A Story of Misguided Trust

You know how we got a puppy a few weeks ago? Yep, we still have him! And he is amazing, truly amazing. He sits by the door when he needs to go to the bathroom, he snuggles when we want him to, he does not chew things he should not, he plays with his toys in the cutest way possible…. The list goes on and on. I am SO in love with this little guy. One of my favorite things is that he follows ME around the house (not Phil, not Emily, ME!) and if he can’t follow me, he sits down and whimpers until I get back! I mean, I understand we are dealing with attachment issues, but it is SO cute!

So as you can guess, I feel like he is a fairly trustworthy puppy, however, the word “puppy” should have given me a clue. You see, I did something dumb, and I take full responsibility for the damages. You see, the other day as I was getting ready for work and leaving the house, instead of locking Oliver into the kitchen like I normally do, I thought, “he is so great and never does bad things, it would sure be nice if PD and Oliver could be together all day, I’ll just let the puppy have free reign of the house today” end of delusional thought.  So I left both dogs together to have a wonderful day with high hopes of nothing bad happening.

As you can guess, and as most of you are already groaning about, I was wrong. Here is the deal, you just don’t trust a puppy. Even if he is the best puppy in the world… yes, misguided trust for sure.

When I came home, I was greeted by two very happy dogs that had clearly bonded over their day together, however Oliver clearly had some fun of his own. The couch apparently makes a much better bed than his own (duh) and I guess it must taste good too… although it could have been much worse, he chewed a very small hole in one of the arms rests. My favorite pare of flip-flops have been decorated with teeth marks… quite stylish. And my headphones (you know, my favorite pare, the one I looked EVERYWHERE for… guess who is going headphone shopping before the race on Sunday?!) were chewed completely. I guess he was just trying to listen to music…

I have learned my lesson, you just don’t trust a puppy, even the best of puppies….

But seriously… look at that face?! How could you NOT trust him?!  



Yes, this is where he sits to watch me get ready in the morning...



Running with a Mission

A Note of Follow-Up from yesterdays post: I realized in my excitement of sharing with you, I didn’t let you know how you could get stuff to me and when we are going! We are leaving October 23^rd and coming back October 30^th, If you would like to help fill my suitcase please send me an email and we can figure out how to get the stuff. I am so excited to partner with you to help these kids in the DR! khbuckles@nwc.edu

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This last Saturday Phil and I along with a good friend and my sister all ran the “Run with a Mission” 5k for Union Gospel Mission. It was so much fun and a great opportunity to support a really good cause… (can you tell I am a sucker for good causes?)

Emily and I ran almost the whole race side by side, we were also wearing matching shirts, and I am sure looked more like twins than ever. We passed a few people and I didn’t understand why they were looking at us like we were cute puppies, then I remembered we were dressed the same and I am sure it was obvious we were twins.  

After having Emily gone all summer, I had forgotten what it was like to be out in public just the two of us. We get so many looks and people whispering “look, twins!” It really cracks me up! When we were younger it would have really bothered me to have people look at us funny and whisper about us, now I just think it is funny!

I am feeling really ready for the TC Medtronic 10 mile race this Sunday… running these last few 5k’s have really helped my know what to expect for race day and I feel as ready as I will ever be! If you would like to come support me, I would love to see you there. Having people cheer you on means the world, and I would be honored to have anyone there. Phil will be meeting me along the course to give me GU and cheer me along, you are welcome to join him and his groupies!

I need your help!

Over ten years ago, as a thirteen year old I stepped onto the jetway of a plane that would eventually take me to Rio de Janeiro Brazil where I was to spend two weeks with complete strangers doing missions work. Honestly, there was a moment about halfway down the jetway where I seriously considered turning around and forgetting all about going to Brazil. I was scared and alone and didn’t know what to expect. With each step I took I knew I was moving farther and farther from my comfort zone and into uncharted territory.

That uncharted territory was life changing. It took a self-absorbed teen and made her aware of the world around her, of poverty, of orphans, of AIDS and many other things. Yes, I know it sounds cliché, and yes, I admit I do not always live like a person who is aware, but I try and feel a passion to do what I can to make a difference in the lives of those I will never meet. That is why I run for World Vision to bring awareness to anyone who sees me running with a World Vision jersey, and this is why I am going to the Dominican Republic to work in the orphanages.

This is where I need your help. I am just one person, and while I wish I could do everything, I cannot, but am asking you to come alongside us as we make this trip. The four of us (my Mom, sister, and husband) are each allowed two bags on the airline. Since we do not need more than one bag each, we decided we would like to fill the other bag with supplies to leave with the orphanages down in the DR. They are in desperate need of the most basic supplies like vitamins, bandages, hand sanitizer, Children’s Tylenol, toothbrushes & paste, soap, and antibiotic ointment.

In America, these are the things we take completely for granted. In the Dominican Republic, without things like antibiotic ointment, and small cut can turn into an infection that could take the life of a child. Without the proper nutrition, vitamins that the orphanages give to the children can help a child grow up healthy and without health problems.

·         Do you know a dentist? Often dentist get lots of free toothbrushes and paste from the vendors that they are willing to donate.

·         Know a pharmacist or a place where you can get medical supplies for cost?

·         Ever go to Target and have five bucks to buy any of these items?

We would love to partner with you to help change the lives of kids in the Dominican Republic. If you can do anything to help us fill our suitcases, we would be honored to deliver these goods to the children there.

Here is what we need:

·         Children’s Tylenol

·         Children’s Mortin

·         Antifungal Cream (4oz size)

·         Triple Antibiotic Ointment (4oz size)

·         Toothbrushes & Paste

·         Soap

·         Children’s chewable vitamins (not gummies as it is to hot there and they melt!)

Our Newest Addition

For most of the summer Phil and I have been looking for a puppy, but have had not much luck. We know two dogs is a little crazy, however with PD getting older we wanted to get a puppy to keep him active and also train the new pup in.

Well last weekend I was in a grocery store and saw an ad for Goldendoodle puppies. I snapped a quick picture on my phone and went about my day, completely forgetting to call about the puppies. The rest of the week both Phil and I kept on looking for puppies at the humane society and other places, but didn’t find exactly what we were looking for. Then this last Friday morning I remembered the ad and decided to give them a call! Long story short, we ended up picking up our newest addition that evening!

His name is Oliver, he is 13 weeks old, and we are completely in love! He is extremely calm and well mannered and loves people. And the best part? He is already house trained! Seriously, this is my kind of dog!

A Lesson from a Dog

Before I start I must issue a few disclaimers…

*The story I am going to tell can be a little… well, gruesome, nasty, bloody… maybe other things, I apologize in advance .

** I am the queen of analogies… truly, so forgive my analogy I am about to make. (Thanks Mom, I think I got my incessant need for analogies from you :)

***Lastly, yes I am going to compare doing surgery on my dog’s leg to God…. Have patience, it might will make sense.

Ok, now that my disclaimers are out of the way, are you ready for a story!?
The story starts about eleven years ago when my family got a new puppy that was rescued from the streets. He was a naughty little puppy that got into everything and I am sure gave my Mom more stress than she needed as our house was on the market at the same time. At one point there was an appointment made for the Dog to go to the vet, and as kids are told, “To go to a happy farm somewhere else…” As you can well imagine, when I found out, I would have nothing to do with this plan, so my Mom made a deal with me, I take PD as my own dog, train him, clean up his messes, and he gets to stay with us. Obviously, I jumped on this, and since this point he has always been my dog.

When we moved to the farm, we had some neighbors who were, how do I say this… a little gun happy. If PD would even near the property line, they would shoot at him with buck shot. It was completely horrible and claimed the life of another dog we had. PD was lucky and was not injured severely, except for one place on the front of his left leg. This spot a BB was imbedded into his leg, creating a little bump under his skin. For the most part, this does not bother him, however things have changed over the past month and a half… but I am getting ahead of myself… that story is coming…

Since PD was my dog, I always said that as soon as I had a house where I could have a dog, I would take him. I think my Mom always thought it would not really happen, however, before we even moved into our house, PD moved in. I LOVE this dog so much. Phil and I have enjoyed the company greatly, and truly he is our little big puppy dog. This love for him and his well being lead me to what we did last night.

You must understand first, I never want to hurt him, or do anything to make him in pain, but sometimes when you love someone or something, you do what you must for their benefit in the long run. You see, the BB in his leg had started to fester and had become an open (very nasty looking) sore. We tried wrapping it, putting different medications on it, leaving it alone… Nothing has worked. He is constantly biting and licking it, forcing the issue of something needing to be done.

After a few weeks of talking about what we should do, we figured a few things out. While we love the dog like he is a child (please not comments on the strangeness of this :), we also know to take him to the vet would be at least a $1,000 vet bill, and quite possible with no better answers. He is also an old dog, so the risk of having surgery and going under anesthesia could quite possibly be more than he could handle. So we decided that we needed to take matters into our own hands.

I found myself pulling into fleet farm to consult those who know more than I about cures, and came to the conclusion that it needed to be cut open. [Scary!] After spending a while talking to a few people there, I was armed with the ingredients to hopefully help our beloved dog.

When I got home, Phil and I discussed the game plan. Figured out every step, collected all the needed supplies, grab a large pile of ham out of the fridge, and went to work.

I will not tell the details, it was hard, it was bloody. As I laid with my arms wrapped around my dog as he cried, I started to cry as well. I hate hurting him, I hate that he did not understand that we were trying to help him. But, he is a good dog. Even through his screaming cries as Phil used the scalpel to rid him of his BB, he did not struggle to get away, he did not try and bit us, he just cried an buried his face deeper into my body. Can you say trust?

After is was all said and done, I do believe we helped him, and he seems oblivious of the pain he had been in. His cute little paw is a small reminder of what happened, but even the purple bandage does not seem to bother him much. It almost looks cute.

Ok, so here is my analogy. How many times are we like the dog, with a festering sore that needs to be cut out. We don’t understand why, we lick out the wound and think it will heal on its own. But then our heavenly father says, “its time.” And it hurts, I may look up with tears running down my face, crying “why, why ….. it hurts God, I don’t like this. I don’t understand. God do you know you are hurting me, do I trust you today, in this moment? Is my life based upon a mean God who hurts me for fun? God who are you?”

Then I picture, like me wrapped around the dog trying to comfort him as much as possible, tears running down my own face, God doing the same to us. He understands our questions and our cries. He is holding me tight with tears running down his own face because He knows this hurts, but He also knows something I do not know. There is a reason, there is a purpose for the pain that I cannot see right now. But what God is doing in me is priceless and precious. He is making more and more into his daughter who reflects who He is.

Yeah, it hurts, it’s painful, some days I want to run and hide or even lash out because I don’t understand. But then I catch a small glimpse of what my Heavenly Father is doing in me. I see again the love in His eyes, the faithfulness, the grace, kindness and goodness and I can’t doubt. I know this rock I am on is the only place to be. In the arms of my Father, through the good and bad, there is no other place.

Happy Birthday Phil!

*Yes, I do know Phil’s birthday was two days ago, yes I meant to post this on his birthday, but who has time to be on a computer when there is partying to do?
In honor of Phil turning 25, I thought I would say my top 25 reasons I love him so much!

1. Your goofy sense of humor

2. How loving and supportive you always are

3. When you leave your car for me because you want me to have the nicer car… so sweet!

4. How you can do EVERYTHING! I mean, everything! Yes, you are amazing!

5. How you never give up on your dreams

6. You cook and clean, do laundry… really, can a girl ask for much more?

7. I love how you would do anything to take care of me

8. How you play with PD

9. When you go for runs alongside me and always tell me I can do it!

10. Did I mention you can do anything? Yeah, I love that you change the oil on the cars and do other maintenance… what a man!

11. I love you for going along in our adventure of buying a house that needed every room remodeled… You didn’t even call me crazy… in the end 

12. When ever my feet are cold, you tuck then under your legs to warm them up!

13. I love that you tell me I am beautiful even when I have just rolled out of bed

14. I love that you love Mexican food and want chips and salsa as a snack, yup, things have changed!

15. That you put up with my “lists” and continual need to plan everything!

16. I love that you laugh and smile at the little silly things

17. I love that when we tackle another house project, you are always optimistic and do everything yourself… really, quite amazing!

18. I love that you teach me so much about being selfless and others focused

19. How you goof around with your guy friends

20. I love that you are so giving of your time, money, resources, and truly welcome others into our home

21. That you help me though things in grad school I do not understand and also are completing your masters

22. You just smile and let me be silly when I have another idea

23. Did I already say that you do EVERYTHING? Yeah, electrical, plumbing, drywall, windows, tiling, painting, and a million other things?

24. How you support me and my dreams and never discourage but encourage me to be everything God created me to be

25. I love you because you are Philip Kent Buckles and I am so grateful for everything you are to me!

Happy Birthday Phil, I love you so much!

BTW, too bad you are not older because I keep on thinking of things I want to add to this list!! 25 is just not enough!

It’s a Celebration!

Today marks the start of our week long birthday celebration for Phil. Yes, I know it seems a bit much, but really, turning 25 is a big deal!

Since Phil’s birthday lands on a holiday weekend, we thought it would be hard to have a party on his actual birthday since most people are out of town, so I decided that we would have a party the weekend after so that all his friends and family could help us celebrate. Because his birthday is on Sunday, I decided to declare this whole week birthday week.

Last night we started by having the first cake of many (Phil LOVES cake…). The company the Phil works for sends their employees cakes for their birthdays, so Phil got his yesterday. I took pictures, but I forgot to bring my camera to work today, so you will just have to imagine a really beautiful cake with butter cream frosting and cookies and cream filling… AMAZING 

This weekend we are going to do a bunch of relaxing and on Sunday get to go to the Twins game! Phil won tickets from his company for box seats, so we will be watching in style. We are both really excited to be in the new stadium and celebrate his birthday there.

Then a week from today we are having family and friends over for a party. I am getting a little crazy with the planning, but am having SO much fun doing it. It is a Mexican theme with Mexican food. I am headed to the party store hopefully today to find some great things (I hope), top on my list is a large sombrero for Phil to wear. I am sure I am going to embarrass him, but really, that’s what birthdays are all about!

Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!

Happy Birthday week Phil! I love you!

A sad admission…

So here is the deal, I love summer, I love warm air, sleeping with the windows open, leaves on trees, flowers blooming, the smell of fresh cut grass, and everything else that comes along with the summer season. However I must confess something, this is very hard for me to say, but the truth must be known… I can’t wait for the first frost of the [fall] season. I know, I can’t believe I just said that either. However at this moment I feel like I am choosing between summer and sanity!

No, I don’t really want summer to be over or the pretty flowers in my garden to die, however I do REALLY oh so bad want a good hard frost so I can breathe again! This season, I guess because of how warm it has been allergies have been out of control. I normally can fend of my allergies with my daily dose of Allegra and completely forget about sneezing, runny nose, swollen eyes, itchy throat… but not this season. I have doubled up on my allergy meds and STILL feel like I am going to scratch out my eyes! I am even having a hard time touching the dog (who I am normally never allergic to) because as soon as I do it sends me into a fit of sneezing that I can’t get over.

Last night we had a fairly large thunderstorm, and like normal the dog freaked out. The only thing that calms him down when he gets like this is to let him on the bed next to you. Last night he was trying to get up on the bed and from just pushing him down I was sent into a fit of sneezing and itching… Poor dog, just wanted me to comfort him…

Anyone have any great remedies so that I can enjoy the end of summer?

5 weeks and counting!

Remember back in February when I broke my leg and was so disappointed because I wanted to run the marathon for World Vision? Or when I found out that I would still be able to run the marathon? Or when about two months ago I realized there was no way I would run the marathon? Well, it turns out my journey is still not over, yeah, for real this time!

A few weeks ago I decided to put my race number on Craig’s List so that I did not lose the money I spent on it. My plan was to sell it and use the money to re-invest in running. I was disappointed, but I have also committed to running short races for the rest of the year so I was over the biggest disappointment, and I figured I might as well let someone else run in my place. So a few days ago I was contacted by a lady who was training for the marathon but did not get into the race and wanted to buy my number. After going back a fourth a bit, she mentioned that she had a race number for the 10 mile race on the same day. This race is much harder to get into because it is a lottery and there is only room for a certain amount of people to run. She wanted to know if I would consider trading with her, and I said yes. (Yes, I am crazy!)

So with five weeks and counting I am starting my training for the 10 mile race on October 3rd! I am super excited because I know this is something I can do, and also know about four other people that are training for this run, so I will be doing it with friends. Training is going to be hard, and I must be really careful to not reinjure my leg, but I am really excited to do this!

And I STILL GET TO WEAR THIS!!! (How cool!!!)

I am truly so excited to see how God has worked this whole thing out. Though I wanted to run the marathon, I have learned so much over these past few months about patience, trusting God, running and so much more. Without this injury I would not have learned as much about running as I have now and feel better prepared to be a runner for life!

So what about my passion for kids in third world countries and making a difference? Well this fall, October 23rd-October 30th I have the opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic with Phil, my Mom and Sister to do medical work in orphanages there! I am so excited to be going on this trip and also so excited for my family to see some of the things I have seen.

More on the Dominican Republic trip soon!