Everday Beauty

Part of the Pack

2008-10-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the lake
Being one with the hounds!

Japanese Feist

2008-09-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

On friday night James, Dianna, Tayo and I went out for some japanese fast food...ramen and gyoza. I am not a die hard fan of ramen, however the last place we went to was REALLY good, but maybe that was early pregnancy and salt addiction speaking. This place we went to today James and I have been to in the past (I only ordered gyoza and rice then) its suppose to be the best in Vancouver, and always has a line up no matter what time of day...however I personally preferred the last place :)

I just wanted to post this since I noticed James' original chopsticks(one broke in a weird spot) THEY ARE CROSSED...he always nags on me when I accidentally do this! Muahhahaa
So after we finish, we are standing outside the restaurant and I notice at the "pub" beside the special of that night FRIDAY...hello I will be back in March!
A late night stop for some gelato, I ordered pineapple and raspberry sorbet.

Client photos

2008-09-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

We all know what that means...more dogs, these are not from today, but it was such a successful day at work with a few of my stubborn clients so I wanted to celebrated some of the critters I adore!
This guy has come a LONG way since his first crazy walks, jumping and biting and ripping all our jackets (3 of us work for the company) he is so calm and lazy now haha. Aaah blue sky, it was an ugly day today...a preview of our gloomy grey winters yuck!
Sweet sweet super cricket. She is about 15 years old, losing her hearing, but still has that beagle nose. I think I'm her favorite, since I am the only one who get her to walk quite the distance and for longer than 15 minutes ;)
Mick - what an awesome aussie, I'm pretty sure our walks are done with (her pawrents book random walks throughout the year for a 2 week period) but his markings are as striking as his personality.
Karma-licious the forever puppy looking lab, everyone thinks she is a pup! Very loving girl who is full of kisses, but I keep my distant as she is a notorious POOP eater...why do so many do that gross!
Lastly...Shelagh - bo-belaaaa. Always on the hunt for those pesky squirrels, she has been a stinker lately with taking off into the woods after them, its that time of year. So unfortunately I have been keeping her leashed mostly lately, but I love her dearly...and her spit bubble hahaha.

Country Side Beauty

2008-09-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

This was taken somewhere between Vancouver and Hope on our way to Kelowna. I was super happy that it turned out pretty since it was taken while Jim was flying down the highway like a maniac hahaa. I love the mountains here in BC, it always looks like a water painting or something along those lines.

Romantic Moonlight

2008-09-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

I was totally excited to see the new theme for this weeks contest, this picture is not great, but it was ironic that I managed to capture a theme appropriate picture when I had no clue what the new theme was.

It was a full moon on monday night, and tuesday was our first night of camping in the Okanagan and the moon was just amazing unfortunately no tripod and shaky impatient pregnant hands did not allow me to get a good shot of the moon, so then I just decided to have fun and draw with the moon.

I was like a kid bringing home her first A+ paper, so proud when I took this heart shot, so I think its worth the post, even if its not overly artistic... I LIKE IT hehehee It was my second attempt at a heart, as I realized after taking the first phone, I had to draw the heart upside down...so again quite proud haha

Yikes!

2008-09-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

So I already blew my goal of trying to get updated with everyones blogs, I still have not added the new people who have joined since I went MIA. My girlfriend has been staying with us for most of the week, as her place is being renovated, so needless to say its been a busy week, and I am just exhausted.

I did however brave the challenge of bringing my "real camera" to work...call me crazy trying to juggle 5 dogs and a big camera, and a backpack full of dog gear, and a poop bag in hand...yep CRAZY! So of course I will post some pup pictures...which is about 90% of the pictures I post hahaaa...occupational hazard? no life but dogs? animal lover hobby? Who knows but I do love to snap up my animals, or any cuties I run into, so if you get sick of fur creatures, then just skip over, because my life is animals, sleeping, or ahhhh baby stuff, yep I almost 17 weeks already and have no clue about being a mom, or what is the best crib, stroller, diapers whatever for the little one...but I won't bore you with that, I will leave baby talk for my other blog hahaa, this is clearly my animal blog! Ha!

These 4 dogs all live in the same house, there is a 5th one(another cocker), who has a foot sore so he is not walking with us for a few days...they are a newer group and quite the handful but cute so when they are driving me CRAZY, they give you that look and you forgive them hehee.

Mogito - a rescued mexican stray

Buddha - Mo's brother (these two are living with "gramma" for over a year, as her son and his wife, are in the states for a school program or something along those lines) He is a bull in a china shop!
Sweet Sweet Little Lily - another rescue, a face only a mother/or me could love her tongue hangs out and she has the droopiest eyes, but I now have a love for cockers hehee
Emma - Lily's "sister" a stick obsessed chocolate lab (aren't they all? hehee)
And Lily taking a break getting ready to roll around for some great back scratches on the pebbles!

Bugs Eye View

2008-07-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Beach Days!

2008-07-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

Emi just loves to dig in the sand, she was covered in it afterwards.... But managed to shake alot off for her model shots!
Yes that is someone swimming out there, crazy is the only word I have to describe them. I put my toes in and its ICE WATER.
Mr. Not so graceful (aka Cotton) right before he chest dived into a log, haha poor thing

I have spent the last 3 days at the beach, well yesterday was more the evening at 2 different beaches. I am just soaking in as much as I can of this amazing weather we are having. June has just been so awful that I was really starting to miss Ontario's HOT HUMID summer's!

I have a new blog, that will be more wordy with pictures as well, so I will try to blab less in this one, and also TRY TRY TRY to get back into posting. I miss you ladies so much. I honestly don't know why I do not have time to even check in on WB, I work part time, and do not have after work activities or hobbies, I don't even workout lol....but somehow my boring life consumes me now hahaa.

James and I finally agreed to get the Canon Rebel, while I reallyyyyyyyyyyy wanted the Nikon D80, the Rebel was on for a great price and came with the Lens Kit. I am loving how lightweight and "small" in DSLR terms it is. I have not really been playing around with any of the manual functions, but am addicted to the "sport" setting for getting action shots of hubs at baseball, and Emi at the dog park, or beating up Cotton.

Anyhooo new blog if anyone is interested in reading me blab and seeing "other pictures" is

housefullofcrazy.blogspot.com

It's mostly to keep family and friends who live far away updated with our lives!

I have so many pictures, I will post most of them on the other blog, and try to limit my favorites to here, starting...tomorrow :P

So sorry

2008-06-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wow I have been MIA for so long, my apologies! This has been a very emotional and crazy week. My company has been looking after a cat while his parents are gone for just over 3 weeks. I have been doing most of the visits. He is AMAZING, meows at you before you can get the keys in the door, hugs me (literally) when I pick him up, and then continues to climb up me and wrap himself around my neck while I get his food ready. Then we sit on the couch for a snuggle, where he nurses on my sweater/pants whatever...he obviously never grew out of that habit and I find it adorable! When I am getting my gear ready to leave he will lay on my shoes and has tried to bite my ankles...he is so lonely and it breaks my heart. Anyways I saw him tuesay did our normal routine, then wednesday their was no meow at the door, my heart dropped as this was NOT normal for him. I thought maybe he was sleepig searched the apartment no Noogie, got his food out thought maybe he would come running no Noogie...I called my boss in a panic, got her voicemail. Searched the house again, and I mean searched, the washer the dryer, the freezer, stove, all of their cupboards, and dresser drawers (I felt like a creep) no sign of him, but there was 2 pees and a poop in the litter box, so I am 100% sure he was there when I left tuesday and have proof of it wit the dirty litterbox(we scoop everyday)

My boss searched teh place, I searched thursday and put up missing signs. Went to the SPCA on friday, no sign of him.

Lastnight my boss got a call that she missed and did not realize she had a message till 2 AM, and it was a neighbor saying they have the cat on the poster, but can't keep him as the roommate is allergic to cats and they have no litter box etc. So she figured they let him back outside and went over at 2am to search the neighborhood (again) with a flashlight...could not call this guy that late.

She tried to reach him today but got his machine, and got a call back a few hours ago, she finally got to his place a few minutes ago and its HIM! It's NOOGIE! I overwhelmed right now and can't wait to see him :D

This is what he does with me

Hopefully I can get back into my blog and weddingbells. Oooh and James really wants the new Rebel he was playing with it at the store the other day (without me!) and almost bought it for me weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I really love SLR and can't wait for a digital one!

Coast to Coast

2008-05-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

I usually only get around to one posting a week, but I figured I would give the heads up...I am leaving for New Brunswick in a few hours. May 16th is my grandparents 50th anniversary and my Aunt who lives in Alberta has planned a little party thing, I have not seen my Aunt or her children (who now have their own children) in about 12 years!!!

I have not seen my grandparents (either side) for almost 3 years, and my mama's mom alzheimers is getting very bad, none of my relatives have even met James hahaa (well one aunt and uncle) so this should be a veryyyyyy interesting trip.

Unfortunately we are only going for 4 whole days, since today does NOT count I do not land in Moncton till 11 grrrrr, I hate losing a whole day to plane travel. I am flying with Emi, so the flight could be intersting as well hahaa! Send us some good weather vibes, and hopefully I get a few good pictures to post when I get back on Monday!!!!

ciao

The Love Shack

2008-05-11T10:06:00.001-07:00

James really wanted to propose to me around Christmas (2006) I think mostly because we were visiting my parents but he hadn't yet found a designer that he "clicked" with alot were super swamped and saying the ring would take months and months. So instead he asked my dad for approval while we were visiting, and found this stone as one of my christmas presents, he did not say the words "will you marry me?" but I knew it would happen soon. We had already been talking about marriage and life so the proposal was not a huge surprise but the stone was...funny story or at least to me we were at my aunt and uncles a few days before christmas celebrating with them, and I noticed a similar stone with a different quote in their dining room and said "oh I love these, always the perfect wording!" And James got this funny look on his face, I just ignored it thinking he was being his weird self. Well prior to going to my relatives we had been shopping, he went his own way to look for stuff and saw this stone...and picked it up, then said "no she will think its tacky and cheesy" and put it back down. Ha! So after visiting with my relatives and him seeing me excited about theirs he made a trek back out to the mall fighting with the crowds determined to get this stone!

We were married in the Dominican our "celebration of love and life" non traditional wedding, we wanted to involve our guests as much as possible, so I had one of my best friends say a speech and explain a Blessing Stone Ceremony, we wanted to remember what everyone had said so we had our guests write it on one rock that we kept, here are a few favorites, I believe the top left is from my mom the top right my sister, bottom left my dad, and bottom right Dianna who did the ceremony....needless to say there were alot of silly sex and baby making ones, lots of laughs and embarrassed faces when I asked everyone to read them out loud ha! My favorite from the best man Nick who took our pictures I can't seem to find, I think he used a yellow marker and it has faded...but it said something alot the lines of crazy sex for ghaki making, Ghaki is sort of like devil child, or just young kid, in Japanese it was James' nickname in his group, passed down from the original ghake Nick himself, since James was the youngest in their group (they went to highschool in Tokyo)

And this we bought while we were in the dominican, I have a totally cheesy love center sort of thing set up on this window, with a little stone statue from the wedding coordinator from our hotel, this stone, the quote stone....lots of stones, an orchid from James lots of sentimental "junk" hahahaa.

Girls Night

2008-05-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Dianna came down to visit last night...so we celebrated in honor of the up coming Sex and the City movie with what else.....COSMO's, I have not had a good cosmo since our college days. It brought back memories as we sipped and chatted into the night.

I like to make them with Raspberry Cranberry Juice, gives it a sweeter touch! I try to not look at the pictures of the week until after I uploaded my photo...so I don't feel as though I am copying someone ha! And I was so good, did not look and then when mine loaded and I checked it so many great drink shots I don't stand a shot...maybe we should start a wannabe competition hahaaha!

Rewind!

2008-05-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

So we all know I have been having a very hard time keeping up to date. I am still missing my camera cord, so I have to take my memory card out of the camera I use stick in an old one, WHICH IS SOOOOO SLOW, so it takes an hour to upload all my pics, which is why I procrastinate uploading pics. These pics are older from when I was house and dog sitting! And probably a few from when we went up to whistler for dogfest.

Which means you will probably see our camping pictures (we went from April 28-30) next week hahaa.

Emi went in for surgery on thursday to be spayed. So you will probably see conehead and stitches shots in 2 weeks hehee. She is doing good we are being couch potatoes together, which means hopefully I can finally get to my pictures (organizing that is) and getting stuff ready to visit family in New Brunswick....oh and the million pounds of laundry I have to find time to drag to the laudromat.

Emi is 6 months old as of yesterday!! I can't believe we have had her for 4 months already...she's getting so big, I can hardly remember how small she used to be....she is 15 lbs now WOW, but sure as heck does not look that heavy.

Let's see what pictures I can dig out to post!

Emi and Lucy playing tug, they are the same age, Lucy is a bordercollie/lab mix

You know me and the macro, I can never get Emi to sit long enough, so Hogan was a great subject!
I love that you can see his white hairs, he's I believe 7 years old.
Hogan trying to take over the chair
Our furkids, Emi looks so big, she is so small to me, until I see her at different perspectives like this one
Walking the dogs in Steveston, only Hogan would brave the cold water.
This pictures makes me hear the song Safety Dance, by Men without hats....you can dance if you wanna!!!
Driving up to Whistler, a "through the window while the car is moving" shot is mandatory!
Bedhead??? Ha Me About to join the parade. FatMan, and the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Cotton won 4th place (honorable mention) for his Batman costume hehee. Animal torture at its finest
And lets end the day with another car in motion window shot!

Flowers Flowers Everywhere...

2008-04-25T18:09:00.001-07:00

Wow I cannot believe its April 25 and my last post was the 10th, please someone slap me back into reality hehee!

I have been consumed with pet sitting, and dog boarding, my poor house finally got a tidying up today, but it was pretty nice out so I did not want to spend much time inside. We are camping next week, so I will be gone from monday-wednesday, but hopefully I can get some shots of us camping with our fur family...yep we are bringing them all ahhhhhh.

Send the good animal vibes my way please....and the sunshine, rain is in the forecast for the days we are gone...but lets be honest this is Vancouver and the weather is never right and I personally think its the most bogus job out here since its completely underpredictable in this city ha!

Well enough blabbing lets get to the pictures already right?

Some pretty flowers from around the city...I have no idea what half of them are, feel free to let me know :D
Wasp Hideout

Sakura - Cherry Blossoms, one day I will see the "real deal" in Japan, James used to live on Sakura Dori (Cherry Blossom Street) and he said it was amazing (right now he says CRAZY) how they lined the streets and created a tunnel you drove/walked through!
Daffodil

Mount Doug

2008-04-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from 2 weekends ago when we went to Victoria, I know tsk tsk, suppose to be from today, but seriously my life is pretty boring, and also busy. We dog and house sat last weekend, I think I got some great shots, but can't find my darn camera cord, it may be in Victoria (AAAHHHH) we are pug sitting Cotton again, and then dog and house sitting again next week, and we might even be crazy enough to attempt to go to Whistlers Dog Fest with FOUR DOGS, count that...1, 2, 3, 4 yes 4 is the number of insanity!

We have been apartment hunting all month as well, and having no luck, I am beginning to really HATE HATE HATE this city, and I am normally a pretty happy person hehee. The renters market is so tight in Vancouver right now, I am guessing its due to the soon to be here Olympics, all the students that normally move out and go home for the summer, are not moving but subletting for 4 months fully furnished, and what the heck good is that to me, so that is seriously all thats on the market, or perfect places with a very strict NO PETS POLICY, and as you all know we have 3 furbabies. I do love our apartment now and the area, but its a bit small and we really need to be closer to work, mostly for James. But it would be nice for me as well since most of my day is spent driving from clients homes and around the city, at the end of the day hopping into my car and dealing with traffic for 20 minutes is tiring...and yes I realize thats nothing compared to the 90 minute commuters, but its my blog and I am allowed to whine!

Last night was James' birthday, we really did not do much and I have no pictures :( but we will be celebrating with my girlfriend from Squamish and her boyfriend when he flies into Van next week Yayyy.

Anyhoo I will zip the lip and show you some fun pictures from our climb up Mount Doug, its hardly a mountain, it took maybe 20-30 minutes, we were on some very "off-beaten" trail and had to do a bit of rock climbing hahaa that was interesting, especially for Emi, she LOVED the hike... probably because little treats in the form of rabbit poo were everywhere for her to munch on YUCK...no puppy kisses from her for awhile...okay seriously zipping them now.

Emi - Little Mountain Dog I love her stance!

I like the stormy sky in this shot!
Got to love the timers, especially watching Jim jump off a rock and race over to us, without falling down the hill hahaa
Rock Face!
Another portrait of Emi, can you tell I am in love with her :D, she's 5 months old and I think hit a growing stump lol
Arbutus Tree...at least I think
Downtown Storm heading our way
These are from Queen Elizabeth park near our place, we were walking Emi and came around a "bushle" of trees to find the entire area swarmed with ducks and geese, I am pretty afraid of birds, especially bigger ones like swans, geese, and turkeys (attacked as a child!) Emi was there to protect, on a very tight leash, she loves to chase birds, and could probably catch one and would fight it till death I'm sure!
I had to take this picture, it was as close as I would get to try and justify how many freaking birds their were! My hands were shaking ha...I'm such a dork!

Animals!

2008-04-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Okay so this week the theme was Animals, and helloooooo those are my favorite subjects hehee.

I took so many great pictures (I think) this weekend while dog sitting, but cannot find my darn camera cord to put them on my laptop grrrrr. Choosing a favorite anything is really difficult for me, I am the most indecisive person in the world...just ask my husband! So trying to find my "best" animal shot out the bagillion I have was impossible, I went with a "favorite" though its not the best picture out there, and I am sure I have better ones on my computer but its 10:30 PM I am beyond tired and stressing about apartment hunting, so you get a Cotton the pug picture, maybe its in honor of him, since he just arrived as I am boarding/pug sitting for a week or two, So watch out for more cotton sightings!

More adventures in Victoria...

2008-04-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for this shot I tried and tried and it would not work, I blame James for not throwing her toy in the right direction as he kept throwing it at me, haha and of course when he tried he got the shot on his first try. Our little shiba reindeer.
Goofy Hubs, Crazy Cat and Silly Cal
My inlaws backyard, the house is built on a ravine. I am standing on the patio which is really the backyard since as you can see the lawn is a 20 foot drop at least and more hill and forest.
Findings in the living room.
We celebrated James' birthday a little early, since we weren't sure if when our next visit to Victoria will be. Tom had to relight the tiniest candle on earth since Megan (Jim's sister) accidentally blew it out.
Make a wishOkay so I was starting to get a little bored haha

Victoria Adventures

2008-04-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

I took tons of pictures this past weekend while in Victoria visiting my inlaws, so since I am super busy this week I figured I would just do a few postings of Victoria. My inlaws live in Cordova Bay, so its pretty much a ritual to walk along the beach, it was pretty ugly out, so we drove down (usually we walk haha) but the rain did not stop us from the walk. Emi LOVES sand and actually did not seem to mind the water, there was a spot with a bit of a sandbar, so James trucked through the ankle deep water (in his rainboots) carrying her to see if she would swim back across or cry (I know animal torture muahahaa). As soon as he put her down on the sand she booted across the water to the "beach side"

This picture reminds me of I know what you did last summer, or some other silly horror movie

Vegetable of the sea
Get me out of here!
Hmmm okay maybe water is not so bad
We were treating Emi for going in the water, and I think Murphy (inlaws dog) did this to get a treat, I was taking a picture of the water and standing right wher she was she came up to me and then stood just barely in the water looking at me with these "please" eyes, and was shaking cause she was so cold, I gave her a treat and walked away and kept calling her but apparently she wanted more, or could not move from being frozen

The only time Murphy will ever look big, she is about 4 lbs, we kept saying she has shrunk but I think its just that we think of Emi as being small, and are waiting and waiting for her to finish growing haha.

More sea plants :)

Making a Statement

Metal Metal Everywhere,

2008-04-01T22:36:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more metal pictures for this weeks contest.

Hidden Treasure (submitted)
I do not even know what this is but it was buried beneath the sand, on our rainy walk at Cordova Bay while visiting the inlaws in Victoria

City Scam
Territory Marker

Adult Proof

Forgotten Tracks

Tree Armor

Pick me up...

2008-03-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Last night James' mom said she can't believe it's already the end of March, this time last year we were just engaged. And I said "yep March 28th!" Then we realized that was tomorrow (today)

Time just goes by way to quickly, yesterday marked 4 months of marriage, today 1 year since getting engaged, and in a few days will be our 4 year "dating anniversary"....and Jim's birthday soon too...any birthday present suggestions? ;)
Glowing with Love...

I am not a coffee drinker, I will occasionally have the odd Tim Horton's english toffee cappuccino or mochacino, but only from Tim's because they are sweet haha. But I LOVE van gogh espresso vodka! We were eating at Earl's and they have a new Espresso Love Martini, Van gogh espresso vodka, vanilla vodka and creme de cacao....YUMMYYY. I was eager to get to the end for the chocolate heart, unfortunately it was not a tasty chocolate haha!
Heart of Gold

Interesting Graffiti...

2008-03-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

I noticed this while walking one of "my dogs" and it has me puzzled?!

Too fast

2008-03-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today while out hiking with Emi and Cotton (pug we are pet sitting) James met me, and told me his Great Aunt has pnuemonia (spell check) and it's not looking good.

She has lived in Montreal her whole life, and has no family left there, James' Uncle lives in Ontario and then we are out in Vancouver, his parents and sister are in Victoria. There had been talk about moving her out here, and finally it got sorted out and she moved here end of October I believe. I got to meet her and tried on my wedding dress, and James tried on his suit for her, since she was unable to come to the Dominican with us. She has diabete's and is on dialysis, and a very frail small women.

We got a call a few hours ago from Megan (my sister in law) saying she had passed away. I still can't believe it seemed sort of out of no where, she was really sick and in pain yesterday, but then today she was better and then a few hours later, gone! I wish I could have spent more time with her, the last time we saw her we brought our wedding photo album to his parents place, and thank you cards and promised to come to Victoria and visit more often, and watched hours of old pictures Tom had put on DVD, it was so nice to see his family (they are all gone!) and see their trips and lifes, happy moments and what not.

But I feel like she was at peace, she got to be with family again, and they saw her every few days, she probably has had the best 5 months here compared to the last 5 lonely years in Montreal.

I wanted to post the only picture I have of her, I am feeling extremely guilty now that James and I do not have one with her, I guess we just never thought it could happen this soon. I did not even take this picture but it's from my camera.

Ann we love you!

Growing Pains!

2008-03-08T21:51:00.001-08:00

My little girl Emi, is really growing up, we have been trying to take a photo of her infront of the same ottoman every week or every 2 weeks, usually on a friday since she was born on a friday. And we do a side shot sort of "breed showing" position, hahaa. But when I happened to snap this one by accident and looked at the very first picture I took of her, I was blown away. The baby shot she is front of the couch not the ottoman, but she has no more baby fat which I knew, its her face that amazes me!

Here she is today, at 18 weeks old, she was 4 months on the 2nd.

And January 1st just over 8 weeks old.

Spring is in the air...

2008-03-06T18:39:00.000-08:00

there's construction everywhere...and the closed roads keep changing and messing me up! I have a route to work (like most ppl) and one of the roads was closed, so I take the next one over, and then the next day, I think I am tricky to take the next road over again, but now this one is closed and I have to back track grrrrrrrrr hahahaaa. I know it has nothing to do with the pretty flower, this is a picture from last week, but these guys are EVERYWHERE now. I do not know plants, so I have no idea what it is. But I love them, and I love that they are scattered over peoples lawns, and the grass between the road and the sidewalk. Beats dandelions ;)!!

Moss is invading...

2008-03-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

my office...hahaa!

Canine Kisses

2008-02-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

Okay...so are we sick of dogs yet? Because I am not...I can move onto cats ;)

I have been taking pictures during my walks this week, so that the owners can see how much fun the pups have. Its impossible right now to get a decent shot of them in action, for one its soooo cloudy (usually) and that makes the forest look like night time in my picture, I guess my wee little flash just is not enough. And for two they just move so much, so by the time my camera focuses its to late, and they become blurry again hahaa. So as of now I am focusing on group and portrait pup shots.

This was my afternoon group today, the sun came out :D yayyy.

Jasper (bernese mountain dog) Karma (black lab) Oscar (border terrier) and Shelaugh some sort of super awesome dog ;) This picture just makes me smile from ear to ear, I love all the dogs, but these are some of my favorites...shhhh don't tell the others.

Kaylee

2008-02-27T18:27:00.001-08:00

This is Mackenzie's (below) sister Kaylee. She looks like the squirrell thing from Ice Age heheee. I think she is part corgi part shep, whatever she is, its super cute, missing teeth, wobbly legs and all :D

This weeks contest...

2008-02-26T23:47:00.000-08:00

From a different perspective.

I forgot to take my camera with me to work yesterday when we had GREAT weather, today there was an awful overcast, which is fine for pictures of people, but no much for the dogs, when you want to be down at their level looking up, and in dark woods, so I could not get the shot I wanted. But while in Kits beach I took some pics of two of clients. I just love how these two pictures of Mackenzie turned out, and could not decide which to use.

(my apoligies for not photoshopping Mr Happy...probably no one else will notice it but me!) I just realized I forgot to its 11:50 and I do not have time or the energy to fix and resubmit :D

Can you believe...

2008-02-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's february, and there are actually parts of Canada where you can drive your motorcycle, and have the top down on your convertible.

I saw a lady put down the top of BMW convertible yesterday, firstly I was eyeing the beauty...THE CAR that is (my dad is a mechanic by trade and huge car nut, so I have been conditioned to appreciate a good looking european car lol)....

then it hit me...it was plus 11 degrees, and you can drive not only with your window down...but the roof of your car (if you have that option!) Made me appreciate living in Vancouver just a little bit more....

Today after puppy class, we took Emi to Spanish Banks dog beach...she is still a bit unsure of the water, I want so badly for her to be part of the small % of Shiba's who will tolerate water! Though this picture is not the best artistically or quality, I just LOVE that we basically live at the base of a mountain, with ocean around us at the same time, and you do not have to run away from the city to "escape the city" there is still some nature, hiking, trails, beaches, and what not right within a short drive.

Up or down

2008-02-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

So we bought this little jacket for Emi a few weeks ago for our hike through Lynn Headwaters Regional park. Since it was super snowy and chilly out, but we did not end up using it, and I found it yesterday while cleaning, and thought "this is not going to fit anymore" she is growing so much every week! We tried it on... very snug in the armpits.

First off...I am not really a "dress up your dog" sort of gal, unless necessary, like rain gear for dogs that soak up the water, or winter coats for short haired easily chilled pups, Emi can withstand the cold for sure...she was so young, and I knew we would be out long, so I wanted to be prepared! Anyhooo we popped it on, and forgot how super cute it looks on her, we both love the color, very complimenting hahahaaa! But the big debate...

Collar up (my preference)

OR
Collar down (James preference)

(please ignore James grey sweatpants hehee)
PS - I can see myself turning into one of "those people" who put silly cute shirts on their dog just because muahahahaa!

Puppy Mingling!

2008-02-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

So we have been super awesome parents with socializing our puppy (well at least I think so haha) with Shiba's they can be a bit agressive or very take it or leave it with dogs if not socialized. And since we are huge animal lovers, and enjoy taking them outside, camping, hiking, and travelling with us wherever...getting her used to other dogs of every size and shape has been very important.

We have become the creeps who cross the road when we see a dog on the other side, so we can "bump into them" or start walking faster when we see someone up ahead, again so we can "bump into them" We are also in puppy classes, mainly for socialization, as I feel my training is better and we are ahead of all the other puppies (who are older than her...yeah I'm bragging!) I was super frustrated with the classes on our second visit, she seemed to be HATING puppies, to in her face and loud (she is the boss of the world-that's a shiba!) and to clumsy, she loves to play but they are looniebirds to her...or so it seemed. But yet on walks and at the parks she loves almost every other dog... So I was sort of dreading going to puppy class this saturday....but she was a rockstar, got along with every dog...especially the one that usually annoys her the most.

Afterwards we went to Stanley Park Dogpark, she had such a riot there, and was put in her place quite a few times by a small dog who feels the need to bully every puppy...the owner kept apologizing but I said Emi needs to get a taste of her medicine, and dogs will be dogs, you have to let them sniff and work it out on their own (of course unless it becomes violent) Then today we had a puppy mingle...and it was impossible to get a decent shot, since they move so quickly. I think she may have a boyfriend, the black and white fluff ball, and she also had fun with another shiba inu female puppy! I can't wait for next weeks Shiba Meetup....

I know enough already where are the pictures...and I know I am the crazy animal lady, my life is my pets, and my favorite store any pet store to look at the all the fun toys, and accessories! Emi is the smaller tan and a little black shiba, with a pinkish collar!

Tree Guts...

2008-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

Looking up inside a hollowed tree, in Stanley Park.

Birthday Boy...

2008-01-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

Today Enzo is 2! We got him when he was about 8 weeks old. This is a sort of sad post, as I lost all his baby pictures because of a harddrive going ka-put, and there was no saving it, unless I wanted to fork out alot of dough to move all the bits and peices to a new harddrive or something like that (I am not a computer person, but 3 techies told us the same thing!) I only have a few of him "growing up" from my msn space page. So today sort of is a reminder that I hardly have any of his baby pics :(

Well here is my handsome fella, on his first day home.

At about 5 months, in one of his signature poses.

And pretending to be a cougar on Mount Dog

Cold, Tasty, and oh so fun!

2008-01-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

Okay so I did not take these pictures today! But yesterday it snowed pretty much all day, and I am pretty sure Emi had never seen snow before, she LOVED it. Gives me hope for water in the summer...please please please be the rare shiba that likes to swim.

These do not even do her justice of how much fun she was having, she wouldn't even go pee just wanted to play.

Mind Your Manners...

2008-01-19T23:22:00.000-08:00

Being the gentlemen that he is, sitting cross-pawed.

And then there's Enzo, the boneless wonder...comfortable or rude? Hehee

Silly Girl

2008-01-15T22:11:00.000-08:00

I have been a bit busy the past few days with interviews, and puppy training and have not been able to post or get a good shot for the contest, my mom wants to join in the fun now though! I finally got a job yayyyyyy, and I will finally be doing work again that I am happy with (I have been through 2 years of what the hell am I doing?) I start training tomorrow, for a dog walking and pet sitting company. I hope to eventually open my own pet service, and maybe go into training we will see. So in honor of that a picture of our sweet little gal Emi...enjoying some leftover peanut butter heheee

And of course Colby had to get in on the tasty treat action, until he realized it was PB and walked away!

Old Favorite

2008-01-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

Enzo, during one of our walks on Cordova Bay beach :D

Quality Time

2008-01-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

Colby, who does not usually snuggle in your arms, decided to join his dad for a nap on the floor...maybe it's the heated flooring. He sort of looks like a "cool dude" hanging out the car window (maybe its just me!)

Saved the best for last...

2008-01-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

I think my stash is getting pretty low! I have way to much shampoo, and soap though...need more bombs! At least its a healthy addiction ;)

i-shadow

2008-01-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Submitted for the theme of the week "Eyes"

Flowers in the Winter!

2008-01-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

Pretty flowers on our very short and wet walk, Emi looks sort of like an anteater...not her good side hehee!

Grey skies are going to clear up...

2008-01-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

...put on a happy face.

It looks like nighttime in the this pictre, but I swear I took it this afternoon. GRRRR to yucky wet weather, but I was determined to get a good shot, and I HAVE NEVER noticed these berries in my backyard :S oooopsy...but I was out taking Emi for a bathroom break, and thought...Photo OP-snap!

I missed yesterday so I already broke my new years resolution I proclaimed on the 4th hahaa. So lets try again, I would rather not give up cause it's fun to look at everyones pictures, and I need to find other stuff to take pictures of, or at least post pics (even if they are old, I am determined to post dammit)

EYES...EYES...EYES....damn Sondra why do you have to make it so hard heheee! JK, I love the creativeness, I just need to find some inspiration now!

Spreading some love

2008-01-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

To my complete suprise Colby is very accepting of little Emi, he is pretty scared of my inlaws dog, and Enzo chases their dog. But the tables have turned, Enzo avoids Emi at all costs, and Colby with play with her and even let her bathe him.

Enzo is sort of coming around, I witnessed him today, stocking Colby and Emi while they were playing...but decided not to join. I was watching a funny animal video on youtube, and there was a cat bathing a dog, licking in his ears and mouth, and I was like....NOW THAT IS LOVE! And I swear two minutes later in mid play fight, Emi started licking Colby's ear, of course he was in heaven....as you can see by his expression.

Our little fur filled family!

2008-01-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

We added a third furry baby to our family today. Her name was babygirl, and we had to pick a new name for her paperwork, so right now it is Emi (Japanese for smile...in some way there are lik 14 words) pronounced Emmy...but I am not sure if I am set on it. She was born November 2, and is a Shiba Inu. I have such high respect for all the new mommies out there (not that I didn't before) but today on top of being hungover (yuck) we have spent the day tiring Emi out, introducing her to the kitties, cleaning up, taking her to the bathroom every 30 minutes. And I am pooped heheee!

Me and my boys on Christmas night heading to the ferry to visit the inlaws in Victoria.

Enzo forcing Colby to enjoy a bath hehee! They love each other (sometimes)

New Years Eve...well technically New Years day very early morning/late night squeezed in a "family portrait" before passing out!

Old Friends

2007-12-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

I did not get to post in the B&W contest, but I wanted to add my own B&W section. These were all taken in Ontario summer 2005 before moving out west, with a 35MM SLR heheee, I still love to get it out every once in awhile, but never use up the whole roll!

I found out this morning that my friends pup was hit by a car christmas eve morning! I am heartbroken for her (I don't think peanut was even 1 year old yet) So I want to dedicate this to her, and I know how good you WB girls are at sending your love virtually!

This is Tiger, he passed away almost 3 years ago, wow I can't believe it has been that long, I just had to do the math. I still miss him more than anything, he has been part of my life since I was 5 or 6. He is very sick in this picture, we thought we were going to lose him this summer, but he held on for about 6 more months. I love how strong he looks here!

This is another family cat, Frizbee, he is still kick it! He adopted us in October of 1998, climbed onto my moms lap while she was having a coffee and cig on our backstep, and has not left since!

This is "blackie" or Jinx :D he was our yard cat for a bit, he just loved to hang out in our yard, we started to feed him since we figured he must be homeless, we posted ads (we had 3 cats already) and eventually our neighbor decided to adopt him. He is the most gently and loving cat!

Can you tell I love to photograph animals! Seriously its a silly obsession hehee!

And lastly my James, while relaxing at the beach in Toronto.

And my parents who are still deep in love after 26 years! It's a bit dark but I love the moment captured, we were out taking family photos before I moved, and I grabbed my camera and snapped this up!

2 Turtle Doves!

2007-12-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

My inlaws have an thing for doves, James mom always gets a new dove christmas tree ornament every year, so you can just imagine how many dove ornaments are on it, I think it has something to do with his day giving her one...I also think Home Alone 2 had some influence on this admiration.

Anyways on our wedding, the standard cake, came with this really gawdy cake topper (it was in the dominican) I could have cared less, I would have been happy with icecream and no cake, those details were very minor to me!

Jim's mom came up to me during dinner and said I saw this at Michaels and could not resist, even if its a little ugly, but you can stick it on your tree, or throw it out whatever, so I decided to use it as our cake topper.

And now since we do not have a star or angel, it is our (charlie brown) tree topper. Heheee.

Missing the days!

2007-12-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

The pictures were not taken today, but taken from Nov 21-Dec 5. We went to Puerto Plata for our wedding and honeymoon. Man I miss the island life hahaa! I just love the sunset in these pictures, really warms me up right now...or maybe thats the cat sitting in my lap!

The View from our room...

A picture my new hubby took of me, after our suprise renewal of vows (for my parents)

Ragdoll-esque

2007-11-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

This is my 2nd furbaby Colby. I was on the phone and came into the living room to see him sprawled out like a fur rug, on my couch! His belly just looks so soft and inviting for a rub. He is a SPCA special just over a year, although everyone seems to think he looks like an old man, he is very energetic, and crazy! We think he has some ragdoll in him, from his fur, and his floppy qualities. You can hold him your arms for every and he will not try to get away, he is like liquid when you pick him up, and he even allows us to take advantage of a Cat-flexing book I have. Working out with your cat, using him as the weight! Its great, since I do not own real weights.

3 Amigo's

2007-11-04T20:55:00.001-08:00

This is one of my favorite places....Hornby Island, camping August 2006 for my 22 birthday. My legs, Brett a good friend of mine, and FH.

Catching the morning sun, and watching the water come in. Just looking at the picture reminds me of how warm the sun was!

We are all so close and snug, because we are sharing a giant floaty....THE PARTY PALACE, was her name that summer, she died that day as well.

And just for a good laugh...Brett is pointing to the hole, and I am sad for the loss of our floaty, but we were heading home soon, so that was good.

Funny story, we were in about 3 inches of water when it deflated and we starting to freak omg we are sinking the water ahhh...and went to jump in ready for chilly-ish water, and yeah it was warm and up to our ankles LMAO. GOOD TIMES!!!

And this is likely the reason we lost air....

Lady in Red

2007-11-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

Well I did not take this photo today, but I played around on photoshop. I don't normal like pictures like this, one highlighted color, except when its red for some reason.

Anyways I did not do a very good photoshop job, but I am also not happy with todays pictures. So this is my submission hehee.

A few more for today!

2007-10-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

So I decided to take my camera on my walk to get a few veggies for supper, thought I could capture the Halloween Spirit, and was not impressed with the lack of decorated yards in our neighborhood :(.

Well our spider, that keeps coming back, was out for the night, so I snapped one of him, I am still creeped out that I was even that close to him, and then I could not resist the cat shot, this was not set up.

I had purchased that sign at Winner's and was going to send it to my mom, but never got around to it, we moved to Vancouver and James found it and put it up in the window. We truly are crazy cat people (slightly embarrassed hehee)

The 2nd love of my life!

2007-10-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

We own two wonderful furbabies, Colby was not wanting to be photographed today, however Enzo was sleeping and looked so comfortable I could not resist snapping a few shots.

I will try not to post a million cats photos, I love animal photography, but my goal is to expand and look for other great shots, angles etc.

**Everday Beauty**