Friday, February 5, 2010

Happy Birthday, Izzie!

"I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am."
-unknown


For those of you that know Izzie, you'll be surprised to know that she is turning nine years old today! (Unless you really paid close attention to the lighter spots around her eyes, you'd have no idea... she still acts like a toddler!) I still remember going to the breeder's house when we first picked her out... she was such a cute little puppy and a character from the very beginning. She had a propensity for licking, sitting on your lap, and sucking on her blanket. Nine years later, nothing has changed! I have lots of great memories from our adventures together, but I'll just share a couple.

As I was leaving the house early one morning, I realized that I had forgotten something for my rotation in my bedroom upstairs. I pulled back into the driveway, opened the garage door, and ran inside. Izzie has a few favorite spots in the house- one of which is in the corner of the kitchen by the table. When I got into the kitchen, I was surprised that I didn't see her. As I rounded the corner from the dining room into the living room, I saw Izzie with her front paws on our blue sofa (one of the few places she is *not* supposed to sit). She turned her head towards me and looked like she had been caught red-handed! She slowly took her paws off of the couch and ran over to me, wagging her tail, as if to beg for forgiveness.

Some of my other favorite memories are from waking up in the morning to a giant golden retriever sitting on top of me! Izzie loves to jump up on the bed (she has no sense of personal space- she always has to be touching you if she is near you) and wake anyone up with a big kiss on the cheek. (I've even taught her what "give them kisses!" means!) She would sometimes wait outside my door until my mom would let her in to visit me.

Other favorite memories (in no particular order)
  • Playing hide-and-go seek in the park with Izzie and my Dad
  • Izzie jumping through the stream of water from the hose as I tried to water the plants in the backyard
  • Her pet rock- this is the only thing Izzie will bark at! She'll pick it up, drop it on the ground, and start to attack it!
  • Running errands (especially going to get take-out) with Izzie in the car
  • Izzie's blankets... she sucks on the blanket like a toddler sucks on their thumb
  • Catching Izzie after she dug up a small bush from the backyard
  • Raking leaves into a pile for her to play in- she loves the fall
  • Having someone to snuggle with when I was sad, cold, or sleepy

I wish I had more pictures from when she was a puppy, but I have yet to take them from home and scan them onto my (relatively) new computer. Here are some of my favorites I had on file...

Isn't this a sweet picture of her as a puppy?

I got a Mr. Mucus stuffed doll from a drug rep for Izzie to play with (she loves stuffed toys, especially ones with squeakers that sound like real animals)- I don't think it lasted more than 3 minutes

Ryan and I with Izzie in front of the Christmas tree

Izzie and I outside in our backyard

Izzie is one of two family members that has a designated spot in the family room. My Dad has a brown leather chair, and Izzie always sits in the corner of the green leather couch. If you are in her seat, you'll know it- she will sit right on top of you.

She looks so sad!

Izzie had a special visitor a couple of years ago for New Year's Eve. Kyle and Chelsea brought their dog Jackson (on the left with me) to visit Izzie (on the right with Chelsea) for the night! They had so much fun playing together!

Seems like Izzie has a lot of photo ops in front of the Christmas trees...

Some things never change...

Hope you have a golden birthday! Love you, Izzle!




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