Dementia is taking her

My Nana.

Dementia started out slow. For the last year or so we kept saying she has "early onset dementia". That however is no longer true. It's taking her. For the last 6 months I have done nothing but research as much as I can about it. The signs, what to say, how to say it etc. This past month has been horrible. She wakes up terrified. Papa doesn't get much sleep. He is exhausted. Nana LOOKS like someone who has it. she makes 'the face', she fidgets, she cocks her head to the side. I can tell when it comes and goes. She checks to make sure she has her pink croc shoes on every 10 mins when it is coming and going. She can sit and have a conversation with me one minute and then be vacant the next. I should have prepared myself better. 6 months ago she forgot who I was for about 2 mins. I should have known then what was to come.

My papa

He was never meant to be a caregiver. Bless his heart- he just wasn't born with a patient bone in his body. Nana did the raising, he worked. I have bought him some books to help coach him a bit in how to talk to her, how to give her tasks to do. The words coming out of his mouth says he knows it will only get worse yet he still thinks she will just snap out of it. He used the words "care facility" while I was up there this weekend.

What keeps me up at night

I am so torn with how I feel. She is my nana, my mom, my best friend all in one. I know papa is tired but there are other options. I think we need to get her a friend, a nurse trained for this to help with the eventual transition into a care facility we know she will need to go to once we completely lose her. Will she scream for us at night? will her last memory of us be that we put her in a facility? Will she ever forgive us? This is what keeps me up at night in tears. I know that she will have to be in one eventually. I just hope she doesn't know who we are when that time comes.

She has an appointment with the brain doctor dec. 1st. That will give us an idea of how bad it is. What SUCKS about this- she is AWARE of what is happenning to her and it scares the CRAP out of her. She blames herself, thinks it's her own fault for what is wrong with her.

Even with all of this happenning to her, she still cracks jokes like no other. Still sings along to her lawerence welk shows, can still read my mind and cheer me up on a moments notice. I will miss that when this disease takes over. I will miss her.

For right now I will enjoy the time I have with her while I still get the chance.

snuggle bunnies

J & J wedding!

Baby Gavin is here!

Garcia Family Reunion- family photos

Oblah Di, Oblah da..life goes ooo..ooon.

My kittens are over 6 months old now. I heart them!

I have been finishing up some photo editing from the past 3 weddings. I love this photo.

I have so much to do before a couple mini vacations!

• Closing a deal mid october


• car is almost paid off..can't wait to sell it and get a neeeew one. I need a big girl real estate agent car. Big enough to put my signs and clients in!


• Little trip to Utah at the end of october and again for Thanksgiving


• finish one of my classes for my broker's license


• Wedding photoshoot the weekend before I leave for Utah this month


• 2 other family photoshoots

Counting down the days..

Till thanksgiving!!!

Utah bound!

Weddings, kittens and babies!

After weeks and weeks of the kittens not even touching this..they know fight over who gets to nap on top since they are not both too big to sleep on anything together. One has to settle for the inside, but that doesn't even last long- so after they are playing and trying to get the other to move off the spot. Too cute. Paint still has her head tilt from her surgery and it won't really be going away. But she is back to normal!

Baby Lisa turns 1 soon! Had her little photoshoot on Sunday!

And Crystal and Justin got married on Saturday! What an amazing wedding. I felt so blessed and lucky to be trusted enough to capture their moments!

Sisters

Part of my weekend was photographing these completely opposite sisters and their parents. Such a cute family!!

Updates on the kittens

Paint and Patch are such snuggle bunnies. Patch is the whiner..in fact she makes her own soundtrack. She makes noise when she walks, jumps, sitting and if she doesn't like what you have to say she was sass you as she walks away. She is headstrong and goes headfirst.

Paint on the other hand is more reserved. She is a thinker. She is very sly.

Both are extremely loving and love love love to snuggle.

We recently have had some issues with Paint. She had a mass growing INTO her ear. Let's just say that this past week wasn't a good one for me between the photoshoots, showing homes, property mangement awesomeness and auntie being gone in Vegas..And then the cat surgery. oye.
Paint home after surgery. Her head is still a bit wonky and her balance is still a bit off.

Patch waiting for her sis to come home!


Patch on the desk

I recently bought a new camera (shopping therapy while paint was in surgery lol). Patch wanted to be all up in my business....

My snugglebear.

Had a family photoshoot today and showed more property. Wrote some offers. Buuuuusy weekend.

Young love!

They are getting married in September. So excited!

i love my job, i love my job

It's been a long 5 1/2 months but my clients finally closed on their first home!!!

More from the wedding

clewley wedding

Took place at St. peter's chapel on Mare Island in Vallejo, CA

Buffalo

Kodiak, Alaska. First two were on the way to Pasagshack. Last one was taken on the way back from Sultry.

It was just like the discovery channel!

I am home from Kodiak, Alaska. I already want to go back. I miss my family, 50 degree weather and constant green. It's 100 here :( Stories coming soon!

Do Buffalo charge? yes...yes they do.

I feared for my life as this photo was taken in front of one of the buffalo herds. Today was a somewhat clearer day so we decided to spend the day at Pasagshack.

More photos coming. Tomorrow we have church and hopefully some hiking at abercrombie!

Landed

Landed safe and sound in Kodiak, Alaska. Staying with my family for the next week. I touched sealife today at the touch tank. It's a bit rainy today. I am hoping tomorrow will be less rain so we can explore.

:)

To one of the coolest dogs I ever had..and some other updates

My bulldog died a week and half ago. I still can't really digest what happened. She went in for a bloodtest and didn't leave. Her heart just stopped. She was only 3 :( The vet came out crying..didn't know what to tell us. More on that later when I can type about it without completely losing it.

For 3 days my home was dead. What do you do when you plan your day around a dog?

So since I couldnt sleep for days.. I started looking on the internet for pets to love and these two caught my eye.. meet paintbrush and patchwork. They are a bonded pair- sisters. Their brother's were adopted a couple weeks before us. They are about 14 weeks old. We adopted them from a foster home in Davis.

Our home now looks like a kitty daycare. We now have some laughter mixed with tears in our home.

I also had a photoshoot! Meet Baby Lisa

Oh and I leave for Kodiak, Alaska in T-minus 5 hours!!

Bishop Wedding

Just a couple photos. I have about 2,000 of them to go through!

sometimes

when you work work work, your dog tends to follow you around and tell you that you are work work working too much. So I put her to work! and tested out some new things for my camera.

Been super busy with buyer's wanting homes and an upcoming wedding photoshoot for one of my clients. Oh and my car broke :( currently getting fixed..I hope. Oh and stars on ice on Sunday is San Jose with my partner in crime from college..who I also went to the world figure skating championships with in Los Angeles last year. Good times!

wow..where have I been?

I don't really know..but I am back now to my regularly scheduled LIFE.

Lately I have been busy showing homes in Vallejo. Holler.

Agents needs to stop lying to their clients (sellers) when they say their house is a steal and will sell quickly. If it smells- we don't go even walk in. If the bathrooms have completely SUNK IN..and the entire carpet needs to be replaced, kitchen cabinets are missing..oh and the flowers that are "low maintence" - those are called weeds...I could make a list.

People- if you are going to sell your house- PLEASE PLEASE...present it like you really want to sell it. When 3 homes on the street are all for sale and the FORECLOSURE is the nicest looking on on the block. WE HAVE AN ISSUE.

In the past 2 weeks I have locked myself out of my own home, fell out of my chair in my office, almost poked my eye out with a pen, my crackberry died...

Needless to say, my vacation is in 14 days...can you tell?

another photo blog!

The Bell Family.

I babysit their boys. Had a little photoshoot with them over the weekend.