When I was still living in Illinois, one late summer day, I had thought long and hard and decided I wanted to adopt a puggle. I looked everywhere near me and then I expanded my search to 250 miles. I found this adorable 2 year old puggle, up for adoption through a Humane Society in Northeast Iowa. Her name was Bailey, at that time. She had a litter of puppies a few months prior but she was left unadopted. I submitted an application and was approved! It was Labor Day weekend of 2011 and I set off early that morning, Mapquest directions in hand, to adopt this beautiful puggle. She was even cuter in person, smaller than I imagined, but so eager to meet me. We ventured back to Illinois and started our 5 hour trip back. She had so much energy and couldnt wait to explore her new world. We arrived home that night only to discover that she had fleas, so we set off to the store to get some shampoo to get rid of then. It was an exciting and exhausting day, but I was so excited to have a new family member with fur. We bonded a lot that weekend, I had the whole weekend to show her around her new surroundings. She played, cuddled with me, chased the new cat siblings, and just had an amazing time at her new home. Little did I know how amazing our journey together would be. We would go on to be inseparable for the next 11 years. She would help me through the loss of my dad, 4 short months after I adopted her, we would get through her cancer surgery together in 2016, and she would get me through the loss of other beloved pets that went before her. She was one of the constants in my life, my best friend, my canine soulmate.