Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Around Here: August

Happy August!  Another month has just about flown by once again.  The summer is flying by much too quickly and, with the cooler temperatures here, it is beginning to feel like the fall is upon us.  Below are some items that have occurred around here in August!

-continuing to work on the next steps concerning my long-term photography project.

-we had a great fun in Dewey Beach celebrating Doug’s birthday!

-we have been going to our neighborhood pool and enjoying our time at the pool!  This coming weekend is our last weekend to enjoy the outdoor pool this season.

-we went to the Eastern Shore for crabs a few times!

-enjoying date nights together!  Doug and I are aiming to try at least one new restaurant a month to expand our horizons!  This month we tried a new restaurant, the Victoria and the Dewey Beer Co., which were both good!

-enjoying time together outside.  With the warmer weather, we have been taking more walks outside during the evenings, when it is cooler, and Victory still loves the walks while she rides in her Hound About!  There have been a lot of cool evenings in August; and we have even been able to open up the windows in our house to let the fresh air inside, which has been nice.

-continuing to work on getting fine art prints made, framed, and hung in our home, an ongoing endeavor!

-began watching the first season of Atypical.

-saw the The Story of Diana Documentary.

-re-read Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey, a really good read!

-listening to a myriad of podcasts, especially, at the gym and on walks!

-achieving 10,000 steps most days via my Fitbit!

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Wednesday!

 

Doug’s Birthday, Dewey Beach!

We continued Doug’s big birthday celebration this past weekend in Dewey Beach!  We had a really nice long weekend together!  The weather was beautiful, we loved reading and resting by the ocean, and we enjoyed nice dinners together at one of our favorite restaurants in Dewey Beach.  We also had fun taking Victory to the beach, which she loved, especially in the evenings when it was not as crowded.  We hope to return again soon!  A few images and iPhone photos from our trip, celebrating Doug, are below!

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Doug!

Happy Birthday, Doug!  I cannot believe another year has flown by again and that we have known each other just shy of thirteen years next month!  I cannot imagine sharing my life with anyone else.  You are my best friend.  You are my rock.  You are my confidant.  I cannot imagine getting through the past year and a half without you.  You keep me balanced and grounded with your steadfast patience.  You are one of the most kind, giving, thoughtful, and generous people I have ever met.  You are truly remarkable.  Words cannot express how fortunate I am to be sharing my life with you — and I am certain Victory feels the same way as exemplified by the love she showers you with every day!  We love you always!  Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Doug’s big birthday over the weekend!  I surprised him with a fun, custom cake and special dinner!  We were scheduled to be away this past weekend in celebration of Doug’s birthday, but due to the poor weather forecast and some unforeseen circumstances, we moved the birthday weekend celebration at Dewey Beach to this coming weekend, weather permitting.

 

 

Photographs: Charleston, Folly Beach Vacation

We vacationed in Charleston recently, and I finally had time to finish culling and editing the images from our vacation, our fourth vacation with our sweet, Victory!  You can view a snapshot of our vacation here.  (You can also view our vacation last year with Victory to Lake Michigan here; you can view our vacation from two years ago with Victory to Quebec City here; and you can view our vacation three years ago with Victory to Montreal, Quebec here.)

We rented a house for a week and a half in Charleston, really close to Folly Beach while being not too far from downtown Charleston.  We were fortunate that we had nice weather.  We all loved the beach.  We spent a lot of time resting and relaxing there.  We went to downtown Charleston several times and there was no shortage of good restaurants!  We even were able to bring Victory to a few dinners and enjoyed Jeni’s ice cream for the first time!  We also went to Boone Hall Plantation.

On our way to Charleston, we stopped in the triangle area in North Carolina for a few days (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill).  Doug wanted to visit Duke’s campus, and, while there, we even made a stop at the Canine Cognition Center!  It was interesting to see the lab first hand.  Victory did not make it too far walking around the campus, so we used the Ergo, which she loves.  While in Chapel Hill, since Doug loves bourbon, we went to the TOPO Distillery.  Victory was even welcome, so it worked out well.  While in Raleigh, we found a really good restaurant, the Tupelo Honey Cafe!  It was the best brunch and fried chicken that we have ever eaten, and we plan to go again to the Northern Virginia location!

Most of all, we are grateful for our time away together.  We enjoyed spending time together; getting away; having a change of scenery; and having days where we had no plans and were able to take each day as it came.  Even after a really long drive home, due to horrific traffic, Victory, of course, spotted her exit to her house, and she loved coming home, like always!

Below are a few images from our recent vacation, including an short iPhone video of Doug and Victory!

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around Here: July

Happy July!  Another month has just about flown by once again.  The summer is zooming by much too quickly.  Below are some items that have occurred around here in July!

-I continue to work on the next steps concerning my long-term photography project.

-we had a great vacation in Charleston together!  (I am finishing up editing our vacation images.)

-we have been going to our neighborhood pool and enjoying our time at the pool!

-we went to the Eastern Shore for crabs for the first time this season!

-enjoying date nights together!  Doug and I are aiming to try at least one new restaurant a month to expand our horizons!  This month we found a new one, the Iron Rooster, which was good and it is dog friendly as well!

-enjoying time together outside.  With the warmer weather, we have been taking more walks outside during the evenings, when it is cooler, and Victory loves the walks while she rides in her Hound About!

-took Victory for her annual check up and shots at the vet; and we gave her a bath, after returning home from vacation, which is not fun for anyone, sadly!

-continuing to work on getting fine art prints made, framed, and hung in our home, an ongoing endeavor!

-finished the last two seasons of the Last Tango in Halifax.

-watched the first season of Glow.

-started the first season of Shetland.

-finished reading The Bright Hour, by Nina Riggs.  It was an excellent memoir.

-listening to a myriad of podcasts, especially, at the gym and on walks!

-achieving 10,000 steps most days via my Fitbit!

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Wednesday!

 

Snapshot: Charleston, Folly Beach Vacation

We are back from vacation!  We are getting back into the swing of things from being gone!  The car ride was long due to the horrible traffic in Virginia.  Doug was kind enough to drive both ways, the whole way!  Victory sat on my lap and actually slept on my lap on the way home!  This was a first (or maybe a second), so perhaps we are making progress!  Victory was a trooper on vacation — she did really well!  (We still think home will forever have Victory’s heart.  She was really excited to be home, in her house, in familiar surroundings.)

We were really fortunate that we had nice weather while on vacation.  It only rained for a few hours one day!  It was hotter and more humid than I bargained for, but we had a great time!  Victory loved the beach.  She loves walking on the beach and dipping her little paws and legs in the water!  Today’s post is a sneak peek, as I have not finished editing images from our trip.

On our way to Charleston, we stopped in the triangle area in North Carolina for a few days (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill).  Doug wanted to visit Duke’s campus, and, while there, we even made a stop at the Canine Cognition Center!  Victory did not participate in any laboratory tests, but it was interesting to see the lab first hand.  Victory did not make it too far walking around the campus, so we used the Ergo, which she loves.  I think both Victory and I were totally drenched by the end of the day!  While in Chapel Hill, since Doug loves bourbon, we went to the TOPO Distillery.  Victory was even welcome, so it worked out.  Chapel Hill is a nice university town, resembling where I grew up, in many ways.  While in Raleigh, we found a really good restaurant, the Tupelo Honey Cafe, and there is fortunately one also in Northern Virginia!  It was the best brunch and fried chicken that we have ever eaten!

We rented a house for a week and a half in Charleston, really close to Folly Beach and we were still not too far from downtown Charleston.  We all loved the beach.  We spent a lot of time resting and relaxing there, and we took each day as it came.  We went to downtown Charleston several times and there was no shortage of good restaurants!  We even were able to bring Victory to a few dinners and enjoyed Jeni’s ice cream for the first time!  We also went to Boone Hall Plantation, which was interesting — I loved the trees that are unique to South Carolina.  Below is a snapshot containing several iPhone photos from our vacation.  Once I finish editing the images from our vacation, I will put a proper blog post together to share in the next week or two, I hope.  Stay tuned.

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

Gone Fishing…

 

We are headed to Charleston, South Carolina with our fur girl, Victory, for a vacation!  We are very much looking forward to a breather and break away!  The blog will be back with regular content in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, if you are in a blog-reading mood, you are warmly invited to visit the archives — the links are shown below.

Dog Related posts

Dog Rescue posts

‘Dog-Centric’ Artists Interviews

For Artists posts

Photography posts

Personal posts

Victory Related posts

Tips for planning and vacationing with your furry family member

Additionally, if you are interested, here are some links to some of our previous vacations — Nova Scotia, 2011; Nova Scotia, 2012; Vermont, 2013; Vermont and Québec, 2014; Vermont and Québec City, 2015; and Lake Michigan, 2016.

Happy Summer!

 

Around Here: June

Happy June!  Another month has just about flown by once again.  I took a bit of a break from the blog recently; however, below are some items that have occurred around here in June!

-I am still working on the next steps concerning my long-term photography project.

–Victory is finally over her urinary tract infection (UTI), as we have been making numerous vet trips over the past two months.  Her last culture finally came back clean, no bacteria!

-we have been going to our neighborhood pool and enjoying our time at the pool!

-we started using the Big Green Egg!

-enjoying date nights together!

-we recently went to Pups in the Park again for the third year in a row!  Victory had a great time and the weather was, thankfully, beautiful!

-we also went to an Orioles game as well!

-enjoying time together outside.  With the warmer weather, we have been taking more walks outside during the evenings, when it is cooler, and Victory loves the walks while she rides in her Hound About!

-continuing to work on getting fine art prints made, framed, and hung in our home, an ongoing endeavor!

-finished the third season of Better Call Saul, a great series!

-finished the first season of the Last Tango in Halifax.

-we are getting ready to leave for vacation; we are really looking forward to a reprieve from everything, even if only for a little bit!  We’re hoping that it will not be too hot!  We can’t wait to take Victory to the beach!  I’m taking her into the ocean this year, while she has her life jacket on, of course!  I have a few good books I hope to read as well!  One of the books I am looking forward to reading is the memoir, The Bright Hour, by Nina Riggs.

-listening to a myriad of podcasts, especially, at the gym and on walks!

-achieving 10,000 steps most days via my Fitbit!

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Tuesday!