Today marks the day of the Chinese New Year – the year of the Rabbit. So what did we do to celebrate? Well, how about a little story….
Let’s rewind the clocks back to early December 2022. My fiancé Kara and I had already been discussing the idea of adopting a Holland lop bunny named Peanut because he needed a new home. His current home was shared with two overly aggressive dogs towards him and the owners didn’t feel like it was a safe environment for a bunny. So with the busy holiday season upon us all we decided to wait and follow up after the new year.
Fast forward to Saturday January 21st. We decided to visit the Show Me Reptile Show at the MTSU Expo center in Murfreesboro. It was here where I met the cutest little lion lop bunny named Cashew. I caught a glimpse of him walking by on the first pass, and the whole time as we were making our way around the reptile show all I could think about was the bunnies. I wanted to go back and see the bunnies. Eventually we made our way around to the vendor where Cashew was. They asked me if I wanted to hold him and I couldn’t refuse. We wound up leaving the reptile show and heading back home to sleep and think on the decision of adopting a different bunny than the one that we had already been discussing, Peanut. We sent a message to Peanut’s owner asking for an update and to let them know that we were still interested in him…but no reply that night.
The next day we slept in and had brunch, still debating on if we should go back down to Murfreesboro and get Cashew or not…still waiting on a reply from Peanut’s owner. The reptile show was open again until 3PM…it was now inching close to 1PM. Still no reply. At one point the question was asked “If we don’t go down there and get him, are we gonna regret it?” And that was the deciding question. With a unanimous decision of yes, we frantically gathered what we could and headed back down to Murfreesboro. We decided to stop at a Tractor Supply store and pick up the basics like a rabbit starter cage, hay, and other basic supplies that bunnies need. As we pull into the parking lot, Kara gets a message on her phone…it’s Peanut’s owner. She said that we could come get him in the next week or so. Decision problem…do we bail on Cashew after driving all the way down to get him or do we suck it up and commit to providing a loving home for two pet rabbits?
After a short debate we decided that this news didn’t change the fact that we both felt that we had to adopt Cashew. We rushed to the expo to get there right around 2:50pm, run in and adopt this little stinker. Our cat Pixel, who runs the house, wasn’t quite sure what to think of this weird looking little creature at first, but quickly showed signs of friendly curiosity. It wasn’t until we were winding down for bed that night when Kara realized that January 22nd marked the start of the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Rabbit.
Through this whole experience the thing that I’ve taken away is that sometimes the Universe gives you signs and points you in directions that you can’t understand in the moment, but it’s important to acknowledge them and evaluate the options presented before you.
Which somehow resulted in us being the parents of two of the cutest little rabbit boys that I know! Peanut and Cashew, two bunnies from different places for whatever reason are here now living with us and we already love them dearly and treat them as part of the family. There may have even been a 3-D model created to help me visualize a more permanent cage setup for the boys….and possibly a YouTube live bunny cam stream so I can keep an eye on em.🤓
