Happy Birthday!

The day he was born.


One of my best friends celebrated her son's first birthday today! I was at the hospital the day he was born and I have loved watching him grow up. He is such a smiley and silly little boy and I just adore him! Happy birthday little bug! Auntie loves you lots!


One year later!

A boy named Wink...

This is Wink the Wonder Dog! The vet hospital I work for took him in after a woman found him starved and abandoned in a parking lot. He appeared to have several bite marks on his muzzle and neck and his left eye was infected and swollen shut. He was half dead when he came to our office but quickly started to show some improvement. After some standard tests to rule out life-threatening diseases we determined that this little puppy had a fighting chance! Because of his eye I lovingly named him Wink.



Sunday consisted of me making several trips to the hospital to take care of baby Wink. He got stronger every hour and was eating like a little piglet! He seemed to be partly potty trained and had very good manners. He had obviously been neglected and was in desperate need of a bath a some tlc. He was a very good boy during his bath, though he wasn't thrilled with the process. After cleaning him up and trimming his nails he looked (and smelled) like a whole new dog! He is extremely emaciated and has a long way to go before he is a healthy pup, but he is already making huge improvements and putting on weight!



Thankfully, a very good client of the hospital's decided to adopt baby Wink. And tonight he left our facility and joined his new family for good. While I am so happy that he found a forever home, I became very attached to him. I will miss him terribly and can't help but shed a few tears at his departure. I am so proud of my baby boy and wish him a lifetime of love and happiness with his new mom and dad. Though they may change his name and make him their own, I will always think of him as my little baby Wink ;-)

So this is what happened...

I recently broke up with the man that was my boyfriend for two and a half years. We had different ideas of where our relationship was going. I thought it was heading to the altar, and he didn't. We'll leave it at that. Thankfully it turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. Even though I miss what we had, I know that things were never going to change. After all, you really can't change someone, can you?

I recently moved into a new place and I am loving it! And more importantly, I have some really exciting things planned over the next few months. For example, in September I will be embarking on my very first trip with Habitat for Humanity! I have wanted to work with the organization since I was a kid. Up until now life hasn't permitted such an adventure, but now that I'm done with school and working a lot I can finally find the time to go! I will spend 10 days on the island of Kauai in Hawaii with a team of other volunteers building a new home for a local family that has been living in poor conditions. Most of the damage to these homes is related to natural disasters. However, sometimes it is just a matter of an old home no longer meeting the needs of the family.

The majority of the time I am there is spent building the home. But there is also time set aside to enjoy the island! The organization has arranged several cultural activities such as a luau for us volunteers to attend. Having been to Kauai a few times already I am looking forward to seeing another side of the island and doing something more productive with my "vacation". I am also very much looking forward to the chance to go zip lining! Silly, I know, but its something I've always wanted to do!

In short, I am really looking forward to this trip and making a difference for the family I will be building for. Though it is an expensive endeavor ($1380 for the fee to the organization and another $750 for the flight) I think it will be more than worth It! I hope that this will be just one of many trips with Habitat for Humanity. Perhaps next year I will venture out of the country to South America, or even Africa (Sorry Mom!) The possibilities are endless!

To pass time before my trip I have been doing a lot of reading, exercising, working, writing, and spending time with great people. It's amazing how invested you get in a relationship and how much you lose certain things about yourself. I don't regret my time with my ex. But I am so thankful for the time I have with this new chapter in my life. I know that only good things are to come, with maybe a few speed bumps along the way!

Check back for updates on my new single girl adventures! And please visit my Habitat for Humanity volunteer website to learn more about my trip! A tax deductible donation to my trip is also very much appreciated! Even the smallest contribution make a huge difference in my efforts. Just click on the link below to see my page!

GV Team Member Page -- Habitat for Humanity, Int'l

Thats all for now friends! Thanks for reading!