Meet #thejadesquad

meet dakota

Dakota: an abandoned pup who found a home in the lap of a lonely girl six years ago in Franklin, Tn. Since then, Dakota has traveled the US making friends and exploring trails. She is particularly fond of hiking, swimming, running, SUP, riding with the windows down, playing with tiny bugs, her new kitten, her playmate Waverly, and climbing on tables. She has almost mastered running with the segway, and she says she can’t wait to show you her tricks .

I have been told by some very wise Australians that Dakota girl is an Australia Kelpie. I have always wanted to be from australia, so i took the opportunity and ran with it. I have since learned that she is bread to heard sheep by jumping on their backs and guiding them back to the flock. This immediately explained her need to jump and balance on everything i own. ( perhaps this is why i also like goats? ) and her extreme capacity to sense my emotional state. She is my constant companion and is my shepherd, anchor and friend during the dark hours.

When I finally fall asleep and let the pain roll through me, she leaves the room and positions herself on the couch while she watches the front door. That’s when Waverly takes over.

meet waverly 

Meet Waverly: a full-bred blue heeler whose mom cross mingled with the mini heeler down the street, creating a crazy but
tiny spirit of energy. named after her name sake Waverly, Tennessee, she has grown up around the water and is the
first to jump in the ocean to catch that dolphin. 
remember when i adopted her? a month out of my hysterectomy, I yearned for some fresh life inside the walls of my
home. knowing dakota was an “aussie cattle dog” i wanted a dog with matched energy, heart, spirit and personality.
heelers heel. they imprint on someone by the time they are 3 moths old. i have been lucky enough to have her as my
constant companion for the past 3 years. she lays by me when i am stuck in bed, jumps in the shower with me when
i cry, gets me out of bed when i feel like shit, and can run beside the segway like a BOSS.
i also think she is capable of jumping across a 17 ft chasm in the middle of a fire while she is underwater without
legs and eyeballs if she knew i was on the other side. she’s that bad-ass.
she is quite literally my blue healer.

meet nova-luna

Nova-luna : noun. Could also be used as a verb.
“ small feline with kitten-like characteristics. Raised by a blue healer, “nova-luna” is half dog rolled into the spryness of a squirrel, as evidenced by her maroon-black squirrel-cat tail. The noun is both descriptive and implies movement, “ when the night falls and the stars shine, the feline transforms into a nova-luna like creature who lights up with intensity in light and speed only witnessed in that of a nova cascading to earth.

Welcoming Nova-Luna to The Jade Cottage

I always assumed I was "a cat person" because we always had cats living in our garage or under our house growing up. It's actually kind of odd that I have gravitated to dogs in my adult life. It was time for a kitten. Really, if I'm honest, it has been a selfish endeavor.. or as eric-scott likes to say "self full" endeavor. It makes me FULL. My heart explodes every day as I watch this little creature bounce through the 300 square foot Jade Cottage. 

Two weeks ago, I had a dream that a little kitten walked into my life.. it was the Saturday night of the time change. The next day I woke up after having the best slumber party with my friend Brittany who just moved to Atlanta from Portland! Welcome to the south, Britt! We got brunch at The Five Spot (because their gluten free toast is ammazzing), and then I was exhausted to I turned on the tv, sat in bed and started to veg out over instagram. 

Instead of laying low, I saw that Emily of maime ruth lived two blocks up from me AND WAS GIVING KITTENS AWAY! I quickly messaged her on instagram trying to plea my case while also realizing I was totally insane to add ANOTHER animal into my 300 square foot cottage with two very excitable dogs. What if the kitten didn't like them? I told Waverly and Dakota to jump in the car with me, and we made our way over to Daffin to meet the kittens. 

This sweet little black kitty bounced over to me and let me pick her up and hold her. She purred and she cuddled and I was in love. Lets see how the dogs do. Who should I introduce first? Dakota who is sweet and lickable and kind.. or Waverly who is excitable, stronger than she thinks and VERY vocal? I figured Waverly would never stay in the car without me, so I introduced her and then Dakota and it went as smoothly as it could go.

She was destined to be apart of our tribe. 

Two weeks later, and she's made her way into all of our hearts. Every morning I wake up from her bouncing around the bed like a kangaroo or a toddler with a trampoline underneath their feet. Waverly has found her purpose in life, and Nova-Luna is happy to be the object of her affection. They will play for hours, jumping from the furniture like there is "lava" underneath. It reminds me of games I used to play with my friends as a child. Dakota loves Nova-Luna in her sweet and nurturing way. She cuddles, provides ample hours of fun with her swift tail wags. Nova-Luna is a firecracker with the sweetest touch. She has started running around in laps like the dogs, climbs the bricked fence beside me, and likes to run into the pups and bounce off of them like a street dancer. 

Her hair looks as if it's turning purple, and her belly is white and black ombre. I waited a full week to name her, waiting until I could see more of who she was and what she liked.

Nova is a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to its original state over a few months...

and after several days and a lot of name candidates and options, i found that Nova was her true self. But then, the following morning the words "nova-luna" came out of my mouth and it was magic. Lunar "comes from the Latin word luna, meaning moon. The Roman goddess of the moon is called Luna (Selene in Greek mythology). There are lunar eclipses, a lunar calendar, lunar tides, and lunar orbits."

I cannot wait to watch this little firecracker continue to rock stereotypes about cats, their relationships with other animals and their humans, and, well, women. She's already teaching me so much about bravery, and is testing me as I learn how to let her go out into the world even if I'd rather have her cuddling next to me.