Happy Wednesday, folks. Are you having a quiet week? I am, surprisingly… Our weekends are totally bonkers this month, though, so calm weekdays are a blessing.
I’m a little early to Chelsea‘s Friday link-up party, but I have a story, some photos, and a few blog posts that I just can’t wait to share!
S T O R Y
I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions that my husband runs his own company. He sells all over the US, but the majority of our materials come from local shops and companies. There are a few businesses that he ends up visiting every week multiple times a week, and they know his name and his employees.
He was driving past one of those businesses last week and saw that they’d posted something new on their outdoor sign. It read something like, “Thanks to the person who hit our cat and didn’t stop.” I don’t know what it’s like in those big cities, but us small-town-folk love our pets, especially our shop dogs & cats. K had met the cat (Oliver) on multiple occasions and knew that he was primarily an inside cat- apparently he’d slipped out.
K stopped by their shop the next day to order some materials (and drop off the sympathy cookies I made for the employees) and heard the story: A customer came flying into the parking lot, drawing all the employees out of the building, and pulled from his truck a box with the deceased cat. He saw him lying on the side of the road, recognized him, and brought him to the business for a proper burial (which he got). The employees were obviously heartbroken and felt the best way to honor their fallen furry co-worker was to adopt another friend from the local humane society. They couldn’t choose and came home with two new babes.
So in the end, Oliver’s death gave a new home to two little kittens (one of whom was christened “Oliver” by the humane society! Fate!)
P H O T O S
I mentioned last Monday that K and I took some anniversary photos with our tree. Have I elaborated about the tree here? I feel like I have but maybe not…
Well, if not I’ll give you a one-sentence-rundown: On our first anniversary we planted a tree on my parents’ 75 acre property (where we hope to live near some day) and we promised to take a picture with the tree every year to document our little family.
We got a little artistic this year…
And Kayla captured some candid ones (which I LOVE)…
. . .
Thank you to my best friend Kayla!! She’s our official family photographer 😉
B L O G S (that you should check out…)
This week a few ladies talked about some really important or informative stuff. I encourage you to visit:
- Rebecca Jo (Knit by God’s Hand) for excellent fitness tips/motivation
- Cat (Oddly Lovely) for some excellent doggie recall tips
- Megan (Semi-Charmed Kind of Life) for your first summer book challenge
- Elyse (Just Murrayed) for some truth about women & marriage
And that about sums it up on this fine Wednesday. Chelsea’s link-up actually happens on Friday so you have plenty of time to take note of something good, write about it, and link up with her!
Life as Louise 
My heart broke and then exploded with happiness about the shop cat(s) story. Thank you for sharing!
And, your family photos with your tree…soooooo good!!
LikeLike
When K came home and told me I almost cried 😦 Before he moved into his own building K worked out of my dad’s garage- which has three SUPER friendly cats. All I could think about was one of them being struck! I’m glad there was a silver lining for the business!
LikeLike
Thank you so much for sharing my link AND for sharing the shop cat story. I’m glad the shop cat story had a super happy ending!
P.S. I LOVE that you do the same photo in the same spot every year…sigh….why hadn’t I thought of doing that?
LikeLike
Absolutely! I’m still cheesed at myself for not being a part of it! Ha!
I can’t really take credit… I got the tree idea from Pinterest and we’re just fortunate to have a little land in my family. It’s rare, but the stars aligned for us on that!
LikeLike
I love the tree idea! I wish we could have done something like that.
LikeLike
I’ve seen some other cute annual traditions on Pinterest that you could start now and just catch up a little!! Here’s a link to one that I haven’t done but I’d like to: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/248190629442831502/
LikeLike
OK – I have to say, I woke up freaked out last night because I had a dream of our neighbors dog getting hit in the road by a car so when I read your post, I’m like WHAT IS HAPPENING? I can’t handle animals getting hit. A house down the road from us, I saw their cat had gotten hit in the road too & I know they have 2 small children… I was freaking out about the kids seeing their cat on the road. Luckily, the dad was on it to get the cat buried before the kids got home. … UGH – this is taking a downer turn. Anyways – glad this story had a good ending with a proper burial & 2 rescued babies.
… & I am LOVVVVINNNGGGGGG your pictures with the tree. How I wish we would have done something like that when we got married. 20 years – we’d have a lot of pictures by now. What a treasure to have for your 20 years. Can you imagine the tree then?!?!?! … & you are just so stinkin’ cute!!!
LikeLike
WOW. That’s way too much animal death for a person to handle! I’m glad the dad was able to give the kitty a little burial- I’ve never had a pet get hit by a car (THANK THE LORD), but we have had to say goodbye to way to many over the years. The single downside to owning fur babes.
Thank you (about the tree)!! My best friend and I really hope that when/if K and I have kids it happens so that one year there will be a bump and the next year there will be a kid 🙂 But with my luck those 9 months will happen in between our anniversary! Haha!
LikeLike
I love your tree progression photos. That’s awesome. Keep doing them!
LikeLike
Thank you! It’s funny to me right now because the four of us AND the tree really haven’t changed… but someday I know that picture will look SO different!
LikeLike
That’s so sad about Oliver, but what a happy ending! I love the tree progression photos! 🙂
LikeLike
I’m so glad there was a happy ending to their story 🙂 I never got to meet Oliver but I need to tag along with K next time he runs errands so I can cuddle those little babes!
LikeLike
oh yay surprise good things on a wednesday! what a sad story that ended in sweetness (and so sweet that you made them cookies). thanks for mentioning my link-up and for sharing your goodness with the world! i absolutely adore the tradition of the tree taking photo – how special! i’m picturing the two of you old and gray swinging on a swing from one of those sturdy branches in 50 years!
LikeLike
I’m going to vent about our new workout routine on Friday so I wanted to get some goodness out in the world beforehand 😉
I’ve never really imagined how grand that tree will look when we’re old and grey! Obviously I can wait, but I can’t wait! Haha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That tree idea is so cute!!
LikeLike
Thank you, Heidi!
LikeLike
Thanks for the link-love, lady! I knew that, as a fellow dog lover, you would dig that post 🙂
Maybe I’m just an optimist, but I’d like to think that maybe the person who hit the shop kitty didn’t even know they did it. I grew up in a more rural area and I’ve accidentally gotten my fair share of squirrels and other small critters 😦 I could see thinking it was a squirrel that quickly darted out under my tire and feeling sad about it afterwards, but not thinking to loop back in case it was a beloved pet.
I’m glad two adorable furballs got a new, happy home out of it though.
LikeLike
I probably wouldn’t argue with you- my hope is that it was a total accident and the driver didn’t even know s/he did it. Or they assumed it was a stray cat. (I’d have stopped if I knowingly hit a dog or cat, stray or not, but not everyone is like that.)
There was definitely a happy ending, though 🙂
LikeLike
I love in your year two picture how one of the pups is just facing backwards, minding her own business. Totally just boycotting the picture hahaha. So sad about the cat, but more animals from shelters getting homes is always a happy thing!
LikeLike
Oh my gosh, that’s my favorite one from last year! He just did NOT want to turn around and pose. It was pretty cute. Haha!
LikeLike
That is so sad! I am glad that they were able to do something good from a terrible experience. My neighbor lets her cat outside to roam around, but mine stay inside or just out the front door where I can see them. It still makes me nervous. I’ve seen one poor cat in our neighborhood already that must have been hit. I would love to let them play but people drive too fast here.
Your pics look great! Love how you are both holding your big dogs in the first picture :).
LikeLike
The cat was definitely an inside cat, but he loved going outside so sometimes they’d tie a rope to his collar and tie it to a cinder block just outside the door so he could lay in the sun, haha. TOTALLY hillbilly-looking, but the kitty loved it!
Oh my gosh… the little one is only 35lbs so he’s manageable, but the big one is pushing 75lbs right now and I could never just scoop her up like K can!
LikeLike
awww what a great life you do have!! 🙂 amazing puppies and cats.
LikeLike
Thanks, Jade! I feel pretty fortunate most of the time 🙂
LikeLike
Oh that cat story made me tear up! Good for the guy that brought the cat for a proper burial. And yay for new adoptions! Also, the tree picture tradition is so cool!
LikeLike
Isn’t it a (bitter)sweet story? My husband told me that they’re loving the new kitties and have a plan to go back and adopt the sister kitten that they’d left behind! So cute!!
LikeLike