Congrats Dr. Beka!

This past weekend, Dave and I had the honor of going to Chicago to see my sister Beka graduate from Physical Therapy School. Northwestern University's PT program is in the top 10 of the nation so it is a very big honor. Upon conferral of the degree, she became Dr. Rebekah Orton! We are very proud of her. YEAH!!!

Rainy Day Snuggle Puggle #1 and #2

If this is not cute, I don't know what cute is. The girls and I are enjoying our day off from school. I do have papers to grade, but this cuteness is way too distracting. (FYI: It's not raining outside; the title of this blog is a play off of a Bob Dylan song)

Hocking Hills Anniversary Weekend

Hey everybody, Katie and I (and the puggles) had a fantastic time in Hocking Hills, which is a small, rural town about 50 miles east of Columbus, OH. We left Friday after work and it took less than 3 hours to get there. We stayed in a small cabin right next to the woods. We had a fireplace and a hot tub, and we needed both because it was COLD this weekend. They had a thin layer of snow on the ground when we got there. On Saturday morning we got a couple's massage in our cabin, and then we took the girls with us to Ash Cave and Cedar Falls to walk their trails. It was very beautiful up there. Saturday evening we had the Traveling Chef come and make us some steaks in our cabin and we enjoyed a bottle of wine that Rebekah gave us as a wedding gift. And then I turned 29 on Sunday. Yuck. I'm getting old. Katie got me tickets to see the Bungles play the Colts on Dec. 7, and the puggles bought me a Radiohead concert t-shirt (we had seen them in August -- great concert). Overall it was a fantastic weekend and I don't want to go to work tomorrow.

Good Times at the Fieldhouse

Last Saturday the 15th Katie and I went up to Dayton to see one of my college friends Colleen get married at UD's chapel. We took my college friend Jeremy with us on the trip up there. In between the wedding and the reception, we hung out at the good 'ole Fieldhouse and had a few drinks. It was weird being dressed up in suits and hanging out at the "high-class" bar. It was also weird being back on campus and seeing all the changes taking place. It was great to be back at UD and we had a great time at the wedding.

Resolution to Deer Drama

Well after two weeks and multiple conversations with the insurance company, they have decided to rule the Solara to be a "total loss" and offered to pay us for the vehicle. :( I am sad because I really liked driving the car and only had it for a little over a month!

Since our rental car had to be turned in by Friday, Dave and I started looking for a new car over the weekend. We did some research and determined that one of our top options was the Mazda Tribute because it is listed as one of the top fuel efficient SUV's. Last night we test drove a 2008 nearly new one in Florence, KY and really liked it. It is Mazda certified up to 100,000 miles and since it only has 6,000 -- we should be able to keep this for many years. The dealership's car sales were pretty low so they were willing to bargain and I think we got a pretty good deal on it (insurance covered most of it). Here are some pics of our new ride. (It has room to grow!!)

Yeah I don't have to take the bus to work!!!

Deer Meat Anyone?

I learned many interesting facts about Cincinnati, Ohio today in a rather unfortunate way. First, I learned that if you have an accident with a deer, it's yours and you can keep it for meat. Second, you cannot shoot deer in the city limits (you can only bow hunt them or kill them with cars) and therefore Hamilton County, Ohio has a massive over population problem this fall...

I experienced this first hand today when I was hit by a kamakazi deer in our neighborhood, right down the street from Dave's school. Babmi crossed three lanes of traffic before chosing the Solara and hit me right at the driver's side front wheel and then proceeded to role up the hood/windshield and over the top of my NEW car.

I wasn't hurt thankfully but it was pretty scary and now it's going to be a headache dealing with the police and insurance. Apparently I was about 50 feet from the Green Township line and technically on the City of Cincinnati territory and therefore the City of Cincinnati police have to file the report. They were too busy to come out and so I was instructed to just call them later and file a report by phone (thanks guys).

So if anyone reads this and wants some free deer meat, stop by North Bend Road, just down from LaSalle. Look for this:

Ron and Katie M.'s birthdays

Hey everybody, we had a lot of fun at my nephew Ron's 2nd birthday party! We were also celebrating my sister's 32 birthday, but she knew she was second fiddle to her cute son. Ron got a ton of Thomas the Train stuff (including a noisy flash light that makes train sounds... Katie's husband Sean loved that!). My Aunt Jo brought a cupcake cake that was shaped in a train. Very cute! Ron has become quite the little talker and loves to repeat what we say ("No, Bedda!" for "No, Bella!"). We brought Bella and Lola over dressed in their Halloween costumes (Bella as a spider and Lola as a bat). We hope everyone is doing well. I can't believe it's almost November.

For Jenna

We have a very special friend named Jenna who lives down the street from my parents. She L-O-V-E-S Bella and Lola and dogsat for us while we went out for breakfast one day. Jenna wanted to see some more pictures of the girls...these are for her! Bella and Lola were so tired after their last trip to Peoria, thanks to Jenna's walks, that they snuggled together. The other pics are of us at the Bark in the Park Cincinnati Reds Game which was a fund raiser for the SPCA.

Bella, the naughty child

Bella is the first puggle that we adopted in April 2007. She is a little mischievous... ok a lot mischievous! Countless shoes, socks, kleenexes, pairs of eye glasses, and watches have been lost to this mighty beast. If we can find something at home, we check to see if she scurried under the bed with it to chew it in secret. She likes treats, shredding things, treats, chasing squirrels, treats, short walks (not long walks) and did I mention, treats?

Look at me, I am blogging!!!

Hello all,

Yes it is true, I am finally starting my own blog so that friends and family outside of Cincinnati can have a little glimpse at what's new with us. So much has changed in the past year! We were married almost one year ago, we adopted a new "fur baby" (Lola), and have slowly but surely remodeled our house. Hopefully the next year will have just as many exciting changes and I hope that this blog will help me to keep in touch with everyone a little bit better. Maybe, if Dave is lucky, I'll let him post a few things too.

Love,
Katie