5 Ways My Dog and I Are Alike

Posing for a picture in the park. Such a good girl!

My friend told me once (or more) that a dog reflects their owner's personality. I think it's partially true since the dog will act the way it's been trained to act (or react in some cases). But I certainly don't chew my nails or lick my hoo-ha like Pepper does, or at all for that matter! Haha. The other day I thought it'd be fun to write about ways Pepper and I are alike, so here's what I thought of:

We both love food.
Seeing how food sustains life, this may be a given. But, what you may not understand is, my world revolves around food. As the first of my four alarms goes off in the morning, my stomach starts growling and I'm running through my mind what's still good in my refrigerator. "Leftovers? No, too soon. Eggs? Eh, only if there's bacon. *gasp* Do I have bacon? Do I have time to go to the store and get bacon if I don't have any? I need to go to Costco and get bacon so I don't have this problem. Mmm, bacon."
Even if my alarm hasn't sounded and I've moved a centimeter, Pepper's all up IN my grill: "FOOD? FOOD TIME? MOM? FOOD?! IS IT TIME FOR FOODZ YET?! IM HUNGRRYYYYY MOOOOMMMMYYYYY! *paws at my face* FEEDMEOMGI'MDYINGFEEDME!" I actually had to get her a special eating ball to eat slowly so she wouldn't choke on her kibble. Maybe, juuuuust maybe, she's more passionate about food than me, as I don't literally inhale my food...

Getting pats on the head is fantastic.
Now hear me out.
We all know most dogs like to get pets on the head, and Pepper's no exception. That's one of her favorite places to be touched. She does this super cute thing where she snuggles her nose under your hand and flicks your hand onto her head if you're not paying attention to her when she wants pets.
I don't do anything that cute, but I do enjoy people playing with my hair or massaging my head. That $40 I spent to get my hair cut the other day was worth it if nothing but for the head massage I got during the shampooing part. You can't tell me you don't find it nice. Stimulating even!

Staring into the abyss is our favorite past time.
Relaxing. Thinking about nothing. Imagining where that smell that smells so smelly is coming from. Those are the things Pepper and I do in our spare time, just snuggled up somewhere. She looks at me and I look at her and then we look at nothing. Sometimes I wonder what she's thinking about while I'm thinking about the future or the past or what I could be doing at that moment, but am too lazy to do. Who knows.... Hey, where's that smell coming from?

Must touch/sniff ALL THE THINGS!
I should admit: I have a problem. My friends can confirm this. Whenever I go anywhere, I have to touch everything. My favorite place is the bedding department. So. Many. Textures. The last time I was home, my mom actually yelled at me for touching things in the store. I was 23 years old. Commence shaking your head.
Also, Pepper... sweet, little Pepper must sniff every little piece of everything we pass by. I know that it's a dog thing, but you'd think after sniffing the same rock, like 5 minutes ago, you wouldn't need to spend an additional 7 minutes sniffing and licking it... or rubbing your face on it... I don't mind because I can totally relate.

We need our own space.
As much as we depend on each other for company, comfort and fun- we both need our alone time. Even though it's late at night and I'm snuggled in bed, Pepper went to her kennel to curl up and have some time in her own space. We are both independent beings who cherish togetherness and aloneness, or at least don't mind aloneness when it's available.

I'm so glad that Pepper stole my heart from behind those bars at the animal shelter in Asan, South Korea. We are so alike in that we enjoy a lot of the same things, and yet we're so different with her being a dog and me being a woman. She brings so much joy, responsibility, sunshine, and laughter to my life. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ready for my close up!

Letting Go

I've always been sentimental. (Maybe more mental than anything...) I like to keep cards, doodles, little things my students have given me. I love pictures (though I'm terrible about keeping them in albums or frames). I still have stuffed animals from when I was young and little knickknacks I've received throughout the years. If you look through all of my stuff back in the States, you'll find things even from my elementary and middle school days. You must admit that it is really nice to look through boxes and drawers and reminisce about the days of old (or cringe- I can't believe I dated that guy!).

This may or may not be a good representation of the population of my exes.

I'm already packing to move back to the good ol' USofA. It is amazing, incredible even, how much CRAP you can accumulate in three years. When deciding what would go back with me and what I should toss/give away/sell, I found myself putting more in the take back pile than was really necessary. Do I really need these birthday cards? No, I don't. Is it important to bring that, probably expired, sunscreen with me? Absolutely not. But these are my things. These have been my things ever since I  bought them or they were given to me. And we all know that how many thing we have define us, right? Right?

You can't handle all this definition!

This past weekend, I attended a clothing swap. I was picking clothes from my closet to give away, trying them on, and then putting them back in the closet even though they were way too big. I knew I'll never wear those things again. Yet I just couldn't seem to put it in the donation bag. "I have so many memories in that cute black dress. And it's still in such good condition. I just can't give it up," thought I. Then it dawned on me: Give and you shall receive. If I were to give up all of the things I'll never wear or use again, I would open myself (and my closet) to new and exciting things. The weight of the old would be off my shoulders. (Get it?!) I will always have those memories, but I don't necessarily need things to remind me of them. At that moment I started pulling things off hangers left and right. By the time I finished, I had a huge back pack and suitcase filled with clothes and accessories that had to go. I needed them gone because I needed the freedom that comes with letting go. Since then, I've let go of a lot of things. I've let go of bad feelings. I've let go of frustration. I've let go of worries. I've let go of judgements. I've let go of friendships that weren't going where I'm headed. And once more, I've let go of eating things that make me feel good right then but make me suffer later. I even let go of some hair.

ohai

All this letting go has been really hard~ ya know, going against all that has been engrained in me for the past 25 years, but it has also been SO liberating. The best thing is I have three years of stuff paired down into two boxes and two suitcases. Now to get rid of all the STUFF that's cluttering my spare room and use that money for my future precious. (Next on my "letting go" TO-DO list is going paperless- even books!)