Lucy! You're Home!!!

Meet Lucy, the newest member of the Taylor family :D

She's just too cute to have a small picture!

Yes folks, that's right! Patrick and I just adopted/rescued our first puppy!
And here's how the story goes:

Ever since we long-term dog sat for our friends Katie and Mark we knew that we just had to have our own bundle of love; it was just a matter of time. Early last week we got an email from our friend, Kim, notifying us that a friend of a friend had found four puppies on her doorstep when she went to get the mail in the morning. Talk about a surprise that could rock your world! She graciously took them in to try and find all of them homes. Well, come to find out, there were actually three more puppies found in the field behind her house! Luckily her neighbor took on finding homes for the additional cuties. (I just have to give props to both of these amazing families. I'm so thankful that they had the means to find proper homes for the sweet little darlings...what a task!) So just to recap, SEVEN puppies total were found...one male and six females. As soon as I got the email, I forwarded it to P, and we took a look at the good ole' Taylor budget to make sure we weren't crazy to possibly take this on. We knew it would be a big financial commitment. In addition to making sure we were in a good place financially, we also had to consider the time and energy we knew it would take to properly care for a pet...especially a puppy pet! I knew it would be totally different from when my family had a dog growing up. This time I would be the one to feed, walk and clean up after our new furry friend. Another piece of the puzzle was that the puppies were found in Hernando, MS, which is about 50 minutes away from where we live. We're not just talking a quick trip...it would be more like a hefty jaunt. We had to make sure this feeling wasn't just a whim. After what seemed like forever, we finally decided to go "take a look" (haha...as if that's ever all we were going to do!) I called Deanne (who found the puppies) and told her we were on our way! She let us know that there were only two puppies left (both girls) out of the seven. Wow! That's awesome that five of the puppies had already found homes! (And now that I'm looking back on it, I'm really really glad, because it was hard enough just choosing between two!)

We had so much fun meeting both puppies and talking with Deanne about their personalities, mannerisms, etc. Like I said, it was SO hard to choose between the two sisters. Let alone leave one behind :( And if you know me at all, you know how much trouble I have with decisions... we actually got to the point where we literally had to stop and pray that God would give us peace and direction towards which puppy to choose! (it sounds silly...but I'm learning more and more about the power of prayer...even for "simple" things)

Here's Patrick with Lucy's sister...see what trouble we had?

We chose our little grey love muffin (I know, I know...gag!) because of her sleek/slender frame and spunky personality. Between the two, she definitely took on the dominant role when they were playing. Although now that she's in a new environment she is very timid. Gradually we see her building confidence, though, and it's super fun! Another reason we fell in love with her was her unique coloring. I always pictured us with a red haired dog (go figure), but now that we have her I can't wait to watch her grow into a beautiful adult dog. It's like a fun story that we don't know the ending to, and I just love surprises!

Our happy family :)

As far as her name goes, we tested out a few other options before we landed on "Lucy." We knew we wanted a people name. After all, it'd have to hold a candle to our cat's name, "Moses," so it was only fair. Our friend, Katie, suggested the name "Lucy" after she met her that first night we brought her home. Oddly enough, Patrick confessed that when he saw a picture of her, that very name had popped into his head. It also just so happened that the day after we got her would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday!! And seriously, who wouldn't want to be able to say, "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!" to lighten the mood after one of the inevitable "puppicidents" we're going to have, right?!

Welcome home, Lucy! We're delighted you're finally here!

PS: She's having a puppy dream as I'm writing this blog...go get'em, girl!
PPS: I talked to Deanne today and she loves the name we chose. She also let us know that Lucy's sister was able to find a forever home on Saturday. Get this: the family that adopted her sister had a little boy and girl. When Deanne said, "Are you going to love your new little puppy?" the little girl responded, "I already do love her!" My feelings exactly!

Moral of the Story: Good things are definitely worth waiting for.