Why We Rescue

I just signed up for a chance to be a part of this really cool photo project called {Why We Rescue}. It's being done by Theron Humphrey of {This Wild Idea} fame. I'm pretty wild about him and his pup, Maddie, so I jumped at the chance to try to get involved with this project. Fingers crossed we'll get picked as the Texas story! (ok, Texas is a huge and very populated state, so I know it's a long shot). I wrote a little essay to send in to Theron, and thought I'd share it here since it's all about my puppy-loves and how much they light up my life. 

*My husband, Chris, and I are together because of two rescue dogs, who happened to change our lives.

I was just going to watch Custer for two weeks while my friend Ben went to Italy. Custer was a stray chow mix that Ben found on the streets of Dallas and had brought home, though he lived on the ninth floor of an apartment building (not the ideal situation for an active, 1-year old, 50-lb dog). He wanted to find a good home for Custer, but was fostering until he did so. Custer and I fell in love with each other pretty much immediately. I decided I wanted to adopt him; my roommates were not thrilled with the idea. Ben ended up taking him up to Kansas. His girlfriend's parents lived there and they wanted to take Custer in. I cried.

Custer

But fate wanted us to be together, because the folks in Kansas took one look at Custer and said he was too big, they couldn't keep him. So he headed back home to Dallas with Ben. I embarked on the process of finding my own place. In the meantime, Ben and his lovely girlfriend kept Custer for three extra months. I had visitation on the weekends.

Clyde

Over Memorial Day weekend of 2005, Custer and I moved into our first place together, a brick duplex in East Dallas with a tiny fenced-in yard. The yard was so small that we spent most evenings at the {White Rock Dog Park}, where Custer could run and play. In August 2005, we met our future family there: Chris and Clyde the Coonhound. Chris and I got married on May 24, 2008, and adopted a little stray terrier puppy the very next weekend. We named her Bonnie.

Bonnie

Custer is 9 years old now; Clyde is 8; and Bonnie is 5. Three separate times, they have traveled the country with us as we drove from Texas to New England to visit family. They have seen us through moving, job-changing, even brain surgery. They snuggle with us at night. They cruise the neighborhood with us on brisk morning walks. They make us feel like celebrities every day when we come home from work. I know that we're not supposed to admit that we can love animals in the same way we can love other humans, but I'm gonna do it anyway. These pups are my family and my heart. My life has never been the same since the day Custer sauntered into it. I'll be forever grateful to him.*

Pies and Pups and Peppermint, Oh My!

Doesn't it look like he's giggling? I love this guy.

The addiction to Rusty Taco continued with breakfast tacos

I got over 10,000 steps for the first time (since I've had my {Fitbit})

Buttermilk Pie made with {this recipe}

 

My last peppermint mocha K-Cup from Nikki

2013 Second Simple Goal: Explanation

I think dogs are the best thing that God ever made. I love them. When I give to charities, they are almost always dog-related, but I really want to get serious this year about making a standing, recurring donation. There are two charities that I feel a strong connection to: {Kane's Krusade} and {St. Francis Rescue}. 

I love all dogs, but bully breeds hold a very special place in my heart because they are so often victims of abuse and neglect and, on top of that, are maligned by the media. It literally makes my heart hurt when I think about it. 

Kane's Krusade is an amazing (I'm not using that word lightly) education and outreach group up in my homeland of Springfield, MA. Check out {their Facebook page} to learn about the work that they're doing. Kim and the volunteers that work with her are nothing less than angels that work miracles for {misunderstood dogs}.  

St. Francis is a pit bull rescue group closer my current home in East Texas. Pit bull fear, neglect, and mistreatment is an issue everywhere, but I feel it strongly here. Maybe it's just because I'm more sensitive to it now than I was when I lived in other parts of the country, or maybe it really is worse here; I don't really know. But I do know that here in East Texas we are in desperate need of bully breed advocacy and rescue groups, and the people at St. Francis (and the Nacogdoches Animal Shelter, with whom they work closely) are in the trenches. They deserve all the help and support they can get. 

When I am overwhelmed by the sadness and evil that I see in the world, people like the folks at Kane's Krusade and St. Francis remind me that there is more good than bad in the world. Like my high school science teacher, Mr. Vennell, used to say: There must be more love than evil in the word, or we wouldn't still be here. 

Yesterday, I was over at one of my favorite daily reads, {A Beautiful Mess}, and I saw their {4 Simple Goals} challenge from September. I think it was a seasonal goals thing, but it felt like a perfect way to set a few tangible resolutions for myself for the coming year. One of the rules they laid out for the challenge was that the goals should be quantifiable. So I thought of some broad, theoretical goals and then I tried to pin down some hard and fast ways to quantify my accomplishment. I'll write a little more about each of them over the next few weeks, and then add updates on my progress as it's made.

Thanks to {Emma and Elsie} for a great way to set some realistic resolutions for 2013!