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Nov 28

Happy Thanksgiving from Victory!

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.” ~W.T. Purkiser

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we are hosting our first Thanksgiving in our new home with family and friends! Today is also our first Thanksgiving with our little Victory! Doug prepared our turkey using rubs and a marinade injection! He is also preparing a chicken for Victory! Victory loves chicken! We are making some new recipes and we are also making some old favorite recipes! I am lucky because Doug likes to bake and cook so he does all of our cooking and baking — however, today I am cooking!

Doug and I have so much to be thankful and grateful for each day. We try to count our blessings everyday. Our recent biggest blessing has been Victory, the newest edition to our family. A photograph of our little Victory is below wearing her Thanksgiving bandana courtesy of Biscuit! We know Biscuit is with us always.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 25

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Our Little Victory

Our Little Victory,

You have only been with us a short time and you have stolen our hearts! We love you more than you know! You are a gorgeous and smart sheltie! You have truly been a blessing and we are so grateful that you are a part of our family. Your brother Biscuit sent us the right furry family member! You are making good progress and you are beginning to get your confidence. Your golden furs are coming in nicely and you have a beautiful fur coat! Thank you for letting me brush your sheltie furs; give you a bath (even if it takes the two us to prevent from you jumping out of the soaker tub!); brush your teeth; and for being so good at the vet’s office for check-ups and nail and paw trims! We know that fast movements and loud noises still startle you and you prefer not to share the sidewalk with anyone else! We especially love your cuddles, sniffs, and kisses. We love waking up to your warm golden body beside ours. We would not have it any other way! We know that you are mesmerized by water, as you love going to the little pond pictured below! We look forward to many adventures and trips together! By the time the weather gets warmer in the spring, you should be able to go for some fun outings with us! We are planning a fun trip with you this summer and we hope that it is a first of many to come!

Love always,

Your Mamma

Nov 13

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Doing the Work Suited for You

I recently read a powerful quote by the infamous photographer, Edward Weston. You may recognize his most famous pepper that he photographed, shown on the left below. I love Edward Weston’s work.

In Edward Weston’s book entitled Daybooks, a compilation of his writings about creating his work, on December 3, 1934 he wrote, “I must do the work that I am best suited for.”

I find this above quote to be so simple, yet simultaneously profound — we have one precious life and we have the ability to pursue the work that we are best suited for. I think each of us knows our callings if we are willing to listen. And, if we are willing to listen, we can find a way to pursue the work that is best suited for us.

Below is a passage that Edward Weston wrote about photographing his famous peppers.

“It is a classic, completely satisfying, – a pepper—but more than a pepper: abstract, in that it is completely outside subject matter. It has no psychological attributes, no human emotions are aroused: this new pepper takes on beyond the world we know in the conscious mind.

To be sure, much of my work has this quality, – many of my last year’s peppers, but this one, and in fact all the new ones, take one into an inner reality, –the absolute, – with a clear understanding, a mystic revealment.” —Daybooks, August 8, 1931

You can view Edward Weston’s beautiful work here.

Nov 8

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Happy Birthday, Nick!

Today is Nick’s birthday and he turns seven, we think! Nick, as most of you might know who have been following 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! This year, we got Nick an Orvis bed for his birthday, shown below, that we purchased during our trip to Vermont with Biscuit this past spring. Last year, we got Nick an embroidered sweater for his birthday!

We just could not let Nick be without an Orvis bed since Biscuit loved his Orvis beds so much! We have three Orvis beds, and Victory is currently sleeping with us each night and she has not yet shown interest in her Orvis beds or her new duvet! In time, we hope that she will want to use her beds at some point when she feels comfortable!

When we were in Michigan last month, to rescue and adopt Victory, we saw that Nick enjoys sitting and sleeping on his Orvis bed, shown below, which is situated right next to his Daddy — the most important person in Nick’s life!

Nick goes crazy for my Dad when he comes home and especially when my Dad asks Nick if he wants to go “bye-bye!” Nick’s eyes light up and Nick barks and he jumps up and down with pure excitement and genuine love for his Daddy! Nick is really adorable as shown in this video shown immediately below where my Dad asks Nick if he wants to go “bye-bye!” (To view the video, click on the arrow on the video).

Happy Birthday, Nick-Nick!

P.S. — Please send positive and healing thoughts to Nick. Recently and shortly after this above video was made, Nick had an encounter with another dog who came off leash from his owner. Nick was terrified and in the process Nick got hurt. Nick went to the vet and he is on pain medicine; however, he hurt his back and he is unable to lift his tail. He is making progress each day. We hope soon that Nick will heal up and that he will no longer be in any pain.

*The photograph shown above of Nick on his new Orvis bed and the video shown above are courtesy of my parents.

Nov 5

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Blog: Ad-Free

biscuit’s space remains ad-free. It takes me many hours to produce the daily blog posts, i.e., editing and preparing images and drafting the copy for each blog post. I do genuinely enjoy creating each blog post. However, to me, it would be odd to have ads on my blog because this blog chronicles our life as it is happening, which cannot be bought or sponsored. I truly hope that you enjoy reading and viewing biscuit’s space — this is the best support!

Image courtesy of Kal Barteski.

Oct 30

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Which State Matches Your Personality?

Here is a fun little quiz which may indicate which state of the United States purportedly best matches your personality and attitude.

A 13 year study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, was an exhaustive one, including nearly 1.6 million survey respondents from the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.

When the returns were tallied, the country broke down into three macro regions:

New England and the Mid-Atlantic states — the researchers termed “temperamental and uninhibited;”

The South and Midwest were labeled — “friendly and conventional;”

The West Coast, Rocky Mountains, and Sun Belt, described as — “relaxed and creative.”

Additionally, below are a few fun facts:

-Wisconsin is the most extroverted state.

-Vermont is the most introverted state.

-Utah is the most agreeable and least neurotic state.

-West Virginia is the most neurotic state.

-Washington, D.C., is the most open-minded state.

There is no shortage of historical and geographical explanations for why the regions break down the way they do, but migration is the biggest piece of the puzzle.

Pioneers who moved West were, by definition, people with open, curious, flexible temperaments, traits that become part of the settled regions’ DNA and were passed down through the generations.

The researchers found a creative way to conform this theory, comparing the state the 48 surveyed states became part of the union with their relaxed and creative profile. The result: the later a state joined, the higher its score turned out to be. That very openness and wanderlust stays with native-born residents of these regions, often impelling them to keep right on moving.

Source: science.time.com.

Which state did you get? I got South Carolina — at least I am living on the right coast! Take the quiz here, and leave your answer!

Happy Wednesday!

Oct 24

Why Dogs Are Family

Without a question, Doug and I believe that our dogs are members of our family! In fact, much of our lives are centered around our little furry family member! For instance, Doug plans all of our trips and vacations to ensure that our furry family member’s needs will be met down to the tiniest detail! The view of dogs are changing and there is a whole industry for furry family lovers who love to spoil their furry family members!

Doug and I believe in adopting rescue dogs; in celebrating our furry family members b-days; we allow Victory to sleep between us — some might think we are crazy but she loves to be in our bed with us!; and we took tons of photographs of and with our precious Biscuit and we have begun to implement the same approach with little Victory! I am so glad that we have so many photographs of Biscuit. Since our move, I just recently finished making the final photo albums of our precious Biscuit, including our trip to Vermont. Biscuit images are also shown throughout our home. He is always and forever in our hearts.

Additionally, according to Stanley Coren, “Emotionally healthy humans have the ‘need to nurture,’ and pets are the perfect recipient. They return the favor of all the love, care and baby talk with their innate ability, proven in scientific studies, to reduce stress, speed healing, and improve humans’ fitness and social-interaction levels.”

Doug and I know that our lives are richer with a furry family member — each one is a gift! Life is just not the same without a furry family member! Victory is pictured on the left and Biscuit is pictured on the right below — our precious little shelties.

Happy Thursday!

Oct 15

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Mantra: Find A Way

I somewhat recently wrote a blog post about pursuing what you love, which included a link to Diana Nyad’s Ted Talk. I recently saw a video of Oprah interviewing Diana Nyad. During this interview, Diana Nyad shared how she got through her long marathon swim, her fifth attempt, and became the first person to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba without a shark cage.

Nyad said her mantra through the swim was “find a way.” Referring to the journey, she said, “It doesn’t matter … what you come up against because none of it’s going to be pleasant. You’re hardly ever out there going, ‘Oh, my God, isn’t it a beautiful moon tonight?’ The crew is feeling that. But you’re kind of suffering through the whole thing. So my thought was, ‘everything you come up against say — and this is why people are relating to my story — all of us suffer heartache. All of us suffer difficulties in our lives. And if you say to yourself ‘find a way,’ you’ll make it through.”

I found this to be a simple, yet profound mantra and perspective. There are many things that we do not want to do; there are many things that we are afraid to begin; and there are many things that we put off for various reasons. I find Diana Nyad’s mantra, “find a way” very inspiring. This mantra will help you move through difficult times and attempt things that you might not otherwise pursue. So, I am adopting this mantra: find a way and make things happen.

Oct 11

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Five Years In

my dearest panda

happy five-year wedding anniversary! i can hardly believe five years have zoomed by so quickly! i also cannot believe how much has happened within the past five years and how much we have grown together since we married. you are my rock, confidant, and best friend. you have the steadfast patience of a saint, for which i am most grateful. simply stated, you are the best part of me and i feel incredibly lucky that you are my husband. i am happy that we got married on the eleventh, as the numbers are equal — 1:1, representing equals in a marriage.

not only is today our five-year wedding anniversary, but today is also very special as we travel today to meet and rescue Victory, the sheltie friend, our sweet dear Biscuit is sending to us — what a wonderful gift for us both. i look forward to welcoming Victory to our family in Biscuit’s great honor; enjoying our new home and making it our “home” together; and spending many more happy years together. most of all, i cannot imagine my life without you — you make everything better.

love always,

your cheetah

Oct 10

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Autumn: Favorite Time of the Year

Autumn is not only my favorite time of year, but autumn has a symbolic significance. This time of year signals the coming of the next phase. It is about restoring so we can prepare for what is to come.

This excerpt from Parker Palmer’s contemplative piece, Autumn as Metaphor, really resonated with me.

“Autumn is a season of great beauty but is also a season of decline: the days grow shorter, the light is suffused, and summer’s abundance decays toward winter’s death. Faced with this inevitable winter, what does nature do in autumn? She scatters the seeds that will bring new growth in the spring — and she scatters them with amazing abandon.

In my own experience of autumn, I am rarely aware that seeds are being planted. In the autumnal events of my own experience, I am easily fixated on surface experience, I am easily fixated on surface experiences–on the decline of meaning, the decay of relationships, the death of a vocation. And yet, if I look more deeply, I may see the myriad possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come.”

Palmer goes on to describe challenging life situations that, at the time, seemed hopeless but actually provided the opening for new opportunities: “On the surface, it seemed that life was lessening, but silently and lavishly, the seeds of new life were always being sewn.”

The cycle of life provides for endless transformation.

Below are some reasons why autumn is my favorite time of year!

1. Changes in the Leaves: I love the color change in leaves — they are so beautiful. It is fun to go on a drive when the leaves are at their peak in color!

2. Cooler Temperatures: I love the cooler temperatures that enables me to wear warm sweaters; and I love sleeping with the windows slightly open to let in cool fresh air!

3. Pumpkin Patch: I love going to the pumpkin patch and picking out pumpkins to carve — well, Doug does all the carving and I “assist!” You can see an example of one of Doug’s pumpkin carving masterpieces shown below — a sheltie pumpkin! (Doug can also carve a panda pumpkin as well!)

4. Halloween: I love dog costumes — they are so much fun! Shown below, Biscuit tolerated us putting him in a panda costume during the two Halloweens that we had Biscuit with us.

5. Anniversary: We got married in the fall and we have fun celebrating our anniversary!

6. Chimney Smoke: For some odd reason, I like this smell!

7. Apple Cider: I love warm apple cider along with an old-fashioned donut from the orchard!

8. Thanksgiving: There is always something to be thankful for and it gives me a reason to make my sweet potato casserole!

9. Candles: I love burning autumn scented candles!

10. Walks Outside: I enjoy walking and I really like walking outside in the cooler temperatures while enjoying the fall foliage! We are looking forward to walking Victory all around our new neighborhood!

Happy Thursday!