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- Our sweet pup is showing her age more and more. We keep trying to look the other way and pretend like she isn’t as old as she is, but she’s getting quite a bit up there.
Abby will turn 14 this summer, so she’s definitely well into her “elder” years. And recently, we’ve made a few changes to help accommodate her as she gets older.
One of the hardest “minor” changes we made just this week was moving her bed downstairs. She has always slept upstairs with us – and for the last 6-ish years has slept in Braelynn’s bedroom. For the past few months, she’s been having a tough time climbing the stairs to go up to Braelynn’s room every night though, but we gently coaxed her to do it – knowing that that motion was good for her (even if she wasn’t thrilled about it).
A few weeks ago, she just straight up refused to go up the stairs though. She planted her feet and would not move.
We carried her upstairs that night.
The next night, she was a little more willing to work her way up the stairs, but over the last few weeks, she’s had more and more “refusal” nights over the “willing” nights.
So, this week we brought her bed downstairs and decided we wouldn’t force her to go upstairs anymore.
It broke Braelynn’s heart. Abby has slept in her room for as long as she can remember, so suddenly not having her there has been rough. But, she understands and has been adapting to the circumstances with as much grace as she can muster up.
Abby’s still here, but we can see her declining, and it’s absolutely heart-breaking. I’m not sure what will happen when the day comes for her to leave us.
But until then – we’re determined to simply make her as comfortable and happy as possible. - We got our 2023 taxes done this week (can you hear the angels singing?) I’m always SO relieved and happy when that process is done and over with!
As a couple who owns multiple small businesses between us (plus Derrick’s regular job), our taxes are complicated to say the least. It is so wonderful to sit down with our CPA, have her go over all of our information (while we secretly cross our fingers that we didn’t miss anything) and have her plug all of our stuff in to complete our taxes for us. It’s one of the very few things that we outsource in our lives – and it is the MOST worth every single penny!
Now I can breathe a huge sigh of relief until next year. - Braelynn bought herself a crochet-kit when we were out Christmas shopping last December, and she finally pulled it out this week and asked if I could help her with it. Braelynn has become an expert crochet-er over the last few months, but she’s always made up every single pattern she’s ever created. She’s never read a pattern to actually make any of the little creatures she’s made (which is quite impressive in and of itself!) But, she really wants to get better and make more advanced things – so learning to read a crochet pattern is just the next step for her to take.
We sat down together on Thursday, and started working on it. I told her that I would crochet the same steps right along with her, just in case she got stuck. So, we’ve been sitting together, for about an hour a day, working on this little project – and I must say: it’s been delightful. I love to crochet, but making time for it is just hard. My to-do list is full-to-overflowing, so things like “crocheting” and “reading” tend to fall to the way-side. (That’s why I always so look forward to summer and going to the Lake House – because it’s a chance to set all of the “work” stuff aside and just rest, relax, and do some of the things I love to do!) - Have I ever mentioned my white board I got? Well, when I got it, I wrote myself out a list of “February Goals” – and I’m proud to say that as of yesterday, February 23rd, I had already crossed off 98% of my goals (YAY). So, I erased the board and wrote out a new set of “March Goals”. Time to get back to work!
- I published my favorite portraits and my favorite roller coaster images from 2023 this week! I typically start with these two categories and build UP to my favorite wedding images, but because of how things fell, I reversed the order and did things backwards this year. AND I didn’t like it. I’m going back to my usual order of posting next year.
- It’s always right around this time of year that I design our Family Yearbook. I typically design all of the layouts and then hold the files until my book company offers a big sale – and then I order (otherwise, our book would cost over $400!) Well, I have all of the photos pulled and edited, but I hadn’t started in on the design process yet, when I got an email yesterday from my book company, offering me 40% off (that’s the biggest discount they ever offer) if I order a new book in the next 14 days. You better believe that set a fire under my butt and I’m in full-blown design mode now!! I’ve got 13 days left – who thinks I can finish my Family Yearbook design by next weekend?
- I’ve been working hard all week on another project too – but it’s not quite ready to announce to the world yet. VERY soon though!
