""Our Own Yard?! Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!"

This is a post between posts. Jordan, Maddie, Jax and I recently moved from our apartment (that I hated thanks to a miserable-of-a-human-being downstairs neighbor that we lovingly referred to as Esther because she was at least 80 years old) into a new apartment. It's only temporary, as we continue our search for our perfect first house, but moving is moving!

We spent Saturday and Sunday packing and moving, during which Madison was acting really funny. The best way to describe it is to simply say she was not herself - she was sulky, sad, and just moping around all day as my mom and I packed away boxes and boxes of Jordan and I's belongings. I think the poor girl thought we were leaving her. Over my dead body! Whatever it was, she couldn't be happier now!! Maddie and Jax are LOVING the new place - hardwood floors for them to run and slide around on, two doggies to play with upstairs, and a big sliding door they can sunbathe next to, or even OPEN UP to run around in their very own yard!!! Fenced-in and everything so Mom doesn't have to keep them on leashes! Needless to say, every look they give me seems to be saying "Thanks, Mom, we love it here!"

That's all for now. I took some quick photos of our new place for your enjoyment (taken with my Galaxy, not Nikon, so please excuse the quality). Keep checking back (or subscribe to get emails when a new post is published!) for new posts on:

• my favorite dog books
• a very sweet essay the girl I tutor wrote about rescue dogs
• Mocha Chino - a loveable adoptable dog from EHR (view her Facebook page here in the meantime)
• the results from the Wisdom Panel DNA tests I had done on Madison and Jax
• Jax and the story of the Hole in the Carpet
• and more.... if you have any suggestions or want to hear about something in particular, please share in the comment section, below! :)

good-bye, old apartment! (suck it, Esther!)

Madison looking stoic in her pink camo sweatshirt in "her" new bedroom (yes that's dog clothes I have hanging on my mirror, and yes they could probably fit a small child)

Maddie and Jax's favorite spot!

"Kitchen area" plus do you SEE that walk-in closet?!

Living Room

Our gawwwwwgeous kitchen!

Our "work area" which obviously is within view of our big screen ;-)

The doggy's area (for now, I need to make it look prettier)
*picture frame says "True Love" and has a dog licking it's human*

"Exercise room"? (Whatever, it counts)

Madison made herself right at home :)

"Where do you think you're going?!"

"All this excitement is making me tired!"

"Our own yard?! We love it!!"

Entry way :)

Love is a Pittie

I can't pin point exactly when I first became enamored with pitties, but it was probably around the time I first entered that Pet Smart's joint EHR adoption center (see: How It All Began...). Once I saw all the pit bull and pit bull-mix doggies that day, and then started volunteering there and saw how those dogs were always left in their cages while others got adopted, I began to realize the injustice. I don't think I really had an opinion on pits before. I knew the media gave them a bad rap, but I didn't believe any of it. I, like most people with a brain, knew it was prejudice at work, and that as with any person, any dog's personality or temperament will depend upon the individual and not the breed (or race or religious background or whatever else it may be). 

Photo from thefirstchurchofpitbullscd.blogspot.com/

A friend of a friend saw that I began volunteering and let me know that her sister Michelle worked there. I got in touch with Michelle via Facebook, which opened up my eyes to the horrible world that pit bulls live in. That's when I began wanting to help them as much as I could, and especially to have my next rescue be a pitbull or pittie-mix (although I had thought that Madison was a lab-pit mix... but I later found out she was not... more on that later). 

I do not use Twitter or Tumblr and really just use Facebook to keep up to date with people (and now to share hundreds of posts about dogs, rescues, pit bulls, etc), but I am obsessed with Instagram. (Feel free to follow me @boots_and_rico). 

It was one day, who knows how long ago, that I happened to accidentally click on the "Explore" tab when trying to post a picture. Of course, the adorable doggy picture caught my eye, so naturally I clicked on it. The username, @loveisapittie, intrigued me so I looked at the rest of her pictures. I was hooked. 

It's a Trudy butt (former foster of and photo from @loveisapittie)

I quickly learned that @loveisapittie, aka Emily, had two dogs of her own and fostered doggies from a shelter she works with. Through my immense stalking, It seemed she fostered quite a bunch already, and when they would get adopted, she'd take in another needy pittie and welcome it into her heart and into her home. She. Was. Awesome. I instantly loved her. She has gauged ears (ow), and many, many tattoos (side note: I've always hated tattoos -- too permanent for me, it's scary!) -- very different from my rather preppy style. But much like the "look" of a pit bull, did that matter? Absolutely not. It was her obvious huge heart that caught my attention (okay, the adorable pitties helped too). Since stalking her page on a daily basis, we began to chat more and more, and eventually became friends on Facebook (I know, MORE pictures of her/her dogs to stalk! Could it get any better?!). 

Emily and Hades (photo from @loveisapittie)

Emily and her (now three) dogs, Hades, Braylon, and Mercy Pi, live in Arizona. Living in New Jersey myself, it's not very likely we'll meet anytime soon. That doesn't stop my huge girl-crush on her though, my obsession with her dogs, my love for her mom's online shop (DeeGee Marie Gifts, omg love), or my daily Instagram "liking"'s of her posts. If anything, it only spurs me to think "hmmm... I could totally use a road trip out to Arizona..." 

Hades, Braylon, and Mercy Pi - how adorable are these mugs?! (photo from @loveisapittie)

Through Emily, I have learned of more awesome people. I started following what is my favorite blog, Our Waldo Bungie (you HAVE to read about their foster Moby, who just got adopted and now lives with these awesome people). I started following more dog-crazy, dog-obsessive, pit bull advocate, and just plain amazing people who love their dogs (and who posts a million pictures of their dogs) as much as I do! 

If you are looking to learn more about pit bulls and the true sweet hearts that they are (seriously, they're the most loyal dogs ever), and wish to see some ador-a-bull pictures of them in the meantime, please follow the lovely Emily. I promise you'll love her as much as I do (No I don't! I love her too much! And not only because my incessant begging of Jordan to adopt her former foster Jada led to our adopting Jaxson!)

Can you tell why I wanted Jada so badly? (photo from @loveisapittie)

I have a soft spot for handsome Hades (photo from @loveisapittie)

I love this pretty girl, oh, and Mercy Pi too (photo from @loveisapittie)