Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Oct 4

There are times to dream, and times to savor

Dreams are so important. Without them, life would be pretty boring and I believe that it is positive and healthy to have goals and strive to achieve them. In fact, I made a vision board of my dreams that I update regularly! However, sometimes, though, we get wrapped up into what is next that we miss out on the now, the present. Biscuit taught me this important lesson. Biscuit was always so acutely attuned to the present moment not worrying about the past or the future. In fact, Biscuit was so present that, without fail, he always knew what time dinner was supposed to be served — no matter where we were!

I am learning that it is ok to stay right where you are, savoring it. There are times to dream and times to savor. I am learning this really important piece — that sometimes we get caught up in creating new dreams for ourselves, or thinking that we should be dreaming, that we forget that it is perfectly ok to savor the ones that are currently living and breathing in our lives today without even the thought of the next dream, the next path. So simple, yet so true. I thought that I would pass this on because there is so much power in simply resting inside our lives and dreams as they are today — to really savor every second. There are times to dream, and times to savor.

Happy Friday!

Oct 2

Progress on the Home Front

Doug and I are virtually unpacked and organized in our new home a little over a week since we moved! It has been a lot of work to say the least! We made a to do list for our move, and we have been checking items off as we go! We still have some items that we need to purchase for our new home and we can begin to decorate — the fun part! I am excited to hang our art and images on our walls. It has been like Christmas opening our packed boxes with our belongings that we have not seen in over a year — since we started packing last year when we received a contract on our former home. It is nice to have some semblance of order now as we have been getting our home ready to welcome our new furry family member, Victory! We will be meeting little Victory very soon so please stay tuned!

Fortunately, Doug has been really helpful during our packing and unpacking process — these are not my favorite tasks to complete. Two moves within nine months during the time since we sold our last house and waiting for our current home to be built has been a lot of work, more work than we anticipated, but it is well worth it! We feel very grateful to have this new house, which is nice and peaceful.

While unpacking, I found and put up my quotable magnets on the fridge! I love quotes. (Some of my quotable magnets got ruined at our last house, so I plan to replace them — I have had fun collecting them over the years!) We also decided to place Biscuit’s special stone in our foyer, pictured below. We originally planned to place Biscuit’s stone, which states the name of this blog, outside on our porch; however, we did not want the weather and elements to ruin his stone. It is a constant reminder of our precious little Biscuit. His images adorn our home. We both miss our precious Biscuit very much.

Oct 1

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Kintsukuroi — The Beauty of Being Broken

Sometimes life flows seamlessly from one perfect moment to the next, but often times we face struggles, insecurities, and set-backs that leave us broken.

And we wonder what will become of the pieces.

When I discovered the Japanese art of kintsukuroi, “to repair with gold,” I immediately fell in love with the beauty of being broken. This type of art work is a wonderful metaphor for life.

Additionally, the book entitled, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Help Us Grow, by Elizabeth Lesser, is a good read in line with the concept of Japanese art of kintsukuroi.

Sep 30

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Why I Like Photo Albums

Most people today have their images saved on their phones and computers. Doug and I actually still keep photos in our wallet/purse. Some people are surprised to see this “old-fashioned” method of sharing photographs. Creating actual photo albums seems to be a practice of the past. Especially after Biscuit’s passing, I am thankful that I have consistently printed images and continued make photo albums documenting our life together. It is also nice to go back and look at photographs from when Doug and I first met nine years ago! It is nice to be able to flip through actual pages of the albums I have made. I have made about 18 photo albums over the past nine years. Being able to see and touch the pages in a photo album has a tactile element that is often lost with our technology today. (I also electronically store and archive all of our digital images as well). I am in the process of making the remaining photo albums of our little Biscuit. It is difficult knowing that I am not able to photograph Biscuit any longer.

The photo album making process also helps me determine what images I am going to hang and/or display in our home. The select images that I am especially fond of I have printed on fine art archival paper; and then I have these images matted and framed in an archival fashion and displayed in our home in order to preserve these photographs.

If you print your images as you take them, it makes the task of creating photo albums much less daunting. Thus, I encourage you to create actual photo albums, which simultaneously make nice family heirlooms!

Happy Monday!

Sep 26

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Becoming a Possibiltarian

“Become a possibiltarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities–always see them, for they’re always there. ” ~Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

I am becoming a possibilitarian. How about you? Do you see the bright light of your life’s horizon (even on the average days)? Do you feel its warmth (even when you are struggling)? Have you begun to touch the surface of all that is possible for your life? If so, then you are a possibilitarian, too. It is the best feeling in the world — this thinking of what is possible. It is energy; it is passion; it is dreaming big; and taking small steps, one foot in front of the other.

Possibilitarians do not settle for the status quo, or necessarily for what is familiar. Possibilitarians are always asking forward thinking, optimistic questions — “What would it take to make that happen?” Or, “Who would I need to support me in order to make this change happen?” Or even, “What false beliefs am I holding on to that are keeping me and others from reaching our potential?”

I first learned about the Possibiltarian Project from Kelly Rae Roberts. I think that it is a fantastic idea and project! I hope that you consider becoming a possibiltarian as well! This way of thinking is life changing!

Sep 23

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We Are Moved!

Doug and I are moved! It is nice to have our personal belongings in one location! The move went pretty smoothly all in all, thank goodness. We spent last week packing final items and taking some of our items to the new house that we did not want the movers to handle. It has been a lot of work to say the least!

We have waited patiently for the past nine months for our new home to be completed! It is very nice that everything has come together for us. This past week, the builder has been making some final adjustments per our punch list and hopefully these remaining items will be completed shortly. We are happy with our house, and our neighbors are nice and friendly, which is an added bonus! We also recently discovered that there are at least two female furry friends living on our street along with many other furry friends throughout the neighborhood! We can’t wait for Victory to meet some of these new furry friends!

We have begun unpacking and getting some semblance of order! Wish us luck! We look forward to making this our home. We have never had this much living space and a garage for the cars — we are so excited to have this extra space! We feel very grateful. We are also happy that we have our cable/internet installed, our own dedicated line, which is quite fast — thank you Verizon!

We know that Biscuit is with us and he would want us to be happy. We miss Biscuit dearly, and it has been difficult not having him here with us. I do not believe we ever stop missing our furry family members.

Sep 19

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Thoughts on Kindness

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ~Mark Twain

George Saunders gave the graduation speech at Syracuse University this year, and the New York Times recently published it. Have you read it? His advice centers around being kind and, more specifically, avoiding “failures of kindness.” Below are some excerpts from his speech.

Now, one useful thing you can do with an old person, in addition to borrowing money from them, or asking them to do one of their old-time “dances,” so you can watch, while laughing, is ask: “Looking back, what do you regret?” And they’ll tell you….

Here’s something I know to be true, although it’s a little corny, and I don’t quite know what to do with it: What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Or, to look at it from the other end of the telescope: Who, in your life, do you remember most fondly, with the most undeniable feelings of warmth?

Those who were kindest to you, I bet.

It’s a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I’d say, as a goal in life, you could do worse than: Try to be kinder.

You can read the full speech here.

I think that it is true that we need more kindness in this world. I know for me, those who stand out in my mind are the people and animals who have been and are kind to me. Kindness goes farther than you will ever know. Thus, seize the moment and try to be kinder.

Sep 13

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Honoring Biscuit: Introducing Victory — the ‘right’ little sheltie Biscuit is sending to us!

Doug and I miss Biscuit very much. We have experienced such a great loss that is difficult to express in words. It has been very difficult for both of us. We know that there will never be another Biscuit and that he will always be with us. Biscuit has forever left an imprint in our hearts. We hope that Biscuit is having a grand time running and playing in a body free of sickness and pain; and we are hopeful that he is watching over us each day. I think of all of the wonderful gifts Biscuit gave to us, which we continue to receive today. We know in our hearts that Biscuit would want us to rescue another sheltie like him so another sheltie can have a second chance to have a wonderful life like Biscuit had in his final years, which is the vision of Biscuit’s Space. Doug and I have always believed that Biscuit would send us the ‘right’ sheltie at the ‘right’ time.

During our somewhat recent visit to the Sheltie Haven Sheltie Rescue, Inc., Director, Carol Guth, told us about a recent terrible sheltie hording/raid situation in Michigan that she learned about through her sheltie rescue network. You can learn further about this horrible situation here, here, here, and here. After learning about this horrendous situation, Doug and I decided that we wanted and needed to help.

As such, Carol Guth contacted Carol Strotheide, the Director of the Michigan Sheltie Rescue, to determine whether this rescue organization would work with us to allow us to rescue one of these shelties, especially since it involves crossing states lines. (We have learned, however, that not all rescue organizations will allow out of state adoptions). After much correspondence with the Michigan Sheltie Rescue, Doug and I have been approved to rescue and adopt a sheltie. Per the Michigan Sheltie Rescue, there was one sheltie that was a match for us described in further detail below! Carol Guth was integral in facilitating and making this adoption happen for us as her rescue organization, the Sheltie Haven Sheltie Rescue, Inc., is ‘backing’ this rescue and adoption. (The Michigan Sheltie Rescue wants to ensure that the sheltie rescue dogs that are adopted out of state have a ‘backing’ sheltie rescue organization in the state where the sheltie will be living with his/her new furever family). You can also read more about Carol Guth and her long-standing commitment to helping shelties here. Additionally, please visit the Sheltie Haven Sheltie Rescue, Inc.’s new Facebook Page that went live yesterday!

As such, Doug and I will be traveling to Grand Rapids, Michigan, the western part of Michigan, in October to rescue and adopt a little sheltie named Victory, an approximately one-year-old female sable sheltie, pictured below, who will be ready for adoption at the end of September 2013! We are very excited and we can’t wait to meet her! We are currently getting our new home ready for little Victory and we are eager to begin this new chapter of our lives with a furry family member! Victory is also coming to us at our five-year wedding anniversary — what a wonderful anniversary gift for us both! She is just adorable, and as Victory continues to get older and she continues to receive proper care; proper nutrition; and proper veterinary care, her fur coat should come in even more. Victory was named by her wonderful foster family and she is a sheltie that survived the atrocious situation outlined above. Doug and I feel that we are being blessed a second time. Please stay tuned for our adventures with little Victory — the ‘right’ little sheltie Biscuit is sending to us!

The above photograph is courtesy of Victory’s foster family.

Sep 11

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Transition

“Be grateful for the home you have, knowing at this moment, all you have is all you need.” ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Doug and I have been waiting for the past nine months for our house to be completed being built and the day finally came last week — our settlement — our home is ours for better or worse! At settlement, the builder gave us a nice house-warming gift, a Tiffany’s crystal bowl — a nice addition to our new home!

We had fun selecting the layout and finishings of our home. After seeing our finishing selections in context, in the completed home, we think that everything came together quite nicely! (When making our selections, we were not sure how it would all come together in the end). It was also nice to witness our home being built, and we enjoyed frequently taking Biscuit with us to the new neighborhood and the home construction site. In contrast, our last house was an existing ‘remodeled’ dwelling from the early 1900s, which was, to say the least, a very ‘unique’ home overflowing with character! We have been getting our home ready to move into, and we have also been slowly moving our delicate items to our house before the movers come next week for our big move into the new house. I have begun to see life as a continual transition, and we are happy to be moving and beginning this new chapter in our lives. I do love this time of year, the fall is my favorite time of year, which is technically going to be here in eleven days! Doug and I are looking forward to getting settled into our new home, and we also looking forward to decorating and furnishing our new home and really making it ours. We know that Biscuit will be there in spirit with us in the new house. We sure do miss him and wish that he could be with us. Biscuit is the perfect and most handsome little sheltie dog ever!

In other news, if you have been following the blog, you know that we love pandas (and cheetahs)! We were happy to read that the baby panda recently born at the National Zoo is a girl and Tian Tian is the father! We were hoping that the baby panda would be a girl and that Tian Tian would be the father — a good omen! (We saw little Tai Shan, the first panda cub (a male) born in 2005 at the National Zoo! Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are also the mother and father of Tai Shan, who now lives in China). We look forward to going to see this little panda who will be named on the 100th day after her birth!

Today is also a special day which marks the day when Doug and I first met when we had our first date nine years ago today! The time sure does fly by quickly!

Happy Wednesday!