Welcome to the Dash of Sparkle Newsletter! This is a newsletter that I (Jessica) post every month to let you know what has been happening in our lives, behind all the cooking! It is named the dash of sparkle, because well, everyone has little sparkle in their lives. I encourage you to find your dash of sparkle every month, too. It is a chance to briefly reflect on the last month and remember the happy times in all the chaos and craziness of life.
I took a break. A break from my beloved blog. I HAD to take a break.
These last two months of life have been the most tiring, but included the happiest memories of the whole year.
So what have we been up to in the last couple of months? Well, I took pretty much the whole month of September off, we finished up the camping season, we adopted a PUPPY, and I went back to work.
Needless to say, coming up with a dash of sparkle was easy…. The most magical moment happened, possibly the best moment of 2020, meeting our new puppy for the first time!
Finding a puppy to adopt
We had been looking to adopt a puppy for months and it started to get tiring. All the applications, phone interviews, and ultimately all of the let downs.
Earlier that week we had decided to step back (by step back, I mean not literally stalking the shelter websites for 10 hours a day). We decided that the right pup would find his or her way into our life when it was meant to be.
The Puppy
The week went on, then on Thursday morning I met with my boss. I had no idea what was going to happen in that meeting and I slept for maybe 20 whole minutes the night before.
The meeting was great and I was re-hired to the company with a few changes to my role within it. I was happy to be back and finally have some kind of "plan" again. (For those of you that dont know, I was one of many placed on a temporary layoff at the end of March, due to the pandemic).
When I got home, I continued on with my normal day. Flicking on the computer, checking emails. I had been sitting at my desk for less than 10 minutes when a puppy popped up on my screen.
The ad had JUST been posted, like less than 2 minutes before I saw it. I responded immediately, I knew right then and there, that was our puppy.
I sent the poor lady an email AND a text message within seconds. To which she responded "did you just email me too?". Yes, yes I did, I'm crazy.
At this point, I hadn't even sent or told Eddie about the puppy. So, I figured I should let him know, LOL.
He was sold the moment I sent the picture. No words, just his photo.
That was it, I was crazily texting back and forth with the breeder and it turned out that he was the last one left of their litter of 6. They had this litter and all of the puppies went to friends and families of the breeder, except this one last fluff ball.
I spent the entire rest of the day running around buying everything we needed to bring a puppy home. Then at the exact second that Eddie got off work I picked him up and we were off to meet our little puppy!
Meeting our new puppy for the very first time!
The breeder was 2 ½ hours north of where we live, it was a Thursday evening. I didn't care that I literally had no sleep the night before. I could not WAIT!
We pulled up to the breeders acreage and got out of the car and out of the barn stumbled the cutest fluff ball you've ever seen. The moment we laid eyes on him, we knew he was the one, that he was the newest member of our family!
Since then the rest of August was overridden with all things puppy. Our perfect house is a disaster, toys everywhere, slobber on everything, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
So without further ado, meet BERNIE!
You'll be seeing a lot more of him around here now! I also share a more behind the scenes look at our day to day life over on Instagram, if you're interested in that kind of thing, we would love to see you over there!
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The 2020 Camping Season
We had no idea what to expect from this camping season. Reservations were just opening up right at the beginning of when the pandemic was hitting Canada, in March. With so much uncertainty, we decided to not book anything and see what happened.
During the early months of the pandemic, they closed the campgrounds, then re-opened them at 50%, and then eventually fully re-opening them (with some services permanently closed) for the rest of the season.
We started the season in July, which is super late for us. But we still managed to get in EIGHT camping trips, and we snuck two road trips in there too, to visit family.
As much as I loved this camping season, when we unpacked the trailer for the last time a few weeks ago, I felt relieved.
It's a lot of work to organize, plan, and pack basically the whole house every weekend.
We were both happy to be closing out the season on a high note and now we're ready to hang out at home for a few weeks at least!
New Recipes
Even though I took a massive break, we still managed to post a couple new recipe videos and recipes!
You do not want to miss these ones… especially the stuffed chicken. It is FREAKING AMAZING.
Cheesy Asparagus & Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breast
There are really no words to describe how good this stuffed chicken is! It is super easy and will be loved by the whole family.
Honey Dijon Salmon
This is another mega favourite in our household. This was one of my very first recipes that I posted back in 2018 and it is still on rotation on our meal plan!
Chocolate Chip Funfetti Cookies
I mean... how could a chocolate chip cookie get any better?! I'll tell you how, add SPRINKLES!
Anyway's, that is what we have been up to these last couple of months!
We are back and will be regularly posting new recipes again. There are also a few changes that we will be making, the first of those changes is we are switching our posting schedule to every Tuesday and Thursday!
We would love to hear your dash of sparkle for the month of August or September, or both in the comments down below!
To get a hold of us, you can shoot us an email or leave a comment down below! We can also be found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. We post new recipes on Monday's and Friday's and we hope to see you back soon!
xo, Jessica
Linda Turcotte says
I know what you mean about looking for that special member of your family. It had been 1 1/2 years since we lost our beloved Tippy. He had Cushing's disease and we finally came to the point we had to let him go, which broke my heart. He was only 7 years old. I wanted a dog that had been rescued (which all of our fur kids were, except for Tippy. He came to us from a friend). I searches the Humane Society and went to see a number of dogs needing special homes. Because of their needs, I was turned down for all sorts of reasons. Mostly because we either didn't have a dog at home already or had one and that was not what this rescue needed. I reached out to a number of places that had rescues looking for a home and that didn't work out either, until the last one I dealt with. Believe it or not, they wanted me to sign a document that stated that they were still the owner, even if I adopted her, which basically meant I would be fostering her and responsible for vet bills, licenses etc. THEN, looking on-line, I found a young man that had a litter of Shih Tsu's from his own two dogs and fell in love with the runt of the litter. She came home with us on Valentines day, 2020, and like you said, the house is a mess with toys everywhere, going through the house training and falling into bed exhausted each night. She sleeps with me and there is nothing like a furry cuddle in the night. In these crazy times, I find comfort in her company and find she gives me a reason to get up in the morning. I am glad that your search had a happy ending , as I believe that the one you were meant to have would come to you eventually. Stay safe and healthy and enjoy your new family member.
Jessica says
What a lovely story. I am sorry to hear about the loss of your dear Tippy!
The search for a fur-friend is so hard and the shelters have so many hoops to jump through, but it is all so worth it in the end!
Wishing you happy cuddles! ❤️
Triều An says
I am impressed with your dog and your food