Animal lovers-PLEASE HELP!

A Place to Bark is a dog rescue located in Portland, Tennessee that saved 705 dogs last year from being euthanized in a shelter! Owner Bernie Berlin works tirelessly answering calls for dogs in need of placement every day. She takes dogs from high kill shelters, from the side of the road, from the sheriff, the list goes on and on. She rehabilitates the dogs (when needed) and places them with other rescue groups in and around Tennessee and Chicago.

Check out this video about A Place to Bark:

A Place to Bark runs on a shoestring budget, but they are facing the decision of closing their doors on August 1 if they do not receive more funding. They have received a $20,000 matching grant so for every dollar you can donate, it will be matched 100%. Even the smallest donations will help, so if you feel moved, please please donate. Please go to their website and donate through Paypal by clicking here. A Place to Bark is a 501 (c)(3) registered non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization and so all donations are tax deductible.

You can also help by donating old towels, blankets, baby receiving blankets, toys, collars, leashes, cages, food, bleach, treats, milk replacement, microscopes, slides, scales, stethoscopes, muzzles, pet beds and cat litter. If you choose to donate any of these items please send them to:

Bernie Berlin

"A Place to Bark"

P.O. Box 649

Portland, Tennessee 37138

View their facebook page here.

Check out their youtube channel here.

Most importantly, adopt or rescue your pets, please don't buy from breeders. Thank you!!!

Tennessee in May

Chris and I went to Tennessee for the weekend at the beginning of May. Chris asked why Lebanon was called "The Cedar City", so I showed him. This is Cedar Forest State Park. Shana and I went camping here as little girls many times. Lebanon has a lot of wild cedar trees, hence "Cedar City".

From Tennessee 5/23/10

From Tennessee 5/23/10

I got to meet Violet at 2 weeks old. She was tiny!

From Tennessee 5/23/10

Violet and Margie, future best friends and now neighbors. Pictures like this will surely be shown at their wedding

From Tennessee 5/23/10

The whole group

From Tennessee 5/23/10

Lunch on the patio in Lebanon with the family

From Tennessee 5/23/10

A fall weekend in the Smoky Mountains

Chris and I spent a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains over Halloween with our friends, Jessica and Eddie Cardoza.  They had never been to TN and wanted to see the fall colors so what better excuse to convert some new people into TN Vols fans?

Eddie has an excellent camera that I'm so jealous of, so we got some great pictures!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Chris and I on the balcony of our cabin.  We only stayed here one night because it was infested with bugs!  Very nice cabin, but a big bug problem

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

This is the view from Look Rock.  I would recommend going to the Look Rock observational tower over Clingman's Dome.  It's just as beautiful and no crowds!  Look Rock is on the Foothills Parkway near Townsend.

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

With our travel buddies on Look Rock

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

We drove the Cherohala Skyway that runs from Tellico Plains, TN to Robbinsville, NC. Cherohala gets its name from the combination of the words "Cherokee" and "Nantahala", the two national forests that it connects.  I highly recommend this, especially later in the year when the trees have lost their color on Newfound Gap in the Smokies. The Tennessee side of the Cherohala Skyway is at a lower elevation than Newfound Gap and therefore the leaves change later in the year. Also, we didn't have to deal with any traffic here.

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Driving along the Newfound Gap in the Smoky Mountains National Park

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

On Saturday we went to the UT vs South Carolina game. Here is Chris playing some cornhole at a tailgate

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Someone made a pumpkin out of the rock since it was Halloween

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

UT has a letterpress studio! I wasn't into letterpress when I went here, but I'm so glad to know they have a studio!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Smokey!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

Lane!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

The team wore black jerseys since it was Halloween. They looked great!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

It was raining and freezing, but we were happy!

From Smoky Mountains and UT vs. South Carolina October 29-November 1, 2009

We successfully converted Jessica and Eddie into Vols fans....who is next??? To see all of our pictures from this weekend, click here.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band

The pride did a halloween themed halftime show on Saturday night at the UT/South Carolina game.  It was awesome!  Here is the part where the entire band put down their instruments and did the Thriller dance!

Labor Day Weekend 2009

Chris and I went to Tennessee for Labor Day weekend this year. We went to a Vols game and celebrated my mom and sisters birthdays.


A house on the UT campus that I've never really paid attention to but have walked past thousands of times

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

A sea of orange during the Vol Walk--our first sighting of Lane Kiffin!

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

The Pride!

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

My favorite thing in the world! Running through the T!

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

If you look closely you can see Smokey running across the end zone after a touchdown!

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

I never knew that UT had these beautiful gardens on the Ag campus...but of course I never had any reason to go over there, except to look for the body farm!

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

The Vol Navy

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

Celebrating mama and Tracy's birthday on Sunday

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

From Labory Day Weekend 2009--Tennessee

Visiting Margie

I went home last weekend to visit Margie.  She's a great baby!  Sleeps all the time...

Shana, Emily and I with Margie

Definitely the longest I've ever held a baby!

The 365 Day Challenge--Day 61


I've been thinking of ways that I can really post everyday--it is hard sometimes because I literally can't find a thing to take a picture of. I've got a ton of old pictures scanned and so I think that I'll post an old picture with the story behind it. I love pictures, especially old ones!

These pictures are not that old but I have been meaning to post them. They are of Thanksgiving 2008 in Tennessee. The picture below is Rippavilla Plantation in Columbia.



This is St. John's Episcopal Church near Columbia--no longer an active church, but all of Tennessee's Episcopal bishops are still buried here.



Burgess Falls near Cookeville, TN. This is just 50 miles from my house and I had never been here. I didn't appreciate all the beautiful things that TN has to offer when I lived there, but since I've lived in CA I've become more outdoors-y so I visit more places like this.


My family on Thanksgiving Day. My brother-in-law Bill, my sister, Tracy, my grandmother, me, Chris, mama, Daddy, and my nephews Will and Witt.