Fundraiser for my BFF

As many of you know, one of my best friends has been battling Stage IV cancer of unknown origin for 3 1/2 years now.

I wanted to let you know about a book I have created on Shauna's behalf. It is an 8 1/2" x 11" soft-bound printed book that combines many of Shauna's amazing Galapagos photos with selected writings from her blog. Many of the writings are from her experience with Write Around Portland.

With her permission, I am selling copies of this book as a fundraiser for the Shauna Berglund-Immel Lifeline Fund. My cost for the book is $22 plus shipping (approx. $2). Any donation in addition to the $24 will be donated to Shauna.

This book has been a labor of love and a celebration of my friendship with Shauna. I would be greatly touched to share this book with all who love and support Shauna.

If you would like to order a book, please contact me via email:

parisdukes@comcast.net

You may make checks payable to me, Paris Dukes, or send payment via paypal at jandpdukes@comcast.net. My address is:

12235 SW Fulmar Terrace
Beaverton, OR 97007

I will forward any donations (not including the price of the book) to the Immel family as the orders come in.

Thank you for your continued support. Your donations will be greatly appreciated. Please contact me with any questions.

Fondly,
Paris

Today I am Thankful...

Over on Facebook, there was a challenge to post one thing that you are thankful for each day before Thanksgiving. It has been such a blessing for me to think about all of the good things in my life, especially when things have been so hard for many that I love.

I hope each and every one of you have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day. May you have a wonderful day!!

Here are a few things I am so thankful for....

• My husband. He is my rock, my best friend, my true love.
• My daughter. She makes me so proud everyday. Being her mom is the best job in the world.
• Living in Oregon. My beautiful home sweet home.
• My friends and family. I am so blessed to know such love and kindness.

Much more to be thankful for, but those are some of the biggies :)

Happy 15!!!!!

Happy 15th birthday to my baby girl. You are the best thing to ever happen to your dad and me. We love you with all of our heart and soul. You make our lives complete. How did you ever get to be so grown up and lovely? It happened in the blink of an eye, and we have enjoyed every second. You make us proud everyday, Natalie Jayne. xoxoxoxo

Where do I start???

Life has been a blur since August.... wondering how to put it all into words.

We had a great time at USPC Western Championships. The rental RV worked out great and Nat did a great job as both a member of a Quiz team and as Stable Manager for a Show Jumping Team. She made lots of new friends and had a fun time!

I had several interviews for part-time employment... and did not get any of the jobs. Thinking there was a reason for that. I think you will agree when you keep reading... although a pay check would be really nice about now.

Memo did not sell yet. The funny (?) part is that she has been AWESOME! We are thinking that giving her a break from showing this summer, lots of bareback work, and Natalie growing a ton has helped them both! They have had some amazing rides so we are just kind of going with it right now. We had to suck it up and buy a (very used!) horse trailer (lost our ride to PC meetings) so that should give us lots of freedom to get out and do some schooling shows and clinics. Looking forward to some fun horsey times this fall. And yes, I am learning how to drive the horse trailer and we all survived the inaugural voyage. Go me.

Natalie is now a FRESHMAN in high school! How did that happen?? She is at the same school... ACMA... and continues to love it. She is very buried in homework as she is taking three honors classes this semester.

And now onto the not-so-fun stuff....

My dear friend Shauna was admitted for a short stay in the hospital the beginning of September. On that same night, my dad went into cardiac arrest and was taken to the Salem Hospital. Crazy, crazy night. Short story: he went into cardiac arrest four times and they brought him back each time. Since he was not conscious, they tried a hypothermia-type treatment where they cooled his body off for 24 hours, then warmed him up gradually. It helps to prevent any swelling of the brain. It worked like a charm... he was awake and talking almost immediately after warming up. No signs of brain damage. They did discover a major blockage in his heart.

Fast forward a couple weeks more, Shauna was back in the hospital for two weeks. At the end of her stay, my dad went in for triple bypass surgery. Surgery was very scary with all of his risk factors, but he did very well and is now home and recovering.

Shauna is now home too, with a Palliative Care team in place. She is still doing aggressive chemo along with a hospice-type situation at home. Docs have basically shut down her digestive system and she is being nourished/hydrated intravenously by TPN. She has an NG (nasalgastro) tube in place to relieve pressure in her stomach and to get rid of the severe vomiting/nausea she was having. She is the strongest person I know... a true hero... to go through all that she has the past 3+ years. She is such a fighter, and is making the best of being tied down at home. Some days she has been up for visitors, and we even took a walk around the neighborhood last week. So good for us to have time together and get some fresh air :) I look forward to seeing her any chance I can... I really miss spending my days with her. Quite an adjustment for me as I got used to our walking, coffee dates and errands almost every day. I am so blessed to have her in my life, and look forward to having her back in action soon.

Life continues to be a roller coaster every day. I much prefer the high parts of the roller coaster to the upside down and downward spiral parts. Sometimes I get really, really down and find myself hiding out. I try so hard to be grateful for everyday and all of the blessings in my life... it is really the only way I have been able to (barely!) survive the chaos. Jim and Natalie are my rocks. I love them so very much.

Summertime

And the livin' is easy.

I'm guilty. I've been goofing off all summer. Not a good blogger at all.

We started the summer off with a FUN road trip! We spent a night in Reno, a night in Las Vegas, then hit the Grand Canyon. It was my third time there, but Natalie's first. What a sight to behold. It was nice to have Jim's parents along.

We headed back to Vegas after two nights in Arizona and had a great time with our family and friends. Luckily, we missed out on the really high temps. Not too bad at all.

Eventually we headed north to Zion National Park... another gorgeous place! It was fun to have Jim's parents, Jason, Marie and Gracie with us. We stayed at the Zion River Resort in cabins... kind of "fake" camping. Jim's aunt and uncle are camp hosts there... always fun to see them.

Our big hikes were The Narrows and Angel's Landing. LOVED The Narrows! It was wonderful to hike through the cool water when it was so hot. Still can't believe I did Angel's Landing... in the heat of the day no less!! Lots of water and stops along the way, but I made it without having a heart attack!

It is always hard to say goodbye to family. After a great breakfast and photo shoot, we headed north again to Bryce National Park. Unfortunately, we only had a couple of hours to spend there. We will definitely go back... stunning!! Our final destination for that day was Grand Junction, Colorado so lots of hours in the car.

In Junction, we stayed with our good friends, The Wilson's. They are really more like family. Rachel, Annie and Scarlett drove over from the big city to spend time with us! Talk about lots of fun and laughter. We had a ball!!!

We drove over to Gunnison for a day to see my nephew, Drew. He goes to college at Western State. It was great to see where he lives. Beautiful! We took a trip over to Crested Butte... another great Colorado town.

After two weeks on the road, it was time to head home. We spent the night in Baker City at an historic old hotel that had been refurbished. Such a cute little town!

The rest of the summer has been a blur. We are still trying to sell Memo... no luck yet :( Kind of weird to not be spending every other weekend at a horse event, but also kind of nice. We still spend plenty of time at the barn :) We had a great camping trip with the Thomas family at Stub Stewart State Park. Good times. We are going canoeing with my family this Sunday. In August, we are renting an RV and going to USPC Western Championships at Donida Farm. Natalie is not taking Memo, but will be participating in Quiz Rally and as Stable Manager for the Show Jumping team. Should be almost like a vacation not having a horse around!!

Will try to post again before autumn ;)

19 Years of Wedded Bliss

Last year, on our 18th anniversary, I told the story of our wedding. It was a rainy (monsoon!!) day in Las Vegas that I will never forget.

This year we already celebrated our anniversary a couple of weeks earlier by going to Astoria. What a great time!!

Trying out some micro-brews and having lunch at Ft. George Brew Pub:

Definitely a great place for a smooch... the Astoria Column:

A hidden away beach on the hike to Cape Disappointment lighthouse:

Enjoying a walk on Delray Beach:

The Cannery Pier Hotel was amazing, and we cannot wait to go back!! We had so much fun riding bikes on the river walk, going to dinner at the Bridgewater Bistro, walking through the farmer's market and so much more. A very romantic weekend together :)

Happy Anniversary to my best friend and soulmate. I love you with all of my heart, Jim. Thank you for being the most amazing husband I could ever dream of. You make everyday seem like our honeymoon all over again... I treasure every minute we have together. I can't wait for the next 19+ years with you, babe. Cheers!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

FRIDAY!!!!

It is FRIDAY and I'm a happy camper! The sun is shining... we are supposed to hit 86 degrees today. Summer is here... if only the school district knew that ;) Two more weeks of school... we are almost there!

Jim and I are heading to Astoria for the weekend to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is not until June 9th, but this was the only weekend that we had time to sneak away. We are staying at the Cannery Pier Hotel which looks amazing!!! We have heard that Astoria is quite the hip place to go these days... lots of cool restaurants and nightlife. Not to mention the trolley car and great hikes. Should be a romantic weekend with my sweetie :)

Last weekend was the USPC Oregon Region Dressage Rally... it was a GREAT rally with FAB weather!! Our club did the food for 60+ people, 2 meals for 2 days. It was a lot of work, but turned out great! Lots of good help and laughter :) Memo and Nat did great!! Memo loves being a fancy dressage pony in the sun at DevonWood :) Natalie's team ended up winning first place in both riding and horse management! It was awesome!! Natalie and Memo scored their first "9" on a dressage movement... a beginning halt at "x". Not bad for a wiggly little Arabian, and for doing First Level. A very successful, but tiring weekend.

My car is in the shop... again :( AAA had to tow it :(  This time they had to order a new ignition switch from Germany!! Holy moly. What a pain. I hate that my car is getting so old and so high maintenance :( I love my car. I have been a truck-driving momma all week. Jim has loved being able to ride to work on the motorcycle. It took some work to get it going again... two of his bikes have been in pieces in the garage for awhile waiting on various parts. He is so handy to be able to fix them himself :)

I hope everyone has a superb weekend!! I know that I will :) xoxo

Is this thing on?

I've been a bad, bad blogger. Again. But then again, I'm not so sure anyone even reads it anymore ;)

Life is super busy right now... end of school is nuts! We are definitely on the home stretch now, and I am sooooooo grateful. Really ready for summer!!!

Mother's Day was super special... each day of the weekend started with horse events, of course ;) Saturday, Natalie and I drove to Gaston for a Pony Club Standards & Ratings Clinic. CMPC made quite the showing... we are frustrated with how ratings go in our region so we want to know details and how to make it work for our kids. We got home around 1:3oish and enjoyed a quiet afternoon at home. Jim and Natalie made dinner for me while I lounged on the sofa. Heaven, I tell you! They gave me the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" so we watched that together. I adore that movie and bawled my way through it. Even Natalie was shedding a tear by the end.

On Sunday, we had a riding clinic up at Windsong by the same National Examiner who did the Standards and Ratings Clinic. She was very knowledgeable and had good feedback for the kids. Memo was super bad! Bucking, kicking out, rearing. Sigh. She agrees that Memo is not a horse suitable to continue with Pony Club upper ratings. I guess it is good to hear it from a neutral source. Still hoping that the horse-gods will help us to get her sold and find the right horse for Nat.

After the clinic, we enjoyed lunch on the patio at the Greenway Pub. Life is good when the sun is out and you can sip a Ruby outside on Mother's Day :) We had another quiet afternoon at home... just the best! Really enjoyed my time with my family and some extra spoiling and relaxation. I'm a lucky momma.

This week I am working hard to get the house cleaned up, get caught up on laundry and bills, and so much more in preparation for my trip to Colorado! I leave on Thursday morning and will fly into Denver. Rachel is picking me up from the airport so we can spend some time together that afternoon. She and Shan are leaving for the Grand Canyon that night so I'm so grateful to get to see her before she leaves. That night I am meeting up with some of my high school friends for dinner. Will be so great to catch up with Lori and Jeff! Then I am off to Fort Collins to spend the weekend with Annie, Ben and baby Scarlett!! Can't wait to meet sweet Scarlett Adeline... is that an awesome name or what??? I remember how hard it was when the grandmas all went home and Jim went back to work after Natalie was born... so I'm heading out to spoil the Markse's rotten!! Will cook, clean, and hold little Scarlett as much as possible so Annie can get caught up on her sleep :) I will miss Jim and Natalie terribly, but so excited to spend some time with Scarlett.

Off I go to get stuff done. Wish me luck and safe travels... you know how much I *love* to fly ;) xoxoxo

Where did April go??

Spring is just flying by...I cannot even believe that it is April 22!! It is finally starting to warm up around here... the weather has been gorgeous!! I wish it would stay in the 70's year round!!

Lots going on here as usual. Lately I have enjoyed the job of "Professional Play Dater"... great benefits, no pay ;) Lots of lunch and coffee dates that I have really enjoyed!! I have great friends!! Today I'm having lunch with Jim... I did last Wednesday too. I'm hoping we have started a new tradition. 

Natalie has decided to put Memo up for sale. A tough decision, but smart. Jim shot some video and photos of her that we need to get online. Natalie even rode some horses last weekend and fell in love with a little grey Thoroughbred jumper. No cross country experience though, and we really have to wait until we get some action on Memo before we can seriously start looking. Great time to buy a horse... not a great time to sell. Wish us luck!! Nat really needs a horse to rate on for Pony Club this summer.

Annie and Ben welcomed their little girl into this world on April 19th... welcome sweet Scarlett. I cannot wait to meet her next month when I go for a quick visit. Planning on spoiling the Marske family rotten!!!

Pretty sure that we will run up to Gig Harbor this weekend to help Sam celebrate her birthday. Always love to go up there... so beautiful!!

Happy Wednesday all!! xoxoxox

Easter Update

Hope that you all had a great Easter. Ours was great in some ways, not so great in other ways. Oh well.

Jim did an Easter photo shoot. Here are my favorites:

What a beauty. She is really growing up on us... sigh.

Love this one of my family.

Nat took this one of me and Jim. I have the best hubby in the whole world.

Had a quiet day here. Made a nice breakfast for Jim and Nat, then they headed to the barn to see Memo. I made a big ham dinner: brown sugar glazed spiral ham, garlic mashed potatoes, Italian asparagus, biscuits and berry crisp. We took leftovers down to my sister's house... my nephew Ethan is in the hospital so we cancelled our big family dinner. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. My mom has been a big help with Colby.

We ended our evening with a few Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. Nice to hang w/my family. I love them to pieces.

Big hugs going out to my girl, Shauna. She had the chemo from hell this last week. The side effects have been the worst ever. Love ya, S. xoxo

Big hugs to my bud, Sam too. She had to put her dog, Daisy, to sleep on Thursday. We will miss Daisy so much.

Hate that life has to be so hard for so many of the people I love :(

Just for Natalie...

Here is a blog post for my darling daughter, Natalie.... :)

She just told me that I haven't updated my blog in ages, and that it is all because of Facebook. That Facebook has sucked everyone's brains out. LOL

So here you go, Nat. I hope that I still have a brain ;)

Life is so crazy busy right now. I barely feel like I have time to breathe.

Spring break was a blur last week. We spent all week preparing for the show and rally. Insane.

The show was good. The rally was kinda (really!) bad.

Memo actually jumped the jumps at the show!! Not so much at the rally. The good part about the rally is that Natalie scored a 100% on her written horse management test. The only pony clubber to do that.

We really enjoyed the rental RV we had for the weekend. It was a Godsend in the rotten, horrid weather! Really worked out well, and we are hoping to rent it again for Western Championships in August.

Now that we are home from the show, I am wading through piles of laundry and trying to make 53 brushes! I finally got another big order, as well as a small local order. Go me!

Memo is officially on my "list". I am so annoyed with her behavior. Not sure what we are going to do. It is really up to Natalie. Lots to think about....

Off to finish dinner.

Woot Woot!!

Natalie received some really awesome ribbons in the mail yesterday (as well as a beautiful engraved photo frame)!! Congrats to Natalie and Memo!

They won 2008 USEF Region IV Horse of the Year Championships in both Arabian Hunter/ Jumper Horse and Arabian Specialty Horse!!

They also received 5th Place in Training Level Dressage for the region.

Their photos will be in the April issue of Equestrian magazine!! Way to go!!!! Proud momma, as always :)

Slacker Blogger

Where in the world have I been this last week? One simple answer... at home with a sick girl. Natalie had it bad. Really bad. I was sure she had strep but no. Just a really nasty virus. She missed three days of school as well as a three-day weekend. It was ugly. I haven't seen her that sick since she was a little girl (OMG... remember ALL those ear infections??). 

She is on the mend. Still very pale and worn out. Still complaining of a sore throat this morning. Tuesday was her first day back to school. Luckily just a few more days of school before Spring Break and a chance to get some extra rest.

Memo has missed her terribly... and Natalie REALLY missed Memo. Janice and Elise took great care of her while Nat was sick. When we saw her yesterday, Nat just hugged her for the longest time. The sad part... Memo had to get a chiropractic treatment yesterday so now she cannot be ridden for 5 days. Natalie will have to do special stretches and hand walk her each day. I'm sure that will be a good bonding time for them, but sad that she cannot get back in the saddle.

Today I am supposed to be getting allergy shots. Not going to happen. Stuck at the VW service waiting room... again!!! This time it is some kind of coolant leak. I pray that it is just a hose of some kind and not the radiator....

And a couple of hours later....

Not good news. My car could have blown up!!! Holy crap!!! $1200 and it will be good to go!!!! Dang it!!! Took the shuttle to Intel to get Jim's truck so I can pick up Nat from school. Nothing is ever easy.

Okay... I'm in a mood so I will sign off. Sigh.

Under-The-Weather Wednesday

Natalie is home sick today... sore throat and headache. A slight fever too. Feels crummy. Hopefully she can sleep and rest herself out of this bug so she can get ready for another crazy weekend.

I have no excuse (other than allergies??) but I have had an incredibly lazy and unproductive day. I slept in until 9:30. I didn't get out of my jammies until 11:30. I spent a big part of my day on Facebook, mostly consoling Shauna. She sent her 13 year old off to Japan today!! He is going for 2 weeks with a group from his school. What an adventure!! So tough as a mom to let your kids do stuff like that without you. My heart goes out to her.

Another big part of my day was sorting through old photos and looking back at scrapbooks. Kind of in a sentimental mood I guess. I was chatting with Annie earlier... she is expecting her first child... a daughter. I am so happy for her and Ben... seems like yesterday that was Jim and I waiting for Nat. Time is just flying by. Now my baby is 14. What a whirlwind it has been. I'm grateful for every minute.

Guess I should try to get something done with my day. Have to admit I have enjoyed the slow pace... I don't get much of a chance to do that lately. It feels good to just breathe and take it easy.

Frantic Friday

Just spent the first part of my morning trying to fit all of the horse stuff in my car... yes, there is another horse show this weekend.... Blue Ribbon Dressage Show at DevonWood.  Wishing I would have had Jim take my car so I could have had the truck. My brain is not in horse show mode at all.  As I drove to my coffee date with Robanne, my eyes started swelling up and I was sneezing uncontrollably from the hay/horse smell of my car. Oh joy ;)

After a quick chocolate chai, I am back home preparing for the rest of my crazy day. Put some chicken in the crock pot so we can have dinner tonight (chicken quesadillas, perhaps?). Sam is driving down from Gig Harbor as I type this... will meet her for a quick lunch before I pick up Nat from school. She will run errands and I will take Nat to the barn. Nat and I need to quickly pack up hay and get Memo ready to get on the trailer. So glad that we remembered to pack Memo's feed yesterday...whew!

Then we are off to DevonWood... we will need to get Memo settled in. Have to tell you that packing for a horse is kind of like traveling with an infant. Remember ALL that stuff you had to bring??? OMG!! Only the horse stuff is dirty and stinky and huge.

Nat will need to ride Memo for awhile, then back home for us to meet up with Sam. Tonight will be dinner and tack cleaning, as well as getting all the stuff that we forgot ready for the horse show ;) I'm sure that there will be lots of that. LOL

Saturday Nat has really crummy ride times: 10:30AM and 3:30PM. Pretty much means that we will have to be at DevonWood all flippin' day. Nat will be doing her first-ever First Level dressage test. Hope that Miss Memo is excited about being dressage pony this weekend and behaves herself. Never know with her. 

Sunday night we are celebrating Jim's birthday with the family and Sam. Still not sure what I will make for dinner... definitely some kind of chocolate cake. Thinking about pork loin with mango salsa?? We'll see how ambitious I get after the whole horse show thing!! 

Off I go... wish me luck ;)

Happy Birthday, Jim!!

March 5th is a very good day... Happy Birthday to my Jim!! Let there be cake and merriment!! 

Happiest of birthdays to the love of my life. I hope your birthday is as wonderful as you are, Jim!! Here's to many more celebrations and fun times together! I love you with all of my heart and soul. xoxoxoxoxo

Proud Momma Alert

Nat had a very, very, very good day yesterday. She even texted me from school (during lunch time) with the news. I love when she texts me from school during lunch ;) 

She received the results of her EXPLORE test, which is a pre-ACT test that 8th graders take. She was 100 percentile for her school and 99 percentile for the entire country!!! And... she got perfect scores on both the English and Science portions!! Her reading and math scores were pretty darn good too :) Anyway...I'm pretty stoked for her. The funny thing is that she LOVES standardized tests!! I remember being all nervous and choking on them when I was her age... she'll have none of that.

There was also a section of questions that helps the kids figure out good matches for jobs in the future. Research scientist was right up there. And no... she is not going to be Marine Biologist anymore. That is so yesterday. She is going to be MICRO Biologist ;) Curing cancer kind of stuff.  No more Auburn... maybe University of Georgia??  She is so funny!! We'll see what tomorrow brings!! She is obsessed with this website for searching colleges:  http://www.collegeboard.com/

Today I'm having coffee with my friends Darcie and ReNae. Can't wait! Yesterday I had lunch with Shauna, Jo and Julie. Soooo fun!!! I'm quite the social butterfly lately ;) Anyone else up for a play date?? Please help me avoid doing laundry and cleaning my house!! xoxo

Home Sweet Home

I'm enjoying a few hours alone at home. Loving it. I feel like I've been running all week. Crazy. I really just want to be home, but unfortunately I will be running off again soon. My life is not my own, but I guess I wouldn't change a thing :)

Natalie is gearing up for a USPC Quiz Rally next Saturday. So that means that I am gearing up too ;) We have been getting together to study weekly since the end of December. Really shoots the weekends, but hopefully it will pay off. At quiz rally, Natalie and her teammates will be quizzed ALL day on their horse management knowledge. There are several different sections to the day... they rotate through different phases such as classroom, barn, mega-room, stations, and a written test. Since Natalie has her C1 rating, the questions are really tough!! We did a mock rally yesterday... they were tested on their knowledge of lamenesses, parasites, types of horse shoes, bits, equipment... you name it. Natalie and two of her teammates are hoping to qualify for Western Championships in August. They have worked hard so I hope they do well.

Had some fun with friends this week... errands and coffee with Shauna on Thursday, lunch with Kimberly on Friday, dinner with Robanne on Friday, and more fun with Shauna last night (another errand and then a stop at Diane's house!). I am so grateful for my friends. They mean the world to me.

After our last quiz study session this afternoon, we will head to Wilsonville to celebrate Ethan's birthday. Nat and Jim are at the barn right now. Jim is such a good horsey dad :) I love when he takes the weekend shift at the barn :) It is a much-needed break for me.

Have had a great time with Facebook this week!! A bunch of my college friends found me! It has been so great to reconnect with them.

Hope you all have a fabulous week!! 

Long Time, No Blog

I've been a bad, bad blogger. Blame it on Facebook, and a busy weekend. Sorry.

Friday was pony club at DevonWood. Janice taught and the girls did jumper rounds. Lots of fun.

Saturday, I woke up and made heart-shaped pancakes for Jim and Nat. Nat had a clinic at the barn in the morning, then we hauled to DevonWood to school for Sunday's show. That night, we met my family at Chevy's to celebrate my dad's birthday.

Sunday, Nat had the show at DevonWood. It was a little jumping/dressage equitation show. It was kind of a test-run show, very small. I hope they continue to do them. Nat's first two rounds were great. The last one was pretty rough. Felt so bad for her. Memo is a tough ride, but I know she loves her. It will just take more time and I know they will figure things out for good.

Monday, we had a non-horse day!! Woo hoo! We slept in REALLY late! Heaven! We went out for lunch, and then saw Coraline in 3D. Really a unique, creative movie. I thought it was pretty cool.

Today it is back to the grind. I'm spending quality time at the VW dealership. My car is getting its 100K service. Hard to believe I have that many miles on it... I guess that is what happens when you live in your car ;)

Please continue to keep Shauna in your prayers. Check out her blog for the latest on her fight.

February Birthday Shout-Outs!

Happiest of birthdays to my Dad, Darcie, Drew and Ethan! They are all February babies :)

Today is my dad's birthday. We will probably all get together on Monday to celebrate. Love ya, Dad!

Tonight I'm celebrating with Darcie at the Cheesecake Factory. Cheers, Darcie!

Sent a care package out to Drew in Colorado for the 27th! Happy 21, Drew!!! Woo hoo!!

Ethan's birthday is the 23rd. Hope your day rocks, little man!!

Sorry so short and sweet!! Love to you all!! xoxo

Sunday Update

So I've added some tags at the bottom of the page so you can now easily find my blog posts that have recipes, menu ideas, or simply related to food. If only I would have been smart enough to add these as I went along. Oh well, live and learn.

Sadly, I did not sign up for the CSA (community supported agriculture) for the upcoming year. Too hard to give up such a chunk of change this time of year. Their price went up too :( I will miss it, but have decided to make the effort and stop at the farm stores on the way to/from the barn or get to the Farmer's Market to get my produce this summer. We are so blessed to have such access to incredible home-grown fruits and veggies. I *heart* Oregon :)

Jim and Nat are at the barn. Memo will get a good ride, then Nat will work at the barn. We will tag-team and I will pick up Nat at the barn and take her to Pony Club quiz study at 2:00. Then it is back to the barn to finish up chores.

Nat is off to a great start in school for the new semester. She LOVES her new math teacher, and is enjoying her new electives of Book Arts and Ceramics 2. They are currently doing forecasting for next year's classes and she found out that that she has made it into Advanced Vocal Ensemble! Way to go, Nat! She also got her report card and received straight A's with the exception of a B in Theatre 2. The theatre teacher usually only gives A's to those who are in the school plays. Oh well. We were really excited that she got an A in Music Theory!! That was one tough class and she worked so hard!!

Rumor has it that they are doing a JUMPING schooling show at DevonWood next weekend!! DevonWood is a really fancy dressage place so it will be great if we get to jump there! There was a schooling show on Saturday that some of Nat's friends participated in. She went up there as a volunteer, running test score sheets from the judge/scribe to the office. Quite a few of the CMPC girls volunteered... we are always so appreciative to DevonWood for letting us hold our mounted meetings and Rally at their facility. They rock!!

I have begun a new project: Extreme Home Makeover, Bathroom Edition. I'm redecorating both the master and Nat's bathrooms. Painting will have to wait until it is warmer, but I made some really good progress yesterday. Found some great art on Etsy!! Some horse art for Nat, and some nature art for ours. I'm going for a spa feeling in our bath. Peaceful and serene.

Guess I better get back to laundry mania. So much to get caught up on around here after being sick!!

Thursday Thoughts

How on earth is it February already?? Not sure what happened to make this past week go so fast.

Nat gets to ride Memo today for the first time in a week. Hope that goes well. Her foot still hurts but it is much better.

I've been fighting off a nasty bug... headache, earache, sore throat, swollen glands, coughing. Pretty sure I had a fever. Ick. No fun. Hopefully I'm near the end of it now.

Looking forward to having coffee with Robanne tomorrow. Congrats to her daughter, Hayley, who just passed her driver's test!! How'd she get to be 16 and driving???

Congrats to my cousin Michelle and her husband Alan... they welcomed a baby girl to the world. Can't wait to meet you, sweet Erica Kay :)

My highly-motivated daughter has decided that she wants to go to Auburn University... the only college out there with a PhD in marine biology AND an NCAA equestrian team. Evidently, they offer a Presidential scholarship that covers all of her expenses. All she needs is above 3.75 GPA and a 33-36 on the ACT or 1440-1600 on the SAT. No prob. If anyone can do it, it's my Nat :)

Okay, enough random thoughts for today. I need another cup of tea. xoxo

How'd That Happen?

Last weekend, Natalie was walking into the office and she complained that her ankle "gave out" on her. She limped around a little bit, but didn't say much more.

At riding on Monday, it was really starting to bother her but it did not really slow her down much. Elise had her riding with really short "jockey" stirrups to work on something or other. Being the non-horse person that I am, I really don't remember why. It didn't look fun or easy though ;) She complained a little bit afterward, but not that much.

At her lesson with Janice on Tuesday, it was really starting to hurt. It was keeping her from doing the things she needed to do for the lesson. Hmmm. We pulled her boot off after her lesson and Janice wrapped it with "vet wrap" used on horses. It was a little swollen and bruised.

So this week, she has been wrapping her foot with vet wrap, icing it, and hobbling around with a limp. Last night, she hardly slept a wink. The pain was really throbbing and there were shooting pains up her leg! Not good.

So being the cautious mom that I am, I took her to the doc today. She felt around and thought that the pain and tenderness warranted doing an x-ray. Off we went to radiology.  No breaks or fractures. Just a bad sprain. She will have to continue to wrap and ice it. The doctor also recommended some exercises she can do. But the bad news...

NO RIDING FOR A WEEK!! 

How on earth will Nat survive that??!! ;) This from the girl who rides 5-6 days per week. Not looking forward to seeing the withdrawals that come from that!! Hopefully she will get to practice her lunging skills. She will be a happy camper when her ankle is healed and she is back in the saddle. If it doesn't heal, she might be looking at some physical therapy down the road.

Still not sure why or how this happened. There was not really a single action that seemed to make it happen. Very odd. The doctor mentioned something about a repetitive motion type injury. Might have just pushed the ankle to its limits riding lately? Anyway, hope it heals quickly. Hate to keep the girl from her horse :)

25 Random Things

I was tagged by my friend Ali on Facebook to do a list of 25 Random Things about myself. I thought I would post them here too, with a few edits that are blog-friendly:

1. I am making "No-Knead Bread" right now. Yes, I'm a food nerd.
2. I really love being a wife and mom.
3. I am still madly in love with my husband. He still makes me weak in the knees :)
4. I have been doing allergy shots for almost 2 years, only 3 more to go! I am allergic to lots of different pollens and cats, and have allergy-induced asthma. Not a good combo when you live in a barn.
5. I think that chocolate is a major food group.
6. I have lived in quite a few states: Iowa, Minnesota, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Oregon feels like home.
7. I hate cancer with a passion.
8. If I didn't like cheese so much, I would be a skinny chick.
9. Sometimes I hate being nice. It bites me in the butt way too often.
10. I know every word to every song on the first Norah Jones CD. You should hear me sing in the car when I am by myself ;) Or maybe not!
11. I have to clean my house when having company over or leaving on an airplane. I swear that is the only way it ever gets clean! Hate cleaning!
12. Chai tea lattes are a comfort food for me.
13. I collect cookbooks from everywhere I go. I read them like novels.
14. I usually make dinner every night of the week and love it!
15. In my next life, I want to be a chef with my own cooking show. That or a Gran Prix race car driver ;)
16. I would love to retire to a beautiful log cabin on a lake and make quilts. And go on motorcycle rides with Jim. Heaven.
17. I print out way too many recipes from the internet. I have piles of them everywhere!!
18. I sometimes wish I was a horse person for Natalie's sake. Just don't have it in me though. Missing that horse gene. I love tagging along and watching though.
19. I would jump on a plane tomorrow to go somewhere new even though I hate flying. I really want to go to Holland and Italy. Or to the South Pacific. Or back to Paris. So many places, so little money or time ;)
20. I get giddy over a really good meal at a fancy restaurant!
21. I am letting my hair turn gray... no more color for me. I earned every single gray hair so why not show them off ;)
22. I would give anything to have a clutter-free house! I would love to be more organized.
23. I wish that I would have earned my teaching degree along with my English degree. Being a teacher or sub would have been a good mom job for me.
24. I love that I have raised a wonderful, independent, smart daughter. She is my greatest achievement. That is enough for me.
25. I used to be more of a social butterfly, but now I am happiest at home with my family preferably in my "Life is Good" jammies. Natalie says that I am "anti-social".

TGIF!

It is a good Friday :) Natalie is especially happy because today is her last day of the first semester! She had some pretty tough classes this semester and pulled through them like a champ. She is looking forward to starting the new semester with a few new electives and some teacher changes. Half way through being an 8th grader! Unreal how time flies.

I started my day at the dentist. Had a crown that fell out last night. Luckily, our dentist is our neighbor so he put my crown back on even though his office was closed for the day. He was there anyway since some work was being done on their computers. What a relief!

We will head to the barn after school. Hoping the weather holds out so Nat and Memo can be outside again today! How cool that they were able to ride outside yesterday in JANUARY!! Makes up for all the crummy weather we have had.

It has been a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon week around here. Seems as if we have watched about two episodes a night lately. Netflix can hardly keep up with us :) It has been a fun series to watch as a family. Not for young kiddos lately... luckily Nat is teenager now ;)

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Washington to meet Sam for lunch and shopping. We are each driving halfway to meet for the day. It has been way too long since we have been able to see one another. I'm looking forward to finally exchanging our Christmas presents, having Mexican food and margaritas, and doing a little bit of antiquing or shopping together.

They are talking snow for Sunday!! Not exactly looking forward to that again. We have a full day of pony club stuff planned so I hope it is no big deal.

I have sure been missing my Ginger bun. We all have. What a good little bunny she was, and such a part of our family and routine.

Enough rambling. Happy Weekend everyone!! xoxo

Happy Birthday Dear Shauna!!!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend!!!

Dear Shauna,

Happiest of birthdays!! Here's wishing you the best year ever in 2009! I hope it is a year to remember, and chock full of happiness, health and love. Thanks for all of the fun times... can't wait for many more together. So glad to walk next to you on this crazy journey called life. I don't want to miss a minute. You are a true friend and mean the world to me. Thanks for always being there with your beautiful smile, your kind heart, and your zest for life. I am so grateful to have you as my friend.

Love you, 

p

A Pony Club Kind of Weekend

On Friday right after school, I drove 3 horse-crazy teenage girls down to Corvallis for something called an "ABC Retreat". "ABC" stands for upper level ratings in the United States Pony Club. The retreat was strictly a classroom setting for horse management knowledge. Memo did not get to come along to play ;)

On Friday afternoon, we were given a tour of the Oregon State University School of Veterinary Medicine. They had recently completed extensive renovations and it is really a state-of-the-art facility. They have one of the few animal CT scans in the country (at a university). Our tour guide was very perky and knowledgeable. I was able to show Natalie where Memo was on our visit there last year for her colic. It had changed quite a bit.

That night we had a pizza party and mixer with the other pony clubbers and moms. It was nice to put names with faces. The rest of the night was spent hanging out in our very nice hotel room.

We were up bright and early on Saturday. Not an easy feat with teenagers in tow ;) Breakfast at 8:00 and classes starting at 9:00AM.  The classes were very in depth and not for the non-horse person (namely, me!):

• Infectious Diseases and Immunizations (taught by a vet)
  
• Saddle Fitting (taught by our regional supervisor)
  
• Turn-out for Horse and Rider (PC and Eventing) (taught by a one-star eventer and PC'er)
  
• Dressage on the Levels (Training Pyramid) (taught by a USDF bronze-medal dressage instructor)
  
• The Mental Game: Prep for Ratings & Competition (taught by a retired clinical psychologist)
  
• Soil & Pasture Management (taught by an OSU extension faculty member)
  
• When Good Nutrition Goes Bad (taught by an A-rated PC'er and researcher for a feed company)
  

Three classes in the morning, a lunch break, then four classes in the afternoon. Did I mention that there were no windows in the classroom?? Sigh. I did manage to find the codes for the free wifi for the conference center so luckily I could play on the internet (facebook!!) until my battery died on the laptop :) I'm pretty sure I was the only non-horse person there... even the other moms were really into it. I tried really hard, but just not my thing. Luckily, the girls really learned a lot!!

On Sunday morning, we were given a tour of the Oregon State Horse Barn and learned all about the  Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. After the tour, we snuck to Starbucks!! I'm such a bad influence!! The girls were a few minutes late to their classes, but didn't seem to mind :) The rest of the morning was a variety of roundtable discussions on such topics as:

• The future of Pony Club
  
• Opportunities available from USPC
  
• Your personal PC experience
  
• Beyond the Ratings: fun ideas for club activities
  

Natalie really seemed to get into this. She is always full of ideas and likes to communicate with others. One of the moms came over to me afterwards and asked how old Nat is. She said how impressed she was with Nat. That she has it all together.  Stuff like that always makes me feel good as a mom :) Hopefully I did something right all these years. As always, I am a proud momma.

All of the meals were provided so that was nice. The facilities and teachers were first-rate. A really well done retreat.

I sure did miss Jim. It was so nice to get home.

A quick birthday shout-out to my nephew, Colby! Today is his sixth birthday. Happy Birthday, Colby! May your birthday be full of fun and lots of Pokemon cards! xoxox Auntie Paris

Recipe Request

I'm almost ashamed to post this recipe... they are so good and seem like they must be so time consuming... but they are not. They are SO EASY!! And SO YUMMY!!

Chocolate Caramel Bars

1 14-oz. package caramels (unwrapped)

2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided use

1 package chocolate cake mix

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook caramels and 1/3 cup of the milk in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until caramels are melted. Set aside.

Combine cake mix, butter and remaining milk. Stir by hand until mixture holds together. Press half of the dough into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake 6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread caramel mixture over the chocolate chips. Crumble and press remaining dough over top. Return to oven and bake 15-18 minutes. Cool slightly and refrigerate 30 minutes to set caramel layer.

Enjoy!

Bunny Heaven

My dear, sweet bun is gone. She died in my arms just after 10:00PM last night. We could tell that she was in distress... her breathing was very labored and heavy when we were feeding and giving her meds (which she did not want to have). I dropped everything and held her all night. The end was very hard, but I'm so glad that she was not alone.

To see some pictures and reflect back on our life with Ginger, see my blog post from October. She was truly someone special, and I am so grateful for her.

I will miss you so much little bun. Thanks for all the cuddles and kisses. We were so blessed to have you as part of our family. I hope bunny heaven is full of green grass, sunny skies, and all of the celery leaves, bananas, dried cranberries and cornflakes that you can eat. I love you, Ginger.

Quick Update

Ginger bunny is still alive and kickin'. She keeps hanging in there somehow. She is very weak and skinny! I took her back to the vet last night. He thinks she has a uterine infection so we have put her on antibiotics. We have to continue to syringe feed her too. It will take a lot of work and effort to bring her back, but we are hopeful. Jim is NOT liking giving her the antibiotic shots but I am so grateful that he will do it. I know that I just couldn't do it. It is hard enough just holding her and feeling her flinch.

Last night she actually drank a very tiny amount of water and ate a bite of hay on her own. That brought a few cheers around the house!! She is back to being very cuddly so I am loving that.

I was able to sneak away to have dinner with Darcie last night... a belated birthday celebration. It was so fun to relax and catch up with her. What a great friend!

We are still getting buckets of rain here. Lots of flooding around the area, even I-5 is closed to and from Seattle. It is really messing with plans for our girls beach weekend. I don't think we can even get to Pacific Beach! Highway 101 is also closed due to flooding and landslides. I am so bummed as I was really looking forward to spending time with Shauna, Sam and Loni. I hope there is miraculous drying out before Friday.

I am writing this in the VW service waiting area. Time for new brake pads. Wanted my car to be in tip-top shape before our trip. I will be back here next week for my scheduled service. Sometimes I feel like I live here!! I love my old car though, and need it to last for awhile. I have a horse so no new car for me ;)

Boy, has it been a tough week to get back on a schedule! We are all moving pretty slowly in the morning. I feel like I cannot get enough sleep! I'm sure that the stress of dealing with Ginger's health issues is not helping us.

Keep your fingers crossed that the roads are better soon. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Ginger

My Ginger bunny is not feeling very well. She has hardly touched her food, hay and water since Thursday. Occasionally, she will eat some celery leaves, a piece of apple or banana, or a dried cranberry. She came out of her cage on Thursday and Friday, but did not want us to hold or touch her. She even bit Jim and me when we tried to pet her!! So not like her. This weekend, she would not even come out of her cage.

I'm pretty worried about her. Just dropped her off at the vet's office. They were too booked for an appointment, but since it was an emergency they let me drop her off and will monitor her and fit her in for treatment throughout the day.

My heart is breaking for her. I don't want her to be in any pain. I hope they can help her. We have decided that we can't and won't go to extraordinary measures to save her... she is an old bunny. And we just had that huge vet bill for Memo. Sigh.

Ginger is such a part of our family. She is especially my little buddy. I love cuddling with her on the sofa. I love when she has to climb up and look right in my face, with her little whiskers tickling me. I love when she is so relaxed, and completely sacked out on my lap. I love when she gives me lots of kisses. She is a good bun, and has been such a great pet. I really hope she will be okay.