Piri's Year In Review

Piri crossed the rainbow bridge before the year was out, but I still thought to do this one last time since we've been doing one for him for a few years now. 

I still miss Piri immensely and it still hurts incredibly, and it is during these moments when I find myself crying or soothing my aching heart that I am left wondering how he left such big paw prints on my heart. 

Here is Piri's 2016 Year in Review. Our final one with him. 

  // My 2016 - right at midnight - started with a kiss from my human girl. This was my face afterwards. // 

  // As soon as the new year started, we were hit with a snow storm. I don't like snow much but sometimes I like to go and snow surf. Here I am with my friend Nala. // 

  // Playing in the snow was a lot of fun, but actually 2016 started off with lots of visits to specialists. My humans found a lump growing inside my mouth and I needed to be cleared to have surgery to remove it. This whole process worried my human girl a lot. I saw her crying often. // 

  // To help me feel better, my human girl started to make me things. Like this knit hat that ended up being too small.// 

  // And this scarf that was too short. // 

  // And this snood that was too big (my human girls is pretty awesome at getting the measurements wrong - but that's ok - thank goodness I'm patient). // 

  // oh and this scarf, which ended up being too long. // 

  // It was so long that I even wore it like a hat. // 

  // When knitting wasn't working out, she sewed. A scarf. Let's just say she stopped making scarves for me after this one. // 

  // Even though she wasn't so great at making me things, I still gave her a Valentine's Day balloon. She liked it a lot.// 

  // I was all cleared to have surgery and I came out of it well. Not bad for a 16 year old, right? But unfortunately the lump ended up being cancerous. It was oral melanoma. It made my humans very sad. And as time went on, it made me very sick. I started chemotherapy and it was very hard. But I pushed though and tried my best to stay strong. //  

  // We went to see the cherry blossoms in DC like we do every year, but we were a little early and only got to see the magnolia trees. They were still really pretty. // 

  // My birthday came. I turned 17. // 

  // And my human girl made me a birthday cake, like she does every year. I didn't have much of an appetite on the days leading up to my birthday, but I ended up eating all of this cake. // 

  // My appetite came and went a lot this year. My human girl bought me so many different things and made me so many things to eat. I couldn't finish it all. And I felt bad leaving them half eaten or untouched. // 

  // My humans wanted to make more memories with me and so we went on a road trip to Key West.//

  // Back home, I continued to receive treatment for my cancer. And my human girl folded cranes any chance she got. // 

  // I cuddled with my guy human. He made the hard days better. // 

  // But then I got really sick and was rushed to the ER. Everyone was so scared. I felt bad worrying everyone again. My body wasn't working like it used to. I got sick easily. I didn't know what was happening to me. // 

  // I rested at home and got lots of love. // 

  // Lamb Chop was there for me too. // 

  // I got better but had trouble drinking water, but my human girl found a way to keep me hydrated. She was always thinking of stuff like this. // 

  // I went kayaking for the first time. It's always fun going on adventures with my human guy.// 

  // And we took naps together. Just like the old days. // 

  // Everything was going well but then my human girl found that the lump in my mouth grew back. I had another surgery to remove it. This made my human girl sad again, and I felt bad that I was making her cry again. // 

  // This grey blanket became mine. It was my guy human's favorite blanket but it became my favorite. // 

  // I even took it to our road trip to New York City. // 

  // We went on the Brooklyn Bridge. // 

  // And visited our old stomping grounds in Rego Park, Queens. I have lots of good memories here. My human girl used to tell me the story often.. the story of how the three of us became family. It's my favorite story. // 

  // My human girl told me that I was super dog. And that I had a heart of a lion. She cheered me on always and said, "We got this. We got this!" I fought as much as I could. Because I wanted to be with my humans as much as they wanted to be with me. // 

  // But one day in October, I felt as though my time had come. And I needed to say good bye to my humans. And so I left quietly. I waited until they both fell asleep. The last thing they said to me was "Good night, Piri. See you later." I am glad that it was a "see you later" instead of a sad good bye. But they cried a lot when they saw that I left them, and so I sent them a rainbow to let them know that I was ok. But I still see my human girl cry because she misses me. And I miss her too. She always wonders if I miss them as much as she misses me. She gets worried if I'm doing ok because I always wanted to be with them when I was still alive. She wonders if I'm crying not being able to be with them. I want to tell her that I'm doing ok. // 

  // But there are a lot of things that I miss. Like my favorite window and my little nook in the kitchen. // 

  // I miss my red convertible. // 

  // I miss this guy. // 

  // I miss waiting for my human girl to make me my food. She was always making something new. I'm sorry I didn't always eat it. I wished I could. But I just couldn't. But I wish I can have one more taste. In my bowl with my name on it. // 

  // I miss Piri's Place and all my friends. // 

  // And my cousins, Spootie and Clover. // 

  // I miss getting Chewy boxes. // 

  // And dressing up with my human. He was always copying my style. // 

  // I miss waiting for him to come home every day. // 

  // I miss Lamb Chop. // 

  // I miss my human girl and how she loved everything about us. // 

  // I miss my favorite spot on the stairs where I did my daily stretches. // 

  // I miss learning the names of flowers. #flowersforpiri // 

  // I miss going on walks with my human girl. She walked very slow so I can keep up and carried me home when I got tired. // 

  // I miss going on car rides. // 

  // I miss my spot on the bed. // 

  // And my favorite grey blanket. // 

  // I miss taking selfies with my humans. They were the best. // 

// I miss a lot of things. And I know they miss me. But I hope one day they won't feel so sad. I'll be waiting for them but until then I'll be watching their story with Bartles unfold from across the rainbow bridge. Thank you for taking care of me and loving me, making me happy, not giving up on me and calling me your family. I was so happy with you. More than you could imagine. Love, Piri. // 

Piri's Year in Reviews

2015

2014

2013

2012

Away we go: Bavaria, Germany (Pt. 2) || King's Castles - Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein and the nearby town of Füssen

I never thought to keep a travel journal while traveling. It's too big of a hassle for me because I'm more interested in taking pictures and that takes up too much hand eye coordination to do a travel journal on the side. I have used the Swarm (Foresquare) app in the past to check in to all the places we visit while traveling so I would remember all the shops and restaurants, but not this time around. Working on these Germany posts though sure makes me wish I kept a journal because even though it hasn't been so long since we've been back, I'm beginning to forget what happened on each of the days we were there (because 99% of my brain power right now is all Bartles and so even when I mention Bavaria, instead of saying Bavaria I say Bartles instead -- maybe a little dog obsessed here). 

On Day 4 in Germany we headed over to the town of Füssen via the Deutsche Bahn regional train service leaving the Munich Central Station (Munich Hauptbahnhof - I miss saying this word) at 7:53 am. We decided to purchase our tickets through a ticket counter because it was our first time buying tickets and you know, I already went over how confusing it was for me to get what was what with train tickets (it wasn't so confusing after a few days there). 

We arrived in Füssen at 9:56 am, so it was about 2 hour ride over from Munich. From there, we took a quick bus ride over to the town of Hohenschwangau where the booth is located to purchase tickets for the King's castles. 

I think Neuschwanstein (which is also the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle) is the more popular of the two (actually, I think it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe) and many people just opt to tour Neuschwanstein only, but we decided to go to both (we bought the King's Combination ticket). 

Going inside the castles is only possible via a guided tour and no pictures are allowed inside. When you purchase your ticket, you are given a designated tour guide time. If you decide to view both castles, you are required to go to Hohenschwangau first then Neuschwanstein.

There was definitely a line when we went to buy our tickets but it wasn't terrible. There were a few people who reserved their tickets early and their wait time was pretty much none. I think during peak season (summer and fall) reserving tickets ahead of time would make sense, but in early December it was definitely ok not to. 

The walk to Hohenschwangau was quick and not nearly as hard as the walk up to Neuschwanstein. 

I'm not anyway near versed about Hohenschwangau as our guide Wolfgang (he was great!) but Hohenschwangau Castle is a 19th century palace and the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was built by his father, King Maximilian II. 

After the tour, we enjoyed the scenic walk over to Neuschwanstein. The actual walk up was a different story. There are usually shuttle buses that take you up to about 15 minutes away from the castle, but they weren't running when we were there. There are horse drawn carriages as well, which were operating, but we decided to walk up the hill to the castle, which took about 40 minutes. 

I usually don't have a hard time walking uphill but I think my heavy camera was just really uncomfortable and I had shoulder and back pains from carrying it around (this would happen literally the entire time in Germany and I kicked myself for not bringing my more compact Fujifilm x100t). 

Yangkyu and I were also hopping around like crazy people trying to avoid stepping on horse poop. Bartles does this thing where I think his limited vision tells him that he needs to hop and jump over things (leaves, cracks in the sidewalk, flat pavement when it meets the grass, etc.). It's the cutest thing and now that I think of it, I think we both looked like we were doing the Bartles hop all the way up to the castle.

I don't think anyone else minded the horse poop though because they were all stepping on it (!!!) Then it grossed me out to no end thinking people who step on horse poop can totally be ones who stayed in our hotel room before us, and if they are the types who don't take off their shoes then we are essential sleeping in a room smeared with poop.

I know, it sounds like we're overthinking doesn't it. But really. It's kind of gross.

Neuschwanstein Castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. I believe he passed away (sleeping only 11 nights in the castle) before all the sections of the castle was built. While certain parts were improvised and finished, work on certain incompleted sections came to a halt, and after his death, the castle was opened to the public. 

Outside of the castle, there is a trail that leads to Mary's Bridge and it is a popular spot to take a picturesque photo of Neuschwanstein from afar. Unfortunately it was closed as a precaution because it was the winter and I guess they didn't want anyone to slip and fall off the bridge. But we still saw folks who kind of broke the rules and still stood on the bridge. 

There is a cafe inside Neuschwanstein but we decided to go to a restaurant we saw on the way up to the castle. It was around 4 pm when we ate and believe it or not it was literally our first meal of the day. Our stomachs (well mainly mine) were still adjusting (I talked a little about my wonky stomach in my first post) and I just didn't have an appetite in the morning or afternoon or I was scared I would get a tummy ache. But after our tours I was so tired and hungry and ended up enjoying what felt like our first real comfort food since coming to Germany.  

Afterwards, we made our way back to the town of Füssen and came across their Christmas Market. I think of all the Christmas Markets we saw (Marienplatz in Munich, Salzburg, Nuremburg, Rothenberg ob der Tauber), the one in Füssen was probably my favorite. It was smaller but the vibe gave such a friendly, local feel. 

We walked around and saw people dancing, drinking, laughing, hugging and little kids dancing (mainly jumping up and down - we saw there little heads bop up and down and it was absolutely adorable) on stage to Christmas music and they had certain types of food they sold that I didn't see at other Christmas markets. 

Unfortunately after about 30-40 minutes of hanging out at the Christmas market in Füssen, my stomach began to hurt and we decided to go back to Munich without tasting any of the food there. We literally waited almost an hour for the next train because we had just missed it and it just felt so excruciating to wait an hour and then wait another two hours to get to Munich before just getting myself comfortably in bed. Ah the hardships of travel for someone with a weak GI tract (sob).

Yangkyu and I thought about maybe going back to Füssen on a later date but decided to hold off on that thought since there were so many more sights to see still. Looking back, I kind of wished we could have stayed one night in this town (I also had this thought when we were in Rothenburg ob der Tauber). 

The following day we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp and the experience was sobering and I couldn't leave without a dry eye. I'll share some more thoughts and pictures soon. 

Away we go: Bavaria, Germany (Part 1)

Year End Giving 2016

Every year we try to donate to at least 10 organizations and causes that we believe in and support. It's a tradition we began together when we got married (in lieu of wedding favors, we donated to the Arbor Day Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund). 

As with voting, I encounter a lot of people who think giving just $5 or $20 won't make much of a difference. And so they put giving on their to-do list for when they make enough money to be able to give thousands or hundreds of dollars. 

But perhaps if we thought of it this way -- that you and I are are among thousands of people who decide to give $5 for a specific cause. That $5 would amount to a large sum pretty quickly.

Donating just $5 means giving up a fancy drink at Starbucks for a day. If you get Starbucks every day for a week, you can give it up and you've already come up with $35. If you can get 10 of your friends to donate $5 for one week (creating a "give up buying coffee for one week" pact together makes for a fun fundraising effort to do with your friends and family), you've just raised $350. 

For me, while funds are important (hence why there are fundraising efforts), I also like the idea of tens of thousands of little ordinary people like you and me coming together to do something big and meaningful. Nothing is impossible when people come together. It's a great thought to end the year with, isn't it? 

And so I end by saying what I say every year, at the end of the year -- year end giving is my favorite kind of fundraising effort. It's a time when a lot of organizations look back on all their accomplishments - the campaigns they thought were impossible, the miracles that captured everyone's hearts and the people who came together to make it happen - and gear up to tackle the impossible again in the new year. 

It's not too late to give to the causes near and dear to your heart. Consider donating before the year is out. 

Here is our 2016 giving list: 

01 // Camp Cocker Rescue

02 // Camp Cocker Rescue -- Mr. Wilson

03 // Partners in Health -- Hurricane Matthew in Haiti

04 // YOUCARING -- Jey's cancer surgery and treatment

05 // Go Fund Me -- Help us get to Standing Rock!  

06 // Virginia League of Planned Parenthood

07 // The Official - Scared Stone Camp

08 // Oldies But Goodies Cocker Spaniel Rescue

09 // Medical treatment support for Pip and her hounds

10 // White Helmets People's Million - The Syria Campaign 

11 // Oldies But Goodies Cocker Spaniel Rescue

Piri's Place's donated to Fetch a Cure's Companions in Crisis fund that helps families pay for life saving treatments for their pets diagnosed with cancer. 

We also donated goods to the Fairfax Animal Shelter and Town and Country Animal Hospital. 

Our past giving lists by year :

2015

2014

2013