I'm sure you've heard about it by now but for the past few weeks, the Johnny Depp trial against Amber Heard has been unfolding and it has really shed light on how men can experience domestic violence too in an intimate relationship. I am not familiar with such abuse myself, but I am familiar with being manipulated to a degree that caused me a great deal of stress. As the trial unfolds, I've spent hours watching it live on YouTube and found so many red flags that were hard to deny.
It's crazy how even Johnny Depp's trial against Amber Heard has polarized people. I have heard from many victims of some form of abuse how portrayed they feel to see someone of Amber Heard's status make such allegations because they see through her claims as being false with underlying intentions. Then there are those who tip toe around the psychology or facts altogether and take everything as face value. Regardless, it's always important to face the facts, not your own bias.
I personally believe both Jonny and Amber have their troubled pasts and naturally this bled into their relationship together. From my own experiences and knowledge, I side with Johnny just because of the alarming amount evidence and testimonies that has been provided to prove that he was a victim of domestic violence and Amber was the abuser; the audios of her admitting to such abuse are a prime example! There is still much of the trial left for it to come to a final decision, but either way, this trail will prove to many how serious domestic violence is, both to men and women, and we shouldn't take the matter lightly.
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A portrait of Bella |
As you all may have seen from either blog posts on here or from my vlogs on YouTube, I walk a dog named Bella. I've only known her for less than a year, and it was only a few days ago that I recieved a message from her owner that she passed away. It broke my heart because I had seen her only a day before that message, and I remember Bella being perky and fully of life.
My sadness hit me hard and naturally when ever this happens, I turn to art. Art has always been a therapy for me, a way to escape really, so I decided to draw a portrait of Bella. I've never drawn a dog portrait before, but I found myself tuning into Bella's kind soul and within 3 hours the portrait was done. I cried a little, thought about my own two piggies even and how they were getting older, and it all left me pretty emotional.
For my first dog portrait, I was really impressed with Bella's. I like to believe she was helping me draw because whenever I use to keep her company while her owners were out of town, I'd sit in the kitchen and draw while she napped near me. I enjoyed her company and she enjoyed mine and I could easily relate to her energy. I've never had a dog of my own before, but I would love to have a dog like Bella; loving, playful, youthful, and loyal. I've printed her portrait out and bought an envelope so that when I see her owners, I can give her the portrait and I know she will love it.
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Fan art for State of Decay 2 |
With all of the art that I have been creating lately, I must have hit a art bug, because I found myself sketching a bit more. I have been playing a lot of State of Decay 2 and since it has become one of my favorite games to play now, I decided to make some fan art. I drew an original character, looking tired and worn out, who was completely decked out with weapons - ready for anything.
Near her, I decided to draw all of the enemies found in the game itself; ferral, juggernaut, zeds, screamer, and a bloater. I wasn't going to draw anything else because I wanted the focus to be on those two, but I really wanted to create a scene, so I decided to draw a background. I'm happy I did too because it fits really well with everything. I draw little shops in the background with a mountain in view and I think it really captured what I had envisioned.
The best part about this little sketch is that it made me realize how fun just sketching was. I don't have to worry about coloring or any of that - I can just sketch and still have fun. There is something so relaxing about sketching and the line work that makes a drawing look so put together. It's also a lot harder too though because you have to be mindful of shadows and depth so as I practice, hopefully I will get better.
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Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's in the world |
Mothers day also passed which took me by surprised. I have been so involved in recording videos for YouTube or the shock from Bella passing, or just about anything, that I completely forgot about Mother's Day. I only remembers when Dimitar came up with a bouquet of flowers to put near my mom's photo which made me tear up; he also gave me a bright pink rose too since I was a mama of two fat piggies. I ended up putting it with my mom's flowers which really went well together.
I spent that day thinking of my mom a lot. As you all know, she passed away two years ago and while the pain isn't as intense anymore, the absence of her will always bother me. I spent time being grateful for her love, for her looking over me and caring for the family, and wishing her happiness and joy. If it weren't for my own mother, I wouldn't be here today to do what I love, and for that I am eternally grateful.
So to all the mother's in the world, Happy Mother's Day. Thank you for your support, the immense love you give, the sacrifices you endure, the strength you radiate because it's this strength that balances the world and makes it a better place. The world really is a better place because of mothers. So thank you.
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Snickers recovered from a cold |
I haven't written about it, but Snickers fell sick some weeks ago. He had signs of a cold; runny nose, not eating much or popping, very weak and slept a lot. His brother also got sick but wasn't as bad as Snickers. So, as I do when one of them catches a cold, I pamper them.
Every morning, I would give Snickers a full tube of Critter Care - which is grounded up hay and other minerals - that one can use for tube feed animals that are sick or recovering. I Normally tube fed Snickers 2x a day, morning and night, and gave him doses of Vitamin C 3x a day. I also gave Twix extra Vitamin C too since he was showing mild symptoms.
I did this for about 4 days and by the 5th day, Snickers improved greatly so much. Twix also improved too! Snickers was eating fresh greens much faster, he started fighting with more whenever I tube fed him which was what he normally did when ever I tried to hold him. He also started moving around the cage more too with his brother who really missed interacting with him. I learned my lesson though which was to never skimp out of Vitamin C. Since I had been stressed out from so much happening lately, I forgot the most fundamental thing to give to my piggies - never again!
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Aldi's Keto Clusters - AMAZING |
On days where I go grocery shopping, it always fills me with joy. Going from an empty fridge to a fully stocked one - it's the best. As it turns out too, Aldi's had new items for sale and I discovered an amazing keto product that I encourage everyone to try. It's called Keto Coconut Clusters with dark chocolate and OMG are they insanely good. They're so good that Dimitar loved them even - and he hates dark chocolate!
One ounce of these clusters comes with 9grams of carbs or 4g of net carbs if you count that; even this is still good! The chocolate used in these clusters is 82% dark chocolate but you can hardly even tell because of the taste of the coconut flakes and salted seeds inside. I am not a fan of coconut, but these clusters really made my heart fill with joy. Dimitar and I have already ate most of them and plan on going back to Aldi's just to buy more.
Because of how simple the ingredients are too, I'm sure I could even make these at home. I just need dark chocolate, coconut flakes, pumpkins seeds, sunflower seeds, keto friendly sugar, coconut oil or butter, and then some quinoa. I'll definitely try to make these though because they really are amazing and I'm really happy Aldi's is selling them! It's definitely one of my new favorites!
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Keto friendly snack |
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So delicious! |
Well, this competes what I have been up to lately. I hope you're enjoy yourself, and the weather too if you're on the east coast. I am hoping to have a vlog up soon so stay tuned for that on my YouTube channel!
Until next time! xoxo - Sarah