my dogs

At least once every single day, each of my dogs makes me smile or laugh. On its own, this is enough to get them on to my list.

I love Griffin: He's my cuddler - the one who climbs his 35 pounds on to my lap and would stay there forever if I kept petting him. He's also a doofus (see photo). He recently discovered that he can jump into the gliding rocking chair in our living room. He seems to especially love lying there because our other dog is too scared to deal with The Chair That Moves, making Griffin king of the chair. Griff starts every morning by stepping out of his crate, stretching and "roo-ooo!"-ing at us. About once a day, he goes a little bit crazy, races around on our slippery hardwood floors, and then ends his crazy running by slamming himself into his crate and lying down. Yup, he's awesome.

I love Morgan: She is our bitchy princess, and we love her for it. She acts so entitled sometimes that all you can do is laugh. If she could roll her eyes at us, I'm sure she would. She's our first and she always will be. My favorite thing about Morgan is when she goes into herding-dog mode. She is so infectiously happy when she is running free that she can make just about anyone smile. It's that true doggy joy - and it makes her smile too. This photo is from last summer, taken on my crappy camera phone, but is one of my favorite photos of her ever because you can see how ridiculously happy she is to be at the dog park.

I'm sure this is not my last dog-related post. I am a true dog person, down to the core of my being.

Sweatpants

I've been putting off writing about my first "thing" because I got caught up in the idea that the first post would have to somehow represent what I stand for, like the first thing will define me for the rest of eternity. Then I realized that's stupid. And that I love new sweatpants.

The funny thing about this is that I did not wear sweatpants for 15 years. Seriously. I blame this on two things: (1) People who wear sweatpants in public, and (2) Tapered-leg sweatpants giving all other sweatpants a bad rap. Then a friend introduced me to the "boyfriend" sweat at Victoria's Secret and I've been a huge fan ever since. (I don't buy anything else at VS and I find it amusing that the only thing I buy there is pretty much the opposite of sexy).

So now I'm a convert. I especially love them when they are new, and ridiculously soft (I am the same way with sweatshirts, it's sad how long I put off washing them the first time). I also love that, unlike the warm-up pants I used to sleep in, they do not attract dog hair from two feet away. We have two dogs so this is a huge positive for me when it comes to clothing I wear around the house. And finally, I'm in law school and am often stuck wearing suits and other things that are at a minimum, less than comfy. There is just nothing more comforting than putting on sweatpants after a long day spent "dressed up" out in the real world.

I realize there is no way that sweatpants will now define me. Because that would be stupid. But I figure this is good motivation to write about more important things later. :)

New Leaf

Every new year, my resolutions tend to revolve around living a better life. Fitter, happier, more productive. Recently, I've realized that a lot of the time I spend online does not help me reach those ideals. So many people use the internet as a negativity tool. A tool to leave cruel comments, a tool to talk about everything that is wrong in the world, and for many, many personal bloggers, a place to vent and complain.

Don't get me wrong, I realize that it is partially great that people have a space where they can share the things they wouldn't share otherwise. I've used a blog for that purpose myself, and it felt good to get it out. But it made me realize how much I wish I could learn to focus more on the positive.

So that's what I'm doing. If positivity is a muscle, I'm going to start working it out. I plan to use this blog as a place to share the things I love - the people, creatures, music, food, technology and randomness that remind me how lucky I am.