our quesadilla

"cheese." now rub my belly, please.

Andy and I joke that Casey has a daily agenda. It goes something like this:

Wake up

Look cute

Stretch and yawn loudly

Look cute

Race down the stairs

Check outside for kitties

Look cute

Go back upstairs for a morning nap

Look cute

Etc., etc.

Casey stinks to high heaven after she's been in the sun. It goes away after 20 or so minutes, but it's horrible for those 20 minutes. She barks at men, she practically stalks some of my friends when they come over, she gets out of our fence and she has gotten on furniture that she's not allowed to get on.

But we put up with all of this because... well, she's cute. She loves us. Every time we walk through the door she acts likes she hasn't seen us for days, even if we've only been gone a few minutes. Her whole body shakes when she's happy. She almost always refuses to play fetch unless she's swimming, and then she'll spend hours paddling towards sticks and biting the occasional leaf that gets in her way. She watches YouTube videos of cats with intense concentration and curiosity. Sometimes mid-video she'll start searching for the cat behind the couch or out the window. Just yesterday she sat down in front of the television and watched the entire trailer of Beauty and the Beast. I think she saw the beast and thought it was her.

A few days ago I walked across the street to borrow honey and I shut the door, except I didn't shut it so it would click. I was at my friend's house for about five, maybe ten minutes, and when I opened his front door to go home, Casey was standing there, wiggling her body with expectation. Found you!

She lives for belly rubs, compliments, kitties, squirrels, popcorn, cheese and empty tuna cans. She nips at our wrists when we do P90x. She sits on the passenger seat when we drive around town, but she jumps down as soon as we get on the highway. I don't know how she knows the difference, but she does. She loves stuffed animals. If it doesn't have a squeaker, she's not interested. She annihilates them instantly. Must find and destroy squeaker. She has a method for getting it out - she tears the toy open with her teeth and then pulls the stuffing out, darting her tongue to the side to get the fluff out of her mouth. It's very impressive. She also has an ongoing love affair with her Kong, which she uses to get our attention when she's bored. LOOK MOM I BOUNCED THE KONG AND IT ALMOST HIT THE TV. NOW WILL YOU PLAY?

Casey will only wait about two minutes after being punished before she sits in front of us and wags her tail slightly, pleading us with her eyes to forgive her. She knows we're really mad when we don't give in and pet her, and then she'll slump to the floor with a sigh and peer back up at us, still hoping.

Andy was hesitant to get a dog three months after we got married. He worried it was too soon and that the dog would be too much of a responsibility. Then he saw Casey and instantly fell in love with her. He later told me, "Having Casey has made me realized that I can be a dad, because I know that if I can love a dog this much then I can love my kids even more."

it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!