Happy Tobyversary!

Posted on February 28, 2009

On this day two years ago, we adopted a stinky, skinny, smelly, scared little hound dog named Scrappy and brought him home. He was five months old and about 15 pounds. Here he is checking out his new digs.

Don’t tell him this, but he was actually the result of a coin toss. He’d been at the Rescue League for almost a month and we were torn between him and a cockapoo. We’d gone to visit him and really liked him, but we weren’t 100% sold.

So one night, 30 minutes before the Rescue League closed for the night, we flipped a coin; heads, we’d go get Scrappy (his name at the ARL). Tails, we’d get the cockapoo. Luckily for him, it landed on heads and we scrambled to the other side of town and got ourselves a stinky mutt. He shivered in my arms all the way home, but it didn’t take long for him to settle in.

Clearly. (This bed lasted for a day. Shortly after this picture was taken, he destroyed it. The Rescue League never stipulated that our dog was part GOAT.)

He’s always been rather… ornery. (These pictures were all taken the night we brought him home.)

But we quickly fell in love with the pup. It was difficult not to.

So here we are, two years later. And that little 15-pound mutt…

Is now 32 pounds of sheer stinkyness and attitude.

And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy Tobyversary!

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Special People

Posted on February 25, 2009

I can’t claim that being a photographer is my full-time job, even though it seems like I think about it 24/7. I actually have a “real job” 40 hours each week. I’ve been blessed to be able to work for – and with – some truly wonderful people. One of those people was my former boss, John, whom I was thinking about today.

John hired me as an intern almost five years ago. I needed an internship and searched high and low but never found anything.

Then one day I met him and he took a chance on me. He was one of those bosses who gave you a job to do then left you alone and I thrived on the autonomy. He was a jokester, always coming up with stories for every situation. He loved his family and he loved life, and it showed in everything he did.

When my internship was over, I thought we’d part ways for good. But I was asked to come back a year and a half later when a position opened up and I jumped at the chance.

Little did I know at the time how much things would change.

I found out that he was very ill. I’d known he was sick back when I was an intern, but never fully realized the extent. I was re-hired in June and on a cold day in early December, he was gone. To say that his death left a huge void would be an understatement. It had a profound impact on the entire organization.

After tears had been wiped away and winter started to thaw, I was once again blessed when my coworker was named as his successor. She’s been an equally, wonderfully amazing person to work for. But that doesn’t mean we don’t think of John. Even two years later, we sometimes catch ourselves asking, “What would John do?” And laughing at situations that surely would have left him scratching his head.

So on my monitor at work, I have a note I wrote the day he died – a note that reminds me to pause and think about the bigger picture: What would John do? And along with that note is a sticker he also had on his monitor: “Take time to play. It is the secret of perpetual youth.” It’s something that I could definitely use more practice with.

With those items is a polished rock with the word LOVE inscribed in it. It was given to me when another very special person in my life passed away. But she deserves a post all her own.

We should all stop and think about the special people who have touched our lives and appreciate how they’ve made us who we are.

Warmly… and reminiscing…
Christa