I recently became a dog mom, it happened so much quicker than I thought it would and I was thrusted into an adoption worldwind. I thought I would share my process as I navigate mom life with you all in hopes to inspire yourself to look into adopting.

Before you start looking into adopting or even buying, make sure you are 100% sure you are ready for the commitment. With covid and lockdowns there has been a surge in people getting dogs to accompany them and fill in the extra time they had and now countries are returning back to normalish life they don’t have time for their furry friends anymore and more dogs are being returned or brought to shelters/kennels. So if you just want a cuddle buddy companion to fill your days at home before you return to work, I would think twice about getting a dog.
For me ive wanted a dog for 4+ years now and spent hours scrolling through adoption pages and doing my research.

When we moved accommodation, we asked if we could get a dog, in our contract we got it written in that we could get a small-medium dog. And thus the fence building starting and I started filling in forms with adoption agencies as I know how fast dogs can come and go.

A few weeks later we got an email with a new litter from Auckland puppy adoption but sadly the cute bundles of fur were due to be large dogs which we couldn’t take. There was a couple dogs we liked on Auckland council adoption page so we called to see if we could meet them. We were allowed to meet one and I wasn’t sold on her photo so I wasn’t expecting much other than visiting to see what kind of dog we wanted/would fit into our home.
We heading into the manaku shelter, filled in our form and waited to be taken to see a dog names Harmony. Walking through the shelter I was overcome with the cutness of all the dogs we walked by and I wanted to open each kennel and take them all home with me.

We were told while we waited for Harmony play mate for the day to be moved that she can take a minute to warm up to you. Me and Johnny had watched tv shows on adoption and knew what to do, so we got down on the floor and waited potentially, expecting her to pay no attention to us. What we didn’t expect was her to jump into my lap and start kissing my face. Neither did the trainer, and this was how she chose us. 1 week later, she was in our home.

Her advertisement photo. 

Last year I wrote a post called ’24 and unemployed’ and a lot has changed in the year. 

At the time of turning 24, I was lost, scared and my confidence had dropped massively thanks to my work situation. So I wanted to reflect on all the things I achieved in my 24^th year around the sun.

1. I got my dream job at the time.
2. I was receiving positive and constructive feedback to learn new skills thus boosting my confidence in my profession.
3. I enrolled into university.
4. I moved to the countryside and started a new farm life.
5. Bought a new car.
6. I started driving again, thus building my confidence within driving again.
7. I got engaged to the love of my life.
8. I became a dog mom.
9. Made it through an ongoing pandemic.

The reason I wanted to reflect on these things and share them is because they’re not all big things. They’re not all massive achievements. They are not even CV worthy. But changing my job and changing my outlook on my future and goals changed my mental health for the better.
For my 24^th birthday my friend got me a gratitude journal to help me see the positive in the small things. It was a real wake up call for me that I wasn’t just affecting myself, I was bringing everyone around me down and just in general not being a good friend. Id lost focus on almost everything in my life and I felt like I couldn’t do anything but lie on my couch all day.

Now I read, lots. I drive places, I plan adventures I go for walks and pet goats. I laugh, I smile and I don’t worry about little things or disbelief in myself anymore. I turned 25 and I am so ready for the year ahead. I am ready to start back in education for the first time in 8 years! I am ready to plan my wedding and im ready to accomplish lots in my new job too.

Look for the rainbow in anything, its there. You just might have to tilt your head a little to change the view and youll start to see it brighter.

A couple weeks ago I got asked how I make decisions and can be sure of them. This struck me because I can never be sure of the decisions I make however in the past two months my life has completely changed. 

At the start of September, the first weekend Aucklanders were allowed out of lockdown and allowed to leave we drove down for our annual kidding season trip to play with all the baby goats(and see family, but mainly the goats)
While down there people were saying we should move down as a job had opened up on the farm. Suddenly Johnny was considering it, which shocked me a little. Hes not one to just jump into things like this. But after a week of talking it over, pros and cons, a day on the farm I was breaking the news to my manager that I was leaving.

And by the middle of October we were moving all our furniture down and saying goodbye to our lovely home in Auckland City ready for farm life. I feel like it happened so fast we didn’t really have time to think about, like properly think about it.
I feel like if wed of have time we may not have taken the plunge, as it was such a big one and one completely unlike us. However, I suppose that’s the risk you have to take with decisions sometimes. They’re not easy to make and the ones that you don’t fully think about can often be the best ones as you never get that little voice inside your head talking you out of everything.

Ive done a lot of big moves in my time but that doesn’t make it any harder or any scarier, especially when it wasn’t in the 5year plan unlike the others, and you also start reaching a point in your life when you question, when do I settle down? Or do we never settle down? My mother at my age would have had a house by now, be fully qualified in her job and ready to start a family. But it was easier back then so with house prices rising is it any wonder so many of us are making big moving decisions and hopping from place to place rather than doing what our parents did?

The one thing I did learn from this decision though is that it really didn’t matter where I was living or doing in the world as long as I was with my partner, Id be happy. And I suppose when you have that, the rest just comes easy. Don’t be afraid to fail, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Itll all work out at the end of the day. And if it doesn’t, we can start arranging plan B tomorrow.