When it comes to celebrating blogiversaries, I have been fairly taciturn to publicly share those dates and have never posted anything about receiving any awards but since being recently notified that our “Ranch” was one of PetNitro’s Best Dog Bloggers to Follow for 2017, as well as realizing over 600 of you amazing readers follow us, it seemed appropriate to acknowledge both milestones and express my gratitude to those responsible. That’d be you guys! Sure I know there are gazillions of you who have scads more followers and been doing this blogging thing a whole lot longer and are far more successful than the likes of us, but I kind of had to think…WOW! Had you asked me after publishing that first post (A new baby arrives) a year ago this week (which came a month after setting up the blog) whether I’d have thought any one other than maybe my kids or a friend or two would have read it, I’d have laughed myself into delirium and needed oxygen. Apart from an eye roll, even contemplating such a silly notion of having a blog read by anyone, let alone something still being read 3 years later, from my vantage point at least, was so far off the radar-screen, it still makes me chuckle even thinking about it.

I mean, I had this stress filled nightmare job with an unreasonable boss whose purpose in life seemed to be to hoist me on a petard every day. Who’d want to do anything else, right? Ha! He could have cared less about what I thought or did so long as his personal life was made easier. But I did somewhat enjoy the client work and my co-workers were the best so that generally got me through most days. But as the years and ignoble personal requests piled up taking their toll on my soul, I realized a creative outlet was imperative for sanity and decided to try blogging as a creative outlet to avoid committing some criminal act. I had no idea what I was doing, had minimal graphic skills (some things just never change) and yet, there was this voice inside that was awakened and needed to be shared. Originally I wanted to create a design blog and then quickly came to realize that wasn’t gonna happen. Sure I had co-owned a hardware store before and could wield a mean paint brush and cut a key in record time, but who was I kidding? I didn’t have the wherewithal to move interior walls and handle plumbing projects from scratch (I’d rather set my hair on fire frankly than deal with ANYTHING plumbing related) let alone do an amazing makeover like the rest of the Martha Stewart/MacGyver types who are able to create something fabulous from paint, pillows, a bit of spit and maybe a rubber band or two.

Then it hit me…the real muse was wagging his tail at me in a hospital room so what better way to harness that inner voice than to share stories about a certain lovable knucklehead rather than trying to redesign some tiny little kitchen or rehab project around the house without dynamite or a Sugar Daddy. We were already doing therapy work and it seemed natural to share our adventures on hospital visits. It was fulfilling and rewarding beyond measure. Was I terrified hitting the ‘publish’ button in the beginning? You betcha…I still am! But life has a funny way of encouraging you to make changes or to see that most of the time you spend working doesn’t have to be constant misery-inducing for someone happy to suck the life out of you.

So after finally having a steaming mug of crap filled to overflowing (aka end-of-the-year cluster), I came to the conclusion life would be infinitely better blogging full-time than to be someone’s whipping-post for their unhappy existence. With that, I left the legal biz a little over a year ago walkING out with my head held high, a smile on my face and never looking back.

Those of you who know me well, know I’m not into tooting my own horn and any level of accomplishment is not dependent on awards or anniversaries but instead comes from smiling when YOU guys take time to comment on our escapades. I am grateful beyond words and know my rewards are about the back and forth dialogue and sharing of your experiences. For that I continue to be grateful. Your warmth and support have been re-affirming and you taught me the “3 E’s of blogging.” Engage, educate and entertain, for which I can’t thank you enough. We invite you to stick around and continue to hear our drivel stories.

This peanut sized space on the Internet where people come together and have a genuine love for their 4-legged-better-parts, sustains and fills me with a joy that is often indescribable. The fact that you are so generous with your kindness and comments is beyond touching and makes my day. Thank heavens I had the good sense to avoid the design genre (far too many design peeps seem to lack any kindness DNA…and besides, who wants to paint rooms the color of puce just to be part of a catty, mean-spirited clique anyway?). Love you guys for your kindhearted encouragement, empathy and smiles! So as I commemorate these two events, I hope we share half as much joy in your life as you do to ours. Sending tail wags and nose nudges to you all.

Live, love, bark! ❤︎