A Cold Winter's Night

With the cold weather setting in, it's made for some perfect evenings sitting at home with Darryl watching TV (right now we're watching Fixer Upper on Hulu) and crocheting. 

I feel a little like an old lady saying that, but you know what?  Who cares.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm a homebody.  Clearly I am not ashamed. lol

We live in a house that was built in 1938.  It needed a lot of things when we bought it, a lot of which have been addressed, but things like windows? That's going to take a bit longer to save up for, and all but maybe one need replaced.  So we put this plastic stuff up to help seal in the heat when it gets cold, but this year its been so warm up until now that we haven't put the plastic up yet.

Cue huddling up under blankets while the fire roars (gas fireplace+fan+ceiling fan heats the whole downstairs pretty well!).  I came home today and found one of our cats, Leo, huddled in a ball on the rocking chair next to the fire, with his fur fluffed up more than usual (he's a fluff ball to start with).  He ended up moving into the recliner with Darryl, who put a blanket over him and they snuggled together. No one else was quite that cold, but for some reason Leo just wasn't a warm kitty earlier.  He's fine now though - huddled up a cushion away from me on the couch.

In my case, I've been working on a blanket for us to use, and it's going to be really warm.  How do I know?  As I work on it, it covers my lap, and doubles as a functional blanket even though it's only a little over a foot long so far.  Yay!  It's also going to be really pretty, so I can't wait until it's done.  Not sure who's going to use it more - Darryl or me. 

..........I might have to make a second blanket.

The Walking Dead Season Premiere

Okay, so this post is not going to be a breakdown of the episode, and I'm going to do my best not to reveal any spoilers for anyone who might not have watched the episode yet and has somehow managed to shield themselves from the insane amounts of chatter out there ping ponging around about The Walking Dead season 7 premier.

First, go read this article (unless you don't want spoilers - if you haven't watched it, wait until after you have to read it, but you still should read it at some point!).  It's the one I've liked the best out of the handful I've read.  The author is straightforward about the events that transpired and his opinions of them.  It's a good read that does more than just obsess over how violent the episode was.

I really was not that impressed.  I don't really know what I expected them to do besides reveal who died, but that's pretty much the only part I analyzed - that and whether or not Rick was actually going to potentially lose his hand or not.  I debated the possible outcomes with my mom, the handful of coworkers I have that actually watch TWD, and a few others. (And let me just throw in that who I thought was going to get it did - I just didn't expect multiple of my theories to be right.)  Beyond that, I didn't know what to expect - but it wasn't what we got.

I do plan to continue watching.  I have seen tweets and comments and heard people denouncing the show - including some people very close to me - and I really can't say I blame them.  I love this show.  I came in a couple seasons late, but I've seen every episode.  I'm committed to these characters just like everyone else.  It's different than anything else I've ever watched.  I normally hate gore, but with TWD, you become so invested in the characters that you're able to overlook it (within reason - I definitely would not suggest letting small kids wander into the room to observe it!).  Not to mention.....it's zombies...you can't have zombies without gore.

But after the events that unfolded and what I witnessed last night......I'm almost on the fence.

The only thing keeping me on board for the moment is that I was prepared for it to be bloody and gory and violent.  Even if you haven't read the comics, there is plenty of material out there to read up on to figure out where the story goes next according to them.  I haven't read up on much past what happens last night (a little about Negan, but not much), but I did know what happens in the comics at that point in the story.  And I knew it was supposed to be one of the most horrific, gory, heartbreaking scenes in the whole series thus far.  So not knowing what was going to happen going in, I was prepared for anything - almost.

I was still pretty shaken up.  I yelled at the TV quite a few times.  Darryl got mad at it and left the room for a little while at one or two points.  He couldn't understand why I was still watching.  I questioned myself a few times why I was still watching.  And honestly, the only thing that kept me on the couch was thinking that after that episode was over, they had to go somewhere with it.  The story was going to progress past that point, and once Negan had made his point to Rick's crew, I figured it would tone down somewhat.  I don't expect it to go back to normal or to be tame.  The show is going to be forever changed after that episode.

But the whole point of the extreme violence and mind games that Negan asserted on Rick's group was to make a point.  (I felt different camera shots could have been used that would still get the point across of what was happening in some scenes, without showing every excruciating detail....but that was their point I guess - they didn't just want to break their characters, they said they wanted to break the audience too..) While I really did not need to see as much detail as they gave us, you have to remember that Rick's group murdered a TON of Negan's people, and at that point, Negan hadn't even done anything to them yet.  So to Negan's group, Rick's are the bad guys.  It was said in the episode that Carol and Maggie were being held captive in.  One of the women told Maggie, "You're not the good guys here."  And when you look at it that way, in that case, they weren't.  Not saying Negan wouldn't have done anything to them in the future, but at that point in time, it was unprovoked.  It might have been in service to the Hilltop, but making that decision put the whole group in danger and ultimately culminated in what happened at the end of season 6 and last night - and presumably the rest of season 7.

There will be a lot to answer for  in the next episodes, so I'm interested to see what happens next.

I will continue to watch, at the very least for the next couple of episodes to see where they start to take it from here.  But holy crap...if every episode is as stressful as 7x1 was...I might have to re-evaluate.  I have enough stress in my life without adding that every week!

I'm almost afraid to ask, lol.....What did you all think?

TV Shows That You Really Should Watch, Part 2

Part 2 - Here you go!

Once Upon A Time
I got into this one a little late...I think when it was in it's second season, maybe? It might have been partway through it's first.  I don't know for sure, but I do know that it was during the fall semester of my senior year of college, and I fell in love with it immediately.  It's definitely got some uber-cheesiness to it, but it is so cool.  All of the Disney (and other fairytale - even the Grimm-types) characters in one huge, complex storyline where everyone is somehow connected in one way or another.  Heroes aren't completely heroic, and villains aren't entirely evil.  They make the characters more complex than that (even when they do things that are kind of predictable, there are almost always two sides to them).

The Mysteries of Laura
I'm actually playing catch up with this one as I write.  It's in its first season, and I kind of love it.  Debra Messing is awesome, as are the rest of the cast - I wish Luke Perry got a little more screentime on it, but I can live with what they give us (I've loved him ever since "Sweet Home Alabama" came out - "Wrong! The only reason I ain't signin' is because you've turned into some hoity toity Yankee b***h, and I'd like nothing better right now than to piss you off!" --sounds harsh, but when in the context of the scene, it's ohhh so hilarious! And FYI, his name is Jake in both the movie and this show. Irony.

(The video above probably won't let you play it from the blog, but it will take you to YouTube and let you watch it there.  It's worth it, I promise. lol)

The Night Shift
Love this show.  Love, love, love it.  I only know of one other person in my life who watches it, and that's my roommate.  We kind of had a big roommate medical drama bonding moment over it when we both figured out the other watched it before the new season came on a couple of months ago (he's an obsessive "Grey's Anatomy" fan, too).  A lot of it is not realistic at all, and that's a big complaint that I read a lot of people commenting about, but you know what?  I watch nighttime television shows for the entertainment factor.  If I want to learn something, I'll go look it up or take a class (or, since we're talking all things medical here, maybe, ya know, go to a DOCTOR, since they went through years and years of intensive schooling to be able to tell me what I need to know??)  I love the show.  I love the characters.  I love that it's taking a different take than other medical dramas I've seen.  It's lighter and more comedic, but it's not "Scrubs"-like (by the way, I do plan on eventually watching "Scrubs" because I've always heard good things about it, but I'm too wrapped up in the TV shows I currently watch - as you are probably starting to see, there are a lot of them - and real life).  And one of the main character's names is Jordan.  Can't go wrong there. :)  A lot of the doctors are war vets, so it makes for an interesting dynamic.

Gossip Girl
This is another one I didn't get into until late - very late.  Like, a few months ago when it ended in the last couple of years late.  I always thought it looked shallow and immature, but it's actually pretty entertaining.  Completely and utterly unrealistic but very fun to watch.  Following the lives and scandals that happen around Dan, Jenny, Serena, Nate, Blair, and Chuck is never dull, and Gossip Girl continually stirs the pot.

And I just have to share this, as I'm reading it right now.  There are a few shows on there that are coming this fall (most of them) that I'm looking forward to checking out -"Supergirl", Julie Plec's "Cordon" (no idea what it's about yet, but I love "The Originals" and "The Vampire Diaries" - see my last post), and "Chicago Med" - another spinoff of "Chicago Fire" (I like "Chicago Fire", and I absolutely adore "Chicago P.D." - Sophia Bush has been my spirit animal since she was on "One Tree Hill" - freakin' love her.).

TV Shows That You Really Should Watch, Part 1

How many of you have a TV show (or two, or three...) that you dedicate yourself to watching every week?  Or, as is common in a lot of people's busy lives (*I jump up and down, raising my hand, yelling "Me, me, me!"*), that you get behind and then binge watch?

I'm going to do a small, multi-post series detailing some of my favorite shows right now (some are currently going on, and some are ones that I'm bingeing on on Netflix when I have the time).

First up:

Grey's Anatomy
This show...is probably one of the longest running shows I've ever watched from the very beginning when it actually started.  It has breached so many topics and sent all of it's characters through the ringer with various catastrophes and personal dramas and illnesses and deaths and whatnot...you say it, and it's probably happened on this show.  But the thing is, they do all of it in a way that blows you away every time.  I won't spoil it for anyone else who hasn't watched it, but right now, the entire show is being reworked.  It's not a love story anymore.  In a way, it never really was.  It's always had love stories within it, but the real backbone of the show is Meredith and her struggle with how she grew up, the challenges she faces, and how she deals with all of it and survives. (This is coming from an insightful conversation I had with my roommate last week when I was vehemently vowing that I was seriously almost done with the show because it pissed me off.)  Now it's going to be building itself around the idea of resilience and survival and focusing less on the lovey doviness that we've grown accustomed to (I'm not saying it was a bad thing.  I love MerDer and Calzona and April/Jackson and all of the others that are there, both past and present.).  It will be an interesting new turn for sure.

The Vampire Diaries
This is a show that I didn't get into until it was in the second or third season, but I grew to love it.  Vampires, werewolves, and witches and all of the crazy crap they get themselves into.  Some vampire romance thrown in there too.  This one is definitely based around a love story (love triangle).  I ship Damon and Elena without hesitation.  No idea what the end of the current season will bring for that, but we shall see.  This trailer was for the first season (we're now in season 6), so it looks somewhat dated, but it's good and is where anyone just starting the series will be at, so I leave it here.

The Originals
Ah, The Originals - a spinoff from The Vampire Diaries, because the original vampire family just grew too big for TVD and needed their own show.  And I do not say that sarcastically - I am completely serious.  This one is not all drawn around a love story, unlike its parent show.  Once again, there are love stories within, but they are far from the focus.  This is built around war.  The Mikaelsons (namely Klaus) are back in New Orleans, where they reigned over the French Quarter and all of its vampire and witch inhabitants 100 years before.  In their absence, Klaus's protegee, Marcel, has taken over is not quite ready to let go of the reins.  We get a lot more insight into Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekka's history, and Hayley is brought along from TVD as well.  We also eventually get to know the rest of the Mikaelson family - every last one - at some point or another.  Presently the show is nearing the end of its second season, and I'm still completely hooked.  I love where it's being taken so far - it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, and there are always things changing and evolving.

Revenge
This is one I started after it had already finished its first season.  I had always meant to start it when it first came out, but I got behind and then ended up finding the first season DVD in a Black Friday sale, so I started watching it then.  I've been hooked ever since.  This video will give you a run down of basically the first two or three seasons.  It is nearing the end of its run, from what I've heard (it's at the end of the fourth season now), but I'm weirdly okay with it.  It's started to wind down, and while I've been fine with most of the storyline this season, it's been getting to a place where it's finally okay to end it. It's not been as action-istic as the former seasons, but things that needed to happen (and some of which I've been calling since I first started watching!) are finally happening. Emily/Amanda finally has some closure, and I feel like they're going to do something big in the next couple of episodes to shut the door on this chapter of her life so she can start a new one like she's been trying to do all season - we'll just have to imagine what that new chapter includes for ourselves.

Lazy Day

Sooo long since I last wrote.

I've had a super lazy day, laying around and binge-watching Gossip Girl (I started binge-watching it here and there a few weeks ago, and I'm now in the 3rd season on Netflix).  It was needed and I feel like kind of well-deserved.  It was a stressful week.

I moved Orion for reasons I don't really want to discuss publicly right now due to it not really being my situation to discuss.  Suffice it to say that there were goings on that I did not want to be around and did not want him to be around, and where he is now is somewhere that I feel he will be much better taken care of.  Where he is now is not necessarily where he will stay long-term, but for now it is safe and he is with a couple of horses he knows, so there is less after-the-move stress for him.  I'm focusing on saving up money to be able to put into him and get him back up to full health because he's gone a bit downhill in the past month, one of the many reasons I decided to move that I actually can throw out there.

That move was last Saturday, and I feel like I haven't really truly stopped moving since then.  If I wasn't working, I was tending to my apartment, helping out a couple of friends, or visiting Orion.

So, I've had a lazy day.  I haven't truly had one for a little while.  But a few hours ago I started getting restless and anxious and wanting to just DO something.  So I fixed myself a cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs from my head, caught up on some The College Prepster blog posts, finished up a lesson and took the exam for it (aced it!), cleaned out my email (it's been neglected for the past week), did my dishes from today (I actually have managed to get off my butt and cook for myself today - I've not been a total sloth), and put out some feelers on Fiverr for some more work (it's been a little difficult getting work on there recently since I've been off it for so long - and of late it hasn't been my first priority to market it).

This always ends up happening.  I can have a lazy day, but at a certain point in the day I just feel like I have to do something.  Anything.  I just can't sit here anymore.  Or I can.  But I have to be productive while sitting here, lol.

So now my agenda is get some blog posts written for my vastly neglected blog and all of you readers (at least those of you who are actually still interested!).  I'm still here.  Still alive.  Just dealing with life's curve balls and sometimes shutting myself off from social media so as to deal with it without social influences.  Those of you who have helped me through certain things recently though - I can't thank you enough.  I reached out to a couple of people and ended up with more helping hands than I knew what to do with.  You're all awesome!

Heartland

Ok, so I know I have a tendency to occasionally ramble on about TV shows, but this one has to do with horses.  It's amazing.  I love it.  You'll love it; I can almost guarantee it.  Whether you're a horse lover or not, it's got a little bit of something for everyone.

Heartland is a fun family drama about a girl's work with abused, abandoned, or problematic horses.  She learned everything she knows from her mother and continues her work while learning her own life lessons and her own inner strength in the process.  While Amy is the main character, the show also focuses on her family (her grandpa, Jack; her sister, Lou; her estranged father, Tim) and those close to her (stable hand and potential love interest, Ty; precocious younger neighbor, Mallory; best friend, Soraya; and competitive, cruel neighbors, mother and daughter, Val and Ashley; (and starting from the second season to the present, stable hand Caleb)).

This TV series was originally based on a book series by Lauren Brooke by the same name.  There were somewhere around 20 books with a few special editions.  I read all of them growing up, so imagine my surprise a few years ago when I learned that they had been made into a show!  Granted, the show has a few key differences that are obvious from the beginning, and it takes a lot of different turns as far as storylines go than the books did.  But I love it.  I don't think the differences take anything away from the books.  I look at them as two things that I love that are inspired by each other but have different things to offer.  And honestly, the same theme is present in the show as in the books - a family who comes together to heal each other during a terrible situation and continues to mend their broken bonds and continue to help each other through both life's everyday difficulties and the bigger road bumps that they come across, while in the process healing and helping the troubled and sometimes broken horses that come to them.

I'm writing about all of this today because I realized I still have an Amazon gift card to use, and I've decided to finally purchase the first couple seasons on DVD!

This has been more difficult than it sounds.  Mind you, everything that has been shown in the US so far (we're a season and a half behind the Canadian airings because we picked it up a lot later) is on Netflix.  If it's been show on TV in your country, Netflix will put up the episodes/seasons that have been shown.  I always come across people who complain about the fact that Canada is on *insert season here* and their country only has up to *insert earlier season here*.  It's simple.  Netflix can only rightfully put up what's been aired in your country already, and for a good long while, Canada was the only one showing this show.  Everyone else was late to the game in realizing how good it was, so everyone else was behind in picking it up.  Now fans are all in a tizzy because they've become hooked on it and realize that they can't watch on Netflix all that has been aired in Canada.

Now, this is not to say that you can't get the Canadian DVDs, which is what I want to do.  If you can find them online, you can buy them and watch up to wherever they have released to.  The newest completely aired season is usually released on DVD around the time the new season airs.  The reason I want the Canadian DVDs and not the US's GMC/UP-aired DVDs is because they have the seasons laid out differently.  Apparently season one in the US had more episodes than season one in Canada or something like that, so if you bought Canada's season one DVD and the US's season 2 DVD, you'd have a 9-episode gap missing between the two because the US's season 2, episode 1 is actually Canada's season 2, episode 10.


So this is why, to avoid all that confusing crap, I just want to go straight to the original source and buy the Canadian DVDs.  I watched them based on the Canadian seasons, and that's how I remember them, so why not just get the DVDs from there too?  They're a little bit more expensive, but I don't plan on buying them all at once, so I'm not really worried about it.  Plus, I'm using a gift card this time around, so no harm done to my bank account!

*Also, all of the links to the DVDs that I put up on here are for the Canada DVDs.  The US DVDs will have an orange band at the top in place of the red band that the Canadian DVDs have.  If you do decide to buy them, just be careful to make sure you get the same ones that will line up with each other properly.*

**Since my 24th birthday is coming up in less than 3 months, if anyone wants to get me a gift and doesn't know what to buy, Amazon gift cards are something you CANNOT go wrong with for me.  If I don't use it for something like this, I usually use it for books or things for my critters.  Hint hint, wink wink. :) **

So does anyone else out there watch Heartland?  What do you think of it, and why would you recommend it to others, whether horse people or not?

OUAT and Revenge

I tried to publish this last night around 9:50, and AT&T decided to flake out and not let me. However, I still want it to be posted, so here you go!

I'm literally squealing with happiness right now. I just got back from the hospital in time to catch the last half hour of Once Upon A Time! Wedding!! Eeek!!! (Also, I'm behind on this last half of the season since the Wicked Witch came into the picture. I didn't even know Rumple was still alive.)

Annnd now I'm really confused, but I'll refrain from saying why so as to avoid giving anything else away. Suffice it to say, I really need to catch up on this season.

Now I'm off to watch the season finale of Revenge, which I actually am caught up on... I'll probably be yelling at the TV for the next hour!

And yes, I did yell. A lot. I was pretty pissed about who died on Revenge last night. If my mood had leaned slightly more to the PMSingly emotional side, I probably would have cried. As it was, my reaction was not that embarrassing, but I definitely didn't see that coming. I did, however, correctly predict a couple of details from the episode and was happy I was right about those. Go check it out on ABC's site or Hulu! It's worth it!

Dead Files and Fiverr

Anyone ever watch "The Dead Files"? I'm watching it on the Travel channel right now. It's interesting and creepy, and I love it. You should check it out!

Okay, that's my update for the day. I'm heading back to writing and updating my Fiverr gigs (I already got one last night - I was paid $5 to review 2 of my pets on rightpet.com. Orion and Harry both have reviews there now!). I'm still available for proofreading/editing gigs if anyone is interested! Username is JordanPrice.

Babysitting and Such

Well, it's the second day of babysitting, and so far it's going pretty well.  I think my brothers are finally beginning to respect me a bit more.  A bit.  We were banned to the house today and weren't allowed to go outside according to my mother, so they had to find ways to entertain themselves inside and *gasp* that didn't allow playing on the computer for either of them.  I've set my one biggest rule so far, and that is that they are not allowed to spend ungodly amounts of time on the computer because they already do that in the evenings.  They're allowed about an hour in the morning and if they're good, some time after lunch if they're not outside...like today.  It gives them a little incentive to be good, which mainly involves not bickering at each other constantly, which is a normal thing for them.  They struggled with it a little more today than they did yesterday, but I'm hoping they'll maybe learn how to get a long a bit better this summer.  Maybe.

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Netflix finally got smart and put Dawson's Creek on instant play...yay!  I have the first two seasons on DVD and have rented the third season when I still got actual discs from Netflix, but since I cancelled that part of my subscription, I thought I wasn't going to ever get to finish the series, but now I'm four episodes into the next to last season.  I love it. :)

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I'm finally going out to the barn this evening, as long as plans hold!  The best friend and I are planning on taking the horses out for a ride, albeit probably a short one.  I'll let you know how that goes and if our curse of never having a normal ride keeps true!

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One more thing that's coming up soon is the Blue and Gray Reunion in Philippi!  It's something I look forward to every year.  I usually go with my grandpa and uncle and end up seeing so many people that I used to know back when I lived there.  That's really the reason why I look forward to it so much.  Philippi is such a small town, and the Blue and Gray is one of the biggest things that happens there every year.  People come from a lot of different places to see the "first land battle" of the the Civil War and all of the other things it has to offer.  It has admittedly been getting smaller and smaller each year and this year almost didn't happen, but the people I look forward to seeing are usually there for at least a little while.  I'm probably going to try to go this weekend and see if I can get any good pictures.  I need to get back into my photography kick with something other than horses, even if the horses are great. :)

One Tree Hill

This is my favorite show. Ever. Period.  I love it more than I can say.

Heartland is a close second, and Private Practice would have to be third (yes, Grey's Anatomy is in there too, but I'm not as into it as I used to be).

With that being said, One Tree Hill has always been famous for its voice-overs at the ends of it's episodes.

Here's a few that I found when browsing OTH stuff on Pinterest...

These are part of what makes this show great (the bolded ones are my favorite favorites):

"Happiness is not a destination.  It is not a mood.  It is not permanent.  It comes and goes, and if more people thought that way, then maybe more people would find happiness."

"You ever look at a picture of yourself and see a stranger in the background?  It makes you wonder how many strangers have pictures of you.   How many moments of other people's lives have we been in?  Were we a part of someone's life when their dreams came true, or were we there when their dream died?  Did we keep trying to get in, as if we were somehow destined to be there, or did the shot take us by surprise?  Just think, you could be a big part of someone else's life and not even know it."

"Life kicks you around sometimes.  It scares you and it beats you up.  But there's one day when you realize you're not just a survivor.  You're a fighter.  You're tougher than anything life throws your way.  And you are."

"Because sometimes you have to step outside the person you've been and remember the person you were meant to be, the person you want to be, the person that you are."

"Now is the time for us to shine.  The time when our dreams are within reach and possibilities are vast.  Now is the time for all of us to become the people we've always dreamed of being.  This is your life.  You're here.  You matter.  And the world is waiting."

"I believe in true love.  I believe in love at first sight.  I believe that love conquers all.  And that doesn't mean there won't be hard days or difficult things to deal with, because there will be.  But finding that person who does it for you and knowing that person loves you back, just makes everything so much easier."

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people and treat you right and forget the ones that don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason.  If you get a chance, take it.  If it changes your life, let it.  Nobody said that it'd be easy, they just promised that it would be worth it."

"If you look close enough to the world around you, you might find someone like you.  Someone trying to find their way.  Someone trying to find their self.  Sometimes it seems like you are the only one in the world who's struggling, who's frustrated, unsatisfied, barely getting by, but that feeling's a lie.  And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay.  Because we all need a little help sometimes.  We need someone to remind us that it won't always be this way.  That someone is out there and that someone will find you."


"Every once in a while, people step up, they rise above themselves.  Sometimes they surprise you, and sometimes they fall short.  Life is funny sometimes, it can push pretty hard, but if you look close enough you find hope in the words of children, in the bars of a song and in the eyes of someone you love.  And if you're lucky, and if you're the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love decides to love you back."


"Cause you know what? Tragedies happen.  What are you gonna do, give up? Quit?  No.  I realize now that when your heart breaks, you've got to fight like hell to make sure you're still alive.  Because you are.  And that pain you feel?  That's life."


"The important thing is not to be bitter over life's disappointments.  Learn to let go of the past and realize that every day won't be sunny.  And when you find yourself lost in the darkness of despair, remember: it's only in the black of night that you see the stars, and those stars lead you back home."


"At this moment there are 6,470,818,671 people in the world.  Some are running scared.  Some are coming home.  Some tell lies, just to make it through the day.  Others are just now facing the truth.  Some are evil men, at war with good, and some are good, struggling with evil.  Six billion people in the world, six billion souls, and sometimes all you need is one."


"Sometimes people put up walls, not to keep people away, but to see who cares enough  to tear those walls down."

Black Friday Deals

I'm part of this Amazon Associates thing on Amazon.com, and because of that, I get a heads up on these special deals they have going on.  One of them is this:

Shop Amazon's Holiday Countdown to Black Friday Store

They have a lot of great deals going on even before Black Friday starts.  I'm sitting here as I type looking at them and drooling over some of the stuff...

A Little Slice of My Life Now Has Its Very Own Store!

Hey everybody! Check this out.

My blog now has its own store...courtesy of Amazon.

You can find most of the books, movies, TV shows, horse products, etc. that I talk about on here.  There is also a tab specifically with links to the things that I have bought for/dealing with Orion - titled "Orion's stuff".

All of those books that I've bought and told you about in the past few months?  They're in the "Books" tab, along with many other books that I have read and enjoyed over the years, plus some that I would like to read in the future.

Specifically under the books tab, is a subcategory called "Horse Fiction".  Within this, there are several book series that I read growing up that led to my love of horses before I ever set foot near one.  There is one very important series missing, that I will be adding later, as it is very very long, and I didn't have time to put it together today.

There is a "Movies/TV" tab that showcases many movies and TV shows that I like, as well as another subcategory within that which is specifically for horse lovers.

If anyone has any additions that they think should be added to the store, be sure to let me know!  I'm excited to get this going.  It's not a huge money-maker for me personally, but to make it easier for other people to enjoy the books/DVDs/horse equipment that I like excites me like you would not believe!

So here you go; you can either click the page tab above, or enter the store here:

A Little Slice of My Life Store

Reminiscing and Relaxing

Today has been reeeelaxinggg! :)

I've been watching season three of Ghost Whisperer on Netflix all day. :)  I love this show.  After I'm through with it, I'm probably going to watch Charmed.  Blast from the past, that is.  It reminds me of middle school, when my friend Alecia and I used to talk in homeroom in the mornings after we had watched Charmed the night before on TV. lol   It was a weekly ritual.

Yesterday's visit with Orion went fairly well.  Ethan was jumpy the whole time.  Andrew and Grace liked him though.  They stayed back at the barn while I went out to catch Orion because I was the only one with boots.  At first, when I left the barn, I couldn't figure out where the heck he was...all of the other horses were right next to the barn - but not mine.  I scanned the field and didn't see him, so I started walking over to the creek.  It was the only place he could have been that I wouldn't be able to see him, and the other time I couldn't find him, that's where he was.  It was cool and dark under the trees, and as I got closer, sure enough, I could see his white blaze through the darkness.  

We spent about an hour and a half feeding and brushing him and changing his wraps.  I got one leg done without a hitch - kind of.  I did accidentally rip the vet wrap, but it didn't make that much of a difference.  When I was doing the second leg though, he kept picking up and moving it.  He had finished eating by that point, so he wasn't distracted anymore. lol  I guess he thought I wanted him to pick his foot up, since that's the area of his leg I was messing with.  Fail!  I got that one done too though, so all is well.

I did lunge him for a few minutes like I wanted to.  Not for long though because everyone was impatient to get food and get home by that point.  Their mom wanted them home before dark.  I think I'm still getting the hang of the whole lunging thing.  I'm definitely going to work on it a little bit each time I'm out there though.  Along with regular walks, too, of course, but I want to get good at lunging.  Oh well. I'll work on it more another day.  Both times I've done it with him though, he's seemed to be more in tune with me.  That makes me excited.

I go back to work tomorrow morning.  I'm ready to go to just weekends now.  Sooo ready.  It's been nice having a few days off.  And the fact that I'm just going to be working weekends means that I'm going back to school, which I am also excited about!  I'm getting bored.  I need more of a schedule.  

I've pretty much decided that my schedule for next semester is going to be wayyy lighter.  I'm going to be retaking Organic Chem II, so I'm only going to take that one science and load up on liberal arts and maybe more math.  We'll see.  But if I'm retaking organic, there's no way I'm distracting myself with another science course this time.  I have to get a good grade in that class this time around.  

I started reading a Pat Parelli book today that I bought.  Natural Horse-Man-Ship.  I don't know what I think of it yet.  It seems to make sense so far - I'm only through the first couple of pages.  I like the ideas.  But I do agree with some stuff I've heard a few other people say.  He's too showy.  I'm going to read the book so I can benefit from anything I might learn from it, but what I really want to read now is some Monty Roberts stuff.  He's the one who came up with join-up (see previous blogs).  He studied the mustangs and figured out how they interact with each other.  That's how he came up with join-up.  

For now though, I'm reading Pat Parelli and watching Ghost Whisperer. :)  It's been a good day.