The Adventures of Julie and Bella 2025

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you look back and just think… WTF actually happened? 🤯

Yeah. That was this week for me.
It started off with something meaningful, though ❤️ I took my dad to two appointments, and at the second one, they scheduled his second knee replacement 🏥 Not exactly exciting news, but I’ll take the silver lining. I got to spend some extra time with both my mom and dad, and honestly, that mattered more than anything else 🥹 Sometimes it’s those small, quiet moments that help steady the chaos.

And then… Tuesday happened 😳

I woke up like any normal day ☀️, going through my routine, getting ready for work. Next thing I know, a police officer is running toward me with his gun drawn, yelling for me to get back inside 🚨 My brain didn’t even have time to process what was happening. Turns out, there was a shelter-in-place order for my neighborhood.

A standoff. Four houses down from mine. 😬

The man had fired at police when they tried to serve a warrant. Within what felt like minutes, my quiet neighborhood turned into something straight out of a movie 🎬 SWAT teams, drones in the sky 🚁, officers positioned everywhere—even on top of garages with rifles aimed at the house.

Seven. Hours. ⏳

That’s how long it lasted before he finally surrendered peacefully. Seven hours of adrenaline, fear, and disbelief 😰  It’s hard to describe what it feels like to see something like that unfold right outside your door. You always think, “That stuff doesn’t happen here.” But apparently… every neighborhood has that one house 🙃 I also never made it to work 🙄

By Thursday, I thought maybe things would settle down. Nope 😅 My check engine light decided to join the party 🚗💡 The car seems to be running fine, so for now I’m just pretending it’s a suggestion instead of a warning 🤷‍♀️ We’ll see how long that strategy holds up.

Friday? Oh, Friday had jokes 😑

I took a different route home because I had to stop at the pharmacy 💊 A quick trip, right? Wrong. A train had stopped on the tracks and was blocking every possible way I could get home 🚧🚂 Every. Single. One. What should’ve been a four-minute drive turned into a twenty-minute detour through traffic and frustration 😤 At that point, I just had to laugh. What else can you do? 😂

So this weekend, Bella and I hit pause 🐾

We stayed in, relaxed, and I worked on some craft orders 🎨 It was exactly what I needed after the chaos of the week.

I even tried out a crockpot meal with chicken thighs, potatoes, and a lemon herb garlic marinade 🍗🥔🍋 It smelled amazing all day… but the flavor didn’t quite live up to the hype 😬 Safe to say, that marinade won’t be making a return appearance.

And now, here we are ✨
Bella and I are winding down, soaking in the calm, and keeping our fingers and paws crossed for a better week ahead 🤞🐾

Because wow… what a week 😅