Blanca's Story

Today is Blanca's birthday.  I can't believe my baby girl is three! They grow up so fast. 

I can remember Blanca's 1st birthday like it was just yesterday. We really had a lot fun celebrating her. I actually made invitations and sent them out to our friends inviting them over to celebrate. 

I made dog bone shaped and Blanca look-a-like cookies for the humans. 

And a giant dog bone shaped birthday cake for the dogs. You can find the recipe here. I think I used cream cheese for the icing.

I even had the dogs wear birthday hats. Her friend wasn't too thrilled to be wearing one. 

This year as we're preparing to move we aren't having a big celebration. We keep telling her we got a great big yard and a creek as presents for her birthday.

You might wonder why we would have a party for our dog. Well she's like our child and we love an excuse to have people over. Not to mention Blanca is VERY special. You see my need for Blanca came long before her birth when I myself was just a little girl. I was playing one day at a friends house and I've always adored animals so they were excited to take me to the barn and show me the new husky puppies that were recently born.

They were with their mother and were so tiny and sweet. I loved holding those little puppies. In my childlike way I wondered why the puppies daddy wasn't with them and the mommy. In the next barn stall over was the daddy all by himself and I was very sad about that. So I walked over to the daddy dog with one of the puppies in my arms. I set the baby in the stall with his daddy and the daddy dog killed his own baby. I was shocked and very traumatized. It was so heart breaking for me and I always said I was going to have a husky of my own to care for and love.

I grew up and got married and wanted a dog but my husband and I weren't ready for one because we had moved from North Carolina to Colorado, we were renting and had a very tiny rock garden for a yard. I also knew in my heart getting a husky would be a lot of work. My husband and I were living a great adventure in Colorado. For our 2 year anniversary we decided to drive to Yellowstone National Park. We had such a wonderful time on that trip!

We camped the entire week we were gone and the drive home was long and tiring. We were drained, dirty and ready for a hot shower. When we opened the garage we immediately noticed something was off. There were lights on that we don't remember being on. I walked in my home and the sliding door was wide open. There were moths and other various bugs flying around and crawling up the walls. I was so confused. I was paralyzed. I kept screaming for my husband who was busy figuring out what he was going to bring in first from the car. He rushed in, he ran upstairs and then I knew we had been burglarized.

I called 911 and we waited in our car for the police to arrive in case someone was still in the home. The officers arrived and we had to go through and tell them what was missing. I looked around, I thought our TV would have been gone, maybe our computer. No, none of the replaceable things were missing.

It was like my heart was ripped out. Every piece of jewelry I owned was gone. All the vintage pieces that were passed down from my grandmother, my high school graduation ring, the necklace my parents gave me for my sixteenth birthday, the tarnished cross necklace my husband sent me before we were dating to "woo" me... 

For as long as I can remember my family has had a tradition of giving a special Christmas coin to me and my sister every year for Christmas. Every single one I saved and treasured, they were all gone. Along with every other interesting and foreign coin that I collected from my travels. I didn't collect these things because they were valuable I did because they were memories for me.

I also had a little wooden treasure chest that had a small lock on it, like a diary would have, my parents gave it to me when I was a teenager. It was full of cards and special notes that I had saved over the years. It also had an ornament that I got for my husband that I was saving for Christmas because I knew he would never look in there. They took my treasure chest that was full of my personal treasure nothing that would have been valuable to anyone else.

It was disturbing when the officer said he highly recommends the first thing we do is wash all of our clothes. The worst part was not what they took from me. The worst was the feeling of violation and how uncomfortable I was to be in my own home. The fear that I experienced is hard not to carry with me.

Isaiah 41:13 tells me, "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

If you're still reading you might be wondering what does Blanca have to do with this?  After going through this experience we decided that we needed a dog. It just so happened that Blanca was recently born in North Carolina at my husbands childhood neighbor's house. When his sister found out we wanted a dog she said she would pick the perfect one out for us. I think God already had a plan. Blanca couldn't be more perfect. She's actually a husky lab mix.

These pictures were taken by my SIL when Blanca was just 5 weeks old. 

She was so tiny and scared when we first met her. She flew on a plane all the way from North Carolina to Colorado by herself. 

It was love at first site! 

She's done so much more than help us feel secure she's helped to heal our souls. She's a gift!  

She can be very protective and intimidating if need be. But she always brings joy to everyone she meets and has an excellent people sense. 

And even though she's made some bad choices.

 Like destroying our couch...

or eating through the metal bars of her crate and getting stuck (is it wrong that I took a picture before helping her out?)

We still LOVE her a lot!

She's such a sweet heart and I'm so thankful for her.

 Happy Birthday to my Blanca!