Power Supply Replacement

About a week and a half ago, my husband turned on the computer to play his most recent favorite game, Elder Scrolls Online. He came out to fix me a cup of iced tea. When he was handing it to me, we both heard what sounded like a electrical explosion coming from the other room. We both looked at each other and ran into the bedroom to see what the noise was.

What greeted us was a smell of some kind of burnt plastic or electrical wires. And hey, the computer was off. Nor would it even turn on. It was a huge heart-sink, because just a few days prior - we lost our television due to a cat knocking it off the stand and the screen completely cracked. The only thing left in my head was: What more could go wrong?

Tyler bought a new power supply for it, and yesterday, it finally arrived. He was concerned that when the power supply went out, it took other parts of the computer with it, so I was nervous to put it in, just because I didn't know what I was getting into, and how much damage was really done.

This is my older power supply. I had bought it about the the time when I upgraded my graphics card, several years ago. The graphics card that I got required a higher wattage than what my computer came with. As you can see from the broken piece where the power cord goes, we've been having a few issues with it prior to it going out. I should have known something was going to happen, huh?

I don't remember it being so complicated when I put in the old one! A lot of cords, needing to go to many different places. And a lot of unused cords. Sheesh! But, eventually we got everything plugged in and successfully working. (Although it looks like the DVD drive was a casualty from the the power supply going out - it doesn't open or work anymore).

And, a last peek at the running computer before I closed it up! I was so excited that the damage wasn't more extensive (and expensive) than what it was. Whew!

I took several photos of Amelia puppy last night, so be looking out for those in the next few days!

DIY Frozen Dog Treats

I bought a rather large container of yogurt for mixing into a rubber Kong toy as a treat for her. However, it is quickly coming up to it's expiration date, and I still have half of it left. I wanted to find something that would be good for my puppy, that would use up more of this yogurt.

Looking around Pinterest (what was my life like without Pinterest, jeez!), I came across this recipe. I tried it as written, but found that I didn't really like how it turned out. I had purchased a really cute dog bone silicone mold from Kitchen Collections when I got my bone cookie cutters, so I was really excited to finally get to use them.

Anyway, this is what I came out with. They are cute, though obviously not as cute as the person who originally came up with them. But I tried. I can't really place what I didn't like about doing them this way though. Maybe because I froze them overnight, and the peanut butter was still not frozen? I had to take them out and place them on a plate to get completely frozen. Maybe I wasn't fond of doing the extra step of microwaving the peanut butter? I don't know.

I took the idea of these and just made a small change to make it work better for me. I used the same ingredients I had used prior, peanut butter, plain fat free yogurt, and my silicone mold.

I just took a spoonful of peanut butter, and maybe two spoonfuls of the yogurt, and mixed them together. That's the only deviation that I took, which made it much easier for my lazy self.  Less messy too!

Spoon it into the mold. Now, I just kind of dropped it in there. Next time I will maybe jiggle the mold or tap the bottoms of the mold a bit to get the mixture to settle all the way down. And yes, I realize that my mold is messy and weird looking, but hey... once they are done, you won't see all that ugly, right?? Wipe off any excess that isn't even with the mold. I just swiped a butter knife across the top.

Place the mold in the freezer over night.

The next day, pop them out of the molds and this is what you get! Store them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer until ready to give to your dog.

These turned out nice, I think. Amelia loves peanut butter and goes crazy for yogurt, so naturally, she loves these! Of course, I had hoped that she would make them last longer, but as soon as I give them to her, they are gone. Still makes a good summer treat for her when we come in from a walk though.

DIY Lotion Bars

I am finally getting through the pictures that I took for my visit in California! I'm still working on the majority of them, but I also did some DIY projects while I was there. It was much easier to do these beauty DIY things, because my family there literally had most of the stuff on hand. While, I, usally have to buy a lot of the stuff I want to DIY on Pinterest.

So, one thing I did while I was there was made some Lotion Bars. I was eyeballing this recipe forever on Pinterest, and we decided to make some. I took some photos along the way. I probably quickly became the family weirdo, taking photos of the process of making lotion bars. Hah.

Here's the ingredients we used. Not pictured, but we also used grape seed oil. I had forgotten to include it in the photo. Anyway, grape seed oil, unrefined coconut oil, essential oils (we had Lavender and Vanilla), beeswax, vitamin E oil, and jojoba oil. You'll also need a cupcake pan. We were not sure if this recipe was going to ruin her cupcake tins, so just to be safe, we picked up one from the local Goodwill for 25 cents.

Finding the beeswax was a chore. We had tried Joann's - they didn't carry it. Michaels normally carried it, but they were sold out. We ended up at a local health food store, where they finally had it, sold by the pound. We only picked up half a pound of it, which was plenty for us.

First thing we did was create a double boiler with a large pot and some Pyrex container that she had in her kitchen. It worked out well!

You'll want to mix equal parts together:

• 1/2 cup of grape seed oil
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of the beeswax pellets

Wait for the mixture to melt completely in the double boiler, which for us, took about 10 or 15 minutes. Once it's a pure liquid, you'll want to add your essential oils, and other things. We did a couple of drops of vanilla and lavender together, then about a teaspoon of each Vitimin E oil, and jojoba oil. Mix it together again, and have the cupcake pan ready.

Start pouring into your cupcake tins! It will probably be messy, and it will be hot! Mine was a mess, but you can't really tell now. I poured mine straight into the cupcake pan, but my particular family member poured hers into cupcake liners that she put in the tins. It's just a matter of preference. I've seen it done with soap molds, and silicone molds.

Once they are in the tins, allow to cool completely. I put mine in the refrigerator for about 3 hours. Once hardened, they just popped out of the tin with a little nudge from a butter knife. The 1/2 pound of beeswax we got made about 16 bars, which was not bad at all. My family kept 6, and sent the rest back home with me.

A few notes:

• These can be really greasy for a while after application. I personally love them right after drying off from a shower, I just wipe the bars on my body and get dressed. My family member, however finds them too greasy, so she applies it before drying off, which works better for her.
• Next time I make these, I think I will sprinkle some lavender buds on the bottom of the mold, so they have a bit more flair in appearance.

Amelia's Vet Trip and Progress

On Friday, our Miss Amelia puppy had her second set of vaccinations, as well as her well-puppy visit with our veterinarian. She was the star of the visit that day, when we walked in, everyone was "aww-ing" at her, as it happens with every where we go lately. She has gained over 3 pounds with us, putting her at 15 pounds now. I had some concerns with her, such as her loose stools, really horrible gas, and the vet informed me that if she wasn't dewormed at the breeder's, it's probably due to her having worms. He noticed other signs of her having worms, such as a pot belly. She got a deworming then and there. When we got home, her first stool afterward, had a big worm in it! I was so freaked out, that something like that can literally live in another creature. Blech! Anyway, we got her started on Frontline, and heartworm medication.

We are still trying really hard to house break her. She has to go out every 15 minutes... religiously, otherwise she will pee on the carpet. We haven't had a poo accident in the house in about a week, so that's progress, I think. The bell training is getting better, slightly. We no longer have to ring the bells for her, she rings them on her own, but only after we are standing next to them telling her "Amelia, ring your bells!" It wasd only last night that out of nowhere, she rang them 3 times on her own (once to pee, once to poo, and once to just annoy me and get me back outside). But since those three times, nohting. I feel like she's not associating the bells with potty, but more of "they are getting shoes on, I should ring the bells". We are still working with her though.

On Friday, we got the all clear from our vet that she's okay with going on walks, as long as we stay on the sidewalk. I have been super-paranoid about parvo and other viruses that come from unknown dogs, that she has literally been confined to the grass right outside our aparment. So, after the walk-ok, we have been taking her out of the complex, and walking in the middle of the street. We can at least now, start training for the loose leash walking. It was horrible at first, but now it's getting better. No longer am I dragging her, but she walks near me... trying to eat every rock and mystery substance she can find on the ground.

She also got a taste of her first Kong yesterday. I stuffed it with a mix of plain yogurt and some of her kibble, tossed it in the freezer for a few hours, and let her at it. She loved it. It entertained her for several hours, until she finally got frustrated that she couldn't get the remaining kibble in the middle. She then growled at it, and walked away in a huff.

She is a cute puppy, and all things considered, she is well behaved and smart. She did really well at the veterinarian, slept on the table, didn't care what they were doing to her. She is learning many things (mainly how to get us to cater to her), so I can't complain too much, I suppose. She's very attention-getting with whoever she meets, including the neighbors. Every time the neighbors see her out, they rush up to give her pets and love.

We are trying, and we are desperately trying to get better with her. Getting her was my realization that I'm not going to be able to have children, and bringing her home was our version of adopting a furry child. And she is just that, a baby. She needs constant supervision, potty time every 15 minutes, middle of the night potty time, and she definitely needs the attention a baby needs. The only time I can get things done, is while she is sleeping!

Bringing Amelia Home

On Tuesday, I came back from visiting family in California. I had a fantastic time there, visiting Fort Bragg, shopping in Sacramento, eating all my favorite foods that Tyler doesn't like, and spending time with family. I took so many pictures there, close to 300, but I'll save that for a couple posts in the future. For now, Amelia!

Towards the end of my vacation, I started to make plans with Amelia's breeder to pick her up. Turned out, we didn't have to wait until that Saturday, like we originally thought. We ended up picking her up Tuesday evening. It was a huge day for me, I had woken up at 1:45am, left the place I was staying at at 2:30am to catch a 6:15am flight. After traveling all morning, I arrived back in Iowa at around 1:30 in the afternoon. I had made plans to pick up Amelia at six that same evening. We made the two hour drive back to my home, dropped off my luggage, and we were off again.

I was exhausted. Regardless, e drove up to LeMars, and picked her up. She came to us with her AKC paperwork, unbathed (and completely dirty from being in an outside kennel with her littermates), and without the small package of the kibble she was currently on, for easy switching to her new food. After a tiring day, I was getting grouchy and at that point, just wanted to go home. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as I perceive it to be, I was just cranky? Don't know.

I held her the entire way home, and as we got off of the freeway to come back home... she got carsick, and threw up all over me, herself, and the car. It was a mess. By the time we pulled into the parking lot to the apartment, I was practically falling asleep.

While I took Amelia into the building, and cleaned her up, Tyler cleaned up the car (personally, I think he got the worst end of that stick). Then I showered, and let her explore the apartment. A little while later, she got her bath, dried off, and we went to bed.

She's extremely active a majority of the time, and whenever I try to get my camera out to take pictures, she runs up and sticks her snout in the lens. I feel like I can never get good photos of her. I made a serious effort this morning, and finally got a couple.

Crate training the first night, went really well. We went to be around 11pm, she only whined for less than 2 minutes, then was out like a light. She woke up again around three in the morning to potty, and again around five. By seven, she was up for the day. And apparently, so was I.

She'd started to get really good with her crate. The night before last, she went in with no whining, no nothing. Just laid down and slept. Last night, however... was not a good night. She went in, and cried for about 5 minutes. Really loud, obnoxious crying. We were unimpressed. Once she settled down, she was up every hour, on the hour, ready to potty... whining for about 5 minutes each time after being put back in her crate. I felt bad for our upstairs neighbor who had to listen to that.

When she comes out of her crate every morning, she is an absolute terror. Of course, I expected some of it. But, I guess it has been too long since I had a puppy, I've forgotten most. This morning, we have decided to take her out on a walk around the complex to get out some of the pent-up energy from the crate. That was huge fail in itself. The whole walk was me literally just dragging her down the street because she refused to walk on the leash. Loose leash walking training is coming next.

We are doing terrible with potty training too. In the mornings, she give us absolutely no notice of when it will happen, and just squats to pee right on the carpet (hence, trying to take her for a walk), usually standing right in front of me. We are attempting to bell train her (having her ring a bell hanging from the doorknob whenever she wants to go outside), but she isn't getting it, and I think the bells are more scary for her than anything. So, she doesn't ring it by herself.

I watch her like a hawk every day while Tyler is at work, we go out as soon as she wakes up from a nap, which really helps with the accidents on the carpet, but I'm getting slightly annoyed that she's not even associating the bells with going outside at this point. I expected her to at least be acknowledging them by now. But she's not. I know it's not her fault, but we do this every single time we go outside, I am not sure what else to do.

We joke that my husband is her personal chew toy, because she is always latching onto his hand, jumping up to his face when he is sitting down. But, I think this is a bigger issue than what it appears to be (he has never had a dog before, so I'm not sure he knows how to act with a dog, at all). I feel like both Amelia, and Tyler need some training on how to act with each other.

Yes, I understand that she is a puppy, this is to be expected. We have only had her a little less than one week, and we still have loads of training to do. However, I feel like I have all the bad puppy traits to deal with, and no enjoyment out of owning a dog. So please, don't mind my venting here.

Amelia at 5 Weeks

Tired of all the puppy things yet? Amelia is pretty much the going thing in my life right now, and we will be bringing her home in less than 3 weeks. So, we have been trying to accumulate as much stuff as we can, and be as ready as we can be for her.

The day I've been waiting for - the 6 week old visit arrived yesterday. Actually, it was a 5 week old visit for us, because I'll be leaving for California tomorrow, and won't be around to see her at 6 weeks. The breeder was nice enough to let us come visit her early. Last time we visited her, was at a week old, she didn't even have her eyes open, or was able to hear us. But, we still picked her out that day.

As soon as we pulled up and walked up to the pen, I knew which one was my puppy almost immediately (because of the white on her chest). The litter of puppies were all so cute! Wagging their little tails as we walked up, wanting all kinds of pets.

I'll be honest. The breeder had sent me pictures of her weekly, and in the last batch of photos, I had been noticing one of her eyes looked a little strange, like it wasn't aligning up with the other eye. After googling this problem, it lead to me thinking it might be a medical issue that I'll need to address.

First thing I did was pick her up and look at her eyes. They looked normal to me! That in itself made the trip up there worth it. Definitely a worry off of my shoulders, so I was happy. She's so adorable!

Before we left, my photographer friend taught me some basics on how to use my Nikon D3200, because I had no clue how to use it for nicer-photos. I am so grateful for her time in teaching me more about my camera, because it really made a difference in the quality of them! (Can you believe I actually shot all these photos in manual mode?!) Of course, I know I still need a lot of practice, but these looked so much better than what I was taking before!

I was REALLY paranoid about her eyes. I wanted to look at her from all angles to see her eyes. Tyler had told me to not worry about the eyes, that it was probably just the angle of the camera. I wanted to make sure. But, in actuality, even if she did have something going on with her eye, I'd probably be just as in love with her as I am now. I am already very emotionally invested in her.

Anyway. I look at this photo and already see a wise soul in there. I think all golden retrievers have that look.

Probably my most favorite photo of them all. Tyler held her so I could get pictures of her, and when she started chewing on his face, I just went and snapped photos as much as I could, and this was one of those in that series. Definitely doesn't look like she had just been munching on his chin, right?

I was also following her around with the camera, taking as many pictures as I could, of every moved she made. I know she's going to grow so fast, I didn't want to miss anything yesterday. I also won't be seeing her for 3 weeks, when we pick her up. I wanted memories and photos to bring home with me. We were probably with her for a good 45 minutes. I took about 100 photos yesterday.

Bonus video! Please don't mind the shakiness, my ugly voice, or the fact that the camera was zoomed in way to close, and not focused enough the whole time. I'm practicing my photo skills right now, not my video skills!

Dog Biscuits

With less than one month until Miss Amelia comes home, we've been starting the hoarding of puppy things! I'm really excited for our new golden retriever, so I want to buy ALL THE THINGS!

We've purchased her crate online (only $53, for an Intermediate size!), which arrived last week, I got a couple toys for her, and we have already got her food. I know it might be too early to buy food, but the food I've been wanting to get her went on a really fantastic sale for almost $20 cheaper for the 30lb bag. I wasn't about to pass that up. Hey, dry dog food usually sits at the store for months anyway, right? I made her a fleece bed, stuffed with pillows, as well. I've also went upstairs to talk to our weird, night-owl neighbor to warn her about the noise that crate training might bring. She didn't seem to care.

She's become my obsession, and the highlight of my week is when the breeder sends me updated pictures of her. I'll be going back home to California to visit family in a little over a week, and I've already scoped out the nearest pet stores there, too. I hope to bring some really special things back for her. My mother back home says there's a store that sells bully sticks for $1, so obviously, that's going to be the first store I'm going to hit... right after In-N-Out Burger, of course!

But anyway! My Pinterest boards are filled with all kings of DIY puppy bed, treats, and toys now. I wanted to give a recipe a try, knowing it's too early to start baking treats. My mother in California has a dog, and I wanted to try these treats out on her before I go crazy and start making batch after batch of them before Amelia comes home.

Keep in mind, as you read this, I don't cook, and I don't bake. This was actually the result of two previous failed batches of cookies. The first batch, I made too thick, and they turned out too soft and gummy. The second batch, I put too much water in. That batch ended up getting completely stuck to wax paper, and I got so frustrated that I tossed it out. This third and final batch, turned out perfect.

Here's my ingredients. I only used Fareway brand Whole Wheat Flour and banana baby food (don't use anything with onion or onion powder!). Which is awesome, because I love re-using baby food jars. The first time I went buying flour, I accidentally picked up white wheat flour. I don't even know what that was, so I went back and got the actual whole wheat. Oops. I picked Banana favored food, because this batch goes to my tester dog, who loves bananas. For Amelia, however, I think I'm going to try sweet potatoes.

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 (4 ounce) jars of baby food
• Dog bone cookie cutter

Let me tell you about this stupid dog bone cookie cutter. I searched... everywhere for this thing! I looked at Walmart, Petco, Petsmart, HyVee, Fareway for any kind of bone cookie cutter, and nothing. My last ditch effort was at the mall, where they have this little store called Kitchen Collections, before I ordered online. They not only had one, but three (!) kinds of them. I picked up a set of 3 different sizes, mainly so I can start with the medium size, and work up to the largest. Also, I didn't want to go hunting for them again. Like, ever.

I mixed up the dough with my hands and rolled it out. After so many failed attempts, I was shocked at how perfect this batch of dough turned out. Both batches were sticky, but this one wasn't at all. I had no issues cutting out the dough and peeling them off the counter. Like I said, I'm no baker.

I'm not going to lie. I did not roll the dough out myself. I hate rolling dough out, so I called my husband in to roll it for me. There were times when I thought he was going to break my poor rolling pin, he was being such a brute with it. But, the dough looked good, and my rolling pin somehow survived. Win, I'd say.

These were made about 1/4 inch thick. The first batch was made too thick, and I really did not feel like trying again, so OCD me, literally measured the thickness of each one with a ruler. Anything over 1/4 inch got re-rolled.

It was also suggested to use parchment paper on a baking sheet to cook them. I didn't have any. I sprayed the sheet with cooking spray, and them wiped all that I could off. Just to get a extremely thin layer of it.

The link I followed from Pinterest suggested to cook them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. However, mine were soft still at 20 minutes. I wanted mine crunchy. I kept mine in the over, checking on them every 5 minutes or so. I might have taken them out around 40 minutes.

My list of tips, for those willing to try this:

• Might be a good idea to maybe puncture the tops of the biscuits with a fork before baking, so the air can vent through, and maybe not rise any? I might try this in my next batch.
• They will get soft in an air tight container. I follow the original poster's advice, and keep them on a paper bag on the counter.
• Don't make them over 1/4 inch. they won't get hard, and will remain soft and chewy (and might mold easier?)
• Once I poured my baby food into the mixing bowl, I put just a few drops in the jar, closed the lid, shook the water around, and poured what's left in the bowl. Don't do more than just a few drops extra. The dough will be sticky. It will then stick to wax paper, and you'll have to toss it out. I know from experience.
• If you have a Kitchen Collection store near you, go there first before running all over town looking for dog bone cookie cutters.

We will be going to the breeder's house this weekend to play with little Amelia this weekend, now that she's bigger... so be on the lookout for at least one more post about her before I leave for California next week!