Give Aways!

My good friend Sara (of the previously noted Saremy) is having a give away on her blog http://saralovescooking.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-giveaway-derby-pie.html She’s giving away some amazing hand lotion perfect for our dry Arizona weather.
I am going to have a give away soon too so be sure to come back and check the blog soon for your chance to win!

It’s That Time of Year… Again.

Well, it’s almost March and do you know what that means? It means I’m that much closer to being another year older. On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, I will turn 27.
I have updated the background of my blog to celebrate this wonderful Irish holiday.
You may remember last year, Jake ordered a cake from a friend of ours named Jenna. She has a wonderful talent for making cakes. You can see some of here cakes at http://www.cakesbyjenna.com/ Jake ordered a birthday cake for me and it was a pot of gold with a rainbow coming out of it. You can see a picture of it here in my collage/slide show to the right ----->
Well, this year is no different. Jake has already put in an order and we have no idea what it will look like, I just know it will be delicious! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.
Did you know…
The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring?
Each year, thousands of Irish Americans gather with their loved ones on St. Patrick's Day to share a "traditional" meal of corned beef and cabbage.
Though cabbage has long been an Irish food, corned beef only began to be associated with St. Patrick's Day at the turn of the century.
Irish immigrants living on New York City's Lower East Side substituted corned beef for their traditional dish of Irish bacon to save money. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.
The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is "lobaircin," meaning "small-bodied fellow."
Belief in leprechauns probably stems from Celtic belief in fairies, tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. Though only minor figures in Celtic folklore, leprechauns were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their much-fabled treasure.
Leprechauns had nothing to do with St. Patrick or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby O'Gill & the Little People, which introduced America to a very different sort of leprechaun than the cantankerous little man of Irish folklore. This cheerful, friendly leprechaun is a purely American invention, but has quickly evolved into an easily recognizable symbol of both St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in general.
Kinda interesting.

I Can't Believe It's 2010!

Can you believe that the Y2K scare was 10 years ago?!?

Well, Buster has been doing very well. We had to take him to the vet about a week and a half ago to have his teeth floated- filed down to remove any sharp edges. He had been drooling excessively and it turns out he had a lot of sharp points that were rubbing on the inside of his cheeks. Poor guy. He's better now.

I body clipped Reno and Soda Pop. Reno looks like someone took a lawn mower to him. Soda Pop looks pretty good. Each day I see Reno I ask him, "Who clipped you?" Poor guy. They both jumped around and acted like brand new horses when all of the hair was off. They are so much easier to groom when their hair is short.

I've been riding a lot. I started jumping Reno again. If you remember last May, him and I had a terrible fall while jumping. Well, I found myself thinking about it too much. I was trying to shorten his stride up so he would get the correct spot and striding. I was hindering Reno... a lot. I finally let him just decide what he wanted to do. I let him pick the pace, the striding, and his own takeoff spots and he was perfect! That boy sure knows what he's doing. I had so much fun that I raised all of the jumps up and we were able to jump big for the first time in a long time. It was great.

I'm having so much fun being able to see the kids so much. I still feel like I have no time for anything, but that's ok. I'll make time.

Oh, So Much To Catch Up On!

Oh, my. I can't believe it has been so long since I last blogged! I'm going to try to update you all in one posting.

Here is what has been happening the last two months, in no particular order.

At the beginning of December, we moved all 3 of our horses closer to home. About 2 1/2 miles from our house, a house sold and it had an 11 horse barn on it. The new owners, Scott and Kylie Joy, decided to have a boarding facility. She made us a great deal on the cost of board for having all 3 horses there. They clean their stalls throughout the day, feed 2-3 times a day, makes sure they have clean water, puts on and take off the horses jammies (their blankets to keep them warm at night) and generally watches the horses to make sure they are in good condition and health. It's a great facility. There is an arena with jumps and all weather footing, an dressage arena, several turn out areas, and the horses have over sized stalls with shavings and an outdoor area. They take very good care of our kids. They even give Buster all of his medication too!

Mid December our horse Buster got really sick and was in an equine ICU for 3 days. Day 1 he was colicing which basically meant that he had an upset tummy, however, it could be fatal if not treated quickly. He got better the first day, not great but better, and then got worse again that night. The next day, we took him to the vet and he said he was severely dehydrated and had an impaction- an intestinal blockage. We took him to the equine clinic here in Prescott and they hooked him up to an iv. They gave him 35 liters of fluid before he felt better. It took 25 liters even before he urinated! He was there for 3 days while waiting for this impaction to pass. It did, but it was found that he had a "stone". A stone is similar to a pearl. It can come from anything a horse eats that doesn't get digested and stalls out in the intestines. It could be a piece of leather, a staple from a shavings bag, a small piece of twine from a bale of hay, anything really. Basically, the intestines cover this thing with mineral deposits to protect itself. It just keeps adding a layer of minerals until it is sometimes too big to pass. One that a vet showed us was the size of an ostrich egg. The one Buster passed was like a 2" x 2 1/2" river rock. We then rushed him to Phoenix to a very high class vet clinic for abdominal x-rays to make sure there were no larger stones still inside. Luckily, there was not, just a lot of sand. He is now on a very high fiber diet to flush the sand from his system. We put the other two kids on this fiber also since they probably have sand too. Anyway, about $2,200 later, we have a healthy horse again. Merry Christmas to us.

As many of you know, almost 6 years ago I started my own Mary Kay business. I was very motivated for a few years and then I slowly tapered off as life got busy. The beauty of the business is that it is all mine and I can go back to it whenever I want. Well, I did go back. I started up again. I had a party the other day and did very well. I made in 2 fun hours as much as I would have made in 4 1/2 hours of my air traffic controller pay! If that isn't motivating, I don't know what is! I have a website and you can check it out. It is www.marykay.com/kaylamm There is a virtual make over where you can upload your own picture and used different colors of make up and even different hair styles, colors, cuts and accessories to play with. It's fun. Try it out! If anyone wants to do a party, please let me know. I have several types to choose from. From a spa day to a quick 15 minute on-the-go facial to an online party, just let me know. Also, if anyone is interested in the Mary Kay opportunity, I'd love to talk with you. It is a great way to earn some extra income on your own terms.

Christmas was great. The Monday before, we drove to CA to visit with Jake's family. It was a short trip but a great visit. We were able to see everyone, including our new nephews, and some family friends. We had a great big family dinner at El Torito one night and we were there for hours visiting. We went shopping at stores they don't have in AZ and finished buying some Christmas gifts. Now on to the gifts: Jake got a Coca-Cola dart board for his man cave and some money to get the cave started. We want to have it painted and put a finish on the concrete floor. He wants to decorate it with Coca-Cola themed things. He also got a Wii game- the Toy Story Midway Mania, just like the ride at Disneyland's California Adventure. He got a blu-ray disc of a John Mayer concert. I got a sewing machine and all the accessories. Jake built me the biggest tack trunk I've ever seen. I now can put all of my horse stuff in it! He had my name painted on the top of it by our friend Jules. She does decorative painting, murals, faux finishes, etc. She is very talented! We had about 10,000,000 lights on our house and I'm pretty sure you can see it from space. We had the most in our neighborhood and plans are already being discussed about how to improve for next year. So much fun.

A funny thing happened today. I asked Jake what his new year's resolution is and it was to keep the house really clean and organized. You know what mine was? To keep the house really clean and organized. Weird huh? We have a central vacuum and I LOVE it. I found a website that sells a ton of accessories and attachments for my system. I have made a list of the attachments that I want to get to have a super clean house. I also want to get the Shark steam cleaner for around the house too so I can sanitize things. I love a clean house, but not the cleaning part. I may end up hiring a cleaning person to do it all for me. We'll see.

We are planning a vacation with Saremy again next year. We don't know when, where, or for how long yet, but it will be awesome! We've already talked about going to Europe in 2011. After that, I think we'll be ready to have kids. So the year to look for is 2012!

Well, that is pretty much it. I am going to do my best on updating my blog more often. Until next time.

Where Did Thanksgiving Go?

The day after Halloween I started to see Christmas decorations going up in stores and around town. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas (it’s the hap-happiest time of the year) but where did Thanksgiving go?

It bothers me that that is now a holiday that seems to get skipped right over. People take for granted what they have and don’t stop to think about what they are truly thankful for.

I have a lot to be thankful for. I am healthy, active, loved by many, I have a great family, great friends, great “kids”, and an overall great life. I had a great childhood and have the best husband ever. I have a great job that I love and it pays well. I live in a country where I can say what I want, live where I want, travel where I want, and I live free. There is always food on the table, a roof over my head, and clothes on my back. What else could I ask for?

Let’s not forget this great holiday.

What are you thankful for?

Way Too Long…

So it has been way too long since the last time I blogged. It seems that everyday I think to myself, “I need to put that on our blog,” but it never gets done. So, here is a quick update:

Jake carved another big mac pumpkin this year. He went for a Mickey Mouse this time. It looks awesome!

One night when Jake and I had to work, we put the dog beds in the garage for them to sleep. The next morning, we saw that Alfie didn’t want to sleep in the garage. He had pulled his, and Nico’s, beds out of the dog door. I wish I could have seen him.

I started running again. Boy is it hard. I’m starting slow but almost enjoying it. I use almost very loosely.

I’m starting up my Mary Kay business again. I sure love doing it. I had just been so busy that I kind of slacked off. Well, not anymore. I am going to make gift baskets for Christmas.

Next Monday-Wednesday, Jake and I are going to Las Vegas for our 3 year anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been that long already!

Jake and I went to check out a cutting horse trainer in Camp Verde. I’d like to start cutting on Soda Pop. I think she would be great at it. I wanted to start last week but I got a cold/the flu and then a respiratory infection so I haven’t been riding at all.

Jake met me at work the other day and surprised me with a date night. We went to Phoenix and had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory then went to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game. It was so fun!

Well, that is pretty much the long short of it. I’ll try to be better at blogging on a regular basis! Until next time…

Fried Green Tomatoes… Kinda.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teacher at my mom’s school was teaching weather to her kids. My mom volunteered Jake and I to go in and talk to them and answer some questions. As we left, Mrs. McCall gave us a basket of some squash, gourds, tomatoes, chilies, and some Halloween candy. The tomatoes were from her garden and still very green. So, I decided that I was going to make fried green tomatoes.

I started looking up recipes online and didn’t like any of them. Most use buttermilk which I don’t have. Many are just fried with bread crumbs and no seasonings. Some have lemon pepper in them- I’m not a HUGE fan of pepper. So I decided I’d come up with something myself.

Well, after a day or two the tomatoes started turning red. So I sliced up this half green half red tomato. I dipped it in milk and a mix of Panko bread crumbs and ranch dressing mix. I then fried them in oil. All in all, pretty easy to make. They taste yummy too. The heat brought out the sweetness of the tomato. The bad thing, they seemed to get much more ripe and red in the heat so they are not quite as firm as I think truly green tomatoes would have been. However, they taste very good.