Doggy Knee Surgery

Probably one of the hardest things to go through with our little girl thus far has been her knee surgery. While chasing squirrels in the back yard, Thelma tore her doggy equivalent of the ACL and ruptured her meniscus. After her first soft tissue injury, the nervous parents Anthony and Danielle rushed her to the vet for x-rays and it ended up being completely not serious so we tried not to panic again. Three days later while in the vet for her shots, the vetrinarian urged us to do radiographs which confirmed his fears that she had in fast torn her CCL (dog equivalent to the ACL).

Prices for this type of surgery range from $3,000 to a more affordable $1,000. Anthony and I were both a little freaked out by the sticker shock as that was exactly what we had saved for a new car. I did what any smart person would do. I got on the phone and started calling EVERY specialist that performed dog knee surgeries within a 50 mile radius.

I finally found the Jacksonville Humane Society Hospital which opened approximately a year after we adopted Thelma next door and they said they understand costs concerns especially for adoptees so Thelma and I met with the surgeon veterinarian Christian Broadhurst. He was amazing! He was able to review everything with me, go over the prices, and assure me that even though we weren't going with the most expensive surgery ($3k) that Thelma would still have a great quality of life. So the real reason I am telling you this whole story to tell you how wonderful the Jacksonville Humane Society and Dr. Broadhurst is. The day of her surgery, I dropped her off and she was a little mad at me because she was hungry but was so excited to be going on an adventure... little did she know just how much of an adventure it would be. So Anthony and I were nervous most of the day but when I got the call from Dr. Broadhurst himself at 2:30 p.m. to tell me how well she did and how much work had to be done to correct the problems with the meniscus I felt so much better. He assured me that she was resting comfortably and would be ready for pick up the next day.

I picked her up that Friday and I am so glad my friend Brenda warned me about how groggy she would be and that she might cry a little in the car. Let's just say that car ride home was the worst and I don't know what I was thinking by making plans for Anthony and I that might but after the trauma of Thelma trying to stand and walk in the backseat and then she cried and then me cried. It was awful. I will never ever never pick an animal up from surgery alone. Her are some of her pictures below:

Day 2 - Leaving the hospital after surgery

Day 4 - She was super loopy on those pain meds. You can see the love on me look in her eyes.

Day 6 - Feeling better, sitting up but still not barking at the vacuum yet. You can see her 3-4 inch scar here.

 Anyway, we are 3 weeks out from surgery and our little champ is doing great. She has a gnarly scar and the hair on her leg hasn't grown all the way out yet but she is walking like a champ and even walking more than she did before the initial injury. We have a long way to go but this member of our family will be around for years and years and years. She'll be a great big sister to a human Bennett baby someday.

Happy Halloween!

When I was working for Vizergy and Anthony was working for Bank of America, he'd randomly ask me questions about technology and the Internet because as he said, "you work for the Internet so you should know this." Actually, I don't work for the Internet but I use it as a marketing tool and now that Anthony is with Web.com, you could say we both work for the Internet. NOTE: Anthony does not QC (Quality Check) my blog.

President Mitt Romney ??

Do I look like a Hot Tamale!?! Arriba!

The Internet industry is very different from most others because of how liberal and open it is. This is something I like and dislike at the same time. Both of our companies allow jeans, t-shirts, a somewhat flexible work schedule, freedom to use creativity, etc. so Halloween can be a lot of fun. Anthony and I both dressed up.

As you can see, he was Mitt Romney in an election year. He spent the day using his clever one liners and being told by coworkers how much scarier his costume was than the ghouls, goblins, zombies, and mad scientists in the office. I thought that was a hoot. For Halloween, I was a Hot Tamale and I lost our company's costume contest to a Despicable Me minion, Black Widow with wild make up, and a female Bob Ross. It was quite a show.

Anthony was trying to make the face of the pumpkin

You can also see the pumpkin that Anthony and I carved together. We even made some yummy pumpkin seeds. It is very easy to do but a little time confusing.

1. Open the pumpkin and pull out all the slimy seeds

2. Rinse the seeds in a colander and remove ALL slime

3. Lay out the seeds directly on a cookie sheet (no foil!!)

4. Season with season salt and garlic powder

5. Pop in the oven for an hour and a half at 220 degrees pulling them out every 20 minutes or so to scrape them around on the cookie sheet

6. Cool and enjoy!

Hair Cut

It seems trivial but I had a few inches cut off this month and wanted to document it. haha! You can see below the before and after photos.

Before

After

Ed White HS Homecoming

So when Victoria started talking on Facebook about dating a new guy, I told her that Anthony and I wanted to double date with them. So she invited us to her Homecoming game and we got to meet Matt. It was tons of fun and after the game we got to go to Sonic where I bonded with the Homecoming King while singing to Journey. Barney Stinson would have said it was... wait for it... legendary.

Victoria and me

Victoria and her BF Matt

Anthony did not want me to take his picture because he was watching the game.

Thanks for inviting us, Victoria! We had a blast!

Country kind of 4th of July

Anthony is a very passionate man and is very excited about things. In this instance, he was passionate about The Mavericks. If you don't know The Mavericks ask Anthony and he will tell you about them, their awards, the music style, and will play the music for you.

After the concert and staying in downtown for a little bit, cousin Heather came and picked us up and we got some good family time. It was great getting to meet Matt, Sarah, Savannah, and Noah.

When we returned to Florida, we got on the road and headed straight to Panama City Beach for some Bennett Family Beach Bonding. We got to see Ben, Bill, Dickie, Mark, Annie, and Judi. Other than Anthony's cell phone getting ruined in a 'boating emergency' and his prescription sunglasses going swimming, it was great trip. We had fun getting to see everyone and it reminded us how fun summers on the water can be.

We were going to be fancy on our much anticipated trip to Nashville for The Mavericks so I made Anthony get a shoe shine. He openly LOVED it. It was super cool... and my grandpa Allen was a shoe shine boy in San Francisco (that is just a random fun fact).

Our hotel was right across the street from the Titans Stadium. GO JAGS!

Trying to save money and going to the FREE Country Concert for 4th of July. We stayed near downtown and walked over the river to ALL the action. OMG... we went during the hottest summer they've had in years! It was a 100 degree+ heat wave but we survived!

Anthony loved the Country Music Hall of Fame BUT there was a Taylor Swift exhibit that got him real upset.

Really cool hotel made out of an old train station in downtown Nashville, TN.

Near Matt and Heather's House - They live near on of Kenny Chesney's house and near the Rehab Center that Keith Urban went to after Nicole Kidman kicked him out! So cool! hehe 

My FAVORITE PART OF THE TRIP :) Not pictured was Cousin Melissa who offered to take our picture!

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day Gift from Thelma

Anthony gave this to me while we were in Marianna for Mother's Day.

The conversation went a little like this:
Danielle: Ahhh! Thelma got this for me!
Anthony: No! She hasn't worked a day in her life. She didn't pick it out or pay for it. I did.
Danielle: Oh. Ok.

Well, I wonder how he'll act when he's buying me stuff for the kids for the first few years of their lives?

Walesiewicz Wedding

Some good college friends of our's got married the weekend after we got back from California so we got back on the road with my sorority little sister Vivian. Here are a few the pictures from their wedding and reception.

Anthony's jacket was still dirty from playing with  my cousin's kids in the dirt after our temple sealing. I liked our last minute improvisation from Target.

Adam surprised Cecilia with ice sculptures of their profiles! So cool. He also had them picked up in a horse drawn carriage. A great end to a beautiful night!

First dance! I didn't get many more pictures than this because I was on the dance floor myself.