Welcome Home

Boy do I love my family. I am so blessed. Walked in the door to the most beautiful flowers and nice note from them. Unfortunately, they were still at the barn but came home soon.

It was so fun to just hang out with them and get caught up on everything. Then we went to Stanford's for dinner. We were all just so grateful to be together again. 

When we got home we watched the third Indiana Jones movie together. Nat had never seen any of those until recently, so it has been fun to see them again.

Lots of laundry and dishes and stuff to catch up on but that is okay... just loving being home.

Good-bye Reno :(

We made it to the Reno airport, and survived getting through security. I'm pretty sure that Shauna will not make a run for it now but I'm not completely sure ;)

Really looking forward to getting home... miss my Jim and Nat. I hear that it is sunny and beautiful there too, so that makes it easier to go home too. Will miss the snowy mountains, blue skies, and sunshine here in Reno.

Looking forward to carrying my new healthy lifestyle home with me to Oregon. I really feel like I can do it now. Shauna and I can motivate each other.

So relieved that her cancer marker numbers are down. Sure hope the infection in her port does not get any worse. I'm really looking forward to hearing about the results from the German test, so she can see how to proceed from here. The doctor even mentioned the "R" word... remission. Bring it on!  Cancer sucks.

What a Day!

I had this great idea for a blog posting about our "do it yourself spa vacation" here in Reno. We are relaxing, eating right, drinking healthy tea, walking along a beautiful river, sleeping in... all the makings of a spa. But we are shopping and cooking all on our own, we are still doing our own laundry, and oh yeah... Shauna is visiting a cancer clinic everyday! But man has it been a good time for me. I needed this downtime and to see Shauna so much. It has been wonderful.

Today was an "interesting" day at the clinic. I'm sure that Shauna will fill you all in on her blog later on. Definitely a roller coaster with both good and bad things. I think after all that, Shauna is almost changing her mind about wanting to come home. I sure hope she doesn't just drop me off at the airport and then speed off!! ;) Her Simba doggie would be really bummed out... he misses her terribly I hear.

Tonight was great... we went to see "27 Dresses". What a cute chick flick. Lots of laughter was just the thing we needed. Had so much more that we wanted to do and see, but we sure did make the most of our time in Reno. And luckily... no tattoos or body piercings! Shauna did get another cute wig today, and I got a pony tail extension for Memo's tail! How funny is that??? The horse people want $200-300 for those extensions!!! She will finally have a tail befitting a princess for the upcoming Arabian dressage show ;)

I'm pretty wiped out... time to get jammies on and take it easy... Nighty night.

A Must-Read Blog Post...

Shauna and I had the best day... you just have to read her version of our wig-shopping adventure. Much more fun than last time we attempted it. She just looks darling in her new wig! Much better than I look in her wig... was fun trying it on though!

We have so much more to cram into this trip... the time is just flying by! The weather has been just beautiful... today we went on an hour-long walk along the river. We also went back to our new haunt: Seven Teahouse and Bar. What a wicked cool place.

Memo is doing well.  Nat had a good lesson on her today, I hear. She is back to her crazy, perky self ;)

Only one more full day in Reno... tomorrow we hope to walk again, go back to the teahouse, catch a movie, go ice skating, oh and I guess we should get her to the clinic for her infusion and maybe pack stuff up ;) We haven't even done the typical Reno tourist thing yet... maybe we should go drop a few nickels in a slot machine or get tattoos?? NOT!! 

Bright, Sunshiny Day

Day 2 in Reno is almost done and was awesome. Woke up leisurely at 7:30, had some oatmeal with berries and then headed to the workout room. Yes... I actually exercised and it felt good! It was pretty short and sweet, because we had to get ready to go the clinic for Shauna's exit appointment with the doctor.

The weather has been so beautiful. I can't tell you how great it is to see the blue sky and sunshine. Changes my whole mood. What a great break from the dreary clouds and rain.

Shauna's visit to the clinic went really well. Still haven't gotten the test back from Germany yet, but the doctor was so optimistic and encouraging. 

We hit Whole Foods to get stuff for dinner and went back to the condo. Then we went to see the movie Juno... what a great flick. I really enjoyed it! Can't wait to see it again with Jim. Definitely a few songs from the soundtrack that I want to get for my iPod.

We had a really yummy dinner... made organic black bean beef "tacos" with romaine lettuce leaves. Really yummy and pretty darn healthy with all the veggies we added. Now we have been chatting on the phone with our families and having a cup of tea. I stayed up way too late last night, so I will be hitting the hay earlier tonight.

Looking forward to another great day tomorrow. Just feels so good watching Shauna taking such good care of herself. So proud of her.

Memo update: she is doing lots better.... a little cranky about her food amounts being lower but she seems fine. She and Nat had a great lesson today. Sounds like Jim and Nat are surviving too... sure do miss them.

Reno Rocks!

I survived the flight...even without a drink to get the courage to get on the plane ;) LOL It was bumpy out of Portland, but not so bad after that.

It was so awesome to see Shauna. I had missed her soooo much!! We headed to Wild Oats to get juices and lunch, then to the clinic so she could be infused. I was in a comfy chair next to her, and read lots of magazines and visited.

The condo where Shauna has been staying is just the best set up for her. Nice and quiet, and so cool to have a little kitchen. It was so fun making dinner together. We were a good team.

Before dinner, we took a walk along the Truckee River. The weather is great... cold but sunny. The mountains surrounding Reno are covered in snow... so pretty. Shauna took some great pics of us, so check out her blog to see them. We found a really cool tea bar, and stopped by for some organic teas. It was a really awesome place, and we can't wait to go back.

Of course, the trip is not without drama though. Memo decided to get colic symptoms today. Jim and Natalie ended up heading to the barn after work. The vet came out to check her out, and luckily she is doing okay now. No more trips to the OSU vet hospital, I hope. Poor Memo. Poor Nat too... she has a ton of homework due tomorrow! I bet she will have a late night.

So happy to be here with Shauna. Means the world to me...

Here I go again...

Back from Seattle, now I will head to Reno tomorrow. I'm sooooo excited to see Shauna!! Shauna and Dave renewed their vows this weekend in a cute little chapel. Check out wedding pics on her blog. Awesome! What a great idea!

Seattle was great, but we are really worn out... especially Natalie. She has been going really strong, and she finally hit a wall yesterday. Nothing that a nice hot shower and a good dinner couldn't fix though. She was a new person last night. We all slept really, really hard last night too.

We learned so many new things at the conference... Natalie is excited to try polocrosse, a bunch of mounted games, and fox hunting (they don't hunt a real fox anymore... whew!). Not sure what Memo will think of all this though!! I think she would love the fox hunting as it would be like endurance riding in a way, but the polocrosse would freak her out! The pic above is Nat with a polocrosse racket... now imagine her with that on Memo with 5 other horses! Craziness.

Today I have so much to do... I guess I better get rolling. I will try to post later on from the airport or Reno.

What the heck is Tetrathlon?

"Tetrathlon - a competition combining cross country riding with running, shooting and swimming."

That definition is taken right off the US Pony Club website. I guess it is an olympic event! Learn something everyday ;)

At the regional conference we are attending this weekend, they are having clinics all about tetrathlon! A whole new world for us! I guess there will be a competition up in Washington this summer... sounds like a kick for sure! I hope we will be able to attend. 

Looking forward to this weekend... will be so nice to spend time with my horsey gal pals Lori and Michele. Nat will be hanging with her friends Cassie and Emma. And a special treat... Sam will be kidnapping me for dinner on Saturday! I can't wait to see her... it has been too long!

I have my "Dukes Equestrian" logo fleece vest on for advertising, and printed out a bunch of tear off flyers to hang up around the conference center/camp. Maybe I can write this off as a business trip ;)