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!

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. 

Snapshots Lately

I'm trying so hard to enjoy Christmas but it's been a little hard. Between my full time job, all the holiday photo shoots (December is always my photography busy season), and then trying to just keep up on the house and making Christmas gifts... I haven't had much time for myself or to just relax. That's why I switched shifts this weekend so I could finally get a Saturday off and spend time with Johnny and my friends to go play in the snow at the mountains and finish up some things I desperately need to catch up on. 

That's not to say that I'm not loving my time by the fireplace and the nostalgic warmth I get when I look at the Christmas tree after coming home after a long shift. Or when I see Murderface curled up in Jasper's bed even though it's ten times too small for him. Speaking of cute puppies... Wishbone never found her owner, she wasn't chipped or spayed so she has gone into the rescue I work for. We have a groomer who also foster's so she took Wishbone on for us and that's where she will stay till she finds her forever home. I loved having her here with us but she is very much a puppy. The other foster has more time to do stuff like potty training where I'm more of a medical/older foster dog household. 

I've been crafting up a storm as most of my gifts will be homemade this year. I saw this post on how to burn snowflakes into birch ornaments. I tried out a few owl sketches as well, these are so cute and personal! Not to mention that wood burning is pretty therapeutic. I've never been the best at drawing but with some practice I'm hoping to get better. 

Here's one of my owl ornaments now hanging on our tree. Also, my cute unicorn ornament from Gypsy Warrior finally came! I love it so much!

That wasn't the only Cyber Monday package I received this week. I recently discovered GracemereWoods, and she is amazingly talented. I wish I could carve and paint half as good as she can. You might say I'm having a small obsession with wood ornaments lately and that's ok. We all have our vices. Now I own these amazing pieces and can't wait to add more to my collection. She also included a sweet handwritten note which is always a lovely gesture.

Wrapping things up, another reason I'm making sure to take some added days off is that I'm starting to feel that rescuer burnout. Yesterday we had a family come in with their 12 yr old dog that was suffering from pyometra. Pyo's happen when a female dog is not spayed and the uterus becomes infected. It's very serious and without immediate surgery the animal faces death. The owner was in tears because couldn't afford the surgery, she only had a type of credit that my company doesn't accept. The dog was so sweet and I can't handle people crying... Plus the weight of guilt that was creeping up on me at the thought of them leaving and having their dog die or euthanized when there was a chance of a few years and quality of life left... I couldn't just sit there and hope something would happen. I called in some other rescue groups who luckily felt the same way I did and two of them stepped up and each paid a large chunk of the surgery. The owner had taken out a loan and come back, she was so desperate to save her dogs life which I totally admired. It was awesome being able to tell them they could pay back a large amount of that loan AND get the dog in for surgery. I literally almost burst into tears about twenty times that day and when the dog was curled in the backseat of the car on her way home for recovery in the arms of the owner's child... It made all the stress and worry worth it. 

My emotional state is a little too fragile though and with everything going on in the world as well as the day to day cruelty and unhappiness I see in rescue... I need a few days to regroup and recharge. That's how rescuer's burn out and I finally get it since I'm experiencing it myself. Stepping away from Facebook and not seeing bad things for a few days, focusing on things that make me happy and loving on my own dogs, not having to take on the usual stress of my demanding job (and it is stressful working at a low income spay and neuter facility)... I'm hoping it will help. 

How do you guys usually recharge your batteries? How are you getting ready for the Christmas season?

Weekly Snapshots

1. Nymeria is officially one of the family, she was adopted last week and will live with my grandparents.

2. Murderface is in the Christmas spirit.

3 & 4. I had my Going Away/Christmas get together over the weekend with #teambaddecisions, I decided to channel my inner Carrie Bradshaw with an extra poofy tulle skirt since I doubt I'll be dressing up much in Kanab. Can't believe I'm moving in less then a week! Still so conflicted about it.

5. Went to a baby shower and finally got to play in a photo booth with my love and my friends. 

It's almost Christmas! I can't wait!

Life Lately....

This past week has been a trip.

>> I said goodbye to an old friend with his family and our friends. It was sad but at the same time, so much fun to be with all my old friends again. We all went out together afterwards to the bar we have been going to since we were underage. I'm not exaggerating when I say friendships were mended and memories were shared that night, I also found out other sad things about people I still care about that are unfortunately no longer in my social circle... But that's life. I'm glad that in the light of death and sadness, there was still laughter and goodness to come out of it.

>> The day after the memorial, my boyfriend decided to come and be here with me for a few weeks. He drove all night to show up on my doorstep early in the morning and it's nice to have him here with me for awhile after being apart for so long. We both needed to see each other, specially with everything that's happened. He's probably going to be hanging out till the 10th of August and then he will drive back up to Oregon  and wait for a week and a half till I fly out there for my birthday trip. I've been busting out all my Italian cooking now that I actually have someone around that appreciates it!

>> Monsoon season has hit Sin City. It's funny how crazy people get about the rain, my Facebook feed turns into the Weather Channel every time it even sprinkles. It has been nuts though, the first storm brough 75 mph winds and there were quite a few lightning fires, power outages, and ripped up trees. Driving through my friend's neighborhood, we saw a tree in a house and one had landed on a car. It was pretty crazy. The last few storms have been pretty tame in comparison and we just wait them out by doing this..

>> Horse head masks are the best thing ever.

>> Summer semester is over in five days!! Hooray! 

Unfortunately these last two semesters are going to really really really suck for me. This fall I'm taking Communications and Statistical Methods.... If you guys didn't know this already, I'm really terrible at math. Like extremely awful. The fact that I haven't taken a math class in over ten years makes it even worse. Which leads to my next bad school thing... My very last classes I need to take is my Capstone Course and my Math class. Only two classes before graduating right? So I have to study to take a placement test that will hopefully place me in the Math class I need... Otherwise I may have to take a lower level class to get into the actual credited class I need which means extending my graduation date to next Summer or Fall instead of Spring. Phew, so irritating! So even though I have a month off till Fall semester, I'll be spending it studying math for the placement test. 

You can cry for me, I appreciate your tears. 

So that's been my life lately. 

Fill me in on yours!

>> August is the last month that my summer ad space will apply! Use the Promo Code "SUMMERFOX" for a $5 discount on all ad spaces! Get it while you can!!