Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Dec 20

Happy Pawlidays!

“No animal I know of can consistently be more of a friend and companion than a dog.” —Stanley Leinwall

Happy Pawlidays! I wanted to thank you so very much for checking in over the past year — I am very grateful. It has been an exciting year for us!

Below is the front of our Pawliday card (the back of our card containing text is not pictured), along with our matching envelopes using little photo seals of our beautiful girls, Alex and Victory! And, unfortunately, custom stamps are still no longer permitted by the Post Office, but I used beautiful Ansel Adams stamps. (You can view our previous Pawliday cards: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Sending our Pawliday card is one of my favorite parts of the Holiday season! This is my way of sharing our Pawliday card with you. It has been an exciting year and we have so much to be grateful for. Thank you for reading this blog for however long or short you have been reading. I sincerely enjoy creating content for the blog to share with you.

I will be taking a break from the blog to enjoy some down time with family, and I plan to be back to the blog sometime early next year. Meanwhile, if you are in a blog-reading mood, you are warmly invited to visit the archives — the links are shown below. Thank you for your support with my recently released book: ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs! It’s been an incredible journey! Warmest wishes to you for a safe and Happy Holidays!

ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs

Dog Related posts

Dog Rescue posts

‘Dog-Centric’ Artists Interviews

For Artists posts

Photography posts

Personal posts

Victory Related posts

Dec 19

Christmas Time: Visiting Santa

We recently took Alex and Victory to visit Santa, an annual tradition! All went well with both of our girls during their Santa visit, and Alex shared the few items, with Santa, that she would like him to bring her this Christmas!

Victory, our beautiful fur girl, did very well, like always! This is Victory’s ninth time visiting Santa and Alex’s fifth time visiting Santa! You can see Victory’s previous trips to visit Santa: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. This is the only Santa in our area that welcomes both of our girls, while also allowing me to take photographs! Victory wore her candy cane sweater, and Alex wore a dark green dress. All proceeds from visiting Santa are donated to a local dog rescue, a very good cause near and dear to our hearts, as Biscuit and Victory are rescues. If you are interested, be sure to check with and visit your local pet stores to see if there is a Santa in your area that specializes in furry family members!

A few images from Victory’s and Alex’s fifth visit together with Santa are shown below, along with images of Victory with Santa from the previous seven visits, excluding 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19. The time really does fly by too quickly! We are so grateful for our fur girl, Victory!

Below are images from Victory’s ninth visits to see Santa: 2014 – 2024 (excluding 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, sadly).

The girls’ visits to see Santa in 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024.

Pictured below is Alex in front of our Christmas tree in 2020; and Alex in front of my parents’ Christmas tree during 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. We truly missed seeing Santa in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

And, after seeing Santa, Alex and Victory made hand print and paw print ornaments at the pottery shop, shown below! It was so much fun, and a wonderful, unique keepsake for our girls! You can see last year’s hand print and paw print ornaments here.

Below is a video from Alex’s recent Christmas program at school.

Nov 26

Happy Thanksgiving + CBS Mornings Appearance!

We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! This is going to be a very special Thanksgiving for us! We are all going to New York City on Thanksgiving! On Friday, November 29, Victory and I will be on CBS Mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST, featuring my new book, ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs! We are over the moon excited!

“Be present in all things and thankful for all.” —Maya Angelou

Additionally, I am donating a portion of my royalties, earned from the sales of this book, to the SPCA International, helping dogs in need around the globe. You can read more here and here.

And, if you have not ordered your copy of ABANDONED, I hope you will consider ordering ABANDONED today! Additionally, ABANDONED will also make a great Holiday gift for friends and family, especially those who love dogs—especially shelter and rescue dogs! Many thanks for your support!

Nov 12

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Victory: A Birthday Celebration — 13 years

October 12, marked eleven years since we adopted our sweet dear little Victory! The time is going by much too quickly! We decided to make October 12 Victory’s birthday — the day we went to Michigan and adopted our sweet fur girl. (This post is a month late due to the release my new book, ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs.)

As such, we recently celebrated Victory’s birthday marking her eleventh year with us since her adoption! This also marks seven years celebrating as a ‘big sister’ to Alex! This year, for Victory’s birthday, we did a personalized pink and coral themed birthday! (As shown below, last year, we did a personalized pastel theme; two years ago, we did a personalized fall theme and pastel theme; three years ago personalized theme and a pastel theme; four years ago pink theme with gold accent; five years we did a pastel rainbow theme with a silver accent; six years ago we did pastel theme with a gold and silver accent; seven years ago we did a gold and champagne theme; eight years ago we did a light pink and gold themed birthday; nine years ago we did a pink themed birthday; and ten years ago, we did rainbow themed birthday for Victory!) For this double-digit birthday, we had another cake made with Victory’s likeness — Victory reading my newly released book, Abandoned: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs! It turned out beautifully! We also purchased some fun decorations and balloons, along with a coral sweater for Victory, a tradition, in honor of her birthday! Victory also enjoyed a steak prepared by Doug, along with her very own cupcake (with no icing, of course!) Victory looked absolutely adorable and beautiful on her birthday, as always, shown below! This is the seventh birthday that Victory celebrated with her sidekick, Alex! It is wonderful to witness their relationship beautiful relationship; Alex adores her fur sister, and I think the feeling is mutual! Alex loves giving Victory treats and hugs! Victory had a fun birthday and she truly enjoyed being over fed and the center of attention! I sincerely believe Victory knows her birthdays are all about her!

We are truly the lucky ones to share our lives with this wonderful, loyal, and loving being. Victory has been such a source of comfort to us all. Victory has also fully embraced her ‘big sister’ role! Victory is very attuned to her little sister and loves to greet Alex in the mornings and evenings! It melts our hearts! Victory continues to join us evening for play time and story time, in addition to all meals! We also do our best to keep Victory fully integrated in our trips and outings as well, and we had a fun fall together with many outings together! We are so very grateful and thankful for our Victory. She means the world to us and we love her very much.

For Victory’s birthday, we gave her: a blanket; an assortment of toys that Alex picked out; assorted treats; and a new coral sweater! And, my parents gifted their grand puppy, Victory, an Orvis gift card! Additionally, Alex also made some art for Victory, along with a special card!

(All birthday decorations are via Sweet Lulu and Meri Meri.)

Here is a video of Victory enjoying her steak!

A look back at Victory’s birthday celebrations over the years…

Here is a look back at Victory on her birthdays!

If you are considering getting a dog, I hope that you consider adopting a rescue or shelter dog. There are so many dogs in need of a good, loving home, especially now, with the dog overpopulation crisis. As shown below, Victory, a rescue, has changed so much physically and emotionally over the years since we adopted her, pictured on the left (image from Victory’s foster mom via the Michigan Sheltie Rescue). You really can save a dog’s life, while simultaneously enriching your own life/lives, which is a win-win for everyone. We cannot imagine not having a rescue dog in our lives!

My book, ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs, was recently released!

I am donating a portion of my royalties, earned from the sales of this book, to the SPCA International, helping dogs in need around the globe. You can read more here and here.

And, if you have not ordered your copy of ABANDONED, I hope you will consider ordering ABANDONED today! Many thanks for your support!

Oct 31

Happy Halloween from our Llamas!

Happy Halloween! Halloween is one of our favorite times of the year! We love the fall season! This is Alex’s seventh Halloween! Victory is a llama this year for Halloween along with her little sister, Alex, shown below! Victory (along with Alex) was a dinosaur last year; she was a rainbow two years ago; peacock three years ago; Crayola red crayon four years ago; Super Woman five years ago; a unicorn six years ago; Wonder Woman seven years ago; a fifties girl eight years ago; a lioness nine years ago; a butterfly ten years ago; and a ladybug for her first Halloween, eleven years ago. And Alex had a wonderful Halloween celebration and parade at school today! We hope you have a safe Halloween tonight!

Here is Doug and Alex’s pumpkin, which they worked diligently on this year, shown below! Alex picked a fun design this year, but Doug did most all of the magical pumpkin work!

Additionally, here are links to other pumpkins carved by Doug: last year; two years ago; three years ago; four years ago; five years ago; six years ago; seven years ago; eight years ago; nine years ago; ten years ago; eleven years ago; and twelve years ago!

Here is a short video of the lit pumpkin that Doug carved for us this year, with some assistance from Alex! He did a great job, as always!

Further, here is a look back at Victory and Alex over the years on Halloween!

Oct 11

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16 Years In

16 years of marriage. 20 years together, two decades together. 6 years of parenting a little human together. 11 years of loving and taking care of our fur girl, Victory, together. You are my favorite human being. You are always by my side, and supportive through everything. I can never thank you enough for all of your support with respect to putting my new book into the world. I could never have done it without you. You are the greatest gift of my life, and each day spent with you is truly a gift. I look forward to many, many more years together, knowing that we can get through anything together. Most of all, you are an incredible Daddy to our girls! We are all so incredibly blessed and grateful for you. Happy sixteenth wedding anniversary!

And, we are celebrating this milestone, along with celebrating Victory being part of our little family for 11 years! Tomorrow is the day we adopted Victory 11 years ago from the Michigan Sheltie Rescue! We are so incredibly grateful for our beloved fur girl! We are enjoying the cooler fall weather, along with doing some fun fall family outings together, with our girls, during this long weekend!

“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is not love for you like mine.” —Maya Angelou

Jul 9

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My Book: ABANDONED is Available for Pre-Order!

I can hardly believe I am typing this blog post after so many years of working on this project! My book, Abandoned: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs, is finally finished, and it is now available for pre-order, and it will be released on October 1, 2024, to kick off ‘Adopt-A-Dog Month!’ This project has been a labor of love, and I hope you will consider pre-ordering Abandoned now, as it is vital to the book’s success. My sincere hope is that Abandoned helps many dogs in need find permanent, loving homes, especially with our current dog overpopulation crisis in this country.

Abandoned is a result of a ten-year project following nearly sixty dogs from rescue to adoption, showcasing “before” and “after” photographs, which are accompanied by each dog’s personal story. No other book has captured dogs in this manner. It is a unique project that encompasses more than just photographs—as the dogs’ stories are integral, providing context and augmenting the photographs. In addition to the dogs, I hope that people see that the human companions’ lives are changed in such positive, immeasurable ways.

The idea for Abandoned, literally came to me on a summer day during 2012, roughly a year-and-a-half after we had adopted our first rescue dog named Biscuit, a Shetland Sheepdog, for whom this blog is named after. He forever changed my life in so many ways—he opened my heart in a way like no other; and he brought me back to my love of photography. My curiosity and experience with Biscuit made me aware of the dog overpopulation crisis in our country, and this set me on a path to learn more about what happens to these abandoned dogs. I began documenting the fate of roughly 60 dogs of various breeds, who found themselves in shelters or rescue organizations in the Mid-Atlantic region. I first photographed each dog prior to adoption, and I then photographed these same dogs, again, roughly a year later. Written narratives accompany the dogs’ photographs providing, to the extent possible, how, and why each dog was abandoned. I also explore the significant positive impact these dogs have had on their human companions’ lives, and vice versa. It is my great hope that Abandoned will help raise awareness of this overpopulation crisis and encourage people to adopt a shelter or rescue dog.

It is an understatement that the publication of this body of work required contributions from a large number of people whom I owe such a great debt.

Here is a look inside Abandoned, shown below, and you can learn more about Abandoned and read editorial reviews, here.

I am donating a portion of my royalties, earned from the sales of this book, to the SPCA International, helping dogs in need around the globe. You can read more here and here.

Jul 2

Around Here . . .

Happy Summer! Alex finished up Kindergarten last month, followed by a trip to Great Wolf Lodge with some of her school friends, which she thoroughly enjoyed! We took a trip to Michigan to see family, and Victory saw our vet there where she had a mass removed, her teeth cleaned, and a wellness check. It turned out that this mass was cancerous; however, the vet got clean margins, so we are very grateful! We continue to keep an eye on Victory’s kidney function and her thyroid. We are just so grateful for our fur girl!

Alex had fun in Michigan seeing family. And, we finally got to meet Finn in person, our new family member, a rescue papillon! He is adorable! A few photos from our trip are shown below. Alex picked out her fireworks for her Fourth of July gathering with her friends–she is so excited! She also lost another tooth, while we were away! Additionally, we saw a Tiger’s game together; celebrated Father’s Day; went to the Binder Park Zoo, where we fed giraffes lettuce; took trips to the local pool; ate at local restaurants; we spent time together, and played a lot of Domino’s! Alex is really great at this game! And, Alex is on her first swim team, this summer, and she is having fun and doing well!

May 14

Around Here…

I cannot believe it is the middle of May, already — where has the time gone, it is literally flying, and the time seems to be going even faster since spring break!

Alex recently had her Spring Music Concert at school, and it was lovely — they sang wonderful songs, after much preparation. Alex is done with Kindergarten, in a few short weeks, which is so difficult to believe! She has grown in so many ways!

Alex continues to swim, and she will give the summer swim team a try this summer! Her favorite stroke is backstroke, and we are looking forward to checking out the new summer pool we joined! Alex also participated in some nature enrichment at school, and she is still going strong on making her art — she is very creative and comes up with some neat art project all on her own! Alex has her first tooth coming in, despite not losing a tooth yet, and we confirmed it was okay for this to happen with the dentist! We recently attended more birthday parties, which Alex always loves! We attended a Nationals’ baseball game, and plan to take Victory back to a game this year, for Pups in the Park, which we all love, and we are going to an Oriole’s game soon! This spring, I have been working really hard to finish up my book, and I cannot wait to share more with you in the coming weeks!

Our little family celebrated Mother’s Day early, as Doug is in Norway, and we all miss him dearly, and we cannot wait for him to return home! Fortunately, Signal, an app, has allowed us to video chat, like FaceTime, despite the time difference. I hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day, and sending love and light to the fellow moms out there and peace and comfort to those who find this day difficult for any number of reasons. I feel so fortunate to be a mom to our little human and our beloved fur girl. There was a time that we were not sure if we would have a child of our own, and I count my blessings everyday. Alex is a wonderful, determined, and inspiring soul! As her mom, I am here to love her and Victory with my whole heart and guide Alex as best as I (we) can. Alex is — entirely beautifully — her own person. And what a privilege it is to share this time with her, to watch her forge her way, day by day!

Alex and I are pictured together, below, from our first Mother’s Day together to the present, as it is a tradition that we take a photo together, each year, on Mother’s Day!

Apr 4

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Around Here Lately . . .

It’s been a hectic few weeks here! We all were sick with the flu, at different times, culminating roughly two weeks of sickness, and then we had spring break, where we went to the Shenandoah Valley for a few days with our girls, Alex and Victory. It was fun to get away for a few days, and Alex and Victory enjoyed getting away as well! We went to a children’s museum, which Alex loved, and we brought them to Harpers Ferry, which was fun! We had a quiet Easter at home, and Alex throughly enjoyed decorating eggs, and, most of all, she loved finding the eggs around our house on Easter morning! Alex is continuing her swim lessons, she is currently learning butterfly, but backstroke is her ultimate favorite stroke! We hope she will be able to join the summer swim team, as we finally got off of a long wait list to join a summer swim club with a swim team! Victory is doing well, but we did find a mass, recently, that is benign, and it will get removed this spring. Victory is immensely enjoying her Hound-About rides this spring! We savor each day with our fur girl! Doug has been busy at work and he is traveling more. And, I have been working hard to finish up the book, which has been quite an undertaking, and I cannot wait to share more with you on the book! Happy Spring!