Hello, world! What day is it? I can hardly remember after this doozy of a week!

Big news at our house!! First, let me give you a little background info on the "M" home front since the big day (i.e. the wedding back in November). B and I have always wanted to add a puppy to our little family, but knew this would have to wait until after the wedding craziness had passed and we had found a place to call our "temporary" (read: before "real" house) home. Well, November turned into Christmas turned into February and we found ourselves trying to come up with something extra special to do for Valentine's Day this year.

Enter my ability/obsession to stalk little adoptable pups on the internet.

I had been stalking/searching for the perfect little boxer mix adoptable pup on Petfinder.com for weeks, and would send B links of what could be this "perfect little addition" for our family. We would stare at the pictures and talk about how cute they were, and how much they looked like our favorite pup in the world, who just happens to be my brother-in-laws adorable pitbull mix.

But alas, we would then decide that we weren't quite ready yet, and would rather wait until it was a bit warmer than the balmy 10 degrees it seems to be overnight around here these days.

Talk of what to get each other for Valentine's Day came up the other night, and B found it a perfect time to remind me (read: show me) about the new set of golf clubs he'd been eyeing online.


Well, it turns out that the Michele watch and D-SLR camera I'd been pining over don't fit that bill, so it was back to the drawing board. And the I remembered! An adoptable puppy definitely fits in that price range! So, off to the web I went yet again, trying to find the perfect little "soon to be ours" pup. And, what did I find?! A whole litter of baby boxer mix pups and 7 lab mix pups all at the same place!! This was great news, and would definitely get the wheels turning in B's head.

So, being the good wife that I am, I sent him the link, followed by a text prompting him to check his email for pics of these cute little ones. After that moment, it was a 24-hour whirlwind. We went from gawking at puppy pics online to submitting and application pretty quickly. Once our application was approved, we set up a time to go pick out our little one. So, B and I make the 30 minute trip out to the foster home they were currently waiting in with the intention of picking out the boxer mix pup we'd seen on the website. We arrive at this woman's home, head downstairs to check out the pups, and the last boxer puppy had just been scooped up by its new owner.

My first reaction was sadness and feeling like I had had my heart set on a puppy that was no longer there, so we should head back home and try again next time! But, what fun would that have been, and what kind of person would I be if I went into this new situation with my brand new hubby with such a narrow minded focus?

So, B and I spent a few minutes checking out the rest of the lab mix pups that were left in the room; some wrestling, some snoozing and one little girl who was lazily napping off on her own that caught our eye. We were both drawn to her almost immediately. And, within a few minutes, I think we both knew she was the "one." And that quickly, this 7 pound black lab mix puppy has stolen our hearts. We are smitten, slightly sleep deprived and enjoying every minute of becoming our own little family!!

So, without further ado (read: rambling), I introduce you to Riley, the best Valentine's Day present ever!!