Snowy Pictures

Here are my boys out in the snow. Annie and I took these around Christmas I guess. The new additions are the boys' pasture buddies, I don't know there real names so we call them Merry and Pippin. Annie didn't like them at first but i think they grew on her a bit :-) They are so cute! and they are at the perfect hight to hug their little heads. I have a wee bit too much fun with the mini's i think :-) And as you can see Marky and I are bonding quite nicely :-) He's my pal now, but he still poops too much. And of course Stitchy LOVES Annie, he is SO happy when he sees her. I am planning on teaching him some tricks, so that he can do nothing else he can entertain :-) Bodyguard, poor thing, grumpy as always, most of his photos came out with a wretched look on his face and he is not very photogenic as it is so many were deleted. His best photos always were taken over fences. He has fabulous form while he is jumping. Well I guess I'm just rambling on. Enjoy the photos.

Thank God for Espresso and Chocolate

I would not have made it through the day is that little goat hadn't started dancing all those years ago. And I am so grateful that God had created caffeine in the first place :-). In all my exhaustion I am thrilled that these past two days have gone so well. However in the midst of the good chaos there were some serious negativities that took place. Today started out just fine, i was a little late in getting up, but i thought i had plenty of time to get done what was needed. I went into the kitchen turned on Rachel Ray and started my dishes and some chicken on the stove (i haven't gotten a chance to eat said chicken so i don't know if it is tasty or not, but i sauted habanaero peppers and pineapple with tequila until it turned into a beautiful caramel glaze and the chicken was a golden brown - mmmmm). Anyways after this was done I was heading out to see "my boys" and make sure they were comfy in the chilly air when i saw that i had missed a text asking me to make a milk run for the shop. Crunched my time a bit and i was running about 1/2 hour late. Mom and I had a bit of a tiff, of which I am sorry. But that was the first mocha downed, oh so much better. And to make the hectic day even more so the cycle of life decided today was the day she was planning a visit. Which did not help the emotional train at all. ah but the mocha did help so very much :-). As the afternoon went on the shop was BUSY which was great!!! but i hadn't eaten anything since my blueberry muffin at 8 am so at about 4:30 down went the second mocha. At about 5 i found out that my horses board was going up and care was going down, so i was furious, i vented to a friend via e-mail, the shop continued to be slammed (again wonderful) a couple of good friends came in to visit and we talked horses and life for 15 min or so and then a third rush for the day started and so still nothing to eat. It is now 8:30 and i am just sitting down to vent and eat my first full meal of the day. And though now i have been closed for half an hour I still have a mostly full house and it would appear to remain that way for at least til 9, meaning that i won't get home until 10. So as complete exhaustion sets in I am greatful for my mother who brought me food for dinner, my father who came and helped me with the dishes, my friends who have let me vent, given me ideas, and given me hope. I am grateful for the customers who will help me pay my mortgage this month. But above all I am thankful for that little goat who danced on a hill, and whoever decided coffee was better with chocolate, to them I applaud for helping me get through a hectic day!!!

I found the house I want!!!

The only problem is it is $5.9 MILLION!!!!! But a girl can dream right?? :-)

60+ Acres in CT, 11k+ sq ft. , 8 stall barn and what a view!!! I definitely think I could get used to all that space!WHAT A VIEW!

A ROUND ON THE HOUSE!

LOOK AT ALL THAT IVY!!!

POOL PARTY ANYONE??

HERE'S THE BARN :-)
I THINK NAKIMA WOULD LIKE HER NEW BACKYARD!

UMM, YEP I WOULD DEFINITELY ENJOY COMING HOME!

I CAN SEE "THE BOYS" LIKING THERE NEW HOUSE TOO!

My New Horse Mark!!

Perfection is Found In the Imperfections

How do you tell someone that you love the way they perceive the world is not how the rest of the world perceives it? How do you tell someone that you love that the flaws they see in others are reflections of their own self? How do you tell someone you love that the world is not a wolf with his teeth barred waiting to devour them at their first wrong step? How do you tell someone that you love that it is their imperfections that make you love them? How do you tell someone that you love that a little more forgiveness toward the ones they love is necessary? My motto for life is simple, perfection is found in the imperfections. Many people have told me that the previous statement is a complete impossibility, but I beg to differ. If you think about it why do you love someone, and what really is love? You love the person for everything that they are, you don't just love them for what they do perfectly. And what makes that person who they are, is their quirks and funny idioms. And isn't that what love is? Loving someone for their downfalls, for their imperfections and accepting them for who they are, their entire self. It is hard when you watch someone be hurt by the ones they love because they are looking at the world as they believe it should be, not how it is. And it is harder still to watch them hurt those around them by not showing love in a way many understand. But again I ask, how do you tell that person that you love that the world is not perfect, that people do not know all things and neither do they?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving has to be my favorite Holiday. Now don't get me wrong, I get into the Christmas spirit more than the next person, but there is something about a Holiday that is not quite as commercialized as the next. The simplicity that we all enjoy spending time watching football (well obviously I don't normally partake in that tradition :-)), eating fabulous food that was prepared for hours, the conversation of family and friends, hopefully some good wine, board games are of course a must, and let's not forget the PIE!! :-) But on this day we are supposed to think of what we are thankful for as this year heads to a close. So please remember what good this year has brought you and what next year has to offer. I hope that you take a moment to realize what you have learned these past months and what knowledge you can take into the Christmas season. I hope that you take the time to breathe deep and take a break to enjoy this holiday. I hope you never loose that childlike sparkle for the excitement of Christmas and leave some cookies out for Santa. I hope you say thank you today, to those you love most, for being there when you needed a shoulder to cry on, a hand to help you up and a push to keep you moving forward. With much love and great thanks I wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Vacation

Isn't it amazing at how refreshed you feel after a good vacation?? I'm not talking about a trip that was packed to the hilt you spent hundreds of dollars a day on food and got a new pair of blisters on your feet every night. I'm talking about a real vacation, one where you actually get to take a deep breath and taste the world around you (hopefully where ever you are has clean air and not smog because that just wouldn't be fun).

For those of you who know me you know I work allot, and when I say allot I mean minimum 50 hours a week in store plus whatever doing the books and such. Most recently for the past 6 weeks or so I was putting in 70+ in store so you can imagine how I felt. Now of course this is nothing to my sister, but thats another tale. So thanks to my wonderful family they shipped me off to CO to hang with a friend who had moved out there a few months back. This trip was packed with hikes, cycling, horseback riding, horse shows and of course tack shop hopping (one of my favorite past-times). And yes I was exhausted each night, and my lungs hurt from the lack of oxygen at 4000 feet, and my skin seemed to be robbed of all moisture but it was fantastically refreshing. On day 3 & 4 I must admit that I was still dreading the homecoming my brain was still in overload, and it still felt like a Sunday. And even when I stepped on the plane to fly home I had a slight feeling of depression. It was good to see my dog, I had missed

her terribly. And it was nice to go out and see my boys (which now total 3 big handsome bay beasts)


But still the thought of the shop that for the past year+ I had toiled, cried, and sweat for was the one thing I did not want to face. I must say that I felt some sort of remorse for my feelings. Walking into the Bean I felt the love and warmth that made this place what it is. And suddenly all the good memories came flooding back, the smiling faces of the customers who were glad to see me again & my employees who were happy (if not relieved) to have me back. I realized that I had forgotten what my little shop looked like. Not physically of course I remembered the red floors & the Chinese lanterns swinging from the lofted ceiling but I realized that I had forgotten to look at any of these large details let alone the small ones long before I had left for my break. And in that second of walking through my little door it again felt like home, I remembered how much I truly love the Bean and all I do here. You know this line is a favorite in movies how "it took almost dying for me to realize what is important" for me it just took a trip to Boulder, CO and a big deep breath of fresh mountain air. <3

Exploration

I love music and I feel that I have a relatively wide repertoire of artists and genres that I listen to. However as I found myself clicking from one artist to the next I found myself in among musicians whom I had never heard of, only to find that some of my favorite songs were done by these artists, now you might find this odd but I listen to the radio quite often and they do not always announce the artist. So as I found myself thinking about how much I have missed out on by not knowing the artist's name and not being able to enjoy the rest of their works when I began thinking about what else I might be missing out on by staying in my small circle of knowledge. I have always criticized people who seem to stay in their own circles refusing to branch out and find something new, or those who take what is said as truth without doing the research and seeing what other truths may be laying within.
When you realize that as human beings we on average use only a small percentage of the full capability of the mind, why is it that we assume we are smart? Do we know the answers to some of the greatest mysteries on earth? Do we grasp the vastness of our universe that we still cannot see the end of even with our modern technological advances? How come is it, at an age of discovery and advancement, that we seem content that once we have finished the required schooling we need not learn? And how is it that even the educators that are supposed to teach the young impressionable minds fall guilty to it as well? Why is it that they(teachers), who should see, the importance of expanding the grasp of knowledge everyday are forced to teach the bare minimum to the future generation? Why does it seem that we have lost the desire to explore? Is it because the obvious area for exploration have been discovered? Especially with satellites and and telescopes there is not a place on earth that cannot be seen. But what about the lost history of the world? There is so much we still don't know, the easter island mystery, how exactly were the pyramids built, and why. But even here in present day there are plenty of things that we do not know or understand. And there are issues that drag on because un/ileducation continues to flourish. There are things that everyone should take part in and have an interest in learning about that the majority seem to disregard. Can you imagine what a great nation we would be if every American took it upon themselves to continuously study and strive to expand their mind?

Football

Over the weekend I attended my first football game. For those of you who find it astonishing that a 24 year old American has never once watched a football game I must explain. My family has never been a sports family, at least not traditional team sports, my cousins did play ice hockey growing up and I remember watching the Devils practice quite often at the local rink. There was a brief stint when my older sister was a Mets fan, but I believe that just lasted through High School. Other than that we have been faithful equestrian fans since my little sister and I are actively involved in the Hunter Jumper arena. So now you may ask, what prompted this visit to the football stadium? My little sister is in the marching band, more precisely, in her first year of marching band she was selected to be pit leader of the band. So I found myself wandering in, lost, in support of my dear kid sister. I found her and she told me to select a seat near the 50 yard line since that would supply best visual for the half-time game which she would be performing. Since I had gotten there rather early I found a fabulous seat, front row at the 40 yard line. This section of general admission was soon filled up with the "gorilla killaz", the school spirit section (since the opposing team's mascot was a gorilla). Oh Joy. Now even though I did not grow up watching sports, since I moved here to the MidWest, and no one out here has any idea who the Devils are, I have found the opportunity to go to several team sport events. My company sponsored a kids softball team in the spring and I caught on pretty quick, I enjoyed the major league baseball game I had attended and I have learned to love soccer so I figured football wouldn't be so hard. Boy was I wrong. Flying solo to this event I had no one there to coach me on how the game was played so I was forced to learn by observation only. So after the first hut (is this the right term?) I tried desperately to find the ball. To no avail. I had no idea where it went after it left the hands of....was it the quarter back? So next start I figured I would watch to see who was being chased or tackled to see if I could follow the ball. So at the next start I had my eyes peeled on the field hoping to see where the majority of the action was so that I could see which team ended up with the ball. But it seemed to my untrained eye that everyone was tackled and half, if not more, of the field ended up on the ground! So I resorted to cheering when the "gorilla killaz" did and trying desperately to figure out what was actually going on. I began to get bored of this exercise about half-way through the 2nd quarter so I decided to start listening to the coaches. Well as it would turn out the seat I had selected was perfect for that. I was seating directly behind the defensive line and was able to hear the coaches very clearly, well as long as the "gorilla killaz" were not shouting out some obscure command about breaking someones legs and how some of the players were of a variety of choice words. It also seemed that fate was smiling in my direction that day since the assistant defensive coach was rather handsome and so I found it pretty easy to watch and listen to him. Half-time went on without a hitch, except the baton twirler dropped the baton on a few occasions, and I have seen better dancers. I have to say watching my sister beating the gong, and running the mallets was very impressive. After a very long second half and 2 over-times we lost the game. And so this is what I walked away with; 1) the defensive team plays in order to get the ball back into our hands, 2) the assistant defensive coach is very handsome, 3) the offensive team is supposed to score, but seems to let the opposing team take control of the ball too often, 4) did I mention he had dark curly hair? and 5) football should be called warball. Why you may ask? Well first of all it has nothing to do with feet except that the players are running on them and are continuously tripped up and fall off of them. And secondly it reminded me of the strategies of war. The soldiers (team players) go out and do what their CO's (Commanding Officers/Coaches) tell them to do in order to win their country (ball). Each play is like a small battle in the great war and the soldiers fight tirelessly to gain each goal and to keep their country ruling their territory. Oh and did I mention that one coach was hot??