Project 365. Day Two-Thirty-One: Weekend recap on pause, it's a very important birthday...

We'll continue the weekend recap tomorrow. Today, is very special.

It's Kiltie Dawg's BIRTHDAY!!

This picture was taken the day I picked her out on a far away farm in Inola, OK. She was about 3 or 4 weeks old, I was a couple weeks shy of my 13th birthday. We've been inseperable since...



Eleven years later, I look about the same, only a little longer, and she's aged gracefully w/ only a few extra snow white hairs. But, she doesn't mind b/c she's who she is, the greatest dawg in the world.

It's a fine and mighty thing to be one of those few persons that gets to experience this kind of undefinable bond. You can figure out all of life, your doubts about God, or about love, how to treat others and how to simple enjoy life by watching a dog like Kiltie.

Opps. I think I've become that sappy girl even though I promised myself I wouldn't :)

Happy 11th Birthday to the greatest dawg in the world!!



"When we have the deepest of affection for a dog, we do not posses that love but are possessed by it, and sometimes it takes us by surprise, overwhelms us."

"Dogs might love a place, as people do, but the only place they love beyond all others is the place where you are. When we left the house on the hill, in Harbor Ridge, home would become wherever we took her."

--Both quotes are from my favorite book, A Big Little Life, by Dean Koontz.

If you even, kind of like dogs, you should read it.

WOOF!

Project 365. Days One-Eighty and One-Eighty-One: Geez-a-loo...

This weekend has been very hectic. And yes, I have good reason as to why I didn't blog yesterday (shh! Don't tell). But, it's getting late and I don't feel great so...with your persmission, I'd rather update you on the weekend chaos tomorrow. K, thanks!



Dear Husband, Where do I begin ? I don't quite know how to thank-you for this weekend. You took a situation, which typically causes me great anxiety, and stood before it like my very own shield. Then, you assured me that no matter how things panned out, we'd get through it all together. You gave me the greatest sense of strength, and comfort. Yesterday, I felt like I was tumbling into a free fall yet, you never left my side; I never doubted that you'd catch me. You see, theres this thing that happens when you hold my hand--the whole world seems to fade away, taking every worry with it. You fight for me, and with me. And, I know you'll say, "well, that's my job, I'm your husband." But, it's so much more than a job to you. It's the chronic condition of love. Don't play it all down--you, my dearest sir--are so much more than an ordinary man, you're exceptional. I have never felt so secure in such an unsecure situation...until this weekend... and it's all b/c of you. I Sure Do Love You!

---------

"That quiet mutual gaze of a trusting husband and wife is like the first moment of rest or refuge from a great weariness or a great danger--not to be interfered with by speech or action which would distract the sensations from the fresh enjoyment of repose." -- George Eliot

Project 365. Day One-Seventy-Five: To Have and To Hold...

Today (the 28th), Jason and I celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary.

And, after 2 years, this is still one of my favorite wedding pictures b/c the photographer caught us in a moment of pure joy and laughter--the definition of our relationship.



Close-up:



Since I find myself speechless right now, I'll leave you with a quote that perfectly describes our marriage...

"Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can't sleep with the window open."

-George Bernard Shaw

Here's to the next 50 years of you sleeping with the window open and me sleeping under a mountain of blankets. I wouldn't have it any other way.

ISDLY Hubs, I really do.

Project 365. Day One-Twenty-Six: Finals and a Gorilla named Eugene...

Today was a lovely Tuesday (okay, Monday) @ Two...

Katie W. adopted a friendly gorilla named Eugene. We opted for a family portrait...



Happy trails for these two!...




Friends, go to your local shelter and adopt a friendly gorilla today (just watch out for the ones with behavioral issues that like to pester you with a list of worries)!

Back to studying for finals! Education at 8am tomorrow !

“It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired-you quit when the gorilla is tired.”

--Robert Strauss

Project 365. Day One-Thirteen: Go Fish !...

We did! I even caught the first fish (that, however, is where my record ended)!




"One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue Fish,
Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish.
This one has a little car,
This one has a little star,
Say! What a lot of fish there are!"

--Dr. Seuss

Project 365. Day One-Oh-Three: NOTICE!!...

I love my Wil group more each day!



When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

-Henri Nouwen

Project 365. Day Eighty-Nine: Dandelions...

I used to pick dandelions for my mom when I was little because I thought they were pretty, I could never understand that they were weeds. When my dad would take weed-killer to their sprouts in the yard, I objected. "They're weeds, we don't want them in our yard," they'd tell me. "But...they're pretty...," I justified. I would spend the rest of my childhood springs blowing the dandelion puffs all-over our yard and neighborhood in an attempt to save my flowers from extinction. I was certain that nothing so pretty could really be that bad. Everybody just needed to give my dandelions a second chance, so that the pretty flowers that made me so happy, could prove them wrong.

Once I was finally old enough to understand my childhood conundrum, I decided that I'd always blow dandelion puffs, no matter how old I got, in the hopes of finding a new dandelion someday. Someday, I'll even let my daughter do the same :)



“It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stony street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun.”

--Henry Ward Beecher

Project 365. Day Eighty-Three: An Introduction...

Bedtime meet cat picture.
Cat picture meet bedtime.



Goodnight!

After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.

~Charlotte Gray