It's Deer Season!

November is Christmas Bizarre Season which means it's reindeer time. I got 20 of them ready to leave for Jingle Bell Boutique on Wednesday.

Here is how they are born.

First I cut out the bodies and heads, flip them inside out and pin them.

Sew around edges and flip inside out.

Stuff stuff stuff.

Sew up holes and ad beads for eyes.

Cut holes for antlers and legs and hot glue them in.

Decorate and they're done!

Day 18: Something you crave a lot

Since I'm super behind on this and not inspired by this subject I'm going to go with the obvious and say sweets. I crave sweets ALL the time. Especially when I'm losing creativity at work. This usually means I finish the best bits in my lunch by 10 a.m. and by noon I'm out of food for the day. By 2 I often end up at the college bookstore or cafeteria for another snack. I've reached an all time high in weight and as my 30th year approaches I know it's going to get harder and harder to get rid of it. I need to start making better lunches. Starting Thursday :)

Day 17: A photo of you and your family.

This is a photo of my Dad's side of the family from Easter right after a vigorous Easter Egg hunt. From left to right: Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-In-Law, me, Husband, Aunt, Cousin, Uncle and Cousin. I love these holiday get togethers. We always have plenty to catch up on. Next up is Grandpa's Birthday Party next week. I missed my cousin Blake's Birthday last weekend cause I forgot to write it down. DOH! Sorry Blake.

Day 16: Your celebrity crush.

Right now. The Rock.

I know it's stupid but I was tired enough yesterday to sit in front of the TV and watch a significant amount of WWE RAW. I used to watch it all the time and had a huge crush on The Rock in the past. Now he's back to wrestling and the crush is coming back. I love a tall, dark and handsome with big muscles. I also love a great smile with dimples. All are qualities my handsome husband James has. :)

Day 15: Something you don’t leave the house without.

I cannot leave the house without my iPhone. I don't know how I ever survived without it. I love always having the internet right there with quick access to the weather, facebook and YouTube. I love all my apps such as Pandora, IMDB, Words with Friends, Angry Birds and my interval timer for the running program Amanda and I are doing. It's also a camera and video camera. It's the perfect tool and it fits in my pocket. I actually don't use it for an actual phone all that much though I do enjoy unlimited texting.

Day 14: A TV show to which you’re currently addicted.

Most of the shows I watch I DVR. I watch them whenever I have time. There is one show that I cannot wait until days have past. That show is Human Target. It's a comic book based action drama series about a unique team of personal security experts. The second season wrapped up over a month ago and I've heard rumors that there won't be a third season which is disturbing. There is so much great about this show. It's funny, full of action and the characters are fantastic.

Day 13: Your favorite musician and why.

Pass. I don't like this one. Here are some pictures of my cats instead.

Logan and his tender underbelly

Bella in the fuzzy elephant condom bed

Punkin just chillin

Penny in a box

Day 12: A photograph of the town you live in.

I'm proud to live in the city that hosts the Washington State Fair or The Puyallup Fair. A fair so awesome that it claimed the domain name www.thefair.com. I have been doing the Puyallup every year of my life and plan to continue the tradition. This year when I go to the fair I will be 29. My mom will tell you that I've been to the fair the last 31 years. Figure that one out. ;)

Day 11: What’s in your makeup bag?

I'm sure this is something people are just dying to know. I can't believe I took the time to take a picture. I don't claim to know anything about applying makeup. The eye shadow set I bought from Costco has a black shade. I tried to do a smokey eye with it one night. I looked like I just finished a MMA fight. Never again without professional assistance.

This is pretty much what I use:

• Covergirl foundation
• Some pinky blush
• Clinque eye tint
• Kirkland eyeshadow (Yay Costco!)
• Kirkland compressed eyeliner
• Eye lash curler (my eyelashes point straight down)
• Lash Blast mascara
• And cucumber coldcream to get it all off so I can start over tomorrow.

Day 10: A photo of our favorite place to eat.

Hands down my favorite place to eat is Black Angus. I don't make a habit of randomly taking pictures of my favorite restaurants so here is a picture of my favorite meal there. James and I always get the Campfire Dinner for Two. With our coupon of course. $39 gets you an appetizer, 2 entrées and a dessert to share. It's such a treat and I don't have to do dishes. SCORE!

Day 9: A photo of the item you last purchased.

As far as items it would have to be groceries. Probably more Chobani yogurt. I don't want to throw another picture of that up again. The last money I spent was on a chiropractic adjustment from Dr. Stillwell for my horse Justin. It's his second treatment and he seems to be moving way better through the shoulders. He still has a vertebrae out in his neck that may take another couple treatments to fix it because his ligaments are so tight. Justin hasn't been entirely cooperative with that particular area near his poll either. I know how much I benefit from chiropractic work and I hope Justin is feeling the same kinds of results.

Day 8: A song to match your mood.

Currently my mood is tired. I've been on my computer way to long designing stuff, getting organized and playing with my fake frontier. It's been a busy week and I'm very thankful tomorrow is Friday. A song to match my mood right now would be pretty slow and boring. So rather than choosing a song to match my mood I'm going to pick a song that changes my mood. When I get tired and have creative block at work I go to my Pandora and hope the Numa Numa song comes on. And I've hit Like so many times that it does come on a lot. It's actually called Dragostea din tei and it's performed by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone. It's so silly and it makes my happy every time I hear it.

Here is the video that made it famous. I want to dance just like him when I hear it. It's so hard to contain myself at work.

Day 7: Your dream wedding.

March 7, 2004

Well I'm already happily married so dreaming about a wedding now would be a waste. I thought my wedding was pretty perfect. I was married in a little chapel that was previously a nail salon and is now a nail salon again. It held 50 people max which I loved. I wanted it to stay small. As the wedding approached it grew into a small ceremony and a big reception at the Steilacoom Town Hall. Looking back I wish we had just done the whole thing in the town hall. Other than that I wouldn't have done anything different.

My mom and her friends worked their butts off to make it happen. They did all the food and decorations. I wasn't much help. Everything ran super smooth. My mother-in-law made my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses which was very special.

Toni, Kristen, Sara, Me, James, Brandon, Thad, Brandon

Here are my weddings specs.
Date: March 7, 2004
Colors: cranberry and white
Cake: white cake with raspberry filling. SO GOOD!
Dress: strapless white with rhinestones made by my mother-in-law
Grooms cake: Costco cheesecake
Food: buffet style
Center pieces: Vases with candles surrounded by fake roses
Bridal party: Sara (Maid of Honor and sister), Kristen (cousin) and Toni (co-worker and great friend)
Groomsmen: Brandon (Best Man and long time friend), Thad (also long time friend) and Brandon (good friend)
Photographer: Brian (my now boss)
Location: Nail salon/chapel across from Little Church on the Prairie and reception at the Steilacoom Town Hall
Some things of note: There was no alcohol or dancing cause that's how we roll.

Cake was made by a friend of Toni's

Day 6: A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

I would like a pair of Old Fashion Shaving bunnies. I think they would be useful for James. He grows a beard daily and I think he would shave more if he had a pair.

In reality I've been lucky enough to pretty much have any pet that I wanted thanks to a very supportive mom who took very good care of them when I was too young and stupid too.

Currently I have a horse, 4 cats, a mouse and some guppies. Until recently I had 2 hamsters as well (RIP Leo and Picalena). Growing up we had a yorkie (Mindy), dalmation (Lucy), cat (Sass), parrot (Cookie), 3 budgies (Pretty Bird, Tweetie, Abby), 2 rabbits (Tippi and Peter), 4 hamsters (Teddy, Nicky, Nala, Spartacus), 2 guinea pigs (Napster and Snickers), hedgehog (Mattie), chameleon (Maverick?), bearded dragon (Beardsly), turtle (Dribble), stick bugs and many fish. Not to mention all the crickets and meal worms that needed to be cared for to feed the lizards. My mom was and is the best. She still has the turtle I acquired from my high school biology class. When I got married she kept Tippi and Napster for me.

Day 5: A photo of yourself two years ago.

Two years ago, my sister's work friend, a claimed production assistant for New Moon, invited my sister and a guest to come with her to Vancouver to be extras in the movie. My sister Sara and I are big Twilight fans and jumped at the chance. We had to submit a head shot to be considered and so I had James take this one. The whole deal fell through. We got all excited for nothing.

I miss my hair that length and color. It's shorter and my natural grayish blonde color now. Poo.

Day 4: Your favorite photograph of your best friend.

This is my favorite picture my best friend and husband James with my other best man, Justin. It was taken on my 20th Birthday when James took me out to the barn to play. Justin was only 2 in this picture and was still mostly brown.

Day 3: Your idea of the perfect first date

Read forward if you dare. I have lots of words saved up for this one.

I've only had one first date and it seemed pretty perfect to me. Before I met James I had three boys in my life and wasn't really interested in any of the human nature. There was Rio, the appy I was showing for experience; Jet, the pinto I was leasing; and Justin, the only horse I actually owned who was only a yearling at the time.

I was set up with James when I went to his mom to get a showmanship outfit made for an appy show I was doing with Rio. As my trainer Kathy and I were leaving my first fitting, James' mom mentioned to Kathy, "you know James is single." Kathy pushed me back into the house and I was shown pictures of James. He was so gorgeous I knew I had no chance. She asked if she could give James my number and I said sure. Not really thinking anything would come of it.

Me, Rio and the showmanship outfit

My second fitting was rescheduled so me and James would get to meet. With much coaxing from his dad he finally came down to say hi, shook my hand then headed off into the garage. He was more stunning in person. My perfect example of tall, dark and handsome. At that time he was lifting and was 6'5" and 270lbs. I was sure I'd never see him again.

A couple weeks later while working at Cookies By Design I got a call from Kathy. She was all excited and told me to be prepared for a call from James. Within 5 minutes I had another call from my now mother-in-law asking me if it would be okay for James to call me later that night. That night he did call and asked me if I could go out that night. First we went bowling. We both sucked but the conversation was effortless. It was like we'd known each other for years. After bowling we went to Red Robin for dinner. Still not tired of each other we went to a movie. We saw American Pie 2. 

After the second date (to the Puyallup Fair) we fell pretty hard for each other. This September that first date will have been 10 years ago. I still can't believe how lucky I am.

Day 2: A photo of something you ate today.

Such a weird request for only 2 days in.

I love Chobani yogurt. Since I discovered Costco was carrying them I've pretty much had one everyday. Greek yogurt is the best! It's so thick and delicious as well as high in protein. I got some plain flavored Greek yogurt for smoothies and found out that my mouse Stashe loves it.

Day 1: A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

This is me and my Justin. I love this picture. He's super fluffy.

So how was my day. Hmmmm. I got my big project off to press at work. It's a 12 page newsletter for the college's foundation that I enjoy designing. It's a bit of a challenge and my client usually doesn't have many changes so it's nice.

Tuesday is usually a ride night for me but I have to go to the barn tomorrow night instead this week because Justin is getting a chiropractic adjustment. So today I came home to a sink full of dishes and my four cats. I cleaned the kitchen, made some dinner and cleaned out my purse. Punkin helped me with the heap of receipts I pulled from my purse by doing some power slides through them. After my purse was clean and organized I tended my fake Frontier and now I'm sitting here blogging and holding my mouse Stashe in his ball. I'm hoping to be able to hold him without the ball soon. I did get him to sit in my hand and eat a treat today so I'm getting closer.

Time to go! Stashe just pizzled in his ball. Yuck!

31 Day Blog Challenge

I started this blog with dreams of tracking my progress with my horse, cats and other randomness. I totally lost steam. I'm going to try stealing this idea from a friend to see if it kicks me into gear. 

Here is the break down. AAAAAAAnnnnd BEGIN!

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.

Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

Day 7 – Your dream wedding.

Day 8 – A song to match your mood.

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.

Day 10 – A photo of our favorite place to eat.

Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?

Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.

Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why.

Day 14 – A TV show to which you’re currently addicted.

Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.

Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.

Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.

Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.

Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.

Day 20 – Something you collect, even though you know it’s never going to be worth anything.

Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.

Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.

Day 23 – Fifteen facts about you.

Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.

Day 25 – What’s in your purse.

Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been.

Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then.

Day 28 – Your favorite movie.

Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.

Day 30 – Even though you complain about it, you still do it.

Day 31 – A photograph of yourself today plus three good things that have happened in the past 30 days.

Some Holiday Crafts

I love making things but often lack the time and creative energy. I was determine to make most of my gifts this year. This past holiday it was all about snowmen roasting marshmallows, horse paintings and toadstools. I also did a lot of my reindeer but I'll post those next year.

Snowmen roasting marshmallows

Closeup of snowmen

Jake

Dandy

 

Bad

Fancy

Cash

Roddi

Toadstools

There were over 30 total toadstools

Orca for my cousin

2010 Lope On In Year End Awards

Me with my awards

Tonight was the Lope On In Year End Awards Banquet. Justin and I were Reserve Champion 18-30, 4th Place Hunter/Jumper, 5th Place Appaloosa and 8th Place English Horse. We won an awesome embroidered sheet and got a nice framed certificate. We had a great time, with great friends and also got to celebrate Wendy's Birthday. I made her appy butt cupcakes. They were a lot of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Big thanks to Lisa and Linsey for tracking all the points and putting together all the awards!

Appy Butt Cupcakes

Meet Justin

Growing up my favorite movie was a Wonderful World of Disney movie called Run, Appaloosa, Run starring a bay blanket appaloosa named Holy Smoke. I loved Holy Smoke. He was the perfect horse. My senior year in high school I was a stall cleaner at a local stable. The stable owner, Glenda, owned a nice quarter horse mare named Kaycee who was in foal to an appaloosa stallion named Big Time Zippo. January 10, 2000 Justin was born. He looked very similar to the baby Holy Smoke. I was in love instantly but knew that he would most likely be sold before his first birthday so I tried not to get attached.

Left: baby Holy Smoke. Right: baby Justin

Kaycee Ann Wes

Big Time Zippo

 By the time Justin was born I had helped with 3 other foals. I found all of them, including Justin's full sister Bambi, to be cautious of people their first days of life. Not Justin. He was in the vet's pocket during his first day check up and would meet you at the stall door for attention. He was easy to love.  

Justin a week after I bought him

When Justin turned 1 he went into training for yearling lunge line. He failed. The trainer said he'd be a horse that was a little bit good at a lot of things but not really good at anything. Exactly what I was looking for in a horse. Justin came home and was purchased by some boarders who also fell in love with him. They hired me to help teach him the basics which I was extremely happy about but I only fell deeper in love with him. At the time I was also leasing an awesome half arab pinto named Jet and showing an appaloosa named Rio for experience on a part time cookie decorators income. When he was 18 months old I was lunging him in the arena and Glenda was watching. I was talking about how much I wished he was mine and she asked me if I wanted her to feel out the new owners to see if they would sell. I said that would be great and that evening I had an email from his owner saying they would sell him to me. They knew how much I loved him and knew I would take very good care of him. The next day he was mine. Thanks Tina and Randy!

Justin at the WS Finals Show

I had to give up riding Rio and once Justin turned two I gave up my lease on Jet. Justin was a blast to train. The second time I sat on him I hopped on bareback with a halter and lead and rode him around the arena. Probably not a smart idea when I think of it now. He was so simple as a 2 year old. At 3 he developed an opinion which is typical appy. I've been lucky to have the help of Glenda, Lu Ann LeMon and Lisa Gardner. Glenda has been there for me and Justin from the beginning. LuAnn helped me turn a canter into a lope and get him going in a bridle. Lisa has been helping me get him polished and is now helping us learn to do some low jumps.

Currently Justin and I enjoy doing the local Horseplay Schooling Series, Brookwood Schooling Series, and Lope On In B-System shows. I've also taken him on the Woodbrook Hunt and enjoy trail riding on the Fort Lewis Reservation.

Introducing the cats!

Penny

Full name: Penny Marie
Breed: Rumpie Manx
Color: Tuxedo
Eyes: Green
Age: 8ish
Weight: 8 lbs
Favorite toys: Laser, tent
Favorite food: Chicken
Favorite place to sleep: On my legs
Her quest: To find the perfect lap

Penny was a stray that we found at the barn. I had seen her around many times but she always ran away. Then one day she decided to come up to me. She had an eye infection and a horrible case of worms. I thought that night would be a good night for my then fiancée, James, to come to the barn to see my horse Justin. Penny came up to us and it was love at first sight for James. $100s of dollars worth of vet bills later and we had ourselves our first cat together. She's a wonderful, loving cat that enjoys sleeping on laps, wrestling with her brother and sisters, and fitting herself into very small boxes.


Bella

Pretty Bella

Full name: Thumbellina Rose

Nicknames: Smella, Mella Mel

Breed: Hemingway Cat

Color: Grey with white

Eyes: Sage green

Age: 3

Weight: 12 lbs

Favorite toys: feathers on a string

Favorite food: Blue Buffalo Indoor Cat

Favorite place to sleep: On the cable box

Bella loves Penny

We were in the process of buying my in-laws house that we had been living in with them for 5 years when we adopted Bella from the Tacoma Humane Society. Penny had grown fond of their two cats Amy Daweeze and Midnight and we wanted to get her a friend. Bella was my first kitten and she was probably the start to my kitten addiction. She has six toes on each of her front feet. Her dew claws look much like thumbs and she uses her hands in very human like ways. Her meow never quite grew up so she sounds like a kitten when she talks. Attention should only be given to Bella on her own terms. When she decides she wants attention there is no avoiding it. 

Logan

Not evil. Just panting.

Full name: Logan Barthalameew

Nicknames: Boy, Handsome Meaty Boy

Breed: Maine Coon

Color: Black

Eyes: Gold

Age: 2

Weight: 12 lbs

Favorite toys: feathers on a string, laser

Favorite food: Whiskas Temptations

Favorite place to sleep: On the the top tier of the cat tower

Last summer my in-laws captured 2 feral kittens from under their neighbors house that was vacant at the time. They used a laundry basket propped open with a stick that had a string tied onto it and they hid in their car with the other end of the string. Just like a cartoon. They caught Princess first who was very sick. They took her to the vet and with a lot of patience and TLC ended up with a very tame and loving cat for my in-laws. Logan was captured days later via the laundry basket technique. He was almost 2 times as big as his Siamese looking sister and was very wild. Since my in-laws already had their hands full with Princess and their other cats, so we agreed to take Logan. Many trips to the vet and hours of time socializing him later, we ended up with the snuggliest love of a cat I've ever known. He's absolutely beautiful but usually looks like basement cat whenever I photograph him.

Punkin

Full name: Punkin Spice

Nicknames: Punky, Best Friend (I don't even know)

Breed: Tabby

Color: Orange

Eyes: Light Brown

Age: 1

Weight: 7 lbs

Favorite toys: feathers on a string, laser

Favorite food: Whiskas Temptations

Favorite place to sleep: Also on my legs with Penny

So one night I was joking with James about how we needed an orange kitten. A female would be best. James instantly said okay. I can never count on him to be the voice of reason when it comes to cats. 3 was already too many. We started talking about how it would be fun to have an orange tabby someday. Preferably a female which at the time we had no clue were rare. So the very next day, my co-worker Linda, comes running in saying there is a kitten screaming in the parking lot under the parked cars. She said she almost caught her but she got away. I ran out there, looked under the line of parked cars and saw her. A beautiful orange female kitten. I climbed under the car and grabbed her and rushed her into the office. We locked her in an empty office and I called James. Within 5 mins he had a vet appointment and was on his way to pick her up with the kitty crate. She's fit into the house beautifully. All the other cats love her and we do too.