Being Thankful: Day 1

So it is Thanksgiving Week and I feel like I Should express some of the things I am most thankful for. So each day this week, I will do my best to post about one thing that I have to be thankful for....

I think it's important that I am, and always will be thankful for the following, so they can be assumed from this point on:

1. My family
2. My daughter
3. My boyfriend
4. My health
5. My education
6. My freedom
7. My rights

And so on... These posts are going to be about the little tiny things that we (I) often take advantage of or things that maybe, when they are happening, we are not so thankful for them.

So, today I am thankful for my dog. She may be a little crazy and she may get herself in trouble at times, but there is something about the unfaultering love from Man's Best Friend that just lightens your heart. She is ALWAYS happy to see me, even when I am mad or I've had a bad day. She wags her tail anytime she sees me and she gives me kisses all the time.... even when I don't want them.

This dog.... She has been a part of my family since she was only a few weeks old, and I am so happy to have her!

This is from the day we brought her home with us from the farm she was born on in Mount Airy. She was the BIGGEST puppy in the litter.. over all... and she was also one of the less energetic of the litter.She fit so well on my front seat and she smelled like new puppy. She had the softest velvetine fur and she was just so lovable! She was the best Christmas gift I ever got myself!

For a while, she was even small enough to sleep on my pillow with me and liked to make sure I was ok when I was sleeping at night. She is such an affectionate pupper!

She just loves my little girl so much! They are two very important girls in my life and they are two peas in a pod a lot of times too!

Her first snow experience was a blast! She had no idea what they heck it was! The great part was still being able to see her as she ran around in the snow. She was just the best puppy there coul have ever been! She helped us try to build a snowfort... but just ate it and she chased Ciara down the hill while she was trying to sled! It was definitely one way to spend snow days!

She definitely has been growing! Even after only a couple months, She had really started to fill up that seat in my car that is officially considered "the dogs seat". She loves riding with us and can travel just about anywhere! She likes to look out the window and see the people on bikes when we pass them

She also loved jumping into the shower when I was done to lick the water off the shower floor... silly puppy!! That was all really funny until she ate my razor and two bottles... then it wasn't so cute anymore and I started keeping the shower door closed.

Always has been and always will be that cute dog with the cute head turn! She just wants to be involved!

And once upon a time, she used to be able to get one of those cow feet to last a few weeks. At this point, she goes through one in a day.... or less.

We even lover her best friend, and step sister, Zoey! She is full of energy (often too much energy) but she loves to snuggle! And these two girls, only about 6 months apart in age, are simply inseparable! They love to play and snuggle and be the best dogs ever!

As she has been growing she has become quite a lover of water and swimming, and while she knows that geese are incredibly interesting and she wants one so bad, she still isn't quite up to goose hunting material!

She lounges with us on the patio while Ciara colors us pictures~ and then gets chalkdust all over her!

She even helped Ciara and I crash winter formal at the Naval Academy! Ciara thought these girls were princesses and wanted to get pictures taken with them so bad! We had such a great time!

She has become an EXPERT jeep passanger! She knows to stay in her seat and not to jump out at stop lights... although there was that one time she tried to go to play with the boyscouts who were holding a fundraising car wash!

She even behaves herself when she tags along to work on those rare occassions I have the office to myself on a Saturday! She just Lays there under my desk and protects my feet from frostbite.... in the summer....

She took Ciara to the bus stop on the first day of school to make sure that her little girl was ok and that she had a good first day of first grade! We even practiced doing Sit, Stay, Come while we waited! And then she went to all of Ciara's games and practices that she was allowed to go to! She and Zoey were practically the team mascots!

One of my favorite things about her, though, is that you can see in her eyes just how much she loves you! She genuinely loves you with all of her little puppy dog heart! She wants to be with her best friends all the time even if it means just laying out on the deck with you on a nice sunny afternoon!

She has certainly grown so much over the last year that she has been with us and I have to say that she is one of the best additions to the family that there could be.She is adventurous and loving and always happy to be with us!

Photo courtesy of Heather Ryan Photography

Lets be real, he is an equal part of our family!