First Animal Photoshoot

For a while Jeremiah has been wanting to take pictures of his mom's dog, Mitzi, and create a photo book for her. Mitzi is 14 years old and going strong, but has some tumors and health issues in her old age that cause some worry. Well, about 2 weeks ago my mother-in-law called to tell us Mitzi had not been eating or drinking lately and is not doing so well.  After hearing this, we grabbed my camera and headed out for a photo shoot with Mitzi. She did great with all of our posing and placing her, despite not feeling well. Here are a few of her best shots:

Travel Bug

Lately, all I want to do is travel! I love planning trips and seeing the world. I like to think about all the places I want to go and research the weather, travel arrangements, things to do, etc. I caught the travel bug bad after going to Florida and South Carolina in March. I had never been to that side of the US and really only to the Western states and Hawaii. We didn't travel much when I was little and when we did it was to Cali to see family or to the Oregon Coast. Don't get me wrong, I always had a great time, but I hadn't seen much and had never even been on an airplane. Finally, at 22 years of age I went on an airplane to LA with Jeremiah and it was crazy! I am like a child now when I see an airplane fly over head and think it is amazing God allowed us the knowledge to create this thing that gets us to places in half the time and to see so much more of the world than was ever possible. It is so humbling to travel and see how many people there really are in this big 'ol world and how diverse, yet the same we are - even in our own country! There are so many places I want to go I have a hard time deciding where to go first. Some of the places I hope to go see are:

- The Caribbean- including Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, St. John, Belize, Aruba, Jamaica, and I'll include the Bahamas (though technically not the Caribbean) I am thinking a cruise would be good first, then to go back to an island for a vacay one day
-  New York - I want to see Niagra Falls so bad!
- Cancun and Cozumel - this could happen with the cruise
- China
- Italy
- Canada - I know! It's right there!
- Texas
- Places I want to go back: Southern Cali (Magic Mountain, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Disneyland), San Fran (Alcatraz), Las Vegas, Snoqualmie and Multnomah Falls, Couer D'Alene, Florida (Miami and Key West)

And so many more! The world is so beautiful and exciting! What a God :)

Getting Sprung On Spring

Spring has sprung and although this spring weather is less than warm enough in my eyes, I am excited that summer is just around the corner. In the meantime, I have some fun activities lined up to help keep me occupied during these windy rainy months. In May, I am going to the Taste Of Home cooking school with my mom and sister. This is something we have been wanting to do for years, but the tickets always sold out fast. This year we bought them the first day and are ready to go. Next up, I plan on taking a cake decorating class, finally! This is also something I have wanted to do for over a year now, but have not had time and too many of the classes have been during the day when I work. This week I am going to sign up and hope to fit one of the classes into my schedule. I can't wait! The last thing I want to do this spring is start volunteering somewhere. I am thinking possibly at the Pregnancy Center, but we'll see. I have a passion for babies and parenting and although I am not a parent, I think 4 years of Psychology (including child developement and infant classes), working at 2 seperate child care centers, and working at a psychiatric hospital for children and then working with adults in that same hospital (many whom were parents) has given me a good idea of the affects of certain behaviors and actions on children. I have a strong desire to help educate people, especially young parents, on how to be the best parent they can be for this new life they created. A baby is born with all the potential in the world and it breaks my heart when this is destroyed by someones selfishness or lack of resources to better their life. Being a parent is the most important job in the world and I want others to see it that way too. Who wouldn't want a better life for their child than they had? Being the best parent you can be is where that starts. So, we'll see if that's what I end up doing. For now, I pray I can be a positive influence in someway somewhere. Send some prayers my way if you think about :) As for me and Jeremiah, we plan to go hiking at Multnomah Falls sometime soon (I know hiking?), to get on some more home improvements, and our first rodeo (Jeremiah runs the sound for his dad who is the announcer - no bull riding for us thank you very much) is in May as well. Did I mention we have 2 babies due in our family within the next month? Exciting! Well, that's it for now. Next up: Summertime Fun! My FAVORITE!