Confused

How do you know when you have made the right decisions in life? Where is the looking glass to the future?



I wish I knew all the answers. I wish it was easier.

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Manic Monday

Hi friends. Well it was a whirlwind weekend. Lots of learning, growing, deep conversation, and searching my soul for some answers.

Well I got to spend some time with some great people, and learn more about my friends, which is always an amazing experience. I love knowing more about people, their thoughts, views, and analyzing together. I think it brings people closer together.

I ate some great food, learned at school all day on Saturday (Equine Medicine Club Neuro Wetlab, and VERT Symposium training) and then got to spend some quality time with friends, even got to do some dancing!

It certainly wasn't as productive of a weekend as I would have liked, but it was full of learning nonetheless. The outside of class kind.

So now back to a stressful school week. The quiz I thought was on Friday is on Wednesday, and the exam that's on Friday is on 2 subjects when I thought it was just on 1. Great. And here I am blogging ;)

On that note, here are a few songs from the weekend. LOVE THEM ALL.


Such a great one a friend turned me onto this weekend. Actually to both of these first songs. Thanks :)





The last one I stole from HP and its a little scandalous, be forewarned of the nudity. At least just listen to it.

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Human-Animal Bond

I had to do some research on animal welfare for a class, and I came across this website which I chose to evaluate as part of the paper: http://www.vetsforequinewelfare.org/index.php

As I was writing my evaluation, I came across some videos of horse slaughter on this website, and I became upset by it, so here is what I wrote (not edited):

This website has many graphic photos and videos regarding horse slaughter and it is difficult to tell if these are worst-case-scenario depictions from unregulated facilities, or if these are depicting the best case for these horses in terms of slaughter. Prior to watching these videos myself, I was of the impression that horse slaughter might be a necessary evil with the numbers of horses being left without food, water, or shelter due to the overpopulation of horses and lack of financial resources. However, watching these videos has drastically changed my mind. The most disturbing part of these videos to me was not the captive bolt itself, but the level of stress the horses were undergoing prior to death. When we have been taught about slaughter of livestock for food, there seems to be a lot of research from people such as Temple Grandin as to how the cattle for example can be transported, and moved from trailer into the slaughter facility in the least stressed manner. And so I guess I ignorantly associated horse slaughter in the same light. That the horses perhaps walked in relatively calmly, were shot unconscious, and that it could be a humane way to end their lives. However, from watching these videos, I am acutely aware of the sensitivity of horses. Something I have always known, but didn’t put two and two together. Horses have to be DE-sensitized to most things before they feel less stressed. Humans, halters, trailers, saddles, bits, etc. So to think that you could for the first time, shove a horse into a chute and expect them to remain calm is stupid. These horses were falling down, slipping, doing whatever they could to try to escape because they knew whatever was happening to them was not going to end well. And that I couldn’t stand to watch. It is true that leaving a horse out to starve and die is not fair either. So as a future veterinarian do I decide to promote horse slaughter in the US as a means of decreasing the excess horse population, or do I decide to try to make an impact in those horses lives I CAN impact, my clients, those horse owners in my community? I think it is hard to saw what is worse, a starving horse, or a horse shoved onto a potentially 24 hour long trailer ride where he/she can be injured, and in that short time deprived of food and water, and then forced into a dark chute where a human stands overtop with a huge metal gun, and try with their last breath to escape their impending fate. In the short run, captive bolt is a fast and if done correctly, painless way to go (although judging from these videos, how accurate can you be with a horse rapidly moving his 200+ pound head around?), but are the pains and stresses before worth it? Obviously in practice, I would never suggest slaughter, but it’s the horses I won’t have control over I worry about. Those right now that might be homeless. Which would they prefer? I would prefer to starve. But I am a human with conscious thoughts. And horses are not people. But I think its clear they aren’t livestock either. And this human-animal bond class has made that even more apparent to me. Cattle, at least those that I have been exposed to, are raised with a purpose to provide meat or milk for humans. Horses on the other hand are our pets, our family members, and I for one am bonded to them. Even the crazies. So I leave you with this to think about. I for one need more information to form my proper opinion, but I think I know where I am headed. All the horses that have touched me, I could never send them knowingly into such a fate.

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Almost Lover

I am not sure what an almost lover is, but I recently discovered this song on my pandora station and thought I would share it. Its quite beautiful I think.

Back to the books :)

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Girlfriends

This is for my girlfriends, who have always been there for me :) (Skip to the end if you think the body of this post is too long...)

My girlfriends have always been a huge part of my life, and so I value them as I do my family. Since I was in kindergarten I can remember having a best friend. Annie Tran, kindergarten/1st grade. Then she told me I had fat fingers and that friendship crashed and burned. 2nd and 3rd grade was Ra-Ro (that was my nickname for her, hers for me was "Ya"). We were horse friends, and we lived 3 blocks apart. She moved away in 4th grade, yet until we were about 16 or 17 we each made a trip to see the other at least once a year. And we were pen pals, we made these great drawings to each other of islands we would like to live on. Most of them revolved around our pets, her guinea pig Roxie and my hamster, Hambone. Haha.

At my new school, from 4th-8th grade I had a best friend whom I still get along with like we never were apart. I only see her when I go home, but everytime we hang out its awesome, like no time ever past.

In high school I met Landy (nickname again). We have been best friends ever since. We spent almost every day together. We walked the dogs all the time, her Sami and my Marge. We went to a bed and breakfast in Calistoga one time and took the dogs as a weekend trip, so much fun. She taught me tennis and about humility. And she could always, and still does, tell me how it really is. No sugar coating.

In college I made a whole new group of amazing friends each one different and amazing in their own ways. Lins, the first real friend I made, probably single handedly one of the nicest people I have every met. We don't talk as much as I wish we did, but when we do its always so fun. DB- we met on the equestrian team and turned out we had ridden for the same trainer at different times back home. We are still very close now, and always have the most ridiculous stories and experiences together. K-rizz, what can I say? Met working on a project for school, never looked back. Who would have thought one rap song could bring two people so close. Even today we probably talk on a daily basis. Foodstamp- Another one of my fellow equine buddies, and who would have thought how far we have come? We always have the most awkward and silly times together!

And now vet school! So many new wonderful girlfriends I know will stay with me for many years to come.

And so here is the tribute, a few words for those of you in my life now and how you inspire me.

Foodstamp: You inspire me to work more patiently with my animals. I always try to think to myself, what would she do? You are patient, kind, and always do your research! Another way you inspire me, to take my education upon myself. Not just school, but life. If something in the house isn't working, to go look up what could be wrong and how to fix it. You inspire me to be resourceful. And you remind me to tone it down sometimes. When I get to hot headed or need to be more understanding of someone else or their situation, you can remind me. And you are very selfless. If I am out till 2am I can count on you to come look for me. And you never judge me. You put your friends and family first. And we are some of the goofiest people. I could not get through vet school without you!

HP: You inspire me to be more adventurous! You know that you want to see the world so you make it happen. I think so many people let what could be experiences pass them by, but you seek them out. And you figure out how to make them happen. I think we could all use a little more adventure in our lives. And you love with all your heart. You take risks. You inspire me to have more passion in my life.

NF: You inspire me to be a more organized, stronger, and healthier person. You know who you are, and you embrace yourself. You said you have spent your life making something out of nothing. That in itself is amazing. You have made your life what it is. That is something very few of us can say. You inspire me to be a better student, to organize and to focus. And to improve my omlette making skills. You know what is important to you in your life and you don't compromise what you believe because school is too busy or whatever other excuses most of us make. I will try to make less excuses, and just get work done!

KRizz: You inspire me to be a better friend. You are always the most thoughtful, send me cards, gifts, thoughtful messages. I often feel selfish or that I do not reciprocate, so you inspire me to work harder at my friendships and put my friends in front of other things in my life. And to be more open and less fiesty. You have created your own path, you have overcome hard times, and are an incredibly strong person. And you are one of the most genuine people I know. I always try to think when I meet people or am talking to someone I am not super close with, how would you interact with them? You make anyone you are talking to feel important and you always are genuinely interested in others and how you can help them or just listen to them. And you make the best chai tea with extra foam :)

Landy: What can I say? Its been a trip. You followed your heart, literally. And you are living a life I will probably never have any real idea of. You have made true sacrifices for love, you are focused on your education, and you are one of the most selfless people I know. You are the most down to earth, kind, and caring person. And after all this time, I know I can tell you anything. You will never judge me. And you tell me how it is. You make time for me. Something I wish I was better at for you. I could sit in a room in silence with you or talk for hours. But it always feels like home. Even though we can never pick a movie to watch and like to fight over the radio, I would sit on a couch or road trip with you any day. I miss you all the time. I can't wait for your return.

And so my friends, I love you.

Goodnight.

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Little jewels

Literally.  I found this website from a wedding blog I like to visit.  http://www.andreabonelli.com/
This jeweler is based in San Francisco and makes beautiful jewelry from recycled pieces.  I think I would love a wedding ring like this one:

It seems so elegant and simple.  And its eco-friendly!  As much as I think something spectacular from Tiffany's would be fun, I feel like a wedding ring symbolizes your love for one another and a committment and so I have a hard time thinking that spending gobs of money on that is really following in that same symbolization.  But I also think its a very personal decision, and to some women a fancier ring is more important to them.  But I love that these rings are beautiful but also wouldn't break the bank.  Convenient! 

I also LOVE this song:



And this one too:



The Wailin' Jennys from the first video is basically all I play on my Pandora currently. LOVE them. So folky. So beautiful.

This Snow Patrol song is BEAUTIFUL and maybe a little emo too. Sometimes that is just the combo you need. Last night at our "study" party, minus the stuyding, we were all hanging out listening to music and this song came on and I remembered how much I love it. Listening to it right now. I think its going to be on repeat for a while.

Well I just picked up ChaCha from school, now we are going to try to study. So much to study! But thats what I signed up for right?

PS this blog was supposed to be something completely different, very emo, as I have feeling that way a lot lately. Maybe just confused. As you can see it wouldn't have been a fun blog. So I hope you liked this one!

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday! 

Here at our household, a good time was had by all.  For Christmas Eve, a friend from school came down and we made an endeavor of creating the most intense cake ever!  According to my Bon Apetite magazine, it was supposed to be a simple 3 layer spiced chocolate torte with chocolate ribbons.  Perhaps I should have thought twice when I read the title.   Nonetheless, I wanted to have it for Christmas dinner and thankfully decided I should start it on Christmas Eve.  Well, I dragged my friend into it, and we worked on it for about 5 hours on Friday and then another 3 or 4 hours on Saturday.  Sheesh!  On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with some family friends at a nice Italian restaurant and then came home, made some cookies real fast, and ate them along with some jelly beans "belly flops" that my friend had brought, while we watched Home Alone 2.  I think my Mom made it through about half the movie before falling asleep on the floor haha. 

Here are some photos of an evening walk in the park with Marge and Landy:

Here are some photos of THE CAKE:

Mare and her loot:

The tree:

Christmas morning was nice, we opening stockings, made a frittata, waffles and fruit for breakfast, and then opened presents from the tree.  Marge got so many presents she got tired of opening them!  I found this really cheap pack of 6 dog toys at Walgreens and wrapped them all individually, so Marge got to open a lot of things.  I also got this stuffing-free fox toy for her that is really too long for her and when she drags it from its head, she trips on its body, oops!  But she loves to thrash it around while growing at it, so I think it was a successful purchase (I mean Santa present).

Christmas dinner was with the same family friends, quite fun, and then my best friend who lives in Ecuador came over and we all had cake and then played Trivial Pursuit, except that the game is from the 70s so no one knows any of the answers! 

On Sunday I tried out my Christmas present, a road bike!  Very exciting!  But I need a lot of practice, I am not used to the toe clips, and I fell over when trying to stop.  A new skill to learn.  How to successfully stop on the bike without falling over.  Step 1.  We'll go from there. 

Yesterday I went up to my friend's Cabin in Forestville, CA and we went to a nice restaurant called the Applewood.  It was quite tasty and we came home, drank hot chocolate and played lots of the card game Hearts.  Today we drove to Sebastapol and wandered around town into lots of adorable shops, book stores, cooking stores, and had a lovely lunch.  We came back to the city, went for a walk in the beautiful afternoon crisp weather, and then made some good chocolate chip cookies.  All in all, a good weekend :)

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Bad Dogs and Stupid People

Tonight was the annual neighborhood cookie party.  A great time was had by all.  Toddlers ran around, clothes covered with frosting, a small child and I decorated about 25 cookies, mostly me watching and him asking if he could eat them all.  Adults mingled, drank wine and beer, and discussed which high schools or colleges their respective children were thinking of going to.  And as is common at one of these functions, someone thought I was still in high school.  Must remember to wear make-up more often. 

And this was the first year that the hosting neighbors had a dog.  An adorable 9 month old puppy named Ruby.  Exhibit A (not really her, but a close-looking internet dog):

This puppy is a complete sweetheart, tail wagging low all the time, slightly timid with strangers, great with the babies pulling at her fur, a great family dog.  Except for the fact that she loved cookies!  Well any food that was around.  So at one point, everyone had left the dining room and Ruby thought this was a great time to put her paws on the dinner table and see what all the fuss had been about.  I spotted this mischief, and being the great vet student I am, ran to the rescue.  I swiftly approached the pup, grabbed the plate she had knocked on the floor, and courageously reached into her mouth to try to extract the poor gingerbread man that was being inhaled.  During this time other humans had come to help, and also around this time, as my hand was in her mouth, I realized, crunch.  She didn't stop chewing!  Instead she chewed my finger along with the cookie!

I slunk off to the sink to investigate my throbbing finger, only to realize, yes, there blood and all, was my stupidity flowing into the water.  Of course my mother told everyone about this and the owners were embarrased and apologetic, but I don't think they were embarrased as me.  Aren't us vet students supposed to be smarter?  Shouldn't I know better than to stick my hand into a strange dogs mouth?  But she was so sweet and cute before!  Well I guess usually the dogs I have to stick my hand into are either too sweet (my roommates puppy who has been trained well and has an oh so gentle mouth) or don't have enough teeth (Marge, who will just gum you to death) to do any harm.  Well, I like to think of this as a learning experience, one I will not repeat again.  Plus, since my cat attack, I am now well equipped to clean out animal bites.  Silver lining?

Now, there was another bad dog, stupid human scenario this evening.  We leave the cookie party, me embarassed and needing some betadine and neosporin, parents in tow, and head up the street.  We come home to exhibit B (viscious guard dog and apparently pissed off dog of the house):

Marge.  Well, stupid humans that we are, we left a bag of chocolate in my parents bedroom, and as my Dad put it, the scent from the bag must have been too overwhelming, because we found little bits of foil wrapper leading to the bag.  Crafty Marge had taken one chocolate bar out and unwrapped it and ate it!  Well, now she has done this kind of thing in the past, so I guess that makes us the stupid humans, but come on now, Marge, you should know better than to eat POISON!  They never learn, do they? 

But of course Marge then was apparently so mad we left her to have a cookie party with another dog, she not only got herself some dessert, but left us a little suprise to clean up too, geez.  As such, knowing she was bad, she is now hiding in a plush blanket on the bed.  Hard life. 

But all in all, it was a nice night.  Lessons learned.  No hands in dog mouths, and chocolate must be kept at higher levels.  Duly noted.

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Winter Wonderland

Finals are.... doneskies!!!  YES. 

Success?  Check!  Immune system?  Fail...  Sleep?  That's what winter break is for, right? 

My friends and I went to Tahoe Thursday and Friday after finals were done and my roommate and I went early on Thursday intending to ski/snowboard.  But the weather wasn't great so we found this great little rental shop (http://www.laketahoeskirental.com/) where the staff was so friendly and suggested we go snow shoeing at a place called Echo Lake Sno Park.  We were the only ones there and it was magical, as corny as it sounds.  So peaceful, white, wonderment.  And snow shoeing is so fun! 

Levi came along and he had a blast!  He bounded around, poucing through the snow, leaping, going shoulder deep and jumping out like a bunny, soooo funny! 

Here are some photos of our adventures:

After the snow we had a night out in Nevada, quite fun! 

Saturday was the Mercer Clinic, I saw 8 patients and 1 client, that's 5 kittens and 3 dogs in 1 truck.  Quite a busy day, but a great experience!

Sunday was the annual Santa Paws fundraiser put on my Mercer and I am a fundraising officer, so a few other students and I put on the event, and it was a great success.  I even got interviewed for the news!

I had ChaCha home for a few nights, she was excellent!  I didn't crate her and she loves her bed so much she doens't move the whole night!  Last night we went to the pet store and got her a new collar (her old one got a little ripped up by a dog that bit her ear :( and some Christmas squeeky toys!  We went on a walk on the Greenbelt today and she did fine, we encountered 1 squirrel and a few aggressive dogs, but she did her best and maintained her composure most of the time...

Today I also went to the Health Center for a cough I have had for about 3 weeks, and got some meds, which unfortunately made me a bit ill for the afternoon, hopefully they won't do that tomorrow!  So I got behind schedule and then had to drive to Sac to pick up some photos our family took a couple weeks ago.  Bad call.  4:30pm is the wrong time to drive to Sac.  I hit a bunch of traffick, then got off on the wrong freeway exit, got back on the freeway the other way, then the exit I needed didn't exist on that side so I had to drive further, turn around again, and then get off on the right exit, whew!  Well thankfully by the time I left the traffic had calmed down, or I might have used C-roll to push others out of the way!  Okay, maybe C-roll could only affect SmartCars...

And now back to home sweet home!  Marge barked at me when I got home today, she must be getting senile or blind in her old age!

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How do YOU prioritize?

Recently I have felt like I can't decide how to prioritize my life.  Obviously it centers around school.  But there are many different aspects to vet school.  Committees, clubs, externships, volunteering, applications for summer trips, scholarships, and figuring out what you are actually going to do when you graduate.  I feel like this last topic is on my mind a lot lately and then everything else stems from it. 

Grades are important.  Obviously.  But, its hard sometimes to judge just how important.  Lets take my current dilemma for example:  tonight.  (Lets preemptively say I could have been more productive over break, but that's now water under the bridge).  I get home around 6pm, eat dinner, make some tea, and sit down at my desk with my trusty laptop (my life).  And I think, well next week I have 3 finals (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday), and there is one of the finals that I really need to do well on.  So thats great.  Good plan.  Let's start studying.  Oh wait.  I have 2 different summer applications due this week.  Crap.  Okay, so one of them is this really awesome opportunity but only 10 students from all the students who apply from ALL the vet schools are chosen.  So my application better be bad ass, right?  Well that requires research.  So I research, for about an hour and a half.  What are they looking for, who do they want, what do they do?  I even read some papers, ha.  But then you have to convince them in 150 words or less.  Double crap.  So I write down a bunch of stuff and get this one paragraph I think is pretty decent, 208 words.  You get the idea.  So I decide after 2 hours I should send a copy to my parents. 

Now lets move on, I can study now right?  Wrong.  So I move onto a fundraising project that I put off, and that takes me about another hour and I didn't even finish it.  Okay, theres always tomorrow at lunch...

So now I think, well I have had a raging sore throat for like the last 3 hours, so should I go to bed?  Nope.  Another summer application.  This one for a project in Honduras that I didn't get picked for last year, but some of my friends went on and it sounded pretty amazing, so I pull that one up and start writing.  Not as bad, there aren't any word limits, so I work on that one for about another hour.  Review it tomorrow and submit and hope for the best.

But now I should really go to bed.  Poop.  This means I have been very productive for the last 4 hours but I haven't actually done any school work.  So this is where I have to figure out how to prioritize.  I will undoubtedly feel guilty tomorrow when my friends talk about the studying they got done last night and I'll feel behind.  But that's the nature of vet school.  And tomorrow I will do some studying, hopefully, and maybe feel more caught up.

I think so much about what I am going to do with my life when I graduate and it makes me motivated to find projects for the summer, because I feel more and more like its the life experience and skills you gain and people you meet who will help shape your future, not how many A's you got in vet school.  But when you are surrounded by some of the best and brightest in the world and you get a B here and there, you feel like a slacker, or at least I do.  And sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by people who know exactly what they want to do when they walk out of here with a diploma, and I feel like I am still trying to figure that out.  And sometimes that makes me feel insecure, because I feel like a lesser student or veterinary professional because I signed up for one thing that I am not sure I really want to do everyday for the rest of my life.  Why is it that sometimes changing your mind feelsl like the scariest thing in the world?  Like you are lettting down the people you once told you were going to do one thing, when really if you don't follow your heart the only person you are letting down is yourself. 

So then that leads me to thinking of a string of more emails I need to write to find out who can help direct me to opportunities in what I WANT to do.  Which, interestingly enough I am not entirely sure of.  We'll save that little tanget for another blog.  I think it might be a long one.

So I guess tonight I will go to bed.  Try to save my health.  And try to wake up early and work on some studyage.  Oh wait I have to go grocery shopping.  Haha.  Someday I will get my life re-organized, get back to the gym, back to calling my friends, back to keeping up on my emails.  That day will come: in 9 days that is.  When this quarter will be over!  Then I can spend winter break stressing over how much experience I can fit into my summer...

Here are a few more light-hearted photos from my recent trip home :)

Good night everyone, hope you are better at prioritizing than me :)

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I have just returned from a journey of epic proportions! On Wednesday my family and I flew to Vermont and we returned today. That's a 3 day trip to the east coast, if you thought it couldn't be done, think again. Woke up at 4am on Wednesday, flew to Chicago, then to Manchester, NH, where we rented a car and drove to Vermont. We arrived in Vermont about 7pm their time, so 4pm west coast time; do the math, thats 12 hours of travel time. Rough.

But we made it, were greeted by lovely faces and suprised Grandma who didn't know we were coming (she knew my Dad was coming, but not the rest of us). We had some dinner, caught up a bit, and then cousin Tom and Dave and I went to Molly's, a bar/restaurant in Hanover, NH, just across the Connecticut River, and had some 2nd dinner (the first dinner was the only food Dave and I had eaten all day, besides "plane" crackers in the shape of planes on the plane haha) and margaritas :)

Then we went to a house Cousin Tom was housesitting for and watched a movie called "Black Dynamite." Probably one of the most ridiculous films I have ever seen. Basically plot revolving around making fun of all movies from the 70's, the Black Panthers, drugs, sex, violence. You dig?

Thanksgiving Day was lovely. Very cold, refreshing if you will. I got to watch some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, possibly one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. What more could you ask for? Music, dancing, Christmas spirit all around, SANTA!, and the Rockettes!

We played some mad Scrabble with Grandma, she still kicks everyone's butts! There was some football thrown around, pie baking, food making, singing in the kitchen. Dogs playing. Family bonding. Just wonderful. We ate, we ate, and we ate. Then we had food comas. Then we ate pie. More relatives came for pie, so that was nice too.

Then Cousin Tom, Sam, Dave and I went to the housesitting house and played salad bowl (a very fun game for all ages, if you want the details, let me know), and then some of their high school friends came over, and then we all watched "Three Ninjas" which if you didn't watch as a small child, you probably should do it now. Basically the Karate Kid, but with 3 kids, 1 Chinese Grandpa, and a fight against a powerful tycoon who used to be said Grandpa's partner in Ninja. Basically awesomeness.

And then this morning we had breakie, and then we hit the road. The weather this morning was a "wintry mix", the roads were icy and it was quite chilly! But all planes were a go, although we flew to Phoenix first, which I don't think any of us were prepared for how long that flight was, so we were all very ready to get home.

And who was here to greet us? Margie poo! She was very happy to have her pack home :)

Now back to reality. Well maybe. Break is still technically 2 days longer. Maybe a Christmas tree Sunday?

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Life Update

Currently:
Listening to Mumford&Sons radio on Pandora. Song is The Present by Hem. Never heard of it!

Wearing all CPET sweats, they're so comfy! Annnnd slipper socks, obvis.

In bed. Haha. Slept 2 hours last night on a friends couch as a "break" from studying (4am-6am). ROUGH. But how is it one can keep functioning on so little sleep? The human body surely is amazing! Now I am going to crash while watching "Love Actually."

Found out about a cool photo shoot opportunity in beautiful Golden Gate Park while I was sending emails to photographers for a fundraiser for Mercer. http://www.tinywaterblog.com/
Scroll down to where it talks about mini holiday photoshoots. I am going to try to get in on it!

My best friend is an AMAZING writer and she has the coolest blog:http://aacker02.wordpress.com/
Its pretty cool. She lives in Ecuador. With her husband and their dog. And she is getting her master's in Anthropology. And she can write! Check it out if you are interested in funny memoirs of a gringa living in Quito (okay I am the gringa, I think she is an Ecuadorian that just happens to have lots of blonde curls).

One of my other besties is having an important job interview tomorrow! She is an amazing conversationalist and is so passionate about her work, I know she is going to rock it! Good luck my fellow fish-tank friend!

Well due to my current sleep deprivation, I am off to bed.

Nighty night!

I will try to be more inspirational, etc soon. When I have more functioning brain cells :)

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Vrrrooom

Good evening ladies and gentlemen
For your entertainment purposes, I bring you.... leaf blower 101, vet school edition.
Ridiculousness ensues.

These are just a few "choice" photos, a little humor for your week.
Happy Thursday!

Annnnd, for your musical culture, here is a song from the one and only Stan Rogers.  I like to call it my fisherman music.  In all seriousness, he has an incredible voice and I love the instrumentals.  And who doesn't love a song that tells a story as sweet as this?
If you listen closely, you can hear him say in the beginning "This is for my wife" :)

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ChaCha! chachachacha!

Greetings earthlings!
Life update: Halloween party, so fun! Too much fun? Never! I was a crossing guard, I think the costume turned out pretty well if I do say so myself!
Halloween itself was spent studying, but we had about 4 groups of trick-or-treaters, not including myself (I HAD to use my oh-so-cool trick-or-treating bag, see pic below), and we had a study party, so it wasn't too bad :)

Exams, well, they are still coming...
Pig was good this morning, much friskier than normal, so we'll see how riding goes :)

I went on a spontaneous road trip to SF on Monday with a friend to pick up a bike he bought on ebay, it was quite fun! I learned how to fill my tires with air, the weather was PERFECT, the Giants won the World Series, overall it was fantastic!

I brought ChaCha home tonight for the first sleep over! My friends call her ChaChachachachacha... etc, and it keeps getting faster, I guess you have to be there to know what I mean. She is doing quite well, I made her a "bed" with towels, blankets, and sheets (all I had) and gave her a bone and a toy. She seems to like being at home a lot. And she got to play with my roommate's puppy which is very funny to watch. ChaCha is very animated with her paws when she plays and they just run around, tumble, and generally have a great time!

Must get back to, I mean start studying now! Big Pathology exam Monday, eek!

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My grey ponies

I seem to have a thing for grey horses, geldings, mutts, that are from other countries.  Maybe its the accent?  You know that one horse that no one else seems to get along with quite as well, that steals your heart, quirks and all?  For me that was Taz.  He was a grey, somewhat awkward looking gelding from New Zealand, had a huge almost misshaped looking brand on his left shoulder (I think) that had the number 27 over the number 0 (meaning he was the 27th foal born on the farm in 1990, the 0 standing for the year).  It literally took up his whole shoulder, people at shows used to joke that someone drunk branded him.  On his right shoulder was a tiny umbrella-looking brand.  He had a black mane and multi-colored tail.  I thought he was perfect, minus his fear of wheel-barrels and the jump that had a green 1/2 dome under it.  No one else really liked him, in fact the first time I ever rode him I hated him.  We jumped the same jump over and over again and he ripped the reins out of my hands each time, and the reins were the webbed kind and I wasn't wearing gloves, so basically he ripped the skin off my palms.  One of the assistant trainers, Rachel York, now Rachel Fields, finally convinced me to get back on him, and I was hooked.  I owe her big time.  She gave me the most relaxing lesson on him and after that, I was sold.  I remember one time I just sat in his stall with him.  He nuzzled me, and I watched him eat.  He was that kind of boy.  A big heart, and such a love bug.  And he was good on the trail and I could ride him bareback and just be goofy.  I leased Taz for a long time, he took me from some less-than-stellar hunter rounds (he had a hard time with lead changes, I think he thought 4 legs was too many to untangle at once), to my very first jumper class and with that my first reverse championship in a class.  Eventually we moved up together, but when my skills started to move past his, I moved on to other horses.  He was still in the barn and it was very hard to watch other people ride him.  Eventually he was sent to the trainer's farm and then to a sale barn.  I found out who his owners were a couple years later by listing his description on a website called bayequest saying I was looking for a horse I used to ride and somehow someone who knew him told his owners about the ad.  I talked to them once, and they sounded like they really loved him, they changed his name to Jazz, and they said they wanted to keep him forever.  Somehow I lost their phone number and the email I had for them didn't work, so all I know is that he is in the Sacramento area somewhere.  I hope he is living in a lush pasture, with all the love he deserves.


My next grey horse was mister Twink.  Another big boned boy from New Zealand, belonging to my mom's good friend.  I had watched Twink at the Menlo Charity Horse Show when I was a kid, and apparently told my mom, "I have to do that".  ie jump, show, be a horse girl.  Little did I know I would one day be able to ride and jump such a talented horse.  Twink was a Grand Prix jumper in his day, an amazing athlete.  He did sustain an injury and after his lay-up was "retired" to being more of a pleasure horse.  A few years ago I spent a summer at home and a long winter break before studying abroad in Ireland and during these times, our friend was gracious enough to let me ride him and have lessons from her.  He is a funky horse on the flat, very awkward but I liked him that way :)  I could always get him to move out and I could deal with the often spontaneous bucks at the canter.  And boy did it pay off, getting to jump him was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  POWER.  Sheer power.  And speed.  And that ability to turn on a dime.  And he was a great teacher.  He liked the long one and I had gotten nervous in my riding and seemed to be always looking for a chip.  And if I really botched a distance, he didn't jump it.  We had some ugly fences, but when I was on, he was on.  And then it was great.  And he loved to jump which made it 100x better.  Twink is living his life out at our friend's house now, I am sure fat and happy, and I am so greatful to have been able to have those few months learning on such an amazing horse.

And now Pig has entered my life.  No, he's not a pig in the sense of a fat pink animal with a curly tail.  He is a grey big-boned boy from Australia.  I leased him from a lady this past spring and really loved him.  He has his quirks too.  Quite an imagination, he thinks new people by the arena and turkeys on the propery are reason enough to get all big and huffy because "oh my!  they might eat me!"  At least I think thats what goes on in his head.  But he is very well trained and as long as he knows you aren't going to let him get away with anything, he is very fun to ride.  He is also very very sweet.  He loves to rub his head on you (excellent manners I know) and he has great ground manners.  I don't jump Pig, but I really don't mind.  Its nice to ride just to have fun.  And we get along great so I know hes not push button, but as long as I think about how I am riding, we usually have a great time.  He hasn't been feeling his best lately so I am hoping he recovers soon!

And I can't leave out my girl.  Eve, or more properly Eva Mia.  My horse.  The only time I could ride in the ring and have the annoucner say "Eva Mia, owned and ridden by ME".  She was a big, bay mare.  White star, no other markings.  She was BEAUTIFUL.  And she was born on Christmas Eve.  She had a $ brand on one shoulder, and on the other there was a 0 indicating she too was a 1990 model.  I am also pretty sure she was a long as she was tall.  Like a limo.  She was a World Cup jumper in New Zealand and then a Young Rider's horse.  She came to the US and was owned by a girl in a barn next to ours and when that girl wanted to move up, I started leasing Eve.  She was amazing!  She knew it all and she knew it well.  When I messed up, she was there to fix it.  I think sometimes she thought "um, you are wrong, but just hold on, I will find our distance here and get you through it".  I had some of my best rounds on her.  We showed jumpers, up to 3'9'', and we did some equitation classes.  She had some quirks too.  She really wasn't the sweetest mare on the ground.  Typical teeth grinding, angry faced mare, we called her "Mama" and we would call her angry faces, "Mama's angry face", but once you were on her she was so forgiving.  She did grind her teeth after the fences and she would often have her ears back in pictures, but I think it was just focus ;)
I was so grateful to have owned such an amazing horse and so endebted to my parents for recognizing how important she was to me and making sacrifices so that I could have such an amazing horse.  
Eve taught me a lot, and I wish I could have kept her forever.  I remember telling her I would never let her go, but the reality of life was that I couldn't keep that promise.  I know she had a great life after me but I can't help but have felt guilty about not following through on that one.  
By the end of high school, Eve would get foot sore, she had a lot of miles on her legs and feet, and so we decided to give her back to my trainers.  She lived on their farm in a big orchard with some other "retirees" and then was sold to a woman down South who LOVED her.  We're talking matching tack here love.  I heard a couple years ago that Eve was put down.  I never found out why.  I know she is somewhere galloping in a field and hopefully only using her angry face when really necessary :)

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Relaxation, how I missed thee

Today we finally finished our 4 exams in 2 weeks saga. Maybe this doesn't sound too bad, and really it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but the past few days have been the definition of burnout. So today was the last of that little fun streak, and now I am looking forward to a weekend of doing all the things I haven't had time for. You know, like cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, getting the car washed, haha. Is it sad that I am really looking forward to having the time to do these things? I of course also intend to sleep, watch movies, bake, and play ChaCha and Pig.

ChaCha is the dog I am taking care of for school. The school takes in dogs from local shelters and uses them in classes so us students can learn how to properly handle them in medical settings. The dogs are kept at school but then students can become part of an enrichment program and get assigned to a dog for a year, to train, and socialize. The dog I have is named Chata, but my friend and I who are sharing "joint-custody" of her, call her ChaCha instead. She is very cute, probably a terrier/pit mix, and if there is one thing I can say about her minus the fact that is sooo sweet, is....SQUIRREL! Enough said.

Pig is the horse I ride, he belongs to a woman here and I leased him from her for a couple months earlier this year and now I just help her out in riding him along with another girl in my class. He is very sweet as well, and he has quite the imagination when he puts his mind to it. That doesn't really bother me, I really love riding him, and he always knickers when I pull up with my car, I love that!

Since we don't have another test for a WHOLE WEEK! I think I am going to putter around town and ideally find some cute cafe to write some emails from and get a great latte. I love having days when you discover little whole in the wall places by yourself and you can spend as much or as little time wandering around in stores, people watching from cafes or restaurants, and go to shops and try on clothes and spend 20 minutes twirling around in a dressing room in a dress you love but just can't afford :)

I am also going to try to work on my Halloween costume a bit. I am planning on being a crossing guard (more details when I have more of it figured out, think lots of orange and reflective tape), but the orange dress I ordered isn't supposed to come until the day before our halloween party, so that makes me just a tad bit nervous! Perhpas I will come up with some back up plans just in cases!

Speaking of Halloween costumes, my roommate just showed me the costume she got for her puppy! I don't know if its a secret, so I will just say it is SO ADORABLE!!!

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Greetings!

Hello! 
This is my first ever blog post, very exciting stuff!  My hope is that I can use this blog to share a little of my daily happenings so as to keep in better touch with family and friends, and so that I can share some music, photos, recipes, and thoughts are are inspiring me at the moment.
A little about me: I am a veterinary student, I have a wonderful family, friends that I consider family, and I love animals, photography, nature, well you'll get the picture as a continue blogging...

For todays music, I stumbled upon this on youtube today.  I love this song, mostly because its in the movie Love Actually which I LOVE, and this video has such a hippie feel to it.  Sometimes I wish I could have been alive during this time so I could have worn long flowy dresses with my hair down to my waist, just like my Mom :)

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