Trinity

It's hard to believe a little over eight months ago I met the dog that would change my life, challenge my patience and capture my soul. The first time I met Trinity was on a Saturday. One of the girls had called because they could not get her inside. As soon as I stepped into the dog yard I saw what can only be described as a big black dog shaking in a corner terrified. Turns out Trinity's previous owners surrendered her to the shelter because they did not want to purchase a ten dollar dog lisence. In addition when she was a puppy they decided they didn't want to deal with her so they stuck her on a chain in their yard. Out of sight out of mind. At some point during her stay at the end of the 6 foot chain Trinity managed to injure her left eye. naturally her owners couldn't be bothered with taking her to the vet so she lost sight in the eye. Anyways back to the yard. After talking to her for a few minutes she allowed me to put a leash on and take her back inside. On my way home that day I knew I was in trouble. I have always been a sucker for the underdog and I am always up for a challenge. Over the next two months I fell in love with this big goofy girl. I encouraged her to meet new people and tried to work through the stranger danger issues. However a big black dog that is blind in one eye and has some issues is not high on anyone's adoption list. Then I found out I would be moving to Utah to follow my heart and work with an organization dedicated to the underdogs. I was full of mixed emotions. On one hand I had reached my goal and landed the job I always wanted. On the other hand I knew trinitys odds of survival dwindled without me. So for the next couple weeks I wrestled with the reality before deciding that I could not live without this dog. So on February 15 I adopted trinity. She had adopted me long before that day though. Since bringing trinity home we have packed up our lives and moved 3,000 miles away. We have done basic obedience training as well as some off leash work. We have consulted with a trainer and put together a training plan to help us work through her stranger danger. We have gone through the removal of her blind eye. But most importantly we have lived life together. I am happy to say that trinity meets new people all the time now. She is still cautious around men but she hardly ever spooky barks anymore. She finally knows sit! She gets along great with other dogs, something we did not think possible at the shelter. She has learned how to initiate play with her canine friends. She also loves cats and car rides. She is completely housebroken. She has the most adorable wink I have ever seen. She is an 80 pound lap dog :-) she likes to hike but hates to run. She loves food puzzles and will carry her kong around long after the peanut butter is gone. And she makes more and more progress everyday. Last week she played with a ball for the first time! She is no longer afraid of her crate an just this past weekend she went camping for the first time. And although she didn't love the water I know that with time she can overcome that fear also. Trinity fills my life with so much love and laughter but her story and her progress also give me immense hope. Time, patience, and positive energy heals. Trinity is proof of that. Trinity gives me hope for all the other underdogs sitting in shelters. All it takes is one Dedicated staff member or volunteer. You make a difference. You change their lives. "to the world you may be one person. But to one person you may be the world" mya angelou I know that is true for trinity. Each day I love her more. Each day she makes me better. I may have literally saved her first but she saves me daily. She has my heart.

24 years and 24 lessons

So I just read an awesome blog post and was inspired to copy it. I know my birthday was a month ago but who cares? So before I get started I do have to say that I couldn't have learned these lessons without all of the wonderful people in my life and the not so wonderful so thank you for your pact!!! 1. Laughter is contagious so share the wealth. 2. Everyone has a story. Are you stopping to listen to it? 3. The question is not "is the goal attainable?" but rather "how hard must I work to obtain my goal?" 4. True friendship survives regardless of the miles in between. 5. Happiness is journey not a destination. Keep pursuing! 6. Dance parties are more fun in the company of others. 7. True peace is found within yourself and Shared with others through your actions. 8. Recycling is legit so just do it. 9. Time is precious so live fully in each moment. 10. Passion without pursuit is just a hobby. 11. The higher the mountain the more glorious the decent! 12. It's ok to let loose, you might even enjoy it! 13. Honesty is never overrated even if the truth hurts. 14. The world was meant to be discovered from the seat of a bike. 15. Euthanasia is a reality, not a sob story, and we must do everything in our power to eliminate its unnecessary evil. 16. Always root for the underdog 17. Racism is just ignorance rearing it's ugly head. We should define things by who they are not what we think they are based on genetics. 18. Love is always beautiful. 19. Family is not simply defined by shared genetics. Your family is made up of those people who love, accept, and support you no matter what. The people that know your heart. 20. Cats make everything better. 21. The outdoors is therapeutic. 22. True service is compelled by love not obligatin. 23. Compassion is one of the greatest gifts you can give others. 24. Music heals the soul in a way nothing else can. Well there you have it! Life as I see it. Peace & Love Summer

Matters of the heart: love and service

Recently I have started to receive several compliments about my work ethic again. For those of you that know me you know how awkward I am when I recover them and you also know how much a I enjoy them. Anyways it has gotten me thinking about my life. To me there is absolutely no need to thank me for doing the right thing or doing my job to the best of my ability. Those things are ingrained in me. There are three overarching themes that I try to live my life by. The first is love. Love guides everything that I do be it work, volunteering, or just hanging out. For me love is the only logical choice. The second is compassion. In my experience love combined with compassion for others goes so much father than hatred and judgement. So I do my best to be kind and compassionate towards others. I think when you come from a loving and compassionate place it is only natural that you also approach things with a peaceful mind set. It is my goal to keep peace with others and continue to seek inner peace for myself. Once you understand that these three things govern my life you can begin to understand why I am like I am and why I do what I do. I love animals and people alike but my connection to animals is far more intense. I fall in love daily and I love deeply. My heart breaks for the injustices that theses creatures have to face and the cruelty that uS humans dish out so easily. So I choose to love them with everything I have and to work as hard as humanly possible to aid in there recovery. I work to build trust and heal old wounds with kindness and. O compassion. And I work as hard as I am able to because I don't know how to work any differently. Helping animals is what I wake up wanting to do everyday. It is something I never get tired of. It is what I was made to do. Many think that statement is extreme and maybe it is but I have never been more certain of anything else in my entire life. But aside from helping animals I also think its my duty to help people. Too often we let pride rule our lives making us to embrassed to ask for help. I have watched many friends struggle through it and excepting help isn't easy for me either but I have co E to realize that we are meant to live life together. The good the bad the ugly. So when I see a need I try to meet it. Sometimes that's talking to a friends for hours, sometimes it's moving furniture, sometimes it's holding back someone's hair as they vomit. Whatever it is I am always happy to help. I think far to often people are not both willing and able when it comes to helping. The concepts of being both willing and able combined with my passion for service and heartbreaking reality of the world we live in are what drove me to ride my bike across the country for affordable housing. My heart breaks for those struggling to keep a roof over their heads. The faces of those without homes living on the streets of Detroit are not just faces to me. They each have a name a story. So for me not helping is not an option. Helping is all that I know. It's who I am and it what I want to do with or with out the thank yous. Sharing your deepest passions is suh a difficult task and often times the words are not enough. I hope that I have done an adequate enough job sharing my heart, my passions, and my duty with you all. I hope in some small way it might encourage you to share yours with others or perhaps even pursue them. I help because I was made to. I work hard because its the only way I l ow how to work. And I love because I am one of those crazy people that truly believe love and compassion can heal the world one person or animal at a time. Peace & Love Summer

Starlight's journey

Starlight is a two year old sheperd heeled mix who came to the sanctuary after being surrendered to a shelter. This girl was over corrected as a puppy and as a result came to best friends completely shut down. When I started in feb all it took was one look at her sweet face and I knew that I was going to help this dog learn to trust again. At first she was so timid all I did was sat in her kennel and talked to her for about 3 weeks. Once she got more comfortable she started sniffing me and we worked our way up to petting. Once she got more comfortable with me we started working on leash skills. The first time I came into work and got a tail wag I was ecstatic! We continued to work on meeting new people and in the beginning she would simply shake and hide. Over time she has started shaking less. Each day she trusts me a little more so I. Decided to foster her. I figured it would be good for her to get used to going places and doing things but I was worried my very obn obnoxious dog might be too overwhwlming. As soon as they met they loved each other! Trinity immediately licked starlights face and tried to play. The girls are inseprabable T home. They eat together, they sleep together, they chew stuff together. But perhaps my favorite thing is that they play together! Starlight confidently throws trinity on her back and. Bases her throughout the house. Today she chased her tail and played with a toy for the first time in months. Last week she had enough confidence to chase a golf cart!! She barks at cars passing by the house! Each day she makes more and more progress. I could not be more proud of her! But our work is not done yet. I cannot wait to see what strides she makes next. It is an honor to see the dog she is becoming, the dog she was meant to be all along. To sponsor starlight and support her progress please visit www.bestfriends.org and find her in the adorable adoptables section. Together we can save the world one dog at a time.

Unexpected Endings

Where to begin. Today is the one year anniversary of Christina Gencko's death. I went for a bike ride today and reflected on the whole experience. I knew when I signed up for Bike & Build that riding was dangerous but hearing news of Christina's death was shocking. It was a much needed slap in the face. It really put things into perspective. It made me evaluate the things that are important in life. You truly never know when your last day will be. That reminds me to make every day count. Don't leave things unsaid. Don't go to bed angry. Love passionately with your whole heart. And pursue the things that make you happy even if they will never make you rich. Christina was passionate about affordable housing and that is a passion that she carried until the day she died. Her death has impassioned me to fight harder for cyclist safety and road laws. Her life has forever impacted mine. Today I road for Christina and it was a beautiful ride. Ironically enough yesterday was filled with tragedy as well. I received news that during one of our staff meetings two of our dogs got in a dog fight and Stella, a newer deaf pittie mix who reminded me so much of Sahara from the Michigan shelter, died. Again the news of her death was shocking. It wrecked me actually. What I can say is that I am glad that I had the honor of knowing her. I am glad that she was healthy and happy for a while and I hope that she knew just how much I loved her. I may have only known her a short time but in that time she captured a piece of my heart and it will forever remain hers. Stella's death, tragic as it may be only reaffirms the importance of the work that I am doing here. Many of these dogs have been damaged by us humans and I am more determined than every to shower them in love and compassion. To be patience and positive. To be a part of their healing instead of their brokenness. One thing that is very clear to me these days is that every life has an impact. Every life is significant animal or human. We must choose how we want to live. We must choose how we want to impact others and then we must have the courage to live that impact out in our daily lives. I hope that my impact is to be loving and compassionate,to seek peace and pursue passion, to leave the places I go and the people and animals I meet better than when I started. So I will continue to love until it hurts and then love more. And Stella will forever be a part of me just as Hoss remains. Peace & Love, Summer

9,000

The past couple weeks I have found myself in a state of evaluation and reflection. I still cannot believe that I work for an organization that does so much for animals. The impact that is being made everyday is so real and powerful. However I am under no illusions that millions of others will not make it through the shelter system. Their lives will be cut short as man tries to play God and gets ride of the ones that don't fit in a cookie cutter mold. 9,000 animals are euthanized per day. 9,000. This number horrifies me. The faces of this number keep me up at night. I go back and forth. Back and forth. Although I understand the shelter mindset and why certain decisions are made the longer that I stay here the more I realize that just because I understand it doesn't mean I am any more ok with it. This past week we had a dog fight in my area and as I race up the hill to my building and into the run I was shocked at what I saw. My first thought was of a lion with it's prey. One dog literally dragging another around by it's neck, clearly the proud victor. After separating the dogs and assessing the damage I needed a minute to process what had just happened. The conclusion that I came to is that no matter how much we love these animals at the end of the day they are still animals. They act on predator instinct and it's this same instinct that seals so many fates in local shelters around this country. I also found myself so very grateful that both of these dogs are safe, grateful that instead of being euthanized for their issues we will continue to work through them. I think much too often we reject those that are different. Those that require work and patience. For example I have been working with a dog in my area since the end of February. She was an owner release to a shelter and because of human cruelty she was completely shut down. Afraid to lift her head, make eye contact or even wag her tail. Starlight comes from an abusive past and although I have been working with her everyday for three months and she has made significant progress she still has a long path ahead of her. Our actions have such a powerful impact both negative and positive. For dogs like Starlight and Brady if people had spent the time that they were abusing, loving on these dogs maybe their futures would have been brighter sooner. I find myself wishing that shelters across the country would devote more time to the animals and less time focusing on how imperfect they are or how inconvenient they are. The Vick pits are the perfect example of the impact that time and compassion can have on these dogs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZDWRoNPDdg That's my rant for now until next time, Summer

Climbs & Decents: Life is Like Riding a Bike

The longer I am here in Utah the more and more I learn and as I learn the more convinced I am that life is like riding a bike. After spending a summer discovering the country sitting atop two wheels I find an odd sense of peace and exhilaration each time I take Fiona on a new adventure. Everything about my life here in Utah screams Bike & Build in so many ways but it is also charged with a new sense of maturity and growth. Everyday as I drive to work it feels so wrong and even unnatural to drive the very road that I biked up in June. That climb was gradual and daunting at times, but I conquered it surrounded by my friends and with a determination that I didn't even know I had. I think that's how life is really. It's a series of trials and triumphs and if you surround yourself with the right people you will get through it, you will get to the top of the hill. I found myself reflecting on a specific ride this week as I hiked a trail known as The Beehive. Right away the trail was uphill and very sandy but I wasn't too discouraged. I even remember saying that I like the climb because as challenging as it is there is nothing more rewarding than reaching that top point and surveying just how far you have come before you head downhill on an exhilarating decent. One of my fellow hikers agreed and said that he has a philosophy that life is like riding a bike. You struggle up and up and up when you are going through hard times and it seems almost hopeless. But once you make it past that the good times are truly beautiful and they recharge you. I found so much truth in that so with each uphill I thought of that glorious decent that we took on that one ride and how full of life I felt. I thought about how all of the blood sweat and tears of the summer were worth every minute because of the relationships that I formed, the landscapes that we crossed, and ultimately the lessons I learned along the journey. The hike was by far the most difficult that I have done yet but also the most rewarding. Just when we thought we were to the top and we stopped at an overlook with what can only be described as a breathtaking view. I sat there and pondered life for a minute and thought of all of the places I have been in the past four years and all of the growing I have done in that time. I thought of all of the dreams that have been attained and the new goals I have set for myself. It was an awesome minute. Peaceful and perfect actually. Then Jen discovered what was actually the rest of the trail so we continued upwards. The boys went on ahead and Jen and I took a detour and climbed on top of an awesome rock. Standing on top of that rock was so rewarding! After our rock adventures we began our decent and I couldn't help but smile. Sure I was sweaty and tired but I had climbed and climbed and climbed and stumbled upon some pretty amazing landscape in the process. During the walk back down I found myself again reflecting on this one beautiful day from the summer. There are so many things that I am thankful for and that day is certainly one of them. Today Haylee and I set out to hike the SugarKnoll/Red Cave trail which is a local favorite. Finding the place was a little difficult and involved some risky maneuvers such as hopping fencing and choosing which fork in the road to take. After again cimbing and pushing myself physically and mentally we found the slot canyon. I don't think there is anything cooler than exploring a slot canyon!!!! Such a good idea. After today's hike I was again exhausted and wondering why I push my body so much on my weekends off. Most normal people choose to rest and recover so they are ready for the week ahead. Not me!!! I have discovered that as much as I hate the climb when I am stuck in the middle of it that is where you learn the most about yourself. Hiking is so much like biking and biking is the perfect metaphor for life. I don't think that I could be happier at this moment. I live in Utah. I work at BEst Friends. I have a fur family that loves me. I have a family that supports my crazy decisions. I have friends who love bikes as much as I do throughout the country. I have new friends who invite me to girls night and stick a candle in some raw cookie dough to wish me a happy birthday. But most importantly I am physically able to live an active and rewarding lifestyle and I am just stubborn enough to make sure that I continue to push myself and succeed. All in all life is good. Now I must go ride my bike :) Peace & Love, Summer