pet sitting | Living My Full Life

Hi there! Well, it’s been quite some time since I last blogged. Actually, I just looked at the date and noticed it has been exactly four months. How weird! I totally didn’t plan that, haha.

When I stopped blogging, I didn’t specifically plan on taking a break, I just let it fall to the wayside and focused more on everything else going on in my life. Looking back, I probably should have written a post saying something instead of just dropping off the face of the internet. Sorry, guys! I wasn’t sure if I would come back to this space, or if I had become too busy to blog or write. Over time, I realized that writing has always been a huge part of who I am, and blogging is one of my favorite ways to record my life, express creativity, and reflect on everything going on in and around me. I hope I will never become “too busy” to write because it is the easiest way I express and evaluate myself.

Anyways, I’m back! Four months feels like an eternity, and I have never stepped away from my blog for such a long period of time. I have some catching up and updating to do. I feel refreshed and renewed after the long break. I’m also feeling much more focused. I’ve always been pretty random in my posting, but I’m hoping to be at least a little more organized from now on.

A lot has happened since April! Jimmy and I turned this…

Into this…

According to our neighbors, the previous owners of our home used to have a rockin’ garden. We decided to try and follow in their footsteps and have had wonderful results. We actually planted way, way, way too much haha. I’ll blog about the garden another time because I could go on for hours!

Jimmy and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary at Savage River Lodge in Frostburg, Maryland. We even brought Lola along for the celebration :). It was wonderful to spend a weekend reflecting on a year of marriage in such a beautiful setting.

I spent a lot of time taking pictures of Hannah over the past few months to practice my photography. I ended up taking senior pictures for her and her best friend. I don’t claim to know much about photography, but I enjoy learning more every time I look through my lens and take another photo.

My family graciously took Jimmy, Lola, and I to the Outer Banks last week, so that was awesome. Some time away from work and responsibility was just what we all needed. Since moving out of my parent’s house, I’ve missed my family a lot, so having a week with everyone together again was a tremendous blessing.

Other happenings for me since April include plenty of working and pet sitting. Previously, I never really discussed the specifics of my “regular” job. I was hired as a household manager for a family of four in January. Basically, I run errands, grocery shop, cook, clean, take care of their pets, occasionally nanny, and do any other random tasks that they need me to do. I love my job, and the family I work for is very good to me. I won’t go into too much detail about my job because I respect my employer’s privacy, but I figured it’s okay for me to at least say what I do for a living, haha.

Pet sitting has also been keeping me super busy. I adore every single second of it, too. I’ve only had one bad incident where a dog I was watching in our home bit Lola on the nose. Poor little gal. Since then, I’ve been focusing on pet sitting outside the home more often.

I’m sure I’m forgetting about a million other things that have happened since I last blogged, but I’ll probably remember and post about them eventually.

It feels good to be back. The main things I want to focus on and blog about nowadays are life (as always!), faith, photography, dog sitting, book reviews, and some fun writing topics and prompts. I used to blog a lot about fitness and food, but my interestes have changed over time. I’m always going to stay true to myself and blog about what is interesting to me because I feel that naturally produces quality writing, you know?

Okay, this post is getting super long so I’m going to go and try to catch up a bit on everyone’s blogs in the next few days :). Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back soon!

Celebrating Resurrection Sunday is one of the most important Christian holidays. We celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and is indeed the Son of God. Since Resurrection Sunday is in spring, it also personally reminds me of new beginnings. When I became a Christian and was baptized, it was springtime. Everything was starting to grow again outside, and I began a new life in my walk with Christ.

Just thinking about that time in my life makes me so happy. It was the ultimate fresh start, and while I will always sin and make mistakes on this earth, I know I can be forgiven if I ask. I also know that every day as a Christian can be a fresh start as I to die to self every day and live for God instead. It’s an ongoing process, and an amazing journey!

With that said, Resurrection Sunday is one of my favorite holidays. This year, the whole weekend leading up to it was pretty busy, but it was a good kind of busy. I feel like I say that constantly?! I worked the whole weekend (my regular job on Friday and Saturday and pet sitting from Friday-Sunday), but still had a wonderful holiday spent with family.

Jimmy and I had my family at our house for lunch after the morning church service. My brother and sister-in-law brought their dogs and we also had a dog I was pet sitting with us, along with Lola. So, we had seven people and four dogs in our teeny tiny house and I absolutely loved every second of it! Having a full house makes my heart feel so full, you know?

We spent the day eating, playing around, and walking the dogs down to a nearby creek to swim. We don’t let Lola swim (because she would literally swim across the creek and run away… lol), but she tried to! Unfortunately, she almost pulled me into the water and I fell on my hand when she pulled away from me. I honestly thought I broke my wrist for a second, but I’m a-okay, just a little sore. She’s so strong!

Some pictures from the weekend…

We had too much fun with the dogs! We pet sat a dog named Allie, and every time someone said her name I kept saying “what?” haha. It was a little confusing to say the least. It’s funny that since there are no grandchildren in the picture yet for my parents, most of our get togethers revolve around our dogs.

The food was great, too! I think Jimmy and I have enough leftovers to last us a few weeks! Ah, the perks of hosting ;). On the menu was: roasted turkey, meatballs and sauce, pasta, dinner rolls, broccoli, mashed potatoes, baked beans, veggies and dip, peanut butter banana muffins, cheesecake, and banana strawberry cake with lemon strawberry frosting. Waaaay too much food, but when is that ever a bad thing?

After the feasting and family time, we headed back to church for the evening service. Our church’s choir presented a wonderful cantata and Jimmy and I recited some scripture during the breaks between a few of the songs. We were both nervous, but it went well and the cantata had a beautiful message. All in all, it was a very blessed day celebrating Jesus’ Resurrection!