Not Just A Pet

New blog post AW YEAH.   
Today I am actually going to be talking about some sad stuff, so if you hate that, you might as well just click that neat little X on the top right of your screen.
I bet most you have/had pets, right? Pets are more than just money spent on something to take care of. They're a part of you, a part of your family, a part of your life. When you get that new puppy or kitten on Christmas morning, you don't think, "Well this is a nice gift, but I'd prefer a Barbie doll.", do you? No. Well, I at least hope you don't. You think, "Oh my god, this is amazing! We are going to be best friends.". And you do. You do become best friends.

 When I was only about a year old, my parents went to a farm in the middle of Illinois to get a dog. They picked out a small, wimpy-looking Shetland Sheepdog. Although I don't have any memories of this, I remember my sisters telling me that they couldn't be happier that there was a new furry member of the family. They named the nervous puppy Calvin, named after the famous character from Bill Waterson's "Calvin and Hobbes".

I guess you could say Calvin was the runt of the pack. He was always cowardly and timid. However, you knew that he was still a Sheltie by heart because of his urge to herd. While he wasn't exactly an animal herder, he preferred to herd us instead. He had to make sure that everyone in the family was indoors at all times, and completely safe. If you went somewhere else, he would follow you. If you went outside, he would bark like mad. But he wasn't just a herder. He was also a friend.

Calvin and I grew up together. As I got older, so did he. He was there as I first learned how to ride a bike. We partook in many games together(which usually consisted of me running around in the backyard and him chasing me), napped together, and we even potty trained together. He watched me go to school for the first time. He comforted me when I was sad. He groomed me when I didn't want to be groomed. He gave me warmth. He gave me love.

Calvin, Catie(my sister) and I on Christmas in 1999

On April 28, 2011, Calvin passed away just before his 13th birthday. I remember my dad taking him to the vet because he wasn't doing so good. We all worried constantly. We tried to get him to eat. At first it seemed like he was getting better, but constant trips to the vet and throwing up said otherwise. I went to school with little sleep, due to the fact I stayed up all night just wondering what was going to happen with my best friend. I remember our softball game had just ended and I called my dad to ask him how Calvin was doing. He told me that he would tell me when I got home. When I arrived at our house, my parents' sad faces was all I needed to see. We just had to accept the fact that Calvin's time in our world was almost up. My dad brought Calvin home from the vet so we could spend one last night with him. I spent most of the night hugging him and crying into his fur while I told him how much I loved him. The next morning came and I went downstairs. My dad hadn't left for work yet and my mom hadn't either. It was a quiet morning. We all took turns hugging Calvin and crying. My mom started crying, and so did my dad. I had to walk into another room, because I can't stand to see my parents cry. I cried some more and then sucked it up. It was time to go. I gave Calvin one last hug and kiss and went to school. The rest of the day consisted of me trying to be happy and not cry at school, but as soon as I got home and didn't see Calvin, I ran upstairs and cried.

 Although it was sad that he died, Calvin's life was wonderful. He wasn't considered the most adventurous dog ever, but to me he was the best dog and friend I ever had. He will be missed.

Old Calvin in the Vet's office on his last day.

The Future of Art

Everyone has at least some sort of idea of what they want to be when they grow up. When you were little, people have asked you "What do you want to be when you grow up?". You say something like, "I wanna be an astronaut!", or, "fireman!". But as you grow older, you start to think more about your future. Your answers slowly start to morph, from fireman, to police officer, to pilot, to Orthodontist. You start to think about how you will make your dream come true.
People have asked me, "What do you want to be when you get older, Anna?". I've had many difficult decisions on that question. I've wanted to be anything from a policeman to starting my own jewelry shop. Now that I'm in high school, I have at least somewhat of a definite answer. I want to be some sort of artist. I know that it is actually pretty hard to make a living as an artist, as artists don't make much money. I've liked drawing ever since I was a little girl. The picture on the bottom is an obvious example of my artistic ability.

I've improved greatly over the years, too. I am trying to expand my art into more than just drawing cute little wolves. I'm working on drawing humans, but they are difficult.
When I get older, I want to work at someplace big like Cartoon Network or Dreamworks to animate. I'm not very advanced in my animation at the moment, I really need to work on it some more. You can visit my YouTube channel here to check out some of my animations so far. After high school, I want to go to a college called Full Sail University. You probably haven't heard of it before.
Anyways, I hope to someday achieve my dream of being an animator or artist of some sort. If I had to give any advice to other artists out there, my only advice is this: practice. They say that practice makes perfect, and it does. I started to REALLY draw around 5th grade or so, and I really sucked. I was sad, because I didn't think I would ever be a good drawer. I gave up for a while, but then started up again in the 7th grade. I still sucked, but for some reason, I kept drawing. I looked at other people's drawings, especially on this website called DeviantART. I studied other drawings hard, I did many tutorials of how to draw digitally(because it was in 7th grade that I got my tablet), and it was frustrating as hell. When I got to 8th grade, I started to notice how my drawing style was beginning to get better. I kept on drawing daily, and now here I am today. I still need a lot of work, but I won't let that stop me.
 Everyone is artistic in some way. Whether it is Katie Caskey's singing, or Bailey Koller Schmidt's dancing, or acting, it is all art. It is all frustrating, and all of it takes practice. But if you push yourself to become what you want to be, you can succeed.

Sooo, that concludes my post :D