Let me back up...

Two weeks ago, I got an email from Josh with the subject line, "It's a Sign..." all that was inside was a link.

It led to a pet adoption website that Josh had heard about on the radio. As I scrolled through the photos, I thought, "why not?"

We'd been talking about getting a dog for a while but were either outpriced or too late for some of the new litters in our area.

I scrolled a little further and came across a puppy named Squirrely Dan. His sweet eyes and brindle fur drew me in, so I replied, "Call and ask about Dan!"

A few minutes later, I got a text saying, "I submitted an application. We'll see!"

The next day, as we pulled into a little town called Greune to have lunch with some friends, the approval email came through. We were told we'd been matched with Squirrely Dan and, once we signed the contract and paid our deposit, we could arrange a pick-up date.

We paused, in the middle of an antique store, to sign the contract. And just like that, we had a dog!

Our friends bought us this lovely 'Ceramic Dan' to commemorate the occasion:

On the drive home, we talked through some options for names. While we each had a name the other strongly disliked, we instantly agreed on Charlie. (I also tried to float the idea of referring to each other as 'man' and 'woman' instead of 'dad' and 'mom' so we don't become the people who wear "Dog Mom" shirts or refer to him as our firstborn, but Josh wasn't having it.)

We stopped by his foster family's home on Saturday to get a feel for his temperament and see how he felt about us, but as we loaded back in the car, we were already scrolling PetSmart and Petco to make sure everything was in place when we brought him home in a few days.

Late Monday afternoon we unpacked his crate, laid out his bowls, and drove out to pick him up.