It's hard to write this, even now, almost a month later.

Our sweet, deaf, silly, unicorn-furred, shuffleuppagus, grinch-footed Bijie is gone.

Luckily, I took roughly one million crappy phone photos of her, so I'm now going to share them with you all.

Warning: this is a long post. There will be much scrolling. But Bijoux has a special place in our hearts, and she made it a long, almost 13 years with us on this planet, despite getting run over by a car in her first year of life, eating an entire bottle of Rimadyl, and attempting to off herself after downing a full tin of cocoa powder (*note: cocoa powder is VERRRRRY bad for dogs... like, chocolate is prettttty bad, cocoa powder is THE WORST). Apparently now this post is going to be about what a horrible dog owner I was... whewps!

Thanks for teaching us so many things, Bijie - like the best way to get skunk juice out of silky-white fur (a combo of dish soap, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda- you can get the exact recipe here - also for the face area, douche. Yes, I just wrote douche on this blog) and how long rabies can lay dormant in the body (answer: ONE TO SEVEN YEARS- feel free to freak out over that), how to avoid everyone in the neighborhood while on a walk, distraction tactics for the little kids who always wanted to pet you, and which kennels would let you be "aired alone" so as not to slay another dog while their owners were away on a relaxing vacation. I'll never forget the time you ate half a bottle of vegetable oil, and the subsequent "mess" you left all through the house. Actually, if I had a dollar for every poo-puddle I've cleaned up from you, I would have a brick of gold (which I just recently found out is roughly around $500,000.00) I'll miss your silly bark, and your old-lady shuffle, your grin that greeted us when we came in the door (or when you woke up from a nap and forgot we were in the room with you), your gentle snoring, frog-legs, and the softest ears on the planet.

The past year we had with you was priceless. Jumping into this business full-time allowed us to be home with you any day we weren't photographing weddings, holding our daily meetings while we drank coffee and walked with you (slowly) around the neighborhood, editing photos and answering emails with you sleeping at our feet. We got to snuggle with you on the couch in the evenings, and then once you couldn't jump onto the couch anymore, we snuggled with you on the floor in your bagel bed.

Regardless of all the ridiculousness you brought into our lives, you brought in more joy than we could ever have imagined. You were always happy to see us come home, sleeping by the door so you'd know when it opened, and you never missed an opportunity to pant heavily over our meals. You loved chasing birds, and bird shadows, and butterflies, and butterfly shadows, and flies, and their shadows - basically anything that cast a shadow. You loved napping, and cheese, and red vines (a dog after my own heart), being outside, reflections, tuna water, and a good hill to poop on. You HATED coffee, the vet, vegetables, tall men, Halloween decorations, and brooms. Your favorite toy was a Valentine's flamingo, or anything you could rip the eyes out of. You loved dancing with us (or at least you tolerated it), and you let us dress you up for any and every occasion. #bestdogforaphotographer

I could write about you for another 100 pages, and maybe I will in the future, but tomorrow is your birthday, and I'll be celebrating in my pj's, with dog fur in my coffee mug, thinking of you in your jingle collar and sparkly santa hat. Oh Bijie, we love you.

No food was ever eaten without her little (giant horse) face right there.

No photo was ever taken in the house without her photobombing it.

We loved her so much we even took photos of other animals who REMINDED us of her.

Bijie-Weigie Pudding and Pie