I'm in Anaheim!

Made it in right on schedule. Spent most of my day in the hotel's lobby. I didn't get a key to our room until 3:30ish - half an hour before regular check in. Not too big a deal, but I was definitely tired of waiting in a busy waiting area.

The flights were uneventful. I slept the whole way basically. Popped my Dramamine, turned Dean Nichols' sermon on repeat on my iPod and I was out before we took off. Booyah!

I was hoping to nap this afternoon, but since I didn't get into the room and settled until right before the Niners game started (10-0 so far, GO NINERS!) I didn't get a nap. Debating if I want to shower tonight or not.

Hoping to catch the Disneyland fireworks from the Sun Deck on top of our hotel tonight. They start at 9:25pm. I haven't moved from the couch since food got here (I ordered Chinese... it was disappointing). It was so hot at one point today I think it was 104 while I was walking to the elevator to get to my room. Oy. Not looking forward to the temps tomorrow... though it's forecast to *only* be 98*. Instead of the 104 they forecast it'd be the other day.

We'll see...

Dang, Kap just got intercepted. Maybe I should go hide and take a shower.

Kenai Animal Shelter Portraits - September 10

Busy busy busy with three days left till I am headed to SoCal. I have today and tomorrow to pack. And I haven't gotten everything done that I need doing. Oy.

The cats were mostly kitties we'd seen before - a lot of the kittens from last week are still there (and there's a new litter as of yesterday who need a bit of nursing back to full health). ALL of the dogs we saw last week were gone! Adopted or moved to rescues! YAY!

Just three dogs yesterday, one of which was a BEAUTIFUL male Blue Nose Pittbull. He is GORGEOUS and has a wonderful personality. If I wasn't going away for two weeks - and if Lulu did better with big dogs - I would've come home with a new forever friend.

Eight Days - Eight busy, busy days....

It never fails - you get close to take off day for your vacation and suddenly the whole world needs you. This week has been a killer. Busy helping with church projects, home projects, photo projects. Dad had some drama this week as well while hunting and needed a lot of help and prayer (he's physically okay... won't get a chance to blog about it any time soon, though. just know he is okay). Kassy's car needed "emergency surgery" so I hung with her and drove her around while we waited for them to fix whatever was wrong.

Don't get me wrong - I don't mind helping family and friends... or even being busy...

It's just now I'm stressing over the coming week! I haven't even started laying stuff out to pack (Not really a big deal), and I have an all day photo event tomorrow (Tri-The-Kenai Triathlon). That will take a while to edit (though I'm thinking I'll shoot it all JPEG and just upload them), and then the day I drive up to Anchorage I have a photo shoot for a high school senior (YAY! My favorite!). Oh, and Wednesday I have the shelter animals again.

And those are just the things I know about/remember.

I want to get my hair done before I go, I need a couple of items from the store for the trip, I have to edit photos and get them posted online...

I have so much to do in very little time. At least I can say I earned this vacation, eh?

Puppy-Dogs Portraits from the Kenai Animal Shelter - Sept 3

So my phone took a shower in my truck yesterday. Apparently I have a leaky windshield! UGH! I'm trying to dry it out (though depending on who you ask I'm either doing the right thing or the wrong thing). I have 9 days till Disney and I need the phone to keep in contact with people I'm meeting up with. I really can't afford to go and get a new phone so I'm praying this works. Though really it's getting harder and harder to have faith of any kind. I know I sound like a selfish first worlder... but this is the fourth year of just crap on top of crap. Every time I start turning in a positive direction I get shoved back down. It's tiresome.

Which is why my Wednesdays are the highlight of the week these days. Yes, it's sad to see all the animals in cages waiting to hopefully be adopted, but they're all wonderful and loving...

and sometimes there's a puppy!

Kittens & Cats of the Kenai Animal Shelter- Sept 3 portraits

There are a lot of kittens this week at the Kenai Animal Shelter. Two big litters of them. And some of the kittens were itty bitty (they're up for adoption at the earliest this weekend). There was a runt - a little all black kitten with blue eyes - that Kassy and I both fell in love with. He(?) is feisty and shows no fear. Very friendly. He's so tiny that I dubbed him Frodo. I may have gone overboard taking his picture.

I am really enjoying volunteering at the shelter. I'm going to miss doing it while on vacation. I might miss some super cute animals! I reminded Cora about my being gone and she looked super worried, whenever they don't have pictures of the animals the adoptions go down because people aren't coming in as often to see who is available. It's weird. Though honestly I never went to the shelter to look... but the pictures at least gave me an idea of what they had.

It's been super busy with huge turn over of animals at the shelter this week. Most of the faces were brand new and it was getting full. It's the end of summer and I guess that's a time of year that people begin dropping off their former pets. Great time if you're looking for a forever friend. If you're in Kenai swing by and check them out. Can't take one home? Volunteer your time to give the animals the love and attention they deserve.