Exactly one year ago today, this tiny little black puppy entered our lives. Since then, things have never been the same. Our lives have changed in the best possible way.

The story goes like this........

I had wanted a dog. Badly. One night, I rolled over in my sleep and said the word 'dog' to my husband. That's right- I wanted a dog so much I was dreaming about them. Scott was fairly adamant on not getting one. "We don't have room for a dog! We don't have time for a dog! The apartment isn't tidy enough for a dog! When will you walk the dog?". These statements haunted me. I knew that we could give a dog the most amazing life. We were dog people! We had the lifestyle that would allow a dog. Between the two of us, we have a cottage beside a lake, and a hunting camp that sits at the bottom of a mountain, covered in trails. The Sundays we spent doing nothing at home could very easily be traded in for a few hours at the dog park. I just knew that we were meant to have a dog.

I spent weeks trying to prove to Scott that I was ready to have a dog. I kept the apartment clean, I got up early to prove I could walk her before work, I came home straight from work to prove I could make the time commitments to let the dog out. I even re-arranged the furniture, highlighting the perfect space for a dog crate. Simply put, I was determined!

It was SHOCKING when Scott agreed to respond to the add I found on the internet. Yes, I know how terrible it is to get a dog online, and believe me I would never support it again. But for the sake of this story, we have to admit that we got Bailey from someone with a bogus story about why they were selling her. I emailed the woman, and woke up periodically throughout the night to see if she had emailed me back.

Thankfully, somewhere in all of this I managed to not only I convince the woman to not sell the dog until we saw her, but lightly influenced Scott to drive out to the middle of no where with me to go see her. All I had to do was make it through the next day and a half with Scott not changing his mind. Don't get me wrong, he definitely invited me out to lunch the day of the visit, and expressed his second thoughts. The whole conversation was devastating, as I had already imagined my life with this little black dog, that I would name Stella. Thankfully, using my inherited big brown eyes, I drew on the puppy dog look and whimpered my way through begging Scott to go see her.

That's all it took. He saw her, she saw him and that was it. For a while I was worried that things wouldn't work out- Scott wanted a night to sleep on it. We politely told the questionable people that we'd call them later tonight with a final answer, and I somberly walked back over to the car. About ten minutes into the drive home, a song came on the radio. I like to think it was whatever higher powers that are out there telling us that we were meant to have that dog. It was "Good to you" by Marianna's Trench. The words are along the lines "If you were good to me, I would be so good to you". It struck a chord with him. All he could think was that if we gave this dog a chance and were good to her, the amazing things she would bring to our live would be irreplaceable. He turned the car around, and the rest is history!

I've learned so much from Bailey. She introduced me to the world of dog owners, and in particular dog blogs. She ignited this passion for dogs that I never knew I had. It's because of her that I volunteer with Hopeful Hearts. It's the utter happiness on her face when I walk through the front door that makes me want to help other people find their dog. The love you get from a pet cannot be replicated. It's something I wish on everyone- I always have. It took Bailey showing me how great it is to help me make a difference and do what I can to get other dogs home.

I knew that I would love having a dog- I just had no idea how phenomenal it would be.