MY PRECIOUS MUGSY FRIEND

So we went to Yuma overnight Friday, and got home Saturday, to find our dog, Mugsy, had passed away. He was such a good dog. I had a whole list of reasons why I loved him, but here's just a few of the special things about Mugsy:

1) He gave hugs (and always knew when you especially needed one).

2) He talked (loudly!)

3) If you were laying in the floor - he'd come by and rub his head against yours

4) He would go swimming whenever he could

5) He was always in a good mood

6) He was just 3 days older than Addison (he would've been 14 - Oct. 10th)

We got Mugsy from a German Shorthair Pointer Rescue place. He had been abused and starved and the rescue center rescued him. When we adopted him he was still quite thin and very nervous - but he warmed right up to us - and what a blessing he's been in our lives. Lord we thank you for the gift of Mugsy - that we could be a blessing to him and that he was such a blessing to us. Here's some pictures of our good friend.

RELATIONSHIPS

Addison has a new girlfriend (well, actually they've been going out for about a month - he could tell you the exact number of days!) She's the sweetest girl. Her name is Katelyn. I snapped some pictures of them together - I thought I'd share one.Here's another picture of a good relationship - me and my sister. She's one of my dearest friends. This was taken last weekend at Disneyland. Hope today finds you happy & healthy!

Blessings,

Aubrey

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

Does this picture scare you? Or when you look at it does it look like a "gift" a "blessing"?

I got news yesterday...my sugar levels have been high - even though I've been sticking to my diet and taking the medicine I was prescribed. So I've been placed on insulin. This isn't a scary picture for me and I'll tell you why. Anything that is going to get my levels into a normal, HEALTHY range -- I'm all for it. Shots do not scare me, and never have, LUCKILY. So I was told I have to have one shot, every night, for a month - then I go back and see how I'm doing. If my sugar is down - and has stayed down consistently, then I may get to go back on oral medication. That's my prayer! I'm hoping to only have to go this route for as short a time as possible. I find it truly ironic that I decide to lose weight, get healthy, and then I develop diabetes. Although my doctor tells me it was really a blessing - he said, "Think of how miserable you'd be with all that weight back." TRUE! I know there are blessings, and silver linings, I'm grateful for my gifts. This medicine is a gift that will hopefully propel me to better health. I plan on taking advantage of it! At least this is how I choose to look at it! :)

Blessings to each of you!

Aubrey

That's It, I'm Old Now

Well today marked the day I turned old. My "BABY" went off to high school today. No hugs and kiss on the check for mom. Just a "Hurry up dad, I don't want to be late." And he was gone in a flash. He was so excited. Except of course when I made him pose of our traditional first day of school pictures.

I couldn't get a smile out of him. He really didn't want to do this this year. He was anxious to get to school (we'll see how long that carries on huh!?). He's gotten so tall over the summer and football really helped him to slim down. He loves football. He's been told he's going to be a starter. He's very excited about that. I went to watch his practice yesterday and they had two guys try and tackle Addison. They couldn't budge him. He was standing there and they couldn't move him. Another time they had two guys try to keep him from crossing a line and Addison broke through them and made it past the line and all I heard was the coach shouting, "Yeah! Way to power through Harns!" Cracked me up. Addis walked back to the line all puffed up. So fun - can't wait for the games to start. Anyway, I'll leave you with another shot of him!

Hugs,

Aubrey

Bumper Card Society

I've been tagged by my friends Vanda and Pokettiger. Now my job is to also ask 5 more people to participate. I nominate: Krissie, Ginnie, Johanna, Melisa, and Melissa. This sounds like a lot of fun - hope everyone will enjoy participating!

The full story behind the Global Bumper Card Society can be read here. Here is the basic idea though: 1) Send ONE card to someone you know within 7 days! (family, friends, associates, cyber people, etc.) ANYONE!!! Doesn't matter who... Can you imagine the smile on their face when they open their mailbox and see a card from you? 2) Tag (yes, I know, but this is the only way to spread this) 5 people you know to do the same thing (Tag means tag them to send their own cards to their own people). 3) Proudly display this on your blog to spread a little sunshine and pass it on.

What Can You Find 30 Minutes From Home?

I've gotta say, I love living here in San Diego. Everything you could want is within a 30 minute drive. Yesterday we drove out to Jacumba and I got to take some really nice desert pictures. We were only out for a bit, I got tired and we came home, but I captured some really great shots.First we came across this building off to the side of the road. There wasn't a sign, but I think it was probably the first school house in Jacumba. It stands next to the existing school now. What a really cool building!Then we kept driving and I got this just general desert shot.By zooming in a bit you can see that we have mountains here that are just enormous piles of rocks (I know, most mountains are!) but I thought this was a cool shot - you can see the cars going through on the freeway there.As I was getting back in the car from taking the previous picture I noticed this little beauty. Isn't she pretty with the sun shining on her?!So we went down the road a piece and came across these wildflowers. They were so pretty I just had to take a picture of them.We went up to McCain Valley and were going to go look at the views of Carrizo Gorge and found this cave on the way. I was so excited. My dad and uncle used to take us out and drive around the desert when I was growing up and we'd find caves and different things and this reminded me of that. Cool cave huh!! This was taken near the end of our ride. This is the overlook to Carrizo Gorge. What you can't see behind Jeff in the bottom of the valley (or mid-way down the valley) is a set of train tracks on stilts that go through a set of tunnels - VERY COOL! What a lovely day. Tomorrow I'll show you some more pictures 3o minutes from home.
Hugs,
Aubrey

Late Breaking News!!!!

Our chickens that we mail-ordered back in February, just laid their first eggs today! That's right, we have eggs!!! Only three today, but three on the first day isn't bad. We have 26 chickens and I'm sure within the next week or two they'll all be producing. Yippee. I'm so excited. Quentin (my nephew) is here this week on vacation - he came running in, "Auntie Aub, look, the chickens laid an egg and I went in and got it!" I had to snap his picture. He was just as excited as I was. Here's some photos...

We're back to having fresh eggs - they really are the very best. Oh, and since there's only 3 of us - and we'll be getting 26 EGGS A DAY - if you save your egg cartons and come by I'll fill them for free!

Have a blessed day!

Aubrey

Catch Up

Well not too much going on...(Do all my posts start off that way?). There's always plenty of stuff going on, I'm almost never home, or have time to loaf, but it's just run of the mill stuff that folks do everyday and no one would have any interest in reading...you know...yep, thought ya did!

Ok, so I ordered my passport renewal - waiting on that - then we can purchase our flight tickets to Canada. Yippee!!! My girlfriend, Krissie, is coming down from Colorado at the end of August and then we're going to go stay at a fancy resort in Phoenix for a scrapbooking event. Yippee!!!

My last photography class in this session is Saturday - how can it be that time already? I need to ask the guy if we can buy a year pass (like at Sea World) where he'll just promise to meet up with us every weekend and teach us new stuff. Think he'll go for it? One can dream...

Addison graduated 8th grade Friday. He started high school summer school and football practices Monday. Man - he only had the weekend for a break - how bad does that stink? He doesn't think so though. He's just so excited to be playing high school football. He's such a cool kid. Gotta love him! Here's a shot I took of him at practice yesterday.

I shot this next picture after they finished one of their drills. Addison and this boy, Sager, walked up to one another and put their arms up and hit them.
As soon as they did, all the other boys standing around came and did it too.

I guess that's it for today. I hope everyone is well.
Blessings,
Aubrey

Photo Prompt

I thought I'd share my photo prompt here today. This is my dear friend, Chief Forest Eagle. Chief walks two-miles every Tuesday morning to come volunteer at the church. He vacuums and cleans. He said the Lord told him to do it as a labor of love. He's so faithful to be here every Tuesday. He'll be 60 years old next month. When I asked if I could take his picture he said he wasn't really tired, but he had worked hard. That's probably the best "tired" I know of. Bless the Chief.

Short Post

I just thought I'd play a little catch up. Not too much has been going on. Addison had his 8th grade graduation dance - the Harbor Cruise. He and his friend Tyler had so much fun! They were all excited - shirts and ties - they both shaved! Here's a couple of quick shots of them.A close up of those clean, close shaves!
How cute are these two? Gotta love them both! They both graduate 8th grade on Friday morning at 8:30 AM. So proud of them!

Photography class this week was all about Depth of Field. We did a couple of trick pictures.

Sorry, it's a bit blurry!

These were fun - I better get out there and practice this week! Just thought I'd say a quick "Hi" to everyone.

Hugs,

Aubrey

New York, Photography Class & Scrapbooking

Hi guys!

It occurred to me today that I haven't updated this blog in forever (well, close to a month anyway). A lot has happened since then. I went to New York May 17 - 19th. It was a lot of fun - more than I thought it would be honestly. It was so neat to go see all the different things. The Statue of Liberty was inspiring, Ground Zero was moving, Times Square was bustling...and the view from the top of the Empire State Building was amazing!

Those cab drivers are SERIOUSLY scary! I just knew we were going to be in an accident every time we got in a cab. We made it home though, no injuries. Thank you every one who prayed for our safe return. We had a terrific trip.

Our friends Eric & Mikkie came down for Memorial Day weekend. This is their 7th annual Memorial Weekend trip. It's exciting because we know they're coming - and it's something to look forward to. They went on an overnight fishing trip, we had Sushi, spent a day at Julian - we had a wonderful visit.

I also started a follow up photography class this past Saturday. It's with the same instructor. I really learn a lot from him. We got out in the field, he's there with us, instructing us - looking at our pictures on the spot and helping us if we need it. It's really a great class. Here's a shot I took Saturday.Now here's the same thing - but I changed the white balance in my camera to add more blue - here's how it turned out.

Cool huh! Who needs Photoshop?! I'm hoping to learn LOTS and LOTS in this class - I'm so excited about homework - who would've thought it?!

Ok...not too much more going on other than that - I've been updating my daily photo blog and I've actually scrapbooked 5 or 6 new LOs. I've posted them to my 2Ps gallery.

Other than that - everyone is well. Sorry for the long post - but now you're all caught up.

Blessings to you,

Aubrey

Tagged Again

1. Where is your mobile? In my purse
2. Your Partner? At work
3. Your hair? Kinda limp today
4. Your mom? At work
5. Your dad? At work (any one noticing a pattern here?)
6. Favourite thing? My Family (possession: camera)
7. Your dream in the last night? Dunno...can't remember
8. Your favourite drink? Venti, Iced, Sugar-Free, Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Non-Fat, No Whip
9. Your favourite Car? Audi TT
10. The room where you are? Church Office
11. Your last partner? Jeff, for life
12. Your fear? Something bad happening to my family
13. What would you like to be in 10 years? Happy
14. With whom did you spend the yesterday evening? Addison
15. What are you not? Quiet
16. What was the last thing you did yesterday? Turn off the TV to go to sleep
17. What are you wearing right now? Faded Jeans, Colorful Shirt and Flip-flops
18. Your favourite book? Anything by SARK
19. What was the last thing you ate yesterday? An apple
20. Your life? Just how I want it
21. Your mood? Pretty good today (subject to change) :)
22. Your friends? A blessing to me
23. What are you thinking of right now? Thinking I should be working on what I want to see when I go to New York Thursday
24. What are you doing right now? Filling out this questionnaire
25. Your summer? Working, trying to come up with stuff to keep Addison busy
26. What plays on your television? Supernatural, Two and a Half Men, The Shield
27. When did you laugh the last time? Last night
28. When did you cry the last time? Last week
29. School? Last photography class was 2 days ago. Boo-hoo
30. What are you hearing right now? Me, pounding keys (as my old boss, Don Phin would say)
31. Favourite weekend activity? Scrapbooking
32. Dream Job? Being good enough to be a pro-photographer
33. Your computer? Dell
34. Outside of your window? Big Palm tree and the Fellowship Hall
35. Beer? Amber
36. Mexican food? Just about daily
37. Winter? Love it
38. Religion? Religion - not so much - God, Jesus, Holy Spirit - ABSOLUTELY!
39. Vacation? Count the days until it's here
40. On your bed? Sheets and a quilt
41. Love? Life is not worth living without it

Ok, are you sick of hearing stuff about me yet? I know I am. I'm gearing up for my trip to NY with Melody. I am starting to get excited about it now. I finished my photography class on Tuesday, so I'm excited about getting some good pictures while I'm there. I think I'm getting a polarizer for Mom's Day. (Whoo-hoo!) My mom, grandma, aunt and their two friends are coming down this Saturday. Mark Roberts is going to be in town signing his fairies. My mom loves his fairies and has a pretty good collection of them. So we're going to go down there and to a couple of other collectibles shops. It should be fun. I hope everyone is well and has a Happy Mother's Day!
Blessings,
Aubrey

What'd you do today?

My day consisted of work (we had two folks pass away at the church this week - which means two more funeral bulletins to prepare). Past that I came home and did a little photography homework. That class is so cool!!! Love it. Love it. Love it. Today I worked with white balance. Some time this week I'm going to have to spend 30 solid minutes photographing a single flower. (We'll see how that turns out.) I'm hopefully going to get to go with my friend, Melissa, so if we're doing it together - hopefully we won't look SUPER silly photographing the same flower for 30 minutes. (Maybe if there's two of us, they'll think twice before calling the guys with the white coats!) I've been having a blast doing that "her space-my space" challenge. Have you guys checked it out? If not, you should - so many cool photos. I love learning new stuff. Working that brain. Feels great to put that big sponge to work God gave us. I'm going to post some of my photo class work on my other blog. You can check it to see what I learned last week. Fun!
Blessings Everyone.
Aubrey

Vanda tagged me! 7 Random Facts About Me

I've never been tagged before, but one of the wonderful ladies who participates in the "her space--my space" blog just tagged me. Here's the rules: Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself. People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog. Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged and to read your blog. Ok, here goes...

1) I grew up on a cotton ranch in AZ. (My first paying job was at 13 - chopping weeds out of the cotton field.)
2) I have 5 dogs, 1 guinea pig, and 26 chickens.
3) I've been friends with my best friend for more than half my life. (Hi Ginnie!)
4) I have so many first cousins that I don't know all their names. (True story)
5) I was once timed as typing 174 words per minute. (Are you sure?!)
6) I love to travel. (If the car is moving I want to be in it.)
7) I look just like my great grandma Suzy. (Never met her, but the photos say it's so.)

I'm tagging Diva KMM, KelliDarr, Johanna Peterson, Leah Fung, Jess (A Mile In My Shoes), Melissa Ross, and Ginnie Baker. This was fun - can't wait to read the little snippets about each of you.

Blessings to you,
Aubrey

Scrapbook Lifestyle

The designers at Scrapbook Lifestyle made a heritage album for my sister and me. Yesterday was the beginning of our "airing" week. I have 3 friends that are designers are the show: Leah Fung, Johanna Peterson, and Melisa Sanchez. So it made it extra special knowing that my friends would be there. My sister and I had a lot of fun going up and shooting this. We spent the day together driving up to LA. We did a little shopping, I had my hair done - we had lunch together. It was really a fun - wild day. Here's a link if you're interested in watching. As I said, it will run this week. Each day has a new video that's 3 minutes long. They start off showing how the album was created and then Jennifer and I will be on Friday for the "reveal" when they give Jennifer the album. Hope you enjoy. (Thanks my friends for this great experience!) http://www.scrapbooklifestyle.com.
Aubrey

Lessons?

I know yesterday I was a bit preachy...life is what you make it...blah, blah, blah...and I still 100% believe all of that is true. But what I'm thinking is not only should we believe it, but we better make sure we're living it. You guys know that I recently lost my friend Ray. Well today as I was walking into the church office (unlocking the door) an accident happened on the road right beside me. I saw it out of the corner of my eye - the collision was SO loud, it sounded like a gunshot going off. I stood for a moment, just kind of paralyzed and speechless. A white van had smashed into this little white Honda Civic type car. She was sitting at a stop sign and the white van swerved and smashed into her so hard it picked up her little car - lifted it over the sidewalk - and bent it around the telephone pole. I just was stunned. When my brain started functioning I thought, do I run over? Do I call 911? What should I do? Right then these two guys are running down the sidewalk (they were on the correct side of the street), and they ran to check on the people. One guy screams - "HE'S HAVING A HEART ATTACK". They were trying to get the guy out of the van, but his doors were locked. They were pulling on the door trying to yank it open and the guy inside the van is slumped over. The poor woman in the car was trapped between the telephone pole and this guy's van (it had rammed right into the driver's door) - she couldn't even open the door. They were still trying to get the guy out but all his doors were locked, people were pouring out of buildings, there's shouting "FIND A CROWBAR, BREAK THE WINDOW". The scene held me captive. I felt like I couldn't move, like I couldn't hardly breathe. Finally an ambulance came, fire trucks and police came. They got the old guy out. I don't know if he made it or not. They worked on him for a long time. I prayed everyone would be okay. I just think - you never know what's going to happen. I mean even if you aren't the guy in the van having the heart attack you could just as easily be the woman T-boned between the van and the telephone pole. (Here's a picture of the scene - both vehicles are behind the firetruck.) LIVE life every day. Tell family and friends you love them. Try to do good works and things that make you happy. Live a Good Life.

Life Is What You Make It

I woke up this morning with a huge headache. I didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want to move, or even open my eyes. But I thought...this is ridiculous. The sun is shining. There's things to do today. So I got up, got myself going. And I was blessed with a husband who brought me a glass of cold water and some aspirin. I was blessed with nice comments on some things I had posted yesterday. I was blessed with a phone call from my best friend Ginnie. See the day is what you make it. I've decided mine is going to be a sunshiny, friendly, fun day (even if it involves a little aspirin taking). I hope you've made your day a good one. Remember don't let the bad gunkie get at ya and you're good. I remember when I was in Jr. High my mom was watching this preacher on TV and he said "Don't let the devil steal your joy." Sometimes it's not the devil. Sometimes it's a jerk on the freeway - or some old lady who swipes your spot in the parking lot - whatever it is, whoever it is - they only have as much power as you give them. It's just as easy to wish them a good day - turn up the stereo and keep going. As my friend Ginnie says, "Smile and Proceed."
Blessings to you!
Aub

Wanna Know What I Was Given?

Hi guys!

It's such a beautiful, cloudy, overcast day. I love those - they're my absolute favorites (besides rainy days of course--nothing is better than one of those). It must be a product of growing up in the desert and only having 3 days worth of rain that would happen during monsoons in May. That's all we'd get for the entire year. Rain was definitely celebrated...I've jumped in my share of puddles. Anyhow, I digress. Do you want to know what I was given? Can you guess what my Aunt Cindy nabbed for me? A library card catalog file cabinet. My terrific mom was nice enough to keep it for me until I could come pick it up. I love it. I just thought I'd share a picture of it and send a shout out to my Aunt thanking her for my new treasure. I love books - and the fact that this little unit held the key to finding so many different places one could travel to on a page - I just think that's cool. I'm excited to have it around - inspiring me. I hope you have a blessed day!

Aubrey

Guess What Tomorrow Is?

Tomorrow is my first day of photography class! Yippee. I'm taking a course at the Community College. It's not a super heavy duty class, but it's designed to help you learn to use your DSLR. If you're a beginner (like me) in the manual photography area it's supposed to get you through that. It's also supposed to help you be able to know the difference between an ordinary shot and an extraordinary shot. I'm really excited about going. I've never taken any manual photography classes (or ANY kind of photography class for that matter). I'm hoping to get a lot from this class. It's going to be for 4 weeks. One class each week, each lasting 3 hours. I'm super excited! Wish me luck!

A Great Man

I got news yesterday that I lost a very good friend of mine. His name was Raymond Schellenberg. He was 43 years old. He suffered a massive heart attack Saturday and was on lifesupport until he passed away Monday night/Tuesday morning around midnight. Ray was a friend to anyone who met him. He was genuinely a nice person. He loved the Lord and it was evident in the way he lived his life. I feel blessed to have known Ray. I know my life was enriched for the time spent with him. He contributed a great deal to making the world a better place. How lucky we were the Lord shared him with us for as long as he did. I know life is precious and the "here today, gone tomorrow" saying is true. Stop and take the time today to tell your friends and family how very much you love them. Leave someone a hidden note telling them what they add to your life. I talked to Ray right before he went to the hospital and I told him that I loved him. I love all you too my friends & I think the Lord each day for you. You help to make up what my world is - a rich, warm, loving, environment. Thank you for that.

May your day be blessed!

Aubrey