Ashley Leigh

I'm back!

2012-01-21T17:29:00.002-05:00

Hello all! It's been a crazy couple of years for me. I have been so busy with life, but now I'm back! The crafty side of me has been reawakened and I can't wait to start sharing with you all!

Much love!

~Ashley

Bad Romance

2009-11-13T19:15:00.003-05:00

I've come to the realization that I LOVE Lady Gaga's music and videos. Love love love this video!

Haunted Houses

2009-10-17T17:49:00.002-04:00

I won tickets from Hot 96 to go to The Old Courthouse Catacombs and House of Lecter. My bf and I are gonna go check it out tonight. I love haunted houses like no other! Should be exciting... especially when I get scared and get to have the bf protect me from the scary ghosts. ;-)

Pink Soap!

2009-10-16T00:03:00.004-04:00

I need some decorative soap for my bathroom sink. My bathroom is done Playboy style all in pink and black. I have a black shower curtain with the Playboy logo, black and pink towels, and pink rugs and curtains. Obviously, I would choose pink (which I love) for decorative soap.

I'm down to a few options for the soap. Let me know what you think!

Liquid Crack Lush Dupe Shea Butter Soap

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String of Pearls Soap

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Pink Sugar Natural Soap Bar and Sachet

Ahh! Help! They all look so good!

Tuxedo Bikini

2009-05-20T19:07:00.004-04:00

I just *had* to show you all this bikini. I absolutely love it.

Stepankalicious is selling it in her shop and I'm just crazy about it.

********** View Listing **********

Pretty Butterflies

2009-05-14T19:54:00.003-04:00

As I sat on my porch today, I noticed a caterpillar crawling by. This reminded me of those "Grow Your Own Butterfly" kits and I wondered if maybe I could find an article on how to care for a caterpillar without buying a kit. I found this neat article on Wiki:

How to Raise Butterflies

Surprise!! (and an unlikely happy mother's day)

2009-05-10T09:44:00.005-04:00

Friday we had some severe storms in our area. As I went down to my house to eat lunch, I got a call from Debby (our riding instructor) that the storms were moving in and that we needed to get all of the horses in from the pastures. Naturally, I brought my two horses in as well. They normally stay out 24/7 but in cases as this I bring them in for more shelter.

I put my horse, Bear, in one of the open stalls and put King in the foaling stall next to him so they could still "talk".

(Bear)

The storms were scary, but thankfully did no damage. Later on that evening, I went over to check if the doors to the barn had been opened back up to let air in after the storms. I walked in to see Bear standing in his stall looking rather sad. I walked up to him, thinking that he should have plenty of hay to munch on for the rest of the evening, and looked in his hay manger. I saw that it was filled with hay.

At this point, I was becoming a bit concerned because my horse has never turned down hay. About the time I was starting to think there was something seriously wrong with him......

I heard....

"mew".... "mew"....

I opened the stall door and lifted up some of the hay... what did I find?

KITTENS!!! SURPRISE!!! No wonder Bear wouldn't eat his hay, it was mewing!!!

Of course this meant I had to move him to another stall away from his buddy (he didn't like that at all and now he thinks the kittens are more important than he is), but I knew that Momma Cat (Happy Mother's Day!) would come back to take care of her kittens and there was no way I was going to move them. So, Bear got the raw deal (at least I gave him another manger full of hay!)

We already have six kittens in the main barn that are about a month old (guessing? they just started eating hard food and drinking water vs. nursing this week.) Now we have 10 kittens altogether. Hopefully the kids at the barn will be able to talk their parents into getting a new pet when they are ready to find new homes! ;)

I Made A Video

2009-05-03T11:31:00.002-04:00

I took some video clips with my digital camera on Friday of one of the geldings we have for sale. I realized I had a video editor on my computer that I didn't know I had and created this video. It's not the best quality video clips because my digital camera is 5 years old, haha. I told my boss to invest in a high quality digital camcorder so I could play director more!

My Magic Me

2009-04-24T20:26:00.003-04:00

I freakin' this shop!!!!

My Magic Me has the coolest photo morphs you could imagine! And reasonable priced! After you purchase a listing, you send in your photo and this wonderful artist magically morphs it into a masterpiece! Check out these before and after pictures:

Too awesome!

Another One of Our Beautiful Horses!

2009-04-19T10:27:00.003-04:00

I took more pictures this week of our horses for sale. I love American Saddlebreds and this girl is one of our lesson horses. She is such a sweetie!

Also, I absolutely LOVE this new song by Eminem "We Made You". It would be such an awesome song to get ready for a horse show. In the Saddlebred world (and other breeds I'm sure) we like to make playlists for our IPods. You will see girls and guys sitting in chairs with riding habits on in front of tackrooms with headphones on getting psyched up for their classes.

Happy Easter!!!!

2009-04-12T18:04:00.002-04:00

"Shelbyville" Horse Show Print

2009-04-10T22:23:00.003-04:00

This is my all time favorite Saddlebred print. It captures every aspect of a horse show for me and the location is one of my favorite shows to attend. This is a print of the original painting by C. Marcus Stone.

Link: "Shelbyville" Horse Show Print
Price: $20.00
Shop: World Champion Horse Equipment
Category: Art

Photography Rocks

2009-04-07T19:36:00.003-04:00

Today was quite the productive day at the barn. We hired a new guy, so he was able to groom the horses that I usually take care of and I was able to actually get stuff done. We had a couple calls from people interested in buying some horses, so we got to work photographing them and sending pics out via email.

This is my fav picture I took today. This is a nine year old American Saddlebred gelding named Champagne's Prince Charming. He is quite the handsome man and I love this pic because it just shows his personality so well!!!

It's Sunday!

2009-04-05T10:05:00.000-04:00

Which means my boyfriend is home for 6 hours. This is the way I forsee my Sunday going....

Weekend Amusement

2009-04-04T17:40:00.003-04:00

So, my boyfriend has been gone all week to a horse show in Perry, GA. He was supposed to be home Sunday and stay home for the rest of the week. NOW, he has to go to Oklahoma for a horse show next week. It's not his choosing, he works as a caretaker for a farm and has to go to whichever shows they choose SO..... he will be coming home Sunday morning, he has 6 hours to get his laundry done and whatever, and then he is off to Oklahoma in the afternoon. 6 hours?!?! EEK! I get to see my boyfriend for 6 hours and he will have been gone for 2 weeks. This is no fun. It's not like I can just drive to Georgia or Oklahoma to hang with him at the show either like I would normally do if the show were in, say, Lexington, KY.

So I thought I'd find something to cheer me up. This sure did!

see more pwn and owned pictures

Pretty Pink Scrabble Tile Graphics

2009-03-31T20:54:00.003-04:00

So.... I love horses, and I love pink. Doesn't get better than this. Check out this adorable digital collage sheet available at Cupcake Cutiees.

Eek!! Tornado Warning!

2009-03-28T19:09:00.004-04:00

Scary stuff!!!! Tornado warning was issued for my town half an hour ago. There was a funnel cloud less then a mile from my house. My boyfriend is in the town getting hit while I am writing this, so I'm waiting to hear back from him when the storm passes. My friend sent me a picture on her phone of a funnel cloud in the neighboring city where she is right now!

(picture my friend sent of the funnel cloud)

Luckily for me, the storm passed and now the sun is out and there are rainbows!!!!

Puggle Adoration

2009-03-26T19:14:00.002-04:00

I love my puggle. She is the most amazing dog in the world. The books don't lie when they say they are hard to train, but I love her anyway. She likes to crawl under the covers and cuddle up next to me at night. :)

Wedding Bliss!

2009-03-25T21:52:00.002-04:00

No, I am not getting married; however, I was traipsing through my favorites today and was reminded of a forum thread on having kids and getting married that I had participated in. I love this dress. It is gorgeous! So yeah.... I'm not getting married but it doesn't mean I can't drool over the beauty of a wedding gown!

Link: Lace Gown with Corset back
Price: $530.00
Shop: CiCiBridal

Horses - The IASHA Warm-Up Horse Show

2009-03-23T13:28:00.006-04:00

As you may know from reading my other posts or visiting my other blog, The Swanky Saddlebred, my full time job is working as an assistant at Armon Effinger Stable, working with American Saddlebred horses. This past weekend our barn attended the IASHA Spring Warm-Up Show in Cloverdale, IN. We took four horses and our riders did a phenomenal job! One of our Academy riders made up a video of the trip!

Clover Dale Warm Up Show 3/21/09 - You And Me - Lifehouse @ Yahoo! Video

I also took some pictures when we were loading up the horses to head out -

Our truck and trailer

Loading Greg (Double Click)

The horses all snuggled up and tucked in. :)

Everyone had a good time, I stayed home at the barn to keep an eye on everything, but I had minute-by-minute updates from our awesome instructor! If you would like to know more about American Saddlebreds, visit The American Saddlebred Horse Association. If you live around Evansville, IN, and would like to sign up for a riding lesson, email me at ashleyleigh83@gmail.com

He's Got a Tattoo of me on his chest???

2009-03-20T21:52:00.005-04:00

Haha, just kidding. This is a really neat feature, though. I took this picture:

and uploaded it to http://www.photofunia.com/. There are so many different ways you can play with your picture, and the face recognition technology is amazing! Check it out!

Entrecard

2009-03-15T12:34:00.002-04:00

Due to Entrecard's new announcement that it will now be accepting third party advertisers, and subsequent new rules that the widget has to be above the fold, I have moved my Entrecard widget to the left side of my blog so it can comply. :) Thanks for dropping!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-13T19:22:00.002-04:00

St. Patrick's Day is on it's way!!! Yay!! But aside from the green beer and "Kiss Me I'm Irish" buttons, I do love jewelry. I found this gorgeous necklace on Etsy and wanted to share it. Take a gander...

Link: Emerald Gardenia - Vintage Spring Steampunk Assemblage Necklace
Price: $159.00
Shop: Bionic Unicorn

Fail

2009-03-12T13:41:00.001-04:00

Had to add this. It's from failblog.org, one of my new favorite sites to visit. This is too funny!

see more pwn and owned pictures

St. Patrick's Day Punch

2009-03-10T22:58:00.003-04:00

I'm such a softy for punch. I love it. The sweetness mixed with the tingle from the carbonation gets my tastebuds cheering! Here's an awesome recipe I found at Family Fun. The original page can be found here.

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St. Patrick's Day Punch

As long as you are going to be wearing green this Saint Patrick's Day, why not drink something green, too?

Children will appreciate the opportunity to join in the festivities with this sweet and sparkly beverage. Since it's made with milk, the punch is good for them, too.

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1 scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
4 drops mint extract
2 ice cubes
2 drops of green food coloring in a blender
Frosted 16-ounce glass
Splash of seltzer water
Dollop of whipped cream

Directions

Combine milk, ice cream or frozen yogurt, extract, ice cubes, and food coloring in a blender.

Mix until smooth. Pour into glass. Add a splash of seltzer water and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Featured Blog

2009-02-28T16:10:00.006-05:00

Many of the blogs I have listed on my blogroll are those that I have been reading for awhile and that I always go back to. I thought I would give one its due credit today given that it is one of my all time favorite blogs to visit. So....

without further adieu......

you guys need to go visit....

The Tiny Fig!!!

Because her blog is just amazing and all her products are too!

I like to call blogs like this "dessert for the eye."

Super Giveaway from The Muddy Moose!

2009-02-24T18:57:00.003-05:00

The Muddy Moose has the coolest giveaway on their blog. They are giving away two AWESOME gift baskets and entering is SO easy! I especially love the Basket of Romance which includes a massage candle, edible body powder, massage oil, and chocolate body paint!! Imagine how much fun you could have with that!!!

GO ENTER! What are you waiting for???

Music Monday

2009-02-23T13:25:00.003-05:00

I saw this video on Shaibaer's blog Household 6. The song plays at the end credits of Inkheart. Before I saw this I had no desire to see Inkheart, but now I think I have to go see it. I have a weakness for movies like this. I just watched The Neverending Story (for the millionth time) last night. :)

On My Own

2009-02-19T20:42:00.003-05:00

So apparently I have been living in my own little world of "keep on swimming, keep on swimming..." for the past month now. I have recently taken back my old job of Assistant at a show horse barn and I've moved into the assistant's house on the property. It is a 3 bedroom ranch style home that I share with my puppy, Emma.

Keep in mind that I have NEVER lived on my own before. In fact, before now, I would have been absolutely terrified to live by myself (thank you Celexa). It's been such a tremendous series of life changing events in the past few months that I have only just now realized that I am actually ON MY OWN.

About a year and a half ago I moved 4 hours away from home to live with my then boyfriend and his father on a 120 acre farm. I took with me my four horses and all my belongings. After a year of living on the farm, 2 and 1/2 years being with my boyfriend, minus 2 horses and plus 1 dog later..... his father turned psycho and started accusing me of doing some seriously crazy stuff. For a couple months I would fight with his dad nearly every day. We're talking screaming matches that would leave me in tears... so upset that he was accusing me of doing things that I never did. My boyfriend would never stand up for me to his father and it left me lying on my bed saying "I want to go home, I want to go home."

One Friday morning I had enough. His father had threatened me. He said, (speaking of my bf) "he was here last night so I couldn't do anything, but he won't be tonight... let the games begin." With that, I called my dad and stepmom and had them bring the truck and jeep to come get me and my things. I loaded up nearly everything that day, including my dog and horses, and went home.

It didn't take me long to realize how unhappy I had been. Once I started explaining out loud to my friends and family what had been going on and how my boyfriend had treated me, it was like a kick in the face. Suddenly I was away from it all and I could see so clearly how things had gone wrong. As each day went by I began to feel like my old self again, no longer on a "leash", and I was actually happy again.

I went back to my old job working with horses, I even found a new boyfriend who also works at a horse barn half an hour from me. But this leads me to my overall theme for this post. I am on my own. Never before have I felt so scared yet so self-confident in my life. I am a 25 year old woman who is independent. I doubt I will live with a boyfriend again before I get married (that seems to be a mistake). I feel comfortable with the arrangement of him coming to see me on the weekends and I go to see him on a weeknight or two. It just feels like this is how it should be. For the first time in my life I am taking complete care of myself and a house! I am a strong woman. LOL, I don't mean to keep repeating but it is really just now sinking in. I have actually written WAY more to this post that I originally planned, but I think it all had to come out :)

So... on this note I would like to share a couple of blogs that I am going to pay close attention to for hints and tips to make my life easier!!!

Pink Lemonade
Tip Junkie
Jenn Cooks
The Best of DIY
The Coupon Coup
Wit's Bitch

And of course.....
I Can Has Cheezburger

Oh it's Gorgeous!

2009-02-19T13:22:00.004-05:00

I was hanging out over at Etsy and I saw this on the recently listed items. I think it is just absolutely gorgeous and I had to share!

Link: Tears of Joy Pendant
Price: $65.00
Shop: Juju by Sarah

Amazing Jockey Video

2009-02-18T13:35:00.003-05:00

Okay... I saw this over at Behind The Bit's Blog. This is crazy. I am a pretty good rider being an assistant at a show stable, but this is nuts!!!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T22:36:00.009-05:00

I have decided that my boyfriend is amazing. For Valentine's Day he set up an indoor picnic while I was gone to Wal-Mart. There were rose petals leading from my front door to a soft pink blanket and petals strewn all over the living room. There were tons of little white candles lit also. He got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and arranged the candles in a heart shape around the vase. He was detail oriented!!! Check out the pics!

We even found a heart shaped strawberry!

He is amazing. I love him. :)

Monday Find

2009-02-16T22:06:00.006-05:00

I love this necklace! It's absolutely gorgeous.

Link: Willa Necklace - Tanzanite and Sterling Silver
Price: $39.00
Shop: The Pebble Collection

The Smitten

2009-02-15T14:10:00.003-05:00

Perfectly cute "smitten" to wear with your lover!

Craftsters find the pattern at Coco Knits.

I'm back!

2009-02-12T23:57:00.001-05:00

Hello all! Life has been SO crazy the past few months. I've moved and completely changed careers. I'm back in the horse business working horses at a Saddlebred show barn. I just got the internet hooked up at my new house and I will finally have time to regularly update my blog again!

Hooray for stability again!

My Trip To Perryville

2008-08-29T17:47:00.002-04:00

So.... I had a blast looking at a farm yesterday! All I knew about this place was that it had great historical value, but I didn't know all the cool stuff that went with it! Turns out it once belonged to George Clooney's grandmother.

Oh, and it was just across the road from Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. :) :)

After visiting the house we also went to visit a superb thorougbred farm and went riding. Ah the life!

(Hoping to) Get Lucky in Kentucky!

2008-08-26T10:55:00.001-04:00

Hey all!

I've been a Hoosier my entire life, but I'm in the process of finding a home in Kentucky! As soon as I find what I want I will post pics!

I'm going to check out a place on Thursday, I'm excited!!

I'm also leaving my nice cushy desk job here in Southern Indiana. I'm going back to training horses (Yay!). What am I thinking? It's a lot of hard work, but it's my dream!

Carts, and Blogs, and Websites, OH MY!

2008-08-11T14:43:00.000-04:00

It's setting up to be an epic week. I'll be (hopefully) debuting my new store, The Saddlebredery, and also my new blog, The Swanky Saddlebred. Both of these will be dedicated to and about the love of my life, the American Saddlebred.

For those of you who know little about Saddlebreds, our World Championship Horse Show starts on 8/17 and runs through 8/23. This is a huge and perfect time to promote for me, I just didn't realize that it was just around the corner! All of my target audience will be at this one horse show, so I need to get in gear!!

I'm going to try to get a few Swag Bags together to hand out to different stables. Have any of you done anything like this? And what were the results?

Purple Rain(drops)

2008-08-07T14:59:00.006-04:00

This is my latest addition to my shop. Hope you like them!
I've been on a super "simple and elegant" kick here lately. I love these.

+ View This Listing
+ View My Shop

Tears in my eyes - Another wonderful person

2008-08-07T13:16:00.007-04:00

Because I have Entrecard, I spend a great deal of time hanging out on other people's blogs. I do not simply drop and leave, I like to read the posts of all the blogs I drop on. I was hanging out over on Sewing For Cash and I came a cross a wonderful story that left tears in my eyes.

Phyllis with her puppy and some of her many pet beds

Photo by Bettina Hansen of The Arizona Republic

Phyllis Popp is a physician from Arizona who has been sewing pet beds in her spare time. So far she has made nearly 900 beds. She donates the beds to the Humane Society for their use for animals and to sell to raise money for the animals. Many of these beds go to the Second Chance Hospital for animals which have been struck by cars or injured in some other way. Instead of old towels or cots made of webbing, these animals now get to recover on some lovely beds!

Click here to read the full story...

How wonderful! What an amazing person she is. She sells the beds herself and the proceeds are used to buy materials to make more beds to donate!

Still Here!

2008-08-07T08:46:00.004-04:00

I'm still here, I promise! This week has been full of land hunting, horse showing, and dentistry! I will post more later on. Plus, I have a new pair of earrings I will be listing for sale!

Ever wanted to try screen printing?

2008-08-01T14:21:00.005-04:00

Have you ever wanted to try screen printing to print t-shirts and more... but were scared of the high cost to get started? Did you just want to test it out and see if you liked it?

I've always been interested in screen printing but I figured it would cost MUCHO to start out. I found this link that shows you a cheap way to screen print! It looks awesome and I fully intend on trying it out.

Kristy posted a tutorial on craftgrrl on cheap screen printing.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Root Canal - The Day After

2008-07-31T11:16:00.002-04:00

oh the pain... and the Slim-Fast diet I am now on since I can't eat solid food.

Oh.... and this is me on my Vicodin....

more cat pictures

Root Canal Today :(

2008-07-30T10:07:00.005-04:00

I've been having tooth aches off and on for quite a few months. Since it took awhile for me to get health insurance through my employer I waited... and waited....
When I went to the dentist he informed me that I would either have to have the tooth extracted or get a root canal. Not wanting a big gap in my mouth, I opted for the root canal.... and now it's today. I've had one other root canal so I can tell you that I am not looking forward to this afternoon.

They better give me laughing gas.

Tuesday Pounce!

2008-07-29T14:01:00.000-04:00

Occasionally I like to peruse the Pounce feature on Etsy. This feature shows you random new items from shops that haven't had a sale yet. There are some wonderful finds to be made. Here are a couple I found today:

love by jeremiahcustom - $2.95

Chalcedony Sparkle by Ariana - $15.00

The Secret is in the Sauce - Contest

2008-07-28T16:18:00.004-04:00

Everyone! Head over to The Secret is in the Sauce! They have a wonderful contest going on over there to win an Apple 4G iPod Nano in Silver. And... go over there anyway just for the content. I love reading their posts and going to their featured bloggers' sites. It's well worth the visit!

Check out the contest Here.

LOLcat Monday - Double Trouble

2008-07-28T15:35:00.006-04:00

I'm addicted. I admit. I couldn't feature just one, so here are the two cutest LOLcats I've seen lately!

more cat pictures

more cat pictures

MTV is about to kill a classic

2008-07-25T11:42:00.002-04:00

MTV has announced that it plans to remake the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show into a TV movie planned for release in October 2009.

WHAT?!?!?!

Seriously. Why take a perfectly good movie and ruin it???? I feel strongly about this because I am a huge fan of RHPS. Yes, I have dressed up and attended a showing and was crowned Fishnet Queen.

I really highly doubt that MTV will do anything with this precious gem except completely destroy it. I would give other studios the benefit of the doubt, but MTV? Come on. Don't get me wrong, I love my MTV but they are everything that RHPS is not and never wants to be.

Oh, and added to this, MTV says they will add new songs in addition to the original soundtrack. It just keeps getting worse. Please save me before I throw up out of disgust.

Read the E! Online article here.

Read the Media Morgue blog post here.

I cry, oh so silently.

Phew!!!

2008-07-24T14:31:00.002-04:00

I've ignored my blog for today and instead focused on my home page, Ashley Leigh.

I finally got all my pages uniform!! I'm still working on it. I probably will be working on it constantly, but I'm very happy with it right now.

Check it out:

http://www.ashleyleigh.net

Blog Design Frustration

2008-07-23T16:25:00.005-04:00

If you haven't noticed, I've been playing around with my background and banner picture quite a bit in the past few days. I can't seem to get satisfied with anything. I feel like I can't move forward with my craft business until I get the blog right (crazy I know). I'm an amateur (and I do mean amateur) graphics designer. I've been fiddling with graphics since I was 14 so I feel like I should be able to create something that is acceptable. I've been visiting blogs to see what kind of "feel" I like. I really like how Creature Comforts is set up. It makes me happy to look at it.

I guess there isn't really a point to this post, other than to express my frustration at not being able to get it right. I'll probably be going through at least 10 or so more backgrounds before I get to where I want to be, so don't mind me! :)

Today I Love Turquoise - Etsy finds

2008-07-22T15:55:00.005-04:00

1.) Rain Necklace by hookeddesign - $45.00
2.) Weekend-by-the-Lake-Enamel-Leaf-Pendant by jewelrybynatsuko - $38.00
3.) Aqua, Rhondonite and Fuschia Cluster Earrings by BINAGEYER- $16.00
4.) The Black Pearl...Blue Seas....Pirate Ships - the Necklace by MrsGotRocks- $175.00
5.) Waist Candy--Chocolate Floral by caughtredhanded - $25.00

The Difference in Boys and Girls

2008-07-21T16:40:00.004-04:00

About a month ago I signed up for Blockbuster Total Access for a trial period. I ended up loving it because I can get 3 movies at a time shipped to my house and I also have 5 in-store exchanges a month for $19.99/month. I'm a huge movie fan, so this is a great thing.

I thought it was funny yesterday when I went to do the in-store exchange with the SO in tow. Here are the movies I picked out with him in mind:

1.) National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
2.) 10,000 B.C.

Here's the movie he picked out:

3.) Witless Protection with Larry the Cable Guy

That's all I have to say.

Horseshow Tomorrow

2008-07-18T16:19:00.005-04:00

I'm so excited! Tomorrow I'll be attending my 2nd horseshow as a Western exhibitor. I'll be riding my SO's horse, Chance in barrel racing and pole bending. I decided it was best to leave Pete at home this time because he was rather...uhh.... slow.... last time. Chance is the fastest horse on the farm. I ran him through our barrels yesterday and he seemed to have picked it up handily. We'll see!

Yay! Three Columns!

2008-07-18T10:37:00.003-04:00

Happiness, thy name is three columns! I finally got it figured out. I spent days trying to tweak this other 3 column template I had downloaded, but then Kathy of Brazoscowgirl pointed me to Tips for New Bloggers and there was a wonderful article on changing your blog to 3 columns. I just wanted to send a big THANK YOU her way. Check out her blog, it's awesome!

Testing, testing

2008-07-17T13:55:00.002-04:00

Alright, sorry if it gets a little messy around here. I'm in the process of switching over to a 3 column template with a whole new background, etc.

Excuse the mess!

Aww....

2008-07-16T10:26:00.003-04:00

Saw this on another blog and thought it was worth passing on to others:

Local boy finds a canine ‘miracle’

STERLING — Ten-year-old Matthew Wheeler had no idea a hunt for golf balls around his grandpa’s backyard last week would bring a “miracle” to a grieving Colorado Springs family.

Joe Byrne lost his wife of 33 years, Jane, June 7 after their vehicle drifted off the left side of Interstate 76 and rolled several times down an embankment into Riverview Golf Course. He suffered minor injuries, and his 28-year-old daughter, Nannette, is still recovering from serious wounds.

The Byrnes were traveling home from Chicago with their three Chihuahuas. One of the dogs, Savannah, was found injured next to one of the tires after the crash, while the other two, Hunter and Angelina, remained missing. As the days turned into a week, the Byrnes slowly lost hope.

Hunter was a Christmas present Nannette received from her mother three years ago when her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Haupt, was sent to Iraq. The dog took on new meaning when Haupt was killed Oct. 17, 2006, in Baqubah, Iraq.

The family scoured the golf course for days looking for the dogs, but to no avail. Nannette was released from the hospital and the family went home to Colorado Springs to recover and mourn. Then, late last week, Joe received a call from the Victim’s Advocate Office with news that left the family speechless.

Amid the high grass near the water tower by the golf course, Matthew spotted a little red fur ball, which “I thought was a baby fox, but it turned out to be a puppy,” he said.
The seven-pound Chihuahua — Hunter — had been missing for more than 10 days. Hunter had somehow survived the crash, cold nights and coyotes before Matthew found him June 18.

Matthew brought Hunter home unaware that the dog’s family had spent days searching for him.
It was not until the Wheelers were shopping that they heard about the missing dogs. A call to the Sheriff’s Office confirmed the dog’s description.

Monday morning, Matthew reunited Hunter with Nannette’s father, Joe, in an emotional meeting at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.

“There are no words to describe what I feel,” Joseph Byrne said holding the reddish-brown Chihuahua. “I truly believe there is a higher power, whatever you may call it, that makes these things happen.”

Matthew said it felt good returning Hunter to his owners. His parents and sister joined him for the reunion with pictures, phone numbers and e-mails exchanged with Joe Byrne.

Joe said his daughter’s spirits lifted upon hearing of Hunter’s recovery.

“She was so happy she didn’t have words,” Joe Byrne said.

The loss of a husband and mother in less than two years has been difficult, but Joe said he is amazed by his daughter’s resilience.

“She’s tough, always has been,” he said. “Right now she’s concentrating on getting better and moving on.”

Losing his beloved wife Jane, a great-grandma of two, is not easy, he said, “but you’ve got to go forward.”

“She did a lot of good for everyone,” Joe Byrne said, noting Jane’s work with children, at her church and at Fort Carson, where her son-in-law was stationed. “She got to do a lot of things she wanted to do, like meet the president and help with a lot of charities. She was a good mother and a good wife.”

Joe said finding Hunter, and two undamaged cameras amid the wreckage, will serve as little wonders that came from a devastating tragedy.

“I consider these things minor miracles,” he said.

The Byrnes are still offering a reward for the return of a four-pound female reddish-brown Chihuahua named Angelina, who remains missing after the crash. People with any information are asked to call (719) 510-3234 or (719) 302-0623, or the Logan County Sheriff’s Office at 522-2578.

Oh, Things I Need to Do

2008-07-15T16:17:00.007-04:00

I don't know how how the days go by so fast. It seems like I never get anything accomplished. I try to devote my evenings to crafting, but I have a puppy and colt that I've purchased and now is a very important time in their lives and I need to be with them and working with them so they don't turn into bad apples.

So I figured maybe if I made a list and had to look at it I would get something accomplished.

Need to Do:
1.) ~~Create a nice three column template for my blog.~~ Done, Yay!
2.) Start building my second blog, The ~~Savvy~~ Swanky Saddlebred
3.) Streamline the content in my side columns.
4.) Find an acceptable company to use to host a cart and check-out on my own site.
5.) Use my brain to think up fun and witty things to post about.
6.) Make some kind of progress on my shop.

The Little Black Box - Site I Love!

2008-07-14T16:14:00.003-04:00

So, I was reading Always Amy's blog and came across a post for The Little Black Box. This site looks amazing! I'm going to keep a close eye on it. July boxes come out July 25th. Check out their Etsy shop here. How wonderful would it be to get a box full of all sorts of different awesome samples?

The Little Black Box has a blog as well! The Little Black Box - Black Box Reviews.

Oh so cute!

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

2008-07-14T13:51:00.007-04:00

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST

OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit http://www.celle.com/.

Celle Client Testimonial

Ladies.....

2008-07-11T15:49:00.004-04:00

Photo by Poldavo used under Creative Commons.

Close your eyes, Chicken Little!

The Sky is Falling! (GE Lighting)

2008-07-10T13:59:00.007-04:00

So... GE Pursues Spinoff of Consumer & Industrial Group (from Bloomberg)

I work at GE Lighting. Thankfully, I'm not an actual GE employee but work for a contract company. Still, I am the administrative assistant for the whole building and the inbound coordinator for trucks bringing our lightbulbs that we ship out to every very important store in the country. Let me tell you, things have been crazy today at work. :( I've never seen so many people looking like chickens running around with their heads cut off. Hello, Chicken Little.. the sky is falling!

Yet another reason to work full time from home on my craft business.

Emma Has A Mouth Fetish

2008-07-09T13:36:00.003-04:00

Seriously... my puppy has a fetish with other dogs' mouths. She doesn't care about any other part of them (well, occasionally she likes jumping on a wagging tail) and she will jump and bite and chew on their jaws all day! She puts her whole head in Diesel's (our lab) mouth and licks his tongue. What a strange relationship they have!

Emma and Diesel playing

Equine Photography

2008-07-08T14:13:00.004-04:00

I took some pictures of my colt and his friends yesterday. I have two I have to share:

Bridal Shower Gift

2008-07-08T13:13:00.003-04:00

Hey all! I finally started etching glass again. I absolutely hate my stencils and my sandblaster, but I really really wanted to make a nice gift for my cousin and his fiancee for her bridal shower. I made the card too! I added Swarovski crystals to the dress on the card. It sparkles!

Thought I would share this since I was so proud of the way the champagne glasses turned out! Now, hopefully, USPS doesn't break them on their way home.

Hahaha!

2008-07-08T12:28:00.000-04:00

I laughed out loud.. right in front of the manager :)

more cat pictures

Overheard After Lunch

2008-07-07T13:02:00.004-04:00

Sorry guys, I don't have much time to blog today. I have to leave in 10 minutes to take the dog to the vet... then I have to go to the post office, bank, and go grocery shopping.

But, I wanted to go ahead and post this quickly. As everyone was coming back into the building from lunch, I overhead the following:

"Yeah, if I ever won the lottery that's what I would do... build my own cemetary in the back yard."

What?!

Kind of odd.... :)

Shop I'm Loving Today - Sparkle Couture

2008-07-03T10:58:00.003-04:00

Although I don't wear jewelry all that often, I have amassed quite a collection of it, and I also make and sell it in my shop. The shop I'm loving today is Sparkle Couture, and the items she has for sale are just simply beautiful! Right now anything that is hot pink, lime, purple, and cyan is on my HOT list.
I'll show you what I've found in her shop that I love the most. I'll start with the top left picture right here. You can find her Candy Dish Necklace here. This piece is so simple, yet it would make any outfit go from pretty to glamorous!

These Ipanema earrings can be found here. These are perfect for summer. Oh how I want to spend hot summer days by the pool wearing these beauties!

The Heiress Necklace looks exactly like it is named. I would definitely feel like an heiress wearing this. I think if I owned this I would wear it everyday, everywhere I went. It's gorgeous! Find it here!

Check out the rest of Sparkle Couture's Shop for even more gorgeously beautiful jewelry!

Cool Buy - Dream Cheeky USB Missile Launcher

2008-07-02T12:18:00.006-04:00

So... my dad's birthday is coming up. Usually I have absolutely no idea what to get him, but I came across this nifty little device and knew I had to get it for him. You'd have to know my dad to know why this is so funny, but he does not like people coming into his office. It drives him crazy, so I figured this would give him a chance to make others think twice before knocking!

I can just imagine him aiming and hitting his fellow co-workers... :)

BTW, I don't think he reads my blog so I think I'm good. But if you are reading this, dad, just pretend to be surprised!

Here's some info on it:

With the USB Missile Launcher you can defend your cubicle from unwanted co-worker intrusions or defend your room for unwanted siblings! The USB Missile Launchers features 3 foam projectiles that can be fired up to 20 feet at an extremely fast rate. (at least twice the range of any other product on the market) Turn, swivel and move the USB Missile Launcher up and down from your PC to aim the missiles towards your target. The computer control panel can be controlled from your mouse or your keyboard. Realistic sound effects bring the rockets to life as they leave the launcher towards your foe.

Features
+ Plugs into your USB port for power
+ No Batteries required
+ Contains 3 foam missiles
+ Includes a 4 foot USB cable
+ Moves left, right , up and down
+ Use your mouse or Keyboard to control the movements of the Missile Launcher
+ Pre-recorded sound effects add a realistic feel
+ Able to download your own sound effects and add them to your program
+ Shoots up to 20 feet at an extremely fast rate
+ Compatible with Windows XP & 2000, Mac driver also available upon request

How To Do Nothing

2008-07-02T10:20:00.009-04:00

I went home yesterday, planning on getting a bunch of stuff done. I didn't, of course. As soon as I stepped out of my car I went out to the barn to feed my puppy her afternoon snack. That turned into letting her play out in the yard, which turned into bringing her inside with me.

I was hungry for something sugary since I'd been eating Salt and Vinegar Pringles all day, so I grabbed the fried ice cream out of the freezer. Now, if anyone wants to know how to make the perfect fried ice cream dish, I will tell you. Here's what you need:
1.) Breyer's Overload Fried Ice Cream
2.) Dulce de Leche Syrup
3.) Chocolate Syrup
4.) Honey

First: Scoop as much of the fried ice cream into a bowl as you want. Then, squeeze about 3 stripes of the dulce de leche syrup on top. Next comes the chocolate syrup (I use Whopper's malt syrup and it's awesome!), I put 5 or so stripes of chocolate syrup on top. Lastly... the honey! The secret is not using too much and not using too little. Too much and the whole thing will just taste like honey, too little and you won't get the desired fried ice cream effect. I put 3/4 as much honey as chocolate syrup on the icecream and it seems to work out just fine!

Whipped cream is optional, I never use it because I love the taste just how it is. This is the perfect snack! Calorie heavy? Yes. Delicious? Oh, yeah!!!

So, I take my huge bowl of icecream, grab up my puppy, and head upstairs. After securing the shambly anti-exiting the room tool (a cushion over the door held up by the trashcan so that Emma can't escape and fall down the stairs), I popped in Fool's Gold and snuggled into bed with my delicious snack and the puppy.

It was a great movie! I love Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey so there was no way I was going to be let down. Emma was sitting on my legs almost the whole time, watching the screen too! Of course the other 5% of the time she was trying to steal my ice cream... naughty puppy.

This is how I did nothing when I should have been doing something. When E the Super Boyfriend got home, though, we went up the street and put my colt's new halter on him and worked with him for half an hour... so at least I did get something accomplished :)

Ooh, check out what the halter looks like... It's really awesome and I ordered it from Shane's Tack.

Terribly Cute Tuesday

2008-07-01T10:46:00.004-04:00

I can't help it, I love I Can Has Cheezburger.

more cat pictures

Horse Show Fever!

2008-06-30T12:27:00.006-04:00

Wow! So I survived!

The trip down to my friend M's house quite exciting. I had never driven through Cincinnati before by myself and I got to go right past the baseball stadium and lots of other big buildings. Luckily, there was no traffic yet that early in the morning so I was able to cross four lanes with ease when I needed to. The biggest problem I had was when I arrived in M's neighborhood. Apparently all of her neighbors had joined together for a huge yard sale. There were well over 15 houses participating. Of course, the hundreds of cars couldn't park in the driveways, so they had to park in the road. Yay... here it is, my first time pulling the trailer by myself and I have less than 6 inches of clearance on either side of the trailer for 2 miles.

When I finally made it to M's, we started loading everything onto her trailer. When I went to load Pete, I was unaware of a wasp's nest on the wall. I was immediately stung. I saw the wasp fly out the window so I figured that was that. I clipped the trailer tie on Pete and shut the gate. Not 20 seconds later, Pete starts freaking out, I looked inside and there were wasps flying everywhere! How fun. M and I opened the door in front of Pete and finally found the nest. I stayed back as she used the lead rope to whack the nest down. This would have been fine and we would have been on our way except for the fact that I'm allergic to bee and wasp stings. My finger was already swelling up, so I took two Benadryl. Those of you who know me know that even one Benadryl knocks me out... I only take them when I want to go to sleep, but in this case I couldn't risk having a huge allergic reaction and not getting to participate in the show. I was quite loopy for the rest of the day :)

When we arrived at the fairgrounds and signed up for our classes we saw that our first class was the first class of the show, and our second class was the last class of the show. Somehow we also managed to draw close to first picks in the first class, and last picks in the last class. We had A LOT of downtime.

I think I would have been more nervous about pole bending except for the fact that I was drugged up on Benadryl. I had never ran a pole pattern and Pete had never done it either. You may think "Well, how hard is it to weave in between poles?" The answer: Very. But... I was in foggy lala land, so I didn't care too much. As they called my name I walked Pete to the gate. I paused for a moment to take in everything.... then.... "H'yup!" (My shortened version of "Get up here!") I yelled and urged Pete into a run. We made it to the end pole and I turned him around it. This he understood because it meant "Ooh, time to go back!" But as I turned him to weave the pole I could tell he didn't understand what was going on at all. When we turned to weave back through he seemed to be picking it up, he even did one flying lead change! In the end, it took us 39 seconds from start to finish. I think the person who won the class made it in 20 seconds. We were terribly slow and people were probably laughing at us, but who cares? I had fun!

After we cooled out our horses I called my SO, E. He said he had just gotten off of work so I said "Well hey, why don't you come down and bring us beer?" He said he didn't know and that he would call M's boyfriend, J, to see if he wanted to go. M ended up calling J as well and trying to get him to come. He had the same story, "well, I don't know, I'll call E and then I'll call you back." Keep in mind that the trip from our house to the fairgrounds was around an hour and a half.

Not five minutes later I hear M say "Look who's here!" I walked around to the other side of the truck and there they are, E and J. They surprised us! And they brought beer and our dogs! Sneaky boys... they definitely earned some points there.

E chillin' out

Hours and hours later it was finally time to run the barrels. I just KNEW that Pete would be better on them because we had practiced it Friday night and he seemed to pick up on it quickly. I was SO wrong. He turned the first barrel and thought it was time to go back out the gate. He was running sideways and everything to keep from going to the second barrel. Somewhere in all of this he backed past the sensor for the timer and stopped it! So... we ended up with a "No time". Oh well, again it was fun! I did get E to take a few pictures for me luckily! The funniest part is, most barrel horses are hugging the barrel when they go around, Pete is like.... six feet away.

I came home with no money, but I had a super fun time! Support your local small horseshows, they are the best!

Yay, new item!

2008-06-27T11:34:00.003-04:00

I was searching through all my supplies and realized what a wonderful necklace I could make! It's funny how I started the afternoon painting candle holders to etch and then I started cleaning the room, and doing laundry, and looking in my jewelry supplies. I never want to do what I set out to do. That's how I get stuff done. I start with painting and end up with all my laundry done!

I made one necklace that was just gorgeous... which I am keeping for myself.

Then I made this little beauty:

Fly Like a Butterfly

Lovely!

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH!

2008-06-27T10:33:00.004-04:00

Ahh!! Just got off the phone with my friend. Seems I will be trailering Pete down to Kentucky tomorrow for a horse show! This is crazy because:

1.) I haven't shown a horse in 4 years, and I've never shown a horse in pole bending or barrel racing, I've only ever shown Saddlebreds in Saddleseat classes.
2.) I've never been by myself driving the truck and trailer ANYWHERE!
3.) Pete doesn't even know how to barrel race or pole bend.

You can bet my ass will be in the saddle as soon as I get off of work!

Pete

Barrel Racing

Hey... the horse in that barrel racing pic kinda looks like Pete... Maybe I will show it to him and say "Here's how you should be." :)

Wish me luck! I will report back Monday about it (if I survive).

Thirsty Thursday - Margaritaville finds on Etsy

2008-06-26T12:06:00.004-04:00

Yes... It is thirsty thursday here and I've been craving my drink of choice, the Margarita. Check out these awesome finds on Etsy:

Opulent Heat Margarita Glass by woodeyeglass	Margarita Clock by SpareTime	Margarita Shelf Sitter Sign Blocks Tequila...Lime...Salt by Country Workshop

Margaritas Anyone by PlayinWithPaper	Girls' Night Out Coasters-Set of 4 by RubeeDesigns	One Marble Coaster with Pop Art Party Dog by ShannonsShop

Lyrical Lunchtime

2008-06-25T11:56:00.006-04:00

I'm crazy about music. So many times I hear a song and it speaks to me and I understand it. It's lunchtime here, so I guess I'll start a tradition. Here's a song that you may not have heard but definitely should check out:

Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Album: Lullabies to Paralyze
Title: Burn the Witch

Holding hands
Skipping like a stone
On our way
To see what we have done
The first to speak
Is the first to lie
The children cross
Their hearts & hope to die

Bite your tongue
Swear to keep your mouth shut

Ask yourself
Will i burn in Hell?
Then write it down
& cast it in the well
There they are
The mob it cries for blood
To twist and tale
Into fire wood
Fan the flames
With a little lie
Then turn your cheek
Until the fire dies
The skin it peels
Like the truth, away
What it was
I will never say...

Bite your tongue, swear to keep
Keep your mouth shut
Make up something
Make up something good...
Holding hands
Skipping like a stone
Burn the witch
Burn to ash & bone

Cuteness on a Wednesday?

2008-06-25T10:01:00.002-04:00

Might as well... it's humpday. Since I have to wait forever for a new episode of Ghost Hunters I thought I'd find other ways to amuse myself.

How many times have you been in this situation?

more cat pictures

Morgan's Raid - Georgetown, KY Civil War Reenactment

2008-06-23T14:17:00.020-04:00

View all my photos from the event here!

Username: YourClassicGirl Password: Guest

What a weekend! We left Friday evening for the wonderful trip down to Georgetown, KY for the Morgan’s Raid Civil War Reenactment. I knew going into it that it would be a good time. The majority of our horse-loving friends live in the Lexington/Georgetown area, which meant that everyone would be there.

Unfortunately, my horse had been having some problems with a quarter crack, so I would be forgoing appearing as a Cavalry soldier and instead taking on the role of Ashley – the lady. It’s tough, I know. :) We packed up all of our things, including my puggle Emma, and hit the road.

Emma loved chewing on anything she could find!

Friday night was decent; we set up “headquarters” and hung out, but nothing too crazy. We woke up to rain Saturday morning and I dreaded coming out of the tent. We had Emma tied up to the back tent pole, so I knew I had to take her out to the bathroom… and that wasn’t sounding like too bad of an idea for myself as well. As soon as I was up I knew there would be no going back to sleep, so I found other’s that were also awake and started chatting with them.

A few minutes after the camps opened to the public I decided I might as well stop procrastinating and get dressed. Here’s what is involved in my dressing: socks, pantalets, corset, chemise, hoopskirt, shirt, skirt, and over-jacket. It’s really completely insane. Also, my corset is becoming quite small, so I couldn’t breathe all day. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of myself as a lady (I think I did that on purpose :) ). My dress is absolutely fantastic, though. I purchased it from Amy’s Sewing Basket and I highly recommend them.

After realizing that I had nothing that was period-correct to put my money in, I figured it was time to make a trip down to the sutler area to buy a purse. I ended up at Crescent City Sutler and purchased a few items: a civilian cap and a haversack for my cavalry soldier impression and a tin cup and generic purse. I was quite happy with my purchase.

Lucky for us, our friend is a wonderful farrier, so he was able to do some astounding work to my mare’s hooves and now (hopefully) she will be sound to ride again.

The battle on Saturday was exciting. The wonderful event staff roped off a section specifically for reenactors and soldiers’ ladies. We were able to get up close and personal to the entire battle. Here are a couple pictures:

The Boys :)

Sexy SO (in back) and his friend
Four horse hitch

After the battle, I decided to try my hand at playing polo. I got my mare and headed out onto the field. She rode reasonably well for having been so sore before, but I gave her another pain to think about when I accidentally hit her in the jaw with the polo mallet. Oh well, polo is just not for me I guess.

Our friend's dog. Oh the life of a Reenactment puppy!

Saturday night was exciting… that’s about all I can say about that J . A certain green fairy visited me at some point during the night talked me into trying to fall asleep on my SO’s horse as he was lying down. Sadly for me, he decided to roll onto his side and roll me into a pile of horse manure whilst trapping my arm under his neck. I was stuck wriggling about in the manure until he finally picked his head up. I was uninjured except for a couple scratches on my arm. Around 1 a.m. I finally chose to retire to our tent and Emma and I fell into blissful sleep.

At 3 a.m. I woke up to find no SO beside me and no one anywhere in headquarters. I panicked for a second, but then I heard the quite whisper of voices on the other side of the tent and moments later they all came back in from a night ride.

Sunday morning was rough for everyone. In no way did I want to wake up, but I also knew the sooner I got up the sooner I would feel better. I took Emma out to the bathroom and she ate her breakfast while I watered our two horses. The older part of our group had made breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and biscuits. I must say, a nice breakfast is wonderful on the Sunday morning of any reenactment.

This lovely lady brings her cow, Rosie, to reenactments

It was so very hot and muggy Sunday morning. I decided to hell with it… I wasn’t dressing up. I kept my street clothes on and wore a cap to cover my unwashed hair (showers are nowhere to be found at reenactments). We all spent the morning hanging out and chatting. As much as I wanted to go down to the battle and take pictures, I had promised the SO that I would go get the truck and trailer from the parking lot so that we could load up quick and get back home. I am very anxious about driving with the horse trailer, but somehow I made it out of the parking lot and up to the site without hitting anything (or anybody). We packed up and said our good-bye’s to our friends and headed home.

It was a wonderful time!

The Orphanage - Movie Review

2008-06-20T15:05:00.004-04:00

I've finally given in and signed up for Blockbuster's Total Access Pass. I'm a huge movie fan, so I figured it would be worth the money. Watching a good movie is like taking a journey, to me. I feel like I come out of it with a better sense of the world around me. Any film that pulls me in is worthy to be shared with the rest of the world.

Three DVD's came in the mail yesterday: The Orphanage, Cloverfield, and Juno. Knowing my SO wouldn't be home for a while, I picked the one that I knew he would like the least, The Orphanage. He's not big into reading subtitles and after seeing Pan's Labyrinth I didn't think Guillermo Del Toro was someone my SO would be a huge fan of; however, I am more and more becoming a fan of his work. Actually, while researching for this post, I found out that Del Toro would be directing both The Hobbit and The Hobbit 2. The world is saved! At this moment I could not think of a better director for these two movies. I feel that those two will be "safe" in his hands.

Back on subject, The Orphanage was a wonderful film. It starts with a young girl named Laura playing with fellow orphans at an orphanage. We see that she is going to be adopted, and we then flash forward to Laura at age 37. She has married, adopted a child, Simon, who is HIV positive and has now acquired the orphanage where she lived as a child in hopes to turn it into a home for handicapped children. I like how Simon is HIV positive and not something like cancer that is so overused in films. It somehow gave it a more "real" feeling.

Simon is a typical child with imaginary friends. Only, his new imaginary friend is actually a ghost from the past. When Simon disappears during an open house for Laura's new home, she goes on the hunt. She ends up not only searching for her son, but also for her past.

This film will pull you in. If I have to cover my face with my hand and watch it through my fingers I know I have found a good one. Another clue to its worthiness is that I didn't have to sit through the WHOLE movie and watch it through my fingers. There were parts that were scary, and then there was the rest of the movie, which had me glued to the screen. I think many horror flicks over-due the cheap scares and over due the goriness. Perhaps one of the few overly gory movies that is done well is House of 1000 Corpses, in my opinion. I’d rather have a couple good scares, and more psychological thrills than anything, and this film definitely delivers!

New Summer Items Available

2008-06-19T11:04:00.008-04:00

I often find it hard to go past the ribbon aisle without buying two or ten rolls of amazingly cute ribbon. I had no idea what I was going to use it all for, but lately, I've had this "need", if you will, to wear this beautiful stuff!

So, after I'd made some jewelry for myself I thought "hey, I could sell this." So I am :)

I made simple necklaces in 8 colors. I have some amazingly cute Double Gun charms that can be slipped on them for some added chic! The other awesome thing about these necklaces are that the star charm on the end of the chain is studded with a Swarovski rhinestone on either side. Bling for the back of your neck!

All Different Colors!

Pink!

Double Gun Charm

I also had some awesome star ribbon which I added Swarovski rhinestones to and made a choker. I really love the way it turned out.

Swarovski Stars Choker

And last, but not least, I had to do *at least* one fancy necklace. This black ribbon necklace has a super glitzy laser die cut pendant on it. It would go perfect with that little black dress.

Black Night Out Necklace

Hooray for pretty ribbon!

Stay tuned for more ribbon creations later this summer!

Did someone say cute?

2008-06-18T10:27:00.006-04:00

It's been a big week for us here on the farm. My SO rode his colt for the first time, and my colt got to go play outside for the first time in his life! First, of course, about my colt. His name is King (I'm not quite sure what his registered name is). He's a registered Quarter Horse with superb cutting and reining bloodlines. As soon as I get his papers I will be able to tell you more.

King with his mama, Rodeo (Rodeo Jack bloodlines)

King's sire

King's sire and me (he's a really nice stud)

The stud's brand, from LB Ranch

He had an absolute blast outside. He played with the other colts, and chased their mama's... he learned what mud is! :)

(Please excuse the mud on him, I didn't get the chance to groom him)

Soon we will be bringing him home (we're only a mile away from where he is now), and I will be able to go out and work with him everyday in our facility! Then.... in 3 years or so I will be able to start barrel racing him. This means, of course, that I have 3 years to learn how to barrel race. Lucky for me, I have a friend that's been doing it her whole life and is more than happy to help me out. I also have some grade horses here to take to gymkhana shows to learn the basics of it all.

It's been hard not being able to show American Saddlebreds, but I will get by. Someday I hope to be able to have enough of a disposable income to purchase a nice showhorse. My SO doesn't understand why it isn't enough to just ride my horses on the trails. I guess it's either in your blood or it isn't. Showing horses is what gets me going. This is why I'm willing to bet that I will get antsy and start showing King in halter classes as soon as I can!

On to Stormy

Stormy is a grey registered quarter horse we got as a weanling from the same people we purchased King from (do you see a pattern?). My SO and I are suckers for babies I guess, and the neighbors have a breeding farm.

Anyway... so Sunday, the SO ponied his colt around for a couple hours and just as a storm was coming in, jumped on him for the first time. It was quite magical to watch him. I have no doubts that my SO is a true horse whisperer. The winds picked up and rushed through my hair, and the dark clouds tumbled overhead as the horse named Stormy was mounted at the edge of stormy weather.

Tuesday, Eric rode him again, this time it was a nicer day and we actually went for a short trail ride. I led on Pete and Stormy (sometimes) followed. Occasionally I had to go back for him as he found that eating the hayfield was much more amusing than looking at the back of Pete.

At the end of it all my SO remained unscathed. I should have known that as soon as we got off he would say "Go get your camera!!!". The only time he lets me take pictures of him is if he is attached to a horse... and then he wants TONS of pictures. Here he is with Stormy all tacked up:

Pay to Click - Does it work?

2008-06-17T15:23:00.000-04:00

I'm working on finding out. I'll post some lovely referral links later on in the week so that you can find out yourself as well! :)

Fabulous New Items

2008-06-12T12:38:00.005-04:00

I added two new items today... check them out:

Berry Leaves

Summer Flower and Pink Tags - Set of 25

Also, my Yart Sale is still in full force!

Ashley Leigh Yart Sale Items

Omg! Lia?

2008-06-12T11:11:00.007-04:00

So, I've been perusing blogs lately. Today I came across what I think is a really fun blog, and this lady has an amazing shop! I just made 2 sales last night, myself, so I'm thinking of using my profits to buy some new jewelry!

Check out Omg! Lia?:

Omg! Lia? Blog
Omg! Lia? Etsy Store

Here are some of her items that I particularly like:

Chunky Rainbow Heart Cluster Necklace

Happy Rainbow Cascade of Pretty Stars

Awesome, huh? Oh yeah, and she's participating in the Yart Sale too!!!

GO YART!

Puggles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

2008-06-11T10:39:00.007-04:00

I love my puggle, Emma. She has got to be the most adorable girl in the world. I just wanted to share that...

Her very beautiful Custom ID tag was purchased from Bubblespets . I highly recommend them!

Here are some pictures of her. :-)

Awwwwww, and she poses too!

With her new Princess toy that my mom got her.

Yart!

2008-06-10T10:53:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone! Huge sale going on June 11th-20th on Etsy! Many stores will be participating in a "Yart Sale". Visit my store and click on the section that says "Yart Sale" for great sales!!! Search word: "yart" in all of Etsy to find other great sales!!! Come Join Us!!!

Ashley Leigh Online Store

http://yagottayart.blogspot.com/ - Official Yart Blog

My 25th Birthday and the Happy Valley Bluegrass Festival

2008-06-09T12:06:00.009-04:00

(Me and my mom)

Aww, sounds nice doesn't it? It was ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!!!

My mom came down Saturday for my birthday. We started off the day by eating lunch at the local Mexican restaurant (which is deluxe!), then I took her back to the house and let her meet all the dogs and horses. She brought a bag of goodies for my puppy which included two very cute toys, a rubber bone to help her teething, and the most adorable pink bandana with a lacy sequined flower on it. She sure did look like a princess!

After I had shown mother the house and everything else, we sat down to open my presents and eat cake. Mom got me some very cool stuff! She brought me tons of crafts supplies for my store, as well as a ton of stuff to throw a July 4th Party Extravaganza, supplies to make myself a tank-top with a studded horse on it, freezable margarita glasses and mix, and a beer coozy with a very yummy raspberry drink already in it :)

Of course, my cake was pink - my fav. color:

Okay, so that was the happy mushy part of my birthday.....

On to the Bluegrass Festival.....

Only about seven people came with us, where we met up with another TON of people. Everyone knows everyone in this area.... so I made a lot of new friends. This is the coolest guy you will meet --

(Joe Radd)

He happens to be our neighbor's brother. He just has that aura to him which attracts everyone around him and just makes you want to stand next to him b/c he is THAT cool. I dunno... :)

So, I drank a few beers... It was alright. Then our neighbor's buddy came up with a margarita machine! I believe my margaritas could be summed up by saying that they were tequila with a splash of margarita mix! My favorite!

Of couse, you know what follows when there is a big crowd of people... general drunkeness and catty girls with their girl drama... now I'm not talking about the girls I was with, because they are some cool chicks, I'm talking about the girls that just kind of arrived with some other people... They were nuts. At one point I was trying to find my SO's co-worker so that I could dance with him (my SO is not a dancer and he says co-workers are OK to dance with), and this girl becomes so rude and says "umm, honey.... he has a girlfriend." I said, "well duh... I love her! and my boyfriend is ____." take that, chica. I'm sorry, but just because you have "just the friend" syndrome doesn't mean you can take it out on us women of the "group."

The Almost Jail

You know when someone is looking like this at 8 p.m. they are gonna end up in a bad way....And oh, he did. Around 9:30 p.m. some people came up to me telling me I had to go find him because the friendly police men were about to take him to jail. Our neighbor and I ran off in search. It didn't take us long. I saw him sitting on the hay wagon with it about to take off. I ran up yelling, "Whoa!!! Stop!" I grabbed his arm and said, "You need to go with me!" Then I took a look at the people on either side of him.... they were cops.

uh oh.....

Not wanting to be arrested myself I stepped back and said "Oh my gosh! Sorry!" At first, they weren't going to let me have him, but after promising that we would send him to bed immediately and not let him get into anymore trouble, they released him into our custody.

Lucky dog.

We sent him home to go sleep in our barn. I was more concerned about him messing with my puppy than his welfare, actually.

The Fight

At this festival, everyone lines their trailers up in a row on the outskirts of it all. Just our luck that the guy next to us just happened to be running the generator from hell. It was extremely excessively loud. Our neighbor's son apparently had had enough by the time he was going to head for bed, and went over to turn it off.

The man who owned the generator confronted him (this is all just what I heard, btw, I wasn't there at that time) and our neighbor stepped back with his hands up saying, "Whoa man, I don't want to fight you." The man attacked him anyway and another guy had to pull the guy off our friend by the neck.

He ended up going to the hospital with a jaw that was broken in 3 places, a broken nose, and a few teeth missing.

Oh, and the man with the generator? He was a cop. So much for his job.... They did press charges.

The End of the Night

After I'd had enough fun taking out a bottle of wine with my friend and telling security all about what had happened, we decided it was best to head for bed. Who knows what time it was. My SO and I, and one of our friends, passed out on a sleeping bag on the ground.... GOOD NIGHT and SLEEP TIGHT!

The SO drug me home at 7 a.m. and I had such a hangover that I stayed in bed until 7 p.m. last night.

Very crazy, but fun, 25th B-Day to me!

I'm not a big country fan, but....

2008-06-06T14:56:00.004-04:00

Kenny Chesney "Better As A Memory":

i move on like a sinners prayer
i let 'em go like a levee breaks
walk away as if i don't care
learn to shoulder my mistakes
i'm built to fade like your favorite song
getting reckless when there's no need
laugh as your stories ramble on
break my heart but it won't bleed
my only friends are pirates, it's just who i am
i'm better as a memory than as your man

i'm never sure when the truth won't do
i'm pretty good on a lonely night
I move on the way a storm blows through
i never stay, but then again, i might
i struggle sometimes to find the words
always sure until i doubt
walk a line until it blurs
build walls too high to climb out
but, i'm honest to a fault, it's just who i am
i'm better as a memory than as your man

i see you leanin', you're bound to fall
i don't wanna be that mistake
i'm just a dreamer, nothing more
you should know it before it gets too late
cause good-bye's are like a roulette wheel
you never know where they're gonna land
first you're spinning, then you're standing still
left holding a losin' hand
one day you're gonna find someone
right away, you'll know it's true
that all of your seeking is done
its just a part of the passing through
right there in that moment
you'll finally understand
that i was better as a memory than as your man

better as a memory than as your man

What I did on day 2 of the power outage

2008-06-06T10:11:00.007-04:00

I came home at 5:00 p.m. yesterday only to find that the power was still out.

GREAT

I was hot, I was sticky, and I needed a shower. I went up to my room and thought about working on some crafts in my store, but decided it was easier to just lay on my bed and feel sorry for myself that I was dirty. Then I got an idea...

"Why don't I go swim in the creek?" I thought to myself.

My SO's dad called me downstairs to help him box up what hadn't gone bad in the freezer so that he could take it to a friend's to put in their freezer until the power came on. He told me that he'd tried to call the electric company, only to get a recording that they didn't know when they would get the power back on. Wonderful....

After I put all of my one box in his truck I waited for him to leave... anxious to feel the cool water around me. Finally I heard the truck pull out of the driveway and I slipped on my long forgotten bathing suit that I luckily still fit in (barely!)

As I walked towards the creek, the dogs followed me, excited that I was going to play in the water with them. They know. They are smart :)

I put one foot in the water and realized that while I was waiting for the SO's dad to leave, I had cooled off quite a bit. The water was soooo cold!

I decided that I needed to warm up. Crazy me, I took off my sandals and started running around the yard with the dogs. Of course, as I'm doing this, my SO pulls in the driveway. Great... now he gets to see the craziness.

He laughed at me a little bit, then realized I was the perfect person to fill up the water buckets for his injured horse that is being stalled in the barn for the time being. He didn't want to get his boots wet. Poor boy.

Finally, I bit the bullet and submerged myself all at once. One of the dogs, Buck, thought this was great fun and swam over to hang out with me. At least I knew I had him to protect me from the snakes. He couldn't, however, protect me from the fish I felt nibbling at my legs.

After awhile I got used to the chill of the water enough to go up onto shore and lather up my body and hair. I rinsed and then booked it up the bank to dry off. Luckily, no cars drove by after I took off my suit and was standing there sans anything but a towel. Our driveway is long, but not long enough that passer-bys would not be able to tell I was in the buff.

Oh, the life of a city girl living on a farm....

Of course, the power was finally restored at Midnight last night and I was able to take a shower this morning before going to work.

Ahh!

On Power Outages...

2008-06-05T08:34:00.003-04:00

It seemed to be a message from above....

Yesterday, I had a blow-out argument with my SO's dad, who lives with us. Irony of ironies.... as soon as I turned my back on him and walked up the stairs, our power goes out.

Yep.

At 5:30 p.m. yesterday we lost power. It is now 8:38 a.m. the next morning and we still have no power. I'm hungry, all our food in the refrigerator and freezer has gone bad. I'm smelly and I'm wearing at hat at work because we have well water and the water is brought to our house by an electric pump and I haven't been able to take a shower.

The only reason I am able to live is because I have the internet at work....

Oh happy day!

My little workspace

2008-06-04T12:33:00.002-04:00

So, my boyfriend and I rent a house with his dad. We've pretty much taken over the whole upstairs which consists of two rooms (one bedroom and one work room) and a landing. Our bedroom is packed with everything from my old room... bed, two dressers, my computer desk, DVD tower... and everything that was already there... his Civil War Sabre display case, his dresser, a recliner, and the TV. There is absolutely no more room for anything else. It's crazy. The landing used to be a kid's bedroom for the previous tenants, and now we use it to store all the Civil War Reenacting supplies, a spare couch, one of those portable closets, the artificial Christmas tree, and a line for hanging my clothes to dry.

Now... the "other" room. The other room is my boyfriend's dad's model train room. It's an expansive set-up that takes up the entire room. The only space is a small walkway, and 3 feet under where the sawhorses are holding up the train scenario. Everything that I brought from my dad's house has to be stored under there.

So where is my workspace for my craftmaking?

I have a small 2' nook on the landing to store boxes of my craft supplies, and everything else gets shoved into my desk.

Sigh....

You can't imagine the look on my boyfriend's face when he comes home and I've been crafting all evening. Our bedroom floor becomes my workspace :)

How do I sand-blast? Luckily, my air compressor gets to live in the outdoor covered patio. I simply plug it in, stretch the air hose outside and blast away!

Some day I will get a whole room all to myself :)

::crosses fingers::

Welcome

2008-06-04T09:52:00.000-04:00

Hello! and welcome all!

Well... I finally decided to get a blog. We'll see how this works out :)

Ashley Leigh

I'm back!

Bad Romance

Haunted Houses

Pink Soap!

Tuxedo Bikini

Pretty Butterflies

Surprise!! (and an unlikely happy mother's day)

I Made A Video

My Magic Me

Another One of Our Beautiful Horses!

Happy Easter!!!!

"Shelbyville" Horse Show Print

Photography Rocks

It's Sunday!

Weekend Amusement

Pretty Pink Scrabble Tile Graphics

Eek!! Tornado Warning!

Puggle Adoration

Wedding Bliss!

Horses - The IASHA Warm-Up Horse Show

He's Got a Tattoo of me on *his* chest???

Entrecard

St. Patrick's Day

Fail

St. Patrick's Day Punch

Featured Blog

Super Giveaway from The Muddy Moose!

Music Monday

On My Own

Oh it's Gorgeous!

Amazing Jockey Video

Valentine's Day

Monday Find

The Smitten

I'm back!

My Trip To Perryville

(Hoping to) Get Lucky in Kentucky!

Carts, and Blogs, and Websites, OH MY!

Purple Rain(drops)

Tears in my eyes - Another wonderful person

Still Here!

Ever wanted to try screen printing?

Root Canal - The Day After

Root Canal Today :(

Tuesday Pounce!

The Secret is in the Sauce - Contest

LOLcat Monday - Double Trouble

MTV is about to kill a classic

Phew!!!

Blog Design Frustration

Today I Love Turquoise - Etsy finds

The Difference in Boys and Girls

Horseshow Tomorrow

Yay! Three Columns!

Testing, testing

Aww....

Oh, Things I Need to Do

The Little Black Box - Site I Love!

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

Ladies.....

The Sky is Falling! (GE Lighting)

Emma Has A Mouth Fetish

Equine Photography

Bridal Shower Gift

Hahaha!

Overheard After Lunch

Shop I'm Loving Today - Sparkle Couture

Cool Buy - Dream Cheeky USB Missile Launcher

How To Do Nothing

Terribly Cute Tuesday

Horse Show Fever!

Yay, new item!

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH!

Thirsty Thursday - Margaritaville finds on Etsy

Lyrical Lunchtime

Cuteness on a Wednesday?

Morgan's Raid - Georgetown, KY Civil War Reenactment

The Orphanage - Movie Review

New Summer Items Available

He's Got a Tattoo of me on his chest???