Tomorrow marks exactly 10 years since my dad and I brought Marly home from the humane society with us. I was 12, in 6th grade, and had been dreaming of having a dog of my own for years, but we hadn't gotten one yet since we were renting houses and had moved around quite a bit. That Christmas right before we got him, my dad gave me a wrapped up box filled with dog toys and food & water bowls. You should have seen my face when I opened it, I was completely shocked and so very excited! I couldn't believe that my dream of getting a dog was finally coming true!
For the entire month of January, I spent hours scouring the local humane society pages and we made several visits to check out all the possible pups. There were a few that we considered, but didn't quite find the right fit for us. During this month we also had started looking at houses to buy and it was a bit of a bummer because they were all too expensive or in locations we didn't want to live in. So, after a particularly downer Sunday of looking at houses, we decided we needed to end the day on a positive note and went to the humane society once more. That's when we saw him, that beautiful boy up there.
There were actually two dogs that caught our attention that day and we decided to spend time with them both. One of them was a girl, very sweet, and had huge paws that indicated she was likely to be a dog bigger than we would like to have. Then, there was Marly (or 'Carlton' as the shelter called him...) who was this friendly little black dog who liked playing ball and that just hopped up on our laps for affection. After spending just a few minutes with him, we knew that he was the one we had been looking for.
Unfortunately, since it was a Sunday they stopped processing adoptions early, so we weren't able to take him home that day and they couldn't put him "on hold." On our ride home, we decided that we would be back on Monday afternoon as soon as I got out of school and my dad got home from work to adopt him! That was the longest day of school ever! The entire day I was just praying and hoping that no one adopted him before we could get there.
And of course, as you probably already could guess, there he was. Waiting for us to bring him home.
We signed the adoption papers and I picked out a red collar and leash to bring him home with. We walked out of there with our new pup and life was never the same.
After we left the humane society, we went to the pet store, where we got him food, more toys, and a name tag. We brought him home and showed him around his new house and backyard. That night, he settled in under the covers in bed with me and that's exactly where he has slept every night since. I had never been happier in my life.
That was 10 years ago now and I cannot believe how much has happened in these past years. We moved from San Diego to the Bay Area. I finished middle school, graduated from high school, and am now in college. My dad got remarried. I met Dai. Marly and I moved out on our own.
It has been a wonderful 10 years and I know that we have been so lucky to have each other. That little black dog is my best friend and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. I love having him greet me at the door when I come home and seeing him excitedly running around the house looking for his ball so we can play. I love how he loves adventure just like I do and is happy to get in the car to even just go to the grocery store. I could go on and on about how wonderful he is.
To celebrate this milestone in our lives, I wanted to have some portraits taken of us together. My friend Leah was just the person to do that and I truly love all of these photos that she took of us. I cannot wait to frame so many of them and to have them to look back at for years to come.
To also celebrate this great occasion, I've teamed up with Chewy to giveaway a prize box filled with treats and toys for the special pup in your life! I think Chewy is a wonderful company and I am so happy to be celebrating pets and their owners being together with them! Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
* For shipping reasons, this giveaway is open to the Continental US only. Thank you for your understanding.
Well, now that I am crying after writing all of this, I will sign off for now. I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about our history! As you can imagine, I couldn't picture my life without that little dog of mine and look forward to many more years together.
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