I guess this changed tonight. At approximately 9:50 PM this Sunday night I got “in trouble.”

We have a large porch in the front of our house, complete with a table and a couple of chairs. Lately I have taken advantage of the gorgeous weather and have been spending a lot of time there. I’ll sit on my chairs and talk on my phone while smoking cigarettes and enjoying the weather. Apparently such actions have been exasperating one of my neighbors.

Tonight, I was sitting on my front porch talking on the phone with my girlfriend Alexa. She is my best friend from home, and during this particular conversation I will admit I was laughing loudly pretty much the entire conversation.

During the phone call at one point (9:50 PM) I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I noticed a middle aged woman marching towards me from the apartments across the street. She was clearly on a mission, and headed directly towards me, so I hung up the phone immediately in case I would need to call the police.

The second she got to the bottom of the steps of my front porch she started yelling at me. She informed me that it was “hot outside” so she needed to open up her windows (as she was screaming this at me I glanced at the mandatory, built in air-conditioning unit each of those apartments has) and that my voice was echoing and carrying around the neighborhood so she couldn’t sleep. She continued to yell about the fact that she had to wake up early in the morning and emphatically stated that this wasn’t the first time I had woken her up.

So how did I handle it? I completely froze up and profusely apologized to this woman. Again and again I stuttered the words, “I’m sorry,” humiliated.

After she finished yelling at me, ignoring whatever I had to say, the woman spun on her heels and stalked off back to her apartment.

First of all, this mortified me. I am an extremely unconfrontational person, and the fact that I was keeping a neighbor of mine up or even causing any discomfort to her was extremely bothersome to me. The second she started yelling at me my face turned bright red, and it burned red for another half an hour.

Besides being embarrassed, the thing that bothered me the most was the way and tone that she approached me with.

After these incidences where I woke her up occurred, any mature adult would have come over during the day (or night!), knocked on my door, and had an adult conversation with me about it. Instead she ran over, screamed at me, then stalked off leaving me speechless.

I live in a college town. This is Morgantown, WV. I am constantly woken up by drunks running up and down my street at ALL HOURS of the night. I understand the frustration of being woken up by somebody– really I do.

Jake and I live in this house with our two dogs. We have never held a party, and we have never had more than one guest in our house at a time. We are not disrespectful neighbors in any sense of the term.

As her neighbor, I am her peer. I am not her child, her student, her renter, or in any other position that would position me lower than her. All I would ask is to be treated as such.

I am exceedingly tired of people talking down to me just because they peg me to be a typical college student, or simply just any college student at all.

If somebody has a problem with me or my actions, all they would have to do is approach me about it in a mature way. Maybe they would discover I am much more than the stereotypical drunk, obnoxious, loud college student.

I’m sure many of you feel the same way.

the pups after their pre-graduation bath yesterday

This morning was their last day of puppy class. We spent the first half of class going over what they had learned. It’s so impressive to see them perform with only a simple word or slight hand movement. So exciting!

After a short water break in the middle, we spent the last half of class playing games. The pups really enjoyed showing off in the relay race—not only are they quick but they are so focused on us that they make it look effortless.

At the end we had a graduation ceremony where they received diplomas. Hurray!

While I am sad that their class is over, I am excited to sign them up for another one. I was just as excited to go to class as they were. I would say the same for Jake but he is probably just excited about the prospect of sleeping past 8:30 AM on Saturdays.

Their class was run by Dog Tags Training School and taught by Carol and Cliff Harvey. These instructors are incredible. Not only do they really know what they are talking about, they are extremely good at translating their knowledge to the class.

Also, they went above and beyond the obedience skills that we signed up to learn. They took time out of class to show us how to do things like brush our dog’s teeth and properly fit their collars. Overall it was a wonderful experience and if the scheduling works out I would love to take another class with them.

After class we took them down to the rail trail (next to the Mon river) for a celebration walk. While they heel perfectly in class, this isn’t a concept that translates well for them in the real world.

They pull on their leashes constantly. It’s terrible—not only is it frustrating for Jake and I (our hands get really torn up from the nylon leashes) but straining against their collars can’t be comfortable or enjoyable for the dogs either.

After this morning I realized that I need to look into different collar options for when we take the pups on walks. I will be researching it for the next couple of days, and let you know what I find/decide upon.

Fingers crossed that this gorgeous weather keeps up so I will have endless opportunities to test their new collars out!

This last week in our blogging class we learned about twitter, and all of the glorious, tweetastic opportunities that it has to offer us.

I originally created a twitter account two years ago during an internship to test it out. I never really got into it.

Failing to see its potential, I wasn’t very impressed by it and assumed it wouldn’t become very popular—oh how wrong I was.

At this point everyone has at least some level of twitter knowledge. When even fast food chains are advertising “Follow us on twitter!” it is hard to escape.

The main reason that I held out on twitter was because I saw it much like status updates on Facebook. I figured the only reason I would use it would be to update the world on what I had for breakfast and other mundane events in my life.

Again—oh how wrong I was.

After using twitter for only a week now (mind you I am still in the learning process of it all) I am surprised at how useful it has proven itself to be.

Previously I was using twitter only to follow friends and celebrities, which is probably why I couldn’t understand all the fuss about it.

Now I am primarily using twitter for career purposes. Following social media blogs and PR sites or professionals is both interesting as well as informative to a PR student (me) who wants to gain as much knowledge about the field before she graduates.

One of the reasons I am getting so into twitter is because I downloaded Tweet Deck. It has helped me out in organizing my lists of who I am following, and overall made twittering much more enjoyable.

So, now I can proudly join the masses and say, “Follow me on twitter!” I promise I won’t tweet about what I had for breakfast…

Obviously I am into dogs, so it probably comes as no surprise to you that I watched the Westminster Dog Show in its entirety when it was aired last week.

However, what I did miss until today was the fact that PETA protests took place during the show both outside and inside.

I first read about it this morning from an AP article which outlined the incident that took place indoors. Apparently during the show (specifically in between the judging of a Doberman pinscher and a Brittany), two women walked into the center ring of Madison Square Garden. They were carrying signs which read, “Mutts Rule” and “Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs’ Chances.” Of course, both signs included the PETA logo.

However, what was more shocking to me was PETA’s protesting that took place outside the dog show. They had two of their members dressed in KKK garments patrolling around.

Why you ask? Obviously because there is an unmistakable correspondence with the KKK and the AKC! Duh!!!

Really, PETA?

I am joking and laughing about this, but only so I don’t cry. Thinking about the fact that there are people out there that actually deem the KKK and the AKC to be parallels of one another makes me incredibly sad, mostly for the sake of humanity.

This protest went hand in hand with PETA’s Animal Birth Control Campaign, and the corresponding video can be viewed here.

To describe dog breeding as a selective breeding process for the sole purpose of aesthetic looks is completely wrong!

The number one reason that dog breeders do what they do is to better the breed. Their main focus is on the breeds’ health.

Anyone who knows anything about dog breeding instead of just automatically absorbing the propaganda that anti-breeding groups churn out knows that there are numerous health checks (ears, eyes, hips, elbows) that any responsible dog breeder goes through BEFORE even thinking about breeding that particular dog.

One of PETA’s favorite claims against the AKC is that it consists of a bunch of money hungry people whose main goal is to capitalize off of the “animal-breeding business.” This is ridiculous for many reasons, mostly because people who breed dogs responsible rarely break even. I tell you this from first hand experience, and any reputable breeder would back me up. Ironically, PETA has a $32 million dollar annual budget, despite the fact that they only own ONE animal shelter that euthanizes 95% of it’s animals. On top of this, they bring in millions of dollars from donations each year.

The AKC promotes responsible dog breeding. What they don’t promote is offensiveness, extremism, and violence, which is a lot more than I can say for PETA.

We have been snowed in since Friday!

While the main roads were “plowed” over the weekend (there was still at least 2 inches of packed snow on the main roads as of Sunday) it seems that our street was forgotten. Not one plow has driven down our road yet!

Gilmore Street—the road that the city of Morgantown forgot.

As of today our street STILL has 4+ inches of snow on it left over from Friday’s blizzard.

We have witnessed 6 accidents and 4 cars getting stuck on our street since the snow started, so there’s no way that the city can tell me that people aren’t being endangered as a direct result of their lack of road care.

It has been raining/sleeting/snowing all day today, and the forecast says the wintry weather will continue on for at least another day. I think that I can safely assume that Gilmore’s street conditions will only get worse.

As I am typing this, this very minute, there is a black Volkswagen spinning its wheels on the side of the road. It went to go drive up the hill to exit our street, slipped backwards, and got stuck in a ditch. I would say that I can’t believe it, but I can.

Snow plows of Morgantown—where is the love?

Being required to blog each day took a lot of pressure off of finding time to blog.

I learned that finding topics to write about every day wasn’t as much of a daunting task as I had originally thought. When forced to come up with something to write about every day, I put more effort into researching than I had before, which actually made the process easier.

An aspect that I found difficult was saving blogging ideas for later on in the week. Knowing that I would have to post every day, I came up with a lot of blogging material in the beginning of the week. I had to force myself to save it up to post later in the week, instead of having 8 posts on Monday and then run out of ideas by Thursday.

At first I thought that it would make blogging more difficult, but as the week went on I fell into a blogging pattern. Towards the end of the week I realized that blogging every day actually made things easier for me.

This is why I have chosen to attempt to blog every day for the rest of the month. I feel like it will keep me more on track with this class and my blog.

Wish me luck!

Not really, but we are rooting for opposite teams playing in tonight’s Super Bowl.

I am rooting for the Saints. I am not a Saint’s fan usually—I am a Viking’s fan.

If any of you watched the Saint’s vs. Viking’s playoff game, it was a very close one. For someone who is a Viking’s fan, it was incredibly exciting to watch the Vikings even get to such a game, let alone almost win it.

Alas, they didn’t, and the Saint’s beat the Viking’s in overtime. C’est la vie.

I should mention I wasn’t so calm about their loss when it was happening. In fact, there was a lot of screaming, then tears, followed by explosion shots.

whyyyyy Peterson, whyyyyy...

As my father (who has been a diehard Viking’s fanatic his entire life) often says, “Losing– just another day as a Viking’s fan.”

Anyways, I am rooting for the Saint’s because I feel that although they beat my team, if they win the Super Bowl, somehow that makes the Viking’s terrible, heartbreaking loss a little bit better.

Jake, on the other hand, is rooting for the Colt’s. He is not a Colt’s fan; actually he roots for the 49ers. However he states that he “likes Peyton’s commercials,” so, apparently, there he is.

I have decided that the pups are rooting for the Saints. This is because they should be on my side since I filled their Kongs with peanut butter tonight and they have been peacefully licking away for hours now.

Serious Eats posted a delicious looking spinach and artichoke dip that is not only yummy, but healthy as well. It would have been the perfect Super Bowl snack and I would have made it.

However, we are still snowed in as our entire street has not been plowed yet. Thanks, Morgantown. I plan to make it when I get a chance to go to the store, and I’ll let you know how it turns out.

It’s currently after halftime and I haven’t seen any commercials that really cracked me up yet. Hopefully my TV will prove me wrong sometime soon.

Let’s go Saints, but no matter who you are cheering for– enjoy the Super Bowl!

“You are going to Antarctica to live for one year. The reasons you are doing this aren’t important. What is important is they are sending you with a year’s supply of protein, grains, fruit and veggies to meet all your needs. You decide you need to smuggle condiments with you on this journey. You’re luggage can only accommodate 5 things. What do you take?”

My List:

1) Soy Sauce

2) Ketchup

3) Ranch Dressing

4) Ginger Dressing

5) Hummus. Also Cheese. (do either of these count as condiments?)

.

.

Jake’s List:

1) Mustard

2) Hot Sauce

3) Ketchup

4) Ranch Dressing

5) Horseradish

.

.

The Pup’s List:

1) Anything we can beg off of Cambria and Jake

(repeat X 5)

.

.

.

Feel free to play along…

My favorite soup is definitely broccoli cheddar, and I order it at Panera a lot. I’ve eaten it at many different restaurants, but they have my favorite version. I searched the web, and found a bunch of different Panera broccoli cheddar soup recipes. They are all very similar, so I picked one and got started.

The ingredient list is as follows:

*   1 tablespoon melted butter

* 1/2 medium chopped onion

* 1/4 cup melted butter

* 1/4 cup flour

* 2 cups half-and-half cream

* 2 cups chicken stock

* 1/2 lb fresh broccoli

* 1 cup carrot, julienned

* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

* 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

* salt and pepper

To make the recipe more health friendly I used less butter, substituted 1% milk for the half-and-half, and doubled the amounts of both vegetables.

I could have substituted reduced or non-fat cheese, but that stuff is gross. I know I am trying to eat healthier, but I love cheese, and I just can’t bring myself to eat that stuff.

Also, I omitted the nutmeg—but only because we didn’t have any. It’s such a small amount that I doubt it makes much of a difference.

On a similar note, one of the reasons college students avoid cooking homemade meals is lack of ingredients. This recipe was great for me to make in this respect, because the only thing I had to pick up at the store was fresh broccoli and an onion as I pretty much always have the rest of the ingredients in the house.

I’m glad I went to the store and did a huge shop on Thursday night, because otherwise we would be snowed in without any food, let alone delicious soup.

It took me about 2 hours to cook the soup in its entirety, so this is definitely not a time friendly recipe. However, it would be a great idea to make a large amount of a recipe like this on Sunday and then save it in the fridge to heat up throughout the week when you are strapped for time.

I have to say that the soup turned out really, really good. It tasted just like Panera’s, and it was perfect for a cold, snowy day.  I will definitely be cooking it again.

On the puppy front, their weekly puppy class was obviously canceled due to the snowstorm. They didn’t seem to mind and enjoyed sleeping in this morning along with us.

They had good reason to be tired; during the snowstorm last night we walked them over to our friend’s house (during which I fell a total of 6 times) to play in the snow with their dog friend Philly. They ran around the snow forever and came home as extremely tired pups. They also came home as extremely wet and gross smelling pups, so they got baths before they went to bed.

I’ll wrap up tonight’s post with pictures of the pups running around in the snow this afternoon…

I have spent 5 years of my life in Morgantown, West Virginia, and I have NEVER seen this much snow.

It has been snowing steadily for about four hours now, and it is piling up out there.

One of my favorite activities is people watching. I love to watch people. Jake always elbows me in public for staring at people, but I can’t help it, it is fascinating to me.

Apparently, one of the best opportunities of people watching comes about when it snows.

Jake and I live on a street off of University Ave that is not busy at all. However, apparently when it snows the cars come out in droves.

We have literally witnessed 2 accidents and 3 cars getting stuck in the snow tonight. It is not a good idea to drive in the middle of a snowstorm! Why don’t our neighbors understand this? Morgantown roads are bad enough without 5 inches of snow/ice clinging to them.

Vehicles aside, people have been trudging up and down our street all night. I have witnessed drunk screamers, dog walkers, and slip sliders all on our street tonight. This may not seem surprising, but I live on a street that is usually completely dead. Where are all these people when it is not snowing?

Anyways, I have so many pictures of the pups that I have decided to institute a “TCIPP” (Thank God It’s a Puppy Picture) event on Fridays, where I will post one of my favorite pictures of the pups every Friday.

Cooper defloofed her yellow teddy human about 5 minutes after we gifted it to her. We thought it would be funny to put it on her head-- apparently she didn't find this as amusing as we did. Ma petite fleur!

For dinner tonight I was feeling lazy so I decided to make Mac and Cheese. We had some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese boxes, so I used them. However– did you know that they suggest to use a half of stick of butter per box? Fitting into our new healthy eating ways we used 1 tablespoon of light butter and 1/4 cup of skim milk.

Also, I made a steamed pack of broccoli as a side dish. It felt good to make a dinner that was “hearty” as well as healthy.

Since it is snowing and supposedly it is supposed to continue to snow until tomorrow night, I am going to attempt to make homemade, healthy broccoli cheddar soup for dinner tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes…