That Marriage Thang

I've been thinking lately about the whole marriage thang. I am currently teetering on the edge of 30 years old and not married. I don't have any thing against marriage, nor was it ever part of my "life plan" to be nearly 30 and unmarried.

Actually, I believe my life plan went something like: graduate college with bachelors degree at 21, meet guy, fall in love, marry at 23, buy house, have horses, live fairy tale. May or may not have included kids, I don't remember. Never been much of a fan of them.

Instead of that, life has gone more like this...go to community college. Meet guy some where in there. Buy car and horse that you need to continue working to pay for. Work 2 part time jobs, go to night classes, still a full time student. Take a little time off from school. Go back. Finally get AA after 4 1/2 years. Never make it to "real college". Get engaged to guy because we've been together for 3 years and that's what you do. Besides, I'm almost 23 and that's when I'm supposed to be married. Break up with guy after a month of being engaged. Date some more. Pass 23rd birthday, which is when you were supposed to be married. Buy yourself a truck and horse trailer to cheer yourself up. Continue living with parents. Date some more. Finally meet boy of my dreams. Move out of parents house into house with boy of my dreams after 2 years of being together. You're 25 by then. Talk about getting married. Buy house together instead. Talk about getting married some more. Buy new tractor instead. Buy new horse trailer. Buy new horse. etc. etc. etc. And now, here I am, owning a house, truck and horse trailer with boy of my dreams, firmly cemented in this relationship, possibly more then if we had that piece of paper telling us we're legally married. But we're still not married. Technically.

I've never been one of those people that thinks it's "just a piece of paper". Ever. I've never NOT wanted to be married. I certainly never expected to be here and not married. But life has a funny way of carrying on and changing priorities. I'm happy. We are happy. We love our life. Neither of us has any thing against marriage. No previous marriages, no baggage with parents surrounding the idea of marriage. We do plan to get married, just haven't done it yet.

It is strange to me when people that I haven't seen in a while ask if I'm still with the same guy. We bought a house together. We are in it for life, just as much as any of my married friends. Does not having that piece of paper making it legal or rings on our fingers make our relationship not as committed?

Every once in a while I get the wedding bug, but it usually passes fairly quickly. It's just not a priority. I refuse to go to Vegas. Just not my style. I'm not opposed to a court house wedding, but I want to include my family and friends. That means doing the whole wedding thang which requires planning and time and money and that is probably the main hold up. There are other things I'd rather do with that time and money. We own and show horses. 'Nuff said. lol Besides, why mess up a good thing?

And so here I am, almost 30 years old (OMG!!!), been together with the Boyfriend for nearly 6 years, and I have the whole fairy tale life I had envisioned (mostly anyways, there is always the crappy real life stuff that comes up, like work), with every thing I hoped for. Except that little piece of paper.

I know at least a couple of my bloggy buddies have been with their bf's for quite a while and are not married. It's not uncommon. And this isn't a rant or anything, I'm just really curious about this. Why? Was it a choice to not get married? Was it something that just happened, like me? Why is that "piece of paper" so important? Or so important to avoid?

It's a very curious phenomenon.

To me at least.

Pictures, Pictures Everywhere!

I've been noticing something lately. Ever since I have become rather obsessed with picture taking, I feel like a little kid again. I notice things I don't remember noticing before, things that I took for granted before. I notice lots of things. Lots!

I notice the sliver of a moon.

I notice the birds in the brush behind me.

I notice the leaves springing to life on the trees.

I notice how the snow piles on the hitchin' post.

I notice how the frost edges a leaf.

I notice how only one little weed is covered in frost while everything around it is only edged.

I notice raindrops on grass.

I notice the sun shining through the trees.

I notice bees sunning themselves on a rock.

I notice individual droplets of water in what appears to be a solid stream to my naked eye.

I notice Sugar's eye.

I notice my reflection in Midori's eye.

I notice Chey.

Actually I notice Chey a lot.

I mean, like, really a lot.

I notice the centers of flowers.

I notice the hairy stems and leaves of flowers.

I notice red planes flying over my head while I'm trying to eat.

I notice so many intricate details and little things that I never paid attention to before. More importantly I take the time to appreciate all the little things that I don't remember noticing before. And you know what? I love it! I love feeling like a little kid again. I love finding interesting or new things. Things that I may have walked past a hundred times and then suddenly notice it for the first time and go wow, that would make a great picture! It makes everything so much more interesting!

100, Reflection and an Award!

Well, this here post is number 100! I can't believe I've actually found enough to jabber about to fill up 100 posts! It's been quite a ride so far and I can't wait to see where else it will take me.



I have realized in doing this that I really like writing. That was quite a surprise to me! I never enjoyed it much in school or since then, but I'm really liking this blogging thang!





It's quite fascinating to me to know that people actually read what I write to! Crazy! I never expected many people to read my little ol' ramblings. I started with the idea of it being an easy, fun way to keep the extended fam and friends up to date on what I'm doing with my life. It became a fun outlet for me to post pictures, brag about my furry kids, have a bit of a riding journal and keep track of progress we've made on the house and property. I'm still stunned that a few people actually enjoy reading it!



Another thing that has amazed me is how fun the blogging world can be! It really is a small world, but there is always something new to discover as well. I've really enjoyed getting to know some of my new bloggie buddies by exchanging comments and reading thru their blogs. It's fascinating to see how much we all have in common as well as different/new ways to look at things.

So, thank you to everyone that reads my blog! It's fun having ya! I love getting comments and read every single one of 'em. I also have an email address, it's over on the right side bar. Feel free to drop me a note if you're so inclined!




Ok, enough of that...now, onto the Award!

Paint Girl over at Adventures of the Painted Creek Farm gave me my very first award! :) It is the Attitude of Gratitude Award. Thanks Paint Girl! I've been loving hearing about the adventures in your neck of the woods! She's got a couple beatiful Paint mares and a couple crazy Aussies, along with a bunch of goats and kitties. I definately recommend hopping over to her blog for some good reads!

Rules of accepting and sharing this Award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an Attitude of Gratitude.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received this award.
5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for this award. Tell us how you've come to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

So let's see...

I think pretty much every one on my faves list has gotten it already so I'm going to break the rules just a bit and only pass it on to two people...

1. Jenny and MissFire

2. Juliane and Sangria

They are competing in the Extreme Mustang Makeover in just a few weeks and blogging about their crazy adventures with their mustangs.

Alrighty, that's all I got for tonight. Thanks Paint Girl for the award and thanks to everyone for hangin' out with me!

I am an adult!

Sadly, I feel the need to state that right now.

Next, I have to state that I really love drill. I LOVE RIDING DRILL. Drill is SO much fun when things go right.

Unfortunately, things can go so, so wrong.

If I could repeat the glory days of my first couple years of drill every year, I'd only be drilling. No reining or cutting for me. I'd be perfectly happy.

But somehow my team has morphed into some sort of drama central full of bickering kindergartners. I really, honestly felt like I was back in grade school tonight at a team meeting.

For the record I also must state that my coach is absolutely awesome and probably a saint. I guess she'd have to be to put up with all of us as much as she does and I know I only see a fraction of the drama that she deals with.

We had a round table discussion tonight in an attempt to air out some feelings with the hope of getting past some of the drama. Members were asked to talk about how they are feeling about things, both good and bad, and then any helpful suggestions or constructive criticism that might help get us back on track.

There were comments along the lines of people not talking to particular people while we're warming up, so that obviously means that they don't like them. Seriously? Just because I don't talk to you doesn't mean that I don't like you. Sometimes it does, but usually it just means that I'm enjoying being on my horse (or really pissed off at her and concentrating!) and just don't feel like gossiping. One of my very good friends is on the team. I do usually manage to at least say hi at some point, but I'm sure there have been times that we've gone entire practices without speaking. It doesn't mean I'm mad at her. It just means I didn't get the opportunity to chit chat because I was otherwise occupied. The end. We're adults and secure enough to not need that interaction every single time.

My favorite comment on this point was the person that argued that she's concentrating on warming up her horse so others shouldn't take offense if she doesn't say hi, then two sentences later whined about how she feels like she's ostrasized and no one wants her to be part of the team. Wow.

There was the suggestion (again) of making some sort of seating chart at meetings or assigning people different partners to ride with during practice so we can all get to know each other, not just stay in our cliques. Again...seriously? A seating chart? Assigned partners?!? I haven't had a seating chart since I was in junior high! We generally end up randomly spread out and riding with different people throughout the practice and in our drills anyways. If you want to make friends, go make friends. Don't wait for a seating chart to tell you who you need to talk to today.

There were tantrums thrown and personal attacks made, broad ambiguous statements made that people took as personal attacks and of course bickering, though that was mostly moderated. It was ridiculous and made me realize why I just can't seem to get motivated to get my ass off the couch on Sunday afternoons to go to drill practice. I'm only an associate member this year so I don't have an assigned spot in the drills and don't feel obligated to go. If I had a spot and knew people were counting on me, I'd be there with bells on.

Can't always promise a smile on my face though.

I love my team. I work my butt off for my team. When I am at anything having to do with drill I'm there 110% for my team. I make absolutely sure I am ready to go and on time. I volunteer to do things for the team and make sure I get them done to the best of my ability. I am conscious of the fact that at competitions and drill functions I represent my team and make a point of smiling, saying good luck to passing teams and making sure I don't do anything that would make my coach or any of my team members embarrassed to wear the same team shirt as me. My coach is very involved in the area associations and I believe one of her main goals at drill functions is to try to bridge the gaps between teams. I'm not outgoing by any stretch of the imagination, but I try because it's the way I believe my coach wants our team to be.

I also don't throw tantrums or play the blame game. You can't. It's just not productive. Or healthy. I want to win as much as the next person, but blaming other people for the team's short comings doesn't get you any where. All you can do is take responsibility for yourself and figure out if there is anything you could be doing differently to make it easier for other people to be correct. Or talk to them, adult to adult, about the issue. No yelling, no tantrums, no blaming. Take responsibility for your part and don't get defensive.

There are people on my team that throw tantrums. Big ones. They give the silent treatment. They stomp off (or ride off if they're mounted). They slam doors. They rip their horse around for no good reason. They send out mass emails to the team arguing and denying any responsibility or wrong-doing. They tell the teacher...er...coach. There are people worried about cliques and whether this person likes me or that person picks on me.

I absolutely cannot stand the drama. I'm an adult. I am on the drill team because it's a blast to ride and gets me on my horse. A lot. I do enjoy the camaraderie that comes with being on a team. I have extremely fond memories from my first year drilling of team meetings at the end of the day with a pitcher of margaritas and lots of laughter and good times. But I don't need or want to be every one's best friend. There are certainly some people on the team that I'd rather avoid. As long as they make an effort, are prepared and on time and don't cause drama I will absolutely respect them as a teammate. Regardless of their horse's breeding, their riding skills, how nice their rig is or whether I like them on a personal level. I think that is all you can ask of people when you have a large group spending that much time together in a competitive setting.

I just want to have a good time, enjoy my horse and hopefully kick some butt while we're there! Why do people have to make it so difficult?!?

Miscellaneous

Well, I thought I was done blogging for the weekend after my blog-a-thon last night. But here I am again with more thoughts rattling around in my brain.

First off I would like to point out that it is now March 15th and I once again woke up to snow this morning. Have I mentioned I'm ready for summer?

Second, it was not a dream. I did win a buckle yesterday. Did I mention I have a buckle? I do, I won a buckle! *grins*

Third, I told the boyfriend I would share the buckle with him. I think he deserves it just as much as I do. He tried it on last night. It looked good on him. It has not gone on my belt yet. Not sure why. I guess probably because it's hard to look at it when it's on your stomach and I'd rather stare at it in the box. Yes, I am a nerd. But you know what? It's ok, cuz I have a buckle! hehehe

And last...today is Cheyanne's birthday! She is one year old today! My little baby is growing up! *sniff, sniff* I can't believe that a year ago today, we weren't even living in this house, I think we would have been in the process of making an offer at that point and certainly not considering getting a puppy at all! But here we are with Cheyanne one year old already and I love her to death. She is the cutest puppy dog ever and I can't imagine not having her around!

This pic was the day we brought her home. She got sick in the truck and didn't know what to think about not having all her siblings around. What an adorable teeny tiny little ball of fur!

And this is Cheyanne today. Ok, well, really it was last week, but it's cold and wet and gross outside and she is having a blast playing in the nasty weather and getting filthy dirty and I don't want to take a new picture of her like that.

This is her favorite spot to curl up when I'm on the computer (yes our computer is at our kitchen table and I feel the need to admit that no we don't eat there much). She is usually curled up with one of her favorite toys too. This is her all time favorite toy Piggy. It was one of the first puppy toys I got her, but she destroyed that one. I felt horible throwing out her favorite toy ever so I had to go buy her another one. She was so stinking excited when I gave it to her! It was the cutest thing ever. Now only the rawhide bones take precedence over Piggy.

So happy birthday Chey! Here's to many more great years!

Ok, I think that's all for the weekend. But no promises. I do have a few more ideas swimming around in my head, I just don't know if they'll make it on here any time soon.

Miss Fancy Pants

Last weekend I got the chance to see my old horse Fancy. I sold her a little over a year ago and really miss her. She was my baby. She was the first horse I started and I owned her for 5 years. She was a huge pain in my butt a lot of the time, but I still loved her to death.

She was 3 years old when I bought her and halter broke. Barely. That was pretty much it. She wasn't even registered. So I got her paperwork together and registered her as a half arab and a pinto. We did a lot of ground work, getting her to respect me and my space and learn some stuff before I ever got on her. Her mother had collicked and died when she was 5 weeks old so she was an orphan and had some issues with my personal space. As in it didn't exist.

When I took her to the vet a little later in life, they called her Cheeky. I wasn't ever exactly sure what that meant, but I was pretty sure it wasn't a good nick name. The tech also pointed out that she had two cowlicks on her forehead. Apparently that is not a good thing. Horses with two swirls on their forehead are usually nutty, according to what I can only assume is an old wive's tale. I guess it doesn't apply so much if the two swirls are vertical, but if they are horizontal (which Fancy's were just about perfectly horizontal) then look out! I have to admit that I put some weight in that old tale and made a point to check out the horse's forehead swirls when I was horse shopping. I know, I'm silly.

I have talked about Fancy a little bit in this post. I bought her with the intention of doing breed and circuit shows with her. Since she was able to be double registered I figured she was a great prospect for me. Her sire was a stunning buckskin pinto who was extremely versatile and she was definately his daughter. I purchased her from my old boss and I still remember the day she was born and seeing the pictures of her floating around the office. I also remember the day her mom died, I had to fill in for the boss's daughter who was supposed to work that day but was busy with her collicking mare.

I have so many great memories with Fancy. She was such a sweetheart, but a really big challenge also. She taught me so much. Not the least of which was patience and controlling my emotions when I was working with her. She was really good at pushing my buttons. Looking back and knowing how frustrating she could be and seeing how far I got her is very rewarding. She was a pro at the Arab Teleport (you blink, they spook and you're suddenly on the other side of the arena/trail/pasture, etc.)

I ended up doing pretty much everything but performance shows with her. I never did get her to even so much as a schooling show. We had hours and hours of trail time, camping trips, runs down the beach, jumping the waves in the ocean (she was scared of them), team penning, "roping" (as in I sorta learned to throw a rope off her and she would sorta tollerate it, but it was hardly actual roping), she was my first drill horse....we had a blast together! And she trusted me enough to do most of it without too much fuss. I won't pretend that we were good at much of it, but we got by and we had fun, which was all that really mattered.

She really loved drill. She was a very social horse, loved being around other horses, never kicked or bit and was just a dream for drill. Unfortunately, a couple months in she came up lame. I think she had been working on it for a while, but I had been ignoring it. After a lot of money went into lameness exams and chiropractor appointments we decided the only thing to do, short of hauling her to the other side of the state for more really expensive tests, was to lay her off for 6 months to a year and see what happened. The chiropractor was telling me her shoulders were really out, but she couldn't hold an adjustment without being worked. The vet was telling me that it was her suspensory tendons/ligaments and she needed time off to heal. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Since I had already put thousands of dollars into both the vet and the chiropractor and I really couldn't afford any more, I decided she'd get the time off. My wallet and mostly maxed out credit card decided that one for me.

To make a long story short, she came back sound as can be after 9 or 10 months, both her legs and her shoulders were fine. I had decided to buy another horse so she went up for sale as soon as I was sure she was sound. I was also willing to lease her to a good show home. I ended up leasing her to a fabulous family for their daughter's last year in 4-H. They were great together! Fancy took her to state and they ended up in a few championship classes. Fancy was a total natural at the rail/performance classes. I knew it was where she belonged, which is most of why I decided to sell her in the first place. She loved drill, but was naturally slow with a jog and lope to die for. Not the get-up-and-go, hard stopping and turning horse that I needed for drill. I got her back not long after the state fair was over and put her back up for sale.

That was when we found her current family. It's really funny how horses pick their owners. I had watched her with quite a few people each time she was up for sale. I could tell when she wasn't happy or didn't like someone. She definately picked the girl that leased her. They were a great match. The second time around we didn't get quite as many visits, but one of them was a lady who had come out previously and was really excited to see her come back on the market. She had really liked Fancy the first time around, but had decided to go with a pony for her daughter instead. It ended up being a really bad experience that she had just gotten done with and was looking for a horse again. She came out and rode Fancy and they really hit it off. She was looking for a horse of her own, but that she could share with her young daughter. She wanted something that would be gentle for her daughter to learn on and that she could grow up with and begin showing when she was old enough. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about selling Fancy to a home with a young kid, but as soon as I saw Fancy with the kid I knew she would be just fine.

Fancy became a totally different horse with the kid around. She was gentle and patient and would lean down for her to brush her face. It was adorable. I still sent her off with fair warning, but Fancy was 9 or so by then and was finally growing up and turning into one of those pretty darn solid and kid safe Arabs. My shoer always used to tell me when I'd be venting my frustrations about Fancy that Arabs don't get their heads on straight until they are 8 or 9. Sure enough, Fancy grew up and turned into a totally different horse.

Seeing her last weekend was a little bitter sweet. I was thrilled to see that she was doing well and that she was moving to a gorgeous, well maintained barn with her own stall and lots of grassy turnout. I know they will all love it there. I realized that I do still really miss her and part of me regrets selling her. She was a great horse and I just imagine all the fun I could be having with her today if I had kept her.

Oh well, everything happens for a reason. I'm really glad I have Midori and I'm not sure I would if I hadn't decided to sell Fancy.

A life without horses...

Fugs brought up an interesting topic the other day on her blog. It got me thinking about what I would do and buy with all of the spare time and money not having horses in my life would free up. Wow. They are expensive, high maintenance little buggers!

I started imagining the house we could be in if we didn't have to have the land, barn, arena, pasture, fencing, etc. for horses. Wow. The car I could drive if I didn't have to have my big truck and horse trailer. Wow. The clothes and shoes I could indulge in with the money I now spend on shoes, blankets and tack for the horses. W-O-W! The travelling I could do and vacations I could take with all the money I spend on hauling my horses to and from shows and entry fees, stall fees, arena fees, etc. Amazing.

I thought about all the crafty projects I could do if I didn't have drill practice every week. I thought about all the home improvements I could make if I didn't have horse shows that took up whole weekends. All the books I could read and pictures I could take if I didn't have horses to ride, feed and clean up after all the time. All the travelling, camping and spontaneous road trips we could do if we didn't have to worry about who would feed all the animals while we were gone. And the extra time that I would save just on my commute because I wouldn't have to live out in the boonies!

But then I considered what I'd be missing and all that I'd have to compensate for. First off there is the bill for my therapist that I would have to have. Horses are the best therapy I know of and it would take a whole lot of hours on the couch with a mighty good therapist to make up for that. Then there is the gym membership and/or exercise equipment I'd have to have because horses are my main source of physical activity. Then there is the question of what hobby I might pick up instead. I don't think I could spend that much time on crafts. Possibly quads/dirt bikes, but I'm not sure I could really get hooked on them like I am on horses. I suppose I could pick a sport, but the only one I've ever really enjoyed is volleyball and apparently 5'2" isn't an ideal height for that. I just can't come up with anything that could even come close to filling the void.

Then there is everything that horses have taught and continue to teach me. That is just priceless. There is no way to compensate for that. None. They have taught me to be responsible for my own actions, the way no one and nothing else could. To do what I can to make things work and to find different ways to accomplish something if it's not working the first way. To pay attention to details or slight changes, such as a limp or change in condition. To be considerate of others feelings. To be responsible for another living creature and not take that responsibility lightly. How to be a graceful winner and loser (many more lessons on gracefully losing!) Patience. Kindness. Gentleness. Firmness. Fair discipline. Bravery. Humbleness. Humility. That food is a highlight of any day. That you can earn a friend for life if you know the right place to scratch. That you can scar a good friend with just a moment of losing your temper. I could go on and on.

Bottom line is growing up with horses has made me who I am today and I like me. I would not trade that for all the Jimmy Choo's, Gucci, Prada, trips to France, spare time or Mercedes in the world. Mind you this was just me day dreaming. I'm not saying I could actually, really afford trips to France, Jimmy Choo's, Gucci, etc. if I didn't have horses. It's all hypothetically speaking.

Besides all that, I would not have met the boyfriend if neither of us had horses in our lives. That would be a sad, sad thing!

Happy New Year!

Wow. It's 2009 already. I think I may be in shock. I really can't figure out where the heck 2008 went! I swear it just disappeared. I guess it was a pretty darn busy and BIG year though. We bought our first house. My best friend got married. My sister bought a house (she got hers first and was probably most of our inspiration to get off our perfectly-sassified-renting-butts and go buy a house). We moved. We cleared our property. We started cutting and reining and chased buffalo. We got a new horse and a puppy. I was introduced to the world of blogging, eventually starting my own, even though it's more for my own amusement then anything. I started getting into photography. I came to know and love all things Twilight. I'm sure there is plenty more, but that's what sticks out in my mind at the moment.

It's hard to imagine (and even harder to really appreciate) how far we've come in the past year. Looking back over my list of resolutions and goals for 2008 I'm sure I didn't imagine myself in my own home, living out here in BFE with all that I have now. I really didn't do very well with my goals and resolutions in 2008, which is hard to not be disappointed with myself for, but I'm pretty sure I didn't factor in actually buying a house and all the work that being a home owner entails. I've decided to not beat myself up too badly for not accomplishing my goals and just try to set more realistic ones for myself in 2009.

So far my 2009 resolutions and goals include:
~Getting our credit cards paid all the way off
~Making a budget and savings goals and sticking to them

And a very ambitious list of home and property improvement projects like:
~Painting the rest of the interior of the house - bathroom, office, living room, bedroom and extra bedroom
~Getting our barn finished so that the ponies have real shelter next year
~Getting some sort of arena in, even if it's just footing for now
~Fencing for our perimeter and pastures
~Finish grading and seed our pastures

It's already shaping up to be a busy year, but I think it will be a good one. Hopefully we'll be a little closer to having our property functioning the way we want it to for the horses, which is a very exciting prospect. And I'm sure we should be able to accomplish more this summer because I think we were still kind of in shock that we actually bought a house last summer. The whole clearing the property with 3 days notice thing certainly didn't help that either. I'm thinking this summer we'll be a little more prepared and really be able to dig in and get things done. That's my plan anyways.

So here's to a fabulous, happy and productive 2009! Cheers!

A funny!

”Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.”

Author unknown

I just had to share. My boss sent this to me. I received it as I was on the phone with a customer waiting for him to shuffle thru some papers so I skimmed over it. I had to put the phone down for a little bit while I composed myself.

Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving day gets closer it seems an appropriate time to reflect on everything that I'm thankful for. I know I'm lucky in so many ways for everything that I have in my life, but it's hard sometimes to not just take it all for granted. It is nice sometimes to just sit and think about how lucky I am to have the life that I have.

I am thankful to have a roof over my head. I'm especially thankful that that roof happens to be a really great house that I absolutely love. And that it includes over 4 acres that allows us to keep our horses with us and will someday contain a barn, an arena and pasture. Someday.

I am thankful that I have a truck that I love so that my long commute is that much less annoying. It's a good truck and it's never given me problems (knocking on wood now). Love the Cummins! Lately, I've also been really thankful for the butt warmers it has! They are the best thing ever on a chilly morning!

I'm thankful for our horses. They keep me sane and provide some of the best company and entertainment a girl could ask for.

I'm thankful for Cheyanne, the cutest puppy dog ever. Even though she's a total spaz sometimes and likes to eat horse poo and then try to lick your face.

I am thankful for a job that I enjoy and makes all of the above possible.

I am thankful for an amazing group of family and friends that are supportive, encouraging, can put up with me and are just darn good people.

I am very thankful for the boyfriend who loves me no matter what. Who shares my dreams and interests. Who challenges me and keeps life interesting. Who lets me have my space and still be myself, but is always there for me. Who puts up with my random obsessions and does his best to pick up the slack around the house when I can't keep my nose out of a book long enough to do the dishes. Or fix dinner. Or pee. Though he can't really help me with that last one.

I am thankful for all of the doors that have opened for me and allowed me to get where I am today.

I am thankful for egg nog lattes. And flannel sheets. And down comforters. And the boyfriend's bbq'd flat iron steak. And the Twilight Saga. And Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. And diesel prices coming down to less then $2.50/gal! And a good margarita. And hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. And Mexican food. And Stovetop Stuffing. And AE jeans. And fleece yoga pants. And the macro setting on my camera.

I'm sure I could go on all day, but I think I'll stop there. What are you thankful for?

I love fall!

I really love fall! I think it is my favorite season. The weather isn't always ideal, but it is just so gosh darn pretty! How can you not love fall?! I do love summer to, definately prefer summer weather. I'm very much a warm weather kinda gal, but the summers just seem to evaporate. I'm always so busy with horse shows and various other activities that seem to only happen during the summer that before I know it, it's all over and I didn't really get to enjoy it much at all. Because of that, fall is my favorite season. It is beautiful and I actually get time to enjoy it! I can relax a bit and take the time to observe and appreciate all of the pretty colors and the cool, crisp weather and the wonderful sunny days, crunching thru the fallen leaves on my horse. I could do without the frosty mornings and the 6 pm (or earlier) sunsets, but other then that, it's glorious.

I also love Halloween and pumpkins and Thanksgiving and hot (usually hard) apple cider and all the other fun things that come with fall. I still love carving pumpkins and it's just not fall for me without that tradition. I wasn't terribly impressed with my carving abilities this year though. My winking pumpkin ended up looking quite a bit retarded and lop-sided. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

I'm a huge fan of just about anything pumpkin flavored. Sadly, I moved away from my very favorite espresso stand that served up different pumpkin flavored latte's in the fall. They used real pumpkin SAUCE, not pumpkin flavored syrups, and let me tell you, you just don't get any closer to heaven in a cup! I made the Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Cake, though I left out the whiskey, and it is officially one of my new favorite fall recipes! I'm sure it would be really tasty with the whiskey to, and I'll probably try that soon, but the venue it was going to didn't really scream whiskey whipped cream to me.

This year in particular I'm really enjoying fall in my new house. I have been really interested to see what our property looks like in the fall and I have to find joy where ever I can in my loooong commute to and from work. The fall colors certainly have not disappointed me. They are rather spectacular on my 30 mile commute. Most of the trees around our house are evergreens, so nothing terribly interesting, but there is still enough color around the property to get me out there with my camera. I am also trying to squeeze as much yard work and garden reconfiguring in as I can before the weather turns and I'm stuck inside. I've been trying to pick small projects that I can finish up easily and quickly (and for free!) that actually make an impact. I've been doing pretty good so far, but I'll talk more about that in another post. I think.

Also, I've offered to host Thanksgiving dinner for my family again this year. I'm really excited to have everyone out to my new-ish house (how long is it really new? We've lived there for 6 months now, does it still qualify???). With the expectation of hosting turkey day though comes sooo many indoor projects that I want to finish before I have everyone over. We plan to paint the whole entire interior of the house sooner or later and because of that (mostly), I have not really decorated much at all yet. We have nothing hanging on the walls. The living room is bare and boring. The kitchen is an awful mauve color that just doesn't really go with the cupboards or floor. Or any of my kitchen stuff. I swear the people that built the house must have had a million and three things hanging on the walls. I think I have pulled out no less then 50 nails/screws. FROM EACH ROOM! Good lord, don't people realize that sometimes less is more?! So it is a huge project to get the walls ready to paint. I have prioritized my list of projects to get done before the fam comes out though. Painting my kitchen and my master bathroom needs to be done. Everything else isn't horrible, just not my choice of colors, but the kitchen and my bathroom just can't wait. I have 4 1/2 weeks to do that. I think it's reasonable. I did paint the main bathroom just after we moved in and it turned out really nice! I was very pleased with it.

While I'm anxious to get going on my painting and indoor projects, I really can't bring myself to go inside just yet. I want to soak up every last minute of sun and blue skies that I can before winter. Sometimes that means just running around with my camera, that I have been unusually inspired by lately (bordering on obsessive with the photo taking actually), and taking pictures of all the pretty fall colors. I'm sure I'll appreciate them when I'm stuck inside getting stir crazy in February.