Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Aug 8

Happy Birthday, Biscuit

Today is Biscuit’s birthday. He would have been thirteen-years-old presuming his age was accurate when we rescued him. However, it is very likely he was older. We made August 8th Biscuit’s birthday as it was the day Biscuit was rescued off the streets in North Carolina where he was then taken to the Sheltie Haven Sheltie Rescue, Inc. We rescued Biscuit from this rescue organization on January 7, 2011.

We celebrated Biscuit’s birthday in Nova Scotia during the summers of 2011 and 2012; and in 2013, we spent our last vacation together in Manchester, Vermont. We had a wonderful time together. Doug and I have many wonderful memories of our summer vacations together with Biscuit. We know that Biscuit is always with us in spirit.

Whenever I see a rainbow, I think of Biscuit. We have seen several rainbows, including a double rainbow, this spring and summer, and, each time, we immediately thought of Biscuit.

Below is one of my favorite images of Biscuit and Doug taken on the beach in Hubbards, Nova Scotia.

Biscuit, we hope that you have a wonderful birthday! We hope that you are running on the beach with your sheltie furs blowing in the wind — a lovely and lasting image and memory that I will always cherish! You are always and forever in our hearts, our sweet dear Biscuit. Thank you for the many, everlasting gifts you gave to us. We love you and miss you very much. Happy Birthday!

Aug 2

Snapshot: Lake Michigan Vacation

We are back from Lake Michigan! We are getting back into the swing of things from being gone! It was a long car ride, nearly 14 hours. Fortunately, Doug did most of the driving for us! Victory was a trooper in the car and she did really well on vacation.

We were really fortunate that we had nice weather and temperatures during our vacation! Today’s post is a sneak peek, as I have not finished editing the images from our trip. If you follow along on Instagram, I shared a few images from our vacation during our vacation!

Our family rented a house for a week within a short walk to the lake! Doug and I went for morning walks together along the lake, and we even ended up crossing over into Indiana! Victory loved the beach and she got along well with her ‘Uncle Nick!’

Doug enjoys good bourbon, so we went to the Journeyman Distillery and took a tour. We also ate several times at the Distillery’s restaurant, the Staymaker. The food was very good, and bourbon was incorporated in every menu item! We also took a trip to Notre Dame, and the dogs did really well on campus. Victory has now toured Penn State; Princeton; and now Notre Dame! She is weighing her college options!

My Dad and Doug made it to the Casino where Doug doubled his money while playing blackjack, while my Mom, sister, and I did some shopping in Michigan City. My nephew, Liam, got some cute new fall clothing!

Most of all, we enjoyed our time at the beach and the lake. Doug and I went swimming in the lake quite a bit. The water was very clear and clean! We had planned to take Victory in the lake, but we decided not to this time. She did dip her little paws in the water, though, similar to her first time at the beach while we vacationed in Quebec.

We also played lots of Dominos. Doug is officially the reigning Domino winner. Nobody can beat him!

Even after 14 hours in the car on the ride home, Victory still spotted her exit to her house. She was exhausted, and she actually slept some in the car on the ride home, which is a first, but she still managed to recognize her exit to her house and to the garage — one of her all time favorite activities — returning home via the garage! She was so excited to be home in familiar surroundings!

Enjoy the snapshot of photos from our vacation below! 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.

Jul 22

Gone Fishing…

We are headed to Lake Michigan with our fur girl, Victory, for a vacation! It has been an unexpectedly chaotic spring and summer for us, so it will be nice to have a breather. The blog will be back with regular content in early August.

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; and Vermont and Québec City, 2015.

P.S. While we are away, I do plan to post images via Instagram (our Instagram feed is also shown on the right side of the blog!)

Jul 20

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Around Here: July

We have been enjoying some warmer temperatures recently, and it really feels like summer, almost like the dog days of summer! Below are some items that have occurred around here in July! Happy Summer!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and I have a few more months to go to finally finish!

-since it is officially summer now, Doug and I are checking items off our ‘summer bucket list.’

-took a trip to Delaware and Pennsylvania for the Fourth of July!

-took a trip to the Eastern Shore for crabs and shrimp with Victory!

-celebrated some positive news!

-working on the final details of Victory’s portrait, which is Audrey Hepburn inspired, to be finished next month, similar to Biscuit’s painting where they will hang side by side in our home!

-finishing up my new website, which should be finished shortly!

-tried acupuncture for the first time.

-we pretty much finished our spring/summer cleaning — we have a couple of closets left remaining to clean out!

-enjoying time at our neighborhood pool, relaxing and reading!

-enjoying evening runs to TCBY for frozen yogurt with Victory — her favorite is the peanut butter frozen yogurt!

-enjoying time on our decks together on cooler evenings, watching the sun set.

-burning summer scented candles in our home!

-enjoying long walks around the neighborhood and dinners together outside! Victory still very much loves going for rides in her Hound About!

-began reading The Art of Possibility — a good read so far.

-watched the first season of Marcella, a really good series!

-began watching Stranger Things, which is a good and addictive series!

-happy that Doug is back home, as he was in Texas for work!

-still using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

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

Happy Wednesday!

Jul 18

Mindfulness: Adult Coloring Books and Buddha Board

I recently discovered adult coloring books. They are a great way to focus one’s energy and they are also a great stress reliever, too! If you find yourself stuck on something or you need to occupy your mind, adult coloring books are great! You can find a variety of adult coloring books here or at your local bookstore.

Earlier this year I also discovered the Buddha Board, which is like water color painting, except that the painting does not stay permanently, it disappears, so you are therefore left with a clean slate each time, which forces once to be and enjoy the moment! You can watch a video of the Buddha Board here and view the Buddha Boards here.

Happy Monday!

Jun 27

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Just Because…

“And every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, “This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!” And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, “No. This is what’s important.”
― Iain Thomas

Happy Monday!

Jun 24

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Around Here: June

We have been enjoying some warmer temperatures recently, and it really feels like summer! Below are some items that have occurred around here in June! Happy Summer!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and I have a few more months to go to finally finish!

-since it is officially summer now, Doug and I are currently working on finishing our summer ‘bucket list’ of fun things that we want to accomplish this summer!

-celebrated a fun Father’s Day together!

-we are working on the final details of Victory’s portrait, which is Audrey Hepburn inspired, to be finished in the next couple of weeks, similar to Biscuit’s painting where they will hang side by side in our home!

-we finally got our house windows cleaned, inside and out! It is wonderful to be able to clearly see out of our windows again, as they had not been cleaned since our house was built about almost three years ago!

-next week we are finishing our ‘spring cleaning’ with having our bedroom rugs cleaned along with cleaning out a few remaining closets!

-enjoying time at our neighborhood pool!

-enjoying time on our decks together in the evenings, watching the sun set.

-burning summer scented candles in our home!

-when it is not too hot and humid, opening our windows and letting fresh air into the house!

-enjoying long walks around the neighborhood and dinners together outside! Victory still very much loves going for rides in her Hound About!

-began reading Spark Joy — a good read so far.

-watched the second season of Bloodline, a really good series!

-started watching the first season of the River, a new television series.

-still using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

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

Happy Friday! It is supposed to be beautiful weather here this weekend, and we plan to take full advantage of it this weekend! Hope that you have a good weekend!

Jun 22

Quotes: Letterfolk

Doug recently helped me hang our new Letterfolk letter board in our home, and I love it! I love quotes, as our refrigerator is filled with quotes and photo magnets! With our letter board I can now, as frequently as I would like, change the quotes displayed in our home! If you love mantras and quotes, this is a great way to easily and visually display the mantras and quotes you love. Our Letterfolk board currently reads, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” — Helen Keller.

A few photos of Letterfolk boards, from around the web, are shown below.

Happy Wednesday!

The above images are via Letterfolk.

Jun 17

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Have a Lovely Weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? The weather here looks beautiful this weekend! We’re celebrating Father’s Day, attending a neighborhood party, and plan to make it to the pool for some relaxing and reading time! Victory is all ready with her gifts to give to her Daddy on Sunday! We can’t believe that summer officially begins on Monday, and Doug and I are currently working on our ‘Summer Bucket List!’ Hope that you have a great weekend, and here are some fun links from around the web…

Comfort dogs are helping Orlando victims.

The new issue of Four & Sons is now available.

Why you need a true hobby and not just a side-hussle.

Guide for making a gallery wall.

Loving these comfortable shorts.

Love this blog, filled with very interesting content!

Fun mugs! I especially liked this one.

Some fun summer recipes.

How to overcome worry and be a friendlier person.

Are you right-brained or left-brained? (I use both sides almost equally.)

The importance of to-do lists.

“And if you are alive and in relationship, you do vulnerability. If you are alive and in relationship and in business, you do it hourly.” – Brene Brown in a Fast Company article from a few years back.

Finally, my friend’s book just came out this week!

Jun 13

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Perspective on Time

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” — William Penn

Sometimes it feels like I never have enough time to get everything done on my ever growing to do list. I believe one of the reasons we feel like we do not have enough time is we get caught up on what others are doing instead of focusing on what we can actually be doing. Often, we feel rushed, busy, and unaccomplished because of comparison. Comparison is the worst game because nobody wins. I feel better and much more productive when I focus on what I can accomplish versus comparing myself to what others are doing. The lesson to having more time: focus on your goals and dreams!

Additionally, I really like the idea of a “Stop-Doing List,” coined by Jocelyn K. Glei, which has changed my perspective in relation to time. Glei states, “In this Age of Distraction, we’re all dodging and weaving between so much incoming information that what you don’t do on a daily basis has become as important—if not more—as what you do execute on.”

Below are two lists that Glei follows, which also might help you create more time and space in your daily schedule.

Here’s a list of the things I don’t do while working:

I don’t schedule meetings in the morning.

I don’t listen to music or radio that has words.

I don’t look at my email until I’ve done 90 mins of deep-attention work.

I don’t treat emails from people I don’t know as urgent.

I don’t look at social media until the afternoon, and then only on breaks.

I don’t tweet live. (I schedule almost everything in advance.)

I don’t over program my daily schedule so that there is no downtime.

I don’t work more than three hours without a break.

I don’t answer my phone or texts in the morning.

I don’t read the news.

I don’t eat at my desk.

I don’t work past 6:00 p.m.

And here’s a list of things I make sure to do:

I do make my to-do list for tomorrow the night before.

I do focus on deep-attention before hyper-attention work.

I do regularly identify and update my goals for the next 6 months, and the actions I need to take to meet them.

I do always have a variety of projects on my slate so I can shift tasks based on my mood and energy level, while still getting important stuff done.

I do meet (or catch up with) one interesting person a week.