Monday, August 10, 2009

I'm Baaaaaaaaack

Hello all!

I know I haven't posted in a couple months, but i've been busy! Here's what we've been up to...

*Uriah went to California for 2 weeks, where I was alllll alone, and it was miserable. It felt like he was gone for 3 months.
*While he was in Cali, I received a free weekend flight home. Thanks Mama!
*I've finally started riding Tuff on the weekends after a long time off because my saddle was needing repairs. Now we're back in bit'ness! The ride this past weekend was VERY hot and Tuff dunked his head in the creek all the way past his eyeballs. Last week he dunked it up to his eyeballs and blew bubbles. I love my horse.
*This past weekend we had Kelby (Uriah's sister), Josh and Averie visit us. We kept ourselves extremely busy by visiting the National Zoo on Friday, and then touring the memorials in Washington D.C. complete with a trip in the Washington Monument tippy top! It was awesome! I am also not ready to have a 2 year old running around to take care of. How does one prepare endurance wise for this? I am T.I.R.E.D.!
*Of course i've been working, but this job is coming to an end. Drags me down on so many levels, and I feel it start to chip away at my well being. I feel like a bad person when I leave. Hmmmm. Emergency Vet Tech is a huge possibility. I'll keep you updated.
*Lastly, for the last 3 months we've been house hunting. Yes, 3 months. It has been VERY time consuming, and i'm getting burned out. Our goal is to buy cheap, find a house that needs some TLC and make some money when we sell in 2 years (when I finish school). There is a fine line in TLC, and a complete remodel, so we're trying to be patient and waiting on the right one. I have been praying about it and leaving it to God to help us with our decision. We found one last week that was being offered at a great price and alot lower market value then the neighborhood, made plans to look at it, it's decent, needs some new carpet and paint and a few upgrades but nothing too extreme, so we decide to make an offer on it. Yesterday we found out that it has already been under contract for 1 week. I felt really relieved because I had been praying that if this house wasn't meant to be, then it just won't fall into place. So we continued searching. Today we went to look at another foreclosure in the same neighborhood and our realtor says that the other house is accepting a back up offer because the first one isn't looking too good. So I had to talk myself back into it. I don't know if God is trying to teach us to be faithful, or if this house just isn't meant to be. Something in my gut is making me nervous. I am pretty sure it's the fact that we're investing alot of time and money into our very first home. We shall see. I am trying to remain at peace and pray alot and know that God knows my heart and knows what we want. I am excited about decorating and OWNING our very first house! Getting to decorate has me super excited. We went window shopping at home depot to check out all the stuff we'd like to change and make imaginary plans just to get an idea on how much money we'll need to save. It was actually fun. Uriah and I have the same taste! Please say lots of prayers for us during this huge step.
*I have also registered for classes this year. Jessica if you are reading this, please say a special prayer for me. As soon as I write these words, you will surely understand. ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. After work, from 5:30-9:50 pm. I can feel my hair falling out already.

-May the Lord have mercy on my soul is all I have to say!

I did a little homework on what I need to take in order to FINISH my degree, and it was a little depressing. My problem is that at UNCC they had a B.A. in biolgy option. Maryland does not! In order to get a degree in Biology I will have to take Genetics, Organic I & II (labs for both) Physics I & II (Labs for both) Calculus I & II ( I took calculus I 8 years ago, and there is no way I remember enough to take calc II) Biochemistry, etc etc, blah blah blah.

Long story short: I don't plan on being a professional student.

So I am switching to animal science for which the only thing I need is Genetics and Organic I + lab. Isn't that much better? AND! AAAAAAND!!!!! I can concentrate in equine science. Hello dream courses! Where have you been my whole life? I am super excited to have finally figured out this mess of a degree i've been working on for 9 years and finally have some excitment level to it. Now you may ask what I am going to do with my degree? That is a fabulous question, and the answer is: I plan on having babies. That is all.

Uh emmmmm: Seriously though. My dream job is to own a barn, train, board, and do all the other very hard work it requires to run a horse barn. Fortunately for me, I am going to win the lottery in 2 years and that will allow me to do anything I want to. Part of that time may allow me to sit on the couch in slouchy sweat pants and eat peanut m & m's for hours on end. Seriously. Again. There isn't much difference between Animal Science and Biology. Maybe a few courses here and there, but nothing major. I still plan on doing what I had intended on doing with either. Something, anything in the animal related industry. I like to think of Animal Science as more 'hands on' when compared to Biology and alot more specific in the area that I want to study = HORSES!

Now my goal is to take the intro courses to the program at a community college = cheaper. Then apply to University of Maryland at College park to be a part of their animal science program with a concentration in equine studies. Alot of my prior BIO credits from UNCC should transfer so it won't be a 4 year degree (won't take me that long), but I do need to take some courses (30 hours I think) at UMD@CP to be considered eligible for a degree from them. Just the right amount of hours needed to get all my equine science classes underway because the rest have been *almost completed (at uncc).

That should be the majority of it. Thanks for reading this far-this was a very random posting, and lifting us up in prayer.

Love,

Lindsay

Saturday, May 30, 2009

I went riding today!!!

Long time no post I know. Sorry. I've been working too hard and being too lazy when i'm not working too hard. I won't go into detail about that boring stuff, but the most important thing is I went riding today!

For the first time since November before my surgery!! It was glorious. Today was just a glorious day. Perfect weather.

I saw a barely 3 day old foal (baby horse) and he was the cutest thing. Dare I say almost as cute as Tuff when he was a little baby? I'll post pictures later, but he was just the most precious thing I have ever seen. I love little horsey noses. Especially ones with curly whiskers. I definately miss having babies around.

Tuff had clover for lunch and he was really slobbering buckets. He had a constant stream of drool coming out of his mouth when I first brought him in from the pasture and then occasionally he'd open his mouth and let a big wad of it drop on the ground. A few times almost on my shoe.

I finally got a new saddle pad and girth for the Australian saddle i've been trying to fit since January. UGH! It was definately hard to find tack for this saddle. So today was the day. I had my tack ready that I had bought the week before, only to find out the pad was too small. The girth is okay, though i'm not entirely sure i'm going to be able to use it anymore because the billet strap (to tighten the girth/saddle) broke off mid pull and left me with nothing to pull with. I need to take it to the leather shop down the street to have it repaired. But go figure, I finally get the tack and my saddle bites the dust. Oh well. It is a good saddle, leather wears out after being pulled for a while. If it weren't for the awesome people that take care of Tuff being at the barn to help me with all the questions and tack malfunctions I probably wouldn't have ridden. Have I mentioned that they are AWESOME? I mean seriously. It's a 30 minute drive for me, and I was originally skeptical about moving Tuff away from my 10 minute drive, own tack room, own catch area, double stall, but goodness. It is SOOOO nice to not have to worry about if my horse is getting fresh water, hay, food, and attention if anything should arise. I have to say, that if I ever found a barn 10 minutes from me, I don't think I would move him, I don't think i'm gonna find another barn as caring or attentive as these people. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about. Tuff's leg is doing fabulous. There are so many nice things I could say about it. I am 100% happy that I moved him. I realize now the only doubts I had earlier were about the distance that I would have to travel, and missing the friends that I had made, but that is long gone. I'm happy.

Sorry this post is all over the place.

I will post pictures soon.

Lindsay

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

It could always be worse

I realize I haven't blogged in a while, sorry folks! Life Happened. I've been busy with school, school, school, work, and more school. I'm only taking 1 class, but when i'm not working, i'm in school. No social life thats for sure. So yesterday was my final. I had an 89 average in the class (1 point from an A) and studied as much as I could Sunday, reading over my notes, jotting a few things down, and studying with a friend from class. Things were okay, though I knew I could have studied more and suddenly I wished I could have taken the day off on Monday morning to study instead of work. I always do bad on final exams. I always put so much pressure on myself. Easy questions become hard, and easy answers are lost in my brain. It's that bad. I felt okay after the 10 page, all short answer, fill in the blank test, figuring I got a low B. Still an okay chance to make my A in the class. Well, I instead made a 75.5 and have an 88.2 in the class as my final grade. I am soooooooooooooo upset at myself. If I would have studied 1 more hour. Jotted down 5 more things on my paper. Remembered a little harder. B. B is for BOOOOOO. I am more upset that I am so close to my hard earned A. 1 point. 1 measley point. I wouldn't be as mad if I had done bad during the whole semester and earned an 88. But I rocked the semester out and got an A in the freakin' lab for goodness sakes. But 1 point from an A is just not cool with me. I know I could have done it, I know it. And I know that if I would have studied just a little bit longer I would have.

Then I talked to daddy. He told me that his captain at work fell off a 20 foot ladder roofing his house, broke 3 ribs, cracked 2 vertebrae, jammed his pinky finger and possibly disfigured his shoulder. He could have died. He had angels protecting him thats for sure. I am trying to tell myself that things could always be worse. Suddenly a 88.2 doesn't sound SO bad.

It could always be worse.

I just need to learn to let go and be happy that I still got higher than the class average grade in the class, that most people struggle with Microbiology. And I got almost an A. Almost is what sucks the most. I don't like almost. I WANTED IT SO BAD. Ok, I think you get the point. I really am trying to talk my way into coming to terms with the final grade. Pray that maybe my teacher will note how hard I tried and give me the little bit extra that I need. Hopefully. Prayerfully. I am going to pray. And also pray for people that fall off ladders.

Thanks for letting me air all that out. It feels a little better getting that off my chest...

Lindsay

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Snot

Like my title? Yeah, neither do I, but unfortunately, it has taken my head hostage and I can't breathe, can't sleep without waking up every 30 minutes with a sandpaper throat, and once I do fall asleep, Uriah wakes me up snoring because he's got the snot too. Everybody in the Berry family has the snot. I have a sneaky suspicion that is started with my cute little neice Averie, who I had the pleasure of spending 5 whole days with. I also visited with my other Berry (ha- get it) favorite inlaws and neice and nephew from Missouri! They drove a very long 15 hours to NC to spend time with everyone and I had an absolute blast. Despite getting sick when I got home, I wouldn't take it all back. Nothing a little antibiotics won't kick. I plan on going to the doctor tomorrow to kick my funk to the curb. I am traveling to NC once again this weekend for a friend's wedding, and I don't want to ruin her wedding video by being the one sneezing, slinging snot, and blowing my very stuffy nose in the background of her wedding video. Not looking like rudolf would be an added bonus.

I managed to make it to work today for barely 7 hours, but ended up rubbing my nose painfully raw because of all the snotness. Is that a word? Well, I just made it a word. I also skipped class tonight. I'm a big time rebel I tell ya.

I feel utterly exhausted-hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I hope to be fit in the doctors schedule tomorrow...and now it's time for bed, and nyquil

I'll leave you with these fine photos of my weekend.







































There are so many more that I wanted to add, but I didn't have the energy to save the other pictures the rest of my family uploaded and share them on here. You'll just have to use your imagination of all the fun that was had. :) Night Y'all.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

All in a days "work"...

I love taking care of my horse. Sure, I get a little lazy, and don't want to drive the half hour it takes me to get there, but once i'm there let me tell ya. It's hard to get me to leave. I could stand at the fence all day watching them relax in the sun, and eat their hay. I don't even mind cleaning the stalls. Anything that can let me just be there. One of the things I hated the most from being in Maryland was being here without my Tuffy. Him being here makes it a little better. A little more bearable. He is my medicine afterall. Horses are alot of people's medicine. And once you have been bitten by the horse bug, there is no turning back. No denying it. It's with you for life. And all you can do is just fully embrace it. So...with that said, I made a little video for my meme and papaw since they no longer can see Tuff, since they're in NC, and i'm in MD, I made a little video for them. There is nothing exciting in the videos that will make you laugh, or get you all excited. Especially for all you non horsey people. I just simply made the video to show my family how good Tuff is doing, and for them to see him in something other than just a picture.

So without further ado... (don't forget to pause the music on the right hand side-scroll down a little).


Like I said...nothing exciting, and you're not allowed to laugh. I had a better video that was more exciting, but I think I forgot to press the all important 'record' button. So this is 'take 2'.

Here are some pictures too!


These are pictures outside of Tuff's window, of the farm, and surrounding neighbors.



Here are all of Tuff's supplements he takes to keep him looking and feeling good. We have the multivitamin, the skin and coat supplement, and the joint supplement.
This is Tuffy's girlfriend. Her name is Grace. She's a sweetheart. They have a stall right beside each other and share a connecting window so they can blow kisses at each other all day.
Tuff's new blanket.
Tuff's stall.
The back of the barn. Tuff's stall is on the very far left, the two windows on the left are his. And the door to the right of the windows stay open out so he can see outside.

That's all! Tuff is doing wonderful, his leg continues to hold up nicely, and I am super excited about it. He is my sweetheart and I can't wait until the day comes that he is able to stay at MY barn, and all I have to do is take a little stroll outside to see him, instead of a 30-minute drive down the highway. One day!

P.S. He turned 15 this month! Here's to 15+ more good years ahead of us! :)

Love and miss ya'll,

Lindsay

Thursday, February 19, 2009

My 50th post!!!!

Alternately titled 'I had a visitor last night'

On my way to class I call daddy to find out that he was driving a truck to Baltimore for a company, and that he could come visit me for a couple of hours! We decided to eat supper together, and I cooked 'brupper'. Also known as breakfast for supper. :) It was yummy, very southern. Biscuits with pepper gravy, bacon and scrambled eggs. The grits were thought about, but then I got side tracked and didn't end up cooking them, oh, and you can't forget the sweet tea! Poor thing had been up since 3:30 am since the night before, so he was zonked, but he stayed until 9pm, and drove to Richmond to sleep for the night. His truck was oh so humongous and really nice! I got to ride in it a little bit when we were looking for a place for him to park.

Here's some pictures:

I just love my daddy.


Can't send a man on the road without some sweet tea.

Don't be hatin' on my horse slippers. You know you want some.

Terrible Tuesdays?

I've been thinking lately instead of me having Freaky Friday's, my Tuesdays have been Freaky. So to make the name a little more easy on the tongue, i'm naming them Terrible Tuesday's, even though they aren't so terrible. It's just that the last 2 weeks at work we've had some wierd patients come in with these unexpected things...I guess I should give you the back story on this... hopefully it isn't going to be a regular occurence.

So two weeks ago this 90 pound Lab/Dane mix came in that was a regular client, so we saw her and her sibling often enough to know that they take really good care of her, and care about her well being. She has always been a little on the hefty side, great appetite, sweet as sugar. Suddenly she stops eating, just seems off, and was starting to cough occasionally. We ran blood work, and did x-rays. Well, the x-rays showed up as one big blur of white. Which meant that our technique was off, or there was something reeeeally bad in that picture. We shot the xray again, same thing. Unable to determine what was wrong with the picture we recommended she come back the next day which was a Tuesday to get an ultrasound done. Our radiologist comes in, does his thing, and was only able to only tell us that part of the liver was normal, and part of the spleen was normal, the rest was just one huge mess. So after relaying this (in not so harsh words) to the owner, they decided to do exploratory surgery to see what the heck was going on. Well, this is where it gets nasty....and if you have a weak stomach please don't throw up on your keyboard. So for those of you who aren't so inclined, i'll just let you know that the doctor found a 15 pound tumor in this dogs abdomen. It was the most outrageous thing i've ever seen in my life come out of a dog. Here is a picture:

As you can see it is a foot across and was probably 8 inches wide. It had maybe 2 inches of normal spleen poking out of the grossness. The dog did great under anesthesia and was a little sore afterwards (obviously) but did well. She looked average weight when the thing was removed, which makes me wonder how long the thing had been growing and she wasn't showing any symptoms and the people that saw her regularly only assumed it was weight gain from eating so much. Makes me wonder!


So....That is the first story. The second story which happened a week after the last one (as in 2 days ago) is the poster child on why you should spay and neuter your pets. So people, if you've heard all these wives tails about why you shouldn't spay or neuter your pet, or just want to let your dog have a litter, or want to make a buck in selling the litter. Please don't get a dog. I'm sorry to be blunt, but just don't even think about it. I've seen it once, i've seen it a hundred times, there are some IGNORANT people in this world. Our next "Terrible Tuesday" case was a 9 pound poodle. We hadn't seen this client in over 3 years, overdue on every vaccine possible, NOT spayed, and she was 10 years old, suddenly she wasn't 'doin' right'. We took bets on what was wrong with her being that she wasn't spayed, and I won with the correct guess of Mammary cancer. The other guess was pyometra (puss filled uterus). Poor dog. Stupid owners. I wanted to punch them both in the mouth followed by a swift kick in the husbands crotch. This dog was a MESS. She has matted fur all over her, something black and hard in her ear that I don't even know what was going on with that, puss filled teeth that were basically rotting out of her head, and a belly full of mammary tumors (atleast 5). The owners only could feel the really huge one because it was the only one that could be felt over her matted belly, apparently it had been there for about a month, these people, gosh, lets hope they don't have human children. Short story: we removed the tumors and began to spay her only to find pyometra, all of which could have been avoided had she been spayed when she was 5-6 months old, and the uterine wall had ruptured causing all that puss to leak out everywhere. Not good. The doctor cleaned up the train wreck as much as medically possible, but still, who knows how long this dog suffered. These people also knew that the dogs teeth were rotting out of her head, but still chose not to clean her teeth due to not having the funds. Sure I understand that you might not have money to do those things on account of having to drop a chunk of dough on the other 2 things that you did to your dog...but come on people, if you can't afford to take care of your 4 legged children, then don't get one. Please? Spare us all your sob stories. I am sorry I get really heartless when it comes to people who selfishly aquire pets who can't take care of them, and just think these people had 4 other dogs. It crossed my mind about taking the dog outback and stowing it away in my car away from these ignorant people. Austin would enjoy a little playmate. So anyway, all that to say, that she did get her teeth cleaned. For Free. Because we felt sorry for her. She needed about 4 teeth pulled because they were all so loose, but since it was free, and this poor dog had been through enough already, we left them in. We just cleaned up her mouth to get rid of most of the infection. I ended up plucking one of her K9's out with my index finger and thumb, along with another incisor that were so rotten, had I continued to clean the plaque off of them they would have fallen out anyway. We also shaved off all her matts. She wouldn't have one a beauty contest, but atleast she left our clinic feeling like a brand new woman. On drugs. (for pain). Again the picture isn't for the squeamish. Here is her pyometra:


Those buldges at that size should have been puppies. The uterus should only have been the width of maybe an inch at her age, but instead were atleast 6. Filled with puss. So let this be a lesson to anyone you know that intends not to spay/neuter their pet. Sorry if I sound a little preachy, but this all could have been avoided. Males also get cancer from not being neutered, mainly testicular and prostate cancer.

Hopefully these terrible Tuesdays won't be a trend, for the animals sake!

SPAY AND NEUTER! And while i'm at it, ADOPT, don't breed!

Thanks and have a good day. :)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I just thought you all should know....

THAT I GOT A 92 ON MY MICROBIOLOGY TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Happy Late Valentines Day!

My Valentines was a little different, but in a good way of course. It started out about a week and a half ago with Uriah telling me he wanted ME to take HIM out and make all the dinner plans and do any other surprises. Long story, but I ended up deciding on a restaurant called 'Timbuktu' it was a seafood/everything else restaurant, but they were especially known for their crab cakes. I am not a fan of seafood, but when in Rome right? So I got the 'Best crab cakes in Maryland' and they were just okay. Their crab dip however was oh so yummy and delicious!

My Valentine's started on Friday the 13th with a special delivery for me at work. Uriah ordered 18 red roses along with a pretty vase and a very sweet note just so I could receive them while at work. He heard me make the comment the other day when we had the 'me take him out to dinner' discussion that I was going to miss having special deliveries (if there were to be any) at work because V-day was on a Saturday this year. Boo. I guess he took that brief mentioning seriously and took matters into his own hands. I love that man. I love surprises. I love red Roses. When I got home later that night, he wasn't home which is rare, because when I work late, he always beats me home, but I could tell that he hadn't made it home yet, mainly by the way Austin was crossing her legs trying to not pee on the floor, but nevertheless, I could tell he hadn't been home. So I waited patiently downstairs surfing the web, mainly just trying not to fix dinner when I thought I heard someone quietly slip through the door, and then tip toe downstairs, I couldn't even hear him come in which is rare because when a mouse walks in the door, you can hear every creek the wood floor makes when you are in the basement listening for anyone on the 2nd floor... I digress. So anyway, he came home with a pretty little pink box and 2 petite little paper bags and put them neatly on the table and told me not to open them until after dinner was over, which he then proceded to cook, which was oh so yummy spaghetti and meatballs. I helped a little, but this was all him. I love my husband, I love spaghetti and meatballs, I love my husband when he cooks spaghetti and meatballs, AND he did the dishes. I am one lucky woman.

We ate dinner, and then watched Greys Anatomy, and then I coudln't wait any longer, I had to open the little pink box since it was after dinner. Uriah got us 2 cupcakes from the http://www.baltimorecupcakecompany.com/ and another dozen cupcakes for me to take to the girls at work since I had to work on Valentines Day morning. HOW SWEET. And let me tell you, these cupcakes aren't your regular run-of-the-mill cupcakes, they were extra spiffy! It was almost too sad to eat them because they were so pretty. Why am I kidding you guys, I sucked these things down like the vaccum cleaner. They were very sugary, but oh my gosh good. So that was my Valentines day! Made extra special by ending the night getting comfortable in my sweats cuddling up on the couch with a nice Microbiology book. Nothing like studying for Microbiology on Valentines day, but even less romantic is a big fat 'F' on my test on Monday. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Oh-on a side note. I have to have the MOST accident prone horse on the face of the planet Earth. I get a message on my phone that was left earlier in the day, I just didn't see it but just as I am about to go enjoy dinner with Uriah I saw it and listenened to it and it said that "Tuff has torn his new blanket, and ripped his ear open on a briar and the blood dripped down to above his eye, but not to be alarmed because it is fine, it is really small, but I just wanted to let you know in case you came to visit the barn and didn't want you to be surprised/worried". Well bless her heart for calling me, I love this new barn. But anybody wanna invest in some bubble wrap stock because I think i'm gonna need some, and I might make you rich. This horse is worse than me with the clumsiness. But, atleast it wasn't a fractured bone, the 1st anniversary to that is coming up in a couple of weeks. Thank God that is over with. Praise the LORD! By the way, Tuff's ear is fine, the cut is very small, and his leg looks WONDERMOUS! It looks as if nothing ever happened to it. His extra time in the pasture is really making things look great.

Really, now, i'm gonna go study some Micro...again. Later!

Love,
Lindsay

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Up to no good

Today is officially a lazy day. Sort of. I have alot of things to do, but I can't help but not want to do them. One of which is to go to the barn and to go shopping for a saddle pad and girth, but I just really don't feel like it, and when I don't feel like going to the barn or going shopping, well, then you know i'm feeling lazy. I plan on hanging a picture frame today, I finally added pictures into one of my collage frames that I got for Christmas, and I have 4 more to load, and so 1 down 4 to go. I haven't decided where to hang it.

Uriah is coming home today! Just in time for the Super Bowl. I plan on cooking some appetizers, and some sausage dip, and not sure what else. We start our diets tomorrow so we don't want any left overs! We are going to try to motivate ourselves by giving ourselves 10 dollars for every goal we reach in 1 month. So every month means more cash to ourselves when we reach our goals. I'm down with that! It is so hard to get motivated to lose weight. Heck, I can't even get started. We bought a treadmill this past summer, and I've not been on it at all. Uriah is alot more dedicated in using it, but I just look at it and get tired. After wrestling with dogs and cats all day, especially this weekend, the last thing I want to do is run on a treadmill. I'd much rather curl up on the couch with a bag of cheetos. I'm just sayin'!

I also have to study Microbiology (my only class this semester, but definately ENOUGH class) today, along with some other random house chores which i'm dreading a ton. I also think a nap is in order since I had to wake up early to go to work this morning. There is nothing like a mid morning nap after breakfast. I think I get that from my dad. Great minds think alike! Maybe i'll be feeling more motivated whenever I wake up from this possible nap.

Sorry for the random post, just felt like blogging. Hope I didn't bore you to tears.

Definately taking that nap.

Lindsay

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Because I should be studying...

...and my mind is elsewhere thinking about Meme in the hospital (she has pneumonia, please pray for her very quick recovery).

So I shall post pictures to make me happy :)












Now, I really have to study.

Thanks for the distraction and goodnight
Lindsay









Wednesday, January 28, 2009

30 random facts about lil' ole me.

1. I have been homesick for North Carolina going on 2 years come May '09, it isn't getting any better. Maybe this has to do with the fact that we had 2 weeks to pack up our belongings, find a house and me find a job. Just a little stressfull and I had no time to say goodbye to alot of people.

2. I absolutely positively MUST have closure. See above.

3. I have a touch of OCD mixed with a little ADD.

4. I am extremely dedicated and extremely compassionate when it comes to taking care of sick animals. They just melt my heart, and I want to help them with every part of my being.

5. I CANNOT stand smacking noises that accompany people chewing with their mouth open, or any sound that resembles licking, or chewing. It drives me up the wall and I will snap at any given moment if I am unable to escape the noise.

6. I am 26 and now wear a hearing aid. While I am extremely grateful for the remaining hearing I have left, it saddens me just a little bit that I am 26 with a hearing aid.

7. This past November is probably not going to be my last ear surgery and after every surgery I say that I will never have surgery again. But this past one was #6 and I am scared of how many more I will have to have.

8. Sometimes I feel like my life has been ripped apart and will never be glued back together again, and when I think of what happened/is happening, it makes me cry and I cannot go down that dark road, so then I have to think of something else. Immediately.

9. I get really sad and worried about random things at night. When I wake up after sleeping all night I don't feel so worried or sad anymore.

10. I worry about pretty much everything. I also analyze things WAY too much. It drives me nuts.

11. I am having alot of trouble 'letting go' of being #1 caretaker of my horse since moving him to his new barn. Since his injury in March 2008 I worry profusely about his well being and whether or not another freak accident will happen. I pray almost every day for God to keep him safe because surely if he gets injured again I will need to be commited to a mental institute. He will be 15 in March and I have had him since I was 12. I buy more things for him than I do myself and I cannot tell you the last time I went shopping for myself. It brings me comfort to see animals comforted by what I do for them, especially Tuff.

12. It makes me sad to see homeless people that are obviously homeless (dirty, scruffy and rugged looking), my instinct is to look away and ignore them, but then I think they're people too and want to have some type of human contact. How would you feel if no one ever looked at you and acted as if you don't exist? You never know what their situation is, and it's not mine to judge, just show a little compassion. I rarely carry cash so I can't give them money but atleast I can show compassion towards them. It makes me feel better anyway.

13. Uriah left for Virginia on Sunday night, 1 hour after he left the lonliess was unbearable and I don't see how people leave their spouses for the war. He is definately my other half and I feel lost without him.

14. I LOVE music. I love to listen to every kind of music (except for hard rock and gangsta rap-ha). I love to 'feel' music. It always takes me to a different place and can make me feel all sorts of emotions.

15. I've played the violin since the 6th grade. Since I have some extra free time on my hands from not having to horse sit every day now, I took it out to play only to find that all my strings are dead and 2 of them snapped off as I tried to tune it. Time for 4 new strings. I don't need a tuner to tune it to because I can hear the "A" being played back in my mind from all the mornings of it being played loud in orchestra in school while 20 people tuned their instruments.

16. I feel like I am never going to finish school.

17. I have no idea what I want to do as a career when I do finish school. I do know that it must be with animals, preferably horses, somehow, someway.

18. My ultimate dream job would be to have my own horse facility in which I would offer boarding, starting under saddle, and breeding with my own stallion that would be in high demand because of the characteristics he possessed performing and in confirmation. I love to design my own barn in my head.

19. The person I would love to meet is someone that hardly anyone else knows. Monty Roberts- Google him. Now.

20. I get along much better with guys than I do girls. I don't know why.

21. I am constantly late to practically everything. I hate it. See #3

22. I miss my papaw and grandmother terribly but find comfort in both of them being together again in heaven without cancer.

23. One of my happy places is my papaws big red barn and all the hubub that used to be there during shows and trail rides.

24. I would without a doubt pack up everything I own and move to Alaska right now. The beauty of the place is indescribable. There are no words for anything else, I felt so much at peace when I was there.

25. I think there is something special about a hand written letter that no email, no telephone call, no e-card can touch. I love to write them for family back home.

26. I am taller than my husband. It took me a year to realize that. I was in secret denial. He slouches, so really we're the same height right?

27. Raising a child scares me.

28. Horses, scrapbooking and drawing are all medicines of mine. In that particular order.

29. I tend to scare myself when I am alone. I have such a vivid imagination that the dark really scares me. I cannot allow myself to watch horror movies for this reason. The last one I saw was 6 years ago and I had trouble sleeping for months. I haven't allowed myself to watch any since. I can't even watch horror film trailers when they come on tv.

30. I love to sleep. I also require alot of it. I can make myself sleep even if I am not tired. There is something about my bed, and my warm comfy covers that make me relax immediately and the world is a better place when i'm all warm and snuggly.



Thanks for reading!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

I almost forgot!


I almost forgot one of the reasons why I was visiting the doctor last week! It's a very exciting reason. Well, for me anyway. I got my hearing aid! I am still adjusting to it. It's wierd being 'in stereo'. Not having full hearing in my left ear for goodness knows how long and now having an aid is a little hard to get used to, in a good way of course. There are a few things that I need to tweek. But it is very beneficial. There are alot of special gadgets on these things that you wouldn't even begin to think would be possible on something so tiny. You can barely see mine, and if I didn't tell you, you would never know I was wearing one. Of course I can't sleep with it in, or get it wet, and I don't think i'm going to ride with it on, just in case it jiggles out. Otherwise when I wear it correctly and it is in properly I can barely tell it is in. Putting it in is a bit difficult just because I have always had this thing about shoving tiny things inside my ear, it was always a bad thing. Getting used to it as a good thing is a little difficult and sometimes it feels funny but it is already growing on me. I made a video to email to family, and it's too big to post, so pictures will just have to do.

This week is going to be a little wearing on me. First and most important reason is that Uriah will be spending his week in classes training all week, I miss him terribly already and it hasn't even been 3 hours yet. UUGH! Second, I have my first full week of classes and getting back into the swing of things might be tiring, but I am surprisingly excited...I think I have a good teacher for this class.

Third, of course I will be worried about Tuff and his new home and whether or not he likes his new digs and is making new friends. It has almost been a year since he got injured and having spent every single day of my life except for the rare weekends that I went to NC and the month I had surgery and couldn't go to the barn, aside from those days, I have spent every day with that horse. Every day wrapping and unwrapping and rewrapping, and sweating, and injecting antibiotics in his neck, crushing horse sized pills into grain, walking, grazing, standing for hours on end just to get his mind occupied on something other than 'why can't I run', scooping poop, shoveling saw dust, driving only God knows how many hours all in the name of one horse. All for the sake of my Tuffy. Now, he's 25 minutes away, in another person's hopefully trustworthy hands, with myself unable to watch him with a close eye. His leg will never ever be the same, so I will always worry, but now I feel a little lost not knowing what to do with a little extra free time. But call me crazy, all the blood (not his) sweat and tears (all mine) I wouldn't trade for a second (of course I wish none of it happened to begin with, but this is me trying to find the silver lining) because all the time I spent with Tuff he always got me through something. Always took my mind off of things that bothered me. Work problems disappeared, family drama disappeared, just me and my horse, and the days that I did get to ride him, he carried me around, proud as a peacock that he was able to be ridden again, and everything through the ears of my red headed son, uh-em, horse was right and perfect. Nothing could touch me. I was definately bitten by the horse bug a long time ago, and once you've been bitten, nothing can take it away. So if anyone reading this has a friend, family member in love with horses, it's too late, the deed is already done. The best thing you can do is to just let it happen. Just let it happen is all the advice I can give you. Boy, that was a long walk down memory lane. Sorry about that...I am a little (okay alot) passionate about all things horsey. So...with that said, I hope everyone has a good Monday, and do try to stay warm :)

Lindsay

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Fabulous

JUST fabulous! That would be a good word for today! I spent 9 hours at a place called Maryland Horse World Expo. I had a very very fun time and enjoyed being surrounded by horsey people. I saw a awesome trick horse trainer, his name was Tommy Turvey, just google him, or go to youtube.com and type his name in and there are some fabulous horse videos of him doing stunts and tricks. He and his horses have also been in the movie Larry the Cable Guy if you've ever seen it. It's amazing at what he can make them do so willingly. Today's demo was on 'laying your horse down', but I was treated by another demonstration where he did a slew of other tricks with a 16 year old paint horse that he bought from an auction when he (the horse) was 4. So very cool.

I know in my last post I said that I would take pictures of Tuff in his new winter gear but y'all it was freezing cold and my fingers didn't feel like freezing off into little crisps, so I didn't take any pictures. It'll be okay, just use your imagination. Tuff is red, blanket is green, pretty colors, there you got a good picture right? Maybe i'll take a picture as I 'de-layer' him and strip him of his fleece blanket liner once it gets above let's say maybe 10. Maybe. Sorry.

And to top off today's fabulousness Uriah tells me to look in the fridge for a surprise. My husband is the best and he got me a hot fudge sundae. YUUUUUUUUM! It hit the spot.

Hope y'all are doing great, try to stay warm.

Lindsay

Friday, January 16, 2009

Feelin' a lot better

...but now I have this thing in my neck that hurts when I touch it, and is most obviously a 'lump'. I made an appointment to see the doctor next Wednesday at 9:45am, but still, i'm worried. There are alot of thyroid issues in my family so that is on my mind, not to mention the occasional xray I take at work without my thyroid guard because, you know, when i'm taking pelvis x-rays on a giant german shepherd with painful hips they don't really care about me forgetting my thyroid guard. They just want to get off the xray table, perhaps see if I taste like chicken, or you know, relieve themselves on my scrubs...hey it happens. Me on the other hand stopping to say, excuse me Mr. German Shepherd, would you mind just holding still on your back for 15 seconds while I scooch on over there and grab my guard isn't going to go over well. I'm sure my fellow employees helping me with the xrays don't really care at that point either. And frankly, it is the least of my concerns in the midst of things. I just want to hear the beep on the machine telling me we're done and I can get out of my lead suit. Eh, I promise to be more prepared from now on.

So, moving on. Is it or is it not cold this week!? I don't know how the weather is in your area, but today it was a whopping 16 as a high. Thats right 1-6. Tonight is a warm low of 6. I'm gonna head on down the road to put Tuff's jammies on and tuck him in bed with lots of layers. I promise to document his wardrobe for tonight and post with pictures. And as more exciting weather news, tomorrow is supposed to snow! People, i've been looking forward to this weekend for atleast a month. Why do you ask? Because it is the Maryland Horse Expo! This is one of the few reasons why I like (not love) Maryland, because they do have alot of love for horses up here. And that means i'm happy. So tomorrow= horses paired with snow= terrific!

Time to go bundle up!

Lindsay

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Feelin' a lot under the weather

I don't know what it is, but I just can't shake this funk that i'm in. I feel sick nearly all the hours that i'm awake. It started last Friday with a fever, nausea, dizziness, and exhaustion. Now it's just nausea, exhaustion, no appetite, sour stomach and all. I really hope this will go away soon. Anyone feeling the same way? Ugh. Yesterday, I came home from work at 330- went to bed at 530, and slept until the next morning at 830. Yes, I slept that long. Felt great when I woke up, it lasted all day, and then BAM, now I feel like I could hurl. So on that note. I'm going to bed! Goodnight! :)

Lindsay

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Pictures!!!

Uriah and I celebrated Christmas late with our families this year, and I just thought i'd share some pictures, as random as they may be. For some reason, I didn't document our visit with his side of the family this year. Hmmm. What a shame. :( So, here are some from Christmas in January with my mom and dad, and some random others.



Uriah's opportunity to make fun of me while i'm sick on my stomach going IN to surgery. Who loves 20 Gauge catheters shoved in their vein!? I do! I do! Barf.
We returned home to a 'winter wonderland' on the drive home, the trees were covered in ice. Then we got to our house and everything had melted. Go figure.

Sleeping beauty: She is rarely awake during a car ride.


Visiting with meme and papaw.





It's a cover for my riding helmet with a built in neck warmer! Genius!



A break from cooking steak and shrimp, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, sauteed mushrooms, pumpkin crunch, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. YUM :)


A cutie patootie that came to visit for the New Years dinner I mentioned in my last post. Meet the 4 month old responsible for the baby bug. (Which will hold off until we move back to NC and I finish school, just in case you guys were wondering!)


YAY FOR GARMIN!


Austin sleeping, which is usually her state during the whole 8 hour ride. That's all for now! Gonna go eat 'lunch'! Enjoy!
Linds

Friday, January 9, 2009

I gots the creepy crud.

I don't know what's going on today, but I suddenly, like within 30 minutes felt like i'd been hit by a truck! I made it out the door to work, and was hit but a frigid gust of wind, and was officially aware of how awful I felt. I really hate calling out of work sick, so I mustered up enough strength to go ahead, only to stay for 45 minutes and back home, to the bed I went! I had 2 really big blankets on me, thick wool socks, pants, long sleeve t-shirt, and was STILL freezing! I cranked the heat up and nothing helped. Sure enough, I had a very low fever of 99.7. Enough to make me feel crummy. I had chills and goosebumps, was slightly dizzy and was achy all over, not cool. I did have a flu shot back in November so i'm wondering if I didn't have that done, would I have felt worse? I feel a LOT better right now, maybe it was a 10 hour bug? Or maybe Motrin is hiding all of my symptoms right now and it will hit me like a ton of bricks when it runs out. I sure hope that it goes away for good by 8am tomorrow morning because a girl has to work! Right now i'm just super duper tired.

I do apologize for not posting something recently, and the last few posts have been non eventful links to songs and such, I did have a fabulous Christmas, I hope you all did as well. It was nice and UN-eventful, which is always appreciated. It was just a nice quiet evening with Uriah, and we had a big breakfast and opened our gifts. I was very excited to actually surprise Uriah this year with a gift. It is extremely hard to get one over on him. I purchased (2) 8x10 photos of our wedding, black and white pictures of us saying our vows to each other, and I also purchased a Garmin nuvi 200w GPS! Let me just tell you, it is amazing and I have no idea how we got around without it. It is so cool! Need to find a carribbean themed restaurant? Gas station? Shopping? Hospital? Just click on 'points of interest' and there you have it. Fabulous. Just fabulous. We also enjoyed a post Christmas dinner with our old Neighbors who moved down the street and had a lovely dinner at their house. It was very delicious and I could have possibly been bitten slightly by the 'baby bug'...i'm just sayin'. They have a cute little 4 month old, and a 4 year old who is so well behaved. I haven't been around many 4 year olds, but he just seems very well behaved, and very artistic for his age. We also had a New Years Day dinner with them (at my house this time), where we enjoyed losts of good food and a new board game.

Anyway, I think my poor husband is done shopping for my craving of blueberry waffles at the store now, so i'm gonna go eat. I didn't really have an appetite for anything much after eating soup galore today, waffles sounded delicious, and so out he went. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. He even took care of Tuff for me today. Oh, I am so blessed.

Be on the watch for some pictures in the next couple of days!

Love,

Lindsay