2008...Looking Back

David and I have had a very blessed and wonderful 2008. Here are a few of the highlights:

-Spending our birthday weekend in Washington, D.C.

Stephen Colbert hanging in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery

...between the bathrooms.

-February trip to Grove Park Inn in Asheville

- A few trips to the beach

-4th of July Kirkwood Parade and Party

-Tubing down the Dan River with Wilson and Sydney (quite an experience I might add...)

-Several Panthers games

-The nuptials of Susan and Andrew Matthews in Asheville

-San Diego, CA

Wild Animal Park & San Diego Zoo

Mama and Baby Rhino

Mama Rhino

Baby Rhino

(although the "baby" weighed over 400 lbs)

Sea World

(I know, we are 8 years old)

The Budweiser Donkey

One word: Adorable.

Panthers vs. Chargers game

We've both had great professional years as well. As you know, David is now at Crown Honda (and thoroughly enjoying himself though he is proving us all wrong by showing us that it is physically possible for him to work harder and more hours). I have had a wonderful year with Allen Tate and I really love my job. In addition, we started our own property management company and are currently working on a new adventure for 2009. All in all, we have had a very busy year and are looking forward to what fun and excitement comes our way in 2009!

Happy Holidays!

David and I hope that all had a wonderful holiday season! We were quite busy but thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

The holiday season rush took full effect with a neighborhood Christmas Party, Hanukkah celebration at David's father's house, and a mini holiday party we had at our house. It was so nice to catch up with old friends. So wonderful, in fact, that we forgot to take pictures! We spend Christmas Eve with David's family and grandparents which is always a nice time. Christmas day is spent with my family and then traveling to see my grandmother and extended family and then back to Greensboro for Christmas dinner. Then, it was Boxing Day with the Zimmerman's!

We had a great holiday and wish we could see everyone more often!

(from Left to Right... Baxter, Brittain, Franklin, Oliver, Winnie, Annabelle, David, Kohana, & Rocky)

Best. Life. Ever.

So, I was going through some old pictures of the dogs... the original Three Musketeers (Baxter, Kohana, and Franklin) (I will save you the disappointment-and myself the embarrassment- of saying something like the original Three Muttsketeers) and I realized that in almost every group of pictures I saw a similar photo. See if you can spot the trend...

Again... Best. Life. Ever.

Productive Weekend

So, I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for having an extremely productive weekend. Saturday alone I did some work outside, put up a few (the only) Christmas lights, went to work, bathed all 7 dogs (and brushed their teeth), decorated the tree and the house for the holidays and even found time to go shopping for gifts with my Mom. What I did NOT manage to find time for… cleaning up. Not only that, but I didn’t have time to address the mess on Sunday or Monday so… awesome. This is only the beginning….

I am currently accepting applications for free housekeepers.

Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos

David and I braved the cold today to go watch the Panthers take on the Denver Broncos. I have to admit… it was pretty cold. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, wool sweater, fleece jacket, jeans, Uggs, and, (since I will still be cold with Uggs) a pair of wool socks that were probably intended to be worn while hiking Mt. Everest. That being said, I still found it necessary to double up a fleece blanket and completely wrap myself from head-to-toe. Fortunately David does not embarrass easily (or obviously he would not have married me) which means he was able to tolerate my awesomeness again today.

"Why is she dressed like we are in the North Pole?"

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After the game we were (finally) able to go see Susan and Andrew at their “new” house (I’d like to give a shout out to all those third graders… umm, I mean Susan and Andrew for being so hospitable tonight!) Thanks also to the Panthers for winning this evening. I know it was for us and your loyalty is not unappreciated!


P.S. If I am rambling and/or not making sense it is because it is 100 hours past my bedtime.

f r a n k l i n

What can I say about Franklin? He is spunky and energetic, fun and playful, loving and affectionate, adoring and devoted, intelligent and curious, courageous and protective, and maybe a wee-bit bossy. :)

While living in Raleigh (for only a few months) David and I decided we should get another dog. Well, not exactly... We went to the shelter and played with several precious pups. But, "Buster" (later re-named Franklin) won me over. David, however, needed more convincing. First of all, we did not need another dog. Secondly, "Buster" was a small, funny looking Dachshund mix (and David didn't like small dogs). Eventually David relented and Buster came home with us. The night was spent brainstorming for new names and Franklin officially became part of the "family."

Originally, Franklin adored David and paid me no attention whatsoever. One fateful day I was home sick and Franklin's affections turned towards me and he has never looked back. He follows me everywhere I go. Actually, he likes to be in front of me while I walk but constantly stops and turns his head to make sure I am going the same way. I prefer that method, however, since when he does follow me he stays so close I have to change the way I walk to prevent myself from accidentally kicking him with each step I take. He is my sidekick. Always at my side (currently curled up against me snoozing and snoring) and always around to lift our spirits and make us laugh. He has personality in spades. He is always the favorite of friends and family who visit. He is smart as a whip and has amazing intuition concerning human emotion. Also, David is convinced he can see through walls. ;)

Franklin is the fearless and courageous leader of our pack. The alpha dog. He views his role is to keep all of the other dogs in line. Oh, and to steal their toys. He is a big fan of that. David and I laugh a lot at the big dogs that let him boss them around and literally let him take the toys right out of their mouths.

Franklin is a fantastic dog. He truly is the most devoted dog I have ever seen. I am so glad we were able to bring him home and give him a better life. I can only hope we have improved his life half as much as he has improved ours.

Oh, and by the way, David likes small dogs now. :)

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Crown Honda of Greensboro

Last week David was given a promotion and moved across the street to Crown Honda as their Financial Services Manager! He is very much enjoying his new job, new surroundings, and new coworkers. We are, of course, still big supporters of Volvo and he will definitely miss everyone there but they are just a short jog (read: life-threatening game of Frogger) across Wendover. He would be mad at me if I didn't mention that he can now help you with new Hondas as well as any used car. :) I am VERY proud of David and all he has accomplished. This will be a fun new adventure for him!

k o h a n a

Kohana has been our most interesting and difficult rescue. Shortly after we adopted Baxter we decided we would go back to the shelter... again, just to play with the dogs. We were in the process of moving me out of the dorm at Furman. Bags were packed, the U-haul was full, all we needed was to get Baxter and the last few things and hit the road! But, we went to play with the dogs anyway. We took several of them out into the enclosed area to play. I had, of course, already fallen in love but David was adamant that we were not getting another dog. He definitely had logic on his side given our current situation (young, had one puppy, moving back to Greensboro to live with our parents for the summer... you get the idea). While we were there we found a beautiful bundle of white and red fur to take outside. He paid me very little attention whatsoever but immediately ran and laid his head in David's lap. David was sold! We loaded him up with the rest of my stuff and made the trip back to Greensboro (to the dismay of my parents).

The first nights were terrible. He screamed throughout the night. (For those of you that don't have much experience with Huskies, they literally scream. I remember when we moved into our first apartment in Raleigh I was always afraid people would hear him scream during his baths and call the police because it sounded like we were severely abusing small children!) He had to have surgery within the first month (unfortunately not his only surgery) to remove plastic shards and an intact half tennis ball that he had consumed before we adopted him. He had endured a difficult life prior to us and was very skittish and fearful and to say he was distrustful would be an extreme understatement. Let me just sum up and say he was very difficult. When we were filling out the adoption application we learned that he had been surrendered to the shelter due to his inability to obey and his propensity to escape so we knew that it wouldn't be the easiest. He was much worse than we had imagined. All of that being said, I would not trade him or our past experiences with him for the world. He has turned out to be a fabulous dog. We still have to be very cautious with him and he is not now nor will he ever be an easy dog but he is worth it! He has so much personality and I think that working with him has been unbelievably rewarding.

We absolutely adore Kohana. Through a lot of patient work he has become one of our sweetest and most loving dogs. That being said, I would feel irresponsible if I did not warn others about Siberian Huskies. They are beautiful and it can be very rewarding to have one as a part of the family but they are extremely difficult. Please do your research before you take one home to make sure you feel like they would be a good fit. Huskies are very independent (more like a cat than your ordinary dog). They don't have the need to please like many breeds (meaning training is difficult). They are absolute masters of escape and are extremely intelligent. If they are not entertained or if they are left alone it is likely you will come home to utter destruction. They LOVE to dig- whether it be random holes in the yard or to escape the fence. They are very athletic and fast! If your husky finds his freedom it is likely that you will never see him again. Obviously I don't need to mention the shedding. David and I had no idea what kind of dog we were bringing home that day in May. Kohana has done more damage to himself and to our belongings than all of our other dogs combined. He has been one of the most expensive shelter dogs you can imagine. I have always been so happy that we were the ones that took him home that day because we were willing to deal with everything he threw our way and I'm not convinced he would have had the same outcome had he gone to another family.

Thanksgiving

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! David and I had a wonderful day. Of course, he spent the majority of it watching football while I was slaving away in the kitchen. ;) We spent a lot of time with family and had a wonderful meal (3 of them actually). The best part of the holiday season is spending time with old friends! I can't wait until Christmas when everyone is back again!

(pictures to follow)

b a x t e r

Since the dogs are a pretty important part of our lives, I think it is only fair to introduce you to them. All at once would probably be too overwhelming so I am going to do it one at a time. (Also, there is a reason I am going into such detail about the pups... they are going to have a pretty big impact on our future but that I will explain thoroughly at a later date!)

Let's start with the puppy who changed our lives!

Meet Baxter. He is 120 pounds of lazy. Let me give you a little background....

While I was attending Furman University, David and I decided it would be a great idea to visit the animal shelter. You know, just to play with the dogs. Well, there had to have been over 30 puppies under 8 weeks old (in addition to older dogs)! I know a lot of people love puppies but I knew that there was no way all of them would be adopted. There was this adorable little red bundle of fuzz with white toes, a white tip to his tail, and a white snip on his nose. I fell in love. We left the shelter and David knew he was in serious trouble...I had to save that puppy! The next day I went back and adopted the puppy and we named him Baxter. There was one glaring problem. I was not only in college but living out the mandatory 4-year-on-campus program... meaning, I lived in a dorm. Fortunately I did not have a roommate but there were definitely some hurdles to having a 6-week old puppy living in your dorm room. To take him outside, I had the tiniest little Vera Bradley bag that he would get into and I would carry him down the stairs out into the fresh air. He loved that bag... he would get it onto the floor during the day and curl up inside of it to take naps (little did we know napping would become his favorite hobby). Secondly, he had terrible separation anxiety. The poor thing hated being alone. Obviously a barking puppy does not help one remain inconspicuous in a dorm room. So, I would turn up animal planet on my TV and hope that people thought his whining and barking were part of the program. To this day I do not know how we managed to avoid being caught.

Fast forward to now. As I mentioned, that tiny little puppy grew into a gigantic dog. We had no idea he would become such a monster! He fills his days with naps, naps, and more naps. He is the only dog I know that would prefer sleeping until noon. We literally have to make him go outside in the mornings. In the summer he doesn't want to go outside because he has a true love for air conditioning. In the winter he wants to be near the heat vent. At all other times he wants to be on the couch and will grudgingly settle for a dog bed if he must (but he is not the least bit happy about it). He has also more than conquered his problems with separation as he is probably our most independent dog. And our loudest.

Baxter will always hold a special place in our hearts as he started the wheels in motion for our love of helping and rescuing dogs and therefore changed the direction of our lives.

m e e t ... t h e ... m e h l e r s

Most of you know us very well.... but, for those of you who don't here is a very quick summary of our lives up to this point.

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David and I (Brittain) both grew up in the same town but didn't meet until summer of 2002. Shortly after our initial introduction we began dating. In fact, we are looking forward to celebrating our 6 year anniversary towards the end of November! We were married in Virgina in August of 2007 surrounded by all of our friends and family.

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David works for Crown Volvo as the Finance Director and I work for Allen Tate Co. as a real estate agent. Our jobs keep us very busy! We enjoy spending our spare time with friends and family and, of course, playing with our dogs. David and I both love animals and together we have rescued 7 dogs. A lot of people think we are crazy but I can't imagine our lives without them.

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How's that for a quick summary?!

Well, here it is. We have fully surrendered to the age of technology. With so many friends and family that live all over the globe it is becoming more and more difficult to keep up with one another. David and I have quite a bit going on in our lives these days and we would really love to share it with the people that are most important to us. So, here is a glimpse into the Mehler household! I am going to do my best to write and post pictures often so check in regularly!