A few months ago I blogged about dogs, thailand and voluntourism! I got the info from an online friend Melissa (mum to Hampton and ZuZu's beagle friend Sadie). Since then I received an email from Zoe,  founder of www.theinsideandout.com. I went on their website and it looks like another great opportunity! A couple of trips coming up include, one in March in the oceanside town of Manzanillo Mexico which includes volunteering in a mass community spay/neuter clinic and then surf, snorkel, trek and kayak, and one in May in Greece (I want to do this one!), which includes helping to fix up a shelter and also doing educational work, followed by rafting, trekking, sea kayaking and a mineral springs excursion. Zoe blogged about her experience in Greece last year here.

I am so very inspired by all the work that is being done to raise awareness and help animals around the world!

*sigh*

I have decided within the next 5 years we are definitely going to do one of these volunteer vacations and soon you'll be reading about all about our adventures! :)

xo
Grace

It's Market Monday! I love shopping and browsing for things online and so I thought I'd start a weekly "Market Monday" blog post and share with you random cute, fun and interesting things we find. And occasionally we'll include product reviews too.

Last week I blogged about PAWZ booties we received as xmas gifts (see previous post here). Since then we had the chance to have the bb's try them out. Here is what we think:

Getting them on:
We were able to get these puppies on our puppies pretty easily. They feel (and look) like balloons, were quite stretchy and flexible. We were happy there weren't any straps or laces which would have taken a bit longer to put them on. We did distract them with some treats which definitely helped!


How they look:
They are pretty simple looking and more function than fashion. But still pretty cute I think!



How they feel:
The bb's got used to wearing them quite quickly.  PAWZ website describes their booties as "the most natural-feeling boot your dog can wear because without padding your dog feels the ground, providing a needed sense of security". Based on how fast the bb's got used to them we would agree with that statement. Here is a short video of ZuZu and Hampton wearing the booties for the first time:



Booties in action:
It was slushy and rainy out on our walk. We assume there was quite a bit of salt on the roads as it snowed earlier in the day and we live in a pretty hilly area. We actually walk them on the road as there are no sidewalks in our neighborhood. 
The bb's seemed to easily adapt to wearing the booties - no awkward steps. The only downfall we found was when we got home we realized one of ZuZu's sharp toenails punctured through the bootie. This is partly our fault as her nails weren't cut as they should be. The upside is that Dave has rubber paint we can use to try and mend the bootie. If that doesn't work, its no big deal as its a package of 12 booties so there are extra to spare!
We will give another update after the bb's get the chance to wear these a few more times. But for the first time out and for our first impressions, Hampton and ZuZu give these booties 3 out of 4 paws!



♥ we're jones'in for puppy love!
did you know puppy jones has our own 'clothesline' shop? click here to view!if you have a product you want to tell me about, send me an email: grace (at) puppyjones (dot) com

It's Market Monday! I love shopping and browsing for things online and so I thought I'd start a weekly "Market Monday" blog post and share with you random cute, fun and interesting things we find. And occasionally we'll include product reviews too.

For me:
ADORABLE!! Check out these super cute schnauzer / terrier heels from www.modcloth.com

I WANT!!


And for the bb's:
We got these disposable, reusable and waterproof booties from PAWZ as a x-mas gift from Auntie for Hampton and ZuZu. I'm really looking forward to trying these out! Pic and description from their website:


"Pawz is the world's only disposable and reusable, waterproof rubber dog boot. Made completely of natural rubber, Pawz are 100% biodegradable. Pawz are designed to go on easily and fit securely without zippers or straps. Fashionable yet durable, Pawz offers serious paw protection and is the most natural-feeling boot your dog can wear because without padding your dog feels the ground, providing a needed sense of security. Like a sock, the rubber moves with your dog, allowing full paw motion and maximum comfort. And imagine never losing another expensive dog boot again! Comes 12 in a package and each boot may be worn many times."...they are $19.99 cdn for a package!

We will try these out this week and I'll write up a review for our next market monday!

♥ we're jones'in for puppy love!
did you know puppy jones has our own 'clothesline' shop? click here to view!
if you have a product you want to tell me about, send me an email: grace (at) puppyjones (dot) com

On Monday we celebrated Dave's birthday by going ziplining up at Whistler.

Wheeee! Its my birthday!

Wheee! This is awesome!

View from one of the tree tops where we zipped off of. Beautiful!

Ziplining was so much fun! Its a little scary at first but once you get the 'hang' of it, its a piece of cake.  Speaking of cake, when we got home, we had some yummy tiramisu and Dave made his bday wishes.

Hampton and ZuZu thought it was their birthday

We had a great day and it was a great start to the new year.  xo

Grace

I love shopping and browsing for things online and so I thought I'd start a weekly "Market Monday" blog post and share with you random cute, fun and interesting things we find. And occasionally we'll include product reviews too.
I was recently browsing for some beagley things on etsy.com and found the following cute things:

Beagle leg warmers!! Can't get any cuter than that! By the way this is Hampton's fb and twitter friend Ellie. Isn't she cute? Visit the etsy shop by clicking here.


Lou the Beagle iphone case and key chain:



Van Gogh's a starry night painting made even better with a beagle in it!! Painting by Todd Young:

Wow I can't believe its already the end of December! It seems December has come and gone with the blink of an eye! And what an eventful month it was!

At the beginning of the month I went on a girls trip to Vegas with my sister and Mum. I can't remember the last time the three of us went on a trip together...just before Sis got married I think. Vegas was good. It was my second time there and the first for Sis and Mum. They both said they were glad they went and saw and had fun but don't think they would ever want to go back. I have to agree. It was good to spend time with them though and hope we can go on another girls trip soon. You can see a few pics of our trip from 'Henrii's' point of view here.

I got home from Vegas just in time for Hammie's birthday, see previous blog post. Then a few days later Dave and I took off to Hawaii. It was our first time there and we loved it!! Hawaii was never high on our list of places to travel but the deals were too good to pass up and we were feeling a bit depressed with all the dreary weather. We had a great time and would definitely go back. Here are two of my favorite pics from our trip:

Me reflecting on all the good things in life and feeling really lucky. (photo taken by Dave)

Pic of the sun setting. I like this picture b/c I feel like the sun rays are reaching out to me and they look like flower petals (photo taken with my iphone)

You can see more pics of Hawaii from 'Henrii's' point of view here.
 
My top 2 favorite memories of the trip include:
- getting a surprise helicopter ride from Dave. I felt like the bachelorette (yes I watch that cheesy show). It was the first time for both of us riding in a helicopter and definitely got to see parts of the island from 2 of the best seats! 
- floating around in the ocean with Dave, waiting and watching for the sun to set. We managed to catch a few waves on our inter tubes (we called them 'bubbles'). True paradise! I'll never forget that day *big sigh*!

We got home from Hawaii just in time to get ready for Christmas. Christmas yesterday was great. We went over to my sister's house for a family dinner with my sister's family, my parents and Dave's parents. The pups had fun running around, sniffing out cousin Max the Cat and sharing bison bones with cousin Moby the Lab. They both got the cutest little scarves and neat biodegradable booties from Auntie and Uncle. I think Auntie felt they might need them after she saw ZuZu's facebook pictures of the booties we tried to make out of duct tape (hey they look cute though don't they?)! :P


The pups were sooo tired from all the activities (so was I). As soon as we got home Hampton ran for his favorite spot on the couch and started rolling around on his back as if to say "aaahhhh feels good to be home...good night!!"

All in all, December was good to me / us this year. I'm a little sad to see it all end (vacations, time off work, presents, shopping, etc!!) but at the same time ready for 2011!

xo
Grace