Are you tired of this one yet?

I really think I'm getting good use out of this photo. This week at I Heart Faces, the theme is People's Choice. The only requirement, is it had to be taken in February.

I cropped it in some this time, to highlight his face, mostly his cheeks.

I hope you don't hate me for blogging this one again, but I had to!





Check out I Heart Faces for more People's Choice

Woody

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is all about pets! So, I'm going to take this time to share Woody's story with you (and then share a photo, which you've probably seen before, but its my favorite of Woody)

Gene and I decided we wanted a dog. He's always had a dog and I've never had one. I was a little hesitant about the care involved in taking care of a dog, being restricted to town because we needed to take care of him, and just overall, how would I be with a dog?

Gene wanted an athletic dog. Something he could exercise with, something that would be great for JJ to play with. He decided we needed and Australian Sheppard or a Border Collie. We tossed around the idea of when and where to get a dog. One day at work, I was googling Border Collies and I came upon a website for a breeder that lives in our town. I sent the page to Gene and I asked him if he knew about this place and he said no. He called and got some information. Not only did they have dogs, they have goats and Gene wanted to go see them all. We stopped by after work to see what they had.

I wasn't completly set on getting a puppy from a breeder. I know there are plenty of good dogs out their in shelters or rescues that need good homes. But, since this place was literally up the street from us, we decided to look into it.

We are talking with the husband and wife about things. They tell us about their puppies, what's available, what their process is. Then, mid conversation, the man asks his wife if she told us about the special ones. "Special ones" I ask? No, she didn't mention it.

He told us, a litter had been born a few weeks ago. It happened to be the coldest night of the year. Sometime during the night, the heat lamp in the kennel burned out. Each of the puppies had a varying degree of frostbite to their left ear, depending on how they were positioned against their mother. He told us, this shouldn't and wouldn't affect their hearing at all and they were otherwise healthy, but he felt he shouldn't advertise these as available because they we different.

We agreed to look at some of the pups. After all, I'm a little special, so why not have a special dog. He brings out two puppies. One he said was the least affected and one the most. I knew as soon as he rounded the corner from behind the kennel, that no matter what the level, the one puppy in his hands was ours.

You see, Gene had been very specific that he wanted a Red Merle colored dog. I was hesitant, well, because some didn't look very pretty. And, they usually have lighter colored eyes, and that kind of freaked me out.

But, in this mans arms, was a Red Merle puppy. Yes, the brown one in his other arm was cute, but that was our dog. I got to hold him. He snuggled up to me and nipped at my ear. Sold I said!

We brought JJ back a week later to meet him. We actually let JJ look at all of them and we "guided" him to pick Woody. JJ thinks he picked him out himself. :) We loaded him in the car and drove him to his forever home.

So where does the name Woody come from? Well, after we first saw him and decided he was ours, we needed to come up with a name. We had all kinds of ideas, but nothing seemed to fit. One night, Gene and I were watching a re-run of Cheers and I suggested Woody. I said, you are a woodworker, he's kinda colored like Woody, I think it fits. Everyone agreed and Woody he became!

Woody has been a wonderful addition to our family. He's got a great temperament. He's affectionate, he's eager to please, he's obedient. He loves to travel in the car. We have to be on our toes with him sometimes, because he's so smart! We have learned to love frisbee. And his little ears (or one little ear... hehehe...) perks up when you say the word Frisbee!

When we returned from the cruise and I picked him up from the kennel, he toppled me over because he was so excited to see me. I could see him light up when he saw me and he jumped around and kissed my face!

So, that's the story of woody... and as promised... here is your photo.



Make sure to jump on over the I heart Faces and see more pets!

Smirk-I Heart Faces

JJ has a hard time with the camera being forced in his face. Most of the time you get a cheezy smile. Which, he thinks is a pretty smile. This summer, on the way home from vacation, we stopped at the New Found Gap lookout and I saw the oppourtunity to cram the camera in his face on last time. He was more worried about me, or Gene, pushing him over the edge than smiling for the camera.

I was able to capture this smirk while Gene was telling him we would not be even joking about pushing him over the edge.

Make sure you check out more Smirk photos over at I Heart Faces...

Surprise!

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is Surprise. This is a tough one. JJ isn't one to give you a surprise face... or at least I'm not quick enough to catch it.

Here is a photo from his birthday. We tricked him with trick candles. He loved it. I love that I caught him astonished at the candles. This was taken after his second attempt to blow them out. He spent at least 10 minutes working on these candles. Oh to be a kid again!

Over My Head: I Heart Faces

This week theme at I Heart Faces is Over My Head: left to the interpretation of the blogger.
That's a very vague theme. I skimmed through my photo files, trying to find something I felt "fit". I saw this one and thought it would do the job.



This is one of JJ when we went Blackberry picking in the back pasture. It was the heat of the day, obviously by the amount of sweat pouring down his face. He kept telling me he saw a ton of berries, but he couldn't reach them because they were over his head. I managed to capture him going in for one.

{I heart faces}---Pets

I heart faces this week is all about pets.


I love my pet, my 2 year old Border Collie, Woody.


He's super smart, always happy to see me, obedient, doesn't mindlessly bark... he sheds up a fur storm, but I still love him (even though I curse him every time I see fur balls right after I just swept)


This is one of my favorite photos of Woody. This was taken in his first snow fall. This was also taken with my little ole' point and shoot. I got my DSLR later that week after being disappointed about the other snow pictures I took. But this one got me, he rarely looks at the camera, but I was able to get him too... at that one minute.



He loved the snow, as evident in his snow covered body. He liked trying to catch snowballs the best. He didn't understand why they would break apart when he caught them in his mouth.