We adopted this little Doberman/Coonhound cutie officially on September 8th, 2019 almost a week after unofficially adopting her (…also known as taking her home for a trial run) on September 2nd. For Kevin, it was love at first sight and I had to warm up to the idea of having two dogs, hence the multiple date situation, making this the most typical Jacqueline and Kevin decision of all time. We were not in the market for another dog, but when you see an adoption event when you’re driving by Petsmart, you can’t just pass it up like nothing is happening. We both love all the pups and have joked about having a farm some day so we can adopt or foster more, but we didn’t really plan on getting another one this soon.

At the time we adopted her, she was only 12 weeks old and just about as crazy as you would imagine. She wasn’t house trained or really anything trained, so it took some getting used to and lots of new routines. Just like we did with Chloe, we taught Willow to ring a bell when she needed to go out and she learned that in about two weeks. She still occasionally has accidents, but it’s mostly just when we’re not paying enough attention to her.

Willow was the name originally given to her at the adoption shelter, and we thought it was a perfect fit for her and to go with Chloe’s name. We also got to meet her sister, Fern, who looked very similar to Willow, but was all tan with longer ears. The coonhound genes were strong with that one. It was fun to be able to see them together, especially since we never got to see Chloe’s siblings. They told us that Willow and Fern were found together on a county road outside of town and that they searched high and low for the folks she belonged to, but they never had any luck.

Our biggest concern in bringing home a new pup was how Chloe was going to handle it. I always thought of Chloe as a single dog household kind of gal, but she quickly took to loving on and instigating all the crazy play time with Willow. I truly think Chloe is happier with her around. Since we got her, they have destroyed almost all Chloe’s plush toys and have chomped their way through about four antlers.

We’re lucky to give this little sweetie a forever home.

We wore out the grass between our houses for the final time last weekend. So thankful for the opportunity to live next to two of our favorite people for the past 3 years. Lots of amazing memories were had here including all the house projects (including peeling paint and completing a tile backsplash in one day), Quiplash game nights, borrowing sugar (even though Schnucks is approximately the same distance away), Reapeford Garden, and all of our plans to tear down/add windows to our fence or somehow connect our basements. Looking forward to all new shenanigans for us to get into in the future. We already miss you, Sarah and Cole!

Center photo | Top right photo

This really happened. For the first time in franchise history, the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup. I’ve been dreaming about these moments for the last 27 years, hoping that my team would finally have the chance to lift the Cup. The entirety of the play offs were incredibly nerve wracking, tying for the most postseason games played in a single year (at 26 games). We watched game seven in our basement with friends and I watched our team celebrate for hours afterwards. I would be lying if I said that tears weren’t involved. We celebrated with the rest of St. Louis at the parade and rally downtown the weekend after we won. I’m so glad I got to go experience it all, truly one of the best moments of 2019!