Bittersweet Beginnings

Today marks a month since Olive has been gone. We are still continuing our search for her and are praying God brings her back every day!

During this bitter time, we have felt a hole in our daily lives. We have missed having a dog excited to see us when we come home and to make us laugh when she is silly. Since we adopted Olive only a month after moving here, it has felt empty living here without her. While we hope each day will finally be the day that we find her, the reality is that it could take months or even years. We have heard tons of eventual reunion stories of pets with the microchip that Olive has. While that brings hope, it also means we will never have closure.

With all of that in mind, we have decided to adopt another dog this past week. We aren't trying to replace Olive and still miss her and cry over her. Matt and I have always wanted 2 dogs, but planned on waiting until we had a house. However, since our circumstances have changed, we decided to change our "plans." We decided that when Olive comes home, we will be happy to have 2 dogs now instead of later! 

Introducing the newest addition of our family: Mara

Mara is a 1 yr old Blue Heeler, Australian Shepherd. She was found as a stray and was begging to be pet when we passed by her kennel at the shelter. We couldn't resist her cry for love and attention. We played with her and asked tons of questions. We found out that she is very very smart and dog friendly. This was the most important thing since we picked her out with Olive in mind. We were able to watch her play with other dogs at the shelter and she was very sweet. 

We named her Mara, which means bitter. This name seemed fitting given season we are in and which brought her to us. Although, she is already making it bittersweet and has been nicknamed "love bug" since she LOVES to be cuddled and give kisses.

Sometimes having Mara is difficult as well. She does things that remind us of Olive and makes us miss her even more. We also have often slipped up and called her Olive, which is hard too. Regardless of those times, we know this was the right decision for us as she adds some joy to our lives with her own little personality!

We miss you, Olive and we have a new friend for you to play with when you finally come home! - Don't worry, we haven't let her sleep in your recliner! :)