I took a 1.2 mile walk today around the park near my house. This means two laps on the walking trail around it, I could have walked further but two laps was about all I wanted to see of the muddy, cloudy landscape. I think my last post on spring was a tad bit on the optimistic side, since we have had an ice storm since then and temps in the 30′s. Don’t disappoint me spring! I really would like some nice warm weather:)

This weekend I got to see my mom, my Aunt Florence (my mom’s best friend), and one of my other Aunt’s (who really is my mom’s sister). It was great to hang out with my mom and see my Aunt Florence (who I have not seen in a few years). My Aunt Florence brought with her the wedding gift that she made for Ben & me. It is probably one of my most cherished gifts, since she made it herself. It is absolutely amazing too….

A quilt made just for us from my Aunt Florence. She did some machine stitching, but she also hand quilted a lot of it too. It definitely inspires me to try quilting, although I don’t think I have the patience for hand quilting. Another picture…

Notice the blurry motion in the right hand bottom corner. What picture would be complete without a cat right:) That one is Axel jumping up to investigate the quilt, since I haven’t let him or Pounce near it since bringing it home.

Also part of the gift was some handmade placemats from the scraps leftover from the quilt. The placemats almost look too beautiful to use! I have to say it is definitely inspiring to get gifts like these, especially when you know how much love and hard work goes into such a gift. Thank you Aunt Florence!

Two more pictures just because I can;) Taken quite a bit ago, when we had one of the first snowfalls…. Ben brought in a little bit of the fresh snow so that Pounce & Axel could play with it.

Pounce had a blast for awhile with it, trying to pick it up and batting it around on the kitchen counter.
Axel just kind of looked at it while Pounce played:)

Last night I had horseback riding again and this week we actually rode. I loved it! We each have partners and so we take turns riding during class, I rode for the first half and then the other lady got to ride for the second half. We also get to groom the horse, saddle it, and everything so it is great experience.

My boots that took forever to find…

The sweet sound of spring… I can actually hear birds chirping outside right now as I type. This is probably one of my favorite sounds, I love knowing that spring is around the corner and summer (my favorite season) is soon to be here. Although looking outside my window right now, you might come to the conclusion that the birds are a little crazy since there is melting snow still on the ground. Lucky for us it is melting though!

I don’t think I would be a true animal person without adding that my absolute favorite sound is not birds chirping, but actually happens to be the sound of my two kitties purring. Yes, both of my cats purr contrary to what those who have met (and actually managed to pet) Axel might think. Although most his purring does occur around 4-5am when I am trying to sleep and he is thinking that I should wake up and pay attention to him:)

Speaking of cats… Last night was the first time my horseback riding class (officially known as equitation class) met out at the stables. We didn’t ride this week because it is such a big group, but we did go through and meet all of the horses (there were quite a few), our instructor showed us all the basics (a lot of which I already knew) about preparing a horse for riding, and discussed different breeds of horses among other things. Even without getting to ride, it was still a fun class time and I am definitely looking forward to riding next week. Due to having such a large group, it is going to be split into two different nights of the week to make it more manageable so that everyone can ride. What did all of that have to do with cats you ask? Well, there were a lot of cute little barn cats out at the stables…. So it just made me think of horses:)

I have also started working on my crafting notebook already! I am pretty excited about it and plan on using it quite a bit. Right now I just have one page filled with ideas that I want to try making and also just little drawings of randomness to keep it fun and a little less boring. One of the things I want to try doing more is photographing little things in life a little more frequently. I would start today, however due to the computer blowing up the other day I am going to have to wait on that. Expect to see more pictures though in the future:)

Okay now I really need to go get some stuff done! I am going to be seeing my mom, her best friend (who I refer to as my aunt), and my mom’s sister (also known as my aunt:) this weekend and I really need to get some stuff done around the house including packing!

Edited to include: One of the ladies whose blog I read just started an etsy shop. (If you don’t know what etsy is then you should find out! It is where people sell handmade, creative goods. Someday I think I may consider starting an etsy shop myself, we shall see…. Etsy is just a great way to find awesome art/handmade goods.) She is selling her photography (which I love), so go check out her shop! Oh, and you could buy a photograph for me as a little present;)

Two blog entries in one day has to be a record for me:) Anyways I know that I said I was moving on and wasn’t going to talk about school anymore, but I just feel like I need to a little bit more for therapy and then I am totally done and not thinking about it ever again.

I am pretty sure that the head of the program I was in now has no doubt in their mind why I quit. Apparently that person did not think when I told them the first time earlier today, so to make it clear I called them on the phone during my dinner to tell them exactly what they said. If that person has anymore “issues” figuring out why I quit, I told them they better come to me next time instead of telling other people. It really bugs me when someone who must be in at least their 50′s or 60′s acts like a stupid, immature high schooler (no insult meant to anyone in high school, in fact saying that is way to good to this person, since all the high schoolers I knew would never act like this)! Let alone someone who is supposed to be the head of a college program.

Also, it really bugs me when people assume I need to talk to my parents about anything (no offense Mom & Dad, I love you guys but you both understand what I am saying)! I know that I may look young, but I am older than most people think and I am a married, grown woman for goodness sakes! I forget though that a lot of people never grow up and realize what it is like to be a mature adult. I guess I just don’t get how so many people can get through life without growing up… sure they grow up in one sense of the word, but they don’t really grow up in an emotional sense.

I guess the lesson here is that you should never be immature, talk behind people’s backs, or assume things about people that just are not true! Grow up! (Not the people reading this, I feel like I am preaching to the choir or something, but I just need to get it all out, thanks for listening!)

Oh and did you know that it feels really good to tell someone off. Next time someone makes you mad, try it, it actually does make you feel better to get it out! (I think I surprised Ben with how much force and guts I actually had in me, in fact I think I surprised myself. Although I don’t think the head of the program will have any doubts now about why I quit, which is probably good.)

Moving on again hopefully…. Thanks for listening/reading:)

It must be a season for changes, it seems like a lot of people whose blogs I read have decided to make a few changes in their lives. My change today was withdrawing from the vet tech program at school. It took a lot of consideration and talking with Ben, but I think I have made the right decision for myself. There were just a lot of little things adding up, but overall the program and its head had some issues. I don’t really want to go into all those issues here, in fact I just want to move on with life so that is what I am going to do. Rather than let that person get to me, I am going to forget about all of it and enjoy my life!

So now I am going to have lots of spare time to do whatever I want! I definitely have some goals for that free time though… some of those goals include:

• starting a crafting notebook where I jot down ideas and designs for new projects and such
• getting our home more organized and clutter free (Ben probably loves this one, I tend to collect stuff sometimes:)
• finishing the blanket that I have been knitting for far too long and maybe starting a new knitting project
• learning how to actually cook, experimenting with eating new foods and such (have you ever tried organic milk out of a bottle instead of a plastic jug? it is so much better than the stuff you get at the typical chain grocery store!)

Okay, those are not my only goals for this time, but you get the general picture. I guess my main goal is just to learn more about life and enjoy the time I have to a fuller extent. Oh and since I will have more free time, maybe I will post on my blog a little more frequently. Just a warning though… I think the focus of my blog may change a little too since I am going to be doing new things. Hope no one minds! :)

About five minutes ago I asked Ben to turn on our server (yes we have our own personal server, I am after all married to a software engineer). Being the nice husband that he is, he turned it on for me at which point we both heard a very loud pop! He also some some sparks fly out the back and when I turned around the computer had smoke pouring out of it. Bummer! Luckily, we have decent back ups and he thinks the hard drives in it are probably okay. Still, it is kind of crazy to watch a computer with smoke pouring out. I guess it means that he is going to get to pick out a new server or build his own server finally!

Oh and I am very, very glad he was home when it happened…. not sure what I would have done if he hadn’t been!