Hiking On A Rainy Sunday At The Beautiful Red Rock Canyon

I was anticipating the fall weather to move in and finally cool things down last weekend, so the dreary and drizzly weather made me VERY happy. Our friend, Chris Moranchel suggested we drive about an hour and a half to go hiking out in the small town of Hinton just to get out of the house and explore. The overcast also created the perfect lighting for him to shoot photos of our little family. It was Meeko's first time out on a nature trail with us and he had a blast. I didn't think to bring a sweater, but I stayed warm dashing through the trails with him. Luckily, Meeko didn't run very far before darting back to us when we called him. He didn't have any problems being off a leash, which is great for future adventures.


It was muddy, damp, and cold, but the scenery was beautiful and quiet. Chris did a fantastic job capturing our vibes and our little one who can't seem to keep still for even a second. My boyfriend appears to be far more photogenic than I am and i'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that. We had a lot of fun despite spending at least 30-minutes back at the car pulling out all the stickers stuck to our pants at the end of the trail.

You can check out more of his work on his blog by clicking here.

I'm excited for a plan that is in works for a Vegas road trip in December where we (except for Meeko! He stays with Grandma.) plan on stopping by the Grand Canyon. 

My Transitioning To Cruelty Free Products For Little Meeko

Hi! I'm Meeko.

Today I learned that beagles are one of the many animals used in testing after viewing a cosmetic advertisement advocating its brand as cruelty free. According to the Huffington Post, this breed is commonly used often because of how docile and small they are. This immediately did not sit well with me. My new puppy is a beagle mix and I can't imagine anyone wanting to harm that little bundle of love. 

I rushed to my last class for the day before I got too emotional and googled companies that currently do not test on animals. I want to make it a goal to transition to more cruelty free brands for the little guy in the house. There's a lot of information out there, so you have to be careful when it comes to misleading articles if you want to research for yourself. 

PETA can be intense, but they are great at providing lists of cruelty free companies as well as companies that do testing. Surprisingly, the transition does not seem as difficult as you would think it would be. (I also don't purchase too many cosmetics, less is more for me.) 

Here are a just a few companies.

The testing is still very well prevalent around the world. I understand we've come a long way with the help of animal testing for the sake of science, but it's not fair to manipulate and abuse these creatures. How do these "scientists" sleep well at night after a days work? In my opinion, there should be more funding for technology to make better programs that can replicate what a living animal can provide as an alternative. It's interesting how being a new pet owner really changed my perspective on this topic.

The Beagle Freedom Project is a non-profit animal rescue that negotiates with laboratories in exchange for the release of dogs and other animals.You can support their mission by clicking here.