8.31.2015: back from hiatus

My last blog entry was dated 4/5/2015...and today is 8/31/2015...oh, where to begin and what is one to do when falling so miserably behind?! I've been staring at my blog for the last several minutes, tapping my fingers and scratching my head, trying to figure out what I should do. Let me first start by saying that A LOT has happened during my hiatus, most significant of which was packing up our family and moving across the country. In the frenzy of selling the house, packing, making a week long drive, unpacking and slowly figuring out the new city, I had no time or luxury for anything else, let alone blogging (well...I did keep a private blog to chronicle our whole moving experience).  On multiple times, I even contemplated quitting my Flickr photography groups as I was just barely making the weekly/monthly assignment deadlines. In retrospect, I'm glad that I stuck with it.

So, I'm about 5 months behind and probably have about 2-3 dozen photos that have accumulated in that time. In my attempt to come up with a game plan, I'm realizing that there is no good way other than just tackling it head on and try to catch up as quickly as possible. So, while I'll be resuming my blogging life and posting new things from this day on, I'll also be working mad and post my backlog of stuff. To avoid losing continuity, I'll back date these to their appropriate time frame.

Finally, I have been thinking a lot lately about blogging in general and how I want to approach it going forward. There's still a lot whirling around in my head and I hope to sort everything out soon, but some of the thoughts I'm having are, whether to possibly branch out into other social platforms and whether to widen this blog to include other topics...more on that later.

it's feeling like autumn here today...

12 Months of Misty & Jasper: August - spa time!

This was our first "structured" photoshoot since our move. We're now living in a much smaller place, and the limited space does pose a pretty big challenge, but what we lost in square footage, we made up in the amount of natural light we get. Overall, it was such a cute session and the photos constantly crack me up. The only mistake was in not checking my camera setting beforehand and my ISO was set way high for no good reason, resulting in some degradation of quality...live and learn.

For August submission to the 12 months group:

"Inspired by jjimjilbang, a Korean sauna/bathhouse that I see sometimes on the international channel, I just had to figure out how to make those cute sheep-shaped head towels and of course, to put them on my dogs! I think I could've done without the draped towels though--they remind me of Princess Leia! LOL"

ready for the sauna...or the star wars audition

submission for 52 Weeks: 35/52 - Girl's gotta lamer herself!

12 Months of Jasper: August - "I've been missing out..."

Submission for August:

"Recently, Jasper has figured out the function of a pillow...smart boy. :)"

52 Weeks of Misty 2015: 34/52 - a good day

Submission for 34/52:

"After couple weeks of feeling weak and resting, Misty started to show signs of improvement towards the latter part of this week and today, she felt good enough to go for a little trail walk which she absolutely loved...it was a good day. :)"

posing in front of this amazing tree

52 Weeks of Misty 2015: 33/52 - waiting for the rain

Submission for 33/52:

"We got to experience our first Seattle rain this week since our move, although with all the thunder & lightening, it felt more like the east coast summer storms. Nonetheless, Misty enjoyed watching the dark sky, strong winds and heavy rain for hours."

right before the storm...

52 Weeks of Misty 2015: 32/52 - resourceful...

Submission for 32/52:

"Misty wasn't feeling her best this week, so we limited her activities to just a quick walk in the morning only. She didn't complain too much and figured out how to maximize this rest period."

Misty loves to rest her head on a pillow nowadays

52 Weeks of Misty 2015: 31/52 - "there's no more..."

Submission for 31/52:

"To help cool off during the heat wave this week, we made some homemade "pupsicles" for the dogs--very basic banana and peanut butter. Evidently, it is beneath Misty to lick the last remaining bits on the floor...spoiled!"

not interested in licking the floor...

ice cream = happiness