Reflections in the San Juan's
Living A Love Story:
It’s good to laugh: Calculators make great romantic partners
You can count on them
Bliss 2/14/25
Last year the border collie
breeder sent these pictures
of our fur babies to be
Faith 2/14/25
(https://notes.julie-stephens.com/2025/05/10/life-is-bittersweet/)
Bliss & Faith today
Since we can’t go for an evening walk
in the winter we play fetch.
Our first Christmas with the puppies.
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras
Bliss and Faith do not like their Christmas collars
and photo shoot but it’s a tradition they will get use to.
Life from My View: Advent, Snow, The Puppies
Advent wreaths are circular, representing God’s infinite love, and are usually made of evergreen leaves, which “represent the hope of eternal life brought by Jesus Christ”.
Each element is symbolic of aspects of the Christmas story and our faith.
Life is quite the trip…I finally got a blog post out after 6 months because the last 6 months had been too sad…we can’t compare our journey to anyone else’s but there is grace, smiles, beauty in nature, accomplishments with our work and meaningful connections to make with people and canine companions!
Matt is much more than our UPS driver whom I can text,
for example, this card is from him.
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France
“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
Charles Schulz
Joy & Hope
If LOVE could have kept you here you would have lived forever
Puppies grow up fast
I bought Hope this little Teddy Bear for a quarter at the thrift store.
Feeling so content and blessed in front of the fire my love made watching the early morning sky turn baby blanket pink and blue sipping hot hazelnut coffee from my purple cup and petting Hope our border collie – passing this contentment onward
So cozy
I enjoyed a slow-moving morning with my book and coffee in front of the fireplace watching the colorful sunrise
What fun when my book is so good I don’t want to put it down AND I have the time to do just that!
Celebrating Joy’s Life May 2010-January 2024
Joy Choose Me to be Her Person
Joy Has a Piece of My Heart
Forever…
Joy was MY girl. She chose me to be her person.
That had never happened to me before.
Joy was my Soul Dog.
Sharing a simple summer lunch on our back deck together
Giving a reading of my award-winning picture book
A summer walk in Crested Butte, Colorado
Our front deck on a Colorado cool summer morning
Walking our nature trail
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
Nature almost always plays a part in a really good day for me. This morning’s walk on our nature trail included a rainbow cloud. It is a fairly rare phenomenon. It’s a little miracle to me that I was in the right place at the right time to get to see this.
Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one’s attention to the present-moment experience – I did this long before I knew it was a thing…
Being aware of the sun on my face – the laughter of my children – my lover’s hand in mine – the silky fur of my clean dog…these are the moments that make up life.