The Day Toby Got Out of his Crate

He did dog stuff.



The victims:

1 of my shoes
1 library book
2 Backpacker magazines
1 Women's Health magazine
1 notepad of work paper
1 Sudoku book

It could have been worse.

It could have been better. . . .

But still, it could have been worse.

Who's a Big Boy?

On May 24th, 2009 Tobias Toby Guy Head turned 1 year old.

He started out as just a little puppers with 3 brothers and one sister.



Then he got a little bigger. And a lot fluffier.



Finally, he came home to us.



And he kept getting a bigger.



He wore bandanas.



He played in Lake Superior.



He drove a boat.



He grew an afro.



He went to many a MSU tailgate.



He went through an akward teenage stage.



He was a hot dog.



He got his manhood taken away from him.



He celebrated his first Christmas.



He played in Lake Michigan.



And he grew up to be a big good boy.

Three Wolves. One Moon.

Many of you know Andy enjoys shirts that are what he calls "awesome."

For example:



Yes, that's a bear, ripping out of Andy's chest. He was pretty happy when he found and ordered this shirt. It's a pretty powerful shirt. He wore it to the bar the other month. Kerri, Kara and I had him take a picture.



Then, we caught a glimpse of the terrifying shirt he was wearing.



Chaos ensued.

Now, it appears others are catching on to the power of a fierce animal t-shirt.

See this Amazon link for a Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt.

The shirt is pretty amazing, but the reviews are the best part. Here's a small sampling of some:

So I'm looking for threads that say, "Hey baby...I'm real boss!" when I stumble upon this epic creation. The wolves spoke to me in a language all their own; it was like German, Mongol, and Bitchin all mixed together.

One wolf howling at the moon T-shirt? Good.

Two wolves howling at the moon T-shirt? Great.

THREE wolves howling at the moon T-shirt? OMFG!!!

This is the T-shirt God would wear. If He wanted to look AWESOME.

I used to keep my fanny pack stuffed with the usual survival gear: knives, nunchucks, etc. Now that I have this t-shirt, it's full of women's phone numbers!

Beware the power of the fierce animal t-shirt.

A Gift Certificate for Beer

Last week, Andy bought a fridge from a coworker.

We have a fridge that's never full as it is. But, Andy decided we needed another one.

Yesterday, he hooked it up in the garage and dubbed it the "Beer Fridge."

He also looked pretty proud of his accomplishment.

"I'm a man! I install fridges!"

About 10 minutes ago, he came into the living room to share some of his man dreams with me.

"I wish I had, like a gift certifcate for beer. I wanna go buy a hundred different beers so I can fill the beer fridge. Then I would invite people over and show them and it would be awesome. But that's never gonna happen. I'm always just gonna have 15 PBR's in there."

That's my husband and those are his man dreams.

Sometimes I Like Michigan

Sometimes I hate Michigan. Like when the temperature fluctuates 50 degrees in one day. Or when it snows in May. Or when it snows in September. Ok, pretty much everytime it snows.

But, sometimes I really like Michigan.

This weekend, visiting gorgeous Ludington, was one of those times. I tried to take as many pictures of Toby the beautiful scenery as possible, but it's hard to do it justice.

We arrived to our adorable cottage on Friday evening. We were looking for something private, not too pricey and a place that allowed dogs. This place fit that bill - dogs were allowed, they just weren't allowed on the furniture.



Oops.

We took a stroll along the beach and pier, then we left to check another brewery off my list - Jamesport Brewing Company.


I loved this place. The atmosphere was great, the beer was fantastic and the food was delicious. If I opened a brewery - this would be my model. Between Andy and I we tried all their beers over the weekend, and I'd say the Hefeweizen was my favorite followed closely by the Mocha Java Porter.

The next morning we arose and traveled a bit to the beach and took a stroll with the dog. It was pretty windy and chilly, so the waves were strong and scared the Head a bit. He did enjoy the driftwood though.

My guys.



We then ventured to the Manistee State Forest and took a 5 mile hike through the woods and to the lakeshore along the Nuremberg trails. It was a pleasant hike, but the trails weren't very well kept - a lot of fallen trees for Toby to jump over or attempt to squeeze his enormous skull under. For a dog that has trouble not tripping on his own feet, I was a bit worried. But, the Head did surpirsingly well and managed not to injure himself.

On Sunday morning, the weather was gorgeous, and we went to the Ludingston State Park for another hike. We traveled along the Island and Ridge trails for another easy 5 miles. I LOVED these trails. Easy, well groomed and marked and great scenery. Toby enjoyed this trail more too, as we were surrounded by tasty lakes for most of the hike.



Although, all dogs were required to be on a leash in the State Park.



Oops.

We had wrapped up some Oberons with some ice and enjoyed them about halfway through the hike.



Around this time, I tried to get a close-up of the labels, because there's something wrong with them. But then the Head saw me kneeling down and decided that I needed to be tackled. The Oberon bottles suffered the consequences.



Can you see what's wrong with the bottle yet?



The label is upside down. :)

After we finished our beers and Toby chewed on every piece of wood he could find, we headed back and our mini-anniversary getaway came to an end.

Oh, and did I mention, in true Davies Family form, Andy sprained his finger playing basketball on Thursday. His ring finger swelled to the size of kiwi, and he was unable to actually wear his wedding ring during our trip.

Aside from Andy's inability to wear that ring I put on his finger a year ago, the trip was perfect and we can't wait to go back soon.

Lucky

A year ago, life was hectic. I was finishing up last minute wedding details - names on place cards, seating charts, rehearsal dinner specs, etc. Somehow, everything got figured out and we were successfully wed.



1 year later, life is calmer. Although Toby does his best to disrupt that.

So, to celebrate 1 year of wedded bliss we got a little cottage on the beach of Ludington to enjoy the calm. We're bringing the Giant Head too, just to keep things interesting.

I feel lucky and grateful to say I'm just as happy now as I was on my wedding day.



Actually, even happier.

Adventures in Beer Drinking

The other weekend, Andy, Rachel, Troy and I embarked on a mini-brewery tour of Mid/Southwest Michigan. This was a belated Christmas present to the Proctors. It's kind of like those gifts where you're really giving a gift to yourself too.

We left on a gorgerous Saturday afternoon and Andy had to get gas, so Troy got 5instant scratch off tickets. We won $15 dollars. So we stopped at another gas station and got beer. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Our first official stop was the Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall, MI.



This was our favorite brewery. I already knew I LOVED their Crooked Tree IPA from buying a Joe 6 pack here and there. Amongst us we ordered the Amber Ale, Raspberry Ale, an IPA and a few stouts. I sampled them all and they were all good. I most liked the atmosphere and HUGE beer garden in back. It happened to be National Home Brew Day so there were some fellas brewing and drinking. I could have stayed there all night, but we had breweries to visit and beer to drink, so on we moved to . . .

Arcadia Ales in Battle Creek, MI.



The beer was fine, some better than others, but here's why Arcadia doesn't top my list - it was too nice. It was almost fancy inside, actually. When I go to a brewery, I want to experience a more laid back atmosphere. I want to feel like I'm in some drunk Uncle's basement bar. So, while the beer was good, I wasn't feeling the vibe. So after a quick detour to our elegant Knight's Inn to drop off our bags, we caught a cab to . . .

The Olde Peninsula Brewpub and Restaurant in Kalamazoo, MI.



This is billed as the oldest Brewpub in K-zoo. But, since they are just a brewpub, their beer selection is pretty much limited to a red, a stout, and an IPA. They were all tasty and the place is really more of a restaurant. The food was good and the place was hoppin'. Off to our final location of the night . . . .

Bell's Brewery



Probably the most well-known brewery in Michigan. They had a great beer garden also, but it was a bit too chilly to enjoy it. There was a band playing that night and we cozied up on some couches in an upstairs loft area. There was a definite hippie-feel to the place. Of course, the beer was very good - I've always really enjoyed Bell's beer. I would say this was my 2nd favorite brewery of the tour and sometime after midnight we had a cab bring us safely back to the Knight's Inn because Andy had drunk himself drunk by that point.

Overall, it was a great time and I've knocked off 4 more breweries on my Michigan list. I think that puts me around 20, but I'd have to pull the book out to be sure.

Cheers!