Bigger!

Happy happy birthday baby!

Hell Hath Frozen Over

We went to the barn today.

Yeah, you heard me. Hell froze over and we went to the barn. We got the lil player ready, piled everyone into the car, hit the BK for our Croissanwich and coffees (oj for the lil guy), and drove to the farm to ride the ponies.

Why does this mean hell hath frozen over? Well, there was an inch or two of the white crap called snow in the ground this morning. When we walked into the barn and saw some of my friends they said, "Hell froze over! You're here!"

Yeah - just because we haven't been there since oh, March.

Silly friends. :p

Sometimes People Try Too Hard...

Have you ever noticed that at the beginning of relationships people tell little white lies? Have you ever noticed if they don't lie, they tend to only tell half-truths? I have.

It's got to be something about ourselves that makes us do it. Insecurity? Wanting to be liked? Believing that our true selves probably aren't interesting, cool, or wonderful enough to make the person we want notice, love, and adore us? Who knows. It just seems to be a trend that I've noticed in my own dating life and in watching my friends too.

I remember how Randy and I started our relationship. We were on the phone til the wee hours of the morning. The chemistry was clear in those first phone calls. Our interests, hopes and dreams seemed to dovetail in a way that's really unusual. We couldn't wait to meet one another. I had a feeling things would take off - and they did.

Randy and I are nearing our one year anniversary. As the date nears, I can't help but reflect on where we've been in that year, the changes in our lives, and where we're hoping to go in the future. Sure, it's not been perfect. We've had some moments. Our children. Inconvenient exes. Hectic schedules. Demands of juggling school, work, family, and the past we each brought to our relationship.

However, as I look at where we are today - we've always been honest. The things we told one another in those first conversations were true. He wanted to start riding horses. I wanted to start hunting and learn to shoot a gun. We both value our time with our family. We both like having a busy life full of ordered chaos. We both like to snuggle and keep our loved ones close. As the year has progressed, it's hard to say this hobby is mine and that one is his. We share just about everything - kids, dogs, dreams, hopes, fears.

It's been a pretty special year. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. And you know what? No matter how hard it's been - together we've made it through because we have one another, and we're a damn fine team.

Welcome Lily Lu!

In case you haven't met her yet, behold Lily, the newest addition to our family. We brought Lily home form her breeders a week ago, and she's been a super fun addition to the family. She's not perfect, but really, what 8 week old puppy is? She slept through the night every night but the second one. She's not had any accidents in her crate in the bedroom. She's also been pretty good in the downstairs. (Of course, I forgot how much "fun" it is to run a puppy outside every five minutes! UGH.)

Lily came from a breeder in northern Minnesota. She's bred to perform. Hopefully she'll be our hunting dog in the future. Of course, that's assuming we get potty training down, and leash training, and obedience, and all that stuff. We may end up sending her out for gun dog training, but that's yet to be determined.

What I do know is she's been a lot of fun so far. Hopefully that will continue.

Can you hear me now?

Everyone remember the post a few months back about the crazy instructor at school? Well it has happened again and worse. New instructors with no experience teaching, switching instructors as well as some totally off the wall comments from the other instructors. 4 weeks into this quarters classes so many people where complaining the Dean of Education and Department Chair came down to address the class and to "flush out the issues". They tried to rope me into the conversation but knowing what this meeting was I didn’t bite on the bait I just politely informed them that a 1 hr meeting wasn’t enough time to cover all the issues I have with the school. They said give them 2 weeks and they will check back in. So that 2 weeks came and went, then they didn’t check back in. Several students emailed them but didn’t get anything in response.

So I decided to do what I know how to do best, become a royal pain in someone's ass :). I contacted the organization that accredits the school and had a letter written up signed by all the students in my program stating the issues as the students see them and the remedy that the students feel MUST be met in a timely manner including some monetary compensation for the total lack of service. The organization contacted me back in less than 10 hrs and is all over this issue like stink on shit :) They want each student on the letter to fill out a complaint form just to help drive the point home.

I am also going to contact the Attorney General’s office just to help mediate the monetary compensation part of the whole mess.

I have a feeling someone somewhere is really going to hate me but you know what I am ok with that.

Some pizza fun.

Granty pants, Randy, the girls and I went to the cabin this weekend. We fished. We swam. We ate pizza. We ate at the A-Pine. We napped. We had fun. The end. ;)