Update from Colorado

What a week! It took some adjusting once Mike left. I was optimistic that things would be OK. Well, it was a little hectic...not by conscious choice mind you. :)

Waldo is still very high maintenance. I know he's still worked up over his owner passing and Mike leaving. He seems to have abandonment issues and I try to show compassion but at the same time he's a dog and I can't be home 24/7 to tend to his needs. So we take it day by day and I'm so thankful to those that have been supporting me in taking care of him. He's not easy and some days he's absolutely exhausting but I'm committed to helping him transition and hope that he'll calm down soon.

Mike and I signed up to distribute healthy chocolate before he left. Yes, I did say "healthy" and "chocolate" in the same sentence. We're really excited about it and really enjoy it ourselves so we figured why not share it with others. I haven't done much this past week in starting that up but will now that I'm kind of getting into the groove of things.

Sunday morning and into the afternoon, Alecia, Christy and I spent quality time with the rescue horses. It was so nice and relaxing and I was so sleepy when I left. It always seems to quiet me being out where they are kept...it's so beautiful. 

Sunday evening while feeding...Shasta (one of Scott's horses) stepped on my foot. His whole foot on my whole foot. Alecia took me to the hospital this morning for an Xray. Turns out it is not broken but pretty banged up. I have crutches for the next few days and that's taking some getting used to but luckily no break. It's very swollen and bruised and I'm using lots of ice.  It's nice to have such a great support system around me and I'm so thankful to Alecia, Marcy, Alice, Yanna, Christy, Heather and Monica for helping and offering to help me out. :) Jose - one of the workers - said he'd help with anything I need so he'll be feeding the animals for me.

I received a phone call tonight from an old friend of Mom and Dad's: Mervin from Jamaica! I haven't talked to him in years and haven't seen him since 1992, I think! I do remember our trips down there very well and our time with Mervin and his family. I would love to go back and see them all again. He still loves us all so much and said he wants us all to be there with him and his family again soon. That sounds good to me. :)

The "girls" Maggie and Izzy are doing pretty well. Maggie is like a little mother and always checking in with me and watching over Izzy. And Izzy is just Izzy. She's very sweet and slept on my tummy all night long last night while my foot was elevated and icing. She's like my old dog Jumbo who was the "sick" dog. Everytime someone was sick - he wouldn't leave their side.

That's all for now. Make sure you check out Mike's posts below with pictures from Virginia. I'm excited to go see him in August!! :)

PS - did you notice all of the gray hair on my head!? although it doesn't bother me enough to start dying it... ;)

Update from Virginia

This week, I decided to start to look

for a new truck and see what Shenandoah looked like. One of the park entrances is about 35 minutes away, so it's very very close. Riley and I had a nice time and he even managed to find a few ticks, which I got to pull off of him later in the day. The park was beautiful and I can't wait to go back and take him with.

I also found out the I'm a complusive car buyer. I went to the dealership that I've been speaking to and drive a couple of trucks. Well, I did, and then I bought one. I really liked the one I drove and the price was right, so why not! It's a nice truck and a good size for me right now. It's a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. I'm not sure if I was planning on buying a brand new one or not, but there was a really good deal on it.

More to come next week!

The new house, the drive, etc.

Living room with a nice fireplace...
Living Room
Other side of living room...
Bedroom

Grandparents
This guy greeted me pulling into the driveway today!! The resident black bear.
Front Door
Kitchen
Kitchen

Well, Riley and I made it. It was actually a really nice drive. The weather was great and there wasn't any traffic. I made it home to see family and of course made a trip to Dairy Haus. Everything is almost unpacked, except for clothes and Molly's photo stuff which will probably stay in boxes for awhile. There is actually an attic in our house, so I put some things up there as well. Val, Dad, and Rudy all made it out this weekend and were a HUGE help in unloading and getting alot squared away. Rudy came out and grilled

some meats and Rob (the house owner) ate and had margaritas with

us. He's a great guy and I'm looking forward to getting to know his wife better as well. They are both very interesting people and have quite a bit to talk about because of what they do. I am going to attempt to put some pictures on here, however Molly is much better at this than me. I am going to contact a few places that contacted me about a job next week, but am enjoying the time off and to get settled here. I will take it while I can get it.

Ok, so the pictures are kind of out of order, but you get the idea....

Does It Get Any Cuter Than This??

PS - Do you like my new logo? :)

Headed to VA

Mike and Riley are on their way as of this morning! Send good thoughts his direction for safe travels. :) They think they will arrive on Saturday (he is stopping in Illinois tomorrow for a bit). Val, Rudy and Tom will be there to help them unpack. I'm trying to plan a trip in August to go visit - yay!!!

Mike's Last Week consisted of a couple of horseback rides, LOTS of eating at favorite restaurants (yum!!), and packing (lots and lots of packing!).

We went for a ride on Sunday on Shasta and Freddy: our favorites from the bunch at the ranch. If I could buy them I would! 2 1/2 hours and it was so, so nice! When we're both working from home - we can do that all the time! :)

Mike and Shasta

Freddy was drinking out of the hose when we got back!

Riley wanted to make sure we didn't leave him...or anything else.

Mike, Izzy + MaggieOh Waldo. What a goon.

Here's a quick Waldo video for you.....It was breakfast time.


Mike has promised to post a couple of blogs with pictures from his trip so stay tuned!

Cesar Whispers in Aspen

We went to see Cesar Millan last night. You know, The Dog Whisperer. It was a lot of fun! We love his show, have a couple of his books, and he's a great speaker. It was a benefit for the Aspen Animal Shelter's Free Spay/Neuter Program (thanks to them, Izzy received a free one...although with ticket prices we just about paid them back for it ;) ) and the Cesar and Illusion Millan Foundation.

He gets dogs and he gets people just as well. Funny, witty and straight to the point. It was an interesting perspective and we learned a lot.

Our great friend, Alecia, is a true whisperer to us and if she and Cesar got together - watch out - what a team that would be. Many dogs and their people have been blessed by the both of them. Alecia has been an incredible, incredible blessing and asset to our and our animals' lives.

The way Cesar put it last night. "Animals will not follow unstable pack leaders. Only humans will follow unstable pack leaders." [insert smile and big laugh from crowd].

So let's all become more balanced, more stable and we will ALL benefit. :) Call Alecia (you can try to call Cesar but he most likely won't be the one to answer), read the books, watch the shows - our animals will be way better off.

More info:
www.cesarmillaninc.com
www.allbeingsequal.com (Alecia)

I was kicking myself, by-the-way, for NOT bringing my new camera but this one worked too. :)

Hot Springs Pool Night

aaaahhhh.....so relaxing at the Hot Springs..... :)

How Quickly Life Changes

Mike and I have some big news. First off, no, we're not pregnant...still time left on that one.

As you know Mike put in his notice at the Club a few weeks ago. Since then we've been trying to figure out what the next step is: where will he work, etc. He was offered a position at The Little Nell but it came within days of him flying out to Virginia to check out a care-taking position there.

Yes. Virginia. About an hour and a half from Val & Rudy (Mike's sister/brother-in-law).

This all has happened in the past 3 weeks. Faster than we ever imagined could/would happen. We came across a listing and Mike emailed right away. The owners/employers emailed within the hour and it sounded perfect. They live in the city (DC) and work for the government so they only come out on the weekends - every weekend. They have 3 horses, one of which she has had for 15 years. They just want someone to love them like they do. No problem there for us as you know if you know us well. They have a separate little guest house; it's bigger than what we have right now and it's two stories. They had no problem with our 3 dogs and said we could bring a horse if we wanted to.

So Mike met with them and the current care-taker (she's leaving because her husband is coming home from Iraq) and he loved it. He said he felt at home.

After a lot of talking we have decided to move. This was and wasn't easy for us. It feels right - that's the easy part. But we are leaving a great last 5 years here and so many wonderful people. But we feel that it's time to move on and start out in Virginia. It's a beautiful area, I can get my portrait business really going (it's definitely horse country), Mike's been making some phone calls to area restaurants but is open to whatever comes his direction, and we'll be close to some family. Mike will be leaving in just a couple of weeks. They needed someone right away and he was open to that. It'll be weird not being around him for a couple of months but we'll make it happen. We'll be OK.

You're most likely thinking we're nuts. But we have faith in ourselves and our capabilities and we're not worried about what's to come. We know that we need to come together and spend more time together because we certainly don't feel like that's happening much now. We want to get on a path for our lives and future so we can spend more time with family and expand our own little family.

So to answer a few more questions.

1. My job. I will be staying in Colorado until September to get us (Alice Koelle Photography) through our busy, busy season. Perhaps I will even work some from Virginia - that's the great thing about digital - everything can be done on computers from where-ever. We are looking for someone to take my place but no one has popped up yet.

2. The ranch. Jokingly, I offered the job to my sister, Mandi. Seriously, she accepted. You are thinking she might be able to do it? So, if she can't, she can't but if she's willing and wanting to try who am I to stop her? She's a big girl and can make/did make this decision on her own. She had already applied to CMC so would be going to school as well. If Scott is willing to offer her the job then that would be a great relief to us, the animals, and Waldo.

3. The rescue. Alecia is considering moving back to Colorado - if so she would take it back over. If not, we are open to adopting Kali and Cisco and moving them out with us in the fall. They will all be taken care of. I'm sure we're not done in the rescue-ing business but we need to re-group, and re-focus and someday we'll come back to the cause.

We know this is a huge shock. It's a huge shock to us but we're open to it and we're looking forward to what we can make happen in our lives out there and we appreciate support. We realize the risks, we've thought them out and we're OK with our decision.

We will definitely keep everyone posted. :)

Some Recent Randoms

Happy July 5....4th! :) Mike and I both worked at the Club, of course. They had a great party for about 1200 people (I think). I was the photographer this year. I think it went well - a little daunting with so many people but hopefully I came out of it with some good stuff for them. :) Hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July this year!

Above: Puppies(!) Jake and Abby
Below: Twins, Cache and Ruby