Anyone that knows us, knows that our little pug Paisley is basically like a child to us. Our world revolves around her at this stage in our lives, and I'm proud and embarrassed of that fact all at the same time. When we got married, Karl was adamant about having a pet someday. It was one of those things where I would just roll my eyes, and say "Uh huh....okay....sure. Maybe someday honey." When in reality I was thinking "No way Jose'!" I grew up with a lot of pets, and it just wasn't something I wanted to deal with as an adult...initially. Karl grew up in a house without any pets (except for when he was really little), and it was something that he had always begged his parents for, without any luck. Well over the course of the first 2 years of our marriage, the pet thing was mentioned multiple times, but it was never something we followed through with (meaning that it wasn't something that Karl had talked me into yet).
All of this changed one snowy day in February 2011. Karl and I had been watching a lot of HGTV shows about antiquing and fixing up old furniture, so we decided on a snow day (when snow was on the ground, school was canceled, but the roads were perfectly safe to drive on by noon) to go look at some antique stores in Downtown Conway. While walking from store-to-store we stumbled upon this hot pink pet shop called "Best Friends Forever." Corny....I know. So we decided to walk in and just look at what they had. That's when it happened. We saw her. One lonely little pug puppy mixed in with a litter of black schnauzer puppies. Karl and I had chatted about different breeds we would have been interested in, and I had told him that if I was going to be talked into this, that I wanted a cute little (what I call "foo foo" dog). Well Karl was totally uninterested in a "foo foo" dog, and wanted something tough and manly like a bull dog. Well over the course of several discussions, we had stumbled upon a compromise. Pugs were small (not quite foo foo), but had the bull dog build about them. Anyway, we had never officially decided on getting a Pug before that day, but we walked in a saw her and she melted our hearts.
We didn't purchase her that day. We talked with the breeder/store owner, held her, played with her, and left the store thinking about her. We went home that night, and she was all we could think about. Believe it or not, we even had trouble sleeping that night. We got the up the next morning, and I could tell by the look on my husband's face that we were going to become proud pug parents that day. Basically....he totally won. He wore me down, my heart melted, and we went back to the store praying that she would still be there. Obviously she was, and the rest is history. I remember calling my mom from the car, and asking her if we could come by to introduce her to the newest member of our family. If any of you know my mom, you won't be surprised to know that the day we got Paisley was probably the proudest moment of her life for me. She's quite the animal lover, and she knew that me getting a puppy was a really big deal.
Anyway, now that I've rambled on about my dog for several paragraphs, you understand that our lives revolve around her for the time being. Until we have children of our own, she is definitely our child. Here are some pictures of her from the last week, playing with her puppy friends here at our apartment.
Paisley and her best friend Cupcake :)
Paisley enjoying some outdoor playtime (catching her breath). :)
Karl and Paisley dancing together. LOL
Her tongue doesn't quite fit inside of her mouth. Poor thing. :)
This photo is from last summer, but it's one of my favorites.
Well, now that I've turned this blog post into a tribute to our dog, I'll end by promising that all posts won't be like this one. ;) Thanks for stopping by!
~Angela (and Karl)
