Dogs & Life Dreams - Brady

For most of my adult life, I've wanted a dog. I've loved animals, especially big dogs, since I was a kid and just knew I'd get one someday. It took me longer to work up the courage to commit to a pet than I expected, but now that we've got Molly I couldn't be happier.

I keep having moments with Molly where I think, "Life dream fulfilled." Moments where I'm doing something with my dog I always wanted to and now I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have this sweet girl to swim with or to ride in the back of my Prius. Below are some pictures I've captured over the last two months that fall into the "life dream fulfilled" category.

(Try not to judge me too hard for all the pictures I take of my dog, okay?)

Road trips:

Naps on our couch bed (Molly's a great cuddler): 

Hiking:

City adventures (in this case, Molly and I stopped on a walk at a coffee shop that has walk-up window - she waited very patiently for her dog treat, and I waited very patiently for my drink):

Boats and swimming, in Chicago and at Lake Wawasee (look at that scraggly mutt in the last photo!):

I thought getting a dog would stress me out or make me feel trapped, and it definitely does complicate life a little bit, but all in all she is such a positive, wonderful addition to our lives. I find that we look at all of our old favorite places in new ways. We're more likely to seek out parks and beaches and outdoor patios where we can take her rather than dark bars or the same old indoor restaurants we always visit. She's changed our lives, for sure, in a really great way.