Random Announcement About Picture Quality

Announcement Announcement!!

For the past 3 years, I've been mostly using my DSLR for the photos on this blog!  It has been great because I've had a ton of great images to put on my blog for you guys to look at.

But....they are in RAW files and that means that I have to spend tons of time editing them instead of just posting them up here for you guys.

AND now that blogger is being a turd and not letting me have any picture storage/upload space, it means that I have to EDIT the pictures that I'm going to use and then UPLOAD them to flickr and individually ADD each HTML code to the blog to get images to you.

I've also had an increase in the amount of actual photography work that needs my editing attention.

So I'm getting a bit burnt out.

As a result, you are going to start getting more blog posts that you've gotten in the last couple months and lower quality images!  YEAH!!!

Bambi And the Dumbest Injury Saga EVER! (Updated)

Yeah, I've taken a crazy long blogging hiatus for no real reason except being really really busy and then too overwhelmed to get everything down and blogged.  BUT I'm coming back so that I can record this RIDICULOUS story.

I'm about to go and pick up Bambi from the vet after she had minor exploratory surgery today.

Do I have your attention?  Yeah, get ready for this gross roller coaster.

A couple of weeks ago, we got back from California (yeah....I should probably blog about that) and picked up our dogs from a friend's house.

Update: I give you this detail, not because I think that it happened while at this friend's house, but to point out that our lives were already a bit crazy and trying to get back to normal when this happened.  I DON'T THINK MY FRIENDS DID THIS TO HER!!  Because seriously, Bambi doesn't need help getting into drama....she can do it all by herself.

The next day she was licking her right front paw like crazy.  I couldn't see anything so I was scared she was getting Pippen's HORRIBLE habit of freaking out and licking one spot obsessively.  So I put a cone on her head.

That night, it still looked a little red so I thought maybe it needed some Neosporin. So I taped a sock to her paw so that she couldn't lick off the medicine.

The next morning came and....it wasn't looking so great for Bambi.  It was looking REALLY nasty for Bambi.

Look how crazy swollen her paw was!!  And the nastiest part was when I picked up her paw and applied a little pressure and pus oozed out of it.

I called the vet and she had an appointment on the 14th since it was Aaron's off Friday.  When I called the vet, I told the receptionist that it was for an infection and she said, "Has a doctor told you that it is infected or do you just think it is infected?"  And I said, "Is is swollen and oozing pus....So I KNOW that it is infected."  You don't have to be a vet to know that oozing pus isn't a good sign for an injury.

When I got home from work Friday, Aaron told me that the vet shaved the area but could only find a tiny hole once all the pus was emptied out.  The vet figured that she got a splinter and it had gotten infected while her body tried to get rid of the foreign body.

She had 8 days of antibiotics and the vet said that if the swelling didn't go down or if it kept oozing pus when she was done with the antibiotics we should come back and they might have to see if the "splinter" or other foreign body was still in there.

As she took the antibiotics, the swelling started to go down in her paw and there was less and less pus.  All good signs.  The last day of the antibiotics was last Saturday and the pus had finally stopped oozing out and the original tiny cut closed over.

Two days later, I look at her paw and see that around where the cut used to be was growing like a tumor.  Slowly swelling up with what I assumed to be pus.  I told Aaron that if it didn't go down in a couple days, we would have to call the vet.

Well, Wednesday her wrist was swelling too.  Yeah....of all places, her wrist was swelling up to.  I decided that if that was any worse than I would have to call the vet.

Thursday morning, her wrist was so swollen that the skin had started changing colors and it felt like it was full of liquid.  I called the vet and scheduled an appointment for that day.

The vet looked at it and was pretty sure that the foreign body had traveled up to her wrist and was causing the swelling.  That was going to have to be an exploratory surgery for the next day.  The quoted price for the extraction of the foreign body?  $175.

IF YOU ARE QUEASY DO NOT LOOK AT THE NEXT PHOTO!!! Scroll down to the next time you see red writing!!!












Aaron and I had Pack Meeting for the Cub Scouts last night so we put the dogs in their kennels and left.  When we got home, what had been the swelling on her wrist was a gaping hole.  A gaping hole of straight into her wrist.

Oh BARFFF!!!!  Seriously, DISGUSTING!!  This picture doesn't do this hole justice.  We don't know whether it popped from the size that it got or whether she bit it opened but the swelling was gone now.
It wasn't bloody, thank goodness but it was leaking plasma and just disgust.  We put the tape and sock back on her.  But the cone on her and sent her to bed.

Aaron and I were a little irritated because, what would the vet say?  Would we have to wait another week to do the exploratory surgery?  Did she get the foreign body out?  Is it moving further up?

















IT IS SAFE TO LOOK NOW!!!!

We dropped Bambi off for surgery at 7:30am.  We had to tell them about the change in  her condition (aka The Hole In Her Wrist).  They decided that it was still worth looking to make sure that there wasn't anything left inside her wrist and they would call us to tell us when she could be picked up.

At 10:30 we got the call.  The found the foreign body!!  It was a Foxtail seed.

It had stabbed into her foot and worked its way up into her wrist!  Of all the weird things.  A seed.

Now we can go collect our poor beat up dog.  And hopefully once she gets the stitches out, that will be the end of her seed adventures for awhile.

Update:
We got her home!!  The vet kept the seed for us so that we could have a look at the size of it!  I can't believe that something so big has been traveling up her arm for the past two weeks!!

Also, since her wrist swelling popped, it was less work for the vets to look for the seed so it cost $15 for the extraction of the foreign body.  Which is a WHOLE LOT better than $175.  So....YAY? ...for....blowing up her wrist?

In 10 days she has to get her stitches out and hopefully that will be the end of this mess.

Evidence that I Had Fun With Baby {Z}

Some mornings when I watch this sweetheart, she has a tough time being away from her mother.  And wouldn't you hate to be dropped off at my house at 7am?

Most of the time though, we had fun together.  We would sit and make sounds back and forth or I would talk to her about colors in one of her little books.

Her mother thinks that she cried all the time and was horrible....NOT SO!  I have photographic evidence that we had fun together!

This morning we read a very enlightening book...called Baby Animals.  It was furry.

Fremont, California: Last Day

After the wedding, we went back to Aaron's parent's house and I BARFED.  There was a bad flu going around the preschool at the time...so...yeah, I got it.

I ended up missing church on Sunday which was a HUGE bummer because I have a lot of people in Aaron's home ward that I like visiting with and talking to.  And I was missing a very important baby blessing!!!  ARG!!  But it's okay, I get to see them at Christmas...so I can try and be patient.

Monday I was feeling a little bit better and it was our last day in town.  We were actually staying until Monday afternoon so we had some time to kill.

We decided that since I missed seeing a mission on Friday, we would go to another mission that was closer by.

Inside the main church building was...a church.  You know...with pews and a stage area and pictures and statues of Jesus.

Another building attached to it that used to be a type of school/extra church building was now a museum area that had artifacts from the Indians that used to live in the area and how the missions were used to teach them about Christ and help their communities.

Everywhere I go, there has to be wildlife.

And it is an Anderson (or rather...my mother's) tradition to go where the dead bodies are.

Because Aaron and I are hardcore tourists.  We couldn't be in California and not be tourists...even for a couple hours while we waited for our flight.

Fremont, California: The Archuleta Wedding

On the 8th of September, we woke up early for this intense 3 part wedding.

The first part was a ceremony on the beach.

 
The bride's father walked her down to the beach and gave her to Ray.  That is my favorite part of the traditional wedding ceremony.  The dads giving their daughters to another man.  I have some friends who see it as an ownership thing...but I choose to see it as a sign of trust.  The father is saying that he trusts the groom with his most precious and cherished child.

Then what was great about this ceremony was that each other parents were able to speak about their child and about how happy they were for them.  It was a lot of fun to hear Ray's mother talk about the cardboard Hamster Hotel that Ray worked really hard on as a child...I got a good laugh out of that.

Then the couple exchanged some "vows" and gave each other their rings.  It was very sweet.

Then they did this....Awwwwww.......

After the ceremony, Aaron and I got to walk along the beach and talk about life and...have a squirrel watch us make-out.  We were behind some beach plants talking and kissing and Aaron said, "Katrina...don't be scared.  Turn around...very slowly."  There was a squirrel walking toward my legs when I looked down....I ran at him yelling and he FREAKED OUT.

Then we got some brunch to munch on before we headed to phase two of this party.

The second part of this beautiful day, was to head to the Oakland Temple so that they could be married for time and all eternity.

Aaron looks so short in this picture.  Man...we are a little family.  Our kids don't stand a chance.  But he is definitely the cutest guy in this picture (my opinion...the bride might pick someone else out of this line up).

The next part was heading back to the beach to party until sunset!!!  I love beach weddings!  This is the only one that I've ever been to but I loved it.  I got to wear pants...mostly because the wind was ripping the skirt off of my body...which no one wanted to see.  Well...one person, but it wasn't his wedding.

There were a couple art projects to work on at the wedding.  One was a flag to wave when the party was over.  It should say what we would be yelling at the bride and groom as they left.  This is what I wrote...because it was what I would be yelling.

Then we had to make a self portrait for the guest book.  This is me.  Mostly mouth.

Next...cake....mmmmmmmmmm.......

Look who wanted some cake....is this the same squirrel from before?!?  Probably.  I think he lives at this picnic spot.

First dance.

And when the sun started setting, Ray and his wonderful new wife drove off (in the opposite direction of the sunset).  It was a beautiful day and I hope that their marriage is as beautiful.