Our Great City

In 1995, Julie Petroski and Bruce Morrice met in San Francisco after talking on the phone for 6 months — they were both friends of an art director from Los Angeles. Julie was a copywriter in Northern California; Bruce was a pharmaceutical rep in Toronto. Neither of them intended to be in a long distance relationship that spanned North America, but after many months, too many plane tickets, some astronomical phone bills, they decided to get married. And because Bruce’s career was more established, they decided that Toronto would be their home so Julie moved to Canada. After being married 6 months, they got an English bulldog puppy and named her Daisy.

Fast forward to 2007. Julie was now a group creative director at Canada’s largest advertising agency when her former boss Kimberley Walsh called from Texas with a question: Would she be interested in considering a move back to the U.S.? Julie had never been to Texas, but Bruce had been to Dallas a couple of times for work. They booked a flight, landed at DFW airport and spent a fantastic weekend in Southlake with Kimberley and her family. They loved Southlake Town Square and were frankly amazed by the real estate.

Before she knew it, Julie accepted a position at an Irving-based agency and began the process to get Bruce a Green Card. She moved down at the end of February 2007, living in her boss’ guest house as she tried to get everything organized for the cross-border move. She looked for houses all over the metroplex, but each time kept coming back to Southlake. She liked the close proximity to people she knew, to her office, and to DFW airport. She liked having everything she needed nearby — groceries, great shopping, restaurants and doctors and dentists. So she looked for a house in Southlake — and finally got Daisy a big yard. Julie moved into their house in May 2007.

You may wonder what was happening with Bruce and Daisy. Well, the Green Card process took much longer than expected so Bruce was a frequent weekend visitor to Southlake while he maintained residency in Canada. Poor Bruce had to move in with his parents after their Toronto house was sold. Daisy loved it, but it added over an hour to each way of Bruce’s commute. It was a hard time for the entire family. By December 2007, Bruce and Julie decided that 10 year old Daisy needed to move to Texas so they drove her down. She wasn’t too sure she wanted to leave the cushy life she was having with her “grandparents” but she enjoyed staying in hotels during the drive down and was shocked to see her big yard and all the room she had to play ball. She had a lovely first Christmas in her new house.

In February 2008, Bruce finally got his Green Card and he was able to move to Texas and begin looking for work. As he was building his business network, he became Julie’s “manny” taking care of the house, the yard, all of the chores and doing renovations. He installed hardwood and tile, painted, planted and built cabinets to keep himself busy. He made friends with all of the neighbors. And he began to get involved with life in Southlake, suggesting that he and Julie “keep Southlake Beautiful” by adopting a street -- part of Continental between Byron Nelson and Carroll (look for their sign). He decided to leave the pharmaceutical business and began working as a project manager for a supply chain service company. Life was good and Bruce and Julie got to know the area better. Julie started getting involved with the Dallas area alumnae chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi as well as the Dallas Ad League. Bruce and Daisy got to know the folks at the Three Dog Bakery very well. Daisy even learned to love getting into the pool during the hot summer.

2009 was a year of big changes for Bruce and Julie. In August, they said goodbye to their beloved Daisy. But the house was too quiet to be dog free for long. After Julie and Bruce took a much needed vacation, they decided to rescue a dog. And because they were looking for a dog who could keep up with a more active lifestyle and be a good reason to get a lot of exercise, they decided on a chocolate lab. They got Godiva in mid-September and she kept them busy with potty training, learning how to walk on a leash, and classes at Petsmart. A DNA test showed that Godiva wasn’t all lab — despite her curly coat, she wasn’t a Chessie, she was a very active lab-bull terrier-chow-English setter!

On January 29, 2010, Julie, Bruce and Godiva had another big change. Through the Three Dog Bakery, Bruce heard that there was a black lab that needed a home — he had been found in a parking lot. He was 15 pounds underweight with a severe urinary tract infection. He was completely trained and knew how to sit, stay, shake and walk well on a leash. It was love at first sight for Godiva and even though they weren’t sure about the timing, Bruce and Julie got the black lab to the vet and nursed him back to health. They named him Guinness and he’s well on his way to getting back to the weight the vet wants him to be. Guinness is doing his part to help train Godiva to be a great adult dog just like him.

If you look around Southlake, you’ll find the Mortroskis (as the family has been called by their friends) walking in the early morning and before dinner usually in the Timarron subdivision. On the weekends you may see them at Southlake Town Square getting coffee and at the Three Dog Bakery getting treats for Guinness and Godiva. Having the dogs has given them the opportunity to really enjoy the great outdoors in Southlake — and they are all looking forward to making new friends at the dog park.

Donn and Tonya Perrine met in 1999 after dancing with destiny for a number of years.

The Hottois family, Bob, Bev, Daniel, Blair and Brooke moved to Southlake six years ago from Bay Village, Ohio (west of Cleveland). Both Bob and Bev were born and raised Clevelanders and most of their immediate family still lives there. Moving so far from home was tough, but they have been blessed with wonderful neighbors and friends and enjoy calling Southlake their home.