And I Ran

Surprise!!

2008-07-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have zero faith in my ability to keep up 2 blogs so from now on you can find me here! Be sure to update your blogreaders!

Want Me Wednesday 7/2

2008-07-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

In honor of our Nation's Birthday, this week's Want Me Wednesday pug is Rocky. I can't think of a more all-American story of hard work and determination than that of Rocky Balboa! He is being fostered by Kentukiana Pug Rescue and this is what they have to say about him:

Rocky (# 619) is a 3-year-old 20-pound male who is full of life. This lively little guy loves to run and play in the yard and also likes to go on long walks. Rocky's foster mom says he is an excellent walker on the leash and when he walks, he holds his head up high and trots like the proud and happy fellow that he is. Rocky has been a perfect gentleman in his foster home; he has had no accidents in the house and does fine when taken out regularly. Before coming to KPR, Rocky spent most of the day in a crate and he now just wants to be the center of attention. He loves his new life and being part of a loving family. Rocky's foster home does not have cats or children, but they indicate he gets along well with the other pugs in the home. He loves to give kisses and will not hesitate to show you how much he loves you. When it comes to bedtime, he would prefer to cuddle up with you on the bed, but he will politely go into his crate when asked and sleep throughout the night without making a peep. Rocky is very good with baths and will stand in the bathtub very still until he is clean. He loves playing with toys and will be a great partner to play fetch with. Rocky is a beautiful pug and his new family and forever home will feel very lucky indeed for having him in their lives. Could that be you?

If you are the family that sweet Rocky has been waiting for, please fill out an application today!

North Carolina - Part 2!

2008-06-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been almost a week since I last posted; things have just been crazy around here, but crazy GOOD! John and I have been busy taking lots of pictures as Lotus Blossom Photography is starting to really take off. And I have been even busier editing all the photos we've taken. I'm just about to wrap up the editing of a post-bridal I did last Sunday and then I'll be starting on an incredibly fun engagement session we did yesterday. But right now I'm taking a break and finishing my North Carolina blog post :)

After the winery we drove over to the Biltmore Gardens. The first plant we saw was a Castor Bean Plant and that had us in stitches! John and I have a running joke that we are going to kill each other with castor beans after we saw a show on TV where a wife tried to kill her husband with them. Apparently they are a really difficult poison to detect, LOL. Anyway, here's a picture of the plant. If you notice these growing in your garden, call the police!!

There were so many beautiful flowers, here are some pics of the gardens and the grounds:

After we finished with the garden we headed to our hotel. Since we were there for a conference for my job, we stayed at the resort where the conference was being held, The Grove Park Inn. It is a historic hotel with an incredible view of the mountains. The room we stayed in sucked, but I can't complain since work was footing the bill. Here are some pics we snapped around the hotel one night.

The rest of the week was spent with John exploring the area's golf courses and me sitting through a series of paper presentations. It's amazing how tired sitting and listening can make you, LOL!

That concludes our North Carolina edventure! I'll be back Wednesday for "Want Me Wednesday" that I have been neglecting and a suprise later in the week :)

North Carolina Pics!

2008-06-23T16:22:00.001-07:00

I didn't make it back to the blog yesterday to post some of our North Carolina Pics so I made it a priority to get to it tonight! I'm in the middle of editing some post-bridals I did for my friend Amber yesterday so I didn't take a lot of time to edit these which means you'll just have to deal with the random people in the shots and my frizzy hair, LOL!

We drove down on Friday night after work so that we would have all day on Saturday to explore the Bitlmore. That place was truly amazing! It is just mind blowing to think how far ahead of the time it was when it was built. My favorite part was for sure the indoor swimming pool. How cool to have underwater electric lights when most of the country didn't even have electricity yet! Here are a few pics before we went inside(they don't allow photos in the house)

We made it inside just in time! As soon as we got in the house it started pouring down rain. While we weren't able to take pics of the inside, we snuck a few pics out on the back porch:

After the house tour we drove over to the winery to try and wait out the rain so we could visit the gardens. I have tried and tried to like wine, and I am happy to report I finally found a wine that I like during our wine tasting - Chenin Blanc. No suprise that it was a dessert wine. I think I'm just naturally inclined to like anything sweet!

Thankfully after we finished the winery tour and tasting the rain had stopped and we were able to walk around the gardens, but those pics are going to have to wait until tomorrow!! I've gotta get to bed!

Finally Home!

2008-06-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

I've been "out of the office" for most of the week. I traveled to Asheville, NC for the ART Forum - a conference on Advanced Research Techniques for Marketers. The conference was really interesting and totally fed into my nerdy love of analysis. There were some less-than-friendly equations, but on the whole it was a good experience. I especially enjoyed it because John was able to join me. We traveled up a day early to tour the Biltmore and John kept himself entertained while I attended classes by golfing. It's always nice when you can turn work travel into a mini-vacation. I've got lots of pics from the week, but have just unloaded them from the camera tonight. I'll try to sort through them and hopefully have some to post tomorrow.

For now I wanted to share my major SCORE from the thrift store today!! I went ribbon shopping with Chasity and Lynette this morning and we got side tracked and ended up on a 6 hour thrifting excursion. We had a blast and I was so tickled to find this:

It's a Polaroid camera circa 1966! I admittedly paid too much for it as most Polaroids are only worth between $2 and $10 and I paid $12.99, but I believe my utility for old cool things such as this well exceeds $12.99 (said in my best economist voice!). I think it is going to look quite lovely sitting next to the old typewriter that I bought around this time last year and the same thrift store, LOL!

I'm off to bed as I have a trash the dress session in the morning with my friend Amber, but hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with some North Carolina pics!

Want Me Wednesday 6/11

2008-06-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I can't believe a week has gone by already!! I've determined that I WILL finish my wedding scrapbook before our two year anniversary the end of next month so I've been busy working on that among other things. I did, however, take a break long enough to choose this week's want me Wednesday pug - Merry.

Merry is being fostered through Southeast Pug Rescue and Adoption and I actually had the pleasure of meeting her a few weekends ago. She is such a sweet girl I know she will brighten the lives of whoever her lucky forever family may be. Here's what Merry has to say:

Hello, my name is Merry and I am about 8 years old. If you think I look familiar you are right, I was adopted by a wonderful family but it just was not a good fit. Her pug did not bond with me so I was sad and the family decided that I deserve to have the perfect forever family. I think that I would prefer a family with a fenced yard and someone that will be willing to work on my housetraining. I am doing well but after years of no training I need some patience. I seem to bond well with male pugs more so than females but either way they need to be somewhat laid back like me! Mostly, all I have ever known is being a mama, however, now I am RETIRED! I have been spayed and had my teeth cleaned and some of my teeth removed. I am loving living inside with a family and get along great with my foster pug brother. This is all new to me and am so thankful for every day of my new life! I still very active, sweet, alert and happy. However, I am ready for my new forever home!

If you think you are the forever home Merry is looking for, please fill out an application today!!

RAK Winner and Want Me Wednesday

2008-06-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

The RAK winner from the SATC weekend was........MELLY!! YAY! I'll get it to you next time I see you. Don't let me forget!

Now on to our Want Me Wednesday Pug!! Meet Ebony. She is being fostered by Southern Nevada Pug Rescue. Would you just look at the nose roll on this girl??? I'd just like to scoop her up and give her a squeeze! According the the website she is 8 years old, very calm, and loves other dogs, cats, and children. She sounds like the perfect dog!! If you are in the Southern Nevada Area and are interested in sweet Ebony please fill out an application today!

Too Much Time on My Hands???

2008-05-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

LOL! No I didn't just do that b/c I was bored, it's for my friend Tiffany's birthday card. These three are my oldest girlfriends - Melanie (Charlotte), Tiffany (Carrie), and Baljeet (Samantha). I'm getting all teary eyed again just thinking about them. We have all been through a lot together. We've even "broken up" and found our way back together. I'm not going to ruin it for anybody that hasn't seen the movie yet, but I do want to talk about one of the main themes of the movie - Forgiveness. This is something that I used to have a huge problem with. I could hold a grudge like no body's business. And I'm not going to lie, I suspect it's something I will have to work hard at NOT doing for the rest of my life.

I am so thankful that I finally have grown up enough to realize that by not forgiving and moving on, the person I was hurting the most was myself. Life is a constant series of changes. What is that phrase...the only thing constant is change? That is so true, but contrary to what some people think SATC is not really about sex. It's about friendship and the realization that no matter how much things in your life change your friendships don't have to.

Well now I'm a teary mess again, but I just wanted to get that out. To all my friends - You are all strong, amazing, beautiful women and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I love you!!

SATC the Movie

2008-05-30T22:19:00.001-07:00

...was completely and uterly perfect. I laughed, I cried, and I cried some more. Off to bed, will be back with a full review tomorrow :)

4 More Days!!

2008-05-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

...until Sex and the City The MOVIE! I can hardly wait! I finished up watching the last of the 6th season today with Melanie. I know I'm only how many years late?? LOL!! I had watched all the seasons except #6 until today. And now I am SO ready for the movie! If you haven't already you should to go the movie website and take the "Match Your Man" quiz. I'm happy to say my "match" was Smith. I was honestly just happy it didn't come up Big, because haven't we all had a Big and aren't we all so glad we've moved past that? And now I'm totally jonesing to go to NY. Like not just a vacation, like a full-on pack up and move to NY. I just keep reminding myself how much the 3 days I worked in NY a few years ago sucked. Walking for blocks and blocks in a business suit and heels in the pouring rain is no fun!!

Anyway, leave me a comment on who your favorite character is and after the movie premiers this weekend I'll send one of you a little RAK. My favorite is Samantha of course! :)

Announcement and Want Me Wednesday!

2008-05-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

Whew! I have been seriously neglecting the blog, but with good reason :) I've been working on the project I mentioned a few weeks ago...Lotus Blossom Photography! John and I have finally taken the plunge and taken the first steps in getting our photography business off the ground. I've been tirelessly teaching myself HTML after work at night in an effort to get a functioning website up. So far we have a landing page, a bridal gallery, and a pet gallery with the rest soon to come. I'm also very happy to report that I'm going to be working with my good friend Amber of Sweet Life Designs on creating and promoting a brand experience to go with our product. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I'll be sure to post again when the website is complete, but for now be sure and spread the word to any of your engaged or soon to be engaged friends that John and I are looking to do more wedding photography!

Now onto matters of the pug-kind! Today's Want Me Wednesday Pug is Kayla and she is being fostered by Pug Savers of Northern California. Here's what they have to say about this cutie:

My name is Kayla and I am 6 1/2 years old. I suffered some abuse and neglect from former owners, so I can be a little skittish. But my foster Dad has been working with me and taking me all sorts of places. I love to go away and I am a well behaved little girl. Maybe I could be your little girl?

If you are the forever home that Kayla has been waiting for please fill out an application today!

Baby Girl Update

2008-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Baby Girl made it through her surgery and is resting at home with Jana. Thank you all for the prayers!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful day! John was kind enough to take mom and I out on a little photo shoot for the occasion. Here are a few of my favorites....isn't mom pretty??

Prayers for a Special Pug

2008-05-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

Please be praying for Baby Girl over the weekend and especially on Monday. Baby Girl is a very special little pug that my friend Jana has been fostering for SEPRA after accepting her as an owner surrender. The owners mentioned that she had asthma when they handed her over, but Jana soon discovered that Baby Girl's health issues were much worse than that. Baby Girl had the worst teeth that the vet had ever seen, but thankfully made it through her dental like the trooper that she is. The vet also found that Baby Girl had a collapsing trachea. Jana had to take Baby Girl to the University of TN Knoxville small animal clinic for this condition and they were seen today for a scope procedure. During the scope they found that Baby Girl has not only a collapsed trachea but also collapsed bronchial tubes, as well as some pneumonia. She is going to remain as an "in-patient" in Knoxville over the weekend and on Monday she will be having a stint placed in her trachea, her pallet shortened, and her nostrils enlarged in hopes of making breathing easier for this sweet pug. This is a very serious procedure, especially for an older, smaller pug like Baby Girl. I received an update e-mail from Jana this afternoon that really touched my heart. Here is an excerpt from that e-mail:

...I am crying now as I write this. I am crying out of gratitude that I don't have to go through this alone. There are people from all across the country and all walks of life who are praying for Baby Girl. I am crying because I can't imagine a world without SEPRA who accepts all pugs regardless of their medical conditions. I am at complete peace with taking BG to UT; I and everyone else who supports pug rescue and who is a dog lover can rest a little easier knowing that everything is being done to help her condition. I am mostly upset because I have realized the magnitude of her collapse, and can't believe that she has lived as long as she has in this condition. How horrible it must be to struggle for each breath and not get enough oxygen to your brain, organs, and body. But in all of this, Baby Girl was her adorable little self this morning and rolled over to demand a belly rub before we left the hotel for UT.

Jana truly is one of the great unsung hero's of pug rescue. I have met her on transports numerous times and no matter what she has going on in her life she always makes time for pug rescue. Please please keep Jana and Baby Girl in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days as they are critical. I will update on Monday or Tuesday when I know something more.

Want Me Wednesday 5/7

2008-05-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Ever feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day?? LOL!! I've been feeling that way a lot lately. I am normally in bed every night by 9 or 10 but I've been staying up to 11, 12, and last night even 1am trying to get things done. I've got SO much that I want to do and so little time to do it. If any of you have any time maximization tips you'd like to share please feel free to leave them in the comments! Hopefully in a few days I will be able to share what has been keeping me so busy! Some of you know, but I'm not ready to reveal it to the whole bloggin' world just yet ;)

Anyway...it's Wednesday again and time for another Want Me Wednesday Pug! This week's pug is being fostered by Mid Atlantic Pug Rescue. Miss Bella reminds me so much of my Dora from her dark mask to the circumstances that brought her into rescue. Here is what Mid Atlantic has to say about this beauty:

Hi there! My name is Bella and I am the product of a broken home. My foster mom doesn't think I had much socialization or training so I have been experiencing lots of new things like walks, car rides, field trips, and RULES. I love the walks. I have LOTS of energy for a Pug. Unlike most Pugs, I can actually be a jogging partner! My foster mom says I am very smart and would do great with agility training. I can be a bit hyper but when I get my exercise, I am sooooo much better. Do you want to be my new workout partner?

I love attention and to be near a human as much as possible. If you are typing on your computer like my foster mom is doing now, I am happy to fall asleep under your chair. I also like to sit on laps, but foster mom is working on my "boundaries" so I must get an invitation first. Darn Rules!

I have lived with another Pug my age, but I would do best with a calmer Pug or as an only Pug-child. Unfortunately, I don't understand children or cats so it is best that I don't live with them. I am still nervous with new people who come to the house but I am getting much better! I am housebroken and I don't chew on anything. Oh, and I am about 5 years old. My foster mom says I will make a very loving PFF (Pug Friend Forever). I just need some more training and someone with enough energy to keep up with me!

If you have the forever home that Miss Bella has been waiting for please fill out an application today!

Want Me Wednesday 4/30

2008-04-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Today's Want Me Wednesday pug is actually a pair of pugs!! Everybody knows pugs are like potato chips - nobody can have just one, so why not get two right from the start?? Bubba and Roxie and being fostered with Music City Pug Rescue and here is what their website has to say about these cuties:

Bubba and Roxie are a sweet couple and well behaved. Both are affectionate. Roxie loves to sleep with people. Bubba is a bit more reserved but totally devoted to Roxie. These two pugs love children and would love to make your home complete. Bubba is 7 years & Roxie is 6.

If you think these cuties would be a great fit in your home please fill out an application today.

And while we are on the subject of Music City Pug Rescue, don't forget that their annual Pugnic is this Saturday from 10am-5pm. Be sure to visit their website for all the details. Hope to see you all there!!

We did it (again)!

2008-04-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Another running of the Country Music Marathon came and went yesterday. John and Dad ran the full and John's friend Ira and I ran the half. John and Dad did awesome, completing the race just over their 5 hour goal. I had estimated that I would finish the half between 2 hrs and 2.5 hrs and I would have totally made that if not for a few minor issues I had on the way to the finish line, LOL. I have to say long distance running is one of the greatest teachers. I learn something new every time I run. This year I learned several things...

#1 - Eat breakfast. 13.1 may not be 26.2 but it's nothing to sneeze at.
#2 - Don't take Midol before a race. Ever.
#3 - If you don't eat breakfast and you do take Midol, you will thrown up.
#4 - If race officials see you throwing up they will try and convince you to stop running.
#5 - Just because you don't get blisters all over your feet from running 13.1 miles many, many times in training it doesn't mean that you won't get them come race day (what is with that?? )

Anyway, all in all it was a really fun day. I finished the race in 2 hrs and 41 minutes and I'm confident it would have been more like 2 hrs and 15 minutes if not for lesson #4. Here's a photo we took before the race. Dad's camera has the post race pics and I'll share them when he sends them over. Ohhh and on another exciting note, I FINALLY learned how to load actions into Photoshop 7!! So this photo has a Lomo action on it - whoo-hooo!!

This Saturday...

2008-04-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

Is the Marathon!! I'm just running the 1/2, but Dad and John are going the full 26.2 miles. Please keep them in your prayers. I'll report back this weekend!

Back from Scrap Etc!

2008-04-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well I am back and finally feeling rested up. I took yesterday off from work too and I am so glad I did. All that creativity is exhausting!! Ok no, really it was more the getting up at the crack of dawn, walking about a mile from the car to the ballrooms and a mile back, and the getting up early/going to bed late. I had a great weekend mostly b/c I got to spend a lot of time with two of my favorite people - Allie and Martha.

(Shamelessly stolen from Allie's blog)

I would first and foremost like to say that I was very, very disappointed that we were not being fed. I thought that for $400 we would at least be served lunch. However, I chalked that up to my not having read the details closely enough before I signed up - my fault! We were provided with snacks between the morning and afternoon classes, but you had to be quick b/c (1) there wasn't enough for everyone and (2) the hotel staff took the goodies away quickly. I went to the restroom one morning and came back to the staff wheeling away the cart. I learned my lesson after that and grabbed my snack before heading to the restroom.

As far as classes went, our first class of the event was taught by Jeni Bowlin. It was a great class where we learned some new techniques - like using rub-ons on velum to give them dimension, and making flowers out of paper. Jeni was a great teacher and I love how the project turned out. Here are mine:

Then we had the first of two classes with Heidi Swapp. Oh my did this ever stress me out!! The class moved very quickly and involved some of the infamous HS rub-ons. I opened the package and when I pulled up the sheet of rub-ons half the letters came off on the package backing. Eeeekk! Despite the rub-on debacle I was able to complete the project and I do really like the way it turned out, although I'm still trying to decide what to put in it. Here is a photo of the mini-book - if you can't tell the cover is a mirror.

And me with Heidi:

After Heidi's class we took a (much needed) lunch break. Allie and I opted to brown bag it for lunch to avoid the lines and expense of eating at the "Scrap Etc" food court and it's a good thing we did. We found out later that some of the carts ran out of food because they didn't think women would eat much rice. Yeah you read that right. Crazy!!

When we got back from lunch we took Angelia Wigginton's class. She taught a minibook class and was very personable and had the most soothing southern accent! It was one of those sipping-sweet-tea-in-Georgia southern accents. The subject of her class was "Between the Two." I made a really cute book about John and Dora's special bond. Here is my book that I was able to finish yesterday by adding the journaling and a few embellishments. My cover looks like Angelia's but I deviated on the inside:

I would also like to note that since Allie and I chose to brown bag our lunch we were not eligible for any door prizes after lunch because they required you to put your name on the back of your lunch receipt and put it into a basket for all the after lunch drawings. Not cool!

Gretchen McElveen was up next one the schedule. I LOVED her class. It was for sure in my top 2 for the weekend. We made a small album about the 10 people who had influenced our lives the most. Love, love, love that concept. She was a great teacher and I really love the simple little book we put together. Here is what my book looks like sans journaling - I really want to put some thought into it!

Then it was time for dinner. Allie and I hit up Cracker Barrel for some good old fashioned comfort food and over dinner decided to skip out on the last class. We were just exhausted from the day and decided our time would be better spent sleeping. Allie was kind enough to go and get our materials so that we can complete the project later.

Day two began on a really bad note. We arrived in our classroom (which was different than day 1) to find the only seats available to be the ones Martha had saved us (thank you so much Martha!!) We were jammed into that room like sardines - completely not ideal for trying to scrapbook! There were even people sitting in the floor! On top of that it was hot and dark. Just a really, really bad situation. The only thing that kept a bunch of angry scrapbookers from rioting that morning was the lovely Wilna Furstenberg. She is just a ray of sunshine! She was so nice, talented and creative! She presented a really innovative idea for a mini book using a Starbucks cup. I decided to make it into a Mother's Day gift. Here is my completed project and a photo of Allie, Wilna, and I:

The day pretty much went downhill from there. To their credit, they pulled in some extra tables and chairs so no one had to sit in the floor after the first class and several people with excellent foresight decided to leave, freeing up some much needed space. It remained dark and hot in the room, but again, to their credit they tried to make it up to us by giving us a 40% off coupon to the store (which I didn't use, the last thing I needed to be doing was spending more money) and extra giveaways during class. Also our group leader Brittany was great, she tried hard to meet our needs and keep the group in good spirits. I really liked her and felt bad that she was the one left to deal with our angry group. All that said, the planner in me is still really annoyed that we ever had to deal with issues such as these. It's not as if they didn't know how many people were in our group - they are the ones who assigned the people to the groups! Things happen, I understand that, but this is something that so easily could have been avoided with proper planning that in my mind it is completely inexcusable.

Up next was Monique McLean's class. We were held hostage in this class for 30-45 minutes because we had to listen to Monique "tell her story" before we could even get the kit with the materials for the class. And dang it I was going to get all my materials if it killed me - I paid enough for them. Monique tearfully told a story of her battle with Postpartum Depression and how it lead her into scrapbooking. While I did indeed feel bad for her there were three things that made this class completely horrible for me. #1 - I am not a mother and therefore cannot relate to Postpartum Depression at all. This was one of those points where I felt really isolated for not having children. Sadly, it is a feeling that a lot of us "sans children" scrapbookers can relate to. #2 - I have a personal issue with tears. I am not an emotional person and I do not like to be around strong emotions. For as long as I can remember I have always felt a strong urge to leave the room when someone is crying. It just makes me uncomfortable. And #3 - the project was fugly. Monique explained to us that the class was a filler due to one of her teachers backing out and I have to tell you it certainly felt that way. We were to make an acrylic sign to hang and help remind us to "tell our story." I cut up my pieces of acrylic to make a cute little clear mini book. I haven't decorated it yet, but I'll post it when I do.

Everyone broke for lunch at this point and thankfully (I'm guessing due to complaints) when we arrived back from lunch everyone was allowed to put their name in the basket for door prizes. Vanessa Hudson's "Everyday Us" class was up next. I was really excited to see what her project was since her homework assignments resulted in some of my favorite photos I took for the event. You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the class was about organizing and storing your photos in a photo album. We are scrapbookers. While we do also tend to keep photo albums, I did not come to this event and pay roughly $50 a class to be taught how to organize photos into an album. In the class we were taught to make 4x6 paper pieced "chapter separators" to separate the different photo subjects in the photo album - so not what I want to do with my photos. I ended up using the materials we were given + the packaging to the Scenic Route stickers to create a little mini book about our first house since one of the photo homework assignments was to take pictures of your home. Here's what I've got so far, I still have to print some photos, embellish further, and journal and then my little book will be complete:

For our final class of the day Heidi Swapp returned for the 2nd half of her class, "To Your Heart Be True." For the first hour we cut and pasted embellishments to the book we had made the day before and the 2nd half we sat and listened to Heidi's views on life and listening to your heart. Then came the folk singer. I have yet to mention her because I think maybe I was in denial of her existence. She was a cute girl and she had a nice voice, but she was singing songs about scrapbooking. It was beyond cheesy. It really kinda made me want to gauge out my eardrums with my craft knife. And hey, I'm sure there were some people there who enjoyed it - probably the same people who wanted to know what on earth I scrapbook when I don't have kids - but it certainly wasn't for me. After the singing stopped, Heidi tearfully (please see 2 paragraphs up if you are unclear on my dislike of tears) encouraged us to be true to our heart, to take a look in the mirror and see the women we have become, and to stop just dreaming and start doing. I get what she was saying, but this was yet another point in the weekend when I felt guilty about not having kids yet. When we got out of there Martha was kind enough to remind me that the reason I couldn't think of anything I wanted to start doing that I hadn't already done was because I'm not tied down by children. Now don't get me wrong, kids are something that I would love to have in the future and not all women are tied down by their children, but right now I need to be relishing this time in my life and not feel guilty for my lack of "fruitfulness."

Immediately after that class Allie and I made a B-line for the ballroom where Saturday Night Layouts were being held. This was a group event for all of the participants - kind of like a supersized make and take where the demonstrator was on a platform with an overhead projector. We had heard rumblings that there would be a very long line since we were being handed 7 different LO packages on our way in. Thankfully it wasn't bad at all. Since we were near the front of the line we walked right in and took a seat and just sat and waited while the packets were being handed out. As soon as we had received all of our materials we decided to head out. Allie had yet to see any of Nashville so I took her on a driving tour and then we went home, had a drink, laughed about our experiences, and crashed out hard.

Overall, I would say that I did enjoy my time at the event, but it's not something that I plan to do again. After the event was all wrapped up the local gals got together on Sunday for Amanda's birthday and a group crop with Allie. Here are a few of the pics from Sunday:

Alright I'm off to bed!!

Want Me Wednesday - 4/16

2008-04-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today's Want Me Wednesday Pug is Teddy of Southeast Pug Rescue. I was browsing the rescue websites earlier and his sweet little face just really stood out. Here's what SEPRA's website has to say about Teddy:

My name is Teddy and I'm looking for a new forever home. My family can't spend enough time with me so they want me to have a new home. I am 8/9 yrs old, housebroken, very quiet. I do have some separation anxiety but am fine if I am in my crate. When someone is home I am so happy that I would even think of having an accident. Also, I am not that great with being boarded, I really really love the attention of my family. I really would like a home where someone is home most of the day and then I will be perfectly content. I am a little older so now young uns (pugs or humans) would be best. I have been told that I am a precious little dog who needs lots of love and attention; very sweet and very well behaved and has the ability to make someone in the right situation a loving companion.

If you think you are the one who can give Teddy the forever he is looking for, please fill out an application today!

And as long as we are on the subject of SEPRA, be sure to get your vote in for their calendar contest. Each vote is only $1 and all proceeds go to help puggies in need like Teddy. I just finished browsing the photos and there were so many great ones, but here are a few of my favorites:

My friend DeAnna's crew - Pugsley Ann and Milo

Ping (What a great Halloween pic!)

Miso Puggy (so clever!!)

My friends Paul and Crystal's kids - Max, Black Jack, Tatertot, and Rex

Ham and Beans (Not sure if I love the names or the picture most!)

And there were many, many more so be sure to check it out!!

Monday, Monday!

2008-04-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again, joy! And I have a plethora of things to share :) I signed up for the Scrap Ect event months ago and have been (not so) patiently waiting for it to happen. It starts Thursday so I am super stoked about that. However, I am even more stoked because my good friend Allie is coming to stay with me and we are attending the event together. Allie is so much fun and I know we are going to have a blast.

Last week I wrote about joining bloglines and when searching for pug themed blogs I ran upon the Urban Pug. It's a great little blog featuring precious pugs and good information. Today's post was especially pertinent for anyone planning to get a pug or for that matter any dog. I am enjoying it immensely thus far!

Another new edition to my bloglines role is the blog of a new friend I met on SIStv, Stephanie. I am loving the fact that she updates her blog multiple times per day and always has something to say that makes me laugh. Stephanie if you're reading this I hope your foot is feeling better and that it doesn't impede your blogging!

And as long as we are talking about blogs, I visited my friend Amber's blog today and she had a link to a fun little quiz to reveal your true color. We are both Green!

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Green

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

That made me laugh b/c I already knew that Amber and I have a lot in common. Aside from sharing the same name, we work in the same industry (marketing) and our husbands are both employed by Healthcare Software firms. We are also both into scrapbooking and planned our weddings around the same time - that's how we met, through the TN board on the knot! Very cool!

And finally I'll leave you with a new picture of me! We had to take a "self portrait" for the class Heidi Swapp is teaching at Scrap Ect. I'm one of those people who generally dislike photos of themselves especially close ups taken by myself so this was really a hard assignment! After a ton of pictures and a little photoshop, here's what I'm going with:

Have a great week...be back on Wednesday!

Want Me Wednesday - April 9th

2008-04-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Unfortunatley this week's "Want Me Wednesday" pug is a repeat performance. As you can see I blogged about sweet Eloise with Music City Pug Recue more than 6 months ago. When I opened "The Wrinkle", MCPR's e-mail newsletter, this morning and saw her picture there I was just heart broken. This little girl has so much love to give, if only someone would just give her a chance.

If you think you could be the one to give Eloise forever, please fill out an application today.

And finally I'd like to leave you with a quote about rescue. I was searching for some quotes earlier this week and ran upon an old post on PugVillage. This quote from Ellen of the Tall Grass Pugs makes me tear up everytime I read it:

There is a hope always that life will be better. If I rescue a dog from filth, and provide clean water; if I take a dog that no one wants, and help find it a home--then I have done something right and in a dark world, I have lit a small candle.

And that ladies and gentlemen is what keeps me going. If only we all did a little more, what a better place the world would be!

What a Week!

2008-04-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

This week has just flown by for me. I've been so busy with a multitude of projects at work I've been working through lunch and working late almost every night. I've been so busy working I completely forgot to do the "Want Me Wednesday" post this week. I honestly thought it was Tuesday all day on Wednesday, LOL. Oh well, I'll get back on track next week.

One thing I did manage to get done Sunday night was to sign up for Bloglines. I think I'm the last person on the planet to hop on board this nifty website, but so far I am loving it! I have added all the blogs I stalk - my friend's blogs, blogs that inspire me, people who I wish were my friends, LOL! I think this is going to help me tremendously in keeping up with everyone. So please, if you blog, leave me a comment so I can be sure that I've added you to my feed. And I have a question for those of you who are already using this service - how do you leave comments? Is there a way to do it directly from Bloglines or do you actually need to open the blog in a new window to be able to comment?? Thanks in advance for helping out a not-so-techie girl! Oh and I added a handy little "add my blog" button on the side for those of you who are already signed up.

Not much else going on around here. Tomorrow I'm going to take advantage of not having to work and visit Ladies of Charity with mom - a local thrift store run by Catholic Charities that's only open for a limited time each season. I got some really great stuff last time we went so I'm hoping tomorrow will be just as good!

Ohh oh ohh!! I almost forgot!! I'm WAY behind on my "Overlooked" assignments, but I did actually take the pic for last month, so here it is, my lovely fridge:

Success!

2008-03-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Sneakers for Snorts went off without a hitch yesterday!! Ok well there was one hitch that was the weather - it was freezing! Despite the chilly temps, we had tons of fun and managed to raise a lot of money for Southeast Pug Rescue. All together we logged more than 200 miles and raised over $700! I consider this a great success and am already eagerly looking forward to next year's event. Here are a few photos from yesterday:

It's Almost Here!!

2008-03-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Sneaker for Snorts that is!! I've been busily putting the finishing touches on the first Nashville Area Fundraiser to benefit Southeast Pug Rescue and Adoption. Please join us on Saturday if you are available and if not feel free to contact me regarding how you can donate.

Mugsy's Cape and Crown arrived!!

2008-03-16T14:46:00.001-07:00

My friend Martha has been circulating a cape and crown throughout pugvillage and it arrived at our house this week! Although I can't speak for the babies, I sure had fun taking pics of them in it. Here are some of my favorites!

RAK Winner and Want Me Wednesday

2008-03-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness!! I am behind again!! It's becoming a theme around here these days, LOL!! First off the randomly selected winner of my RAK from the last post was Brianna Taylor! Be sure to stop by her blog and say hello to her if you have a minute!

And tonight I have a very special "Want Me Wednesday" pug to introduce you to! Her name is Precious and she was rescued today from the Rutherford county shelter.

Poor sweet precious is blind and seriously overweight at 29lbs. A healthy weight for a pug ranges from 15-20lbs. Canine obesity is becoming more and more widespread and is a serious problem which can rob you of years with you dog. I know it's hard sometime, but Fido just doesn't always need that extra treat! Precious will be in foster care for some time to deal with her weight problem, but if you are interested in becoming her forever family you can go ahead and get your application on file with SEPRA. Be sure to visit their currently available pugs as well, you just might fall in love!!

Sudenly it all makes sense....

2008-03-04T18:08:00.001-08:00

Last week at work my boss had everyone in our department take a Myers-Briggs personality test. What an eye opening experience!! I am an INFJ type - the most rare of all, with only ~1% of the population being this type. Sudenly I understand why I never quite fit in, LOL! Here is a summary of my personality type from www.personalitypage.com:

As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system.

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.

INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring.

In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not.

The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

And now for a RAK!! Take the quiz to find out what your type is and leave it in the comments section between now and Monday night at 6pm central and I'll randomly select a person to send a little RAK to! I can't wait to see all the different personality types!

Want Me Wednesday 2/27

2008-02-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going down in the bloggin' Hall-of-Shame for posting so little lately!! I have just been on my toes with Sneakers for Snorts and 1/2 marathon training. Add to that we joined the Y this week and I've started taking an Abs/Glutes class on Tuesday and Thursday night. I feel like I'm always moving!! At least I am able to make it here for the weekly homeless puggy bulletins. So without further ado here's our featured pug Spike:

Isn't he just adorable?? He is currently with Southern Nevada Pug Rescue. Here is what they have to say about this sweetheart:

Spike came to SNPR after a phone call from Lied saying they had a pug they were going to euthanize and offered us the chance to help him. He is now safe and being boarded at our Vet. He is a smaller pug, and has some kind of upper respiratory problem. Also, his teeth are NASTY – he has so much tartar on his teeth that you can barely see his teeth anymore. He will be boarded until our Vet gives us the okay. After his respiratory problem clears up, we will treat this little guy to a much needed dental. More updates on his progress will follow. If you would like to donate a night of boarding ($16) or for part of his dental, SNPR and Spike would be grateful.

Every pug that we save from Lied costs us on average $600.00 dollars. That amount is IF they come out healthy. In Spike's case, he was given to rescue because Lied was going to put him down due to a respiratory problem. With the boarding, respiratory treatments, dental, etc., Spike could likely cost SNPR well over 8 hundred dollars. We have asked a lot of you this past few months with special need pugs and because of your generosity we have continued to take in these types of cases. We hope to never be in the position of turning away a pug due to expected medical needs. With your help we won't ever have to do that!

I am so thankful for rescues like Southern Nevada Pug Rescue for taking in these precious puggies. If you live in the Las Vegas area (Amber H - do your parents need a dog??) and think you are the forever home that Spike has been waiting for please fill out an aplication today!

Want Me Wednesday 2/20

2008-02-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today's Want Me Wednesday pug is from Pug Rescue of North Carolina. Her name is Leah and she is a real cutie pie!! ((She looks a lot like my Dora!)) Here is what their website has to say about her:

Leah is an adult female pug and she around 1 1/2 to 2 yrs. old. Leah was surrendered by her owner's after she was struck by a car. She suffered several injuries that include her front leg and her pelvic bone is broken in three places. Leah must be crated for the next 6 to 8 weeks before she can be adopted out. The vet will need to keep an eye on her leg and wait to see if the nerve damage is going to be cause for removal. At Leah's foster family's house she is becoming more lovable each day and despite all she has been through she has a great spirit. Leah can't wait until her Vet says she can play again. She is wanting to be in a home where she will be kept safe from the street. Leah will be a great addition to a family with two legged children or four legged friends. Leah also wouldn't mind be a spoiled only child.

Be sure to fill out an adoption application today if you'd like to give Leah a forever home when she is all healed up from her accident.

Sneakers for Snorts

2008-02-17T17:57:00.000-08:00

It's official!! I'm hosting my first fundraiser! All the details are up here:

Sneakers for Snorts

Please consider joining us!!

Want Me Wednesday 2/13

2008-02-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Happy almost Valentine's day everyone! Today's "Want Me Wednesday" pug is a real sweatheart. His name is Stewart and he is available through Arizona Pug Rescue. Here's what the website has to say about this handsome fella:

Hi my name is Stewart, I'm 9 years young! I have a bad eye that needs to be removed, but the other one works pretty well. I can see up close, but if I could get glasses for distance vision, I would! I also need to have my teeth cleaned, my foster mom says she wishes it could be done now, but I tested positive for tick fever and I'm currently on meds to clear that up; my doctor says it will take about 6 weeks.

I'm overweight by at least 10lbs, and I have been put on a strict diet, yuk! But it has to be done, because I have a hard time breathing with all this extra weight. I know how to use the doggie door, and I know how to sit and shake!

I came to rescue because my mom was moving to Japan and couldn't take me along. That's OK, I know I will find another good home, who could resist this face! I also get along with everyone, I love kids, and like hanging out with other dogs. I'm a good boy about taking my eye drops, which is twice a day and my pills. I would love a home where I can sit back and enjoy life with a special friend or two!

Stewart's adoption fee is $200.

If you think Stewart may be just the companion you've been looking for, please fill out an application today!

Overlooked Subject 2

2008-02-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Subject 2 has been up for quite some time now over at Overlooked, but I'm just now getting photos taken and the story told. This was a really good one for me b/c I was no doubt in denial about having "collections." I thought I was really good about reducing clutter and not having too many of any one thing. And then I entered my closet one morning and happened to glance over at the laundry basket full of purses. There was my collection staring me in the face.

And it's so funny once I started to take a photo of them I realized that each and everyone of them has a story behind it. I'm going to take this opportunity to introduce you to just a few of my favorites :)

We'll start with an oldie. I bought this purse at my favorite thrift store in high school - Southern Thrift. It was a quarter and I just love it. It's dingy on the bottom from use and I hardley carry it anymore for that reason but I still just can't get rid of it. It's like an old friend or something.

Then there's the purse that John bought me on our honeymoon. It wasn't terribly expensive - we got it at one of those markets where you bargain, but I think it is the most beautiful one that I own. So beautiful in fact that I've never used it! I must be crazy, but I'm sure one day there will be an occasion I deem special enough to use this purse. It's probably my favorite of them all!

These are purses that my friend Martha made. I love them not only because they have pugs on them, but also because they remind me of her! I do carry them, but I try not to over-use them since they are handmade. I want them to last a long time!

Last but not least is this purse. I love it b/c it's turquois, one of my favorite colors and because it has so many pockets! I love to compartmentalize and this purse is perfect for that. I also like the story behind how I aquired this purse. It's one of the more expensive purses I own (which isn't saying much b/c since I have so many I don't spend a lot on any one) and I looked at it online everyday for probably 3 months before I decided to take the plunge. It was only available from a store we don't have in my area and a friend's husband was taking a business trip to a location that did have said store and he brought it back for me. What a great guy - thanks again Camilo!!

So that about wraps it up, I could go on like this about all of my purses but I've probably already told you more than you ever wanted to know, LOL. So what do you collect?? Leave me a comment with the answer or even join the flikr overlooked group if you feel inspired!!

Want Me Wednesday

2008-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe a week has passed since my last blog entry!! It has been a crazy week trying to find a place to host the fundraiser I mentioned in my last post and fighting sickness (both John and I have been sick!). Hopefully I won't let another week go by without updating my blog this time around. Without further ado, I would like you to meet this week's want me Wednesday pug, Yoda of Norther Illinois Pug Rescue.

Hi, my name is Yoda and I am a nine year old fawn female pug. I know, I know...that's a funny name for a girl but it is what I like to be called. My previous family gave me to NIPRA because they could not properly care for me anymore. You see, I have some trouble walking because my back legs don't want to work like they used to. The nice people at NIPRA took me to the doctor to be evaluated and have xrays done. They couldn't find anything wrong on the xrays but right now I have a bladder infection, so after that is gone they are going to try some different medicines to see if they'll help me. Please think about sending a donation to help pay my medical bills. They are doing everything they can to help me and hopefully they can find me a new furever home that will love me the way that I am. Thanks!

If you are interested in giving Yoda her "furever" home, please fill out an application today!

Wanna Help A Rescue Wednesday???

2008-01-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't notice this is not your typical "Want Me Wednesday" post!! I'm not sure how many of you are aware, but SEPRA - a rescue that I personally volunteer with and hold near and dear to my heart - is experience some financial difficulties due to a FLOOD of pugs they took in at Christmas. They opened their hearts and their wallet to 18 puppy mill pugs. These in addition to the pugs they already had in the rescue brought their total up to a staggaring 45 pugs. You can imagine the vet bills they are experiencing. If you'd like to know more about the situation you can read the letter from the president here.

I am currently brewing with ideas on how to help raise funds for this rescue that has done so much good for so many pugs - one such being a "Fun Run/Walk" that I will hopefully be able to tell you more about as I look into the feasablity of it - but until then, please consider making a donation to SEPRA if you can.

Want Me Wednesday 1/23/08

2008-01-23T16:39:00.000-08:00

This week's feature pug is from Southeast Pug Rescue and Adoption. Her name is Sophie and she is just adorable!! Here's what SEPRA's website has to say about her:

HI, my name is Sophie and I was rescued by SEPRA from a puppymill. Until now, I did not have a name and did not realize what being a pug is all about. However, my foster mom says that I am a true pug now. I love to get attention and have my belly rubbed, I even know how to give kisses. Surprisingly, I am housetrained and crate trained already!! I love to jump up on the couch to snuggle with my foster family and play with my foster pug sister and pug brother. One vet said that I am close to 9 years old but SEPRA think that I am 6/7 and I act like a young pup because this life is all new to me!! I am blind in one eye but it does not slow me down! So please let me know if you think I can join your family and continue living this wonderful PUG life.

07-05-07 UPDATE
Hello everyone, it’s me Sophie! I think everyone needs an update, first of all, it has been determined that I am 8 years young. I also wanted to tell you all about all the new things I found that I like since I have been in foster care. I love picking up new hobbies and enjoying a little pampering. I live with my foster mom, dad, pug brother and wild sister. I get along great with all of them. I am housebroken and kennel trained. I am blind in one eye but I get around just fine. I love playing with soft toys. Tug of war with my sister is the best. Even though she has more teeth than me, I win most of the time. I also enjoy alone time with my mom or in my bed. Who knew that cuddling could be so great! Gardening is the latest hobby I picked up this summer. I like to crawl around in the soft grass and follow my foster mom around the yard. I am very loyal and loving. You can pet me all you want (on my belly is my favorite). For pamper time I enjoy to be brushed and held. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I’m quiet and don’t talk, I mean bark much. So if you want a quiet, playful, loving, loyal, and pretty cute pug-ask for me Sophie.

If you think you might be the forever home sweet Miss Sohpie is searching for, please fill out an application today!!

SIStv Crop!

2008-01-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the TN SISters crop I've been looking forward to for almost a month now. It was so much fun!! I got a little bit of scrapbooking done, but most importantly I got to visit with some scrapping friends (like Chas, Amber H., Amber U., and Stacey) and I got to meet a whole bunch of new ones!! I took a bunch of pics, but these are a few of my favorites:

Want Me Wednesday - Jan 16, 2008

2008-01-16T16:53:00.000-08:00

This week's feature pug is Mr B of Pug Rescue of Florida. He's such a cutie!! Here's what the people of PRF have to say about him:

Hello! I'm Mr.B, and I want to thank you for looking at this page and seeing all the wonderful Pugs who need you. I need you too. I'm such a good boy, and loved my former mom SO much. I'm not sure what happened but mom was crying for a long time, and then she put her arms around me and said, "I'm so sorry"....and the next thing I knew I was in this strange place, in a crate in a window...People walked in and out, and looked at me. People tapped on the window so I could look at them. But there was nobody to pet me, or play with me or love me. I was all alone, and stuck in this crate for hours and hours. and I was very very sad. Sometimes I screamed so someone would pay attention to me. Then this lady, I think they call her "foster mom", took me away to her house. It's nice here, but I have to share her with a lot of other dogs. It's not like having my very own family. At least I don't have to scream anymore for attention. I wag my tail a lot because I am basically a happy boy. I eat my food and know enough not to piddle or poop on the floor. I learned how to drink water from a Lixit, because I saw the other dogs doing it. I also learned how to go in and out of the doggie door, all by myself. Foster mom tells me I'm a very smart Pug, and a healthy one too. I can't remember how old I am, and I don't know how to count, but I overheard foster mom saying I was about 7 or 8. Is that good? So if you want a buddy, and someone to keep you company, with just some love and care in return, please pick me.

If you are the forever home Mr B has been looking for, please fill out and application today!

Overlooked Week 1

2008-01-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today's overlooked assignment is to jot down the story of the mug we took a photo of last week. Here's the story of my cup!

Looks like a coffee mug doesn't it? Well it's not. It's my water mug! I always shock people when I'm walking out of the break room with my cup filled to the brim. They always assume that my giant mug and I have cleaned out the coffee pot. I gave up drinking caffeine on a regular basis years ago. I'll still have the occasional diet coke or Starbucks, but it's just a health decision that I made and have stuck with. Plus, now when I actually need caffeine to stay awake it works!

I painted the mug myself at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. The neutrals of the cup remind me instantly of where I was in my life when I painted it. John and I were building our house and I was in interior-design mode. The neutral dots and the geometric pattern reflect the types of choices I made for our home - the floors, walls, rugs, and furniture. It's funny how something as random as a cup take me back so quickly to a time years ago.

Thanks Ashley for encouraging us to take a look at the simple things in life that also hold important memories.

Boooo!!!

2008-01-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

Boooo on Comcast internet service!! I've been having a terrible time getting online at home lately. That is sooo irritating! I missed my Want me Wednesday blog and I'm hopelessly behind on reading the blogs of others. Arrrg!

So what have I been up to while my internet has been down.....I'm still in training. I'm finally getting used to running at lunch again. It can be a huge pain at first, but now that I'm back in the swing of it I find it to be an enjoyable break from sitting at my desk.

I've got lots of scrappy projects going on. I participated in the first "Overlooked" challenge. Hoping to keep up with those! Here's the photo for subject one:

It's my "coffee" mug. I say "coffee" b/c I only drink water out of it. I made it at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. I love going to those, they are so relaxing. It's hard to tell in the picture but it's huge! Probably twice the size of a normal mug. It's great for minimizing trips to the break room.

In addition to that, I've got the Alphabet ATCs over at SBW (we still need more players BTW *wink*) and the Women ATCs at SIStv. I'm really excited about those. I know what I'm going to do I just still need to sit down and do it. Should be lots of fun since that's a topic I'm really passionate about. I've also got an "All About Me" ATC swap with a great group of girls I've been chatting with for over a year now. I've finished 2 of my 3 LOs for the SBW DT for January. Once I get the third done I'll post them. I don't know why but I've been having a hard time with the scrapping mojo lately. Maybe because I've got so many other things going on right now. I don't know, but I hope it comes back soon!

Today's my oldest little brother's birthday. I can't believe he's 18! I remember when he was born. And how disappointed I was that he was a boy, LOL! Oh well, I guess he's turned out alright. Happy birthday Matt!

Tonight we're going to the Outback to celebrate so that will be nice. Then tomorrow I'm doing a transport for SEPRA. It's a pug coming back into rescue. That just breaks my heart, but I am grateful at least that the pug is coming back and not going into a shelter or something worse.

Speaking of GRATEFUL - I'm sure all of you know about Ali Edwards' "one little word" for the year campaign. I'm choosing grateful. I find myself all too often saying I *want* this or I *need* that when really I need to focus more on all the blessings in my life and being grateful for them. Lynette choose this word in our CG circle journal back in the fall and I've been thinking about it ever since. Thanks Lynette!

I think that pretty much sums it up. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Because it's been too long...

2008-01-05T22:43:00.000-08:00

Since I posted pictures of my kids :) None of these are new, but I was going through my photos and they are some of my favorites.

Kinley

Genie

Einstein

Dora

A Few Exciting Updates!

2008-01-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

I've got all sorts of exciting scrappy news to share today!

First, I made the design team I tried out for last month at Scrapbook Warehouse in Opry Mills. The design team bios are still in the works, but when they are complete I will post a link. I am so excited about this new opportunity! If you haven't been out to Opry Mills lately I high recommend you check it out. I love the location b/c it's so easy to convince John to go out there, LOL!! Here are the layouts I submitted for this month:

Also, Scrapbook Warehouse has a growing online message board community. The other design team girls and I are chatting away over there and we'd love to have you join us. As a matter of fact, I'm currently hosting an alphabet ATC swap inspired by my friend Stacey Fike and we are in desperate need of more people to sign up. Don't worry if you're not local, you can still play along!!

Then this afternoon I got the Paper Candy newsletter in my inbox and they are now taking sign-ups for my canvas class!! The class is being held on Saturday January 26 at 10:30 and the cost is $25. I am so nervous and excited all at the same time. The theme of the class is "So Thankful" and there are only 6 spots available!! If you'd like to learn a new technique and have a little fun with me at the same time, be sure to call and reserve your spot - 615-869-0939.

AND (and this one I'm really excited about) there are two local crops coming up that I am sooooooo excited about!!! The first one is a group of us from over at SIStv getting together to crop on January 19th and the other is a Scrapbook Warehouse sponsored crop on February 23. The SBW crop is now taking reservations and is going to be a ton of fun. Be sure and sign up before all the spots are filled. It's going to be a full 12 hours of scrapping with some amazingly talented ladies.

New Shoes!

2007-12-30T17:39:00.000-08:00

I got new shoes this weekend and I took them out for their inaugural run today. They are awesome! I bought the updated version of the shoe I wore last year, the Mizuno Wave Alchemy. I was really impressed that Mizuno was able to improve on their shoe from last season without hosing it up. Normally what happens is I find a shoe I like and then the next season in an attempt to make the shoe better, the shoe company ruins it. I have to say I'm not wild about the red and orange, but whatever, I'll get used to it.

And even though the full marathon totally won in my poll, I made my decision and I'm only doing the half. I should have take a picture of my blisters last year. Maybe then you people would understand, LOL!!

Want Me Wednesday - December 26

2007-12-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is officially over :( and I need to change to music on my blog. However, it's not to late to give a needy pug a home. If you are in the New England area, check out the pugs at Precious Pug Rescue. They are the home of this week's feature pug, Max. Here's what they have to say about him:

The only thing Max wants for Christmas is a forever home...
If you are looking for easy going, lovable little companion why not consider adopting our amazing Max? This very special little 9 year old, fawn fellow is super mellow and oh so sweeeeet.

He loves people and loves to follow his foster mom around everywhere...around the house, around the state, around the country. He's a traveling fool! He and his foster mom just took a road trip to Florida and he's proved himself to be the perfect travel companion: sitting on his throne on the seat next to her, picking up his head at the sound of a rustling snack bag, patiently waiting for his cut then settling back down to snooze. Not a single complaint about his foster moms singing abilities (or lack thereof) either.
Max suffered a back injury prior to coming into PPRA that has left him with weakened back legs. After seeing several specialists it was decided that he would do well with a doggie cart. And well he has done! SO well that he won the senior division race at the last pug party! He actually came zipping to his foster mom when called while all of the others went wandering.

He gets along well with his many other foster siblings and he is completely unaware of being different than other dogs. He's been great going potty outside and has been getting bolder, exploring the yard in his cart. He can be a bit apprehensive around strangers at first but warms up quickly. Max has recently been neutered and is up to date on his vaccinations. Like Most pugs he needs inexpensive lubricating drops for his eyes.
Please consider welcoming this very special little pug into you your family...

For more info please contact *No1PugMom@aol.com*

If you are in the New England area won't you consider being Max's forever home?

Want Me Wednesday - December 19

2007-12-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

Today's Want Me Wednesday pug is from Pug Savers pug rescue of Northern California. He is such a handsome fella!! Here's what the kind people over at Pug Savers have to say about him:

My name is Buddy and I am around 8-10 years old. I was found as a stray at the Sacramento pound with a pug girl. They found my original owner, but since they were going to have to have me neutered as it was my 2nd "incarceration," they didn't want me. They had been using us to breed. I am very sweet and loving, but I did have 2 "incidents." They aren't exactly a seizure, but I can't stand up when I have them, although I can hear you. PugSavers has been taking me over to UC Davis Vet Teaching Hospital for examinations and hopefully they can find out what is wrong with me. I'm SO happy I ended up with people who are willing to help find out what is wrong with me, even if it costs money. They told me there are wonderful people out there who will make donations to help with my care, so I sure hope they are right!
UPDATE NOVEMBER 15:

The potassium bromide has been helping Buddy tremendously and he now rarely has seizures. He is so very sweet and loving and is hoping that someone will open up their heart to him.

If you are the forever home that Buddy has been looking for please fill out and application today!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

2007-12-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

I bet you thought I was talking about Christmas didn't you?? Nope, I'm talking about the start of marathon training season!! Our schedule this year has our very first training run on Christmas, LOL!! I promised myself that I was just going to run the half this year (you know the kind of promise you make yourself when you have a blister burst at mile 22), but now I'm starting to get that itch again...

I've added a poll at the top of the page to get some feedback from you all!!

Want Me Wednesday - December 12

2007-12-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

Today's Want Me Wednesday pug is Leia from Dallas Fort Worth Pug Rescue. She is just so cute!! Here is what DFW pug rescue has to say about this doll:

Hello dear friends! It's Leia here - Princess Leia to be exact and I do like to be treated like a princess. My previous elderly human decided she could no longer take care of me because her health was declining. DFWPRC rescued me from animal control ASAP which is a good thing because that is no place for a princess. I have overheard my foster mom telling others that I seemed to have been spoiled a bit! I am a few pounds overweight, love having my belly scratched, beg for table scraps now and then, scratch to be let in if I am outside alone for more than a few minutes & enjoy sleeping on a comfy human bed. But is that so horrible?? I don't expect handouts. I will work for treats by sitting when commanded. I really do try to please my humans. I used to be a little fussy with my new foster siblings but when my humans reprimanded me, I changed my ways. I would do well in a quiet home as an only dog or in a more active home with other dogs and children (which happens to be my current situation).

Oh my goodness, I forgot to tell you how gorgeous I am!!! I am the most beautiful, one eyed, APRICOT, yes, I said Apricot lady you have or ever will see. The story about my eye is a long one so I won't bore you with details. My other eye is so perfect that I don't even need eye drops in it like so many other pugs do! So don't you worry, I can follow humans as well as any two eyed pug out there! My vaccinations are all current. I am scheduled to be spayed next week and begin heartworm treatment soon. Although, I was clearly an indoor pug, my previous human failed to give me heartworm prevention and you know all it takes is one mosquito bite and WHAM! I should be ready to go in about 9 short weeks. So that will give you plenty of time to prepare a corner of a room fit for a princess. Be sure to list Leia on your application. Nice talking to you..... Leia

P.S. I LOVE pink!!

If you or someone you know if searching for a wonderful companion in the Dallas/Ft Worth area please remember Leia and all the pugs at DFW Pug Rescue!

Ornament Party!

2007-12-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I hosted an ornament making party at my house. It was so much fun this just might become an annual event! I was so busy helping everyone and making ornaments of my own I didn't take any pictures, but here are a few of the ornaments and one group shot. Thanks again Ladies for coming!! I had a blast!!

Want Me Wednesday....errrr Thursday!

2007-12-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I completely forgot to post the Want Me Wednesday Pug for yesterday!! I confess I got all wraped up in Project Runway last night and totally forgot what day it was - anybody else watching?? I'm on team Jack!!

Anyway, without further ado this week's featured pug is from Music City Pug Rescue . Her name is Eloise and here is what MCPR has to say about this little lady:

This is Eloise and she is a sweet and dignified old lady. Moving towards her senior years, Eloise would love to sit around on her princess pillow and share quiet afternoons with her new family.

Eloise was found wandering around East Tennessee on the streets!

Facts:
Approx. 8 years old
Old lady vision
Potty trained
Very Sweet
Adoption Fee:
Donation

If you are the forever family that Eloise has been looking for, please fill out an application today!!!

New Paint!

2007-12-02T17:04:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned earlier John was kind enough to paint our living room and kitchen over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I am so happy with the way it turned out. Here are some pics I took last night of the paint colors and our Christmas Decorations.

The Kitchen:

The Living Room:

Christmas Decorations:

Christmas just can't come without a little Burl Ives...

Yukon CORNEILIUS!!

and the Winter Warlock

And as promised here's my pink tree all decorated up

AND LOOOOOK what was waiting for me in the mail when I got home tonight!!!

It's a super cute picture frame from my friend Tracy!! I LOVE it and I know just where I am going to put it. Thank you Tracy!!!!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-11-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

It's baaaa-aaack!! After a long hiatus Want-Me-Wednesday is hitting the blog once again. This week I'm featuring the little pound pug I mentioned in my last entry. She's named Clara and she is being fostered by the wonderful people from Kentuckiana Pug Rescue.

Here's what her foster mom had to say about her:

Clara (# 366) came to KPR after two angels in Tennessee saved her from euthanasia. This sweet pug is estimated to be 10-12 years old. Despite falling into neglect, she is calm, fully house broken, loves to be held and knows all the rules. Clara has sowed her wild oats and thinks of herself as "semi-retired." She enjoys outside walks on the leash and even a short run, but fetch or outside play, not so much. Clara weighs 13.2 lbs. and the vet says this is just right for her. Clara is the lone pet in her foster household, but is curious and calm with her doggie cousins and neighbors. She spends nights in her cozy crate next to her foster Mom's bed and prefers a full 10 hours of beauty sleep. Clara has an audible heart murmur from a leaky heart valve. At some point in the future she may need medication for this. Right now she has no symptoms and doesn't worry about it at all. Clara is one wonderful pug.

Adoption Donation - $225

I can personally vauche for this little girl being a sweetheart. Won't you give her the forever home she deserves for Christmas?

Where have I been??

2007-11-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

It seems like it's been forever since I updated my blog but I have a really good reason for being MIA. I've been getting things done!! Ever since I got back from China I couldn't shake this feeling of being behind, but thankfully over the long weekend I was able to get some stuff done. And from the list maker in me, here's what I've been away from the computer doing:

1) Breaking out a little old pug from the local pound. The photo I'm showing is the one in her petfinder add when she was still in the shelter and not doing so well. I got an updated photo of her earlier today, but I'll have to post it later since it's on my work computer.

2) Finishing up the Christmas Cards I made and sold for SEPRA.

3) Finishing up my LOs for the Scrapbook Warehouse DT contest. Wish me luck, I should know by Dec 7th if I made it.

4) Finished up my Christmas shopping, YAY!

5) Running in this year's Boulevard Bolt on Thanksgiving Morning.

6) Painting my living room and kitchen. I can't really take any credit for this though, all the manual labor was done by John. I did pick the colors though, LOL. I love the way it turned out and will try and get some pics up soon.

7) Addressed and sent out all of my own Christmas cards (keep an eye on your mailbox!).

8)Put up the tree and decorated the house for Christmas. I think one of my favorite things about Christmas is ornaments. I just love rediscovering my favorites year after year.

And last but not least, we subjected the babies to a little Christmas photo shoot tonight. They were less than cooperative but here are a few that turned out.

Dora

Genie

Kinley

And Einstein flat refused to have his photo taken until the rest of the hair around his eye grows back in. Hopefully next week, his follow-up vet visit for the mange is Saturday.

Have a great week everybody. I hope to get back to my regularly scheduled "Want Me Wednesday" this week so stay tuned!!

Lazy Sundays

2007-11-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

I LOVE lazy Sundays. Especially after a long hard week at work. In keeping with my lazy theme today I'm going to be lazy and only tell you a few things.

(1) I finally finished the Canvas for the class I'll be teaching at Paper Candy! This will be my first class ever and I'm more than a little nervous about it (eeeek!). I'm not sure what weekend the class will be yet, but we've estimated the cost to be about $20. I hope some of you local gals will take it so I have some friendly faces in the class. Here's what we'll be making:

(2) I bought the cutest PINK Christmas tree today for my scrapbook room. I had to take it out of the box to make sure it worked, but I'll hold off on decorating it until the day after thanksgiving.

Have a great week everybody!!

China - Day 7

2007-11-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Our last day in China :( We decided to take it easy and just take in a few sites in the morning and then shop in the afternoon. On our way to the ATM in the morning, we found the most wonderful used bookstore. I was able to pick up all sorts of calligraphy books, vintage postcards, and other items that will be handy in scrapping my trip. After we dropped our purchases back off at the hostel, we caught a taxi and headed for Tiananmen Square. The last item on my list of "must sees" was Chairman Mao's body which lies preserved in a crystal coffin. We arrived at the building and found not only was there a 2 hour+ wait, but you were allowed to take nothing in with you and you needed a passport to enter. Tiffany and Sarah didn't bring their passport so we decided to just skip it. It was disappointing, but not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully I'll make it back to Beijing one day and I can do this then.

From Tiananmen, we decided to walk through the Houtongs over the BeiHai park. There is a temple on top of a hill in the park that provides a view of the entire Forbidden City. The steps up to the temple were quite challenging considering how sore we were from the Great Wall yesterday, but we made it to the top. The view was less than great as it was a hazy, polluted day. It wasn't a wasted journey to the top, however, because there was a gorgeous Buddha at inside the temple and just outside the temple was a place to pose for photos while wearing ancient imperial clothing. We had seen these stands several places before and we decided it would be fun to do. We inquired about the cost (it was incredibly cheap!), paid our fee, and got dressed. I swear to God, every eye at that temple was on us, and most of them were taking pictures LOL. It was as though aliens had landed and were there at the temple. It was priceless.

A Canal at the entrance to the Houtongs

The temple atop the hill in BeiHai park

Buddha in the temple

Tiffany's headress hurt her head, LOL.

Tiffany noticing that all eyes were on us.

After we finished with our pictures, we took a stroll around BeiHai Lake. We took some photos of the famous white pagoda and then went back to the hostel for lunch and a nap. After we got all rested up we took a taxi over to the silk market and a few other shopping areas we had heard about. We had the best time haggling and shopping. I wish we had something like that here! It is like an adrenaline rush when you get something for dirt cheap, LOL!!

The White Pagoda

The spoils of our shopping

After shopping we decided to go to dinner back at HoHai Lake, the area we had been to a few nights earlier. We found a nice bar and hung out, chatted, and laughed about our adventures for the rest of the evening. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic trip.

China - Day 6

2007-11-01T16:44:00.001-07:00

FINALLY I am getting day 6 up on the blog!! Between getting ready for Halloween/my mom's birthday and blogger problems this whole China trip has taken forever to tell!!!

We had heard from some people in our hostel that the best way to see the Great Wall was to ride the subway to the DongZhiMen station and hire a minibus. Navigating the subway was surprisingly simple, but when we exited the station there weren't any minibuses to be found. We walked around in circles for quite some time and were just about to give up when destiny in the from of Mr Ye came up behind us. We bargained with him for some time and finally agreed upon a price. Mr Ye was so pleased he could hardly contain himself. This was our confirmation that we paid too much. It equated to about $20 American dollars and he was the only driver we found so it was ok with us.

The ride up to the wall took about 2 1/2 hours and was very similar to a Shanghai taxi ride. Apparently it is ok to drive on the wrong side of the road to pass people - anytime including when you are going up a hill and can't tell if anything is coming from the other direction. Another interesting driving tip from the Chinese is that if the light is red, you should turn right, immediately u-turn, and then turn right again thus avoiding ever actually stopping. Well, that or just outright run the light. Really I think the motto for driving is don't stop!! There was one highlight on the way - we had purchased some snacks before we got on the subway to eat along the way. This one was my favorite purely for the name. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I opened the bag and didn't find chicken on the inside, but the chicken flavored puffs were pretty tasty.

Finally we reached the wall. We purchased a ticket (this will become a theme) for 50 yuan and walked over to a lift that resembled a ski lift to get us to the top where we purchased a lift ticket for 30 yuan. Only two people would fit in each lift and I rode up with Carrissa.

Once at the top we were met with the most amazing view of the wall and the countryside. It was breathtaking. The photos just do not do it justice. It was an amazing experience and one I will remember for the rest of my life.

We made a 10k journey along the wall to the a city called Simatai. During this LONG journey up large hills and down steep inclines, we learned some very valuable lessons.

1) The Great Wall is home to a ton (and I mean a ton) of beetles. They don't sting or bite but they are quite annoying.

2) When tiny Mongolian women follow you for miles on the wall it is NOT because they think your hair is "piao liang" (beautiful) even though that is what they will tell you. They are actually interested in selling you water bottles that are used and have been refilled with water. Yuck!! And Should you refuse the typhoid water the next offer is post cards, books, and t-shirts in that order. When you refuse and try to run away they will cuss you in Chinese. On a side note, tiny Mongolian women do not have to pay the additional 20 yuan charged to the white girls for yet another ticket 1/2 way along the wall.

3) 10k on a hilly (read: Steep-ass) wall is not the equivalent of 10k on a nice flat surface. Even if you are normally in pretty good shape, the wall is no joke.

Tiffany and I were really struggling towards the end. We resorted to chanting our trip motto "I know I can!!!" up the final set of stairs. Instead of walking all the way back down to the parking lot we decided to take a "shortcut" - the zipcord ride over lake to get back down (35 yuan). When we got to the bottom of the zipcord we discovered there was yet another boat we had to take to get back to the parking lot (20 yuan).

On the boat

Our shortcut ended up taking an extra hour and put us late getting back to Mr Ye. Thankfully we found him and got loaded up and settled in for the long trip home. Not more than 5 minutes after we started on the journey home, Mr Ye saw some people walking on the side of the road and stopped to try and sell them a ride home. He wanted us to squish together and fit 4 more people in that tiny minibus!! We decided it would be best to pretend we didn't understand what he was trying to say, LOL. This went on and on for about 10 minutes. Finally a gave him some more money and told him "GO!!!" and we got back on the road. If it is possible I think the ride home was even worse than the ride there. It was dark outside so that made the "creative driving" even more frightening and there was a large traffic jam.

There were a few eventful moments on our trip home. At one point we were going through an intersection and there were two men who had wrecked punching and kicking each other. It seems when you have an accident in China it's normal to punch the other guy rather than call the police. Then later Tiffany decided to talk to Mr Ye about taking us all the way back to the hostel for some extra cash rather than dropping us back off at the subway station. After she convinced him and they agreed upon a price, she got ready to sit back down and totally missed the seat!! Even Mr Ye cracked up at her fall!!

The wall was amazing and this was by far my favorite day of the entire trip!!

China - Day 5

2007-10-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Day 5 in China was National Day. National day commemorates the day the People's Republic of China was founded - October 1, 1949. We assumed this holiday would be the equivalent to the 4th of July here in the states. We couldn't have been more wrong. National day was a HUGE deal. We didn't realize it at the time, but the entire nation of China is given the whole week off to travel to Beijing to celebrate.

And I feel quite certain the entire nation of China was in Tiananmen Square with us that morning. It was incredible. I have to say in retrospect it was amazing to see all those people in Tiananmen, but at the time it was quite overwhelming. There were people there selling tiny Chinese flags. They were only 1 Yuan each or around 14 cents so we bought some to participate in the festivities. Wouldn't you know they tried to pawn off the defective Chinese flag on me?? I'm sure they didn't expect the white girls to know it was wrong. I made him trade me for a good one :)

Note my defective flag:

After we walked around Tiananmen Square for a bit we decided to go up in Tiananmen Gate. It was such an incredible feeling to look out over the gate that Mao Zedong had addressed the people from so many years before. As far as I could see there where people. I cannot describe in words how amazing it was.

While we were up in the gate, another Chinese girl asked to take a photo with us. We spoke with her for a bit and found out her name was Stacy and she was studying English in University.

She was so nice and friendly and decided to show us around the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is where many of the Emperors who ruled China lived. It was huge! Much larger than the Summer Palace and very easy to get lost in. It really reminded me of a maze because so many of the buildings looked just alike. We walked around the city for at least 4 or 5 hours and still didn't see everything.

By the ticket booth to the forbidden city. I caught him looking at me so he let me have a pic with him :)

It was supposed to be good luck to touch this handle

The stone we are standing in front of was carved and moved to the palace all in once piece.

This little boy is wearing split pants - much of China's answer to diapers.

This shows a little bit of how crowded it was that day

Empress CiXi had one of her rival concubines drowned in this well

After we left the Forbidden City we headed back to the hostel and took a short nap. We really needed it after the long day of fighting all the people to see things at the Forbidden City. That night for dinner we headed over to HoHai Lake. It was a beautiful area with lots of restaurants, bars, and street vendors. We had a nice dinner and then headed back to our hostel to get some rest because the next morning we were headed for the GREAT WALL!!!

HoHai Lake

Sarah buying some sugar fruit

Some street vendors were blowing heated carmel into animal shapes

One of the Western-geared bars by the lake

And of course we had to have a taste of home before we headed to the hostel for the night

China - Day 4

2007-10-17T16:52:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time coming, but finally China day 4 is hitting the blog!! :)

Between jetlag and excitement sleeping on the train for me was close to impossible. I kept waking up thinking, are we in Beijing yet?!? I finally got up around 4am and just looked out the window until the other girls woke up. It was dark but I could still make out some of the features of the landscape. I was surprised how many cars were on roads and lights on in homes that we passed. Finally the sun came up and I could see all the features of the landscape passing out window. Mostly we passed fields and small towns. I remember one thing that struck me as odd - I kept seeing sunflower fields. I'm not sure why there was so many but they were very beautiful on the otherwise drab landscape.

After everyone woke up we visited the tiny bathrooms on the train and got dressed for arrival at the train station. Once we arrived in Beijing and exited the train, we were inside a huge train station. We walked and walked before we finally found the exit. Oh my was it cold! It had rained the night before and that combined with our travel north, had resulted in shockingly colder temps. We scurried around trying to find an English speaking Chinese person to write down the name of our hostel in Chinese Characters to show to the cab driver. Finally Tiffany found an English speaking train ticket line and the clerk was able to do that for us. Into the taxi line we went!! It was an interesting line....the cabbies were let into the cab area by the flag man in waves. Once the cabs stopped they let groups of people from the line out all at the same time to get a cab. Kinda like musical chairs with cabs. Needless to say if this was a game we lost. Every cab that we started to get into said no when we showed them where we wanted to go. We must have gone through three waves of cabs, all without someone willing to take us. We were tired, cold, and really wanted a shower. Playing musical taxi cab was the last thing we wanted to be doing. Finally we spotted a hostel across the street from the train station and decided to go over there to see if they could help us. They were able to give us a book of area hostels that had a page for our hostel and a map. Finally with the use of the map we were able to hail a cab and made it to our hostel.

Tiffany, Carissa, and Sarah at the train station

Now, let me preface this by saying I've never stayed in a hostel before. I'm not exactly a hostel kinda girl. I really like nice hotels and yes, I'll admit it, I'm a little high maintenance, so I was really weary about staying in a hostel. We checked into the hostel and found out that we were staying in their "West Yard." A teenage boy and a man on a bike (with our luggage on a cart attached to it) walked us over to the west yard. Once we arrived the west yard was nice and I was glad to be there. The teenage boy was named Scott and he was very nice! He looked at our map with us and gave us tips on how to get to different sites we wanted to see. After we showered and changed into clean clothes, we headed out to the Summer Palace.

The entrance to our hostel

Group shot

Scott helping us with the map

Entrance to the courtyard where our room was

The Summer Palace is just that, a palace where the Imperial Court of old China liked to stay during the summer. It is often associated with the only Empress of China CiXi who made the Palace her home year round for much of her reign. CiXi is also referred to as the Empress Dowager and gained this title when her son became Emperor but was too young to rein. She ruled China for years from behind a screen. I remember studying her in college so I was so excited to see the place she once called home. The Summer Palace was amazing! It is a huge area surrounding a lake. I took lots of photos, so here's a bunch!

Arrgg!!

2007-10-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

I just typed out Day 4 complete with photos and now it's gone. Errrggg!! I'm tired now, but will try again tomorrow night.

China - Day 3

2007-10-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

Trip day 3 began with a trip to the Bund - it's a nice little area on the Yangtze River with an excellent view of the Shanghai Skyline. When we got out of the cab at the Bund, I immediatly saw the AIA building! That's AIG China. I work for AIG so I was pretty impressed at their rockin location in Shanghai.

The AIA building

The Bund

Some of the many many Asian people to take pictures with us. You can already see how thrilled Tiffany is about this and it's only day 3!

Then we went over to Nanjing St - the busiest commercial street in Shanghai. We had a bit of a problem in one of the department stores there. We wanted to use the restroom and the information desk told us it was on the 2nd floor. Simple enough, we hopped on the elevator but everytime one of us would try to push the button someone would step in front of the buttons and stop us. Very odd. Finally we got off on the 4th floor and took the stairs down.

Here we are out in front of the department store:

Since we enjoyed Old Town so much the day before we decided to go back and do a little shopping since it was our last day in Shanghai. On the way there we ran into some street vendors and Tiffany and I bought copies of The Little Red Book to bring home. Since I'm a huge Chinese history buff I was so stoked about this we decided to take a picture with the vendor.

It was so nice strolling around Old Town popping in and out of stores all afternoon. We even ran into a puppet show with some great dolls. I really regret not purchasing a puppet, but I was afraid it would break on the way home. Maybe if I ever go again I'll take some bubble wrap with me and buy one, LOL! Here are some photos from our afternoon.

We had to try Chinese McD's

This was a pet in a cafe we stopped in for a drink.

After we finished at Old Town we headed for the train station. Oh my what a ride! We took a cab of course and had our friendliest cabby yet - Jack. He was very fond of us and enjoyed praticing his english. He even listened to the American Radio station. At one point we all enjoyed an impromptu karaokee session to "Total Eclipse of the Heart." But then we hit a traffic jam. And Jack changed. Jack became the face of Chinese road rage. It was horrible. Zooming in and out of traffic, driving up on the sidewalks, at one point we were millimeters from being t-boned by a minibus because Jack decided to pull a U-turn in the middle of a crowded street. I have never been so thankful to get out of a vehicle in all my life. We took this photo the day before, but it was only fitting to include it with this post.

Once inside the train station we found the waiting room for our train and it was packed!! We had yet to realize what a huge deal National Day is in China (I'll explain more about this later), but sufice it to say that the waiting room was about the size of a large gymnasium and it was completely full - as in wall to wall people - and we were the only non-asians in the whole place. You could just feel the slanty eyes staring at you!

Soon enough it was our turn to board the train. It was an overnight train so there were 4 tiny beds in each room. We had asked to be placed in the same room but quickly realized that we were in pairs in rooms next door to each other. Not cool!! We decided to plop down in one room and see if we could switch with whoever came along. The first guy to come along switched with us, no problem! Then came Asshole as we would refer to him from here on out. He refused to switch. No doubt the perve couldn't resist the temptation of sleeping with 3 young American girls. I even offered him money and the jerk wouldn't switch. It's not like the rooms were any different. Asshole. Finally Tiffany ran crying into the other room and the 3 nice, non-perve men agreed to switch with us so that Asshole could have the bed he was assigned and we could still be together. It was ridiculous that they had to do that but we were so thankful. This is for you Asshole!

On a side note, it is so much fun to call people terrible names without them knowing what you are saying. I know we called him asshole 10 times and he had no clue, LOL!

PS spell check isn't working so forgive all my misspellings!!

China - Day 2 (Part 2)

2007-10-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

After the Yu Garden we took a Taxi over to the Train Station to get tickets for the following nights journey to Beijing. There was a translator at the Tea House who was kind enough to write down what tickets we needed to buy in Chinese so we could just hand it to the ticket agent. That came in extremely helpful since the "English Speaking" line at the train station was not so great.

After we booked our tickets, we decided to reward ourselves with a little shopping. Our taxi cab let us off in front of what appeared to be a shopping mall. We went in and immediately were bombarded by these people trying to get us to their "special store" in the attic. Yeah right. I've seen those movies where they capture unsuspecting blond girls and sell them into sex slavery. We literally ran from them in this shopping mall for 20 minutes before we got back to the exit and left. Of course I had to snap a photo. Notice the woman covered her face. Clearly she is a wanted fugitive.

When we finally found the correct shopping are it was incredible! Rows and rows and floors and floors of vendors, ready to bargain with you. I had so much fun haggling prices. I bought 2 Louis Vuitton bags (fake, but who cares!) for around $12 each. It was fantastic. I was too busy shopping to get a photo of all the action, but here is a picture from the door looking in.

After we finished up there, we went across the street to a tiny cafe and had lunch. They didn't have an English menu or a menu with pictures so we got what I'm sure if standard non-Asian food - Lo Mein noodles. They were good and we were starving so no complaints. I just thought it was funny that we sat down and they just brought us noodles, LOL!

Tiffany and me at lunch

After lunch we took another Taxi over to the Pearl TV tower - the most famous building on the Shanghai Skyline. It is a really cool shape!

Across from the Pearl tower was a giant western style mall with a huge sign saying that H&M (one of my favorite stores since there are none here in TV) had just opened after our experience in the bargaining mall, we were hoping that this H&M would be cheap. We were disappointed to find it was the same price as the states! I did take a neat picture of all the people in the mall though. It was very crowded!

Instead of going into the Pearl, we decided to go up to the observation level of the Jin Mao Tower. It is the tallest building in China and gives a great view of the Pearl tower as well as the rest of the Shanghai Skyline. Here is a photo I took from the tower - I'm not editing it on purpose so you can see all the smog. Yuck!

There was a bar at the bottom of the observation deck that you could look down into. It was really cool looking and we decided to go chill down there for a while. Here's what it looked like from above:

And Tiffany ordered a drink called "Bootyjuice" so you know I had to get a picture of that.

And finally I snapped this pic on the way back up to street level to catch a cab back to our hotel. We were all so tired at this point. Notice our Chinese friend. I took 3 of these pics in hopes he would turn around and stop waving. No use, he is in every single one!!

Stay tuned for Day 3!!

China - Day 2 (Part 1)

2007-10-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Our first full day in China!! I started the day with a yummy breakfast of pumpkin steam buns, custard pie, sesame balls and a good old American favorite - COKE!

Then we walked over to a section of Shanghai known as Old Town. It was amazing and this was for sure my favorite part of Shanghai. It was pretty touristy though. At one point Carissa and I looked at each other and asked if we were in Disneyworld or China.

Our first stop in Old Town was the Hu xing ting Tea House. It was beautiful and the tea was incredible.

In front of the tea house:

During the tea ceremony:

After our tea ceremony was over we headed to Yu Garden, which was located behind the Tea House. I will spare you all of the photos I took, but here are a few so that you get an idea of how amazing it was in there.

Oh my goodness! It's almost 2am! This jet lag is killing me. I'm going to try and get some more sleep and I'll post the rest of Day 2 tomorrow....errrr....later today.

China - Day 1

2007-10-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

I've decided to tell you all about my China trip through a series of blog posts so that I don't bore you to tears with one massive, Chinese history heavy entry. So sit back and enjoy the ride, because it was one heck of an adventure!

Wednesday September 26, 2007

"Ding-Dong, ding-dong, ding-dong!!!!!" My wake-up call for Wednesday came in the form of my mother ringing my door bell. I had overslept!!!!!! Oh my what a panic! Thank the Lord I had done all of my packing the night before so I just had to hop in the shower and be out the door, but what stress!! I made it to the airport and to my gate in plenty of time. But of course when I got there I started to think of all the things I may have forgotten to do. Poor Chasity got a frantic text message to see if she could stop by and check to see if my front door was locked, LOL! Mom had come in the front, and we left through the garage so I couldn't be positive that the front was actually locked. Thanks Chas for entertaining my psychosis (the door turned out to be locked).

I got to San Fran and met up with Tiffany, Sarah, and Carissa with no problems at all. As we boarded our plane we noticed a ton of people all wearing the same kind of shirt. Shortly we were informed that we were riding to Shanghai with the entire Special Olympics team from El Salvador! That immediately made me think of my friend Sam who does volunteer work with the Special Olympics in her area. Sam did you know that the Special Olympics world games were going on in Shanghai while I was there?? The kids were all very nice, and so excited about going to China. A plane full of excited Special Olympics kids did make sleeping a bit of a challenge, but luckily I remembered to pack my sleep aid and was out like a light pretty quickly after that. And the kids inspired us to adopt the slogan "I know I can" as the motto for this trip!

Once we made it to Shanghai we located the post office inside the airport and mailed off the supply boxes for Annabelle's Wish. It was super cheap - we mailed 3 large boxes for under 30 US dollars. Then we took the Magnetic Levitation Train (the MagLev) to the last stop and then switched to a taxi to take us to our hotel - The Laurel hotel. It was really pretty nice for how cheap it was and very centrally located so that was a big plus. The only thing we found strange was behind the curtain where one might expect to find a window, there was a door leading to nowhere. Very twilight zone!! But by this time all we wanted to do was get in the bed and get some sleep for the adventures ahead.

To be continued......

And the pics :)

Tiffany and Sarah on the MagLev

The Laurel Hotel

Tiffany modeling the wierd curtain

This one's for you Sam!

I'm Baaaaa-aaaack!!!!

2007-10-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

I got in LATE last night and had to work all day today (uggg) so I'm pooped! I promise to update you one the trip and post a few pics tomorrow!!

In 4 1/2 hours.....

2007-09-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

I leave for the airport to start my journey to China. I'm so excited/nervous/figity it's not even funny! I'll be back ~Oct 5th. Be on the lookout for an update and some pics shortly after that!

New Car Pics!

2007-09-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've had my car now for two weeks tomorrow and I'm just now getting around to posting pics. I should be ashamed!!

Oh well, at least I have a good excuse, poor Genie has been having a rough couple of weeks. First it was an ear infection, and now drama with her eye. She has an eye ulcer. I'm just sick about it. We are putting antibiotic ointment every 3 hours so please keep my girl in your prayers. Princess Gene-Gene is NOT amused!!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-09-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

Know anybody in Arizona looking for that special companion?? Well have I got the pug for them!!! It's Louie the Pug/Boston Mix! He is a wonderful little fellow that a friend of mine over at Pug Village is fostering. Here is what APARN has to say about him:

Louie is an active pug/boston mix. He just turned 10 yrs old, and came to rescue when his family could no longer keep him due to a new baby. Louie uses the doggy door, gets along well with the other pugs in his foster home, and is overall a very good boy.

Please help us get the word out that Louie is ready and waiting for his forever family. If you are that person that Louie is waiting for please fill out an application today!

Scrapathalon Week #10 - Last One!

2007-09-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

This was the final week of the scrapathalon! The theme was "Dream" and the technique to be used was weaving. Here's what I came up with:

The heart flips to reveal hidden journaling, "I dreamed of becoming a pug mom for years & when I adopted Genie she was everything I had hoped for and more."

I came in 3rd overall and won a $20 gift certificate to Scrapbook.com so I'm super stoked!! I have no clue what I'm going to order, but it will be fun picking something out!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-09-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today's featured pug is Curly of Pugsavers Pug Rescue based out of Northern California. Here's what Pugsavers' website has to say about this handsome gent:

My name is Curly and I'm a handsome older gentleman. I had a loving mom and dad but my mom died a year ago, and then a few weeks ago my dad went in to hospice. I'm probably 8 to 10 years old and as you can see I got a bit "Fluffy" so I need to take off some weight (I weigh 26 pounds right now..yikes!) My temporary foster home says I am a real love, I want to be with people all the time, I get along with her girl pug and with her son, but she is worried that the little boy will hurt me, knocking me over. The vet said I am in pretty good health for my age with nothing that needs to be treated. I would really like a hospice home who will keep me as long as I have on this earth. PugSavers will pay for my vet bills. Could that be you?

Curly is such a cutie pie and all he wants is a comfy place to spend his remaining days. If you are the forever home that Curly has been waiting for please fill out an application today!

Scrapathalon Week #8 and #9

2007-09-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot to post my LO from last week's scrapathalon, so it's a double post this week!

Here's week 8 - my very first all digi LO!

And week 9 - do a scraplift of one of Cheryl's LOs.

I chose her "Spring"

And my version - "Holy Matrimony"

P.S. I got a new car this weekend! :) I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

Want Me Wednesday

2007-09-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

Today's want me Wednesday featured pug is Darcy. She is available for adoption through Colorado Pug Rescue. Isn't she just a doll???

Here's what the fine folks at CPR have to say about Darcy:

Darcy is a fine old gal! She is a very gentle well behaved older pug. She is housetrained and never barks. She is quiet and loves to just sit and watch me. she follows me all around the house with her wise old face looking at me! She gets along well with cats, other dogs and kids. I have not tried walking her on a leash but she never runs off when I walk her to the mail box. She travels well in a car and is just an easy girl to take places. The vet thinks she is 8-10 years old. She was left in the humane society's overnight drop and has been nursed back to health. She had a mass removed and is doing great! I would love to see her go to a home with an older person content to sit and love her. Or a couple that travels in an RV. Although she does well with my children she is not a kid dog... she doesn't play fetch or chase a stick. She's a great older dog who has many more happy years ahead..

If you are the forever home that sweet Darcy has been waiting on please fill out an application today.

The Longest Long Weekend EVER!

2007-09-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

The title pretty much sums up how I feel about this weekend. It was fun but man, am I ever tired!!!

Friday night I went over to my mom's friend's house who has been to China many many times to get some advice on my trip. She is the founder of Annabelle's Wish - a charity that aids Chinese orphans. We talked for hours and she showed me photos from her trips to the orphanages. It is truly heart breaking to see the conditions these poor children live in. My friends and I are going to be taking boxes of supplies over to mail to the orphanages once we are inside China since the postage is so much more if they are shipped from state side. Please take a minute to check out their website and especially their wish list.

Then on Saturday John and I attended the wedding of some good friends, Shouvik and Anu. I had never been to an Indian Wedding before. It was incredibly beautiful. John took a ton of pics. Here are some of my favorites:

***WARNING - PHOTO OVERLOAD***

Then Sunday I got up bright and early and drove to Jackson to pick up Bart and Barcley for their transport to Nashville. And this is when I discovered that my Jeep was dead :( It seems that it's probably a problem with the battery terminal again, but really, should I need to replace the battery terminals every 4 months?!?! I don't think so!! Thankfully it went dead at home this time and John was here so I was able to use his car.

Then last night we went to the reception for Shouvik and Anu which was also incredibly beautiful. I am so happy for them both. Hopefully we can get together when they return from their honeymoon.

And after we left the reception, we went to yet another wedding reception - this time for one of John's uncles. It was great visiting with his family and the food was wonderful. I wanted to get some pics but by this time we were so tired it was all we could do to sit and eat, LOL!!

So now it is Monday at 12:39pm and I am just now finishing getting caught up on all my online duties. I think I shall lay on the couch for the entire rest of the day!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-08-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's time for another edition of Want Me Wednesday! This week I have the pleasure of highlighting two pugs that I am personally involved with. Bart and Barcley are being transferred from the heavily overloaded Homeward Bound Pug Rescue of Oklahoma to Kentuckiana Pug Rescue and I get to help with transfer. Without further ado here they are:

Bart

I have been up for adoption for 38 days. Bart is a beautiful boy who is around three years old. He is a nice looking fellow with a sweet personality. He loves to roll around on his back and is waiting for that special family to come along that won’t leave him outside again. Bart is a bit dominant so would do best as an only child or a mild mannered brother or sister. He does love attention. We are working on sharing and he is coming along fine. Bart would make a great addition to some loving family. He is very loyal and just wants a home to call his own.

Barcley

I have been up for adoption for 38 days. Barcley is a cute little guy and is most likely three or four years old. He really isn’t sticking his tongue at you!!That tongue is out most of the time and he is just too cute for words. Barcley likes nothing better than to sit on your lap in the evening and soak up lots of love and attention. He gets along great with all the other pugs in his foster home but would prefer a submissive brother and sister as he likes to be top pug. He is lots of fun to have around as he has a great personality. Barcley is waiting patiently for his special family to take him home.

If you are the family one or both of these precious boys have been waiting on please contact Kentuckiana Pug Rescue, Homeward Bound Pug Rescue, or both!!

New Music

2007-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well I was going to post some super cute pics of my friend Chasity's dog Izzy but that will have to wait for another say since Blogger isn't letting me upload photos right now **ERRRGGG!**

Instead I will share with you some new music I bought this weekend that is making me very happy! First off I got some excellent new running music - the latest from Tiesto called Elements of Life. I require a good beat to keep me running and this is doing the trick!

The second CD I bought is more mellow/scrapy kinda music. It's an old CD from Elliot Smith - XO. I listened to a lot of Elliot Smith in high school and have just been "rediscovering" him lately.

Hope you all had a wonderful Monday!

Scrapathalon Week #7

2007-08-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

The Scrapathalon challenge this week was to do a LO with a time theme and you must use clocks. I won the poll votes and the judges votes!! I can't believe it!! I didn't even really like this LO, I thought it was too busy!! I'm on cloud nine!

Tagged!

2007-08-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

I was tagged this week by my friend Amber M.! The tag is to post seven random things about me. Here goes!

1) My favorite place to be in the whole world is my bedroom. This could mean I'm lazy, or maybe just sleepy. I'll let you decide.

I took these pics of it a few weeks ago:

2) I can't stand for my food to touch. It just ruins it for me. I like all of my flavors to be savored individually.

3) Top of my "list" - you know that list - is Keanu Reeves. Ever since Bill and Ted I've just loved that vacant look.

4) Typing is painful right now b/c I got my vaccinations shots today for China. OUCH!

5) Flying makes me nervous but I love to travel so I try to hide my fear.

6) Zebra print rocks my world.

and

7) I love to visit New York City for pleasure, but working there sucks!

Whew! That was a lot harder than it should have been!!!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-08-22T15:55:00.001-07:00

Today's Want Me Wednesday features are two pugs up for adoption through Pugalug Rescue of Canada. These two are such sweethearts and I know the perfect home for them is out there. If you are in the Toronto Area or know of a kind soul who is, please consider adopting one of both of these babies.

MooToo:

Mootoo's story:
Mootoo is a very people oriented dog. She is not interested in other dogs at all. Motto loves to snuggle up very close and gives great kisses..... all over your face and neck. She does not like to give up once she has started - often enjoying a little wrestle while wriggling on her back as you play- her little tail wags constantly as she plays with you. Mootoo never plays with the other dogs and would be far happier if they simply were not there. She is eating Innova Evo 1/3 cup morning and night with a teaspoon of wet food mixed in. The wet is usually grain-free as well but sometimes has some brown rice or barley and there are no problems with her diet. Mootoo has soft silky fur that is a pleasure to pat and snuggle into.
Mootoo is very gentle with people but can be aggressive with other dogs and would be best as an only dog. She is jealous of the others seeking attention and they likely startle her a bit if they come up suddenly on her "blind side". Mootoo has gotten in the tub with me on a couple of occasions - her choice simply climbing in uninvited, but sitting quietly and not minding the water. She hates having her nails trimmed, crying and carrying on something awful so her nails are often longer than one would like. Mootoo does not have any problems meeting new people or children but is small and rather delicately put together, smaller children being a bit rough could hurt her. She seems comfortable around them outside but prefers adults or older kids and is more responsive with them.

Mootoo is not excessively active in the house prefering to snuggle and play quietly while laying on or next to you on the couch. She really enjoys sleeping in the big bed with us, but would really like to not have the other dogs there. She likes to cuddle close under the covers. She likes to go for casual walks and is always ready to go outside with you. Mootoo is a very accommodating little girl in general, playing gently with you, cuddling quietly, never barks, walks nicely, not demanding and not crazy busy. She would be a wonderful girl for someone who wanted to spend quiet simple times with her giving her the attention she needs so much and having you all to herself. We generally take the dogs out for 4 or so walks a day for about 15 - 30 mins each. Mootoo likes to have "pee breaks" every few hrs and it would be best if she is not left home alone for too many hrs each day. She can certainly hold it for 3 or 4 hrs but 6 or 8 would be a stretch.

She would be happy laying at your feet all day if you worked at home. Mootoo is a real sweetheart for a special family to love her and make her feel secure.

Harley:

Harley's Story:
Harley is a beautiful male neutered 4 year old pug. He is very loving, happy, and affectionate. He is great with kids and other dogs. He is almost house trained but still has the odd accident. Harley sleeps on our bed. He can be a bit of a barker----when he is happy, wants to be fed, when he gets up in the morning on his way outside before breakkie.
He can't be crated at all. He gets very stressed. He also has a bit of separation anxiety. He can be a little aggressive around food and toys with other dogs. He is great with people. He is very social and wants to be where you are or hanging with the other dogs. Harley is getting very good at recalls too. He has a lot of potential for training. He is very athletic and would be great at agility

And speaking of Harley, my friend Amber U. adopted an adorable Pug mix named Harley this week from our local shelter. I am so happy for Harley and his new family. If you get a minute go leave her some love on her blog for choosing to rescue a dog (aka SAVE A LIFE!!!).

Scrapathalon Week #6

2007-08-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Voting ended yesterday so I can share my LO now! This week's challenge was to use only brown colored cardstock - no patterend paper - and as many embellishments as possible. Here's what I came up with:

Look what I found!!!!

2007-08-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

Since the scrapathalon for the week isn't over until Sunday, I'm going to bore you with my latest shopping find. I went to my local Thrift Smart this week at lunch and look at the treasure I found!!

It's an early 1950s Royal Quiet Deluxe portable Typewriter. And it even came with the owner's manual!

Yes it's a little dirty and a little rusty, but for $5.99 I had to have it. It reminds me so much of the typewriter at my great grandmothers that I used to play with when I was a little girl. Love it!!

Tips for Running in HOT weather

2007-08-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

With all the hot weather we've been experiencing - it's been over 100 everyday for almost 3 weeks now - I thought it would be a good idea to go over some tips for exercising in extreme heat. Hope you find these tips helpful!

* Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!!!

One of the biggest risks in hot weather is the risk of dehydration. You should always be sure to drink plenty of water, but at no point is this more important that during the dog days of summer. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids throughout the day, 30-45 minutes before your run, and then every 15-20 minutes during your run. Most experts recommend you drink 6-8 ounces of water for every 20 minutes you run. Sports drinks and gels are also a popular way to keep your electrolytes in balance while running. I try to alternate Gatorade and water throughout my work out to keep a healthy balance.

*If you haven't been running, now's not the time to start

If you have been procrastinating getting out there and running all summer long now is NOT the time to start on an outdoor course. I'm not saying you shouldn't start running at all, just perhaps a treadmill is a better option at this point. One of the biggest reasons that people suffer from heatstroke is simply that they are exerting themselves unusually hard in extreme heat situations. Don't let heatstroke happen to you! If you are a beginner, start now on the treadmill and bring it outside once September rolls around.

*Watch the Weather before your run

If the temperature is above 98.6 and the humidity is 70-80% do not run outdoors. Simply consider this a cross training day and go for a swim or pat yourself on the back and wait for tomorrow.

* Schedule Your Run for the Coolest Part of the Day

Generally the coolest time of the day is early morning. If you must run outside during the hottest days of the summer, get up early and get in your run before the sun comes up (and don't forget your reflective gear - but that's a whole other subject!).

* Listen to Your Body

Should you become dizzy, nauseous, chilled, ect STOP RUNNING AND SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION!! These are some of the common signs of heat stroke. As runners it is always important to listen to your body but this is especially true when dealing with extreme heat.

Sources: http://www.runnersrescue.com/Summer_Running_Tips.htm
http://www.rrca.org/news/index.php?article=2204

Want Me Wednesday

2007-08-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today's featured pug is King. King is actually being fostered by a puggie friend of mine through Kentuckiana Pug Rescue. Here's what one of my pug friends has to say about this sweet fellow:

King is a beautiful 2 year old (approximately) fawn, that had a tough time before he came to KPR. With the help of some loving, patient fostering, he is now enjoying life and has become a fun loving and happy guy!

King is comfortable in his crate, although he much prefers to sleep on the big bed with his humans and be a part of the family. King is housebroken, but due to some trauma to his hip/pelvic area in his previous life, when he gets excited around his humans, he does have a little leakage issue. He is making progress on this and just needs a patient, loving person to continue to work with him.

King loves to spend time out of doors in the morning or early evening with his human family and furry siblings as long as the weather isn’t extreme. King gets along great with everyone he meets and is quite eager to make new friends. He will make a wonderful addition to his forever family and the love you will receive from this guy is priceless!

Now doesn't he just sound like a doll?!? I know a lot of my readers are from the middle TN area and Kentuckiana is not far away at all! Could you be the family that sweet King has been searching for?? If so please fill out an application today.

Ice Ice Baby!!

2007-08-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last night a new bar opened up in downtown Nashville and they hired none other than Vanilla Ice to host the opening weekend party. I was totally stoked to meet him! I am happy to report he was a really nice guy! He posed for pics and partied with everybody all night. It was awesome! Here are some pics from our night!

And before we left we partied with Abe Lincoln for a bit - he's a regular in the Nashville bar scene!

Scrapathalon Week #5

2007-08-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Week 5 was a tough one in the scrapathalon. This week the challenge was to complete 4 layouts based on the theme 867-5309. The catch was the 4 layouts could only include 8 patterned papers, 6 ribbons, 7 photos, 5 visual triangles, 3 numerical references, 1 word "OH", and 9 pieces of chipboard. This may not sound so bad, but to a girl who uses pp and chipboard like it's going out of style it was quite challenging. Anyway, here are my 4 LOs!!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-08-08T16:36:00.001-07:00

Today as I was browsing rescue sites to choose this week's "Want Me Wednesday" pug, I stumbled upon Pug Rescue of North Carolina and the story of Tinkerbell. I've heard quite a few rescue horror stories, but hers just about broke my heart.

Owner Surrender; April 4, 2007

Reason: Owner stated she was surrendering Tinkerbell because she was aggressive toward her older blind dogs. No previous medical record could be obtain, the owner could only state to me a friend gave her Tinkerbell and promised medical records but was never given them.

Visual Evaluation upon surrender: Appearance clean, coat soft to the touch, general health appeared to be good. No aggression seen toward other dogs, was more scared of them and would run and hide Very timid and scared of humans and would also run and hide. Would not eat well.

Vet evaluation: As he shaved one area he would see more and more lesions; severe bacterial infection of the skin, fungus present, and she seemed in severe pain when you touch her skin. Suspected some kind of severe burns which penetrated through several layers of her skin from either, chemicals, hot grease, boiling hot water etc....

Aggressive treatment to follow the next 30 days: Major antibiotics for 30 days, bath twice a week in Malaseb, LymDyp dips every 10 days, animax ointment applied daily.

This is just the beginning of her story. To read her horrible tale of skin graphs, infections, and see some graphic photos of Tinkerbell's injuries click on her name - otherwise just trust me when I say it's bad.

If you are the loving home that poor Tinkerbell has been looking for please fill out an application today. And if not, please consider making a donation to help cover the cost of her medical care.

Check it out!!

2007-08-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

I've been considering starting a challenge blog for a while now. Today someone left a bracelet on my desk(you know one of those plastic, live-strong types) and it said "The Time Is Now." You don't have to tell me twice :) Please check it out when you can. I'll post our first challenge on Thursday night.

Hip Hop Hooray

And just for fun here is my latest puggie LO. It's one of the LOs I finished at the crop on Saturday.

This is 26

2007-08-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

and it's not as bad as I expected :)

Yep today's my birthday. I had joked all last week that I was getting ready to turn 25 again. John brought me home a birthday cake and a sweet card and suddenly it didn't seem quite so bad!

I also had a fabulous pre-birthday weekend. Saturday I cropped with Amber, Amber, and Stacey. I had so much fun and cannot wait until the next one. Here is a photo Amber Ulmer's mom took of all the gals at our table, C/O Amber's blog:

Then on Sunday Dad took John and I to dinner for our birthdays and anniversary. John took this pic of me and my (not so) little brothers.

Where has the time gone?? I cannot believe that this time next year I'll be seeing Matthew (the older one) off to college.

All this talk of me getting older and my brothers growing up really has me thinking back to the reason we scrap. We scrap to remember days like this. My friend Tiffany gave me a birthday card with something to the effect of "in 10 years you'll never believe you were this young" written inside. Thanks to scrapping I hope that I will be able to remember, and just by flipping a few pages in my scrapbook I'll be able to recall exaclty how it felt to be 26. Exactly how it felt to be alive at this very moment.

Scrapathalon Week 4 and Exciting News!!

2007-08-03T17:50:00.001-07:00

This was week 4 of the scrapathalon. The theme was Promises, Promises and the style was graphic. There is hidden journaling behind the photo that reads: Nanny –
When you died I promised that I would never forget you and I never will. You walked down the isle with me in the form of your broach, but more importantly you walk with me everyday through the values you instilled in me. I love you and miss you but I know I will see you again one day.

On to the Exciting News part!!! I got tagged by my scrap-idol Martha as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! FUN!!

I nominate Shrimp (yes this is a shameless ploy to get you blogging again, he he he), Tracey, Amanda, Chasity, and another (awesome)Amber!!

Speaking of Ambers, I get to meet two tomorrow!!! I'm going to the Scrap It! meet-up group crop and am going to meet Amber M. and Amber U. there! I can't wait! I'll be sure to post some pics.

And last but not least - I am this week's guest artist at (scr)apropos!! I'm totally stoked about it!! Check it out if you get a chance!!

Announcement!

2007-08-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hang on folks, this is going to be a long one!!

I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting this news!

I would like to introduce you to my new baby - the Nikon D40x.

Isn't she cute?!? John gave her to me for my birthday/our anniversary.

As I mentioned yesterday, John and I are back from San Diego. We had a wonderful trip! The city is just beautiful and the weather could not have been better. Sunny and warm, but not humid. Perfect!

We arrived on Saturday and after a quick stop at Tiffany and Sarah's house, we headed to the beach - which is only a few blocks from their house!!! HEAVEN!! After we soaked up some rays and took a quick dip on the ocean (brrr!!), we headed to Carlsbad to meet up with one of my Pugvillage friends Kendie and her husband Karl. They were every bit as nice in person as they are online. I am so glad we had the chance to meet up. Here's a pic:

Then on Sunday Tiffany took us over to Balboa park so we could play around with my new camera. That park has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Between the architecture and the plant life, there are endless photo opps! Here is a small sample of some of the pictures we took:

Since Sunday was our one year anniversary we got a hotel room for the night and when we reached the front desk we were greeted by this sign. I almost fell out on the floor laughing (BTW that's John's first name).

Monday we got up early and headed back to Balboa park, but to the zoo this time. What a fantastic Zoo!! We saw Polar bears playing, Panda Bears doing back flips, Tigers eating lunch, and much much more. Here are a few of the photos we took of all the great animals:

Then Monday night Tiffany took us over to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset and have dinner. We took a few pics of our last night in San Diego:

Thank you so much Tiffany for being our tour guide and letting us stay with you. We had a wonderful time and I can't wait to see you again in September!!!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-08-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back from San Diego just in time for another edition of Want Me Wednesday. This week the featured pug is Praline with Alabama Pug Rescue. A petite little thing, she could be just the pug you've been looking for! Here's what the people at APR have to say about her:

Praline is as tiny as can be at 11 pounds. She came to us with a horrible skin condition and with anxiety chewing. She is so much better now (but you can expect little holes in the toes of your socks at times!). She is very sensitive to weather changes and will have to be monitored for upper respiratory infections. That said, this adorable little sweetheart was born to be "lap bound" at all times. We estimate Praline to be approximately two years old. If you are interested in Praline, please start the process by completing an application.

As always, if you think you are the forever home that sweet Praline has been waiting for, fill out an application today!

And I promise I'll give you all the scoop on San Diego tomorrow!

Scrapathalon Week #3

2007-07-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for week three of the scrapathalon - the challenge this week was based on Harry Connick Jr's Recipe for Love. Make a layout featuring a recipe for something other than food.

And for any of you thinking about doing a LO for my iTunes challenge I'm giving you an extra week because I forgot I'm going to San Diego tomorrow for a while so I won't have time to get out your RAK.

Notice a theme yet?

2007-07-26T18:13:00.003-07:00

Want Me Wednesday

2007-07-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

This week's "Want Me Wednesday" spotlight is on Baby, a sweet 7 year old Fawn pug up for adoption through PugHearts Pug Rescue of Houston, TX. Here is what their website has to say about this doll:

Baby is a 7 year old fawn female. She is up to date on her vaccinations and is heartworm negative. She has been microchipped as well. She will be spayed prior to adoption. Baby is an owner surrender due to family changes. She is housebroken and gets on well with other pugs.

Poor Baby came to us with severely neglected teeth. She underwent surgery to have some extracted and it was found that she had an infection that had intruded into her jawbone. She had extensive surgery to remove the infected sections. She is recovering well and is finishing a course of antibiotics. She is otherwise good health.

Do not be fooled by Baby's age – she is no shy, retiring grandma! This little lady just adores toys and attention! She's even become quite adept at stealing toys from her younger foster sister. And she enjoys the occasional tail-chasing too. But when the time comes, she's quick to jump up on the sofa and cuddle in front of the TV. She's quite a little lover-girl!

If Baby is just the "baby" you've been waiting for, please fill out an adoption application today.

PugHearts has so many pugs on their website in need of loving forever homes that I had a really difficult time choosing just one to spotlight today. If you have a moment, please visit their adoption page and consider adopting one of these angels.

P.S. She looks an awful lot like my Dora!

Scrapathalon Week #2

2007-07-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

This week our challenge was to scrap our favorite song. I had already scrapped my very favorite song for Chasity's circle journal so I did my own take on it and scrapped the last iTune I downloaded. Here's my LO!

And I would like to extend the challenge to you. Scrap a LO with the title of the last iTune (or other form of music/CD/ect), post the link here between now and next Friday and I'll send a prize to my favorite LO!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-07-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I've already featured a pug from Southeast Pug Rescue, but I was browsing their adoption list the other day and this guy just captured my heart. Would you just look at that face?!?!? If that is not the face of unconditional love then I don't know what is. And my TN friends - he's being fostered here!! Isn't that just great?? Here's what the people at SEPRA have to say about this sweetheart:

Hi, everyone… my name is Boggie! I am a 10 year old boy. The people who surrendered me on 7/4/07 only had me for 2 months. They got me from someone who is a backyard breeder & used me for years to make pug puppies. When I wasn't breeding anymore, they just gave me away. :( So, I haven't ever really known what it's like to just be a member of the family until I came into foster care. Now that I am in foster care, I jump on my foster mom's lap every single time she sits down & I love to go for little walks. She doesn't even leash me! I just trot along behind her. She stops a lot to give me pets so I want to be sure I'm close by when she does!

The other day, she took me to the vet & I had horrible ear mites! The doctor must have used 20 q-tips cleaning out all the black gunk from my ears! I'm on ear mite medicine now for that & it's almost gone. I can't remember ever having my ears cleaned before that day! My ears were so itchy that when they used the medicine, I kicked my leg like they were scratching my tickle spot! I know that I am an elderly gentleman, but I'm not going to give up hope that there is someone out there who will be able to love me in my golden years. I have had a rotten life. Can't you show me what it's like to be loved? Oh, my foster mom wants to talk now….

NOTE FROM FOSTER MOM – Boggie came into foster care VERY overweight. He is now on weight management food & being more active so he is getting down to a reasonable weight at a good pace. Because of that, & probably because of being left out in the heat for most of his life, he has a hard time breathing. (Probably a soft palate issue). My vet doesn't think that Boggie could withstand being under anesthesia to be neutered. So, he is intact. This is VERY unusual for SEPRA to be adopting out a pug who is not neutered & so we will take extra care to be sure that all other animals in the adoptive home are fixed. Boggie has been used for his whole life to just make more pugs that need homes & we won't stand for the possibility that he'd be used again. He must go to a special family who will just love him forever.

If Boggie is just the puggy you've been waiting for, please fill out an application today.

Bugs - Does a Body Good?

2007-07-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've finally settled back into a regular running routine and while running through swarms of gnats (pesky little creatures) I pondered what, if any, nutritional value they held. I wasn't able to specifically find gnats, but through the power of Google I bring to you the Insect Nutritional Table. YUM!

More Race Pics!

2007-07-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Yes I realize the marathon was months ago, however, my Dad just figured out how to get his pics off the camera and into the computer, LOL!! Here are the pics from his camera.

Dad approaching the finish line

My brother Matt carrying me from the medic tent to my medal - note the duck tape...only at the country music marathon would they bandage people with duck tape.

John and I with our medals

Dad, me, and John after lunch

Scrapathalon Week #1

2007-07-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided to join the scrapathalon challenge on SB.com. The scrapathalon is a 10-week series of challenges each based on a song title. This week's challenge was based on The Jackson 5's "ABCs." Each scrapper was required to complete a LO using all 26 letters on the Alphabet in order. And since there were 3 letters in the song title, you had to include at least 3 different types of letters in your LO. I used a combo of chipboard, stickers, rub-ons, plastic, and hand written letters. It was great fun and there were lots of great LOs submitted. I can't wait to get started on this week's challenge!

A Workout for your Brain

2007-07-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

I know many of you listen to your iPod during your runs, but did you know that now you can work out your brain while you work out your body?!? My friend Amanda alerted me to the wealth of language study Podcasts available. They have everything from Spanish to Tagalog. I just downloaded a semester's worth of Mandarin Chinese lessons to brush up on before my trip to China in September. What a fantastic new way to pass the time during your next run!

Want Me Wednesday

2007-07-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hooray!!! The titles are back! And just in time for me to bring you our latest installment of want me Wednesday. Today our featured pug is Bear. Bear is up for adoption through Pug Rescue of Florida. Here's what they have to say about this handsome fella:

This is Bear, a 7 year old male pug. Bear's foster mom says that he has adjusted well to his new surroundings. He gets along well with his foster brother and sister as well as Miss Kitty. He is very active but well behaved. He is housetrained for the most part. He did mark a bit when he first came in and then once or twice since. He walks well on a leash and is good in a crate. He is a beautiful smoke color, therfore Bear is a great name for him like "Smokey the Bear". He is slowly starting to recognize his name and is responding to "Bear" when called.... He has an adorable face, his ears are set sideways which gives him a sort of neat look. He is affectionate, and like all the others, he has a way of growing on you.. He is due to have his stitches removed from his chest and neuter site on Monday. 6-04-07.

If you are the family Bear has been looking for please fill out an application today!

2007-07-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Booo still no titles!! Blogger gods, do you realize this is enough to make a girl wanna go typepad?!?

2007-07-07T21:29:00.001-07:00

**Whine**

I've got bronchitis AGAIN! This is the second time in only a few months. Blech. It's causing me a serious amount of lost sleep b/c when I lay down the coughing gets worse. And now everytime I've tried to update my blog lately, I can't put in a title. Errgg! It must be a bug in the blogger program b/c it's the same way over on the Scissor Sisters Scrapblog I post to on Saturdays. And yes, I would like a little cheese with my whine :)