although at 5 months old he was quite the armful. He was definitely going to go home with us! We just needed to pick out a sister. We decided on Jenny who was a calm and sweet brindle, Sam kept accidentally calling her Lady, so we decided that would be her name. Blue and Lady were going to be ours! The volunteer led us to the adoption room and she handed the worker the dogs' papers. She looked at them and then told us they weren't up for adoption. I was flabbergasted. We asked why was there no sign on the door? We had been told by the volunteer that all of the dogs in that area were ready to go. The lady was not apologetic (she was actually quite bitchy) but just said that the original owner of the dogs had been in recent communication with them and the final decision would be made Friday. So I filled out an application for them and we left, dog-less.  

Maybe Friday, we will get to take them home. Maybe we will have to start all over.

***Update***

So this Friday we were told that we would more than likely get them on Saturday. Saturday morning, Sam called and was told the owner was still in contact with them and it would be Thursday. We were incredibly frustrated and also knew that a Pit Rescue group wanted them as well. Knowing that if the owner did eventually at some point in the near or not-so-near future did decide to give them up, that the Pit Rescue group would take all 4 puppies and place them, we made the decision to cut our losses. I felt bad about it but I also felt that the owner was abusing the system and getting free health care for as long as she could.
We went to the Atlanta Humane Society and found Triathlon. Yes, his name is Triathlon. He is almost 2 months old and is a pit mix. He's smaller than Squeaky at the moment which is good. Squeaky can exert his dominance and isn't afraid of swatting the puppy on the head. Sam got to name him.He was incredibly curious in the Jeep so Sam's first thought was Clark after Lewis and Clark. Clark then led to discussions about Clark Kent and then to other superhero names. This led to Bruce, the name for both Batman and the Hulk. So without further ado, meet Bruce McFarland:

Squeaky doesn't really like him yet but he does like Bruce's crate.
   

Farewell Chick-fil-A

I try not to be a hypocrite. Everyone is a hypocrite in some capacity but I do try to at least keep my hypocrisy down to a minimum. Keeping that in mind, I can no longer eat at Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A recently announced that not only do they not support gay marriage but they have contributed large portions of money to anti-gay campaigns. Now this is America and everyone is entitled to their opinion. So Chick-fil-A have the right to be anti-gay and I have the right to boycott their food. 

Fortunately, I can continue to eat my beloved Oreos! 

Samber Updates

Since I've temporarily returned to Facebook, people have asked me what has been going on with our lives. Even after I re-quit Facebook, you can always check in with us through my blog. But for those of y'all who haven't been reading it, here are a couple of updates about Sam+Amber, plus a few soap box moments since I haven't been able to post any Facebook rants.

**We have a new roommate, Annie. You can read more about that here.
**We are getting a fence put up in our backyard so that we can get a dog. I really want to get a rescue pit bull. [Soap Box: If you buy a puppy/kitten from a breeder or a pet store, please realize that you are perpetuating a horrible system. There are countless dogs and cats on death row that need a good home. Adopt from a Shelter! Please get your dogs and cats spaid/neutred. Puppies and kittens are cute but we are overflowing with them.]
**We are not even close to being able to move back to Tennessee. I miss it so much that I get pains in my gut thinking about it. Seriously, that's how homesick I am, I actually get physically sick. Our house's value has dropped so much that the only way to sell it would be to willingly lose money. Sam and I are too cheap to do that so we are staying here until the housing market changes.
**Sam is ridiculously smart. He got two academic achievement awards. One for Anatomy and Physiology I Lab and one for Anatomy and Physiology II Lecture. It looks like he'll be around 55 when he's done with school and we'll be ready for kids when I'm around 65ish. Here's more to that story and you can stop asking us when we will start procreating. The real answer is roughly 5 years from now unless we make a mistake. Let's hope we don't.
**Sam's hip replacement is officially past the one year mark. Sam is physically doing great and it has been an amazing year watching his pain go away and his strength grow. [Soap Box: A few people have asked him why he is still limping. Shut Up! His femur was grinding into his pelvis. There was a lot of bone loss resulting in a one-inch difference in leg length. The doctor got it as long as he could but 15 years of damage had done its toll and one of his nerves couldn't be stretched long enough to make up the entire inch. Also, Sam's ankle is still and will always be weaker than his other one. Please comment on how much improvement has been made and not what has stayed the same. That's like asking a woman that just had a baby why she's still a little plump in her belly.]
**I'm still the same. I'm still an Events Coordinator at a great non-profit. I'm still in love with my husband. I still carry Squeaky around like a baby. I spend my time writing, doing paper crafts, drinking Cabernet, and keeping Sam sane with his 2 jobs and school. I'm failing at gardening, house cleaning, and not eating cookies.

In conclusion, we are getting a new fur baby but no real babies, we are stuck in GA forever, Sam is smart and walking, climbing, and hiking just fine, and I'm still the same opinionated person. Together we are wandering through this wonderful life together and maybe one day we can wander back to Tennessee.

A Proud Wife

Sam and I were at a friend's lake house for the 4th of July and I was witness to something extraordinarily sweet and endearing. There was another girl there that was annoying the crap out of me. She talked constantly and would make really loud and obnoxious comments, some purely for shock value. I really wanted to just push her in the lake or throw a beer can at her face, anything to shut her up. Sam had a different reaction entirely. He sat down with her and asked her how she was feeling. He had never met the girl until yesterday and he just asked her one simple question. He got her to open up about what was going wrong with her life and the fact she felt like she was lost. Sam told her about his less than ideal childhood and how instead of letting the past define him, he's working on improving his present and future. He's focusing on the positives and doing his best to not dwell on what he can't change about his past. He's happy and wants to make those around him happy. He's a good husband, hard worker, awarded-student, and will one day make an amazing dad. She said that she enjoys helping the children that she works with. He said, there you go, that's your goal. By improving the life of the kids you work with, you are improving your own. I've always known that one of Sam's best qualities and one of the first things I fell in love with, was his genuine consideration of others. It's remarkable how he can change someone's day by simply being polite and kind. I've seen him change someone's entire posture and demeanor by only asking them how their day was going and listening to their response. If more people did that, think of the impact that would bring! It's not just about stopping to smell the roses, it's also about stopping to listen.