RILEY'S SPOTLIGHT

If you follow me on social media, then it should be no surprise that I would designate an entire post to my first baby, Riley! Here's a quick timeline of our history together (along with some adorable photos, of course)

Flash back to 2011, I was a sophomore in college and really wanted to adopt a dog. I had grown up around dogs, and had spent the last few years pet-less. I was feeling secure in my housing situation at the time, and felt confident that I would have enough time to train, raise, and enjoy welcoming a new fur baby into my life. This above photo was taken on the first day of Riley's adoption!

This photo was taken at one of our hot spots in Arizona. There's a pretty large dog park in the Gilbert area that has a lake that the pups can play in! (Which can be very valuable during those summer days)

While I was in college, my version of going home to see family meant a trip to Southern California. My mom was living in Ohio (which was obviously MUCH farther away), and my dad lived in CA. A quick 6 hour drive across the desert started to be my norm whenever the holidays came around. This of course meant that I now had a new co-pilot to enjoy these trips with!

Riley and I spent the rest of my college years in AZ, before I started my career search of becoming an Air Traffic Controller (more details in another post if you're interested). After I was hired by the FAA, we packed everything up and hit the road for Oklahoma City! This was a very long road trip, but luckily she was used to those already.

Our next stop: Southern California! I was fortunate enough to be assigned a facility in the SoCal area (could have been Alaska or Guam) so of course one of our first outings was to the beach. This was actually the first time Riley had been to the beach. She was a bit hesitant at first about the waves, but those feelings subsided after she realized how much fun it was.

Here comes the next stage of our lives together: Riley has a dad! Brad and I had been dating for a little over 2 years, and got married in April 2019. She wasn't able to travel to Cabo for our "big" wedding, but we of course had to include her for the legal ceremony back in CA. She adores Brad (almost) as much as she does me :)

These days, Ry is spending her time relaxing with her parents and inspecting every square inch of her neighborhood. She likes long walks in the morning and afternoon, along with several cuddle sessions throughout the day. I knew adopting a dog would have a positive impact on my life, but I underestimated how much of a true family member she was going to become!