Rooted & Rising by Kristin Stauss

 My sister-in-law wrote this beautiful, guided journal!  While it's geared towards educators, I found it to be so thoughtful and relevant.  This summer would be a great time to go through this to get yourself focused, refreshed, and ready to boldly start a new year.  You can purchase this from Amazon at https://a.co/d/08itvETY.  ❤

Elendil was being quite difficult for these pictures.  He was not interested in staying with the book and instead wanted to bury himself in the blanket.  He's a silly boy.

Beorn was being pretty good, especially considering that these are from his first photoshoot.  Although, he did try to take a bite out of the book.  😅  Poor little guy doesn't know what a book is.  Haha!

IEN badges

As you may know, Joe has been volunteering as the Executive Director of Indiana Esports Network for the past 4 years.  Under his leadership, IEN has grown immensely in the number of middle and high schools that compete with IEN and in a variety of new partnerships and events (such as the event with the Pacers in March).  However, running IEN has been like a part-time job.  So in February, Joe decided to step down at the beginning of May.  April 25 was the 2026 State Finals at The Riverview Health Arena in Noblesville.  This was unlike any other IEN state finals and while it was so much work for Joe to pull it off, it was awesome!  I hope to post pictures soon.  In the meantime, I'm adjusting to Joe having sooo much more free time than he used to.  It's been really nice being able to spend more time together!

I was happy to see that Elendil liked his treat enough to actually stop and nibble on it.  He oftentimes isn't interested in any food outside of his cage.  He's so cute though when he eats!

I'm still learning what Beorn's personality is, but so far, he's been just a sweet, curious boy.  I feel pretty spoiled with how nice and tame he already is.  I love him so much already!

Meet Beorn!

 After Míriel passed away, I stared at the empty aquarium for weeks while I daily checked online for a Syrian to adopt as that is my preference.  I couldn't find any Syrian hamsters within a 100 miles on Petfinder, and eventually I decided that I couldn't look at the empty cage any longer.  So on a Saturday morning, Joe and I went to Petsmart, and I fell in love with a boy they named Moo.  We bought him and then made a quick stop to pick up our breakfast order.  For most of the drive home, this little guy was rummaging around.  When we got home and he got to go into his new home, he stayed up for hours running on his new wheel, only taking short breaks to explore a bit.  Eventually he tired himself out and went to bed.  He was already tame when I brought him home and has been such a joy to have!  

Pretty quickly, Joe and I settled on the name Beorn.  It was on the top of my list for boy names, but I hadn't used it before because I thought it sounded too close to Beren, or Border collie we had years ago.  Beorn is, of course, a character from Tolkien's works, who you meet specifically in The Hobbit.  He was a great warrior who had the ability to change into a great black bear.  He was a lover of animals, and gave hospitality to Gandalf, Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the Dwarves on their quest to go to the Lonely Mountain.  Beorn is an Old English word, which originally meant "bear" but also "warrior", "hero", and "man of valour".  I thought Beorn was the perfect name for this little, mostly black, teddy bear.  :)  Having this precious hamster has been such a blessing to me!

RIP Olórin

Yesterday I found Olórin curled up in his nest in his forever sleep.  He seemed so old last week as he slowly meandered around while I cleaned his aquarium.  He sometimes would squeak at me while I cleaned to tell me how annoyed he was to be disturbed, but he was very kind and never bit me.  I noticed before I went in to clean yesterday that he hadn't touched his food, so I suspected his time had come.  He looked so incredible peaceful.  💙

I adopted Olórin from The Pipsqueakery in August of last year.  I met a Pipsqueakery volunteer who lives in Indy who went there to pick a hamster out for me so I wouldn't have to drive as far.  It was fun getting a mystery hamster!  I was told when I got him that he was already around a year old and from the beginning I could tell he was likely past the prime of his life.  He was such a quiet ham who didn't like to be seen.  Since I didn't see him much, I didn't interact with him much, so I never got to bond with him the way I have with my previous hamsters.  He tolerated me getting him out for pictures because I provided treats, but he seemed to prefer to just be left alone.  The first two pictures were taken shortly after I brought him home.  The rest were taken just three weeks ago.  I'm used to having hamsters for much longer than 6 months and while I hoped for more time with him, he was already older when I got him so I tried to spoil him from the beginning.  Despite the fact that he was a grumpy old ham, he was always so sweet to me and I will miss him. 💙

Cat Bed

I'm already missing the warmth and sunshine we had yesterday.  But I'm trying to use the gloom today to motivate me to just focus on my to do list and get a lot of things marked off.  I'll admit I'm getting distracted by the birds outside.  They are trying to eat from our window feeder while Arien crouches on the desk next to me waiting for them to land so she can pop up and pounce against the window, making them fly away.  No amount of scolding Arien seems to make a difference.

Glorfindel is doing well and is such a precious little guy!  I often catch him awake in the mornings when I get up.  He's also occasionally awake before I go to bed.  It's been so nice seeing him more and more.  He definitely knows that I am the giver of treats and stands on his hind legs to reach as far up the sides of the aquarium as he can when he hears me.  It's utterly adorable.  💗

Olórin is my ghost ham.  I don't know exactly how old he is, and my estimate is that he's actually about the same age as Glorfindel which is about 1 year and 5 months old.  However, while Glorfindel doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, on the rare times that I do see Olórin, he's acting more and more like an old guy just puttering around.  I don't know if he's actually much older than Glorfindel or if his genetics are just way worse.  I suspect that Olórin won't have a long lifespan like I've had with most of my other hams.  But he is getting spoiled.  And even if he doesn't recognize that I'm the one spoiling him, I still love him.  😊

 

Shoe Rack

Last year we got a shoe rack to sit in the corner by our garage door (which is where we normally go in and out of our house).  I am always happy to find a way to be a bit more organized, but I truly didn't expect to love it as much as I do.  It's so perfect!  One shelf is for Joe and one shelf is for me.  I have a big peace lily on top which despite the crispy tip you can see in these pictures is actually quite a happy plant that blooms regularly.  😊

I love how silky and shinny Glorfindel's hair is!  He is such a pretty boy.  💗

Olórin is quite reclusive, but such a sweet guy.  I still wish I saw him more often, but I know he's content so I try not to bother him too much.

 

Santa's coming to town!

Today is my annual baking day with my mom.  There's lots to do to finish preparing for Christmas.  I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and is able to focus on the reason for celebrating.  💗

It's been a while since I have dressed up the hams.  I got out my Santa outfit for them and let them explore our Christmas village.  Glorfindel tried to eat the cow which is just rude.  But he looked so very cute with the hat on that I didn't even care!

Olórin was very interested in seeing the whole Christmas village.  I was unable to keep the hat on his head.  Maybe next year I'll add straps to it so it can stay on better.