Rachel Ray!

What a great day!  Kristen really wanted to go to a Rachel Ray book signing tonight in Birmingham but was unable to make it to Books a Million to get her line assignment so being the great friend that Brittany is, Brittany went to get one for her.  While she was there Brittany just went ahead and got one for herself even though she was not planning on going to the signing because of prior plans. 

Well, everything happens for a reason and when Brittany talked to Michelle - a fellow board member at Shelby Humane today, Michelle had the great idea to go meet Rachel and see if she might be interested in buying one of the Shelby Humane ornaments.  But Michelle didn't know about the line assignments.....but Brittany had an extra!!

So - Michelle and Jenny (another board member) went to the signing and met Rachel!  She was super sweet, and bought an ornament.  Apparently she picks a local rescue group to donate part of her proceeds from each signing to.  She picked the Basset Hound rescue here in Bham which just happens to be where Kristen's new pup Chandler came from!  Rachel Ray has raised $1.4 MILLION dollars so far!  Wow!  Read about it here.

Also check out the great article about Shelby Humane and One Dog at a Time in the latest Over the Mountain Journal!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I just got this e-mail from Brittany (of Brittany and Andin) about one of the dogs that was on their trip back in September.  Brittany said that Max was very very timid and did not want to come out of his crate.  This just makes my heart swell!   Merry Christmas to all of you!



Hi everybody (written from the view of Max)--


I asked my companion, Peter A Thomas, to take my picture and and send it to you. He adopted me in September, I think. My name used to be Mario, but now its Max (which suits me much better). I am SO HAPPY to be with him. It has taken me awhile to learn to trust him and his friends since I had a rough puppyhood, but I am so aware of his love and caring that I am relaxing and want to please him.

We go for a walk every morning on the way to his dental office, usually in the marsh, then I spend the morning in my own room in his office on a Tempurpedic dog bed! At lunch, we usually go to the beach where I sometimes meet up with dog buddies of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes we chase each other around like mad—so much fun. Then, its back to the office for my afternoon nap.

He takes me everywhere he goes, but I know I won’t be going to Colorado for Christmas with him and his mother. One of his helpers will be taking care of me—she has a pug, but playing with a pug is beneath me.

Life is good!

Thanks for introducing me to Peter—he’s my kind of guy.

Merry Christmas, Max
 
 

Ornaments

How cute is this photo????

Hello everyone!  We just wanted to share a link with you to the new Shelby Humane blog where you can buy an ornament and sponsor a dogs trip up north!

http://shsornaments.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas!

Recap coming

Hello everyone!  Brittany and Kristen are still recovering from their wonderful trip and will hopefully have a recap of the whole adventure up soon.  Here is a link to the sweet post from Joan about their stay.

http://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com/2010/11/way-too-much-fun.html

Heavenly New Hampshire

Kristen and I want to apologize for being M.I.A. the past few days. It is hard to explain how exhausted you get after doing the drop offs. Even though we wanted to update the blog and call all of our friends and family, we decided to enjoy and soak in every moment of our short time in New Hampshire with our new friends Joan and Dan. We knew we would have plenty of time to share every single amazing detail of our adventure with everyone once we get home and settled. Just know that our trip was such a great experience in every way. Thanks for all of the thoughts, prayers, comments, and emails from all of you!! We also want to say a HUGE thank you to our friends and family who sent us goodies, CDs, etc. for our trip! They have all been enjoyed and appreciated more than you know.

Update: we are currently about an hour outside of NYC. Kristen took the first driving shift and I will be taking over shortly. She did the scary NYC drive on the way here, so it is my turn now... Wish us luck!

Almost There

Brittany and Kristen made their final drop off and are headed to Joan's house.  They are obviously sleepy but in good spirits - everything went well and now they get to have fun!  Thank you so much everyone for the support and prayers!

First drop off

I just spoke to the girls and they successfully dropped off at the first shelter and are headed to the second.  They are running a little behind schedule but all is well. 

Good morning Sunshine!!

Good morning from Connecticut! We just filled up and switched places again. I'm not gonna lie, that was a tough stretch...NYC is much better when being chauffeured around by a cabbie ;)but we made it and the pups are doing great!! I think they know something good is just around the corner. 2.5 hours to go to the first shelter!

Pennsylvania

We just stopped to get gas in Pennsylvania. Kristen just took the drivers seat for her second shift. I am going to try to get a little nap and will post more in a bit! Xoxo!

One Dog at a Time Headquarters

Well, after a short stop in Brittany's hometown of Kingsport, TN. we are finally settling in and making our way through Virginia. We had a short visit with Britt's sweet dad and walked a few of the older pups. It's like the One Dog at a Time headquarters in here...we have every type of communication device you can imagine. I am completely tangled up in cords. I wish we could post some pictures of our sweet pups but we are having some technical difficulties. I will say they are a good group and whoever adopts these babies are going to be beyond lucky or should I say blessed?! I've got my eye on a few, but someone told me "every pup you take up there stays up there" ;)

Ok, I'm going to leave you with two things I have learned in Virginia...
1) It's very cold in Virginia.
2) Off highway diesel fuel does not go in the Sprinter and will cost you a $2500 fine.

Peace,Love,PUPS-
B & K

P.S. Anna wins...GPS has a name. Carmen.

Pals!

Brooke here. My Dad just sent me this photo, he met Brittany and Kristen in our hometown of Kingsport, Tn and brought them some Pal's for dinner....very jealous!

The girls are in Virginia now and truckin' along!

Don't Be Jealous....

Ok, we feel kinda bad for rubbing it in but.... check out this link to see our amazing prize at the end of this journey!


We love you Joan and CANNOT WAIT to see you, Ella, and hopefully Dan soon!

Sweet Home Tennessee

We are just coming through Chattanooga, TN and are admiring the beautiful scenery of Tennessee in the Fall!  We are very lucky to have such wonderful weather for our drive!  We stopped to fill up with gas (Diesel!) in Georgia are back on the road with Kristen still driving! She was worried about driving this HUGE van, but she is already a pro!  The pups are doing amazing..... they are so very quiet right now! :)

We are trying to come up with a name for our gps... actually Suzanne's gps (she was VERY generous to loan us her trusty gps this weekend).... any suggestions for a name??

Surprise!

Brittany called me as she and Kristen were hitting the road and said they were meeting Kristen's husband on their way out of town to pick up something. I decided that I just had to meet them too! I'm so glad I got to see all the pups and give them one last hug. They will be the first trip to drive the BRAND NEW van! Whew, makes me feel good to know that the van is in tip top shape. Here are some photos from our quick visit.

 Brittany and Kristen pulling up

 Read to go!

Lucky Pups!

 I love their shirts!

 The dog named Brooke, oh my I almost kidnapped her!

 Sugar or Spice...so tiny!

 Kristen's husband Jonathan checking out the van and giving some last minute driving tips "Be careful changing lanes!"

Brittany and I

Oops.....JUST KIDDING!

Last Minute Additions

We had two pups pulled yesterday, this happens sometimes for various reasons.  But, this morning we have some last minute passengers!

 Capo

Prissy

Brittany and Kristen should be leaving for the shelter any moment now!  Keep checking in throughout the day to see their updates!

The passengers are chosen!

Here is the full list of the 33 lucky ducks (dogs) that are hitchin' a ride to NH with Brittany and Kristen!  ALL dogs that make this journey are lucky but these are extra lucky as they get to go with the two coolest girls from Birmingham to New Hampshire!  Note that there is one named Brookie and one named Brooke.  I hope that they can represent me well! This is when it starts to become 'real',  when you see these beautiful faces!

 Honeycomb

 Leon

 Little Hooch

 Lucky Charms

 Mister - Has been waiting for his forever home since July. Mister, it is going to be worth the wait!

 Molly - Not many came with 'comments' but this one came with a note that says 'sweet dog'.  Joan?

 Moxie

 Oso

 Pixie- Was dropped off in the parking lot and the owner was overheard saying 'someone will pick it up'.  You bet cha', someone is gonna pick 'it' up and drive it to New Hampsire!!!!

 Raisen

 Rascal

 Ringo

 Rocky

 Rooster

 

 Spice

 Starlet

 Sugar

 Tizzy

 Vegas

 Waggles

Winky

 Brooke

 Brookie

 Caboose

 

 Cargo

 Carly

 Chaos

 Cocoa Puff

 Elmo

 Ginger

Adelia

Treat Bags

Only four days until Brittany and Kristen leave!

We got together this weekend for pizza and wine and to put together some gift bags for the lucky pups on Brittany and Kristen's trip.  I can't take credit for any of this, it was totally their idea.  They put in some doggie treats and a note with our website and a gift certificate for one of our collars, what a great idea!  Hopefully this will put us in touch with some of the adoptive families so we can get updates on the dogs.

Keep on praying for safety please!

I leave you with a video treat....Aunt Brittany bought a laser pointer for my cat but it seems like someone else was A LOT more interested in it!  This is for you Joan!



ONE WEEK

It is only one week until Brittany and Kristen's departure!  I am so excited for them, and honestly pretty jealous that I am not going.  They have decided to take an extra few days off and will be hanging with Joan in New Hampshire.  I can't wait for their journey to begin, I know it is going to be great!

I am going to give them a blogging crash course before they leave so they can keep us all updated right here on the blog.  Please please please start praying for their safety. I now know what it feels like for our loved ones when we are on the trip.  I don't think I'll be sleeping much next Friday night as they drive through the night!


I googled New Hampshire in google images and this came up......so jealous.