With great anticipation...

This week has been crazy...so I'll try and recap for you before the rest of the week becomes a ridiculous whirlwind of puppy love. 

Yes....

PUPPY.

LOVE.

Settle in, it's a long story...but a good one!

Last fall, we said goodbye to my nearly 15 year old Shih-tzu x Maltese dog, Panda. 

I probably kept her living a year past her due. 

At the end, she was almost completely blind, deaf and has little control over her bladder. 

To say the least, she was a mess. 

But saying goodbye? well, I was a mess. 

I got her when I was 12 years old. 

She's been with me through my teen years, getting married, and having 3 kids. 

I had prayed that when the decision needed to be made, I would know it, and thankfully that prayer was answered when I was bathing her one day and felt her body, and how it was all skin & bones. 

She wasn't happy. 

She was likely in pain. 

She was scared. 

I was holding onto her, and I think she was ready to say goodbye. 

So we said it. 

I told myself I could never ever do that again.

Then we watched Marley & Me the next week when it came on TV.

Salt on the wound, I know.

But somehow it helped. At the end of the movie, when Josh Grogan (Owen Wilson) talks about dogs and their unconditional love for "man" regardless of what car you drive, what house you live in, what job you have. I felt renewed. I also felt closure that the canine-human relationship is meant to be a shorter one. Panda was about 102 years old in dog years. Can I really ask for any more? 

After watching Marley & Me...Jordan and I got talking. 

Desires began bubbling up again to "one day" have a dog. 

One day I was just standing in the kitchen, bawling over a memory of Panda and Jordan said "we're dog people! we need a dog!"

I wasn't there yet.

Dogs (especially puppies) are work. 

Jordan wanted a "real" dog...one that he can run with and not have as "fluffy furniture" (Panda was 5lbs and not at all active).

Somehow, at some point Jordan started talking about Beagles. 

Again, I wasn't there yet.

Then last week (on Family Day for us Canadians, also known as President's Day for you Americanos) we headed to the states for a day of shopping and stopped in a pet store and sure enough, there was a little 8 week old beagle.

Oh my gosh.

How did I not know?

THEY ARE FREAKING CUTE!

(danger, Sarah, danger!)

Then we took him out and played with him.

(alright it's all over now...)

Then they told us he was $1300.

(SCREEEEEECH. halt. stop. not happening.)

We came home, all puppy loved up, and I did what I always do...

OBSESS.

Kijiji, Craigslist, breeders, all of it. 

I was looking high & low for a beagle puppy.

Then, my heart strings pulled to wanted a rescue dog...so I found a list of shelters in our area and began looking through their dogs.

About the 3rd shelter down in the list, I found a litter of 3 month old beagles. 

RESCUE. BEAGLE. PUPPIES.

Is this actually happening? 

We had to wait until Saturday to get to the shelter bc they had funny hours. 

The puppies caregiver immediately wanted to pair us up with one of the pups, 

shelter-named Winston.

When he came out I looked at Jordan and said "I'm going to cry, I'm going to cry" to which he said "don't cry! It's a puppy!".

He was soooo cute. The perfect combination of chunky and droopy ears. 

I picked him up like a baby and he poked his nose into mine.

It was over. I was in love.

Jordan & our pup

(phone photo that does NO justice to his extreme cuteness in person)

I didn't think we even needed to see the others...but Jordan encouraged me to.

So we did...they were incredibly sweet, but not as comfortable with our busy, loud, affectionate family. 

Back to "Winston".

We applied to adopt him. 

We were to hear back TODAY on whether we were approved.

At around 9am this morning, we got the call.

He was ours.

Today we got the last supplies to bring him home.

We pick him up tomorrow.

Prepare yourself to be inundated with a plethora of beagle puppy photos in upcoming posts.

EEEEE!!!!!!!!