Double Trouble / March Playlist

I mentioned in my last post that I might be adopting a Special Needs kitty. Well... He's home!

Meet Marshall Lee. He's a cuddly cat who likes to knead on your chest and give kisses on your face. Marshall came in through a confiscation case. There's only so much medical we can do at the shelter so when it became apparent that he had some sort of issue with his back legs, he wasn't able to be an adoption candidate. I waited to see if a rescue would step forward. They didn't. Knowing how sweet he was, I knew he deserved a second chance. So instead of being euthanized, he came home with us a few days ago after being neutered. Today was his first appointment with my vet. Speculation is either back trauma or neurological issues. Even if we spend an arm and a leg for x-rays, we wouldn't be able to fix him if the bones have healed wrong. That's if the x-rays even picked up anything. Neurological problems are very costly and hard to diagnose. So what we all decided was to leave him be. He can walk and jump (he just does the Bambi on ice thing where his back legs splay out or don't catch up with his front). He eats, drinks, and goes to the bathroom normally. He's just a little on the wobbly side. Unless his condition or quality of life worsens, he's happy to live his life as normal as possible.

Marceline wasn't so sure about him at first. Oh wait... You remember her right? This was the little kitten we ended up keeping last year when I fostered a litter. She's grown quite a bit since then and she's a handful. Her favorite activities are wrestling with Quiche and watching us shower. Her obsession with water is very strange. Also, you get cool points if you get the reference on their names!

Anyways, she was curious about her male doppelgänger the first couple of days but would hiss when he came up to her. Luckily Marshall is an easygoing fellow and just ignored her. The easiest way to intro cats is to make sure they both have separate safe areas where they can be kept away from each other. I only ever let them socialize when I was there to supervise. If Marceline became agitated, I removed her from him and tried as much as possible to end any interactions on a positive. Introducing cats can be harder to do then dogs, that's for sure. It's really important to try and find a suitable personality match before even adopting. The last three days, they have been spending time together and greeting each other properly. It went easier then I thought it would to be honest. 

So we are very happy to have another addition to the pack. That makes 3 dogs, a foster dog, 2 cats, 2 finches, a rat, and a hedgehog. WHEW. Quite the menagerie we have! I think it's safe to say our animal family is complete for awhile.

I also thought I would end this post with a playlist of songs I've been listening to on repeat lately. Sometimes I can go months without listening to new music. However I've been coming across a lot of good stuff lately and wanted to share it with everyone. I've already got some of my coworkers hooked!

 

Snapshots Lately 3/14/17

How's it going everyone? It's eventful as always over here. It's barely Spring but already feels like summer which means I'm layering on the sunscreen and overheated after every playgroup but it's worth it! I'll be honest, most of these photos are a few weeks to a month old. My phone had an untimely accident with my bubble bath and I'm waiting for my replacement to come in. So older photos will have to do.

The shelter is busy as always, spring means puppy and kitten season. We had a newborn bull terrier puppy dropped off not too long ago (who I'm babysitting above). She was the sweetest thing and born with a deformity where she is missing her front legs. She's luckily gone to a rescue and seems to be doing really well! I also celebrated a year of working at the shelter (feels like so much longer!) , cuddled a variety of cute pitties, and we made Quiche an official part of the family on Valentine's Day. She even got her own photo shoot to celebrate!

To drive my boyfriend even more nuts... It looks like I'm adopting a special needs cat within the next few days. Don't worry, we are still at legal limit with our pack of animals and this little guy couldn't find a rescue which means if I didn't take him, nobody would. Johnny's really ok with it, I swear! Since I've just come to realize that I gave Quiche more of an intro then I did for Marceline when we adopted her (and she came first!), I'll post something special for the cats of the family once he's here.

Sprocket is also still with us. It's turns out he has chronic heart failure and then gave us a very scary day when he had some kidney issues. However he is now spunky as can be and doing so well. Hopefully after his next checkup he will be adoptable but for now he remains as our single resident foster.

That's about all I think there is to catch up on for now! Hope everyone's enjoying the extra sunshine and longer days, I sure am!

Khalessi of Kittens

If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat (jraquel702), you might have noticed I took on a few more fosters. 4 to be exact. 4 more dogs? She must be crazy! Except these guys don't bark... They meow!

It's kitten season at the shelter which means that our cages overflow with nursing mothers or abandoned kittens that need help if they are going to survive. Now I'm primarily a dog person (if you couldn't tell) but I've been missing the presence of a cat ever since Sinatra passed away. I figured I could do my part and help out by fostering a litter. I have to say, it's been a totally different experience from fostering dogs but in a way it's a little simpler. My little guys were given to me around 5 weeks of age so they were already pretty self-efficient and using a litter box, eating canned and dry food, and starting to groom themselves. They still are a little stinky and sometimes miss the box and need an extra bath but for the most part they are really easy little guys. After day three of having them home, they already follow me around wherever I go or greet me at the kennel gate when I get home from work. I feel like Dany and her dragons.

As they have learned how to climb over the baby gate and I can't trust them alone with the dogs, they live in a large dog crate when they can't be supervised. When they are 8 weeks of age they will go back to the shelter to be vaccinated and adopted. This one little light gray girl though might just stay behind with us. She's definitely the ringleader, fearless and easy with the dogs. She's very affectionate and playful. Even Johnny said we could keep just one....

Consider fostering for your local shelter! It's a wonderful way of giving back and you can foster for as long as a few weeks to a few months. Fostering is one of my favorite parts of rescue and it's not limited to just dogs and cats. Find out more about fostering here and if you're in the Las Vegas area please check out how to foster with Animal Foundation.

HeArt's Speak Exposure Project

We just wrapped up Dogs Playing for Life workshops last week at the shelter. This week we had HeArt's Speak (which I'm proudly a member of) out here teaching some shelter photography workshops for those wanting to learn how to take photos and write better adoption bios. They also generously donated a camera and studio equipment for us to use, I don't always have to bring in my own camera now!

This is why the crickets have been chirping in my blog space, it's just been an incredibly draining few weeks. With all these workshops now wrapped up though, I can bring some attention back here and share some of the finer details. Here's just a glimpse of some of the photos I captured in the two days of the Exposure Project. I spent a little more time playing with the soft boxes and backdrop since studio lighting isn't something I'm accustomed to using. I also focused on the cats, it's a nice change of pace since I'm typically photographing dogs 90% of the time.

These guys are all still for adoption. However little Raquel below (we bonded over the shared name) has gone to her new home!

Snapshots Lately

Crazy how April just flew by! May is looking to be even more jam-packed. The Humane Society of the United States is coming to Vegas for a conference and will be throwing a bunch of workshops at my shelter which is going to keep us insanely busy but I'm looking forward to it. Lot's of good changes are in the works.

Some things happening lately:

+ I got my car fixed only to have to bring it in for a recall, so I'll have a rental car for a few weeks.
+ Johnny and I went to the County Fair a few weeks ago. I ate so much and we rode the Ferris Wheel in the rain.
+ I've been thrifting a lot on my days off and finding some great stuff.
+ Some of my favorite dogs ever have been coming through the shelter and getting adopted. We also have wolves (!) currently from a confiscation case which might be one of the craziest things I've seen thus far.
+ I bought Murderface a new pool and he is loving it. Something to keep his mind off his healing hot spots.
+ We have had our foster Stassi for a few weeks and she's definitely out of her shy stage. However she resource guards food, high value treats, and space from me and the dogs. She also has separation anxiety as we found out yesterday when she broke out of her crate and tore up the carpet in our bedroom. Notice how pleased she looks with herself after all that. Sigh. So we will be trading in fosters as our schedule won't work right now with a dog with those issues. New foster comes tomorrow.

Snapshots Lately

It's been a whirlwind week. We have been running a promotion at the shelter so while some long time dogs got adopted (yay!) it also brings crazy situations into play. We had a dog fight yesterday which always takes a toll on everyone and then I got into a car accident on the way home from work. So that really sucks.

However.

The good stuff that happened this week:
+ The finches moved into a bigger cage! Makes me so happy to see them have more space.
+ I wrangled a rooster for an adopter and it surprisingly went well.
+ Dinner last night with Johnny at my favorite sushi place to make up for my bad day.
+ Bambi got adopted! She had been at the shelter for a long time so that made me happy.
+ I haven't had a chance to work on images from WPPI but I'm seeing some posted from other photographers and I'm itching to start.
+ I finally painted my desk that will go in my office space. It's called Griege (Gray/Beige) and I'll probably share that in a future post.
+ There's some big changes coming to the shelter and some of them I'm involved with! I can't share anything just yet until the formal announcement comes but I'm very excited for it.
+ I'm also sprucing up my photography business and I'm in love with my new logo!

Camels & Lace

I've been so sick you guys. The doctor thinks it could have started as allergy problems that turned into a virus or just a mix of both. Either way, life hasn't been so fun for me for the past six days. However, it didn't stop me from attending the Cactus & Lace WPPI shootout in the Valley of Fire. I'll be sharing more about it in a later post once I've edited more photos but I had to share just one for now because it was that amazing. I mean.... WE HAD A CAMEL. A REAL LIFE CAMEL. One of the best stylized shoots I've ever been a part of!

Hands down, the highlight of my day was petting him and feeding him carrots. His name was Siyed by the way and he was HUGE.

Stay tuned for more on the shootout or follow me on Instagram or Facebook for sneak peeks!

Jameson & Ginger

If you follow me on Instagram then you know that Johnny and I have two little additions to our family. Meet Jameson (brown) and Ginger (white). I've never ever owned a bird before, they always kind of freaked me out. So I was just as surprised as anyone when I'm suddenly heading home with two birds in a cage. I just can't help myself apparently when it comes to pets, I see them and suddenly I black out and when I get home... We have a new friend. At least this time Johnny was partly to blame.

Our new little birds are finches. The brown is a Society finch and the white a Zebra finch. When I was a kid, my grandparents would take me to San Diego and we would stay in a hotel called the Horton Grand. I loved that hotel and the lobby had a huge aviary filled with finches. It's something I've never forgotten. Parrots are frightening so these little songbirds will do just fine.

As far as we can tell from researching online, they both seem to be females since they don't really sing and just chirp a lot. They are also extremely messy eaters which I wasn't completely prepared for but no biggie. Just another reason to think outside the box and come up with something creative to keep the seeds off the floor.

I'm an expert on dogs but completely out of my element with these guys so I'm honestly learning as I go. I'm looking to get them a bigger cage since they fly horizontally and vertical cages aren't great for that. They also aren't very hands-on birds but I've seen some videos of tamed finches so I'm hoping patience and time will bring them around.

I'm also trying to figure out if I should leave them outside in the shaded patio during the days when we are at work. They really enjoy being outside (big surprise) and I think it would help separate them from the dogs when nobody is here until I can trust them. They are sweet little things and I'm already quite fond of them and their little sounds.

 Any advice fellow bird lovers for a bird newb?

Snapshots Lately

Spring is in the air! I've been making the most of the wonderful weather on my days off. Some much needed date nights/brunches with Johnny, we saw Deadpool and tried out a new breakfast place called Kitchen Table that I would highly recommend. My grandmother and I started planning and planting my garden space in the backyard. A few rosebushes, lilac bush, and some small flowers to start as my gardening experience is zero to none. I have HUGE plans for a lush green Englandesque garden (as much as Vegas weather and soil will allow) and plenty of space to work with. We also went hiking today and it was perfect. Murderface got to swim at our secret spot and there were a bunch of mating butterflies in the air, a few even landed on our hands! We also discovered some little frogs which I had never been able to find before and the burros came to say hello as we were leaving. Pretty magical.

Work has been great since the last promo ended, back to a slower pace when we can focus more time on socializing with the dogs. I've been spending a lot of time with the older ones and also seeing who enjoys time in the pool. Nothing makes me laugh more than a happy pup in a kiddie pool.

On my days off, I'm usually still fitting in some work time with photo shoots and the last two weeks have been no different. Two boudoir shoots (which are turning out amazing and I can't wait to share, hope the cat tides you over for now), a family shoot, and mini senior session. All this and I'm going to take on another foster dog on top of the one I already have (story to come) and still need to work on fixing up the house. Johnny has given me the go ahead to do whatever I like with our bedroom and I want a really chill bohemian vibe in there. So as you can see, lot's to keep me occupied. Wouldn't have it any other way!

You can always follow me on Instagram to see what I'm up to! I post a lot on there that I don't always get to share here.

How have you been enjoying the spring weather? I would also love your suggestions on places to shop for home decor... Urban Outfitters and Modcloth only get me so far and are pricey. 

Valentine

We found out a few weeks ago that Farley's skin issues were actually skin cancer. Testing shows it hasn't spread to his lymph nodes or lungs yet, that's the good news. The bad news is that surgery will be the only option to remove all the cancer. Surgery is going to be a full on penis amputation. It's something we have never dealt with before but Johnny and I plan on continuing being his foster parents no matter what. He's a sweet boy that deserves a second chance.

I know I'm a little behind but with a huge Valentine's promo running at the shelter, photo shoots, and Farley's issues... It's been distracting. We had a pretty quiet Valentine's Day since I had to work. It consisted of just a little candlelight dinner at home and then relaxing today after some shoots and a quick visit to Bad Owl coffee. It's going to be a new fav place, how can one not love a Harry Potter themed coffee shop that serves Lavender lattes?

HeARTs Speak

2016 is being very good to me. I'm a few weeks into my new job at the Animal Foundation and it already feels like I've been there forever. I love being an Adoption Counselor. My days just fly by because I'm always so busy. Giving advice to possible adopters, ferreting out information to make sure our animals are going to a good home, doing meet and greets to make sure that the dogs get along and it's a good fit. Basically all the stuff I was doing before for rescue but now I get paid for it. It's awesome.

I also finally got a response back from HeARTs Speak and I've been accepted as an Artist Member. I'm only the second photographer listed in Nevada so this is huge to me. HeARTs Speak is such an amazing organization and I'm honored to be a part of it and perhaps get some new opportunities to save even more lives.

Phoebe got to be my first HS portrait. She's a 16 yr old special needs Pomeranian who is being lovingly cared for in a hospice foster home. Even if she never gets adopted, she already has a wonderful forever home.

I also have a new foster pup! Iggy went into a trial home... With my Aunt & Uncle! It was such a good fit with the other dogs that none of us doubt it will be made official once the trial is up. That leaves room in my house for a new foster and Farley is such a sweet little thing. Beagle/Basset Hound/Pit is the estimated breed and we think about 3 yrs of age even though he acts like a baby. Once he is neutered and cleared medically (he has some skin issues we are dealing with), he will be ready for a new home!

I'm really starting to love my life, finally doing everything that I love to do!

2016 Goals & Resolutions

Photography Goals

- To start taking my camera EVERYWHERE with me. I don't know why I've always had this weird anxiety about what people think when I'm shooting randomly and not doing an actual paid shoot. For some reason I get this uncomfortable sense of judgement that people think I'm a tourist when I'm not. It's SO stupid and something I need to get over because I'm missing out on awesome opportunities when I leave my camera at home.

- Apply as a HeARTs Speak Artist. I've actually started on this right before Christmas when I sent in my application. This would be a huge deal for me regarding Animal Rescue Photography and I'm keeping my fingers crossed tightly. It takes up to 60 days for my application to be reviewed so wish me luck and send me good vibes!

- Take more photo risks. After moving out of state and back and focusing on other jobs, my business got neglected and I've had to rebuild my clientele. This year I'm hoping to spark my creative juices and step outside the box for projects even if it means doing trade work.

- Make new business cards/Rebuild clients. Pretty standard stuff, get this pony back on track.

- Start submitting my work to other blogs/contests/etc like I use to.


Blog Goals

- Consistently post regardless of how busy I am. Basically that's what happened last year and why I put the blog on the back burner. I really love Mocha Fox and having my little internet corner where I can shamelessly post photos of myself in outfits or share dog stuff and don't really get judged for it.

- Find sponsored work. I would love to be able to take Mocha Fox to the next level and offer sponsored work. So with that being said... I'm available!

- Save up for a more personal blog design. I'm broke. Like super broke. Everything I have goes into bills, photography business, and dog rescue. It doesn't really leave me a lot left over to splurge on things like a one of a kind blog design. It would be nice though so I'm going to start putting a couple bucks aside at a time to go towards getting my blog spruced up.

- Purchase a scanner/printer. This could go under photography goals as well since this would benefit both.

- Work on more interesting and personal posts. Self-explanatory.

Personal Goals/Resolutions

-Lose weight. I got into a funk last year and I won't lie, I totally turned to food a bit. I was my skinniest at 115lbs but most comfortable when I was at 119lbs. Unfortunately I'm now over 145lb and it shows. When I don't want to go out because none of my clothes fit the way they should and it's effecting my confidence, then I need to do something. I got a treadmill for Christmas (I lost a ton of weight before by just walking at an incline on the treadmill for an hour every 3-4 days) so my goal is to at least get back down to 120lb. I just need to find that motivation and put down the pasta!

-Fix up my office/photography space. Since I moved into our home, I've been avoiding the office space even though I have a ton of ideas for it. I plan on making the area where the closet was a photo space where I can hang backdrops and do indoor studio work. I also want to make it a bright area to do blogging, editing, and find motivation and be inspired. It's not the biggest room so it's going to take a little creativity to pull it all together and my first step tomorrow is figuring out how to refurnish my desk which will come up in a future blog post.

- Make time for dog rescue stuff that's not just photography. My old job left me so drained that I was barely able to even do photos for rescues when I use to do that and so much more. I want to get back into training and events and stuff like that. Also to continue learning and taking classes when the opportunities arise.

- Read more books. I was always such an avid reader and could read books in a single day. The library was my second home when I was a kid. Over the past few years, I struggle to find time to just sit down and get into a book. I need to make the time and instead of turning on the television, just read instead.

- Start saying yes instead of no. I use to be a very social butterfly but 2015 kind of turned me into a homebody. I need to start going out more, seeing my friends more, just doing more. I want to try to say yes more than I say no and that goes towards all opportunities, not just going out at night instead of staying home and watching Jeopardy. But I do love Jeopardy.

-Bake more! Cook more! I've become quite the little baker if I say so myself. I always excel at trying new Christmas cookie recipes during the holiday season but after I watched the Great British Bakeoff, I got inspired and started baking different stuff and then trying dinner recipes that I usually would find overwhelming and complex. I've had way more success than fails and hope to continue finding joy in my kitchen.

- Focus on my relationship and continue to grow. 2015 brought Johnny and I some major bumps. From long distance dating when I moved to Utah, the stress of living together and his whole family, losing jobs and gaining jobs and being pretty broke... We haven't really had much time to actually be a couple and do fun stuff together. Now that we have our own place and we both have just started new jobs (with better pay!) we can start actually having date nights again. We also plan on taking a trip soon as I haven't traveled in quite a few years (moving so doesn't count) and we have actually never taken a trip together as a couple. Which is crazy.

- Save more dogs! Always. Which brings up the pretty lady in the picture above. Dolly is 14 years young and as you can see... She's a classy lady. Dolly has just been cleared by our vet and is ready for a foster or forever home!

What's your major goal for 2016?

Snapshots Lately

We are loving our new home.

These are just a few snapshots from life lately in our cozy new abode.

I can't help myself. I'm already putting up a few things for Christmas, although I refuse to get the tree up until after Thanksgiving. I have some self control. I love these little reindeer lights I found at Target for $1 that already grace my mantel.

I really adore this open cupboard. I love displaying my favorite kitchen pieces and cookbooks in it. The little bird sketching I picked up today from the swap meet and seems to settle well in the kitchen space.

The quality of light is horrific in my closet since the fixture needs replacing, however I'm pleased with how this is shaping up. The hooks were already in the wall as well as the shelving so it was an easy decision (also prompted by sore lack of bathroom storage space) to make this a jewelry area. I'm working on staining a piece that will hold my earrings and will share that once it's finished.

I love our house that's really starting to feel like a home. I have a few projects in the works that I hope to start on during my next few days off and the hunt for a dining room table continues. Wish us luck!

Get Locked in Love. Get Jaxed.

I've started doing some photography for a new rescue that I really like and respect called

The Churchill Foundation.

They take on more medically challenging rescues and don't overwhelm themselves with animals so the ones under their care get as much attention, training, and care as they need. 

I love that. It's something that's hard to find in Vegas rescue.

Lock (above) is one of those medical dogs, he has heart defects and some allergy problems. While he is on medical hold for adoption (you can still send in applications if interested) and has to refrain from exercise... It hasn't put a damper on his spirit. 

Lock loves life.

Lock loves puppachinos from Dutch Bro's (which is my new fav coffee place)

Lock loves cuddling.

Lock loves exploring.

Lock loves car rides.

Lock loves you.

Lock is love.

Jax is another great guy from TCF that needs a foster or forever home.

His foster home fell through so he desperately needs a foster home asap.

Jax is one enthusiastic lively dude. He's just so much fun!

He's eager to please and picks up training on a dime. I had him primed for clicker training in the first ten minutes I spent with him. He loves water obsessively to the point that he would probably drown himself in a pool by swimming to death so he's on a training program to learn what moderation is. He would rather ride in the front seat next to you then in the back and loves to snuggle.

Both boys are neutered, up to date on vaccines, and micro-chipped.

I would appreciate anyone sharing these boys photos to help network them for wonderful homes.

Contact The Churchill Foundation for foster/adoption info and you can also follow them on Facebook!