Dallen and I have been foster dog parents for a few months now. We technically started in late January, but that was just for a weekend. We became more serious fosters towards the end of April. So far we fostered three dogs and are possibly fostering a fourth starting Thursday.
Overall, it's been really fun so far. Sometimes it can be challenging because they have their own idea of what to do and how it should be done, but they are still awesome even when they don't do what you tell them to do. That's kinda like real parenting, right? You still love them even when they aren't doing what you asked and are getting a little on your nerves.
Some of them are house-trained/pee pad trained, but move away from the pad too soon which causes a mess on the floor. Others will sleep on their dog bed (or by it) one night and the next insist to sleep in bed with you and completely refuse to sleep in their own bed (in some ways that's not so bad because it forces us to cuddle all through the night. :P). Others still will be complete angels during the day and when it comes to me getting ready for bed decide it's time to be crazy and try to use me as a chew toy, despite having at least four other options for valid and appropriate chew toys. Some may decide that the only way they will go to the bathroom is if they go on long walks because for some reason our own lawn isn't good enough. Despite these quirks/frustrating, they are awesome and adorable and I love getting to play with them, love on them, and cuddle with them. It makes my heart feel more complete when there's a dog in the home.
Fostering also allows us to kinda know what to expect when we have kids of our own someday. Dogs like kids have their own personalities, minds, likes/dislikes, emotions. I'm thankful for the opportunity we have to get practice before become real (dog) parents. Plus, it also allows me to put into practice some of the things I learned from my Theories in Family Perspective class. Thanks Dr. Butler!
Someday we would like to get a dog of our own someday (we would like to get a cat, too, but Dallen is mildly allergic--BOO allergies!). Fostering allows us to figure out what type of dog we would like to adopt someday. So far we know that we would prefer a dog with a short coat (won't get matted, no need to go to a groomer--saves $$), doesn't shed a lot, doesn't bark too much (we do live in an apartment after all and I would like to be courteous to our neighbors), and is small (our apartment is tiny, so it needs to be a dog that will fit comfortably in the limited space we have. Plus, I grew up having smaller dogs, so that's what I'm used to).
For now, though, I'm happy with helping these amazing dogs find their fur-ever homes. Every dog deserves to go to a good, loving home, as well as feeling loved. I do my best to show these dogs that they are loved and that I care about them because who doesn't love feeling loved? :)
Here are some family portraits (minus Little Fishy) and some that I think capture their darling personalities:
Family Selfie of Chico and me (Dallen was out of town, so I was a single parent for a little bit...lemme tell you it is not easy taking care of a dog [or kid--not that I have experience] on your own).
Chico loved to sleep. I thought this one was funny because normally it's the cat that goes on your laptop.
Chico also loved to play.
And to sleep like this.
We only had Lucky for a few days before he found his fur-ever home.
Lucky loved to sit with you.
He also was a really chill dog, which was AWESOME!
Family Selfie with Smokie. I absolutely LOVED this dog! He was the whole reason for the move and the start of fostering. Unfortunately, someone else adopted him. :( Glad he found a good home though.
Apparently, Smokie loved to drive.
He also loved to sit with you.
And look out the window at what's happening around.
Here is a video of one of the dogs that I find cute:
This is the second time Chico found his reflection. First time was in the bedroom mirror.
I love my husband so much. He knows how to help cheer me up. This past week I have been feeling mega-overwhelmed. I have so many assignments/projects/papers to write/do before the end of the semester that I have no idea how it's all going to get done (it'll get done somehow...). Last night he gave a FHE lesson about overcoming discouragement. He used this article from the Ensign as the basis for his lesson. It was so great. Afterward, we played Just Dance to help relieve the stress (it's both physical activity and a change of pace--we hardly ever use our Wii for playing games during the semester). Surprisingly, it worked! I felt a lot less stressed after playing on the Wii with my husband. I'm still not feeling too stressed today (setting priorities also helps, although this wasn't one of them for today...).
Another thing I decided to do is get rid of all social media and games from my phone. I waste so much time scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Some time (not as much as previous semesters) is wasted through playing games (mainly Sims Freeplay). I still allow myself to go on Facebook a few (no more than three) times a day (mainly because one of my other classes uses Facebook, otherwise I would be refraining from it too). I plan to put Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram back on my phone once the semester is completely over. I don't know about Twitter, since I mainly use it to look at news and not for the original purpose of me getting Twitter--to share uplifting/inspirational/gospel related quotes/scriptures.
I really feel like these things are helping me to be less stressed during this mega-stressful time of the semester.
I have been a Facebook user for seven years. Overall, I have been impressed how Facebook has changed and the way it is run. However, there is one change that I would like to suggest. The change I would like to address is that of reporting nudity, specifically clarity of how you define what is appropriate and inappropriate.
Over the past seven years I have only had to report nudity six times. Thankfully, this is not something that comes across my News Feed very often. When it has it mostly was from a friend of a friend tagging them in it or posting it to their wall. However, each of the times I reported the pictures I felt were inappropriate nudity, none of them were removed.
After going over your Community Standards page, I believe that some of the posts I reported are against your standards, despite your team’s decision. To help reduce confusion, it would be helpful to be more specific in your definitions. The terms that need additional clarification include: other art, digitally created content, and educational purposes. Knowing exactly what is meant by those terms will help alleviate confusion and will make it easier for other users to know what is actually inappropriate.
Also, I do not understand why a picture that shows everything except the nipple is acceptable, but a picture showing the nipple is not. I feel like if it is going to show everything except the nipple it should still be removed because it leaves nothing to the imagination and there is nothing special about that one small part of the breast.
Along those same lines, I do not understand why a photo that is fully focused on the buttocks is not okay, while a full-back nude shot is okay (e.g. photo showing someone from behind head to toe). Both photos are showing a person’s full bare buttocks.
I thank you for the terms you do have clarified and the work that your team does to keep Facebook a safe place. I hope you take my suggestion (and suggestions from others like mine) into serious consideration. Thank you.
I had a really great Easter/General Conference Weekend. It's always one of my favorite times of the year. This weekend my mom came out to visit, so my husband and I took her to all the neat places (the temple, IKEA, Provo City Center temple site, campus, etc.). I loved all the talks, especially the ones that talked about marriage and family. It's been great having her around for a few days. I didn't get much homework done, though. Oh well. Hopefully it'll work out in the end (I'm mostly nervous for a test I have to take tomorrow that closes tomorrow and I haven't had a chance to study for it yet...) :/ Anyway, I love conference. I love Easter. I love my family.
I am probably one of the somewhat few that actually use the rating systems as a guideline to what I deem as appropriate. Not only that, I actually pay attention to the content label. For example, if something is TV-14 or higher I won't watch it, especially if it contains sexual situations, language, and violence. Same goes for movies PG-13 on up. I like things that are family friendly. I feel that most family friendly movies/shows are not terribly inappropriate most times.
Even though I am thankful we have a ratings system, I think it could use a bit of help, especially consistency-wise. It's crazy how a movie can be rated PG-13 for only 3 f-words but it's R if it uses more than that. It makes me curious where the MPAA and TV shows draw the line for sexual situations? There have been a few PG-13 movies that made me scratch my head wondering how this is something that is okay for a 13 year-old to watch when me as a 22 year-old am not comfortable watching it. I think it would be great if someday the MPAA will draw in experts to help rate these movies more accurately.
I know I already wrote about Gilmore Girls, but my husband and I reached a plot twist episode. It was the episode in Season 2 where Sookie and Jackson got married. Chris came to town and him and Lorelai were actually going to give their relationship a shot and see where it goes. We were so excited! Almost as excited as Emily Gilmore, which she was pretty excited. Then he got a phone call from his ex-girlfriend and all that changed. Boo! I really wanted Lorelai and Chris to work out. :/ There's a chance they get back together, right? (Don't actually say). If they don't work out, then Lorelai and Luke should give their relationship a try. Assuming they get past their post-fight awkward stage.
Plot twists really drag you in to want to keep watching episode after episode. I really wanted to watch the next episode, but sadly I had to take an exam...Oh well, Monday will be here soon enough and then I will watch another episode. :)
I love the Gospel Library app. I love that hundreds of General Conference talks, the scriptures, hymns, and other books are all just right there in my phone. I love listening to the hymns and General Conference talks. It's super awesome. I also love the Mormon Channel app. I guess I love the apps that the Church puts out. So much goodness all in one spot. :)
