INSTALLING SUMMER.....
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Refinement
Its no secret that every person, and every family encounters its fair share of challenges. Because everyone has their own struggles I choose not to dwell on mine/ours (or at least I try) and I certainly don't choose to air those struggles over the Internet. That being said, I think there is much wisdom to be gained through sharing our stories. So without over-sharing, and most of our closest friends and family know that about the very strained / almost non-existent relationship within my husband's family and us due to ongoing hurt, disappointment and lack of respect our extended family has shown us over the last nine years. Certainly something that many of us have encountered in one way or another. Through these experiences, it has surprised me to learn how conflicted not only I am but we as a couple still are after all these years over making decisions on how to deal with them especially at extended family functions.
Once again we are faced with the challenge of finding a solution to this as we have Ben's extended family picnic coming up in mid-August. Last year we decided not to go for a couple of reasons, we had a dog show for Odin, Ben's brother and his wife had just had a baby and we are forbidden to see the baby per them, one of the cousins was also pregnant and the biggest reason was that at the prior year's event there was a fight between Jon and Ben that caused the whole family who never needed to know abut the issue to be involved and we were very embarrassed not only for what had happened but that our side of the family could not be respectful in someone else's home and get along even if that meant avoiding being in the same room for one day.
So here we are again, deciding to go to this years picnic and get to see everyone who we haven't seen in a year or pass on it and ensure that the drama is not brought into the hosting family's home.
This morning though, I found the blog Sanctified Pearl. K.C. wrote today about sea glass and how it is that something so beautiful can only become that way through the pain and struggle of hardship. She wrote:
I wanted to 1) save this for another day as a reminder of the refinement that is happening in my own life and us a couple and 2) share this with anyone else who might stumble across this post because I truly believe that we can learn and grow by cautiously opening our hearts to each other.
Once again we are faced with the challenge of finding a solution to this as we have Ben's extended family picnic coming up in mid-August. Last year we decided not to go for a couple of reasons, we had a dog show for Odin, Ben's brother and his wife had just had a baby and we are forbidden to see the baby per them, one of the cousins was also pregnant and the biggest reason was that at the prior year's event there was a fight between Jon and Ben that caused the whole family who never needed to know abut the issue to be involved and we were very embarrassed not only for what had happened but that our side of the family could not be respectful in someone else's home and get along even if that meant avoiding being in the same room for one day.
So here we are again, deciding to go to this years picnic and get to see everyone who we haven't seen in a year or pass on it and ensure that the drama is not brought into the hosting family's home.
This morning though, I found the blog Sanctified Pearl. K.C. wrote today about sea glass and how it is that something so beautiful can only become that way through the pain and struggle of hardship. She wrote:
"I see my life (and the life of my friend) as a little piece of beach glass. We aren’t always sure how we will survive different circumstances in our lives. We think we will break under the constant crashing of disappointments, hardships, and trials. But, if a piece of discarded trash can become something beautiful and valuable, I have to believe my Creator is doing much the same with me. He is refining me. Smoothing the rough edges. Softening the exterior that can cut and be dangerous. He values me and with the break of each wave, I am becoming more of who I was created to be. And you are too."
I wanted to 1) save this for another day as a reminder of the refinement that is happening in my own life and us a couple and 2) share this with anyone else who might stumble across this post because I truly believe that we can learn and grow by cautiously opening our hearts to each other.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
9 Years!
Today is our 9th wedding anniversary! In some ways it seems like just yesterday that we met, fell in love and got married. In other ways, when we think about all that has happened, the places we've gone, the adventures we've shared it seems like we've been together forever. They say marriage takes work and if that is the case, this is the easiest job we both can imagine most days :)
While were not always on the same page, joined a the hip, or seeing eye-to-eye, in the end, we always find a way to work it out. And at the heart of our marriage is everything that matters: love, trust and respect.
We both feel very thankful. Thankful to have a partners like each other in this crazy thing we call life. We very much look forward to the years ahead….
While were not always on the same page, joined a the hip, or seeing eye-to-eye, in the end, we always find a way to work it out. And at the heart of our marriage is everything that matters: love, trust and respect.
We both feel very thankful. Thankful to have a partners like each other in this crazy thing we call life. We very much look forward to the years ahead….
Sunday, July 3, 2011
2 Points!
We headed down to Sauvie Island which is located on the Columbia River between Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR yesterday for the Willamette Weimaraner Club's field trial with Loki and his littlermate Jake who would be competing in his first field trail. The boys were both running the open puppy class and would be handled by their trainer this weekend so were just the doggie transport :)
Jake was in brace 1 of 4 and had a strong run for a dog who had never been in a field event before. Loki was in brace 3 and was braced against Kaiser, a Weimi that he ran against the weekend before when I handled him. Chris was feeling confident that he was going to win the event since he had been contending for 1st place at the last two events but one thing for sure when your dealing with dogs, especially a Brittany nothing is certain since it all depends on their attitude that day. After a long wait at the starting line which burned some of his energy up, Chris and Loki had their 15 minute run and showed their stuff. Loki as usual ran big and even decided to go for a swim (it was hot after all) during the run.
We all speculated on how he did while we waited for other braces to run and the judges to come in for lunch as all handlers and owners do. When the judges finally came in for lunch and placements were awarded Jake ended up getting 4th place which is great for his first event and Loki got his 1st place finish and earned his 2 puppy points towards his field championship. This win ended what has been a successful trail season for Loki since he has been in 5 field trails and placed in all of them- a third, 2 seconds, a fourth and now a first.
Jake was in brace 1 of 4 and had a strong run for a dog who had never been in a field event before. Loki was in brace 3 and was braced against Kaiser, a Weimi that he ran against the weekend before when I handled him. Chris was feeling confident that he was going to win the event since he had been contending for 1st place at the last two events but one thing for sure when your dealing with dogs, especially a Brittany nothing is certain since it all depends on their attitude that day. After a long wait at the starting line which burned some of his energy up, Chris and Loki had their 15 minute run and showed their stuff. Loki as usual ran big and even decided to go for a swim (it was hot after all) during the run.
We all speculated on how he did while we waited for other braces to run and the judges to come in for lunch as all handlers and owners do. When the judges finally came in for lunch and placements were awarded Jake ended up getting 4th place which is great for his first event and Loki got his 1st place finish and earned his 2 puppy points towards his field championship. This win ended what has been a successful trail season for Loki since he has been in 5 field trails and placed in all of them- a third, 2 seconds, a fourth and now a first.
Congrats to Loki on a great trial season and we look forward to next year!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Happy Long Weekend!
I hope you all have big and exciting plans for the 4th of July weekend.
We have so much I'm looking forward to:
Friday night pet sitting - Loki's brother Jake is staying with us
field trial for both Loki and Jake at Sauvie Island, OR tomorrow-- hoping Loki gets first and his puppy points
making a fire and s'mores
dog show for Loki
backyard bbq
training with Chris
And the one thing that I'm not looking forward to...
not getting to sleep in even one day this weekend due to 8:30am events both Saturday and Sunday and a four hour drive to our trainer on Monday :(
Hope you have fun celebrating the 4th with your family and friends.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
838/ 2 days = A Weekend
This weekend Ben and I covered a total of 838 miles for dog events which meant a lot of time spent on the road, not a lot of sleep, copious amounts of caffeine and most importantly spending lots of time in fields, but at least it was sunny and warm. You might be asking yourself what would cause us to do this, well we enjoy doing these activities with our dogs and seeing them grow in their abilities and of course spending time with our friends who are also into doing dog activities. If we had kids we would probably be those parents that were running their kids to all their different activities/play dates but since we don't, we have dog activities.
Saturday was the craziest day with Ben and I heading in separate ways, each with a dog. Ben was heading to Koopman Farms in Oakville with Odin for his Master Hunter test at the Puget Sound Vizsla Club's (PSVC) hunt test at the lovely hour of 4:30am since he had the first brace of the day. I had the luxury of getting to hit the road a little later at 6:30am with Loki to head to the Northwest Pointing Dog Association's (NWPDA) Field Trial which was being held at the Shillapoo Wildlife Area in Vancouver since we were in brace 1 of open puppy.
Ben and Odin were braced with our friend Andy and his Irish Setter Chase so it made for an interesting run since both Odin and Chase have been having some struggles this season. Andy and Chase had a very short run and took themselves before he every got to the bird field. Ben and Odin did a little better and at least got to the bird field before they had issues and were eliminated.
Loki and I were up for an adventure as I was handling him in the field trial for the first time ever since our trainer wasn't able to be at the event. While I had thought that maybe I would see if another handler would run Loki for me I decided and ultimately knew that I would never hear the end of it from our trainer and the other guys who we see at each event so off were were for 15 minutes of what everyone said would be a fun time. After making our way through 5ft tall grass, blackberries and thistle, a few hiccups with the run and some cuts (on me not Loki) we were done with our run. When the judges stared to announce placements and withheld 2-4th in the open derby I knew we weren't guaranteed to get a placement unless we earned it and were happy to walk away with our 4th place finish in open puppy. While Chris would have been able to get the 1st with him since Loki was on and running good I am happy with our 4th place since I did myself.
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Sunday, we both headed back to Koopman's with both Odin and Loki since they were both running in their respective classes. Odin and Ben had a much better run but and made some improvements in areas before Odin decided he knew better and headed straight for the bird field since he knows the course too well and punked Ben so they were sadly eliminated from the test. Since Odin is going to take a while to finish his Master Hunter title (average for people is 2-4 years to accomplish it) we decided that Ben should run Loki and get his final pass to finish his Junior Hunter title. Ben and Loki had a good run despite Lok's running very big and on the edge of the field for the most part, but he did find two birds and got his pass. This last pass completed the 4 he needed to get his Junior Hunter title.
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Now he's back to field trials in pursuit of his puppy point before he hits 15 months old in August while Odin and Ben continue to work on master hunter.
Saturday was the craziest day with Ben and I heading in separate ways, each with a dog. Ben was heading to Koopman Farms in Oakville with Odin for his Master Hunter test at the Puget Sound Vizsla Club's (PSVC) hunt test at the lovely hour of 4:30am since he had the first brace of the day. I had the luxury of getting to hit the road a little later at 6:30am with Loki to head to the Northwest Pointing Dog Association's (NWPDA) Field Trial which was being held at the Shillapoo Wildlife Area in Vancouver since we were in brace 1 of open puppy.
Ben and Odin were braced with our friend Andy and his Irish Setter Chase so it made for an interesting run since both Odin and Chase have been having some struggles this season. Andy and Chase had a very short run and took themselves before he every got to the bird field. Ben and Odin did a little better and at least got to the bird field before they had issues and were eliminated.
Loki and I were up for an adventure as I was handling him in the field trial for the first time ever since our trainer wasn't able to be at the event. While I had thought that maybe I would see if another handler would run Loki for me I decided and ultimately knew that I would never hear the end of it from our trainer and the other guys who we see at each event so off were were for 15 minutes of what everyone said would be a fun time. After making our way through 5ft tall grass, blackberries and thistle, a few hiccups with the run and some cuts (on me not Loki) we were done with our run. When the judges stared to announce placements and withheld 2-4th in the open derby I knew we weren't guaranteed to get a placement unless we earned it and were happy to walk away with our 4th place finish in open puppy. While Chris would have been able to get the 1st with him since Loki was on and running good I am happy with our 4th place since I did myself.
Sunday, we both headed back to Koopman's with both Odin and Loki since they were both running in their respective classes. Odin and Ben had a much better run but and made some improvements in areas before Odin decided he knew better and headed straight for the bird field since he knows the course too well and punked Ben so they were sadly eliminated from the test. Since Odin is going to take a while to finish his Master Hunter title (average for people is 2-4 years to accomplish it) we decided that Ben should run Loki and get his final pass to finish his Junior Hunter title. Ben and Loki had a good run despite Lok's running very big and on the edge of the field for the most part, but he did find two birds and got his pass. This last pass completed the 4 he needed to get his Junior Hunter title.
Now he's back to field trials in pursuit of his puppy point before he hits 15 months old in August while Odin and Ben continue to work on master hunter.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Junior Hunter
Yesterday Ben and Loki wrapped up his hunt test season by running in his last junior hunter test at the Puget Sound Vizsla Club's hunt test at Koopman farms. As usual Loki ran big and on the edge of the fields but had two good points and handled well for Ben which resulted in him getting his 4th and final pass to earn his Junior Hunter title.
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Pending AKC confirmation, Loki will get a title after his name and will now be know as- Lacey Mtn's B Campbell Little Jester, JH "Loki"
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