Gone and Done It Now

Everything is great. Really. It's almost perfect, if that's even possible. I just closed on my first house. I've got a great job. Spent the week I closed on the house with great friends moving in my duplex next to my favorite park in the city and repainting rooms, patching walls.

Sometime in the past year, I found my best friend and our lives together are on the road to successful. Even the furry ones, my rescue mutt Bailey and my calico cat Sey are adjusting to the new space and yard that has been absent the past year in the one bedroom apartment.

I even find that an old friend of mine lives 5 blocks away in the neighborhood we've moved to. Oh yes, life is going really good.

And then I do this.

Hi. My name is Ash, and I'm an animal lover. I guess you could say dog lover, but honestly, I think I'm just an avid animal lover. I don't think I was ever so bad as to bring home strays or anything. I rescued my kittens from trees when I was little. I had a dog that my mother could attach a note to and tell to go find me when I'd be trekking around the woods on our property when I was little. So, no. I don't think I was the kid that made the excuse of "But he just followed me home!"

Bailey is indeed my rescue mutt. I picked her up from the Humane Society three years ago this Valentine's day. I had just done a radio story about the over abundance of puppies they had there and my mom and I had been secretly looking at them online. In no way, did we really believe we'd come home with another dog. I was moving out on my own in just a few months anyway. But there she was. A little ragdoll of black scruffy fur on a volunteer's shoulder, and she went back to work with me to the radio station for my afternoon shift.

Sey came into the picture when we found two calico kittens that the mother had disappeared on. I stayed up through the night with them in the hopes that they'd make it, and the next morning, the porch cat had her kittens and took the two calico's in. The cat I had, I gave to my roommate as she had fallen in love with her so much, I was sure there might be an issue if I took her when I left, so Sey came home with me one June afternoon.

Those were my girls. The three of us in a one bedroom apartment. The stories that go with them. Well, that's for another time. But the three of us, went to the four of us and then to a house. One big happy family.

And then...there was Winter.

Here's my disclaimer. As of right now, I have had Winter for 24 hours. Short time, I know. Make no mistake that I have fallen head over heels for this boy, and in no way shape or form regret the decision to take him, and overall, he is exceptionally loved.

"Surviving Winter" has been started to help keep me on track and rigid on retraining Bailey and Winter so they both understand and recognize the same commands. In 24 hours, I've noticed some things that were too good not to share, and maybe, just maybe, it'd be fun to see what happens through this process with these dogs.

Without further ado...welcome to the ride of Surviving Winter.