Little Nora

We got a puppy. She's incredible, and loving, and super, super soft and really well behaved for 11 weeks old.

Yet that's not what this post is about, really...

Now I've had many dogs over the course of my life. Some that have lived their life to the fullest, to their ripe old age, and some who, unfortunately, had short lives due to some sad circumstances. And we currently have a beautiful, and at times, wild and crazy, German Shepard. My girl is almost six now and honestly, I was completely content with having just her, one dog, who was easy to drop at my dads during our long travels and simple to leave home with a friend on shorter trips.

Last September we found ourselves roaming the quaint and far off lands of the Faroe Islands. Everyday we ran into a dog or two, always being an Australian Shepard. I mean, there are sheep roaming everywhere there...I don't blame them, they must have herding dogs. Roaming those lands, seeing those beautiful dogs, I was reminded again of their sweet, feisty temperament and loyal ways. I had an Australian Shepard growing up. She was an Australian Shepard/Australian Cattle dog mix. Seeing those dogs made me miss her all over again. Yet once back home I put it all out of my mind, for I was not looking to get another dog.

Yet then the strangest thing started to happen to me this year. The thought of an Aussie mix would cross my mind from time to time. I began thinking 'I would not mind having one of those dogs'. All while still thinking 'I really am content with the one girl I have'.

Then last weekend we went to the Pet Expo, which we go to once a year. There are always puppies there and cats and lots and lots and lots of lizards, frogs, snakes and birds. Bunnies and turtles too and this year there were even a few baby pigs and goats. My boys just love going to that show.

We left early that morning, after getting the boys dressed for the cool day and packing a few snacks. While getting ready, I had this vision...an Australian Sheppard. I don't know what made me say it but I told my husband, "I want an Aussie mix."  I swear. I said it. The words just left my lips like birds leaving a wire. Gone. My husband didn't jump at the thought, my boys were too caught up in their own things to really hear me and I ,of course, right after I mentioned it, told myself once again how much easier everything is with only one dog, for I'm the one that longs to travel. It's definitely more challenging when there are dogs involved, especially more then one. Why am I the one thinking of getting another?

We left, I drove, and in and out of my mind drifted this thought of an Aussie. We get to the Pet Expo, get through the short line and on the right-hand side, after two cages of cats, a cage of lab pups...there she sat, her and her brother. A yellow paper taped to the top of the cage with the words 'Aussie Mix' written across in green marker. It wasn't her brother, the one blue one brown eyed pup, that caught my eye, it was her.

Instantly I knew she was my girl.

The crowds swept in, Dylan and my husband were caught up at another table and I stood there, with my little two-year-old, speaking with the woman who had brought in those cages of cats and puppies. I wasn't even 2 minutes in the place, yet I had somehow fallen deeply in love. The woman asked me if I wanted to hold the puppy. Well, how could I resist? I wanted her. Dylan came to me and then my husband and they asked if I wanted her and even though of course I did, I was trying to be practical. 'I really want to travel' I kept thinking; 'things are so easy now' I'd say to myself. The place was so busy, my little boy had his fingers in all the cages, there was really no space to think clearly. I told the lady I'll think about her and I sadly handed her over. We stayed at the Expo, walking around for a few hours, Dylan picking out another creature of his own.

And then we left.

Back home my mind drifted off to her... It wasn't just her story...the fact she was rescued from a kill shelter down in Tennessee. It wasn't just her sweet demeanor, how when I held her, she clinged to me, her little paws hugging my shoulders tight, never once asking to be put down, as if she knew I was her place. It wasn't just her beautiful face I fell in love with that I quickly captured with the camera on my phone. It wasn't just because that night her name came to me out of nowhere. When I looked at her beautiful face from the photo on my phone, I saw how the name I had chosen for her was nothing short of 'just her'. And she wasn't even mine yet.

Nora...the meaning? 'Shining Light'.

It just couldn't have been any other. This path was meant for her as hers was meant for us.

And of course...it was partly because, wasn't that exactly what I said I wanted? An Aussie Mix? She was there and she was perfect and I walked from her.

I also didn't take the lady's card.

Thank goodness for the internet, we found the lady, and my puppy, who was now about an hour from where we live, sitting in a cage in a small town pet shop, just waiting to be adopted out. In the meantime her brother was adopted. Yet her...she was there...because she was meant for no other then me.

And although this might all seem to be about my new little puppy, really it is about so much more than that.

Really this is about putting out into the universe your true hearts desires. It is about being in the present, giving yourself space to see the signs. It's about being open.

It's about those times you wonder how you will handle it all, only to find the truth to how much you really can handle.

And honestly, it's only been a few days but not only can I not image my life without her, I really wouldn't want to. The regret I would hold by not taking her would cut deep. For it was I who needed to know she would be safe in this world. She came so far, from so close to death. And now I will never have to question that, for it is my goal to give her a great life, and a save, loving home.

There are a million dogs out there who need homes. I love all the little puppies I see, but not like this girl. There was just something about 'her'. And for her, I will be forever grateful, and I am sure if she could talk, she would be forever grateful too.

So as I said, this is not just about my puppy. It's about truth.

What you want is out there...sometimes directly in front of you, sometimes further away. Yet it's there and if you are open to it, to your thoughts, you will just know. And if it is meant to be, no doubt, it will be. It might happen over night. It might take years. Yet what is meant to be for you, if you put it out into the universe, when the time is right, will be.