About Meredith
Meredith was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois (outside of Chicago), spent her childhood in Munster, Indiana and grew up in Sarasota, Florida. She has one older brother (John), three little nephews (Ty, Pierson and Catcher), and a sister-in-law (Casey) whom she is very close with! She graduated in 2006 from New College of Florida in Sarasota, Florida where she received her Bachelor's in Entomology & Environmental Studies. She is currently working on her Master's in Preventive Medicine/Biometrics and Public Health at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. She hopes to one day work for the NIH doing research on vector-borne/emerging infectious diseases and tropical public health.In her off time, she enjoys playing piano, hiking, going to pet stores (she's a sucker for ALL animals!), reading, scrapbooking, going to the gym, traveling, webdesign, bowling, studying and photography.
About Jonathan
Jonathan was born and grew up in DeLand, Florida (100% pure Floridian!). He has four older brothers (Richard, Richard, David, and David- no, we're not kidding!), one older sister (Kathy), and is an uncle to Russell and Rebekah (who are siblings!). He worked with his father for many years, helping run their family business (DeLand Coins And Collectibles) in Downtown DeLand, Florida. He has taken his interest in jewelry with him up to Maryland where he now works at Colonial Jewelers in historic, Downtown Frederick.In his off time, he enjoys surfing the internet, fixing and building computers, Herpetology, going to Best Buy (or any other electonics/computer store!), bowling, drawing, traveling, and spending time with friends, family and Chloe the chihuahua.
About Chloe
Chloe is a seven-year-old chihuahua who enjoys sleeping most of the day away. She likes to play with squeeky toys, but tries to hide this fact (since these things seem to be "beneath" her). Needless to say, she is a princess and isn't afraid to tell you so. She loves her "brother" Atreyu (see below), but is not a huge fan of Lorelei (see below). She always wonders why the leaves in Lorelei's cage move when Lorelei has blended into her surroundings. She must think the leaves are possessed.In her, uh, "off time," she loves to sunbathe...Seriously, we're not joking. She also likes to play with her favorite cheetah toy and receive dog cookies for being well behaved. Her favorite trick is "speak," which usually comes off as more of a cough than a bark. She will be your best friend if she hears the crunch of an apple anywhere in "her" house.
About Oliver
Oliver is a Goldendoodle (half Golden retriever and half Standard poodle) and was born September 13, 2008. Jonathan surprised Meredith with him on November 9, 2008 when he was only 8 weeks old. Needless to say, Meredith was ecstatic. Jonathan and Meredith fell in love with the very first Goldendoodle they met while they were still living in Florida and vowed to add one to their family when they had the time for big dog. Oliver is still a baby, but he should weigh somewhere around 50-75lbs as an adult!
In his off time all he has is OFF time! He's a baby!, he enjoys teething on bones, licking up Kong filled treats, retrieving tennis balls, and munching on squeeky plush toys (his favorite is a blue whale toy)! Oliver will start puppy classes when he is 10 weeks old and Meredith hopes to train him as a certified therapy dog through Delta Society.
About Atreyu
Atreyu is a five-year-old peach-faced lovebird. His name is pronounced "Uh-Tray-You," and he was named after the 1984 classic, movie The Neverending Story character. We often call him "Trey" or "Trey-Trey" for short. Atreyu has the amazing ability (for a lovebird) to mimic certain sounds.In his off time, he likes to play with any type of bell or bird toy that makes noise. Trust us, he can do this for hours. He also loves taking baths and will fly/walk/jump toward any sound that remotely resembles running water. He loves cuddling and receiving kisses on the head. Since he knows Chloe can't get enough of him, his favorite pastime is teasing Chloe while he's still in his cage-- chirping at her, and getting close only to fly away once she's near. He's a very controlling bird it seems.
About Lorelei
Lorelei (Lore-Uh-Lie) is a two-year-old Panther Chameleon. She is extremely intelligent and is trained to receive water by hand from a plastic syringe. As soon as she sees her syringe, she comes running to the door of her cage to get a drink! She eats common chameleon-delicacies such as: large crickets, meal worms, and wax worms. YUM! When she was one-year-old we found out that SHE was actually a HE, but, for our own selfish reasons we've maintained the feminine version of his persona. Shhh...Don't tell him!
In his her off time, she likes to soak up some rays on a warm day. She also prefers to be as high up as possible since in the wild, chameleons like to climb big, tall trees! She has an extremely powerful tail and strong little feet which she uses to hold on to whatever she is perching on.
