So November 22nd is always a special day for me because not only is it my birthday (yippee – when you get to be my age having a birthday is SO darn exciting!!  Haha – NOT!) but my parents always come up from NY to visit and we have special traditions we do every year.  This year I didn’t think they were going to make it BUT . . . looks like they are going to come after all.  This means so much to me – my parents have been so supportive of my career, wishes and dreams all my life.  I miss seeing them and am so thankful they can come.  Which brings me to this blog post – that I am so thankful for my family, friends and wonderful customers (who very often become my friends) that I wanted to give something special away on my “special” day.  I want to give one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE things away  (I feel like Oprah or something).  A 12×12 cavnas from my favorite canvas place, pixel2canvas.  They are a husband and wife team who has twins,  based out of Las Vegas.  Let me tell you just one reason why I love them (*this is beside the fact that their canvas prints are the BEST around and will last for 100 years).  As Garry (my cousin w/the brain tumor) was given only a few days to live this September, one of his friends called me up and wanted to buy a large print of their family that I had taken over the summer.  We talked about what she was looking  for and I decided I wanted to kick in some money and together we were going to get a canvas.   If you don’t know anything about canvas prints, they are very expensive- but SO gorgeous!  At the time we knew the funeral would be sometime soon (and we were hoping to display this canvas there for everyone to see).  I called P2C because it typically takes a week for them to deliver a canvas all the way to VA (or NY in this case) and I didn’t know if they could print it in a few days, much less ship it that fast (without it costing a fortune).  I explained the situation to the CS rep, who not only said they would get the canvas to NY, but they would pay for the ENTIRE thing (canvas and overnight shipping) for Kristen, Garry’s wife.  I was completely speechless and could only blubber a few thank yous before I got off the phone in total shock at their generosity.  The canvas arrived two days later, in time to be hung in Garry’s hospice room for him to look at, and was absolutely the most gorgeous canvas I have ever seen.  The colors and richness of the canvas blew me away.  I was so thankful to the company for how quick they acted (so Garry could see it) and the generosity and kindness they showed us.

SO, with that being said, I am going to pay it forward and give away a canvas from my favorite company, Pixel2canvas.  This is a random act of kindness giveaway – but has a few rules.  

I love to have the first person who comments on my blog posts win something -but that is not always fair to people who work or have commitments – and for something this fantastic I want everyone to have a chance. 

So, between now and November 22nd, just make a comment on this blog post and you will be registered.  If you are a fan of mine on Facebook, mention that you will get two entries.

On November 22nd at 9pm  I will announce the winner. 

*** This contest is open to anyone who has purchased products from me (at anytime).  This includes fundraisers and portrait parties.  As long as you have purchased something in the last four years, you are eligible to win.

**** Also your name will not show up on the blog, but I will be able to see it on the admin. part of this site – so don’t worry if you don’t see your name.  You will be entered.

I have a soft spot in my heart for yellow labs.  When a friend of mine said she was bringing home a yellow lab puppy this week I knew I had to go visit.  I love the wet nose of a puppy, the floppy way they run and the sweet smell of puppy breath.  So today I got to go see “Molly” and play with her.  What an adorable little girl! 

Sweet puppy kisses . . .

This might be cuteness overload -

I had to keep repeating to myself – I do not need a puppy, I do not need a puppy, I do not need a puppy . . . . . right this *minute* anyway.

Forget the fact that she looks like a bunny rabbit when she runs – still cute . . .

Kisses for Mama . . .

What a sweet little girl!  Thanks so much for letting me come visit L!

I can’t take the credit for that photo idea – I got it from a totally awesome photographer friend of mine named Christie who lives in Orange County, CA.  If you live in that area, you can check her work out here – she is not only hilarious but a fanastic newborn photographer too!

So if you’re on Facebook you might know that our sweet guinea pig, Cookie, died two days ago.  We were going to wait a while to get another one but our youngest son was so distraught that we ended up getting another right away (actually two, because what’s a little more poop?)  So here they are  . . . .

M&M

and Cupcake . . .

We’ve only had them one day, but these girls are already starting to show some personality!

We have the diva . . .

and the beach bum . . .

If you don’t have experience with guinea pigs, they really are fantastic pets.  They sleep at night (as opposed to hamsters that run around their cage all night, which = not so much fun) and typically don’t bite.  The more you hold them, the more they like to be held.  They can live up to five years and squeak when excited or happy.

So, we love them.  But we miss Cookie too.  It’s been a rough year in this family for pets.  Hopefully 2011 will be nothing but fun!

My car is in the shop today and I’m stranded – time to play!

I think somebody is ready for the pool to be open . . .

a few of the favorite toys in our house   . . . .

Someone else wanted to go swimming . . .

Uh sorry – you’ll have to settle for a bath -

Yea, yea, yea, so having your picture taken in the tub might not be very exciting . . .

Don’t worry – he got a little payback in before jumping out and running around the house like a crazy loon  -

There is never a dull moment around here!

So I took a little trip to see my sisters in Cincinnati.  They are so lucky to be living near each other!  Each has a new baby – my younger sister has three month old Emma and my older sister has eight month old Brady.   I had a blast shooting them – prepare soon for picture overload!  But for now – just one of each . . . .

Years ago (maybe 13?) I was looking for a dog.  I never had a dog growing up and always wanted one.  (I also wanted to be a vet and maybe marry a farmer – one out of three isn’t bad right?)  The first dog my husband and I picked out from the SPCA ended up with the worst case of Parvo our vet in Christiansburg had ever seen.  He was a very sick puppy and after the parvo became mean as a snake.  We tried training lessons, individual lessons, exercise – diet changes.  You name it, we tried it.  I was determined to help this dog.  But when he viciously bit our neighbor we had to draw the line.  We did extensive research after that on dog breeds  – and decided we wanted a lab.   After looking around (and seeing some really sad situations) we met Roanoke Animal Hospital Vet Dr. Finkler.  His dog was having puppies for a service dog foundation called St. Francis in hopes that one or two would make it into the program.  The remaining puppies he was going to sell as a donation to the foundation.  Our top choice (named Basil by the Finklers) was not picked for the program because he didn’t pass the toe pinch test, so he became ours.  Years later I can tell you why he didn’t pass that test - it was because he was extremely laid back.  Oh how we loved this dog- he had the sweetest personality.  He turned out to be fantastic with all of our three kids and was one of their best friends.  He moved several times with us, went on vacation with us and protected us.  This is one of my favorite pictures of him with my son, taken during one of his final days this year.

I didn’t ask my son to pose that way – that is just how he always sat with Basil.  I can’t tell you how many times I would  be working on my computer and would look over to see them sitting like that.  But this isn’t supposed to be a sad post – we loved Basil and are very thankful to St. Francis and Dr. Finkler for the opportunity we were given to have him in our lives.  Through Basil we found St. Francis, which led us to our current dog.  But I’m getting ahead of myself . . .

About three years ago when we were living in Roanoke and Basil was still alive, I decided it was time for us to help St. Francis.  I didn’t have a lot of money to make a donation, so I looked on their website and found out people could help by becoming puppy sitters when the dogs in training needed to go to the vet.  These puppies had passed the initial test into St. Francis and were being trained by prisoners at the Bland County Correctional Facility.  I’ll tell you what - the prisoners do an excellent job training!  We started watching puppies almost every week – it was sort of like Christmas for the kids.  This was when we met our current dog “LV.”    He was in the program as a puppy (he is a chocolate lab) and we got to watch him for an entire week when he was 12 weeks and again when he was three months (so he could get his shots).  He was such a sweet puppy and so easy going!  After meeting him, our neighbors across the street loved him so much they even went out and bought their own chocolate lab!  At his three month check up they took him out of the program for a potentially serious heart murmur.  St. Francis has a waiting list of people who want to adopt service dogs that need to come out of the program, but since we had already watched “LV” twice, we were given the choice to bring him home – which we did.  We had no idea how serious a heart murmur problem could be.

I took LV to the awesome vet clinic at Virginia Tech to find out exactly what was going on with him.  Sadly they found him to have an extremely serious heart condition called tricuspid valve dysplasia.  Basically, the blood flows in his heart and back out the same valve, instead of flowing through the heart.  The cardiologist at Tech said he could live two or three years – five would be a miracle.  They just didn’t know but they said at  some point he will go into cardiac arrest.   That was a very sad day for us.  He also can’t really exercise and has to watch his diet.   

Well, “LV” is two now and still going strong.  He is the smartest dog I have ever met and knows many commands.  He routinely greets my customers at the door and is thrilled when they pet him.  He brings joy to our lives daily.  The best thing about him is that he doesn’t know he is sick.  He’s just happy go lucky, super waggy and still very much a *large* puppy.  We are SO, so thankful to St. Francis for bringing such wonderful dogs into our lives.   Hopefully “LV” will make it to five or even eight years old and defy the odds. 

Click  here  to check out the absolutely fantastic St. Francis Service Dog Foundation, and below some of my favorite pictures taken today of “LV.”

It’s a fundraiser for Walton Park!  For $25 you can have a mini fifteen minute photoshoot with yours truly and get a free 8×10 from your session!  This is a great deal as it is the perfect time to have holiday portraits taken.  Bring your family, your dog, or just your kids and come help support the Walton Park Community.  There are only a few spots left for Saturday, November 6th, so if you are interested please email me as soon as possible.  You do not need to live in Walton Park to attend.

If you cannot make the fundraiser but would like to make a donation, you can click the paypal “donate” button below.

We found out this week that our beloved lab has breathing problems that will continue to get worse as time goes on.  He is our best friend, our first baby, and someone for the kids to hang out with.  What a special boy he is!