Happy Adoptiversary!

Well, we made it! For 365 days, I've managed to keep my little 7 lb, furless rat alive! A year ago yesterday, I was rocking a good buzz and enjoying a pumpkin beer at Hair of the Dog. My parents' dog, Harley, had recently passed away and I was really longing for a new four-legged friend. In my moment of fuzzy judgement, I hopped on craigslist mobile and skimmed through the "pets" section and there he was! The tiniest, squirrel-looking dog I had ever seen. I emailed the poster and she immediately responded that we could meet the following day. The next day (which was a year ago today), the teary foster mom showed up at my apartment with this scared, grey puppy. After promising multiple times I would take great care of him (could I really? I wasn't totally sure), I gave her the adoption fee and she left. Just like that, I had my first pet (besides my fish.) Holy crap. What did I just do? Through much trial and error, I eventually figured most of it out and the rest is history.

Our first of MANY pictures together! He looks a little worried about this.

Most people know I'm pretty obsessed with the little guy, and anyone that has ever adopted a rescue pet knows why. They are just so anxious for love and attention that once you get to know each other, you realize you've never felt so loved by anything or anyone yourself. They have the uncanny ability to bring so much joy to your life you never knew was missing. As the saying goes, "Who rescued who?!"

For anyone that has the money, space, and time for a furry friend, I highly recommend adopting a rescue and below are some of my local favorite rescues. If there's a particular type of animal you're looking for, you can usually search for breed specific rescues and they often will transport dogs even if they're not in your city.

1. A Paw and a Prayer Dog Rescue 
2. Trooper's Treasure's
3. Pet Placement Center
4. DREAM Dachshund Rescue

Also check out the local shelters, McKamey Animal Center and Humane Educational Society or www.petfinder.com usually has a good combination of all of the above!

But before you do, I beg you, PLEASE consider whether or you really have the time for a pet. They have to pee...a lot, and if you leave them home alone too much, say goodbye to your new blinds!

Also, the money. Geeze. Pets are expensive. Between shots and monthly heartworm, flea and tick prevention, it really can start to add up. If you're not sure if you can afford a pet, call a vet and ask about what types of monthly/yearly medicine, shots and treatments to expect. I had Jax for 2-3 months and he went into anaphylactic shock. A trip to the ER vet (RIVER) and $800 later, they saved his life. Without the treatment, he would have undoubtedly died. If you just balked at that...a dog probably isn't for you, because the animal will either be put to sleep OR some saint of a vet is going to decide to help save pet's life and let someone else adopt it once it's well again.

And I promise you, if you choose to adopt and then down the road I see you post that poor baby on Facebook because you realized, "You just don't really have the time/money/space/patience/competence/etc.." I am judging you in the worst way. I know life happens and circumstances change, but all too often I see people (even friends of mine) who just didn't think it through, and that drives me NUTS!

So yes, pets are time consuming and expensive (much more than I probably realized!); but at the end of a long, bad day, coming home to someone who doesn't judge you, could never hate you and is excited to see you no matter what you've done, it's totally worth it.

Last but not least, what is my big, bad guard dog so afraid of??? 




The coffee pot...sigh.

 Spay and neuter your pets, ya'll!

Kerri

Long Time No See

Well, hello there good looking! Have we met before? I'm Kerri—and you are?

For the last, oh I don't know, 6 months, I have been living a rather fulfilling life, with plenty keeping me busy at work and in my personal life. For the most part, much of it has been positive—but something has been missing, and I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

Maybe, just maybe, it's because the last time I wrote a blog was July 23...2012. Is that right? Are they sure? Surely that's some technological error. Nope. For over 13 months, I haven't written a single word on this blog about my crazy and often times unbelievable life experiences. I guess we figured out what's been missing.

In true Kerri fashion, life has still been a madhouse (as usual), and I missed writing about it. I don't really care if people read it, although I think most find it rather entertaining, something about getting it out there in the forever-land of the internet just makes it much more enjoyable. So often, it makes me smile and laugh to go back and read the things I felt were important long ago.

I also turn 25 in a little over a week tomorrow. When did that happen? I remember turning 21(okay well some of turning 21) and joking about how the next birthday I have to look forward to was 25 when my car insurance drops. Well, apparently I blinked and yesterday, I bought my first homeowner's insurance policy and my agent got all excited to tell me, "Oh hey! Your 25th birthday is almost here...insurance drops!" Shit.

Those 4 years went by fast, and I have no doubt that the next 5 between now and the dirty 30 will go by even faster, but be just as entertaining.

What's changed? Well if you are my friend on any form of social media you know I'm a mom to a four-legged over grown rat named Jax. He's actually an Italian-Doxie that I rescued a year ago and he weighs in at a whopping 7 lbs. He's a "blue", has the worst breath you've ever smelt, and basically has no fur to speak of and he's much more popular than I ever thought about being. I can't take him anywhere without him stealing the show. I'm also rather obsessed with him. He's like a non-furry four-legged child.

Jax and his beloved "Stinky"

At some point a few months ago, I also got talked into buying a house (say what?), thanks Kelly Nelson! Never in my life did I think I'd own a house at 24, but things just kind of fell into place and here I am, with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a mailbox (that E put in for me!), a yard I actually have to mow and toilets that I actually have to fix shall they happen to break.

I say ALL of this to say—we have some catching up to do dear blog and some exciting stories and times ahead of us!

-K<3