Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Sep 10

Honoring Biscuit: Biscuit’s Trip to Vermont

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” -Helen Keller

This past spring, we took a trip to Vermont with Biscuit. Unknown to us at that time, this trip turned out to be our last trip with Biscuit. We had many other places that we had planned to travel together — Biscuit traveled very well and he loved going with us on adventures! My intention was to share the Vermont images on the blog upon our return. However, in June our priority was addressing Biscuit’s health issues to the best of our ability, and after Biscuit passed away, it was extremely difficult for me to edit and work on these images. I have finally completed editing these images after working on a few at a time consistently over the course of the past month. The finality of Biscuit’s passing is very difficult — accepting that I will never be able to photograph Biscuit, my muse, again. Perhaps, this is why it took me so long to complete these images. Doug and I greatly miss our precious little Biscuit.

Doug, Biscuit, and I had a wonderful time together in Vermont and we will forever treasure these memories. Just by looking at Biscuit’s face and smile he exuded contentment and happiness. Doug and I are so grateful for meeting our little Biscuit. He changed our lives forever — in ways that we could not have imagined. We are also very grateful and thankful that we were able to make a trip to Vermont and the Orvis flagship store as Biscuit represented the Orvis Petfinder Commitment.

Most of all, we hope that Biscuit’s wonderful rescue story inspires others to consider rescuing and adopting a furry family member. There are so many dogs/animals who need a second chance like Biscuit. Doug and I are thankful that we were a part of Biscuit’s journey. We know that Biscuit will send us the ‘right’ sheltie dog who is also in need of a second chance similar to Biscuit.

Below is a small sampling of photographs from our last trip together with our little Biscuit to Vermont. We all had a grand time together!

Biscuit you are forever imprinted in our hearts. We love you with all our hearts. You will always be the most perfect and handsome sheltie dog ever!

Sep 6

1 Comment

Honoring Biscuit: Biscuit and Me

“The love that flows through your heart purifies not only your own spirit, but the love you share with others.” ~Caroline Myss

Tomorrow Biscuit will be gone for two months. We miss Biscuit very much. Things just are not the same without him. It feels like an eternity since we last saw him. Doug and I think about Biscuit each day, and we feel so lucky that he was in our lives.

Today is a special day for Doug and I — if all goes as planned, we are closing on our new home today. However, we wish that Biscuit was here with us to share this moment with us. Biscuit came to the closing with us when we sold our former home back in November; in December, Biscuit was with us when we executed a contract with the builder to build our home; and this spring, Biscuit accompanied us to our pre-construciton meeting with the builder. Fortunately, we have a photo of us in front of our lot with our little Biscuit along with countless photographs of Biscuit at the new home construction site. We are taking a photograph of Biscuit to closing with us — we know that he will be there in spirit. After all, Biscuit went every weekend with us to the home construction site. I think he knew that we were building a home for all of us. Even though Biscuit will not physically be with us in the new home, our new home will be adorned with his photographs.

Shown below are a few self-portraits of Biscuit and me atop Mount Equinox on the last day of our trip to Vermont. Doug and I are very grateful that we made it to the Orvis Flagship store in Vermont with Biscuit. Biscuit represented the Orvis Petfinder Commitment, supporting and promoting dog rescue. There are so many dogs who need a second chance, and Biscuit’s story is living proof of this sentiment. Vermont was our last trip with Biscuit before he became sick. Biscuit had such a wonderful time as did we! We are grateful for our many trips and adventures together.

Sep 5

1 Comment

Pursuing What You Love

I love this quote below that I recently came across, which I believe rings so true.

“If everyone had the luxury to pursue a life of exactly what they love, we would all be ranked as visionary and brilliant. … If you got to spend every day of your life doing what you love, you can’t help but be the best in the world at that. And you get to smile every day for doing so. And you’ll be working at it almost to the exclusion of personal hygiene, and your friends are knocking on your door, saying, “Don’t you need a vacation?!,” and you don’t even know what the word “vacation” means because what you’re doing is what you want to do and a vacation from that is anything but a vacation — that’s the state of mind of somebody who’s doing what others might call visionary and brilliant.” –Neil deGrasse Tyson

Some Inspiration — Earlier this week, American 64-year-old long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba without a shark cage. This was her her fifth attempt!

I love this quote from Reuters — “Her face sunburned and lips swollen, with barely enough energy to speak, Nyad waded ashore at Key West after a 53-hour swim and delivered a simple message to onlookers: ‘We should never, ever give up . . . You never are too old to chase your dreams.'”

You can view Diana Nyad’s inspiring 2011 TED Talk here.

Happy Thursday!

Sep 3

Blogging: A Daily Practice

“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” –Proverb

Some bloggers have an easy time posting each day. I am not one of those people. Writing everyday is a discipline and it is hard work! I practice and blog as a part of my daily workflow, and I have met so many wonderful blog readers and “dog friends” through this blog.

Because writing can be difficult, below are a few tips that you might find useful to support your online voice.

1. Keep it Consistent — There is nothing worse than blogging with two-week lapses in between blog posts. Most times, I blog Monday through Fridays. It is difficult to cultivate readership when people waste their time visiting a site without new content. At the very minimum, a blog should be updated at least once a week. I visit other blogs that post frequently because I know that there will be new content waiting to read! Keep in mind that not every blog post is “jaw dropping.” However, because of the daily consistency of blog posts, you start to become connected with the writer of the blog on a personal level. I really think that this is what makes a blog successful. One of my blog readers recently shared with me that she loves checking this blog first thing when she wakes up in the morning to see what is new!

2. Personalize — Personal stories and sentiments also help to create a great blog. It makes a blog relatable and likable. I think incorporating snippets of your life is powerful.

3. Schedule — I am a list person. I am always making lists and I have made lists ever since I can remember. I also love to organize. (Doug tells everyone that I am our “official calendar keeper” — yes, I keep a paper and pencil calendar — I like the hard copy!) If you think about what you are going to blog in advance (most of the time), it takes the pressure of sitting in front of your blank computer. Usually on Sunday evenings, I make a list of what I want to blog about for the week. Yes, this may seem crazy to some, but it works. However, sometimes, I deviate from my list and new ideas come to me during the week and I incorporate those new ideas into my blogging schedule.

4. Create a Series — In the past, I have posted about our outings and adventures with Biscuit along with many photographs of Biscuit augmenting the posts. These types of posts give readers a peek into our lives. I have an “Interview” series where I regularly interview artists and other people related in some fashion to dogs; I have a “Good Reads” series reviewing books that I have read; and I recently started a new series entitled, “Things I Love!”

5. Keep it Simple — I try to write the way I would talk/write to a friend. I believe that it takes the pressure off and allows you the freedom to express yourself just the way you are.

When it comes to writing about commissions, I like to write a personal post about the commission! Clients like this and they end up sharing the post with their family and friends!

I hope that this post is helpful!

Aug 30

1 Comment

Honoring Biscuit: Another Rainbow and Beautiful Clouds

Recently, Doug and I went and checked on the progress concerning the finishing touches on the new house, and just as we were getting ready to leave at sun set, we witnessed a faint rainbow and a beautiful and breathtaking bright orange and pink sunset filled with beautiful clouds — I love the abstract nature of the clouds. The rainbow only lasted for a few short minutes, but this time, I had my camera to capture it. (It had not even been raining that day). We would like to think that it is Biscuit telling us that he is OK. On the evening that Biscuit passed away, there was a similar sun set and rainbow.

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. We know that Biscuit will send us the “right” sheltie friend. We miss our little Biscuit dearly.

Aug 29

3 Comments

Honoring Biscuit: A POWA Ceremony for Biscuit

This past weekend, on August 25, 2013, the Kadampa Meditation Center of Maryland (“the Center”), had a POWA Ceremony for Biscuit, which Doug and I attended. (I have participated in meditation classes and retreats with the Center). The Buddhist nuns and monks at the Center followed Biscuit’s story, and they were touched by Biscuit’s story as the Buddhist love and honor all living beings — the Buddhists believe animals and humans are equal.

This POWA Ceremony is the practice of transference of consciousness of the deceased. The Buddhist believe that through doing a POWA Ceremony with faith, compassion, and concentration we can transfer the consciousness of those recently deceased to a higher rebirth or to the Pure Land of a Buddha. If living beings have the opportunity to take rebirth in a Buddha’s Pure Land they will attain permanent liberation from suffering and experience pure and everlasting happiness. Prayers were made to Buddha Vajrasattva on behalf of Biscuit, shown below.

The POWA Ceremony was very nice, and it consisted of prayers to help Biscuit transition into his next life. In addition to bringing photographs of Biscuit, we also brought offerings to this Ceremony — flowers, cookies, and a Chick-Fil-A ornament to represent Biscuit’s favorite vanilla soft-serve ice cream! The Buddhist believe that rebirths take place approximately forty-nine days after death. As it happened to be, August 25, 2013, was exactly forty-nine days after Biscuit passed away. 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 and we hope that he will appear to us as emanations. We know that Biscuit will send us the “right” sheltie friend.

A few photographs are shown below of this special POWA Ceremony in honor of our little Biscuit, whom we miss dearly. We would like to thank Kelsang Kalden for helping to organize this special Ceremony for Biscuit; and we also would like to thank Gen Kelsang Chogden for performing this POWA Ceremony for Biscuit.

Aug 28

1 Comment

A Baby Panda!

Recently, Doug and I went to the National Zoo and we learned that there was a “panda watch” for a baby panda to be born in September 2013! Well, on Friday night, August 23, 2013, when we arrived home from dinner, we learned a baby panda had been born! For those who have been following the blog know that we love cheetahs and pandas!

You can read more about the new baby panda here; you can watch a video of Mei Xiang giving birth to the baby panda here; and view photos of the baby panda’s first check-up here. We really hope that Tian Tian, the male panda at the National Zoo, is the father! Doug is a huge fan of Mr. Tian Tian! However, we think that this is a good omen that a baby panda cub has been born — a rare event here in the states! We hope that this baby panda will continue to be a healthy panda cub — and we are pulling for a little girl panda cub! Additionally, here is an interesting New Yorker article on panda breeding in zoos.

However, we were sad to learn that on August 25, 2013, Mei Xiang gave birth to a second cub, a stillborn.

Over the years, we have seen litters of cheetah cubs born at the National Zoo; and we saw little Tai Shan, the first panda cub (a male) born in 2005 at the National Zoo! Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are the mother and father of Tai Shan, who now lives in China and we hear that he may be a father soon, and he is now a “big brother” as well!

Happy Wednesday!

Aug 27

1 Comment

An Engagement!

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” ~Aristotle

My sister is engaged! Several weeks ago, my sister, Kassie, called me and told me that she and her now fiance, Jason, were planning to get engaged in August — she told me that she (along with Jason) had already picked out her engagement ring and it was ordered and being made at that time! Jason proposed to Kassie during a recent trip to Quebec City and Montreal, Canada! How exciting!

A date has been set, and Kassie and Jason are having a fall October 2014 wedding! Doug and I are so happy for you, Kassie! It will be fun to help and see your wedding plans take shape! We know that your wedding will be beautiful — the fall is a gorgeous time of year!

Below are some old and fun candid photographs of me and Kassie together — circa 1980s — don’t you love some of our matching outfits!

Happy Tuesday!

Aug 23

1 Comment

Daring Greatly — Daring to Fail

I woke up this morning and found my favorite Theodore Roosevelt quote, shown below. If you are feeling frustrated, intimidated, or afraid to get into the arena and face your fears, this one is for you…

The Man in the Arena

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly

Aug 22

Tips for Creativity

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” ~ Maya Angelou

Recently, I have been looking for inspiration to be more creative. Below are some ideas that have helped me, and I hope that they help you, if you are in need of some creativity!

1. Creative Types. Surround yourself with creative people.

2. Special Places. Go to places that inspire you.

3. Hone Your Craft. Spend time on your craft, whether it is art, photography, writing, or music, etc. Hone your skills and practice, practice, and practice until you feel in control of your medium and at the same time vulnerable to it.

4. Laugh. Do not take yourself or your work too seriously. Sometimes you are exploring and other times you are doing it for real. However, you get to define “real.”

5. Daydream. Take time to daydream. Do something other than your craft, or your mind will not have time to regroup.

6. Surrender. I noticed that things go much more smoothly when I surrender —when I allow them to happen instead of making them happen.

Surrender = Complete acceptance of what is + Faith that all is well.