"Thankful Thursday"

In the midst of utter moving chaos, I am taking a moment with a full coffee cup and this laptop to remind myself the reasons why I don't want to pull my hair out.

I am thankful I have a strong, healthy husband who can move everything for me. There are many things that could've happened nearly a year ago that would've rendered him not able. I am thankful for two years married this Monday. I am thankful for my parents for opening their hearts and their doors to us until we can find a place and get settled. I am thankful for fantastic friends who will come over and help me get organized and motivated. I am thankful for the long road ahead but also for the journey that led us to it. Most of all, I'm thankful for the military for reimbursing us for moving so we don't have to live in the poorhouse!

Thanks to everyone who reads this. It's going to be an quiet week or so around here while we travel, pack, take care of everything, have fun visiting with family and friends, and settle in to our new life. Wish us luck!

Until next time,
xoxo Stacie

Puppy Love

A picture sent to daddy in Afghanistan.

When my husband and I first started getting to know each other before his deployment to Iraq it was just a few random emails back and forth, nothing all that exciting. Soon we mentioned our mutual dog love and our talks took off from there. We've both grown up around dogs (at times, multiple dogs) and when we got married couldn't imagine our lives without one. So after a great deal of research and calling around we found a Dachshund breeder out in Lumberton and headed out to "just look" one weekend.

There she was; a cutie-patootie little timid thing sitting on the couch. She initially shook a bit when my husband held her but after passing her off to me she calmed down and gave me a  kiss on my nose. The breeder brought out a few more puppies and we played with them all but my hands kept going towards the dapple long-haired female. We were smitten from the start and off we went with our little Sookie in tow.

A man and his dog.

Since she is our first "baby", she is spoiled. We bought her new toys, a little bed, and the best organic treats you could find. Well, and there was also that one doggie coat....please forgive me, it was cold in Maine that Christmas and I didn't want her to freeze! Along this journey of puppy parenthood, we've learned what to do and many things not to do. For the most part she's a pretty well behaved dog although we made some mistakes in socializing and unknown visitors make her nervous. It also took a long time to housebreak her (one of the downsides to the Dachshund breed is the sometimes difficult task of housebreaking) but nowadays she sits by the door and whines if she has to go. She is the best cuddle buddy, especially when my husband was deployed. She loves to swim and often shows her hound-like tendencies when she spots a squirrel from ten meters.

Sookie is one of my favorite things in the universe. I have always loved our family dogs growing up but being fully involved in Sookie's training and upbringing has given me entirely different kind of love for her. She is our dog. It's the perfect kind of puppy love!

Do you have a story to share about your favorite furry love?

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie