The wind of heaven is

My boy missed me

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:06:00 +0000

So I had my wisdom teeth out last Friday and the last day I got to ride Vin was Tuesday. We allow Vinnie to be used in the lesson program at our barn for a price reduction in boarding and when I went to the barn last night, the riding instructor Anna was there. She said that Vinnie was a real jerk on Friday. He bucked when one of the girls asked him to canter (which he never does!) and was being a general pain in the butt. We are used to him being stubborn, but not like that. She had choked it up to the horses not being able to get out in the pasture because of the crappy weather we have had lately. So I was interested to see how he would act when I rode him last night.

Little butt-head was a dream to ride! We worked on bending to the left and he was attentive the entire time. We worked on an even consistent canter and canter transitions and it was wonderful. We had a really fun time! So I came to a conclusion: I think he missed me!

The Barn and New Vinnie Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:14:00 +0000

We took some new pics of Vinnie with my new camera and some pictures of some of the other horses as well.

This is Ace. He is a Tennessee Walker and a big baby. I call him Bubba because his bottom lip is huge and hangs open all the time!
This is Leah, one of the girls who boards at the barn.
Lex is the only Mini at the barn. He belongs to Larry's mom. He is super fuzzy and cute in the winter:)
Vinnie in his stall. The dark horse behind him is Chewey.My two boys!

He is ours!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:24:00 +0000

We bought Savy today!! The boy is a dream to ride. We have some ground work to do but he will come around, he just hasn't been worked with in a while. I am so excited and happy! I cannot wait to bring him home. He is not up-to-date on all his shots so we have to have him get a coggins and rabies shot - it will probably be able a week or two before we can get him to Prarie Star. I CAN"T WAIT!!

Gentle Savage

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:16:00 +0000

Kyle and I are going to look at another horse this weekend. His name is Gentle Savage and he is a 17 hh saddlebred. The family took him in from thier neighbor who was getting a divorce. The neighbor wanted them to find him a good home. They said he is dead quiet even though he hasn't been ridden much in the last two years. Hopefully this goes better than our last horse-looking trip. Wish us luck!

Spent two hours with Vinnie last night

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Vinnie and I had the arena to ourselves last night which is unusual with the crappy wet weather we have had. Everyone is inside. I realized that if I wait until 7, usually everyone is gone by then. So I on days when I want to do some serious work, after 7 is the time to do it:)

We spent a lot of time working on bending and moving clockwise. He is definitely stiffer going that way and really needs the work. He can barely pick up the canter. We worked on a lot of serpentine's and circles. I also did some canter transition work. He is really getting better now that he is being ridden constantly. I think he is just so used to getting away with things with the lesson students so it's good to have that consistency when I ride him.

I am amazed every day at how amazing he is as a horse in terms of temperament. Nothing fazes this horse. Despite his stubbornness, you could ride him backwards and he would just think "whatever". I fall in love with him more every day:)

My dumped butt

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:10:00 +0000

Kyle and I went to look at a horse on Sunday. I had been all excited about this horse because, from all accounts from the owner, he seemed perfect for what I was looking for. So much for that...

We got there and the horse seemed quiet enough and did when when the friend of the owner rode it. Then I got on. 2 second later I was off. Apparently, the horse gets a little excited when on a loose rein, a fact that the owner failed to tell me before I got on. Then she asked if I was still interested to which I said "I think we are going to go now."

Everyday, I am more and more thankful for Vinnie. He is such a good boy and an amazing horse. It will be hard to find another one that measures up to him.

Thanksgiving dinner revisted

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:08:00 +0000

Since Kyle and I went home for thanksgiving, I decided to remake thanksgiving dinner for him this weekend. He loves thanksgiving and the leftovers which we did not get this year. Our local grocery stores were pretty competitive with Turkey deals before thanksgiving so we ended up getting 2 11lb birds for $.39/lb!

I made a shopping trip before we left to get the thanksgiving food deals so this is what we had:

11 lb turkey $4.55
bag of potatoes $1.99
6 cans of green beans $2.34
2 cans of cream of mushroom $.50
1 can of french fried onions $.75
Hawaiian rolls $2.50
stuffing $.99
bag of carrots $1.00
quart of half and half $1.19
frozen peas $.69

Total = $16.50

We will have leftovers tomorrow and Monday. Plus I made 2 turkey pot pies (each one should last for 2 meals) and froze them for dinners later. This means we have 7 meals for about $2.35 a piece!

It snowed!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 07:27:00 +0000

We got a bunch of snow tonight....it's beautiful and fluffy!! I am going to have to take some pictures and post them tomorrow.

I have a busy weekend...tomorrow we are going to go visit Vinnie and then I'm going to do some christmas shopping. I still need to get another ornament for my Nestie ornament exchange...I have one but I want to send her another one. I also need to get gifts for Nathan and Tessa and create a basket for the Bailey family exchange. I am thinking of going to the podge to get that stuff.

Tomorrow evening, I am making Thanksgiving dinner over for Kyle since we didn't bring home and leftovers (and we have two 11 lb turkeys in our freezer to eat!). I also hope to have time to make some cookie tomorrow night:) whew...that's a lot!

Sunday is going to be awesome! We are going to Rochester to look at Navaho, a horse I have been looking at for a while. I hope that goes well! And we decided...since we will be in Rochester, we are going to go to PF Chang's for dinner since that is the closest one to where we live. Fun day with the Hubby!!

Experience the Miracle...

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:31:00 +0000

Every winter when it snows, something magical happens. I feel renewed and refreshed and enjoy the wonder of the whiteness blanketing everything. Tonight I got to have that experience but what made it even better - I was all alone in the barn with Vinnie. There was something about the oneness I feel with him and the snow that made me feel so at peace and so calm. We watched the snow fall together standing at the end of the arena and I felt like he understood the magic of the moment. It was amazing.

More food updates

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:54:00 +0000

King Ranch Chicken Caserole - B+ This was a really good recipe but it yielded way to much to do the layering like it required. I think cutting the recipe in half and adding a bit more chicken would make it perfect.

Wine and herb Chicken Marinade - B The original recipe is pretty bland actually. Tonight I added a bit of salt and pepper and it made it better. I probably would not continue this recipe however.

Lemon Parsley Marinade - A- Oh so yummy! The lemon flavor was great and it was really good with some pasta.

Chicken Enchiladas - B-/C+ Oh dear. I realized when I made this that it was not the enchiladas I am used to, it had a white sauce. After cooked, the tortillas were still super soggy and the flavor was just not that great. I will not make this again and am not even sure if we will even eat the other portions left.

Beef Stroganoff - A Kyle loved this. I was meh but I don't like mushrooms all that much. It was good though and the very flavorful.

Honey Baked Pork Chops - A+ These were so amazing! They cooked up very tender and the honey was a good match with the pork. I will definitely make these again!

BBQ Pork Sandwiches - A- While these were really tasty...they were a bitch to make. I would probably make again though.

Stuffed Pork Chops - A+ Another good pork recipe! These are comfort food good without the calories. The apple and corn is surprisingly good together. This will be on next months menu too.

Grilled Fish - A This was so good but fish gets really fishy when frozen. We used tilapia which is pretty mild so it turned out pretty good.

Blackened Chicken - A+ This is so easy and good. I saved some of mine for a salad the next day and it was delicious!

Cooking and our meals so far.

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:13:00 +0000

So it took me 6 hours to cook 28 meals on Saturday. But everything fit in our freezer which I was pleased about.

Sunday, we had the sloppy joes which were DIVINE! I never realized how easy it is to make homemade sloppy joes...and they are so much better than the canned stuff!

Yesterday was the King Ranch Chicken casserole. Note to self - take food out of freezer the night before to thaw better. It took twice as long to cook because it wasn't fully thawed yet. Again, another amazing recipe though. It was sooooo good...slightly spicy and very yummy. I am really looking forward to this process going well:)

OAMC

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

So I have a new project. It's called Once A Month Cooking. Basically, you spend one day cooking food for the entire month and freeze it. You plan meals for every day and take them out to thaw the night before. The recipes usually require you to just throw them in the oven or on the grill. Basically, it does away with the prep time of cooking. I am pretty excited to try this. One, I think it will save us from wasting food like I feel like we do sometimes by forcing us to only buy what we are preparing on cooking day. Plus, I am really bad about feeling like cooking sometimes after work. If all I have to do is throw something in the oven, it will save time and will be tons of less work. We will probably supplement some of the meals with salads or another type of steamed vegetable.

There are actually websites devoted to this type of cooking. The nice thing is that there are tons of recipes that have already been tried and are sure fire for being good for freezing.

So....Saturday is cooking day. I purchased some of the meat today at Dash's because they had some good sales (can we say chicken breast for $1.88/lb!!). I plan on getting the rest of the supplies tomorrow. The recipes are all pretty simple in terms of ingredients but are still pretty healthy. This means good meals at low costs. Below is the list of stuff that I will be making. I will be updating to let you know how the food turns out when we eat it.

1. King Ranch Chicken Caserole
2. Sloppy Joes
3. Wine and herb Chicken Marinade
4. Lemon Parsley Marinade
5. Chicken Enchiladas
6. Beef Stroganoff
7. Spaghetti and Meatballs
8. Meatloaf
9. Honey Baked Pork Chops
10. BBQ Pork Sandwiches
11. Stuffed Pork Chops
12. Grilled Fish
13. Blackened Chicken
14. Caribbean Jerk Chicken
15. Pizza Dough for homemade pizza

Vinnie

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:46:00 +0000

So Kyle and I are officially on the road to buying a horse! We are doing a full lease on Vinnie and part of that money will go toward his final purchase price. Then in January, we will pay the remaining balance and receive his papers. Then he will be officially ours! Until then, he is technically ours in everything but the papers. This means I can go and ride whenever I want:)

Us vs. the bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:37:00 +0000

So we had plans to do a trail ride today for our riding lesson. We got half way down the road when some bikes came towards us. Chip, our instructors horse freaked out which made the rest of the horses freak and Kyle ended up in a ditch.

The worst part was that the bikers didn't even stop. I swear, if it had not been for Anna yelling at them and the guy in the house on the corner stopping them, they would have continued going with no concern for the people on the freaking out horses and the guy that fell off his horse into the ditch. Asshats! I swear.

Oh...Kyle is ok.

Watkins Glen Camping

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:18:00 +0000

Kyle and I went camping on Labor Day weekend and it was a blast! Watkins Glen is absolutely beautiful! On Saturday, we had plans to visit a bunch of wineries on the Seneca lake trail...however, we only made it to six before we had to cut ourselves off! I think my giggle fit is what did us in.

Our ginormous tent!

Kyle at the one winery he didn't try...he was my DD

The Watkins Glen Harbor...I love boats and the water!

The epic cribbage tournament that I won

The gorge is just amazing!

One of the 19 waterfallsUs at the HarborThe wines we came home with.

In other news: I believe we have found a church!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:21:00 +0000

We continued out church search today. This has been an ongoing process since we moved here that was interrupted by my overtime work at my job for turnover. Today, we decided to go to the contemporary service that one of the ACD's Jen said a friend of her's goes to and really likes. Zion Lutheran is in Clarence Center, not too far from the horse barn actually. The service was wonderful, the theme was "who do you say I am" speaking of the moment when Jesus asked Simon Peter this question and he answered "you are the Messiah".

The church is not too big but a growing and healthy church, meaning one that has people of all ages and generations, not a dying church. We met Nate, he's not a pastor, but was leading the service. He is like an intern at the church and is concentrating on doing different types of services that are, as he termed it, "organic worship for people our ages who may not relate to the traditional Lutheran worship". I felt so welcomed there and felt like God was telling me I was home. It was super emotional for me after being without a home church for 3 years and I started crying half way through the service.

It felt good to be home.

A very Irish weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:56:00 +0000

So Kyle and I spent Friday watching a very anticipated movie that came from Netflix. Since the night of the Oscars when I heard Glen and Marketa sing Falling Slowly (and win an Oscar for it), I have been dying to see "Once". Because of all the moving and such, I really have not had time to even rent a movie so once we signed up for Netflix, I knew it had to be at the top of the list.

What a beautiful Irish movie shot in Dublin. The simplicity of the movie allows you to not only get to know the characters, but fall in love with them and their music. And the ending is perfect, not some cliche, happy ending, but a very real picture of a point in your life where something is so real but yet is impossible all at the same time. I really loved the movie...and the music even more.

I think I relate to falling slowly so much because it reminds me of when I met my husband. 3 hours have never flown by so fast as they did that first meeting in the coffee shop. But the feelings I had, I was never sure he felt the same way until the day before I left for school, when he first kissed me in the car after we had been soaked by a freak rain storm. And through our relationship, me thinking that I wasn't good enough for him and sometimes trying to make issues to make there be a reason for us not to be together. But he has always been so patient with me. Understanding my hurt and my pain and loving me in a way no one ever has. Letting me be independent but still calling me out when I get carried away. He gets me...which is an amazing feeling.

So...back to the Irish weekend. Today we went to the Buffalo Irish fest. It was so awesome! Kyle drank some Guinness, we listened to a lot of Irish music, found my family's name on the map of Ireland and watched some Irish dancers who were amazing. They were super cute kids who were extremely talented:I, of course, had to wear green:

The Wilshire Twins

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:20:00 +0000

Brenda is my best friend from High School. She is an amazing person, probably the nicest person I know. She and her awesome husband John have been trying to get pregnant for about two years and we found out about 8 months ago that she was having twins! Braelyn and Jewel were born July 31st and I have been anxiously awaiting pictures - so here they are!!

Me not being the type to get all googly over babies....you have to admit that they are awfully cute!

They also have the biggest, most beautiful eyes. It sucks that they live in Texas so I think we are going to have to plan a trip so that I can meet these two! I am excited for Brenda to be able to start her family. She is wonderful with children and loves them so much. She is a full-time nanny and John is going to school to be a kindergarten teacher so I know they are going to be great parents and Braelyn and Jewel will grow up to be very smart and wonderful!

P.S. I've got a new stepmom

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:29:00 +0000

So my mom just told me that Leo (my father) got married again. I've got a new step mom! (Insert rolled eyes here.) I have never met the woman but she was apparently at our wedding. I think I saw the back of her...the bleach blonde hair and tattoo covered arms. My mom met her at my sisters baby shower... she's a trashy biker chick who wears clothes about 20 years to young for her. Lovely.

So we shall see how long wife number 5 lasts. I swear...he has a complex about being alone.

D-I-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L

My new job

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:45:00 +0000

I never dreamed that this job would be so hard. I feel like I am doing a good job but I am working my ass off.

Friday started turnover...I have 13 days to turnover 150 apartments. This could include replacing the carpet, painting, cleaning, carpet cleaning, and all maintenance issues. Almost a completely impossible task right? Nope. It will get done. I may not sleep, I may go crazy...but it will get done.

UB is the only school in the US who runs their apartments the way we do. We are the flagship for customer service and our apartment program...other schools wish to run their apartments the ways we do. No only are our budgets separate from the rest of the University budget, but we actually make money that is put at certain percentages into our researve replacements. This money allows us to keep our apartments up to date and in great condition compared to other schools' apartment programs. It's amazing the way that it all works (I'm still learning it all).

So here we go...

Riding Lessons - Going Home

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:07:00 +0000

Tonight, Kyle and I started our riding lessons. It was amazing to be back on a horse again! I have been assigned to Picasso, a rehabilitated race horse who is owned by a 70 year old woman and her husband. She allows Anna, our instructor, to use Picasso for lessons. He is a big, beautiful bay who had a lopsided face and a crooked spine, hence his name. Neither of these affect the way he rides though, he has a beautiful gait. His personality is amazing too. He is very patient and calm and very alert and aware of what is happening around him. I can tell that he is incredibly intelligent. Yes...another horse I am in love with...but I don't think that takes long to happen for me. I have been in love with many horses in my life.

Kyle did so well for his first lesson. He was so patient and really trying...I was so excited and happy to see him enjoying himself and learning about something I love so much.

I heard a quote once that said that a horse was a projection of peoples dreams about themselves and they have the capability of giving us an escape from our mundane existence. I feel so amazing when I am on a horse. When I am just in my daily life, I feel ungainly, uncoordinated and not pretty most of the time. On a horse, I feel comfortable, graceful, beautiful and at peace working with this massive animal. I feel like I can communicate with them without talking and the horse not only perfectly understands me, but we are both working towards a common goal. At a barn and riding is the one place where I feel completely at ease and at home.

A good day and yummy dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:53:00 +0000

I have felt pretty accomplished today and I even got a nap in! Today was the Flickinger yard sale. It really went well and I think the residents really enjoyed it! We had about 10 families come and sell things and quite a good turnout of buyers. I also took apart our grill and totally cleaned it, took our bikes in to get them fixed up.

Two of the girls who work in the office came to the yard sale. Then they went to check out the North Tonawanda Farmers Market and were such dears and brought me back a thin mint blizzard (amazing BTW). We decided to all go to the farmers market together next weekend and then go to Canal Fest and check out the flea market. Kyle is out of town next weekend so I can have fun girl time:)

Tonight I made Spicy Garlic Lime chicken and it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Ingredients

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and parsley. Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts.
Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons garlic powder and lime juice. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

I served it over homemade garlic mashed potatoes and it was divine when the sauce soaked into the potatoes. This will definitly have to become part of my r'epertoire of cooking:)

Our Adventures so far

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:44:00 +0000

It has been wonderful to live in an actual city with tons of things to do. Buffalo has tons of festivals all summer long plus we are so close to many things like Niagara Falls and Canada!

Our first festival was the Allentown Art Fest. It was amazing to see how many vendors and art was there! It was so fun and a beautiful day. Yes, I had to wear my beret because I am awesome and it's from Paris. Kyle thought I was a dork. I am:-)

We have also already traveled to Toronto for our 1st Anniversary. Toronto is where Kyle took me on our last weekend together before I moved to Kentucky and it's where he proposed to me at the top of the world (CN tour)!. We had a great time, at at the rotating restaurant at the top of the CN tower and just had a great time. It's so wonderful to be so close to a place that is so close to our hearts and that we love so much.

Our Garden and little oasis

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:33:00 +0000

On our back Patio we have started a container garden to grow veggies and herbs. We planted broccoli, peppers, lettuce, beans, onions, and cucumbers. Everything has sprouted except the lettuce. Hopefully it will come around eventually.

The big plants are the broccoli and the we have a lovely dahlia that is doing quite well.

This is the view from our back patio. There is actually a highway on the other side of the trees but you would never know it.

The back of our apartment. You can see our new deck box that we just got that I am excited about. It is big enough to store our grill and all of our gardening stuff in it:)

My next thoughts are to get some patio furniture but I am going to wait until the end of this summer to get stuff on sale for next summer.

A Blog restart

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:21:00 +0000

As you may have noticed, my last blog disappeared. I don't want to go into details of what happened but let's just say that it was slightly embarrassing.

So... here is to a new start! And in a new city:-) Kyle and I have moved to Buffalo, NY. I am loving it here, loving my new job and we have tons of things to do...finally!!! Our apartment is pretty sweet and I finally get to have a garden and grow veggies. Everything about our move has been great. I also get to paint here which is fabulous! There will be more updates with pictures as we get the apartment put together:)