It’s all waiting there for you

You won’t always know where you’re heading, but trust the parts of you that keep walking.

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Amidst it all ~ the ever-changing life, the year that felt like a death and a rebirth, I’ve been on a daily quest to find light.

Whether it’s in the way the mountain tops reflect the sun at dawn, the smell of the first flowers blooming on trees in spring, a peaceful morning swim in the river on a hot summer’s day, a lungs-full breath of mountain air, a laugh with friends that makes you grasp for air, or an evening scribble into a journal that has carried the pain, grief, joy and incredible amounts of gratitude over the past year.

When people say it’s the small things, they truly mean it. When you begin to walk through life like a sleepwalker, these are the things that try to wake you up in the gentlest ways.

To find joy outside something that has been its source for the past 15 years has been a form of art.

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I never allowed myself to even slightly look into the future to imagine what my next puppy would be like, as long as Vicky was still here — as it meant she wouldn’t be.
It took courage to open the door to the love and joy that still await, and to see what’s out there for me ~ a tiny wish for my little puppy, a Tuvalu daughter, and a Vicky granddaughter.

The grief is never-ending, that’s for sure, but so are the strange ways love will find you again and again.

I wanted this to be mine first, before it is anyone else’s. And today, I choose for it to be yours, too.

In May, we are expecting little Luminaries ~ Tuvalu’s puppies, her second and final litter.

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I chose Chief as the father ~ an incredibly kind dog, a talented sheepdog, and a sire to many wonderful puppies across Europe.
This combination feels like a whisper of my intuition, with too many coincidences to even call them coincidences, little “meant to be’s”, new friendships and connections, and a decision that truly felt right.

We are expecting black and white, and blue merle puppies ~ both with freckles and curls! (The curls are especially what I am so looking forward to.)
And if they are anything like their parents, they will be passionate sheepdogs, incredible team players, bringers of new friendships, and… will most likely love sleeping between the pillows.

Of course, that is only ever the intention ~ the rest is left to the universe to bring us something beautiful.

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Every time I prepare to bring another litter into this world, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for all the people I get to meet along the way ~ the breeders, and owners, who have taken the time to share their knowledge, their stories of dogs within pedigrees, and everything they have learned. There is something incredibly special in those conversations, in getting to know the dogs behind the names.

I feel grateful, and privileged, to be able to do this ~ to bring life into the world, and to connect with so many incredible people within this breed.

You all make this journey, and this breed, so meaningful, and so special.

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So many beautiful things behind,
and so many beautiful things ahead.

I’ll meet you, soon, my little light bringers. <3