Footprint

I went to the zoo. We saw wolves, otters, and meercats. I got to see how big a hippo's adult foot print is compared to my hand. It was cold and cloudy outside, but my heart was so warm from the sweet company and companionship.

Enter through the wooden doors
Stained from wet weather
Host to beautiful greens and browns

I watch as the beautiful ones enter inside. They spend their times with wings and sounds, and I watch their wonder. I took the time to sneak away, watching little feet wander over cobblestone, hearing the wilderness and the trees, feeling the frozen air sneak under my layers.

But then I placed my hand in yours
Pressed my palm and felt your callouses
I thought, how big could this be?
Opened my mind and my heart

Look

June

This month, I get to celebrate my darling Newo Ikkin. Last year, she adopted me into her heart. In these twelve months, we have traveled over 7 states, we've moved to San Diego together, we camped, backpacked, hiked, and played a minimum of 365 games of ball.
Our lives have been totally different since we've been together. I've learned a lot of patience, as well as putting her before me. I've learned to love someone completely, despite their flaws; and I think she has, too. It's been a wild adventure so far, and I can't wait to spend many more years with my little Woofus. She does a perfect job at loving me, through her affectionate heart and her persistent nature. Even in the darkest moments of the last year, she has been a great light for me. It's so comforting to know that, even if she is an animal, she loves me unconditionally. And I love her too. Mushy gushy, stuff, I know. Get over it.

Question of the blog:
JUNE is also the month that I get to celebrate my sweet sister's birthday. We live two states away, so it is very hard to get together to celebrate with her. I hope I see her again soon. What does the month of June represent for you?

Polar Bear 3 : Iceberg Cam 0

New Song

The sun moves toward the west

And we spend its last hour in our back yard. I lay in a hammock by myself, and watch the dogs as they play with each other around me. My skin feels as if it is glowing. The sun shines on my face and I feel a warmth that rarely comes to me anymore. I am at peace, I feel a serenity come over me, and I am not so alone. Rocked back and forth as if I was a baby once again, birds sing a new song high in the trees. Autumn is among us, and I feel it in the cold brick on my feet, the smell of trees and the sight of early evenings. My mouth does not open often, and my vocabulary is small, but I am busy with my thoughts and in my hands. I am not so alone.

I am not so alone.

Question of the blog:

Where have you found peace?

Twinkle In Her Eye

Image Via WeHeartIt

I didn't write much this summer. In my travels, I expected to spend my days writing all about the things I discovered, my thoughts, my feelings. I came home with 4 pages; one of notes from my photography workshop, two pages were a letter I wrote and never sent, and one with a quote of some sort. As I look back on the quote, I try time and time again to think of where I heard it, or read it. Maybe I wrote it down because I felt a connection to it, or that it rang true to the moment I was in. Before I wrote this blog, I typed it into Google so I could write an author after it, but there was nothing. As I write this, my thoughts are leading me to think that maybe I wrote it one night, presumably in my tent with my dog Newo. A week into our trip, I realized nights got very cold in some places, so I bought a new sleeping bag for myself and gave her my old one. Before bed, I'd read for a little while by flashlight as Newo snuggled up to me.

"Are you happy?" I ask as she lays comfortably on her favorite blanket. There is a twinkle in her eye. "Me too."

Question of the blog:
What is one of your favorite quotes?

Terrible Twosome

And we are right at home.

Just you and me, pups. 

Question of the blog:

Who is your other half of your fearsome twosome? 

Finish this sentence: It's just you and me, _______

The Newo Pups Adventurer

I am eternally grateful for my darling dog, Newo. I adopted her right before I left on my magnificent trip. This first photo, above, was taken on our first night camping together, in Mount Shasta, in Northern California. We played, hiked, built fires, and took the best cat naps ever.

Above, our time in Silver Falls State Park, in Oregon. So rainy, so beautiful. One of the nights I opened a bottle of rose wine to sip on after my small dinner, and read my book. Of course, I forgot a cup on my trip, so I was just drinking out of the bottle. About 45 minutes later, I look down to see I'm on my last chapter of my book, and I have an empty bottle. Needless to say, I was totally drunk. I happened to be reading Where The Red Fern Grows, all about the love between a dog and its master. For those of you who haven't read it, the last chapter is probably the most depressing end to a novel EVER. I spent the evening SOBBING alone in my tent with Newo.

This classy photo was taken in Seattle, Washington. I spent a little over a week with my wonderful sister Moorea. We had a great 4th of July, I helped model for her jewelry store, and Newo made TONS of friends. We were very sad to leave Moorea and Max, Newo's two biggest fans. She lovesss Auntie Moorea.

To be completely honest, this was the most pointless and frustrating part of our trip. I KNEW that the forest spirits or karma or omens or whatever did NOT want me at Heyburn State Park, in Northern Idaho, but I did not listen. After three days, hundreds of mosquito bites, locking my keys in my car, going hungry for 12 hours, Newo and I got out of there as soon as we possibly could. This photo captured the only smile of the trip.

Montana was amazing. Undoubtedly the best part of my entire summer adventure. Here we are, looking wonderful as always, in Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, in South Western Montana. Newo had gotten that ball from my package of Dog Chow and it drove me absolutely nuts, but she loved it. Every day for the 5 days we were in Montana, there was an afternoon thunderstorm either overhead, or off in the distance. The time this photo was taken, it was sunny overhead, and maybe a couple of football fields away, there were huge storm clouds and lightning and thunder. We read outside in the warm sunshine as the thunder groaned. It was lovely.

We went to see some of my favorite friends in Rexburg, Eastern Idaho. Newo loved it here, because she had so many friends who wanted to play! We stayed with my favorite little married couple, who are expecting, and they were such lovely hosts. This is us at Rigby Lake, enjoying the sunshine and being annoying to Newo as always. She puts up with so much.

A truly horrendous night occurred 12 hours before this photo was taken. We went to see my friends in South Lake Tahoe, which turned out to be one night of awesome and one night of not so awesome. They knighted me with the name "Zandgrr", a personality of mine that has only been shown twice to them. Newo loved them, too. At least I had a nice lemon drop that night.

I just got back from a trip to San Diego and Long Beach, and unfortunately did not take any photos of Newo on those trips. San Diego was great, though, and we had a lovely time with some old friends that I missed very much. My trip to Long Beach was very important, as it was for the funeral and burial of my sweet sweet grandmother, whom I call Gaga. We stayed at my cousin's house, and he has a dog as well. Lhamo and Newo got along SO well, and I feel as though she finally made a real dog friend. Her very first one! I am so proud. This photo, above, was taken at the Yuba River in Nevada City. Bella and I camped at the river for the night. About an hour after this photo was taken, my grandmother departed this world. I miss her very much.

This concludes story time with Newo and Alexandra. But in fact, it's really just beginning!

I love my girl so much. Through our travels, we have grown very close, and I am so grateful she and I have ended up together. The Newo Pups has traveled 6 states with me this summer, and we intend to keep traveling around the US in the future. Since being home, we do a lot of river trips and visits to friends nearby. I can't wait to see where the road takes us next.

Question of the blog:

Where did you last travel to?

& What is your favorite form of transportation?

Companion

Image Via WeHeartIt

I have been having super vivid dreams lately, and about one thing in particular. A puppy. My puppy. The breed keeps changing, from Siberian Husky to German Shepard to other littler pups, and as these dreams progress I only want one more! As I wander up and down the West coast this summer, there's nothing I would love more than have a little companion like a puppy to join me for my travels. Of course, my living situations as well as everything would be a little more complicated if I had one... A girl can still dream, right?

Dear dog of my dreams... Here I am.

Question of the blog:

If you could have any pet, what animal would you have?

Husky Pup Love

(image via WeHeartIt)

I want a snuggly huskey bear dog so badly. Especially on nights like these, where the flat is all quiet minus Sufjan Stevens playing in the background, and the rooms are lit with one light fixture, I want a dog with me. My head has been hurting a lot lately, and I've been extra spacey/moody/tired lately because of it, and things like guitar playing and blogging have been nowhere near the first priorities of my life. I have a 4 1/2 day weekend in two weeks, maybe I should plan myself a little adventure to get out of town and be somewhere new..

Question of the blog:

Do you have any pets?
If you could own any pet, what would it be?

Dream Interpreters Welcome

I was there, with you, in an apartment unlike the real one. There was a small dog, and as I held it, I saw his wire teeth, sharp and metal. They bit into my hand and my life blood was pouring out, all of it. I went outside. I got a phone call. We talked like nothing ever happened, you sounded just like yourself, your voice so clear it was as though you were right next to me. We were friends, it was so beautiful. I went to my sibling's apartment, but she left me. I was there with my father, and out of nowhere came a young, pretty little black cat. I was scared, I didn't know what to do. I put her in the bathroom, but the door was raised so high from the ground I knew the cat could escape. Panicked, I called my sister to ask what to do, and she was shocked to hear of a cat in her house. She was convinced the cat had hatched from an egg under her bed, that her previous cat must have laid the egg before she left. Frantic, I pushed a towel under the door of the bathroom so the cat would not escape, and my first thought was, she is starving. I ran down the street, so afraid I would be the cause of the death of this poor kitten. My legs became weak and wobbly, I lost myself trying to find a Petco. I found it, and as I walked in, a girl from my past walked by. She was pregnant, and looked beautiful. I was unnoticed. I could not find the food for the kitten. As I ran to the last aisle, my legs giving out, I began to wake up.

Stay asleep.. Stay asleep.

I made my own destiny now. My legs were strong. I knew exactly where the food was, and I had enough money to buy her the best. As I walked out, my favorite family from my childhood was there, they were celebrating in a crowd. They were joyful, for the first time in years. We saw each other, and I smiled. I was running home to feed the cat, and then I opened my eyes.

My Last Night On Earth

I'm just saying. It's 1:57 am, and there are scary noises outside. Like dragging, and crunching, and it sounds like a strong animal. My windows are open, so I am preparing for a zombie to attack at any moment. I am so scared. Also- There is this hideous bug in my room that is addicted to the light, so I am not turning my light of tonight. Hopefully it fries itself while I am sleeping in the fetal position on the couch. But really.

We're All Fine

This brings me so much sadness today. As someone who feels as much as I do, I try and avoid exposing myself to tragic things. But after hearing stories after stories about how animals and people are being killed, and states such as Louisiana suffering from the oil moving to the beaches, I can't hide how sad this truly makes me. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families that have been affected and devastated by this, to the poor innocent animals that have to suffer from humanities faults, and to the ecosystem that has to take so much from us, and is expected to always be fine.

Ninja Spider

There is a ninja spider in my room, that has been lurking me for the past two days. At least, that's how long I think it's been lurking me. This morning, it showed up on my desk, and as I grabbed my pile of guitar papers to take it out, it disappeared like a masked warrior, and went missing for hours. Then, as I was talking to my boyfriend on the phone, it fell from my ceiling, onto my body. I swear. And then I stood up, and after flailing around for a bit, looked around and it was nowhere.
Conclusion: Either I am dealing with the ghost of spiders past, or this is the sneaking dang spider in the universe.

Question of the blog:
Do you have any phobias?

It'd Be The Cat's Meow If...

Can I ask you some advice? I'm ready to change my header/banner on my blog, but I'm not quite sure what direction to go for. What do you think? Really... any advice is good advice. Spill your heart in the comment box below.

Cat naps. Alexandra Seal 09

Taking Her Books To the Schoolyard, Schoolyard

Cages and hissing,
Welcome home and a new arrival.
Adding a new kitty to the family,
long haired, with thumbs to add,
my head hurts and pressure builds.
Look me in the eye,
like Wellington stares at his new nemesis,
Stop what you're doing but you keep going
you keep rolling your eyes
but I'm over it.
Headaches and belt loops and super glue.

I'm over this.
Let me fail my test in peace.
I'll paint my nails after class,
We won't talk. I can promise you that.
God, give me strength. Patience.
Cure this rotten heart that causes me grief.


Nothing feels right.

Apology

I sound like a man today. Scratchy throat and a stuffed up nose! I have two tests tonight, YIKES. Wish me luck! I killed a spider today, I am sort of disgusted with myself. Today I will wash my hair, but I will not spend any time dressing cute. Get over it. Time for some tea and a switch to Psychology studying... I'm getting good blog ideas for later days, I promise! Expect a few on Friday.

Waves Of Mercy

Sometimes I get these weird waves of anxiety and chaos that I just need to lay down where I am and cry. It reminds me of when I lived in England for some reason. I can't remember a time when I ever did that as a small child, but something is just comforting to me when I lie down just where I was standing and curl up like a kitty and hide for a minute. It happens. I am up and down. I pray that one day, somebody will love me through my ups and downs. I pray for them every day.

The Chic Chihuahua

Today at Caroline's, I was reading a few chapters from 1 Kings when an old woman with a flowery moomoo and pigtails came in. She asked Molly if she could bring in her Chihuahua, and went out to her car to get it. She came in with this older dog, as tiny as ever, but the spectacular part about it was that the Chihuahua had a beard! It was incredible.

(Simulation Chihuahua beard.)

Okay so maybe it wasn't that dark, or defined, but the dog definitely had some scruff going on. And it was great.

We Spend Our Days With Smiles On

I love camp! That's all there is to it.
Yesterday, a bunch of Junior Adventure staff went out to Lake Tahoe and hiked a good eleven miles around the lake. It was glorious.
I love spending time with God in nature.

Puffin bebe! This trip was so great for many reasons, one being that I had many opportunities to get to know each staff member a little better. I love spending time with all of them, especially my little Puffin. She is just so precious.

Chilly (aka Kaylee) and I. She is just so cutsie.

Puffin and Mary at Eagle Falls. A couple of the staff climbed up there. The whole trip was so beautiful!

Yayyy Junior Adventureeee. Okay so this isn't all of the JA staff but that's a-okay. I love em all.

This is us trying to jump at the exact moment on a 10 second timer from like a million miles away. Too bad we didn't get the timing right! hahah
I like these friends a whole lot. Thank you for all that you do.

Question of the blog:
As we ate our lunch at Vikingsholm in Lake Tahoe, there was a little chipmunk that was running around us trying to sneak food. I LOVE chipmunks. It would be great if I could just have bebe chipmunks and squirrels as pets. If you could tame any wild animal to be your pet, which animal would you choose?