Friday, January 30, 2015

Happy Seventh Birthday Jackal!

Sadly due to my work schedule and the crappy weather I can't take Jackal to do anything fun and I can't get new pictures so enjoy this photo spam of old ones.  :D  Maybe he can go do something next week.


 Happy Birthday sweet boy!!!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

2015 Reading Challenge!

My mom mentioned a book challenge she was doing this year and I love the idea so much I'm going to do it too!  Here is the list.

1. A book with more than 500 pages
2. A classic romance
3. A book that became a movie
4. A book published this year
5. A book with a number in the title
6. A book written by someone under 30
7. A book with nonhuman characters
8. A funny book
9. A book by a female author
10. A mystery or thriller
11. A book with one-word title
12. A book of short stories
13. A book set in a different country
14. A nonfiction book
15. A popular author's first book
16. A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet
17. A book a friend recommended
18. A Pulitzer Prize winning book
19. A book based on a true story
20. A book at the bottom of your to read list
21. A book your mom loves
22. A book that scares you
23. A book more than 100 years old
24. A book based entirely on it's cover
25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
26. A memoir
27. A book you can finish in a day
28. A book with antonyms in the title
29. A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
30. A book that came out the year you were born
31. A book with bad reviews
32. A trilogy
33. A book from your childhood
34. A book with a love triangle
35. A book set in the future
36. A book set in high school
37. A book with a color in the title
38. A book that made you cry
39. A book with magic
40. A graphic novel
41. A book by an author you've never read before
42. A book you own, but have never read before
43. A book that takes place in your hometown
44. A book that was originally written in a different language
45. A book set during Christmas
46. A book written by an author with your same initials
47. A play
48. A banned book
49. A book based on or turned into a TV show
50. A book you started but never finished

Some of these will be easy like read a mystery, because that's what I'm reading right now, but some of these will be hard!!  If any of you have suggestions for the hard ones such as a play (something other than Shakespeare?), a graphic novel or a first book by a popular author (who the heck is popular??) feel free to share them!  I'm going to try to read only books I've never read before, so that makes it a little more difficult because I've read a LOT of books!  Anyway I'm really excited about trying this!  Let me know if you decide to as well.

Monday, January 19, 2015

My first dog door!!


First off hubby installed the bifold doors on my laundry closet!  :D  I still have to paint them and finish trim, but I love it!

The second bit of exciting news is I have my very first dog door!!  It's a combo storm door/screen door/dog door.


Jackal figured it out so quick!  Check out this video below.


This wasn't his first time working on it.  The first time I stood outside while hubby was inside and we passed him back and forth.  He got to where he was going outside, getting his treat, spinning around to go inside to get his next treat and coming right back out.  He's so smart.  :D  I can't wait for him to figure it out all on his own because he's going to love the freedom.  Right now he still whines and asks to be let out, then I tell him to go out and he does lol.  Silly dog!

P.S.  Sorry I forgot to clean up all the tools and instructions from my counters before taking the video!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Taming the goats video!


I know I haven't been posting much on this blog (sorry!), so you may not remember, but I got a couple of free male Pygmy goats last fall.  They were very skittish and we could not touch them at all without cornering them.  I've been working on taming them down with the help of their favorite food (crack... um I mean corn).  Check out the video!


They get a little too competitive and excited so when they start head butting each other and get too rowdy around me I get up and walk away.

P.S.  I LOVE my new GoPro.  It comes in handy for so many things besides just sports hehe.  :)

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year! - 30 Before 30 Update and #12 Complete

Since there is no way I could possibly learn the entire American Sign Language before I turn thirty I decided to make #12 learn 100 signs.  Well I realized months ago that I know over 100 signs!  Probably close to 150.  I've procrastinated about making the video though because I hate being on camera.  I decided for the new year that I'm going to stop procrastinating so I made the video.  I only did 100 signs because I didn't want to make it too long.  It's still long though... seven minutes... but I hope you'll watch it anyway.


I have until August to complete my 30 Before 30 list so here is an update on my progress and my plans for completing it.

1. Take Chrome on an overnight camping trip.  This will probably happen in the spring.  I'm hoping to have the horse trailer fixed by then.  In the meantime I need to work on teaching him to tie to a high line since I don't have portable corral panels or a portable charger.  I'm also going to do a trial run at home with the tent, the high line, a camp fire, the whole nine yards.
2. Stand in two places at once (state lines). COMPLETED 1-3-13
3. Go to a live horse race. COMPLETED 1-16-2012
4. Participate in a cattle drive on my horse or one of their horses.  I found a place that does this that wouldn't be too much of a drive.  It's in the spring... they don't provide horses though.  So I either have to keep my fingers crossed that my best friend will be able to go and we can take her horses or I have to hope I can get Chrome ready in time.  After the fall I'm not feeling confident at all about taking Chrome.....
5. Ride a/my horse on a beach.  I found a place that does this for a really good price, but it's really far away and hotel would be expensive.... I just have to see how finances work out.
6. Take a trip on an actual train.  I found a place that does scenic train rides through the mountains.  It would be really cool!  I wanted to go this past fall because the foliage would have been gorgeous to photograph, but it didn't work out.  I'm hoping I can go in the spring.  Maybe I'll have a new camera by then... *fingers crossed*
7. Ride/drive a horse drawn carriage/wagon/sleigh. COMPLETED 9-13-14
8. Learn archery, bonus if it's on horseback.  Thanks to my amazing husband I have a bow!  Now I just have to keep practicing and work on introducing it to Chrome.  :)
9. Go to the Kentucky Horse Park and meet fellow bloggers.  I'm buying tickets now!  If you're going let me know!!
10. Print out a coffee table book of my photos. COMPLETED 11-14-2012
11. Learn more about photography. COMPLETE
12. Learn American Sign Language.  Completed the video today in this post!
13. Do something special for my fifth wedding anniversary. COMPLETED 4-26-14
14. Learn some sort of dancing (belly dancing, ballroom dancing, etc.)  I have a friend who is going to teach me an easy dance whenever we find time.
15. Do a photo shoot with Jackal.  I'm hoping for snow so we can do a cute shoot together.  If not I'll do it in the spring.  :)
16. Experiment in different mediums (graphite, charcoal, watercolor, etc.) also learn calligraphy!  I am working on both.  A friend loaned me her calligraphy set and it's so fun!  The mediums I've experimented in so far are graphite, charcoal, zentangling, soft pastels and a tiny bit in watercolor.  When I find time we will be doing more watercolor and acrylic too!!  So fun!  I will try to get photos of some of my art soon.  It's hard without a nice camera.
17. See cross country in person, like WEG or Rolex.  See above.
18. Train a horse from weaning to basics under saddle. COMPLETED 11-4-14
19. Take dressage lessons on Chrome.  I'm hoping to start lessons in the spring.  Still have to fix the trailer and practice loading and hauling.
20. Eat gluten free for a year. So far so good.  I slipped a couple of times by accident where I ate something and found out afterwards it had gluten in it.  I have not once slipped in the willpower department at all!  Not once!  I am so proud of myself because I normally have crappy willpower.
21. See a polo match in person. COMPLETED 9-13-14
22. Gallop Chrome across an open field.  I'm not feeling confident about this one anymore... see Chrome's blog for details on why.
23. Go on a trail ride off property in the snow.  Fingers crossed for snow.
24. Ride a purebred Friesian! COMPLETED 2-17-14
25. Conquer my stage fright and show Chrome in a local dressage schooling show.  Uhh...  I had trouble conquering my stage fright for the video I posted above!!
26. Grow a garden at my new home.  We will definitely be doing this in the spring.
27. Go on a trail ride with Chrome and his sire or dam.  I don't know if this will work out.  The owner of Chrome's mom will be really busy in the spring and his sire's owner is a really long way away... if she throws another clinic I might try to go if there aren't conflicting plans.  There is a lot planned for this spring!!
28. Learn to swim. COMPLETED 7-4-13
29. Finish building my new house.  We are making a lot of progress on this one!  A little painting and putting hardware on the kitchen cabinets and we are done.  :D  I can't wait to take pictures and share it with all of you.
30. Go kayaking! COMPLETED 7-10-13

I still have so many to finish in less than a year!!!  It feels so unattainable, but I've made progress on a lot of them so hopefully we can do it.  :D  I hope you all have had a great first day of the new year!!!