Thursday, August 18

Home

Well, it's good to be home.

...... and i think I'm pretty much done with the blogging stuff.
         
 Thanks to all of you who took the time to read my posts.

See ya!

Sunday, August 14

A Day Worth Remembering...

 Wow.

Wow, wow, and wow.

                                     Yesterday was amazing.
                                                              Beyond amazing.

It started off with an early morning shower, followed by a two and a half hour car ride, an amazing vegetable breakfast omelet, and visiting relatives.

My gramma's cousin (my great aunt??? My great cousin? I don't quite get the whole family genealogy thing...) Jane Ann, has THE coolest house EVER.

After driving up a winding gravel road (bordered by dense trees, of course), we pulled into her driveway. We were immediately greeted by two large dogs (who I later learned were named Charlie and Olive) who welcomed us by barking, jumping at the windows, and promptly smothering us with licks and affectionate headbuts. A couple of cats came up to say hello as well.

Obviously, as you've probably already guessed, I'd already fallen in love with the place. =)

Jane Ann's house was a simple, one-story home (filled with horse and cowgirl memorabilia!!)
and even though it was in the middle of the country, it was clean and pretty modern looking. Jane Ann showed us some paintings she'd done (ohmygosh. She is AMAZING. Like, beyond professional!! i can't even describe it...) of the Oregon countryside - of mountains and valleys and forests and horses and people and.. UGH!! I was so jealous...

                        And then...
                                she showed us outside.

A huge backyard, green and neatly mowed, was spread out to end with a wall of wilderness and forest. A horse nickered at us from it's nearby pasture, and the dogs came bounding up to us again. Less than a hundred feet from the house were the horse stalls (which Mark - Jane Ann's carpenter husband, had built), complete with a hay loft. She had two goats, and her own chickens.

                                           *Pause*
                                                            *Imagine*
You wake up to a grey, overcast morning. It's cold, so you slip on your warm, wool-lined slippers (or Mukluks or Moccasins - whatever you see fit) and wander to the kitchen, still in your PJ's. You warm up a cup of your favorite tea in the microwave, and suddenly your stomach rumbles (you were out late with the horses the night before and were too tired to eat dinner before you went to bed). You open the fridge and select some mozzarella cheese and some veggies - asparagus, tomato, green and red peppers, and broccoli. You grab the pepper, salt, and garden-grown basil out of the cupboard.

Suddenly, you realize you don't have any eggs.

                     What do you do?

You step outside, hurry over to the chicken pen, and grab a couple of natural, farm-fresh eggs and use them to whip up a hot, scrumptious omelet.


   Gol, that sounds perfect to me.




Anyway. Back to reality.

   Jane Ann walked us down to another horse corral that was further away from the house. She introduced us to Hershey, my cousin Brooke's horse.

       And then she offered to let me ride him.

YES!!!! YES YES YES!!!

I was beyond happy, though I had no idea how to show it.

I helped Jane Ann brush down Hershey after she had lunged him and warmed him up, and then walked him down to the field (that was connected to her yard. UGH! So jealous...). I rode him around in the corral for a few minutes so we could get used to each other, then brought him out and rode around in the open. I was SO happy to get to go horseback riding (and I didn't even have to pay.... and I got to do my own thing, not follow a group!!!)


Here's a quick video that my gramma shot on her camera...it's kinda lame, so feel free to skip it... and I have no idea what my grampa and Jane Ann are talking about in the background... ;)







And here's one of me cantering... something that they won't ever let me do when I'm on a trail ride because of "liability purposes"... =P






After I got done riding (I didn't want to stop! My grampa says it was over an hour, but I swear, I thought it was WAY shorter than that... I dont know if I entirely believe him ;) ...), we brushed Hershey down again, then we all headed out to eat at the pier.
Here's a few pics...









   




We went down to the ocean, but only for a minute. I could have stayed for so much longer, but it was cold out, and we needed to start heading home. I had time to quick get some sand and water, but that was it. I couldn't even get any pictures... =( 

My gramma snapped this one quick (sorry for bugging you with all these pics. I'm trying to full up space) ;)











I grabbed whatever mental pictures I could, and then we all hopped in the car and drove back home. I was so tired that I fell asleep in the car...

 ...and I am going to sleep now.




I hope you all enjoyed this post. I think my words are back ;)












                                       (ps) I'm heading home tomorrow!!!! =D