Forgot

I forgot to mention in my below post that our good friends George & Rachel had their baby Saturday morning around 3am, little miss Emily Ray Millington! Here she is with her big sister Samantha and then proud pappy George. I cant wait to see her in person.. :)

Also, this past weekend (Fri night actually) I found a craigslist "deal" and bought over 70 yards of fabric (worth atleast $600) but I got it all for $125. There are about 30 different patterns, wide variety. It is great stuff to use down the road for projects and quilts and whatever else I may come up with to make. I have decided too that I want to make a denim and flannel quilt for our spare bed, that will be quite the project but I'm looking forward to doing it down the road. So if you or you know anyone that is throwing out old denim jeans, I'll take them!

Mowing in February??

Since when have you had to mow your lawn in February in the state of WA??? :) Well that's one of the things I did this weekend.. the grass is really starting to sprout with all this 55+ weather we've been having for over a week now. It was a last minute decision, but it sure looks nice, I just cannot get over that it is only February...

This past weekend was dedicated to fixing the floor in the horse trailer. We had been planning this for a few weeks, as it was the first free weekend Derek has had in a long time! We could feel that the back end of some of the trailer boards were getting very weak and with hauling 2 BIG horses, we feared a leg would go through, so we got to work, invited my dad over to supervise and got this project conquered! :)

You can see in the above pic how the boards look rotted. We initially thought it was just a few boards but after pulling the mats up, we realized the entire back edge there was very weak and the whole floor would need replacing, not just a couple boards.

Since the front section of the floor was in great shape still, we (well I should stop saying we because Derek and my dad made the executive decisions! lol) anyways, it was decided that we (oh the hell with it, it's just easier to say we) we cut about 2/3 of the floor out, leaving the top section alone.

Then the guys started pulling up all the screws to get the rotted boards out. The good thing is that most of the boards are still 100% okay, so if we cut about a foot off the rotted end, we'll have some decent 7 foot boards to use for other projects.

After the boards were out, the guys took the trailer to Marysville and welded in a new support brace up at the front so that there would be sometime to screw the new boards into. By the time the guys got back from buying the wood and welding in a new brace, we had just enough time to cut the floor boards and get them in the trailer. Derek and I finished up screwing in the boards on Sunday afternoon, the new floor looks so nice! Yeah, too bad I got preoccupied mowing the yard and riding my horse (I mean Derek's horse!) that I didnt get a chance to take pics of the fnished project, but I'm sure you can imagine what 10 2x8's layed out on a trailer floor look like! lol

The project really only cost $85 for the wood and then $25 for the screws.. Not too bad and I feel SOOO much relief now that I know it will support the horses completely again. After the trailer was done, I mowed the lawn and Derek started working on cleaning up the boat from his camping trip last month. It was still full of muck. I had just enough daylight to squeeze in a 45 minute ride on Edgar, I got back in the driveway at 5:30, with maybe only 10-15 minutes to spare on it not being too dusk to be out riding down the road.

We also bought last week a pressure washer, a much needed tool for our property, so Saturday I was able to wash the trailer mats and also the front walkway which had a slight green hue to it! :) The next nice weekend we get, we need to clean the deck and wash it as there is more of that green growing on it as well. It was a very productive weekend and i'm looking forward to hopefully more nice weather down the road because it feels great to get shit done around the place! lol

Thursday we get shoes put on Big Red and either Sat or Sun we'll take him out for a trailride.. looking forward to it! And I know Derek is excited to get back on Edgar, they are just a great fit for eachother and I'm so happy that things are working out..

Here are a couple pics

Here are a couple pics.. Finally


JoJo when I babysat him a few months ago, he enjoyed petting Scout




Miss Scout snuggled up to Russell as she usually did to keep warm



Here's the blankie I made for George & Rachel's baby that is due in a few weeks! My very first blanket ever, I think I did a great job and it was soooo soft. I wanted to keep it but it was obviously a baby blanket so it would have been weird to have it laying around the house, people might ask questions! lol

Time for another post..

I'm told I am not on here enough! :) Sorry to my followers.. I always feel bad just blah blahing about the boring parts of our lives right now. Not that life is overly boring, just nothing exciting going on.. No softball injuries to post, I havent come off any horses lately (knock knock on wood).. no critters dying (Thank Goodness!!)

So life is in a lull for now. I did think about posting those pics.. that's as far as it got as you can tell. I will do my best (I know blah blah same story I always say) to remember to do that tonight. I really need to get in the hang of bringing my camera with me to places and start taking pics of the things happening..

for instance, Big Red! I mean, duh! I was just out there a week ago, it was a beautiful Saturday day with the sun shining and I forget to bring the camera to introduce you all to him. I rode him briefly last Friday night in the arena, then Saturday we hauled Edgar up to the arena so Derek could ride while I rode Red. We rode in the arena a while then out in a big field. Got 1.5 hours in, but a lot of that was just sitting on the horses and chatting. Red hasnt been worked much in 2 years, so he was a bit spooky. He was nice to ride, I wasnt 100% relaxed on him since he was acting a little skittish. He is as round as a barrel, so my saddle doesnt sit firmly on him, it wobbles a bit which made me a little uneasy as well. I think my saddle fits him well, he's just so darn round! :) I might have to invest in a nice pad to help stabilize my saddle.

So we filed our taxes on Jan 31st, which was a Sunday. I did them myself online, it was much easier than I thought it would be and it only cost me $30! Well we had our refund in our bank just 5 days later on Friday! Amazing... Most of the refund will be used to pay for our property taxes, bummer. But atleast we got a refund large enough to cover them darn taxes.

Now that the panel truck will be done this weekend, we plan to focus on riding. The following weekend we have to fix the floor in the horse trailer, there are some weak boards that need replacing before we can haul 2 huge horses in it! Once that is done, the weekend after that we will take Edgar and Big Red out on a trail ride. The trail ride will really tell me how much I like Red and then most likely after that ride I will bring him home. He's a nice horse and will most likely work out great for what we are wanting right now. I'm sure in time I will really grow to love the horse, the more I can ride him and get to bond with him. He's big though, I never imagined I would look down on Edgar!

Oh and quickly on the dog issue, the breeder in OR, we are not going with them because they breed for smaller Boykins. The breeder in WA we were 90% sure we wanted to go with and would have pups in July ready to take home, well we opted not to go with her either. She is a very nice person, but her dog is not hip certified and the male (owned by Jim) she was going to breed to scored low on the hip test for us to be comfortable with. Now Jim, I've been talking to him a lot, he is in Eatonville and owns the male I was just talking about, however he has a female with a good hip score and he was thinking on breeding her to Earl (dog) down in OR that is very well trained, a great gun dog.

I dont know if this link will work, but here goes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLZRv3hfuc

If you click on that link or copy/paste it, you have to fast forward to 2:30 and you will see a little brown dog do a retrieve.. very cute dog! That is Earl! So if Jim breeds his female to Earl, he wants us to have pick of the litter.. EXCITING. The only bummer is that he is not breeding until the fall, so we are looking at getting a Thanksgiving pup. Which we cannot be too dissappointed, with these breeds, you sometimes have to wait a while for the right dog. So for now, we are waiting to hear from Jim, he wants to talk with Earl's owner and confirm plans etc.. But for now we are keeping the fingers crossed because we feel this could be a great dog. If you want to see cute Boykins, try some of these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-fqMeNR8sk (this one is hilarious!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7zAA7DfPi0&feature=related (this is is short but very cute)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDjSBpREPnQ&feature=related (dirty dog!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGgShEjwwZQ&NR=1 (one last cute one of 8 weeks pups)

Something to look forward to...

Derek and I have decided that maybe for our 20yr anniversary, we will renew our vows.. and it is right around the corner... Damn are we getting old or what!! :) This year will be 14 years, so only 6 more to go AND we thought maybe we would do it in Hawaii on the beach or something... We've never been and although it would be nice to go between now/then, if we dont get a chance then our first trip to the tropical land will be for a much needed vacation and to revow the next 20 years. I think it would be cool to renew every 20 years.. so that's my plan!

No.. we do not have a 2nd dog yet! hehe We did settle on a Boykin Spaniel, well not settling as in a bad thing, we just came to the decision that this breed is the breed for us. We've (okay I've) been talking with some breeders online, trainers etc.. trying to figure out who we want to buy a dog from etc. I did find a couple WA breeders, one will have pups ready mid July.. another guy in OR will have pups this summer as well, he already has 8 people on the pre-paid waiting list! We are excited and I think Russell will be happy too.

He's been pretty funny, we now take him almost everywhere.. He went to the board mtg with us, but he did stay in the truck since it was at a restaurant. He enjoys hangin in the truck, we bought him a bed thing that sits between us in the front of the cab, he's happy as a clam.

Derek's job has been stable so far, which is great news! He's almost done with that panel truck project we've had in the shop for many months.. okay not almost done but almost done with phase 1.. lol But when this phase is done, Harry will take the truck home, get it put back together and drive it a while with primer on it, eventually it will find it's way back into the shop for its real paintjob.

The both of us are so ready to start riding again! Its been basically 3 months since we rode last, this weekend I am going to ride Big Red. The owner, Gerri, she calls him Red or Red Horse.. I like calling him Big Red, even though he's not red in color at all, I'll have to ask her how he got his name. But he's big and I'm super excited about getting him home eventually.

Oh and I finished that blanket I was working on, I didnt post much info about it on here since I was not sure if the friend I made it for would be reading up, but it turned out so good! Not to brag at all, but I just wanted to keep it.. it was so soft and pretty.. lol I did take pics and when I get home will try to remember to login and repost with pics.. I was proud of myself for doing a pretty darn good job on it, but I do think I am retaining a slight kink in my neck from handsewing for 4 hours on the edging piece that had to be hand sewn! I wake up a tiny bit stiff in the neck and I now realize it is a sewing hangover. lol

Oh and I had this crazy dream the other night, Derek was drilling screws into my eyelids, stomach and toes! He was pushing really hard on the drill, apparently I have tough bones.. I wasnt upset or scared and he wasnt angry, but I did walk funny with screws in my toes... lol I cant remember why he was doing it in my dream, my coworker says I must feel like I'm getting screwed over in my life somehow but I dont think I feel that way about anyone.. it was just weird and I had to post cuz I found it funny as well, very random!

Oh and one last thing before I sign off for another week.. Oh wait I have to sign back in later to post some pics! :) This movie has been out in the theatres for quite a while actually and I really had NO interest in seeing it.. Avatar! The previews didnt seem very appealing, something about sci-fi and weird creatures and battle scenes.. But then I just kept hearing over and over again that it was amazing and that seeing it in 3D was the ONLY way to see the movie. Well I decided that I better go check it out and take advantage of seeing it in 3D on the big screen and was I not one tiny bit sorry I did! Derek and I came out of this almost 3 hour movie just feeling in awww.. there were parts of that movie that were so magical and fairytale-like, but not dumb fairytale. Even Derek wanted to be in Avatar land.. it was mystical and magnificent and beautiful at times with a great story. The colors were amazing, I was just blown away with how much I truly loved that movie and many times had wished I could transport myself there. It made me feel like I was in heaven at times and I imagined that that is what heaven would be like when I get to go and see Carrie. Sounds dumb maybe to others, but the magic tree and the water they swam in and how the tree branches lit up as they ran across them.. that is what I want my heaven to look like.

I spoke too soon..

We are still considering a hunting dog, however we are now considering other breeds of dogs and not just the Brittany. Although we really like the Brittany, we are not 100% sure yet that they are the best water dog, we are getting mixed reviews on that issue. So we are also considering the Boykin Spaniel, sounds funny when you say it to fast! :) It is tough though because the part that sucks about this breed is that of ALL the breeders I have found, I have not found one West of probably MO! All the breeders are back east so if we go with this breed we would either have to buy a pup sight unseen or we'd have to fly back ourselves to see them in person.

This is going to be quite the task to find the right breeder, the right dog etc.. It's not as easy as just finding a breeder and picking the cutest one like we did when we bought our little Jack Russell puppies! :) When trying to deteremine if the dog will be the best hunting partner possible, its a little more complicated than picking the cutest one..

Here's a pic of a 12 week old puppy from a breeders site.. AHHH

We've made a decision...

For a long time, Derek has wanted a hunting dog. We've talked about it off/on over the years and we've just not been ready to take that leap and committment to that type of dog. For a while, he had wanted a German Short-Haired Pointer (very beautiful dogs) but they are not typically a water dog, so retrieving ducks on the pond would not be it's strong point. So he gave up on that idea and decided a chocolate lab was the type of dog he wanted. Of all the labs, chocolates I have to say are much prettier dogs than the black or yellow but I've never been a big lab fan. Eric has a chocolate lab (Hudson) and he is a great dog, but I just still wasnt keen on the idea for ourselves.

Now that we've decided our next dog will be a hunting dog, we've reopened the idea to maybe a different breed and I discovered that the Brittany is a great option. They typically are a little smaller than a lab and can work as a pointer and water retriever, and they are beautiful dogs! :) So we are pretty certain that this breed will be our next dog.. Now the question is, How long til we wait to get another dog? We'd like to get through the summer with just Russell, but it's gonna be tough I have to admit. Maybe as the weeks go on, Russell will stop howling and realize just how spoiled rotten he is being treated right now!!! I mean the dog sleeps with us every night! ;)

Russell, Russell, Russell

The poor guy is making me feel awfully sorry for him! I came home the other day from work and as I stood outside the front door, I could hear him in the house howling :( Which is something he just never does... I felt so sad for him, he was sitting up on the back of my recliner chair, his new found favorite spot to be. He about broke my heart when I heard him crying in the house all by himself. Last night as we packed up the camper for Derek's hunting trip this weekend, he sat in the house howling! ;(

When he does things like that it makes me want another dog to keep him company, I think the guy is lonely and sad during the day when we are gone, but then a bigger part of me enjoys the idea of having just the one dog so we can take him everywhere we go, he'll get to go horse camping with us and run errands etc... With 2 dogs, its double the hassle but manageable with just him. So it is a dilema in trying to figure out what is the right thing to do. We have talked a lot about our next dog being a hunting dog, which we are not quite ready for and in the meantime poor little Russell has to suffer, thats what my thoughts are telling me anyways. Maybe he is a happy little dog, but maybe he's not happy and misses having a friend around.

The other night we went out with the cousins to Red Robin and then the bull riding in Monroe, had a great time! There were 9 at dinner and 13 to watch the bulls.. When we got home, Russell was in the driveway!!! Scared the crap out of us to pull in the drive and see him wandering around... He was pretty wet so he'd been out a while, but we'd been gone for hours so not sure exactly how long he was out for and where he may or may not have gone. It just scared me so bad that 2 weeks after loosing Scout, here Russell is out wandering alone and who knows if he was in the street or not... The front gate can be tricky and if you dont push it closed, it sometimes pops off the latch if you just swing it closed and walk away.. we think one of us didnt pay attention or a visitor came while we were gone and didnt shut it properly. We now have a spring to put on the gate so it doesnt happen again.

I've been thinking about that track..

The train track.. yesterday I said we were still on track and basically we were just onboard and going where the train of life takes us. But that got me to thinking! Am I just a follower in life? Do I just go with the flow, jump on the train and go where it leads me?? I kinda think I am and for the past few months, I have been internally talking to myself about that subject and maybe not the train part, but that I am not a big self-starter in life.. I pick the easiest route and follow it. I mean, I will start projects here/there, I do get motivated and get things done, I'm not necessarily lazy, but when it comes to the "big" things in life, I think maybe I am the type of person I wish I wasnt.

This morning on the radio while they were discussing goals and new years resolutions, they said this quote:

"If it's meant to be, it's up to me."

I am thinking maybe I will try to be more like this with my thinking and change things because I can! I do a really good job and always telling myself "I cant, I cant, I cant". If I refer back to the train, instead of jumping on a train and following it where it leads me, maybe I need to jump on that train and work my way up from the caboose, through the cabins and into the engine and take that train down the track I want to go! ;) It might be a long process, it is not so easy to try to change "who" you are.. and not that I want to change who I am completely (I kinda like a lot about me) but some areas of me and my damn head could use some change and maybe a new direction.

A week of Adjusting...

The most exciting thing happening to me lately is that I went to Les Schwab yesterday to have our brakes checked and an hour later they told me they could not get a few lugnuts off the wheels! Apparently whomever put the last set of tires on the red truck (before we bought it) torked them so tightly that I now have to pay Les Schwab to get them off! Some of the nuts are now stripped so if I get a flat in the meantime, I'm screwed! ;) Pretty sad that that is the most interesting thing going on lately...

The house does not feel as empty and quiet as it did a week ago, but our hearts are still missing Scout every day and the character she brought to our lives. Russell still sniffs me up/down every day when I walk in the door so I believe he is still looking for her. We have been spoiling him to no end to help him adjust and not feel so sad. There was a while there where he was pretty depressed and showed little enthusiasm even for his ball, which if you know Russell, that thing is like doggy crack! There is no question, he now sleeps in the bed nightly, he goes with us to run errands whenever possible, he gets to go out in the big kid pasture every morning and evening to explore and eat horsey turds, and he gets to play a lot more ball now than he did before. So the ball has once again become the crack it used to be!!! When Scout was around we didnt play as much with him and the ball because he got a lot of excersize running around the house with her, but now that it's just him, we make sure (okay I should say he makes sure) we play ball every day! :)

Although I swore off projects for the short-term, I've decided to take on a new project! I can hardly believe it myself, but I really enjoyed the sewing wall quilt I made so I am now attempting a blanket and will definately post pics when it is finished. I have 4 fabrics I will cut into 4" squares. I sat down on the computer last night and designed my pattern so I would know how many squares to cut for each color.. I am adding some character to it by making it not quite symetrical.. is that the correct term?? basically the pattern is slightly random, but slightly similar.. very hard to explain but I'm excited that I came up with it on my own. See 2 colors will have 32 squares each, one will only have 27 and then the 4th color will only have 9 squares on the blanket.. I need to really get going on it so I can get it done in time.. lol that sounds a whole lot familiar! It HAS to be done by the 28th of this month, so I guess I have 2 weeks.

Derek and I both have switched over to basically a water-only based beverage intake! :) Every now/then we may throw in a little juice or flavored water, but I am trying really hard to only comsume water and I'm happy that Derek is as well. It will save on the cost of all that soda and it is so much better for us. Since the 1st, I've had maybe the equivilant of 1 soda and even when I drank a few gulps last weekend, I started to feel like it tasted kinda gross..

When I eat something I know I shouldnt, instead of just feeling guilty about it, I now feel gross/icky inside which I think will help me curb my appetite for the wrong foods. In the past I would eat the bad shit, love it and then felt guilty but that didnt help in the long run to keep me from eating it. But if I eat it and minutes later feel like I want to ralph it up cuz its sitting nasty on my tummy, well that feeling will help me to rethink my eating habits...

Shannon has started working Oakley on barrels this month, she has now taken over the training and selling of Oakley.. things just moved this direction which is how we had hoped it would go. She has the experience, knowledge, clients and ability to get him where he needs to be. She is confident in that he will sell when she feels he is ready to be marketed. I have pulled his ads offline and allowing her free reign on this deal. We made her an offer that should make it well worth her time to put into him. In the meantime Edgar has been hanging out just being a horse lately. I've ridden once in the past 2.5 months, I am itchen to go ride Red and for Derek and I to get back in the swing of things on our horses.

He's been pretty busy working out in the shop lately, he's working on an old 1938 panel truck that has been consuming his nights after work and atleast 1 day each weekend. He is very proud (as he should be!) of his work and its nice to see his hard work pay off every now/then! :) I think there are still a couple more weeks of work to be done for this phase anyways.

I still have a job and Derek still has a job... life is still on track! Wishin the track I was on put me in a luxury train suite instead of the caboose, but I guess we each pick our own track and follow it where it leads us.... ;)

Bye Bye Scout

Our little bean, Miss Scout died tonight. What a really shitty way to start the new year. We recently had expanded the dogs yard. Tonight, she was out with Derek feeding the big kid (Edgar) and running around and when he came back in the house, she went out the front door and when I got home a few minutes later, she was not around. We immediately went outside calling her name and walked towards the road. When we got to the road, we started to head one direction but a neighbor kitty corner to us called to us that she thought our dog just got hit by a car. We looked up that direction and just a driveway up from us, she was laying in the road. We ran to her, but she was already gone. The car that hit her had stopped up the road a ways, but never came down so it had happened seconds earlier. I dont blame the car at all, I think when we called her name, she darted out in the street to head home and the car just couldnt stop or didnt see her, it was already 5:30 so it was dark out. She didnt suffer I am so thankful for. We buried her in our yard under a tree.

Russell was pretty confused, after we buried her, he was digging at her grave and then he stood ontop of it sniffing around trying to figure out what was going on. He is upset and of course Derek and I are very upset as well. She was a fantastic dog and I dont know what the hell we do wrong to loose our animals, but we loved her so very much and things will be unbearably quiet around here.

I am posting all the best pics I have of her, there are a lot because she is just so darn adorable!!

She enjoyed camping with us!

Derek keeping her toasty on Christmas morning 2008

We like decorating too!! Or maybe we just like being lazy on the decorations :)

All snug up in the blankey

We love to play...

but I'm not ready to get up yet! :(

If I roll over all cute like, can I just go back to bed.. pleeeaaasseeee!

this is where we belong!

PeakABoo

Pretty Kids!

Nappy time

Hey, what's your name?

Did I get caught doing something wrong?

A peaceful moment

I'm a great lapdog

The family relaxing

Scout and Samantha

Is it time to relax yet?

18 days between posts.. that is unacceptable! I will try not to go so long, but its been a crazy couple of weeks. Christmas is over (as I sit here yawning..) Time to catch back up on life.

I finished all but 2 of the projects I had going.. One I didnt even get started, will save it for a ways down the road, I am just plum spent on the whole crafting and sewing issue right now. I have one other project that is 90% done, I need to finish it because I still intend on giving it as a gift this year.. It's hard to get motivated to finish it, I am so done in my head with all this! lol

I got some great gifts this year, will be making a trip to JoAnn's in the future to spend some gift certificate money; most likely will buy some material and quilting things.. I really loved making the hanging snowman quilt this year, want to attempt making a quilt for the bed, what the hell... didnt I just say I was so done with crafting! (yawn) Give me a month or so and I'll be back at it .

It was a nice holiday season, our entire family (mom's side) attended Christmas Eve this year, which was GREAT!! My uncle Paul even came, I think its been 20+ years since he's been to Christmas Eve. We played "Christmas Jeopardy" that I put together, it was a blast! Eric & Andreas dogs got into a berry tart that was left on the porch (to keep cold) and devoured the entire pie, it was quite hilarious to see how guilty they were.

Derek was out hunting yesterday and I had enough of just sitting around, so I saddled up Edgar and went for an hour ride around the neighborhood, the first time back on a horse since Halloween. It felt great to be out, Edgar enjoyed it too. While I was riding, I videod with my cell phone Edgar's head walking down the trail and then I sent it to Derek to let him know what I was doing! He said to me "I didnt give you permission to ride my horse!" lol

This week will entail getting caught back up on all the chores I have been putting off for the past 6 weeks.. I intend on getting ALL the dishes done (at the same time!) cleaning some floors that desperately need it, maybe do a little dusting and oh the laundry pile is ridiculous!! Then I'll focus on getting the horse club books all caught up for the year and try to start the new (yawn!) year fresh.

New Years Resolution: Hmmm.. I dont usually set one, I think I want to just enjoy another year of fishing, camping, lots of horseback riding, accomplishing more projects around the farm and maybe work on shrinking my figure a little, eat a little better and just work towards maintaining a better life. :) (yawn, stetch)

Tootles for now..

Tick Tock...

the good thing is that Christmas and time seems to be on the slowdown right now.. the days are taking forever to get through which gives me extra time to get my projects done! :) It probably feels like the days are so long because it is dark at 4:30pm so by the time I go to bed at 11, it's been darker outside longer than it's been light practically! lol

This has been the week of the "Deep Freeze!!" as the news likes to put it.. I just call it winter.. ;) I love this cold, I dont particularly enjoy being out in it for too long of periods of time, but it is dry and other than the damn static electricity shocks I keep getting, it has been great! I dont even have to put on muck boots to pick up apple turds, hard to complain right now. Okay the downside is that I will not be happy with my PUD bill in 2 months! There, I found the negative of this great weather.

I am happy to report I have completed 4 of my 7 projects! The last 3 are still very big projects and I am realizing I have.. OMG only 2 weeks til Christmas!! Shit! Maybe I was fooling myself above in thinking time slowed down... I need every spare minute to continue crafting and well when I have to deliver hay tonight, plans tomorrow night I cant get out of, horse club dinner Sat night.. well I guess Sunday is gonna be an all day crafting marathon!! I need to put a big dent in my projects! Seems that's all I talk about lately, but seriously thats what my life is all about for now.

Work for me has been okay, can't complain since I still have a pretty secure job as long as the company is open, I am 95% certain I will continue to always have a job! Because things are slower the boss did change/cut the insurance benefits to a cheaper plan which really sucks and I'm not at all happy about that, I now have to spend $2000 more per year and my copay went up $15 per visit... grrrrrrr That big change only saves the company about $1000/yr for the cost of me, which is frustrating and makes me want to look elsewhere. If I'm going to have shitty benefits and zero long term benefits, why the hell am I wasting my time here! But there are perks and job security is a pretty big one these days..

Dereks job is going okay, he has been put back on 5 day work weeks which is great since he had been cut to 4 days. Part of me is skeptical and wonders if they are doing it so he gets his work done faster so they can lay him off before January comes and his insurance kicks in... I know it's not the most positive approach, but if I dont think worst case scenario, then I'm not preparing myself for the what-ifs in life! :)

The new plan is to use some cash and build a fire-room off the back of the shop. We have most of the wood we'll need, we are building a room that he'll put a wood stove in that will vent all the hot air into the shop to heat it in the winter. This way the fireplace is not in the shop with the fumes.. We have been searching CL for a used wood stove, if you have one, do tell!!

Still Bogged Down..

Well I have finished 1 of my.. hmmm how many projects did I take on this year? Oh that would be 1 of 7 and then there is one more I'd like to try to do if I can swing it. I am 3/4 done with one of the other big ones, 9/10th done with another big one, 1/3 done with another and not even started on one, not even started on another, oh and maybe 1/2 done on one that must be done by the 12th! :) I think I can, I think I can.. finish in time!

whew.. Well Derek still has his job, for now :( We are thinking he'll be out of that job by Christmas unfortunately, but he's got a side job lined up that will consume all his free time once he gets laid off, which is good and he's got some other ideas floating around in his head, so we'll see where the road takes us next year.. Hopefully not very far from this house, but would love to go on a financial uphill road! lol We are trying very hard not to stress out right now, sometimes we are successful and other times we have slight meltdowns.

I think I might even be too busy with projects and stress to deal with decorating the house for Christmas this year. Plus we want to avoid large expenditures (like a tree) when possible. I'm not too upset about it, I just feel overwhelmed at the moment with all that is going on and I just dont want to deal with a tree, but I definately will miss the smell and glow of a beautifully decorated tree.

Oakley is doing great in his training with Luanne and Shannon. They told me to pull him off the internet this week, they are going to work him more on the barrels next week and get video of him and then they'd like me to up his sell price to $6500 next week!! WoW. I am super excited to have a horse worth that much, Shannon is a professional barrel trainer, so I am along for the ride on this and letting her tell me how to market/sell my horse. Derek & I are really excited to see where he might end up, can you imagine maybe some day I could be watching my horse on TV at the NFR! :) Shannon believes he has that potential to go all the way with barrels, so we'll see. I'd love to offer her a deal to train him and take 1/2 of what she can train then sell him for. Might be an option, we'll see where this road takes us.

Help, I'm drowing in projects...

I am starting to feel overwhelmed with the christmas projects I took on this year! :) I am making 4 gifts that take HOURS and HOURS each, I will be finished with 1 of 4 tonight, another one is maybe 1/4 done and the other 2 are not even started... I literally spend almost every spare moment crafting these days.

And then I decided to make another gift (completely different project)

And then I decided to possibly make another gift... for our annual gift exchange

And then I have less than 3 weeks to put together another craft project for our annual horse club christmas party that I havent started on..

What the Hell was I thinking!! ;)

I can say even though I am overwhelmed, I did find time to clean my house this past weekend, it looks really nice (well if you can look past the dusting that I didnt get to!) lol

We are doing a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year, which has many family members upset with me for not spending it with them and I dont have much to say, but that I am sorry we are being selfish this year and just going outside the box. Friday evening will be with the horse club and then Saturday evening will be with my immediate family for our own Turkey Dinner (although I think Turkey Lurky will be relieved to know we will enjoying Porky Pig for that meal!)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

(oh and ps, the horse has not sold yet, he is doing MUCH better in his training and has 1 person that wants to buy him but trying to figure out the how (is what I'm told anyways) and then another girl coming from Eastern WA within the next couple weeks to see him)

In Memory

"In Memory" © Kimberly N. Chastain

A thousand times we needed you
A thousand times we cried
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died
A heart of gold stopped beating
two twinkling eyes closed to rest
God broke our hearts to prove
he only took the best
never a day goes by that you’re not in my heart and my soul.

I found this poem on the internet and I think it is about perfect for how I feel.

2 years ago my best friend left me alone to figure out a new way of living. I may not cry every day for the ache in my heart, but the tears are only a memory or moment away from the surface.

That Horse is on Drugs...

those are the words of a buyer that came out a few days ago to see Oakley; the first and second thing out of her mouth when she walked in the barn and saw Oakley with his head hung and back leg resting. Her attitude set the tone for them looking at Oakley, he didnt behave very well under saddle, it was clear when he was ridden he was not drugged, he's just tired from being worked so much the last 2 weeks!

We moved Oakley over to Shannon place on the Mann Rd in Sultan, Luanne now trains there and they are helping me to sell Oakley, Luanne is showing him to potential buyers and refreshing his training while he is there.

Shannon is very impressed with Oakley and thinks he would be a fantastic barrel horse prospect, so she and Luanne will be working him for the next few weeks on the barrels and Shannon has a couple buyers that seem very interested after he's been worked a few more weeks. We are super excited and hope things go well, we'd love to see him go to one of Shannon's clients. They are being super great to us in working with Oakley and doing all they can to sell him. We've had some interesting people come look at him from my ads.. you meet them all in the horse world! :)

The girls also have a contact for a friend of theirs that has a big 17h Standardbred Horse that she wants to lease out to someone to trailride him. He is right down the road from Oakley, so we went to meet the horse yesterday and he's a really nice guy! His name is "Red Horse" although he is a huge bay, but he is super quiet and might be a great fit for us. So within the next couple weeks, we'll probably go out and I'll ride him and see how that works out. If it is successful, then when Oakley sells, we would most likely bring him home and lease him for an un-determined length of time.

We have the option of possibly getting Blackie Smalls back as well, which was the original plan, but then this big horse came along and Derek likes the idea of him riding Edgar. So we are not 100% sure yet on the final plans, we have a couple options and need to figure them out. I am really hopeful that Shannon's contacts will love Oakley and want to buy him, it's not about the money, I just want him to go to a great home and get used to his potential. He's a good trailhorse but he could do so much more than that and if he could be a top barrel horse, I cant wait to see that. :)

4 Gun Slingin' Jack Drinkin' Bad Ass Chicks!!

Here are the much awaited pics of me, Andrea, Shana & Jen from this past weekend in Leavenworth..

There are 16 total pics, I picked 6 to show here.. This first one is my absolute favorite! I laugh-out-loud every time I look at it..

This one looking up is a tribute to Carrie, we are hoping she is looking down at us as we look up to her.

Enjoy the rest!

So Much going on..

So after we lost our little guy Briggs, we had to gear up for a camping trip! Yes we were going camping Halloween weekend in Eastern WA.. actually Benton City which is an hour south of Yakima. A long drive! We were taking the horses over for an annual Costume Winery Ride inwhich you can dress up on horseback if you want, follow a trail through trails & vineyards stopping at 5 different wineries to test the wines and buy some if you wish. If you buy anything they put it in a bag and someone in a vehicle picks it all up at the end of the day. We are not wine drinkers.. yes we were asked many times, why the heck did you go on a winery ride if you dont drink wine?? Well we had some good friends going, we heard the riding was really nice and beautiful over there, and we thought, well maybe we'll find a wine we like.. plus we just wanted a nice relaxing weekend away, too bad that didnt happen!

Well the riding was fantastic, it was beautiful and very nice trails through little mini-canyons and up on the hillsides overlooking the river and the vineyards.. Wouldnt it have been nice to have a pic to post right now of that.. more on that later. There were well over 300 riders so the wineries were quite busy. Derek & I opted out of testing the wine, just too crowded. We did go into one winery and they happened to have vinegars and oils to test, so we bought a bottle of lemon oil and then a balsamic vinegar. We did end up buying some wine w/o tasting it, but we gave it to another camper.. more on that later!

The weather was as perfect as it could be, very windy on Saturday which worked well because it probably reached about 70 degrees and with the wind, it was very comfortable to ride in.

The problem with the weekend.. and it was a big problem, is that within a couple hours of arriving on Friday afternoon, Edgar was laying down and he was not drinking. He then started rolling while on the ground, IMMEDIATE Red Flags went flying. Well the flag was flying when he was laying down, that is not normal for him so when he started to roll, I knew he was colicking! :( So we walked him and kept him up, spent a couple hours keeping him from rolling, called my vet who said "I'm not driving to see him!" She told me to give him some bute since that is all I had and the campers next to us had electrolytes which would encourage him to drink. Derek and I finally walked over to the registration area at about 10:30pm, they were still there and asked for the phone # of any local vets incase we needed to call one out. They indicated a vet was there camping and she volunteered to see any horses that might get sick, so we called her (and woke her up). She saw Edgar and told us if he was still down in the morning, she would give him some banamine which works better than bute.

At about 1am Derek went off to sleep for a while and I was supposed to wake him in a couple hours. I stayed outside and laid on 2 hay bales with a sleeping bag over me, not so I could sleep but so I could stay warm, it was in the mid to high 30's out there.. well then it started to rain! I pulled the bag over my face, laid there with the lunge whip and when I heard Edgar try to roll, I'd snap the whip to keep him on his feet or from rolling. It rained off/on for the next couple hours and by this time, the water had soaked through the sleeping bag and my legs were now wet, I was shaking and could not stop. So I decided I would wake up Derek and when I opened the camper door, he was dressed and standing! Good timing.. He took over the next shift and I was able to get maybe 2.5 hours sleep and just as I sat up to get dressed to take over, he opened the camper door! We just were in complete sync.. :) too bad Edgar was not in sync with us. Derek slept another couple hours while I watched the sunrise, walking Edgar every now/then. He was doing okay but not great so we took him to the vet and she gave him the banamine. He immediately seemed to feel better and he started drinking! Yeah.. The vet said to wait a few hours and then it would be ok and probably good to ride him. So we did the ride and he was great, he was happy to be out, eager to walk and overall attitude was like he was never sick the night before.

As soon as we finished the ride (Derek rode Edgar I rode Oakley), Edgar was on the ground within 30 minutes of having his saddle off, so it was back over to the vet who gave him another round of Banamine.. Derek went to bed at about 7pm Saturday night, he was exhausted while I felt pretty good that day. After watching Edgar, he had not rolled in many hours, but he was laying down, I finally went to bed around 10:30pm. Basically from Friday morning til Sat night in about 40 hours, I had 2.5 hrs sleep! Got up Sunday morning, Edgar looked okay, not great. He had stopped drinking and was not eating much, we loaded up and headed home.

Edgar normally would never allow someone to approach him while laying down, but the nice thing is I got a couple cute pics of Derek & Edgar.. I am really proud of Derek, this was his first horse camping experience and unfortunately it was not the best one, but he did so good with Edgar, made sure to keep him walking and it was nice to see he didnt expect me to do all the work.

As soon as we got home, he was back on the ground laying down and rolling. DAMN! I was getting frustrated.. Colic typically lasts about 12 hours, it had been 2.5 days of this. I drove to the vet and picked up a tube of banamine, he still wasnt drinking and not very interested in his grain at all. Monday afternoon the vet came out to see him, gave him more banamine. Wed morning he was still not pooping or eating or drinking so I drove him to the vet and she did bloodwork, Wed evening vet said based on bloodwork he had either an infection or a virus, we put him on antibiotics that night. Thurs morning, there was water missing from his trough, he ate his grain, ate his hay, he nickered at me for breakfast and he pooped atleast 3 times! Since I pick poo every morning and evening, I know he typically poops 4-6 times every 12 hours... It is now Monday morning, 4 full days on antibiotics and he seems completely back to normal (except that he HATES his twice daily dose of medicine) that he will be on for another 6 days.

So it is very unfortunate that he got sick and unfortunate it cost me over $500 out of pocket, but he is worth it and I'm just happy he is recovering. I was getting very worried that nothing was working.

I was so preoccupied with Edgar, I just didnt get a chance to take more pics other than just him laying down. Poor guy spent 80% of his weekend on the ground. Oh and the bottle of wine, yeah that was for the vet that was so generous and nice to us.

Well on our drive home, we talked about Oakley. He is a FANTASTIC horse! But right now he is not the best fit for Derek and he's not the best fit for me because when I ride him he gets sore and when he gets sore, he gets cranky! I dont blame him, but I dont want to ruin him either and if I keep riding him sore, he's going to turn into a really shitty trail horse while right now he is a good trail horse. I contacted Luanne (his trainer from the spring) put him on the market, had 2 immediate inquiries and took him to her for a week of refresher and for her to show him to potential buyers. The first 2 buyers were a no go, the first guy was a dumbass and the second girl said he was too much horse for her newbie husband... Oh well, over the weekend I had 4 or 5 more inquiries and another definate coming up from Oregon on Saturday to see him. He'll stay with the trainer another week for her to continue to refresh him and show him. He is doing great, Luanne is dissappointed we are selling him, so am I but I have to do what is right for us right now. We are asking $4000 and I am super excited if he sells soon. Not cuz I want him gone, but wow! I own a horse worth that much.. that is a first for me. Makes me feel really good about all the hard work I put into him. In a couple years he would be perfect for Derek but both boys need the couple years to get more experience under their belts before they are ready for eachother. If he does not sell, I will consider leasing him long term again and as soon as he is gone, we will get Blackie Smalls back. :)

So it's been crazy with that happening so quickly and I am forking out money to keep him in with Luanne for these couple weeks.. Good thing I got a bonus this month to cover the cost of these darn horses.. ;) I do hold some guilt and reservations about selling him because he was supposed to be the horse Carrie was going to ride. Her and I had every intention of her helping me train him and do all the riding on him on the local trails and up in the mountains with me, she was excited and so was I, I would have pretty much given her that horse, she told me I could never sell him and here I am selling him :( So I am thinking of her often as I make this decision but I also realize she is not here to ride him and help me work him and I cannot hold onto a dream that will never turn into reality.

Yesterday was Carrie's birthday, 28. To Celebrate her life we had our annual cousin's gathering. Remember last year we went rollerskating and bowling! This year we decided to spend Saturday in Leavenworth and spent the night over there. What a GREAT time we had, a perfect way to remember her and enjoy some time away. Shana, Jennifer, Andrea & I all went over in our truck. Rachel and Sophy did not make it which was dissappointing because this tradition I intend to keep with us cousins is one I intend to carry on for the rest of my life and I hope the rest of 'em do too! Carrie was a big part of our cousin's gatherings and hopefully the other girls appreciate how important this is to all of us.

When we first got there, we needed some german sausages in our bellies so we stopped here and had a bite to eat, while Shana had some words with the local statue! :)

We spent the day window shopping, bought a couple ornaments for gifts. Had to visit the hat store..

We then decided to get an old time photo, man was that fun!! The girl there was super nice, we did 3 or 4 poses and then she let us do a photo looking up to heaven towards Carrie.. we bought the CD so we'd have all the pics. I forgot to grab it today to uploads pics here, but will do that tonight. 4 gun slingin' Jack drinkin badass chicks.. What a blast! Went back to the hotel (which was very nice and cute) went out to the hottub for an hour and closed it down (9:30pm) and on our way back to our room from the hottub, my feet were having a panic attack and itched so badly by the time we walked the minute to our room, they were on fire burning and itching.. the girls were laughing at me (I dont blame them!) and I didnt mean to get snappy but it hurt to badly I think I snapped at them to open the F*ing door! Sorry girls.. :( I sat and itched and itched, Andrea suggested I run them under cold water, that didnt help much.. I finally just had to bear it, put some lotion on and about 15 minutes later they seemed okay. Derek thinks I had a chlorine burn and when I got out of the hottub and hit the air, it just reacted. Other than that, the water was nice and we met 5 great ladies in there.

We then got dressed and headed to a local bar in town to people watch! :) Jen Andrea and I mostly sat at the bar and enjoyed watching Shana have a great time dancing and singing charaoke, it was fun. Talked with a couple nice guys at the bar.. watched some drunk skank makeout with one guy over and over, then go hang on other dudes.. she was nasty. Then an even nastier chick came in with her boobs literally falling out of her dress, she had them pushed up so far that they hung over! EWWWW.. She came in with a guy and they too were all over eachother, she was grinding on his leg and then after about 30 minutes, they headed to the bathroom, together! They attempted the mens room and that didnt work when someone was in there, so they headed to the ladies room. We let the bartender's know about it, how gross.. They were interrupted by the bartender and the guy was zipping up his pants as he was being escorted out. It was hilarious and disgusting!!

After the bar, about 1am, we drove around trying to find a market open to get some munchies (oh I was not buzzed so I was ok to drive!) and do you know at 1am there is not one store open in that town! lol The grocery store closes at 11pm, Mcd's was not open, the gas stations all closed.. so it was back to the hotel to munch on taffy, but.. the taffy was missing! So we layed in the dark and talked for a couple hours, slowly dying off to sleep. Andrea fell victim to sleep first after only about 40 minutes, then 20 minutes later Shana fell victim and Jen and I stayed up chatting probably another 45 minutes or more.

We stopped at the top of the pass on our drive back to get a pic in the snow, found a random cross country skiier to take our pic. It was a really nice weekend and I look forward to next year....

I LOVE MY COUSINS! (oh and Andrea, I know you are a sister in law, but for the sake of our cousins weekends, you fall in to the category of cousin!) lol

Why does October Hate Black Goats??

One year ago almost to the day, we had to take Troy to Dr Andrea and a few days later he had to be put to sleep.. Today mom found Briggs, well what was left of the poor little guy.

I dont know what the deal is, but we owned 4 goats, 2 black and 2 brown/tan. Exactly one year ago Troy died, he was black and it was October. Today (well maybe yesterday) Briggs who is also black and its also October died. :(

We are very sad, it was unpleasant to see what was remaining of the little guy. What makes me nervous is that it is unclear what happened exactly. He was devowered, half of his ribs were missing, one leg was missing but his neck was intact from the shoulder forward, so whatever it was didnt leave any cuts on what was intact. Which makes us believe Coyote inwhich a pack may have either taken him down and had their way or maybe Briggs got sick and laid down and as he lay there unable to get up, he was attacked by Coyote or maybe Cougar. He was out in the far side of the pasture, not an area the goats generally hang out.. so it is a little baffling as to what really happened, and a lot disturbing for sure.

To help protect the 2 boys that are now lonely and I'm sure scared shitless if they were "there" when Briggs was attacked, IF that is what happened, they are locked in the small corral now as we all agreed (mom/dad/Derek and I) that whatever it was, probably would not come all the way up to the barn/corral. The hope is to get some temporary fencing up soon to bring them home where they will have the security of the horses around them.

So today is a very sad day.