say hello to kettle

Fall semester has started, I've snagged a new part-time job, autumn is approaching, and we've brought a new member into our little family.


Meet Kettle. He was living in the crawlspace at a friend's house, and I just could not let him continue living out his life that way. I instantly connected with him (he kept staring intensely into my eyes and wouldn't shy away from me until I just just too close), and I knew I had to bring him home. It took hours but we finally caught him using some tuna fish and a kitty crate (I felt awful trapping him that way but I knew it was for the best). I had discussed it with Hans and we both agreed that we could either keep him or take him to a shelter to be adopted and either way he would stand a much better chance in the world than if he kept on living in that crawl space.

He seems to have had very little contact with humans so he's extremely skittish, but he is warming up really well to Hans and me. He was making this extended, high pitched little meows that sounded just like a teakettle going off, so Hans dubbed him accordingly. We like the alliteration of "Kettle & Kenya" and we're hoping they'll be pals (which is doubtful: Kenya is a demon).


He has a vet appointment tomorrow and I'm crossing my fingers he's a healthy little boy. Kenya and Phoenix have all their vaccines but we're still keeping him quarantined in the bathroom until we've had him checked out. I'm trying not to get too attached to him because even if he is perfectly healthy, there is the chance that Phoenix and Kenya just won't accept him and we'll have to find him a new home. But who am I kidding, I am totally in love. I'm just happy knowing I'll be changing his life for the better no matter where his final home is.

As far as we know, he has a good many brothers and sisters who are still living in the crawl space, so if anyone in the Atlanta/Woodstock area would like to adopt a precious little kitten, let me know!

babies

Phoenix has grown so much since we adopted her! She looks like a dog now rather than an awkward puppy. And she is gorgeous.








Phoenix has developed a new hobby of chewing on Kenya?!!?! Hans and I are both at a loss. Kenya seems to sort of like it? What.


My baby beauty (and her goofy ear).

I so so adore my animal kiddies. I spend too many hours a day staring at them and that is just fine.

back after accidental hiatus!

Whoops! Well, the website was down for a while, and my computer was broken for a while, and I've been sort of silly-busy, thus my long and sad hiatus from blogger. But, I'm back! To commemorate my return to blogging, here's a dump of all the recent photos I've taken with my cell phone!

Life excerpts!

This is one of my favorite places to go. From a park, you can walk to where a railroad crosses a river (large creek?) and hang out on the tracks.


A friend and I tried out this anime eye makeup tutorial with sort of okay results. It was pretty ridiculous.


My animal family :)

Our good child.


Our demon child.


And somehow they are coexisting?!


Phoenix with her BFF Kota, having some sleepy time after a run through Piedmont Park in ATL.


Hans is always picking Phoenix up for some reason.


Or doing this...

How about some amazing buildings?

This is an abandoned building in Atlanta. It was built in 1911, 100 years ago! Now it's a crack house or something, but it's so dang cool.


This is on a little street off of the road where my parents live. The company ran out of money before ever finishing their 15 houses. This one wasn't even ever completed on the inside, but man is it gorgeous. We sneaked up to it and peaked inside while out walking the dogs. Want!

Oh, and Hans's idea of a hilarious joke...

He came up behind me the other day and instructed me not to turn around or look while he pressed something huge and damp against my back. Guess which tattoo is real!

While I was away, Hans graduated from college and I attended the ceremony. His name was severely mispronounced, sad/hilarious. He's now working full-time at a job he loves, and I'm so proud. I finished out the semester acing my classes. I just realized I should bake myself a cake for that. I'm home alone a lot, and Kenya and Phoenix have been alternately driving me nuts and overwhelming me with love. I've been keeping busy with housewife duties and looking for more PA work. Many walks with the dogs have been happening and I also started p90x so I can get insanely fit. Summer is finally really here and I can't wait to see what adventures the warm weather takes me on in 2011.

What are your summer plans?

meet Phoenix

I have been absent for too long now. It has been quite a busy week! I have been working as a production assistant since I quit the liquor store. My dad is a successful lighting director and he's been hooking me up with some jobs. Yesterday was my first paid shoot! I was assisting the art department and had a blast. The job included some fun things like throwing a beach ball at a drag queen's face. As my dad said, in the film industry you never know what you'll be asked to do.

Moving on, this is the exciting news I have to share. We have a new addition to our little family. Her name is Phoenix, and I'm in love.


Hans wanted a goofy lab type dog. I wanted a regal shepherd type dog. Phoenix is part lab part shepherd. She's built like a shepherd but has a bit of a silly demeanor like a lab. Plus, I wanted a white dog to contrast our black cat. She's perfect for us and we can't wait to bring her home.


We can't bring her home until after she is spayed Tuesday, but that actually worked out perfectly because it gives Kenya plenty of time to heal from her surgery. (By the way, We think Kenya will be fine once we introduce a dog to the house because she doesn't like to be the center of attention anyway. She prefers to be invisible, so if the puppy steals the spotlight she won't mind.)


We look good together. Excuse my hair.


Big feet! She is only 5 or 6 months old. Apparently she is going to be an 80 pound dog. Huge monster wolf baby.


Perfect ears.


I have been visiting her at the shelter every chance I get. We already taught her to sit!


We're soul mates. The day I took Kenya to be spayed, I had a feeling I should go to the animal shelter. I tried to ignore it but eventually gave in and went with my mom and sister. Phoenix was in the very last door of the very last row of cages. I knew instantly when I looked at her that she was my dog.


So the next day Hans and I went to see her and sure enough, she was still there waiting for us and we decided to take her home. Hans instantly consented when he saw her. I had expected to have to beg a little but Phoenix did all the work for me ;)


I have an attractive family.


I'm so looking forward to going on a million adventures with her.

I told my mom all of her grandchildren will have four legs. I love my two kids.

photo dump: naturey things

Commence photodocumentation of what I've been up to for the past week(ish).

I have taken to walking to school now that the weather is warm. It's a 30 minute walk through a pretty neighborhood and I love it.


I found this bird's nest sitting in someone's front lawn. Birds are pretty crafty.


I also met this colorful caterpillar. There are so many of these little guys running around Georgia right now.


While walking to home from school one afternoon a friend and I rescued this turtle from the road. We named him Dead Space II after the game Hans is religiously playing.


I went to this gorgeous park with a friend. It's one of my favorite parks. It's a series of trails with a creek running through it and always populated by dog-walkers. It also has this beautiful field which is a great place to just lie around and talk in the sunshine.


And seriously, I love my Vibrams so much.


I conquered a tiny mountain.


I'm a big fan of this fallen tree. It gives me a crazyface.


This is my poor baby Kenya is recovery mode after being spayed. She's ACTUALLY curled up with me right now, acting like a friendly cuddly cat for the second time ever. I love my child.

I have some really exciting news I can't wait to share but I'm going to save it until I have some great photos to go along with it.

renaissance!

On Sunday Hans and I ventured to the Renaissance Festival with our friends Joseph and Dottie. Once we were there we got separated from our friends and then couldn't find each other again until the very end, so it ended up being more like a single date than a double date, but we all had fun anyway. Hans had been a little bit of a pouty face, worrying that he shouldn't be taking time away from his studies to go to the fair. Once we got there, however, his worries disappeared and he was reduced to a ten-year-old (a ten year old dork into swords and fantasy). We had a blast! I forgot my real camera but I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone.


Pixie hat?


I guess it really turned Hans into a pixie...


There was a beautiful bird sanctuary there filled with rescued and adopted birdies!


This guy totally posed for the camera.


This was a mommy and daddy and their baby. The baby was sitting right there with them but I guess he decided to sabotage the adorableness of my photo.


Hans had to shoot arrows in the archery range.


Yeah, he wears that Gryffindor shirt pretty much every day.


Hans bought me this beautiful ring! It's coiled metals with spinning little ditties in the center. I am in love. Can't stop staring at it on my finger. Orange is my favorite color so it is perfect. The lady who made it was super nice and all her wares were gorgeous! She had a coily metal octopus necklace I would have died for but I couldn't pass up the ring. Her etsy shop is here but she said she probably wouldn't stock it till after Ren Fest.


And, being the amazing man he is, Hans sneaked off and bought me this fantastic handmade wand!


You can bet I spent the rest of Ren Fest shooting spells after him. I'll never grow up.

So, the Renaissance Festival was lovely this year. If you're in Georgia, check it out!

changeling

BIG changes are in the works for me. I have been working at my job for two and a half years, and Thursday night I put in my two weeks. I love so many things about my job. My boss and his family are wonderful. I have learned so much from them, and have had so much fun with them. They have also shown me how delicious Korean food can be. Unfortunately, I have been harassed by a coworker, and it has gone on for far too long, so I'm taking my leave. Hopefully onto bigger and better and better things. I have an internship in the works, which I'm very excited about, but I don't want to say too much before it's set in stone.

I also officially changed my major from art to english, and I'm excited about the classes I have lined up for fall semester.

These are certainly welcomed changes, but scary nonetheless. Just a few months ago, I was stuck at my job because I was tied to school bills and my apartment, and having to suffer through the crazy antics of my coworker. It was pretty miserable at times. I worked very hard at school and earned a scholarship, which takes care of most of my tuition. And I suddenly find myself living a magical dream life in a house with my boyfriend, instead of trapped throwing all my money into that apartment. I am finally in a position to make big changes, but I can't help but have tiny fears, mean voices in my head telling me it will all come crashing down.

And now I'm getting a stupid earache what the heck!

Anyway! Here is a picture of some geese I took on campus the other day.

Because I like geese.

Dog blog

I can't stop wishing I had a dog. Lately my life is filled up with a little bit of schoolwork (this has proved to be a very easy semester), many hours spent working, nights with Hans spent cuddling or playing video games, early mornings with sunlight pouring in through the windows, and tasty vegan meals I make up as I go along. Our cat, whose name is Kenya because Anne Frank never stuck, is in heat right now and meowling (that's meowing and growling) at a loud and creepy pitch day and night, but we love her nonetheless. She curls up with us on the couch and sleeps at the foot of the bed, and always, always hangs out in whichever room we're occupying (she doesn't like to show it, but she loves us, too). We say goodbye or hello to her when we leave the house or come back home. She makes me feel like i have my own little family. Still, I crave some canine company. I'd love to rescue a friendly little mutt from the local humane society and give him or her a happy home. I'm crossing my fingers I'll get to adopt a dog this summer. It doesn't help that three lovable pooches have my heart already. They live with my parents and ever since I moved out about a year ago I have missed them dearly. I think I'll introduce them here!


First up is Oreo. This lovely lady is "mine" because I picked her out of a litter of four pups at the humane society when I was in the fourth grade. Oreo has one of the funkiest personalities, with so many little quirks. Example: when she doesn't want to be seen (after snooping through cat food or committing some other no-no), she walks in slow motion thinking this renders her invisible. She is afraid of hardwood floors and thunder, and taught herself how to "shake" when she was 9 or 10.


Next is Rose, Oreo's sister who my sister chose from the litter. Rose is kind of a snob, but secretly wishes she was a lapdog. She hates baths and growls at horses (and has been known to go after unwanted trespassers), and seems to be the most sane of the motley bunch. In fact, when Oreo or Avery are being silly, you can almost feel Rose's disdain toward her immature peers.


Avery is the newest addition to the family. I found her in 2008 after road-tripping to Tennessee for fireworks. She was sitting skin-and-bones in the parking lot, and I was helpless against her. The friends I was with agreed we couldn't leave her so we loaded her into the car and brought her home. Then a timid skeleton of a dog, now a fat, slightly obnoxious, attention-grubbing little beast, Avery is the happiest dog I have ever known. She sleeps on her back, feet in the air, snorts like a pig, and will claw the heck out of you if you don't pet her to her satisfaction.

These doggies own my heart, but I think there is room for one more (okay, I have room in my big animal-loving heart for all the dogs, ever).

Who else loves dogs?

Doggie photos courtesy of my wonderful sister, who takes brilliant photos, which can be viewed here.