Geez, life is tough sometimes.

I always thought that if you were living righteously, you would never have problems in your personal relationships. Well, I was dead wrong. I guess the adversary seeks you out, no matter what you're doing.

PF v4

This week's spotlight for Philanthropic Friday is a well-deserving organization that inspires me to give more back to the helpless animals in the community.

We adopted DC from the Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA in Phoenix. I have so much love in my heart for this organization! All of the staff members are so compassionate about animals—especially the ones they care for. Adopting from this organization is a joyful experience (as it should be). I felt more welcome and informed than I have ever felt at the County Animal Care and Control Units. You can tell that AAWL wants the animals to go to happy homes, and they give the owners all the tools they can to ensure that both the animal and owner are happy. Anyway, back to AAWL, sorry!

AZ Welfare League is Arizona’s oldest and largest NO-KILL shelter. This organization makes a lifetime commitment to all of the animals it takes in. That means that if the owner is no longer able to keep their animal, the shelter will take the animal back into their care and try to re-adopt them out. They do not euthanize animals here. As a matter of fact, they rescue animals from county shelters that are in danger of being euthanized. How amazing is that? They’re a bunch of animal saviors.

The organization not only adopts animals out, but they provide dog training classes. They teach the animals (and owners) everything from general obedience training to preparing your pet for a newborn baby to bite prevention. You can check out all of their classes here: Puppy Classes!

They are a 501©(3) organization, which means that all donations made are tax-deductible. They rely heavily on contributions from the public. That’s why it’s so important that the community supports them! You can donate to them : here.

Meet Emmy. This beautiful dog is also up for adoption! Bring her home!

Currently listening to: Kids on Holiday – Animal Collective

All information in this post was gathered via AAWL’s web address.

Meet DC

We adopted a Siberian Husky (mix) earlier this week. His name is DC (like the comics). He is just over a year old, and acts like a grown-up doggy (most of the time). He and baby Diella get along so, so well. They became fast friends. He loves to give her kisses, often right in the face, and she loves to scream at him in excitement. It is so much fun to watch them together.

BBL Old Photo Challenge

Mrs. Busy Bee Lauren challenged her readers to post an old photo and tell about it.

I loved this idea! I dug some of my favorite pictures out of my photobucket.


I love my kitty cat, Ryloh. This is my favorite picture of him, of all time. He's such a cutie pie.



This is a picture of Raf & my first Disney trip after he got back from his mission. This trip was, by far, the most memorable one I've been on. I went with some of my favorite people, Ramelle, Vanessa and Raf! As you can see, we did a version of the "no evils." We added smell no evil, haha



There's a funny story behind this picture. My friend Vanessa from the previous picture drove her car, Earl, to California. But her sun roof (or is it moon roof? I never know the difference) was broken, and would periodically pop-up and cause a loud whooshing sound in the car. So every so often we would stop and tape the roof down. This is a picture of me weighing the moon/sun roof down for the tape to be applied. Good times!!

Thanks to Lauren for inspiring me to take this trip down memory lane!

Currently Listening To: Sheila Take a Bow - The Smiths

DC

We got a dog! His name is DC (like the comics). Picture post and introduction to come. Stay tuned!

Philanthropic Friday! V3

Welcome to week 3 of charitable education! This week I'd like to spotlight a really awesome charity, that is super inspirational to me. Their name is Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence, aka Make Mine a Million $ Business. Don't you just love their name? I get amped up just reading it.

Count Me In's mission is to empower women, by promoting economic independence and growth of women-owned businesses. How awesome is that? They provide resources such as business education and community support for women seeking to start their own business ventures. I loved this quote from their site, "Count Me In is fueling a mindset and a movement that promises to change the landscape of the U.S. marketplace and benefit all Americans and their families."

This organization feels so home-grown to me, which is one of the things I love most about them. Sometimes charitable donating can feel so impersonal. You send your money into cyberspace and you never really see or feel the impact of your money. But with Count Me In, you can feel the satisfaction of helping empower women around the nation.

You can and SHOULD donate to this wonderful charity here.

Currently Listening to: Tristeza - Building Peaks

All information gathered from Count Me In's website.

The Office

Seriously, The Office is such a great show. I constantly find myself remembering a funny scene between Dwight & Jim/ Michael & Toby, etc. So I decided I'd take some time to post some of my favorite The Office moments.

Enjoy. Believe me, I am!


Michael's reaction to Toby's return from Costa Rica.


Self- explanatory! I love Jim's half smile. Swoon.


Dwight impersonates Jim. Amazing.


Really crappy quality. But a great prank!!


Future Dwight. Yes.


Gaydar.


Pavlov Altoid.

There are so many more, but I couldn't find clips! Sorry, some of them are VERY poor quality.

Philanthropic Friday v2 - Vh1 Save the Music

I decided that Philanthropic Thursday should take place on Friday instead- it seems to flow better.

So without further ado, Philanthropic Friday will continue:

This week, I'd like to spotlight another favorite charity (and client) of mine. They are the Vh1 Save the Music Foundation . Save the Music aims at providing children a complete education - which includes music education. They seek to develop and improve music education programs in public schools around the nation. They strive to bring music education to all American children, regardless of location or economic status.

Under the "What We Provide" tab on their website, the Foundation explained that they provide grants of $30 THOUSAND worth of musical instruments to deserving public elementary and junior high schools. Each school is able to choose the category of instruments they desire, they are: band, string, keyboard lab, guitar lab, or mariachi instruments. How cool is that? I love that mariachi instruments is an option. I just love that. What a neat way to bring the Spanish culture into musical education!

I can't think of a more deserving charity. Bringing the joy of music [education] to young children, and teaching them a skill that they will hone and love for the rest of their lives is such an admirable thing.

You can donate to this amazing charity here. Thanks for making a difference!

Currently listening to: Ace Enders - Bitter Sweet Symphony (cover) proceeds went to Vh1 Save the Music Foundation. How appropriate!

All information gathered from Vh1 Save the Music Foundation's website.