Thursday is Brought to You by Jedi

Today is brought to you by Jedi.  This dog is responsible for bringing immense joy to our family, getting me outside to hike (or run) on days where I have zero interest, and for making the start of my day meditative.  Petting him for 5-10 minutes when I wake up is the best way to start the day - peaceful, calm, and loving.

I am contemplating trying real meditation again.  Just about every public-figure-person I admire meditates on a daily basis.  Are you like me?  I'm so not good at meditation; my mind goes 101 places.  I hear Tara Brach has a great collection of guided mediations, so I'm going to give her a try. I'm starting with her Smile Mediation.

Smile + Mediation?!  Sounds like my kind of combo.

If you have any meditation tips, please share.

Jen

Life Updated: Late Fall

I don't usually start off a blog post with so many photos, but these called to me.  Here's what I've been up to (although it is probably obvious from these photos and my Instagram feed)....

• We snuck over to the beach for Thanksgiving and stayed at a friend's empty beach house.  When we bought our place in Colorado, we knew we'd hardly vacation anywhere else.  Five years later, it's so true.  We hardly vacation elsewhere and I miss the beach dearly.  So, we went. Totally loved it even in the cold.  Jedi celebrated his 3rd birthday on the beach, too.  How happy and strong does he look?  And Lil O squishing her eyes shut slays me.
• Mr. UpCyclist and I went on a date on a Sunday night.  Yep.  You heard me.  On a school night. That night, I wore this simple, yet adorable sweater my teen niece gave me.  Now, tell me if this is odd.  My teen niece cleaned out her closet and gave me a bag of her hand-me-downs.  I loved all of the hand-me-downs.  Am I strange? Or does my niece have the best taste ever?  It also looks like I've been to every Imagine Dragon and Mumford & Sons concert since they began touring thanks to my four hand-me-down concert tees.  Thanks, J!
• My first jobs in education were all on ropes courses.  You can imagine how psyched I was when Lil O, Mr. U and I hit the adventure park in Sandy Spring, Maryland.  We were there for three hours and I think we would have stayed longer if our three-hour ticket wasn't about to expire and they served lunch.   Lunch, by the way, tasted so yummy.  Do you like Cafe Rio?  I could bathe in their barbacoa.
• My book.  Notice there are no photos of me writing.  That's because when I write, I am either completely in the zone or totally procrastinating.  Here's the good news.  My goal is to have the book proposal complete to pitch to several different agents and publishing houses in early 2015.  I am on target for that goal as the book proposal is written; it just needs to be edited.  My second goal is to have four of the eight chapters written (at least in draft form) before I return from my sabbatical in mid-January.  I have three chapters written and just one more to go to accomplish that goal.  The bad news?  There is none.  Yahooo!
• Are you in the winter nesting mode like me?  I am not kidding when I say as soon as the sun goes down, I want to be inside our house, in my pajamas, and not leave until the next morning. I think my family agrees, especially Jedi.  Almost every night, we put him to bed around 7-7:30pm.  He is so darn cute sleeping there (on our bed), we just have to snuggle him.  Look at his face?  He's either thinking, please leave me alone or I won the lottery with this family.

I think we won the lottery with him.

What have you been up to?  Comment below or email me.  I miss catching up in this blog space.

xo,

Jen

Sometimes You Have to Go Big

Recently, Lil O, Mr. UpCyclist, and Jedi hiked a 13er - a mountain over 13,000 feet.  The mountain they hiked, called Bald Mountain, is one our family is very familiar with as we stare at it daily from our balcony in Breckenridge, Colorado.  See?  I think it is so pretty and grand.

I'm guessing the summit is obvious to you, but in case you think the ridge line is an optical illusion, here is the highest peak (the summit) circled.  Actually, I just wanted another reason to get fancy with my Studio app on my iPhone.  Do you love that app like I do?

Lil O, Mr. UpCyclist and Jedi hiked all the way to the summit.  To date, this is the highest mountain Lil O has summited.

Jedi, a pretty seasoned hiker himself, apparently loved all the rocks and chipmunk chasing opportunities.  I love how his coat blends into the environment.  That Mother Nature sure is sophisticated, isn't she?

Our family loves cairns - they are those piles of rock that mark trails and summits.  It feels like you are part of this universal communication system when you spot cairns or build them.  I think there is a lot to learn from cairns (I'm feeling another blog post coming on....).

This photo of Lil O is one of my favorites.  I love the view and vantage point, but mostly how gingerly her body placement looks while hiking.   Just an aside:  Can you see the Breckenridge Ski Resort in the background?

This summer is (or should I say "was" since the summer is ending) the summer of new hikes.  I am way proud of Lil O, Mr. UpCyclist and Jedi's trek up Bald Mountain.

After all, sometimes you have to go big....

Jen

PS - My sabbatical is off to a great start.   I will be laptop-free for a bit because of our upcoming road travel, but thankfully, I still like to use paper and pen for writing projects.  It is the happy, old-school in me :)

Why Jedi is a Starbucks Fan

Today's blog post is dedicated to Sue's sweet dog, Chester, who passed away this week after a magical 13 years of life.  This one's for you, sweet Chester!

When Jedi was just a puppy and we were in Breckenridge, our family stopped by Starbucks to get drinks.  Mr. UpCyclist jokingly (or so I thought) asked me to get Jedi a puppuccino.  I ordered our three human drinks, but did not order a puppuccino for Jedi.  I mean, really?

When I came out with the human drinks, Mr. U and Lil O were quite disappointed in me.  What?  You were serious?   So, I marched back in and ordered Jedi a puppuccino - a free cup of whipped cream from Starbucks.

Jedi's been a fan every since and it seems like he's not the only dog who digs a puppuccino (see more photos of other dogs enjoying their puppuccinos here).

By the way, I swear Jedi recognizes the Starbucks logo all over the US.

xo to all the amazing dogs out there and remembering Chester,

Jen

PS - Breckenridge's Starbucks is rated as one of the top coolest Starbucks in the world by USA Today. See the original article here.  Just another reason to adore Breck.

More PicMonkey Love + Jedi

As you know, PicMonkey and I have a love affair going on for about 2-3 years now.  Since I use their Royale product often, blog about it, and they are a cycling team sponsor, they are kind and gift me a yearly subscription to PicMonkey (the Royale upgrade).  You can use the regular PicMonkey for free, but I like all the fonts and effects that come packaged in the Royale upgrade (which costs a mere $33/year).

On our roadtrip out to Colorado, Mr. UpCyclist took this photo of Jedi at one of our stops.  I love how this photo tells a bit of our roadtrip story.  In it, Jedi is yawning outside of Freddy's in Hayes, Kansas, which was a great, local place to pick up burgers, fries and milkshakes.  Though, I like the photo and the story behind it, I don't like the wet spot, french fry, dog bowl and extra space on the right side of the photo.   All those things "have" to go, in my opinion.  Plus, the photo is a bit dark.  See?

So, I cropped the photo, cloned out the wet spot & fry and lightened it up with PicMonkey's awesome effects.  If you don't know how to clone, see my post about cloning here. It really is so easy, plus you feel like a graphic designer superstar when you clone.

Here is one version of the cloned Jedi photo.  I used the Lomo effect for the photo below.  I love how the texture of his hair is emphasized in this photo and the color now pops.  Notice the wet spot and fry are gone from cloning!

I also tried the Fancy Focus effect to really concentrate on his face & neck (my favorite body parts of his) and make the photo less color saturated.  See how his legs and the bikes/car are slightly out of focus and blurred? 

This next one was created with the Film Stock effect.  It probably is the most natural of the effects I used.  No blurring, no color saturation.....

I wanted to see Jedi in black and white, so I used the Focal Black and White effect.  Notice how you can still see his pink tongue.  Cutie pie with a pink tongue....

To achieve a more artsy look, I used the Posterize effect below.  This one reminds me of a Warhol piece.

And lastly, I thought a touch of sun would be fun on sweet Jedi, so I used the Sunglow effect.  It looks like he is yawning towards the sun (even though it was super overcast that day).  I wish I would have lessoned the orange tint in this photo, oh well, next time.

From this....

To my favorite one, this....

I heart PicMonkey, all its cool effects and this dog.  Oh, I love this dog.

How do you like to use PicMonkey?

xo,

Jen

Jedi Meets a Relative

Our second day in Breckenridge, a woman stopped us and said, "Your dog looks just like my dog." Being so curious, we asked if we could meet her dog.

What do you think?  Are these two long lost relatives or what?  (forgive the grainy photo)

Here's Marble giving Jedi a hug.

I can't get over the similarities.

Altitude headache:  If you saw my post on Instagram, you know I had a brutal altitude headache.  I usually feel icky for about 3-4 days when we arrive in Breck because it is soooo high here - 9,600 ft.!  The ickiness usually includes a mild headache, lethargy, and constant thirst.  This time, I felt all those things, but the headache - oh, the headache - was awful.  It just wouldn't subside.  Knock on wood, I am over the hump.  I woke this morning without a headache, only mild thirst and just a touch of lethargy.  You wouldn't know it from all the things I've been doing to distract myself - light hiking, going to the dog park, working at the Fresh Soap Company, swimming, and walking around town.  BUT, my family will tell you I'm a grouch-a-saurus. I love to read and just last night, I could finally pick up a book and see straight.  Whew.  Fingers crossed the altitude headache & sickness ends today; It is Day 4 after all.

Plus, Cousin A arrives!

xo,

Jen

My Favorite Airport Greeter

I'm pretty certain our family - Mr. UpCyclist, Lil O and I - would unanimously agree that flying home to Maryland and being greeted by Jedi at the airport is about as exciting as the actual trip itself.

Jedi is, by far, my favorite airport greeter.  If I offended former airport greeters, forgive me.  He is like a model citizen while he is there; look at his stately posture above.  He checks out everyone passing by, lays on the cold floor, and then, when he hears his whistle or name - watch out!  He'll bolt 50 yards to greet you.

His enthusiastic greeting not only warms my heart every. single. time, but, all the random airport onlookers totally smile, too.  It feels like a Hallmark movie come alive.

In love,

Jen

PS - Sometimes as the airport, random people will tell me that dogs aren't allowed.  Historically, as soon as someone says that, an airport police officer will come by and ask to pet Jedi.  Ha!

Jedi and The Honest Kitchen

Can you believe I have a crush on a pet food company?  I do.  First, it is not often I think this, but I totally could work for The Honest Kitchen based in San Diego.  They are my kind of company - honest, genuine, innovative, open-minded, and aware.  Second, they are one of the original cycling team sponsors for Upcycled Education's cycling team (last summer).  Remember how cute their logo is on our jerseys' sleeve here?

But, even more than my crush and their support of the cycling team, they are so kind to Jedi.  And if you want to penetrate my heart, be kind to the humans and animals I love.

In exchange for giving The Honest Kitchen feedback on their blogger program, they sent Jedi this care package - a small sample of Pro Bloom, a nice-size box of Force, and a cookbook called Made Out of Love. 

I've made dog treats for Jedi in the past, but how fun does this look?  A puppalicious doggie birthday cake with a yogurt & bacon frosting!

If you want to try their dog food, but aren't ready to commit, The Honest Kitchen makes a 2-lb. starter box (that's the size they sent Jedi).  Since their food is dehydrated (you mix it like you do oatmeal) that 2 lbs. becomes 8 lbs. worth of food.  Yay!  Plus, as a treat for Jedi, I like to stuff his Kongs full of The Honest Kitchen's food and freeze them for him.

Happy dog.  Happy dog-mama.  And happy company.

Triple awesome,

Jen

PS - Big thanks to my contact at The Honest Kitchen, Kate and her sweet dog, Blue.  Kate even signed the letter she sent from Blue!  Ruff!

PSS - I mentioned this before, but did you see The Honest Kitchen on Sunday Morning?  What a great video highlighting them which further proves how fantastic this company is.

What Would Jedi Do?

Sometimes when I am stuck on something in life and Sue, the {life} coach, is coaching me, she'll ask....

What would Jedi do?

The answer is like magic, right?  You know what Jedi would do.  He would go with the flow, be in the moment, not fret or worry or try to predict the future.  He would shake things off and then go about his day.

Life lessons from Mr. Furry Pants.

I'll be at a {life} coaching training for the next few days.  Catch up with you soon!

Jen

Jedi Hearts Paint Swatches

I was just looking at the statistics for Upcycled Education, did you know the #1 post is the one related to using paint swatches in the classroom?  That makes me laugh!

...But, you know I adore paint swatches.

Evidently, Jedi does, too.

Ha!

Love that dog (and paint swatches),

Jen

PS - Just in case I haven't mentioned how much I love Colorado to you lately, please let me take a moment.  Reason #1001:  Dogs are welcomed in 90% of the non-food businesses.  Jedi goes into toy stores, home improvement places, bike shops, outdoor stores, gift shops, book stores, you name it.  Dogs are welcomed.

Now, that's a welcome home

After traveling for a week, I returned home to these two at the airport.  Lil O was at school.

Gosh, I adore Mr. UpCyclist and Pup Jedi.

After the greeting Jedi gave me - running up to me, making dog-talking sounds, licking me, doing his best play-bow and wanting to stand on his legs and be eye-to-eye, several strangers in the airport commented, "Your dog sure loves you."

The feeling is mutual and even though, Mr. UpCyclist's welcome-back-greeting was more civilized, we are elated to be in the same state.  Make that the same continent.  Did I mention Mr. UpCyclist was in Finland last week and me in California?  Big thank you to my sweet sister, BIL and cousins for loving on Lil O while her parents jet-setted away.

Now, the four of us are back together.  Cuddles abound!

And apparently, we've become that family.  You know, the family who takes their dog everywhere.

Proud and loved,

Jen

PS - I'm curious.  Where is the strangest place you've taken your pet?  I might need some new ideas.

His Stealth Antelope Move {from my moving car}

Photo by Yoga Mom Sylvie

See this face?  How can I be mad at this face?  I mean really.  When you pull an antelope move from a moving car what do you expect?  Cheers?  Applause?  I mean, Jedi's leap out of the car window while the car was slowly moving today was flawless.  Executed with perfection.  No broken bones or injuries.  Can I really be mad? 

Of course I can be.  Mad, upset, disappointed, pissed, saddened, the whole nine yards - maybe ten.

However, thankfully, I already had a phone appointment scheduled with life coach, Sue, this morning.  You bet this was the first "issue" we discussed.  And the only issue.  

Here are my conclusions after my coaching session:

1. I am way too hard on myself.  Sue reminded me that perfect passed away in the fall.  ....I seem to forgot her passing....
2. Jedi is lovely, but our family has dropped the ball on his training since last summer.  
3. No excuses, our family is signing up for a training class with Jedi.  Like now.
4. Dog training classes don't have to be boring.  I am exploring other training opportunities like a nosework or agility class for Jedi and our family.
5. I am not alone in this. I have Mr. UpCyclist, Lil O and a ton of other dog parents to consult.
6. Perhaps, Jedi is preparing me for when Olive takes a leap of faith - maybe as a teen?  Oh my.
7. Sue is amazing.  Really, she is.  She asked me what Jedi might have thought about the window leap.  Really?  What does Jedi think? 

I think Jedi LOVED that leap.  I think he's been dreaming of that leap for months - every since he hung out the window for the first time - is my guess.  I think Jedi is BRILLIANT for choosing a non-busy street & time of the day when the car was going at just the right speed.  I think Jedi has been PRACTICING his standing leap for weeks in the forest and wanted to see if the same skills apply to moving vehicles.  I think Jedi, like his family, appreciates ACTIVITY and ADVENTURE.  I think Jedi wanted to try something NEW and CHALLENGE himself and deal with the repercussions later.  I think Jedi is more like a HUMAN than I could have ever imagined.

But....

He's still going to a training class.

What a morning,

Jen

PS - Did you ever have a dog leap out of your moving car?  Tell me about it below.  I need strength in numbers.

Jedi Recommends Smooches

This blog is also about balance.  The work + play balance.
Thus, today we move away from educational topics to talk more lifestyle ones.

About a month ago, our favorite dog food company, Honest Kitchen, asked if any bloggers wanted to try some products and then blog about them.  I raised my virtual hand instantly and was chosen (Yay!).

Jedi does love Honest Kitchen, but this time we wanted to try some products that he had not tried before.

The first product he tried was called Smooches.  Though the name of the dog treat is uber-cute, the shape is even cuter.  Plus, Lil O's little kid hands are pretty cute, too - unbiased opinion, of course.

The eye-catching packaging of Smooches adds to its cuteness.  Every product Honest Kitchen makes is packaged creatively, in my design opinion.  And since I am a faux designer, I do have an opinion on things like this.

Apparently, the smell of the Smooches comes through the box.  Jedi was instantly intrigued and curious.  When I read the ingredients, I understood why.  The Smooches are made of all "real" food ingredients - no fillers, weird preservatives or pseudo-food-names I cannot pronounce.

As a dog mom, I am constantly taking moments here and there to train Jedi.  Here Jedi is trying to ignore the Smooch in front of him - probably because I am making him "leave it."  I love how he decided not to make eye contact with the Smooch.

As soon as I said, "free," Jedi went right for the Smooch.  We did this training session about five more times as I decided it would be best to ration the Smooches for the next few days.  I'm sure if Jedi was in charge of his training and treat-giving, the Smooches would have been gone that day.

But, we saved a few and he devoured every. single. one. of. them.  

Lickety-split.  

The Smooches were gone a week later.  

However, sneaky me took a few of the Smooches and hid them for Jedi and his brother's reunion.  Yep, after a year of being a part, Jedi reunited with his dog brother, Didg.  There are so many details for that post, but let's just say, the two brothers enjoyed a few Smooches that day along with a ton of playtime and off-leash hiking.

Thanks, Honest Kitchen, for letting Jedi try a new product.  Soon, Jedi will try the Ice Pups and Wishes that were also sent.  By the way, the Ice Pups come in the coolest tin can with a pop-on lid.  The crafter in me is scheming how I will upcycle that can.

...I just love the attention to detail, creativity and lovely goodness for sweet Jedi.

Cheers,

Jen

Homemade Dog Treats - Make That "Homecrafted"

For Jedi's birthday party favors, Lil O and I baked up some gluten-free pumpkin, parsley and brown rice dog treats.  It was fairly easy following this recipe here.  We made a few modifications including:

• We bought all organic products.  Yep, only the healthiest for Jedi and his friends :)  We found the ingredients at our local organic market.
• We baked two batches.  The first batch without parsley, the second batch with parsley.  I think the look/texture of the dried parsley and the nutrition it adds makes the parsley a must!
• Our neighbor and faithful blog reader suggested we roll out the treats between wax paper lightly dusted in flour as the first batch kept sticking to the rolling pin.  The wax paper (we used freezer paper) was a nice rolling trick.  Thanks, S!
• We took the leftover canned pumpkin and stuffed a Kong for Jedi and then froze it.  He will love that delicious snack.  He always loves a frozen Kong.

When it was time to bag them up for the party favors, I jumped on Photoshop Elements 10 and made a label for the treats.  You can see Lil O's faux business name.  "Olive loves Jedi.  Homecrafted Organic Dog Treats for a BFF - A Best Furry Friend"

And by the way, I designed the logo.  Lil O said she envisioned something else.

Crazy kid.

Jedi totally approves of these dog treats.  He is like me and will eat just about anything with the word pumpkin in it. Remember this post here and my pumpkin fascination?

While we are on the subject of dog treats, do you have a favorite dog treat recipe?  I am looking for more recipes that aren't wheat-based.  I think Jedi does better gluten-free like most dogs and humans.

All the best,

Jen

A New Kind of Party for Our Family

As many of you know, Jedi celebrated his first birthday the past weekend.  Since our family is totally in love with Jedi & slightly kooky, we decided to throw him a first birthday party at a local dog park - decorations and all.

We brought human and dog treats to celebrate.  Plus, party favor bags for all of Jedi's dog friends.  The favor bags included homemade dog biscuits (check back later in the week for the recipe) and samples of Jedi's dog food, Honest Kitchen (leftover from his stint as a spokesdog for their company).  PS - Did you know Honest Kitchen was featured on CBS Sunday Morning last week?  I heart that company.

We asked all of the party-goers to bring a donation for Black Dog Rescue - the amazing rescue that chose Jedi from the shelter in Kentucky and nursed him back to health. If we ever adopted another dog, it would be from Black Dog Rescue in a heartbeat.  

We had quite a crowd of party attendees.  About 10+ dog friends and 30 lovely humans all bundled up in the cold.

Oh, the dogs played!  Only one got bit :(  Many got chased, licked, smelled, wrestled or just explored the dog park.

The kids were quite happy.  They brought Jedi toys, cards and items for the rescue.  I should mention that some families who attended the party don't even have a dog!  Yes, you heard me.  They just like Jedi and so they attended.  Doesn't that tell you how sweet Jedi is?  He is.  What a temperament on that sweet pup.

Case in point, Lil O's friend, N.  She doesn't have a dog.  Her mom asked her to choose between attending Jedi's party and another party she was invited to - a human party.  She chose Jedi's!  N also made this sweet card for him.

The party-goers were so giving.  Here are some of the donations for Black Dog Rescue - new toys, leashes, collars, chew toys/sticks, gift cards, and cash!  I know the rescue will appreciate all the new items.

Have you ever thrown a party for a pet?  Do you have another way you like to celebrate your pet's birthday?  I'd love to hear.  We are already brainstorming celebration ideas for next year and Jedi's second birthday.

xoxo,

Jedi's Mom, Jen :)