11.27.14 When Your World is Forever Changed

It's one of those moments I'll remember forever. I'll remember where I was, what I was doing, and the overwhelming feelings I felt.

Chad and I went with my family to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. We dropped our two pups off at the barn and headed out of town. My best friend (and asst trainer) was staying at our house for the weekend and was taking care of the dogs while we were out of town.

I remember the feeling waking up and seeing two missed calls on my phone and a text that said "I need you to call me.". She never calls me. We always text, all day every day. It was an immediate feeling of 'something is wrong'.

Never in a million years did I expect to hear what she said on the other end of the phone.

"Olivia is OK but there was a fire. The barn is gone. The barn burned down." I get chills just writing that. I don't remember much of the rest of the conversation because it was nothing more than sobs. We discussed the logistics of where the surviving horses were being moved and that the vet was going to evaluate Olivia as she had a puncture wound on her FL knee. And then she told me about the ones who didn't make it, the ones who were released from their stalls but were too scared to come out, how our heroic guys went in as far as they could to release client horses while knowing their own were trapped. It's a horrific nightmare that will never be released from my memory.

Below are some news articles with photos. It's the type of thing I just don't want to post pictures of on here.

Horses Killed in Woodstock Barn Fire
Cherokee County Barn Fire Kills More Than A Dozen

Olivia casted up after vet evaluation 

Olivia being hand walked the day after the fire

Summer, Our Wedding, & Honeymoon

This post is going to be a photo overload!

This summer we spent most of our time out on the lake. The dogs absolutely love the lake, they go swimming off the house boat and go for rides on the speed boat. They wear doggie life jackets and will swim for hours.

We were married on September 6th. It was absolutely perfect. It rained 10 minutes before our ceremony so we had a bit of a delay as the ceremony was moved inside. There was nothing I would change looking back on that day. It was a day full of love, full of family, friends, and most importantly support as we united as one. The reception was one of the most fun nights I've ever had. We danced the night away!

On Monday morning we hopped on a plane to Jamaica.We stayed at the Sandals White House Resort. It was an all-inclusive resort so we ate well, drank well, explored Jamaica, and relaxed. What more could you ask for??

Troubleshooting

My new blog is not showing up on everyone's blog dashboards or updating on their "Blogs I Read" sidebars. I've deleted my custom domain name temporarily (I still own it) to see if that helps, but I'm afraid it isn't.

Please comment if you can see this post!
Thanks!

UPDATE: It looks like we're finally showing up! BUT now my custom domain isn't working (www.mrsashleyandolivia.com).

EDIT 3/12: It looks like we are up and working after some help from Google.

An Introduction to Our Dogs

Meet Gus and Whoopi! They are just over a year old now. They are brother and sister from the same litter. We adopted them from the rescue I volunteer with. We started out as fosters for them and then failed miserably. Whoopi is 50 pounds and Gus is a whopping 76 pounds. We've met and played with their mom several times, she is some sort of lab mix and looks very similar to Whoopi. One of their brothers owner's did a DNA test and it came back retriever x shar pei x pit. We definitely see the shar pei characteristics in Gus as he has lots and lots of extra skin and relatively small ears. He also has the blocky pit head. The only characteristic of shar pei that Whoopi has is a curly tail. It rolls up to a complete circle. She is very dainty and looks nothing like a pit to me. Our vet feels strongly that they have two different dads....(which is apparently common amongst strays). Their mom Sofia was found as a stray and taken to a kill shelter where she was discovered to be pregnant. Shortly after she had her puppies and the shelter advocates begged Angels Among Us Pet Rescue to take them, so we did. Chad and I fostered 3 once they were about 7-8 weeks old and weaned from mom.  

They are extremely happy dogs. They love to cuddle and show attention. They are smart and [relatively] obedient. We are totally in love with them!

Hello World!

Hello Blogger World!

It's been almost an entire year since I've blogged! I have a new design, a new title, and I've archieved my entire old blog to another location that I will likely just keep tucked away for my own personal reference. Here's to starting new!

So much has changed over the past year for us that I don't even know where to begin! I know some of y'all are friends with me on facebook or Instagram so you've been kept up to date with recent events. This past year has been an emotional roller coaster with extreme highs and extreme lows.

My journey with Olivia went back to places, feelings, and fears I thought I would never experience again with her. Life is so precious and having Olivia still with me today is a constant reminder to not to take ANYTHING for granted, that in a blink-of-an-eye everything we have and love can be stripped from us.

Here is a brief recap of the past year since I last blogged. I will do posts on each topic but in the meantime...

My last post in March 2014 talked about our engagement, getting two new puppies, and riding Olivia for one of the first times

• Most of the summer was spent wedding planning, potty & house training our two pups, and lake time on my parents new house boat.
• I became an active volunteer for a local pet rescue organization in which I am still active in.
• We got married on September 6th and honeymooned in Jamaica for a week.
• On Thanksgiving morning, the farm where Olivia has lived since she was 5 months old caught fire, claiming 18 lives; 15 horses, 2 miniature companion donkies, and one dog.
• During the month of December, Olivia spent 4 weeks fighting for her life in two different equine clinics.
• January and February of the new year has been spent rebuilding Olivia's health

It's good to be back to blogging! I will hopefully be using this new space to chronicle my life, my life with Olivia, and my life as a dog rescue volunteer!