Does Anyone Blog Anymore?

Well hello there! Does anyone even blog anymore? I am thinking that I may give it another go......A lot has happened since my last post, but I am not going to bore e dry one with that now. Just thought I would get on and see who is still around. Until next time!  :  )

Still Here!!!!

Hello everyone!!! Once again.....it has been way too long since I last blogged. And I thought that life was going to slow down once I was done with school......Boy was I wrong!!!!!

Now that I am done with school,Katie has been playing sports as well as Eric, and we have literally spent M-Th and every Saturday, over the past two months, attending basketball games for both kidlets. Phew....glad that is done! However, baseball is already going for Eric and Katie starts fast pitch next month. We have been so busy that I have not even been able to ride for the past three months. I haven't even seen the horses. Until today, because I am feeding them while Amber is gone this weekend, and boy did it feel good to run my hands under their warm blankets and breathe in their horsey scent. Ahhhhhh.....there is just something about a horse that makes it all feel better, right?


Oh, and of course Amber has been harassing me about getting a horse. I really want one, but I have been just too darn busy. Speaking of that, I am thinking about returning to grad school. Yep...call me crazy, but I am really considering it. For one thing, there is now a part-time, advanced standing MSW program that will only take me one year to complete. And for another thing, once I have my MSW, I can do shift work at a hospital, which means that I won't have to work M-F anymore.

I am afraid that having always worked in the health care field has ruined me. This is because I have always worked three 12 hour shifts, or four 10's. And I hate to say it, but it really spoiled me, and I am not cut out to working M-F. Okay. There. It is out. So....anywho, I am going to meet with an advisor at UW to see about returning. Call me crazy!!!!

In other news, my family and I went on a great winter vacation last month to Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg ID. We went with some good friends of ours and we had a really good time. The resort has an indoor water park and it also has a gondola (20 minute ride!) that takes you up to Silver Mtn. The kidlets snowboarded and even I put on a pair of skis...something I had not done in over 18 years. Thankfully, I only fell once in two days of skiing, and I didn't break any bones...lol!!!

Well, I hope you enjoy my update. I am going to try to catch up on every one's blogs tonight. Not that I will be able to keep up or anything...lol!!!!!

If It's Not One Thing.......

Hello....hello!!!!!! I am thinking that everyone has figured that I quit blogging. Not quite the case. It is true that I have not been on Blogger in like...I don't know...two-three months???? BUT, I am not done with all of you yet!!!! LOL!!!!

What has my problem been???? Honestly???? I have had a really difficult time adjusting to working everyday. There. I said it. Plain and simple....I wish I only worker three days per week. I have been spoiled the last three years in school, and going back to work has definitely taken some getting used too. Now before you get all put-your-big-girl-panties-on-and-quit-complaining on me, just know that until the last three years, I worked 30-40 (or more) hours per week, so it is not like I did not know what I was getting myself into. And for the record, I am working 30 hours per week, M-F, 9-3:30. Now when you factor in my 45 min. commute it gets a bit longer, but that is the price you have to pay to live out in the country....and I am okay with that.

I just wish I were home more......

My job??? I really love it. I enjoy working with elderly residents and their families, and boy do I have some good stories to tell! (Paying attention to privacy laws and using fake names etc... of course!!!) It is nice to be out in the real world and to be treated like a real person again, rather than a student. It is also kind of weird to return back to the workforce as a professional and not just a worker bee.

When I was a nurse, I was "just a nurse," but now I have some serious credentials and education behind my name and other professionals actually listen to what I have to say. It has taken some getting used too, and I am not bashing nurses or other worker bees, because they are really the eyes and ears of the health care field. And CNA's??? They should get paid way more than they do...just saying.

So....I am still here, and I am hoping that I am finally getting into the swing of this working thing. Enough said about that for now.....
On the horse front, I have only gotten to ride a small handful of times lately, even though Amber now has the weekends off too. Why???? Because I only have my weekends to get hundreds of things done, which has included attending my kidlet's volleyball and football games on Saturdays, and taking them up snowboarding.

I know, I know...that's how it is when you work, right??? Oops, I am not supposed to talk about that anymore...lol!!!! : )

It's all good though. I hope that I can stop off at some of your blogs and do some serious catching but, but I may have to start over from scratch alright???

Thanks for listening to me vent and I will be back soon....I promise!!!

Fall Is Here.....

....And you would think that I would have some pictures of our gorgeous fall scenery, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, my camera just cannot capture the details or adjust to the dim lighting in the forest right now. Trust me, I have tried......
I want a new camera for Christmas. : )



There is definitely no denying that fall is here right now, as the days are sunny and warm (warm only in the sun though!) and the nights are clear and cold. The leaves on the trees are brilliant shades of orange, red and yellow, and all of the roads, trails, and paths are littered with the fallen ones. I love it!!! Spring and fall are my favorite seasons, because of all of the colors that burst forth out of nowhere, but summer has my heart when it comes to long, hot days.....sigh....



Sorry that it has been forever and a day since my last post, but I have been really busy (what's new, right??? LOL). I have been working at my new job the past three weeks, and I absolutely LOVE it!! However, I feel really bad, because a part-time, 30 hour per week, job opportunity opened up at a large facility much, much closer to my home and I just accepted their offer.



This means that I have to tell my other new job that I am leaving and give my two-week notice. I am sure that they will not be happy....
The new job will be a lot of fun, because I know the social work supervisor and one of the social workers really well. It is also only a 40-60 minute commute (depending on traffic) whereas the location I am at now is a 60-100 minute commute. Nasty!!!!



I also think it will be nice to work 9-3:30 everyday, and to have a consistent paycheck. Consistent paychecks mean more money, and more money means that I can get a horse sooner; although I am threatening to buy Waska from Amber...lol!!! I pretty much just ride him now and I really, really like him. Thankfully, he has recovered from his mild bout of laminitis, and appears to be doing well on his new insulin resistance diet. We shall see...



Well, I am off to the grocery store. hope you are all doing well, and I will try to catch up this weekend. : )

Back and Forth....

Hola!!! Nice helmet shot, eh??? Not to totally start off "off topic" but when my hubby saw this picture he said "...Oh, you are still wearing that thing??? I figured that you were just saying that you did..."

Huh??? He was the one who said I had to wear a helmet and be responsible (his words, not

mine) now that I had children. So...even though I know it is a good idea to wear one, I didn't for over 25 years and it really makes my head sweaty and itchy on warm days. In the future, maybe I won't wear it all of the time.....

Okay, back on topic...here we go.....

I really like my new job so far. I have only gone to a two day orientation, but I will actually start out on the floor this Friday. My only problem is I do not have many nice clothes, so I am going to have to go shopping. Which will probably be kind of fun because all of the new fall styles are out and I have nothing...lol!!As previously mentioned, Amber and I have been putting the miles on the ponies lately and it has been wonderful. Seeing that bear cub was amazing, and we pretty much see wildlife every ride now, which is kind of strange 'cause we are used to just seeing their tracks.

In the picture below (which was taken in an area that is undergoing tree thinning vs. deforestation) we saw an elk herd that was being led by a big bull. We chased them for a bit, but by the time I had my camera out, they were gone.As you can see from the picture below, we have been taking Miss Sienna out with us, as it gives her something to look forward to and some exercise as well. She does a great job of keeping up with the big boys too!Well, that's it for now. I have to head out shopping and clean my house up a bit. Eric's birthday party is on Saturday (his birthday is Friday) and I have a lot of people coming over to help celebrate. Hope all of you are having a great week so far... : )

Geez.......

Hey there all!!!

I just wanted to pop in and say "thank you" to everyone who left comments. I guess I will keep this blogging thing up for a while longer...lol!!! I have had a crazy busy weekend (with lots of riding!!) and start my new job tomorrow, so it may be a day or two before I have time to post again.

Again....thanks for understanding my blogging hesitation. You are all the best. : )

New Beginnings?

(Before I start, I want to apologize for the "ALLPOSTERS" image over most of the pics in this post. I googled "black bears" and these are a few of the images that popped up)

I have not posted in a long time. I don't even know if anyone even comes here anymore, except my mom (Hi mom!!!). I have deliberately been missing-in-action because I have been uninspired or unsure about what to blog about. I must say that I have been having a great time these past few weeks (because the kidlets are in school) and I have doing a whole lot of whatever I feel like doing, such as horseback riding and hiking. I am down 16 pounds in the last two months, and that makes me happy (and healthy!) too.Speaking of riding, Amber and I had the pleasure of seeing a black bear cub on a recent ride; hence the bear photos. He was definitely this past springs cub, but thankfully, we did not have the pleasure of meeting his momma too.

And he was the cutest little thing ever!! I can see how people get themselves into trouble with bear cubs, because we wanted to run over and pick him up...not that we would ever do that in 100 years, but I am just saying..... Waska (who I was riding), Bo (who Amber was riding), and Sienna (who Amber was ponying) didn't even bat an eye, and he was only about 65-70 yards away. I am still not sure what to think about that....Maybe they are just really desensitized to the scent of bears, and maybe we ride by them more than we know....

Now, I am pretty sure that his momma was near by, so after he appeared to not be afraid of us at all, I yelled a couple of times to send him on his way. Funny thing though, he actually came closer after my first yell. Again, maybe not so surprising considering we were about 1/8 of a mile down the road from an elementary school.Now where was I??? Oh yes....blogging. I am thinking that I may change my name to reflect where I am in my life right now, and that I may post on things other than horses. There will still be horsey posts, but horses are not the center of my life right now.

Maybe I could just change the order of the words in my title? I am not sure....

It is either change or quit though, and I am not so sure about the quit part....

Bear...I mean bare... with me a bit longer...I will figure this thing out. : )