@casa_chicoma is OFFICIALLY open for business!! Michele and I are excited to announce the opening of our AirBnB retreat in Santa Fe New Mexico! Much like the city of Santa Fe, our place is quite unique. We inherited from the previous owner her 30+ years of work. Through composting and her reforestation efforts, she turned the barren desert land into an amazing oasis of green! The property includes: * 120-tree micro forest (full of fruit, nut and shade trees) * natural cold plunge swimming hole * 1,200 sq/ft greenhouse with mature olive trees and grapevines * geodesic dome “fig house” * three “casitas" - our guest units * A completely restored vintage trailer from 1948 * And there's a three-mile hiking trail behind the property! We're just 12 minutes from the Santa Fe Plaza and super close to all of the amazing food this wonderful city has to offer. And! We want all of you to come to stay with us! :) If you're coming from Austin, the days are sunny and the nights are cool. It's a perfect escape from the Texas heat and we're just a 10hr drive away. We appreciate any support in getting this dream off the ground and we hope to host you soon! :) -Alex & Michele + dogs Link in Bio for Website & Booking info

Right now the internet is brimming with resources to help us better understand the issues in our society. If you’re like me, wanting to help but not sure how, just listen. And when something makes sense, when you find a resource that helps describe the way you feel, share it! Maybe it will help someone else. 🙏 ___ “In a world that’s so bad, Its not hard to feel good. You do have you have to, Not as much as you could. Just because you’re not wrong, Doesn’t mean that your right!” -@builttospill

#blackouttuesday

Waffling and indecision, that’s why our camper now has a deck. In December, @m.cheka and I did something that will no doubt change the trajectory of our lives forever:  We purchased a desert oasis, with a group of earth-friendly guest casitas scattered throughout. A while back, I made a post about our dream to one day own a BnB dog sanctuary.  While this property isn’t quite that (yet!), it is a big step in the right direction.  For us, the past few months have been filled with excitement, anxiousness, and reservation. Our big announcement had to be put on hold, and I’m still not sure that we're quite ready, but we’re excited to begin hosting when the time is right. This “down-time” has allowed us to learn about our new property and begin to craft our future here. As some of you may know, my little camper was my home for an eight-month nationwide dog photo project. When I returned to Austin, I went back and forth about selling it, but every time I’d clean it up for photos I’d fall back in love with it. Thanks to my indecision, it will soon become the fifth AirBnB unit on the property. We finished the deck a few weeks ago, the next project is an outdoor shower and composting toilet. We’re eager and excited to tell you more about the property, so expect that soon! And if you plan to come to Santa Fe, we’d love to host you.

It’s a dirty job, being a dog photographer, but I can’t imagine a life doing anything else. My favorite moment in my profession is one that is highly predictable, and when I’m photographing a puppy, it happens without fail. It’s this shot, where I’m on my stomach, photographing a goofy puppy while it’s running right at my camera. Unlike a mature dog, the puppy doesn’t stop. And when it gets to my face there’s a magnificent celebration of licks and tail wags taking place in the small area between my chin and the ground. It’s in this moment that I know my passion has been rewarded, and I can feel the happiness in my soul. 🤗 ___ Thanks to @krackenberger for capturing this wonderful moment 🙏

A big stone, three sticks and a few twigs are what it took to make the “tripod” for this photo. . This is our family (minus one @zevagramz, who will soon rejoin the pack). We’re animal lovers, adventurers and dreamers. And we dream of the day when we can have the land and the location for our BnB dog sanctuary, a place where you are all welcome to come and visit. . Michele will make you an amazingly delicious, hearty breakfast and I’ll take a picture of your dog. By this time our pack will have increased by 6 (at least) and the only way you’re making it on the property is if you present old man Sid with a biscuit. . In the ever-changing landscape of life, our minds are on the goal, the future, the dream. And now that I’ve made this post, there’s accountability. 🤗 . Thanks for following along on our journey. Hopefully you’ll be sipping coffee in our breakfast nook someday soon. ✌️

Baby boi Sid is turning 10(!!) in October. . With age, he’s been achy and his eyesight is deteriorating. Making the decision to bring him on hikes is often not as easy as of a decision as I wish that it were. . Little Sid loves to hike and he’s so good at staying on the trail and sticking with us. He seems to have no trouble whatsoever when it comes to climbing the mountain, or stopping for a periodic regal pose (photos for proof). . It’s the coming down that’s the issue. It’s hard on his little legs and hard on his worn-out elbow joints. . But Sid’s love for the hike and his sensational poses are what will keep him coming with. And my love for the Sidster will be the reason my pack is 30lbs heavier coming down. 🥰

They say the more facial expressions a dog has, the more domesticated they are. . I’m sure that if you traced Sid’s lineage back, you’d find generations of dogs who were pioneers in human manipulation. . He gets me Every. Single. Time.

Name a cuter dog sidecar dog, I’ll wait.

One thing I notice when posing my pack, is their obvious desire to be doing something else. @zilkerbark