Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

2016 Word of the Year: Present

“The present moment, if you think about it, is the only time there is.  No matter what time it is, it is always now.” -Marianne Williamson

Many people write new year resolutions.  I still write down my goals for the year, but I have found it more helpful to have a word, an intention, to focus on throughout the year.

This year, after reflection, I decided the word present would be my word for 2016.  Last year I chose the word flow; in 2014 I chose trust; and in 2013 I chose the word create.

Present defined: present ˈprez(ə)nt/ noun  1. the period of time existing now.

I decided that I want to truly be more present in my life.  Often times, I find myself wandering too much into the future, while consequently missing the present moment.  Time already goes by quickly enough, and I really want to enjoy each moment and practice being in the moment.  I also hope that this will also hone my ability to focus, at times, more easily, too.  Biscuit first taught me the importance of living in the present.  That was one of his gifts to me, and I hope to improve this year with this practice.  I even bought this bracelet to remind me of my word this year.  This practice is applicable to all areas of my life, and in a few months, I will share how this practice is going here on the blog.

Are you considering selecting a word for yourself (or letting one find you)?  There is no right or wrong.  The main thing to remember is that this is your word.

And what do you do with this one little word?  You live with it.  You invite it into your life.  You let it speak to you.  You might even follow where it leads.  There are so many possibilities.

Happy Friday!

Happy Pawlidays!

“Dogs truly are able to see into our souls and remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.” -Unkown

Happy Pawlidays!  Thank you so much for a wonderful year!  I am very grateful to you blog readers and subscribers!  I am very much looking forward to new series and exciting adventures in 2016!  I believe 2016 will be a terrific year filled with many possibilities!  Thank you so very much for reading and following the blog — it means so much to me.

Below is the front and back of our Pawliday card along with our matching envelopes using custom stamps and seals of our beautiful little Victory!   (You can view our previous Pawliday cards here, here, and here).  This is my way of sharing our Pawliday card with all of our blog friends!  Thank you for reading this blog for however long or short you have been visiting!  I truly enjoy creating content for the blog to share with all of you.  We hope that you have a splendid Holiday!

We are en route to visit family, and I am taking a brief break from the blog to enjoy some down time.  I will return to the blog in early January 2016.  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

Happy Pawlidays!

Around Here: December

It is difficult to believe the Holidays are upon us so soon!  December has really zoomed by very quickly for me!  Below are some items that have occurred around here in December!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project.

-we decorated for Christmas, and we love our Christmas lights!

-completed and sent our Pawliday card!

-completed our Christmas shopping!

-took Victory to visit Santa again!

-burning fall-scented and Holiday-scented candles all over the house!

-enjoying date nights with Doug!

-celebrated an early Christmas together in D.C.

-still enjoying my yoga class!

-I am behind on my reading again this month from working hard to tie up some loose ends concerning my photography project, in addition to getting ready for Christmas.  (I plan to get back to my regular reading after the New Year).

-watched the first season of Transparent.

-started the second season of Red River.

-Victory had her grooming at the vet last week; and we both gave her bath this past weekend, and Victory looks really great and her fur feels very silky and smooth!

-we are traveling to see family over Christmas!  We really look forward to some down time over the Holidays!

-reflecting upon this past year and thinking about my one little word for the year for 2016.

-working on my goals for 2016.

-making a new Happiness Jar for 2016.

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

Happy Tuesday!

Around Here: November

Well, it is difficult to believe that we are well into fall on our way to winter and on our way to the end of this year.  Below are some items that have occurred around here in November!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and I am nearly finished drafting the draft copy for the project!  I continue to edit images for the second portion of the project.  I hope to be done sometime later in 2016, nearly 4 years after beginning this project.  It will be very gratifying to finish!

-continue to prepare filings with the U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

-I got a new computer, which I desperately needed!

-my parents came to visit us.

-I was quite sick in the early part of the month, and we consequently had to reschedule our trip to North Carolina.  We plan to go in the early spring along with our fur girl!

-burning fall-scented candles all over the house!

-enjoyed cooler evenings and walks together outside!

-enjoyed time together on the deck, while the weather was still nice.

-enjoying date nights with Doug!

-enjoying my yoga class!

-I am behind on my reading this month.

-started the first season of Flesh and Bone.

-started the second season of Orphan Black.

-giving our fur girl her monthly bath — Victory is getting better about bath time, but it still takes both Doug and I to bathe Victory!  Victory’s fur feels so smooth and silky after her bath and brush out!  You can see below how much her beautiful fur coat is coming in!  She looks so regal!

-we had a great Thanksgiving, and it was nice to see family!

-My sister announced at Thanksgiving that they are having a baby boy!

-while in Michigan over Thanksgiving, we met Chrissy, a relative of our fur girl, who came from the same horrible hoarding situation as Victory.  A photograph of the fur girls are shown below.  I will share more soon on our visit!

-we finished and received our Pawliday card and card packaging, which are almost ready to be sent out!

-started Christmas shopping!

-started decorating the house for Christmas!

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

Happy Monday!

Tips: Holiday Photo Cards

It is already that time again — time for holiday cards!  One of my favorite things about the holidays is making our annual Pawliday Card!  I greatly enjoy making images tangible.  That is why I print my images; make photo books; and get images framed and on our walls!  It brings so much joy and makes wonderful family heirlooms and keepsakes!

Below I share some tips on making a photo holiday card.

1. Aesthetic: Decide on your aesthetic or theme of your holiday card.  Before I even select images for our holiday card and look at possible card designs, I decide on an aesthetic or theme that I would like to convey, and keep this theme in mind when selecting images and the final card design.  My aesthetic is generally simple and clean, highlighting the images.

2. Images: Select the images that you would like to include on your holiday card.  Next, I begin with the images I want to include on the front and back of the holiday card.  I go through my images from the year and select the images that I would like to include on the holiday card.    It is important to make sure these images are of high quality in order best showcase your photographs on the card.  Also, it is important to keep in mind the best crop to present each image and how the images collectively look together.

3. Design: Select a couple of design options that works well with your overall aesthetic and images you have selected.  I typically look at card designs at Artifact Uprising, Minted, and Pinhole Press.  (This year, we went with Artifact Uprising for our Pawliday card).  I spend time looking at these sites and gathering the possible designs that will work well with my images and aesthetic.  After narrowing down the card design options, I show the possible designs to Doug and get his input and then together we settle on two to three possible design options.  I like to have heavy matte card stock for my holiday card.  Thus, I use companies that offer this option.

4. Mock-Up: Create mock-ups of the possible design options.  After selecting the designs, I put together mock-ups whereby I make the final selection of the images and this provides a good way to visually see how the card would look.  Then, I show the mock-ups to Doug and we settle on a design.  By the end of the mock-up process, it is usually pretty evident which images, text, and design will collectively work the best together.

5. Final Design Selection: After letting some time pass, a week or two, I go back to my final design option and make sure I am happy with it.

6. Proofing: Once the images and final design is selected, I then show the final holiday card to Doug for final revisions and proofing of text, etc.

7. Stamp: We also use a custom photo stamp on the envelopes of our holiday card.  This typically includes an image appearing on our holiday card.

8. Seal: We also use a custom photo seal on our holiday cards.  This usually matches the custom stamp.

9. Return Address Label: We use a simple return address label for our holiday cards.

10. Timing: It usually takes me about a month to complete the above process.  It strive to get my orders in by the beginning of November to offer ample time to address and send out our Pawliday card, and address any printing issues, if need be!

I hope that these tips help you in creating a photo holiday card that you love!

Shown below is our Pawliday card from last year.

Happy Holiday Photo Card Making!

Happy Birthday, Nick!

Over the weekend, it was Nick’s birthday and he turned nine, we think!  Nick, as most of you might know who have been reading the blog, is my parents’ rescue papillon mix dog!  My parents adopted Nick in August of 2011.  In our family, we celebrate our furry family members’ birthdays (we most recently celebrated Victory’s birthday in October!)  This year, we gave Nick an LLBean dog bone fleece pillow with his name embroidered in red block lettering!  Nick loves red — his collar, leash, and Hound About are all red!  We are all for spoiling our furry family members!

Happy Birthday, Nick!

P.S.  Here is a fun video of Nick!

Victory: Becoming a ‘Big Cousin’

We have fun and exciting news to share — Victory is going to be a ‘big cousin!’  My sister, Kassie, and her husband are expecting their first bundle of joy this spring!  We are very happy and excited!  Doug and I are thrilled to soon meet the newest and littlest addition to our family!  As you can see below, Victory is delighted with this exciting news!  Victory was even willing to participate and help me capture this wonderful news visually!  Congratulations again!  We are so very happy for you!

Custom Bib: Zazzle  |  Pacifier: Target  |  Balloons: Target  |  Banner and Garland: Target

I have been quite sick all week with trips to the doctor and this little fur girl has kept me company in bed — she is such a loyal and faithful friend.  Consequently, we had to cancel our trip to North Carolina this weekend, and we hope to reschedule again soon.  Happy Friday!