TAKING A SIX MONTH BREAK OFF INSTAGRAM - THIS IS MONTH FIVE
/Not gonna lie… I feel like I JUST gave my four month update! Ha! August went CRAZYYYYYYY fast, anyone else?!
And what?!?!? It’s September 1st?!?! HOWWWWWWWW????
Anywho, I canNOT wait to share what we’ve been up to this month…because…………
First things first…
WE ADOPTED A DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!
WORLD…MEET OUR SWEET BOY, OTIS!
Here’s the story:
We’ve been wanting to adopt a little brother or sister for Bella for yearrsssssss.
We know our time with Bella is getting shorter and shorter by the year (she’s 11), so we wanted to do our best to extend her life with a sibling and also to begin growing close to another furry animal too!
Well…we moved to our current neighborhood in Texas and while I don’t have facebook, Blake does.
We noticed a sweet little beagle kept getting loose in the neighborhood and to make a long story short, he kinda became a neighborhood pet because everyone at some point took him in until the owner was found.
About a month went by, and in early August I was on facebook and I read the most “meant to be” message I’ve ever read…
“Otis is looking for a new home.”
My heart felt so many emotions right away, but mostly it was “I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT THIS IS SO MEANT TO BE.”
For us to be in this neighborhood, at this time, and seeing a BEAGLE of all dogs up for adoption (a dog we’ve been looking for at adoption shelters for years) just basically fell into our laps.
So…I messaged the lady who posted about him on the facebook page, praying nobody had messaged them yet - and I was the first!
I said…and I quote, “My husband has been away and will still be away for awhile, so I kinda feel like I need to get his permission, but I am 100 million percent interested in adopting Otis regardless of what he says.” ha!
Honestly, I knew without a shadow of a doubt Blake would say yes as we love our fur babies, but I felt like I owed him the respect to ask. haha!
The sweet girl messaged me back and said, “it’s better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission!”
hahah!
Well, I went ahead and called Blake and basically just said…”I hope you don’t mind that I’m getting another dog this weekend. I know I’m so stressed with homeschool and the business and you being gone, but hey…what’s another dog in the mix!?”
hahah!
We both laughed and without hesitation he said, “GO GET THAT DOG AND BRING HIM HOME AMY!”
ughhhh CUE THE TEARS!!!!
The day before we adopted him, the girls and I watched “All Dogs go to Heaven,” and it was the sweetest time for us. Little did Bella know, she’d be getting a little brother the next day.
Here’s the sweetest picture that sweet Everly drew for the family that was allowing us to adopt Otis from them. She knew their family was sad, so she drew them a precious picture to always remember that Otis would be in great hands. Oh my heart!
And then……..WE GOT HIM!
He’s around 2 and a half years old (we think) and was living on the streets for quite a bit of his life, but he is now safe and sound in his forever home!!!
And as best as the vets know, they say he’s a beagle! I mean….HE IS SOOOOO DREAMY!
I cannot believe we get to keep this sweet boy. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
We fell head over heels immediately in love. He’s the missing piece to our puzzle.
He's the biggest lover, has so many silly quirks about him, LOVES ATTENTION and just wants to be loved on 24/7, plays non stop, and took no time to get used to all these girls in the house! hahahah! He is in LOVE with everyone!
These pics were within a couple hours of bringing him home, and at first Bella was a little timid because he is almost 10 years younger and he likes to play a lottttt, butttttt…..
Within a day or two…they were inseparable and are now the BEST OF FRIENDS!!!!! We are overjoyed.
Anywhere Bella goes, Otis follows. He’s her little shadow (even though he’s bigger!) The girls are just smitten with him, and he’s just as smitten with them.
Okay, and I won’t lie…he is SPOILED rotten!
The girls gave them their “Indy and Pippa” comforter and they have officially claimed it in their “bougie bed.” 😂😂 I mean truly, this bed was worth every penny, but I never thought I’d spend so much on a dog bed! ha! They sleep in it every day though, TOGETHER, so it’s truly so worth it! I’ll link it here!
Dog Bed linked here! I got the Large and both dogs fit in it comfortably. They are 18 and 24 pounds respectively.
Look at these angels!!!!!
I mean honestly I’d pay $1,000 for a bed to give him the life he deserves!
I love all of the color options!
A few other things we got! Some bags to hold their poopie bags while on our daily walks, as well as these adorable customized dog tags with their names + our phone number on it!
These are the leashes we got them too! I love all the colors they come in, the handles are super soft, and they were less than $10!!!
He’s also the BEST addition to our walks! He just loves being with us more than anything, no matter what it may be! He still needs a bit of training for leash etiquette, and he wants to say hi to every single human + animal + leaf + breeze we pass, HA!, but he’s just so stinkin friendly and sweet!
And…he is definitely a begging beagle, just like his big sister! Those beagles will do anything for food!
And so this has basically been our month in a nutshell! All about Otis! Hehe.
Daddy still hasn’t met his little boy, but he loves to facetime him, and we canNOT WAIT for that sweet reunion. I’ll be sure to share pics when that happens!
Other than Otis, it’s been a lot of continued mirror selfies with the girls, getting dressed up for absolutely no reason to go absolutely nowhere, except to pickup groceries and coffee, and trips to the lake!
And this sweet girl gave Hadley and I a little photoshoot and I’m obsessed with the pics she took!
And they had a little shoot of their own!
Look at them here with their new No Small Miracle outfits!!! We’re in love!
These sweet tie dye tees are from their too! Handmade from Kelsey’s mama!
We are still homeschooling Everly (and also using her virtual school program) but she did start therapy 2 days a week, and as always LOVES her new teachers (therapists) there!!! Our car selfies before sessions are such a sweet reminder of this phase of life.
Here’s a few pics of her month from school! We’re so proud of you little E!
I also wanted to share a few of my favorite recipes this month!
The Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew was FABBBBBBBB but pricey. So I wanted to share a cheaper option!
Order a grande iced cofffee, with light ice.
Get 2 pumps of pumpkin sauce but NO classic syrup.
Add in heavy cream (or your cream/milk of choice)
Add in cinnamon powder.
Request a nitro lid.
AND ENJOY!
And here’s my favorite smoothie! (That the girls eat too!!!!)
handful of spinach and/or kale (or both is what I prefer!)
milk + water to cover the greens. Blend.
Once you have the liquid, add in handful of frozen peaches, 1 frozen banana, handful of frozen pineapple,
1-2tbspn of honey and blend!
If I have them I also add in frozen avocado chunks too.
The girls loveeee this smoothie and it’s a great way to sneak in veggies!
This was our last little family hike before we got Otis! He sure does fill up this picture more!
Remember our backyard porch addition?!?! Well…..let me show you all the progress we made this month!
Our concrete was poured!!!! It’s been AMAZING having the extra porch out here!
…but then…
We got our shade!!!!! And it doesn’t even look like the same house!
The plan is to paint the window/door trim black and to hang black fixtures as well. More to come! We’re still under major construction!
And here’s our updated kitchen! The plan is for Blake to build our dining table, but for now this will do. We are in LOVE with our new dining chairs!!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. They’re pricey, but I plan on keeping these bad boys forever and ever so it’s worth the investment.
I turned our books around and love the area so much more. Plus our Indy and Pippa sign from Opal + Olive really does finish this area off!
This is what the space looked like with the books turned normal and it was just so distracting with all of the colors, so I love how the neutral side tones it down a bit. The console is super easy to push out so we can just pull it out when we’re looking for a book. I also added the fan wall and picture and hope I don’t get tired of the clutter, but for now it works!
Here’s an update on the kitchen. I’m still trying SO hard to get Blake to paint these cabinets black or white (haha!!) but for now, we’re living with this gray, and it continues to grow on me. I’m really just trying to appreciate the bones of this house for what it’s worth. One of the nicest things about constantly moving and being in new homes is figuring out what we like and love about some and dislike about others. With hopes that one day, we truly can have our dream home.
I do love our globes up top though! And all of the natural light that pours into this open space.
Anddddd….FALL HAS OFFICIALLY HIT THE HAWTHORNE HOME!!!!
I CAN’T WAIT TO SHARE MORE PICS COME OCTOBER!
I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Fall/Halloween finds soon!
To end the month, Nona came to visit, and we are so grateful to have her here with us this next month! More pics to come from Nona’s trip in September!
Well, it’s been five months off instagram and we officially have one month to go.
I’ll be honest….I really don’t know if I’m ready to come back.
I’m supposed to sign back on in ONE MONTH, and I’m really having to listen to the Lord this month to figure out what’s next.
I’m stuck between getting back on, because our business depends on it, and taking another 6 months away to continue resting my mind and heart.
We’ll see what happens!
If you missed out on why I took 6 months off, you can read about that here.
I’ve also been giving monthly updates since I signed off, and you can find those on the blog too!
I’ve also shared all of our back to school posts on the blog.
Next up is our Halloween book wall and 6 month update!
I can’t wait to see y’all again!
Happy fall y’all! (Even if it’s still 100 in Texas hehe)
Be sure to pin one of the images below if you want to be able to reference this post in the future!
XX, Amy
