Adventures in Kitten Ownership

OK, so I promise that I'm not going to do a ton of updates and pictures of our cat because I don't want to be "that lady" and I really don't want to become "the crazy cat lady"! But it has been many, many years since I've owned a true kitten and there are a lot of things that I have forgotten that Ninja has helped remind me! 

1. Life is one big toy - shoelaces, drawstrings on clothes, bras hanging out to dry, toilet paper tube, and wadded up pieces of paper - are all fun kitten toys!
2. Tuna fish to cats is like chocolate to me - he gets very excited when I opened a can earlier!
3. Why jump on a couch when you can shimmy up the back of it?
4. Spraying water corrects unwanted behavior VERY quickly!
5. Hands and feet move; therefore, are easily mistaken for cat toys
6. Cat toys are way more fun when they're challenging - we find them behind our sofa and under our entertainment center daily!
7. Kittens like to perfect their acrobatics - he flips, rolls, flies through the air, you name it and he does it!

Here are a few things that I've learned about his personality in the three days that we've owned him.

1. I was told that he was picked up by the shelter as a stray, but somewhere along the way someone taught him that he needs to be in the kitchen, and eat human food! I've never had a cat who cared when I was cooking in the kitchen unless it involved tuna fish. With Ninja, he's in the kitchen meowing at our feet the whole time we're cooking. Also, if I'm eating breakfast on the couch his little face is all in my food. It only took a day of saying a firm "no!" and spraying him with water for him to realize that he should just sit back on the couch and look rather than try to eat the food.
2. He's smart! He's already started coming when we call his name, and like I said before, he doesn't try to put his nose in my food anymore.
3. He's really good with his claws and teeth. We've caught him scratching on non-scratching post things a couple times, but for the most part he seems to use his scratching post as he should. He paws and nips at us occasionally, but very gently. We're still discouraging it even though it doesn't hurt.
4. He's a true kitten. The first two days that we had him he followed us around and was very mellow. Yesterday, he must have started feeling comfortable here because he was so hyper! Today, it's more like a normal hyper kitten. He'll chase toys and then lay under Michel's feet or beside me on the couch. Then he's tearing through the house again! He's pretty funny to watch :)
5. And, like all cats, the best seat in the house is the one that Michel and I like best. As soon as we get off the couch he's stretched out across it. See what I came back to after I got up to put laundry away?

He's such a fun, sweet little kitten!

More house updates

A few weeks ago I went to IKEA with my mother-in-law. She was way more fun to shop with than what Michel would have been :) I found some awesome shelves for $14 a piece (this is why I love IKEA!) that I knew would look great in our home. So today Michel and I finally got around to hanging them. I really like the way everything turned out!

October 17, 2012

Our third anniversary was so much fun! It fell on a Wednesday, so I took the day off so that Michel and I could spend the whole day together celebrating and having fun. The morning was spent with each doing our own thing. Michel had to do some studying for an upcoming promotional exam at work, so I did what I do best - nothing! I took advantage of my low-key morning and made myself some scrambled eggs and toast - my current favorite breakfast that I generally don't have time to make when I go to work.

I told Michel that I wanted to go out for lunch since we rarely do that, so we went to Chili's for some delicious burgers, fries, and skillet queso. Then it was off to PetSmart to stock up on cat supplies. We looked at the cats at PetSmart and saw a cute young cat. When we took him out of his cage though he was very bite-y. I realize that kittens and young cats bite and nip because this is how they play with their littermates, but I was afraid he was a little too wild for us. So then it was off to the Murphy shelter and then Wylie. We found the kitten that we wanted at the Murphy shelter, but we couldn't get him until Friday because of our work schedules.

Dinner was a surprise for me. Michel had picked a place, but wanted to surprise me as to where we were going. He chose an awesome restaurant! It's called Sissy's Southern Kitchen and is in downtown Dallas! It was already pretty crowded, but luckily we had reservations. We were seated immediately. Look at how pretty the china is!

 Sissy's menu consisted of delicious fried goodness including two of my favorites - fried chicken and chicken fried steak. I've been on a fried chicken kick lately, so I ordered the fried chicken and Michel ordered the chicken fried steak. Both were delicious! I got mine with a side of mashed potatoes, and Michel and I ordered the biscuits and cornbread to share. The biscuits were TO DIE FOR!! They came with some honey butter which made it even better! Then we finished it off with dessert - better than sex chocolate cake (that's seriously the name of it)! It was incredibly rich, delicious, and Michel and I felt the need to roll out of the restaurant at the end of the meal. It was so good!!!

I love my wonderful hubby!! Can't wait to spend many more years with him!

Our newest addition!

Ever since we got married, Michel has known that I really wanted to be a pet owner - specifically, a cat owner. I was totally on board with waiting until we were out of our apartment because pet dues were way too expensive! So, now that we've been in our house for almost a full year (that's so hard to believe!) we decided that we were ready to get our first pet. On Wednesday, our third anniversary, we went out looking for a cat at the animal shelters nearby and we found a sweet, little, black male kitten who had just arrived recently. He didn't even have a name yet. We got him out of his cage and played with him a little bit and the shelter worker said that he was a really sweet boy. He played with his toy, he rubbed up against us in order to get some attention, and just seemed so perfect for us!

This afternoon, we went and brought him home! He was very curious when he first got home and walked around sniffing and exploring for about an hour or so, and ever since then he's been following us around. He really seems fond of sitting next to me on the sofa and sleeping - exactly what I was hoping for in a cat! I like cats who want to be around people without necessarily being in my lap 24/7.

So, without further ado, meet Ninja! He's about 3 months old, was brought to the shelter as a stray, and seems to have the perfect mix of playfulness, cuddliness, and affection. :)

October 17, 2009

I said "I do" to the most wonderful man I could have ever wished for! These last three years have been full of fun adventures including two major vacations: one cruise and one trip to Hawaii; buying a house; slowly updating/remodeling a house; and so much more! We've laughed, we've cried, and I wouldn't change one thing about our lives together! Here's to so many more years and many more adventures! I love you, Michel!

Fall has officially entered my house!!

I've been working little-by-little to furnish our house and fill it with awesome decorations. It's finally starting to come together! I went shopping with my mother-in-law a few weeks ago and found this awesome sofa table at IKEA to put in the entryway of our house!

Now that the perfect table is set up it needs decorations to go on top! My mom and I met up for lunch and shopping in Rockwall which is a great halfway meeting place for us. We went to Target, Kirkland's (my new all-time favorite place!) and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Unfortunately, I didn't find much while out with my mom. So on my way back home I saw Hobby Lobby and decided to stop in and see if they had any good fall decor.

I walked into Hobby Lobby and was overwhelmed by the amazing decor they had out! They had fall decor, Halloween decor, and my favorite....Christmas decor!! You should have seen by buggy when I went to check out...it was so full! But the best part about everything Hobby Lobby had was that all of their fall AND Christmas decor was at least 40% off!!! I was able to get everything I needed to decorate my table top, the little shelves in the table, and the wall behind the table. I'm so happy with how it all turned out and it really makes my house feel a little homier.

Here's a picture of the entire thing:

An up-close look at the cute decorations inside the shelves, and a better look at the candles that are in the center of the table

My Pinterest inspiration....a vase full of fall flowers and pine cones!

Our "Welcome" sign and another view of the candles (don't worry...the price tag will come off of the Welcome sign)

A cute little bouquet that I bought at Kirkland's, along with a pumpkin picture frame (that will have a picture in it eventually!)

And one more look at the entire table

I love how everything turned out!! I love fall, and all of the fall colors, but seeing how well this space came together I'm so ready to clear it out and decorate for Christmas :)

Supreme Savings!

I haven't posted on my grocery store savings in a few weeks because I haven't had the most wonderful of savings - I've probably saved around $10 a week with just ad matching. I've really become a huge fan of ad-matching. I can do a one-stop shopping trip at Wal-Mart and get the same savings as I could if I went to 3 or 4 grocery stores to get the weekly deals.

Today was my best trip in quite awhile! Seriously half of my groceries were ad-matched and I got a huge savings! I always do my ad-matching on produce and meat, but our freezer is well-stocked on meat, so I've only been focusing on produce. I generally can get lettuce, apples and red and green bell peppers on sale, but today most of my produce was on sale. Here's a quick summary of what my grocery bill looked like.

3-12 packs of Diet Dr. Pepper - $3.48/ea = $10.44 ad-match = 3/$10 Savings = $0.48
4 boxes Weight Watchers ice cream - $3.79/ea = $15.16 ad-match = $2.67/ea = $10.48 with a $2/$10 coupon = $8.48 for all 4 boxes of ice cream; Savings = $6.48
Milk = $2.79 Ad-match: $2.40; Savings = $0.30
4 Yoplait light yogurt = $0.57 ea. Ad-match = $0.50 ea.; Savings = $0.28
Bananas - $0.52/lb Ad-match = $0.39/lb; Savings = $0.13/lb
Gala apples - $1.57/lb (does anyone else find this price absurd!!!) ad-match = $0.99/lb; Savings = $0.58/lb
Red bell pepper = $1.67 ea.
Green bell pepper = $0.67 ea.
Ad-match = red and green bell pepper 2/$1; Savings = $1.34
Onions = $0.89/lb ad-match 2 lbs/$1; Savings = $0.78
Lettuce = $1.12 ad-match $0.99; Savings = $0.13
Grapes = $2.50 ad-match = $0.89; Savings = $1.61
6 cans Libby's canned vegetables = $0.75/ea. = $4.50 ad-match B1G1 for $0.01; Savings = $2.22

I only used 2 coupons this week and just coupons saved me $4.50. My total savings this week was about $20-$30! I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the things that I ad-matched. So, I bought about $85 worth of groceries and only spent $60! I'm still trying to get that number down some. Does anybody know how those "extreme couponers" buy $100 worth of groceries for $10??? Seriously...I want to know.