ugh, editing and uploading problems!

It's been crazy here lately. I filmed my first *true* video for my channel today of me talking. It's basically me talking about whether a pet rat is the right pet for you. I was SO nervous filming - when I went back to edit, I feel like I looked like a blubbering idiot! Thank God I was able to edit a lot of stuff out ...lol. Hopefully I'll be able to get more comfortable in front of the camera as I go along..it was a rought first time filming..lol. Then I had SOOO much trouble editing the video and getting it to upload! I spent over an hour filming on Saturday (was waiting for my boyfriend to get there to help me film) afternoon, then figured I'd have the evening to edit the video and have it up by Saturday night at the latest..well that went out the window real fast! I ended up editing about 3/4ths of the video and over half of the files became corrupted..so I spent 3 hours editing for basically nothing! So I started over and edited each section (I shot the video in sections) separately and then decided I would put them together in one large file at the end. So I go to the 4th section (out of 5) and finished editing it..and it became corrupted..at that point I was getting incredibly frustrated. so I ended up having to save the unedited file and then edit the saved version...was crazy. So I got to the 5th section and edited it, and those files were corrupted too! So I tried saving the unedited version for that section and then editing that...it didn't work. By that time it was almost 2 a.m. and I had lost my patience so I gave it up for the night. So this morning I got up and started working on it, and thank god the first edit worked! So then I strung all the sections together and saved the file- and it wouldn't save! So then I tried renaming it and saving it again and it worked (which took like over an hour!). Then came uploading..I began the upload and it reached 96% and it failed! I was so close to giving up..I just didn't know what else to do! But I decided I'd give it one more time so I uploaded again and left to go to the grocery store. When I came back it FINALLY uploaded!!! It was a ridiculous amount of work! But here's the finished product:

This evening I got lots of video for tomorrows video (Monday Movie Madness!). I was able to edit it with no problems, I'm currently waiting for it to upload..hopefully I'll have no issues with it uploading! I'm also planning Quick Tip Tuesday's video..which will probably be filmed tomorrow. I'm now going to be heading to bed shortly. I had a late night last night and its already 2 a.m.! I need my beauty sleep ;) lol. 

All is finally quiet in the rat cage..had to break up a few wrestling matches that were getting out of hand (nothing new there though! Pixie is such a little beast!). I'm thinking I may have to have Sandy put to sleep soon though..her tumor is getting so incredibly large. I'm going to be doing a video soon on her updating condition. It's just not looking good. I've been dreading this after having Sweetie put to sleep at the end of last month. I knew it was only a matter of time for her- but it doesn't make it any easier :'( . She's still so full of life, but I know I have to do what's best for her. Anyway, that is all for tonight. Hope you're all enjoying the new content as it comes up!

Daily Boggles:

• I've been having a lot of issues with my insomnia lately, even my normal meds aren't really helping. Maybe I should try meditating again..hmm.
• I've been watching this T.V. show on Netflix called Man, Woman, Wild...its crazy its a husband and wife team (I believe he's the same guy from Man vs. Wild) who go out into crazy locations and try and survive. It's crazy to watch, but maybe I'll learn some life saving information if I ever get stuck in a crazy situation!
• I checked out my local pet store today, it's a little family owned place that do REALLY great with their pets. They had Degu's there...I've never seen one before, but they're pretty darned cute! They had some cute little ratties in there too! One was hairless which I've never seen in person before. They were all boys though- and I have girls...so no more ratties for me!
• I'm about to go eat some more of my sourdough pretzels and watch another episode of Man, Woman, Wild before I go to sleep!

working hard on the youtube channel and blog!

I've been working really hard on getting some good content on my accompanying youtube channel. I've decided I will have 3 regular upload dates a week. Monday, Tuesday and Friday! Here's what I've got:

Monday Movie Madness: Where you can see all the antics that my rats have been up to through the week. Cute videos of them running around, sleeping, eating...basically doing rat things.

Quick Tip Tuesday: Will be a short  video on quick tips for your rat. Best treats, best litter/bedding, great toys to make at home..things like that

Friday Facts: This will be the long informative video of the week. Videos on how to set up a cage, first aid kits, basically important information you need but will be expanded and show me talking to the camera and explaining things.

I'm gonna go with this setup for a while and see how I like it. I don't think I'll be very comforatble in FRONT of the camera for a while. But we'll see how that goes. My boyfriend is going to help me with filming until I can figure out a setup that I can do by myself. It might take me a while to find my groove, but I'm excited about it!

I will also upload videos randomly about other things, like updates on Sandy's tumor or any other things that might be going on with my rats personally  that don't fit into the other categories. It's basically going to depend on how much time I have between the other videos as well as work and my personal life as well...so we'll see how it goes!

Right now in the rat world, everyones asleep except for Dee, she's roaming around the cage eating and drinking. All is quiet on the homefront for now! LoL that could change at any moment though..lol. Well I'm off to work on other projects for this blog and the channel. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy everything!

Daily Boggles:

• My mom's pretty sick so I cooked lunch for her. And no one had to work today so we're all just hanging out around the house.
• I discovered these CLIFF bars. I think they're basically like meal replacement bars..they're great in the morning when I don't have to work. I usually wake up later on the days I don't work and don't want to eat a meal that close to lunch time..and they're not too expensive.
• The weather here has been freezing! Ive had a sweater on all day and I still can't manage to keep warm! Ugh!

Wheel marathons!

Hello ratlovers!

It is 12:32 a.m. and one of my girls is currently running a marathon on her wheel. A common sound in my house in the middle of the night. Rat's technically aren't nocturnal, but they tend to regulate their schedule with their owners. From what I can see from my bed, 3 out of 4 girls are awake and causing trouble. Today was cage cleaning day and They've pretty much *redecorated* (aka: tore up) their nice clean cage. I need to figure out how to keep the fleece attached to the shelves better. It always looks so nice, then within a few hours..its all  tore up there..lol.

There haven't been too many arguments so far tonight. So hopefully it stays that way. They can be brutal sometimes. It actually wakes me up sometimes, because they're just so darn LOUD!

Dee:
I'm takin a nice stroll on my wheel, I love this thing! I hoep that little brat, Pixie stays away...I can't stand her sometimes! She's always pinning me down and just tormenting me. I wish she would just take a nap sometimes. Hopefully if I just stay on this wheel she won't notice me, then I'll go take a nap in my comfy basket :)

Pixie: I think I'm gonna go give Lucy a run for her money! She's so much fun to pick on, she won't back down- but I always pin her down and win! Then I'll let her get up, and chase her all over again! Then maybe I'll kick Dee off the wheel..wmuahahaha!

Daily Boggles:

• I haven't been sleeping well, I'm not sure if it's stress related or what, but I definitely need to get my sleep schedule back to some kind of normalcy.
• I've been watching this t.v. show on Netflix, called  Disappeared, it's so sad and disheartening that people disappear so readily in America- and more often then not they're never found - or they're found dead. Maybe I should become a private investigator-- it goes along with my interest in both psychology and criminology. something to think about!
• Im addicted to Sourdough pretzels.

 Well that's it for tonight folks. Have a good night! Don't boggle to much ;)

First day!

Well this is my first official post past introductions. All is quiet in the rat homestead. Everyone has finally went to sleep for the night (I hope!). Pixie was starting fights again tonight as usually- she just can't let anyone be! I woke up last night to them getting into an argument and squeaking like crazy. She thinks shes top rat and has to push everyone around all the time. Hopefully once she's out of her *teenage* phase she'll calm down and be more lady like! LOL.  Sandy seems to be adjusting well to her tumor's continuous growth. I know eventually I'm going to have to have her put to sleep, I'm just trying to enjoy every moment with her. Sweetie was put to sleep a few weeks ago (she also had a tumor- but a much worse one that had ruptured) and I'm just not ready to let go of another one yet. She's still her grumpy old self though, she comes to the cage door when I come over because she hopes shes going to get her *treat* (medicine) but when she realizes I just come to give her lovin's she runs for the hills...she gives me this look like *how dare you touch me, human*...she's a brat. Dee is definitely showing her age more and more, her hair seems to be thinning a little bit, but I still see her on that wheel at least once a day! I hope I can get my butt off the couch when I reach her age..lol. Anyway I'm gonna head off here for the night, can't wait to see what tomorrow might bring in the rat world!

Before I go, Im going to start including a *daily boggle* section. (boggling is what a rat does when they're incredibly happy and relaxed--google a video sometime!--it's interesting to see if you've never seen it! So here are my  Daily Boggles:

• had chinese for dinner tonight, my fav!
• Chinese food doesn't stick with you though- I'm about to have some pretzels before bed
• I've been watching this show Disappeared, on netflix--it's so depressing but still interesting
• I need to quit skipping my meds, I'm in a lot of pain tonight
• I didn't exericese today...Bad Nikki!
• I just made my first *professional* video and its currently uploading on youtube..one that I actually edited, and put in some special effects...etc...Im excited!

introducing my rats:

Hi and welcome to our blog!

So I've decided to start a blog for my pet rats! This will give you a run down of the day to day life of owning pet rats. You'll see the up's and downs as well as how I deal with sick ratlets too.  Some will be written from the rats point of view.You'll meet my crew and get a feel for exactly how who they are and their unique personalities. You'll even get lots of videos of them being rats, as well as some of the important things and FAQ's about owning pet rats. I currently own 4 girls, and I'll give you a rundown of each:

Sandy:

Sandy is one of my oldest girls, she's right around the 2 year age mark. She's a dark silver grey. I'm honestly not sure exactly what her coat color is considered. She is currently battling a URI (upper respiratory infection) and she has a large mammary tumor. She is quite a snob when it comes to people. She would never bite anyone, but she also would rather be left alone, unless she graces you with her presence ;). She is not currently in any pain from her tumor and is on 2 antibiotics permanently for her ongoing URI, but she let's neither of them get in her way she's a happy old ratlet. Her favorite treats are golden grahams and chocolate chips, and her favorite thing to do is lounge around and ignore me..lol.

Here's the latest  video of her:

 

Dee:

Dee is also an older lady. I got her around the same time as Sandy- both as babies. Her coloring is a white and beige hooded girl. She is a gentle old soul. She was never a hyper girl (even when she was young), she pretty much just meanders through life, very laid back. She has a bit of respiratory issues as well and is currently on 2 antibiotics. She doesn't let that bother her because her favorite past time is running on her wheel. Well...she doesn't run as much as she used to..but she definitely takes several *strolls* on her wheel every day.

Dee on right

Pixie:

Pixie is the youngest and most playful girl in my group. She just can't leave the other rats alone. Sometimes she even starts fights in the middle of the night.  But the next morning I'll find everyone sleeping together in heap in their basket! She is PEW girl with a brown spot on her nose and by her tail. She is an awesome little girl, and just love to play with people!

Pixie on left

Lucy:
Lucy is the people lover of the group! She adores people and wants nothing more then to be the center of attention at all times. She will give kisses pretty much on command, and she also loves sniffing your ear and grooming your hair too! She wants you to know you're loved, and she wants to be loved. She wins over hearts all the time, and I'm sure she'll win over yours as well!

Lucy on top, Sweetie on left bottom (R.I.P.) and Dee on the right

Well that abour wraps up the introductions. I do hope you enjoy the read and follow all these girls as they live their lives. Check back in every few days, you'll get lots of updates, and pics and videos..hope you enjoy!