Fall in the south...lucky us

OK, minus the recent torrential seemingly never ending rain showers we've had since the great flood of September, this has been a lovely fall. Fall in the south is one of the most charming and exciting times to live down in heaven of the USA.

Three times a week I drag my dirty haired leftover smeared mascara self out of bed at about 6:00 am to head to Hollister Farms and feed the horses in the morning. You'd think, since I have been involved in equestrian activities since childhood, (read- 4am horse show departures and braiding manes with a flashlight in my mouth so we can get to the hunt on time and looking well turned-out) that I would be a morning person. Well... I'm not. I LONG to be a morning person but my body just runs itself off of this internal clock that prefers turning in at 2am and sleeping till 10. So, needless to say, I love getting to the barn in the mornings and watching the boys saunter over to the gate to greet me while the sky is still pink with fresh sunshine, but LORD, I just hope no one sees me when I'm out there because "hot mess" doesn't even describe it. I don't drink coffee so don't bother suggesting it and I have NO idea how my little VW drives itself to the barn because I an nowhere near conscious enough to get there by myself, but once I get there, the zen begins. Now back to fall in GA...

At 6:45 am, since our lovely time change, the sun shine is reaching it's little fingers through the pine trees and the morning dew on top of the metal barn roof is gathering for its morning slide down into the grass below. When I arrive, the boys greet me at the gate with expectant little nickers and the rhythmic dripping of the dew off the roof sets the rhythm for my hour there. There's still a nip in the air just chilly enough to make me look forward to warming my hands on the side of a blanketed horse and the smells of feed and hay and wet grass float across my face as I bring them in one by one to their stalls to eat breakfast. As the air warms and my breath quickens from scooping sweet smelling feed into buckets and walking the horses in, my favorite part of morning comes along to remind me why it is I am able to drag myself from between they warmth of my sleeping husband, a soft brown poodle, and a down comforter. As I listen to the boys swirl their lips in their buckets and contentedly munch their breakfast, I get to watch the sun come over the tree line. Often, just about this time, a pair of hawks become visible in the tree line next to the pasture and they sit there, feathers fluffed surveying their new day and possibly their next meal. Every once in a while, a few does or a big barn owl are still hanging out behind the barn and they see me and don't immediately make their way deeper into the woods, which makes me feel even happier to get a be a part of this morning. Between the wildlife and the horses and sun and the gusty little morning breezes, I appreciate this time of year and offer up a quick prayer thanking God for making a place like this.

Over the last few weeks, the grass has yellowed and the leaves have made the woods look bare and grey, save for an evergreen here and there, but there's something just as beautiful about this time of year as there is about the fresh greens of spring, which if you asked me in April, I would tell you is my favorite time of year. Now, as my muddy wellington boots crunch across the leaves and turn the boys out for a day in the pasture, I know that God gives us these seasons to renew our spirits with something new just as much as He does to prepare our earth for a season of dormancy. As I hop back in the car to rush off to Chem lab, I sigh as I prepare to fight the traffic between the barn and KSU and wish for a second that I could just enjoy the day with the horses and taking in the sights and sounds of what promises to be a lovely fall day, but somewhere in my thoughts, my other favorite parts of fall; football games, new jeans and boots and glasses of wine shared on cool porches make my 35 minute journey back to my more urban reality worth the trip. Getting to experience both sides of this season in one day makes me a lucky girl. I whisper another quick prayer to thank Him for the chance to do this three times a week, turn up my Sugarland cd and hope my hair gets to meet some shampoo before anyone makes eye contact with me.

archaelogical dig

So when did FOSSIL brand get so cute? I love so much stuff on their website right now from funky chunky jewelry to bags to my ultimate fav... the boots! I haven't paid attention to FOSSIL since shopping for watches for my BF in like... 9th grade? Silly me!

So here's the question, these boots are super cute but not super inexpensive. If I buy a pair, which ones am I going to still like next season? Do the flat ones with the ankle buckle (option A) make people question my sexual orientation with their masculine biker-ish look? Do the ones with the wider calf opening (option B) shorten the leg and make me look stumpy(er)? Help please. If you can't comment on this site- which lots of people seem to have trouble with will you send your vote to ellie4uga@gmail.com? Thanks!

Option A

Option B

See all the choices at www.fossil.com

Evidence...

So the crate training is working for Rylie Boo. Not so much for Doodle though- she's gets a little "Rain Man" on us when confined. Rylie took her duck into her house today and laid down all on her own- I was very proud! (Picture quality is terrible but I had to catch this with the wretched camera phone before she knew what I was doing and escaped.)

PS- the crate training is especially useful when trying to prevent drive-by "nickel lippings" - that ones for you J and D! :)

The City and High Battery Bluff

CAUTION- seriously cynical tirade and exploration of lifestyle ahead

So Ryan is out of town this weekend and I have been spending my Saturday night by watching a marathon of The City on OnDemand (the one GOOD thing about Comcast) and eating an unmentionable amount of brownie mix before I cooked it. Shut up- you've done it too.

Anyway, while watching perfect skinny girls galavant around with totally awesome/easy jobs and access to the best clothes and accessories on earth I was starting to feel really old, boring, and unfashionable. I was pretty sure I had the unfashionable part nailed since I was sitting on the couch wearing the riding pants I've had on all day with black and white polka dotted tall socks under my Uggs along with an absolutely ANCIENT brown North Face Denali and a bra that could contain a herd of wild elephants. But I was thinking to myself... "I totally have the same if not better taste in fashion than these chicks and they are practically dictating what's "in" for the seasons to come!" This made me feel a little better about myself. Also, I pretty much think I could do their jobs on any given day and I have no "training" in fashion. Maybe I am overestimating my taste, or maybe they are making something really trivial seem harder than it is. Now, I wouldnt for one minute trade my life out here in the burbs with those chicks but watching that show does make me miss going out, shopping- which only happens in my dreams now, and dressing in things other than riding clothes and "nanny wear" i.e. workout pants and jeans. I wonder though if sometimes those girls feel like their lives are just plain awesome or a little "emtpy". Even though they look so cute all the time and are pretty much surrounded by cute boys wooing them every day, I think I would tire of that lifestyle- but probably not the paycheck.

Do they know what its like to look foward to coming home at night and snuggling with their doggie? Do they know what they are missing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon spent outside on a horse with friends? Am I the only one who thinks thats fun? I think I am at a point in my life where my priorities are changing. I seem to bounce back and forth between two worlds where reading fashion magazine and blogs about fashion and thinking that I need to pay attention to all that and then the other world where some days I think it all seems really superficial and unimportant and I realize that I am the same person in jeans and a t-shirt as I am in TIBI.

I also tire of the constant need of my generation to feel cool by (Disclaimer: if you eat at chain restaurants- stop reading now) driving all the way to midtown/highlands to eat at some crappy place like Cheesecake Factory or Dantes Down the Hatch when I can get actual good and healthy food at a REAL restuaurant that is not delivered by a Sysco truck. I am, totally admittedly, a major food snob because my bro is a fantabulous chef and both sides of my family are pretty much foodies but REALLY- why would anyone actually want to gather at a place like, "gag noise", Olive Garden, Shout, or Panera. It just kills me when people that I enjoy being friends with want to meet at places like this. I really do want to hang out, I just can't go to places like this. I used to miss social gatherings all the time in Athens because people always wanted to go to Jason's Deli. OMG I can't imagine anywhere more frightnening- except for an unnamed place that serves chicken and waffles together. Enough about my restuarant phobias, back to The City... those girls do seem to have good taste in restaurants and date spots- which also makes me want to go back to NYC to visit or spend more time in ATL proper at our plethora of great boutique restaurants but then again sometimes I feel like I should grab some fresh produce from the market and cook something wholesome at home with Ryan and friends and not be such a "consumer" all the time.

Bottom line is, as I travel what seems like so very quickly through my twenties and inhabit this cute little house sitting on the edge of a big fabulous city and a some beautiful Georgia countryside, I cant decide whether I want to wear great clothes and jewelry and wait eagerly to see what Michael Kors has for us this season, or just throw on my jeans and wellington boots and enjoy the sunrise when I feed the horses and then go home and pick some fresh basil to put on my homegrown tomato slices and be excited to see a goldfinch sitting on my birdfeeder. Can I just do both? Honestly, I do want to do both. Do I have to decide who to be when I grow up yet? For now, I'm just a granola city girl I guess.

two in one day- i know its crazy...

I had chemistry class from 8-9:15 this morning and those of you that know me, or were ever a college roomate of mine know that I rarely, if ever, attend 8 o-clock classes but guess what? I LOVE my chemistry class, like, LOVE IT. I sit there riveted, learning and I like it and I actually go to it- voluntarily! Weird huh? Just a little epiphany for the day, I love chemistry. I'm just sayin'.

Soggy Poodles

It feels like it's been raining for weeks on end, poor Tucker (horse) is covered in rainrot (fungus on skin that makes hair fall out due to being wet all the time) and Rylie Boo of course refuses to relieve herself outside if it mists, much less rains. So we took a long walk not long ago after it rained and Rylie Boo was tromping through the woods like a champ, but came back covered in leaves, burrs, seeds and other forest souvenirs. I took a few pics to document the "poor me" face she was making as I cleaned her off with the garden hose *gasp...she much prefers a hot shower and the pics are quite funny.

On another note, I think she has a little tummy virus since she has thrown up four times in the last few days, refuses to eat until I make her dinner "special", as Ryan calls it, which means adding water and heating it in the microwave, and she is very NON characteristically laying around on my lap constantly being soggy (limp) and super sweet. Her aunt Hannah and uncle Chris did delight her the other evening though when they came for dinner and brought her and Doodle a toy. Doodle has an obsession with squirrels and its a stuffed squirrel, while my miniature bird dog has taken to carrying the stuffed Mallard around in her mouth and/or fetching it after Ryan quacks, makes a gunshot noise, and then throws it on the ground for her to retrieve. Nope, I'm not kidding... If anyone needs any suburban indoor ducks hunted in the warmth of their own home, I've got just the duck dog.

As sad as she gets though when she's cold and wet, she would never make it on a real hunt, but I won't burst Ryan's bubble with that truth since he's got her in heavy training. Meanwhile, the giant lab (um, bred for hunting), refuses to retreive anything and is terrified of all loud noises.

Anyway, soggy poodle is currently sound asleep in my lap and looking oh so sweet and innocent. I hope she's not feeling too bad though. A mother worries.

coming soon:

10 reasons why Comcast sucks

I hate slutty Halloween costumes and no, you don't look sexy.

Pumpkin Roll Recipe

Asheville is the best city ever, pack your bags!

Here comes Santa Claus

Two days ago I left my house with a little list and the intentions of getting some Halloween decor for the front porch. Much to my surprise when I arrived at Jo-Ann, Home Depot, and Walgreens, Halloween decor was no where to be found...it was already CHRISTMAS!!!

What?

It's not even Halloween yet. Or Thanksgiving. I was so confused. I went to THREE stores and barely came up with some faux spiderweb and a fall leaf garland. It was however, like 80% off, but what? It's Oct. 14th!

Home Depot has their entire garden section full of pre-lit trees, those frightening moving character things, and those light up reindeer that are really fun to pose in inappropriate positions. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Christmas and decorating but this is getting extreme. So, I simply did what I always do when I am forced to face something I don't like but have no control over, (i.e. our president, economic climate, traffic, weather, price of razor blades, crate and barrel's shipping charges etc. ) I just said a little prayer about it, and made myself think of one positive aspect of things being the way they are.

Here's what I came up with...

Now I can start making a Christmas list! :)

Here it is so far: (there are two versions, the realistic one and the just keep wishin' one)

Realistic one:
Little tiny notebook computer for internet and word processing
Costco membership
Foodsaver machine (so the costco membership can be truly taken advantage of)
Brown Uggs (yes i still like them and no i dont wear them with skirts)
Wine Bottle Chandelier from Pottery Barn (omg it would look so cool in my kitchen)
Patagonia Retro-X Jacket
Basically anything from the Garnet Hill catalog


Just keep wishin' one:
6 year old black Dutch Warmblood Stallion that does 3rd level dressage and jumps at least four feet, has great manners around people and other horses, perfect feet, trailers, and loves to be groomed.
Ford F-250 King Ranch, White with the baseball leather interior, 4 wheel drive and the tow package attached to a Featherlight three horse slant load with full dressing room
Black Christian Leboutin peep toes
A trip to Montana or Wyoming with Ryan
Flatscreens fo the crib
Caesar Milan to live with us for a month to train the wild things
Anything made of diamond

So forget Halloween and hum along with me, Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus...

divine proportions

So I've always had this theory that God make animals cute in proportion to their bad-ness. Take Rylie Boo for example, here is a picture of her as a puppy:

That has got to be the cutest puppy in the world, she doesn't even look real! If I had only known what was to come!

Poodles are very intelligent dogs, second on the list of smartest breeds after the Border Collie. This is a double edged sword however, because she learns quickly, but she also requires constant stimulation, or that little brain starts thinking up impossibly messy, expensive and naughty things to do! She has chewed up rugs, panties, shoes, pens, pencils, cups, pillows, all her toys, three cell phone chargers, brand new glasses with transitions lenses, mirrored mosaic christmas ornaments gingerly removed from the tree, I could go on forever. She has also "made it snow" by taking two rolls of extra toilet paper from the powder room, dragging them into the living room and shredding every square into tiny pieces. She actually arranged the mess into a "nest" of sorts and was sooo proud of herself when I came home! She prefers to poop indoors at her leisure and only on expensive rugs when I am either in the shower or asleep, and REFUSES to be kept in any sort of captivity, but the crate training is coming along so hopefully that won't be an issue much longer. The point is, if she wasn't so darn cute and sweet, I would have made her hide into a nice little throw pillow by now. God knows what he's doing, because her little poodle mind is constantly hunting for the next thing to do, jump on, chew, bark at, destroy, or demand. Hanging out with her is pretty much the highlight of my day though sometimes so it's worth the work! Doodle is absolutely beautiful too and comes with another set of problems, (she's basically autistic) but I've written about her before so you know the deal on that.

Now, there's a new lovely addition to the mix. Spencer is a seven year old 17.2 hand gorgeous black Irish Sport horse sent up to my friend Betty's barn for training. (to the non horsey's 17.2 hands means HUGE. Like, if I were standing on one side of him and you were on the other, we couldnt see eachother) He is the kind of horse I used to dream about when I was little and draw pictures of. He looks like Black Beauty from the movie. He is perfectly put together conformationally, with a sweet face, great hair, and great feet. (If you are not a horse person, this just means he is built perfectly, sort of like a male Abercrombie model but in horse version) I have the opportunity to train him, which is great! The more I ride him, the more he fits the theory... which makes me laugh daily. While Spencer is a wonderfully cute name, I usually call him "mule" and now pretty much everyone that handles him calls him that as well. Before he arrived a few weeks ago, he hadn't been handled in 14 months and was basically just thrown out in the pasture to be a horse. So he has NO manners. He stepped on my toe the first time I worked with him and broke my toe. He doesn't know about personal space at all, which most horses get, but he hasn't been handled so it's not really his fault. He also has a very sweet and funny personality most of the time; the first day I rode him, he picked up my saddle with his teeth from outside his stall and threw it across the aisle. He can untie himself and let himself out of his stall and he often knocks down the jumps in the pasture and kicks or carries the barrels around. This, to me, is hilarious and charming as far as horse behavior is concerned because he has so much personality. Luckily for him, he is gorgeous, because his charming personality only gets him so far. Yesterday, we took him to a Hunter Pace (10 mile long trail ride with jumps) and Sarah rode him and I rode Tucker (the wonderfully sweet and obendient horse I am leasing). Spencer decided that he was going to jump ONE coop and that was it. Sarah is a VERY capable and lovely rider and tried and tried to get him to go back over it. Spencer tried all the usual tricks, stopping dead in his tracks, backing up, kicking out, weaving around in circles being unresponsive to rider aids, pretending to buck etc. Finally, Sarah was exhausted since Spencer is HUGE and way stronger that any human so I got off Tucker, handed him to Sarah, and hopped on hoping Spencer would give up the fight and just jump the dang jump. He is used to me riding him and he has been fine jumping before, there was just NO reason that he wouldn't jump this coop! He refused to walk, he refused to trot, he backed in circles, he tried everything in the book, so I got the crop. Everytime I popped him, he bucked (don't worry non-horsey's this doesnt hurt him). Oh he was naughty! Finally, I walked him to the fence, stopped him in front of it and asked him to step over it. He's really big and I knew he was plenty capable of walking over it. He sat back on his haunches and launched over it instead, which was fine. At least he did it. I gave him back to Sarah and we continued our ride. As we cantered along, the "cuteness in proportion to badness" theory popped into my head again and I giggled to myself. He was an angel for the rest of the ride. He also flat out refused to get on the trailer when it was time to go back home and kicked out at Sarah with both back feet when she walked behind him with a broom. Another point for the theory! There's really nothing you can do to move a 1200 pound animal when he decides to be a mule. Spencer is just the kind of horse that I have always wanted though. He has the looks, he has the breeding, the size etc. and I'm pretty sure once he gets trained he will be worth all the work and I will end up falling in love and buying him from his owner who seems to not care about him anyway. Today when I rode, he refused to walk in a straight line or just walk at all in favor of walking backwards, refused to trot to one direction, and would only continue when one of his other herdmates went ahead of us (herdbound!). There was absolutely NO reason for this besides the fact that he enjoys being obstinate and lazy. Between his random fits of mule like behavior he also jumped with no issues at all and jumped the barrels (which are a little scary looking to some horses) without batting an eye. There's a great horse in there, but the theory is ruling hard for now! Every day when I pray I thank God for creating the horse. I think they are his most beautiful creation of all, and I think He might even giggle a little bit every time an especially gorgeous one like Spencer is born, because you just don't get to be that pretty without having some naughty thrown in. I will post some pics soon so you will see what I mean. Oh I love my four legged children.

True Confessions...

How I love a list! Here are a few recent confessions of things I have recently done, thought and experienced. I am writing about these because I may need to review these every so often in order to continue to work to become a more patient, kind, thoughtful and better person. This is a little embarassing.

1. I am a blogcrastinator... well, and sometimes I just don't have anything to say that anyone else should waste time reading. And Ryan made me insecure about blogging. (explained later)

2. I am trying to crate train the girls, which is shocking, I know, since I am the biggest anti-crate training person alive. Would you keep your child in their closet for 7 hours with no access to food/water/stimulation of any sort? But, the other morning, Doodle jumped up on the bed with her two front paws to wake me up and accidentally scratched me right across the cheek. As I jumped out of bed to see the damage after screaming an expletive at her, I stepped in a fresh pile of Rylie Boo poo on the bedroom floor, which I'm pretty sure was God's way of telling me that I should not start out my Sunday mornings screaming expletives at innocent animals. However, I did at that moment realize that my girls are spoiled rotten and out of control. Of course they are beautiful and sweet and do some great tricks, but none of their training is really useful and Ceasar Milan would kick my hiney for "personifying" my animals with human emotions. Thus, the crates. They are VERY slowly learning to go in them and will eventually only spend the night in there because I still believe in my "kid in its closet" theory.

3. Today, I went to Wal-Mart. And I liked it. Anyone who really really knows me knows that I haven't been to Wal-Mart and purchased anything in about a year and that I have severe, deep seated, anti-walmart sentiments because they don't pay women as much as men in equal positions, are terrible about hours for moms, are slowly choking the life out of the small American retailers and a myriad of other reasons that no one wants to hear about... anyway! I was on the way to the barn and as my little suburban Acworth melds into the pretty lake Allatoona area and slowly into more rural country there aren't a whole lot of places to shop. I needed some epsom salts to soak my horses foot in and Lord knows I LOVE a good Walgreens, but there is not one on the way to the barn so I was FORCED to stop at Wal-Mart since epsom salts are sort of an obscure item to be shopping for. I parked by the garden center, took a deep breath, and entered. I expected some good people watching since I was perilously close to the Paulding county line and there's really nowhere else to get your PallMalls, spray cheese, and baby wipes all at once, but alas, mostly everyone had their teeth and were appropriately attired, which was a bit of a letdown. Then, I started seeing merchandise that I liked! UGA dog scarves, my shampoo at almost $2 less than I pay for it at the grocery store... cute Halloween decorations, orchids, vitamins, OMG! I grabbed the epsom salts and the UGA dog scarf and tore to the checkout, reeling in disbelief and disappointment in myself. It was horrible, and exhilarating. I don't know how to feel about this.

3. Why is a four pack of razor blades $14 when a package of 6 disposable razors (that also have the same 3 blade style and comfort handle) $4.89? Does the lavender vanilla aloe vitamin E anti- aging sensitive skin smoothing strip on the blade really cost that much to manufacture? Do I really need the lavender vanilla aloe vitamin E anti-aging sensitive skin smoothing strip on the blade? And why now do I have to throw away 6 disposable razors in the landfill that will NEVER degrade because of my current economic circumstances? Thanks Gillette, for polluting and being expensive and BTW lavender vanilla mango smells like a gas station bathroom.

4. Khloe Kardashian got married to a dude whom shes known for all of about four weeks. WHAAAT? On a more positive note, if Kim married Reggie, that family is going to have some very good looking mocha colored children with "good butt" genes all around. Watch out Beyonce, you're not going to be the prettiest anymore!

5. I felt super fat today. Then, to add to my self loathing, I was eating M&M's in my car at a red light when one of those near death looking runner types ran by my car and actually jogged in place while waiting for the crosswalk. Have you ever wanted to jump out of your car and tackle someone and take her straight to Zaxby's? I am all for physical fitness, but this chick was on the verge of "forced feeding tube" thin. EWW. Somewhere the has to be a happy medium and until you find it- stop running!
And thanks for making me feel like a hippo.

6. I have a STATS test on Friday and I haven't studied for it or been to either one of the review sessions. Good idea Ellie, way to live on the edge.

7. Ryan makes fun of me for blogging. I just ignore him but it makes me insecure a little. I think he's just jealous that he doesn't find it as easy to communicate as I do and he doesn't care about keeping a record of our lives! He says I'm a nerd and no one reads this. WHATEVA...

8. I have discovered that I have zero patience for people that ask inanely dumb questions in my Psych class while simultaneously using incorrect grammar. My mom said this does not bode well for my bedside manner as a future nurse... I reminded her that natural selection may not be such a bad theory after all.

I FINALLY did it!

I got a new blog background! Thanks to Danielle and her super cute and funny baby blog see:

www.sweetchloelight.blogspot.com

And... (disclaimer, this one gets a little deeper than my usual blog entries)

I am shaking the "swine flu"/strep throat like sickness I have been battling for the last two weeks. Throw in a little PMS and my my, what a cocktail of misery! No wonder Ryan "went fishing in Savannah for the weekend"...

But more important than all that, I reorganized our living room furniture, cleaned out my jewelry studio and started on a new little collection for a late fall sale, tried KFC grilled chicken, am actually enjoying Chemistry and Statistics class (gasp!) and went one whole week without the poodle chewing up anything with more than a $10 value. Awesome.

The new living room format started it all over the last two weeks! The new format is much more conducive to having guests and watching movies, but I'm not sure about the level of "design intergrity". (I think it's ugly) Unfortunately, since we have a great house (cough cough... big mortgage payment) and one of us is gainfully employed while the other is underemployed, in school, and addicted to participating in equestrian sports; my perfectly sketched out living room furniture and design, including rug, is to remain in the same folder as the: barn plans, pic of the white Aston Martin Vanquish convertible, build your own F-250 King Ranch printout, 50 acre horse farm with original historic stone house, lake and adjoining organic farm ad, and the business cards from my favorite estate jewelry dealers which I have been collecting for years.

Sometimes, I look at this folder and wonder when or if any of these "material girl dreams" will in fact materialize. I also have much more realistic desires like granite countertops and a fenced backyard and sometimes think about where the heck my "bailout" check that must be lost in the mail from Washington is! J/K about the check. Anyway, then, I think about whether or not any of that stuff really is important and whether I should spend time wanting it at all. Maybe I am still in the "quarter life crisis" stage of life (don't laugh, this really happens) or maybe I was just reared in a culture where material things were paralled with "dreams" and markers of success. Am I not sucessful until my folder is empty? Will I be satisfied if it is? These uncertain economic times have slammed my generation on its "I have a college degree and therefore a job, a 3 series BMW, and I eat sushi in Buckhead 3 nights a week while wearing Tori Burch flats and a Tibi top" entitled hiney. We can all pretend that we aren't shocked by stories of people our parents age losing their entire retirement saving in the stock market or when we open that letter from our credit card company lowering our limit "just because", but I think we ARE shocked. This was not the plan. This generation did community service since middle school, we are college educated and multi-lingual, we gladly took unpaid internships and worked at summer camps to build our resumes. We did all the right things and burst into the "real world" expecting the same things we saw those just a few years older enjoying and BAM...the real world said, "put it in the folder honey cause youre not gonna see it anytime soon". So no new furniture and no fenced yard. We work our hineys off to do what we should and pay the mortgage instead of expecting someone else to save us. We slowly pay off those student loans and we get letters in the mail about how the "homestead exemption" has not been funded by the state this year and the property taxes are going up. After spending a few days realizing that after the mortgage, health insurance, car payments and insurance, bills, etc... are paid, there's still more to be paid, it hit me. The stuff in the folder is SO not important and so not an indicator of success. The things my culture taught me were important to have were only important under a completely different economic context.

We are successful because of what we've done and are doing NOW, not because of what we have. We are working and are lucky to both have jobs. We are paying the bills and we aren't losing our home. We have great families and great friends and great hobbies. We are loving and enjoying life, and even though we HAVE to laugh about not having 401K's and investment portfolios or 8 month emergency savings accounts, we are, at this time and in this culture, successful. I am not a pastry chef or a candy maker and I don't NEED granite countertops, even though I think they are pretty and that I need them because I love things made out of rocks.

So I FINALLY did it, I chunked the contents of the folder. It was hard, I won't lie. I am incapable of not wanting things, I know, but I think I FINALLY grew up a little. I walked back inside my cute little house, sat down on my green couch with a little dog hair on it, put my feet up on a hand-me-down ottoman, drank a glass of cheap pinot grigio and said a little prayer to thank God for my blessings and my family and petted my dogs. And really, at that very moment, I had everything I wanted.

The tough life of Rylie Boo Louise

Having spent a good part of the day at home, here are my observations on what exactly it is that the poodle does all day. She decided to narrate for you.

6:20 am: cuddle time with mom begins with a good ear scratching moment followed by the slow creep up to her face for a little kiss... circle, sigh, back to sleep.

7:00 am: poop in hall quickly while mom gets in the shower

7:00-7:20: spot my red ball on moms bathroom counter and whine for it, incessantly. She keeps saying something about not giving it to me because I am slowly destroying it by chewing it into little tiny pieces. I am perfectly capable of vomiting those up later but whatever. Bitch. Whine louder.

7:30: Refuse to pee outside. It's apparent that mom is running late. Is that a bird down the street? Bark. Pull on leash. Bark. Growl. Sit in grass. Ok I'm done.

9:30: Mom is home! YAY! Bark!

9:31: Mom feeds us breakfast. Refuse to eat it unless she puts fish oil on top. Look at her longingly- YES... she put the fish oil on it. Yum.

9:36: Mom is on the phone, quick, poop in the hall. It's so much nicer to poop in the AC.

9:45: THERE'S SOMEONE OUTSIDE!!!!!!! BARK, BARK, REPEAT! THERE'S SOMEONE OUTSIDE!!!!!!!! (it's trash day and I HATE those people and that truck)

10:00 am: follow mom upstairs, make a nest in clean clothes pile on bed, nap

11:32: wake up, step on moms computer to get petted, gaze at the window where blinds are closed and growl, there could be something out there...

11:33: she gave me the red ball to get me to stop growling... works every time. Chew, throw ball at mom, fetch. repeat reapeat repeat repeat...

11:33-12:21: fetching and chewing time. i almost have this ball destroyed, the pieces look so pretty on mom's bed. confetti! yay!

12:25 back to watching the window, growl, woof, get Doodle to do it with me...

12:27 tell Doodle to distract mom so I can look through her bag on the floor, there's something shiny in there that needs to be chewed on. mmmm, i love the taste of ipods. I bet i can get this thing to look pretty with the red pieces on moms bed...

thats all for now! busy busy! -rylie boo louise

* here's what happens when Rylie Boo wants something, in this case a ball which is stuck under the furniture. Note the ball right next to her is not the right one. She doesn't stop until you get the ball for her.

Slacking, Procrastination and Anxiety... Oh My!

So I haven't posted anything in almost a week. Not because I didn't want to, but because I have been super busy having a little personal meltdown about starting school again and other trivial things. I woke up the other morning with a case of social anxiety disorder, for real. It was ridiculous. There are a few blogs that I read on a regular basis and most of those bloggers have important things to do in life, or have kids... but I really feel like I have no excuse for being stressed, which stresses me out!

I am only going back to school and I don't know why I am so nervous about it! I am excited to start nursing school and excited to start my life towards a new career, but I am letting this "overwhelmed" feeling get to me. When I get stressed I tend to "shut down" so to speak. I am normally a planner and prety organized and well prepared for my day, but when I get stressed I forget things, misplace items, procrastinate, stress eat and never answer the phone.

So here's how the first day of school went thanks to my state of mind:

Not so good:
1. Stayed in bed for twenty extra minutes
2. Forgot to feed the dogs and didnt realize it until halfway to school
3. Turned the wrong way at an intersection on the way to school which in morning traffic is timing suicide
4. Went to the side of the parking deck where the entrance was closed (of course)... there were 8 minutes left until class started at this point.
5. Tripped on the way off the elevator while pretending to text message on my cell phone because I get uncomfortable in elevators crowded with skinny, tan, freshman college girls- who knew?
6. Ate at Wendy's for lunch = guilt for days, then ate dessert after dinner and didn't go to the gym= total failure of a day
7. Didn't fold laundry or unload the dishwasher when I got home and instead watched re-runs of Wifeswap on TV
8. Didn't buy books yet

On a good note:
1. All my professors seem super helpful and are fluent in English.
2. I got handed a flyer for rush, which was humorous.
3. Three girls behind me in class were whispering about my wedding ring being pretty. Thank goodness for my eavesdroping skills coming in handy sometimes.
4. I already have a Bachelor's degree and don't have to take BS electives!
5. I DONT live in a dorm or have roomates.
6. I aced my psychology class pre-assessment test with a perfect 100- loving neuroanatomy and being obsessed with medical shows is not a waste of time after all .
7. I can legally drink- ha
8. I can get a free personal trainer from the KSU health center

Anyway, I am working my way out of my "funk" this week and am looking forward to class tommorrow. I am not so nervous anymore thank goodness and I'm not even the oldest one in all my classes! Ryan is being wonderfully supportive and hasn't lectured me once about the height of the clean laundry pile, which I appreciate. I am packing a lunch for tommorrow and even read ahead for chemistry. I can do this!

Yay for America

"Insert large American Flag Pic Here"

Anyway, what a weekend. Saturday was the most beautiful day ever and I'm really not sure what non-horse people do on days like that. Spending it cantering blissfully along with friends and their horses through fields and woods down at the gorgeous Bear Creek Farm in Moreland was basically my version of heaven on earth. Ryan was off shooting at things, so I'm pretty sure he was content as well. What a state we live in. We have beach, we have mountains, we have lakes and woods and fields and sunshine and breezes and wow, humidity, but on days like Saturday I sure am glad to live here.

Sunday was supposed to be a mundane day somewhat, since all I had to do was run down to the airport and pick up a friend who was coming back from NYC. As I waited for her at the top of the escalator near baggage claim I got to do some prime people watching. Let me tell you what, if you ever need a little emotional "pick me up", just spend a few minutes at the top of that escalator. There were reunions and welcomes of all types. Teens coming home from summers abroad, what looked like two sister meeting for the first time in years, a gay homecoming complete with balloons, a confetti shower and a screech of "you look fabbbbbuuuuulooouuuuusss!" followed by a big ole kiss! I was enjoying myself tremendously when from the escalator around the corner I hear the faint sound of applause from those sitting in a nearby cafe. Coming down the escalator must have been 50 or 60 soldiers, men and women in their desert style fatigues and backpacks. They looked tired. The applause grew and I began to notice that the people clapping weren't their families there to greet them, but strangers and as I joined in and noticed some of their faces brighten a little, the applause grew and grew and I got chills. I was thankful in that moment to get to be there clapping for them, even though I may never see any one of them again, I do appreciate their service to our country, and I'm glad all those people standing around me did too. I was proud of my country and proud of all those strangers saying thank you at once.

So this weekend, although lacking in social events or glamorous parties to attend, was one of the most fun I can think of. We are so lucky to live this little life in Georgia and thanks to soldiers like those, we are free to spend our weekends as we please. Yay America.

The Newlywed Game

Although we can't really be classified as newlyweds anymore since we celebrated our one year anniversary in June, I still feel like we learn random little things about each other on a daily basis. Sometimes I even wonder who exactly this man is and if he remembers who exactly I am? Not in a negative way do I wonder that, but it just seems like the mostly successful merging of our two lives into one sometimes goes "off-roading" as we learn more about each other, and compromise, and love, and housekeeping. We are both fiercely independent and this sometimes makes for interesting conversation and plan making- but he is absolutely the only man I have ever known (besides my daddy) that I believe to be right 99% of the time and that always has honorable intentions.

He is off shooting things this weekend while I go riding down at Bear Creek at a hunter pace and I was just thinking of a little list of things I love about him, and a few things I less than love about him. I love lists, like in a Rainman sort of way.

Things I LOVE about my husband and our marriage:
1. He is the best hugger ever
2. Big glasses of water always taste better when he makes them and brings them to me in my favorite Tervis tumbler.
3. He motivates me to be the best at whatever it is I am trying to do
4. The way he researches all big decisions and is thoughtful in making them
5. His good taste in clothes, jewelry, pets, boats and household items
6. He does laundry and helps me fold and generally puts up with my clothing explosions on laundry days.
7. He is super smart and uses good grammar
8. He balances out my somewhat impetuous nature and can talk me into or out of almost anything
9. He loves animals and they love him
10. He shares the same morals, values, and dreams for our future (except that he wants to keep trucks in the main barn and I want horses- silly boy)

Ten is enough, lest the list get a little too "TMI" as my mama would say.

List of things I less than love about my husband and our marriage:
1. When he goes out of town and leaves the kitchen trashcan full. Eww. Girls should not have to do trash. We have to have babies and that exempts us from trash duties.
2. When he hesitates if I ask to drive his car.
3. That he doesn't share my opinion that if everyone in the world got a massage once a month there would be world peace. He has never even used the massage gift card I gave him two years ago. Craziness.
4. The way it sometime takes him forever to make decisions, but I realize that this is because of number 4 listed above.
5. That we sometimes fail to communicate with each other about plans until the last minute.
6. His stupid ugly shiny noisy Blackberry
7. That he takes really long showers in the morning and being as irresponsible as I am, I go back to sleep and then end up running late. You would think the kid has to shave his legs.
8. When he lectures me for: not locking doors, leaving valuables in my car, not leaving lights on in the house and other generally security related offenses. But I know it's for my own good and he is the son of a cop so he was programmed to be totally paranoid.
9. That he can make the dogs behave better than I can
10. How clean and neat and efficient he is with his belongings. I really am jealous of this, I am incapable of being that neat.

There's always more to learn about each other and even though sometimes we get impatient and or annoyed with one another, I thinks it's sort of a fun part of being married. I love the little traditions we are slowly creating with each other and how compromising sometimes just brings us closer.

Never Alone

I have the day off today, and when I'm home by myself, I love to watch the doggies and spend time with them between their tightly scheduled napping periods. I was watching Doodle sleep and thinking about how I never feel really alone when she is around. It got me thinking about our history together and how important she is to me.

In July of 2004 I adopted "Doodle", also known as Abigail on a whim, on my lunchbreak from work. She was terrified of everything, 40 pounds underweight, abused, and in such bad shape that I though she was a chocolate lab- but she's black! Anyway, for the first two days that I had her (it was summer in Athens so I had my apt. to myself) I spent most of the time sitting on the floor with treats in my hand not making eye contact and trying to get her to come to me. She spent most of her time in the corner, shaking. After a week or so, she started to really come around and would follow me throughout the apt. but not really get close. I thought for a few days about finding her a home because I thought she would never love me. I decided to try some pretty intense socialization so I took her everywhere with me, which is totally possible in Athens and something I miss! I wanted her to think of me as her "pack leader". Anyway, I took her for a walk at the Intermural fields/trails at UGA and ran into an older lady with an old German Shepherd. She asked me about Doodle and I told her the story and that I was a little depressed because she seemed to tolerate me, but not really love me. She told me all her Shepherds were rescues and not to give up. She said the secret was to sit next to them and pull their face close and whisper in their ear that you will always love them and will never let them be homeless again. A little cooky, yes. The dog psychologist (yes they have those in Athens) I took her to said that she felt very uncomfortable with close human contact and that getting in her face was NOT what I should do. But I did exactly that. I whispered to her every day and in about two days, the following went to constant contact. No matter where I walked, sat, or laid, she always seemed to be there next to me, leaning on me or pressing her body against mine. I was thrilled because she loved me, and she needed me, and I could give her everything she needed. My maternal instinct is strong, but my dogs are the only babies I want to nurture at this time in my life so it worked for both of us. She began to blossom and her personality came out. The dog that NEVER made a sound for the first two months I had her started to "talk" to me when she wanted something. She was gaining weight and her coat was coming in a glossy black. I learned that she loved to go in the car and go swimming at the lake and had little to no interest in fetching anything, ever. She started to play with the plethora of toys I bought her instead of just looking at them and she "squeaked" her days away at my feet with her toy pig in her mouth. She developed an aversion to having doors closed in between us and laid on the bath mat when I showered, which she still does, and she saw my "potty" time as the perfect opportunity to get petted and lean on me. I was worried that she might get a little too attached and develop some separation anxiety issues, so I made sure not to make a big deal when I left the apt. and I say the same exact thing to her everytime I leave the house. "Be back in a little while, be a good girl, I love you" She chewed up one shoe one time, but that was it. She learned about me leaving and I think her personality is probably and little like mine in that she enjoys some alone time.

When Ryan gave me Rylie Boo for Valentines Day in 2008, I was pumped because Doodle would have a friend to play with (she loves other dogs) and the exercise would help keep her young. Not to mention she was the cutest puppy known to mankind. Rylie Boo, being a poodle, is by nature an inquisitive, intelligent, and affectionate dog. She craves CONSTANT attention and because I am so used to having Doodle around, Rylie Boo picked up those same habits, only took them to the next level. Instead of waiting on the bath mat while I shower, she will jump IN the shower if I don't close the door quickly enough. She will jump IN my lap when I potty and unlike Doodle, who is happy to find a place to lay in the same room, Rylie Boo is not happy unless she is touching me or walking next to me at all times. If I get up off the couch to put a cup in the dishwasher, she comes all twelve steps with me. I have created a monster. I cannot do ANYTHING in the house alone or without what I call "poodle help".

I'm sure Ceasar Milan would tell me that I did this because I want to be needed and have a strong mothering instinct, and he's probably right, but I swear I didn't realize that I would never be able to walk down the stairs without feeling poodle hair brushing my ankles. So even though it's a little annoying to have a 90 pound lab and 11 pound poodle leaning against you and trying to jump in your lap if you have to pee, it's nice on days like this when I'm home alone or Ryan is out of town and we can just enjoy the quiet together. I'm thankful for that cooky lady's advice and I still whisper to Doodle almost every day that she will never be alone again either.

On a different note:
I'm a little scared about what I will do if human children are this needy! Moms out there, do you get to pee alone?

quick and healthy summer dinner

After a long day's work, the last thing I want to do is think about what to make for dinner! Summer is great because there are so many healthy and fresh choices that, with a little planning, can be made quickly. This is literally an 8 minute meal... eat that, Rachael Ray. So anyway,

Wild caught Alaskan salmon is in season! yay! I cannot stomach buying or eating farmed salmon because of the environmental repercussions but I LOVE it when the grocery store has wild salmon in. Salmon is full of omega 3 fatty acids, good cholesterol, protein and a variety of other things that makes it great to eat! It also makes you full!

Here is a super easy way to marinate it and throw it on the grill if plain is a little to "fishy" for you. Please excuse the casual nature of this recipe, my bro is the chef, I do things a little more loosely!

-get two decent sized fillets if feeding two people

- in the bottom of a 9x12 ish pan put:

-enough soy sauce to almost cover the bottom

- 2 shots of bourbon/whisky (i use jack daniels)

- a squeeze of lemon juice

- about 4 tablespoons of honey (local if you have it- thats another post unto itself)

- a spoon full of minced garlic (optional)

-stir up ingredients until the bourbon starts to dissolve the honey

-slap the salmon in there face down, skin up

-refrigerate overnight for best results

- throw it on the grill the next day- about 3 minutes per side- do NOT overcook it.

I use a fish cooking basket for the grill so it doesn't stick to the grill when I turn it over. Great investment, I promise.

goes great with:

-cauliflower (i cannot say enough about the steamfresh in the bag kind- yum and easy)

- fresh wilted spinach- get the salad kind and wilt it in a pan with a little butter and salt and pepper

*remember, if you buy farmed salmon, this recipe will turn out badly and you will be doomed to spend eternity in a vat of warm salmon guts! Hungry Bears will be released daily.

Enjoy!

FRIDAY

The weekend is here! Yay! It's been raining on and off all day. One of those, as soon as you put your shoes on to go walk the dogs, it starts pouring again days, where that little bit of blue sky is just teasing you! I know "we need the rain!", but it is cramping my style since most of this weekends plan involve being outdoors! Also, Ryan says the grass is growing too fast and he just cut it on Tuesday! This weekend should be a blast... if the rain holds off. As usual, I have overscheduled us to the max because I get so excited about two days of fun in what's left of summer. So here's the plan- hour by hour- weather channel please co-ordinate downpours accordingly:
FRI 7:oo pm- off work, meet Ryan (who hopefully has already been home and fed and pottied the fourlegged children) and friends, combine cars and head to Lakewood for Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker concert- hair already in ponytail, just in case- concert starts at 8.
12:30 ish- get home, pack car for horse show in the morning: dressage saddle, girth, pad and bridle, jumping saddle and pad, helmet, gloves, extra breeches, jacket, stock tie, pin, the works. Double check that everything is packed. Fall into bed.
SAT 5:00 am- shower, let girls out, get dressed while pretending to be conscious
SAT 5:30 am sharp- leave for horse show
SAT 7:30 am- arrive at Big Bear Farm, grab some breakfast, remind mom to come early or she will miss it, get tacked up and warm up dressage- run dressage test a few times.
SAT 9:06 am- Dressage Test
SAT 11:00ish- Stadium Jumping- this is the fun part
ASAP after awards- get back on the road to Acworth.
SAT 4:00 pm- meet Ryan at Andrew's house for party having already showered and made casserole and garlic bread for dinner!
SAT night sometime- get home, feed doggies, love them and SLEEP
SUN am - drive friends to Airport
SUN noon- leave for Jasper to ride Emma the Thoroughbred
SUN 1pm- arrive in Jasper and ride Emma- hopefully like her!
Rest of weekend- relax!

So see- it just can't rain all weekend-thank you in advance to the weather for cooperation!

Today's Casualties

One Pair Hanky Panky panties (of course not the cheap target ones), one new red Clark flip flop (like I said, she's a brand name girl), my favorite hairbrush with the Gel comfort handle.

Thanks Rylie Boo.
Thanks.

Well I'm off to pick chunks of "Gel Comfort Handle"out of poodle hair.

Just say NO...

When I first starting dating Ryan, I loved his style. He is usually impeccably dressed, and I have to admit, the kid can iron better than any dry cleaner's I've ever come across. Those of you that know me know how I feel about ironing and the current height of my ironing pile, so that was a major selling point to me. Anyway, after a few months of doing the long distance dating thing, I took my first visit to his humble bachelor abode. I walked into his "neat as a pin" room and there they were, about as attractive looking as a week old run-over armadillo in July in GA on the side of the road. The sight of them turned my stomach-they were....really crappy sheets. OK, so don't think that I was checking out his sheets because I was planning on getting in them later, I just notice that kind of thing because I have a major aversion to scratchy poly blend linens of any sort and I KNEW that I could never live with someone who thought those sheets were OK. I bring my own sheets to hotels or when traveling to stay with family or friends whose sheets have not been previously approved. It's a quirk OK? So that very moment was the first time I had any second thoughts about this man. Did HE actually purchase those sheets? Did his mother purchase them? Were they a graduation gift? How did he ever sleep in these? Would his skin ever recover? So thinking back, this was a little harsh of me, and I did eventually ask him about the origins of those sheets. Turns out, his ex-girlfriend bought them for him so I'll give you two guesses where those sheets went. Anyway, I never knew until that day how much of a sheet snob I am- but I'm not sorry. I think maybe it's because my mom abhors anything that's not 100% cotton when it comes to sheets. Or maybe because it's just in my blood. My entire family seems to be linens obsessed. Needless to say I forgave Ryan for his crappy sheets transgression and soon converted him to my way of thinking. My moment of glory came as we travelled to a wedding a few weeks ago and he turned the duvet back and said "these are very nice sheets, at least 600 thread count". I was so proud of him. They might have been a 400 thread count, but they were a good thick cotton sateen weave, so it worked. I didn't even have to change them to the ones I brought from home- Kudos to the Poinsette Hotel in Greenville, SC. The bottom line is, if you are sleeping on questionable linens, suck it up and buy some nice sheets- it can be life changing, just ask Ryan. I know it seems scary to spend $100 or more on sheets, but you spend 2/3 or some fraction like that of your life in bed- so the value is there.
There's nothing more relaxing that sinking into a comfy bed with cool clean soft cotton (or maybe cotton/beech blend) sheets. Just Say NO to polyester and low thread count. If you ever come stay with us, get ready to be converted, I save the best ones for the guest room.

My Blog is not pretty

So I am VERY new at this blogging thing, but how do you get the pretty header at the top or get someone to design one for you? I need to figure this out. Take a look at the quirkybirds blog that I follow and see what I mean.

I Love your love the most

One of my current favorite songs is "I love your love the most" by Eric Church. Ryan happens to love it too, even though we often disagree on good song status. The song talks about all the simple things he loves in/about life but in the end says, "I love your love the most". I was thinking about this today after yesterdays little rant on wanting a horse to love and I made a little list of all the simple things in life that I love. I think it's a pretty therapeutic little exercise so here it goes:

1. Green Tea Ginger Ale- I've never done cocaine, but I'm fairly certain this is better.

2. The soft part of a horses nose right between their nostrils.

3. Hearing "Touchdown DAWGS!"

4. The magical way mascara can transform my appearance

5. Seeing Ryan's car pull into the driveway

6. Doggie Kisses

7. The sound of rain

8. A full tank of gas

9. Eating cheese grits on the porch at my parent's house with them and all the dogs on a weekend morning when the lake is flat and glassy

10. Getting an handwritten note or letter in the mail

I could go on, but would love to hear someone else's list of life's simple pleasures. Leave it as a comment if you want!

Wanting something you don't need...

Totally selfish. That's what I feel like. Have you ever wanted something you don't need and something that everyone else insists is a large waste of money? Or have you ever thought, my life REALLY would be perfect if only... For me, the struggle is a horse. What full-time nanny, nursing student, newly married and newly mortgaged woman who has to pay bills and find some time to use a gym membership a needs a horse? Not one. Who befitting the previous description wants one? Me. I am obsessed with having a horse that I can at least call my own to ride on a regular basis. More obsessed than I am with facebook, reading other people's blogs, finding the perfect mascara or even having clean smelling dogs... I am obsessed with finding a horse. I am tired of riding other people's horses only to see them sold once they are "rideable" for whomever or are now "perfectly well behaved" so that little children can ride them and undo everything I taught them to do. See, selfish again. I suck.

Here's the double edged sword... in this economy, everyone is selling their horses for ridiculously good prices. If you think the housing market looks great, try shopping for a horse. I can get a horse today for $4500 that would have cost me $12,000 two years ago. And people are offering payment plans! With no interest! With the drought being over, feed and hay prices are down, gas prices are decent and board is competitive. It's torturous. The other side of the blade however is that my paycheck hasn't gone up in this economy, while groceries, interest rates on my credit card and every other bill in the world have, and now I have to pay tuition for nursing school. Sadly, I would RATHER pay for a horse than nursing school or even groceries, but that probably wouldn't bode well for my marriage or my future profession which promises a somewhat larger paycheck than teaching. Thanks to our governor, by the way, for making me feel GREAT about getting out of teaching when I did since the first teachers to get furloughed will undoubtedly be art teachers. Anyway, the horse debate drags on in my head and in my heart. Nothing in the world makes me happier than being around a horse, except for when Ryan hugs me- but really it is a close race. I know that sounds terrible no non-horse people, but horses were really my first love- it's just a different kind of love. There's this little hole in my heart and it's shaped like a horse- my horse. Help.

Rylie Boo Louise

One year old chocolate colored mini poodle. Often called and sometime ignores: Rylie, Boo Boo, Little, Poodie Pood, Snuggle Bunnykins. She was a valentines day gift from Ryan and the cutest little puppy ever! She has a very strong personality and enjoys fetching, fetching, fetching, and licking people. Also prides herself on seeking out and destroying expensive shoes. Target flip flops are not good enough for this girl, she only chews brand names. She also excells at snuggling and being hilariously funny in order to get out of trouble. She doesn't like this picture due to her bad haircut and wants it changed asap.

Her dogbook profile is here: http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/profile/view/1281296

Doodle

Seven-ish year old black lab/weimeraner rescue. Often called and sometimes answers to: the babydog, big, bull in a china shop, doodie poo. See her dogbook profile here: http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/profile/view/126862 She doesn't often have time time to update her profile though, between napping and searching out people to scratch her hiney.

Getting started in more ways than one

It's a rainy day and so I'm finally doing it. I'm starting a blog about the life that is us. Us meaning Ryan and I (Ellie) and the two four legged children, Doodle and Rylie Boo. There may even be another one on the way, in horse form. Although this blog probably won't be interesting to anyone other than Us, it will serve to create memories, and sometimes that might be the most special part of this life.

As for the four legged children, much to my mother's chagrin, Ryan and I don't particularly want any children other than the four legged variety until I am thirty we decided. I'm 26. She's already ogling baby clothes and buying antique baby linens and reminding me of family names.

Ryan and I got married on 6.7.08. My favorite day ever. It was dusk in a park in Savannah and everything was right in my world. It felt like life really started that day and so now, whether it's a great day or a terrible one, I am still so very thankful that this life is ours, and the one I'm in.

There's a little house outside of Atlanta where our little family lives, and it's often brimming with excitement, barking, messes, artwork, laundry that never seems to go away, ringing phones, love, hugs, and even quiet nights. It's never the same day over again, and that's my favorite part. I'm lucky to be able to experience it with my favorite person.