New Beginnings
Let's face it, paying bills sucks. Even though you know you need food, shelter, clothes etc., it still stinks handing over your hard earned money for water & power & ChikFila. And before we even go there, YES ChikFila is mandatory in my life for the maintenance of my emotional health...it makes me happy! Saving money is hard. You get an extra couple of hundred bucks in the bank and NOW you need new tires. Ugh. Or, you save up a nice little nest egg and your transmission falls out on Broadway. Double ugh. Some aspects of adulting just aren't fun.
My brother Bradley and his girlfriend, Laura bought and closed on very nice little house in Fountain City about a month ago. It is a house that is a perfect fit for them. When you've been paying rent for months and you see the opportunity to own a little piece of the world you can ALMOST see the bigger picture. Even though home ownership is work, the trade off is the peace of knowing your money has been (hopefully) well spent. You've made an investment. Early October, Laura's mother, LeAnn, threw a housewarming party for them which, I tell you, was like Christmas! So many friends and family came together to celebrate. We celebrated their new beginning. A kind of beginning where they do not have to stress about having to pay rent like they did and instead now make a monthly investment, aka mortgage. A kind of beginning where they can make memories and have friends over to entertain in their own home. They can throw football parties and they can laugh and love in something which belongs to them. Though saving is hard and buying a house is stressful, they really could see the big picture. Really though, their house is perfect. The other one who thinks so? Titan, Laura's dog.
Now Titan (We have a Titan too!) can run in a big backyard, investigate the world and sniff all the things. Over the weekend while running errands with my crew, Mom needed to make a delivery at a school Mom's house. While over there, she got a tiny bit distracted by a very cute, tiny little puppy. Long story short the puppies needed homes. Titan needed a friend. Mom called Bradley. Suddenly we had this tiny puppy wrapped in a thrift store blanket and were headed to Brad and Lauras. Brad decided to surprise Laura with the puppy and her reaction was a priceless mix of surprise and shock. It did not take them long to become a family of four and now Titan has a little sister named Roxie.
Later that afternoon, I went to Brad & Laura's house to give them a crate we were no longer using. I also wanted to get a picture of the two of them and their 'dog-children.' The next day, I went back for Roxies solo session. Taking a chance on a house and taking a chance on a puppy are two very big leaps of faith but have brought them so much joy. They saw a bigger picture. Now you can see the new addition!
