A Letter To The Dog I Failed- One Year Later

Carli,

I've said it for some time now, but I can't believe that it has been a year already. 52 week, 365 days, 525,600 minutes of a new life, new experiences, and so much love.

We are so lucky Carli, you and me, so lucky. We stumbled upon your new home when I was starting to lose hope. I started fearing that you'd never get what you needed and I'd be left to watch you never reach your full potential. But then, a single 'shot in the dark' message to an old teacher changed our lives forever.

I'm sure there are some people out there who are rolling their eyes at me, saying "move on, its a dog", but Stink, you've never been "just a dog" to me. I've never loved anything the way I have loved you, my sweet girl. From the moment I met you Carli, you made a spot in my heart. It'll never get old to me when you perk up and get uncontrollably excited when you see me. I'm sure it annoys your new parents and goes against the things you have learned, but I love when you just can't control how happy you are to see me. Theres nothing else on this planet that makes me feel that sense of happiness. Even after a year, that feeling will never get old. Reminds me you haven't forgotten how much you mean to me.

There have been so many milestones that have been reached this year while you have been in your new home. Your new family has dedicated hours and hours to you and your training. They understand your needs and fulfill them beyond my wildest dreams. You run 5k's, when you aren't protesting to enjoy your lazy Sunday, you take the ferry to Put-In-Bay, you chase your cat brothers and beg them to be your friends, and you've loved so openly this last year. Never stop loving my sweet girl, anyone who gets to have a little Carli in their life is considered lucky in my eyes.

You've blossomed this last year and have grown more than I could have ever imagined. You used to be the dog that could never be left alone and you were glued to the hip of the closest human you could find. Now, you've become so comfortable in your new life, you lay in the front yard alone, you put yourself to bed upstairs when mom and dad aren't ready to call it a night. Even with all this growth, you are still the best snuggler I have ever known. You're still the quirky, stuffed animal loving, big booty diva that you've always been. Your mom and I say often how we hope you never lose any of those things, they make you so unique and special.

In the last year Carli, I've never accepted failing more than I have now. I failed you and needed to find a solution to my failures. Your new family has made me feel like anything but a failure, they have included me in all of your adventures and have become more than just your new family, they have become my family too. I will be forever grateful for the time, the love, the patience, and did I mention love, that they have given you. I really believed that no one else would ever love you the way I have Stink, but boy was I wrong, I've met my match, they love you so unbelievably much. They want and provide nothing but the best for you, you are their little girl and that is all I could ever ask of them.

I love you Carli. I really do. I love that you still get to have sleepovers at "BFF Bed and Breakfast," I love when I see your mom’s name pop up on my phone; that always means I get to hear about what you’ve done that day, the good and the bad! I love that I get to come and watch you play in your river and romp around like the happiest dog in the world. I love that I have gotten to be apart of your training classes and watch you show off just how smart you are. I love when I get to spend an evening with you at home and when we walk in to the house, you race around trying to find your parents, like they are hiding somewhere. You always slump back down the stairs after your search has ended, like a little kid who has accepted that the babysitter will have to do for now since mom and dad aren’t home. I love how much you love them. I've loved everything about this last year Carli. I look forward to many more years of all of these things and being apart of them all.

Happy one year Carli girl. This has been the best year of you life. Keep being you, quirky, happy, and endlessly loving. It's hard for me to imagine life getting any better than it has been for you this last year, but if there is anything I have learned this year, it's that your parents are going to try their hardest to top it.

Love you so much Stink,

BFF

Tell Me a Story- August

Oh gosh, it has been so long since I have had the chance be apart of the blog circle! Life has been non-stop and I always let my photography slack a little (or a lot this time) but I finally got a chance to pull out my camera!

There is no secret that my favorite flowers are sunflowers. Every September there is a field near me that blooms full of sunflowers, I mean thousands of them. Many of you who have followed the circle have seen some of my photos over the years. I'm anxiously waiting waiting for the field to start blooming this year!

While I am waiting for the field to bloom, I decided the last time I went grocery shopping, to pick up some sunflowers for the house. I'm a sucker for fresh cut flowers at home.

Enjoy my favorite flower below:

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Tell Me a Story- May

The end of spring seems to be one of those times of the year that I always wish I had a pause button so I could slow things down a bit. The end of April and beginning of May was the end of school and the beginning of nicer weather starting. Springtime has also brought me many chances to see my beloved foster pup since her new mom is a track coach. Between all of that, I have once again neglected my camera. However, I changed that the other day when I picked it back up and let myself enjoy it for as long as I could.

I work in a floral department and have been spoiled with being surrounded by fresh cut flowers all day long. For mother's day, I brought my mom an arrangement of flowers home. I knew the second I arranged them for her that I wanted to photograph them. I just love the way that tulips look and the color that these ones are, just looked amazing in sunlight. 

I didn't get a chance to shoot for long, but enough to get a couple decent photos that I was willing to share. Enjoy them below. 

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This is my favorite one out of the bunch:

Tell Me a Story- March

Hard to believe that I have not picked up my camera since November. The holidays came and just like everyone else, I let life get in the way of spending some time doing my favorite hobby. The New Year started and school was back in full swing. Initially thinking I was only going to be taking a few classes, I signed up and ended up taking two more classes than I originally thought making me a full time student with a full time job. That left pretty much no time for anything else.

However, I was fortunate this weekend to find some time and force myself to spend that time doing something I love. My beloved foster pup Carli was visiting for the weekend while her parents were out of town. Normally, Carli is pretty high energy at all time. . . it's the Weimaraner in her. But Saturday evening, she was so peacefully sleepy. She had spent the majority of her day at puppy daycare playing with a bunch of other dogs, so by the time I got home from work, she was done for the day. I took complete advantage of that. I pulled my camera off of the shelf and moved all around the room playing with different settings, lightings, angles, and focal points, just taking photos of her while she slept so peacefully on the couch.

Below is the final couple of shots that I decided were good enough to use and share.

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Tell Me a Story- November

Happy Holidays! Wow that seems so crazy to say... The last couple months of this year have seemed to just fly by. In July, I was lucky enough to find a home for my one year old Weimaraner who I had been fostering for almost a year. July passed and August was gone in a blink. Then September came and Carli was officially off with her new family. To hear about Carli's story and her new home you can read my other post here.

The best part about Carli's new home, is that it is someone I know and through this experience, I have gotten to know even better. Through daily Carli update texts and monthly dinners, I still feel like a huge part of Carli's life and I'm loving it.

Last week I was invited for dinner to catch up and to see Carli. Before dinner, we took a little time and took Carli to her favorite trail for a beautiful walk. I got to capture some cute pictures of the sweet girl as we spent a little time together. I'm so grateful she is in such an amazing home now and even more grateful that I can still spend some time with her.

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Happy Thanksgiving

In a season of Thankfulness, I find myself being thankful for a lot this year. Like many of us, I'm thankful for the roof of my head, a family who loves me, a job that I'm happy with, and so much more. I can't help feel a little more thankful this season for one thing in particular, the new home Carli is in. Carli, the one year old Weimaraner who I fostered for a year, found a new home this summer with the most perfect family. You can read the details here.

While Carli has been out of my home and care for the last two months, she has been anything but removed from my life- I couldn't be more thankful for that. Carli's new home has been everything I could have ever hoped for for her. She is surrounded by two people who not only love her, but have changed their life to make hers better. Carli is not a dog in her new home, she is a member of the family. She goes to work with dad and runs the trails with mom. She's reminded that her cat-brothers are friends and we don't chase our friends, shares the bed with mom and dad . . . and even is given her own pillow some nights. The sweet girl is living the life she has always deserved and I'm so thankful I was able to find it for her.

I tell them weekly, which doesn't always seem like enough, but I'm so thankful for people like Carli's new parents who love and understand this sweet girl. Who give her everything she deserves and rearrange their schedules to make sure she is happy and taken care of.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

One of my favorite things to get from Carli's new mom, Carli photos :) 

Tell Me a Story- September

September means the beginning of fall and that is by far my favorite time of the year. For the last two years, a local family has planted a huge sunflower field in remembrance of their daughter who they lost to childhood brain cancer. The field has grown in size each year and continues to lighten our community in such a beautiful way. I always try to make an effort and get out to the field at least once and take some photos of the flowers. They bloomed a little earlier this year than they did last year and have just been breathtaking from the moment they bloomed.

This is one of my favorite photos of the bunch. Love the center of sunflowers so much!

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