We have a lot of thanks to share today! We won a lot of great things from some of our blogger friends, we were given some nice awards, and we want to give special thanks for the wonderful support we got when losing Kobi.
Awards:
M.K. Clinton’s Barking from the Bayou blog passed along the award of excellence to us. Melissa said the nicest things, and when another blogger uses the words “impress, motivate, and inspire” to describe me, well, that just more than makes my day. It makes me feel like what I am doing is all worthwhile. Thank you so much, Melissa. If you are not familiar with her blog, click on her name and visit her. She is also an author and has two adorable dogs living with her.
Ku and his Mom from “Haiku by Ku” shared several awards which they have received and passed on to many other blogs. We were allowed to choose whichever one we wanted to share, so we chose the Liebster award. We are going to gratefully accept it but not follow the rules….there are too many other blogs that I enjoy and I couldn’t possibly narrow it down. Ku has mostly retired from blogging but you can still visit his site and enjoy his haiku!
Winnings
The cats are so excited that I finally won something for them! Samantha wanted to give her personal thanks to Ann from Pawsitively Pets and Hill’s Science Diet for this great prize pack seen below. They are enjoying everything in it! In the below photo they’re chowing down on some of the kibble. They also love the treats and the canned food. Sam can be fussy about canned food and she wasn’t crazy about the first one I opened, but after that she has loved them all.
Of course, the dogs are not going to be outdone, and they won these treats, also from Hill’s (Ideal Balance) from Dolly the Doxie. Thank you so much, Dolly! So far we have tried the Duck/Pumpkin ones and they LOVE them. I have no doubt they are going to love the others also.
And last, but definitely not least, we won The Petter from Emma at MyGBGVLife. The Petter is a daily planner for your pet’s schedule! It not only has a yearly calendar and daily pages, but a notepad and sticky notes, plus page markers. There is place to record all of your pet’s information, which will be great to leave for a pet sitter. With multiple pets, I have a lot to keep track of, and this is really going to help keep me organized, which I desperately need! You can check out The Petter for yourself by following them on Facebook or Twitter.
Luke has a very busy puppy life to keep track of! There is play time, meal time and treat time, and soon he will be starting obedience/training classes! We can also track when it’s time to groom them….baths, nail clipping, and ear cleaning all have to be done periodically and it’s easy for time to get away from us. We are also tracking Luke’s weight….he has gone from 11 pounds to 31 in the two months he has been with us….gaining an average of 2-3 pounds per week! Yikes, he’s going to be a big boy!
Other fun:
You may have noticed the “52 Week Money Challenge” badge on my sidebar. If you click on that it takes you to “Nikitaland“, where you can read about this great idea. It is a savings plan of sorts….for whatever week you are in, you put that amount of money into a jar (i.e. Week 1 – $1, Week 2 – $2). If you start the first week of January, at the end of the year you will have $1378! I am so bad at saving money, and I thought this would be a fun way to try to save for something special at the end of the year. You can still start and just catch up, I started late and that’s what I did. Go by Nikita’s blog if you want more details.
Special thanks
I know I have already done so, but I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who expressed their condolences, thoughts, prayers and kind words when Kobi was ill and then passed away. Each and every word on all my posts has been read and cherished. I was unable to respond to every comment but I read and appreciated them all. Thank you for also sharing in my memories in subsequent posts.
I want to give a special thanks to JoAnn from Sand Spring Chesapeakes for making this sweet photo of Kobi and sharing his passing with her own readers. Every Saturday JoAnn writes her posts “Nothing but Norman” where she shares photos, memories and stories of her own angel Norman. It meant a lot to me that she shared about Kobi in one of those special posts. She also shared this poem, which I love:
CREATION
When God made the Earth and sky, the flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals, and all the birds & bees.
And when his work was finished, not one was quite the same,
He said, “I’ll walk this earth of mine, and give each one a name.”
And so he traveled land & sea, and everywhere he went,
A little creature followed him, until its strength was spent.
When all were named upon the earth, and in the sky & sea,
The little creature said, “Dear Lord, there’s not one left for me.”
The father sniffed and softly said, “I’ve left you till the end,
I’ve turned my own name back to front, and called you Dog,
My friend”.
JoAnn has inspired me to share more memories of Kobi. When our golden retriever Moses died last summer, I didn’t write or share much about him after the first couple of posts after he first died. I felt like sharing my grief would make me dwell on it more. But through JoAnn’s memories of Norman I’ve come to realize that sharing more is a good way to work through it. Sharing stories and photos of Kobi has been therapeutic for me. I will continue to do so, and I will share memories of Moses from time to time also. There are so many happy memories of all of our angel dogs, and that’s what I want to focus on.
So in that spirit I want to leave you with a photo of Kobi and his siblings (taken by my hubby) shortly before he passed on. They were all taking great care of him, staying close and keeping him comfortable and loved.
First congrats on all your winnings!! That’s pawesome.
I think sharing photos and stories of Kobi is wonderful. Personally l love JoAnn’s Nothing But Norman posts. I think the best thing about this community is the support when one of our own is sick or passes. And remembering Kobi and the wonderful bond and journey you shared is simply (IMO) a way to honor him. You will never hear a complaint from me if you post about Kobi. Post on my friend, post on.
Jodi, thank you so much, for everything. You are certainly one person who showed me exactly how supportive this community can be. Every note you left me on FB meant so much, and it really helps to ease my pain knowing that others care. I’m not sure I can properly express just how much it all means to me, or can thank you enough.
Congrats on all your awards and winnings! I am jealous that you won the Petter. 🙂 I think that is cool, but too pricy for me.
Sweet picture of Kobi and the gang. I miss him.
That is the nicest thing to say, that you miss Kobi, thank you so much for that!
It is fun to win things that I might not otherwise buy for myself.
Sounds like you have many blessing to be thankful for.
I look forward to reading Kobi stories. I still enjoy telling stories about previous dogs. I hope telling stories about Kobi will make you feel better as you realize how strongly he still lives in your memories.
In spite of losing Kobi, I do have a lot to be thankful for. I hope I can keep his memory more alive by sharing about him…..looking through old photos brings back things I haven’t thought about for a while, and that is also very nice.
Oh, the Kobi photos are so sweet. Congratulations on all your awards! They are well-deserved.
*Cairn cuddles*
Oz
Thank you so much, Oz!!
Oh I like this odds and ends post. Ties everything together. Congrats on all the awards…and I’m glad you have the cats there for extra support 🙂
Thank you, Ruckus. It is so great to also have the cats for companionship and comfort.
Congrats on all the awards. Love the pictures of all the family members 🙂
Thank you. I’m so glad my hubby got that photo, it’s definitely a great one.
Congrats on the nice awards and winning that great bunch of goodies!
Thank you, Brian!!
You are so welcome and deserving of your Excellence award along with the others! Congratulations! That is such a sweet picture of Kobi surrounded by his dog family members. You can feel the love. I love JoAnn’s blog and her tribute to Norman is always beautiful. I look forward to sharing your memories of Moses and Kobi. <3
Thank you so much, Melissa, I do cherish that photo now, and I hope I can find some more sweet ones to share.
Oh, love that last pic. So sweet. I’m sure he’s looking out for them now, too.
Congrats on the awards and the wins! Looks like you’ve hit a lucky streak. Maybe a lotto ticket is in order? (although I suppose that lotto ticket money is better “invested” in the jar!)
Thank you, Jackie. I do like to think of Kobi up there keeping an eye on his siblings.
Ha ha, I think you are right, I’m much better off putting my money in that jar than buying a lottery ticket! I only seem to be lucky when it comes to giveaways on pet blogs!
Congrats on your awards…and for winning that great prize package of foods!
Purrs to you…..
Thank you!! The cats are definitely enjoying all their goodies!
Hugs to you my friend. Loosing a pet is very hard. I am glad you are going to post up memories of Kobi and share his stories. It truly has helped me with the grieving process of losing Norman. I have only been blogging a couple of years and Norman was a old guy when I started so it really helps to keep his memory alive and relive his life by posting up memories. I just love music, poems and pictures so it makes me feel better to blog about all of them on Nothing But Norman Saturdays. Congrats on all your awards and winning The Petter, I think that will be something I would like for keeping track of all the hunt tests during the summer. Have a great weekend and hug your pooches for me.
Thank you so much, JoAnn, for all of your support and for everything. I hope you are having a great weekend too and I gave all the dogs an extra hug from you today!
I think you would find the Petter really could help you with keeping track of your hunt tests and all your other activities with your dogs!
Wooohoowoooooo! Congratulations!
Thank you, Ku-woo!!
That was a beautiful poem. I still think about Kobi every time I read your posts and see them in my email.
I’m sure I will for a while. And I KNOW that you are!!
Congrats on your awards!
And all your winnings!!
((husky hugz))
frum our pack at love is being owned by a husky
What a sweet thing to say, Jenna, thank you so much. It is nice to know that others think of Kobi too. He is always on my mind, and I have photos of him on my computer at home (and at work) so I can say good morning and good night to him every day. A little silly maybe, but it helps me to actually see his sweet face every day.
The winnings and awards have been a nice little distraction for all of us!
I love that last photo. Dogs are awesome!
Yes, they are!!
Thanks for the mention! Happy to see you have your Petter 🙂 Bailie says she feels for Luke and having to start obedience school. Mom signed Bailie up for level two starting in two weeks, she is not excited! Does Luke miss Kobi? Mom says Katie looked for Trine for weeks after she passed, but maybe since you still have other dogs it is easier for him. On the bright side, you won lots of great stuff to help cheer up the family although nothing but time really helps. Love that family pic of all the dogs on the bed, so very precious!
You’re welcome! It will be interesting to see how Luke likes school. He doesn’t really show signs of missing Kobi. At first he seemed to want to lay in all Kobi’s favorite places, but not as much anymore. I think the difference is that he has his sisters as you suggested. That’s one of the good things about having multiple dogs, for all of us. Yes, the winnings have been a nice thing to cheer us up some, and things are getting a bit easier as time goes on.
Such a lovely picture of Darling Kobi. Wow you sure hit the jackpot with all the lovely awards and goodies..:) Have a super weekend xxoxxxx
Mollie and Alfie
Thank you so much! We do get lucky sometimes. You have a great weekend too!