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Friday, June 29, 2012

A Horse and Home Improvement Weekend...

Last weekend was anything but boring. In fact, it was such a great weekend with some great "hurray" moments, that I don't even know where to start. Hmmm....how about a short recap of mine and my fiance', Tony's unspoken hobby agreement.

I hate guns. I didn't grow up around them. They make me uncomfortable. I love animals. I don't kill them, I save them (except spiders, or any bugs for that matter). I cry when I hit a squirrel. NO JOKE! But Tony is the mighty hunter. Anytime he can spend shooting something, whether it's with a gun or bow, is a moment he enjoys. He also enjoys telling me about it, which after three years, you would think he would realize I don't want to hear the details. But, he's a proud hunter. So I sit and nod and say "that's awesome" which is what's expected of me. Also, I am learning to shoot a gun and I actually do enjoy shooting a bow (the two times I have used one). So I am trying to go outside my comfort zone and do something that makes the love of my life happy.

Tony has never been a horse enthusiast. His family has had horses for years and when he was young he was made to do the grunt work even though it wasn't something he was involved in. When we started dating he absolutely hated doing anything horse related. Over time he has learned to help me willingly because it's what you do for someone you care about. One random day at the barn (at this point we were together over 2 years) he decided he wanted to get on. He had never even suggested getting on a horse before. He rode for a few nanoseconds and later that day confessed he enjoyed it. The next day he was planning on attending a trail ride with me later that month. Long story short, he discovered that my horse Scooter, who I have had since I was 14, would go anywhere he asked him. Off the path. Over fallen branches. Through the mud. He referred to him as "kinda' like a 4 wheeler". Since then he has purchased a saddle and has gone on a few trail rides with me. He has already been asking me when they start this season.

ANYWAYS, my point in all of this is that we both do things that are outside each other's comfort level but we accept them, support each other and try to participate in the best ways we know how. Look at that...I should be a relationship counselor. :)  NOW.....back to this weekend....

We have a friend that is a photographer and who has taken BEAUTIFUL pictures of my horses for me. Him and his wife have a little boy that decided he wanted to ride horses. And he is a natural! The first time I put him on a horse, he had no fear and rode like he grew up on the back of a horse. He's been riding from time to time and we thought it would be fun to take him to a horse show. What could be better for a little guy than doing something he enjoys and getting a ribbon for it? We had everything all set for this kiddo to go to a show. He had his cowboy clothes, helmet, fancy new boots and all the proper tack. I was completely aware that he was going to be doing a lead line class, but for whatever reason, it slipped my mind that I would need someone to actually lead him. I could do it but I wondered briefly if Tony would do it because he could actually dress the part and wear matching clothes. I knew it wasn't something he had done before and that most likely he wouldn't want to do it, so when I asked him expecting him to say no, he shocked me when he said ok. I told him what to wear and he went along with it. When I told him to see about getting his dad's hat to wear, he was all game. Have I mentioned how much I love this man???!!! So when the show rolled around on Saturday morning, and the horse was all spruced up and both "boys" were dressed, it was awesome to see it all come together. We had such a blast doing it and it was a total "hurray!" moment for me. I was thrilled to see Tony get involved with my horses once again. And I must say that I think Tony can TOTALLY pull off the whole cowboy look.
Tony and his lead-liner riding SKM Naughty But Nice, "Scooter".
Thank you Ryan for capturing this great moment in the ring!

 

Before. (Technically last year)
After. We now have a little privacy.
(Don't judge my flowers. They ARE growing)





Well....after an exhausting Friday night of prepping for the horse show (bathing and clipping the horse, cleaning tack, loading the trailer. You wouldn't believe how much time it takes for one horse!) and a full Saturday morning of showing in the hot sun, we suddenly got the urge to work on our patio. I believe Tony thought it would be an hour project. Which is why by the time it was getting dark, he was muttering under his breath and hatin' on the fence. But after only a few oops moments, we FINALLY got it done. I can't take too much credit. I tried helping but when Tony gets totally into a project he kind of takes over (sorry babe but it's true. However, if ANYONE tries criticizing our fence...I can just say "Tony did it". ) But I was a GREAT post holder. I mean, I totally rocked holding those posts. And pointing out mistakes. Sometimes I am just so helpful. And after it was all up we put up our new tikki torches, lit them and enjoyed the last half hour of our evening in patio bliss.



Before paint job. It's a great room but it has zero personality.
The next morning I was moving at turtle speed but I was so looking forward to our next "home improvement" task that I was determined to see this thing through. And by that I mean painting. Normally I love to paint but I was dreading the work involved because our living room has LOTS of wood, crown molding and windows. Everything had to be taped. Thankfully my future mother-in-law came to the rescue and helped me out. SO THANKFUL! So even at my turtle pace I started my painting excursion. I just couldn't wait to see the end result. Now...a preview of our house. It's awesome but it's BROWN. EVERYWHERE. And we are sick of it. We haven't done much with color since we've moved in and IT'S TIME.

After paint job. This looks a little brighter than it actually
is since the sun was coming in but we love it.
I wasn't 100% certain on my choice of color but once it was done we loved it (my second "Hurray!" moment).  The painting is just the start. In fact it was a little disappointing putting all the same things back in their place. I'm on a mission to find new decor, rug and curtains! After being here almost two years it's time to make it feel like a real home.


The dining room is the next project. Again...brown. Now I didn't add pictures of everything but I'm sure in time you will see more of the house. But let me just fill you in quickly. Bathroom? Brown. Spare room? Brown. Basement? Brown. No joke. The furniture is all brown and the walls are some shade of brown. As we work on filling our life with color, I will make sure to share the experience. It's going to be so much fun!
Dining room. See? More brown.

This was all done in one action packed weekend. We are already looking forward to our next projects, but we MAY take a day off this weekend to relax. Have a great weekend everyone!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My Life at ALMOST 30...

Hello fellow bloggers! I have decided that since my life is finally making progress at the age of ALMOST 30, that I need to share my experiences. When I turned 27 it was no big deal. 28? A HUGE, FREAKING deal. Why? I have no idea. Suddenly I realized that I was at a job I didn't like, I was not engaged or married, I drove a car I hated, I was poor and I had no children (with the exception of animals). Now I know life should not be measured by these things but tell this to an emotional woman on her birthday. On my 29th I had the delayed effect. I was awesome for 2 days and then suddenly I was crying myself to sleep already thinking that 30 was going to suck. However, after all that, I am here to say that 30 will not suck! I still have the same job that I don't care for and I'm still mostly poor BUT I am recently engaged, recently bought a new car (hence the still being poor) and I am planning a kick ass wedding! So maybe for my birthday I'll wish for a new job. But right now things are really looking up.

I have the best fiance in the whole world. Obviously I'm partial but how many men hold on to a ring for a month because they can't think of an awesome enough way to propose? Well, maybe there are others but I prefer to think this makes him special. In the end he took me to Bond Falls in Michigan and proposed in front of the waterfalls. We had a real picnic (basket included) before hand and when he finally got down on one knee, I was so flabbergasted, I forgot to answer. I've been told that it felt like 10 minutes and he has also asked that when the Pastor asks us for our "I do's" that I know the answer right away. I'll make sure to stay on top of that. :)

Now I am at the beginning stages of planning our wedding, which will be September 2013, and I get so excited that I want to be able to share some of my wedding planning adventures. I have been reading blog after blog of other people's wedding stories and looking for ideas. Tony and I are very much outdoors people, so our wedding will be no different. We have an awesome venue and I have some great ideas that I can't wait to get started on. I have made my own feather/flower hair piece already and I plan to (attempt) make my own garter, as well as the men's boutonnieres. I can't wait to see how these turn out. If they turn out well I just might be nice and share them with you. :)

I feel like my life has hit a new chapter with our impending marriage, our discussion of children (HOLY SHIT!) and my new found love (or determination) of DIY. I was super creative as a child and I'm hoping that I can get that back. I used to draw, paint, photograph and craft anything horses. Seriously I was pretty great for being 12 and fairly good at 17. Now I just don't stop whatever I'm doing to draw or paint anymore. Unless it's a wall, which even that I'm behind on. I used to enter 4-H projects as a kid and I always won blue ribbons on my drawings and photo's. I even had a photo that was given a Merit award. If you don't know what that is, it's basically the "your photo's the bomb" award. They only choose a few and then they are hung in the entrance of the fairgrounds Expo building until the following year. I also used to craft blankets, halters, saddles and bridles for my Breyer horses (collectible toy horses) when I was 12. I told you I could do anything horse related! So I have decided there is no reason I can't apply all of my creative luck towards wedding planning and house decorating. I. Am. Determined. Also, Nate Berkus makes it look so easy.

Additionally, I should mention that my baking and cooking talents have improved. I am always so proud of myself when something turns out, so now that I have my new camera I will do my best to show off any "big" cooking/baking moments. When I got my first apartment at the young age of 24 (fyi I had been on my own briefly but ended up having to move back with my parents. That's another long story in itself) I didn't even know how to cook spaghetti (and I still can't spell it without spell check). And I have burned minute rice. So believe me when I say, that knowing how to make a casserole and chili, enchiladas and homemade macaroni, sloppy joe's without a can and my mom's tuna noodle salad is a HUGE accomplishment to me. When I started making 3 dishes for dinner instead of 2, Tony said (before we were engaged) that I must really want to get that ring. Actually that wasn't my reason at all (I was just so excited to make things) but if I had known that would have done the trick I would have done it a long time ago. :)

I can't wait to share all my new adventures with you. I am going to become domesticated if it's the last thing I do!
Bond Falls, MI. Where Tony popped the question.