Fail

-13 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

#1 Chosen By A Horse

Since I haven't been able to get into Zookeeper's Wife, although I'm still trying to read it, I figured I'd pick up some new books. I stopped by Target and searched their sale racks. I saw a book with a horse on the front of it, Chosen By A Horse written by Susan Richards. I figured it'd be an easy read if nothing else, and it was. I wasn't pulled into the story like I think I should have been. I never really connected with the characters. Part of me is glad that I didn't get pulled into the story more. The book is about a woman who came from a tough childhood and has grown up somewhat out of touch with her feelings. She learns about love and kindness through a horse that she adopts from the Human Society. The horse is ultimately gets sick and there are some tough decisions to be made.
Overall, I really didn't like the book. It might be better enjoyed by someone who doesn't know as much about horses as I do. First of all, the fact that he horse is named "Lay Me Down" and that's what she is referred to the WHOLE time is absurd. Ace's registered name was Shadow (which he raced as), and his show name was Stack 'M High (which was only used when he showed). Not ever, not even once, did I go out to the pasture and yell "Stack 'M High, come here!" nor did I ever say to him "I love you Stack 'M High" or "Stack 'M High, you're such a good boy". His name was Ace. That's what I called him. I don't know of any horse that doesn't have a barn name. Usually something pretty short, 1 or 2 syllables...you know something easier to call them by. Anyways, as you can tell, that annoyed me.
Also, there were some terms that Richards used frequently which were incorrect.

The next book on my list is Firefly Lane. Actually, I'm already to Part Two. I'm loving the book a LOT. In fact, I think I'll go get into bed and read some. :)

#89 Dear John

2 weeks ago Chase and I bought Dear John On Demand. I read the book quite a few years ago but didn't really remember a lot of it. Anyway, I've been wanting to see the movie since it first came out to theater but we never made it. It was a very sad movie, and very typical Nicholas Sparks. I did like it though. I felt like a lot of the time they spend together before John goes back overseas was really rushed. Overall I did like it. Can I just say that Channing Tatum is one beautiful man? I'm not quite sure what it is about Amanda but she looked incredible in the movie as well.

People Magazine: Country's Hottest Guys

In honor of People Magazine's country special, featuring Country's Hottest Guys, coming out this week I figured I'd create a list of my own. Who doesn't love a little bit of eye candy to fight boredom? ;)
So without further ado, here is my list...complete with photos. :)

20. Luke Bryan - There's nothing like a guy with a great sense of humor :)19. Joe Nichols - What a stud! So glad he got sober...he seems so much happier these days 18. Blake Shelton - So he might be a bit vulgar...but those eyes!17. Keith Anderson - My mom and I refer to him simply as 'Arms' :) 16. James Otto - Love a big ol' man on a Harley 15. David Nail - This man's new single is incredible. I can't get enough of it! 14. Brad Paisley - Another man with a great sense of humor! It's also insanely hot the way that he loves his family. 13. Easton Corbin - This guy is such a cutie! ooo, and that voice! 12. Brian Bandas - Ok, so yes, I am aware that he STILL has his eyebrow pierced. BUT his still adorable and hilarious! I also realize this picture is pretty bad, but boy's a UT fan! :)11. Tim McGraw - Oh Tim...he just keeps getting better with age. 10. Lee Brice - This newbie to the radio is such a cutie! Can't wait to hear more of his music. 9. Josh Turner - Eyes, eyes, smile, voice! :) 8. Keith Urban - Have you seen him play guitar?! 7. Jake Owen - Jake has an incredible live show and is amazing to his fans! What's not to love?6. George Strait - Classic.Country.Right.Here 5. Jimmy Wayne - Jimmy is an amazing man and that makes him hot. He has put his career on hold on Jan. 1 of this year to walk from Nashville to Pheonix to raise awareness for homeless teens aging out of the foster care system. & Yes, I do know that this photo is old. 4. Stephen Barker Liles - This guy is so adorable that Taylor Swift *BARF* wrote a song about him! Ever hear Hey Stephen? He's a total sweetie too...and that face, like Taylor said "I can't help it if you look like an angel" :)3. Dierks Bentley - I have no words2. Kenny Chesney - Yes I realize he is short and bald, but there is just something about this man that I find incredibly sexy. Maybe it's the voice, the smile, the lifestyle...I don't know, he just has IT. 1. Chris Young - He's 25, 6'4, has a beautiful smile, treats his fans well, puts on one hell of a great live show, and has a classic, beautiful country voice. He gets more than one picture...why? Because this is my blog and I say so! Oh did I mention that he's a UT fan too? Ladies, this is what we like to call the whole package. :)Well there you have it...My top 20 Hot Guys in Country music. I'll have to pick up the People magazine on Friday and see how their list compares to mine. :)

Shame on me.

Hi, my name is Luen & I am a negligent blogger.
I know I keep coming on here and breaking/making promises to blog more...and I'm here to do it again.
I have been making some progress on a few of my Day Zero Project goals. Stay tuned for updates. I promise. (again)

#47 Buy New Living Room Furniture

So our old couch was falling apart. Like had massive holes on the cushions and the cushions were really saggy. It was only 18 months old, but was cheap to start with. I really wanted a new living room set, but knew there was no way we could afford that for at LEAST another year or so. I started looking on Craigslist although I had mixed feelings about buying a new to us, used to another, living room set. I ended up finding a great sofa and loveseat that were just what we were looking for, microfiber, great condition, dark chocolate. The couch had a couple of holes along the back seem, but that was an easy fix. It also smelled. The previous owner burned a TON of incense. We rented a shampooer from Home Depot and went over the furniture twice and now you can't even smell it. It's like brand new and so comfy! We really love the set. Now we just need new tables to go with it. Here are a few pictures, the papasan is just there because I have no other place for it right now...eventually we'd like a rocker/recliner there.

#37 Go Bowling

While in Texas we went bowling! Talk about fun, even with the fear of chipping my beautiful dark purple nail polish. ;-) I won the first game, bowled something like a 113. The second game I lost with a 105 or something close to that. I did get a strike and a couple of spares. Not bad for me. We bowled with bumpers. :)

#1 Read 30 books

Between flying to Texas and then given all the downtime we had there, I was able to finally get book #1 under my belt. I'd heard good things about Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen and went to Border's to pick it up, along with a few others. When I got there I found that Sara Gruen had written Riding Lessons. I was of course intrigued...a book written about horses that was not geared towards preteens. I decided to pick it up. I quite enjoyed it. Her research was pretty good and I was minimally annoyed (as I sometimes get while reading about horses).

The book was about a woman going through divorce, having trouble with her teenage daughter, dealing with the steadily declining health of her father, and the struggle with getting back into the horse business/world after being gone for 20 years due to a horrific riding accident.

I think I will be going back to get the sequel, Flying Changes, when I get a chance.

#96 - Build a Snowman

We had a huge snowfall over the past few days...in typical Western NY fashion (at the end of February). It's hard to say exactly how much snow we got since it was windy and we have drifts in our front yard that are over 3' tall. All of the schools in Monroe (& surrounding) counties were closed on Friday due to the heavy amounts of snow that fell overnight Thursday. Despite all of the snow temps have been very nice in the upper 20's low 30's.
Today Chase and I decided to take advantage of all of the snow and the mild weather and built a snowman! It's the first one Chase has ever built, and I can't remember the last time I made one. He's not very tall, but he's pretty cute! Due to living in a neighborhood of new construction he has no arms...but that's ok. :)
Here are a few other photos of the snowfall... 1st is our mailbox
Driving to work Friday morning:
My car parked in the road at work because I couldn't get into the driveway w/ snow drifted up over my bumper.
Snow drifted almost as high as the stock panels...I could hardly get the barn doors open.
The front yard
Zeus outside hating the snow

#89 watch 30 movies I've never seen before

2 down, 28 to go!

In an effort to keep up with my Day Zero Project and blogging once a week, I figured it's about time to blog! Without anything very exciting going on, we've spent the past week watching the Olympics, I don't have much to share.
Chase & I just finished Couples Retreat. I'm a huge fan of Vince Vaughn and this movie didn't disappoint. It was really funny, and cute too!
Last week we watched Inglorious Bastards...not what I was expecting. Still not sure if I even liked it.

Day Zero

I've been thinking about goals and resolutions since the New Year and have decided to create a list of 101 goals to complete in 1001 days, per the Day Zero Project. I have searched for inspiration all over the place (ok, mostly Google) and after a couple of weeks, compiled my list. I'm really excited to get started and hopefully complete all of my goals over the next 1001 days. I will be updating my blog as I go, per goal #82, and hope to photo-document as much as I can.

Start Date: February 16, 2010
End Date: November 13, 2012

Personal/Health

1. Read 30 Books (0/30)

2. Get my new tattoo

3. Get pregnant with our first baby

4. Quit my current job

5. Lose 10lbs (by Summer 2010), & keep it off

6. Give Pilates a (serious)try…again

7. Overhaul/update my wardrobe & donate old clothing

8. Take a bath in my big, beautiful tub at LEAST once a month (0/33)

9. Keep my toenails painted, no chipping!

10. Change my contacts monthly (0/33)

11. Learn to knit

12. Facial mud mask 3 times a week (0/429)

13. Acquire a taste for wine

14. Purchase at least 2 new skirts and wear them! (0/2)

15. Lotion nightly (0/1001)

16. Buy some new earrings

17. Get my hair colored, professionally

18. Take a daily Vitamin (0/1001)

19. Get a massage

20. Get on my elliptical 5x a week for 8 weeks (& hope it starts a habit!) (0/40)

21. Floss every day for a month (0/30)

22. Change the address on my driver’s license

23. Visit a doctor yearly (0/3)

Travel

24. Take a winter vacation to Florida

25. Take a long weekend & rent a cabin in the Adirondacks

26. Take a long weekend & visit Washington DC

27. Update my passport

28. Take a long weekend & visit NYC

29. Visit the Houston Aquarium

30. Finally go to Galveston!

Adventure/Sports

31. Go para-sailing while in Florida

32. Go swimming…in a body of water other than a pool 5x (0/5)

33. Go fishing

34. Go hiking in Letchworth State Park

35. Go hiking in Ithaca

36. Ride regularly

37. Go bowling (0/3)

38. Play Mini Golf (0/3)

39. Go to the drive in movie theater

House

40. Buy new bedding for our room

41. Paint our room

42. Fence in the backyard

43. Install a driveway

44. Landscape the front yard

45. Start a flower garden in the back yard

46. Keep the island & kitchen table clear of clutter

47. Get new living room furniture

48. Get window treatments for the loft

49. Decide on/purchase window treatment for the sliding door

50. Recover the cushions (& make pillows for) the Morning Room

51. Organize the linen closet

52. Organize our closet

53. Buy artwork on Etsy, for any room

Food/Cooking/Baking

54. Make brownies from scratch

55. Try at least 1 new recipe a month

56. Make Crème Brulee

57. Organize my recipe book

58. Make my own preserves/fruit butter/jam

59. Bake muffins/bread/something & surprise my dad with them (1/5)

60. Try a new dessert recipe for every ‘family dinner’ @ Mom’s (0/33)

61. Shop at the Farmer’s Market during the season

Money/Finance

62. Invest some money, somewhere

63. Pay off my car

64. Prepare wills

Miscellaneous/Other

65. Teach Elliott to say 5 simple phrases/whistle tunes (1/5)

66. Get to know our neighbors better (at least the ones on either side of us) (0/2)

67. Get my wedding dress cleaned

68. See as many Chris Young concerts as possible (within 350 miles)

69. See as many Jimmy Wayne concerts as possible (within 350 miles)

70. Send care packages to the troops for the holidays (0/2)

71. Send Christmas cards to the family (0/2)

72. See another Cirque show

73. Make a new 101 list

74. Complete the penguin puzzle we bought last year

75. Update/complete address book

76. Take Zeus & Roxy for a professional photo shoot

77. Take the dogs for a walk at least once a week during warm weather (0/72)

78. See 5 movies, at the theater (0/5)

79. Finish Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving (0/3)

80. Clean out my email

81. Blog once a week (0/143)

82. Blog each time I finish one of these goals (0/101)

83. Put old horse show videos on DVD

84. Play Scrabble (at least w/ Chase, or others!) once a month (0/33)

85. Send out birthday cards to our immediate family

86. Donate $5 for every goal not completed after 1001 days

87. Donate $2 for every goal completed after 1001 days

88. Participate in a Polar Plunge for Special Olympics

89. See 30 movies I’ve never seen before (1/30)

90. See a Holiday play before Christmas (either Christmas Carol or A Christmas Story)

91. Learn to drive Dad’s boat, by myself

92. Have Chase teach me 1 song on the guitar…from start to finish

93. Send my mom flowers, for no reason 3x (0/3)

94. Walk for a cause

95. Don’t eat out for 1 whole month

96. Build a snowman

97. Bathe the dogs, once a month (0/33)

98. Get Chase the electric guitar of his choice

99. See a show at the Planetarium

100. Become a foster parent for the local Humane Society

101. Wash my car (myself) at least 1x/month during warm seasons (0/18)

Meet Biz!

So last week responded to an AD on Dreamhorse.com to a woman looking for someone to ride a horse she is fostering from H.O.R.S.E Rescue & Sanctuary. I've been dyeing to ride, yet am really out of shape, and figured this guy would be fairly out of shape as well. Which is good, we can come back together. Well I went to meet him on Wednesday and we got along great. He's super adorable and although small, has a HUGE personality. Today I went out to ride him. I brought Chase with me since I figured no one would be at the barn (I was right) and I don't know the horse very well. He was a bit anxious in the barn because he was alone (the other 3 horses were out still) but was still pretty well behaved. Once I got on he relaxed and was surprisingly well behaved. He hasn't been ridden since like August (I think) so I had no idea what to expect. He responded pretty nicely to both my hands and legs.
It felt SO good to be on a horse again!
Here are a couple of pictures from my phone. Meet Biz!
One of the greatest views ever!
I was still on him in this one too...




In other horsey related news, I want this horse. He is a former racehorse and currently located in PA...he's also very handsome. :)