Reflections

The follow up on leaving Charlie to roam in our bedroom at night with his crate open was SUCCESS!  No more whining when he cant get comfy!  Thank goodness for that.  Now we are on to the next mountainous issue...biting.  We have tried yelling no, shoving our hands in his mouth till he gives, and ignoring him but nothing has worked.  He definitely doesnt understand the word "no".  I think our final attempt to control this little oral fixation is to get a squirt bottle and spray him when he bites.  We will see how it goes.  Again, Ill let ya know what the result of that one is.  On a positive Charlie note...he knows the command "sit".  Yay, maybe we DO know how to raise a puppy.

You're probably wondering what the title of this blog is referring to because puppy biting isnt exactly screaming "reflections".  No, "reflections" is referring to the book I just finished reading.  "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman.  It's a good word because that is what this book forces you to do.  Whether you are a Christian or not, this book is one that will make you sit and think what your life really means to you and what you mean to the people surrounding you.  Most people know that I am a "newbie" in my Christian Faith.  By new I mean about 2 years now.  It's been a struggle and I was lucky enough to have my wonderful friend Marianne be my catalyst in this new part of my life.  But since I moved from Tallahassee where she was it has been hard to keep up my faith and I questioned it every day...still do to a degree but it hard to when God has given me such a wonderful gift like Drew in the past year.  What I am saying is that this book has so many inspiring moments and moments that make me wonder how God could NOT be real.  It's so cliche to say but life really is short and who knows when we will be leaving this oh so temporary life and who knows when you will have a loved one who will pass on.  So making the most of every day and making the most of my Faith has really become the center point of my life and Im thankful I read the book because it makes those silly little cliches that much more real.  Hey, they are popular sayings for a reason.  Funny that the only reason I picked up the book was not because its on the New York Times best seller list but because I know the brother of the author.  I am proud to say he is a friend of mine and he has such a beautiful family.  If it werent for that connection then I would have never bought the book.  So this is my attempt to say to anyone who is or isn't a Christian or doesnt know who Steven Curtis Chapman is or doesnt care about a book on the NYT Best Seller List (lets face it it seems they all make it there one way or another), just go pick it up and read it.  Trust me it wont take long.  You will cry your eyes out but I guarantee you will go hug your husband, wife, or kids just to hug them and then you will pass this book on to every person you know. 

I feel like Oprah doing a book club review but something just inspried me to share this book with everyone.  Unfortunately I am in a position where I cannot share photos with this entry but I promise to post some very soon!

Charlie Monster

We thought we would give an update on our "baby", Charlie.  One word...BITER!  Hence the name Charlie Monster.  He chews anything and everything he feels like including fingers and toes.  We are trying to get him to stop biting by using a spray called "bitter apple" which seemed to help at the beginning but I guess he likes it now!  The house training is getting better.  The house trianing using the bells was a failure because he just used it like a cat toy.  Then there are our nights with Charlie.  We didnt sleep last night because Charlie couldnt get comfortable.  Rough life for a pup huh?  Tonight we are going to try and keep his kennel in the bedroom and keep the door open so he can go in and out since he seems like his kennel during the day, how convenient.  But you should see him when he sleeps...PRECIOUS!

Wish us luck tonight and we will let you know how the night goes!

GOOD NIGHT CHARLIE!

Welcome to Our Blog!

I seem to have noticed that most people begin blogs when they have babies in order to keep family and friends updated on all the new and exciting events of their children's lives.  Well, we don't have a baby...a human one at least.  Ill get to him later :)

I'm Shantel and I will be the one posting probably 100% of the time.  Our Perry clan consists of myself, my husband Drew and our new little Golden Retriever, Charlie.  I am blogging because I thought it would be a nice way for our family to check in on us in a more humorous way.  It's also a great place to post daily, family photos.  You're welcome. 

My wonderful husband Drew and I have been married for a little over a month now.  It's been wonderful and I know that I couldn't ask for more in a husband.  He literally fits "my list".  Ladies, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  What people find most surprising is that we have only been together as a couple for almost 9 months this month.  Hey, when you know, you know, right?  We went to high school together at the ever-so-special Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, TN.  Yes I knew Drew and we even had the same group of Friends but I guess I wasn't cool enough to get invited to the parties at his parents house that all our Friends still mention.  I guess it's not his fault.  I always had an excuse that probably had to do with swim practice.  We were not high school sweethearts and I'm not even sure we had any classes together but I knew who Drew was.  He was the soccer player or  known to me more as Kyle Scoble's best friend.  So flash forward to August, 2009 at Abigail Hale's birthday dinner.  It was the first time I had seen drew in 7 years!  You're probably expecting me to say that there were immediate sparks and it was love from that point right?  Nope.  We were both "dating" people.  I say "dating" because we both were in long-distance relationships and  wanted to believe it was dating but not really.  So how did we end up together?  Well one day in early December I was driving to work and I saw Drew in his car leaving where I was headed.  So later that night I sent him a facebook message telling him that we should hang out since we lived so close.  I was just being nice.  To my surprise he sent me one back saying yea and we made a date.  Now I can say that from the night of December 18th on I was done.  He was the one and I knew it.  (By the way, we weren't "dating" anyone anymore. No home wrecking here.)  Now I just had to figure out how to get through the date I made for later that night with someone else!  Haha!  Drew still doesn't let me live that one down. Four months later he proposed and three months after that we were married.  I could go into the details of the proposal and the wedding but most anyone who reads this knows all that and has probably heard it more than once.

So here we are in the honeymoon phase of our marriage which I couldn't imagine ever getting over this stage.  We have such a love for Life, God, and our family and I hope that whoever reads this, whether we know you or not, finds some things funny and learns a little bit about who we are as a family and will journey through the growing the perry Clan in the years to come.  I'm not promising a daily entry because believe me our lives aren't that much different than those of you reading this today, but I will try to get a weekly one in with tons of pictures of our rapidly growing Charlie bear.

Enjoy Our Blog!

My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Pslam 62:1-2