Four month adoptaversary

Its been 4 months since we brought into our lives the most precious, heart-breakingly cute, loving creature. Her name is Penelope. The seed of love was planted the first day I found her on petfinder. I couldn't stop going back to that face. Her name, "sweet pup", couldn't have been more accurate. A sweet pup indeed. That seed of love was just a glimmer of hope, an idea. It hadn't taken form yet, it hadn't even established itself in the ground. It was just a seed floating around, hoping to make a go of it with a dog; the right dog. When we drove out to apple valley, that seed of love planted itself securely in the "sweet pup" that we now know as Penelope. The love has only grown since that first day. The seed has germinated, it took hold of the soil and has been growing roots and growing into the sky as well. It grows stronger and bigger everyday.

Today Penny and I went to visit the snow. It was her first experience with snow and after getting over her initial hesitancy, she came to love the snow. At first she wasn't sure what it was but then she began to trot through the snow with an especially waggy tail. And then she started to run through it. She would run hard, jump, launch herself into powdery, puffy snow embankments, she'd jump on top of snowy logs. She loved it! Playful and running hard all day.

We ended up hiking up close to 2,000 ft in 3.5 miles. Oops! We were having so much fun in the snow that I forgot that she is still a puppy and we need to take it easy. When we started descending, I realized we'd pushed it too far. Penny was tired, muscles quivering, it was drizzling and she was cold. This is when I realized - damn, Steph, she is only 6 months old! Take it easy on her!

We made it back to the car and she was thrilled to curl up in a ball inside of a towel and go to sleep with the heat blasting. She didn't move for the entire 1.5 hour drive back home. We are now sitting in front of the fire, enjoying the warmth and letting the exhaustion dissipate. I fed her some special canned food as a reward for her hard work/play in the snow today.

What a joy to go for a walk with a smile plastered to your face all day because your dog reminds you so simply of the beauty and wonderfulness of life. To watch a puppy play in snow instills a deep, lasting happiness that I am eternally grateful for.

The love keeps growing deeper and stronger. It changes everyday. I'm glad I took that seed and planted it with Penny.