New Feature: FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE (FOTP)

As many of you know by now, my girl She-Ra {Princess of Power!} has developed an immune deficiency disorder.  While it is mostly under control thanks to medication, we discovered a new infection a few nights ago in one of her front paws.  Ordinarily, this would not be a big deal - and it still may not be - but for the moment we have to investigate if this is a sign of a bigger problem.  I called and left a message with a tech at the Nashville Vet Specialists, asking for our Dr. Wang to call me at work to let me know if I needed to bring She-Ra in.  NVS had taken in some of the dogs rescued in Operation Sweethearts, so I didn't want to pester the vet unnecessarily.  At the end of my work day, I still had not heard anything, so I called back.  Turns out that Dr. Wang had indeed called. Now I RARELY leave my desk.  Apparently she literally called in the two minutes I was not at my desk to answer my phone, so a co-worker answered.  And said that there was no one in the office by that name.  Dr. Wang had asked for me using my boyfriend's last name.  Boyfriend and I have been together for 6 years, so when they call me Mrs. S at the vet, I don't think twice.  It happens all the time.  It never crossed my mind that calling me by his last name would make me miss a message.  It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be at my desk to answer the phone!  So at that point, it was too late to drive all the way back home (1 hour) to pick She-Ra up, and then to drive her back in to see Dr. Wang (another hour).  Dr. Wang suggested I try to get She-Ra to my local vet.  Which closes at 5PM.  It was 3:45, I had an hour drive to the house, and then I had to get to the local vet.  Sheesh.  My extremely understanding boss let me bolt, and I hit the highway.  And hit traffic.  And got stuck behind a semi.  And I tried not to cry.

Are you wondering about my "focus on the positive" yet??

It was when I got stuck behind the semi that I tried to force myself to calm down and take a deep breath.  I do honestly believe that all things happen for a reason, so I repeated that outloud a few times, and then turned on the radio.  I switched it to WAY FM, a contemporary Christian radio station.  The band Red greated me with their song "Not Alone."  And at that point I smiled.  It's a song that has - no joke - been on each time I've had to drive She-Ra to/from the vet.  And here it was again.  A few minutes later the local vet called to let me know that they had a sister clinic that was open until 7PM, and that our local DVM happened to be there that night.  I'm not making this stuff up, folks. 

So there's my FOTP point for this entry: I am not alone.  You are not alone. 

For some people, this is a cop-out that Christians use when people are going through a rough time..."God is with you" sometimes just doesn't mean anything to a person in the midst of hurt.  I can only say that yesterday, it brought me back to a place where I was ok.  Where I was reminded that I am not, in fact, alone.  I have friends and family who have been supporting us along the way (a friend kept my other two dogs while I took She-Ra to the vet, so they didn't have to spend 18 hours alone), and I have a God who notices me sitting in traffic stressing about a dog....

....my beautiful dog, if I do say so myself :)

"I am with you.  I will carry you through it all...I won't leave you, I will catch you.  When you feel like letting go, you are not, you're not alone..."

~ God, via Red

Cutest. Baby. Ever.

So baby Farryn was one of my first shoots of a non-family member.  She may possibly remain my favorite (non-family member) of all time.  She doesn't stop smiling.  She is BEAUTIFUL.  She is so loving, and she has some super cool parents who stay cool when I freak out about her moving close to the edge of the bed (how do parents DO IT?!).  Farryn's mom wanted some pictures to share with family who live on the other side of the country, as F is getting ready to turn 1, and she wanted some in a gorgeous vintage outfit sent by F's aunt.  As it was 23 degrees outside, we opted for some indoor shots.  As you'll notice, we couldn't help but get ALL the family members involved ;).

Quality mother/daughter time

Happy Girl!

 Showing those teeth!  I was trying to catch those ALL morning!

Isn't this dress gorgeous?!  Sent by her loving aunt!

Quite possibly my new favorite picture...I mean really...you can't fake that kind of enthusiasm!

This is where I started to freak out...slow down!!  There's a cliff at the end!!  (Mom and Dad just laughed at me, and as it turns out, Farryn did NOT take a dive) 

I am in love with the following pictures of Farryn with Delilah - one of the family's dogs (I couldn't quite catch the other until the end, in the family shot).  Soooo sweet!

Oh this gorgeous baby...

 

Let my dog out!

(Although there are a few pictures with Delilah out of reach, Farryn and Delilah actually spend a great deal of quality time together...I love dogs and their babies!)

And finally, one big family shot:

 Can you believe it?!  All looking in the same direction?!  This is such a great family, and I can't wait to take more of their pictures!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Several weeks ago I was able to finish up some pictures I had taken of my friends T&D.  I figure today is an appropriate day to finally post the rest of their pictures, as they are happy in love, and happily awaiting the arrival of their first baby (a boy!).  I'll start off with a "before and after"....before they found out they were pregnant (they just wanted some pictures of their new pup!), and now while pregnant (look how big the puppy is!) - I knew I wanted to photograph a series like this as soon as I found out she was expecting!  Our next session will hopefully have some baby feet added!

Here are a few others of the family...

Isn't she just gorgeous??


As for my Valentine's Day, I came home to a super fun surprise from two of my neighbors (both neighbors were kind enough to think of me today - I have apparently failed at being a good neighbor!!): two cards pups (I think you know by now how much we love ours!), some chocolate and some homemade doggie treats!

I'm so lucky!!  

Project 52 Week 6 ~ Linear

I'm going to join the ranks of the bloggers who say they're way behind.  Because I am.  Another weekend gone, with not enough time to write all I want to write, or show the pictures I'd like to show.  Really, I'm not sure if I'd be writing at all, if it weren't for the Project 52.  There's such an amazing community of photographers (not pro to pro) participating, and I don't want to miss a thing!  This week's themes were Linear and Topsy Turvey (chaos)...I thought chaos would be a piece of cake, since I feel like everything about me is in chaos right now!!  


(A beautiful chaos, but chaos nonetheless)


As it turns out, I just didn't have (find?) the time to capture my chaos, but I did take a picture of my amaryllis...remember the plant I was trying not to kill?  Well I haven't!!  I will not see a bloom this season, but I have leaves.  Bright, beautiful, tall and alive leaves.  I'm pretty excited :)

I will be making a concerted effort this week to share some more pictures that I have taken recently...yes, some more of the dogs, but some more baby bump pictures, and some of the most precious almost-one-year-old little girl!  Also, I've entered into the world of shooting RAW.  Not a big deal for the experienced, but a big deal for me!  Shooting in RAW allows the camera to capture ALL of the light data, and therefore allows for greater manipulation in processing/editing.  Add this to my first complete shoot in manual mode, and I'm feeling pretty good.  Well, I'm feeling pretty terrified, and overwhelmed, but excited and motivated...I need more time!