12/23/2011

Happy Christmas.....Happy Weekend!

I have survived the craziness of work of holiday luncheons, holiday parties, graduations and graduation parties....I'm literally partied out! Matt is right in the madness of season of everyone getting their last minute holiday meals. It will slow down for him right after Christmas but then will pick up again for New Year's Eve parties. It's not always easy working in a customer service field, but we endure and are thankful we have jobs....and our health, our loving family and friends, each other of course our fuzzy kids.

They are what keeps us laughing every day when we are tired or in a funk. Yesterday morning when I reeeeallly didn't want to leave the house, Peanut (aka Big Worm) jumped on the couch while I was eating a bowl of cereal and looked at me with those yellows eyes and flat out said "Give me your cereal now"!! Of course he didn't actually say that, but it's funny how we get to know our animals and their personality and know exactly what they are saying. They may not speak our language, but we learn to speak theirs thru body language and their funny quirks. All of you parents out there know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

Celebrate the time with your friends, family and loved ones as life is short!

Happy Holidays, Happy Christmas, Happy Weekend to all of you!
Keep on rockin' on!!!

11/27/2011

Love my life!

Have you ever felt so happy that it makes you giggle & cry?! I'm sure you have all shed tears of joy, but I'm talking about how the happiness starts inside of your stomach and you can feel it grow and stretch into every part of your body, down to your fingers, toes and hair. I felt that this morning when I was doing my  morning chores. I walked back to the house and started giggling and tearing up because my life is so wonderful.  I am healthy, have a roof over my head with heat, a great job, nine wonderful furry kids, loving friends and family, food in my cabinets, clothes on my back and the best boyfriend ever who loves me with all of my faults(and trust me, I have alot:)


Of course being Thanksgiving weekend makes you reflect on your life and what you are thankful for and how lucky we are. This feeling spreads into the holiday season as well. The hard part is being thankful all year long. 


I challenge each of you who reads this to wake up every morning and before you even sit up, to think of what you are thankful for or say it out loud. The first thing I do every morning is think how thankful I am for this wonderful bed I sleep on(it's a Temperpedic) and then how my feet don't hurt today. It doesn't have be about large things, but about small things too. Be thankful that you can drink that cup of coffee every morning, or treat yourself to Starbucks or take a shower by yourself or that you have all 10 fingers and toes....you get my point. Be thankful for all the things we take for granted. It makes us appreciate what we have more and more. 


And most important remember to be thankful that you love yourself. If you don't love yourself, how can you truly be thankful for everything else. Take care of you first!! I've learned that the hard way, but it sure does feel good to love yourself. When you love yourself the most, you can give out true pure love to everything and everyone else!


Rock on!

11/17/2011

Thanksgiving on the farm!

This will be our first Thanksgiving together since living together....obviously, since we just moved in together in August. It's special since not only will our families come together BUT it's at our farm.....OMG!!! I tend to not think before I speak...shocker! Regardless, we are excited to have it at our house. It will be a combination of both of our friends and family to celebrate and thankful and eat until we are sick! Hopefully it will be somewhat decent so we can at least go for a walk afterwards.

Matt and my mom will be doing most of the cooking. Matt loves to cook and me not so much, so it all works out.  Here is our awesome menu:

Turkey
Stuffing
Vegan stuffing
Vegan mashed potatoes
Vegan green bean casserole
Sweet potato casserole
Corn
Butternut squash
Cranberry relish
Tossed salad
Waldorf salad
Rolls
Vegan pumpkin pie
Regular pumpkin pie
Fruit pie
Pumpkin squares
Wine

My mouth started watering while I was typing this!!

My co-workers and I had a Thanksgiving potluck today. I have to say I am truly lucky to work with such amazing people! We are our own little family and I am proud to be a part of it. Thanks A-Team! I love all of you!

Only 7 days until Thanksgiving...yeah! Say out loud one thing when you wake up and before you go to bed what you are thankful for...even if it is small.

Rock on!

11/15/2011

Savvy saved the life of a mouse!

If you know me really well, you will know that I absolutely love the bands Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden and  Audioslave. If I here one of their songs on my way into work, I know it's going to be a good day. I heard "Spoonman" this morning so I rocked it out! Talk about getting me in a good mood!

I am very fortunate to have one light at the end of my arena. Two would be great, but beggars can't be choosers, right?! My girls and I have gotten pretty good at lunging in the dark....or really our dimly lighted arena. I figured it's better than nothing.

Last night the cats told me a story. Owen(who won't sit or lay still long enough for me to get a decent picture) was watching Mama from outside the arena and Mama was sitting in the middle of the arena in the shadows staring at the ground. This isn't unusual for her to stare at a bug for hours waiting for it to move so she can snatch it up and eat it. She is a true mouser!! I took Savvy in the arena to get our lunge on. For those of you who don't know Savvy, she is my spooker of the two. She is scared of her own shadow, but will jump a down bank or into water with ease. Silly TB mare....gotta love those TBs!!

Anyway, we started our routine and I see something move out of the corner of my eye, but it wasn't Mama. She still sat in the same place. Savvy circles around and almost steps on Mama, but she still didn't move.....then I saw it, a big honkin' field mouse! That's what she was watching! As Savvy circled around again I saw the mouse running straight towards me...was it going to try and run up my pant leg? Surely, that would not be a problem for Mama as she would follow it and snap its neck under my jeans....eeeeeek! This had happened to me before when I was in 3rd grade. I was waiting for the school bus when my cat at the time brought us her prize, a baby, and still alive, squirrel. Once it had the chance it ran away from my cat and straight up my leg. Thankfully I had on shorts and not jeans! I'm still "not right" about squirrels.

As the mouse ran straight towards me, I still had a 1000 lb animal, who spooks at anything, at the end of a 30 foot line going in circles around me in a dimly light arena where shadows were abundant. I could see this ending badly! As Savvy circles around towards Mama, she darts underneath Savvy's feet to go after the mouse but then stops because loses sight of the mouse. Thankfully the mouse darted away from me just a few feet before reaching my toes. I yelled at the mouse, "I guess I won't be seeing your entrails in the morning" which usually happens after a good catch. But the look on Mama's face was priceless! "You may have gotten away this time, but I will be back. Trust me!" And she definitely will!

It never ceases to amaze me how you can see a whole conversation going on between animals. Most of the time their conversations are hilarious! If you know what I'm talking about then I am sure you get alot of pleasure from this.

Have a rockin' day!

11/11/2011

The man cave is set up!



Matt and I at a wedding in August 2011



November 2011
Jon(Matt's brother) & Stella's wedding


I've been thinking about what to write about next and thought I should go with the flow. Obviously if this blog is about me & Matt, I shouldn't probably tell you how we met, etc....

November 2008 I started working part-time at The Fresh Market in Greenville, NC. Matt had started working there just a few months before. We worked different shifts for a while and then we both started working night shifts. That's when I noticed the cute hard working guy behind the deli counter. He was working as an Assistant Deli Manager. We never spoke but we definitely knew who each other was. I came in one day off the clock to get a salad but wanted it made a special way. He went out of his way to make the salad that I wanted. Little did I know that he had never made that salad before and was totally winging it.

The salad opened up the door of communication for us and we started saying hello to each other at work. The more I saw him the more I was amazed at his work ethic and motivation. You don't see guys very often busting their butts to help the public, but Matt did. I became more and more intrigued by him. He was quiet, polite and a hard worker!

One night we were both closing and we started talking. I politely asked him out for a drink....he said no! What?!! What he meant was that he didn't drink. Oh, I thought, that doesn't happen very often with males in their mid-20s. They usually stick to you like white on rice at the notion of a free drink.  We kept talking and decided to "hang out". We exchanged numbers after work.

Matt was only 25 yo when we met and I was 30 yo...eeeeeek! But I never could tell. He was the most mature 25 yo male I had ever met. He cooked for me many nights a week and is an amazing cook! You would never know he is a vegan(who does eat fish)...it's just easier to say vegan than explain the whole situation....by the way he cooked for me. He was generous with his time, food and handy man skills. Whenever I needed help at the farm, he would come over!

He knew from the get-go about my horses. After a while of helping around the barn, late nights with a sick horse or having a job that I never got a break from and essentially came first, he still stuck around. I couldn't believe it. Anyone with animals, especially with horses that live on your property, know that they are a full time job. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter....horses still need to be fed and stalls cleaned.  He still stuck around. I must be a lucky girl!

We finally decided to take the next big step and move in together after 2 years, but finding a place for all of our critters was going to be tough. After months of searching we found a beautiful place to rent in Washington, NC. A 10-acre farm with a 4 stall barn and an old farm house that was over 100 years old. We loved it!! We moved in in August 2011. Visitors are welcome anytime!!

I'm so lucky to have Matt in my life! Any girl with horses knows that finding that special guy who sticks around after the countless hours after being out at the barn, being gone most weekends to horse shows or going to get hay or feed is DEFINITELY a keeper!! When we moved in together I told him that I didn't want him to "get into" horses unless he truly wanted to. He was quick to answer, "don't worry, I won't" :) He is so helpful though when I have to work late. He feeds the girls and cleans their stalls. He said it's just like a big litter box so it's no big deal. Or when I had another stress fracture in my foot, he chipped in and helped me do chores. Thank you Matt!! I will never be able to thank you enough!

So to thank him, we decided that the loft upstairs would be his "man cave". He's been working very hard to get it all set up. He has a couch, bean bag chair, flat screen TV with surround sound, DVD player and Xbox. He is all set!! Now he just needs a mini fridge and microwave for his tofu:) Needless to say though, he is pumped about his space and I am truly happy for him.

I know all of us in a relationship sometimes take our spouses for granted. Let's try to focus on telling them how special they are to us every day, even if you tell them thank you for unloading the dishwasher or taking out the trash. Cause god knows, I HATE unloading the dishwasher!! And us girls that have guys in our lives that put up with our horse craziness and still love us, we need to be extra thankful!

Rock on!

11/09/2011

Meet the Family

Me & Matt in the mountains in April 2011.



This is my "ears" pic from on top of Savvy looking towards our house. It took quite a while to get this picture since the mosquitos were eating us alive!!!


I couldn't find a decent pictures of Gandalf and  Owen but I will get some up soon.


Evie and Savvy 


Jo 


Mama Kitty 


Pal & Ebony 


Peanut

Beautiful Morning!

It amazes me how the beauty of nature can take your breath away, usually at a time when you least expect it. I was feeding the girls(my horses) this morning during the day light. During the work week, I usually have to feed them in the dark to get to work on time. I cherish my morning feedings with the girls. They walk over sleepy eyed and Savvy gives me a little nicker and Evie gives me a little nudge looking for a treat.  I wipe the sleep out of their eyes and they mosey into their stalls to wait patiently for breakfast. This morning as they ate I sat on the barn steps looking out into the pasture Mama sat on my lap. We chilled on the steps and watched at the sun glistened over the dew on the grass. Peace....I felt peace sitting there and listening to the horses munch on their breakfast.

Of course Owen had to to come over and get in the middle of our peace so Mama whacked him in the face to tell him that this was her time with Mom. He sulked away! I have to admit it made me laugh.

I know I don't have two-legged kids, but the 4-legged ones we do have compete for our attention just like human kids. It's funny when they do bad things just to get our attention.  Just like last night I saw Ebony's reflection in the window sneaking upstairs to eat the cat food. Boy, did she get in trouble!!

I still can't figure out how to post pictures yet, but will work on it.
Have a rockin' day!

11/08/2011

You're gonna eat lightning and crap thunder!!

I am officially starting my blog today. I wonder who will read this....quite a few? Not many? I'm ok with either. I've had so many crazy things happen to me that people have told me I should write a book about it. I thought about it, but thought I would give blogging a try first. Most of my experiences are not normal for your average person, but then again, I do tend add some drama to it on my own....gotta keep life interesting, right?!!

I live with my boyfriend, Matt Young, of almost 3 years along with our nine animals. My Uncle Tim suggested we have a reality show called "Nine is Enough", which I thought was a fabulous idea! I wouldn't mind cameras in my everyday life to make some money. I'm not shy anyway and will talk to a fly on the wall, but I couldn't figure out how to make our "pitch" to a network. There are alot of other families that have more animals than us but there is always some drama happening in the Bengala/Young household. Ask anyone that knows me!!

So let me tell a bit about the "nine". If you are an animal lover/owner, you know they all have their own personality. I truly believe that their personalities mirror their owners and feed off of their owners energy, whether it be good or bad.

When Matt and I combined our "families", I had seven furry kids and he had two. Thankfully they all get along! We now have two horses, three dogs and four cats. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Savvy(equine) 17 yo flea bitten TB mare-Savvy is the classy lady who always remembers her manners and asks for her dinner politely.  I have owned her for 6 years and our bond has gotten stronger over the years. She has melanomas and recently some other health issues, but always continues to amaze me by bouncing back! I can see the love in her big doe eyes when she looks at me. Matt calls her "Horse" as he refuses to call the horses by their real names.

Evie(equine) 6 yo dark bay TB mare-Matt hit the nail on the head when he said she is just like me. I guess he is right since I have owned her since right after her birth. She has to be the center of attention, can be quite a bully and definitely is DRAMATIC about most things in life.....oh wait...that is me, but I'm not as much of a bully. People tend to think she is crazy, but she has calmed down and really is just a late bloomer. She wants love and affection from everyone, but usually wants food more....oh wait, that is like me too!! Matt calls her "Horseface". I have no clue where he came up with that.

Ebony(canine) 6 yo black lab female-I got Ebony in MT when she was 2 yo when we were both in bad places in our life both mentally and physically. We bonded immediately! I initially brought her back to NC for my mom, but couldn't give her up. She is alot like me as well, doesn't listen to authority all the time. She loves to look at you when you are calling her inside and peace out in to the field to chase "something". God she makes me mad when she does that!!

Pal(canine) 10 yo male black lab-This dog truly feeds off my energy. He is a true example of a lab, LOYAL! This dog doesn't leave my side if he can help it. He has separation anxiety and licks his paw raw when I'm not home. Pal was also a "rescue", like Ebony. I don't mean rescue from a shelter or from an abusive situation, but from a home with no love.

Joleen or Jo-10 yo female Rottweiler-Jo is Matt's dog and is definitely loving having friends again. She used to have a hound dog buddy, but he moved. She was quite depressed living at Matt's house without her buddy, but by having Pal & Ebony around, it has given her a spring in her step.  She has her good and bad days and thankfully it's been more good than bad!! She is easy to like!

Gandalf aka "Baby G"(feline) 1 1/2 yo gray tabby-Baby G was a 4 mo. old kitten when I found her at the house I was living in just over a year ago. The previous owner left two cats there when he moved...what a wanker! Thankfully, Ann & Dave, who bought the house, spayed both cats and I kept them. When I first saw her from a distance all I saw was a gray kitten. I couldn't tell if it was a male or female. I'm pretty obsessed with TLOTR and I named her Gandalf the Gray....and she turned out to be a pregnant female. Even though I found out she was a "she", I had to keep her name.  Baby G was very skittish at first, but now she has to be next to you ALL THE TIME, except when she is running around screaming like a banshee!!

Mama Kitty(feline)-3 yo tort-a-tude-I didn't have too much thought into her name except that she is Baby G's mama. She unfortunately was pregnant and emaciated when we found her but friendly as can be. Once she got some weight on her, she showed the dogs who was boss. She was the guard dog of the property. I honestly felt safer with her around than with the dogs.....that tells you how awesome she is!!  She will greet you as soon as you get home and take a walk with you around the yard. And she is the mouser of all mousers!

Peanut(feline) 10 yo black fat-ass!!- OMG is this cat fat!! He got frost bitten when he was younger and lost part of his tail, toes and ear. I think he might of had a slight stroke when he was younger too since as soon as you pet him, he drools like a feen. We have named him vampire cat since his "fangs" hang out. He is the quiet type but will tell you a story when he feels like talking and then won't shut up. He tells the same story over and over and over...I'm hungry:)

Owen(feline) 9 yo orange tabby-Owen is Matt's cat and can be a big pain in the ass! In & out, In & out, In & out....can never make up his mind of where he wants to be. "O Master Flex" is the peace keeper in the house. He is always "chill" and is friend with everyone! You can't not love Owen, but he sometimes pushes you to the limit.

That's our family and we love them! I was listening to one of my favorite movies while writing this, Rocky which is why we are gonna "eat lightning and crap thunder!!
Rock on and peace out!