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Dianne Armstrong Hi Ya'll! "Well I came from Alabama"...as the song goes. I'm Dianne Armstrong (known in my circles as "Dianne with two n's please") living in Helena, Montana. Born and reared in Birmingham, AL., I came here to visit relatives when I was twelve, stepped off the bus, took a look around and said "this is for me!" The day after high school graduation, I moved to the "Big Sky Country" - and never looked back. I graduated from Carroll College in '72 with a BA in nursing and assumed a staff nurse position in the OB ward at our local hospital where I had already been employed as a nurse's aide for five years. Thirty years later, I'm still there! I have also dabbled in home health intermittently, but hospital nursing is my first love. After I bought a house in '86, I decided to get a dog. I didn't know anything about them since I'd grown up (ha!) with cats. I started looking at pictures in dog books and, when I got to the Mini Schnauzer page, I just had to have me one of those beards. Enter "Sadie", http://www.geocities.com/montanapets/sadie.html a petite little black and silver, who became my "once in a lifetime" dog. The rest is history. A year later I got "Rosie" http://www.geocities.com/montanapets/rosie.html a beautiful black to keep her company. I was so busy with my career and dogs, I forgot to get married. I didn't meet Ron until we were both pushing forty. (He forgot to get married too.) When this nice "Okie" showed up on our first date with a doggie biscuit in each pocket for Sadie and Rosie, I knew he was it. We married the following year. What an adjustment for two people who had lived alone for over twenty years! I'd wake up at night and see him crossing the room and shriek thinking he was a burglar. <LOL> We've been married nine years now. Ron and I began volunteering at our local shelter in '92 and eventually designed a very successful shelter web page which significantly increased adoptions. As word got out, we began to receive so many requests from other Montana shelters for help that we expanded our efforts to the statewide level. In '98 we launched "Montana Pets on the Net" http://montanapets.org an award winning site that includes twenty-five Montana shelters and humane societies. MPON showcases close to a thousand Montana shelter pets needing homes on any given day and is updated daily. This is a tremendous time commitment equivalent to a full time job but I couldn't be happier! I completed a second goal last year with the publication of "Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig", a book which features "sixteen true stories of lost pets that overcame incredible odds before finding their way back to the loving arms of their faithful owners" with profits going to rescue efforts. I've been on the list since '97. Today Ron and I are owned by an 8 yr. old salt/pepper "Wyo's Jazz Singer", CGC, CD (a.k.a. "Allie"), a 1 year old. black/silver "Dynasty's No Matter What", CD (a.k.a. "Mattie") and "Kelsey" the Sheltie, CGC, CD. See http://www.geocities.com/montanapets/ We leave the breeding to the experts, but caught the obedience and agility bug at the Portland shows last year :). Ron and I are also the state rescue contacts for both Mini Schnauzers and Shelties so we have frequent "guests".
I met some of my closest friends today as a result of the Hoflin List. I am a new member of the AMSC, and we are also active with the Helena Montana Kennel Club. Looking forward to meeting more of our wonderful list family in the future. Dianne Armstrong
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