This is Luke! He is now about 14 months old, but we adopted Luke when he was 6 months old from a rescue in Texas (where we lived at the time). Here's a picture of him the day we adopted him:
To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what drew us to Luke that day at Petsmart, but I saw a big sleepy puppy napping in a crate at the adoption event and just couldn't contain my curiosity. I poked my fingers through the bars, trying to get his attention to no avail. Someone from the rescue suggested we take him out of the crate and it was love at first sight. In addition to being adorable, he was also completely unaffected by the barking of the other dogs and was friendly to all people and dogs we saw him interact with that day. We decided he was the one and took him home.
The first few months were a mix of joy and stress, he was a perfect sweet boy to us and got more affectionate by the day, but in his home environment he had some issues with resource guarding and herding. (I'll be making future posts about resource guarding)
Fast forward to now, he's MUCH better with his issues (but not perfect) and we love him so much more every day. This guy is hilarious, he's so sassy, and he is the perfect mix of cuddly and independent. The vet thinks he's border collie/red heeler and I can believe it. He's so smart, and all he wants is to get validation or love from everyone he meets. At the same time though, he gets bored very easily, and has tendencies to herd other dogs and even me. He talks a lot, but isn't a barker. 
We think he has mild hip dysplasia because he limps after a hike or a good play session and was looking a bit stiff for a while. We've since put him on a glucosamine supplement and I have pet insurance on him. I'll make a future post about my testimony with pet insurance and my provider!
Anyway, that's Luke's introduction post. Stay tuned for more pet and dog blog posts. :)
Sophia