Lincoln

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When I was about four years old, I informed my mom that I really wanted a pet elephant. At the time, we lived in a small duplex in California. Mom, hoping to sway my firm decision that a pet elephant was necessary, asked me what we would do with all the poop. "We'll just throw it over the fence into the neighbor's yard," I said. Clearly I had thought this through.

When my hopes were dashed regarding the elephant, I began to look at other options. When two tiny kittens wandered into our yard one evening, I was thrilled. Mom and Dad let me put out some milk and pet them for a while. And then an idea struck me. We could keep the kittens!!! I asked Mom and Dad... well, probably more like begged and pleaded, but they told me that Mom was very very allergic to cats and couldn't breath when they were around. I looked at Mom and said, "well you could sleep outside!" Unfortunately, my brilliant solution didn't go over well... and the subject of kittens was dropped. Foiled again!

It was at that point that I turned to "found pets"... also known as "bugs." One afternoon, a couple years after the kitten incident, Jenn and I discovered that our yard was home to tons of roly polys. Perfect! We gathered the roly polys into our red wagon and created a little home for them with grass and twigs. We named each of them (things like Rainbow, Sunshine, Heart, Pinkie and the like) and were very proud of having found our own pets. At the end of the day, we pulled the wagon close to the back door, tucked our roly polys into bed, and headed in for the night. The next morning we went outside to check on our new pets.... to discover that they were all dead!!! It was The Great Roly Poly Massacre of 1991. It was heartbreaking.

I think it was at this point that my parents thought, "we need to get those girls a dog." And so after moving into our new house, they took us to get two sweet Golden Retrievers. I was ecstatic! It didn't take long for me to realize that dogs were SO much better than roly polys, and I soon became the girl that said "dogs!" when asked what my favorite animal was (though horses were always a close second).

So I guess I've always been somewhat of an "animal person." Not the type that wears wolf t-shirts or puts kitten posters that say "just hang in there," up on my wall or anything. But I think they're cute and that having pets can add a lot of joy to one's life. 

Since graduating college and getting married... I've really wanted another dog. Really really. Just ask Andrew. But we lived in a tiny apartment in Southern California that had no yard whatsoever. We had this conversation a lot:

Me: I really want a dog.
Andrew: Me too, but we just don't have anywhere to put one.
Me: Sure we do! We could make a little area out on the porch and, of course, I'd take it out on walks all the time!
Andrew: Babe, that just wouldn't work. And a dog would be so cooped up in our tiny apartment.
Me: Well you could sleep outside!!

Ok. So I didn't really say that. I usually replied, "But but but.... ok, fine," and pouted a little.

When Andrew and I moved up to Boise a couple months ago my family took us to Cafe Rio after church one Sunday. After lunch, they pointed across the parking lot and mentioned that people always brought puppies to sell in that area. Puppies! So of course I had to go see them. We held a few, and patted some on the head, and then went back to the car. This became a routine for a few weeks until one Sunday, I saw him. A little lab husky mix curled up in the grass taking a nap. I asked the owner if I could hold him, and she said yes. As soon as I picked him up, he nestled against me and yawned. Oh dear, it was love. I held him for several minutes before Mom and Stephanie motioned for me to head back to the restaurant where Andrew was waiting. 

"Oh man, it's too bad Andrew didn't come with me," I said, "I really want him to see that little puppy!"

"He probably stayed on purpose," Stephanie replied with a grin.

With a sigh, I figured she was right. He probably wanted to avoid the "If you love me you'd buy me a dog" look. But I didn't give up so easily. As soon as he was within earshot, I told Andrew that there was an adorable puppy that he had to go see. He obliged and followed me over to take a look. When Andrew saw him, his face lit up. He picked up the puppy at looked at me with a smile.

Dare I  hope???

Andrew asked the owner a couple of questions, and even got her contact information before we left. As we drove home, we talked about our situation and whether or not it was a good idea. By the time we got home, we'd decided to get the puppy! And I went like this, "YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!"... and even teared up a little because I was just so excited. An hour later, our little puppy Lincoln was snuggled in my lap as we brought him to his new home.

Seriously, this little guy is so cute:

SEE WHAT I MEAN???

I love this dog. He's got so much personality! Andrew and I have loved hanging out with this little dude over the last couple of weeks. 

All of my siblings have told me to make sure to take lots of pictures of him as a puppy, so I've been trying to do that! Here are a few of my favorites so far:

He sleeps like a weirdo!