Scribbling Award!

I am feeling a little festive right now, as I am almost done with my monstrous, all-consuming, research proposal. This leaves me one more paper to write, two finals to study for, and then I am done until January. Yay!!!!!!

I changed the colors up a bit for the holidays, and I have already apologized to Pony Girl , for ending up with the same green color that she has, as my own background. The other reds' and greens' were to over powering...well except for one, but then I would be copying Val at Fantastyk Voyage instead. Sometimes you just can't win...lol!!!

As you can see from the cute award above, I have been chosen by Lisa and C-ingspots to be one of the recipients of the "Superior Scribbler Award!" Thanks girls!!! They are both very special women who always leave kind and uplifting comments on my blog. I appreciate it you two...I really do!!!

Now, even though I don't usually pass awards along, I think that I will on this one. (You know, just to mix it up a bit!).

The five Superior Scribblers that I am going to tag are:

1) Chelsi, over at Adventures of a Horse Crazed Mind

2) Stephanie, over at The School of Life With Horses, and the owner of my horse...teeheehee!!!

3) Winter, over at HorseCentric
4) Mrs. Mom, over at Oh Horse Feathers
5)Kacy at AllHorseStuff.

Hope that everyone is having a fabulous Friday!!!

More About Me...The Winter Version

I have once again found myself tagged (thank you Canadian Cowgirl!!!) and have decided to give it a little winter or Christmas-like twist; similar to the new tag I have seen on a couple of blogs lately.
Here goes...

1) As I have mentioned before, I love the snow, but I hate being cold. To me, there is nothing worse than being cold (am I being overly dramatic???) because it hurts... it makes my joints and bones ache (insert more drama...lol!!!).

2) I never believed in Santa Claus as a child. NEVER!!! That is why I am so happy that my kidlets do. There is something to be said about innocence that is not lost too early.

3) I have not bought one Christmas present yet, and I am starting to freak out about it! I just have not had the time to devote to shopping yet. Next week I will be able to start shopping, but until then, I will have momentary panic that surfaces every now and then about it...lol!!!

4) Even though we live in the PNW, we have a fake Christmas tree. (I can hear you all gasping through my computer screen now...lol!!!) It is just easier to have a fake tree when we have a wood stove, and it is also less expensive. I think that I paid around $180 for our fake tree (four years ago) and we used to spend about $100 each year on a real tree. Are Christmas trees expensive where you live too?

5) I love every thing about Christmas (food, gifts, family), but I think that seeing other people happy with their gifts, makes me happier than getting gifts of my own.

6) Oh my gosh!!! I can't think of one more thing right now, and seeing as how I should be--you guessed it!!--working on yet another paper, I think I will stop...lol!!!

PS-anyone who wants to play along can! :)

Let It Snow....

This past weekend we went up to Pyramid Pass ( elevation 4880 feet) for a snow-themed birthday party. There were quite a few of us, and we were all more than a little worried that we would not find any snow, as the snow level has yet to have dropped over here (very unusual). The plan was to meet at the birthday boy's house around 9:00 for donuts, coffee, and presents, and then to head up until we hopefully found snow...something that is not usually difficult to find this time of year!
The large caravan of pick-up trucks and jeeps, which contained our group, headed out into the rain and wind, and it wasn't until we reached the top of the pass, that it suddenly started snowing...thank goodness!!! Once it started however, it transformed the evergreen forest into a winter wonderland in about one hour. The kids all had a blast sledding and playing in the woods, while the grown-ups stood around the fire in an attempt to stay warm. The wind was blowing from all directions up there, and if you were not right up next to the fire, you were cold, wet, and miserable...unless you were a kidlet...lol!!! Below are some of the guys standing around the fire. Amy (the birthday boy's mother), is one of those crafty and clever people who brought a giant propane stove, hot chocolate (with peppermint schnapps in it for the adults!!), a big pot of homemade chili, and hot dogs. Needless to say, we were all well fed!! To give you an idea of just how much snow we don't have over here right now, the area we drove up to is usually closed to vehicles and designated as a snow park only this time of year. The friends that we went with are also all snowmobiler's, and they said that by now the snow is usually higher than the tress in the pictures (about 12-20 feet)!!! Craziness, huh???
Above is a picture of Eric right after he crashed on his sled. It must be nice to sled in only five inches of snow and not be bothered by all of the lumps and bumps on the ground...lol!!! Below we have Miss Katie coming down the hill with the birthday boy. She was all smiles that day... ...Until it was time to go home and she turned into my child again...lol!!!
Drive daddy, drive (below)!!!! Did you notice that Katie and I are surrounded by camouflage inside the truck??? First you had daddy in his camo; then there was Eric in his; and finally there were/are the camo seat covers, that are there to protect the leather from the kidlets! Thankfully the heat from the heated seats penetrates the seat covers too, because I think that we all had cold, wet bums, on the way down!!! All in all it was a fun day, and we can't wait for more snow to fall soon. I should mention here that I love the snow, but I detest being cold. I am fine being out in it unless I get cold and wet, and when that happens, watch out!!! I resemble Katie in the above picture...lol!!!!

I only have three more papers and three finals until I am on Christmas break, and I am so excited!!! I can see the light at the end of the fall semester tunnel. I also need to do a meme (tagged by Canadian Cowgirl!) and post a picture of all of our barn boots for Miss Lisa.

Hope you all have a happy Monday!!

Me Time!!!

Wow...I am blogging two times in as many days!!! Can you tell that the bulk of my papers are out of the way??? LOL!!! I still have two huge projects, that I really should be working on, but I am taking a small break right now.
Despite all of the homework-and life in general!-we have been getting some nice three-four hour long trail rides in on my designated riding days. (I don't care how much homework I have, there is nothing that helps to refuel my "me" tank, like being on the back of a horse and chatting with my riding pals!)
The past couple of weeks have been kind of cool and foggy, but we just layer up and go! Doesn't this picture just make you want to shiver? It does me, but maybe that's because I was down in it, and I remember the 37 degree temperature...lol!!!
This week Mr. Curly (below) was wearing a side-pull because last week he was quite chargey when we were all galloping like bats out of hell (there were four of us last week...Hi Kristina!!!) and he really wanted to be in the front. Of course, so did Bo Bo, who can also be really chargey, but I think that there is a huge difference between a 900 pound charging horse, and a 1200+ pound charging horse...there really is...lol!!!

I also tried something different with my pictures yesterday, and took them from a lower angle, to kind of give the view from the horses perspective. We did lots of exploring, both on old and new trails, and as you can see from Bo Bo's perspective, sometimes we didn't get anywhere too fast. (That is Amber and Waska circling back to tell us that we had reached the end of a trail)
Ok...so this one is shot at a higher angle, but I liked the way that it looked. It really accentuates Bo's bulgey eyes...teeheehee!!!Bo is not as adventuresome as he was in his earlier years, and as you can see in the picture below, he was not very happy to be heading in the wrong direction again. We rode on a lot of small trails that were in between, and connected to, larger ones so every time we came out on a main road/trail, Bo would shake his head, flick his tail, and do a little jig to say "Home is this way Mel, and I am ready to go there."
That is something that I have gotten used to with Bo. He is my elder and he thinks that he knows best...lol!!!

Last but not least, I couldn't not show you the T-Rex skull that we found...I mean the smelly deer carcass! There are still quite a few gut piles around, however they have now been reduced to mostly bone piles. They still stink to high heaven though!!!
Well...I am off to work on that assignment and also to get my hair cut and highlighted. I have not had a foil or cut since May, and I am in terrible need of one. I have tons of thick, crazy, curls, and I can't wait to have them chopped off and thinned out!!! All Horse, where are you when I need you??? LOL!!!
Have a great weekend you guys!!

All I Want For Christmas...

Ahhhh....Christmas...my favorite time of the year!!!! While I totally love the holidays, I never know what to say (as some of you have posted about too!) when people ask me what I want. I can never come up with any ideas. Zip, zilch, zero...lol!!! This year however, I know exactly what I want (and it is only one thing you guys!!!), so all of my family member's who silently read my blog, pay attention!!!!

Are you ready to see what it is??? Are you sure???? Just checking!!!!

Here you go....

Stretch

Stretch

Stretch

...And guess what?? He is located in Eastern Washington, and if you hurry, you can make it over the pass before the snow hits...teeheehee!!!

How could you not love this horse??!! He is absolutely gorgeous and he seems to have a great mind/heart as well. I think that he would fit in with my family quite nicely, don't you???? What's that you said??? He's not an Arab? I think that I could overlook that just this once...lol!!!Anywho...he's it!!! He is what I want to see under the tree (or out in the barn!) on Christmas morning. Pony Girl's family did it for her, so it is possible to do, and I am sure that I could put you all in touch with her family if you would like to work out the logistics...teeheehee!!! (Just joking!!!)

PS- Thanks for letting me do this Stephanie...I owe you one!!!!

Butterfly Kisses...or Not!!!!

So now that you all know how "normal" my life is, it is time to get back to the business of appearing perfect (just kidding) lol!!!! Not one, but two wonderful bloggers have bestowed me with the Butterfly Award, and I appreciate it from the bottom of my perfect little heart...teeheehee!!!
Seriously though, Lisa and Canadian Cowgirl passed this on to me, and I thank you both! I am sure that I am supposed to tag other people, but I think that just about all of you have been tagged already. If you haven't, then consider yourself tagged! Everyone is obviously caught up in the spirit of giving, and I think that it is wonderful! :) I love all of my bloggy friends!!! On a different note...there are a lot of negative vibes out there in blogging land, and I hope that those of you who are having a difficult time, or feeling down, realize that there are lots of us out there who care about you and support you! Hang in there and feel better soon! :)
Now I have to go back to writing my 12 page paper on the effects of divorce on children. That's a cheery topic, eh???

My Patience Wears Thin....

So as not to give anyone a false impression of my kidlets (remember yesterday when I was so shocked by their angelic behavior at school?), I feel that I should expound on their behavior at home lately. Sometimes I read my blog and think "Gee, it kind of sounds like we are all one big happy family who gets along and never has any problems." Let me be the first to tell you that we do have our problems and our life is far from perfect. My husband and I work hard to make our relationship work. It is not one of those "I met my dream man, fell madly in love, and lived happily ever after" scenarios, and I am sure that he feels the same way about me...lol!! Don't get me wrong...we love and care about each other, but having kid's, a mortgage, a mom/wife who is back in school and not working, all cause significant stress to each and every one of us. I guess it is important to me that you all know this, because I have come across several blogs (none that I frequent, so don't worry!!!) where all it seems they write about is how wonderful life is, how uber great their kids are, and how they don't have a care in the world. Just know that because I choose not to bore you with the things in my life that stress me out, doesn't mean that it (stress/life/worry) doesn't occur. :) Trust me...I can bitch with the best of them...lol!!!
Back to the subject at hand...Lately, all my kidlets have been doing is fighting and acting like little beasts at home. No...they are not modeling me and their dad, as we don't fight in front of them (we have minor disagreements in front of them, but we don't fight), so I would sure like to know who gave them a pamphlet on "How to Fight 101."

It starts the moment they wake up ,and it continues until they finally shut their eyes. I know that it is just a phase that they are going through, but it is driving me nuts!!!! I feel that at ages six and nine, they have suddenly regressed to two and three...lol!!! The most frustrating thing about it is that I can't do anything, because all I do is discipline them. Grrrrrrrr......I DETEST having to be on top of them all of the time, and the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that this is just a stage, and that it will pass.

Anywho...sorry to rant and rave, but I am just trying to keep it real!!! It is important to me that you all realize that the same cute, little kids who ride horses, go hunting, and get good grades, also yell, scream, hit each other, and give me wrinkles!!!
Now...go have a nice soothing bubble bath, or a relaxing glass of wine, and think of me!! ;)