Jeannie

Several hundred (read: seven) years ago, right after I graduated from the University of Idaho, I lived in Weippe. Never heard of it? Don't worry, it is basically Nowheresville, Idaho. Right where the panhandle starts, hidden in the woods, on a prairie, on the top of the world, 2 hours from anywhere and just like heaven. My parents live there, and I found an opportunity to rent the house, shop, garage, barn and 5 acres right behind them.

Seriously guys, it was so amazing! However it did have a certain drawback. Remember how I said that it is 2 hours from anywhere? Well that includes from the place that I worked. Try as I might, I just could NOT land a job closer to "home." I drove 2 hours, each way for 13 months. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure I mentioned that here...

Anyhoozles.

While I lived there, my closest neighbor was an elderly man named Gene. He was quite the character. As a matter of fact, when fall was coming on, I noticed that my mom was coming over during the day and taking blankets off of the horses. Sweet. But, one day when I remembered to thank her, she said "Oh! That wasn't me! I thought you were doing that."

Huh.

So, after I had gone to work one day, mom decided to ask the old man next door who always seemed to be sitting on his porch. She figured he would see what was happening, and fill her in.

"Yap. I took them blankets off. I was walkin' by and they asked me to." He said matter of factly.

"Well, next time they ask, tell them no because they don't have long enough hair yet," my mom deadpanned back to him.

This guy was an honest to goodness horse lover, and I am positive my horses did ask him for something. It was probably treats, but they happily stand to have their blankets pulled off so that they can feel the wind on their butts.

Gene had a horse too. An extra large, stunning AQHA bay mare. He called her Pretty Girl, and when Gene wasn't on his porch, he was out with Pretty Girl, petting her and talking to her about how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. I am telling you guys: Gene was a genuinely kind and loving person and he gave every ounce of devotion to his horse. As far as I knew, the mare wasn't broke to ride, I never saw a halter on her and she never left the property, but she was so loving and kind because of the gentle treatment that she had received for her entire life.

He had bought her from a ranch in northern Montana as a 2 year old. He got her, and a 2 horse slant trailer, hauled her home and she became an over sized puppy dog, and the trailer, full of brand new tack was never used again.

I moved away and life took me in many different directions after that, but I drove by to see her every time I visited my parents and I waved at old Gene, who would solemnly lift his hand and nod.

In the summer of 2016, however Gene passed away. My first question was: "where is Pretty Girl?"

She was still at Gene's and seemed to be getting fed, so we weren't terribly concerned, but we did know that Gene didn't have any children, so my mom did some investigating. She located the person who was handling the estate, and found out that everything was for sale, and they weren't sure what to do with the 16 year old, presumably unbroke mare. She said that my mom or I could have her if we were willing to give her a forever home.

Now, we can all pretty much agree that at any given point in time, I need another horse like I need a new hole in my head. But, I can't seem to help myself. I was bringing another mare to my parent's house so that I could wean her baby and I decided that, if Pretty Girl would get into the trailer, she could come home with me.

This was going to be a short trip, just over night because I had a friend come with me and we had to be back in town to go to work on Monday. On Saturday, we loaded up my mare, and set off for Weippe. When we got there, and got Ruby unloaded we immediately ran over to Gene's old place to see if we could even handle Pretty Girl.

The moment I got into the pasture, I knew that I would be willing to put in a lot of blood sweat and tears to make this work. Pretty Girl greeted us, and took treats and let us snuggle her. I slipped the halter onto her and led her around. She seemed very grateful for the attention, and her completely passive and loving life had made her into a sweet, willing horse. No guile, no vices, no problems.

The next day, we pulled my trailer over there and set everything up to minimize stress. I got her halter on and walked her to the trailer and began feeding her treats. After a few minutes, we put hay in the trailer, and poured grain on top and she jumped right in. Just to be sure she was okay, we unloaded her and then loaded her again a few times. This mare was a saint. She hadn't been in a horse trailer in 14 years! But, she had also never ever been mishandled or even pushed, so she had every reason to trust us completely. I fell madly in love with her then and there.

After a brief snafu on the way home that led to us being stranded at a gas station for a few hours while we waited for my mom to come rescue us, we got her home and we decided to call her Jeannie in homage to Gene.

I have had Jeannie for about 10 months now and she is more amazing every day. She loves to cuddle and will happily sleep in your lap all day.

She is also basically broke. I am not sure if she was trained before Gene picked her up, or if she is just so sweet that she will let you do whatever you want to her, but it all amounts to the same thing:

Jeannie is a keeper!

Chopped

I have always had very long hair. This isn't really because I like the way it looks in particular, but because I am too lazy cheap busy to go and get it cut. As a matter of fact, the last time I had a hair cut was July of 2015, when I put all of my hair into a ponytail and cut some of it off. That didn't really work as planned but two weeks later, my hair had this nice, long layered look about it.

Before that? October 2013. When you cut your hair as infrequently as I do, it is pretty easy to remember when, where and how the deed was done.

Fast forward to now: my hair is about butt length and it is approximately 477,715 degrees Fahrenheit here in southern Idaho. Not only do I want to cut my hair, I pretty much want to shave my head.

A few weeks ago, I started playing with this makeover ap, and it allows you to try out different hairstyles. Because I am also too cheap lazy busy to worry about makeup most of the time, I was having a grand time fixing myself up and I stumbled across this hairstyle:




Wowza! I look somewhat AMAZING with super duper short hair! Also, I love the very dark color.

I showed the picture (somewhat bashfully) to my good friend Malina, who had the same reaction that I did. She is also smarter than I am and suggested that we try some of the hairstyles on her SO just to make sure that it wasn't just a trick of the ap to make you look good in everything.

We got a picture of him modeling one of her necklaces (authenticity is of the utmost importance to us) and gave him the most FABULOUS makeover. Ever. The verdict? It wasn't the ap. I really did look good with that style.

I also worked some magic on Kevin:



Have mercy (He was less impressed than I was).

I decided at that point that I wanted to cut my hair. And then the excuses began to flood in. My face is too fat to pull off short hair. My hair is really fine (although there is a TON of it) so it won't look like that. I don't know where to get my hair cut. I don't want to get my hair colored, but that picture is of darker hair. And on and on.

At some point, I got sick of my own excuses. Hair grows. Mine in particular grows very fast. If I hate the hairstyle, then I can grow it out. No big deal.

So, I began doing my homework. I googled pixie cuts. And saw a lot of women who looked like fairy princesses with their tiny faces and darling hairdos. Realistic? Not for me! I finally googled "fat girl pixie cut" and found a plethora of different styles and different faces. And, do you know what? They all looked good. I even found several blogs and articles that basically all said that you should just go for it.

Now to find someone who could/would do it. I found out from Malina that one of our co-workers has a daughter in Beauty School, so I called up and booked an appointment with her. I had decided that I was going to do it, and there is no changing my mind.

Well, I did have to bring support along with me (Malina), and my "Fat girl pixie cut" Google search, but I did it. They asked me a few times if I would like to cut it in stages, but I was adamant that they braid it and lob it all off. That way I can donate my longish braid, and also I can't turn back.

The whole process took over 2 hours because, while my hair has fine individual strands, there is A LOT of it. I mean, really a lot. Also, because I have had longish to aggressively long hair my entire life (minus that time that I was bald because I was a baby), my hair would start to take advantage of its new relationship with gravity and stick straight up, requiring many interventions with a squirt bottle. Calm yourself hair, it will be fine.

After many hours of deliberation, and then actually taking the plunge, this is what I ended up with:



And I am in love with my hair. Learning to style it has been a challenge. I mainly just work with my "forelock" and let the rest dry on its own through the day because I STILL do not own a hair dryer. Still. Also, I am learning to be OK with bangs. Mainly with the fact that they completely cover my eyes if I don't cement them down. I don't know if it is something that I will change at my next appointment, or if I will be warmed up to them by then. Currently I am just giving it a good old college try.

Some days my hair surprises me and is super easy to style and stays put. Then, there are the other days during which, it looks like I rubbed raw bacon on it to keep it in place, and it still won't stay. On those days, I use a bobby pin to hold it together. No sense in fighting a losing battle. My hair has always had a mind of its own, and I have learned that it is best to let it do its thing.

Some things that I LOVE about this hairstyle are:

1. Heavy hair related headaches are a thing of the past. 
2. My riding helmet fits so much better
3. So does my baseball cap
4. And my Cowboy hat
5. And All the hats
6. Look at that picture...somehow my double chin WENT AWAY. Like, it ran away and hid, folks! I am aware that it still exists, but we don't have to remind it to say "cheese" for pictures anymore because my hair is no longer framing my face.
7. My ears aren't quite as Dumbo as I thought they were
8. Damn! Whose fantastically sharp jawline is that? 
9. When I lay down, I don't have to artfully arrange my hair, or worry about a ponytail or bun stabbing me.
10. I pretty much never sit on my hair anymore
11. Neither does my husband
12. The blissful feeling of freedom! 

Some things I don't love:

1. The forelock is a bone of contention, because it is so long
2. Yoga: While my hair isn't generally in the way anymore, I do have to clip back the 'lock.
3. OK, so I have to clip back the 'lock when I do pretty much anything active 
4. My hair is fairly brown, but bleaches out in the sun. They cut off all of my blonde highlights. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, because I do like it dark. 

Still nervous about changing your hair? DO IT! Just do it. Seriously, you will not only look much better than you think you will, but everyone for the rest of forever will talk about how brave and awesome you are. This may or may not be real, but it makes you feel brave and awesome, and that carries over!

I don't know if I will have pixie short hair forever, but I am no longer afraid to try something new. I am thrilled with my new sense of boldness and I can't wait to see where it carries me. I really do feel like "I cut off a lot of my hair, so I can do anything!"

Where the hell have you been?

Everywhere. I have been through so many changes since my last post, that it has been somewhat overwhelming to think of what to post next. I even debated dissolving this blog and starting over but decided against it.

Why would I do that? Well, not to get overly sentimental about completely meaningless things (spoiler: that is what I am doing), but I feel like the erratic and random posts that were already here are a part of me and that I should acknowledge them.

So, back on task. Where have I been since April of 2012? Well, you might be sorry that you wondered, but here is the synapses:

May 2012: I moved to a new place near Lewiston, and I got a new Job working as an assistant manager at Ross.

March 2013: Got promoted to store manager with Ross.

April 2014: Broke up with boyfriend of 5 years, moved to Boise area to allow me to attend Nursing school and build a life around my farming and horse habits. Got a job at Lowes.

July 2014: Began dating someone from work. Just casual. After 5 years, I needed some "me" time.

August 2014: Got a second job at Caption Call. Super fun job everyone! Also, stopped working at Lowes because the manager refused to work around my CC schedule but refused to give me more that 12 hours a week.

October 2014: "Casual" relationship is not as casual as I had intended. Kevin (boyfriend status at this point) took me on a surprise trip. To Las Vegas. To see Wicked. "I love you," happened. How could you not??

December 2014: Started working as a book keeper/Scheduler for an in home care company. Dropped CC. Kevin moved in.

April 2015: Kevin proposed on Easter. so much for "casual," and "taking it slow." No, I'm not pregnant, and that is an issue for another post.

June 2015: Got a Job at a Wells Fargo call center (just thinking about it makes me seriously want to throat punch someone). Married Kevin. Le sigh. I never thought I was capable of loving another human being as much as I love him!

September 2015: Get a job with St Lukes Hospital; give Wells Fargo the finger (not that they care).

And not much has changed since then. I have moved 3 times since I met Kevin (twice with him), and we are now in a place that we can hopefully hang on to for a few years while we build credit to buy a place of our own. Some stability would be nice.

Also, did you notice anything that didn't happen in there? You probably didn't, but here it is: Nursing School. I did take classes. There were some I had to re-do (they got somewhat crabby about me trying to use my Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology classes on my application), but for the most part it ended up being too much. I had maxed out my student loans (cries, silently) and could not afford to do any more undergraduate work. However, I am finally working in the medical field and I love it. I am just front office at this point, checking patients in and out, but it is a great job and I am happy to do the work!

And here we are. I did a lot of fast forwarding over personal dramas that were interspersed, and I may not update on many of those as some of them are private, and most of them, no one really cares about. It has been an eventful few years for me and looking back has really made it clear to me just how much things can change in a short span of time. So, if things aren't going so great, just hang on for a little while. Circumstances will change. Also, if things are just fantastic right now, then take some time to appreciate the good times for what they are!

C25K...again

Those of you that actually read my blog will know that I did the C25K program last year. Of course I was terrible about updating so you don't really know the whole story. So here is the rest:

I did all of the weeks up to 5K. I ran in wind, rain, sleet and snow. I kept up with it every single day at lunch. I got pretty good. Ran one 5K run and then the s*** hit the fan!

Basically during that spring we were still commuting back and forth. The week that I completed the program we ended up getting our new house and things got crazy busy. I haven't run a step since then. Oddly it seems that we live closer to work, but have less time! I have been wanting to start again, but (and this is a horrendous excuse) I haven't been able to connect to the Internet at home very long and I need to re-download the pod-runner songs. Yup, I am awful!

But no more convenient excuses. I am going to start again, from week one this week. Tomorrow even...

I hope.

Anyways, among the other things that are going on that I need to update, I will add this. I might even move up to more than one post per week at this rate! I just have so much that I can talk about!

Winter Sowing

I read about winter sowing nearly a year ago and I was hooked. Seriously. Look into it. It will blow your mind.

Not sure where to go? Start here. This is by far the best information I have found to date.

Need a synopsis? Here it goes:

Winter sowing is planting seeds on or after the winter solstice and leaving them outside. They get rained on, snowed on, wind blown and chilled. This is especially beneficial for those plants that require scarification to germinate (think Peas). The end result should be seedlings that are used to temperature changes (no sissy greenhouse plants for us) and a higher success rate of germination and plant survival.

Making a winter sowing seedling container is easy. Take a milk jug or any liquid container, rinse it out and poke holes on the bottom. Cut almost all the way around the container about halfway up and fill with prepared potting soil. Plant your seeds, tape the container shut and label with a Laundry Marking pen. Leave the cap off and put the container outside where it can sit undisturbed and get a reasonable amount of sun.

Here is my "garden" Luckily I have a little balcony off of my craft room.

As you can see the sky is the limit as far as containers go. I do like the milk and beverage bottles the best, but the cookie and cake containers work well also. Just be sure to poke holes in the tops of them.

I am only growing vegetables so I didn't need to plant very early. We are also experiencing a strange warm winter here so I held off until the first weekend of March. Then I planted in a frenzy.

This morning I checked on my containers and I was delighted to find some seedlings making their appearances. Mostly the cold weather crops like lettuce, onions, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Still, it gives me great hope to see that this is working!

Here are some pretty purple cauliflower plants:

Actually Purple! How fantastic!

And the broccoli:

Am I weird to think that baby plants are adorable?

Don't forget to check back because I am definitely documenting this entire journey! 

Three Card Night

Well, a while ago I had some fun making cards for my friends. I had a small baby gift that I made to send to my Best Friend's sister, and gifts for my best friend and another friend that I have not seen in a while.

These gifts sat on the kitchen table for quite some time while I tried to find the inspiration that I needed to make cards for them. Finally, I sat down in front of Crikey (yes, my cricut is named "Crikey") and started cutting.

The first Card was for the new mommy to be.  A simple card made from the "Just because cards" Cartridge.

Here is the gift that I sent with it. A luck bear crocheted pillow that I made.

Cute right? I thought so.

Next I made a card for her sister, my best friend. We only get to see each other about once a year. We talk frequently of course and trade hand made cards and gifts. She is the reason I got a Cricut in the first place. She had one, it was awesome, I had to have one too! I also cut the custom envelope and used my Xyron to make an owl sticker out of the envelope cutout because it turned out so cute!

For this card I used the Sentimentals cartridge and some rich purple paper. I also used my ever diminishing scrap of gold vellum paper. Nice touch, no?

And since this was a three card night, I have one more. This one turned out so adorably that I even impressed myself. It was also the first time I got to use my Country Life cricut cartridge.

It is just a one sided card. I flipped it over and wrote on the back. It is so cute though! This friend and I haven't seen each other in quite some time as we live across the country from one another, but I am glad I could make this farm girl card for her so that she knows I think about her and her family a lot.

I love that feeling when you sit in front of your cricut and the ideas just start flowing from you! I feel so productive and I get a lot of joy from making things for those that I love. We may not be close geographically but I really do have the best friends!





Sweet Storage!

After Christmas is a magical time of year. The sales are bountiful and with careful planning one may pick up items for the next Christmas season rather cheaply. This year I was especially lucky. I found this Christmas-y storage box and I knew I had to have it.

As you can see, the contents of my craft space are strewn willy nilly about a badly dented table...and I am thankful that is all you can see! But, I knew that this box would help. I could keep stamps and loose Cricut cartridges and other supplies in it all while keeping them visible and easy to find. Not to mention this new storage could open up space in my paper drawers so that I could consolidate the stacks. Yay!

So, I quickly loaded everything up into my snazzy new box.

And it all lay in rather nicely don't you agree? Cricut Cartridges and overlays in one section, clear stamp sheets in another, small clear stamps in yet another and the last housed perfectly my mounted and unmounted rubber stamps.

My first thought? "I don't have enough stamps!" It is true. I need want more stamps...

My second thought? "Crap! I should have bought more of these boxes!"

How perfect is this? I can think of so many more things to use it for:

• Crochet/Knitting supplies
• ink pads
• more stamps of course
• glues, pens, paints and other art/craft accountrements
• animal grooming supplies/extra hardware
• brining homemade cheeses
• makeup
• hair accessories
• cleaned and de-haired raw fiber (I am thinking cashmere)
• milking and other supplies (gloves, filters, etc) for dairy goats...

And the possibilities are endless. Unfortunately I went back the next day to find my special little boxes sold out. I have a hawk-eye out though for them though every time I go into the store. If they are ever available again I WILL buy more of them...lots more.