Nala & Sasha: The Babies

Okay, now that the first post is completed and published to my website, I can wipe away the sweat from my forehead. Just kidding. But no seriously, sometimes when I start something new, I put way too much pressure on myself to make everything perfect and to figure out exactly how I want things to be which wastes a lot of time. I’m learning (with this endeavor) to focus on what matters and to compartmentalize what doesn’t matter. At this point of the blog creation process, I would rather put more attention to creating actual posts than designing a really pretty, yet empty website. 

Life tends to be like that too. With each new stage and new challenge, I find myself having to choose the best way to divide up my time, energy, and resources. While I could spend hours talking to people on Zoom, that takes away from the time I get to laugh and play with my husband and dogs. And that’s just not something that I would prefer to give up. 

Since getting married, I would say that I’ve wanted to take on more of the house duties of cooking, cleaning, being there to help Krissy, and being a doggie mom to Nala and Sasha instead of spending hours in my office talking to Mary Kay Sales Directors about gimmicks to sell their products. The worst would be when I’d have to be on my computer for hours queueing up posts for Facebook groups. In fact, I got up to about 10 or 12 groups at one time, and while I was good at it, it was pretty time consuming to me. I was also undercharging clients, so the money I was getting didn’t add up in my brain to the time I was losing with my family. 

I’m for sure much happier having the flexibility to spend time with my three love bugs, especially after a long day of working. 

This is my Nala (AKA Brownie, AKA Squirrel, AKA Brown Dog). She is very responsible while in the house, but definitely very irresponsible outside, which is why we must keep her on a leash unless we have at least 30 minutes to spare. She listens to me, but I would classify her as stubborn and she’s not very food motivated. She’s a sweetheart and very protective of her family.

And this is my big baby Sasha (AKA Whitie, AKA White Dog, AKA Wild Beast). She is very responsible while outside, but questionable inside. She loves to play fight with her dad and she doesn’t understand that she’s 80 pounds and she can’t just jump up on people like she’s 5 pounds. She’s more outgoing than Nala, but easily lured with food/treats since she’s highly food motivated. She fits the mold of a typical Lab, despite having that uncharacteristic color combination. 

We’ve had them since they were 8 weeks old, and I did the grunt work of raising them. I have a childhood dog named Ebony (she’s a black Cocker Spaniel and pushing 14 years old now) who my parents currently take care of but I have a special bond with these two dogs because I have been with them their whole entire lives and have been able to see them grow and develop. I taught them to sit, lie down, stay (this command is questionable depending on the day), and up all by myself. 

I remember those days where they would frustrate me so much because of how much work they were as puppies. That high pitched whining during the middle of the night, the multiple accidents every day, the incessant chewing, the fighting with each other all worked my last nerves sometimes. BUT! We got through those trying times and now I can enjoy them being loose in the house without them being destructive (or having an accident on the carpet). 

Raising dogs, especially multiple at one time, is not for the weak stomach, weak heart, or weak minded. They will test your boundaries, test your patience, and test your endurance as they figure things out in their world. In many ways, you can compare the growth of puppies to how we grow and develop as adults (minus the weak bladders). We just don’t have handlers keeping us out of serious trouble. 

While Nala and Sasha are still two very big handfuls that have to be carefully managed and outsmarted, I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. They both are able to instantly brighten my day and my mood just from existing. And of course, neither of them are perfect, and I wouldn’t want them to be. Their quirks are what make them unique and keeps our daily lives interesting to say the least. For them to be sisters (despite the difference in appearance), they have distinct personalities, fur textures, likes, and dislikes that remind Kris and I that they are indeed two separate dogs with two separate minds.

Signed, 

Jessica Marie