Good morning
It’s currently raining outside, and I’m cuddled up on the couch with my coffee, Leo, and my fuzzy blanket. I love getting cozy before sitting down to write a recap blog. Tux is lying in his bed across from me in the living room, sound asleep. He has the cutest little snores. Every time I look at him, I love that he’s just so content and safe in his spot. He’s only been with us for about a week, but it feels like I’ve loved him my whole life. Gosh, my heart is so big for him!
Kyle wakes up around 5 am to go out and walk him. I usually vacuum and run the dishes while he’s out. This gives Kyle time to bond with him before going to work and it also gives me time to hurry up and clean the house before they get back. Tux is scared of sudden movements and loud noises, so unloading the dishwasher and running the vacuum has to be done when he’s out of the house. We are keeping him on a super strict schedule because we read that helps them settle into their new home faster. When a dog has a routine, they know what to expect. When they don’t, they’re left to wonder. I don’t want Tux to wonder if this house is permanent, and I want him to know this is forever with us. I know we’ll get there! We have a lot of trust to prove to him. He’s always on high alert, so sometimes he’ll be in a deep sleep and he’ll wake up super fast out of nowhere and start looking around. I can’t wait for the day when he feels safe and doesn’t have to lookout.
I’m mixing in a little bit of last week with this week. I didn’t want to leave out one of the best dinners we had! We finally tried this local food truck called Chickpeasy on Wheels. They park in our neighborhood a lot, but I never thought to try them out. Instead of cooking on Thursday night, we decided to pick up food from their truck. We spent the evening getting the house ready for Tux, and we were way too preoccupied to cook anything. We ordered their chicken kebabs, pita, and baklava. I’m just so upset it took us this long to try their food. This is THE BEST kebab meal I’ve ever had. They have the best flavors, they’re perfectly charred, and the worst part was not having leftovers! Oh, and the baklava! It should be a sin if you don’t order it! If you live in the Charlotte area, look out for their truck. You need to try them out! If they set up every day near me, I’d be there. 
On Friday night, we started our road trip down to Georgia. We wanted to be well-rested and up bright and early to get our boy! We stopped at Whole Foods to get dinner (yes to pizza!!) and then made our way to our hotel for the night. 
We stayed at The Inn at Patrick Square. It was the cutest hotel in Anderson near Clemson college. Kyle and I were in bed around 7:30 pm so we could wake up at 5 am. We turned on Pretty Woman and fell asleep! We felt like kids on Christmas Eve. We just wanted the morning to get here after the longest week of waiting for Tux. 
The hotel had a coffee shop inside (no, that’s not why I picked it…)
I woke up, had a cup of coffee, a blueberry muffin, and we headed on our way to get our boy!
You can read all about our sweet boy Tux in this blog post here!
On Sunday, Kyle and I headed up the road to grab iced oat milk americanos at Tega Cay Coffee Co.
I also made my copycat whole foods granola bars and my chicken salad for the week! 
I was not looking forward to Monday. Tux was going to have a big day. I know it was important to have everything done, and I’m glad we got it all out of the way before working on settling into the house.
We had him groomed at Dog Bite Munchery in Rock Hill at the Riverwalk. I cannot recommend them enough! We had a mobile groomer planned, but after they canceled, I started looking for the perfect spot for him. Actually, we sent Leo there on Friday to see how it went. They had him groomed within an hour! We used to have to wait 4-7 hours for our dogs to get groomed (which is why I started doing it myself!) They don’t crate them, and they immediately start once you drop them off. There’s no waiting around for the dogs. And oh my goodness, they are so kind in there and loving. You can always tell when someone loves animals or not. They gave Tux the extra love and attention because this was his first time getting a big boy haircut. His fur was SO matted.
He looked like a completely different dog when we picked him up, and he did so well! 
I was not looking forward to the vet visit, but Tux surprised me again and took it like a champ.
I think he REALLY enjoyed that ear cleaning (I’ll spare the photos!) They just kept pulling out so much black gunk, and he was leaning into it, making those funny noises because it felt so good to him. He had a pretty chronic ear infection as well as a yeast infection. He’s on medication, and he goes back on Wednesday for another ear cleaning and another round of medication. He has a mild ectropion with his eyes, but that’s nothing too serious. He’s on a round of antibiotics for his skin infection.
The vet did say he’s most likely not 2 1/2 and more closer to five, which is completely fine with us. Honesty, if he were eleven, I wouldn’t even care. I can’t wait to spend every day with him, no matter how old he is. It’s hard to really know their age because we don’t know the whole story of how the breeder even got him. We do know the breeder has had him since 2018.
He had tapeworms, so we dewormed him and Leo. He’ll get tested again in a few months. He’s a bit underweight, which should be no issue since he has LOVED the peanut butter, grilled chicken, and pancake treats.
We got a call that his bloodwork came back great! We will get him tested again in the fall before he gets neutered. We do want to do the responsible thing and neuter him once he feels better and comfortable in our home. Neutering a dog can also help prevent prostate cancer and other health issues.
To be safe we gave him another parvo vaccination and got him started on heartworm and flea preventatives.
And as if the groomer and vet weren’t enough for him that day, we had a HUGE thunderstorm when he got home. He was shaking, so I wrapped him up in a cozy blanket in his little corner, and he drifted into a deep sleep.
That next morning, he was like a new man! He was prancing around the yard with Leo, and he probably felt so free with his new haircut.
I grabbed lunch with my neighbor at the Fish Market on Tuesday.
I had their grilled salmon salad, and we split the fried green tomatoes
I picked up some delicious chocolates after lunch. There’s a Chocolat Boutique in Baxter Village in Fort Mill, and they do homemade candies and chocolates. THEY ARE AMAZING!!!! Kyle and I love picking out pieces and splitting them. We finished the entire box that night…no regrets.
That evening, Tux sat in the yard for the first time. He usually keeps running around and always wants to go back inside. It was amazing to see him sit and stare out at the trees for almost ten minutes.
Leo loves Tux just as much as us!
He even had a case of the zoomies last week, which I could have cried!
I made some protein pancakes on Friday morning! I quickly learned that Tux LOVES pancakes. It helps when I leave him a little trail. He’ll follow it a few steps before running back to his bed.
We’ve been making many air fryer dinners since Tux was in front of our oven all week. I made my air-fried capellos ravioli and salmon with a creamy pesto sauce, air friend jalapeno turkey burgers, and air-fried seasoned chicken to go with kale caesar salads. All of these recipes are on my TikTok
On Saturday, I did a photoshoot for some friends who are having a baby! I’ve still been enjoying doing photography on the side. It’s a fun hobby! We spent the rest of the day watching Dr. Death and just relaxing around the house with the dogs.
We did finally move Tux to the living room. I think he likes it so much better in here! The kitchen was too loud for him, and it wasn’t realistic to have him sitting in front of the oven. Now when he comes in from outside, he goes straight to his living room bed. We are still having issues getting him to go outside or get up for a walk. We have to pick him up and take him outside. We are going to keep working on that! Everything is just so new to him right now, so letting him decompress and relax is our main priority
One incredible thing happened on Saturday morning though! He bowed his body down at Leo, wagged his tail, and they started sprinting around together! It lasted about 30-seconds, but it was like watching a completely different dog. He surprises us at random times!
The boys got a little trail walk on Sunday morning! They do such a good job walking together, and it’s such an important bonding time!
I decided to do something crazy on Sunday afternoon. I was getting SO SICK of my hair. It’s too long to do anything to it, it’s a pain in the butt to style, and it was so fried at the ends. I’m also pretty sure with it being so long and heavy that it was causing headaches. My scalp felt like my hair was constantly being pulled. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money with a stylist, and I didn’t feel like waiting any longer. I went to Ulta to get some good cutting sheers, picked up DryBar products (my favorite), and decided to chop off 6 1/2 inches myself! I’m shocked at how even it turned out. I washed it, did a blowout style, and then cleaned up some of the extra-long pieces. 
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!!! I’m sure I’ll find some extra pieces to trim here and there. 
We ended our evening the same way we do pretty much every night! We make dinner, then a “family-time” outside and run around, and then hop on the couch to watch show. Right now, we’re watching Dr. Death! It’s so good! This was such a good week, and things are starting to feel complete around here.
