Scavenger Hunt Sunday [4*03*2011]

It is starting to seem like winter is finally behind us and spring is struggling to make it's full blown appearance but no matter what the weather, it's always time to go on a scavenger hunt with Ashley. Scavenger hunts always have a few things that are easy to find and others that are a bit harder and Ashley's Scavenger Hunt Sunday is no exception - I even had to google one of the prompts.  Without further delay....here we go.

 High Key

What??? Had to google this one and found this great article that explains it better than I can.

High key photography uses unnaturally bright lighting to blow out most or all harsh shadows in an image. High key methods were originally developed as a solution to screens that couldn’t properly display high contrast ratios, but has developed into more of a stylistic choice. High key images usually convey a positive or upbeat tone. This method is perfect for a subject that is funny, lighthearted or beautiful.

Once I saw the definition I knew that Stella was going to be my subject because she is so funny, lighthearted and beautiful and I was hoping to capture that in a picture for this week's scavenger hunt. What do you think.....did I pull it off? I don't think it's perfect but for my first time not so bad. Isn't Stella looking more and more beautiful since we rescued her 3 months ago? We think so!

Bedroom

I decided to try another diptych this week after learning about this a couple of weeks ago.

Picture on the left is my side of the bed including a nightstand, favorite lamp, and picture of Tanner as a pup.

Picture on the right is the mirror above our bed which shows the other side of the bedroom.

It's a small room and thought this would show the room the best.

Our bedroom is my sanctuary and I love the relaxing feel it has to it.

On that note it's almost time to go to bed and cozy up in my big king sized bed.

Something Tiny

This is one of the many shells I found when we were in Cozumel in December 2009. This one is one of my favorites and I love how teeny, tiny it is and you can see by the size of the other shell behind it that it is truly teeny tiny. I wanted to photograph a tiny bird my hubby got from his grandmother but I can't find it for the life of me. Maybe next time. Little blue baby bird where are you?

 Off in the Distance

This one was hard for me because I tend to like to shoot objects close up and not from a distance. I went for a car ride with my hubby and found this windmill off in the distance. Doesn't this prompt remind you of the song from Bette Midler? No, well I kept singing it all day while working on the scavenger hunt.

Stripes

I love stripes! And when I find a shirt I like, I but them in multiple colors. Can you tell?

My favorite is the 3rd from the right, cream and gray stripes!



A Stella Update - 2 months

Two months ago today we adopted Stella into our family and she is making a lot of progress. She has had a lot of firsts in the past 2 months and she has taken it all in stride. The last update I wrote about Stella was at two weeks and slowly but surely she has made even more progress.

New Experiences:

• Bath Time - after a nice long walk we also discovered how dirty her white coat becomes especially since she is so low to the ground. We are not looking forward to all of the snow melting.
• Grooming - her first day at the spa didn't go as well as I would have liked. She had a hard time standing so cutting her fur on her belly and face was a challenge and unfortunately it shows. They cut too much of her fur off and I can't wait for it to grow back. At least her stained fur is gone now for the most part. Her hair is so short that Mama can't put bows in it - was that on purpose David?
• Teeth Cleaning - we were ecstatic to get her teeth cleaned because her dental health was in poor condition. She did very well but unfortunately had to have another tooth removed so now she has 4 less teeth than she started with. But at least her breath is fresh!
• She loves her name and when you call her name she will come to you and sniff your hand- Yeah!
• Stella experienced her first blizzard on February 1st and doesn't want to experience that again. It was a day that she chose to go potty inside the house instead of outside despite us making a special place for them. Can you blame her? The 4 feet drifts would have been too much for me too.
• Stella also got to finally meet some family. She loved both of her Grandma's and her Grandpa too. She'll soon realize how much they will spoil her when they watch the dogs for us.

Making Progress:

• She still doesn't like being handled but at least she isn't shaking as much as she used to. This is going to take a long time but I really wish she would stop digging her nails into you. We call it the Def com 5 death grip - it's unreal and has left me with many scratches on my chest.
• She still won't go down the stairs inside the house so it's a challenge to chase after her so we can take her downstairs with the rest of the family. Thank goodness our neighbors let us borrow their baby gate, it sure comes in handy.

 Stella - 1 week after her haircut

Look at that face - I love how it highlights her eyes. 

A quick shot after I brushed her fur.

Last but not least, a picture of Snaggletooth! She was actually licking her fur around her mouth and yawning but I captured her at just the right moment to show a couple of her missing teeth. She looks mean in this picture but she's really the sweetest thing. Mama had to embarrass her with this funny picture. Please forgive me Stella!

P.S. This is my 300th post and love that it features our baby Stella.

A Stella Update - 2 weeks

It's been 2 weeks since Stella won the lottery joined our family and I thought I would share an update with how our little Stella-Bella is doing. She is fitting well into our little family and still adores Tanner to pieces, however he is still adjusting to not being the only star around here. He is a great big brother and thanks to him Stella is doing great with her house training. After her first walk around the block today, I decided to take advantage of the natural light and couldn't resist snapping some pictures of her in her new pink winter coat - it's just so darn cute! There are many more items of clothing in her future, I just can't help myself.

New Discoveries:

• Her bark and howl - not a good thing necessarily but if Tanner barks so does she
• She loves her new winter coat that Mama got her
• Hanging out in the backyard and chasing after Tanner

Making Progress:

• Is able to lay down and relax when we are watching TV or reading
• Walking on leash
• House training with minor accidents
• Maybe recognizing her name
• Takes treats out of our hand
• Going up and down the steps on the deck; going up the stairs in the house
• Sleeps ALL night long - in our bed of course

Needs some work:

• Allowing David & I to pick her up and cuddle with her, she is scared to death and it's a race around the house to be able to pick her up. This will take time but I hope we start to see some progress.
• Giving Tanner a little bit of space, her nice is in his behind all of the time
• Going down the stairs in our house (she only goes up)
• Not destroying her bedding in her crate while we are at work

 Stella right after her walk around the block

 Getting ready to go outside

 Tanner & Stella really do look like brother and sister don't you think?

 Later in the day getting ready for a little grooming session with Mama.

 I love her soulful eyes

Stella - Our New Addition

About 10 days ago I shared that we may have a new addition to our family and I'm happy to say that Stella joined our family on December 26th. She is a 7 lb pound Maltese that we rescued from a puppy mill. The vet estimates that she is between 5 and 8 years old and lived her whole live in a puppy mill until recently. She has kept me very busy this past week which is why I haven't had a moment to take pictures or blog about her or anything else. The last few days have went really well and we (actually just me) were able to get her house trained in 1 day!!! She's a fast learner but we have a ways to go. Because she only had interaction with other dogs, she is afraid of people and we are slowly working on earning her trust. She looks a lot like Tanner and she absolutely idolizes him and follows him everywhere - which helped with the house training. I have been off of work the entire week which helped in helping her with the big adjustment, next week I head back to work on Tuesday so I'm hoping she will do fine while we are gone. She loves her crate as long as Tanner is in view so let's cross our fingers and hope for the best. Here's a few pictures of our little star Stella.

 Stella trying out her new hair bow.

 Stella and Me - can you tell she doesn't like to be held (yet)?

 Stella and Daddy.

 Tanner and I on my birthday.

 Tanner and Daddy.

Me and our failed attempt to hold Tanner and Stella at the same time.

Stella just wants to cuddle up with Tanner and he just wants to run away from her and be along.

I hope this phase passes but it's hard having a sister after 6 1/2 years of being an only spoiled dog.