#10 - Thankfulness Challenge

#10 - I am thankful for the Arizona Boxer Luv Rescue

I know this one sounds silly, but I am so very thankful for them!

I am a huge fan of the dog breed Boxers and these guys rescue Boxers on a daily basis. They constantly are pulling dogs from shelters, the pound and from bad situations regardless of the health of the animal. I adopted my baby girl Roxy from them 1 1/2 years ago and I am so happy with the time and effort that their organization puts into every adoption.

 

Practice Makes Perfect

So thanks to a little prodding from my friend Melissa, I signed up for an online photography class with her that started a couple of weeks ago. And, this class started the same week that I got my new camera.

Whew....it's been a bit of a learning curve, (figuring out my camera & doing the lessons at the same time!) but I am so completely enjoying myself and what I am learning. I thought that I would share a couple of photos that I took yesterday afternoon while working on an assignment that was about shooting in manual. Yep, I am finally shooting entirely in manual! Yahoo!!

I can definitely see an improvement in my photos and I love having so much more control of my shots by shooting in manual. Now, I know these aren't perfect...but I am having so much fun practicing on my little guy and my pooch Roxy!

So, pretty much you will find me behind my camera for the next little while, because over the next few weeks I will be practicing, practicing, practicing! (I even called my neighbor last night and she is bringing over her daughter tonight for me to practice on...my little one is tired of mommy making him pose for her all of the time!)

Story Time

Last weekend I could hear my little one "reading" one of his books. Following the voice I found Caleb reading to our boxer Roxy.

It was one of the cutest things that I have ever seen him do! But I don't think that Roxy knew what to think of it...

Caleb was so intent on reading that he didn't even notice me taking photos.

He managed to get through two of his favorite books before...

He completed what he set out to do...He managed to put Roxy right to sleep!

Have a great weekend!

An ALL CAPS kinda day

Today was definitely a MONDAY...yep, one that is in all caps.

Left the house later than I planned this morning. (negative)

Morning coffee meeting. (positive)

Left work early. (positive)

But, I had to leave work to take Roxy to the vet for a cyst. Vet was a little alarmed and will call me Wednesday with the results. (doubly negative)

Took Caleb to the Doctor to have his thumb looked at. He slammed it in the shower door on Friday and it has steadily gotten worse, and very infected...I think it's as red at Rudolph's nose and twice as big as his other thumb. (doubly negative)

But the kiddo was a real trooper and didn't cry once! (positive)

So, needless to say, the negatives of my day outweighed the positives, but it's my life and I love it for all that it is...the good and the bad! Just keep the little one in your thoughts and pray for quick healing.

If she wasn't so darn cute...

...she probably wouldn't still be alive!

While on vacation, we had housesitter's stay at our house and our dog decided that she needed to go completely wacky while we were gone. She broke out of her crate and left her mark on just about all of the carpets in the house. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink...she was just a mess without us! So when we got home from Vegas for our one night stint at home, we had to break out the carpet cleaner and attack the mess.

I wanted to be mad at her, but she just looked at me with her big brown eyes and I just melted. How can I be mad when she is so adorable?

Then when we got home from the White Moutains, we had to do it all over again.

Yes, we had housesitters, and yes, they cleaned up the best they could, but I don't think I will be able to pay anyone enough to ever come over and housesit for us again. Off to the kennel for Roxy for the next vacation...

I mean, just look at that face...how could I stay mad at her?

New Family Member

Ever since my husband and I were married, we knew that we eventually would want to get a dog for our family. But, we also knew that it wasn’t going to be just any old dog...we both really wanted to get a boxer. My hubby’s dad & stepmom had always had boxers when he was growing up and he just fell in love with them...and then quickly after I started dating Chris I fell in love with them also!

Our new girl is a beautiful fawn boxer named Nina. She is about 2 years old and super sweet! She is on the small size for a boxer but has beautiful markings and a great personality.

We’ve been told that she knows quite a few commands, but so far we have only tried sit, stay and up and she knows all of them.

She is also so good with Caleb and they are best friends already! He can’t wait until she can sleep on his bed with him...

If anyone in the Phoenix area is looking for a new dog to add to their family please think about adopting a dog either through a shelter or a rescue. And, if you are into boxers (I don’t know how anyone can’t be though!!!), please check out www.boxerluv.org. They currently have approximately 70 boxers looking for new families and homes to go home to. (Warning: If you look you will probably fall in love and have to bring one home!)

So give a big welcome to our new little girl!