Life is Good

Since my last depressing post, life has been pretty good!  I have an update as far as what I last "blogged" about goes!  One night, when I was feeling pitiful, I emailed the local SPCA and asked if they could please tell me what happened with Abby.  I wasn't expecting much, but I was hopeful.  A few days later, I got an email that said this:


"As you already know, we are unable to give out any information on surrendered pets due to the high number of intakes that we receive each year.  However, in your case, I will let you know that she has been adopted and is doing well."


While this isn't much, it's enough.  I think I just needed to know if she was alive or not so that I could let go over her almost completely.  While I still miss her and would love to see her again and hold her, I am satisfied with simply knowing that she's alive.  Hopefully, some old lady has her because she would be the perfect dog for an old lady in need of the companionship and love from the perfect "lap dog".


Finding this out was good timing, too.  Just recently, my parents decided to get a new puppy.  There is definitely a lot of hope that a fresh, healthy start will lead to better, happier outcomes for everyone.  Our new puppy is a little black ball of fun.  He currently weighs less than two pounds (he'll be 7 weeks old in two days) and is some mixture of yorkie and maltese!  He loves to cuddle and play and is so ridiculously adorable!


In other news, I attended my very last youth conference!  It was 6 stakes and so much fun!  Troy Dunn spoke and gave a lot of really great insight.  Also, almost all of my friends were there!  There were lots of laughs, a few episodes of insanity, loads of crazy expressions, and countless memories.  


Hmmm what else?  I leave for school in exactly four weeks!  It's kinda weird to think that something that has been so abstract for so long is finally happening!


AND! I just saw Kirby Heyborne on tv.  Sooo my life is basically made!  


Well I think this blog jumps around enough to show a good look at the inside of my brain.  I should probably end it before I say something embarrassing...

Feeling a little nostalgic...

So I'm feeling a little nostalgic right now.  What exactly is it I'm thinking of?  My dog (and thus far the best dog ever!), Abby.  Abby had a pretty rough life.  We got her last December (the 6th to be exact) and right away we knew she was kinda messed up.  A family friend had heard about a breeder that was being shut down by the police because they had too many dogs and they'd be arrested if they didn't get rid of a bunch of them, so through a long, and odd, line of events, Abby came to us!  We were told that she was about 8 months old and was a registered toy poodle. We knew she hadn't really been taken care of because her teeth were in terrible shape and her copper colored curls were extremely thin.  She also never barked and was very jumpy.

After almost two months, her hair was thick and healthy and she was beginning to growl at my dad (she didn't like him very much for some reason!).  Then one day she got startled and fell, breaking her front right leg.  I took her to the SPCA as soon as possible because they were the only vet clinic that didn't charge outrages fees!  Her leg was indeed broken and a cast was placed on her poor, little leg.  While at the vet, the doctor gave her an exam and told me some shocking stuff.  

By looking at the amount of plaque built up on her teeth, the doctor said there was no way she was younger than three years old.  This came as quite the surprise.  Knowing that the "breeder" was really most likely a puppy mill, this bit of info meant that Abby had been (most likely) kept in a cage for at least three years.  It explained why she was so odd and why her leg broke so easily.  

We continued to take her back to the vet every two weeks, giving her vitamins and taking very good care of her, and gradually (after about three months) the cast came off.  I was so excited!  My little doggie was finally healed and ready to begin a new life!  She was more playful than ever and had progressed to actually barking at my dad!  I was so proud!

Then one night, about a month later, friends were over and she was tired of being on some chair.  She decided to jump down (it was less than two feet down).  The whole thing kind of happened in slow motion.  She looked like she had successfully landed... and then she fell.  The noise that she made was the most heart wrenching sound I've ever heard.  I knew that there was no way she had escaped re-breaking her leg.  

The next morning I took her back to the vet and sure enough, it was re-broken.  As anyone can imagine, getting her leg fixed the first time was extremely expensive and the vet informed us that fixing it again would end up being more expensive.  There was also no guarantee that it would ever heal right or never break again. 

We weren't left with many options.  We either got to choose:

1. Put her down

2. Go through the whole process again

3. Amputate her leg (with no guarantee that the other leg would never break)

or 4. Give her over to the SPCA and let them decide what to do.

By giving her up, the SPCA would either pay to fix her leg and give her the proper treatments to make her a healthy dog or put her to sleep.  The difficult part of this is that once you surrender your rights, you don't get to know what ends up happening.

As difficult as it was (and believe me... it was so incredibly difficult) we knew the best thing for Abby would be to give her to the SPCA in hopes of healing her and giving her a happy life.

Here's where it gets really sad.  Giving her up was, most definitely, the hardest thing I've ever done.  Nothing has broken my heart more than saying goodbye to Abby.  The final look she gave me has I handed her over to the nurse will never leave me.  This sounds pretty dramatic and a year ago I would have thought I was a loser for saying this, but I guess until you have a pet that you love more than anything, you can't really understand.  

Even now, a month and a half later, it still stings when I walk in the door and don't have her run to greet me.  Even simply writing all of this killed a little piece of me.

Abby was (and hopefully still is) the best dog ever.  You can't look at these pictures and not agree that she is the cutest dog in the whole world!

These are just some of them!  I know this was a super depressing and totally doesn't go with the theme of my blog, but I hope that by getting it all out there like this things can start to get better!

Old Ladyhood is slowly enveloping me

While sitting with all of the younger girls at church today, the thought hit me that my birthday is coming up soon! In less than two months I will be 19. That is scary! I remember being 6 and thinking that in ten whole years, I would be 16 and could date and drive. Now, I am almost three years past the vision that seemed so distant and I can't tell you what has happened to those years! It's weird... They're just gone and it really does seem like I've barely blinked my eyes!

Next week is my very last youth conference. A couple weeks ago I attended camp for the last time as a Young Woman. I missed my last opportunity to attend EFY... I only have 5 weeks left of going to Young Women activities... Soon I'll be going into Relief Society (obviously not before I leave for school! Ick!) It's really hard to believe that I am going to be a legitimate adult soon!

Who knows. Being 19 is more than old enough to get married by BYU standards! I could have a family beginning in like two years! Although it's not very likely, it's very possible! Scary! I guess I'll just have to live up these last (less than) two months of being a youthful 18!

SUCCESS!... After much failure.

So Erika Bailey is the best blog creatorer ever. I was having much difficulty creating my blog and making it beautiful but then Erika Bailey stepped in and saved my life! All of the beauty you see on here is all thanks to her and her magicality. The end.

On to other business...

I am now registered at the institution known as Brigham Young University! I have four whole classes! They are... Book of Mormon, Introduction to English Language, Grammar of English, and First Year Italian... Part One. Isn't that exciting? I sure think so. Kind of. I fly out in 5 weeks! I cannot wait! Oh yeah, and I've already switched my major. I am a legit college student now. Don't fret, though. I only switched from English to English Language!

Well, I think this was a very lovely first blog. Don't you agree?