I think everyone now knows that we brought a pup home this past Saturday. We adopted Butters, a 17-pound Spaniel mix, from the Cuyahoga County Kennel. He has a sweet, loving temperament – he’s happy, but quiet and subdued.

Some of you might have wondered why it took awhile to post about him here. So I’m going to be completely honest! The first few days with Butters were pretty terrible. He had constant accidents, and he followed us continually – when he couldn’t be with us, even for a second, he cried and howled. He wanted constant attention and reassurance that we would be there every second. We were also required to watch him to make sure he didn’t lick his neuter stitches. I was so overwhelmed by the fact that he needed literally constant care. It gave me pretty terrible anxiety. I couldn’t go more than a few seconds without thinking and worrying about him.

For those of you thinking, “Oh it’s just a dog, of course dogs are a lot of work!” — try having to watch, train, feed, clean, and comfort one literally every waking (and sometimes sleeping..) moment! I couldn’t even walk up the stairs to get some documents for work without him crying his doggie eyes out and me returning to an accident. I don’t think I really knew if it would get any better, but every day, we have made leaps and bounds. 6 days later, his accidents have dwindled significantly to 0-2 per day, and his crying has pretty much stopped altogether.

But more importantly, I’ve changed. Joe had a patient attitude throughout this past week, but I have been far from patient. From the Friday we signed the papers until Tuesday, I cried my eyes out every day. My feelings were anxiety, sadness, stress, frustration, regret, and embarrassment. This experience has been pruning away my bad habits and selfish ways. To be honest, my life really has revolved around myself for so long. Of course, I have Joe, but caring for Joe has been second nature for six years now, and he more than returns the favor. Just to have another being that requires my love, care, and patience has really changed my attitude.

I know this sounds really negative, but it’s actually been so positive. One of the reasons we got Butters was to make my days working from home more pleasant and less boring and lonely. This has most certainly happened. He is a beautiful distraction from my whining and wallowing ways. And best of all, he really is a beautiful, sweet, darling little doggie. Everyone who meets him just loves him, and he loves everyone. I’m really so proud of our pup, and I’m glad God is using this experience to help me grow in so many ways!

Sleepy Pup, Taking a Cozy Nap after a Long Walk

As you probably know, Joe and I love to find great travel deals. And while one day we would love to find great travel deals to European destinations and Alaska cruises, we’re still on a student budget. Somehow, though, we’ve found it really enjoyable to have the time of our lives on a small budget – it makes it more satisfying!

Which brings me to Priceline. I often find myself explaining how Priceline Negotiator works, but it’s really just one of those things you have to try yourself – but trust us, it’s worth it! I managed to book a hotel in Columbus for the bar exam for around $60/night, when my peers booked under the room block rate at $120. For 3 nights, that’s $180 buckeroos I saved.. that’s an entire ….legal textbook! Ouchie!

Anyway, we’ve gotten several hotels for around or over half off – and from getting $35 knocked off of a standard or “room block rate” price, to getting four-star, $120/night hotels for around $50 bucks, we’ve made it worth our time and money to go out of town every once in awhile.

“But Frolicking Fells,” you say, “How do I become a Priceline Negotiator??” (*I swear priceline is not paying me for this!*) More after the cut… Read the rest of this entry

After spending some time in prayer, I got really worked up over some of the things in this world that make me upset. By upset, I mean both desperately sad and powerfully angry – when I get upset about these things, I feel both weak in my solitary, voiceless state and strong in my ability to acquire more knowledge and facts to reveal these things to the world.

So I decided to make productive use of my anger and sadness by making a weekly post entitled “Did You Know?”. These posts aren’t intended to spread propaganda or to engage in conspiracy theories. I also don’t intend to get into debates, either. I know there are two sides to every story, but I am writing about things that bring pain to my heart, controversial or not. I will seek to find my information from online newspapers, credible websites, established nonprofit organizations, research studies, and Wikipedia (only because some things are so under-reported!).

So, without further adieu, this week’s “Did You Know”?

Did you know…

• The U.S. currently has the largest inmate population in the world, with more than 2½ million or more than one in a hundred adults in prison and jails. Although the United States represents less than 5% of the world’s population, over 25% of the people incarcerated around the world are housed in the American prison system. (from Wikipedia,  citing “Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005″. Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim05.htm and “One in100: Behind Bars in America 2008″ , http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/One%20in%20100.pdf

• 
  

  Incarcerated Americans, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

• In a survey of 1,788 male inmates in Midwestern prisons by Prison Journal, about 21% claimed they had been coerced or pressured into sexual activity during their incarceration, and 7% claimed that they had been raped in their current facility. (Wikipedia, citing http://www.justdetention.org/pdf/struckman.pdf)

• In Criminal Law, we look at four purposes of punishment – deterrence (to prevent prisoners from committing a crime in the future), retribution (to punish prisoners for committing a crime), incapacitation (to keep prisoners off the streets so they can’t commit crimes in the community), and rehabilitation (in theory, to improve the prisoners’ ability to be safe and productive members of society). We all like to think that prison can help rehabilitate people; while it’s great to be spending around $68 BILLION a year to keep criminals in prison and thereby off the streets (2006 statistic), I think most of us want to know they’re being changed for the better. However, many studies have found that prison generally does not effectively rehabilitate criminals. This tendency is clear enough that Congress has ordered that federal judges not consider rehabilitation in dealing out sentences,  “recognizing that imprisonment is not an appropriate means of promoting correction and rehabilitation.” (18 U.S.C. § 3582(a))
• Gangs are common in prisons, and are usually gathered along ethnic or racial lines.  (http://www.justice.gov/criminal/gangunit/gangs/prison.html) They play a big role in getting drugs distributed throughout prison, but also exist for protection against other inmates. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_gang)
• While some prisoners engage with gangs and illegal activities, others adopt constructive hobbies, from making an electric guitar out of model boat kits to creating intricate doll houses.

There are so many important things to discuss about prisoners. One of the hardest issues for me is seeing how difficult it is to stay out of illegal activities while in jail; some join gangs for protection, and some really just believe they’re protecting their brethren. Is that very different from the ethnic and cultural wars around this world? I don’t condone war based on these things at all – but I do think it seems like a double standard to look the other way at cultural/ethnic violence and bigotry (even within the United States) but then to condemn young prisoners who easily fall into gangs when they have little else to provide them with a sense of pride. One thing I learned at my time with the public defender is that prisoners are dehumanized by the American public. But there are so many more issues. The costs are exorbitant. The benefits are questionable.  And of course, the death penalty is for another post.

If you’re interested in  learning more about Ohio’s current prison reform bill, check out this article from Cleveland.com. The ACLU is also looking at this issue- this report has plenty of statistics.

If you’re interested in learning more about life in prison, I encourage you to watch MSNBC’s prison documentary series, Lockup! You will learn more in 5 minutes than I have managed to write here.

First Day of the Season

Welcome football season, welcome football widow-dom. We’re ready for the good, the bad, the ugly…

The Good

• Browns looking more promising (2-2 in the preseason.. not bad!)
• *Edit* The Redskins beat the Cowboys!!
• Our TV is now positioned so as to avoid the Dreaded Sunday Afternoon Glare!
• Joshua Cribbs!
• Football season food. ‘Nuff said.

The Bad

• The Browns are still the Browns. (At least they’re not the Ravens!) The Redskins are still the Redskins. Hopefully these will not be dirty words on the sportscasters’ lips.
• It’s gonna get cold up in here…
• Delhomme’s not-so-promising limp today
• Football season food –> Pack on the pounds

The Ugly

• Goodbye Sundays, Monday nights, and some Thursday nights!
• Inevitable heartache (hopefully lesser so than last year!)
• Obnoxious gloating winners
• Obnoxious, critical, not-so-unbiased sportscasters

Oh, Ms. Ray. How I love you. How I look forward to the day I will see you cook live and in person (thereby having Mommy-Daughter time and fulfilling one of my 101 things)!!

Let me count the ways (or, reasons I love Rachael Ray):

1. She makes scary recipes seem very approachable, thus opening my cooking repertoire to new and exciting ingredients!
2. Her lifesaving techniques like making garlic paste, grating onion to make smooth sauces, and an online knife skills video!
3. She can cut a dozen cherry tomatoes at once by putting them between tupperware lids and just cutting across. Wa-la!
4. Her awesome magazine with great tips for entertaining, fashion, household ideas, and of course cooking!
5. Her adorable show with fun guests, yummy dishes, and the “snack of the day”.
6. Her nonprofit work with Yum-O (childhood nutrition) and Rachael’s Rescue (including a dog food brand that’s proceeds go to dog shelters)… a result of her love for her so-ugly-he’s-cute dog, Isaboo.
7. She looks fabulous – never overdone, always classy but fun!
8. Her travel shows- Rachael’s Vacation and $40 a Day are great, and if you miss them you can find travel tips on her website!
9. Her “gift of gab” – she talks so much she needed vocal chord surgery, poor thing!
10. Her incredibly sweet, charming, and down-to-earth personality.

For these reasons, I accept and embrace Joe’s crush on her.

To a very beautiful couple, inside and out.

The Lovely Couple

Rachel has been a dear friend of mine for many years – we started college together and saw each other through hard breakups to true love. I was very privileged to stand with Don and Rachel and celebrate a union that will most certainly last until death do they part

12 hours.

13 people.

One beautiful new home.

Can you believe all the people who took time out of their day for, among other things, heavy lifting, cleaning our fridge, and driving back and forth across town?

We are really, REALLY grateful and feel very loved THANK YO U so much to all who helped, and to all who were kind enough to even wish they could help!

We can’t wait to thank everyone with a great first party at our new place!

For now, we need some serious sleep!