9 posts tagged “yukimo”

I'll say it straight out: I'm worried about Yukimo. For the past few weeks, she's been having "womanly" bleeding. She showed the same thing a few months ago, but it only lasted a day or two. After doing some research back then, I found that dwarf hamsters don't have regular menstrual cycles; girls actually only have a period maybe once in their lives, and the period only lasts for a day or two.

Yuki's problems seem a bit more serious though. Within the past few weeks, there's been a lot more bleeding in that area-- to the point where she leaves little trails of blood on whatever she walks on. The bleeding isn't continuous though. It lasts a few hours and then stops anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

I decided to do a little more research this time, and I found a very helpful thread on a hamster forum. That girl's hammy experienced the very same symptom as Yuki. In fact, my situation sounded identical to what was posted in that thread. From what I've discovered, it sounds like Yukimo could either have an infection or a tumor, but the only way I would be able to find out is if I take her to the vet (something that I am against at this point in time). The vet could give her antibiotics for the infection, or he could recommend Yuki having surgery. Honestly, I would never give such a small animal surgery, especially Yuki. She's lived a long, happy life and I know that putting her through something so traumatic would most definitely hurt her more than anything else.

In the past, I've had hamsters and guinea pigs who have also displayed health problems. Whenever I took one of them to the vet though, they died shortly after the visit. The main difference between Yukimo and my past pets is that Yukimo isn't super sick like they were. When thinking back, all of my piggies and hammies were deathly ill, ready to pass on... so I suppose it isn't extremely weird that they died. I guess that one of my worries is that something will happen to Yukimo if I take her to the vet. She's so small and trips never sit well with her. If anything, I can see something about the trip making her nervous, which is the last thing she needs right now.

The good news about Yuki right now is that bleeding is the only thing that seems to be wrong with her right now. Other than that, she's as happy as ever in her one and a half years! She's running (well, trotting... since she's getting pretty old now) in her wheel almost every night. She's eating great and getting a good amount of water every day. She's active whenever I hold her. Of course, the only real things that are different compared to when I first brought her home is the fact that she's a bit slower than before. Instead of walking, she wobbles around. Instead of running everywhere when she's outside of her cage, Yuki likes to walk around and sniff things when exploring. She doesn't have that teenager-like mindset that makes her think she needs to do everything at once. She just likes to explore things-- in a more mature fashion, tee hee. Boy, that hamster wisdom has really kicked in!

So, despite her current health situation with the bleeding, Yuki is doing really well. I think I'm going to try to speak with a vet to see if there's any way I can get antibiotics for Yuki (to see if she has an infection) without taking her in to the vet. I just want to make sure I cover all the bases when it comes to keeping my little hammy healthy. She's had a great and happy life so far; I want to make sure she continues to have one for however long she's still with me.

I thought I'd wrap up this post with a very funny video I took of Yukimo back in early January. I had been staying at my parents' house for a week or so, so that meant that Yuki was on her own at my apartment for a few days. I made sure to stop in, check on her, feed her and clean her cage so that she knew I was still around. Needless to say, Yuki showed how much she missed me... by hopping around with a piece of lettuce! (And yes, that's me narrating, along with Kathleen. ^__^) 

I love you, Yukimo.

Happy birthday, Yukimo! I've been thinking that over and over now for the past few days. I know that the "anniversary" of Yukimo joining my little family is coming up in early November, but then I started realizing that her actual birthday has probably already happened. After all, she was already a few weeks old when I bought her last year.

I don't think I've ever shared the small story of how Yuki came to be in my family, so I thought it would be appropriate to share it on her first birthday. *snuggles Yukimo*

This time last year was a bit rough for me as far as friendships go. Beth and I had always been close, but she had recently fallen into a complicated relationship with a guy. The relationship between the two dramatically hurt what Beth and I had, so the only real person I could turn to was Shawn. One of the ways he helped me was supporting my decision to get a hamster. Since my apartment (at the time) didn't allow cats, I thought a hamster would be the friend I really needed when Beth wasn't around.

One cold night last November, Shawn and I drove back to a pet store near his house. (We wanted to go to a place with a wide selection of hamsters to choose from.) I had made sure to clean my entire apartment, including the table where the new hammy's cage would go, before we left. I had hamsters when I was little and remembered how sensitive they were to germs and small spaces. I wanted to make sure my new hammy would be completely healthy and comfortable in her new home.

Shawn and I spent quite a while in the "rodent room" looking at all the hamsters. I started off browsing the regular-sized hamsters. I hadn't planned on considering a dwarf hamster. Shawn, however, was already a little freaked out by the size of hamsters but for some reason wanted me to consider getting a dwarf instead. I figured that since Shawn and I had decided on getting a hamster together, I would make sure that he was as equally happy with our sweetie as I was.

I went over to the two or three cages with the dwarf hammies and found two that I was drawn to. I was either going to get a grey and white boy or an all white girl. Ironically enough, I found that I wanted to get the all white girl, even though I told Shawn that I didn't want a hammy that was all white right before we went into the pet store. I never really liked all white rodents for some reason. This hamster was different though, so I had the pet store employee come over and "wrap her up" for me to take home!

The thing about dwarf hamsters is that their life spans are short; they usually only live to be one to one and a half years old. My goal for my hamster was for her to live to be at least one year old. I wanted to prove to myself that I could take care of a pet on my own (with a little help from Shawn) and help her live a happy life. Now that Yukimo is a year old, I really feel like I've helped make her time with me special. After all, Yukimo is special to me in so many ways. And even though I've fulfilled my dream of having a cat (or two), I still find that Yuki and I share a strong connection. At times, I've even put Yukimo's health and happiness before my own. (An example of this would be keeping my apartment's temperature at 60 degrees while Beth and I freeze. Yuki absolutely loves the cold air!)  

I really wanted to share Yukimo with the rest of the world. She's affected my life in so many ways... So here she is, at age one, exploring the vast world in front of her. I have to admit-- she has never looked so fluffy, white and happy before, tee hee. She even starts wiggling around at one point. o___O (I narrate during most of the video by giving tidbits of information about Yuki.)

Life isn't completely fawntastic (yet), but I think it has the potential to get there. ^___^ Weekends tend to put a positive spin on my outlook, but when Tuesday rolls around, and I have classes, I'll probably start moping again. That's the general pattern.

It's funny how I've formed a definite weekly routine; it involves a roller coaster of ups and downs that seems a little eccentric most of the time. I only have classes Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which is nice for the most part. Having three day weeks seemed like an awesome schedule at first, but then when the semester actually started up, I found out how difficult it was to balance out three days of intense amounts of work with four very intense classes. I kind of feel like this is my first year of college since this is the first semester where the work I'm given is of interest towards my future career.

After my Thursday night class, I tend to become overwhelmed with a huge sense of relief. The week is finally over, and I can go back to my old self. For the next four days, I don't have to worry about classes, homework or getting stressed out. That's exactly how I felt last night. All of a sudden, that smile comes back and my attitude towards all the work I've done throughout the week and the people I talk to makes a 180. Poor Beth and Shawn have to put up with quick changes of attitude. They're troopers though, thank goodness.

I've made sure to keep up with small rewards for myself along the way. So if I have an extra tough week, I usually splurge with goodies on the weekends, meaning that I don't hesitate when I see something sweet. I've become pretty weak when it comes to coffee lately, so the "something sweet" usually means that I'll opt for a good quality piece of chocolate as I drink my coffee. The small little piece of goodness somehow makes the entire week seem worth it.

Another example of weekend splurges is my newest plushie addition, Lola. I fell in love with the fawn when I saw one of my favorite sellers on Etsy put her up for sale. I immediately bought her (and received a lot of teasing from Beth because of yet another plushie purchase) and waited for her arrival. Shawn picked her up from my house and brought her to me last night. As soon as I saw her in person, I knew that it was meant to be. Her old fashioned look reminds me so much of Mark Ryden's artwork; I decided to name her Lola after another favorite artist of mine. (Ryden and Lola seem to have a very similar take on art, hence my decision to name her Lola instead of Mark or Ryden. Plus, my fawn needed a feminine name.) Lola's sitting right next to me as I type. *taps her on the head* She's one of my favorite plushies now.

Besides enduring my ups and downs, I've been dealing with Yukimo's own roller coaster of emotions. My poor little hammy has been going through so much change lately. What most people don't realize is how sensitive to change small animals are. In fact, the reason most hammies end up dying is because of a disease that has to do with nervousness. I was worried that all the moving from my old apartment to my house to my new apartment would really hurt Yukimo, and it did for a while. She started to tear her fur on her underbelly out a couple of times, leaving her with reddish-pink skin. I tried to spend as much time with her as possible at my house, but she fought back.

Yukimo absolutely hated the fact that she had to adjust to a new home and would bite almost anyone that picked her up. Eventually, Mom and Kathleen became scared of her, so when Beth and I had to move to our new place and leave Yukimo behind for about two weeks, no one held her. I was struck with guilt the entire time, but I had to wait until my air conditioner was fixed (since she can't survive in the extreme heat) before I could bring her back to live with me. As soon as she was back with me, I noticed a difference in her. She's been extra active around her cage; she hasn't bitten anyone for weeks; and her fur has almost completely grown back.

Yukimo has never looked so beautiful and fresh before. I'm so happy to have my perfect hammy back. She won't have to adjust to a new home again for a long time, so I think it'll only be good times from here on out!

I've been slowly trying to fall back into a comfortable routine in the past week or so. Previous to that, I had been so focused on getting things done that I didn't take any time to just enjoy... life? In between my last post and the one I'm writing right now, I've had some not-so-good experiences, times that I'll be happy to forget about.

I wrote two posts this last weekend. Only one post made it to the public, and even that one stayed just a few minutes. Something about the posts didn't quite click. I'm very particular with what I share with people, and that side of me isn't something I'm proud of. To those of you who caught that post, thank you for the private messages. You will never really know how much I've been soaking in your advice and your concerns about my life, but just know that your words are fueling me to just keep going through all the bad stuff. I'm pushing my way through this bad time in my life thanks to you. Even though I haven't responded to a lot of comments and private messages, I plan on doing so soon. You're all so wonderful-- thank you.

Instead of ranting on and on about the bad stuff, I thought I'd wrap it all up in a nutshell. That way, the reality of everything seems less harsh and somewhat distant.

Basically, the move was more difficult than Beth and I anticipated. Our apartment was one big mess, one in need of a lot of repairs. The air conditioner was broken for a week, leaving Beth and me with an apartment that was 95 degrees after walking (a long walk) home from classes every day. The manager of our building suddenly left her job and left us with no one to contact as far as repairs and Beth's parking space went. In the end, Beth found out that the parking space promised to her from before we even signed the lease was unavailable. This wouldn't be a huge deal, except for the fact that we live in a busy city, on a crowded college campus. Having no transportation is proving to be difficult (and boring).

Since the air conditioner was broken, the only source of ventilation we had was opening the windows to hot, but breezy, weather. The window in my room was broken and let in swarms of flies, spiders and mosquitos. I'm still recovering.

From day one, the cable company has screwed up our phone, wireless internet and cable TV. Over the past week, Beth and I, together, have probably spent over four hours arguing and pleading with the company to get everything around our apartment to work. Tears were involved on my part. (I have a love/hate relationship with technology.)

The good news about my situation is that I was given a few days to rest this weekend. Surprisingly enough, I discovered that working doesn't even seem like real work anymore. Work is more of my getaway from all the crap that classes give me. I've never dreaded working for Vox (the first job that I actually enjoy), but it still seemed more of a structured routine a few weeks ago. I realized that classes make work seem more fun. Work is freedom. In the work world, I'm an adult with responsibilties, not a student who has to do homework assignments. In a way, I've already graduated from college just because I know how ready I am to be in the working world. That's a nice thought, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of this transition-- a little at a time.

One perk about my new place is that the apartment building allows the tenants to have cats. (This is the part where I jump up and down, squeal, dance and make merry.) *dances* As mentioned in past posts on my blog, I live for cats. I have always been drawn to them, but I've never had the opportunity to have one as a companion for myself. This apartment, as horrible as it may seem right now, is giving me that chance to finally have a kitty for myself.

Beth and I went to the Humane Society to check out the kitties this last weekend. Our experience with the people that worked there was anything but good, but in the end, we did get a better idea of what we're looking for as far as cats go. ^__^ For the next few weeks, I plan on checking online ads, newspapers, other animal shelters, and friends of friends who have ads for giving or selling kitties. I know that raising a new kitten can sometimes cause a little more stress, but for me, it's the kind of companionship that I need right now-- with or without the stress. Animals have an amazing calming power on people, and I can only see good things happening with the new addition(s) to our little apartment family.

The only part about getting a cat that made me hold back was Yukimo. Small hamsters don't always bode well with kitties running around the house, but I think I can make the situation work. I'm confident in myself as an animal lover; I can train a cat well enough to not want to eat or "play with" Yukimo. After all, Yukimo is a huge part of my life already. I wouldn't even think about getting a cat unless I was positive that Yuki could handle the change.

Yukimo's a fighter. She can take anything! I think I can, too. (Yukimo's inner fighter must be rubbing off on me.)

This is the story of a girl who wanted a kitty but somehow ended up with three guinea piggies and a hamster...

Yukimo and all my guinea piggies mean the world to me. Dad never allowed my family to have the pets we wanted when I was growing up, so that meant I was never able to have a kitty (my favorite animal) of my very own. Mom always tells me how lucky I am to know that I'll one day be able to have my own place with as many kitties as I want. I know she's right, but I can't help but feel sad knowing that I'll have to wait a few years to live in a place of my own. Because my apartment has a "no pet" rule (with the exception of small animals that don't cause problems, like hamsters), I still can't have a cat. Shawn always tries to make me feel better by telling me that, despite his allergies to cats, I can have as many as I want. I wish Dad could have been the same way; I wish he could have put his dislike for cats and the idea of loving pets aside.

I've received a few messages telling me to write a few random facts about myself. I'll break a rule or two (because hey, it's my Vox, right? ^_~) and talk about a few facts about a specific topic in this entry instead instead of dedicating a whole post to random facts.

Two out of three times when I walk into and out of a pet store, I start crying. The very idea sounds so petty, but walking into a store that has the one thing, a true companion, that I really needed when I was little really breaks my heart. This first started happening after my first guinea pig, Hercules (also known as Herc and Hammy), died. Since Dad was always weird about cats and dogs, Mom was able to get away with sneaking small animals that required little maintenance inside the house. Because I loved animals so much, I tended to throw endless amounts of love into my relationships with my small pets. Having Herc pass away was so difficult-- it was a reality check. After he died, I was given the chance to pick out a pet of my very own. Beth, Kathleen and Mom had usually picked out a pet to call their "own," even though we all loved the pet, but I was finally able to pick one. Going into the pet store only a week or so after Herc left us was so hard. I had to walk past the cage of four kittens, my dream pet. I didn't find a guinea pig that day so I ended up leaving the store without a pet and with memories of our Herc still lingering. When Mom and I got into the car, I burst into tears, unable to stop all the hurt from flooding out. Mom asked me why I was crying, and I mumbled out a response about how hard it was walking away from the pet store without a kitty and how angry I was at Dad for not allowing me, an adult, to have a pet. Part of what I said was focused on those feelings, but a lot of the pain was from losing Herc. It hurt so much!

I ended up picking out the best guinea pig ever and she surprised us with two baby piggies. After waiting about two weeks, Mom and I tried the pet store again. A new litter of guinea pigs had arrived, and I was immediately drawn to the one sitting on top of the food bowl: a tiny girl who was white with dark brown and honey-colored fur. I named her Pixie because of her obvious spunk and low temperment. She didn't like me at first, but I soon found out why she was so bitter towards people. About three weeks after taking her into my home, I woke up one night to strange sounds coming from her cage. I warily took Pixie out of her cage and held her at arm's length, afraid that she was going to explode. (Of course, I had to pick the "defective" pig!) With Pixie in my arms, I ran to Mom and Dad's room, tearful, because I thought Pixie might be dying. Mom rushed her to the bathroom and had a closer look. A tiny buldge was coming out of her lower body. O__O Mom, being the nurse she is, wasn't afraid and pulled out the buldge. Inside the water sack was the first baby, a little boy.

I was in shock. Out of all the guinea pigs at the store, I had picked the pregnant one. A few minutes later, Masamune's baby sister came into the world. I named her Rini, which means "little bunny" in Japanese, and Masamune was named after two sword pieces in the video game Chrono Trigger. Without even thinking about it, the two babies stayed with us and their mommy, Pixie. To this day, they all still live at my parents' house.

After Pixie's pregnancy, she warmed up to me, yet she didn't express the same amount of warmth to anyone else. I made sure to go out of my way to express my friendship to her. She had felt threatened by the presence of the two new piggies, even if they were her own children, but with a little extra love, she learned how to show affection. To this day, she only talks to me and cuddles up to me, and no one else, because of the extra attention I gave her after that night. We have a special bond.

Since I didn't want to put all the piggies in shock (small animals are less resiliant with change), I decided to leave them at home when Beth and I moved to our apartment. We still see them whenever we go home, and we try to shower them with as much love as possible. After Beth started going out more, I realized that I was lonely at the apartment. Shawn's solution to that was getting a new baby for the place: a hamster. That's how Yukimo came into the picture-- she's my savior! So now I not only have three piggies at my first home, but I have a sweetheart I get to have with me 24 hours a day at my second home.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night just to hold little Yukimo. Because I'm such an introvert, I find comfort in having smaller friendships, like the one I have with Yukimo. If I have a bad dream or I just feel like having company, I'll wake up at night to hold Yukimo. Since she's nocturnal, she likes walking around to displace some of the pent up energy from being in her cage while I sleep. It's amazing how pets will make all the bad seem good.

Yukimo and Pixie are the little I love yous that I need for comfort. ^__^

Note: The photos of Yukimo in this entry were taken by Beth. I held Yuki while Beth snapped away!

My Vox challenge is still up and running, and it will be until tomorrow. ^___^ I couldn't help but make a post today. I hate pushing the challenge post down, but writing is a big stress release for me right now.

(Edit: Due to the time I'll be spending on midterms this next week, I'm extending the deadline for entering my Vox challenge until Wednesday, March 14th. Feel free to still leave comments with your ideads in that entry!)

This has been a rough week for me to go through. It's midterm time for a lot of colleges right now, including my own. Normally, I pretty much breeze through midterm time because of my status as an English major. Most English professors require their students to write papers (a little longer in length, but still better than exams, nontheless), but I've been thrown into a different loops of classes this semester. I actually have to take exams, which has completely thrown me off track-- mostly mentally, and now a little physically. I haven't taken exams in almost over a year, but now that I'm faced with four of them within a two week period, I'm getting flustered and irritated with everything. Classes, assignments, studying and any other little stress-related situation that is thrown my way causes me to have a breakdown of some sort.

(On a side note: I've never been able to deal with stress very well. I let my worries about a situation affect me fully. That's one reason why I don't drive yet. I never got my license because I have a fear of getting behind the wheel. I also can't hold onto a job while going to school because I let the pressures of each work atmosphere get to me in too much of an extreme.)

I was struck with a period of paranoia last night. (-__-) I had already taken my Linguistics exam on Monday, but knowing that my Oceanography exam was the next day (today) put even more stress on my shoulders. I almost fell asleep during class (which I never do); I then came home after attempting to study and took a nap, yet I forgot to take my contacts out (which I've never done before); and I started having delusions again in the middle of the night. I went to sleep on the couch in the main room again (because I still can't sleep in my room with all the snoring my neighbor does), and I kept hearing noises all around me. Every little movement around the room freaked me out. At one point, I heard a crash in the kitchen. I was so paranoid that I called Shawn and had him on the phone with me as I checked what had tipped over-- some old garbage bags had. I felt like I was going insane. The fact that my body has been aching because of how tense I am lately does not help me. On top of all of that, I can't stop sniffling. I'm so afraid that horrible cold has come back to haunt me.

I just came back from my Oceanography exam. I knew nothing. I never go into an exam unprepared. I tried to study-- I really did. I don't care as much about the grade I receive on this one exam as much as I care about how my overall grade in the class affects my GPA. I finally achieved a high GPA after all the work I've done over the years. I don't want to let one class take my great average away. My average isn't just a number to me; it stands for all of the hard work I've put into my college years as a student and as an adult. Somehow, the little picture of one class is affecting the big picture of my academic life. *cries*

I will admit, however, that I do feel better knowing that the whole exam is over with. I still have to write up a paper for my World Cinema midterm, and I have to somehow get myself together to study for my Irish Literature exam, but I'm going to try not to stress about that until next week. I feel better writing about my whole paranoia experience anyway, so this entry is a big help.

Here's a little something to brighten up my day. ^^; Yukimo, along with a lot of my colorful little plushie friends around the apartment, have been able to help me out a lot. I just look at all of them and smile. I think I subconsciously have them around to help me during weeks like this one. I took this photo of Yukimo about a week ago. She's sleep-eating, something that she does at almost every hour of the day, tee hee. Yukimo makes me happy.

Getting photos like this of Yukimo is honestly one of the best gifts I could have hoped for. She was holed up in her tower again, and the cute ball of white fluff that she curls herself into is always tempting, so I decided to try for some photos. I think I was just lucky today.

Hamsters weren't always the apples of my eye. Well, I've always liked them, but I never thought I would have another one at the age of 22. I had them when I was little, because Dad wouldn't allow Mom, Beth, Kathleen and me to have a cat. Everyone in my family, except Dad, is a cat lover, especially Mom and me. Dad has been against cats ever since I can remember, and I've always held a grudge (along with many more) against him because of his lack of understanding towards Mom and, well, all of us. Before Mom reached the age of 30, she took in and helped raise over 200 cats. Even when she first met Dad, she had two or three cats. He "let" her keep them, but after they died, we haven't been allowed to keep anymore. Dad's excuse is that he has allergies, however, I know better. I know that he doesn't like competition. Dad has never been close with any of us, and having a cat in the family might draw our attention away from him even more. For this fact, I'm still very bitter. There have been a lot of family politics over the years, but this one stemmed from when I was young, and the fact that I've never been able to have a cat of my own has stayed with me ever since I was little. Grr.

Mom got around the whole "no cats" rule with other animals... smaller animals. Over the years, we've collected guinea pigs and hamsters. Sometimes we could get away with taking in wild cats and training them without Dad knowing it (at first). My three guinea pigs at my house are perfect, but I didn't want to cause them trauma by moving one, or any, of them so late in their lives. I decided to leave them all at the house, because Mom wanted that most. I know that having Beth and me gone at college for a long time hurts her a lot, so she needs the company. Plus, taking Rini or Masa away from their mum, Pixie, (or vice versa) could emotionally harm them. I wouldn't dream of doing that.

The solution to wanting company of a pet? Why, that would be Yukimo, of course! Yukimo is my little hamster dream. She's quirky, loving and very gentle. Because I've always handled her delicately, and because I've spent so much time with her, we've bonded at a level I never reached with past hamsters. Yukimo is so precious. She was truly meant to spend her life with me.

So, without further delay, I would like to introduce Yukimo to the Vox community through a video I took of her a few days after I brought her home from Pet World. She had warmed up to me already, but she was as energetic as ever. In case you've missed some past entries of mine that mention Yukimo, she is a dwarf hamster, so she's extra tiny compared to regular-sized hamsters. I'm sorry if the video quality is low, but Vox still hasn't fixed the video-posting problem. >_< There isn't much sound, because I was too focused on keeping Yukimo in front of the camera, but there's a tiny bit near the end. Anyway, Yukimo says, "Hello, Vox friendsies!"

For the last two or three days, I've been busy with making banners for friends, and it's been so much fun. I'm glad that I can help out with making Voxes look pretty for people. If you stumble across this entry of mine, make sure to check out my Banners group, which is located here. So far, over 100 people have joined, and banners are already being contributed to the group. It's wonderful to see so many Voxers coming together to help others. ^^

I'd like to let people know that I am available for helping people put together banners. I really love the idea of combining ideas and creativity with others. I think that will give me a good amount of experience for the future. If you want to see some banners that I've made for people, check out some of these Voxes: Kristin, Noir, and Phillip. Like I've mentioned before, I'm still learning and expanding my skills so expect great amounts of effort (and a little bit of luck) on my part, tee hee.

Other than keeping up with Voxers, I've been trying to keep Yukimo, my dwarf hamster, entertained. She's a feisty little thing, if I haven't mentioned that yet. Yukimo craves attention, and I swear, she strays from the norm when it comes to nocturnal creatures. She lives half of her life awake during the night as well as the day. (I think that waking Yuki up in the middle of the day to play with her when I first got her is probably the reason behind her weird sleeping habits. Oopsie.) I'm usually up until about 3 or 4 a.m., and Yukimo knows this. Even when I'm in another room, far away from her, I can hear thumping. She has learned that when she wants to get out of the cage (or wants attention), she has to make noise. In order to do this, she thrashes her small little body against the ceiling of one of her cage compartments. When I walk into the room, she looks up at me, pauses, and then continues to jump and bang her back on the cage to such an extent that she falls over on her back.

My little Yuki, I will admit, is one of the smartest and craziest little rodents I've ever come to own. (It's extremely difficult capturing her in a photo, for she's always moving. That's why I've deemed her "the photogenic blur." Yuki is a walking contradiction.) I think that's probably the reason I'm so in love with her. I know that a lot of what she does as far as daily habits go are mostly due to instinct for hamsters, but there's something a bit more edgy about the way Yukimo lives. If I were a hamster, I'd try to be as spunky as her.

I've never seen Shawn so affectionate for a pet before. I mean, he has two dogs, three cats, and several birds at his house, but I've never noticed huge doses of love shown towards them as much as he shows towards our sweetie. After a few weeks of having her, he warmed up considerably fast. Shawn would hold her (a big step for him), let her crawl on his arms, and then he would kiss her before he put her back in her cage. I think my heart stopped the first time I ever saw that. I think that's the first time I realized that, no, I don't know everything about Shawn. I think he's going to be a great father someday, hopefully, with me at his side.

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day (it's a bit too commercial for my taste), but candy hearts are so colorful and the ones in our candy drawer at home were screaming for me to take photos of them. I'll go to Walgreens sometime and find some more vibrant candy to photograph soon. They'll be fun subjects for Vox banners.

As you can see from the photo below, I'm pretty pumped. I woke up this morning to a foot of snow and it's not stopping anytime soon. Every single school, including the colleges, in the area is closed. Sure, I have Fridays off anyway, but I still feel that giddy feeling of a snow day. The weather people have been waiting for today to come, along with all the little kids. Kathleen is pumped about her day off. I'm so excited to finally post that, yes, Wisconsin finally had it's big snowfall!

I just came back from trudging out in the snow. As much as I love it, it can be quite... scary. My apartment must be in a bubble or something because it looked like the weather had calmed down outside, yet when I stepped out onto the doorstep, I was greeted with a huge gust of wind and was pelted with snow in my face. That didn't stop me from taking photos though. That's an impossibility. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people were wondering about the crazy girl with a camera, shivering while the snow attacked her. Oh, well. At least I gave people a good show, haha.

Before I go into anymore about snow, I have to introduce a new addition to my family. Shawn and I have been waiting to get a hamster for a few weeks now. We wanted to wait for the right time. Thank goodness we got her when we did, or we'd have to wait even longer because of the cold weather. (It would be cruel to make a rodent travel in such bad weather.) We went to Pet World about three days ago and I picked out the cutest little dwarf hamster ever. We took her home, along with a kickass cage and some food. The total was shocking-- I was expecting it to be over $100, but it actually ended up being only about $50.

We couldn't decide on a name for the longest time. (I hate having pets go without names. I don't feel that we can truly bond if they don't have one.) Finally though, I came up with Yukimo. Yukimo is a combination of yuki, which means "snow" in Japanese, and the mo comes from "eskimo." Since she's all white (notice the addition to my albino obsession), and curls up into a small ball when she sleeps, I knew I just had to attach the word "snow" to her somehow. She's my little Yukiball. I love her so much. I can't believe how small she is! I've been having a very difficult time taking photos of her. Hamsters are always moving when people hold them, so I had to get a quick shot when she was sleeping. I woke her up, but it was totally worth the good photo.

I think the snow theme has been tying together very well: the year's first snowfall and Yukimo. I couldn't ask for more right now. Even though I'm pretty much snowed in (since it's extremely dangerous on the roads right now), I'm having a blast with Yuki and just catching up with friends. I'm pretty satisfied with my blueberry bagel and hot chocolate.