Living A Farmer's Life

Snow Puppies!

2012-02-13T19:50:00.004-06:00

I LOVE this shot of my beautiful girl!

I had let the dogs out first thing to pee so Storm knew there was snow and she was excited. However she settled down nicely while I went to feed and play with the horses (you can see their snow pictures/videos over the next few days at http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com). So when I said, "Do you want to go outside?" a bit later this was her reaction . . .

I know the flash screwed it up, but how cute is that tongue?!

So I took them outside to play. These first shots were with the continuous shot setting so they aren't great and I learned something, don't use that setting when snow is coming down and your subjects are moving at the speed of light!! LOL.

This is what Jackal would look like with pricked ears lol. Too cute!

These next two are continuous shots too, but I had to show you my flying dogs lol.

Flying Storm. Even at ten years old she has it in her to be an agility dog lol.

And flying Jackal.

Here are some more shots. I think I got snow on the camera or was moving too much because some are blurry, but they are the best I ended up with. Enjoy!

Green grass (winter wheat) and snow is weird huh?

"I want to go to the lease land mom!"

Probably the best canine picture of the day. She's so gorgeous all of her's look good though.

Jackal almost always has his nose to the ground.

They played some too. I was trying to get video because Storm was rolling Jackal and even leaped right over him once while he was standing at his full height (nineteen inches at the shoulder), but unfortunately I forgot the camera was still on continuous shoot so I missed it. Here are the pictures I ended up with.

Vicious looking dogs.

I love Storm's expression. She's totally about to jump him!

Told you!!

Well, that's all of the pictures that turned out okay. I'll put together the short video clips for you tomorrow. :)

Live It Up Tag

2012-02-12T06:00:00.003-06:00

I got tagged by Brooke at Dove Tree. It's a short question tag with a lot of "what's your favorite" questions, which I have trouble answering, but I'll give it a shot. :)

Q."What's your favorite book?"

A. Like I said. Hard questions to answer. I think it's easier to say favorite genre than actual book. I like Fantasy the best, but close second is of course horse books. I also like some SciFi books. My favorites change all the time as I read new books and forget old books. Very hard question to answer. :)

Q."What's your favorite song?"

A. Right at this second I would have to answer Hey, Soul Sister by Train. Also a song that I like that was a surprise to me is Billionaire by Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars. I normally am not a fan of rap, but I like this one, although not surprisingly the chorus is my favorite (the part Bruno Mars sings). So those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

Q."Favorite genre of music?"

A. Easy! The 80s. I LOVE 80s music. :) I also like more modern pop/rock, etc. I like some of the older country (not really old, but the stuff from when I was a kid like Garth Brooks, John Michael Montgomery, Shania Twain, etc). I don't care for the really old country or the crappy current country where all they do is whine about how pathetic their lives are. I don't like rap, bluegrass, anything twangy lol. I do like some classical, instrumental, etc. music. My taste in music varies a lot, even within genre, so sort of a hard question to answer. Just to show you how varied, here are some singers/bands I like Aerosmith (favorite band ever), Richard Marx, Chris Daughtry, Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLauchlan, 3 Doors Down, Savage Garden, Boyz II Men, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, etc. You get the idea. :D

Q."Favorite setting."

A. I love days that are between 75 and 80 degrees, beautiful, clear blue sky with no clouds, a gentle breeze, the sounds of birds singing and crickets chirping. Love it. Of course horses grazing on the green grass nearby just makes it perfect. :)

This is the only picture on this post that is mine.

Q."Got a crush?"

A. Totally. My husband. :D

Q."Favorite subject in school?"

A. I don't remember. Wasn't that crazy about school lol.

Q."Hobbies?"

A. Writing, reading, blogging, photography, horseback riding (more like an obsession), almost anything outside (biking, swimming, walking, hiking, etc.), etc. I used to include piano on that list, but I haven't played in so long I'm not sure it counts anymore.

Q."Favorite Holiday?"

A. Thanksgiving!! I love getting together with family, eating tons of food and sharing what we're thankful for. :)

One of my favorites!

Q."Favorite food?"

A. Ugh, this is going to make me sound absolutely horribly unhealthy, but basically anything with simple carbs or sugar (I'm an addict, yep), which is why I always include eating healthier on my goals and resolutions. I like very few vegetables (actually really like salads with lots of raw spinach, shredded carrots, cauliflower, pickles, broccoli, etc., but can't really eat it much because of my easily irritated digestive system - and yep I know if I got rid of the simple carbs, sugars and gluten that my stomach would probably be able to handle vegetables better, but it's hard to break a life-long habit/addiction) and the only meat I really care for is chicken. I'm very particular about red meat. It has to be cooked perfectly or I won't eat it (hence why I never order steak when I got out to eat and that with a lack of veggies is probably why I'm iron deficient lol). So yeah I have very unhealthy eating habits, but I am working on it. I eat cooked stir fry veggies over rice and I'll eat cooked mustard greens and kale from our garden. Oh and I'm a salt addict too ahhh!!!!

Not Amber, but still cute.

Q."Favorite animal?"

A. All of them!! :) Actually aside from dogs and horses, which you all knew about, I like wolves, dolphins, otters and big cats. Big Cat Diaries was my favorite show ever lol. I knew all of them by name and my favorite was Amber. :D

I don't know who of my followers likes tags, but if you do consider yourself tagged. If you don't I hope you enjoyed reading my answers anyway. :D

Thank you for tagging me Brooke! It was a lot of fun!

Fantastic News!

2012-02-08T19:38:00.003-06:00

I got some really fantastic news after work today! My aunt had a stint put in and will completely recover. There was no damage at all from the heart attack. The hospitals all did a great job! She gets to go home on Friday. :D Totally made my day!

I also had dinner with my friends because one of them is moving out of state on Friday. I'm really sad she's leaving, but I'm also excited for the possibilities that are opening up for her. And the good news is that she should still be able to come back for Chrome's birthday party in May, although we did have to move it to May 26th. I think I mentioned it already on Chrome's blog, but we're having a big bonfire, grilling hotdogs and burgers and of course I'll ride Chrome for the first time. Can't wait!

Unmotivated

2012-02-07T20:34:00.002-06:00

Is anyone else starting 2012 off with a serious lack of motivation or is it just me? I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything at all. I have a whole list of things I could/should/want to be doing, but I can't make myself do them! I've tried creative writing exercises to get myself back into writing blogs or novels. I've tried walking ten minutes on the treadmill in the morning to get motivated to start working out again. I started making the dogs' walks more interesting to try to get motivated to start training again (or at least to make a video of our 2011 tricks; sorry it's taking so long!). What is wrong with me??

I think the lack of exercise and forgetting to take my vitamins and poor eating habits (going too long between meals and eating junk food) are what's making me so tired. The weather isn't helping either since I do have a vitamin D deficiency (who doesn't?) and the pressure systems that have been going through cause headaches. Another friend moving out of town and my other friend working a conflicting schedule means I'm spending a lot of time home alone (husband in class all day) and I know that gets to me.

So I have all of these legit reasons (honestly not trying to complain, just stating facts), but normally I can fight through them and get something done anyway, but lately all I do is read blogs and watch T.V. when I'm not at work or taking care of the critters. I think a big part of it is my frame of mind has drifted back towards the negative . . . partly due to the fact that my boss is the world's worst complainer (who complains about other people complaining; hypocrite) and I have to listen to him all day . . . and partly due to the fact that my aunt had a heart attack and my cousin may have MS.

So when you have a serious lack of motivation, what do you do? I've done better about taking my vitamins and I am at least walking the dogs (although not for very far or long). I really think exercise and getting more fresh air/sun would help, but again I can't find enough motivation. I've seriously considered canceling our cable T.V and Netflix, but that won't keep me off of your blogs (love reading them too much lol). I've written lists (checking things off helps motivate me), but they seem so long lately that it's a little discouraging. Anyone want to come split my list up into sizable chunks and use some clicker training mentality on me? I work hard for Skittles LOL! Hehe, had to lighten the mood with a joke, this post is getting a little depressing.

I'm sure I'm painting this in a much more pathetic, sad light than it really is, but finding out about my ill family and being tired really doesn't help my mood much. So I'm going to go hug my dog and go to bed. Maybe you guys will have some pearls of wisdom for me in the morning. :D

Jackal's Birthday Pictures!

2012-02-05T21:20:00.013-06:00

Please excuse my hair. I took my hat off,
but didn't have a mirror to fix my hair before the picture lol.

Jackal decided to wear one of his new bandanas for his birthday. He won this bandana during Honey's Doggie Dancing Contest last year from the wonderful Designer Duds For Dogs (http://www.designerdudsfordogs.com). The other side is stars and will be perfect for the Fourth of July. :D I love multipurpose items.

So first we got in the car . . .

And went to the pet store!! This was actually Jackal's first time going to a pet store. I think friends' houses and the vet are the only places he's ever been indoors outside of his own home. He's never been inside of a store. :) Needless to say, he had fun! There were so many smells!

He eyeballed the sliding doors, but was fine with them. He was good about ignoring the humans too. He didn't rush up to them or jump up (he never does, but you never know in a new exciting place) on anyone. Once we entered the store he headed down the middle aisle, but I showed him he had to go down each aisle. After the first one he figured it out and started going down each one. I was letting him lead me, but he wasn't pulling. The only time I had to give him a tug is when he wanted to check out another dog (there were a TON that day!).

We were checking out an adorable froggie stuffie, but it was too
expensive for something that could be shredded in seconds.

His favorite aisles were the ones with treats lol.

Here I was asking him what he thought of the cute blue plaid jacket,
but he was more interested in the cute doggie behind me.

More toys. He liked the hunting ones lol.

He wasn't overly interested in the cute Guinea Pig,
probably because he couldn't smell it through the glass.

He kept wanting to sniff behind things . . .

. . . and under things. Not sure why. Looking for dropped kibble maybe?

I asked him if he wanted one of his favorite marrow bones and he seemed good with that, so he got a special three pack (much better price than the singles) for his birthday!!

Then we got back in the car and went to the bait shop for minnows
because we were going fishing (even though it was windy and cold LOL!).

When we got to the lake he was all ready to dive right in lol.
What happened to my wimpy dog who hates the cold??

He watched people go by in boats while we fished.

Then my handsome boy got bored . . .

. . . and found something to roll in! Brat! I caught him before he got too nasty.
I guess he had to break in his new bandana lol. It was too clean for him. :D

Yep, then he peed on the trash can LOL! Naughty boy.

We were fishing under a walking bridge to block the wind and at one point three young men were crossing the bridge. Jackal tried to follow them (he was on a very long rope) and they gave him some pets and compliments. Then I called him back by name so they started talking to him, using his name and saying how cool he was. When I told him to come with me because he was supposed to be fishing they said, "Yeah Jackal, pull your weight and go catch some fish!". It was soooo funny!! I've never had anyone ever really care to interact with him before. Most of the people where I live aren't very dog friendly. Made my day!

Ignoring his new bone because he wanted to go explore.

So we decided to go explore since it was his birthday (belated) and he was bored . . .

Standing at the end of his leash, staring longingly at freedom.
The wind was blowing so hard the tip of his tail was curled to the left by it lol.
Picture is a little dark, but too cute not to use.

I let him cross the bridge and then called him back. Perfect recall (should have video taped it lol)! I used continuous shot to get this one. Running pictures of Jackal are almost impossible (wait til you see the end of the post!). Then of course I had to pose him on the rocks by the parking lot.

The sun was coming from the wrong direction, so I walked around to his other side. He was doing a perfect stay with people walking to their car and driving away by the way! So proud!

Light is much better from this direction.

He's so handsome!!

Then we walked down to the dock. Of course I asked him to pose by the stairs.

I was zoomed in here. He wanted to jump down so bad, but he laid
down when I asked. His cues from a distance are getting much better.

Zoomed out a little so you can see the stairs and the cool logs that make the wall.

Zoomed in again.

I finally let him down on the dock. I love his shadow in this picture.

Then we kept exploring.

I LOVE this picture. I think it's my favorite. :D It shows the expression he gets when he really wants to do something, but I'm asking him to wait lol. Love those ears!

Back on the bridge, whining at me because he wanted me to go with him.

As we were loading up the car he wandered off and the little brat wouldn't listen to me (don't worry he was safe where he was), so we got in the car and drove off. He was pissed!! He came running after us as fast as his stumpy legs would go.

"Wait for me!!!"

When we stopped he immediately went back to sniffing, totally unconcerned about us. Of course when I called him that time he was definitely ready to get back in the car, as if I would ever leave my baby.

Below are a few examples of running pictures. Jackal is almost impossible to get a nice running picture of! I almost always catch him in an awkward stride. Of course being in a moving car made them blurry as well.

His butt is always in the air in the shots I get lol.

Told you!

Again! What a weird stride lol. Not the most graceful mutt lol.

Well, that's all. We all had a lot of fun (although we didn't stay long because it was so cold and windy and I'd only had four hours of sleep and my toe still hurt). I went home and promptly fell asleep at four pm without even eating supper and slept for fourteen hours straight, which is why I'm posting this today instead of yesterday. Yeah, when I go without sleep I take "catching up" seriously, even though you supposedly can't "catch up" on sleep. :) I'm out to prove them wrong hehe.

So, which was your favorite picture?

Ouch!

2012-02-04T07:32:00.002-06:00

Well, apparently Jackal did care that I forgot his birthday (just kidding), because he got paybacks. It was storming last night and apparently Storm's fear of firecrackers has now transferred over to thunder. She woke us up whining outside our door so my husband got up (since I had to be at work at 5am; this was at 1am approx) and let her in our room so she would be quiet and go back to sleep. Well Jackal took that as an invitation as well and normally I don't mind him sleeping with us every once in a while, but last night he took a flying leap and all of his forty pounds came smashing down on my foot, specifically the foot with the ingrown toenail!! It hurt really bad, but I was still half asleep so I went back to sleep, but within minutes it was throbbing and woke me up. I thought it would pass and just lay there trying to fall back to sleep, but it got worse and worse and worse.

I've had a problem with this toenail forever, but so far it had never grown in far enough to cause this amount of pain because I'm careful how I trim it. Unfortunately recently it broke off on that side, which wasn't that big of a deal because it wasn't infected. However when Jackal landed on it apparently that caused my nail to cut down into my toe as if it had grown in. Still in a half asleep daze I made an Epson salt soak to help soften the nail and kill off any infection, but it wasn't helping with the pain. I dug at it a little but it wasn't any worse than it normally is so I sprayed it with something to hopefully numb it and went back to bed. Unfortunately none of that helped and I lay in back trying not to cry while I thought about the fact that I had to be up in two hours to go to work.

The longer I lay there awake the more conscious I got and finally realized that I could take some ibuprofen to numb it enough to sleep. Sure enough about half an hour after taking the pain reliever I fell asleep . . . only to get up an hour later!!! Ahhh!!! So it depends how I'm doing after work, pain wise and exhaustion wise, as to if he gets to go on his special birthday trip today or tomorrow . . .

Wow I Suck!! Poor Jackal!

2012-02-02T20:06:00.002-06:00

I forgot Jackal's birthday!!!! January thirtieth is just such a bizarre date to remember lol. Storm's is easy because her's is the first day of summer (not to mention I've had her for ten years lol). So yeah I remembered this yesterday, just haven't had time to post. So to make it up to my baby boy we are going to take him somewhere special this weekend since it's going to be pretty. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. He turned four by the way!

Lazy?

2012-01-29T10:32:00.002-06:00

Yep, this was the only picture I had of me and Jackal on the camera . . . lazy! I promise I will get the video of our 2011 tricks, but right now I'm so busy cleaning all of the clutter out of my house in preparation for a huge yard sale I'm having with a friend. So my house is a bit of a disaster area at the moment! I might try to get some video outside, but some of the tricks require indoor props, so we will see. I'll try to get it done though. Sorry it's taking so long.

Baby Ducks!

2012-01-21T19:29:00.000-06:00

Momma duck finally brought the ducklings out. Aren't they cute?!

New Chicks & Ducklings

2012-01-20T05:00:00.001-06:00

One of our Muscovy hens is absolutely crazy! She actually sat and hatched a clutch of eggs in the middle of winter. She successfully hatched eleven ducklings. I only have one picture because she's being very protective of them and won't bring them out. It's funny how she hisses at us. :) I'll get more pictures when they are older and venturing out.

Also my brother in law sent us some eggs to hatch. They are green eggs! The Ameraucana chicken (also known as the Easter Egger) lays green eggs. Click here to see a picture I found on Google. They finally hatched out the other day. Here are some picture.

Hatching out!

Still in the incubator.

In the box we used to transport them to the brooder.

And here is a video of them in their new brooder.

Aren't they cute?

Liebster Blog Award

2012-01-19T09:58:00.003-06:00

I got the Liebster Blog Award from Lilli over at The Wonderful World of Lilli (thanks for following!). She's from Finland and writes about a diverse group of interests. Check it out when you have the chance.

Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award
3. Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs

I'm going to choose blogs that are relatively new to me, so here they are:

1. Adventures With Shyloh - You have to check out this blog. Shyloh is an absolutely adorable Haflinger.

2. SprinklerBandits - I actually have no clue how many followers she has because she doesn't have the gadget, but wanted to mention her because I recently started following her (and read her blog from start to finish) and I love reading it. Izzy is an awesome horse and it's so fun to follow their progress.

3. Hard To Handle - Miranda just started her blog about her adorable mare Pippi (love your new header picture btw). You may have heard of Pippi from Miranda's mom's blog at I Pick Crazy. I'm glad she encouraged her daughter to start a blog because it's been fun reading along from her perspective too.

4. Derwen Zebadee - A great blog about an extremely cute Welsh Cob Pony, Zeb. I love this blog. And they do clicker training too!!

5. A Collection of Madcap Escapades - A fun blog about her gorgeous Standardbred Ozzy and her cute dog Herbie. She takes awesome photos!

Thanks for the award Lilli!!

30 Before 30 - #3 Completed!

2012-01-17T14:17:00.008-06:00

I completed #3 on my 30 Before 30 Bucket List yesterday!! So you don't have to go back and look at the list here is number three:

3. Go to a live horse race. It would be really cool to go to a big race like the Kentucky Derby, but I don't see that happening so I'll be happy just going to the track that is around two hours from here. I don't know why I've never gone before. Although I do want to go to a horse race that does not mean that I agree with a lot of things that happen at them, such as riding horses under the age of three. It's just something I've wanted to experience since I was a little kid.

Here is a picture:

It wasn't a big race, but I still had a lot of fun. It was great seeing all of the gorgeous horses (I was totally in love with one of the pony horses lol - picture below).

Gorgeous pony horse that I wanted to take home lol!
Oops forgot to take out the rider's face . . . pretend you don't see her lol.

It was funny, being there brought back memories from when I was a kid and I was totally into horse racing (before I knew how cruel it can be) and wanted to be a pony horse rider. :D I wasn't brave enough to ride the racehorses in my head, but I was game for the pony horses lol.

I'm glad I didn't bet (not the gambling type) because every horse I picked came in last or second to last hehe. My favorite of the racehorses was a gorgeous dappled gray (don't remember his name or anything) that came in second to last and the only reason he did that is because the last horse was injured and stopped during the race. It was so sad seeing them get hurt. We saw two injuries. The first one happened just down the track from where I was standing (the second I only saw on video replay because it happened on the other side of the track) and his knee was over bending back and to the inside. :( I don't know if it was broken or some sort of ligament/tendon injury. I just hope he was okay. That's the main reason I don't like horse racing is because they race babies and those amazing Thoroughbreds don't deserve to be used and thrown out like that all for the sake of money. Anyway I'll get off my soapbox. I know some people do good by their horses (in racing), but I do wish they would make it illegal to race them under four years old.

So here is the cutie I liked who came in second to last. Sorry about the faces. I don't like posting strangers pictures on my blog. Just seems wrong somehow LOL! We're all focused on the cute horse's face anyways. :)

Isn't he adorable??

They went right past us in the post parade.

Another thing I didn't like . . . do you see all of the blood in his mouth?

My guess is that it's from the lip chain. All of the pony horses had those leather things on their shoulders to protect them from the racehorses trying to bite them. And then there were the pony horses' gear. There were some harsh bits in use and look at this one below . . . chain tie down???

Cute braid, but harsh equipment. I'm guessing the rub on his shoulder is from a blanket.

So anyway here is my favorite breaking from the gate . . .

Look at how high out of the saddle the jockey is. Yikes!

And crossing the finish line last (second of last if you count the injured horse).

So anyway I had fun when I wasn't thinking about the cruelties. I'll probably not go back simply because I'm not a gambling person and I don't really support horse racing. I guess if I got the opportunity to go to the Kentucky Derby I might, but aside from that I'll probably avoid the track. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing it all in person. It was a gorgeous day for the middle of January and aside from the injuries nothing bad happened. Everyone was kind to the horses (well aside from harsh tack and lip chains). It was neat seeing how tiny the little racing saddles are and watching them tack up in the paddock. I had no idea racing saddles used an overgirth. Check out this picture. It shows several things. First how close we were to the horses in the paddock (you can see people's shoes on the other side to see how high it was) by my hand in the picture (yes did it on purpose for perspective). You can also see how tiny the saddle is and the white overgirth they use.

So all in all it was pretty much like I expected it to be (although seeing a horse break down in person on the track was horrifying, was not expecting that at all although I guess I shouldn't be surprised) and I enjoyed seeing what the track was like. I just wanted to take all of those horses home though so they could have the chance to live like real horses. :) Anyway, sorry if this post came across as negative or "soapbox"ish. I tried not to, but I want to be honest.

Sorry, I've Been So Quiet

2012-01-14T18:09:00.002-06:00

I'm so sorry I've been so quiet. I do have news to share, but I need to get pictures first, so hang in there. I'll probably be able to tomorrow. :) In the meantime, here are some pictures of Storm to tide you over.

Looks like a comfortable way to sleep, huh?

Then she heard the camera, woke up and stared at me, but didn't want to get out of her comfortable position lol. Silly Sibe!

Mango Minster 2012

2012-01-05T21:08:00.001-06:00

I'm sure many of the dog bloggers know about the Mango Minster. The dogs kindly let Chrome enter this year. Check out his entry on his blog here http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com/2012/01/mango-minster-2012-entry.html. It's a lot of fun. I enjoyed making the pictures. Make sure to click to enlarge them so you can see the though bubbles. :D

New Digital Picture Frame & Cute Jackal Picture

2012-01-04T19:18:00.002-06:00

Yes, I still have not taken down my Christmas tree lol.

I got an awesome digital picture frame as a gift and I love it! Here's the box . . .

Here is a closeup of the frame . . .

It's so pretty. :D I have to do some research on it though because my pictures are too bright with too much contrast. The settings take some figuring out, but I'll get there. And here is an adorable picture of Jackal. He's such a wimp with this cold weather lol.

2011 Goal Recap & New Year Goals for 2012

2012-01-02T09:53:00.005-06:00

Well, my New Year started out getting up at 6am yesterday and working for ten and a half hours (on my feet for most of it), then coming home and while my husband was bringing in firewood Storm escaped through the door when we weren't looking. We drove around looking for her and got lucky because a neighbor showed up and told us where we could find her. So we drove down the road to where she was last seen and she came right to us. Brat!! So I'm hoping that was just getting all of the bad out of the way so that the rest of 2012 can be totally awesome! ;)

So first we will look at the goals I made for 2011 and see how I did . . .

1. Take care of myself. This includes a great many things. Eating healthy, sticking to my 'no fast food' rule, cut back my consumption of refined sugars, taking my vitamins, flossing daily (I despise flossing lol), regular dental check ups, working with my doctor to find the answers to my health complaints, seeing a dietitian if necessary, exercising, weight lifting, etc. I just want to focus on getting healthy and staying that way because I've already wasted too much time being miserable.

I did really well in the exercise department. I couldn't do the doctor related goals because of my husband's job loss and no health insurance, but just exercising and taking my vitamins (which I was a lot better about too) made me feel a lot better so it's okay. I do okay with the eating better off and on. It will just take some work to get consistent with those habits.

2. Finish remodeling my house. Previously I've not wanted to spend money or time fixing up my house because I don't plan on living here for the rest of my life and I didn't want to spend money that I know I won't get back out of it, but now I want to. There's no sense in me living in an unorganized, crappy environment while I wait until the day I can move. I'm going to focus on cheap, creative ways of improving the aesthetics of my house and also the heating/cooling of it.

Um . . . finish? Okay, so keep in mind when I made this goal my husband still had a job. Getting injured and losing his job threw us for a loop, but we've come out stronger. I did start the remodel though!

3. Learn to drive a standard. Our main farm truck is a standard and I really want to learn to drive it. This could prove to be important someday if something happens to whoever is driving and I have to get the truck back. This year I plan to make the time for this simple goal.

We ended up trading one truck for another with my dad and it's a standard as well. The cool thing is it's a lot easier to drive because it actually has power steering hehe. So I did practice driving the new standard. I still need more practice, but I feel confident that I could drive it home if I had to.

4. Take at least one picture every single day of 2011. I want to improve my photography skills so I've decided that I'm going to start a blog, called A Picture of the Day, where I post one picture each day. Then my followers who enjoy photography can give me tips for improving the shot. :-) Even if I don't learn anything I'll still have fun.

I did great on this for the first six months, then I got a little burned out with it. I was so tired of trying to take a picture every day that I was snapping crappy shots just to get it over with. That doesn't improve skill lol. So I still consider it a success because I stuck with it for six months and it also made me realize that my goals and plans change within the year, so there is nothing wrong with ending a goal such as this one early.

5. Participate in Sunday Stills more consistently. The challenge is so fun and will help keep me motivated to take pictures. :-)

I did pretty good with this one, even though I did get too busy toward the end of the year to keep up with it.

6. Win NaNoWriMo again this year! I love NaNo!

I did it!! I won for the third year in a row and boy was this the most difficult year yet. I learned two important lessons. One is that I can write even if I don't like what I'm writing, it's just not fun lol. Two is that I do better with NaNo when I don't plan my story outline ahead of time. I work better with a vague idea and just letting it take me wherever it wants to.

Edited to add: I completely forgot to submit my novel on the website so it's not acknowledging me as a winner. :( I can't get my certificate or button.

7. Teach Jackal at least one trick a month. I'll continue to let you guys vote and post videos of the finished trick. I'll teach Storm some too if I have the time and it's one she can do.

I did it!! I'm so excited that I managed to stick with it and that he made it so enjoyable for me. :D We didn't manage to complete the Say Your Prayers trick, but we got a good start on it. I'll get the video up as soon as possible.

8. Operation Tame Led Zeppelin! I want to make more progress this year on taming Zep. This includes touching him, halter training, clicker training and target training.

I didn't do so well on this one. If you read my last post you'll see that my husband was able to brush him so that's definitely an improvement, but I just never had the time to work on the important stuff. After the straight line winds/tornado destroyed our barn I kept putting it off because I wanted to use Chrome's old stall and then I finally decided to just build him a pen, but I didn't have a way of making a shelter and I couldn't leave him in the rain because donkey's coats don't shed water well. Oh well. I'll keep trying. :) He does hang out with us when we're messing with the others and takes his free treats so that's building good associations with being around us. The only thing I don't like is I've noticed when he gets spooked instead of just spinning and bolting like he used to, he's spinning, kicking out and bolting. I do NOT like that! I doubt he'd ever kick me, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take, so I'll have to find out some way to work on that.

9. Keep a training journal for Chrome and then do a weekly and/or monthly post on the blog. When I start working with him regularly again this will prevent me from flooding the blog with daily training posts, since Chrome has to share blog space with the other critters. :-)

Well, I solved that problem by just bringing his old blog back http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com. I'm also keeping a written training journal offline for my records. :)

10. Long-lining and/or longeing Chrome. I plan to work on other things like clicker training, walking, tricks, desensitizing, etc. but since Chrome is turning two in May I would like to make it a goal for him to have the bare basics in long-lining and/or lunging before the end of 2011. Otherwise I can totally see him turning three year old and me having done absolutely nothing to prepare him for backing lol. I can just see that happening. :-)

I've done a LOT with Chrome (see video here http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com/2011/12/chromes-firsts-of-2011-video.html) so I don't feel bad at all that I didn't get around to long-lining him. Besides he did learn the basics in longeing because of his incisions closing up after he was gelded. Hand walking wasn't keeping them open, so he learned to longe. He was really getting into it too. He was making a circle, lowering his head and halting perfectly when I said whoa. I'm so proud of my smart boy.

I'd say I had a really good, productive year! I'm proud of the progress I've made, specifically with Chrome and Jackal. Now on to my goals for 2012.

First of all, a few months ago I started thinking about turning thirty year old. I'm twenty six right now so I have a little over three and a half years before I turn thirty. I really want to accomplish some of the items on my bucket list before then, so I made a 30 Before 30 list (thirty things I want to do before I turn thirty years old).

1. Go on an overnight camping trip with horses (mine or my friend's). I've talked to Chrome's breeder and we would really like to take Chrome and his mom camping in the spring. She would bring a horse for me to ride too, since Chrome won't be started yet, unless we decide to go in the summer. I would really like to make that happen this year because I know she would love to see him and I would love to see his mom again since I only met her once.

2. Stand in two/four places at once (state lines). Ever since seeing the movie A Walk To Remember I have wanted to stand in two places at once and get a picture of it. I've done it once without the picture, so technically I've done this already, but without photographic proof I can't share it with you!! So I want proof lol.

3. Go to a live horse race. It would be really cool to go to a big race like the Kentucky Derby, but I don't see that happening so I'll be happy just going to the track that is around two hours from here. I don't know why I've never gone before. Although I do want to go to a horse race that does not mean that I agree with a lot of things that happen at them, such as riding horses under the age of three. It's just something I've wanted to experience since I was a little kid.

4. Participate in a cattle drive on my own horse. A friend of mine told me that they do cattle drives in my area (never knew that!) so that's something I would love to do on Chrome someday!

5. Ride a/my horse on a beach. I've dreamed of riding a horse on a beach my entire life so I would LOVE to do this. It would be cool if I could take Chrome, but that's unlikely, so even if it's a different horse it will still count. :)

6. Ride a train. I have always wanted to ride on a train. No clue why, but I do. :D I know of a place that's not too horribly far that has an actual train you can ride, so this shouldn't be too difficult.

7. Ride in a horse drawn carriage/wagon/sleigh. Another thing I've wanted to do forever! I almost had the chance over this last Christmas, but it didn't work out. Oh well, maybe it will be me and Chrome someday.

8. Go out on a sailboat. I've been deep sea fishing when I went on my honeymoon and I've been in small fishing boats on local lakes, but never on a sailboat. Wouldn't that be so fun! I also want to drive my dad's new bass boat, which should happen in April. Yay!

9. See/Pet/Swim with trained/wild dolphins. I have wanted to see an actual dolphin in person since I was a little girl. I love dolphins. They are so beautiful, smart and fun. I always wanted to train dolphins too (I think Free Willy was at fault for that dream, just switch the Orca for a dolphin hehe) and I think that's part of what steered me toward clicker training. :)

10. Print out a coffee table book of photos I've taken. I think it would be really cool to have a book of my own photos. Although I don't have a coffee table anymore lol. I got a free digital picture frame (it's not here yet) so I'll definitely be putting all of my favorite photos on it, but I still want a book too someday.

11. Take a photography class. One of my best friends and I want to do this, probably in a couple of years when my husband gets out of college. There is a class offered about a half hour from here, so I'm excited about that! It will be so cool to actually learn how to use manual settings. Not to mention it's the perfect excuse to buy a new camera. Have to start saving up now!

12. Learn Sign Language. I already know some. I'm self taught so I learned Signed English instead of American Sign Language. I think I like the Signed English better, especially for teaching myself, but someday I would enjoy learning ASL too. Just have to find somewhere that offers a class. I've been learning sign language since I was a teenager because my brother has cerebral palsy and he uses it some. I've always been fascinated with it and think it's a lot of fun!

13. Attend a movie premier. I've been to the movies, but never to a big time premier. I always wait a week until it clears out some because I don't like large crowds. Someday I want to go to a premier though because it would be so exciting. I wanted to go to War Horse on Christmas day, but because we were out of town we couldn't. I did go watch it Saturday though and it was awesome!! There were some things that were not realistic, but as far as horse movies go they did a great job! They did use geldings for mares sometimes, but most horse movies do that hehe. For people who don't know anything about horses I'm sure it was believable. The story was great (when I can make myself stop looking for mistakes lol - I actually caught myself watching the horses walking in the background to see if they were lame and I was appalled at some of their feet lol) and the special effects were great. I enjoyed it. :)

14. Celebrate my fifth wedding anniversary. I don't know why I chose the fifth anniversary. Five years is a good mile mark I guess lol. I want to do something special though because normally we're working and/or too busy to celebrate.

15. Make working out a regular/permanent habit. This will probably always be a goal, but I'll consider it complete when I can work out for a year straight with no more than a week at a time off.

16. Learn belly dancing. I think belly dancing is so fun and a good workout too! I've been self teaching myself some, but I would like to take a class too.

17. Renovate my old house. I want to think of creative, cheap ideas for making my house look better and for improving the heating/cooling of it to save money.

18. Learn to be present in the moment. I have a tendency to get caught up in the stresses of daily life and then realize that time is just flying by too quickly, so I want to learn to be like my pets more and live in the moment!

19. Learn to be more self confident. I want to learn to trust my instincts more and stop second guessing myself. The second guessing is annoying and is holding me back. I have gotten a lot more confident, but there is definitely a lot more room for improvement.

20. Learn to stop worrying about things I have no control over. I am a TOTAL worry wart and it's so annoying. It makes my anxiety worse and the stress is not healthy for me. I have made huge steps in letting go of some of my controlling tendencies, especially those related to scheduling. I used to have to plan everything to a T and if it didn't go exactly like I planned I would have a melt down. So I'm improving, but I still need to work on the worrying part of it. Exercising helps the anxiety so it's all interrelated.

21. Learn to play Fur Elise on the piano. When I first started taking piano lessons as a teenager when my teacher asked me what I wanted to play, this is the one I wanted to learn. We worked on it, but I never did get to where I could play the left and right hand together. I can do them separately, but I have always had trouble making both hands work together.

22. Go on a romantic retreat with my husband. I'm thinking for our five year anniversary? :D The only thing I've done with just him was our honeymoon and we had so much fun, so I'd love to do something like that again.

23. Attend church more regularly. I don't know why I have trouble with this. I want to go and learn and meet people with the same views, but I just have trouble going. The evening service is too late in the winter and too early in the summer lol and I'm always working during the morning service. I'll try though.

24. See cross country in person, like WEG. I was going to go to WEG with all of my friends from the dressage stable where I used to work, but they all bailed so I didn't go. I really wanted to though because it was at the Kentucky Horse Park and I've always wanted to go there. Maybe I should add that to the list. :)

25. Train a horse from weaning to the basics under saddle. I'm only five months away from riding Chrome for the first time, so I'll definitely be completing this one this year. :) Raising Chrome from five months old has been one of the best experiences ever.

26. Take a dressage lesson on my own horse. I want to have a lesson on Chrome at my old barn (an hour away), but I'll probably wait until he's four because I want to get the most for my money and I don't want him working for forty five minutes on a circle until he's older. We might even wait longer. I want to get the basics down on my own and have her help me with our more dressage specific goals since she is a dressage trainer.

27. Teach a horse the basics in pulling a wagon. I would definitely love to teach Chrome to drive, but I'm going to need help with this one since I've never even been in a horse drawn wagon. I hope I can find someone who can teach us . . . as soon as I can afford harness and a wagon.

28. Take my own horse to an SCA event. My husband and I already participate in the SCA some (although there is nothing local anymore), but someday I want to take Chrome to one of the events where they have jousting and other equine events.

29. Train and take my own horse to a Competitive Trail Ride. I've decided this is what I want to do with Chrome. I'll probably do some lower level dressage shows too, but I've always been a trail rider at heart and this could be a really fun way to add some excitement into regular trail rides. :)

30. Pay It Forward. I've had several people do some really, really nice things for me this year, so I want to find a way to pay it forward.

Okay, so that's the list. Now remember those are the things I want to do before I'm thirty. I don't have to do them all in 2012 lol. That would be insane. Have you guys done any of these things or want to do some of them? I'd love to hear about it.

So here are my 2012 specific goals. I'm keeping them simple and open ended since my goals change through the year.

1. Work on my 30 Before 30 list.
2. Start working out again (and stick with it!)
3. Work on the house remodel.
4. Stop eating fast food/junk food . . . again!
5. Teach Jackal a new Canine Freestyle routine.

Those are all simple goals I think that I should be able to accomplish easily. Expanding on number five, I've spent the last almost four years (can you believe he's almost four?? In less than a month!) working on individual behaviors and tricks with Jackal. This year I want to work on teaching him to heel (instead of just loose leash walking). I want to teach the attentive, happy, prancing heel that you see in some obedience dogs, where he stays glued to my leg with his eyes on my face. Once he's heeling I want to bring it together with his tricks into a new Canine Freestyle routine. I think that working on a Freestyle routine will give us the opportunity to polish off his tricks in a way that's fun instead of it feeling like drilling exercises. :) Depending on how well we progress we might even make up our own routine or build off of the one we used for Honey's contest. I'm excited to see how far we can go in 2012. :)

For equine specific 2012 goals check Chrome's blog http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com later.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, happy, healthy, productive year!!

A look back at 2011 & Video of Jackal's Surprise December Trick!

2012-01-01T18:06:00.005-06:00

First a look back at 2011 and some of the fun things we did . . .

I made my first ever rope halter and some driving reins for Chrome. Click here for more details.

I was awarded the stylish blogger award! Click here for more details.

I taught Jackal twelve new tricks for 2011. One for each month of the year. Above is a video of the trick he learned for December . . . to walk on a treadmill!!! This was a huge achievement for him because he used to be terrified of treadmills. As a puppy he wouldn't even be in the room when I was walking on it. :) He also learned crawl, shy, fetch his leash, close a door, marching paws, go to bed, paws in a bucket, say your prayers, stand, recall and sidepass.

I taught Chrome to smile and it's his absolute favorite trick! Click here for more details.

I got to visit Lady, the Appaloosa pony I grew up with (she owned me for thirteen years!). I had to give her up in 2007 because I was moving to a place where I couldn't keep a horse. She now lives with a really good friend who has a bunch of horses and mules. She's happy. :) Click here for more details.

We got Muscovy ducks! They are so awesome and self sufficient. :D Click here for more details.

We got snow! I know for some of you that's an every winter occurrence, but down south we go some years with no snow at all, so it's exciting to get a big one (big for us is around a foot). Click here for more details.

I found new treats for Jackal that we both love! It's not slimy like hot dogs or cheese, it's not greasy like dog food and it actually smells great! Click here for more details.

Led Zeppelin had his very first clicker training sessions!! He quickly learned how to touch the target. :D Click here for more details.

Chrome wore a surcingle for the first time and he did awesome. Click here for more details.

My friend and I rode four wheelers a LOT over the summer and had so much fun. We even drove them to my house to introduce Chrome to them. He had fun. :) Click here for more details.

Chrome turned two years old and was so sweet and cooperative while I dressed him up lol. And cute!! Click here for more details.

Our Muscovy ducks hatched out a bunch of ADORABLE ducklings!! Click here for more details and pictures.

We did a lot of catfishing this past summer (we love fishing!) and saw these adorable minks. Click here for more details.

Jackal and I competed in our first ever competition! It was an online doggie dancing (canine freestyle) contest held by Honey from http://www.bighoneydog.com. Above is our freestyle routine. Click here for more details.

I made a longeing cavesson for Chrome and we had our very first ground driving session. Click here for more details and video.

We brought Faran home! Click here for his story and more pictures.

We started clicker training Faran to help gain his trust. He took to it immediately. Click here for more details and video.

Storm turned ten years old and met Faran for the first time. Click here for more details.

Jackal and I won the Best Costume award in Honey's Dancing for the Doggie Stars competition! Click here for more details.

I got a really cool t-shirt with an original hand drawn design from a fellow blogger. Click here for more details.

I got a promotion at work and am now the assistant manager! Click here for more details.

Chrome and Faran met for the first time (very cute video at this link) and became best friends. Click here for more details.

My husband went back to college to finish his degree! Click here for more details.

Chrome and I learned how to play Chase the Tiger. Click here for more details.

Our blue turkey hen hatched out several adorable babies. Click here for more details.

I started a new workout program on the Bowflex my parents gave me (because they couldn't use it anymore due to injuries). Click here for more details.

Chrome wore a saddle for the first time and Faran went for his first walk on the roads since coming to live with us. Click here for more details.

We finally got a new roof! Click here for more details.

Led Zeppelin let us brush him for the first time!! Click here for more details.

I turned twenty six and had a fantastic birthday out with my friends. Click here for more details.

I met two of the most awesomest (I know it's not a real word) friends, one of which has horses, so we did some horseback riding! I did find out my saddle is too small for me though. Click here for more details.

We built Chrome his very own pedestal and he loves it! Click here for more details.

I actually stuck with a workout program for more than eight weeks! Click here for more details.

Chrome and I celebrated our two year anniversary (did I ever mention I got married in 2009 too, so I celebrated my 2nd wedding anniversary also? Oops guess I have a one track mind lol!) Click here for more details.

I got the lovely blog award! Click here for more details.

I finally started my kitchen remodel! Click here and here for details.

I practiced driving a standard and had fun! Click here for more details.

I won NaNoWriMo for the third year in a row!! This was the toughest year yet. Click here for more details.

I got Chrome gelded. Scary! It went well though. Click here for more details.

Chrome had to learn to longe (didn't plan on teaching it this young because of his growing joints) to keep his incisions open after his gelding/castration. Click here for more details.

Hubby worked with Faran on picking up his hooves. :D Click here for more details.

Chrome had his first lesson in pulling! Click here for more details and a video.

Had a super fun Secret Santa party with my friends. :D Click here for more details and pictures.

Had a great Christmas!! Click here for the dog's post and here for the horse's post.

We had such a fantastic year!! I meant to post this yesterday, but I was too busy, so I decided to combine the review and new goals, but this took longer than I expected so I'll do the goals tomorrow. :) Did you all have a great year? Did you make a post about it?

Four Wheeler Video

2011-12-30T19:26:00.002-06:00

Here is the video from Christmas day at my parents house. If you are prone to motion sickness you might not want to watch this video lol. It's very bumpy since I was riding on the back of the four wheeler. I cut out a lot of the footage that was too blurry and also the parts where I was twisting around to face the other direction since I'm sure you don't want to see a bunch of blurry 360s. :) I also took the sound out of most of it since we were calling the dogs, whistling and just being loud in general. Sorry it's not fantastic, but I love watching Storm run so you might like it too.

It was a fun day. :D

Canine Exercise & Clicker Training

2011-12-29T18:58:00.008-06:00

So I've been trying to get caught up on reading blogs because I had over 300 in my Google Reader . . . I'm down to 150 so I'm getting there. In my readings I was catching up on one of my favorites, Honey's blog, and came across this post (http://bighoneydog.com/2011/11/sydneyhome-trickyevening/) . . . and as most of her posts do, it got me to thinking. I have two (three?) high energy breeds, a Siberian Husky and a Beagle/Mountain Cur cross and I am NOT at all consistent with our exercising. Sigh. And yes, most of my excuses are selfish and lazy. Talk about feeling bad lol.

When we went to my parents house on Christmas day we had some fun with the four wheeler (yes I'm still working on getting the video ready to post) and Jackal was sore for a few days after that. He's had issues with one of his rear legs since he was a puppy and I think it was my fault for over exercising him on asphalt. So I have to be really careful not to let him overdo it, however letting him get fat and out of shape is one of the worse things I can do!! I also slacked off on my own exercise since I decided to take a break during November for NaNoWriMo and well I never got back to it. So one of the things I'm going to get back to for 2012 is exercising, both me and the dogs. I'll post more on my goals for 2012 on New Years day.

So for now, since we're all out of shape and lazy lol, I'm starting with two ten minute walks a day, one before work and one after. I also have a bad habit of marching off at a fast speed in a hurry to get done instead of enjoying the scenery and time spent with my dogs. So now when we walk we're walking in the ditches (softer on their joints) so the dogs can sniff around where the deer, raccoons, rabbits, armadillos and opossums roam around lol, because a dog sniffing is like us reading the newspaper. They love it! We can only do that in the winter though because in the summer the grass gets tall and ticks are horrible. We're also practicing at running, walking (while they trot) and walking slow (so they have to walk too) for changes of pace. So far they definitely approve of our new way of walking. :)

So anyway, when we got back from our after work walk today I decided to work on all of the tricks Jackal learned for 2011 (January: Crawl, February: Shy, March: Fetch Leash, April: Close Door, May: Marching Paws, June: Go to Bed, July: Paws in Bucket, August: Say Your Prayers, September: Stand, October: Recall, November: Sidepass and December: This one is a surprise!) so that we can start videotaping them. He did fantastic! I guess the walk got him in a training frame of mind because I could not have asked for better. :D

We've been having trouble with his sidepass . . . the way we were doing it before was having him stand in a heel position on my left and us walking sideways to our left, but I was bumping into him (or tripping lol) and his front and rear just weren't working together. So I finally turned to face him and lured his nose to his left while gently pushing his hip to the left. After clicking for that once he did it all by himself the second time!!! I was so proud of him! So even though it didn't look like he was doing well the other way it obviously was sinking it and my new method just made it click for him. I love it when a behavior comes together like that.

The other one we're having trouble with is Say Your Prayers. I'm having him do it on his little stool and he does great sitting with his paws on it (that took forever to teach), but he doesn't hold it long (I guess it's not comfortable yet) so I haven't been able to get much duration and thus can't get him to tuck or rest his nose on his paws . . . So for now he's sitting with his paws up instead of saying his prayers lol. We'll keep working on it, but it won't be finished for our video.

We worked on most of his other tricks too. The only ones we didn't cover were his recall (he's really good at this in the house so far), fetch his leash (he loves this one and is great at it) and shy (this one needs work, but the session was getting long and I was out of treats). We'll catch them next time. He's getting a lot more confident with closing the door on the entertainment center. When it slams shut it doesn't startle him anymore lol. I can probably start trying to work on another real door now. :)

Also on his Stand I have inadvertently taught him to bounce his front end in the air when he pops up out of a sit. It's so cute! I might let him do that or I might fix it. Not sure yet. :) He's also doing great on his Go To Bed behavior and he's so cute doing it! He gets so focused on me that he doesn't really pay attention to where the bed is. When he misses it and lays down I don't click so he bounces up, backs up and lays back down. I just laugh at him until he backs up onto the bed and lays down, then I click. It's so cute. I love his enthusiasm.

Anyway, sorry this got so long winded. We had so much fun and I just wanted to share. Keep an eye out for the video. I'm going to try to get it done soon, maybe this weekend. It may be a week before I get it all ready and posted though, just depends on how busy I am. :)

Merry Christmas! - Dogs' Christmas Gifts

2011-12-25T21:47:00.007-06:00

I love Storm's expression here! It's one I get a lot from her hehe.

Storm got her Christmas present first.

A new bed! It has the thick foam in it to protect her aging joints from the hard floor.

She loves it!

Then Jackal got his gift.

Naughty boy is on my chaise lounge eagerly awaiting his stocking.

Mmm smells good.

"Mom, it's a little small. Help!"

He chomped it down so quick you couldn't see it, but it was a dog treat. Food is his favorite thing ever after all. Don't worry though, there's more!

They got to go to my parents house (which they love!) where we celebrated Christmas with our traditional Mexican food dinner (enchiladas, white cheese dip, tacos, taco salad, etc. also fruit salad and cupcakes yum!). They had a blast! Bet you can't guess why they are so hot and tired in these next two pictures.

I took my dad's four wheeler out to the pasture and let them chase me all over the six acres. :D Then after everyone had eaten Christmas dinner and relaxed a bit . . .

Storm gave me this look! Which means she wants to go again! So we went a second time. I will edit and upload the video I took tomorrow. :)

Waiting at the gate that leads to the pasture.

Trotting back to see what is taking my husband so long getting the four wheeler out of the shed (had to let it warm up).

Not the best quality, but the cutest picture ever!! And a perfect recall too!

A couple of very, very blurry, but cute running pictures. I was on the back of a four-wheeler so forgive me for the blur hehe.

And just for fun I used GIMP to give it an oil painting look. Cool, huh?

And Jackal's blurry running shot. This is why I mostly shot videos. :)

Love it! And below is his oil painting version.

One more cute shot of Storm.

I wish the grass hadn't been in her face, but I love how high she's stepping through the grass. Cute!!

Also had to share this because he's so cute. My mom's dog carried his bowl around all day to keep my dogs from trying to eat his food . . . even though it was empty LOL!

Well, that's all for now! I hope everyone has a very, merry Christmas!!

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-12-23T18:34:00.003-06:00

The last of our turkeys. Our three Midget White turkeys.

Well, vacation ended on Wednesday. Work has been fine since I got back, but sheesh I forgot how incredibly boring it is there!!! Luckily it's been busy so it's not too bad and I did miss my customers. They are so awesome. :D

My allergies have been horrible!! I thought I was getting a cold, but this has been going on since around the twelfth so it's probably allergies. Normally I have three weeks of misery every spring and fall with them, but it's normally so much earlier than this. We've had a strangely warm fall/winter so far and I guess whatever I'm allergic to is blooming later. Oh well, it can't be too much longer before whatever it is dies. I will not miss the headaches or lack of sleep due to the inability to breathe lol.

I'm going to be very busy over the next few days so I don't know if I will have time to post. I'm going to try to work on getting video of the tricks Jackal learned this year, but don't be surprised if it's January before I get it posted. I also bought some small toys/treats for the critters so I should be able to get some cute pictures that I'll post when I can. I hope everyone has a great weekend, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Be safe and have fun.

Secret Santa Fun!

2011-12-18T22:39:00.003-06:00

My friend's adorable rescued Chihuahuas.

My group of closest friends decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange because we are all broke. Doing it that way meant everyone got a single nice gift instead of several cheap gifts from everyone. We drew names and spent the week thinking of the best gifts to get for our Secret Santa. Then we all contributed to the buying/preparing of the food (which was delicious!).

We had barbecue little smokies, homemade mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, baked beans, Hawaiian rolls, turtle pie and German chocolate cake. It was awesome!!

I made a homemade rope halter (like the one I made for Chrome that he's wearing in all of his pictures) for my Secret Santa. Everyone was confused why I kept saying we had to open gifts before dark, but I wanted to try it on her horse and make sure it was sized right lol. She loved it.

For my gift I got this gorgeous, handmade necklace . . .

I love it! He made the whole thing himself. It's made with wire thread, beads and a piece of ivory. On the ivory he carved my horses' initial C, F and Z, for Chrome, Faran and Zeppelin. :D It's one of the best gifts I've ever received. We had so much fun! This is what I love about Christmas. Spending time with great friends, eating good food and exchanging thoughtful, creative gifts. Hope everyone has a great week! I have two more days of vacation and then it's back to the grind, so I'm going to enjoy them as fully as I can. Goodnight everyone!

Smart Jackal

2011-12-16T12:28:00.002-06:00

First a story from Jackal's time at my parents house. Their front yard is fenced and has a gate straight out from the front door and one to the right of the front door. Currently there is a gap in the fence to the left as well because they are extending the porch. Outside of the small decorative fence they have four acres fenced securely. So my mom let Jackal outside and he went out of the front yard through the gap to the left. After he'd run around, played and taken care of his business he came to the front gate and whined, wanting inside, so she let him in. She decided to leave the front gate open so next time he could come in using it and she wouldn't have to walk out there to let him in. The next time she let him out he went through the front gate and did his running around. When he was ready to come in he went to the right side gate and whined. LOL! So she let him in and left that one open too lol. Silly dog is such a dork.

So now that you've seen his dumb side, here is his smart side. At the end of December I'm going to make a video of the twelve tricks he learned this year, so I decided to do a practice run through. He did all but two of them perfectly because he's still learning those two. Some of these tricks we've only had one or two sessions on and he hasn't practiced them since early, early this year. :D I'm amazed at how well he retains what he learns. Good boy Jackal!!

I'm Back!!

2011-12-15T22:19:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure if I posted that I was going to be out of town for a few days, but if I forgot I'm sorry! I thought I was going to have internet, but I didn't really so I wasn't able to read very many blogs, comment or post on my own. I'm back though and very happy to be sleeping in my own wonderful bed lol.

The first good news is that I did not catch whatever bug my boss had! Yay for GermX and Clorox wipes lol. The second news is that I had fun visiting my husband's family in a different state (where we wore short sleeves in December oh yeah!) and I am now home safe.

I missed my puppies!! Storm and Jackal went to stay with my parents who live an hour away while we were gone Monday through Thursday (today). They were very well behaved, but poor Jackal was having bad dreams every night full of snoring, whimpering, chasing and barking lol. When we got there to take them home he excitedly got in the truck and promptly passed out. I didn't hear another peep from him for the whole drive and normally he's loud and obnoxious. It would have been nice if I hadn't been worried about him lol. We got home and he bounced inside, ate his supper and is now curled up next to me. I think I'll let him sleep in bed with me tonight. I can't believe how much I miss my critters when I go out of town.

Anyway I'll update and share some pictures of the trip tomorrow. Good night everyone!

Quick Update

2011-12-09T20:05:00.003-06:00

I have to get up before dawn tomorrow, so just leaving a quick update. My boss finally went to the doctor and he has the beginning stages of pneumonia (which he's prone to since he's had it before and they gave him antibiotics to prevent it from progressing), which started as a head cold, so thank goodness it wasn't the flu or bronchitis. Hopefully that means I won't be sick for my vacation or if I do it'll just be a head cold and not something serious. I'm just glad he's going to be okay. He's been miserable. I just wish he'd gone to the doctor two days ago like I told him to. Sigh. My week has not improved and the weekend is going to suck too, but hopefully my vacation next week will be fantastic. Thanks for listening guys!

Complaints . . .

2011-12-08T19:05:00.002-06:00

I don't like to complain on my blog, but the first week of December has been absolutely horrible! It rained almost every single day I had to work Chrome after his gelding/castration. It got really cold. My boss at work is sick and doesn't seem to give a damn in he infects everyone else. I get really stressed around sick people under normal circumstances, but right now I really don't want to get sick because next week I have to drive seven hours to another state to spend a few days with my inlaws and that will not be fun at all if I'm sick. I hurt my back and the next day had to be on my feet for over eight hours straight at work because my boss finally decides to stay home sick (really???). I haven't done any training with Jackal at all. I didn't get to spend hardly any time with my husband on his birthday. And . . . and . . . and I'm just tired . . . sorry for the rant . . .

Jackal's Favorite Spot

2011-12-05T11:07:00.002-06:00

When he's not cuddling with me, this is Jackal's favorite spot. Right in front of the wood stove. :D He's staked it out as his warm spot to sit so that he's not in the kitchen, but can still watch what is happening in there while we're cooking. It works out for everyone. Please don't anyone tell him he looks fat in this picture LOL!

What's Wrong With Jackal? - Video

2011-12-02T09:14:00.001-06:00

Watch the video and see if you can figure out what's wrong with Jackal . . .

December Training

2011-12-01T22:19:00.003-06:00

I'm keeping Jackal's December trick a surprise. :D I am going to spend the month of December practicing all of the tricks we learned this year (plus our new one) so that we can do our best for the video at the end of the month. :) Anyway sorry for the short post, I'm so ready for some sleep. I have a really cute video to post tomorrow, so look forward to that.

NaNoWriMo Winner!!

2011-11-30T22:48:00.001-06:00

I don't know how I did it, but I did! 50,090 words with only a little over an hour to spare! That was cutting it close. Third year in a row winning NaNo (www.nanowrimo.org) and definitely the hardest one yet lol. Thanks for the encouragement guys. I am so glad November is over this year!

Day Twenty Nine - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-29T22:53:00.000-06:00

Good thing I didn't have to work today, because all I did was write, write and write some more. I wrote a total of 5,892 words today for a total of 42,246 words for day twenty nine of NaNo (www.nanowrimo.org). So I have 7,754 words left to write. I hope I can finish it tomorrow! It's going to be tough!

Best Summer Ever!

2011-11-27T20:20:00.004-06:00

This has been the best summer I've had since moving to this city four years ago! I finally met some great friends that I have a lot in common with. We spent all summer fishing, swimming, having late night card (Rummy) nights, riding horses and four-wheelers, taking pictures, etc (all without spending hardly any money lol). My friends have been what kept me sane during the huge stresses of our uncertain financial future, the dreadful start to the year and the stress of accepting/learning the assistant managers position this summer. I've learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the time I've spent with my friends and pets. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it keeps getting better and better. :D

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T22:19:00.004-06:00

First off I want to say that it is very difficult to take nice pictures at my parent's house because the lighting isn't very good, so please excuse the ugly photos lol. Second I had a fantastic Thanksgiving!! It's my favorite holiday because the family is together eating good food and thinking about everything they are thankful for. :) How was yours? I hope it was great!

Here are some pictures from today (sorry I completely forgot to take pictures of the food hehe). I'm not posting any of my human family (except hubby) because they are camera shy and would be very peeved if I posted them to a public blog. So you get to enjoy pictures of the furred family members who got to go along.

Hubby and "lap dog" Storm. :D I love this picture.

The only (unflattering) picture of me because I'm always behind the camera.
And yes, immature hubby is giving me bunny ears lol.

My mom's dog. I interrupted his wallowing session on the recliner lol.

Storm begging for a bite of turkey lol.

My mom's dog playing with his toy. Flash washed it out bad. I love my mom's couch lol.

Jackal wiped out after an exciting day.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

P.S. I got ZERO writing done for NaNo today lol, but I had fun and that's what counts.

Day Twenty Two - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-22T21:45:00.001-06:00

I wrote 1,295 words today for a total of 31,438 for day twenty two of NaNo. Not a lot, but I can still catch up in time I think. :D

Driving Lessons

2011-11-22T16:47:00.002-06:00

One of my goals for 2011 was to learn how to drive a standard. I haven't really practiced much because the truck we have has no power steering and I didn't feel safe taking it out on the roads. Now that we have a new truck I decided to give it a shot again. What I learned is I have definitely improved at driving a standard from the first time I tried it earlier this year. My problem area is when first taking off from a stop. I can shift from first through third once I'm moving easily. I've definitely gotten that part down lol. My first time trying today on the road I only stalled once and only popped the clutch once. Then I watched my husband drive and learned a few things.

1. You can push the clutch all the way in quickly and without the brake.
2. You can use the brake without the clutch in shallow turns.
3. You have to ease out on the clutch slowly . . . very slowly!
4. You can skip gears going up but NOT down!
5. You always use the emergency brake on slopes when parking and must be in 1st or L.
6. You must be under 10mph to shift down into 1st.

Then I tried again and immediately stalled and popped the clutch all in the matter of a minute! Go me! Once I got going I did well all the way to the end, then I had trouble getting turned around again. I did some reversing too and that doesn't freak me out as bad as it used to. When I got back to the house I practiced easing on the gas while parked to get above 1000rpm, but it sticks right where I need it to ease off the clutch, so I just need to practice jumping the gas up above 1000rpm, easing off the clutch and when the rpm drops again jump the gas again, then good to go. It's just going to take practice. :) I had fun even though it gave me a headache haha!

Cute Dogs Make NaNo Difficult - Day 21 NaNo Word Count

2011-11-21T20:42:00.004-06:00

Okay, these adorable faces make writing very difficult. However, today I resisted. I wrote 6,357 words today for a total of 30,142 for day twenty one of NaNo (www.nanowrimo.org). I'm still about 8,000 words behind schedule, but I'm off tomorrow and it's going to be raining all day again so I'll try to write a lot again. For now I need sleep!

Oh and yes I wrote ZERO words the last three days. You probably thought I just forgot to post about it, but nope I'm a slacker lol.

Day Seventeen - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-17T20:28:00.002-06:00

I wrote 2513 words today for a total of 23,785 for day seventeen of NaNoWriMo. Much better! I'm feeling a little more inspired, so maybe I can catch up.

Day Sixteen - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-16T21:54:00.001-06:00

I keep dozing off, so it's time to call it a night. I wrote 1494 words tonight for a total of 21272 for day sixteen of NaNoWriMo.

Day Fifteen - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-15T23:30:00.003-06:00

I wrote 1,111 words today for a total of 19,778 for day fifteen of NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org). I was really hoping to reach 20,000 today, but it's almost midnight and I'm totally exhausted and uninspired lol. This may be the first year I don't complete NaNo . . .

Jackal's November Trick

2011-11-15T20:58:00.004-06:00

Picture taken 5/09.

Some of you may remember that I was going to play around and see what Jackal offered for his November trick. Since I'm busy with NaNo (www.nanowrimo.org - Haven't written anything the last two days oops) I wanted something easy to teach. Well I was watching a movie on T.V. and there was a horse doing the halfpass and I thought that would be totally cool to teach Jackal! Well, actually the sidepass. So I decided to try it. I figured why not? What could it hurt?

I got him into a heel position and started walking forward with a lure in front of his nose to keep him in position. As we went forward I started going slightly sideways, sort of like a halfpass. When he crossed his feet over I clicked and gave him a treat. After a couple of times of that I started going completely sideways after just a couple of forward steps. He started to anticipate me pretty quickly, but was swinging his butt wide, so I didn't click those. I only clicked the ones where he stayed right next to me. Eventually I wasn't even having to bump into him. A couple of times he tried to spin and face me, but that was just my lure and delivery. After a few small tweaks we had a cute sidepass going. Of course it's only a couple of sideways steps. We'll have to work on having him do it without a lure and me standing up straight, but for the first session he did great!! Jackal is so much fun. I really need to review all of the tricks he's learned this year so far so I can make my end of the year video. I can't wait to show it to all of you. Start thinking of cool ideas for his final December trick and I'll add them to the poll. :)

P.S. I met a lady today who has Papillons!! The one she was babysitting was adorable! I didn't get to see her dogs because she lives in a nearby city, but maybe someday. I wish I were ready for another dog now because she has puppies, but it'll probably be a few years. I wish I'd had my camera to get a picture for you. She was so cute!!

Day Twelve - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-12T19:43:00.001-06:00

I wrote 1233 words today for a total of 18,667 words for day twelve of NaNoWriMo.

Silly Cat Video

2011-11-12T18:06:00.001-06:00

My cat is so cute. She doesn't get much air time on the blog so I thought I would post this video. :)

Kitchen Remodel Part II

2011-11-11T18:23:00.004-06:00

How does it look? I got the third coat of paint up (turns out only the wall needed a third coat), installed my new spice racks and organized all of my stuff. I love it! I'm so excited. Now I get to empty and clean the other side so I can start painting it. I was hoping to get it done in a week but getting sick slowed things down lol.

Hubby likes his spices lol.

This is with the spice racks pulled down. It's so nice to be able to pull them down to eye level. :) That leaves my bottom shelves for dishes. Yay!

Sort of hard to see, but this shows it pulled down from the side.

And just for cuteness factor. Jackal thinks he's a lap dog. :D

Day Ten - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-10T22:04:00.000-06:00

I'm coming down with something (cough, headache, exhausted) so I only wrote 541 words today for a total of 16,595 for day ten for NaNoWriMo. Hopefully I'll do better (and feel better) tomorrow.

Cute Jackal Picture

2011-11-10T08:20:00.001-06:00

Since all of my NaNo talk may be a little boring here is a cute picture of Jackal for you. :D

Day Nine - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-09T22:29:00.002-06:00

I got the second coat of paint on the first section of cabinets. Sadly parts of it will need a third coat. I didn't realize how dark that yellow was. Luckily the cabinet facings and doors will only need two coats. :)

I also wrote 1,382 words in my novel for NaNoWriMo for a total of 16,054 for day nine. :) I'm still having trouble getting into it. I keep procrastinating starting writing and feel like I have writer's block, but when I start writing it usually starts to flow okay. Normally though when I get in the groove I can easily write 5,000 plus words in a sitting. This time however my inspiration is short lived (usually 800-1000 I have to force anything beyond that). I'm not sure why I'm having trouble with this one. It's a fantasy novel of a world I made completely myself from the ground up, so it's completely unique. Sometimes I think I've spent so much time planning out the planet, climate, races, societies, flora, fauna, calendar, etc. that I get bogged down in a "thinking" mode and lose my creative flow. Luckily that's what NaNo is for, forgetting all the planning and details and just writing! So NaNo is forcing me to push through the procrastination and writer's block. :)

Day Eight - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-08T22:08:00.002-06:00

Yay! I finally got some writing done. I wrote 2,054 words for a total of 14,672 words for day eight! I was getting worried I was falling behind, but I pushed through my fatigue and got caught back up. :)

Kitchen Remodel Part I

2011-11-08T19:52:00.005-06:00

Alrighty. I want to post a disclaimer first. My husband and I live in a very old fixer upper house. The people we bought it from originally bought it for their daughter and made some "repairs". Their idea of repairs were lazy and cheap! We've had to redo about everything they did (such has putting up window casings without caulking the windows so that air was actually blowing the curtains!!). This house was built during a time when electricity was an afterthought, if that tells you how old it is. When my husband bought the house he started working security where he was working up to seventy hours a week, so he had no time to put into remodeling it.

When I moved in I did what I could on cleaning and organizing it, but my husband has a LOT of stuff and no room to put it lol. I've done the best I could but without money or my husband's help (because he was working) I couldn't do much. Now that he's going back to school we're finally starting the remodel. We're doing one tiny project at a time so we can afford it and don't get overwhelmed. The first project is repainting the kitchen cabinets and reorganizing them (including throwing away a lot of stuff).

So with that in mind and knowing that I've absolutely hated this house the entire four years I've lived here I will let you see the pictures. I forgot to get many before shots, oops. That's okay though because the mess is embarrassing. I know you have to make a mess to clean a mess, but ick . . .

Before. They painted the insides yellow. Ick. And the walls.
And even the stove (left) is yellow. Also note there is no floor (just sub-flooring).

This is after painting the inside of the cabinets today (can't wait to repaint the walls!).

The small cabinets over the sink, showing the difference between painted and unpainted.

I have to do one side at a time so I can move the dishes over because I don't have a place to put them lol.

Showing the color difference again. Note the cobwebs and wall cracks lol.

I'll post more pictures as we make more progress. Slow progress. :)

Note: Also keep in mind that this is just the first coat so it's by no means perfect lol.

Busy!

2011-11-07T22:03:00.004-06:00

I didn't write yesterday or today and I haven't worked out all week. I think I'm going to take a break from working out for November since I'm so busy. We're working on doing some improvements to our fixer-upper house since my husband has the time for it now, so that has kept me busy the last two days and tomorrow too probably. I will try to write tomorrow though. :)

Edit: Wait I did write some, but it was only 429 words. Hardly worth mentioning lol.

Day Five - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-05T19:34:00.001-05:00

Since Saturdays are always so slow I took my laptop to work and got some good writing in. I wrote 1951 words for a total of 12,189 for day five. :)

Day Four - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-04T21:07:00.002-05:00

I wrote 1461 words tonight for a total of 10238. :) I still can't believe it took me four days to reach the 10k mark, but I'm not complaining. I'm trying a new approach this year as in I'm writing a lot more descriptively. I get caught up in moving the plot along that I tend not to spend much time describing each scene. Let me tell you it's been difficult lol! I think it's one reason I've had trouble getting motivated this year. :)

I chose a good novel to try this with though because this particular one I've been working on for over five years because it's a fantasy novel with a completely unique world and races. I've written one version of it years ago that I actually completed (and didn't like), but since then it has morphed into a completely different novel, but with the same planet and main characters. The story line is totally different, so I am writing this novel from the beginning as required by NaNo. No cheating allowed lol. Well I'm off to bed. I have to get up at 5am and I'm not looking forward to it (or the time change for that matter) lol.

Day Three - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-03T23:23:00.002-05:00

Well getting ready for work this morning I managed to smash my hand in my car door . . . like it latched closed . . . on my hand. First time that has ever happened to me. I still clearly remembering sitting there staring at my hand in the door thinking how could that be?? I hardly even felt anything. So I opened the door, releasing my hand which was really weird and boy did it hurt all of a sudden. I guess it was adrenaline. The whole thing was weird. I took a pain reliever and put my hand on ice. It's still sore but so far not swollen or bruised thank goodness. I've heard so many storied of long fingernails and I was not looking forward to that lol.

Anyway this long, sad story is sort of an excuse hehe. It made typing difficult so I didn't get much writing done. I also sort of . . . goofed off watching music videos on YouTube, so yeah I'm so not as dedicated this year as I have been in the past. Last year I wrote 50,000 words in two weeks, this year I'm just not feeling as inspired. Anyway I managed 1242 words tonight making a total of 8777 for day three. Definitely falls short of last year, but still ahead of the game so far so I'm not upset. Keep up the great work guys!

Day Two - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

Sadly a really bad headache is making it hard to concentrate on my writing for NaNo (www.nanowritmo.org) so my pathetic word count for today is 1916, making my total so far 7535. Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow. :)

Storm's Vet Visit

2011-11-02T08:09:00.001-05:00

Storm has had Ehrlichia (tick disease) for years, but it hasn't been symptomatic (intermittent limping) since 2009 after we treated with Doxycycline. We do believe the Ehrlichia was the cause of her auto immune dry eye that she's had since 2009. The dry eye basically means her immune system attacked her tear ducts so she doesn't make tears like she's supposed to. In fact she registers less than ten on a tear test and dogs are supposed to be over 15.

The dry eye caused a corneal ulcer in 2009 which we treated for and resulted in a corneal scar which you can see as a cloudy spot on her pupil, but doesn't cause discomfort. The dry eye wasn't diagnosed until after the corneal ulcer was treated and it does cause a lot of discomfort. Sorry this whole back history is so complicated, but I do want to keep a record of this sort of thing. That's part of what blogging is for. :)

So the point of this long drawn out story is that I noticed a red blood spot in her right eye (the one with the dry eye and scar). I thought it was from trauma because she'd recently ran around in the woods where she could have gotten a limb in the eye. I also noticed that both eyes had been getting cloudy. Then I noticed red spots in her other eye. At that point I decided she needed to see a vet.

So we went yesterday. The vet said the cloudiness is cataracts. First sign that my baby is getting old *sniff sniff*. Everyone still thinks she's two year old. At ten years old I guess cataracts aren't that uncommon. :) I hope they are slow to develop though, because I don't want her to lose her eyesight. We will adapt though if she does.

The blood spots are what's called corneal neovascularization. Long word right? The way he explained it is that Neo means new and vascularization (according to an online dictionary because I can't remember how he described it) is the process of becoming vascular; also : abnormal or excessive formation of blood vessels (as in the retina or on the cornea). Basically since she has dry eye the cornea doesn't stay moist like it needs to so it grows blood vessel endings to nourish the eye and when she rubs it they get irritated and the blood spreads causing the red spots I see on the surface of the eye (cornea). I hope that makes sense.

He said the blood vessels don't hurt or cause any damage and they are probably permanent. He said they also don't affect her vision, although of course the cataracts will. So what I learned at this vet visit (aside from a lot of information about the eye) is that she needs to stay on the Cyclosporine drops (about $30 for 2 ounces ahh!!!) for the rest of her life to prevent further damage to the eye. He also told me I can use over the counter tear gel (not drops) for humans to help when her eye is irritated. The gel lasts longer so it's more effective. So she's okay. It's just one of those auto immune things you have to maintain, but can't cure. I'm familiar with auto immune disorders with my own thyroid so it's something we will deal with. I'm just glad it wasn't something more serious that would require surgery or something.

Oh and to top off the vet bill I also ran over a huge chunk of metal in the road (couldn't avoid it) which totally destroyed my less than two year old $100 tire. *cries* It never fails when you make money (got a bonus at work) then **** happens to make you spend it (so much for the new freezer). Sigh. I'm still happy though because my baby girl is okay. :)

Day One - NaNoWriMo Word Count

2011-11-01T21:54:00.001-05:00

I'll get a word count widget up soon. It appears some features of the NaNoWriMo website are down. Oh well. I'm off to bed. My current word count for day one of NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org) is 5,625. Not horrible, but definitely not my best. Normally I write close to ten thousand words on day one. Oh well. Remember if you decide to join the challenge you only have to write 1,666 words a day for thirty days to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. :D Have fun NaNoers.

National Novel Writing Month!!

2011-11-01T08:44:00.005-05:00

Alright everyone, it's November again and that means I'm going to be very busy doing a lot of writing. :D If anyone else is doing it this year I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment or add me on the NaNo website (www.nanowrimo.org). Username is achieve1dream.

As far as Jackal's trick for this month I still haven't decided what to do. I might mess around with a few things and see if something comes of it. Heck I might just do some free shaping and see what he suggests. :D

Have fun writing everyone and don't worry if I'm not reading blogs or posting on mine much. November is a little hectic. I'll try to do word count updates every night. Good luck writers!!

Workout Week Fifteen

2011-10-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

Week Fifteen

Strength Training: Monday (Upper/Abs), Tuesday (Lower), Wednesday (Upper) and Thursday (Lower/Abs)
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Dancing: Twice this week, don't remember which days.
Biking: Monday (2 miles)
Walking/Running: Monday (1.4 mils), Tuesday (1 mile) and Sunday (2 miles)

I did better on weights, but not so great on cardio. When it's so cold I find it hard to get motivated to go walking/running/biking, so I'm pulling the treadmill out of it's summer hiding spot. :)

I alternated an upper/lower routine on the Bowflex. I'm slowly increasing my weight (resistance actually), but I think I'm going too slow because I'm rarely ever sore . . . that's right, isn't it? I'm supposed to increase the weight by five pounds when I can do fifteen reps of the exercise perfectly, but I get lazy and lump them all together because I don't like switching out the tension rods between each exercise. I'll try to do better with that.

The dancing is actually belly dancing. I've been wanting to learn how and finally found an informative DVD on Netflix that breaks down the moves, so I've been practicing that. I only practiced with the DVD twice, but I was practicing some of the individual moves on my own almost every day. :) It's fun, but it's so hard to separate the different body parts and then try to coordinate them doing completely different things at the same time (haven't made it that far yet lol). Hopefully this will help me with my coordination and muscle control (yay for dressage!). :)

The cardio I started out doing well, but then it got cold lol. Time to start running intervals on the treadmill. Just have to figure out how to get the dogs to trot on it with me . . . hehehe. (note: I know to be careful with dogs around treadmills, it can be very dangerous)

November Trick

2011-10-27T18:06:00.004-05:00

Okay, I know I'm getting to this early, but I'm going to be soooo busy in November with National Novel Writing Month, so if anyone has any suggestions for very easy tricks I'd really appreciate it. I'm not going to have a lot of time to work on training and I can't think of anything easy that he doesn't already know. There is a list of tricks he knows in the sidebar. Thanks!

Workout Week Fourteen

2011-10-24T09:56:00.002-05:00

I took the week off. :) I needed a break. Sorry for the short post.

Sunday Stills - Rocks

2011-10-23T21:06:00.008-05:00

This week's challenge was rocks. My husband and I were looking for a new gun range to sight in our rifles and practice shooting and got a little lost . . . we found this really awesome river and I got a lot of awesome shots. :D

This is the little rock path we walked to get across (water is low because this summer was dry).

I love how the water is so clear you can see the rocks below. :)

My feet on a rock. I love the colorful leaves and the ripples in the water.

There were a lot of interesting rock formations . . .

. . . like this. I love it!

These were almost step like.

Another perspective of the above shot.

Standing on the rock steps in the pictures above.

I love how the little plants grow between all of the cracks.

I love the reflection of the clouds in the water. It turned out so clear!

Again, the reflections are awesome. :)

And for fun pictures of me and my husband.

So what do you think? I really enjoyed getting lost!

Self Timer Photo Shoot

2011-10-22T20:02:00.002-05:00

I went to one of my husband's classes because they were having a discussion on photography. I learned some tips and decided to try some of them out. He also mentioned using a self timer for moon shots to prevent blur and that reminded me that I've never used my self timer. So I tried it out. Some turned out great and some are very overexposed. Let me know what you think.

This one looks "posed" and unnatural. I didn't have time to let my breath out and relax before the timer went off. Ten seconds is not much time to get ready lol. All of the pictures below were using the continuous shoot mode so they aren't great quality. In hindsight I wish I hadn't used it because they would have looked so much nicer, but no big deal.

I posted some pictures of me and Chrome on his blog, so check them out here if you would like.

Workout Week Thirteen

2011-10-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

Week Thirteen

Strength Training: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: Wednesday (1/8th mile)
Walking/Running: Tuesday (1/4th mile) and Friday (4.4 miles)

Okay, so I was feeling like I hadn't done enough, but I guess I did okay. Working out three days a week is better than none. :)

I took the dogs on both walks, but the 4.4 mile one was too far. Poor Jackal has been limping around since then. He's been much better today. He's had problems with his left rear leg before so I'm not panicking about it. We just did too much. I'll shorten his walk again and slowly lengthen them back out. I need to get more consistent with them too. It's difficult though because I despise the stupid cold weather. Sigh. I think that's why I'm feeling unmotivated in general. The shorter days are killing me.

Back to work . . . oh and sorry this was so late.

Blog Award

2011-10-18T05:00:00.002-05:00

Thank you Denali's Mom for the award. :) The rules are to post seven things about myself and pass it on to fifteen blogs. I've received this award before, but it was on my first blog so I don't think I've done it on this one. Regardless I tried to think of new things that I haven't really mentioned before (I hope!). Here goes . . .

1. I would love to own/foster/work with one of every breed of dog (okay maybe not every breed) just to learn to train different breeds and learn about all their differences to see what I click with best, but my dream dog since I was a little kid has always been a male solid black German Shepherd dog that I could train in Schutzhund, Disc, Flyball, Freestyle, Agility and just about any other sport I can think of (except maybe herding, that never interested me). He would also have to be great with horses so he could go on trail rides with me.

I had a black German Shepherd named Wolfgang (I know how original, I was a little kid) that I had for around five years before we had to put him to sleep because we couldn't afford extensive surgery to get rid of bladder stones ($1000+ and vet said they would most likely come back - he also had an old injury from being hit by a car so he wasn't a great candidate for surgery). He went with me everywhere and went on all of my trail rides. He would go hiking with me and I'd have to help him over the fences because of his rear leg, but he never left me. I loved that dog.

There are a ton of other breeds I would love to have someday. I especially would like to have a small breed someday (since I've mostly had big dogs) and my heart is set on a Papillon because I've read that they're like having a Border Collie in a tiny package. Pembroke Corgi is my second choice (second only because they're a little bigger and shed a lot which I need a break from after living with a Siberian Husky for ten years)! :D

2. I actually have very poor balance. I can't roller blade (which I would love to learn to do), ice skate, skate board, ski, etc. but I love riding horses and usually have a good seat. Weird huh? Probably muscle memory since I've been riding since I was five. :) I also have no problem with bikes. Maybe it's not a balance issue, but more a lack of coordination since I do have a tendency to trip over my own feet hehe.

3. A lot of people consider me a snob, because I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, gamble, steal, party, etc. I think my worst bad habits are cussing (only around people I know), being addicted to sugar, talking on my cell phone while driving and I occasionally drive too fast (but not dangerously). I think those are fairly benign bad habits, but I definitely do not look down on others for their bad habits. I know that no one is perfect, myself included and that we all indulge in unhealthy habits. The only ones that really bother me are the unethical ones or habits that are dangerous to others.

4. I get bored very easily. I have trouble turning my brain off, so I like to stay busy to keep myself from worrying about something I have no control over (mild control freak and worry wart). When I was a kid I used to follow my mom around the house while she cooked or cleaned, talking the whole time. :) I can be bored within thirty seconds of completing a task. I think that's one reason I love to read. It's a great way to escape from my own overactive brain. :)

5. I have a LOT of hobbies. Things like horses (which I really consider more of a necessary part of my life because without them I'm miserable), writing, reading, drawing, scrapbooking, piano, blogging, dog training, fishing, photography, etc. I could go on I'm sure. I never really knew why I had/have so many hobbies (although I always thought it was because I wasn't particularly good at any one thing), but after reading Annette's post about her learner signature theme it makes a little more sense. Check it out here http://aspenmeadows.blogspot.com/2011/09/signature-themes-learner.html

6. I think my biggest pet peeve is cigarettes. I'm very allergic to cigarette smoke. It gives me an instant headache (which with prolonged exposure can be pretty severe), makes me cough and hack and clogs up my nose so I can't breathe. I wish I could give those symptoms to every smoker for just one day so they can feel how bad it is. Then maybe they wouldn't smoke in drive through windows, ticket lines or close to doors. The door to the store where I work doesn't seal and actually blows open in the wind so when someone stands right outside the door the smoke it blows inside. Very rude! And it takes forever for me to be able to breathe easily again. I just wish people would be more considerate of their bad habits that affect others.

7. When I was a kid my dream jobs were horse breeder/boarding stable owner, dog trainer (specifically police dogs), zoo keeper, vet, wildlife photographer, the person who takes the video for shows like Wild Cat Diaries, etc. Now that I'm in my mid twenties I have no idea what I want to do. I still think some of those sounds great, but I now understand my limitations. :) If I could find someone I could apprentice with I would become a police dog trainer in a heartbeat!! I don't think I'm cut out for running a dog obedience school though because I'm not a great people trainer lol. I guess one day I'll figure out what it is I'm meant to be doing. :)

It's late (I'm setting this to post first thing in the morning since I've posted today already) and a lot of people have already received this award so I tag the first fifteen people to leave a comment who have not already received the award. I look forward to learning more about you. :)

Note: None of the images in this post belong to me. Images are linked to original site.

Just in case you didn't know . . .

2011-10-17T13:20:00.002-05:00

. . . at one time I had a separate blog for all of my critters but I condensed them all to this one because it was too time consuming. Well I don't know if I mentioned it, but I did separate the horse blog from this one again because my wonderful horses were taking over my main blog. So just in case you missed it Chrome, Faran and Zeppelin's blog is here http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com It has a lot of posts about clicker training (which some people may not be interested in), but it also has pictures/videos and it's where I'll be posting pictures and updates when I start riding Chrome in May. Just don't want you to get left out. Thanks guys.

P.S. I just realized I forgot Sunday Stills again. Oops. I'll also post my workout update tomorrow. I woke up with a migraine so I'm a little behind on things I wanted to get done today. :)

Moon Picture

2011-10-13T12:00:00.001-05:00

Probably the best moon picture I've ever taken!! :D

Wordless Wednesday (well almost)

2011-10-12T20:08:00.004-05:00

Please ignore my ugly yellow stove (came with the house), unfinished floors, nasty wallpaper and lack of baseboards, door and door framing. This house is definitely a work in progress hehe.

P.S. Oh and recall won on Jackal's poll, so I'll get started on that right away. :)

Sunset Pictures of Jackal

2011-10-11T10:26:00.002-05:00

Oops, this didn't post automatically. :)

I really like all of these except they caused Jackal's eyes to glow lol. I even got a good one of my husband below. The background looks like a backdrop in a photography studio hehe.

Oh and Storm got to go on our mini road trip too, but I didn't manage to get any good pictures because the flash washes out her white coat.

Workout Week Twelve

2011-10-10T06:00:00.003-05:00

Week Twelve

Strength Training: Tuesday and Thursday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: None
Walking/Running: Thursday (1.4 miles)

I had every intention of doing great this week and . . . didn't. I got busy. I know it's a lousy excuse, but I guess it happens. One thing I've noticed with the Bowflex routine I've been doing is that the four day workout doesn't work well. Doing it that way makes it only twice weekly that I work the upper and body . . . and that just doesn't show any results.

So I think I'm going back to the three day a week work out . . . and I'll cut out some of the exercises so it's not an hour long workout. :) I technically only have one more week with this routine, but I might extend it another three weeks working out three times a week, since I haven't been very consistent.

I do have my weight up to forty pounds on everything except the wrist curls and bicep curls. My wrists just aren't strong enough to support anymore than thirty pounds. I'll just do less weight, more reps on those.

I have to do better! It's just been so pretty outside that I can't make myself stay indoors lol.

Sunday Stills - Vanishing Points

2011-10-09T19:43:00.001-05:00

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was disappearing points. Check out the Sunday Stills blog to see examples. I was incredibly busy so was only able to get drive-by shots of roads and fences. Not great, but at least I didn't miss another week. :)

And the bonus is that the falls colors are coming out!! So pretty!

My Art

2011-10-08T05:00:00.002-05:00

I'm not very good at drawing, but I used to do it a lot as a kid. I haven't drawn anything in years so please don't laugh at these. :) I actually have to be looking at what I'm drawing for it to turn out any good. Needless to say I wasn't looking at a picture when I drew the horse lol. I'm not good with eyes, ears or necks lol. And I'm not very good at scale.

I draw stationary objects best (no movement please lol), so here is a 10-key calculator I drew at work when I was bored. :) Again I'm not so good with scale.

And a mouse. The word Microsoft isn't very good hehe.

Gone Fishing

2011-10-07T05:00:00.005-05:00

I love the light sparkles off the water in this shot. :D

We went to our favorite fishing spot last week and had so much fun fishing, walking dogs and taking pictures. Here are some of the ones I took.

My friend's awesome Pit Bull Dusty.

Cute little squirrel. I think this shot turned out awesome!

Dusty is so sleek, athletic and muscular. I love her! :)

Her other dog Lady. She has such a pretty face and I love her white toes just like Jackal's.

Dusty's cute little black tail spot.

Lady's exhausted. She's on a diet and slow exercise program to get her back into shape.

I like how the sun and shadows are on this picture.

I love a Pit Bull smile!

Napping after our walk.

And sunset shots.

Really cool airplane and contrails.

I think this is probably the nicest moon shot I've ever taken. :)

I love this spot. We had so much fun fishing and grilling hot dogs and walking dogs. We even saw the adorable little mink again. I'll have to post that one later.

Our Fall Garden II

2011-10-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Check out my cute little sprouts! I'm so happy with how much has already come up. The seeds were a little old so I was worried they wouldn't sprout.

I was trying to get macro shots, but they turned out blurry! I guess I moved a little. Still you get the idea. :)

Our Fall Garden

2011-10-05T11:07:00.001-05:00

Since we didn't have time to do the spring garden we are making a small fall garden in the front yard. We put down ground cloth to keep weeds from growing and also to hopefully keep the chickens from scratching around in it. This is what it looked like when we first put it together a few weeks ago. Tomorrow I'll show you what it looks like now.

First we put down the ground cloth . . .

Then we cut holes (tedious!) in the cloth and planned out what we're planting where . . .

Then we planted the seeds . . .

Check back tomorrow to see our cute little sprouts!

Jackal's October Trick

2011-10-04T10:48:00.001-05:00

The poll is up for Jackal's October trick. Sorry it's late. I can't believe how fast September went by. Wow.

I'm way behind on training. I'm going to get in gear and catch up though because next month is NaNoWriMo and I'll be super busy with that.

Workout Week Eleven

2011-10-03T10:00:00.004-05:00

Week Eleven

Strength Training: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: Tuesday and Thursday
Biking: None
Walking/Running: Wednesday (1.4 miles)

Okay, I did better, but still not back to where I want to be. Nothing wrong with easing into it slowly again. :) I did the weight lifting all three days at thirty pounds, except for curls and wrist exercises which I did at twenty pounds and abs and squats were at forty pounds. :)

On Tuesday I did ten minutes of Salsa dancing and ten minutes of Pilates Cardio. I love the Crunch videos available on Netflix. :D I'm so uncoordinated, but I'm actually getting better at the Salsa dancing, so maybe I'm improving hehe. The Wednesday walk was with the dogs. I've been trying to take Jackal with me in the car more when we go to friend's houses or fishing since it's cooled off some. He loves it. I just hope he learns to stop whining!!

P.S. Sorry I haven't been posting! I've been so busy, but things are going really well, so it's okay. :) The sad thing is I have plenty to post about I just haven't sat down to do it lol. I'll post everything this week.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T18:36:00.001-05:00

Jackal watching my friend eat out of the corner of his eye because he's not supposed to beg. :D

Workout Week Ten

2011-09-26T08:21:00.003-05:00

I didn't do anything this week again. I went for a one mile walk yesterday with the dogs, but that's it. I've still not felt great. I think not feeling well has totally derailed me so I'm going to do whatever it takes to get back into the routine of working out. I feel so much better when I do. :)

No Kisses

2011-09-22T22:11:00.005-05:00

I worked on Jackal's trick for this month which was supposed to be kisses (a nose touch to cheek, not licking), but I don't think it's going to work. He's never been allowed to touch my face with his mouth or paws his entire life and I just don't think it's a good idea to change that. I'm the type of person who can't stand for a dog to lick me and I think teaching kisses, even as just a nose touch is pushing it. Especially since he gets a little drooly when he's been eating treats and that's gross. He was doing fine with a paper target, when I used it like I did for teaching him to close a door, but he was very reluctant to touch it when it was by my face. I don't really blame him though because he's never been allowed to before. So for this month I think I'm going to reteach stand because he doesn't remember it at all, he never was very good at it and he never knew a cue for it.

Growing

2011-09-20T17:56:00.002-05:00

One of my mums looks awesome. The other needs some TLC. I got them repotted so their roots can spread out, so hopefully that will help. Here's the pretty one.

We also spread a ton of grass seed on the lease land and they are sprouting! I got some macro shots of the tiny sprouts.

Workout Week Nine

2011-09-19T19:27:00.002-05:00

Week Nine

Strength Training: Tuesday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: None
Walking/Running: None

Umm . . . I got sick so I basically did nothing. :( I'm feeling a bit better so I'm going to start working out again tomorrow.

Sunday Stills - On the Road

2011-09-18T20:59:00.005-05:00

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was to take pictures of roads. I thought it would be too easy and completely boring, but I wanted to do it anyway since I've missed a few weeks. I decided to go for a drive and snap a few photos, thinking two or three would be enough. I took my husband (he drove so I could take pictures) and Jackal along for company and it turned out to be a very relaxing and productive drive. I took 127 pictures! Here are the best ones.

First a picture of Jackal on the way home after we took a walk with a neighbor's horses to visit the cute foals born this year.

He tried to chase down three cute female Beagles so he was panting pretty hard when he got in the car. Brat. :D

I really wasn't expecting roads to be interesting or fun subject matter, but it really was.

This challenge made me slow down and really look for the beauty around me.

And yes there is beauty everywhere, even in roads.

This is actually someone's driveway! Jealous! :D

A picture through the side mirror of Jackal looking back down the road.

Why couldn't this awesome grasshopper have been available during birds and bees/insects week?

I love this old one lane bridge.

Another bigger bridge.

Jackal looks goofy in this shot, but I had to include it.

Thanks for the interesting challenge Ed. I really enjoyed the quality time with my husband and dog. :)

Jackal had so much fun he had to take a nap with me on the couch.
I love how his rope toy and bone are sitting next to the cell phone lol.

I gave him a bath when we got back and he's so soft and cuddly.

Digital Scrapbooking

2011-09-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

I love digital scrapbooking because it's the awesome fun of scrapbooking, but for free. :D I've posted some of these before, but it was on my old blog and some of my new followers haven't seen them so I'm posting them again along with the new ones I've done recently. Let me know what you think and which one is your favorite. :) They are in order that I made them. I think I improved with practice. Imagine that hehe. Sorry for the watermark. Also you can click to enlarge.

I did Faran's on Tuesday.

I did these last two on Wednesday.

Video Update Jackal's Monthly Tricks

2011-09-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

I posted a video here showing one of our worst training sessions to date and now I have a video update of our progress. This video was done yesterday and there was only one other session between the two videos (see here). It went much better this time! Can you believe the progress he's made in only three sessions?

I'm so proud of my smart boy. :D

Jackal's Trick Progress

2011-09-14T05:00:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I worked on paws in a bucket first. I clicked him once for looking at it and a few times for holding his paw over the bucket and then I only clicked if his paw went in the bucket. It took six or seven clicks before he started putting the paw on the bottom. He was switching out paws, but he's definitely more confident with his left paw. I ended the bucket training with him placing his left paw on the bottom of the bucket and staying there for a second instead of immediately jerking it back out. The bucket is elbow height so it's a little uncomfortable for him. I tilted it slightly to help out, but I want it stable so it doesn't fall over and scare him. I might need to find a shorter one.

Then we worked on Say Your Prayers. When I got his foot stool out he got SUPER excited. Like so excited he wasn't paying attention, so I grabbed some treats, got behind him and placed him in a sit, like I did at the end of the last video. As soon as I had him sitting and held my hand over the stool he plopped both paws on it!! It only took two times before he started doing it without me behind him. He started popping up out of the sit, but all I had to do was remind him to sit and then he'd put his paws up without me having to touch him or get behind him. Such a good boy! I was very happy with his enthusiasm and how much he remembered. It makes me feel better about the crappy session last time. :)

Sorry no video this time. It was a spur of the moment session late at night lol. I was too tire to set up the video camera. :)

Fall Gardening

2011-09-13T17:48:00.002-05:00

Since we were unable to make a summer garden we're going to do a fall garden. We're probably coming at it a little late, but I think it will be okay. We're using the area around the front porch for planting. When you're on less than two acres with most of it on a slope you have to get imaginative lol. We were going to plant a big garden on the lease land, but figuring out how to run water and keep deer and other wildlife (not to mention the horses) caused us to run out of time. Hopefully next year. Here are some pictures of our progress so far.

I forgot to get a picture of it when it was still covered in knee high grass,
but this is it after we uprooted the grass with pickaxes and hoes.

Sort of hard to see, but this is some of the grass we uprooted. There was a ton of it.

This is after we put out chicken litter from our chicken coop that
has been aging since our coop was destroyed during early spring.

My husband wet it down really well when we were done.

Next week we will plant (and figure out a way to keep the chickens out of it!).

Workout Week Eight

2011-09-12T16:36:00.000-05:00

Week Eight

Strength Training: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: Monday (5mi) & Wednesday (1mi)
Walking/Running: None

My poor dogs. I haven't done any walking. I biked five miles on Monday and one mile on Wednesday, but that's all of the cardio I've done. For some reason I've had no energy this week. I did my Bowflex routine on Monday at 35 pounds (with legs at 40lbs and arms at 25lbs). On Tuesday I did everything at 35lbs, except for the curls I did at 25lbs. On Thursday I did everything at forty pounds, but didn't do the curls. Boy I felt that workout. I think I've had my weight too low. I really hate this routine though so I didn't do anything Friday.

I made a new routine after doing some research. I learned that the reason a lot of people don't like workout equipment like the Bowflex is because the majority of the exercises are isolation exercises that only work one muscle group. Compound exercises that work several muscle groups are a lot more effective for building muscle and burning calories. The Bowflex doesn't have many compound choices, but I don't have the money for free weights so I'll make do. My new routine is going to consist of doing upper body Monday and Thursday and lower body Tuesday and Friday. I'll do my compound exercises first and then any isolation exercises I want to do after. I also learned that mixing the routine up instead of doing the same order every time helps to prevent muscle adaptation so the workout will be more effective for longer. I'll do this routine for three weeks and then switch to something else. :)

10th Anniversary of 9-11

2011-09-11T17:41:00.003-05:00

Remembering 9-11.

Tribute in Light

Jackal's September Trick

2011-09-09T18:41:00.001-05:00

Kisses won. :) That should be easy to teach since it's a simple target exercise . . . then again it's always the simple ones we have trouble with. I'm getting so far behind on them. I really need to kick it into gear. It just seems like I'm staying too busy. Sigh. I'll get started on it soon (I hope!).

Workout Week Seven

2011-09-05T20:19:00.002-05:00

My rash is gone so I started my new workout this week. I missed one day, but I think I did really well (although I really need more cardio!). :) We're having a nice cold front so I'm going to start my intervals again. I was supposed to do it today, but getting up at five am for three days in a row when I'm used to waking up at seven or eight did me in. I'll do it tomorrow instead.

Week Seven

Strength Training: Tuesday, Thursday & Friday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None (friend that I do Yoga with has been sick) :(
Biking: None
Walking/Running: Wednesday (1 mile) & Friday (2 miles)

Monday is the day I missed. I don't even remember why now. Tuesday I did everything at 30 pounds because I was learning some new exercises. Thursday I did everything at thirty fives pounds and legs at forty pounds. I only did five bicep curls. I don't know why they have that two days in a row. Doesn't make sense. Friday I did everything at thirty five pounds with the curls (biceps and reverse) on twenty five pounds.

My exercise buddy has been sick with the flu or something so I didn't do any Yoga. I really need her help to stay motivated to do Yoga/Pilates/Stretching/etc. I guess it's just not really my thing. I still need to do better with it though.

On Wednesday I took the dogs for a one mile walk/run. I think I ran about one third to half of it. :) Then on Friday I took them for a two mile walk/run. During the first mile I did sprint intervals, but I was counting it out in my head so it probably wasn't completely accurate. It's still better than just walking. On the one mile back to the house I just walked.

So I really need to get it in gear for the Yoga and cardio. I guess I need to figure out what is motivating me to do the Bowflex that I'm lacking in the other. It might be because I don't have a fixed schedule on cardio . . . Hopefully the intervals will help with that. :)

Jackal's Prayers Progress Video

2011-09-04T21:17:00.001-05:00

Okay, I normally only post nice videos of our training sessions, but our first session with learning Say Your Prayers went horrible!! The video is almost fifteen minutes long (sorry!) with very few cuts from the original footage to show how the actual session went. I was going to explain what was going on, but it's late and I have to get up at 5am so I'll write more about it tomorrow. The captions and titles explains a little. Sorry if you can't watch videos. Let me know what you think. It's pretty crappy.

Good night guys.

Jackal's August Trick Update - September Trick Poll

2011-09-01T20:05:00.001-05:00

I'm sad to say I didn't work on Say Your Prayers with Jackal at all. I'll try again this month, but I'm going to go ahead and put up a poll with some easy options so I don't lose a month. I want him to know twelve new ones by the end of the year. Please vote on the poll and I'll try to do something soon on the Prayers trick (with video!).

Muscovies

2011-08-31T19:16:00.006-05:00

Sorry I've been so quiet. I guess I needed a bit of a break. :) Things are starting to look up again now that I'm able to fall into my old routine. I'll try to update tomorrow about Jackal's tricks. For now enjoy these pictures of my pretty Muscovy ducks now that they are all grown up. I'm proud of my ducks and I really enjoy them.

My favorite piebald Muscovy hen. Isn't she adorable?

I had to sneak one of my Buckeye hen in too.

Click for a close up of her dinner. Ew gross!

I think this one is my favorite picture. :)

Which is your favorite? The lighting didn't turn out well on a couple of them, but I still like them all. :)

Workout Week Off

2011-08-29T09:51:00.002-05:00

Sigh. Last Monday I tried out sprint intervals. I really liked it actually. I walked for five minutes to warm up, then I sprinted thirty seconds (turned to jogging as I got more tired lol) and walked ninety seconds. Repeat six times and then walked five minutes to cool out. Unfortunately when I went inside to cool off I had a heat rash on my chest . . . crap! If you haven't had a heat rash, basically it's when your sweat glands get clogged and infected. Everything I read said stay out of the heat and it will go away in three or four days. So I stopped exercising and stayed in the air conditioning.

After four days it was Friday and I couldn't go to the doctor so I decided to wait until Monday (today) to go to the doctor, which means an entire week of no exercise. I can't believe how negatively it has affected my mood already. I miss working out. I miss the energy it gave me.

I've never had a heat rash, but from doing research and looking at pictures I'm sure it's what I had. The weird thing is that it spread to my stomach, back, neck and my entire arms. It's even on my face a little bit. It basically looks like goose bumps (chill bumps) that don't go away. It's only red if I go outside and get hot. So I tried everything I could think of vinegar, desitin, baking soda bath, gold bond powder, benadryl (orally and topically), etc. For the first three or four days it didn't itch at all. Then it started itching on my chest where it first started. The itching spread to my neck, so I figure that means it's healing. When I got up this morning bumps were very much diminished. On my chest it doesn't even feel like there are any bumps, just a a little redness. I think it's healing at the same speed it spread so my arms and face will probably heal last unfortunately. Luckily it's not very noticeable at all. It just looks like goosebumps. So I think I'll skip the doctor since it's healing and I don't have health insurance or money. Save it for an actual emergency. Most rashes don't require medical attention anyway. I don't have a fever, not tired, nothing. Anyone ever experienced a heat rash like that? Or maybe it was hives? I thought hives went away quickly though. I did mow on Monday too and I have horrible grass/tree/plant allergies.

So nothing to report on the exercise. I think I'm going to try to pick back up some of my exercise since the rash doesn't bother me. I spent some time outside today taking picture of the horses and it's not red, hot or inflamed. That's a good sign. :)

Jackal's Prize

2011-08-23T19:04:00.003-05:00

Jackal's other prize for winning Best Costume in Honey's Dancing With the Doggie Stars Contest arrived. I'll let the pictures tell the story . . .

"Look at what I got in the mail!"

"It smells like Jed and Abby."

"Open it mom!"

"Fine I'll do it."

"Hmm, doesn't smell like cookies."

"A disco ball?"

"Where are my cookies?"

"Thanks Jed and Abby! For the ball . . . I can't even chew on or fetch . . ."

"Whoa! Lights! This is awesome! Thanks guys!"

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"Cool, but why was mom trying to shove it in my face? Sheesh. The lights are really great though."

Well Jed and Abby, Jackal may not be overly impressed but I sure love the disco ball. :) Jackal's favorite part was the packaging . . .

Those eyes melt my squishy little heart.

I hope you guys enjoyed the picture. We sure enjoyed receiving our package, opening it and watching the pretty disco ball. :) You guys are great!