Oh, North Carolina

North Carolina is full of mailboxes...
...roads less traveled...with lots of flower gardens...

...bird houses waiting for little girls to fill them with seeds...

...fun places to pretend you're a fairy-princess...

...wild grapes- that taste amazing...

...and Grandaddy's who are tall enough to pick them, and feed them to their grand kids.

...North Carolina- you're no big city of dreams...but you're everything in between.

Ponzer, NC

Storm & I (and lots of other horses and horse folk) spent all day Saturday in Ponzer, NC. What is in Ponzer, you might ask? Nothing. A gas station, appropriately named "The Store", lots of farm land, hunting camps and a little trail ride we decided to attend.

It was the 3rd Annual "Thumbs Up" trail ride- we quickly found out just before taking the trails. Our "trail boss" held her hand up, as if to do the thumbs up sign...but had no thumb. She explained that the first year they hosted the ride, she lost her thumb. Glad we're starting on a positive note, I thought to myself.

Sometimes you just have to rock out with your spurs out...

This is part of our group- waiting for our thumbless trail boss...something we did most of the ride.

One of my favorite parts of the ride was taking the horses out into the Intracoastal Waterway for a swim. Here are some of my favorite gals letting their horses cool off in the waterway.

Mandy & I- taking a self portrait while our horses were stuffing their bellies.
(Thanks for being such a great friend, Mandy! ♥ you!)

After the ride we took the horses all the way out into the waterway for a real swim. Storm & I were both drenched from our heads to our toes/hooves. It is an incredible feeling to have a horse trust you enough to take swimming- to feel him swim under your body. Only real horse people would understand the adrenaline rush you get the first time. :)

Storm's previous owners attended the trail ride, as well. They were amazed at all we (me & him) have accomplished over the last few months.

*I will post more pictures as I get them...there is one that I'm dying to see of me, Storm, Mandy & Ace in the waterway while a huge sailboat passes us.

An Annigrocery

Yesterday was my parent's 25th wedding anniversary...or annigrocery, as Little Miss calls it. My dad and I started planning weeks ago for this special day. My parents are so funny- the last couple years both of them totally forgot their anniversary until almost a month had past. I made certain that wasn't going to happen this year. ;)

The day started off by surprising my mom with flowers at work and whisking her away to the spa for an afternoon of total relaxation. (God knows she needed it- they're preparing for their yearly inspection at the daycare & she's running around like a chicken with her head cut off.) After her spa visit, she came home to find a gorgeous and delicious anniversary cake waiting for her. (I would post a picture, but we cut into that bad boy before I could grab my camera- it was lovely though.)

We all went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, 1587. One more surprise was in store for my mom- a big one! I'm terrible at keeping secrets- so I've been avoiding my mom for days for fear that I would tourettes-style scream "DADDY SIZED MAMA TRIXIE'S RINGS TO FIT YOUR FINGER and IS GIVING THEM TO YOU AT DINNER ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY!!" So I breathed a huge sigh of relief when my dad placed the little box on the table at the restaurant and asked, "Would you do it all again, honey?"

Classy restaurant? Psh.

My mom was shocked, but still had no clue what was inside. In fact, it took my dad explaining exactly what rings were staring back at her- for her to realize how special they really were.

*notice who has both rings...

"Bub, will you marry me, too?"

Annigrocery Bling ;)

You see- my great-grandmother, Trixie "engaged" my parents. They'd been dating for several months and Mama Trixie (my dad's grandmother) decided it was time for them to get married. So, at a family function- she'd pinned a diamond ring that her late-husband had made for her to the inside of her gown. After dinner, she called my mom back to her smoking room and gave it to her. (It caused somewhat of an uproar in the family b/c she gave it to my mom and neither of her daughters.) When Mama Trixie died, she left my father her wedding set...but my grandmother kept it until she passed away last year. When my dad finally got the rings that were left to him some twenty years ago, he put them on a chain and wore them around his neck- until last week when we took them to have them sized.

Congratulations, Mom & Dad! :)

Gay Gray Squirel

One of Little Miss's most favorite songs goes a little something like this...

"Gray squirrel, gray squirrel- shake your fuzzy tail...
Wrinkle up your little nose...
Put a nut between your toooes...
Gray squirrel, gray squirrel- shake your fuzzy tail..."

My mom taught it to her- I, personally think it's a nasty little song. Anyway...

While walking through the yard, my mom (who was ahead of Little Miss & I) saw a very dead, gray squirrel. So she said, "Keep Little Miss over that way- this gray squirrel has lost his fuzzy tail..."

Well, we decided it was a cute story to tell over dinner to my dad. (What? You don't talk about dead squirrels during dinner? Strange.)

I tell my dad the exact story above...and notice during the whole story he's looking at me so oddly.

"And you didn't want her to see the squirrel..." he says.

"No, we thought it might be a little traumatic for her," I told him.

"Uh huh...because he was gay?" he said, being absolutely serious.

"No! Because he was dead!!" I said.

"Well, how'd you know he was gay?!!?"

"GRAY!!"

"Ohhh...that makes more sense."

Oh, Daddy.

I'm Ready

Eight years ago I lost my best friend. He was 26 years old and had been in my life since he was 18. Together I felt like we could conquer the world. I remember visiting the barn who originally rescued him from his abusive home, just 2 weeks after my first horse passed away. (Although Sham was my first horse, she was hardly my best friend. She taught me a lot in the 2 short years we had her, but she was more like a bitchy aunt than a best friend.) I watching him prance and pace back and forth- snorting and stomping. He seemed kind but nervous and scared. It was obvious that he needed someone to love him- as he was only about 900lbs. (Considering his height, he only a few days away from dying had he not been found.)

A few weeks after we brought him home, I came inside crying. I told my mom and dad that Brandy would never love me like Sham did. (The previous owner was an alcoholic and named him after the liquor.)

I ran inside crying because Brandy wouldn't stay in his stall with me while he ate his dinner. It broke my heart that he didn't trust me....and in my 10 year old mind, I thought he never would.

A few months later, Brandy trusted me to not only stay in the stall with him while he ate- but to sit on him while he laid down in the backyard to rest. From then on, the trust I had for him and the trust he had for me was endless.

August 16th, 2001- after several days of heartbreak, I lost my best friend. The doctor's told us it was kidney failure. I found Brandy laying in the backyard a few days before & he wasn't able to get up. I pulled and begged him- please don't give up- until he finally got up...for me. The next few days we tried to keep him comfortable and cool, as it was unbearably hot. We'd been in the barn with him constantly- between me, my mom & Missy- I don't think he was alone at all over those few days. Somehow, we'd all come inside- one to nap, one to use the bathroom, etc. That's when it happened. He had a nosebleed- and I found traces of his blood on the chair I was sitting on and all the way up to the stairs leading into the house. He was looking for me.

We found him laying in the entryway to his stall- his body still warm. I laid down beside him and prayed that he would visit me in my dreams. And he does.

I didn't know if I would ever be ready to have my own horse again. My heart still hurts as bad as it did on that hot day in August when I lost my boy- but now, I'm ready to put my trust in another equine...and I think I've found just the perfect one, who needs my trust as much as I need his.

Introducing: WhatUSeeIsWhatUGet AKA: Storm

"Let's get the new guy!""See...told you if we just ignored him, he'd go away...""Ugh! Who made eye contact?! RUN!"So far he seems to be adjusting pretty well to his new home and new friends. Hopefully the "hazing" will end soon & he will be able to join the herd. ;)

And yes, he's a North Carolina horse. Little Miss are heading back that way on Wednesday.

A True Cowgirl

A true cowgirl always wears all her bling, leopard and rides with her cellphone handy...always.


...a true cowgirl can also be seen wearing her riding clothes all day- dirty or not. ;)

Best Friends

Borat, 20lbs and Tinker, <2lbs- a="" always="" and="" are="" baths="" best="" borat="" br="" convinced="" damnedest="" each="" even="" ever="" everyday-="" fitting.="" friends.="" give="" i="" is="" it="" juno="" kitty="" of="" other="" our="" relationship="" retard-="" rodent...and="" s="" seen.="" she="" snuggle="" so="" still="" the="" their="" they="" thing="" thinks="" thought="" tinker="" ve="" was="" with="">

Cowgirls Don't Cry

I tend to clean to country music- I try not to sing along, but most of the time after humming the words quietly for threw a few songs...I simply turn into Reba McEntire.

This morning while I was cleaning the kitchen and fixing Little Miss an early lunch- she began demanding chicken nuggets and fries at about 10:55am- the song that always gets me came on the CMT countdown. Brooks'n'Dunn's "Cowgirls Don't Cry" gets me every time- no matter how many times I listen to it, the song will always end with me in tears.

It reminds me so much of my dad and I. He taught me how to ride- he taught me not to cry over the small stuff because nothing was worth my tears. I can hear him saying, "Don't cry, honey" as I type this.

This was the first time I'd actually allowed myself to watch the video- the song tears me up so bad, I figured the video would cause a serious meltdown. Not only did it remind me of my dad and I...but it was us- and at the end (except for the father passing away) it was me and Little Miss.

Here, just watch it... ;)

Speak On It! (Seriously...I want you to!)

Ok my Mommy-readers (and Daddy-readers)- I would like you to chime in on this subject...

I'm a Mommy...have been for over 2 years now. My husband and I decided when we got pregnant with Little Miss that I would be a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM). I'll admit, at first I thought, "How hard can it be? I'll be able to take care of Little Miss, cook all our meals and keep the house clean...and I'll have the whole day to get everything accomplished!" Hahaha, must've been all those prenatal vitamins that had me thinking like a complete wackjob.

Recently I've heard this statement more than I'd like to:

"You're a SAHM...so we can do *lunch/dinner/coffee/etc* whenever because you don't have a schedule, right?!"

Actually, I do have a schedule. My boss (the 2 year old) runs a pretty tight ship- she likes to eat about 10 minutes after she wakes up in the morning and she expects a hot meal. About 3-4 hours later she expects another hot meal...and right after that, she expects me to snuggle with her before she falls asleep for 1-3 hours. In that 1-3 hour window, techniqually I'm on break...but you know, child welfare tends to frown on leaving your sleeping 2 year old alone in your home. So sure, we can get together then- but you'll have to come to me. If that doesn't work for you, after I put her to bed (between 7 and 9pm) I techniqually go on break again until the following morning...unless of course, she wakes up and needs me to help her get back to sleep, needs her diaper changed, or needs more water in her sippy. And again- you'll have to come to me.

"But...I mean, can't your husband just watch her? Or your Mom? (If I'm in NC)"

Sure...but my husband works from home- and he tends to be a bit of a workaholic, God Bless him. My Mom? Of course she would love to watch her granddaughter any and all times I needed her to- but on top of working 40+hours a week, she also takes care of my 95 year old, great-aunt. I tell her constantly that she is doing too much- so why would I say that and then add one more thing onto her already-overflowing plate?

Friendships are supposed to be give and take relationships. Your real friends are supposed to be understanding of your obligations. I hate to think like this- but I think some of my friends would be much more understanding of my busy schedule if I had an out-of-the-house job. I mean, I certainly don't say "Well, you should just take off work tomorrow because tomorrow is the only day I have a babysitter..." So why would they expect the same treatment? It's a hurtful realization, really.

One of my favorite people told me a few days ago:

"I didn't know that to be a good friend you had to constantly be doing things for one another- I thought you just loved each other and spent time together when life allowed for it. You don't have to talk every day or see each other all the time to be close friends."

Maybe she is more understanding because she is a Mommy, too. Or maybe it's just because she's a real friend, someone who is there no matter what...no matter how few times I call her, how many times I'm a day late wishing her 'Happy Birthday' or how few times a year we actually get to physically visit with each other. (Love you, Cassie.)


So Mamas and Papas...have you ever encountered these issues? What are your thoughts?