I took a 1.2 mile walk today around the park near my house. This means two laps on the walking trail around it, I could have walked further but two laps was about all I wanted to see of the muddy, cloudy landscape. I think my last post on spring was a tad bit on the optimistic side, since we have had an ice storm since then and temps in the 30’s. Don’t disappoint me spring! I really would like some nice warm weather:)

This weekend I got to see my mom, my Aunt Florence (my mom’s best friend), and one of my other Aunt’s (who really is my mom’s sister). It was great to hang out with my mom and see my Aunt Florence (who I have not seen in a few years). My Aunt Florence brought with her the wedding gift that she made for Ben & me. It is probably one of my most cherished gifts, since she made it herself. It is absolutely amazing too….

A quilt made just for us from my Aunt Florence. She did some machine stitching, but she also hand quilted a lot of it too. It definitely inspires me to try quilting, although I don’t think I have the patience for hand quilting. Another picture…

Notice the blurry motion in the right hand bottom corner. What picture would be complete without a cat right:) That one is Axel jumping up to investigate the quilt, since I haven’t let him or Pounce near it since bringing it home.

Also part of the gift was some handmade placemats from the scraps leftover from the quilt. The placemats almost look too beautiful to use! I have to say it is definitely inspiring to get gifts like these, especially when you know how much love and hard work goes into such a gift. Thank you Aunt Florence!

Two more pictures just because I can;) Taken quite a bit ago, when we had one of the first snowfalls…. Ben brought in a little bit of the fresh snow so that Pounce & Axel could play with it.

Pounce had a blast for awhile with it, trying to pick it up and batting it around on the kitchen counter.
Axel just kind of looked at it while Pounce played:)

Last night I had horseback riding again and this week we actually rode. I loved it! We each have partners and so we take turns riding during class, I rode for the first half and then the other lady got to ride for the second half. We also get to groom the horse, saddle it, and everything so it is great experience.

My boots that took forever to find…

The sweet sound of spring… I can actually hear birds chirping outside right now as I type. This is probably one of my favorite sounds, I love knowing that spring is around the corner and summer (my favorite season) is soon to be here. Although looking outside my window right now, you might come to the conclusion that the birds are a little crazy since there is melting snow still on the ground. Lucky for us it is melting though!

I don’t think I would be a true animal person without adding that my absolute favorite sound is not birds chirping, but actually happens to be the sound of my two kitties purring. Yes, both of my cats purr contrary to what those who have met (and actually managed to pet) Axel might think. Although most his purring does occur around 4-5am when I am trying to sleep and he is thinking that I should wake up and pay attention to him:)

Speaking of cats… Last night was the first time my horseback riding class (officially known as equitation class) met out at the stables. We didn’t ride this week because it is such a big group, but we did go through and meet all of the horses (there were quite a few), our instructor showed us all the basics (a lot of which I already knew) about preparing a horse for riding, and discussed different breeds of horses among other things. Even without getting to ride, it was still a fun class time and I am definitely looking forward to riding next week. Due to having such a large group, it is going to be split into two different nights of the week to make it more manageable so that everyone can ride. What did all of that have to do with cats you ask? Well, there were a lot of cute little barn cats out at the stables…. So it just made me think of horses:)

I have also started working on my crafting notebook already! I am pretty excited about it and plan on using it quite a bit. Right now I just have one page filled with ideas that I want to try making and also just little drawings of randomness to keep it fun and a little less boring. One of the things I want to try doing more is photographing little things in life a little more frequently. I would start today, however due to the computer blowing up the other day I am going to have to wait on that. Expect to see more pictures though in the future:)

Okay now I really need to go get some stuff done! I am going to be seeing my mom, her best friend (who I refer to as my aunt), and my mom’s sister (also known as my aunt:) this weekend and I really need to get some stuff done around the house including packing!

Edited to include: One of the ladies whose blog I read just started an etsy shop. (If you don’t know what etsy is then you should find out! It is where people sell handmade, creative goods. Someday I think I may consider starting an etsy shop myself, we shall see…. Etsy is just a great way to find awesome art/handmade goods.) She is selling her photography (which I love), so go check out her shop! Oh, and you could buy a photograph for me as a little present;)

Two blog entries in one day has to be a record for me:) Anyways I know that I said I was moving on and wasn’t going to talk about school anymore, but I just feel like I need to a little bit more for therapy and then I am totally done and not thinking about it ever again.

I am pretty sure that the head of the program I was in now has no doubt in their mind why I quit. Apparently that person did not think when I told them the first time earlier today, so to make it clear I called them on the phone during my dinner to tell them exactly what they said. If that person has anymore “issues” figuring out why I quit, I told them they better come to me next time instead of telling other people. It really bugs me when someone who must be in at least their 50’s or 60’s acts like a stupid, immature high schooler (no insult meant to anyone in high school, in fact saying that is way to good to this person, since all the high schoolers I knew would never act like this)! Let alone someone who is supposed to be the head of a college program.

Also, it really bugs me when people assume I need to talk to my parents about anything (no offense Mom & Dad, I love you guys but you both understand what I am saying)! I know that I may look young, but I am older than most people think and I am a married, grown woman for goodness sakes! I forget though that a lot of people never grow up and realize what it is like to be a mature adult. I guess I just don’t get how so many people can get through life without growing up… sure they grow up in one sense of the word, but they don’t really grow up in an emotional sense.

I guess the lesson here is that you should never be immature, talk behind people’s backs, or assume things about people that just are not true! Grow up! (Not the people reading this, I feel like I am preaching to the choir or something, but I just need to get it all out, thanks for listening!)

Oh and did you know that it feels really good to tell someone off. Next time someone makes you mad, try it, it actually does make you feel better to get it out! (I think I surprised Ben with how much force and guts I actually had in me, in fact I think I surprised myself. Although I don’t think the head of the program will have any doubts now about why I quit, which is probably good.)

Moving on again hopefully…. Thanks for listening/reading:)

It must be a season for changes, it seems like a lot of people whose blogs I read have decided to make a few changes in their lives. My change today was withdrawing from the vet tech program at school. It took a lot of consideration and talking with Ben, but I think I have made the right decision for myself. There were just a lot of little things adding up, but overall the program and its head had some issues. I don’t really want to go into all those issues here, in fact I just want to move on with life so that is what I am going to do. Rather than let that person get to me, I am going to forget about all of it and enjoy my life!

So now I am going to have lots of spare time to do whatever I want! I definitely have some goals for that free time though… some of those goals include:

• starting a crafting notebook where I jot down ideas and designs for new projects and such
• getting our home more organized and clutter free (Ben probably loves this one, I tend to collect stuff sometimes:)
• finishing the blanket that I have been knitting for far too long and maybe starting a new knitting project
• learning how to actually cook, experimenting with eating new foods and such (have you ever tried organic milk out of a bottle instead of a plastic jug? it is so much better than the stuff you get at the typical chain grocery store!)

Okay, those are not my only goals for this time, but you get the general picture. I guess my main goal is just to learn more about life and enjoy the time I have to a fuller extent. Oh and since I will have more free time, maybe I will post on my blog a little more frequently. Just a warning though… I think the focus of my blog may change a little too since I am going to be doing new things. Hope no one minds! :)

About five minutes ago I asked Ben to turn on our server (yes we have our own personal server, I am after all married to a software engineer). Being the nice husband that he is, he turned it on for me at which point we both heard a very loud pop! He also some some sparks fly out the back and when I turned around the computer had smoke pouring out of it. Bummer! Luckily, we have decent back ups and he thinks the hard drives in it are probably okay. Still, it is kind of crazy to watch a computer with smoke pouring out. I guess it means that he is going to get to pick out a new server or build his own server finally!

Oh and I am very, very glad he was home when it happened…. not sure what I would have done if he hadn’t been!

Snow Day! School was cancelled today due to the storm that is blowing through the midwest. It is actually fairly impressive…. we have gotten quite a bit of snow, over a foot already, it is still snowing plus there are winds up to 30mph which is blowing all of that snow around. The state we live in actually declared a blizzard warning and my college cancelled classes, which I guess never happens. Unfortunately, Jes & I still had to get up this morning to do kennels at school, which ended in both of us getting stuck on our ways home from school. Luckily, she got some help pushing her car out and Ben helped shovel my little Hyundai out (which meant that he had to shovel almost our whole alley in order to get the car parked again).

Home finally, I took some pictures of the snow.

Keep in mind that all of those pictures are from about 9am this morning, and it has not stopped snowing since then…. Oh and it is supposed to continue until at least midnight tonight. Needless to say we are completely snowed in. Especially since, I swear this city only owns 2 snowplows at the most (I actually saw them using a piece of construction equipment to semi-plow the streets earlier, it really wasn’t working either). The best part though is that school is cancelled again tomorrow! Two snow days in a row is pretty sweet in my opinion. I might as well enjoy it, since I am sure when you start having kids snow days becoming less exciting and a little more like work:)

Read more about the storm hitting us in the midwest right here.

“The more it snows
(Tiddely pom),
The more it goes
(Tiddely pom),
The more it goes
(Tiddely pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes
(Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes
(Tiddely pom),
Are growing.”
-Pooh

Right now the temperature outside is 1

I am having what I think might appropriately be termed “a frustrating week.” I hesitated to write about it on my blog for awhile, but it is my blog after all started by me as a way to write about things in my life.

You know how sometimes things just build up on top of other things until you can’t deal with them any more? That is kind of how I am feeling about school right now! I spent over 16 hours at school yesterday and I am sure the day before came pretty close to that too. 16 hours of classes and cleaning out kennels and dealing with frustrations that should never have existed. I had to put up with a professor lecturing me about not doing something that was never explained to me or written down anywhere for me to find out how to do it. I wouldn’t have minded the professor coming to me to talk to me about it, however that person chose to lecture me in front of the ENTIRE class while EVERYONE was taking A QUIZ! I was already having difficulty concentrating due to being up at 4am, let alone having someone yell at you while you are trying to take a quiz, well forget trying to be able to do good on that quiz after all that. I know that I probably need to go talk to him and explain that I found his remarks very unprofessional and rude (in fact others have come up to me and told me that they found it completely out of place and that they think I should confront him about what he did), however I am just so tired of trying to fight things like this. A professor should know better, especially when it was their fault the student didn’t know anything about what they wanted done since they failed to ever explain it or be available once the student needed to ask about it. (It would be a different story if it was my fault for not going to ask about it, but I did try and that professor was not around at all on monday when I needed to ask about the situation.)

Right now I just want a year to bury my head in the sand and either cry or sleep…. I have way too much to do, not enough time to do it, and am not sure how it is ever going to get done. I barely have enough time to schedule a little routine thing like a doctor’s appointment for myself, let alone a vet tech internship for the summer (and I am sure I am going to have a hard time finding one too!). I don’t know why my professors thought it would be great to schedule my classes so that I have school mondays through thursdays from 8-4 (during all normal business hours), but apparently they did. The frustrating part is that not everyone’s schedule is like that, but you do not get to pick yours and I swear a certain prof just wants to make it so you can’t work or have a life outside school (in fact he has been heard saying almost that). So instead, I have been gone every day for the last 3 days all day. I haven’t seen Ben much or Pounce & Axel, and I miss them and I miss just being me. Pounce just sits in front of me lately and cries until I pick him up and carry him constantly when I am home, or if I don’t he climbs up my leg into my arms because he is missing me. Axel starts pacing around 9 or 10pm to let me know that he wants me to go to bed so that he can cuddle up to me. I just feel like….. I don’t even know, I am too tired to feel anything right now…. I don’t feel great though….

Tomorrow, I am supposed to take 1 quiz, 1 written exam, and 1 practical exam. Not sure how that is going to go seeing as I haven’t been home for very long yet today and I am extremely tired and just want to sleep. So sleep or study is the question I guess? Or drop out of school so that I can actually do something other than study and stay at school ALL day long?

Sorry it is all so brutally honest, but it is just how I feel so I am not even sure that I do feel sorry about the honesty.

Oh it snowed here too to top it all off, and this city has no idea what a snowplow is or how to drive in the snow. Augh!

Just a warning… I have been awake since 4:40am so there is no guarantee that any of this will make sense. Oh and you did read that right, it does say 4:40am. Why? That would be because I am studying to become a vet tech and in order to practice we need real animals. With real animals comes the need to clean and feed them, which means that someone has to do that. So they put everyone on a schedule and 3 times a semester you get to take care of cleaning up after the animals with one other person 2 times a day for a few days. Yeah! Just what I want to do at 5am when it is below zero outside. At least you get to work with someone else, I couldn’t imagine having to do all that at 5am by myself! (Thanks Jes:)

I also feel a little crazy right now…. Not only am I in school this semester, I am also taking a ballet class on the weekends (did I mention that before, I don’t think so….), and starting this week my horseback riding class starts up. Oh and I have kennels at school this week (the mentioned cleaning up), and next week (because Jes & I are crazy and needed to switch so we weren’t stuck doing them a different week when she has to work & I have class). Yep, it is official I am crazy.

Guess what! I actually had some time to work on sewing a scrub top this weekend. It is nearly finished so I will post a pic when I am done. It was kind of crazy making it, since I didn’t use a pattern or anything. Basically I just cut the fabric and hoped for the best! I think I like it though:)

Okay I think I need a nap now or something…. zzzzzzz……….