Family

All Sorts of Exciting Things

Hey hey! I have all sorts of excitement to share today. Some things big, some small. All blessings!

First of all, my dad was ordained as an elder in our church on Sunday. Serving as an elder isn’t an easy job, but I know he’s going to do great. I really look up to my dad for so many reasons, but most of all for his faith in God. It amazes me that he he runs two successful businesses, studies God’s Word each day, serves in our church, and still takes time to do things like read and comment on my blog. He’s an awesome guy and I feel very blessed to call him my dad.

Another big exciting thing: my cousin is now a police officer! He graduated from the police academy in Upstate New York on Saturday and my parents, bother, and sister-in-law made a quick trip to see him.

Police academy graduation

Okay, let’s talk about the weather. Last week in Pittsburgh, it was cold. We often woke up to temperatures in the negatives and high temperatures were in the teens and twenties if it was a “warm” day. Yesterday, it was in the 30s and snowy and I was so happy! After the bitter cold of last week, 30 degrees has never felt so balmy! How’s the weather where you are?

Moving on to pet sitting, I finally created a business name and website! For years, I was just Allie Zottola… the pet sitting girl that people knew and would recommend. Now, I am the owner and operator of Muddy Paws Pet Sitting and I couldn’t be more excited! I didn’t think I’d ever have enough regular clients to warrant my own business, but God has been very good to me. Maybe I’ll talk about this more in another post?!

Girl walking cocker spaniel puppy

Speaking of businesses, my sister opened an Etsy shop! As if she wasn’t busy enough with nursing school and the million other things she does. I don’t know how she does it all. She’s currently selling hand lettered canvases. Go Hannie!

Other exciting things:

  • Jimmy and I should be getting a SunBasket (meal kit) delivery today! Can’t wait to try it out.
  • Our basement now has “smart” light switches. Jimmy wired recessed lighting into our basement and added some high-tech light switches that we can control from our phones. I just need to figure out how to do that 😉
  • Jimmy has his second violin lesson tonight. I don’t think I mentioned it, but I gave him a violin + lessons for Christmas. So far, it has been introductory stuff, but he’s excited to start playing!
  • Our little therapy dog in training has been to the Dollar Tree (twice!), TJ Maxx, and the bank and did great interacting with people!
  • I just got a new dog and cat cookbook in the mail yesterday and I can’t wait to start reading it. Does that make me a total dork?

Dinner Pawsible pet cookbook

Okay, I think that’s all the excitement I have to share! Well, one last thing, but it’s a question. My cousin’s daughter is turning one soon and I’m not sure what to get her for her birthday. Any suggestions?

What exciting things have been happening in your life lately?

Our Christmas 2017

I hope everyone had a very blessed Christmas! Does anyone else have a hard time catching up after the busyness of the holiday? I feel like I’m so behind with everything, but slowly getting back into the swing of normal life! I wanted pop in and share how our Christmas went 🙂

On Saturday (Christmas Eve Eve), my mom and I had our third annual Christmas cookie baking day and it was just as fun as it has been in the past! We baked eight different types of goodies and packed up trays to bring to our neighbors.

Raspberry shortbread thumbprint cookiesChristmas CookiesTray of Christmas Cookies

Jimmy, Lola, and I left my parents’ house that evening all tuckered out, but the day was a success!

On Christmas Eve, Jimmy and I went to church, passed out cookie trays to our neighbors, and then prepped dinner before heading to our church’s Christmas Eve service.

Us after church. Our friend gave us trail mix and we gobbled that up in about five seconds.

The kids in our church did a live nativity this year and it was so wonderful. They really, really did a great job at depicting Jesus’ birth and the events surrounding it.

Afterwards, Jimmy and I had his family over for a late dinner (I made Hawaiian chicken) and then exchanged gifts. It was such a sweet evening with laughter and joy.

Black and white family picture

On Christmas day, we woke up to a beautiful, fresh blanket of snow! We haven’t had a white Christmas in Pittsburgh since 2010 (I totally looked through my archives to figure that out!). Jimmy and I had coffee, exchanged gifts, and had one of my pet sitting clients and his dog over.

In the evening, we went to my mother-in-law’s for dinner and then came home and crashed hard at like 9:00 pm! That’s the sign of a great day, right?

Other thoughts and notes

  • Mavis ate half a bar of chocolate on Christmas but thankfully suffered no ill effects!
  • Jimmy gave each of the pets a gift for Christmas! I totally failed and didn’t get them anything. Sorry Lola, Malcolm, and Mavis!
  • It was nice to spend the holiday with our families!
  • Celebrating Jesus’ birth is just so special.

Tell me about your Christmas!