Changes

Posting has been sporadic at best over here.  Yikes.  Sorry.

Lots of things are happening (or have happened).  I finally adopted a new horse, Skeeter Bang, from the BLM.  You can read all about the horse thing if you want over at Tales from the Trail.

Jay just turned the big four-oh, and we celebrated our fifth anniversary.

Monster turns 19 on Friday.  My baby is turning 19.  Wow.  It's hard to wrap my head around that one.

In June, I start working toward my M.B.A.  Like I need one more thing on my plate, but if I want to advance at work, I must have a Master's degree, so off I go.  I chose the perfect time to start it, too, as we're in the middle of a corporate-wide massive changeover of student databases and learning management systems.  Well, there's no time like the present, I suppose.  I'll never get finished if I don't get started, right?

Also, today, Jay and I decided we're going to move.  Our lease on the apartment is up at the end of July and we love our apartment, but we have the opportunity to move into a house on the same property Skeeter is on.  Imagine, being able to look out a window and see my horse, not have to drive to see her.  It's not far, only about five minutes from our apartment, but still ... I'm pretty excited to be just steps from where she is.  Aaaannnnddd, it means that Allie-bird can move back in with us.  Our apartment is pet-free, so she had to go live with Jay's parents, but with the little house, she can come home with us.

I've got lots of ideas floating around in my little brain about my next book, but Lord knows when I'll have time to actually sit down and write.  Jay and I do have a book sale and signing coming up in June, so maybe Momma will earn some hay money :)

There are lots of things going on, but all of the changes are for the better and I'm very excited about what the future holds!

Five Already?!

I can't believe that Jay and I have been married five years.  Where has the time gone?

On one hand, I can't believe it's only been five years, and on the other, I can't believe it's already five years.

From day one, we knew we were meant to be together, so when I look back, the only five years is surprising to me.  Our lives have melded so well it seems like we've spend our whole lives together.  We even have shared, but separate, experiences that adds to the Twilight Zone feeling that we've been together forever.

How can we have shared, but separate, experiences?  It's almost eerie.  One such experience was our trip to Italy.  Same week, same year, opposite direction.  We started in Rome and ended up in Venice.  His family started in Venice and ended up in Rome.  There were times that we were within a day or so of each other. 

We've been to the same concerts - at the same time - and didn't know each other.  I worked a motorcycle rally that he was a participant in - didn't even see each other - at least not enough to make an impact.  It's crazy, isn't it, how things in our lives are timed to work out at just the right moment?

It's almost enough to give you goosebumps if you spent too much time thinking about all of our "near misses".

I don't claim to know the "why" of the timing of us finally meeting, other than it was the right time, and for that, I'm eternally grateful.  My life has changed drastically for the better since we met.

Happy Anniversary, Sexy Man.  Love you to the moon and back.

Happy Mother's Day

You may or may not know that my mother is a terrible influence on me.

Terrible, I tell you.

She's influenced me to state my beliefs; to be independent; and not to compromise with what's right.

Basically, she raised me to be a big ole pain in the ass.  You know, just like her. :)

But the area she has been the worst influence in?

Horses.

Gotta love that she can rationalize just about anything when it comes to why I need horses in my life.  When Estes came available, she reminded me that paying for a horse was cheaper than paying for a therapist.  Well, considering that period of my life, she was absolutely right.

She's been 100% behind me adopting Skeeter and then started pushing immediately for a second horse.  Because, we don't want Skeeter to be lonely, do we?

See?  She's a master rationalizer when it comes to horses.  :)

I might have learned that from her, too.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to the best worst influence in my life.

Love you Mom.