The 2008 Recap

1.

Where did you begin 2008?
Trick Shot Dixies, a classy joint in Spokane Washington that used to be a cowboy bar by day, dance club by night. Right around this time last year this fine establishment got some new owners who fired all the bartenders (the females had some cute dance routines they did on the bar a la Coyote Ugly, the males knew me by name and credit card--I'm a great tipper--and I always got served first and charged less) and moved the mechanical bull up against the wall...the clientele got more "ghetto" and the music did the same. Travis and I met up there and danced the night away! Boy, that was a different time...




2.

What was your status by Valentines Day?
Taken, but still trying to decide what I thought of that. Ha!

3.

Were you in school anytime this year?
Sort of, I was a substitute teacher for a few months. I love school and I definitely enjoyed being a sub! I came home with the best stories every day! And I think I was fairly decent at it.

4.

Did you have to go to the hospital?
More this year than in my entire life! I had two ultrasounds, bloodwork, and a diabetes test. And then, of course, the grand finale! Giving birth to Grace Lauryn on December 14th! And another couple of check-ups after that.

5.

Did you have any encounters with the police?
I had a couple. I got pulled over for going VERY much over the speed limit. For you family members, I was on hwy 12 between I-5 and Morton...definitely going closer to 85 than the speed limit of 55! And then, the following weekend we went to our favorite cliff jumping spot in Cheney and, apparently, it's been made private property. We completely ignored the No Trespassing signs and headed out anyway, and the sheriff was called. He was trying to be pretty hard core, but my group and I weren't amused. Small town sheriffs...gotta love 'em.

6.

Where did you go on vacation?
I went camping a time or two. Of course the famous Pony Cousin trip this summer, then the Stiltner Family Campout. No official vacation, but since I was unemployed most of the summer, it seemed like most of my year was a vacation!



7.

What did you purchase that was over $1,000?
I have not made any major purchases this year. I am now leaving that to my man!

8.

Did you know anybody who got married?
This was the year of marriage! College friends Lindsay & Dan, hometown Everett and new friend Carrie, very old friends AJ and Lizzy, hometown family friends Heidi and Joe, high school friend Melissa married a man named Jordan, cousin Tena married long-time LOVER Aaron (haha! Aaron would be so embarrassed, I'm sure!), and then I know of a couple other marriages of people I'm not close to.

9.

Did you know anybody who passed away?
Yes, unfortunately. In 2008 we said goodbye to a high school friend of my brother's (was 23) and a motocross racer and friend who was 24. I know there were others who passed, but these have actually been very recent and so they're fresh on my mind.

10.

Did you move anywhere?
I moved from Spokane to Sunnyside at the end of March. I lived in Spokane for over 5 years, and sometimes I miss it, but right now they are experiencing record snow, so I'm glad I'm here, where I can actually drive around without getting stuck!

11.

What sporting events did you attend?
I went to some Eastern Washington University volleyball games, where my brother coaches and we both went to school. I also run a volleyball league in Sunnyside so I went to plenty of other volleyball events. I think that's about it for this year...kind of lame!

12.

What concerts/shows did you go to?
I definitely saw Chicago at the Benton County Fair, and they were fantastic! Baby Grace was in my tummy, but I think if you played some Chicago for her now, she would recognize it!

13.

Describe your birthday:
Despite my friend Sarah's best efforts, my birthday was kind of weak this year. She made me an awesome tube top with rhinestones to wear out, and I won a radio contest! Then we met up with some friends and had some drinks, then went to Fast Eddies so I could spin the prize wheel and I think I won a gift certificate for food, and then we went to The BLVD, where I was completely exhausted and way too sober at 11:pm when I begged Sarah to take me home. We got some Taco Bell on the way and I passed out watching Dazed and Confused.



14.

Did you meet anyone new?
I met all the people I work with and some people at the school I was teaching at. As far as new people to hang out with, not really. I have all my same people and I can barely make time for them, so I don't know how I could possibly add anyone new! Oh, except I did meet all of Travis' family this year, and they are wonderful.

15.

What has been your favorite moment?
Oh man. Either getting engaged, my fabulous baby shower, or giving birth. I had some awesome stuff going on this year!

16.

Any new additions to your family?
GRACE LAURYN!!! And we did get OSUs Look Whos Slidin aka "Okie" this year. He's definitely the goofiest addition to our family!



17.

What was your best month?
December.

18.

Who has been your best drinking buddy?
Well, considering I didn't drink much this year, it would probably be either my girl Loo or the aforementioned Sarah.

19.

Made new friends?
My blogger friends! And a few work people.

20.

Favorite Night out?
Hmmm...its hard to remember back that far! Possibly either New Years Eve last year or the night my mom came to Spokane and met Travis, and we went to a martini bar with Sarah, her friend Wade, my brother and a friend from home, Ben. Then, after several martinis, Sarah, Wade, Travis, my mom and I decided to head downtown to the gay bar to catch the midnight drag show! We had too much fun and I ended up driving the "drunk bus" home, where I am sure Travis and my mom would have continued to party had I let them!

21.

Other than home, where did you spend most of your time?
At work. But I am home, A LOT. Especially now.

22.

Be honest - did you watch American Idol?
Absolutely. A) I worked for FOX and was writing an American Idol blog for work, and B) it's the most successful show in tv history--there's a reason, and that reason keeps me watching.

23.

Change your hairstyle?
No...but I'm craving something different for 09!

24.

Have any car accidents?
No, thank goodness!

25.

How old did you turn this year?
24...super old. Almost as old as 25! Get ready for a nervous breakdown blog, appearing around March 26th!

26.

Do you have a New Years resolution?
Heck no! Not only would I not keep it, but I would never be able to remember it to start with!

27.

Do anything embarrassing?
Like be let-go from a position that I sucked at and then move back in with my parents and then find out I was pregnant? Naw...

28.

Buy anything new from eBay?
I'm sure I did. I love the eBay! Definitely got some Christmas presents there!

29.

Get married or divorced?
No, but close enough!

30.

Get arrested?
No, but with all my police interaction, that was probably just sheer luck. Oh! And my mom and I had to file a report with the police earlier in the year regarding a stolen cockapoo who answers to the name Rory.

31.

Been snowboarding?
No...and I'd really rather not talk about it. I guess there's still hope that I could make it this season, but I'm not counting my chickens.

32.

Did you get sick this year?
Not really. And considering the circumstances, I am a very lucky girl!

33.

Are you happy to see 2008 G0?
It's been a year I'll never forget, thats for sure! But I'm excited to see what the future holds.

34.

Been naughty or nice?
Probably mostly naughty...hormones and all!

35.

What was the best part of last year?
Travis, and all the wonderful and horrible things we experienced.

36.

What was the worst part of last year?
Being let go is tied with in-law issues (which are now pretty much resolved) and being broke as a joke.

37.

What are you most looking forward to next year?
Watching Gracie grow and mature, excelling at work, learning to SORT on my horse!!

38.

Is there anything you are not looking forward to next year?
Paying for childcare. Adapting to how much notice I get from the general public now that I'm not pregnant. Boo!

39.

Which new years resolutions did you keep last year?
I don't make resolutions.

40.

What did you do on new years eve?
I stayed home with my man and my baby. He had to wake me up at 11:30 because Gracie was hungry, and we managed to catch the ball dropping on TV. Pretty stinkin' romantic, if you ask me!

41.

Who was with you be with on new years eve?
Travis and Grace Lauryn and Stella.

42.

Who did you kiss to see the new year in?
Everyone I could!

43.
Are you making a resolution for 2009?
Nope, I don't make resolutions.

44.

What was the best TV show of last year?
Oh man...I love so much tv, I don't know that there was a best...Project Runway was pretty fantastic as usual, as was Top Chef. But there is also Top Model, Psych, Real Housewives of Orange County, Real Housewives of New York, The Office, and of course, Entourage. There are so many more fantastic shows that I watch (and by fantastic, I mean they are SUCH guilty pleasures that I'm not going to list them...yes, even more of a guilty pleasure than Real Housewives!) but I just don't have time to type them all out...*wink*

45.

What change would you like to make to your life next year?
This year I will have a whole different focus, and that is to be nominated as Mother of the Year. Last year, I was ready to apply to be on The Real World. So, a bit of a change there.

46.

What change would you like to see in the world next year?
Oh man, a new, fantastic president? I think we're going to see all kinds of change, and I would like nothing more than for this country to just embrace it!


47.

Did you do something you would never do?
Many things. My whole life and perspective is different. Hopefully in a good way! I don't want to be that stick-in-the-mud mom who completely forgets everyone but her child and completely stops living, thinking that will somehow benefit her baby. Happy moms make happy babies, in my opinion!

48.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Sort of...my sister-in-law can't have children, but a wonderful woman in Idaho gave birth to a baby girl and gave her to Stephynie and Shaun, so Gianna was born into our extended family this year.

49.

Did you visit any countries?
No. Bummer.

50.

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Money would be nice. :) Feel free to send any extra you may have my way!

51.

Will any date from 2008 stay etached in your memory forever?
April 26th, June 16th, December 14th.

52.

What was the best thing you bought in 08?
I didn't buy much besides baby merchandise. However, I am still really digging my Clinton Anderson halter and 16 ft lead rope...that came in VERY handy several times this year, especially when Yellow had his trailer loading issues.

53.

Did your behavior change over the year?
Of course.

54.

Where did you spend most of your money?
Baby stuff and food. I was a ravenous woman most of this year!


55 Are you happier than this time last year?
No offense to Stella and Travis, but Gracie really just fills out this family, so yes. I am happier.

56.

What song will remind you of 2008?
Forever, by Chris Brown.

57.

What do you wish you would have done more of?
Exercise. I wish I hadn't felt so terrible the latter half of the year and stayed in shape a little better.

58.

What do you wish you would have done less of?
Cry. I was a waterworks show at least twice a week, which is incredibly unusual for me! I'm not a crier.

58.

What did you do for Christmas?
The usual family-quality time stuff. And tried to figure out this baby/mommy stuff.

59.

Did you fall in love in 2008?
I had the fortunate blessing of falling in love with two people, and I didn't even have to fall out of love with one to fall in love with the other!

60.

Did you get your heart broken in 2008?
Nope!

61.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hmmm...hate is a really strong word. There are two people who I have lost a lot of respect for that I greatly admired this time last year. But I don't hate them.

62.

What was the best book you read and/or movie you saw?
The best book I read was Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay, and the best movie I saw was either Iron Man or Dark Knight. I love me some comic book characters!!

63.

What was your greatest discovery?
That I was going to have a GIRL!

64.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If people hadn't been so hung up on the fact that Travis and I aren't married.

65.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2008?
Maternity.

66.

Who was the best new person you met?
Grace Lauryn, and my boss Sheri who is fantastic.

67.

Who did you wish you did not meet?
Oh geez, that's kind of harsh. Um...I don't know that there's anyone I met in 2008 that I wish I hadn't.

68.

Who was your enemy?
I don't have enemies, I have frenemies. ;)

69.

Who do you miss?
It's not who I miss, it's what I miss. Riding my horse, being able to wear my designer jeans, mojitos, Nordstrom, dance nights with the girls, and the seasonal dark chocolate peppermint ice cream from Coldstone.

A Moment of Silence

The baby is at sleep...the men are at work...the crazy mother is at a meeting...I have the house to myself (mostly) and it's quiet!! What a perfect time to write a quick blog! Now if only I had a riveting, horse related topic! But seeing as how I haven't so much as sniffed my horse in three weeks, I don't have a lot of new news.

OH WAIT! So, the Pony Cousins are beginning to plan our big horse trip this summer. At the culmination of the trip last summer, our extremely experienced Trail Boss passed on her torch to me.

I am not a trail rider. In my youth, I trail rode very little. There always seemed to be some sort of mishap on the trail, and when you're out in the open, what's to stop your horse from taking off with you--or worse, dumping you and taking off without you? I remember taking my 20 year old thoroughbred mare on a trail ride with several other 4-H riders, and we had to face dogs, horses balking on the canal rode (one of my greatest fears was getting thrown into the canal), and a horse even jumped the fence he was in and tried to come with us. Scary stuff, especially for a 12 year old!

I think the next time I went rode out of the arena, my horse was fine, but the gal who was riding with me was on a horse who had a rib out right in his cinch area, and he jumped, bucked and kicked all the way down the trail. Poor guy.

Several years later I tried to trail ride my show horse during Christmas break, and in the pasture next to my house she reared up and came over backward on me. We were both okay, I just had some severe whiplash, but that was definitely my last trail ride for a while.

I'm not a person who comes off horses often. I know how that must sound, but for some reason I just don't come off. Twice I've slid off horses while riding bareback, I was dumped once when a horse was stung and jumped straight up in the air with no warning, I came off once when my horse balked at a jump, and one time she caught me off guard in a corner and went to bucking, and really I think that's about it.

My Yellow horse would never let me slide off his back!

So, back to the purpose of this blog. I am interested to know what my fellow horseman would consider good skills for a Trail Boss. What are the duties? What is acceptable and unacceptable? What should I be prepared for?

I should mention that in the year since I've owned Yellow, I have done more trail riding than I had in the previous 20 years of riding horses. And never once did I have an incident with him. Well, nothing serious, anyway. He was the lead horse once and refused to go through a fence, but once the other horses went through, he charged right through it. And really, the gals on the ride who went through before us didn't really give us a chance to work through it. I think the only other "issues" we've had were because I was apprehensive and nervous. I just really prefer an arena! But I am beginning to enjoy the scene change and obstacles of a nice, long trail ride.

Returning from a successful trail ride in Portland with Middle of the Road and Pony Cousin JW.

Because the trail bosses I have ridden with have been seasoned pros, I've really only had issues with other riders being inconsiderate or maybe just ignorant. On a ride I took last spring, we stopped at a bluff to have lunch, and as soon as three of the riders were done they mounted up and headed back to the trail. Well, even Yellow wasn't a fan of this! He jigged his yellow butt back to the trail trying to catch the missing horses! Our trail boss gave the three women a fairly stern talking to, but I don't know that they got the point. I think my horse gave me the least amount of issues. The trail boss had recently had hip surgery and had a hell of a time getting his horse to stand still next to a rock so he could mount up. And once he did jump on his horse, his horse went to bucking. The poor guy didn't even have his feet in the stirrups! But he's a hell of a cowboy, so he rode it out and then did a little rodeo wave once he had things under control!

Our lunch spot on the Hat Rock trail ride.

And this is why they call it "Hat Rock."

Anyway, I've just realized that during my few remaining moments of silence, I should probably get some food. There are just so many things I want to do in my 30 minutes of Palomino-Girl Time!

Maternity Leave

So I am now in my 3rd week of maternity leave. Not quite what I had planned...but then again, neither is motherhood.

Call me naive, but I thought this whole baby thing would be a lot easier and not nearly as time-consuming. I haven't even had time to bundle Gracie up and introduce her to her "pony" yet!





Everyone said that babies sleep a lot, but what they don't mention is that the whole time they're sleeping, the new mom is "on call" and trying to calculate what chores can be done in 15 minutes or less and which chores can be abandoned at the half-point in order to feed the less-than-patient infant screaming in her 3rd soiled onesie of the day. And my sweet baby loves to be awake. She just sits and stares at things, sometimes for 15 minutes before she starts screaming again,


sometimes for only 3 minutes.





I guess the good news is that I have completely caught up on my Entourage, Gossip Girl, Psych (new addiction, thanks to the after Christmas marathon), Law & Order, and Top Chef. So, I guess it hasn't been a completely wasted couple of weeks! Thanks, again, to my wonderful fiance for putting cable and a dvr in the baby room!

Wordless Wednesday...my daughter Grace

Book Tag

That crazy brod over at the Middle of the Road tagged me! Naturally, the book closest to me is The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. So here we go:

1)Grab the nearest book.
2)Open the book to page 56.
3)Find the fifth sentence.
4)Post the text of the next two to five sentences.
5)Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one.
Pick the Closest.
6)Tag five people to do the same.


"You check each other out with uncontainable curiosity but with the friendliness of comrades. You try to guess how pregnant your new comrade is (and whether she is looking as good or as bad as you are at this point), and you will have no qualms about asking this complete stranger her entire gestational history. If you are pregnant at the same time as a celebrity, you will develop a familiarity with her pregnancy that will make you feel "related" to her in some way. For example, you may be pregnant with Gwen Stefani, Reese Witherspoon, one of the president's daughters, or maybe Kate Bosworth or Sienna Miller, and Britney's probably game for a few more--and you'll feel maternal about their children, even though you don't know them. (Though I can't help but feel I know Sean Preston.)"

So there you have it, some great "girlfriend" advice from the Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine.

Now, I suppose I should tag a few folks:

1. Twinville

2. Nuzzling Muzzles

3. Sunny SD

4. Pony Girl

Btw, my man hooked me up with some sweet cable action in the baby room. I may never leave now!

Wordless Wednesday--The Baby Room

The dashboard melted but we still have a radio.

So...I got to see my horse!! Not only that, I got to sit on him! And even better yet, I walked him through the barrel pattern! Just once though...I could tell it was making my mom a little nervous. But, my Dr said I could ride as long as I could mount from the ground, and mount from the ground I did!!

But maybe I should start from the beginning. I got outside around 10:30 and noticed that our boys were in need of a haircut. I did Yellow first, because he's closer to the gate and super easy.

Last time I shaved his bridal path a little long, so I left some that I clipped before. So that sticky-up part? Yes, that's how long his entire bridal path was. Loverly.

And being the evil horsewoman that I am, I clip my horses so that they face the most temping thing you ever saw...

I really don't care that the horses are practically standing on a 1,000 lb bale of hay while I clip them. They'll stand there, they'll not grab for food and they'll like it!!

But I'm not completely heartless. After all was said and done, I let Yellow have a bite. His sister Stella came to supervise.

It looks like she's counting calories or something!!

The reason for all this? A friend of ours has their 13 year old niece visiting from Germany, and she rides horses! So I had her over, threw her in a western saddle and taught her the barrel pattern. She is a wonderfully natural rider and got my horse moving very well.
Look how she has Yellow nice and relaxed and behind the bit!! No wonder those Germans win so many medals in the Olympics. It's practically natural for them! And the poor gal kept asking if we would raise her stirrups...sorry sweetie! This is how us American Cowgirls ride!!

And then, I couldn't resist. I told my mom to hold my camera, and, with shortened stirrups, I pulled my preggo ass up on that yellow horse.
This is probably the most uncomfortable I have ever been on this horse. And I'm in my old saddle. But dammit, I made it up there and I walked that horse around the barrel pattern and then I managed to get down, somehow, without ripping my pants. I'd say it was a successful day.

Does anyone else think my horse looks smaller with me on him now?? :P