Dogs

I know most of you are already dog lovers..some of you own packs of dogs. When I went to Sun Valley for Christmas I was a bit bummed to leave Gretta and Shuksan behind as it was CHRISTMAS and what abusive parent dumps their canine children on someone else for the holidays? I wasn't worried about missing dogs though, as Meg has two (Gully- black lab mix and Mavis- brindle pit mix) and she was house sitting for a family who had two more dogs (Buddy- three legged short hair- a crotchety version of Gretta, and Mazie- terrier mix in photo). The dogs were a source of entertainment all week and they reminded me how much happier people can be when they have pets. Meg works at the local animal shelter so she's privy to each dogs story (all three in this photo are from the shelter) and it continually amazes me that people don't treat animals with the same compassion they treat other humans. Gully came to the shelter because his owner was moving and just couldn't find an apartment that allowed dogs (would he/she have done this to a child- opps, can't find a place big enough, may as well put you on craigslist). Mazie was shot at because her owner had been breeding dogs and suddenly had too many and needed to downsize. Mavis wandered around the woods for weeks before someone brought her to the shelter. There are a ton of stories like these and I'm continuously baffled by humans and their attitude that everything is disposable and that the world exists to serve human needs.

Why I Love Sun Valley

I admit I suffer from "the grass is always greener" syndrome. When we left Sun Valley and moved back to Washington, I thought I'd squelched the problem, after all, we were moving to the green state. But for nearly two years after moving back to Washington, I threatened to move back to Sun Valley (Jarred threatened to stay in Washington- I guess he won) having realized the grass IS NOT always greener and there really are special places. Since leaving Idaho, we've spent most summers in Sun Valley, so I feel like I get my fix. After not visiting this summer, I decided winter was a great time to go... I could enjoy the sun and snow. I didn't get to enjoy the snow, as the valley was plagued by weird weather just like the rest of the northwest, but I was reminded of why the grass really is greener over there.
1. Sun. Humans need sun, it makes us happy. It was sunny all but one of the days I visited and I found myself gravitating towards the sun and outdoors. It needs to be sunnier in Washington. I don't know why I live here sometimes....oh wait- the summers are pretty cool. The winters suck ass.
2. My friends. I've moved a ton in my life and I've tried to keep in touch with friends after leaving an area. I'm grateful for all of the people I've met and places I've lived but I've come to realize that my best friends live in Sun Valley. They're not the friends I need to talk to everyday but I find that I have the most in common with these people and they're the people I really love to spend time with and they're from all walks of life.
3. Snobs. So I don't really appreciate the 1% who build 15,000 sq. ft. houses but I do appreciate the thought that goes into the homes and land in the area. Sure, a lot of it is totally impractical (the valley is in the desert- no need for acres of green) but I love that people (even if they're paid to) care about their surroundings (or are willing to pay high taxes so the city can care for their surroundings). The whole time I visited, I didn't see a single blow up Christmas decoration in a single yard. I saw lots of cool Christmas lights in trees but no cheesy Santa or a fat snowman.
4. Nobody walks their dogs on leash. Everywhere we took Meghan's dogs...off leash and those who were also walking their dogs...off leash. I'm always the one who has their dogs off leash here and I get all sorts of evil stares from suburbanites who thrive in controlled environments.
5. BLM land. Lots of it- and if it's not BLM it's owned by someone in California who doesn't care if people hike on their land.
6. Big Box Stores- or lack there-of. I remember living in Sun Valley and making the trek to Twin Falls to shop because we were too poor to shop in the valley, but there's something to be said about being able to operate on a day to day basis without seeing a Target or Wal-Mart.
7. Everyone is in shape. That's partly because they're rich and have oodles of time to work out, but whatever- at least they care about being in shape. Even the "not in shape" people, are in shape.
8. The conscientious people. Yes, rich assholes live in the valley but nowhere else is there a dog hiking program at the animal shelter, or a horse rescue where the horses are not taken from their owners but instead the owners are offered resources so they can become better owners. Yes this takes money but at least those with money are doing something good with their loot.
9. Less people.
Don't get me wrong, I love Washington but it's hard to love Washington in the winter and Sun Valley will always be that place where the grass is greener.

Where the Heck Did Fall Go?

Is this what it's like when you get old? There you are enjoying summer, or fall, or winter and BAM! all of a sudden an entire season went by before your eyes, and the next thing you know, you're older and your body doesn't work like it used to but it seemed like yesterday you felt so young? And the BAM- you're dead. I remember being young and it felt like eons before Christmas would come around. Now I'm old and BAM!

Looking back, it's hard to remember what we did this fall... we went to Bend biking, we painted our house until it was too cold and dark to paint, we rode our bikes locally....I went to OKC...and BAM. Here it is, four days until Christmas and my least favorite day of the year (yet my most favorite because the days only get longer from here on out). I guess I'd better start making the most of my days before it's all over and BAM! I can't remember where winter went.

Oklahoma, Where Horse People Go Crazy

The girls with Cash.

Mike the groom and awesome travel partner!

I think we all have that one hobby, the one we can nerd out on for hours and even days on end. It's the hobby that often makes those close to us question or sanity at times. For me, it's horses. I can spend hours at a horse show- watching the classes, people warming their horses up for their next class or just visiting with other crazy friends discussing....horses. Of course, showing at a horse show is even better but I've not gotten to do any of that this past year. I think I needed a good horse show fix- so when Lindsey's (in photo) sister, Brittany decided to enter her horse in the non-pro futurity this year, it was a perfect excuse for me to buy a ticket and spend four days nerding out at a horse show. For those of you long-term blog followers, you will remember that Lindsey and I made the trek to Oklahoma together a few years ago. I've since sold Nic and Lindsey is now at Texas A&M riding on their equestrian team. Lindsey actually purchased the mare her sister was riding when her and I were down in OKC together. Cash and Sophie made the long trip home together, both convinced at the time they'd rather kill themselves than live up north. Fortunately, they made it alive and Cash proved to be ready for the futurity so when Brittany purchased her from Lindsey, she committed to the show.

I have to say it was much more fun showing in OKC but watching was great- I had no classes to worry about and was free to sit for hours watching or shopping, or watching or shopping (bought some sweet ostrich boots). I most defiantly got my horse fix as I think I watched six hours of showing one afternoon. It was great to watch Brittany show and especially great that she made the finals (there are hundreds of competitors so Brittany had to show in one other class to qualify for the finals in her division- competition was tough!). While I was envious of the fact that she was gutsy enough to show a three year old, I also realized that showing such a young horse is so hit and miss. They're young and for the most part fairly green, so there are always surprises. I don't think I'll ever strive to have a futurity horse but the Derby (4,5,6 yrs) sounds good!