Bella Pop Photography | Brandy and Brandon Frank

in our fridge.

Oh My Gosh.  Brandon cracks me up!!  I’ll share more when I can.  For now… there’s a major crisis over the butter and yogurt.  For real.

Hey there!!  We’re tuning in with another “Bella Pop Nighttime” post… with the return of Tales From the iPhone.  Yeah yeah, it’s been a while since I posted an iPhone post and I *just* uploaded a batch of pictures from my iPhone.  It cracks me up to see all the pictures I’ve hoarded on my iPhone over the past few months.  I often post random pictures on Facebook but every now and then I’ll come on here and share my favorites.  Well today’s post is a little different.  This is the “other people” edition.  AKA, iPhones or not-so iPhones and the crazy pictures other people text me!

Oh man.  I love getting text messages from our Bella Pop peeps.  They always make me smile!

Food!! LOL people are always sending me pictures of food.  I wonder why!!  :)

Sprinkle doughnuts… frozen yogurt and the quintessential small town treat:  DAIRY QUEEN!

If it’s not food, then it might be crafty.  I get a lot of crafty pics too.  Our awesome bride Liz sent us this shoe paint picture after our custom Chucks/Toms post.

Now I’m really feeling the love:  Bella Pop bride Mylynka dyes her petticoat HOT PINK,  a random Halloween mask and cookies!!

And last but NOT least.  Halloween!!  It’s too funny when our peeps see Halloween in the stores and they think of us.  ;)  you guys rock!! xoxo Brandy and Brandon

Alright, I’m gonna be brave and finally reveal exactly how many cats we have.  Here’s hoping this is the last “Bella Pop Nighttime” post this week!!  Are you ready?

So one day my dad comes up to me and asks, “do you have any of that special baby kitty food?”  Ah yes, remember this is coming from the man who never let me have animals in the house as a kid. As it turned out there was a mama cat in the woods with three little babies and he thought they should be fed special food.  My dad.  For goodness sake, wanted me to buy special baby kitty food.  And so the story goes, we put out food and water and talked to these cats.  If you tried to get close, poof, kitties gone.

But eventually, we knew that we would have to trap these cats and get them fixed.  On account that we didn’t want to start a baby kitty fest in the woods.  And so eventually we trapped the cats, one by one and mama cat too.  The babies stayed in the “bathroom” after their vet visit but mama cat totally freaked out and we let her go.  And that’s how we ended up with so many cats:  because at some point everyone fell in love with those baby kitties.  Oh and FYI, I had a heck of a time getting pictures of Callie and Marla because yeah, they don’t dig it.  That big fancy camera freaks them out!

6.  Callie

• Nicknames:  Coco, Callico, ColecoVision, Calcutta, Coho, the one who must be fed, the little begger, Cal, Colonial
• Favorite activities:  skiittzing out, getting lost, begging for food, staring at you for more food, loving on Brandon, sleeping on the job @ Bella Pop, farting when nervous
• Usual locations:  at bedtime… right between Brandy and Brandon, under the couch, behind the couch, inside the couch, under the chair, in the window, her “cubicle” @ the Bella Pop office
• FYI:  Callie cat is our timid, super freaked out kitty who’s fur happens to feel like velvet.  She has the tiniest meow and a practically inaudible purr.  And yet she’s super sweet and absolutely head over heels in love with Brandon.  He is, without a doubt, *her* human.  Twice Callie went missing because of skittzing out, and it was amazing we found (and acquired her) both times.  This cat needs a GPS collar, ya’know, just in case.

7.  Marla

• Nicknames:  Mertz, Myrtle the Turtle, Mertzie Kitty, MerMer, Moigles, Mertztropolis,  Big Juicy
• Favorite activities:  lounging, sleeping, sitting on her Pop’s chair, walking around meowing loudly in an empty house, carrying around Nippy (mouse toy) and dropping him in the water, hiding in the Harry Potter room, cuddling with Callie, hissing when scared
• Usual locations:  the window, the foot of the recliner, the Harry Potter room aka the closet under the stairs, the food bowl
• FYI:  When we first spotted Marla, my dad pointed to this orange kitten and said, “that yellow kitty sure is pretty” seriously, I don’t kid!  But really, Marla (who we named after Marla Singer from Fight Club) indeed is a pretty kitty.  She’s extra fluffy as most orange tabbies are and appreciates a tasty snack from time to time.  The weirdest thing is when she walks around a (seemingly) empty house with her Nippy toy in her mouth, meowing woefully.  Because apparently she doesn’t like to be alone.

8.  Grayson

• Nicknames:  GrayGray, Sir Grayson, Gray Baby, Dennis the Menance, Gray Gator, Mini Jules
• Favorite activities:  running amuck with Quinton, chasing bugs, harassing birds, tormenting Lilla Cat, acting like a baby, meowing when spoken to
• Usual locations:  outside, the back room at night, inside on occasion when separated from Lilla
• FYI:  GrayGray is quite the baby (or so they say.)  He likes to meow as if saying “yes” when you talk to him.  There’s always a mouse to be caught or a dirt pile to roll in.  But he’s most notorious for wanting to play too much.  In fact, he never knew when to stop and chased Lilla out of the litter box on numerous occasions.  This caused issues… so for the most part Gray Baby spends his days outside.

9. Brownie

• Nicknames:  Mama Cat
• Favorite activities:  hiding in the woods, stayin’ alive, eating food put out by nice people
• Usual locations:  the edge of the woods, the feeder in the yard and just recently, the front porch
• FYI:  At first, I wondered if we should count Mama Cat, who my dad decided to name Brownie a while back.  But considering that we worry about her when we haven’t seen her in a few days, that we feed her and give her water, or would take her to the vet if she was badly hurt (and we could catch her) I guess you could say we claim this cat.  Not that anyone has ever touched her, but she likes to sit and listen when Brandon sits outside to play guitar.  She comes up to our voices when are playing outside with the other animals, but keeping a distance.  And now she’s come up to the porch and actually sleeps.  Piper is smitten with her because she *almost* looks just like Portia.  And to Piper, it’s the love of his life, who lets him sit close.  And of course, this is the one and ONLY photo of Brownie.  Snapped just seconds before she realized I was taking her picture.  Because after that, she bolted.

So ladies and gentlemen,  that’s the answer to the cat mystery:  9 cats (and trust me, that’s more than enough!)  1 pretty much wild, 2 exclusive outside kitties, 3 mostly outside, 2 inside kitties and 1 spoiled rotten evil kitty (that would be mine.)  Oh, and a Laaab-raaaa-doooor in a pear tree…   ;)

More tales of tails… it took all day to capture these boogers on camera because The Black Mamba and Snow Ninja were both being uncooperative and persnickety today.  Well, the HOW MANY CATS mystery continues!

4.  Lilla

• Nicknames:  Lilla cat, Lillers, Lilly, Lillyloo, The Black Mamba, The Kraken, Kitten of the Underworld,  mama’s little Princess (even if she is sorta kinda evil)
• Favorite activities:  sleeping in her basket, defending the basket, stalking and terrorizing humans in the stairway, running amuck on the roof, refusing to get off the roof, skittzing out, cuddling with Brandy, biting the crap out of Sandy, assisting in making the bed, unmaking the bed, giving Brandy a “kitty” massage, posing with pumpkins at Halloween, paper shredding and distribution at Bella Pop.
• Usual locations:  the basket of doom, Brandy’s pillow, in the window, the litter box, sneaking in the scrap room, the Bella Pop office
• FYI:  The day baby Lilla appeared, my mom woke me up by pushing the tiniest black kitten into my face.  She looked frazzled and said, “what do we do??? Your dad found her.”  Brandon was at work at his “real job” and here was this sad sickly kitten, who was found living in a culvert by my dad’s shop alone with another kitten who had already died.  She was on the verge of death, severely dehydrated and almost starving.  When Brandon came home, he looked into the bathroom where I put her after a trip to the vet and said, “where did *that* come from??”  And so goes the story of kitties from the country.

5.  Quinton “Tarantino”

• Nicknames:  ’lil man, ‘lil dude, Snow Ninja, Polar Kitty, the White Ninja, Quintopolis, Quinty Cat, Quincie, Indiana
• Favorite activities:  chasing bugs, tormenting squirrels, stalking birds, eating weird green things and throwing them up, bringing home his latest kill, rough housing with Brandon, biting Brandon’s feet, biting Brandy’s big toe, batting Brandon’s spiky hair, eating popcorn, climbing trees, chasing off rogue country cats.
• Usual locations:  as close to the bird feeder as possible, near the hummingbird feeder, 30 feet up in a tree, on the roof, following around his humans, a comfy spot, near the popcorn bowl, sleeping at Brandon’s feet.
• FYI:  Quinton arrived not long after Lilla.  He was camped out at my Grandpa’s (who had gone out of town for a while) and was stuck on the roof.  He sure was a pretty white and grey kitten and meowing quite loudly.  When we finally got him off the roof, we realized he was flea bitten, scrawny and oh so pathetic.  So I brought him home.  Once again Brandon went into the bathroom (aka the new kitten containment unit) and he was all, “where did THAT one come from?”  Quinton sleeps inside at night but explores outside all day in true Indiana Jones fashion.

Oh man, that’s 5.  So far!

True to our word, we’re gonna reveal the mystery cat number.  Yes, we’ve got cats.  Plenty.

Before we begin, let’s just throw this out there:  Brandon’s a dog person who married a cat person.  Six years of marriage, three apartments and our first home later:  we moved back to the country in Weatherford where I grew up . Then it became cat bonanza.  So… this week we’re giving up the 411 on the MEOWS.   Ava pup (our lone, extra fluffy, chocolate Labrador) just wonders why. oh why do you make me live with all these cats!?

1.  Jules Verne

• Nicknames:  JuJus, Mr. Jules, Ol’ Kitty, Julzer
• Favorite activities:  sleeping, napping, sleeping, pulling out his hair, sleeping, going bat crazy and attacking the other cats, hanging out at the BBQ for a meat snack, sleeping.
• Usual locations:  the woods, the back room at night, the BBQ grill, the boat.
• FYI:  I’ve had this cat since I was a sophomore in HIGH SCHOOL.  I saved him as a baby when he was about to become some dog’s lunch.  At night I would sneak him into my room to sleep (no animals allowed.)  Eventually I left home and Jules had to stay behind because he loved the outdoors.  If he’s missing, all we have to do is fire up the grill.  He’ll camp out while you’re cooking the entire time and yes, he has to have a meaty snack.  If you deny him this momentous treat, he will be truly disgusted.

2 .  Portia

• Nicknames:  POR-cha, P-kitty, P-kittles, Evil Kitty
• Favorite activities:  rolling in the dirt, climbing into trucks, going for truck rides, canoeing, camping, giving Brandy the stink eye, hissing at every cat she sees, attacking the vet, getting spoiled by her Pops.
• Usual locations:  the shop, my dad’s empty parking spot, the woods, the camper and her private suite (aka my parent’s bedroom.)
• FYI:  Portia was our first fur baby together.  I missed Jules terribly, so Brandon cheerfully took me to adopt a kitty that would learn to love apartment life.  As it turned out Portia hated our apartment.  She loved to annihilate toilet paper rolls to total paper oblivion, she would steal things out of cabinets and pretty much lived a life of total destruction:  including chewing up an expensive pair of Abercrombie flip flops.  Her adventures include jumping off our second story balcony and making a beeline to the parking lot, attacking the SBC phone guy while he installed our phone and nearly flying out our 3rd story window during a moment of daring play.  She ended up moving to the country, which soon began her love affair with my dad.  Yes, the man who didn’t allow animals in the house. He sings to her daily, gives her a bath nightly before “tucking her in” his room and gives her fresh cold water.   This cat is SERIOUSLY spoiled.

Awww doesn’t she look sweet?  Trust me, she’s evil.

3.  Piper

• Nicknames:  Pip,  Mr. Pip, Pipper, Pippy Poo,  Mr. Pisser, Bad Kitty
• Favorite activities:  daydreaming about Portia, harboring crushes on well endowed red haired ladies, pining away for Portia, chirping at birds, having conversations with his humans, giving every cat the stink eye  and pissing on things.  Yay.
• Usual locations:  the front yard, the back yard, the woods, near things to pee on, the back room at night.
• FYI:  Portia needed a friend.  So we adopted Piper.  When we went to pick out another kitty, I pointed to the kitty that was climbing the wall.  Brandon (knowing better at this point) suggested we get the lazy one in the corner.  So we got the lazy one and named him Piper.  Piper is the sweetest cat.  He wouldn’t hurt a fly and likewise, it became known that Piper would not defend himself.  He LOVES Portia to no end.  But Portia, being evil, had other plans.  She loved to hold him down and well, bite him in special places.  Nowadays, Piper is extra cranky and hates all of the cats (well, except Portia.)  He started marking his territory which of course is a big no no inside.  So now Piper lives exclusively outside, where he can pee his cares away.  0_0

Well, that’s 3 so far.  Stay tuned!