 |
| Sisterly Love |
Meet Elle and Emma. It is safe to say that these little fur balls are my two best little friends. They have been with me through the highs and the lows.. and my life just wouldn't be complete with out their unconditional love!
 |
| Me and my girls |
“A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty." - John Grogan
 |
| Hi, I'm Elle! |
 |
| Elle and her Aunt Rei |
 |
| The best little present ever (please note the chevron) |
After competing for the title of Miss Texas in 2008 (and losing...), I had the hair brained idea that I should get a dog. Backstory on this: I have never really been much of a dog person. Growing up I loved the movie Lady and the Tramp... in fact I even had a dog named Lady. She was cute and I enjoyed playing with her but she was an outside dog for the most part and I never really had a true bond with her. I grew up in a household where both of my parents worked full time, very demanding jobs and thus I always had an au pair. Having au pairs is still one of the most amazing experiences of my childhood. I got to learn so much about other cultures and I had some incredible young women (besides my amazing mom) to look up to as I grew up. One of my au pairs from Sweden named Sophia got me into cats. It started with a stray cat we found named Thomas and continued with us adopting 2 cats named Jennifer and Christopher. Long story short... Jennifer and Christopher were cool for a few years and then I mysteriously developed a cat allergy and realized I just wasn't an animal person. Reilly on the other hand was an animal freak. Most kids watch cartoons, Reilly watched Animal Planet. She could rattle off every species of snake known to man. I remember being worried at one point that she was going to be such a nerd because all she ever wanted to talk about was animals. With all of this in mind, you can imagine my parents shock when I told them that I wanted to get a dog of my own to take with me to college in Fayetteville. Without hesitation my dad, always the level headed one, said, "No way, thats the dumbest thing I have ever heard." My mom, being the lawyer that she is, made me sit down and come up with an argument for why I should get the dog. My argument paired with my obvious disappointment from losing Miss Texas won my mom over and in a matter of 4 days I had a brand new little yorkie named Elle.
The day I got Elle stands out very vividly in my mind. I found her online and drove out to the middle of nowhere in east Texas. The two hour drive felt like the longest drive of my life as I was filled with butterflies and anticipation to meet my little princess. I arrived at a large farm and entered a barn like structure where I was greeted by an elderly lady. She instructed me to go over to the cage and play with the dogs to find the one I liked. She told me that there were 5 girls and 2 boys. I said a little prayer for God to bring me the perfect dog, reached in the cage and pulled out the smallest, most precious little pup I had ever laid eyes on. Immediately the elderly woman warned me, "Are you sure you want that one? She's the runt. Why don't you pick another one... you'll probably like it more." But it was too late. I was already head over heels for this little lady. "Nope, I'll take her! She's perfect." And less than five minutes after walking into the barn I was back in my car with a tiny little puppy in my arms and she was mine all mine. I don't know the feeling of having your own child... but I imagine that the first time you see your child you are filled with an unconditional love that is hard to put into words. I had this same love for Elle from the moment I saw her. The first few weeks of being a yorkie mom were anything but easy. I had been instructed to feed Elle goat's milk over her dry food everyday, however I soon realized that was a problem. She wasn't eating. She hated it! If she did manage to eat a little bit, she automatically threw it up. She had stopped eating. She didn't ever want to play. Sometimes it looked like it was difficult for her to even walk around. She was the laziest, most lethargic puppy I had ever seen in my life. All of this lead me to the conclusion that something was wrong and I finally took her to the vet. When I got her to the vet she weighed in at just a pound and the vet told me not to get too attached. She said that dogs this small often died at a young age due to complications and that Elle would need to stay overnight for tests. I was heartbroken. I am pretty sure I called the vet every hour on the hour to check on her for the 48 hours she was in the pet hospital. I was attached and she just HAD to make it! Luckily, Elle was given an IV and a feeding tube. She was a little fighter and pulled through. Two days later she came home to me and she was been perfectly healthy ever since.
Being my first real dog it is safe to say that Elle is spoiled. She grew up a true purse puppy and went with me literally everywhere. Elle is the ultimate "mommie's girl". Elle is four years old and weighs in at just about 4 lbs. Her nicknames include Elle Belle, Elle Diddy, Diddickers, E, the Dids, Big little girl, and Diddy bug. As a puppy, she would just constantly follow me around. I actually stepped on her a few times on accident! She is my little snuggle bug and absolutely has to sleep curled in a little ball by my stomach. Just like her Mom, she in incredibly picky when it comes to men. In fact, I recall her peeing on several of my dates in college and I guess that was her way of expressing her disapproval..if only I would have listened! Elle has always been a very cautious dog. Anytime she approached something she was unfamiliar with she would just stand there and look at me like "Hey, Mom... what do I do?". Stairs were a HUGE issue for her. They scared the life out of her as a puppy and it took hours upon hours of me slowing nudging her down them step by step for her to finally realize they weren't that bad and she wouldn't crash to a sudden death. Elle also was scared to jump up on things and off of things. Whether it was my bed or the couch she just didn't want to risk it and of course me being the softy I am I always just picked her up. To this day she has terrible anxiety. She HATES interacting with other dogs (besides her sister, Emma, and my parents' dogs at home) and I believe it is because in her mind she is a human. Every time I take her on a walk and we encounter another dog it is always dramatic and it ends with me carrying her and giving her a lecture about how she is not going to have any friends if she keeps being so mean... clearly a point that has yet to sink in to her little brain. Elle's favorite treats in the world are "little Jacs". She will do virtually ANYTHING for a little jac... a truth that I have used to my advantage more than once (does this make me a bad dog mom? haha).
When I think of loyalty I think of my little Elle. She is the living proof that a dog truly is a girl's best friend. She is the best listener a girl could ask for and more than once she has licked away my tears. She always knows she I am sad or sick and she is always extra cuddly on those days. I believe that she has healing properties because I seem to recover much quicker no matter what the circumstance if I have her by my side. If she had her way we would just stay in bed and cuddle all day long. Elle has been with me through the break ups and the make ups... and then more break ups. I guess you could say that Elle has taught me a lot about love. She loves me unconditionally. Whether I am fat, thin, on time, late, pretty, ugly, sweaty or clean... Elle always greets me with a wagging nub (I say nub because the 1/2 inch thing she has can hardly be considered a tail) and hundreds of licks. I credit Elle's unwavering love for inspiring me to find my soulmate and not to settle. I always used to say that I just wanted to find somebody who loves me like Elle does... is that too much to ask? Well... it wasn't! God heard my prayers and delivered me the most perfectly amazing man ever. (Don't worry I will devote an entire blog to him later on... he deserves it). In all honesty, I knew me and Logan were a match from the moment I met him in large part because of how he interacted with my girls. They ran to him like they knew him and he instantly started kissing on them and playing with them and talking to them in a high pitched voice that he reserves strictly for them. It was adorable and I'm pretty sure my heart melted. Once again... Elle was right on picking men for me! Thanks Dids!
|
Now on to my crazy child...
 |
| Hi! I am Emma Lou! |
Emma Lou Johannsen is a 2 year old, 5 pound (of crazy), morkie (maltese + yorkie). Emma was honestly a mistake. I had been dating someone for a while and out of the blue we broke up. I was sad but at the time mostly I was just pissed so I decided to do what every normal, upset, 21 year old does and I replaced this unnamed man with a dog. This is where Emma comes into the picture. The story gets better because I actually got back together with this guy and he hated Emma almost as much as she hated him. In fact, she was a huge part of the reason we finally broke up... yeah... don't mess with my dogs. She is FULL of energy and will do just about anything for a bottle cap. Emma has many nicknames including (but not limited to): LouLou, Louis the quatorze, Louie Cat, LouLou bug, Little Miss Crazy, Mama Girl, and Little E. As previously mentioned her favorite toy in the world is bottle caps. Yes, like the ones on Ozarka bottles. Give her one of those things and she is content for at least an hour. She also LOVES socks (particularly her Aunt Rei's... I still haven't figured out if its because they are easily accessible in her dirty room or if she just likes the smelliness after hours of dancing). Emma reminds me daily to enjoy the little things in life (like bottle caps and smelly socks) and is constantly making me smile. I have never seen a dog quiet like her... in fact sometimes I wonder if she is actually part cat... and in that case I should probably ask for some of my money back. One moment Emma is running laps around the apartment in the greatest chase of her entire life playing with a cap or hunting for socks... and the next she is in my lap asleep. She is so sweet and so cute... so cute in fact that I don't think I have spanked her once and this might explain why she is so spoiled. Fortunately she is a good listener and obeys me very well. If she was my child she would be the crazy one. The one that has to try everything for herself to see if I am telling the truth. She would be the one who would ask "...but Mommie, WHY do I have to go to sleep?" and I would reply, "because I said so..." and she would come back with something like, "but why Mom, you aren't going to sleep." If you aren't that child, you know that child... and that is my Emma. I find myself giving her explanations even though she doesn't actually ask for them. For example, when it is time for her bottle cap to go away I always take it from her and say..."Emma, your bottle cap is tired and it is time to go night night." I swear she understands because when I tell her that she goes and sits on the couch... a bit upset but also confident that she will see that bottle cap again.
As you can see... I am a crazy dog lady. Sorry I am not sorry. My dogs are awesome.
