This is Girl Person. If you are back today for the blog, thank you. I am sure after yesterday’s long winded start to my blog takeover that I lost some people! But sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do.
Our story is one that may be long and winding and complicated. But it’s our story and if it takes me a week to get to the point, well, I hope you are still listening.
So let’s see. Where were we? Yesterday I ended with the question of whether now was the time for a big change again, after being back in Florida for over three years (which was supposed to be one). Good question. Good question. Why was it so hard to make this decision? Yes, I told you about our family, and that was the biggest factor in a long decision along with whether it was good for Brickle and Digby and the chickens. Beyond that, the factor of whether to move our business was important.
People have told me all of my life that if you work hard enough at something, it will be successful. In fact, if one more person tells me that, I may scream. I personally think that this isn’t always true! You can work your booty off and sometimes, things simply don’t work! When we started Your Dog’s Diner and the concept of cooking for your dog, we got a lot of resistance and I doubted that path. The first two years were a struggle, but we believed in the health of dogs and their quality of life and wanted to continue 2 Traveling Dogs and our daily dog blog. It takes money to continue this blog and our rescue work. So saving more lives was our motivation. But you have to have money, and so I worked harder. And harder. And finally things began to take shape. Our business thrived and Boy Person and I were able to work together every day with Brickle and Digby. No, we weren’t making goat cheese like our original plan in Sonoma. But we were making a business work. It didn’t happen overnight. And there were twists and turns. But happy to say that after the blood, sweat and tears we are doing good in that way. There were some years I got virtually no sleep from TV appearances, blog writing, rescue work, family responsibilities and let’s not forget hiking and dog park visits six days a week for Brickle and Digby. There is so much more we want to do for our business and expansion and this contributed also to our decision of whether to make a change again. Would it be good for our business? The answer was a big yes.
What about Brickle and Digby? Our first trip across the country in 2011 was stressful for me! I was so scared they would hate the long trip and I was worried about their safety. I was upset I was taking them from the only home they had ever known. But after an hour on the road, I KNEW they loved it! Seeing new things, visiting new places and people and even the moving truck was awesome to them.

They looked forward to every day and every hour and by the time we got to California, they were different dogs. Forgot about their shelter and rescue issues…they were now confident and thriving! They adjusted well in Sonoma., California and when we left for the trip back to Florida again in 2012, they loved it the same. But now, they are almost seven. I knew that I wanted to make the decision to move again while they were still young enough to enjoy a third trip. I couldn’t fathom moving without them years down the road. So this was a determining factor too.

Many of you know how close I was to my Granny. Since she lived next door to us, we visited her every day and I will never regret coming back to Florida for this experience alone. I would have never had that extra three years with her and I was able to be here and help when she got ill and passed away in December. Yeah, I am not writing much about this today. My heart just can’t take it. I also got to grow closer to my extended family…you know on the same road (haha) including my Country Cousin Person.

So as you can see, the past three years have been hard for us. But enjoyable too. Being able to live next to my parents my entire married life was something that most people may not appreciate. But my parents were always there for us, and when we made bad ones, coming to our rescue. Telling them we were thinking about moving again was the hardest thing I had to do….again….in my life. And we told them this in June. We had finally decided we were gonna try again. Let’s put the house up for sale in a few months, and well, we would see what happened. You know, it could take a year to sell or more….
If you have you ever seen the movie or read the book, Eat, Pray, Love…I certainly felt this way…Hadn’t I wanted this? I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life. So why didn’t I see myself in any of it? The only thing more impossible than staying was leaving. I didn’t wanna hurt anybody, I wanted to slip quietly out the back door and not stop running until I reached Greenland.
…to be continued tomorrow…
-Girl Person