Total Life Overhaul

My life has been completely transformed recently, my usually quiet days spent mostly in isolation have come to end. There are many aspects of my life that have changed dramatically in the past year. Last February I had a major breakdown due to living in isolation for so long, feeling incredibly lonely and as a result of the lack of results from being on a variety of different drugs for depression and anxiety. As you know I ended up leaving university in the summer and I haven't looked back since.
The university lifestyle wasn't healthy for me, it was incredibly stressful and I ended up missing out on the positive aspects of university life i.e. spending time with the incredible people I met. A year on I never expected to be engaged at the age of 21, living with my fiance and his family, living away from my family for a reason other than being at university and being fortunate enough to have such supportive parents and future in-laws. Robbie and I have obviously already committed to each other through getting engaged, but we also decided to get our first pet, little Ruben, a hamster. He is incredible cute and has THE softest fur ever. Him being a nocturnal animal made him the perfect companion for my topsy turvy sleeping pattern, he's also pretty low maintenance and up for hugs! We got him in September and now...he has a bigger but younger brother: introducing Toby the Puggle, our 8 week old puppy. Now before anyone worries Ruben is definitely not being neglected since we've had our new arrival, we still meet up in the early a.m. Toby has completely transformed my daily routine, I'm now up at 8am to take him outside in whatever the weather (we had his first encounter with peeing in the snow, freezing for all involved). We're attempting to get him into a good routine for eating and sleeping as well as socialising him through introducing him to different people and experiences each day. I'm pretty sure we're on the same level, its as if I'm a toddler again waking up early, running around for play time, getting grumpy because I'm hungry due to being awake for so long (I usually average 1 meal a day) and then crashing after running on fumes for so long and need a nap when Toby does. Remember, when your puppy sleeps, you sleep...kind of like a mother- newborn baby relationship? He is incredibly cute and it's a struggle to not be won over with his puppy dog eyes and adorable wrinkly face, but we must remain stern when he is trying to bite our socks...whilst we are wearing them! Everything is brand new and exciting to him so he is bound to have a few accidents, plus he is doing all this whilst teething, so every new experience...or person might get chewed on a bit. As fantastic as having a puppy is, dogs are for life and require a lot of patience, attention and stamina whilst they are young! After our first full day together and him peeing almost every minute, I did end up slumping to the floor and crying. It all became too much for me, I was exhausted, dizzy from staring down at him for so long, my thighs were screaming at me from all the squatting down to praise him and the running around we had done in the garden. I'd done so much research prior to looking for him, I felt prepared but I knew it wasn't going to be straight forward. As I sat on the floor trying to hide the tears Robbie came over to me and rested his hands on my shoulders, and then Toby came trotting over and snuggled down in my lap. It was enough to make me smile and I realised it was all going to be worth it. Check out Toby's instagram page here for updates!

Ruben has more highlights and contours than a Kardashian!

We have had a few slip ups such as the awful moment when his collar was too big for him, and attempting to make it more snug whilst encouraging him to pee outside in the rain after just getting back from collecting him. I was distraught, worrying that the experience was SO bad that he wouldn't take well to being toilet trained outside after all that. Of course I was worrying about nothing, he is doing incredibly well and its only his fourth day with us. There will be more hurdles to come but it is all so exciting, hopefully when we introduce him to Ruben they won't bite one another and we hope Toby will realise Ruben is not to be chased when in his exercise ball! Its going to take some time for me to adjust too, mentally and physically, my body aches all over and I could do with a sob right now but hopefully this too shall pass.