8 Things-Tagged by Toni

8 Things I am Passionate About:
1. My family
2. My friends
3. My dog :)
4. Music
5. Photography
6. Life
7. Books/Reading
8. Cooking for others/doing stuff for other people just because

8 Words or Phrases I Say Often:
1. Will do
2. That's so funny
3. I love you
4. Seriously
5. Tis true
6. Sure
7. What?
8. Ok

8 Things I want to do before I Die:
1. Get married (only 75 days!!)
2. Have kids
3. Go to Germany
4. Have my own photography business (even if it's not big)
5. See my grandkids
6. Own a house without a mortgage (it'll happen one of these days..)
7. Get completely out of debt
8. Get a degree (only 7 more weeks...)


8 Things I Have Learned From my Past:
1. Nothing worth having comes easily
2. You miss the little things the most, but don't realize it until they are gone
3. Even diamonds start as coal (the best things don't always start out so nice)
4. Drinking maple syrup straight from the bottle is not a good idea
5. Never say you don't like something you've never tried. Some of the scariest/worst looking things I've had tasted the best
6. It's fun to act like a kid. When you get the chance to let loose, be silly, act like a kid, or dance like a crazy person, do it!
7. Don't take anything too seriously
8. Make time to spend with your loved ones. It can always be done no matter how busy your life is.


8 Places I Would Love to Go or See:
1. Germany
2. Australia
3. Anything in Europe
4. The Grand Canyon
5. Disneyland/Disneyworld
6. Hawaii
7. Japan
8. New Zealand


8 Things I Currently Need or Want:
1. Money
2. To be out of debt (see #1)
3. To be done with school (so close....)
4. Gas (for my car..)
5. Ice cream
6. Time (to myself, to spend with Wil, to spend with Rain, and to get everything done that I have to do)
7. Sleep
8. The Office season 4

8 people I tag:
Jenn W, Dad, Steph, Angie/Nate, Sid, Wil (I doubt he'll do it though..), and anyone else who feels like it

Remembering Smokey

I found out some incredibly sad news yesterday. My mom's dog, Smokey, who has been in our family since she was 3 months old and would have been with us for 15 years next month, had to be put to sleep today. Smokey was the sweetest dog ever and one of the prettiest I'd ever seen.

Mom picked up Smokey at from the Humane Society. She was looking at the puppies and found two that she really liked. One was Smokey, the other was a Sheltie. Smokey was one of 8 in a litter of collie/border collie puppies, but she was the only one mom thought was cute. Another lady was looking at both puppies as well and since she got there first, mom told her to choose first and she would take the other one. Of course, the woman chose the Sheltie and we got Smokey. Mom picked me up from school with Smokey in the car. I was so excited to see that we'd gotten another dog. Dad didn't really want a dog in the house at all.

When the rest of the family got home, we all suggested different names for her. Jenn wanted something like Princess or Lady (can't remember for sure anymore), and the boys wanted something equally not right. I wanted her to be named Cocoa or something like that. None of us could agree on a name. Finally, mom said that the dog would be named by the one person who could care less about her, dad. Dad noticed that she had a black patch on her back and thought it looked kind of like thick smoke so he came up with the name Smokey.

Smokey was a very well behaved dog, in most ways. She would play with us and would never bite down on our hands even when they were completely in her mouth. She loved it when we'd feed her human food (which we did often). Mom would usually share a bag of M&M's with Smokey. The funniest (and saddest in a way) thing was when she ate an entire chocolate sheet cake. There was only one row of cake that didn't have chunks taken out of it. If we'd gotten home a few minutes later, the whole thing probably would have been gone. We threw it all out anyway since she'd probably been drooling on the whole thing.

Anyway, Smokey will definitely be missed. We all loved her. Even dad eventually put up with her and even began to love her too. I know that the person who will miss her the most is my mom. Smokey was always there for mom, especially when dad was out of town. It'll be hardest on mom. It's hard to walk into mom and dad's house and not see her sleeping lazily in the living room and waging her tail because she was insanely excited to see you.

I'll always love you Smokey.