It’s amazing how quickly you get used to having wet doggie noses around. My husband, Nate and I got our doggie, Kona, two days after we got engaged. Now I’m sure it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but for a girl who’s only claim to a pet was a caterpillar that managed to live a few hours before it died in a jar full of water, it’s a big deal.

Kona is a Siberian Husky that we rescued from an owner who enjoyed being inebriated and declaring how he was so sick and tired of running after “that dog.” So fast forward three years and Kona has become a central character in my life. Yep – a dog. I used to make fun of people like me. People who would get down on all fours and start talking baby talk to their pets. People who would refer to their pets as “my baby girl” or would chime in with pet anecdotes while others would be talking about their kids – like you could compare the two.

So how the heck did this ball of fur get so deeply enmeshed in my life and heart? Last week, I was at my mom’s house in L.A. far away from Kona. I was sleeping on the couch and had my arm hanging and I kept imagining a wet doggie nose pushing into the palm of my hand. I woke up from my nap because it felt so real only to remember that i was 1200 miles away from my fluff ball.

Wet doggie noses. They’re the best.