Green n Green = Black n Blue

Happy Birthday Denali

2014-02-27T21:09:00.003-08:00

Denali turned 10 on the 22nd of February. I haven't talked about it, but wanted to wish her a happy birthday somewhere....Happy Birthday Denali. I love you and hope you are happy.

Request!

2013-12-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

I'm collecting random acts of kindness! Please read this!

Vote for my Hubby!!

2013-11-25T11:25:00.003-08:00

I nominated Adam for an award and he was picked for a finalist! I know that he won't tell anyone about this unless you mention it to him. I wish that my writing conveyed how awesome he really is, but it doesn't. Regardless, they picked him and he is a finalist! You can (and you should) vote once a day everyday. You just need to click on the link before and then click vote below his name. Take a minute to vote (everyday :) ) and then feel free to share with friends!

http://www.stormykromer.com/living-legend-2014/

Santa!

2013-11-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yes...I realize it's the beginning of November...

Go see my newest endeavor: HERE

Then share with friends. :)

Blogging

2013-10-14T23:58:00.002-07:00

When I wrote this blog, I didn't share it with my family. Ever. I never mentioned it to them. I never mentioned it to my friends. It was my place to vent and cry and scream. If you click on my profile, it won't even show up. Everyone who read this blog made my day.

Anyway, why am I back here rambling? Like I said, I started another blog about Alaska (www.fbxadventures.blogspot.com) but I decided I'm going to share it with family and friends - GULP. Heaven help me.

OH! I do have horse news. There is a horse farm about 3 miles from me. They are MASSIVE I thought they were cows for the longest time, but nope horses! Wonder what the owner will say when I pull over and say "can I smell your pony?"

Random

2013-09-18T01:01:00.002-07:00

Random information for you.

1. This is my 750th post (and probably one of the last. Sad.) I started another blog (you can come watch that shit show here) Don't have much to write here with no horses. MAN, do I miss horses. I really want to go get Vera and bunk with her up here. I had a dream the other night that her owner gave her to me. Sigh. Someday I'll ride again. I will say that there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about or miss Denali. I have a box of her tack in our basement. Every once in a while I go take a smell. It still smells just like her. It makes me happy that she's happy, and I'm happy, but still...it's hard to let go.

2. The tallest mountain in North America is Mt. McKinley (Denali) the 2nd tallest mountain is Mt. Logan :) Which we did NOT plan, but when we figured it out we laughed. That means our next kid or animal will be named Volcán Citlaltépetl I'm going to start practicing how to pronounce that now.

I thought of that today, but didn't want to say it on my other blog. I just feel weird with his name out there in the cyber world. You've all followed our journey for so long, and that's why I shared it with you. :)

Okay. Enough rambling for now.

Thank you!

2013-09-13T00:24:00.001-07:00

Aww. Thanks everyone for your comments. I've missed reading everyone's blogs and catching up. When my domain name was sold ~~out from under me~~ I lost all of the blogs in my reading list. At some point I need to track them all down and re-list them. In great news, if you need ritalin you can visit www.wildponybeast.com.

In the past 4 months we've left Seattle (and holy shit do I miss it) and moved to Fairbanks. I like Fairbanks as much as I want to hate it. I LOVE our house. It's adorable and I have trees to cut up and I get to act all frontierswoman like. Bug (we seriously hardly ever call him Logan) is doing great. He's HUGE. He's in the 93%tile for height and 99%tile for his head size. No wonder I needed a csection. I'm getting into this stay at home mom thing. Seriously, I had NO IDEA how flipping hard it would be. NONE. We're trying to figure out a schedule. For now I have him convinced that morning naps are AWESOME. He's such a good little guy.

We went to Denali (the mountain, not the horse) a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful place to visit. Made me laugh, I never thought when I named the wild pony beast that I'd end up living near the mountain. I still really miss her, but know we are both much happier. Her owner is great. I still have her papers, but know I need to send them to him. There isn't any reason for me to have them. I really miss horses. I miss their smell, I miss riding, I miss just being around them. There are a few places around Fairbanks with horses, and maybe when Bug gets bigger I will try to get back into them while we are up here. My riding boots sit in my closet. I don't have the heart to put them into storage.

So, as for this blog. For a long time I've been trying to figure out what to do with it. I don't own Denali...I don't ride now...not a whole lot to do with horses, but I do like blogging, but feel weird blogging on here. It's Denali's blog. It always will be. I also changed my profile name since I'm Bug's mom too. SO, I decided to write another blog. It's not anything exciting...just about me and adventures in Fairbanks. I'm not going to use Logan's real name on that blog...I think Bug makes for a good internet alias.

So, hope you'll come visit me at www.fbxadventures.blogspot.com and follow us for the next crazy adventures. You all know I'm going to get into some sort of crazy. I miss you all!! Come visit and bring your blog links!

Still Alive

2013-09-11T17:38:00.001-07:00

We are not selling drugs either... Apparently if you forget (don't get reminded, thanks Google) your domain name is sold. When your page gets lots of views, at da! Crappy interwebz people take your name.i know I think of Ritalin when I think of Denali.

Anywho. Does anyone still read this? I am in the process of making a blog about Alaska...maybe..honestly I miss reading everyone's blogs. A lot!! Hope all is well.

I'm a mom!

2013-05-29T19:44:00.002-07:00

Sorry for so long since last post. I appreciated your messages. All is good, just busy.

Logan was born 2 weeks late on 4/21/13 after 36 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing. After all that, he ended up being a csection. He is amazing and wonderful and so sweet. I miss sleep more then ever, but he's worth it!

In other news at the end of June we are moving to Fairbanks!!

Brrr...Will write more when I have more time. :) Miss hearing about everyone's horses and life. I don't have as much time to read blogs. Feel free to fill me in via the comment section.

T- 2 weeks +/-

2013-03-24T17:08:00.001-07:00

I honestly have no clue how in the world people ride all the way through their pregnancies. I am exhausted getting out of bed in the morning, I couldn't imagine going out, getting your horse, tacking her up, and going for a hack. Those people are obviously WAY more dedicated than I am...WAY!

I am now 38 weeks and feel like a house. Not doing a whole lot but sleeping. I was really sick for the past two weeks and am still on antibiotics. I can't wait to be done with those. This is my last week of work and I can't wait to not have to worry about that.

For your viewing amusement...my fat pregnant butt.

Hopefully before too long I'll have a photo of my less fat pregnant butt and a picture of the little guy to go with it!

Getting ready for baby...

2013-02-26T09:08:00.002-08:00

I'm currently +/-6 weeks from my due date. Baby is due April 8th, and I honestly am really ready to be over the whole pregnant thing. Everyone takes cute pictures of themselves with their cute little baby bumps...not me. I have a few photos, but that's it. My husband took one of me over the weekend and between the wind and the fact that I had pulled up my hoodie, I honest to goodness look like a very fat penguin... Seriously...

I've been going through my horse things to sell off some stuff. I "think" I sold my saddle on Sunday. She took it on trial, and will let me know by tomorrow if it works. I think it's only fair that they get a chance to try it out because I would want the same chance before dropping $1,000 on a saddle. I "could" hold onto it, but if we're moving to Alaska, I don't want to pay to ship it up there, and then what? It's going to sit around and collect dust. There isn't exactly a ton of opportunity for riding that I can find. I won't be buying a horse in Alaska, I know that much.

Other news, in true Denali mom style, I got knocked over on February 13th by a friend's son and popped my ankle. They did x-rays that night, but it was so swollen that nothing would show up. I was on crutches for a week, and now I am in a walking boot for 5 more weeks. They didn't want to do more x-rays to check for a break, and said that it's not displaced if it is broken, so just wear the book. I asked about not wearing the boot and the doctor offered to cast it for me....never mind, I'll wear the boot. So much for a second opinion.

Happy Birthday Denali

2013-02-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Today is Denali's 9th birthday. Hard for me to believe that she was just a young mare of 4 when I brought her home. I called and talked to her owner today, who gave me a heart attack. He left me a message that said the following:

What he said: "For the past 10 months Denali's been doing good, but now she's so great."

What I heard: "For the past 10 months Denali's been doing good, but now she's not so great."

Insert FREAKING OUT.

I seriously just sat at my desk and bawled (mind you, I was at work and on my prep.) I gathered myself together and called him back. He laughed at me and my inability to hear him. He said she's awesome with a big winter coat on. He didn't blanket her (which is good because she really hates them) and she is at a good weight and happy.

That makes me happy.

Happy Birthday Denali! I love you!!

Mack Truck

2013-01-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

I wrote, and posted this last week. I had it up for a whole of 20 minutes. Maybe. One person read it, Ophie's mom, and sent me a text, which caused me to freak out, so I took it down. I've told some of the people who need to know, so here it goes...

I was so 100% sure that I would miss riding when I was pregnant that I expected to spend most of it in a horse deprived depression. Not so. It's hard to miss doing something when your back hurts so bad, you can barely get out of bed. I feel like I got hit by a Mack Truck, or better yet, came off of a certain Thoroughbred.

I am still enjoying playing with the ponies who come into the non-profit that I am on the board of directors for. It always amazes me A. How anyone could POSSIBLY ever allow their horse to get into that kind of situation, and B. Watching the light come back into their eyes as they gradually realize that they are safe and will be taken care of. It's a great thing. It's a great organization.

No new news on Denali. Her new owner is a great guy, and she's a lucky horse. I'm very happy that she found him, but I do still miss her. With 10 weeks or so go to before baby is here, I am grateful that everything has worked out the way that it has. I couldn't imagine paying board and paying for baby. I will have another horse someday. I enjoy playing around looking at ones that come up for sale (either friends selling, or dreamhorse) but I am not having a hard time waiting.

All of Denali's tack is currently sitting in the baby room. I stare at it daily and know I "should" sell some of it, but can't bring myself to do that yet. I have decided to sell my saddle (that I bought the day before I found out I was pregnant.) I don't want it sitting around for who knows how long. It fits "okay" but when I get another saddle, I'm just getting custom. My legs are so fricking long that nothing fits right (jeans or otherwise.)

Now for the part that caused the freak out:

We have some other news, but I have to keep a lid on it for a little bit yet. Only our close family knows (well most of them) but I can't say anything publicly for a few more months. SO, if you are my FB friend, PLEASE don't post anything. I am not ready to deal with the work fall out. My husband has been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity job wise and so he has accepted it. Positive is that I am going to get to be a stay at home mom (for a year at least, I know I'm going to go nuts.) Negative, we have to leave Seattle. I love it here so much, and know I'm going to be super depressed when we go.

Where are we moving you ask? BFE (if you know that term) AKA: Alaska. I swore up and down our entire marriage that I would NEVER EVER move there EVER, but with a baby on the way and the opportunity for him to have an amazing job and I get to stay home, it's hard to pass that up. Living in AK will limit my horse access/ownership even more, but heck, maybe I'll get a sled dog team.... I have spent the past week and a half on such a roller coaster of emotions. Part of it I'll blame on pregnancy hormones, part of it on work stress, and part of it (most of it) on trying to figure out how to move to Alaska (it's not cheap.) Joy. We're going to start a blog to cronicle our adventures in Alaska, but I think it's going to go something like this, "Day 58: Dark and Cold." "Day 59: Dark and Cold." etc. Heck, at least now the sun is rising before 10am.

Guest Post

2012-12-11T17:24:00.001-08:00

I asked a while ago if anyone wanted to do a guest post (pretty much because my life is boring, and full of non-horse related things.) Plus, who wants to hear about a pregnant lady? I don't. SO without further ado....The Guest Post! Let me know if you'd like to post one. Also: I did not pay Cuna's Mom to write this. Promise!

Hello readers of Denali's Mom's blog! This is my first ever guest post, but it sounded like a fun idea and DM is totally fun, so here goes.

You all know DM as the zany and fun blogger who sporadically entertains the blogosphere. Now she's threatening to bring forth a small human, and all I have to say is this: DM is going to be one kick ass mom.

And I've actually met her.

I met her the way the rest of you probably did--I was perusing horse blogs and I ran across one called "wild pony beast". No one can pass up a title like that, so I kept reading. It was funny. It was honest. Most of all, it was human. She never tried to be anyone she wasn't and she made me laugh, constantly.

Fast forward to last January. I was headed to her end of the world for the weekend. I wanted to know about horsey hotspots in the area, and to my great surprise, she offered to take me on a tour!

Because I am a paranoid freak, I dragged a friend along to meet this mysterious internet woman who might be an ax murderer. We met on the street in front of her house. There was this awkward pause. That moment of "I-know-you-but-I've-never-met-you".

And I think that's the last time we were quiet for the rest of the day. We toured barns, visited tack stores, ate more fast food than I'll admit to, and got home well after dark with prizes in hand. She had nothing but the best to say about (almost) everyone and we had a great time.

That genuine, funny, down to earth style? That's real. That's DM. She laughs at the rest of us, but she laughs at herself just as much. She's one smart cookie, but doesn't rub it in your face. No matter how scared she is, she'll be motivated by how much she cares instead of how much she doesn't want to be there.

I'm a horse person and I don't really know a lot about kids. I do know that she took great care of Denali, one of the more challenging mares I've ever met. Even when she was trampled and bruised by Denali, she felt terrible that the mare might have had a bad experience. She overcame her fears on Vera, another mare who offered a challenge.

Now she's embarking on a new journey, and that unique combination of humor, intelligence, and sheer grit that makes her a great horse person and a great friend is going to warrant labeling her as "Kickass Pre-mom of the Year".

Phone Calls

2012-12-05T21:42:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was crazy. I had a million of things to do. I ran out of work on Friday to go out to decorate the barn for our Holiday bazaar, and checked my phone. There was a message from Denali's new owner. My heart dropped. I figured all was fine and listened to the voice mail.

Owner: " Hi, this is ####, can you give me a call as soon as possible.

My heart dropped and I figured it would make the most sense for Denali to knock herself off on the busiest weekend I've had in months. So as I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown I called him back.

Sigh...all is fine, he had a random question about her and laughed when I told him I was worried about her. He all is well and then proceeded to talk to me for thirty minutes. I love him. She's a lucky, lucky girl!!

In other news, I got my car back last Wednesday. Totally gross, and disgusting. It still runs, which is great!

AND in other exciting news, we found out what we are having!

It's a BOY!

Thanksgiving

2012-11-24T09:07:00.001-08:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to fly back to Pennsylvania last weekend for a quick trip to see family. While in Middle-of-no-where-Pennsylvania I saw a girl I use to go to high school with out shopping (note: I hate shopping unless it's at a tack store.) She looked at me and said, "hu?" I was confused but kept talking to her, she has never been one to be rude. Then she says, "You know, my sister said you were having a baby, but I just assumed that meant a horse baby." LOL. Oh how well everyone in my life knows me. Yeah, wasn't planning on a human baby so soon (I'll be 32 in 2 weeks, so I'm not exactly jumping into it I guess.) I've never had a horse baby, but they sound like they are almost as much work as a human baby (except they grow up a lot faster.)

Yesterday I was having "I miss ponies" sort of day and met up with my friends for lunch. My one friend is almost 30 weeks pregnant and she is still riding daily. Seriously beyond impressive!! She thinks this is her last week because her belly is getting in the way now, but I only rode to 12 weeks and my hips hurt WAY too much. I guess if I rode every single day, with multiple horses my body would be use to it and it wouldn't hurt.

I got to go see Ms. Vera after lunch. Apparently she has been a pill, but in her defense, she is the kind of horse (much like Denali) that if you let her think (at all) that she is in charge she takes it and runs away with it. One of the new clients came off of her twice, and then she tried to buck off the new trainer too. I think it had more to do with her fresh clip job than with wanting to actually get people off. Also, she always was the kind of horse that you needed to get on and sort of warm up slowly. The trainer got on her and got after her right away (which who wouldn't, someone came off of you.) Anyway, the long of the short of it, that woman who drives me nuts (note: I'm still really nice to her) had a lesson after my friend. She was so terrified of Vera, that it reminded me of Denali, and I know exactly how she felt. She asked another friend of ours to walk with her while she warmed Vera up. I told her, if you act afraid she's going to think there's a cougar hiding behind the arena wall. Fake it. That's my best advice. Ride the horse you're on, not the one you've been told about. See, Denali taught me a ton. :0) Vera didn't look like she was out to kill anyone. She's a good horse, but she's a horse. I can't wait to not be pregnant and to hope back up on her. She looks good. She's super lean and muscular now and just beautiful! I miss that girl, but am really excited that she gets to stay there.

Not much new in the whole baby thing. My back is killing me, and I wake up everyday with the first thought being "did I come off a horse yesterday?" That's exactly how my back feels. Like I came off of a horse and landed on my butt.

Monday we find out if we're having a girl or a boy. Half my friends are convinced I'm having a girl, and the other half are convinced I'm having a boy. I don't care honestly, I just want a healthy kid (and if they are obsessed with horses, bonus.)

Still MIA

2012-11-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

The car is still missing. Last night I was laying in bed trying to think of all the stuff that is in it. At about 2am I woke up realizing that the tools that came with my saddle (to adjust it) are in the car. I don't know what I'm going to do if my car doesn't turn up. Ugh. It tried finding online where to contact Toulouse to try to order another set. I have decided to sell my saddle. I really like it, but A. I have no place to keep it in my house, and B. the room it is in now is about to become a baby room. I'm not too devastated I decided I'm biting the bullet in the future and just buying the saddle that I want. It will probably be a few years anyway. Plus, Vera has a saddle now so I could ride her in that when I get back to riding.

Anyone know where I could order more tools? Ugh! Also, if you see an old crappy Subaru driving around let me know. :0( I figured if I start car shopping it will turn up.

Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of Denali and mine little "accident." I think Pia's mom is happy that I didn't stain her trailer too bad. Opps. That's the first thing I thought of when my car went missing...November hates me.

Carter

2012-11-08T20:51:00.001-08:00

I guess this post is horse related....

I woke up this morning to go to work and walked out my door. Sort of hard to get to work when your CAR WAS STOLEN!! To say that I'm pissed would be an understatement. Totally pissed. I LOVED my car. It was old, it was beat up, but it was mine. In addition to stealing my car, all of my tack (ALL) was in the trunk. Luckily my saddle and boots were in my house, but still... We live in a little house and since I don't have a barn to keep my stuff, there it sat.

And I was pissed when it was broken into. Grrr... I'm so upset about my stupid car. The cop was really nice when I filled out the police report (while bawling.) He said that cars are usually broken into, and found within a week. We'll see if it shows up! I hope so. I can only imagine what they did to it/in it/with it.

Poor Carter (my car).....

Pregnancy Hormones + Subaru commercial (the one with the chocolate lab) = sobbing mess.

Guest Post?

2012-11-06T20:36:00.003-08:00

Anyone interested in doing a guest post? e-mail me! Might as well post something here, my real life is full of little kids, lots of work and no horses (boo.) I was DYING to go riding today, but figured I shouldn't since I haven't ridden in 2 months and should just wait...Should.

Montana

2012-10-31T17:51:00.002-07:00

Obviously since I'm knocked up, stopped riding, and sold Denali this blog sort of sits stagnant Every once in a while I go to write something and thing, "Eh, this has nothing to do with horses." I don't want to bore you too much.

Every few months I start to worry about Denali. With this new financial responsibility coming up, part of me really wanted to make sure all was well, and that she was still happy. If not, I needed to adjust the budget and bring the girl home.

I called last week, left a message, and never heard back. My brain developed some really impressive scenarios to freak me out. I stewed about it for a week, and decided to call back. Her owner explained that his youngest son still wasn't sure how to communicate messages to him, and apparently writing in tiny print on the notepad that I called was good enough. He was very apologetic.

All's well in Montana. He really likes her, says she's a sweet girl (I double checked he had the right horse) and she is a pleasure. She is growing her winter coat in, and he will blanket her if she needs it (she doesn't really like blankets. Wild Pony Beasts don't wear blankets.) He said she's been doing great, put on some weight since we saw her, and he was very appreciative that we trust him with her.

Again, I love this man! I don't know how Denali lucked out so much, and if I wouldn't have seen it with my two eyes I wouldn't believe it myself. We chatted for a while, and he invited us back for a longer period of time. I told him we'd have a screaming child with us next time.

That's all the news I have. I'm putting my new awesome saddle on consignment. I just don't want to have something happen to it, and it fit me "okay" but not amazing. I hope to make close to what I paid for it. It really is an awesome saddle. My office/saddle/horse stuff storage area needs to become the baby room.

Baby....you'd think at this point I'd get use to the idea. It still freaks me out. Hope all is well with you!!

Vera Sold

2012-10-14T12:08:00.001-07:00

My trainer came into Seattle last night and we went out to dinner with our husbands. A really fun night overall! It was nice to catch up with her on a friend level instead of the normal trainer/student level. On our way to the restaurant she told me that Vera sold. I got sad for a second, and she go a smile on her face. My trainer now owns Vera! I am pretty fricking happy right now.

Rest in Peace Enzo

2012-10-13T13:06:00.003-07:00

If you have a minute, go give your sympathy's to Janine. Her beloved, love of her life, Enzo died suddenly on Wednesday of an aortic rupture. He was only 3 years old. Enzo was a beautiful Friesian, and I've enjoyed reading about their journeys.

Go hug your horse.

Janine, there are no words. I'm so sorry.

Baby Human

2012-10-02T09:29:00.001-07:00

This is the total opposite of pony related, but oh well...Yep, I'm pregnant. If you know me in real life, you know that I've been saying for the past 10 years that I wasn't having kids. That 10 years also corresponds with the number of years I've taught, but still.

Let me first start with a public apology to my husband because I've become a crying mess, especially at night. If I'm not crying I'm puking. Super, SUPER fun.

Things have a way of working out. Sometimes not fast enough since I bought my saddle the day before I found out that that I was pregnant. Fail. The funny story about being pregnant is that everyone knew it before I did. My trainer is also pregnant. She is due in February, and I only found out about her in July. For a few weeks at the end of July I just didn't feel right.Not horrible, but weird. I told her it was the heat, and she'd tell me that I was pregnant.

Another week or so later I decided to take a pregnancy test. Let's just say there are directions for a reason. I took the test, saw one line, and threw it in the garbage and that was it. About 12 hours later, after going to the bar with a friend (only 1 beer), I came home. I looked in the trash as I was brushing my teeth to be reminded that I had taken the test. I took it out to look at it and there were two lines. I brushed it off as a mistake, because it had sat so long another line showed up. I wasn't pregnant.

The next day my trainer asked me if I took a test, and I proudly said, "Yes! Not pregnant." Well, then I mentioned the "extra" line on the bad test and was informed there were no false positives. So, 7 more pregnancy tests later I finally gave in and believed I was pregnant.

Poor kid, I already am talking ponies. Every baby needs a pony right? I've stopped riding now. I know lots of people ride right up to 7 or 8 months, but since I couldn't get out daily anymore, it started to hurt that once a week that I was able to ride. My hips hated me and my stomach muscles were horribly pulling. No fun. I'm sad about it, but am pretty shocked at how much time I have on my hands. Like HOURS!! I started working out again (since I "hope" I'm done puking.) I don't want to turn into the size of a house.

Hope all is well in your worlds.

What I post on Facebook...

2012-09-25T18:00:00.001-07:00

I posted this on Facebook yesterday.... thought I'd share it with you as well. :0)

Equine America

2012-09-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I am on the board of directors for a non-profit that provides veterinary care for horses from local rescues. The WONDERFUL people at Equine America sent us some items to try out on our rescue that we currently have in their care. We received four products, and I have personally used the Bute-Less before for a certain Thoroughbred that we all know and love. I really liked their products.

We are currently trying the Gluco-Flex powder for our 15 year old warmblood/cross that has some joint problems. So far he does seem to feel more comfortable, and his typically sensitive stomach hasn't seemed to be affected. I will report more, he's been on it for three weeks.

Have you ever used any products from Equine America? What did you think? I do want to say a HUGE "THANK YOU" to the nice folks at Equine America for their donations.