Fall Bucket List

Case of the Mondays- like everyone else in the workforce.
I can't believe that tomorrow is October 1st- where did September go?

I digress however now that is is officially fall a checklist was in order. This was discovered via pinterest however its a start- myself and 6 co workers (who are more like friends I work with) have decided to make this our fall bible.

It goes as follows:
Bake pies- this sounds like a lot of work
Have a s'mores campfire- ummmm this is a summer activity. Thanks but no thanks
Visit a pumpkin patch- obviously
Make leaf art- probably not, I'm not 8.
Pick apples- there is only so much I can do with apples (sans pie) so I'll pick 5
Make (and eat) carmael apples- alright I'll pick 10 apples, 5 will be dunked in carmel
Go trick or treating- unless you have kids at my age,  you look like a creep.
Drink hot apple cider- yessssss and ofcourse pumpkin beer
Make fall cookies- pretty sure the only thing that makes them 'fall' is their leave shape.
Have a photo shoot in a leave piles- who came up with this?
Carve a pumpkin- this will be happening next Monday night at my place. Sorry Chris Monday night football WILL NOT be showing.
Navigate a corn maze- with 6 girls, this shouldn't be hard.

Fall is my favorite season but it's not the same here in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot and therefore a lot of activities are either done soggy or not at all. Not to mention we live in the evergreen state so guess how many trees actually change- 5% give or take. All well the fall checklist will go on.

Weekend recharge!

I've been sucking at blogging lately. I blame it on jet lag and being sick the majority of the week. However I'm finally starting to feel better and after sleeping for most nights for 10 hours I think I'm over the jet lag. Note to self: when flying 3,000 miles on a Sunday, take Monday off. 

This week I struggled to get back into the swing of things. I rode the struggle bus for most of the week at work- finding it hard to concentrate on the work that needed to be completed. I was lucky that I didn't have an insane amount of work to catch up on after my vacation (thanks to my wonderful team) but I think that made it more challenging for me. If I had a long list of things that needed urgent attention I probably would have got my butt in gear- but all task were all that I found myself pushing off. Sigh. This week I need to be better! 

I'm afraid to post this or even say it until it comes true but I think I'm going to be able to half lease Rocko(see pic below)- When I got back I met with my trainers who spoke with the owner who is *hopefully* agreeing to the half lease starting 10/15. The best part about this is because the owner lives in Yakima and won't be riding I'll be able to ride him 3-4 times a week. Keep your fingers crossed this comes true- I would be ecstatic.

And lastly if being honest Chris and I have been in a funk lately-  we've just been snapping at each other or bickering about little things. (Earlier this week it was about the New England Patriots, a team Chris loves and I hate- I mean c'mon)I think its been because our schedules have been opposite for the past few weeks. Chris has been working weekends and during the weekdays I've been riding, working or getting ready for my trip. So this weekend we spent at home, cuddling, talking, watching tv shows together- its been so nice to not run around like crazy and just relax. Not to mention it's been so windy and rainy here so a weekend full of movies, tea and takeout has been perfect. 

And now that Hocus Pocus is on tv, pumpkin beer in hand, and my apple cider glazed pot roast is in the crock pot (I'll post the recipe if its as delicious as it sounds) I'm happy to say this weekend has been pretty close to perfect.

      I supported the Pats this week. Bailey was confused- I felt sick :) 

       Rocko! He's so thrilled. 

Vacation hangover and a sinus infection

You know what's worst then Mondays?

Mondays after a week long vacation-

Nothing welcomes you back to hell work then 600+ emails.

To make this Monday worst- I have a sinus infection. Blah.

Vacation was amazing. But instead of rambling on in paragraphs I decided to brag via pictures about how amazing New England is (and Ohio and Pennsylvania of course)

Enjoy.

Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point Ohio. Located on Lake Erie.

Pennsylvania Countryside. A second home.

Breakers #2. Vanderbilt Mansion in Newport Rhode Island. Downton Abby anyone?

Signs of fall

My mom's b-day card from yours truely 

Clyde's CiderMill. Mystic CT.
The oldest operating wood cider press in the USA 

Pumpkin Beer.

West Coast might have sunsets but East Coast has sunrises 

Afternoon Tea. British style.

Best Friends.

I can't make this up

Currently I'm Cedar Point Ohio. I'm actually looking out our hotel weekend to a massive roller coaster I plan on tackling within hours! Beyond excited! 

This trip has taken months of planning and by far the worst travel my mom or I have had for ANY vacations.

For starters- my mom left CT Thursday to head to my grandmothers  to drop off her dog and to break up the 10 hour drive. 2 hours into her trip the rain started- and contained pouring until she hit the New York line and then it got worst. Tracker trailer roll over causing a 2 hour long back up. What should have been a 5.5-6 hour commute turned into 7.5 hour commute which wouldn't have been do bad if she didn't also work all day.  Alright- not ideal 

But it gets worst 

I get up at 2:30am eager and excited for my trip- that excitement dissipated around 4:32am when it was discovered my 5:15am flight was delayed till 6:15 which would cause me to miss my connecting flight in Denver. I should mention similar to the traffic situation earlier this week- I don't handle things not going as planned. However after talking with United on the phone and in Seattle I was told the best we can do is send you to Denver now and see what can be done there. Thank United- I owe you one. Ugh. 

*side note- my mom was planning on picking me up from Cleveland at 2:30 and was currently waiting in central Pennsylvania (5 hours away) but now was on standby until I knew when I would get into Cleveland. 

I get to Denver and United as a whole has delays on 85% on flights most over 2 hours due to the rains all over country. Great. Customer Service is insane, luckily they were expecting us from Seattle. The BEST I could get was standby on the next flight- 3 hours away. I was also booked on the last flight out, as it was the only one that had openings- 9 hours away. Kill me now. 

Both Chris and my mom and Ashley were waiting for me to start the tears of self pity- or extreme frustration but I held it together. I waited and waited. And by chance I looked to see if any other flights were leaving Denver to Cleveland and lo and behold- a flight leaving at 3:30 which was still 6 hours after my original flight but I got booked. I got the hell outta dodge! The crazy part in all of this is my luggage made it!!! It actually made it before me! Hallelujah!

My moms travel issues continued- her rental car check engine light went off, ofcourse. Luckily we were able to exchange cars in Cleveland and finally start our vacation.

We arrived at 11 last night and it's the part of Halloweekend at Cedar Point and this place looks amazing- ill be honest it's not a 4 seasons, the Hotel Breakers was built in 1905 and has tons of historical charm. Picture the place in Dirty Dancing. Love it. 

Lets hope our luck is on the upswing!

Vacation- aren't you suppose to be relaxing? 

Grumpy Gills.

So here’s the deal bloggers. Lots of stuff going on. First its 9/11. Many family members of mine are part of the elite group of police force, firefighters and military so while EVERYONE should take a moment to say thanks to those who serve for us, it’s also important that we say ‘ I love you’ to those people in our lives because we never know when something, anything could change I’ll get off my soap box but enjoy this Budweiser commercial, if it doesn’t make you tear up you have no soul.
 



 I really wanted to do every day in blogtember but I’ve just been crazy busy and really cranky. No seriously. I should be happy I’m going on vacation next week but I’ve been working long days to make up for the fact I won’t be here Friday but if I’m being honest here it’s not just that. On Monday I spent 50 minutes in traffic for my 5.3 mile commute- I did not handle that well, I sent off a series of angry tweets to every department of transportation within a 25 miles radius. All of which responded – most of which said something along the lines of ‘you’re SOL’. Tuesday, I worked 10.5 hours and then went out for Happy Hour which would have been great until I got home and realized Chris (who has off most of the week to accommodate my vacation for Bailey, no judgment please) really hasn’t done anything around our place. Let me make this clear, I’m slightly OCD when it comes to our apartment- I’m not saying it has to be picture perfect everyday but picking up your shit around the place for 5 minutes a day does make a difference. Chris, to say the least, disagrees. He could be worst, he could be much worst but I asked him to do a few simple task- like wash the sheets, clean Bailey’s room (yes she has her own room, don’t judge us) I don’t think it’s too much for them to done in a timely manner! I walk in and most are not completed and his reasoning ‘it’s my day off, I’ll do them when I want’ Yep. Funny because I do laundry, grocery shopping, clean, run random errands , and riding on my days off- if fact I cannot remember the last day I just did nothing. Anger turns into frustration which turns into tears.
Awesome sauce.
I need this vacation.

When things don't go as expected....

This past week as been full of disappointments to be honest.
Up until now I haven't really had anything even remotely bad happen to me since I've moved here- setbacks yes, but nothing that I was generally disappointed in. And for the record I believe being disappointed is one of the worst feelings. It's like when you were younger and your parents weren't mad at you, they were disappointed. And there you were feeling all guilty for doing what you did. Disappointment is the worst.

First, I found out my company decided to close of the all office in Connecticut- including the office I transferred from. My boss (who gave me such great advise) will be part of this lay off. I'm sad. These people are my friends and were my coworkers. They're being laid off at the end of the year and in uncertain times. It could have so easily been me.

Second, the past few weeks I've been trying to lease a horse named Rocko. The girl who is currently leasing him is buying a new horse so he will be available at the end of the month. He's perfect and would be able to get me to where I wanted to be next show season. After hours upon hours of number crunching its become bluntly apparent I cannot afford this right now. My two vacations (next week and Disney in December) are really tying up my funds. This was disappointing on a whole new level- I really wholeheartedly thought this was something I could do until my bank account quietly reminded me I don't make an extra $1600 a month to afford the cost of a full lease. I was in tears disappointed. I know this is completely first world problems but it was something I so badly wanted it stung knowing it wasn't going to happen. After tearing up to my trainer for a good 10 minutes she reassuring me that everything happens for a reason and they would do their best to make things work out. I cannot say more about them as people and trainers- they really care about what they do for both horse and rider.

I only work a 4 day week this week then its off to the East Coast. I'm really looking forward to it- its a good time to catch up with family and friends and to reset myself.

Remember this.

As I predicted I missed a few days of Blogtember- life does seem to do.

I leave for home next Friday, with a brief stop in Ohio. What's in Ohio you ask? Cedar Point. Cedar Point has some of the biggest, fastest and best roller coasters in the country. It is consistantly ranked as one of the best roller coaster parks in the world. So obviously my mom and I had to go- this was our christmas present to each other, a mini vacation to a place we both have been wanting to go to for so long. I am stoked.

Now back to Blogtember...
Useful advise.



The best advise I was ever given was from my old boss, who is still a close friend of mine today. When I decided to make the 3,000 move across the country I was lucky enough to transfer with my company and then later on be promoted. However during my last day in my old office I was having SERIOUS doubts. I was scared, nervous and sad that I was leaving everything I knew for the unknown. In the last few moments in the office, I went into his office for a tearful goodbye. He told me this and I've never forgotten it. Nothing is permeant. Simple but it took away all of my fears. It's a double edge sword ofcourse- good things won't last forever but neither will bad times. Nothing in this life is set in stone, its a humbling and at times terrifying thought but it has stuck with me.

I have a fantastic weekend planned filled with ponies (both riding and betting!) and ofcourse packing for home! Hope you all have a great weekend- see you for shenanigans on Monday!

Live abroad

If I could do anything for three months with no real commitments or anything holding me back- I would live abroad. I've never be out of the country (Canada and Mexico don't count) I want to live in Russia (I've always had an interest of the their culture) Ireland, Greece (before the financial crisis) and England. All these countries have amazing food, interesting culture and fanatating people.

Sign me up.

I asked Chris the same thing just for fun- he's a little less exotic. He said and I quote, 'I would learn to cook so I can make mistakes and not worry about having to buy more food' To his credit he's been learning to cook recently after my discovery that he never learned to cook. Not eggs, not a burger. nada. What a shame.

Where I come from.

Such a basic question but for many, including myself, a complicated answer.

I come from all over the country. I was born in Virginia, lived in California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington.
I am homesick for Connecticut, my friends, my family and things that are familiar to me but I'm proud that I am here- that I made it.
I'm self confident, sometimes to a fault. I'm sarcastic, sometimes to a fault.
I come from the strongest and most inspiration mom anyone could have. One who introduced me my passion of riding but trucked me to cheerleading practice, basketball games and lacrosse tournaments cheering me along the whole way (she was even my cheer coach for a season)
I come from a grandmother who is just as stubborn and hard headed as me, and whom I'm pretty sure I share a brain with sometimes.
And a grandfather who taught me how to loose with grace, er tried- thanks gramp for the multiple butt kicking in monopoly, checkers and gin rummy.
My second hometown is rural Pennsylvania where I spent my summers with my grandparents, watching Amish buggies (yup you read that right) going down the street and country fairs- these are the best memories.
But my first hometown  is on the beach, where the summers are hot and the winters are cold.
I was taught to speak my mind, stand up for what I believe in and appreciate what you have.

However, some of the parts I come from I do not know. Some parts I know I am better off without- but that doesn't mean they are not with me. Those parts stay with me like ghost hiding and sometimes come out when I don't want them too. These 'parts' still fill up the puzzle that is me.

Such a loaded question and complicated answer- Happy Tuesday all.

Alaska Vistors

Labor Day weekend has always been bittersweet for me. It's the end of summer which back home is my favorite season however it then starts my second favorite- fall. Since living here I still love both seasons but in different ways. Back home, the summers are HOT and HUMID so when fall arrives with its beautiful changing leaves and cooler temps its a welcome relief. Here is similar but the leaves aren't nearly are vibrant as they are back home- nor do they have apple cider farms like back home. We'll still be able to carve pumpkins and go thru a corn maze but it will in between rainy days. Meh.

And now for weekend recap!

This past weekend, well actually week, has been a whirlwind. Since Chris's family was in town all week we have been running around like crazy- all of which is fun but exhausting.

Started off the week at the Mariners game. They're terrible but after some garlic fries and beer I quickly forget how bad they are.

The highlight of the week was Taylor Swift concert. She was amazing! And Chris made an amazing video of the concert for me. Whatta guy!

Alaska Family!

The biggest theme is we ate a lot when they were here. We took them to multiple restaurant in the area and I even tried HaloHalo, which is a Asian dish that looks like the blueberries on top. It actually means 'mix mix' and has shaved ice and pretty much everything in it, from jelly to ice cream and flan. It is an acquired taste but it was good to try something new.

Ofcourse the ponies did not take a back seat when they were here. In fact the family even came  by to watch my ride 

We had fun with them here, we always do. As I mentioned they are always easy to please but this time was Chris's brothers first baseball game and first concert- he was thrilled. Now only two weeks till I head home for another vacation, I am so excited!

Tomorrow starts 'Blogtember' which are always a way to get to know different bloggers and for others to get to know you. YOU should join!!!