Liebster Blog Award (From momentsofmezz)

Liebster Blog Award!

• Liebster: [German] beloved, darling, sweetheart, dearest, lovely, nicest, sweetest

1. Post 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions the ‘tagger’ listed.
3. Create 11 new questions to ask the bloggers they tag.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers for the award and tag them in this post.
5. Let the bloggers know.
6. No tag backs!

~

11 things about me:

 1. My three favorite animals are dogs, guinea pigs and giraffes.

 2. I'm a firm believer in a little kindness going a long way.

 3. I love reptiles. I'm in the herpetology society in college and will gladly handle anything!

 4. I want to be a holistic veterinarian and change the way we think about how we care for our dogs.

 5. I consider myself agnostic. I'm not sure what I believe in and am on that path to finding it out.

 6. I don't like it when people are judgmental before finding out facts.

 7. I absolutely love photography and enjoy taking neat pictures.

 8. Even though I'm 20 years old, I watch Spongebob almost all the time.

 9. I lay sleeping on my stomach with one arm up and one arm down.

 10. I'm a diehard Texas A&M Aggie and I'm proud of it. WHOOP! <3

 11. Eleven is a lucky number...make a wish. :)

Questions from Heather Mesmer:

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would your role be and why?

Answer: The one doing the scaring. I don't want to be scared myself. 

 

If you had to study one famous person for an entire year, who would you choose?

Answer: Demi Lovato

Open your closet door. What does your wardrobe reveal about you?

Answer: I love being comfortable. If I could wear shorts and a t-shirt every day for the rest of my life I would.

 

What is one thing that you cannot go without every day (apart from the obvious/necessities)?

Answer: My phone. I'm always in touch with my friends and want to stay part of their lives.

 

What is your favorite TV show and which character would you consider to be closest to you and why?

Answer: Pretty Little Liars. Spencer. She's a hard worker, super obsessed with perfection, a total type A and she likes trying to find things out.

 

Would you change anything in your past if you had the chance, and if so what and why?

Answer: I would speak up more for myself. They say, "speak up even if your voice shakes". You have to make yourself heard, and for most of my life so far, I haven't.

 

Who is one person who has had a big impact on your life?

Answer: A friend named Jamie Kuhlman. She helped me to believe in myself again by believing in me and showing me how to be powerful.

At an amusement park, you run to the _________ first. (fill in the blank)

Answer: Rollercoaster? Not sure there's another answer that fits there...

 

If you had no Internet, no cell phone, no TV, and no form of transportation for an entire week, what would you do?

Answer: Play with my dogs. They'd be trick maniacs after that!

 

What was your favorite class in elementary school and why?

Answer: I always liked math. Go figure...now it's a pain in my ass.

 

During a cold, wintery day, you are most likely to be found….. (fill in the blank).

Answer: Hiding in my room under a blanket. Winter sucks. SERIOUSLY.

My Questions:

1) What is your most favorite possession in this entire world? The one thing you couldn't live without?

2) Do you believe in spirits, ghosts and hauntings?

3) What does your perfect day look like?

4) If you had the ability to do one thing without consequence, what would it be?

5) What is the worst thing someone can say to someone and what is the best thing?

6) If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be and why?

7) What is your favorite scent?

8) What is the greatest gift someone can give to you?

9) Your absolute most favorite book and why?

10) What is the craziest dream you've ever had?

11) If you could choose to live forever, would you? Why or why not?

I'm not going to tag any blogs but feel free to make a blog post if you'd like answering these questions. :)

Pay It Forward

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I can do to help others. There have been so many times in my own life where I've been in a tough spot or had a rough time. People have come through for me over and over again showing their kindness and willingness to help. I've been considering what I, myself, could do for others and started looking up homeless shelters in the area. I know I'm always actively involved in animal rescue and animal shelters, but people run into problems too. Back when I was getting ready to graduate high school my parents decided to separate and my dad practically kicked us out. Not many people except close friends know this. My mom and I were in a terrible spot and lucky for us our family and a wonderful friend who we now consider family has helped us out and is still helping us.

So here's my idea. I'm going to need your help. Let's do something for others. Animals and people alike. I'm going to start a collection "box" so to speak. If you have absolutely any items that are laying around that you cannot or do not use, whether they would be something an animal shelter or human shelter could use, I would love it if you could donate it. If you're close to me, please drop it off or maybe I can pick it up somehow. If you're further away and still want to help out maybe you could send a gift card or light items instead. I'm going to run this from today until December 15, 2012. At that point I'll be home in Houston for the Christmas break and will pick one animal shelter as well as a human shelter to donate the items to.

I'm sure that these shelters could use our help even more so during the holiday season. Many animals spend their holidays in the shelter and don't have a family yet. There are many people that don't have homes around the holiday season and these shelters provide hope for them. I would love to see what we can do together as a group of people. It's all about paying it forward and doing things for others.

If you want to send something to help out, the address to send it to is

Marcella Ward
2413 Brittain Court
College Station, Tx 77845

If you want to give it to me in person because you live close by then please just text or call me.

Please share this idea with your friends and ask them if there is anything they are willing and able to donate. I'm super excited about this idea and really hope that I can accomplish a lot through this. I'm feeling inspired and hope to inspire each of you to go out and do something in your community. We all can do something to help. Thanks guys!

Shimmer and Vengeance say, "Please to donate items for a good cause!"

Junior Year....where does the time go?

I'm into the first week of Junior year at Texas A&M. Wow. I'm fairly certain I didn't see it approaching this weekly! I'm taking 13 hours this semester, I've picked classes I need and my schedule looks pretty much perfect. Aside from that, I'm allowed to WHOOP! :) Day 1 was great except for the 7am wake up. It's been ages since I woke up that early and I know I was not feeling it and neither were the dogs. But, we got through the day. Shimmer and I headed off and we had a successful day in Ecology and Math. She was super excited to see our favorite math professor again! I'm hoping this will be the final time I have to face Calculus. Unfortunately, Calculus has had the pleasure of kicking my ass a few times. Today was great too except that the bus schedule is still so wonky (as it always is during week 1). We waited in the heat for quite a while and I'm honestly thrilled with the booties that came in for Shimmer. They're very well made and were super affordable. For anyone who wants some, here is the link. Today we had political science and organic chemistry 2. Organic Chemistry 2....that's a mouthful and such a scare! I won't lie because that is the one class that kind of makes me want to run and hide. The good news? I have a friend in that class and we can be study buddies. Life's always better when you have someone to cry with over the fact that organic chemistry is beating your brain in with a sledgehammer. No I'm just kidding...we're going to do our best.

I'm back in my productivity rhythm and am on top of my homework. Seems I just do very well when I have things to do and keep the occupied. The pups have been doing so well. As I mentioned I have to give credit to Shimmer for being the best worker around. She just seems to take everything in stride. New schedule, new times, new places and people and she's still as careless as ever. Just another day for the Amazing Omelette! Vengeance is being very patient. The roommate tells me he did have a temper tantrum today for a while but then quieted down. I can't imagine it's easy for him either. A whole new rhythm and he has to stay home in his crate by himself. Though, if he didn't have the desire to eat the bottom of my bed maybe he could be out...doesn't seem like that will happen for a good while though!

Tomorrow it's up again at 7am, but the good thing is I only have class from 9:10-11:10am and then I can come home and nap! Naps are good. They aren't just for kindergarten I tell you. Naps are just as effective and awesome for a 20 year old college student. It really is ironic how we protest sleep as children and when we're in college we're just all over that stuff. This picture...yup, just about covers it.

Evening Ramblings

Wow, does it feel great to be back in College Station! I've missed home. I'm by myself this week but having a great time just chilling with the dogs and having a relaxing week. My financial aid came in so I was able to take care of lots of things that needed to be taken care of, I saw two friends again already, and I'm just getting things taken care of around the house. I found out I've got 2 classes with one of my good friends and I have the same math professor this semester as I did 2 semesters ago. I also found out from my friend that my political science professor is a good one. The only class I don't know about is ecology but a friend already let me buy that book from her. So, I have a head start in one way or another for each of my classes!

Tomorrow we're having a movie/junk food/before school starts slumber thing with a friend and it'll be great to just stuff my face with stuff I really don't need though I am proud of myself for actually making a goal to have a workout schedule with this friend every week after Organic Chemistry class. :)

Friday I'll head up to campus to get Shimmer working a bit on campus before classes start again and stop by the Aggieland Market for free giveaways. (When you're in college, FREE is always awesome.) Saturday it's shopping for all the junk I'll need to survive the torture...er I mean semester and then Sunday it's just going to be playing with the dogs before it's back to work for Shimmer and back to the crate for the poor border collie puppy. :(

I'm actually quite looking forward to this semester. I feel like I'm more in the game mentally, I'm better prepared with a study plan, and Vengeance is older so I don't feel as worried about him dealing with college life either. We'll definitely have to stop by our favorite flower shop again and see our friend, Molly the border collie and stop by the coffee shop that makes the pretty designs and draws Shimmy for me in the coffee. :)

For all those who have already started your semester, I hope it's going well. For those who will be starting soon, I hope your first day is absolutely fabulous, and for those who don't have to go, enjoy your free time or I hope work goes well for you!

Here we go JUNIOR year... A-A-A WHOOP! <3

Thoughts and Lessons

1. There are good people in the world and they can be very kind.

2. No matter how hard you try to have a mature discussion with some people, some people just can't be reasoned with.

3. People care more about the little things than the big issues in life.

4. Rescuing a dog, even if it isn't yours, makes you feel good to be helping out.

5. Shimmy hates bananas but loves banana chips.

6. Getting over a fear that you've had for a few years can be done, and you feel absolutely liberated after you do so.

7. There is something to be grateful for every day, you've just got to find it.

8. I'm so fortunate to have two incredible dogs who I get to share my life with.

9. You're never too old to watch kids movies; especially during summer.

10. If it's something you can't control, try not to stress about it.

11. Rediscovering the fun of wajas is a time sucker but so much fun!

12. I'm super thankful for financial aid. Even if I have to take out grants and loans, I'm able to go to school and get the education I want.

13. As much as college sucks sometimes, as the summer ends I always want to go back. That will change in a few weeks I'm sure...

14. When you're in the company of good people it's hard not to smile.

15. Being at the beach is a feeling like no other. It's refreshing and calming.

16. People can be so amazing, if you just get the time to know them.

17. I haven't done agility in 4 months...and my next trial probably won't be until October...I miss it more than I can express.

18. I'm learning to discover the wonderful things about myself and able to accept the great person I am. Huge goal and accomplishment right there.

19. Vengeance is going to be a fairy for Halloween this year. Just because, I can make him dress up in whatever I want.

20. I have so many people who have been so wonderful to me this year. I want to do something special for each and every one of them. I'm still scheming on how to do so...

21. Happiness is creeping back into my life...and it's an AMAZING feeling. I just hope it lasts..

22. Quotes are still what describe my life perfectly.

23. My dogs make me smile everyday. I couldn't be luckier to have them in my life.

24. I am slowly discovering who I am, but I'm still not sure people will accept me for who I am and what I believe in.

25. No matter what, life goes on...

Summer Fun

Wow, we've had a pretty good summer! The dogs and I have pretty much been doing nothing but enjoying the free time. Sleeping in is on the top of the priority list. Included is trips to the dog park and the beach. We had a great time at the Reliant Dog Show this year even though Shimmer didn't play agility. It was baby's first reliant however and he rocked helping out with the frisbee demos. Future frisbee star. Just maybe...We've also made lots of trips to our friend's house and hung out to let the dogs play. Vengeance has done much guinea pig watching and Shimmer chewed several bully sticks.

I can't say I'm not ready to go back to school though. I'm sure I'll regret saying that within a few days of school starting. This semester shouldn't be too rough though. 13 hours of classes and a very nice and flexible schedule with plenty of free time for studying and club activities. I can't believe it's my junior year already. Time sure does fly. I can officially WHOOP now, which is a privilege I've been waiting for and I'm nearing the hours to earn my Aggie Ring. That'll be exciting though that's another year off.

Unfortunately we've been poor college goers this summer and have had little money. We haven't had an agility trial since April 2012 and I know Shimmer misses it just as much as I do. We were lucky enough to get to attend agility class for the month of July though. I did miss not being there tonight though. Still, better something than nothing, right?

Vengeance had is first birthday party and lots of friends over. He enjoyed his cake and ice cream as well as presents too! Shimmer has a birthday in about a month and a half! Hard to believe my best girl will be lucky number 7 this year. We'll have to have a big celebration for her as well!

I'm sure there's more we've done this summer but as of now these are the highlights. We go back in 10 days to get settled in College Station again. I'll attend some Gig 'em week events and work Shimmer before classes start to get her back on schedule with riding the bus and walking campus. And then the real work begins again...

Dying Eggs...and dogs too!

We had fun today! :)

I've always wanted to dye Vengeance pink for Breast Cancer Awareness and instead of doing pink, after the Easter egg dying I used blue today. I think it rocks. He looks awesome. Funny, he's got a vet appointment tomorrow...should be fun to see what they say.

We also had lots of fun with the eggs of course!

Shimmer and Vengeance each got their own decorated egg which they'll get in the morning.
I dropped one and dyed it anyway so now it looks weird.Elizabeth made an egg that looked like a watermelon.

We're just that cool.

Some Answers

So, I generally don't do these things because they are boring and obnoxious but this one made me want to answer these questions. Quite frankly, because they're interesting, but also because my good friend Heather tagged me, and I don't talk to her enough as it is. So, I'll be answering her questions and posting this on her facebook as well as mine. Without further ado...

Questions from Momentz of Mezz

If you could take a walk in a celebrity’s shoes for a day, who would you choose and why?

Gosh, that's a tough one. I would have to say Holly Marie Combs. Have you seen the lady? She's had 3 kids, 2 of them which I believe were C-sections and she still looks 25. What's her secret???

Chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate all the way. Vanilla is just so bland. However, there is such a thing as too much chocolate...

What is your favorite song and why?

Unfortunately that's one thing I can't answer. It constantly changes. I'm not one for a single type of genre or artist.

Dogs or cats? (Don’t make me unfollow you.)

Dogs. Absolutely. And I'm not just saying that. Hello-blog the dog! Not the cat...

Which part of Fear Factor would you be the worst at: the physical activity, the gross stuff, or the dare devil stunts? The best at?

Although I'm pretty squeamish, probably the physical activity. I tell you, 3 words. OUT. OF. SHAPE. I can barely keep up with my dogs.

What is one strange habit you have? Where did it come from?

I have to eat everything evenly. If I eat a sandwich, half is chewed on the right side of my mouth the other on the left. 10 skittles? 5 on one side; 5 on the other. Not sure why, I think that's just one of my OCD things.

If you were in a fire, apart from people and animals, what 5 things would you grab first if you had the time (in order)?

My birth certificate. My iPhone. My laptop. My heart pillow. My scrapbook.

Well, there you have it. Hope I answered them accurately. I won't be tagging anyone else since I know not everyone likes these things. Cookie time for me. I blogged! Woohoo :)

Getting edumercated...

...or something of that sort. Last week I had my first two tests, and they went well actually. Math could have gone a bit better but I was still happy with the outcome and I rocked Toxicology. Tomorrow I've got to brave through Political Science and Organic Chemistry but hopefully those will go well. I feel pretty prepared. Let's hope I'm right. We had a good weekend visiting Houston and enjoyed 3 hours at the dog park yesterday. I tired the Omelette Dog out....the border collie was another story. ;) They really did enjoy it though. Although I've been dying to do some more agility and unfortunately the show I was planning on for my birthday has been cancelled, I realized just how much I enjoyed the weekend and the time at the park. My dogs got muddy and disgusting, had the biggest grins on their faces, and zoomed to their little hearts' content. This quote showed up on my Facebook feed the other day, and I couldn't help but relate how much my dogs and their general happiness means to me and how this describes it. Not so much with being apart from them, but no matter what we're doing together. :) Love my Omelette and my Monster. Yes, that's Vengeance's nickname...Monster.

I kind of couldn't help but dub him that since he's finally discovered the "joy" of his teeth and thinks that destroying everything is super fun. So far it's been the underside of my bed, part of the carpet, and one of my bathroom rugs. The latter two were while he was in his wire kennel. Needless to say, I brought the airline kennel back this weekend so that he can't slide out the tray any more or get to anything around the kennel. We'll see how it works. Regardless, he's still a super puppy and trying very hard. He's got this sudden absolutely love for fetching and playing ball. It's a nice easy way to tire him out so I can't complain. Plus, I've got to admit, it's nice to have a dog that can make a game out of any toy there is. Shimmer is the snuggling pro. I've got two opposites but that's ok. They're ying and yang but they fit together perfectly and a tiny part of me is part of them in each and every way.

Alright, I think I've rambled on enough now and distracted myself from studying. I should probably get back to trying to be a good and smart student.

At least I posted something on the blog again! Brownie points for me. :)

What's been happening!

Wow, haven't updated in a while. Ok, so I have a good reason. The new semester started haha. So far it's been going well. I like my schedule, all my professors are good, and Shimmer is working great. Just ordered her a new vest last night actually. I'll have to post pictures once I get it. The other one we have is very simple and unfortunately has been wanting to fall apart lately for one reason or another. It'll be our back up harness. Vengeance is growing like a weed. He measured 17.75" one week ago at the USDAA trial. Curious to see how much he'll grow. 6 months now and crazy as ever. Love that little nut. Shimmer did well at the trial but I have yet to post the video thanks to the slow internet connection here I've had a lack of motivation. In other news, lots of clubs this semester. Of course I had to join Pre-Vet Society again. Then the roommates and I are doing the Horsemen's Association which will be awesome considering we'll get some extra horse experience. The last one is the Herpetology Society. I didn't realize how much fun I would have. Two people from the Herp Society were at pre-vet and introduced us to their corn snakes. What can I say? I'm hooked. I had a blast at the Herpetology meeting and am now getting a corn snake. The president/breeder is planning on sending pictures this weekend and hopefully I'll have my new addition soon! Now to think of names....some people think I'm crazy for getting a snake, but they really are fascinating and sweet creatures. Extremely social and docile. More new animal experiences. Here is me and the roomies at the meeting on Thursday! These were all ball pythons though.Aside from that I've been doing homework, homework, and uh...oh yeah, more homework. But, I'm trying to get ahead with online stuff so that these upcoming test weeks go well with plenty of study time. I don't even think I really have anything else too exciting to talk about. Which is unfortunate...but that's because school has had me so focused lately. I'll definitely try and update some after my tests though. I'll have to introduce the snake to the blog world! Not sure if it'll be a boy or girl yet or the color. Either way, it'll be a kickass addition to the household. Ginny is getting a corn too and Dani wants to get a ball python in the near future. 4 dogs, 1 bunny, fish, and 3 snakes coming up. We promise we're sane. We're just pre-vet students. What would you expect!?

Eeepp! It has arrived :)

We've waited for it a long time and the suspense was killing us. Can you tell?

I'm so super excited my iPhone is finally here! I think I'm most excited about playing Angry Birds. But we'll see. I'll probably be in my own little world for quite some time, but that's ok. I'm pretty glad I decided to wait the few extra days for the white one to arrive but the wait was excruciatingly difficult. For those of you that don't know me in person, I'm not the most patient person in the world, but I try. I was listening all day and constantly paused the tv in hopes that I would hear the Fedex truck. Needless to say, the guy was super terrified of the 4 monsters that helped answer the door in excitement. I assured him that they were all friendly, but I got the response "Don't let any of those dogs out." Ok, suit yourself. Miss out on the awesomeness. :) Either way, I think now I'm just rambling, but eeeeeeeeeeepppp!!!! Happy day!

Just the little things

Sleep. It's kind of overrated. Actually, a lot overrated. I'm kind of happy I won't have to get into a rhythm after vacation for this coming semester. My earliest class is at 11:10am. I wasn't really even planning on doing that, but it worked out that way. So, I guess there's a cause for celebration. I'm really kind of excited to go back to College Station though. I mean, sure, vacation is great, but College Station is home. Houston doesn't really feel like home in the sense that I live there. I just come to visit. College Station is where we belong. We like it there. It's all about appreciating the little things in life. :)

Mhmm food.....

Thin cut pork in garlic salt and pepper dipped in flour then egg then bread crumbs and fried. Doesn't it sound amazing? It's called Schnitzel. Pretty much the best German dish on the planet. My mommy makes it when we come home for the holidays. Right now the smell is just drifting towards me from the kitchen. Mouth watering and sort of awesome. I would probably describe it as one of those things you could eat until you explode. Yep. That sounds pretty accurate.






In other news, my iphone comes in tomorrow! Yay happiness. :) I'm super excited but I know I'll have to leave it be to charge so if you absolutely have to reach me, facebook is the place to do it until Thursday afternoonish. I think I'm most excited about playing Angry Birds. I've gotten obsessed. Is that a bad thing? Eh, I would say it probably makes me part of the cult. That's about it.

Aside from that we went to the dog park today. Lots of running around for an Omelette and a psycho puppy. They got dirty as all get go like they do every day and both of them were miserable during bath time-as always! But, now I have deliciously smelling fresh jasmine scented dogs.

I'm going back home in about a week since I'm petsitting for a friend. I'm pretty excited since there's 6 other dogs and a cat that Vengeance will be living with for about a week. A good new experience for him and something fun for Shimmy. Lots of puppy playing as well since my friend has a sweet little border collie puppy too. School starts back the 17th and though it was a hellish semester Fall 2011, I'm ready to make it a great one this Spring 2012.

I also got super excited today because I bought Shimmy a Holt lead for her service work. It's not like she really pulls but there are times where she is more excited and rather than jerking her leash (which is the opposite of the type of training I'm going for) we're going to see how this head halter works for us. She did great trying it on and was only a bit uncomfortable. I think with time she won't mind it at all. Our next trial should be the last weekend of January USDAA show up in College Station. Still have to send my entry in but I've got plenty of time. Super excited to do some USDAA again. It's been a while. We've had a good start to the year so far and we're ready to continue it! :)

Feeding the Wolf

First off-Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe it's 2012 already. In March I'll have been alive for 2 decades. What a thought! Most people come up with resolutions for the new year, and although that is good, in order to come up with the resolution I think you need to reflect on what has happened in the past year and what you are going to do to change that. This popped up on my news feed on Facebook today. Aside from it looking pretty cool, I realized how much it can relate to how you view life and what you're going to do with the choices you have. You can either feed one wolf or the other, but the choice is entirely up to you.I also decided to look at this in the aspect of not only life but agility in general and the relationship I have with my dogs. It's unfortunate that a lot of people base their beliefs on dominance theories, alpha and pack leadership, as well as an intimidating relationship. I personally feel that this side of us feeds the evil wolf. It's our choice to blame our dog for our training mistakes as well as expecting them to carry all the baggage of things we wish to accomplish but then go wrong. I always tell people that I try very hard to base my relationship on trust and compromise with my dogs. Though we all can't be purely positive, let's face it, we've all been extremely upset with our dogs, but we can choose to rethink our choice and change our training plan. We can choose to follow the path of clicker training, positive reinforcement, shaping behaviors, and understand how truly incredible our dogs our. I will admit, all of Susan Garrett's webinars and posts have had me thinking about "Do-Land" a lot in the past half year. Even more so since I have Vengeance now but also how I've approached challenges with Shimmer in the past and how we may overcome them now. Sure, there are times when I get really upset and have a hard time living in "Do-Land", but there are many times were I sit back and realize that I've feed the good wolf and my dogs responses to me are much more positive and relaxed than if I were harsh with them. I'm not much of a resolution fan simply because it puts pressure on people and most of them never get followed through, but I've been somewhat working on this resolution for a while now, and I guess I've just realized that I can follow it through. There's so much to learn and the accomplishments can be massive, but you have to realize which wolf you want to feed to get to those accomplishments.

Aside from that Shimmer, Vengeance and I have had an awesome time during our winter break. We've done lots of cool things including plenty of relaxation. So, here are some cute pictures...

It's rough laying in a recliner all day....

Ducky killer puppy. Nomsnomsnoms.

Comfy Shimmy?Looking all growed up at 5 1/2 months today!

It's been a great start to the new year. Can't wait to see how it continues...