I decided to go to OHS’s website to start. I was amazed that I could filter by personality traits. Laid back, affectionate, playful, good with children, and good with cats… our little Cougie had lots to fill! My results were just shy of one page, and Cougar stood out. I spent a couple of days thinking about going to meet him. Then the night before we were going, he got transferred to an outreach location, Cedar Mill Veterinary Hospital.

We went early on a Saturday morning, and they brought him into a private room to spend time with us. He was instantly kissing us and seemed to even like Mackenzie. I say even because many cats we met were scared of her since she can be loud and make sudden moves, like most toddlers. I wanted to take him home but hubby being the practical one said we should think about it. So we left and continued our day of meeting cats at Sherwood’s Cat Adoption Team shelter. I’m not sure why we went because all Dan and the little one could say all afternoon was “Cougar”.

When we got home the vet’s office was at was closed for the weekend so we had to wait for Cougar. First thing Monday morning I called and was very happy to hear he was still there. Mackenzie and I went to pick him up that afternoon. He didn’t care for the car ride much but seemed to make himself at home pretty quickly. What used to be referred to as my office is now called Cougar’s room.

He posed wonderfully for my camera on Easter, when he wasn’t trying to rummage through Mackenzie’s basket.

This got me doing a bit of research, and brought me to the I Do Foundation.  There are so many options for doing a little bit of good for a charity as part of your wedding plans!  They have a registry where your guests can donate to a charity of your choice.  This can be used as your only registry or combined with a traditional one.

If you are just starting out, and really do have your hopes set on a new coffee pot and other essential goodies, you can do both.  There is a whole list of stores that will donate a portion of your registry sales to your choice of charity.   Traveler’s Joy a honeymoon registry site also participates in this program.  A third option is to give your wedding guests a charity donation as a favor.  You can even nominate your personal favorite non-profit group to receive the donation.

Wedding gifts are fun, can be sentimental and are definitely deserved as part of your celebration!  I think giving a donation is a great option though because some people don’t need another blender, or would just like to share their guests’ generosity with others.