Eight Photos of Happiness

I have been nominated for the ‘8 Photos of Happiness Tag’ by Bridget over at Expat BS.  I followed Bridget back when she was an Atlanta blogger.  Now she's "crossed the pond" and started a whole new blog.  :-)  I'm really enjoying reading as she and her hubby-to-be get settled into their new life!

Here are the guidelines for the tag:
1.Thank your nominator/s and link them in your post.
2. Link the creator Ariel's Little Corner of the Internet
3. Post your 8 photos of happiness
4. Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it, or let the photos do the talking!
5. Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers!

This is my cousin Kristin and I at a wedding earlier this year. (The wedding story will be another post soon.)  She is one of my best friends and I'm so lucky to get to have her in my life. 

This little one is baby Vivie!  She's Kristin's little girl and will turn a year old just days after my birthday.  She has such a big, happy personality and I just adore her!

From my gram's 90th birthday party.  She was adamant that she get a big party when she turned 90 and so she that's what she got!  Gram was thrilled! This picture is bittersweet, as it's the last picture of gram with all four of her children.

It's not the best picture in the world, but I have such great memories of my first trip to the UK the summer I turned 16.  Here are my brother Josh and I getting chased by sheep...it was a recurring theme during that trip!  I can't wait to be in England again this fall.

As a little kid, my grandparent's had a summer home on the lake in New Hampshire.  So many awesome family summers!  Here's a picture of my dad and I when I was really little.

My herd.  They bring me such joy every single day.  So much personality, love, silliness and utter devotion in such TINY bodies!

These girls!  They are all absolutely beautiful inside and out.  We do a yearly group picture at Christmas and here's our 2014 picture.

Ok...so this isn't a picture of me, but it is a picture of the rag quilt I made for baby Vivie.  I love to craft and take such pleasure from it.  That counts, right?!

Now it's my turn to nominate some bloggers to take on this challenge. I'm still getting into the swing of blogging again so I don't have 10 bloggers to tag, but if you read this post and would like to join in  please do!

• Sara at Running from the Law - I've loved Sara's blog for years.  Even during my blog hiatus, I kept up with her and her adorable kiddos on Instagram.  :-)
• Karen at A Peek at Karen's World  - Another awesome blogger that I've followed for YEARS!  She just moved her blog from blogger to Wordpress on her own, which makes her my technology hero.
• Rachel from Countdowns and Cupcakes - I've only recently found Rachel.  Her blog is super cute and she's a fellow dachshund mom!
• Carolyn from Life, Love and Puppy Prints - Carolyn is another recent find.  I love her sense of humor.  She just might be one of blogville's cutest pregnant girls too.  :-)
• Jennifer from Crazy Shenanigans - Jen is another blogger that I've been following for quite a while.  Like Christmas or Elvis?  She's your girl!
• Dory and her mom at Dory's Backyard - Dory and her siblings are Lhasa Apsos and ShiTzus respectively.  They (with their mom's help) have lots of adventures and share life from a dog's perspective!
• Puddles and her mom at We 3 Doxies - Think dogs don't have a sense of humor?  You haven't met Puddles yet!  We know dachshunds are a huge part of my life - and Puddles (with her mom's help) shows all the personality in their little bodies!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!!  With the heat and humidity, it has been a bit of a long week.  I can't wait to relax...  I had so much fun visiting everyone last week, that I'm linking up with April again this week.

I'm starting my list with a brag.  I am so proud of Kristin for making her dream of starting her own photography business a reality.  Kristin is not only my cousin, but one of my best friends and we work together!  (Yep, lots of quality time for us!)  She is immensely talented and can't wait to see her business grow.  You can follow her blog HERE, Instagram HERE or on Facebook HERE.

Fireworks in the towns surrounding me start tonight.  I love living in the greater Boston area and being surrounded by history & patriotism!  Everything culminates on the 4th with an amazing show courtesy of the Boston Pops, usually some celebrity guests, lots and lots of people crowding on the Hatch Shell...and of course, the fireworks!

Image courtesy of Boston Magazine

My birthday month is looming....July 11th, if your curious! I like to share the birthday love, so I have a few giveaways scheduled through July.  :-)  The first one starts on July 1st!

Image via Pinterest (can't find an origin, sorry!)

I am contemplating bringing back "Tuesdays at the Table", my weekly recipe link-up.  I love cooking, baking, bbq'ing... and trying recipes of all sorts.  Everyone always had something yummy and new to contribute.  What do you all think?  YAY or NAY?

If it comes back...a new button will go with it.  :-)

I'm ending my list with a combination of two of my favorite things - dachshunds and minions.  Enjoy!!

Wordless Wednesday - The Hawaiian Diva

This little diva LOVES to dress up!  Yes, I'm serious... Paisley enjoys clothes.  :-)

Weather Junkie

I'm weird.  I admit it...  I LOVE thunderstorms!  I could do without the hail and wind that are due to come with it, but I really hope that the storms that the Boston meteorologists are right in predicting storms for Tuesday.

Do you like thunderstorms too?

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!!  I hope everyone has had a good week and has some fun (or relaxing) plans for the weekend.

This week I'm linking up with the lovely ladies that host Five on Friday.  Because, really...what better way to put together all the topics that you've been thinking about, but aren't quite a post of their own.  :-)

One...

Since I started blogging consistently again, so many of my old friends are gone.  I need to find new bloggy friends! It seems that comments are a rare commodity these days too.  So I've decided that I'll be visiting everyone that links up this week to leave them a little comment love. I blog because I love it - but a little comment love is always makes me feel good.  I want to share that feeling!


Two...

Have you seen the trailer for "The Secret Life of Pets" yet?  Take a few minutes and indulge your inner Pixar junkie and watch it!


Three...

I come from a military family and have such respect for the Wounded Warrior Project.  I've decided that I'll make a donation of $2 per sheet of patriotic wraps listed above purchased through my site...and I'll add a few more options too! Visit my site HERE and buy any of the following wraps: Ka Boom, Patriot, Navy Stripe, Star Spangled, Poppy & White Polka, White Stripe, Blue Jeans, Fountain of Youth, Whiteout, Little Patriot or True Love.  I want to make a HUGE donation to Wounded Warrior Project!


Four...

I need new sandals.  Which do you like better?  Or better yet, what are your go-to sandals?  Ideally, I'm looking for work appropriate (our office is very casual) and fun!

Five...

I want to get some bandanas sewn for the rescue this weekend.  Wish me luck!

Summer Bucket List

I'm linking up with The SITS Girls again today, as part of their "Break the Summer Slump" writing challenge!  Today's writing prompt is summer bucket lists.

I really enjoy summer.  Everything seems to move a little slower and people seem to be just a bit friendlier! Plus, my birthday is in July. :-)

What's on my summer bucket list?  Well, let's see...

• Lots and lots of sun tea!
• At least one camp fire/fire pit (and s'mores are a must!)
• To pick a weekend and just un-plug
• Walks on the beach
• Read at least one book every week
• Pick a few friends and give them a little something special "just because"
• Get ice cream at Peaceful Meadows (a local farm) and then visit the cows
• Have a good seafood dinner
• Make a rag quilt 
• Watch the fireflies
• See fireworks
• Have a "movie day"

What's on your summer bucket list?  I need more fun activities to do!

Summer Is...

I'm still trying to find my rhythm as I return to blogging, so I decided to participate in the SITS Girls Summer Slump Writing Challenge.  (I promise I won't put their adorable image up every day that I participate!).  Today's prompt?  Summer!!

To me, summer is...

Being on the water.  My summer isn't complete without being out on a whale watch or lighthouse tour at least once.  I've had people tell me that I'm spoiled to live so close to water.  And, they just might be right.

The beach.  What can I say?  I love the water!  Admittedly, I'd rather swim in a pool (shh...I'm afraid of sharks!), but there's just nothing like ocean air!

Road trips!  It doesn't happen as much as I'd like it to these days - but sometimes, I just love to pack up a few friends (or a few dogs) and just GO!

Gardening.  There's nothing like picking a tomato from your garden and eating while it's still warm from the sun.

Chasing after the pups.  For such petite dogs, they can sure get into a lot of trouble!  But I wouldn't have it any other way!

(Meadow from a few years ago)

(Paisley and Beckett last summer)

(Brady last summer...and yes, he is in a pink collar.  He and Paisley went through a fun phase where they chewed collar off each other... *sigh*)

What says summer to you?

You Can Make a Difference!

Earlier this week I was reading Holly's "Summer of Service" post and it made me reflect a little on my own journey to helping dogs.

Running a rescue has its good and bad days.  As much as I wish I could say that it's about the dogs 100% of the time, realistically...sometimes, it's about the money too.  That's true of most rescues and a number of community funded shelters.  The more money (among other resources) we have, the more dogs we can help and/or it gives us the ability to take on more complex medical cases.

I can't count the number of times that people have lamented that they want to help, but have no money to give. Seriously, if I had a nickel for every time I hear it...I'd have...well, a whole lot of nickels!

If you want to help a rescue or shelter (hint, hint...Little Paws Dachshund Rescue), here are a few ways to do it without affecting your budget!

Going for a walk?  Add ResQWalk to your phone, start your walk and you earn money for the rescue or shelter of your choice!  Each week is sponsored by different companies and the pool of money is distributed to all the participating rescues/shelters in correlation to the number of miles they walked that week.  :-)

Want to double your money?  Add WoofTrax/Walk For A Dog too!  It works pretty much the same way as ResQWalk.  (Note: ResQWalk uses GPS location, WoofTrax uses the pedometer function on most smart phones, so keep it in your pocket!)  This app is being revamped and may have more functionality soon.

Are you an Amazon shopper?  Use Amazon Smile instead!  All of the same benefits of Amazon, but you're helping as you shop!

LPDR pup (yes, available!) BlueBell

Is your linen closet part of your spring cleaning?!  Many shelters or rescues would be thrilled to be gifted used (but in good condition) towels, blankets and sheets.  Between the need for dog baths, creating soft places for animals to lay in shelters and letting smaller dogs burrow - there's an endless need.

Shutterbug or Photoshop junky?!  How about taking pictures of pups for those shelters or rescues?  I can tell you from experience that a good picture can get a pup the attention they need to really get noticed...which often leads to a forever family.  A picture really is worth a thousand words!

Even better, consider joining HeARTSspeak!  They're a national organization of artists (photographers, sculptors, editors, writers, etc) that bands together to provide pro-bono services for animal organizations in their communities.

Have some room in your life?  How about fostering!  It's one of the greatest needs many rescues have - sometimes, even more than funding for the never ending vet bills!  If we don't have a family to care for our dogs, sometimes, we just can't pull them from the shelter.

If you already have everything you need or REALLY want, consider a "selfless" or "pay it forward" birthday.  Go out and celebrate with friends and family - but suggest that they donate to the charity of your choice in your honor instead of gifting you with something you might not want or need!

If nothing else...share, share, share! The more people who know how to make a difference, the more lives out of shelters and starting the next chapter of their lives.