Some real hope and change.

Around the end of 2011 I was feeling this nudge to start a daily journal.  Something I have done in varying degrees for many years, but never daily. I even purchased a really pretty hardcover journal to start writing in on New Year’s day 2012…. and I did just that. Then on the 11^th of January that same year I started this blog. In a very short time this became my daily journal....and to be honest I’m not even sure where that hard cover journal is.  I realize now it was God going ahead of me. However he left out this one small detail when he was nudging me to journal daily. This was that it was going to be public and open for ALL to see as I would journey through the shattering of my heart and now the beginning process of Jesus picking up every scattered piece, and with all love and tenderness begin to restore my world. 

So why I’m sharing all of that is… I realized it was time to change the description of this blog… which is to the right of this post under “About our Family”.  Not that I’m going to change what I blog …but WHY I blog has changed. And the description of my life and family has forever changed.  

  I wrote the bio in the third person this time to just stretching my creative muscle. And boy oh boy it sure is challenging to write about yourself in this manner.

So this is what I came up with. 

I also added a little photo update of the pack for all my faithful doggie fans. :)

Anna started blogging to share her love of photography through the antics of a pack of dogs. She and her husband Richard fostered and rehabilitated many animals through the years as they shared a truly enchanted life in the world of dog rescue. Serving God in this very unique way became a life of great joy for them both.  In August of 2012 Richard was suddenly and unexpectedly promoted to Heaven. With that heartbreaking loss a new journey and season began for Anna. One she now shares openly in this blog.  The journey is real… sometimes raw and sometimes downright heart wrenching, but also filled with hope and encouragement that there is life after suffering such great loss. She continues to share her journey through the antics of the pack and the love of the lens.  She does this because the heart of a rescuer is the heart of a rescuer….whether it be two legged or four legged they want to see those who suffer set free from their pain. She hopes by sharing her journey that it may somehow comfort others and help them to “live like someone left the gate open”…..FREE!  Anna always believed every dog they cared for had a story and because they had made it into rescue that story had a “happy ever after”.  Now through the strength she draws from her faith in a God that has been relentlessly kind to her…the love of her family and friends and of course through the crazy antics of a pack of dogs… she is learning to believe she still has a “happy ever after” as well. Thank you for stopping by and sharing the journey with her.

Hot dogs! Get your FREE hot dogs here!

Every year a local church in our community has this gigantic flea market. I always look very forward to going, and mark my calendar as soon as I get the date.  And every year I always score treasures to add to my doggie collection. This year my favorite treasure had a whopping price tag of 10 cents!  Which I was SO willing to pay. But when I got up to the checkout the lady said “Oh that’s only 10 cents…you can just have it.”  Yes, that woman became my new best friend ;).  So now, for those of you who are thinking… big deal…a free stuffed animal. Well, No siree!…It’s not just a stuffed, so cute...makes you want to eat it up, wiener dog, but a vintage "autograph hound". They were popular in the 50’s -60’s.

But what I love about this one …besides the fact it’s a dachshund… is that it still has its pen attached and it’s not autographed! 

Now my good fortune is about to become your good fortune…that's if you’re a fan of the wiener dog. (Which I know many of my readers are.) In my hunt to try to date my autograph hound I came across this sweet set of FREE printable dachshund gift tags. 

And YES I’m going to share the link. 

Free Dachshund gift tag link

After you open the link above Just right click and save like you would any image....and then print to your heart’s content! J  

I did find a few more doggie goodies at the sale. And this last one I’m sharing had me walking down memory lane in my mind. It's a copy of one of my favorite reading class textbooks from elementary school.  “The Dog Next Door”.  I love rediscovering books I enjoyed in my childhood and sharing them with Shannie. Especially when they have such great pictures.
   This one however wasn’t free…it was 25 cents. hehehehehe

So I will end this post with Shannie’s response to me when I told her we were going to a flea market.  She said… “Grammy, don’t you think with all these dogs we should stay away from anything with a name like FLEA market”…..LOL. I love that kids! 

Puppy vs Binkie

Mr. Waylon meeting Poppy the Puppy.

Yes, that big smile makes me believe he likes his new friend.

But will Poppy the puppy win over Mr. Binkie? ONLY time will tell.

Either way I am sooooooooooooooooo in love with this little prince of mine.

A wee bit of heaven
drifted down from above-
A handful of happiness,
a heart full of love.

The mystery of life,
so sacred and sweet-
The giver of joy
so deep and complete.

Precious and priceless,
so lovable, too-
The world's sweetest miracle,
baby, is you.

Author: Helen Steiner Rice

My home away from home

The picture I posted for silent Sunday yesterday was my first photo shoot in my “almost” finished studio! 

Isn’t it purdy? 

   I needed a place away from the main house and dogs to work.

When Richard was alive he could always occupy the dogs when I felt the creative juices flowing.

So this works out great. They just think I’m out in the yard or something… and have no clue I have a secret hideaway…a "home away from home". hehehehe  

Where God is taken my photography I’m not completely sure, but I have been enjoying this part of the adventure.  And I really believe Lil Ricky is a big part of it.  

Anyone that knows her can attest to this, she is ALL terrier! She is always zipping from here to there and yapping up a storm. However, when I get the camera out I can sit her anywhere and she just goes into this mode that amazes me every time. It’s like she knows what her job is.

So yesterday I took this video before the shoot so you could get a little glimpse of what I’m talking about…  

 Yes sir…she was handmade by God... just for me! J

Silent Sunday

My hiding place

So this is where I have been hiding.  There is something about outdoors and my flower gardens that refresh me and make me feel close to God… so I have been spending a large amount of time outdoors.

Life started in a garden and I feel my life starting again in one. 
This however was not the case in the beginning of spring.  In fact the greener it became the sadder I became.  Richard and I spent so much time outside working in the yard and enjoying it. The things that normally gave me so much joy… the sight of everything budding …the smell of fresh cut grass, the spring rains... were now like an assault on all my senses.  It just became so painful for my heart.  But after much prayer and many tears I no longer feel that way. In fact I walk around and ask God often, "Why did you bless me with such a beautiful home?….what is it all for? …what is your plan?  He hasn’t answered that yet. But right now it has become therapy for me and a enchanted world for Shannie... were she can do things like play princess with her toy friend Meow Meow. 

And the dogs…well they are easy…. a cool concrete

  walkway is enchanting enough for them.

There will be a day

Stopped at my mom’s for a short visit yesterday and we got on a conversation about my blog. She has been missing it and said “Can’t you at least just do silent Sundays”…lol. She is so sweet.  I told her Mom I just feel like Forest in the movie where he ran and ran and ran….then one day he was just done. I told her I don’t know if I’m ever going to blog again. 

                            

 Then I got up this morning and was reading this scripture.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

I started to really ponder that last line “the day of Christ Jesus”

I though wow what is that day going to be like?! Then I remembered this song… 

 
 and all of that made me feel like blogging for the first time in months.
Mom must have really been praying...lol

So will I keep blogging or not I don’t know.  I feel stronger both in spirit and in my body.  Taken on all Richards chores of caring for the house has been both challenging and rewarding as I accomplish things I never thought I could do without a husband.  Yesterday I replaced a sink and faucet in my bathroom. Who would have thunk it!  

I’ve also been spending lots of time with my grand kids. The joys of my life!

Mr. Waylon is going to be the leader of the pack one day I know it!

And my sweet Shannie is about to come for the summer.

  

She and I have had some amazing moments as we process through our grief together. A quick story about that I will share is one day I asked God…”Does Richard even think about me?” Later that night right before bed Shannie gave me two notes she wrote… one telling me how much she loves me and the other one she wrote as if Poppy wrote it to me saying how he loves me and thinks of me ….she even signed it love lightning Poppy. Which made me cry and laugh…she doesn’t realizes he wouldn’t sign love Poppy …lol But it was perfect and she didn’t know what I had asked God. So I treasure both those notes they are in my bible.

I do want to thank everyone for writing and encouraging me and for all your prayers.  I feel them. 

And the more I type the more I realize I missed this….so maybe I’ will get my running shoes back on. J