Last week was hard.  There is no way around it.  We all had to adjust to one less dog... and while it wasn't easy, we made it through.  I am glad that this week I can say we are doing so much better and actually feel that I am speaking the truth when I say that.

I've found myself leaning on my faith a lot more in the last week.  I don't know why things always happen the way that they do.  I can't always say that I know the reasoning behind it, but I do know that everything happens for a reason.

Everything. Happens. For. A. Reason.

That has hands down been the mantra for me this last week.  I've put my faith in God having another plan for our sweet puppy and that whatever happens with him in the future it was meant to happen.  Maybe it was to show me I will be okay as long as I keep my faith.

In the past I have struggled with my faith in both God and Jesus.  I was raised a Catholic and still identify as one but I have questioned many things about my religion along the way.  It has led me away from church every Sunday but not fully away from the idea of a higher power.  I firmly believe that this experience with Klutch has opened my eyes to my faith again.  I was surprised to find myself leaning on the idea that God's plan was different for Klutch than what I had originally planned and that I had to stay strong in the notion that he would be okay, no matter what.

I don't know what my future holds in regards to my religion, but I am now aware that if I am willing to give God control and accept it, I can feel stronger and hold my chin a little higher when faced with difficult circumstances.

And if it weren't for that notion, it would have been so much harder for me to move on from the events of the last week.  Move on from the heartache and the fear.  And move into the future.. so for that I am grateful.

P.S. I appreciate all of the support from my last post.  It means a lot to me and my family.

"The path of life is unpredictable, sometimes you just have to trust in the good Lord's plan for you." Last week was hard. ...

If you've been a reader for awhile you know that my dogs are my children.  My furbabies.  A huge chunk of who I am.

Unfortunately that chunk became a little smaller today.  Rob and I had to make the most heart-wrenching decision.  A decision we never wanted to or expected to make.

Recently Klutch our 1 year old mix puppy (pit/lab is what we have been going with) developed aggression towards our 3 year old boxer Piston.  For the past two weeks or so Klutch has been directing his growls at Piston and the growling has escalated to full on dog fights multiple times.  Two weeks ago I was sitting in a recliner right next to them when one broke out and since I was close enough I got a busted lip in the process.  Since then the growling has escalated multiple times.

Yesterday was when Rob and I reached the breaking point.

After an afternoon dog fight I was already on edge as they sat across the room from each other with Klutch side-eyeing Piston's every movement.  When Rob got home.. we were all excited.. but somehow another dog fight happened.  This one left Piston bleeding and we knew right then we had no choice in the matter anymore.

Klutch went into his kennel and the longest night of my life ensued.  Piston cried. Klutch cried.  I cried.  In fact I am pretty sure I have cried more in the past week then I ever thought possible.  By 10:30 the next morning I was defeated.

We loaded Klutch up and took him to his new home.  Unfortunately it's a shelter.  It's not with us.  And since he has shown aggression it is hard telling if he will ever make it out of said shelter.

My heart breaks thinking about it.  I feel guilt for not being able to provide him a stable home.  I feel sad that his future is so uncertain.  I feel like I just lost a child and I don't know how to cope with this or how long it will take for me to "feel better".

But I know deep down we ultimately made the right decision.  I can sleep a little easier knowing that Piston is safe.  I am safe. Rob is safe. Baby G is safe.  And somewhere Klutch is safe.

I pray he finds his forever home.  I am holding fast to the notion that everything happens for a reason.  God will protect my sweet furchild and lead him into a better situation.

I just know without a doubt that hands down that is the most difficult and heart-wrenching decision I hope we ever have to make.  Rob has been my rock through this.  My parents have comforted me from long distance.  My sweet baby boy that has been through everything with me, has smothered me at just the right moments.

And I know I will be okay and more than anything somehow Klutch will be okay.

If you've been a reader for awhile you know that my dogs are my children.  My furbabies.  A huge chunk of who I am. Unfortunately that...

Here it is.. October.  Exactly three months after my main man made his way home from the desert.  I can't really say things are crazy busy.  Busy, yes.  Crazy busy, not really.  Shall we recap?

Yesterday was eventful.. to say the least.  For the last month Rob has had these random chest pain moments that make it hard for him to breathe.  They usually pass within a few minutes though.  Yesterday however was a bit of a different story.  The chest pains were so bad he was having trouble breathing, couldn't even move for about 5 minutes.. and when he did he said we need to go to the ER.  The episode lasted somewhere between 30 minutes and 40 minutes, way way way longer than normal.  About 5 minutes after we got to the emergency room the pain subsided.  So we sat for an hour waiting to even be called back.  [Let's just say I am glad it wasn't a life or death situation.. because we waited far too long in my opinion.]  By that point all of the symptoms were gone but we went back anyway as answers are definitely needed.  There we sat for another 2 hours.  They did an EKG and some x-rays, which both came back normal.  The doctor concluded that it does not have anything to do with Rob's heart and that he does not think it is serious.  What he does think.. it has to do with his rib cage.  So he got some pain meds and discharge papers.  He is supposed to follow up with his regular PCM to maybe get more answers.  So if you can.. say an extra prayer that we can get some better answers other than.. I think it is your rib cage.  Not that I don't have crazy relief regarding it not being serious.. it would just be nice to know more of what exactly it is.

Kicking it in room 10 at the hospital!

Other than THAT, Rob is doing good.  We've settled into our reenlistment decision and are now looking towards promotion again.  Along with that Rob is picking up new "job titles" within the Army that he is constantly in one class or another for.  When he isn't dealing with the Army we have fishing, talking about fishing, talking about trucks, talking about boats and watching TV shows like Pawn Stars, Top Gear and American Picker.  My life people, and I ain't even stretching it!

Yes, yes.. he does use a pillow when he sleeps..

Piston is being Piston.  He's attached to his Dad as always, which is more evident when his brother tries to get attention too.  Piston is NOT okay with that.  Remember how in this post I likened Piston's emotions to post traumatic stress from the deployment?  It has definitely made Rob un-share able with Klutch.  Me?  He is totally okay with me giving him a rub down while Klutch sits in my lap.  It is literally polar opposite.  When Rob isn't the main attention grabber, Piston and Klutch are the very best of friends.  They wrestle, chase each other and sleep near each other.  It was just like I knew it would be, Piston LOVES having a brother. :)  Well most of the time anyway.

May or may not have been holding his toy slightly to the right of the camera...

As for Klutch!  Today was his 9 week vet appointment even though he is 10 weeks old.  He got his next round of vaccines and another round of worm preventative.  Last time we went in three weeks ago he tested positive for hook worms.  Microscopic worms.  He had one detected today which the vet said is totally normal.  He weighs 20 pounds.. a whooping 10 pounds more than last time!  He's healthy and happy and sooo good natured.  We really lucked out by getting two great dogs.  We also got the go ahead for Klutch to interact with dogs other than his brother.  Which is GREAT news for me as I see puppy play dates in my future!  Potty training is still being worked on but he has gotten significantly better.. especially since he likes treats so much.  So as long as you keep an eye on him, he is pretty well behaved.

Cuddle buddies!

Then there is me.. between school and TV, I am swamped man. ;)  I talked to my adviser the other day and as of now I am scheduled for the July session at DeVry to be my last.  So by the end of August 2013 I will have my Bachelor's.  To see the end in sight is such a HUGE sigh of relief.  You all really have no idea!! When I am not doing school work I joined a club on post, have had a few friend dates and generally being a fur mom.  I've been applying for jobs and so far not looking so good.. I had an insurance company call me for an interview/information session.. but it was kind of like a glorified Scentsy/Avon/MaryKay scheme and I'm not too thrilled about that as of now.  So the resumes will continue to be submitted until luck is in my hands!  On the bright side we only have to worry about Rob's schedule so far when it comes to this winter and the holidays!  Finally I've been working on getting the house done, right off the bat..

Fishing the other day.. it was cold!! Who knew GA got that way? ;)

Which brings me to my final thing.  Sunday I posted about the entryway being postponed.. well my local consignment shop (Grovetown Consignment, if you are in the area!!!) is ran by this awesome lady who was willing to trade me this AMAZING bench for the stinky one I had purchased.  So we picked that up today and my wonderful husband is going to help me strip it and get it ready to be moved indoors.  I'm so excited, you all have NO IDEA.  So that's where THAT stands.  I'm probably going to decorate the rest of it and then create a post, because I am not quite sure when we will get the bench finished as of now.  Let's put it this way.. I may make it a goal to leave one thing unfinished in each room, to have an update post, if you will. :)

And that's pretty much that y'all.  I knew there were some friends on Facebook concerned about what went down last night after seeing our status posts last night, so I figured I better do an update.  I know it is kind of mundane for the rest of you.. but I'm hoping there are SOME people that care!

Always,
Amanda

Here it is.. October.  Exactly three months after my main man made his way home from the desert.  I can't really say things are crazy bu...

Pretty much in a nut shell what we have been doing for the last week or so could probably be considered living on the wild side.. Or better yet, the last 48 hours.

Last Sunday we threw the house together in time for my parents to roll into town.  Literally got everything done less than an hour before they pulled up.  The hard work and sweat to get all of the boxes unpacked was worth it though to see Piston get excited to see his grandparents again.  He acted like he hadn't seen them in well a month... haha.

Literally sitting in the recliner with my Mom.

That launched us into a busy week of entertaining.  We went downtown, to museums, to the river, to South Carolina and just about everything in between.  Rob worked the majority of the days, so I was head tour guide.  Which was interesting to say the least since I am not quite a genius with getting around quite yet. :)

On Thursday we checked Piston into doggie boarding and drove to Atlanta.  Two days and two nights of exploring that city.  Which has quickly become one of my absolute favorite big cities I've visited.  We went to the World of Coca Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, CNN World Headquarters and the DragonConn parade.  Y'all are jealous huh?  It was a busy weekend in ATL with college football games at the dome and the DragonConn (comic books, video games and what not) Convention going on.

Saturday afternoon we drove back and decided on a quick pitstop at Walmart.. which changed our life...

Some guy was sitting in the parking lot with puppies for free.  I couldn't resist.  We've been looking at and exploring the idea of getting another dog for my little love bug Piston to grow up with.  So what do you know.. we walked away with a little dude to add to our family.  Friends.. meet Klutch.  He's a boxer mix.  Little bundle of furry energy.
Unfortunately due to the fact that he was a Walmart parking lot puppy we don't believe he has had the best first 6 weeks of life.  We have already treated him for fleas and our poor little dude has round worms that we are also treating him for (worms in his tummy.. typical in puppies.  Better than having heart worms.. but still serious stuff if left untreated).  At church this morning I couldn't help but smile when the priest mentioned that you should love orphans.. less than 12 hours after our little orphan walked into our life.. and man oh man does he have my heart strings tugging hard.
As for Piston.. I think he will like him a whole lot more when he is not little and fragile like he currently is.  Until then he is learning to share (a hard concept when every toy is your favorite...) and helps me entertain him.  Thank goodness!

Klutch is currently using our big oversized tub as his kennel.  So 6:30 this morning.. he decided he was awake.  For anyone who has read this blog for awhile.. you know how that goes over with me.  Not well.  Piston was right there with me at 6:30.. up entertaining him.  He's going to be a great big brother.  Klutch loves him.. follows him everywhere and does just what his brother does!
Late this morning my parents left to head back to KC (drive safe and see y'all in a few months!  Thanks for coming down to see us!!! Love you!!!) Now I am left with cleaning, laundry and school.. which starts tomorrow.  Yuck.


Hope you and yours have had a safe Labor Day weekend!

Always,
Amanda

Pretty much in a nut shell what we have been doing for the last week or so could probably be considered living on the wild side.. Or better ...