So, other than pups, what are y'all into??

[Kelley]

Well - where to start. My days are usually consumed with working then coming home & playing with my two babies. Dolly, is our 8 or 9 yr old rescue Brittany, & Annie is our 2 yr old Beagle/Italian Greyhound mix.

I work as a Database Architect for a company that designs data warehousing & analysis software for school districts. We also build the warehouses for the school districts. I'm very fortunate to work with my husband & was recently promoted over him. He's actually moving into the R & D part of the company so that probably won't last for long!

We've been married for almost 2 years & are both just out of college. We bought our first house last year & have been enjoying gardening & redecorating. I've also taken up sewing again since I have a hard time finding exactly what I want. I enjoy crocheting & cross-stitch and the occasional computer game - usually puzzles & logic. I love to read most anything. My latest books have been about Victorian England & Amish Country in the 1940's. At work I have taken up Origami & Kirigami as a way to stave off boredom while I am waiting for things to process or run. I have a hard time sitting still so I usually multi-task e.g. crocheting while watching TV.

We're hoping to do some major landscaping around our house this summer. We'd like to put in a 6ft fence for the puppies so they can run around more. Dolly's favorite pastime is sitting at our patio door & staring out into the trees. I'm sure she'd love it if she could be out there with all those birds. (We actually live in some type of a bird sanctuary - or so I was told when I moved into the subdivision.) Annie loves to reach into her greyhound roots & tear around the yard at top speed.

Well I guess that's it. The following link is an album with a few pictures of my puppies in it. Dolly has developed an extreme hatred for having her picture taken so it's very difficult to get a good picture of her. Sorry about that.

Puppies!

[Kathy Knappenberger]

Our interests are mostly outdoor stuff where we can take the dogs (one brittany - Roman, one GSP - Chena) along. We recently bought a Chalet folding camper (check out www.chaletrv.com ) and have been camping 5 weekends this spring so far. We have a 15-month old daughter who just loves being outside and sleeps much better when camping, so it works well for all of us. We love going to different state parks in the PA/MD/DE area and will be going up to a park near Binghamton, NY for July 4th weekend. While we're there we mostly enjoy hiking and playing board games, though my husband is trying to convince me to get a canoe.

When we're home we enjoy gardening/landscaping, digital photography, scrapbooking. I am a biologist working for a pharmaceutical company, testing potential drugs on cells, hoping we can find treatments for Schizophrenia, depression and other similar disorders.

I know this is dog-related, but Roman is also a registered Therapy Dog (I know that is dog related) and was visiting families at Ronald McDonald House until a few months before my daughter was born. I'd love to get back into therapy work, perhaps with Chena as she continues her training, though she doesn't love children the way Roman does. She might be happier visiting in a nursing home.

You can check our family out at www.knappenbergers.net , though I have not had time to post photos very recently.

Kathy, Greg, and Anya
Roman and Chena

[Paula McNally]

First of all, I am a stay at home mom with 4 yr. old twins, 2 Britts, 2 cats. That does not leave a heck of a lot of time to do much else not involving the dogs, and twins.
What I like to do in my "spare" time is gardening, and collecting out of print childrens books. Right now, I am collecting the Nancy Drew series, all hard copies. I usually find them in thrift shops. Does anybody have Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys books they want to get rid of?! LOL
I have completed a mystery series of books for my daughter Sara, that I read as a youngster.
Since we live in Maine, very close to the ocean, I try to walk the beach with a dog, or one of the children.
I am sure that when the children go to school full-time, I will have more mommy time!

[Dave]

I'm into Archery and Bowhunting big game . I shoot 3d archery tournaments all summer and Bowhunt all fall . I've got several Pope and Young class Whitetail bucks, and got my first Elk last year . When I'm not shooting my Bow and Hunting I have Brittanys . I foster , transport and am now the Mt. Coordinator for ABR

[Alyce]

I had a successful reptile business for several years. I am locally know as the snake lady, or turtle lady. The name for what I did is herpetoculturist. An expert in in the care and breeding of reptiles. I had, turtles, lizards, snakes, scorpions, millipedes, tarantulas and various amphibians. I specialized in chelonia - turtles and tortoises. I am writing a book, based on my experience. The first one concerning turtles and tortoises, is basically finished. But I am hesitant on publishing or attempting to. Afraid of rejection, I suppose. Other than the three dogs, I also have a Norther Pacific Rattlesnake (yes a pet, but not "hot"), and two semi-aquatic turtles. I had a tokay gecko, but he died a couple years ago, old age.

[Paula McNally]

Alyce-
What is a gecko exactly? I just know the gecko on the commercials for insurance.
Also, I do know a lot of reptiles and spiders, playing BUG BINGO with my twins! LOL

[Paula McNally]

I now have a new hobby that I will try to partake in my spare time. I just purchased a beautiful miniature dollhouse, and I am going to wallpaper, floor, paint, and decorate it.
I told my husband "just think of all the money you will save when I decorate our new house".

[Brenda Dom]

Just bumping the thread and hoping some of the new kids will tell us what they're into!

And maybe some of the older kids will chime in with what they've been up to lately!

Brenda

[Lisa]

Well, I never hit this thread the first time, so I'll reply!

Honestly, I wasn't aware there was life outside of dogs!! Seems like everything I do revolves around my own monsters or foster-monsters.

Since I've been hanging out in a hotel with no dogs for a few months, I've re-discovered the joys of reading! I've also become hooked on the game Zoo Tycoon! Do you have any idea how much fun it is after a long day to get lots of guests in your zoo, release the animals, and watch the chaos?!!

When it's nice out, I love to rollerblade. When I have the time, I enjoy target shooting with pistols, but it's been a long time since I've done that (like more than a year). Also enjoy crocheting and sewing, but never seem to have the time anymore (and now everything is packed!).

[Karen_P]

I think I'm an interior designer stuck in a programmers body! It truly is my passion (other than my son and the dogs, of course). I'm one of HGTV's biggest fans. I've spent the last 4 years upgrading, redecorating and landscaping my little lake cottage, and of course, now that it's perfect, I'm selling it so I can start all over again. The new house is much larger than the present one, so it should keep me busy for a couple of years.

In addition, I'm purchasing a little Brittany girl for conformation and hunt tests (she's due the last week of June). I plan on handling her myself, so that will be my new hobby.

How things change! I didn't sell my house, and I didn't get my Brittany girl in June, 2004. I got a Brittany boy in September, 2004! And then I got my Brittany girl in June, 2005! Then Trav, the horse, in October!

All of my hobbies rotate around the dogs, although I think I might be becoming a horse person.

[Barb Wright]

Wow, been awhile since this thread first got going And, reading back I see that not a whole lot has changed for us except for a couple things

We did sell our motorhome, so no running off to the sunny south when the north winds howl But what the h*ll, we love Alaska and the clean air, so what if it's a little extra chilly sometimes, we still love it Think maybe Cassie gets a little bored with so much "routine", but we had some new dogs move in across the lake and she is in love with one of them, so I do see a little more sparkle in her eye when we go walking

We did buy some property on the Kenai Penninsula about 400 miles south of where we live right now. We built a hangar last summer and hopefully this year we will get started on a new home down there. Sorta hate leaving the mountains, but having winter be less severe and shorter will be easy to adjust to And the fishing is far better down that-a-way

Other than those few changes life continues to be good for us.....lucky to have our health, which I am positive our "Brittany Personal Trainer" has had a lot to do with and lucky to have prospects for our future that we our looking forward to Life is good I think that covers it

[Kathy]

Hmmm ... summertime we go camping just about every weekend. We have a pop-up tent camper and head out to local sites (0.5-2 hr drive), except for our vacation in the Adirondacks (NY) in August. Fall ... football games (Buffalo Bill's season ticket holders), but I think we probably won't renew, since we're itching to do something different. Winter ... usually dog transports, dvds & vcr tapes on weekend nights (if we manage to stay awake ). Spring ... not much different from winter.

I've rediscovered the joy of reading books ... I like to try different things, like kayaking, hiking in new areas, a yearly trip to Florida to visit my best girlfriend (who retired down south), going to the health club for different fun exercise classes ... My husband and I like to go to and support different charity events (volunteer firemen, scouts, church groups, youth groups, SPCA, etc ... ). During the school year, I'm pretty much preoccupied with work (I teach college students). So, I live pretty much a contented (fairly predictable) yet privileged life. (Certainly beyond my wildest teenager dreams! )

My husband likes hunting (turkey, deer), dog transports, puttering at his work bench, fixing whatever breaks ...

By circumstance, we've been fostering 2 Brits, so I'm learning a heck of a lot & that's been keeping me really busy!

-Kathy

[harleygrl1219]

This is a great thread! It is nice to get to know everyone a little.

I work in New York City for a Law Firm and by the time I get home, I don't have time do do much!

Other than Synder who occupies most of my time, I like to read a lot. In the Summer months I enjoy riding my Harley. I LOVE the beach. I have a vacation home in North Carolina so I try to visit there often. I was diagnosed with Melanoma in July and had surgery and some skin grafting done so I do not stay out in the sun that much anymore.

I have two wonderful nieces that I try to spend as much time with as I can.

[DualCH Brits]

I see that I am a Johnny Come Lately on this thread too.

Ok..where to start.....other then dogs....hmmmm....not much! Dogs are a professional lifestyle for hubbie Brian and I. The hubbie is new as you all know ( 5/28/05 wedding day) but he is a professional gun dog trainer now, helps me run the boarding kennel/dog daycare, helps with ABR transport requests ( it is usually HIM who does the driving these days).

I *USED* to be the NV Coor for ABR but for a while there life was a whirwind of transitional changes so now I just help on the side when and where I can. I'm not even an "official" ABR volunteer anymore but I think once you become a member of this family, it matters not if you hold an offical capacity or not, AND you never really stop helping when you are needed

I do tell Brian tho that there is "life beyond the dogs", sometimes.

We enjoy travelling, evenings with friends-sharing good wine, good food and good times. Brian is an AVID upland hunter, as well as game hunter. He prefers to Bow Hunt but can be easily talked into "elk camping" too ( Dave will understand that term). When I get quiet time to myself ( which is very rarely) I love to read, cook and go to the movies. I enjoy wine tasting, weekends exploring new "city"places ( Seattle was the "haunt" of summer 2005, we took 3 trips up that way) and learning about the culture and history of our great nation. I have travelled almost all over the world as a younger version of myself and am having GREAT fun seeing the USA a little at a time.

Being the wife of a Pro Gun Dog trainer, I'm getting to see alot of places I never even dreamed I'd consider a travel destination. I have seen more great blue open sky and bright sparkling stars in the last 2 years then I have ever seen in my life as we have chased the field competitions across the country. Granbury, Texas....just west of Fort Worth, is just an small town example of heaven on earth. Dime Box, Texas holds a special place in history for it's postal service and was an original Pony Express Stop I believe. Ardmore Oklahoma, Branched Oak Nebraska, Sho Low, Arizona...has the most magnificent mountain thunderstorms, Jerome Arizona and it's Grand red rock canyon country....the great Pacific Northwest ...All beautiful and all inspiring.

My most recent trip however was closer to home. Gerlach, NV....home of some of the most beautiful and surreal hotsprings in the world. I'm into the art of falconry and was treated to a tour of the local places of interest that included a trip to some natural hotsprings that are so unusual in their coloration that several Universities have come to study the land. The day began with a dawn hunt with the falcons for duck. The temps were hovering around 6 degrees and there was a layer of about 4 inches of snow on the ground. It was crisp and cold and and beautiful. I invite you visit my friend Rebecca's falconry blog to see pictures of the hotsprings and read more about the adventure.
http://www.rebeccakoconnor.com/operationdesertdove/

Anyway....I'm getting too long winded here. SO read and enjoy!!

[DualCH Brits]

Oopps...here is the direct link to the blog entry with the pictures....

http://www.rebeccakoconnor.com/operatio ... _arch.html