Ferguson Burning

Monday, November 24^th my husband and I stayed up entirely too late watching Ferguson burn. We watched reports of which businesses were burning, how many firemen couldn't keep up with how many fires and how many cops were on the streets. We also listened, hoping for more information on why. Not more information on why Ferguson was burning, that I understood, even as I didn't agree with it. More information on why the Grand Jury hadn't indicted Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown.

NaNo T-Minus 2 Days

The past few days leading up to NaNo have been spent trying to flesh out my story (without actually writing about it). A LOT more difficult than it sounds. What am I supposed to do, just write it all in my head and then come back and put it “on paper” in a week (now three days?). Doesn’t fly, or at least not well. And now that I’m in the mood to write, it’s like the words just won’t stop. I've yet to decide if that’s actually good.

Rescue Volunteering

As I prepare for bed tonight I realize that this will be our last night with our latest foster, Dio. Dio marks the sixth foster dog we've had, the fourth that we've seen through to adoption (we adopted our second foster and another just didn't work out). While I am so happy to be able to foster these amazing dogs I’m also left with the fact that it breaks my heart to see them go.

NaNoWriMo and Me

Franz Kafka stayed here between 1916 and 1917. 

Despite identifying myself as a writer since….basically I could put pen to paper, I first heard (or is it paid attention to?) nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) about a month ago. The idea is basically to take the whole month of November and just write, the goal being a 50,000 minimum word novel. There are many polarizing opinions out there on if nanowrimo actually does any good, because if you’re rushing to write a minimum 50,000 word novel in just one month, what kind of cohesive story actually comes from that? Then again, the nanowrimo organization does suggest this is just the first draft, and the intent is to not make it perfect, but to finish it, something many, many aspiring writers fail to do (myself included). For the first time in my life I’m going to start writing with the intent of ending the project, not just writing a paragraph here or there when I feel like it or I’m bored and want to get out of my world for a bit.

Best Friend Part IV

I’m sitting here tapping the keys on the keyboard still, trying to figure out how segue into this next part. You know we brought home our first foster, it was at the end of my last post. Well, her name was Hershey and she changed our lives forever.

Neighborhood and Facebook Controversy

From Oregon, moved to Arizona. Back in Oregon we don't have many Homeowners Associations, there are a few, but you have to go looking for them. Not be lucky to purchase a house without one, like you are in Arizona (or so it seems). We bought a brand new house down here in a little development in Arizona. There's literally nothing off of our exit except one dirty bar, a church, a ramshackle post office, a handful of other homes that were here before the development, and our neighborhood. Oh, and a cattle farm up the street a ways.

Best Friend Part III

Da'shain (poodle) running with Hershey (Doberman)

The next chapter of this story is actually a little different and has so many different parts; I’m not sure where to start. There is really no beginning to it, and no end either...I’ll try at least to start at the beginning of the idea…

Family

  Family is on my mind tonight...especially the fact that I am so blessed to have a family both born and chosen and fallen into a family who I know, not just from believing in my heart, but having experienced it, will be there for me during anything. My dad’s family has been there for me my entire life, both of my dad's brothers’ family's, each and every member has been there for us in one way or another. My mother’s family embraced us all the way from California, Arizona and wherever my mom’s sister was (Aunt J, I can’t name all of the states J)

Best Friend Part II

Before moving on into the multi-dog world, let me just quickly say again, Dare is my best friend, my first love when it comes to dogs. Dare has been in my life the majority of my post-dad years. He’s been up to White Salmon (where my dad’s buried) almost as much as I have. When I was lying almost comatose in my bed with no heat, in the middle of a snowstorm, Dare, with Dazzle, was by my side (of course; that could be a puppy pile for extra heat). For every major (and even minor) decision I’ve ever made, Dare has been there for me to hold. Before we moved to Arizona, instead of packing, Dare and I would lie in bed on our backs, him snuggled up against me, my arm around him. We still do, on occasion, but after almost a year in Arizona, I think we’re both a bit more settled. 

Best Friends Part I

This topic has been on my mind since I started realizing my best friend wasn’t exactly young anymore. He’s not old mind you; he’s just closer to the top of the hill than the bottom of it anymore.

two years of photography

My life had been headed towards some major change for quite a long time, but in April of 2012, it finally got there. I finally got my hands on a dSLR camera – rather, I should say, my husband knew how much I wanted one and made it happen. I’d been wanting one for so long I cannot remember when urge to frame a shot first happened. That one small thing has shaped my life ever since.

lifestyle changes

For some reason I feel like I should be writing, perhaps only because it’s been months since I have last written.  My excuses are not even that there’s nothing to say, or even that there’s too much to convey.  More simply, that I haven’t bothered to write; my discipline has been spent elsewhere. For a time, when we first moved to Arizona, I dedicated myself to writing and to my photography. Later, towards the New Year, I dedicated myself to healthy habits; mainly – eating better and getting into the habit of exercising.