Slice of Nice

As we prepare for our first born child, not a fur kid, I have renewed an interest in doing some books.  When ever we have brought a new puppy into the house it has been so much fun watching them explore their world.  When Emma came along, I thought she was the most mischievous puppy I had ever seen.  As she explored, well, as she tore around her new world, I started writing her story in my head as I pulled my camera out to catch her exploits.  Now, I’ve run across her puppy pictures again and find myself writing that story all over again, only not just with her in mind, but also with Dylan in mind.

So, right now I’m experimenting with taking the actual pictures and making them into something that looks like drawings.  Let me know what you think….these are about the fifth try and so far Gary hasn’t liked them much.  And if I don’t find something that suits the look of drawing, I think I will just go with the pictures themselves.  So, please weigh in on what you really think about the difference between the actual picture and the drawing look.

Quite the look don't you think?

Just layin' around, no wild puppy here

where's the wild child?

So, what do you think?

In the interest in getting back into the swing of things, I’m going to do a series on my favorite pictures.  Get back in the swing of things you say, why are you out of the swing?  A little over a year ago we moved from Scottsdale, AZ to Longview, TX.  At the time it seemed like a logical move, because my Mom needed some help as she was being moved into assisted living at age 62.  However, the move to Longview has created such a culture shock for us, moving from a big resort town to a very small East Texas town, I got lost. I became caught up in family and moving and figuring out where exactly we had moved to.  I’m just now starting to come out of this fog and getting back to what I really love to do, while adding a few new skills and oh yes, we are adding a new family member, a baby this time, not a puppy.

So, here’s the first one that came from a photo shoot of Gail’s Border Collie’s, all of which came from Arizona Border Collie Rescue.

Profile of some gorgeous BC's

Tessa's eyes are captivating

In November of 2009 we added another new member of the family, one of a completely different color!  We have supported Arizona Border Collie Rescue for a long time, but had never owned a Border Collie.  We were a Golden Retriever family.  So, why support BC Rescue?  Simply stated, they needed me.  They needed and wanted a photographer who would help them to raise funds and Golden rescue had more than enough help. That is how doing their calendar came about and how eventually I would talk my husband into saying yes to a BC.

Actually, I can’t really take credit for Finn coming into our family.  It was all her.  I knew I would have a sales job if I wanted a BC and I never could find the right selling point for Gary.  But one day, at a show where I was working the NCCF booth and ABCR was there, I brought over one of their puppies to play with during our time there.  As I went to help a customer, I handed the pup to Gary and walked away.  When I turned to take her back, he was gone.  I saw him in the distance on his way back to the ABCR booth.  Of course, I thought he was taking her back to them, but when he re-appeared, he was still holding her and she was staring at me.  He said, if you want her, she is yours.  I was in shock.  Did my husband just say yes to a BC and I didn’t even ask?

It turns out that when I handed her to him, with her little speckled legs and big ears, she looked directly at him and then licked his nose.  She made him cry.  That was it, it was that simple.  He fell in love with her and voila, Finn was ours.  That is how we came across our first real rescue.

She loves to curl up with Armani:

And she will play ‘fetch’ endlessly: