A year ago today...

Today, our Paisley turns 1 year old. Here's a little photographic trip through her life. I know it's a little obsessive, but we don't have any kids, so she's our baby!

One year ago today, June 22, 2008, she emerged, an "oops" puppy in a litter of a black mother and a harlequin (black and white) father. There were some recessive genes in there somewhere!

Our first visit with the puppies had me holding the little three week old puppy that would become our Paisley.

At six weeks the puppies were playing outside for the first time, and loving all the new stimuli. Look at that cute face!

After a hard day's play, they were anxious to climb into Kristen's lap for a nap. This one always wanted to be close to her, even if it meant squashing her brother!

Still struggling to decide which puppy was the best for us, we went out again that weekend to make our final decision. It came down to me asking Kristen the question. "When I say Paisley, which puppy pops into your mind?" It was this sweet but independent little fawn.

Here's a cute shot of Paisley and her beautiful mom Bella around six and a half weeks...we felt bad taking her away!

Paisley came home at exactly eight weeks old, and the first day was quite the adjustment period. She was uncomfortable with the unfamiliar surroundings, and did a lot of moping and staring and sleeping. All that would soon change!

Her first playdate with other dogs she would soon outgrow came at 10 weeks, and so did her first encounter with stairs!

Trips to the park like this one at twelve weeks became routine for our growing puppy.

Soon she began to develop new habits...staring out the window at fourteen weeks was one of them!

Her first official photoshoot came at seventeen weeks...she loved playing in the leaves.

She took well to her first big snow at seven months, frolicking and rolling in it and loving every minute of it!

More of her new habits emerged and by 8 months, she was more than comfortable sitting on the couch with (or on) us.

Her spay and stomach tacking surgery at just past 9 months was a setback for her energy level- she was down and out for at least a week, and we had to try and keep her calm for much longer than that!

At eleven months she enjoys some of Kentucky's finest...

Here are picture from our most recent outing to the seminary lawn just a few days ago. From 5 pounds at birth to 20 pounds upon arrival at home to 100 pounds as of right now, she's grown quite a bit, shedding her rolly-polly figure, turning into the lithe and muscular adult puppy she almost is. But she's still a puppy at heart!

Happy Birthday Paisley!

I left my heart...

This is the third time I have traveled to San Francisco, and each time I go I find that I love the city more and more. Despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of urban sprawl, the beautiful architecture and the rich, unique character of the city leaves me yearning for more. Kristen and I noted that despite the fact that our time has been full during both our visits to San Francisco, we still have a very long list of things we want to do and see there.

Our trip began at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, an art museum that can be seen in the Alfred Hitchcock classic Vertigo. The museum has a great collection, a few pictures of which can be seen below.

Center in the courtyard is a cast of what may be French sculptor Auguste Rodin's most famous work, The Thinker. Known as a symbol of philosophy, this cast was made under the direction of the artist around the turn of the century, and is the most visible part of the museum's Rodin collection, the largest outside of the Musee Rodin in France. Though I know a lot less about sculpture than I should, I was moved by the beauty of his work.

The Kiss, 1884.
The Prodigal Son, 1889.

Here are two other works of art that I enjoyed:

Forest Interior, Cezanne, 1898-1899.

After the visit to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, we ate lunch at an Indian Restaraunt. Those of you who know me may find this surprising...I am, after all, someone who prefers my cheeseburgers with cheese and meat only. But Kristen has been pushing me to experience new kinds of food, and I must say that our visit to the India Clay Oven was a great experience. The atmosphere was great and the buffet allowed me to try a number of different dishes. If you're ever in San Francisco, check it out!

One of the best things about our visit to San Francisco was the fact that we spent time before our visit researching and locating the best cheap eats in the city. Instead of eating at chains or whatever was closest, we had our meals at some of the best hole-in-the-wall places in the city. I told Kristen that it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and I would recommend the ahead of time research to anyone planning a trip to San Francisco.

Next, we visited the botanical gardens in Golden Gate Park. Because of San Francisco's mild climate, plants from all over the world can be grown there. The park is huge and is laid out by country and region, so you can walk through native Australian flora and next experience an Asian bamboo forest. Here are just a few of the many pictures we took.

On our way back to the hotel, we had to stop and visit the famous "Painted Ladies." Featured on the intro to Full House, these Victorian mansions are beautiful examples of the architecture of the city.

Our second day began with a visit to Grace Cathedral, an imposing Episcopal church between Nob Hill and Union Square. It's a beautiful church, and a landmark of the city.

We're kind of dorks when it comes to Alfred Hitchcock movies, and Vertigo, filmed in San Francisco, is one of our favorites. We spent a little time in the afternoon looking for a real-life piece of the film- the apartment where "Scottie," Jimmy Stewart's character, brings the character played by Kim Novak after she nearly drowns in the bay. Here's the door, painted a different color but mostly unchanged from when the movie was filmed in the mid 50s.

Much of our second day was spent just walking around. We spent some time at the infamous tourist trap Pier 39, and walked through the neighborhoods of North Beach, hiking up to Coit Tower in the afternoon.

Finally, this is what I love about San Francisco so very much. The steep neighborhood streets, unique city skyline and beautiful Victorians are just beautiful in the late afternoon.

So the trip was great, and we did a lot in 2 days. But it was still all too short... I guess now's the time to start planning trip #3!

Discouragement

Some days just don't contribute to the type of positive attitude that one with the hope we have in Christ Jesus should exhibit. Yesterday was one of those days for me. It's tiring and discouraging; it feels like nothing is turning out as I hoped it would, both in a broad sense and personally. And try as I might, I just can't change anything about the outcomes.

For me, this often comes from caring too much about something. Its failure or languishing in mediocrity (one in the same in my book) that leaves me feeling as though I have failed. What is often even more frustrating about this kind of despair is that it is difficult to pull out of, and failures there lead to further frustration and discouragement.

There are days when I wonder if it's all for naught, and yesterday was one of those days. I know there's truth and hope in the Word, but it isn't ringing true for me right now, even though I know it is. I also know that this kind of despair smacks the blessings God has given me (like my wonderful wife, a job and good health to name just a few) in the face. It smacks God in the face as I get down over temporal difficulties despite knowing that I have ultimate triumph in Christ.

I know all these things...but sometimes it's still hard to see through the fog.

City of Angels

Although I am not personally a fan of the City of Los Angeles, we had a great time there spending time with family, watching Matthew graduate and catching up with an old friend. First, pictures of the happy graduate:

I love this picture of Matthew!

And here is the whole family together! It's been too long since we were all in one place. For anyone who doesn't know all of us, here's the lineup from left to right: Andrew (brother number 3), Me (number 1!), my lovely wife Kristen, Benjamin (brother number 4), Matthew (brother number 2), my Dad, John and my Mom, Laura.

After the graduation, we went and had a party for Matthew with an old friend of the family. Danny knew my parents before I was born, and we've been able to catch up with him intermittently as we grew up. The home we went to was in Carlsbad, CA, about an hour South of LA. The view was amazing (click to see a larger version of the picture).


Here is the family again, plus Danny and his son Adam (top row on the left).

The day after graduation, Matthew took us on a tour of Los Angeles. It was difficult getting pictures by car, but I managed to get a few good ones.

The infamous Chinese and Kodak Theaters...

Here's Sunset Boulevard with a nice view of the Hollywood sign in the background.

I'll close with some human interest/ridiculousness. First, a few nice pictures of Kristen and I.

Finally, the ridiculous. We flew into John Wayne Airport, so naturally there was a statue of John Wayne. So naturally we all had to pose in front of it...

It appears that the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile was also on vacation in LA, because it was parked in the lot of our hotel the whole time we were there. Here is my family (sans Matthew, Kristen and I) basking in the glory.

And last but not least, the "silly picture" that invariably occurs whenever you get the four Groves boys together...

I hope you enjoyed part II of our trip to California. Coming soon part III will be all about San Francisco!