Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

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!

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!

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!

What Are Your Simple Pleasures?

Happy Friday! We made it through a long, cold January! We are now into February, which means spring is getting closer! Yay!

What are your simple pleasures?

A few of mine are:
-Taking long walks while pushing Victory in her Hound-About, while listening to a good podcast
-Watching Charlie Brown with our little family, all piled together on the sofa, a family favorite
-Reading with Alex
-Reading a good book
-Making smores together with our new Solo
-Tucking in Alex at night, where she always tells me some fun things from her day
-Taking a nap with Victory, as she is always up for taking a nap!
-Getting tea with a good friend and catching up
-Having a date night with Doug, to have uninterrupted time together
-Getting a great night’s sleep

“It is of the small joys and little pleasures that the greatest of our days are built.” — Mary Anne Radmacher

Twelve Year Blogiversary!

Tomorrow is the twelve-year Blogiversary of the blog!  I cannot believe it! It is extremely difficult to believe that twelve years, over a full decade, has already passed by so quickly!  The time moves so quickly, these days, and I often wonder where the time goes? Many things have changed, but some things remain the same, fortunately.  I am grateful for this little space here.

If it were not for our beloved Biscuit, I am not sure I would have ever started blogging and I know that I would not have started my long-term photography project, which is being published this fall, for which Biscuit and Victory were my inspiration.  Biscuit was such a blessing and gift to us. Biscuit permanently changed our lives in so many positive ways and he sent us our precious little rescue sheltie, Victory, who we adore and love, shown below! And, coincidentally, Victory is the same age (we suspect, as she is a rescue dog) as the blog!

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, and I hope that you continue to enjoy visiting and reading the blog!

Thank you so very much!

One Little Word 2024: Wild

I hope you had a nice Holiday! We visited with family, we had some down time with our girls, and we all got some sleep and rest, which was so nice. And, I cannot believe our little girl is turning five-and-a-half-years-old this week! She is growing in every way and she loves learning, she is incredibly creative, and she is curious about everything, which I hope never ceases!

It is a new year, which means there has been much talk about fresh beginnings. For me, I keep things simple and I select a word, an intention, for the year, and I try to really embrace the word for the year, which feels like a theme or mantra for the year.

I have reflected on my word for this year: wild. Last year, I chose the word joy; in 2022 the word present; in 2021 the word grace; in 2020 the word bliss; in 2019 the word embrace; in 2018 the word peace; in 2017 I chose relax; in 2016 I chose present; in 2015 I chose flow; in 2014 I chose trust; and in 2013 I chose the word create.  The idea of picking an intention has worked well over the past few years, and this is my twelfth year doing this one little word intention. 

I have nothing against resolutions (or goals, or plans, or to-do lists — I always have a to-do list), but for me, I have found the most impactful way to embrace a new year is to pick a word — just one word, an intention — to keep in mind.

As 2023 came to an end, I know that things were really hectic and busy in 2023, on many fronts. I feel this is going to be a really wild year, it has already begun, in a good way! “All good things are wild and free.” —Thoreau

For me, it is an easy reminder to take whatever small steps I can to create clarity and feel better. For anyone similarly overwhelmed by resolutions, I recommend the practice of a New Year’s Word. Plus, since it is so simple, and you can change it at any time.

Happy New Year!

Happy Pawlidays!

“Dogs are our link to paradise.” —Milan Kundera

Happy Pawlidays! I wanted to thank you so very much for checking in over the past year — I am very grateful.

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. (You can view our previous Pawliday cards: 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, which is going to be an exciting year, as my first book will be published next fall, and I cannot wait to share more with you on this topic before it is released into the world!  Meanwhile, if you are in a blog-reading mood, you are warmly invited to visit the archives — the links are shown below.  Warmest wishes to you for a safe and Happy Holidays!

Dog Related posts

Dog Rescue posts

‘Dog-Centric’ Artists Interviews

For Artists posts

Photography posts

Personal posts

Victory Related posts

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! We are having a quiet day at home together for Thanksgiving, and then we are headed to Thanksgiving dinner in Northern Virginia! We have so much to be grateful for this year. We hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving today!

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” —William Arthur Ward

Below, are some of my favorite quotes pertaining to Thanksgiving!

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” —Randy Pausch

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” —Lionel Hampton

“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” —Karl Barth

“Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life.” —Rumi

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

“The more that you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” —Norman Vincent Peale

“Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience.” —Roy T. Bennett

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” —Johannes A. Gaertner

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” —Henry Van Dyke

“Forever on Thanksgiving the heart will find the pathway home.” —Wilber D. Nesbit

“Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life. Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have.” —Catherine Pulsifer

“There are only two ways to live your live. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other as is though everything is a miracle.” —Albert Einstein

“Appreciation us a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” —Voltaire

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” —Marcel Proust