So many puppies to choose from....

Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing Christmas.

We just wanted to pass along some good news. Our Labradoodle mom, Gloria gave birth to 9 pups, 4 male and 5 female on December 12th. Only 6 weeks until we get to pick our puppy. We've decided to name the puppy Brock, to symbolize where Mariah and I first met.

And here are the cute puppy pictures.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hi everyone,

Just a short post today ad Michael and I have been busying ourselves doing some cleaning in the apartment... We're hosting a little Sunday-afternoon-football-get-together tomorrow and so I've decided it's high time we kicked it into high gear to get all the 'little things' done so our place is presentable.

This morning we woke up to a wonderfully familiar sight... well, familiar but a little strange given where we are living at the moment. :) Here's what the view was like from our bedroom at 9am:

So, clearly that put me in a good mood for the day. (Michael, not so much... haha)

We decided to take a walk up the street to the Coffee Roasters' where they apparently have a great waffle breakfast on weekends. The snow was perfect on the way there. Unfortunately for us though, when we got there, we found out that they only serve a hot breakfast on Sundays! *le sigh!* So we decided to turn around, picked up some eggs from the UDF on the way home and I took a couple pictures of the winter wonderland that was our neighbourhood (even if it did only last a couple of hours). We plan to try it tomorrow...

Michael with his "cold" face on:


Mariah being tickled by snowflakes:


After breakfast, Michael went out to do (pretty much all of) his Christmas shopping. He reported that the mall was surprisingly quiet; which we attributed to the fact that everyone in this city seems to freak out at the first snow flake. Ah, oh well. All the better for those of us who do decide to 'brave' the weather!

That's about all for now... I'm heading to store soon to grab some groceries for tomorrow's shindig. After dinner we're probably heading to the Cincinnati Zoo as they apparently have a big light show and Christmas displays. Perhaps there will be a post about that tonight or tomorrow...

Ciao!
Mariah

PS: I've also discovered - to Michael's dismay - a radio station that has 24-hour Christmas music! (Hense the title to this post) It's not WKRP, but close. It's WKRQ! :)

I've heard of a reindeer... but reinDOGS???

Hi everyone!

So it's been a couple days since my last post and this one is actually going to be fairly short but I've had an experience recently that I just HAVE to share! I've been constantly on the lookout for fun things that Michael and I can do in the city and so far we've been soaking up as much as possible. Between scouring online community calendars and just keeping an ear open for events (especially christmas events!) on the local news, we've come up with a few good ideas so far. In the evenings, we've been taking walks around our neighbourhood, I try to browse a couple new stores or shops every time I go out for groceries or an errand and Michael's always directing me to take a new route to get home. All in all, I'm feeling fairly comfortable here and feel like I'm at least getting to know my way around our neighbourhood.

Now, that being said, you're probably dying to know what this experience was that I just HAVE to share. Well, on Thursday night's local news, I heard about something called a "Reindog Parade" that would be happening on the weekend. I googled it and it turned out that the event was taking place almost right in front of Michael's office. (This was a little ego boost for me because that meant I was going someplace where I actually wouldn't have to use googlemaps for directions!)


Ok, so anways, it was a great event. It's something that takes place every year as a fundraiser for the local humane society. Essentially owners register their pets (that's where the money is raised) and then they dress up their dog(s) - and sometimes themselves too! - and show up on the afternoon of the event to parade through Mount Adams with their dogs.

Here are a few of my favourites:


So, now I think by now most of you know that Michael and I are expecting a new addition to our family...... of the four-legged variety of course. Did I get you there?? Did you think this was going to be a really impersonal way to announce that we were preggers?? haha... Oh, I know I had a couple of you going there... :)

But really. Our puppy is due to be born any day now (a chocolate labradoodle actually) and so I will now start fielding suggestions for NEXT year's Reindog Parade. I personally think that we should enter Michael and our doggy into the Look-Alike category. But there's plenty of time to decide. So, if you have any suggestions - especially if they involve dressing Michael up to match - please let me know! :)

Well, it's getting late so I'm going to end this now. More tomorrow.

Mariah

Timmins to Cincinnati in two days

Well, I've been Stateside for a little over a week now and Michael and I are just starting to settle into something of a routine. Our apartment is nearly in order I'm just about done my "cleaning spree" as Michael has been referring to my daily activities while he's been at work. Next week, once I'm all done organizing, I'll be sure to post a few pictures here for you.

The trip down was actually relatively uneventful. The weather was decent until we got to Toronto, where we ran into freezing rain. As we drove further West, the weather continued to deteriorate and drove our last two or so hours in heavy snow and freezing rain. Yuck!

After a looooong day of driving from Timmins to London, we went for dinner and met up with Brian and Brandy. Too bad we were too exhausted to be much in the way of good company though (sorry guys!)

The next day, we picked up our last Timmies' order (the true Canadian tradition) and then we drove to the US Border at Sarnia/Michigan, where we crossed around 9am. (See the amazingly ugly photo of the landscape on the left of the screen and you won't wonder why we didn't stay longer!)

The guard we got actually had a bit of a sense of humour so it went much better than it might have had we ended up with the guy Mike encountered last time... The guard actually informed me (at least three times) that Michael and I now had 90 days to get married and to make sure I was very careful to adhere to this stipulation to my Visa. He also reminded me that I HAVE to marry Michael - no changing my mind and marrying some other guy I meet in the next three months. haha... I think the most difficult part about crossing the border was the waiting while everything processed; which is, of course, a very good thing. Although I'll speak for both of us in saying that, as we left, we weren't sure which was more of a relief - getting in without too much questioning, or the fact that they didn't search our vehicle. Our poor Spectra5 was packed so tight, I'm not sure we could have fit in another pair of shoes (and we all know that if I could have, I would have!)

Once we crossed into Ohio, the sun seemed to come out again and we were off to Buckeye Kennels to visit the dog breeder from which we've chosen to get our Labradoodle-to-be. We had such a great experience visiting Sheryl and the dogs she has there. Since they breed Golden Retrievers, Labs, Labradoodles and Goldendoodles, they do have quite a few dogs but as we walked around the outdoor area where they are all kept, I can honestly say that there wasn't a single doggy there that I wouldn't want to have in my home. Our pup isn't born yet (the litter is due in about a week or so) so we won't get to take him home until February but we're both very confident that we'll end up with a great pooch. (Of course we'll post some pictures here of our family's new addition as soon as we can!)

Once we were back on the road and after a quick stop for lunch, Michael and I were home in about four hours. My first impressions of the neighbourhood were pretty good. Because we were clearly too tired to cook, we went for dinner at one of the little restaurants across the street. The fact that I can get amazing Pad Thai and scrumptious Spring Rolls from someplace literally 150 meters down the street from my doorstep is going to seriously challenge my willpower... :)

There are actually a few places on our block that seem to be very busy places to eat and/or hang out. We can get pretty much everything from gas to dry cleaning to beer on our block. I'll make a post devoted to "the neighbourhood" in a few days perhaps... There are a few things I think you all might get a kick out of so I'll save those details for later, when I have pictures to post with my antidotes.

That's all for this post... more tomorrow!

Mariah