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.

3rd Anniversary

I can't believe it's been three years!  Some days, I feel like we've been married our whole lives and some days, I feel like we're still newlyweds. I thought maybe a re-post of our wedding recap was in order.

Happy anniversary, RCC.  I'm pretty much the luckiest wife in the world.

I can't think of a more perfect Wedding Day than ours! The sun came out and stayed out all day, which made it perfect for our "play day". Monster flew up from Arizona (God, I miss that kid) and we spent the morning at Fort Fun racing Go-karts and playing arcade games. I had a blast watching RockCrawlinChef and the kids race around the track - seems like all I got to do was watch because I always managed to get the "Sunday driver" P.O.S. car. I'm pretty sure I got lapped in every race despite the fact that I had the pedal floored! We could have stayed and raced all day, but our rumbling tummies finally won and we headed off to SmashBurger for lunch before heading up to Mom's for the actual wedding.

Spending the morning playing around certainly helped lower the stress level for all involved in the wedding. RCC had picked up his friend, Scott, on Wednesday and had given Scott the menu for dinner, so we knew that would be taken care of. My friend just happens to be a Reverend, and had agreed to do the Ceremony, which also decreased a lot of stress. Really, the only thing we had to worry about was getting our butts up to the Lodge and getting ready. Not so bad.

We had decided to have a small, family-only wedding, but our families are fair-sized, so we ended up with twenty people, all of whom were immediate family. RCC and I wrote our own vows and managed to stumble through them without too many tears. The only complaint that we heard later was that we'd "whispered" our vows and that no one else could hear them. Oops. Guess I forgot to project from the diaphragm. But RCC heard them and that's all that mattered.

The Ceremony was short, sweet, and to the point. All of the pictures that followed took much longer than the Ceremony itself. Yes, I did wear boots with my dress, but not my obnoxious blue boots, instead, I wore my very old boots that fit like a glove. Heck, I would have killed myself in heels and I at least wore a dress.

After all was said and done, I did have to go get a picture with the other love of my life, Estes. And, of course, the best way into the pen was to climb the fence rather than go under in my white dress, so up and over this cowgirl went. Estes deigned to have her picture taken with me, but literally turned her nose up at RCC when we tried to get a picture of the three of us. She posed with us for about three seconds and Ashee-butt wasn't quick enough with the camera, so Estes was done. Brat. But I love her anyway.
Scott (and RCC - couldn't keep him out of the kitchen) prepared an amazing dinner to finish off our perfect day. As with most brides, I'm pretty sure my wedding was the best one of all!

4th Eye Contact-iversary

February 16 marks the day I threw my best temper tantrum ever and as a result met RockCrawlinChef.

You can click on the link if you want all of the gory details, but the fact is, I've got pretty much the best husband on the planet.  My life has changed so much in the past four years - all for the better.

OOO-eee, I was a cranky bitch before I met RCC.  Like, scary cranky.  I joke that he's like Sears - he's found the "softer side" of GunDiva.  (CTM, please don't hold the Sears reference against me, I know how you feel about the company.)

I still have a tendency to be a cranky bitch, but it happens less often.  And almost never when I see jewelry commercials now.  Holy cow, I don't know how my kids put up with me between October and February all those years I was single - those are the worst times to be single.  Everything's "couples this" and "couples that" and "if he loves you, he'll buy you diamonds".  Gah!  I still get twitchy at the commercials, but they don't make me want to put a bullet in my TV set anymore.  See?  Progress.

Anyway, RCC, I love you.  Thank you for responding to my "eye contact" and saving me from being a crazy(er) horse lady.

3rd Blogiversary

I can't believe it; it's been three years (and a couple of days) since I started this blog.  It's kind of developed it's own life over the span of 445 posts.  Last year, I had a post full of randomness and the year before I didn't even celebrate my blogiversary.

So, for this year, I thought I'd re-post my first ever post, but then remembered that I'd already done that (though it would be very appropriate considering I'm leaving tomorrow for HorseMaster).  Since that's already been done, I went with my second ever post.  I'm certain that something like 86 of you have never read it; my only followers were Mom and Bill, Deejo, and RCC at that time.  So, for your reading pleasure (I hope), here's my second ever post.

An Engagement Story

The weekend after I returned from Salida, the best thing I could have ever wished for happened...RockCrawlinChef  (RCC) proposed. I'm about a month late posting this, but here it is...

While I was in Salida, Jim and Monster got into a huge fight and Jim kicked Monster out of the house. Luckily, Digger stayed at home and so Monster had someone at my place with him. Well, on Wednesday, RCC took the boys to dinner and took Monster to Jim's house to pick up his stuff. Saturday night Jim finally called to talk to me about what happened and, of course, his story about what had happened changed. RCC heard the conversation and got really quiet. When I asked him what was wrong he said that he wasn't sure it was the right decision to take Monster to Jim's house to pick up his stuff, especially after hearing the conversation between Jim and me. So we had this whole other conversation about never second guessing what your heart tells you is the right thing at the time.

RCC was quiet and after a few minutes jumped out of bed (all of our major decisions have been made while naked) and my heart just sank. Those damn ghosts from the ex-boyfriend appear occasionally. He went to his dresser and looked at me and said, 'this is either the most appropriate or most inappropriate time, but...' I just KNEW he'd come to his senses and was going to break things off. I was absofuckinglutely terrified - my whole fairy tale romance was gone. I know that I had to have gone completely white just waiting for the other shoe to drop. And then it got worse, I could tell that he wanted to say something but couldn't. Christ, I was a mess. Once he opened his mouth, he said a bunch of stuff that I don't remember, but I do remember him returning to the side of the bed and getting down on one knee, opening the ring box, saying a few more things (blah, blah, blah, blah - the lips were moving, sound was coming out, but I have no freakin' clue what he was saying) and then finally getting to the good stuff, 'GunDiva, will you marry me?'

Wow.

180 degrees from what I was expecting! I cried like a little girl and I'm pretty sure I asked him repeatedly if he was sure and if this was for real. I couldn't even touch the ring for, like, 20 minutes. I was afraid if I touched it that it would disappear. Once it started to sink in, he put the ring on my finger (which fit perfectly - amazing since he really had no clue about my ring size) and I cried some more. We're not planning on getting married for a while (think next year), but I'm certainly loving the promotion from 'girlfriend' to 'fiance' (or is it 'fiancee'? I can never remember).

Wow, huh?

Ain't It Always The Way?

Next week is our anniversary.  RCC and I haven't been married but two years, so we're still trying to get good anniversary gifts for each other.  I'm enjoying it while I can.  Last year, we decided that we weren't going to get gifts for each other - we were going to take a weekend trip instead.  So, being the dumbass I am, I took RCC at his word and didn't get him anything.  He, being a well-trained male, didn't take me at my word and surprised me with Eloise.

I. was. not. going. to. screw. up. again.

I got him an amazing anniversary gift (no, I'm not telling you - we still have a week to go!).  Ordered it this morning, it's being shipped as we speak.  I tell you, this gift is amazeballs.

I was feeling pretty happy with myself.  Finally came up with the perfect gift; he's been trying to get it out of me and I've been able to keep it quiet.  So I'm feeling pretty good.

Right up until I walk into Sam's Club and see this...

...the exact Kitchenaid mixer he's been wanting since we've met.  For the best price I've ever seen.  And in the color I want.  I know, I know, it's supposed to be his gift, but I get a say in the color.

Sonofamotherlessgoat!  Really?! 

I just order him the *perfect* gift and turn around and find his dream mixer?  Ugh.  What to do?

I'll tell you what I did.  I got on the phone called him and told him that he'd better love the gift I ordered for our anniversary even more than he would love the Kitchenaid.  I might become a widow if he looks at his anniversary gift and says he'd like the mixer better.

Start saving bail money, 'cause I might need it.

Anti-Valentine's Day

RockCrawlinChef and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day.

I know that shocks a lot of people.  For years, I both dreaded and anticipated Valentine's Day.  I dreaded it because I *hated* all of the hype and the "you're nothing unless someone's head over heels in love with you and draping you in diamonds" bullshit that goes along with it.  I anticipated it because it finally meant that the season of torture was over.  In case you hadn't noticed (and if you're single, I'll bet you've noticed), single people are tormented from mid-October all the way through Valentine's Day.  Everything's love this, family that.  If you're single, every damn commercial is a slap in the face. 

Bah!

After RCC and I became "us", and our first Valentine's Day together approached, we decided we weren't going to celebrate it.  And we haven't.  Instead, we celebrate our Anti-Valentine's Day (also known as our "Eye Contact" Anniversary) on February 16.  This year will be our third.  Because we're both working that day, we sort of celebrated last night by buying a new TV, as ours is mostly dead.

I think it still makes him a little nervous that I tell him I don't want to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I mean, men are conditioned that they have to remember it, even if their woman says not to.  I actually mean it.  I'm not doing anything for him for the over-priced Hallmark Holiday and I don't want him to do anything for me.

Instead, we'll spend the evening after work enjoying our new TV.

TST - Wedding Dinner

It's time for my second favorite day of the week!  True Story Tuesday, hosted by Rachel and Mr. Daddy (who should look just ravishing in his new Dress Barn dress).



Twenty-three years and four days ago, Bill made perhaps the biggest mistake of his life.  And I'm not talking about marrying Mom and her four heathens.  No, the biggest mistake he made was allowing the four heathens to choose where to have their wedding dinner.

Now, I was 16; Nebalee was 13; Deejo was 11; and Junior was 7.  He really thought it was a good idea to let us decide where to have their wedding dinner?  I'm not quite sure where he thought we'd choose, but I'm pretty sure he didn't expect us to come up with Casa Bonita.

Yup, just the quiet, romantic place he envisioned spending with his new family, I'm sure.  But he was a good sport and off we went after the wedding.

We had a blast!  Well, at least we kids did.  Mom and Bill were kind enough to pretend they had a good time.

Over the years, it's become a joke that Casa Bonita is our "fancy dinner" restaurant - reserved for special ocassions.

You know, the really special ones, like... a twentieth wedding anniversary.

Oh, yes, we did.  We made them return to the scene of the crime for their twentieth.  Of course, by this time, the family had grown to include spouses and grandchildren.

Mrs Mom and her DH are coming for a visit this coming weekend.  Guess where we're taking them?

I invited Mom and Bill.  Bill declined, saying by his calculations, he's got another 17 years before he has to return.

An Anniversary, Random Thoughts and a Give-Away

Today's my blog's two year anniversary, almost 300 posts.  Scary isn't it? What's scarier is that I have followers. Lost one, but gained eight. I won't complain. It's better than losing eight and gaining one.  Yikes!

I spent about ten days traveling for both business and pleasure and repeatedly some random things popped into my head:

• I love to fly in flip-flops. It makes going through security super easy and I can take them off during my flight. The only problem is that I'm always afraid that I'll lose a toe or two on the escalators, so I end up curling my toes as far up under my feet as possible. If I could retract them, I would.
• Why is it that the upper-end hotels never have fart fans in the bathroom?  Seriously, after eating conference food and traveling, I really need a fart fan in the bathroom.  Here's a tip: even rich people's shit stinks. (Not that I'm rich, far from it, but my company puts us up in n-i-c-e hotels.)
• While we're on the bathroom subject. Single-ply toilet paper. Really? Conference food, no fart fan and single-ply TP - is it all a cruel joke? C'mon for what you're charging per room, buy the good stuff.  Hell, even I can afford two-ply TP.
• When we were in San Antonio there was a football coaches' conference with 15,000 football coaches in attendance.  Can we say testosterone poisoning?
• Bedroom vanity. No, not the kind of vanity that Cosmo tries to instill; the furniture vanity. Even if I owned one, would I ever be able to find it for all the books piled on top? Even though I've got Eloise, I still read paper books and my TBR pile hasn't gone down a whole heap (or at all - it may have grown).

And to celebrate my blog's two-year anniversary...a CSN give-away. The best random travel thought comment will win a $50 CSN gift certificate, good at any of their two hundred stores. I've done a couple of reviews about products I've received from CSN and have been pleased with both the products and the service.  Get your comments posted no later than Sunday, August 1 at midnight MST.  After I've recieved all the comments, I'll post them and we'll have us a little vote-off for the best random travel thought.

PS - not a single one of you can give me any grief about my trichophobia after the comments I recieved on the ear hair post. I think I've just proven that we *all* have some form of trichophobia.

Introducing Eloise

You may remember from my last TST that I'm a loser who didn't get her husband an anniversary gift.

However, I LOVE the gift he got me, so I got over being a loser pretty quickly.  He brought Eloise into my life and I lurve her very much. 

I swore I would never give up "real" books - and I won't.  In fact, I've got another on the way that I promised to review in June.  So, no, real books are safe in my house, but they may become a little...neglected.

I initially coveted the Kindle (c) (<---I don't know how to make the little copywrite sign) and kept telling RCC and the kids that I wanted one for traveling.  It doesn't matter how many books I pack to travel with, I always finish my book with twenty minutes before boarding and then I have to run to the airport bookstore and pay bookstore prices.  I hate that!

I'd not heard much about the nook(c) and had no clue what it could do.  RCC initially went into B&N to get me a book for our anniversary, but started talking to the nook guy and ended up buying me Eloise.  I really, really lurve her.  He done good.  She's super easy to read and buying books is even easier (as long as you have a B&N account).  What I really love is that I can prop her up in bed (I'm a stomach reader), plop my chin down on my hands and read away.  When I need to turn the page, I just swipe my finger across the touch screen and voila! the page turns.

I can also sideload music from my iTunes(c) library, so I can listen to music as I read.  There are also more than 900K free books to choose from.  This takes some patience, as some of the books are self-pubbed crap, but there are also some excellent books in the "free" store.

My only two complaints about Eloise: 1) her battery life and 2) she's kinda nekkid and exposed without protection.  I could solve complaint #2 and did.  I bought her some nice red leather clothes, which she looks stunning in.

Now, complaint #1:  "...an avid reader should be able to read 7 - 10 days on a single charge".  I've had Eloise in my life for two weeks now and have had to fully charge her three times.  It seems that "avid" reader is a few steps below my "voracious" level.  The best I've gotten out of Eloise is about four days.  That doesn't really worry me, but it is an inconvenience.  RCC said that the guy at B&N did tell him that there were ways to increase the battery life, so I'll be stopping in there sometime soon.

One more thing I love about Eloise - there are B&N stores everywhere, so if anything goes wrong, I can just take her into the store. 

And the store...they're doing a 5-week promo, where I can download a book a week from a bestselling author.  I just have to go into the store, show them Eloise and pick up my coupon.  Actually, any one can participate, whether they've got a nook or not.  You can go to Barnes and Noble's website and download their free e-reader, which then qualifies you for the ebook promo.  And, no, I'm not being paid for this - I just love it so much, I had to share it with everyone (including the ER nurse while RCC was dying from epiploic appendagitis).

BUT...RCC's not the only one who can buy good gifts.  Check out what I got him for his birthday (they were back-ordered and took forever to come in)...

No, it's not the Jeep, but the new tube doors and mirrors. He's pretty excited about them, but hasn't been able to drive his Lil' Blue Box due the the narcotic pain meds he's on, so he's had to admire them from the couch. We have to go to the store later, so maybe he'll get to ride in Lil' Blue Box with her sexy new doors while I drive.

It's A Small, Small World

When RockCrawlinChef and I were looking for places to stay outside of Yellowstone, he suggested a B&B.  Heck, why not?  It would be kind of fun to see one other than Mom and Bill's, so he found Yellowstone Suites in Gardiner, MT.

I told Mom that we were going to be staying in a B&B in Gardiner and she said, "Really? I helped set up a B&B up there five years ago or so," then she proceeded to tell me that one of her guests had talked to her about wanting to open a B&B and that they'd emailed back and forth for a year or so before the other lady bought her place.  Mom couldn't remember her name, after all, it had been five years or more, so I sent her the link to Yellowstone Suite's website and had her look at it.

A day or so later, after looking at the website, Mom said, "no, that's not the one," so I kind of shrugged it off.

When we got to the B&B, our hosts Julie (human) and Dancer (canine) welcomed us and showed us to our room, The Moran Room.  On the way up to our room, we noticed chocolate chip cookies on the table in the common area, but didn't snag any.

The next morning, we joined the other guests for our continental breakfast and Julie was telling us about the time a Grizzly was in her front yard.  I asked her how she managed to keep them out of the garbage.  I mentioned that my parents, who own a B&B, electrify their dumpster with a car battery.  She asked which B&B and when I told her, she pretty much repeated Mom's story word-for-word about visiting the Lodge and asking a million questions.

After we made the connection, both RCC and I realized that there were many similarities we should have picked up on them right away:

1. The canine host (every home should have one)
2. Naming the rooms instead of numbering them; makes the place feel more homey and less sterile
3. Fresh chocolate chip cookies; Mom's are practically world famous
4. The guest journal inside the room
5. The guest information notebook inside the room; even some of the rules were similar (don't feed the dog, especially)
6. Sitting to eat breakfast with us, family-style

In retrospect, those are all classic Allenspark Lodge touches (especially the fresh cookies daily) that I should have picked up on, but didn't because Mom had said that it wasn't the place.  When we got home and I told her that it was the place she'd helped set up, she was rather surprised because she remembered a different building.  Maybe Julie remodeled it or worked on it and it no longer looked like the one Mom remembered, who knows?

What I do know is that I would stay there again (and not just because of the similarities).  The rooms were beautiful and clean and the beds were out-of-this-world comfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~
Adventures of Ashinator will be post-poned until Saturday, due to a special MISSION MONKEY post tomorrow.  We're starting our big donation drive to help out Monkey and her family and hope to raise $1,500 over the weekend.  Check back in on Friday for information about how to donate and get entered into the raffle.

A Bill-esque Post

Tired.  As a result, you'll get a very Bill-esque post (short, sweet and to the point) from me.

Friday
Went to Yellowstone after RCC surprised me with the Nook.  It was a long drive.  Went in the Northeast Gate.  Saw bison.  Lots of bison.

Saw black bears.  Sow and two cubs...

Arrived at Yellowstone Suites, checked in, found a place to eat.  Ate.  Went to bed.  Mother Nature laughed at us.  Happy Anniversary.

Saturday

Went for horseback ride at Hell's A-Roarin' Outfitters.  Big horses, good ride.  Forgot sunscreen (who needs it when it's snowing in Colorado?), got sunburned.

Drove around the park for hours.  Saw lots and lots o' stuff.

Sunday

Head home.  Took us three hours to drive fifty miles out of the park...lots of cool stuff to see and do.

Drove for hours.  And hours.

Stopped in Casper, WY to have dinner with one of RCC's childhood friends.  Was a good time.

Finally made it home and to bed.

It was an excellent trip; certainly much better than my first trip to Yellowstone.  A better post will be forthcoming, I promise.

The Best Temper Tantrum I've Ever Had

Today marks the two year anniversary of the best temper tantrum I've ever had.

The RockCrawlinChef and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day.  We have no desire to.  Now, let me explain.  We "met" because of a temper tantrum I had after Valentine's Day in 2008.  I'd been a divorced, single mom for going on eleven years at the time and I was not a pleasant person.  I was working way too much, worrying way too much, and tired as hell about doing it all on my own.  I was D-O-N-E.

A friend of mine and I had signed up for Cupid.com mostly because we thought it would be fun to go speed dating and in order to register we had to be members of Cupid.com.  Not a problem, we signed up for our free profiles and went speed dating.  Oh, God, that was a disaster for another time.  I'd even "met" a couple of guys and been out on *one* date with someone I met on-line.  Also disasters for another time.

Valentine's Day 2008 did me in.  I was a royal damn bitch.  There was no one safe around me.  Like I said, I was D-O-N-E.  I was one of those bitter bitches that you'd see on the street and cross to the other side just to get out of my way. 

I still had not completely recovered from my world-class hate-fest when I logged onto Cupid on February 16th, but I was slightly less bitter and in the frame of mind that if I couldn't find just one profile that I'd throw in the towel and become the crazy horse woman I was on the path of becoming anyway.

I went throught page after page of profiles, getting more and more frustrated, when I came across this headline...

"Maybe... just maybe she's out there." 

It piqued my interest and I clicked on RCC's profile.  He was smart.  And articulate.  And liked to travel.  And liked to shoot.  Could it be?  Could I really have just found someone I could connect with?

Before I could second guess myself, I sent him an eye contact, "We might make a good match."

And so it began...weeks of daily emails.  In the beginning, just once a day, which quickly grew to multiple emails a day.  I began to feel something I thought had died long ago - HOPE.  Really, he might be a nice, genuine guy.  After six weeks, we decided to meet in person.  His choice.  He chose Barnes and Noble - no pressure of eating, a neutral spot that we could both make an escape from if we needed to.

We met.  Five hours later, we left B&N fast friends. 

Twelve weeks later, we got engaged. 

Eleven months after that, we got married.

The rest, as they say, is history.

First "Eye Contact" Anniversary

Who knew that one year ago today when I threw a major temper tantrum that it would change my life?

On February 16, 2008 I was lonely and cranky and cranky about being lonely, so I tucked the Heathi into bed and curled up with my computer to give Cupid.com another try. I was just one more bad profile away from calling quits, swearing off men, and becoming a crazy horse lady. I looked through all of the "new" profiles Cupid had to offer and my foul mood became even more foul; I was rejecting one after another for silly things like poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and pure lechery. I was considering closing up my computer and throwing it through the window, but thought I'd just check another page or two before I completely swore off men. I promised myself I'd send out five "eye contacts" before I gave up, but was having a hard time finding anyone that I would even consider sending one to.

And then popped up RockCrawlinChef. I read his profile. OK, the man can spell, put together a sentence and punctuate. There may have been a typo or two, but I honestly can't remember. So here I was, absolutely thrilled to find a profile of a human male, not a prehistoric male, and he loved to travel.

And shoot.

And read.

What the heck? Did someone make this guy up and why was he still on Cupid? What the hell, off went the eye contact...

RockCrawlinChef 02/16/2008 We might make a great match!

I went through a couple more profiles and sent some generic hey-how-are-ya eye contacts, but couldn't get RockCrawlinChef out of my mind.

Well, there must have been something there since the very next day I received a message from him:

I received your eye contact and am interested in getting to know you better. If it makes it easier you can contact me through my email. So, obviously you are into firearms, I have a couple handguns myself and a 6mm deer rifle I received from my grandfather before he passed away. I just realized I really need to get out more and target practice. I have never done any competitive shooting, but that definitely sounds like fun. Where do you compete at? Is it all types of firearms? I love to travel as well, and would agree with you that Italy is beautiful, I went there in 2006 and visited Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. Didn't get a chance to make it over to the Cinque Terre, but will next time I go. I have also been to the Netherlands, Germany and Austria in recent years. My plans for my next vacation will be somewhere more tropical in nature, maybe the Pacific coast of Mexico or South America, not sure yet. Well, as I have said I would like to hear from you, and until then, ciao! RCC

From that day on we communicated via email almost daily and finally agreed to meet on March 22, 2008. The rest, as they say, is history.

I never in a million years would have believed that one temper tantrum would change my entire life...and it has, for the better. Had I not decided to give Cupid just one more try before throwing in the towel, I may have missed out on the true love of my life; the soul-mate I never really believed existed until he appeared on Cupid.com.