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.