What am I?
I am rare
I am precious
I am unique
I am beautiful
I am flawed
I am unusual
I am shinny
I am sparkly
I am radiant
I am edgy
I am fancy
I am twinkling
I am curvy
I am bright
I am loved
I am desired
What am I?
A purple diamond (Me!)
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Faithful to the Dream
I always tell people that we are in our house because of God. Where we are not faithful to our dream, he was! This is a blog about how God guided us and prepared us to obtain our home. We were living in a 2 bedroom/2 bath mobile home. We sold our house that we lived in because we purchased 25 acres of land and was planning on building on it one day. I've been journaling for quite some time and what I love about doing so is that when I look back I can see how God has been guiding me along the way...
May 25, 2011: "We have talked about buying a mobile home on credit so we can move out to our property. God, please guide our paths. Please do not allow us to go down a path that is out of your will for us."
June 1, 2011: "We were very close to getting a mobile home on our property but we do not have enough equity in our property to pull out an acre. Obviously, it is not the time to do this. I am a little disappointed."
June 3, 2011: "We found out that the house across the road from our property has been foreclosed on and has sat empty for at least 2 years. It is our dream home, view, the lot, everything. I really want it bad! But if it is not in God's will forget it. I HAVE to remember God loves me more than I love myself. I believe this house/property is better than what we have now."
We traveled to Atlanta, Georgia during this weekend for me to become a certified Zumba instructor. We met my parents at a nearby restaurant as they were in the area waiting for a flight. We talked to them about finding this house. Mom asked if we had "Jerichoed" it. I said, what? She said, you know prayed and then marched around it 7 times like what they did in the Bible at Jericho. So, with our friends in tow, on the way back from Atlanta we stopped by the house, stood in a circle, prayed and marched around it 7 times. Now back to my journal entries...
June 12, 2011: "God, ......I'd also like to ask that you hold that house for us if it won't hurt us in any way in the future. I believe that your timing is perfect Father. Please have me continue to follow you, hear you, and give me the courage to do what you are asking me to do."
July 28, 2011: Been reading a book called God winks...been praying. We are very interested in a house in Altha. Do not have a clue when it will come available. Praying about the house, I want a sign! Opened up "Knowing the Heart of God" devotional book. It said how mystery is a part of God's design and how the flesh fights it. We want a detailed laid out plan. It also talked about Jericho. It's not ironic to me that Mom told us to walk around that house 7 times like Jericho. God made me and he loves me.
September 12, 2011: Read a little bit in Job-God owns everything including that house in Altha. God loves us more than we love ourselves.
Sometime in October a friend of ours offered a mobile home to us. The person was going to finance it for us and give us a really good deal. We just had to figure out how to move it to our property and he was even going to help us get a septic tank and well put in. Sounds perfect! and so I prayed on October 3, 2011: "God, if it is your will so be it!"
10/13/11: Your will be done on a bigger housing situation for us. Thankful for this place!
10/20/11: Mom and Dad are back from New York. We ate dinner with them and showed them the trailer we might buy and the house that we love that still has not come open yet.
12/22/11: Found a big 4000 square foot house in Marianna with 10 acres for $275,000. It is a short sale. We went and looked at it. Nice, big, can't afford it. I am torturing myself over this house. We can't afford it with our land payment. I do believe the devil is tempting me. I keep going back to when Jesus was tempted. No one is exempt from being tempted. Sometimes it is not necessarily sins but things that would eventually destroy us. A house is not worth the struggle financially. Our goal is to build a house one day. Dear God, help me to be content with our living situation. I want to trust you in this and have peace. Actually opened my Bible today. Why? Desperation-wanting a sign from God! Job 23: He controls my destiny, this is why I am fearful. Job 22:28: You will succeed in whatever you choose to do. The light will shine on the road ahead of you. Job 22:27: You will pray and he will hear you. Psalms 62:10: And if your wealth increases don't make it the center of your life. Ecclesiastes Chapter 3,4 Don't have idols! I feel like this trailer on our land is a blessing. It will not strap us financially!
12/23/11: Text to Daniel, "I am happy and content with getting trailer...it keeps our dream "alive", and "mysterious" and "unknown"...which makes it our adventure. Plus....we could put in a pool:) Then I wrote "I love you and our dreams!" Maybe I need to be Faithful to the Dream!
The same day we went to our property to pick a good spot for the trailer. Took pictures, etc.
12/30/11: Daniel and myself bickered about moving out west. I am frustrated with our living situation. God, I'm almost ready to beg, I'm ready for a little bit bigger place.
12/31/11: Decided to pay off as much debt as possible over the next 3 months and go to Iowa for Spring Break to look around. We decided to not get that trailer. God, we need your help!
1/3/12: Prayed that God would help us pay off Best Buy debt.
1/11/12: We paid off Best Buy today. Yay God!
1/15/12: Daniel and myself talked about our dreams today. Decided to stay here and continue what we are doing. Going to continue to work on becoming debt free. We want to build a house, God please be with our dreams. Don't allow others to ruin it for us!
1/22/12: ....looked at more house plans today. God, help us get/build a house soon. Help us to make the right decisions for our family.
1/23/12: I want a house...or at least I think I do.
2/18/12: Looked at some houses for sale yesterday. One of the houses we looked at last night is one Daniel has been looking at for a while. 89,900 for 1500 square feet. It needs a lot of work. God, if it is your will. Someone already has a cash offer on the place.
2/20/12: I looked at pics of master bedrooms, we want a house with a fireplace, sitting area, storage, a place to get away and escape.
2/22/12: Daniel got a call from the realtor. Cash offer did not go through. We are going to look at it on Thursday.
2/23/12: Met Daniel at the house, I like it. Especially master bathroom. The closet is a good size. we made an offer of 67, 300. If it is God's will, they will take it. God, please do not allow us to do something stupid. Let it benefit our family. (For some reason I keep seeing 137, 5 in my head...)
2/24/12: They turned down our offer.
We went back and forth with the company and we finally agreed on a price for the 1500 square foot home. It is about 1 mile from that other house that we really want but we have no idea when it will come up for sale. This seems like the right thing to do but if it isn't, God please stop us from getting it! We prayed off and on about the purchasing of this house. We ended up being unable to get it due to it needing a roof before we could get insurance on it and without insurance, we couldn't get a loan. We were very disappointed but my Dad made the comment, "who knows maybe that house down the road is going to come available soon!"
3/30/12: Paid van off today! Woo Hoo! Praise God. Thank you, Father!
4/3/12-4/9/12: Interesting week....hot water heater in our trailer busted and water was everywhere. We were already planning on moving from trailer 41 to trailer 47 because it is bigger so we went ahead and moved everything because that trailer was already available.
4/16/12: Went to look at a modular home today. It's an idea...
4/18/12: The house in Altha...the one with the view...hit the market today. What is crazy is they didn't even put a for sale sign next to Highway 71. They just put one down at the house. I'm very apprehensive and nervous about it! We were to meet the realtor there at 6:30 p.m. When we arrived we decided to pray and walk around it again 7 times hoping that we could do that before the realtor arrived. We did and our last lap around the house is when the realtor pulled up.
4/19/12: We put an offer in on the house. Now we have to wait 10 days to see if anyone else beats our offer. This is very nerve racking. We have no idea what the offers will be.
4/21/12: Thinking about the house. If we get it, it will be a blessing to not just us but our children and grandchildren. I'm ready to know one way or the other!
4/30/12: HUD did not accept any of the bids. Back to the drawing board. I told Daniel I wanted him to make sure he put a 3 in the price he bided for us. He made another bid and he did not put a 3 in it. I was not very happy. He said "whats the big deal with the 3?" I said, I just have this feeling...
5/2/12: Proverbs 16:9 We make our plans but God directs our steps. Well, they countered with 5 thousand more than our bid but what is funny about it is that at the end of the price was $3 dollars. We spoke with our financial advisor and he said that we could afford it so we went ahead and said we wanted to sign a contract. If it is God's will...it will work out. God, I really mean this! You know my fears, if this is wrong for us or our marriage, please stop it from happening. If this will be a blessing to us and our family please allow it to work out! I heard God say, "I DID!"
5/3/12: We got Hardees on the way back from Marianna and was going to sit out back of the house to eat. We checked the back door and it was unlocked so we went inside and ate. Thank you, Father!
5/5/12: Stopped by the house to walk around outside. We sat on the back porch and walked around listening to the birds sing and watched the sunset, then walked to the front of the house and saw the full moon rising. Beautiful. I had tears in my eyes. I also saw a butterfly!
5/25/12: Interest rate for the house is 3.75. Wow! Praise God. Well, there is my 3.75 I was feeling...
5/31/12: I realized last night that God has been faithful to our dream but we were not!
6/14/12: I am there God! I am already owning that house. Please finish this paperwork today. For your glory, Father! I praise you for this opportunity. Please do not allow this to bring my family any harm. I ask for your favor! Thank you for being more faithful to our dream than we were!
6/22/12: Closing on the house today. Can't sleep. Up at 5:30a.m. this morning. I'm ready to get started! I do not find it ironic that I quit smoking 10 years ago today! Thank you, Father! Read Isaiah 30:18-33...."This is the way you should go, whether to the right or the left....in that day, when your enemies are slaughtered and the TOWERS FALL, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill..."
As we pulled up to the house I had waves of emotion. We wanted to have a house by the time Breeanna entered the 9th grade...she is entering the 6th grade, we wanted a brick house with a view...we now have one, we wanted to live near open planted fields...we now do. I had tears running down my face. Thank you, God, for directing our steps, allowing the towers that were around this house to fall, for the streams of water running down my face and for being faithful to our dream!
Before and After pics of our Home.
May 25, 2011: "We have talked about buying a mobile home on credit so we can move out to our property. God, please guide our paths. Please do not allow us to go down a path that is out of your will for us."
June 1, 2011: "We were very close to getting a mobile home on our property but we do not have enough equity in our property to pull out an acre. Obviously, it is not the time to do this. I am a little disappointed."
June 3, 2011: "We found out that the house across the road from our property has been foreclosed on and has sat empty for at least 2 years. It is our dream home, view, the lot, everything. I really want it bad! But if it is not in God's will forget it. I HAVE to remember God loves me more than I love myself. I believe this house/property is better than what we have now."
We traveled to Atlanta, Georgia during this weekend for me to become a certified Zumba instructor. We met my parents at a nearby restaurant as they were in the area waiting for a flight. We talked to them about finding this house. Mom asked if we had "Jerichoed" it. I said, what? She said, you know prayed and then marched around it 7 times like what they did in the Bible at Jericho. So, with our friends in tow, on the way back from Atlanta we stopped by the house, stood in a circle, prayed and marched around it 7 times. Now back to my journal entries...
June 12, 2011: "God, ......I'd also like to ask that you hold that house for us if it won't hurt us in any way in the future. I believe that your timing is perfect Father. Please have me continue to follow you, hear you, and give me the courage to do what you are asking me to do."
July 28, 2011: Been reading a book called God winks...been praying. We are very interested in a house in Altha. Do not have a clue when it will come available. Praying about the house, I want a sign! Opened up "Knowing the Heart of God" devotional book. It said how mystery is a part of God's design and how the flesh fights it. We want a detailed laid out plan. It also talked about Jericho. It's not ironic to me that Mom told us to walk around that house 7 times like Jericho. God made me and he loves me.
September 12, 2011: Read a little bit in Job-God owns everything including that house in Altha. God loves us more than we love ourselves.
Sometime in October a friend of ours offered a mobile home to us. The person was going to finance it for us and give us a really good deal. We just had to figure out how to move it to our property and he was even going to help us get a septic tank and well put in. Sounds perfect! and so I prayed on October 3, 2011: "God, if it is your will so be it!"
10/13/11: Your will be done on a bigger housing situation for us. Thankful for this place!
10/20/11: Mom and Dad are back from New York. We ate dinner with them and showed them the trailer we might buy and the house that we love that still has not come open yet.
12/22/11: Found a big 4000 square foot house in Marianna with 10 acres for $275,000. It is a short sale. We went and looked at it. Nice, big, can't afford it. I am torturing myself over this house. We can't afford it with our land payment. I do believe the devil is tempting me. I keep going back to when Jesus was tempted. No one is exempt from being tempted. Sometimes it is not necessarily sins but things that would eventually destroy us. A house is not worth the struggle financially. Our goal is to build a house one day. Dear God, help me to be content with our living situation. I want to trust you in this and have peace. Actually opened my Bible today. Why? Desperation-wanting a sign from God! Job 23: He controls my destiny, this is why I am fearful. Job 22:28: You will succeed in whatever you choose to do. The light will shine on the road ahead of you. Job 22:27: You will pray and he will hear you. Psalms 62:10: And if your wealth increases don't make it the center of your life. Ecclesiastes Chapter 3,4 Don't have idols! I feel like this trailer on our land is a blessing. It will not strap us financially!
12/23/11: Text to Daniel, "I am happy and content with getting trailer...it keeps our dream "alive", and "mysterious" and "unknown"...which makes it our adventure. Plus....we could put in a pool:) Then I wrote "I love you and our dreams!" Maybe I need to be Faithful to the Dream!
The same day we went to our property to pick a good spot for the trailer. Took pictures, etc.
12/30/11: Daniel and myself bickered about moving out west. I am frustrated with our living situation. God, I'm almost ready to beg, I'm ready for a little bit bigger place.
12/31/11: Decided to pay off as much debt as possible over the next 3 months and go to Iowa for Spring Break to look around. We decided to not get that trailer. God, we need your help!
1/3/12: Prayed that God would help us pay off Best Buy debt.
1/11/12: We paid off Best Buy today. Yay God!
1/15/12: Daniel and myself talked about our dreams today. Decided to stay here and continue what we are doing. Going to continue to work on becoming debt free. We want to build a house, God please be with our dreams. Don't allow others to ruin it for us!
1/22/12: ....looked at more house plans today. God, help us get/build a house soon. Help us to make the right decisions for our family.
1/23/12: I want a house...or at least I think I do.
2/18/12: Looked at some houses for sale yesterday. One of the houses we looked at last night is one Daniel has been looking at for a while. 89,900 for 1500 square feet. It needs a lot of work. God, if it is your will. Someone already has a cash offer on the place.
2/20/12: I looked at pics of master bedrooms, we want a house with a fireplace, sitting area, storage, a place to get away and escape.
2/22/12: Daniel got a call from the realtor. Cash offer did not go through. We are going to look at it on Thursday.
2/23/12: Met Daniel at the house, I like it. Especially master bathroom. The closet is a good size. we made an offer of 67, 300. If it is God's will, they will take it. God, please do not allow us to do something stupid. Let it benefit our family. (For some reason I keep seeing 137, 5 in my head...)
2/24/12: They turned down our offer.
We went back and forth with the company and we finally agreed on a price for the 1500 square foot home. It is about 1 mile from that other house that we really want but we have no idea when it will come up for sale. This seems like the right thing to do but if it isn't, God please stop us from getting it! We prayed off and on about the purchasing of this house. We ended up being unable to get it due to it needing a roof before we could get insurance on it and without insurance, we couldn't get a loan. We were very disappointed but my Dad made the comment, "who knows maybe that house down the road is going to come available soon!"
3/30/12: Paid van off today! Woo Hoo! Praise God. Thank you, Father!
4/3/12-4/9/12: Interesting week....hot water heater in our trailer busted and water was everywhere. We were already planning on moving from trailer 41 to trailer 47 because it is bigger so we went ahead and moved everything because that trailer was already available.
4/16/12: Went to look at a modular home today. It's an idea...
4/18/12: The house in Altha...the one with the view...hit the market today. What is crazy is they didn't even put a for sale sign next to Highway 71. They just put one down at the house. I'm very apprehensive and nervous about it! We were to meet the realtor there at 6:30 p.m. When we arrived we decided to pray and walk around it again 7 times hoping that we could do that before the realtor arrived. We did and our last lap around the house is when the realtor pulled up.
4/19/12: We put an offer in on the house. Now we have to wait 10 days to see if anyone else beats our offer. This is very nerve racking. We have no idea what the offers will be.
4/21/12: Thinking about the house. If we get it, it will be a blessing to not just us but our children and grandchildren. I'm ready to know one way or the other!
4/30/12: HUD did not accept any of the bids. Back to the drawing board. I told Daniel I wanted him to make sure he put a 3 in the price he bided for us. He made another bid and he did not put a 3 in it. I was not very happy. He said "whats the big deal with the 3?" I said, I just have this feeling...
5/2/12: Proverbs 16:9 We make our plans but God directs our steps. Well, they countered with 5 thousand more than our bid but what is funny about it is that at the end of the price was $3 dollars. We spoke with our financial advisor and he said that we could afford it so we went ahead and said we wanted to sign a contract. If it is God's will...it will work out. God, I really mean this! You know my fears, if this is wrong for us or our marriage, please stop it from happening. If this will be a blessing to us and our family please allow it to work out! I heard God say, "I DID!"
5/3/12: We got Hardees on the way back from Marianna and was going to sit out back of the house to eat. We checked the back door and it was unlocked so we went inside and ate. Thank you, Father!
5/5/12: Stopped by the house to walk around outside. We sat on the back porch and walked around listening to the birds sing and watched the sunset, then walked to the front of the house and saw the full moon rising. Beautiful. I had tears in my eyes. I also saw a butterfly!
5/25/12: Interest rate for the house is 3.75. Wow! Praise God. Well, there is my 3.75 I was feeling...
5/31/12: I realized last night that God has been faithful to our dream but we were not!
6/14/12: I am there God! I am already owning that house. Please finish this paperwork today. For your glory, Father! I praise you for this opportunity. Please do not allow this to bring my family any harm. I ask for your favor! Thank you for being more faithful to our dream than we were!
6/22/12: Closing on the house today. Can't sleep. Up at 5:30a.m. this morning. I'm ready to get started! I do not find it ironic that I quit smoking 10 years ago today! Thank you, Father! Read Isaiah 30:18-33...."This is the way you should go, whether to the right or the left....in that day, when your enemies are slaughtered and the TOWERS FALL, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill..."
As we pulled up to the house I had waves of emotion. We wanted to have a house by the time Breeanna entered the 9th grade...she is entering the 6th grade, we wanted a brick house with a view...we now have one, we wanted to live near open planted fields...we now do. I had tears running down my face. Thank you, God, for directing our steps, allowing the towers that were around this house to fall, for the streams of water running down my face and for being faithful to our dream!
Before and After pics of our Home.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Replacing a hole in my heart...
Dogs! What is it about dogs that can fill our hearts!
When we first purchased our home in June of 2012 our 11 year old daughter really, really, REALLY wanted a dog! We kept telling her once we got a house we would EVENTUALLY get a dog! So, we set out to find a puppy to give to our daughter for Christmas in 2012. We did a little bit of searching around and found a shorkie puppy that was available from a place called Dream Puppys in Dothan, Alabama. I received a picture of her and from that moment on we knew that we needed to prepare for our new pup!
On December 24th we told our daughter that we needed to go to Dothan to pick up something for her Dad's work. We traveled to Dothan and started video taping when we arrived. Breeanna had no clue what was about to take place! We walked into the, unbeknownst to her, pet store, and received, whom we later called, Raisen! The cutest little puppy you've ever seen! Right from the get go she was a little hypoglycemic and had to be fed by hand. Needless to say she became an extremely spoiled little girl. She literally ate out of my hand for the 1st year of her life until....we got another dog!
Cotton was a surprise to us all. Breeanna and myself just happened to stop by Dream Puppys during Thanksgiving break of 2013. He was barking, barking, barking and a fluffy, fluffy, fluffy fur ball! I asked if we could hold him and the rest was, as they say, his-story! Cotton is a maltese and a very happy go lucky little boy! So, our little family has grown, we now have a girl and a boy, what more could we ask for? Apparently, for another dog!
Watson came to us from a friend of ours! Watson, other wise known as Ringo, is a Rat Terrier mix. He has one ear that stands straight up and one ear that flops, he sheds, he licks but he is very loving and sleeps like a baby each night smack dab in the middle of us, his Mom and Dad!
So, we did it! We are now a family with dogs! Everything was going pretty great until one night when Raisen was whining to go outside. It was at 1:08am in the morning. She has been outside at night several times before so we let her and our other two dogs outside. Two came back and one did not.
My husband and I both went outside and started yelling the missing dogs name, but nothing, silence, quiet, stillness. My husband got his spotlight out and started shinning everywhere, seeing nothing, hearing nothing. But then! Wait. What is that? He saw a pile of dirt out in the field in front of our house. He walked toward it cautiously. I stood in the yard watching him and then heard him say, in the most tender voice I've ever heard him use, "Raisen, oh Raisen!" I saw him as he picked her up and how her body was limp. All I could say over and over again was, "I just can't see her, I just can't see her like this, is she alive, is she alive?" My husband said, "Yes, but she has been bitten, she is bleeding." I said, "What do we do, what do we do?"
To make a long and sad story short, we took her to the animal hospital an hour away for them to tell us that they may or may not could save her for about $2000.00 and we had to leave her there so they could begin treatment to see if she would respond. She did not respond and died around 5:00am on November the 13th of 2015. A night I will never forget! You see, I mentioned that we bought her for our daughter but because Raisen was slightly hypoglycemic when we received her I nursed her to health therefore making her MY dog and MY dog she was! Time heals you but slowly! The first couple of weeks everything about our house reminded me of her. I was so upset and didn't know how to respond to this or how to get over it. Then a friend of mine said to me, "are you going to get another one?" Actually, the thought did not even cross my mind. This thought eventually turned some of my grief to anticipation!
I started looking at puppy pictures! Of course, I started with Dream Puppys website! I had purchased two dogs from them and loved them both! I looked on Pinterest to see what kind of puppy I wanted. After a few months of searching I decided I wanted a Morkie, which is a maltease and yorkie mix. There were several morkies available for purchase along the way but I needed to wait until summertime to purchase one due to being a teacher and wanting to be able to bond with the puppy while off during the summer. I contacted the owner of Dream puppies on February 12th letting her know that I was on the search for a puppy that was similar to Raisen but more golden then she was. I was constantly looking at pictures of puppies on pinterest and on Dream Puppys facebook page. I was stopping by Dream Puppys store every time I went to Dothan. I was even trying to figure out what I was going to name this new unknown puppy. I knew that I wanted a name that would end with a "n" because we had Raisen and we have Cotton and Watson! Some of the ideas were, Pumkin? No! Craisen? No! Button? No! Nothing seemed to work. Then, on May 6th when I was in the stage of coming out of deeply sleeping all night I heard someone say "Muffin!" I woke up with excitement and said, Muffin? Yes! I decided to send a text to Mrs. Williamson from Dream Puppys again to let her know that I was in the window to purchase a puppy from May 27th on if she could be on the lookout for me. On May 18th I woke up feeling lead to read Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." I later that morning wrote this journal entry, "Searching for a replacement dog for Raisen has consumed my thinking! I do want another dog! I really don't even care if it sounds ridiculous. I don't like that she was just "taken" from us so viciously.....grrrrrrr! God, please provide a replacement for that loss in my life! Please! Thank you! (from daughter to heavenly Father kinda plea!)"
I decided that I needed to text the Dream Puppys owner again to see if she had had any luck. She said that she did and she would send pictures soon and that I need to let her know as soon as possible if I wanted one. In the meantime, I called my husband to tell him that she was going to send me pictures. He said, "Just remember sweetie it may not be what you want but it will be what you need." For some reason, that statement really stood out to me. Later on that evening, I received two photos of two available puppies. I immediately became upset and disappointed. It was not was I was looking for. I went to bed that night upset and did not sleep well with thoughts of one of the puppies in mind. I decided to go ahead and ask to see one of them. When we set up a time for me to go see the puppy she called me and started to give me directions to the puppies breeder. When she was telling me we both realized that it was the same breeder that Raisen came from! I was thrilled. Of course, the 1st time I laid eyes on her I knew she was the one. Matter of fact I told the breeders that she already had a name! She was only 5 weeks old and I had to wait until 3 weeks to bring her home. She still did not really look like what I thought I would get, but I believed she was what I needed maybe not necessarily what I wanted. I received a couple updated pics of her over the past couple of weeks but what really got me is the updated picture I received of the week I was to pick her up. So stinkin' cute! She started to fill out and get really fluffy!
The day has arrived! We were not going to head to pick her up until my husband got off of work which was not until 2:00pm. So, I kept myself busy with visiting my new grandson and doing some school work at home. Nervousness, excitement, anxiousness and thrills are some of the feelings I had on the way there. When we walked in and looked at all the puppies, I knew which one was mine, Mrs. Williamson had put a purple bow in her hair (my favorite color and she did not know that but God does!) and she was the smallest, cutest puppy in the store! As soon as I picked her up and said her name, she immediately licked my nose and my face (something that only Raisen did!) I knew at that moment that God gave me EXACTLY what I NEEDED to fill that empty hole in my heart! Not a Raisen Bran but a Bran Muffin:)
Video in memory of Raisen
Video of Muffin!
When we first purchased our home in June of 2012 our 11 year old daughter really, really, REALLY wanted a dog! We kept telling her once we got a house we would EVENTUALLY get a dog! So, we set out to find a puppy to give to our daughter for Christmas in 2012. We did a little bit of searching around and found a shorkie puppy that was available from a place called Dream Puppys in Dothan, Alabama. I received a picture of her and from that moment on we knew that we needed to prepare for our new pup!
On December 24th we told our daughter that we needed to go to Dothan to pick up something for her Dad's work. We traveled to Dothan and started video taping when we arrived. Breeanna had no clue what was about to take place! We walked into the, unbeknownst to her, pet store, and received, whom we later called, Raisen! The cutest little puppy you've ever seen! Right from the get go she was a little hypoglycemic and had to be fed by hand. Needless to say she became an extremely spoiled little girl. She literally ate out of my hand for the 1st year of her life until....we got another dog!
Cotton was a surprise to us all. Breeanna and myself just happened to stop by Dream Puppys during Thanksgiving break of 2013. He was barking, barking, barking and a fluffy, fluffy, fluffy fur ball! I asked if we could hold him and the rest was, as they say, his-story! Cotton is a maltese and a very happy go lucky little boy! So, our little family has grown, we now have a girl and a boy, what more could we ask for? Apparently, for another dog!
Watson came to us from a friend of ours! Watson, other wise known as Ringo, is a Rat Terrier mix. He has one ear that stands straight up and one ear that flops, he sheds, he licks but he is very loving and sleeps like a baby each night smack dab in the middle of us, his Mom and Dad!
So, we did it! We are now a family with dogs! Everything was going pretty great until one night when Raisen was whining to go outside. It was at 1:08am in the morning. She has been outside at night several times before so we let her and our other two dogs outside. Two came back and one did not.
My husband and I both went outside and started yelling the missing dogs name, but nothing, silence, quiet, stillness. My husband got his spotlight out and started shinning everywhere, seeing nothing, hearing nothing. But then! Wait. What is that? He saw a pile of dirt out in the field in front of our house. He walked toward it cautiously. I stood in the yard watching him and then heard him say, in the most tender voice I've ever heard him use, "Raisen, oh Raisen!" I saw him as he picked her up and how her body was limp. All I could say over and over again was, "I just can't see her, I just can't see her like this, is she alive, is she alive?" My husband said, "Yes, but she has been bitten, she is bleeding." I said, "What do we do, what do we do?"
To make a long and sad story short, we took her to the animal hospital an hour away for them to tell us that they may or may not could save her for about $2000.00 and we had to leave her there so they could begin treatment to see if she would respond. She did not respond and died around 5:00am on November the 13th of 2015. A night I will never forget! You see, I mentioned that we bought her for our daughter but because Raisen was slightly hypoglycemic when we received her I nursed her to health therefore making her MY dog and MY dog she was! Time heals you but slowly! The first couple of weeks everything about our house reminded me of her. I was so upset and didn't know how to respond to this or how to get over it. Then a friend of mine said to me, "are you going to get another one?" Actually, the thought did not even cross my mind. This thought eventually turned some of my grief to anticipation!
I started looking at puppy pictures! Of course, I started with Dream Puppys website! I had purchased two dogs from them and loved them both! I looked on Pinterest to see what kind of puppy I wanted. After a few months of searching I decided I wanted a Morkie, which is a maltease and yorkie mix. There were several morkies available for purchase along the way but I needed to wait until summertime to purchase one due to being a teacher and wanting to be able to bond with the puppy while off during the summer. I contacted the owner of Dream puppies on February 12th letting her know that I was on the search for a puppy that was similar to Raisen but more golden then she was. I was constantly looking at pictures of puppies on pinterest and on Dream Puppys facebook page. I was stopping by Dream Puppys store every time I went to Dothan. I was even trying to figure out what I was going to name this new unknown puppy. I knew that I wanted a name that would end with a "n" because we had Raisen and we have Cotton and Watson! Some of the ideas were, Pumkin? No! Craisen? No! Button? No! Nothing seemed to work. Then, on May 6th when I was in the stage of coming out of deeply sleeping all night I heard someone say "Muffin!" I woke up with excitement and said, Muffin? Yes! I decided to send a text to Mrs. Williamson from Dream Puppys again to let her know that I was in the window to purchase a puppy from May 27th on if she could be on the lookout for me. On May 18th I woke up feeling lead to read Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." I later that morning wrote this journal entry, "Searching for a replacement dog for Raisen has consumed my thinking! I do want another dog! I really don't even care if it sounds ridiculous. I don't like that she was just "taken" from us so viciously.....grrrrrrr! God, please provide a replacement for that loss in my life! Please! Thank you! (from daughter to heavenly Father kinda plea!)"
I decided that I needed to text the Dream Puppys owner again to see if she had had any luck. She said that she did and she would send pictures soon and that I need to let her know as soon as possible if I wanted one. In the meantime, I called my husband to tell him that she was going to send me pictures. He said, "Just remember sweetie it may not be what you want but it will be what you need." For some reason, that statement really stood out to me. Later on that evening, I received two photos of two available puppies. I immediately became upset and disappointed. It was not was I was looking for. I went to bed that night upset and did not sleep well with thoughts of one of the puppies in mind. I decided to go ahead and ask to see one of them. When we set up a time for me to go see the puppy she called me and started to give me directions to the puppies breeder. When she was telling me we both realized that it was the same breeder that Raisen came from! I was thrilled. Of course, the 1st time I laid eyes on her I knew she was the one. Matter of fact I told the breeders that she already had a name! She was only 5 weeks old and I had to wait until 3 weeks to bring her home. She still did not really look like what I thought I would get, but I believed she was what I needed maybe not necessarily what I wanted. I received a couple updated pics of her over the past couple of weeks but what really got me is the updated picture I received of the week I was to pick her up. So stinkin' cute! She started to fill out and get really fluffy!
The day has arrived! We were not going to head to pick her up until my husband got off of work which was not until 2:00pm. So, I kept myself busy with visiting my new grandson and doing some school work at home. Nervousness, excitement, anxiousness and thrills are some of the feelings I had on the way there. When we walked in and looked at all the puppies, I knew which one was mine, Mrs. Williamson had put a purple bow in her hair (my favorite color and she did not know that but God does!) and she was the smallest, cutest puppy in the store! As soon as I picked her up and said her name, she immediately licked my nose and my face (something that only Raisen did!) I knew at that moment that God gave me EXACTLY what I NEEDED to fill that empty hole in my heart! Not a Raisen Bran but a Bran Muffin:)
Video in memory of Raisen
Video of Muffin!
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