Thank you for 4 great years, Jim Harbaugh!

Words cannot express how bummed I am over the 49ers parting ways with Coach Jim Harbaugh after only 4 years where the team saw 3 NFC titles, and won a trip to the Superbowl (the Harbowl will forever be my favorite Superbowl). I am upset at the upper management that decided they needed to micro manage when obviously Harbaugh was doing something right without their help. I'm upset that Harbaugh decided to just piss on this season because he was unhappy. I'm upset that the team let the drama bleed into how they played.

I'm upset that we just saw one of the best coaches this team has ever had slip through our fingers because the General Manager has more pull for sitting his butt crunching numbers.

I love watching Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines. He's passionate, cares about his team, and cares about the game. The tantrums were hilariously entertaining - I loved watching him lose it. Not because it was ridiculous or embarassing but because he wasn't afraid to let it show. He wasn't saying anything the rest of us weren't yelling from the stands or in our living rooms.

Jed York and company are shooting this franchise in the foot. Chances are they are going to make the wrong decision and this season will be seen as a GOOD one in the years to come. For the sake of the Niners (and my sanity) I hope I'm wrong... but I have NO faith in the 49ers Front Office.

So, thank you Jim, for all that you did for this team. Thank you for letting me enjoy being a Niners fan for a season or two. Good luck in your future endeavors - be it NFL or College - and I look forward to seeing more Harbaugh Sideline highlights!

This will be me for the next few weeks, months... probably years:

Last week was the flu...this week is mega stress...

...so this week I have tons of things I need to cram into prep for Christmas. To say that I will be stressed is an understatement... I wanted to blog - but I'm not sure I'll get to until after Christmas...


HOWEVER... I do want to find time to do a new theme for "Reitter's Block" for the new year. It will probably just be up until the end of January/early Feb and then I'll do something else (probably sled dogs)... and I've finally chosen a theme.

In honor of the Sons of Liberty coming to TV for a three night event starting January 25, I'm gonna have a patriotic theme....

and I think THIS man will be featured in the banner... because... well... *fangirl*

This photo is just begging for me to use it in some way... and I don't think blowing it up to poster size and hanging it in my room is an option! LOL Definitely a banner for my blog...

Because I have nothing better to do...

Would You Rather
Pierce your nose or your tongue? neither
Drink whole or skimmed milk? whole
Die in a fire or drowning? both are major fears of mine
Spend time with your parents or enemies? parents 

Are You?
Simple or complicated? simple, I think.
Straight, gay, bisexual, other?  straight
Right handed or left handed? right 
A lover of music or a lover of books? oooo at the moment music wins out but BOTH!

Do You Prefer
Flowers or sweets? flowers, I suppose
Gray or black? dark grey
Color photos or black-and-white photos? depends on the photo
M&Ms or Skittles? M&Ms
Staying up late or waking up early? staying up late
Sun or moon? Sun
Winter or Autumn? winter 
10 acquaintances or 2 best friends? 2 best friends 
Rainy or sunny? sunny 
Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream? vanilla  
Vodka or Jack? Dr. Pepper

About You
What time is it? 9:05PM
Name? Antonia
Nicknames? Toni, Tonichelle, Toni the Tree, 
When is your birthday? January 21
What do you want? So many things. (I just whined earlier today that I want MRJ to have a happy ending for a character SOON) 
How many kids do you want? 2-3 
What would you name a girl? Alyssa Rose 
What would you name a boy? Stephen Alan, Jaren Michael, Phillip Matthew 
You want to get married? yep, if I find the right man 
What kind of music do you like? country, contemporary christian, broadway, disney...

Unique
Nervous habits? twirl my hair, bite my knuckles 
Are you double-jointed? no
 Can you roll your tongue? yes 
Can you raise one eyebrow? yes, but not like Colin O'Donoghue... his are perfect lol 
Can you cross your eyes? yes, but it doesn't look like they're crossed.

Random
Which shoe goes on first? whichever I find first
Ever thrown something at someone? yep
On average, how much money do you carry with you? 50 cents in pennies 
What jewelry do you wear? none usually 
Do you twirl or cut spaghetti? both 
Have you ever eaten Spam? yes, and I don't want to talk about it. 
Favorite ice cream? cookies n cream 
How many different kinds of cereal are in your cupboard? idk, don't eat it.

Last
Car ride? yesterday - but I drove today
Song played? "Go Tell It On The Mountain" sung by This Hope 
Person you saw? my dad & mom 
Time you cried? Cried in a dream last night... had some very weird OUAT mashups... MRJ and that show owe me my happiness!

Yes I am alive...

...and yes I know I haven't blogged at all about my trip... or really since I got down to Anaheim and that was nearly two months ago! Whoops.

I'm hoping to start blogging soon. I keep saying that and then life gets in the way. We'll see... maybe a photo a day blog will have to do until after the New Year?

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.