Becoming Re-Obsessed

I've decided to make a post all about horses, but specifically about the horses at All Starr Stables. Luckily, I do have some photo's, and in time I hope to take more. Actually, most of the photos aren't actually mine. They were taken by my mom, or Rochelle.

This here is me and Scooby. Yes, as in Scooby Doo. To be honest, I can't keep up with all the breeds around All Starr, since horses are always coming and going. But he was a sweet stallion or gelding, I honestly have no idea which. He's not at All Starr anymore. Whether this has to do with him bucking a person or two off, I don't know.

This is me (duh) during my first ride on Luna. She's a nice little girl, though beware of her. Once while cleaning her stall she tried to bolt. Luckily the wheelbarrow was just enough in the way to block her, the crafty little mare. Since she's only about six months into her training, controlling her is halfway to impossible. For me at least. I can barely make her walk around the full ring, let alone trot her. I've had to have Rochelle and Mary lunge me so I can get some good trotting in on her. Someday she could make a great lesson horse though.

The two above photos are Fabio. He's an Arabian cross, and very sweet. He's not quite a pony, but he's so small. It's adorable. I haven't ridden him before, but Mary assures me he's a great ride. Perhaps someday I'll get a chance to try him out.

This is Hallie, a Pinto mare. She recently left All Starr, but came back. I'm not entirely sure why. But oh well, she's sweet. She's a great beginner lesson horse.

Finally there's my beautiful Lacey. She's a Pinto Arabian cross, and absolutely adorable. While she's energetic and had the largest trot I've ever ridden, she's really well trained. She's great in the crossties and tacking up, and her coat is so pretty! She's the first horse I rode at All Starr, so that's kind of special to me. After five years out of the saddle, I jump back in only to almost be throw out by her trotting. Ah, but she's great.

The Nightmare That is Our Garage

Photography. Something I've been interested since age... well, I don't actually know. But I can't tell you how proud I was when I bought my first camera. It's a little silver point and shoot, and while it was great at the time, I can't stand it now. The picture quality is so terrible. So I've finally decided to save up for a proper camera. I've got it picked out, but the problem is money. I don't got none. Paychecks have been scarce these days, and what little money I get, I've used to pay off debts (heed my warning, never go into debt!). So I've got like... maybe $25 of the some $500 the camera will cost. So yeah, that's why I haven't taken and posted pictures on my blog, as I've wanted to for some time now. Since I got a few requests in the comments (I actually got requests from commenters!) I decided to take some pictures on my phone. They're crappy quality most of the time, but hey, I'll get a better camera someday.

The calm before the storm is over now, as the changing of rooms has begun. Originally it was looking like Daniel and I would sleep on our bed, which would be left in the small room until the desktop was ready. But things changed, and now our room is empty and we've repainted the whole thing. Our garage looks like a nightmare, filled with all our stuff.

See? That's our garage right now. Never in all my life have I seen it this crazy. And to think, this is only from two rooms of the house. Two! It's pure craziness. I can't even imagine moving to a whole new house. Oh the horror...

Due to the garage being in such a chaotic state, we had to get creative when we needed to grab a light bulb for the new office. See that red claw? Yup, that's how we reached over all the junk to get it. Thank goodness we didn't drop it. I don't even want to imagine that mess.

Here's my beautiful desk, as well as my nightstand, out in the garage. All the stuff piled on top is from the bottom right draw of the desk. Well, except for the box full of white tissue. That's a small portion of my Schleich, which are currently mostly packed up.

My bed, full of stuff needing to be backed up.

Yes, I have a giant Spider-Man 2 poster hanging on my wall. Or at least, I did. It's it glorious?

Doors... doors everywhere... 

See my beautiful closet! I'm in love it. It's so much roomier than the last one was.

My "army" bed in pieces. I'm gonna miss this bed for the next few days.

This picture is what I found of my Lego castle, after storing it upstairs due to it being much to large to fit in the box with the rest of my medieval Legos. Can you guess who hijacked this set?

Of course it's normal to have a walking box as you're packing up your room...

Yes! I found it! Some odd years ago my dad got me a silver Big Ben clock when he went to England for a business trip. Out of any souvenir, that's what I wanted most. Luckily I found the box to keep it safe during the chaos of moving. This clock is my pride and joy of my mini clock collection.

 There she is, in all her glory. The clock even glows different colors if I want to.

In short, my day was spent moving furniture, packing up stuff, painting, moving furniture, organizing messes, moving furniture, and moving just a little more furniture. The goal is to be fully(ish) moved into our new room by Thursday. So that means we have to paint, install wood flooring, put up chair trim, and move everything back into the large room in four days. That's not including chopping up the old desk for Daniel, moving the Diamond onto it's makeshift desk in the new office, or any other stuff I forgot about. Oh, yeah, the Diamond is the name of my dads computer. In the past, we named all our computers after gems. I think mines was Amethyst or something... that was before Tommy.

After today, I'm so tired. Tomorrow I plan to do very little in the morning, since I'll be going to All Starr in the afternoon. That always sucks all my energy, but I love it. Being around horses and riding again has stirred something inside me, and it's simply wonderful.

I'm kind of sad, because I completely missed the Rolex. I was really looking forward to the cross country, and especially show jumping. Oh well, I guess I can go watch it still. But it not being live takes a little bit of the fun away. Oh well, maybe next time.

Bittersweet

Ta-da! Like I said I might, I've redone the design on my blog. I spent a bit of time on this, which was really fun. I created everything myself, using the highly sophisticated program, Paint. Yeah, not that great of a program. But I'd say what I did was pretty impressive considering how skilled I am, and how unprofessional Paint is. Blog design is something I've realised I really enjoy. Playing around with different settings is just fun. That's why I created a hidden test blog, so I can try all my designs before using them on my blog. At first they were... hardly professional, but I've gotten better over time.

Today is the beginning of something both wonderful, and extremely tiring. So it's bittersweet I guess. Everything is being moved out of my room, and as of now all the legos are all out. Daniel's desk is gone, and soon my desk will be too. Luckily our bed will stay in the soon to be office, so that Daniel and I don't have to sleep on the living room floor for two weeks. With our room being as empty as it is, it's reminding me of when Daniel and I first moved into that room some odd years ago. It was awesome. Though as exciting as getting a bigger room is, I'm not excited to be so disorganized and out of place for so long. Oh well.

I've been doing some touch up paint in the big rooms closet. If all goes as planned, we'll have the closet finished and moved into today. It'll be nice having a closet actually in my room, instead of outside the door. We bought the shelving and put it together, and already the closet is looking great. There's still so much work to do. Ah, where has the day gone?

The other day I officially named Tommy's charger Merlin, so that if I'm ever getting both my computer and charger, then I can just say I'm getting Tommy Merlin. I also decided to name my phone Soraya. I got the name from the Heartland book series. She's a smaller character, but I really like her (she reminds me of an old friend for some reason, and the main character Amy, of myself...). Heartland is one of the few horse book series that isn't all out cliche. Sure, it's got it's moments, but all books do. As for the tv adaption... well... (sorry Lauryn) it's terrible. I mean that in the best of ways. Maybe I could handle it, if Ty wasn't on parole. But I have this set way of the series in my head, and the set they chose doesn't match in the slightest. Plus the characters are all messed up looks wise.

*Hours pass because I'm too busy to edit and post, and I keep writing anyways*

The closet is FINISHED-ish! It's hard to say that anything's finished since the whole room is a working progress. I would talk more, but it's getting late and I really should get to bed. So beannachd leibh for now I suppose.

Calm Before the Storm

Right now the house is very quite. It's like the calm before the storm in a way, because my life is about to get crazy. The desk needed for the new office will arrive in pieces this Sunday, and the rest will be built here. Since the office needs to stay functional at all times, Daniel and I will be the ones completely out of place for a bit. We're going to be completely clearing out our room and storing it in the garage, and once the desk is installed and the office completely moved, we'll start on our room! I don't know if we'll get to put in wood floors or not yet, due to costs. But we're at least planning on painting the walls. We can't decided between green, or blue. Everyone says green so far. It's awesome, because we're going to do some wainscoting on the lower half of the wall. I can't tell you how much I've wanted a room like that. It's going to be amazing.

On a completely different note, tomorrow will mark the one week point until I see Phantom of the Opera at the Paramount! I'm so excited, I cannot tell you how exciting this is! Unfortunately I'm rather broke at the moment, so my souvenirs will be small. Do I get a shirt, or a program? Ah, decisions. I can't wait though! We're going with some friends, and we're sitting on the ground floor. Much closer than when Tiana and I saw R&H Cinderella.

I've been writing Heart of Fire again, and it feels so great. I haven't written today yet, but my word count is currently at 26,222 words. Yay! It's going to need so much editing and rewriting, but I'm getting a better feel for the story. As I'm rereading Harry Potter, I realise I'm terrible at coming up with a pre-story. It took seven chapters for Harry to get to Hogwarts. I just hit chapter seven in my book, and my character is already in the thick of the story. So I realise I need to come up with events to reveal stuff about the characters backstory a little, as well as give a solid setting for the book. Easier said than done though.

In a half an hour I go to All Starr, and even though I've been going for... a month? Two? Eh, somewhere around there, I'm still super excited. I get all jittery, like, "I get to ride horses!" I'm curious to see who Rochelle has me ride today. Honey Bee was really great last time. Her canter is so smooth! I'm still stoked that I got to canter alone. Sure, I've got a long way until I'm good enough to compete or anything like that, but at all my old stables, I never felt like I progressed so quickly. True, I was five years younger. But I just love the freedom at All Starr. That's my goal for when I start a stable someday. To have everything feel relaxed and just give a good atmosphere.

Yes, have I mentioned to you? My life goal is to start a stable. It's funny, most people would probably grow up and buy a horse or two for themselves. Or, probably I guess. It's barely occurred to me that I should just have one or two horses on private property. Just for me. I've always just wanted to create a great riding stable. The place I dreamed I could go as a child. Maybe it's because I love barns. I could look through photos of different barns all day. There are some incredible ones out there, and someday I want to have a large one. Barns are one of the best places in the world. Especially the hayloft. They're simply heavenly, especially when it's raining.

The other day I read through a few old posts, and despite the fact that I reread everything to check for errors, I still found a few in some of the posts. How frustrating! But hey, I'm only human.

You Failed

Okay guys, it's time for me to tell you the false question from the three facts about me. Real quick I'm gonna review what the three facts were:

• I used to have blonde hair
• I've punched someone before
• I've read a 300+ page book in a day

Let's start with the first one. Yes, I've had blonde hair before. Gasp! But it's not because I colored it. I've actually never colored my hair before. Actually, I was born blonde, then as I got older my hair got darker. Here's picture proof:

This is me at age 2. See, I'm blonde!

Time for the next fact. It's something I'm not exactly proud of, but yes, I've punched someone before. Lately I've really been becoming interested in fighting and martial arts. A friend of mine knows some fighting, since her dad has taken martial arts classes, and offered to show me some moves. Sad to say, while practicing an uppercut I accidentally punched her in the jaw. Luckily she is perfectly fine now, and is still my friend.

That leads to the last fact, which is false. I'm sure this may surprise basically everyone who knows me, but I have never read a 300+ page book in a day. To be honest, I'm a very slow reader. I don't feel like I am, but multiple times there's been proof that I read quite slowly. So there, three things you didn't know about me until now.

You all failed.

I'm kidding. I made sure it was extra hard to guess, and it's not like I go around starting conversations with, "Hey! I was born blonde and I've punched my best friend. Oh, and I'm a slow reader and have never read a large book in a day."

"They Took Out the Police Station"

The power just returned only a few minutes ago, and here I'll quickly outline what went down.

I was in the living room having a chat with my mum (not usually what I call her, but whatever). Daniel was just booting up Lego Star Wars for the Wii, when the power flickered and went out. A few seconds later there was a loud bang, which to me only sounded like metal on metal as the roof of a building fell or something. I have no idea what it actually was.

Of course this made everyone come out into the living room. Because my grandpa was obsessed with flashlights we all had one on our person quite quickly. My dad decided to go check out the neighborhoods and stuff to see the damage. See, our police scanner was picking up almost nothing. It was a little unnerving. After he dressed, he and Mamma with Daniel headed out. This left Sereina, Tiana, and I home alone.

In the event that this was widespread, and it was late and we were home alone, I armed myself in the unlikely event of an emergency. I never want to have to use a gun on someone, but it's sure as heck more comforting knowing I can defend myself in the unlikely event that I have to. Luckily, in this case, everything is fine.

With just the three of us home, craziness ensued. We lit candles in the kitchen, so it was kind of like our main central. Sereina videoed a little, and everyone kept scaring each other by acting creepy. Tiana kept singing the Haunted Mansion theme, which did nothing to help. After a while of sitting around, we (or at least I) was half scared out of my skin when Tiana's phone rang. Her ring tone is The Phantom of the Opera, so you can imagine hearing that out of the blue when the power is out, and you're slightly on edge. After we just laughed it off.

Tiana was very dramatic the entire time, explaining how it was a "stormy night" and all that craziness. She ended it all with something like, "We think they took out the police station." Yes, we're such serious people. Then she procedded to "freak out" by saying she was "soooooo thirsy" and she was gonna dye. Of course we videoed that. She was like. "There's no water! What am I going to do! Ohhhh, the fish tank." I then proceeded to turn on the kitchen faucet, which worked totally fine.

After that we just started going through old videos on our phones. They're all nuts.

Just as the trio came back, the power came back on. Like, right as they knocked on the door. Kinda funny. Glad to know there was no emergency after all. But it was unnerving, what with the strange loud noise. Usually power outs here barely last, and it happens during a thunderstorm. This time was completely unexpected.

Needless to say, I'm now headed off to bed. I'm thinking I'll read some Harry Potter; I'm rereading the series, and for those are wondering, I'm only on book one. Gah, I love this series...

More Than I Thought

Because I'm generally broke these days, I cannot buy much of the music I listen to. So I use YouTube to listen to a lot of it, and I have multiple playlists of music I've found. Though mostly I just have the playlist Inspiration (link included if you wanna check out my favorite songs). Like the weirdo I am, I kept skipping over half of the songs for no reason. I listened to a few, and all I can think is "what on earth possessed me to skip these?" They're amazing! Specifically Nightwalker, and Icarus.

I'm going to wait a little longer before I reveal to everyone the false question from the Just-a-list-of-random-questions-tag. I'm hoping more people will comment, but if not I'll reveal in a day or two. I bet you're curious to see if you got it right, eh?

I smell like horse. That's right, today was a stable day, which was great. I rode the new mare, Honey Bee. She is an old lady in training. All she needs is a bit of refinement. But riding her was great. Rochelle showed me some groundwork before I mounted, then she showed me a few things to practice on her. Then I was left alone to walk, trot, or canter as I pleased. Heck yeah, I got to canter! Course, I was half terrified since I'd almost fallen off the first time. This was only my second time too. But Honey Bee's canter was so smooth compared to Molly! It was just like a really fast trot. But it was so exciting! Then later I watched Zoe (who is a mare by the way, not a person) freak out. Her tack wasn't quite right, so she spooked. She basically frantically backed up while lowering her hindquarters. The girl riding her just slid off, and Rochelle worked her for a few minutes before the girl got back on. That's the rule in riding. Unless you are critically injured, if you fall off you get back on. Right away too, otherwise you'll get scarred the longer you wait. One of my old riding teachers, who really wasn't a very good teacher at all, said she broke her back while riding, but still got back on immediately after to show the horse who was boss. That seems... far fetched. Crazy, and a little extreme.

Recently I've been coming to learn that more people than I thought read my blog. Woo hoo!

Oh sweet goodness, yasss. I started writing more on Heart of Fire, and after going from Rocha Island (which has not been plotted out) to an almost fully plotted out novel is bliss. Going back to those characters. Ahh, I love them. I can't wait till editing. As I write, I figure out so much more about the characters and little events. If you were to read my current first draft so far, you'd be so confused. It's such a mess, and I'll probably have to rewrite a lot. But I'll have such a detailed guideline from the first draft, it won't be quite like writing it for the first time.

Less than a year ago I watched and read Harry Potter for the first time. How is it that I get super nostalgic and happy when listening to it's soundtrack? If someone were to ask my favorite book series, it's Harry Potter hands down. I started going through it again, this time to study J.K. Rowlings writing. The way she melded serious and silly is great. I usually don't go for cheesy dopy characters, like the dumb strong ones (trolls for instance) or weak weird characters (house elves for instance). But she found that perfect in between. Even the names. I mean, Pansy Parkinson? Neville Longbottom? Usually I'd be like, "...really?" But it just... fits! I love it so much. To everyone out there, I love the movies and book equally, and nothing you say or do can change that. I mean, you cannot get every detail into a movie, and considering what they had to work with, the movies are incredible!

The Just-a-list-of-random-questions Tag

I was tagged by Morgan from Morgan & Heart to do this tag! Whoo hoo!

These are the rules, as stated by Morgan

~ Paste the button onto your blog post.
~ Leave a new list of questions (or just pass on the question list you answered) and tag a few people of your random choice (and say why you tagged them, if you have time!) (Be original and nonsensical in your question-creativity - make the blogging world a cheerful place :-) And be disastrously random.)

Now for the fun...

~Write down three facts about you - one of them is WRONG. Let your commenters guess in the comments which one is wrong (and tell them in the comments after a while)
~Answer the questions of the person who tagged you - make it all super random and interesting :-D

So, lets start this with two real facts about me, and one false (to my family: no answering, 'cause to you the answer is obvious):

• I used to have blonde hair
• I've punched someone before
• I read a 300+ page novel in a day

~Favorite TV show ever

Arrow and Doctor Who. I cannot choose one, and even deciding upon those was extremely hard.

~Thoughts on the most recent movie you watched

That would be Cinderella. I liked it, though there were a few rather odd parts that didn't add up. The dress change was cool, but after seeing a couple live dress transformations, it wasn't that great. The humor was... okay? And the end with Ella calling herself Cinderella was totally weird. Ever After will always be my favorite, but it was still pretty good.

~Tumblr or Pinterest

Pinterest all the way. No doubt in my mind. I mean, I don't actually have a Tumblr account, but Pinterest is still better because it fuels all my story ideas.

~One movie you absolutely hate

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Harry and the Hendersons, Mom and Dad Save the World, etc. Need I go on? Never watch these movies. They're terrible. Basically, most movies from the 70's and 80's aren't great (though there are exceptions).

~A book you could read over and over

*slams hands on desk* Harry Potter. BAM.

~The first thing you think when you wake up <------- mine is usually "Is it Friday yet!?"

Lately my first thoughts have either been, "Morning already?" or "Crap! It's that time of day already!" I inadvertently sleep in a lot... especially this morning...

~Thoughts on anime shows/movies <---- (just want to add in mine, i do not approve of yucky anime shows, nor watch them. ATLA, LOK, and a few other kid anime + studio Ghibli is enough for me)

I actually haven't really watched any anime shows, so I guess I don't have an opinion. Once I started Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the library disk was beat up and glitched out only a few minutes in. Then directly after the power was knocked out due to a thunder storm.

~If you had a child, and only had names from your fandom to pick, what would you choose

*Evil laughter* Oliver, Harry, Barry, Sky, Gemma, Thea, Rose, Rory, Luke, Elizabeth, Will, Jack, Malcolm, Tommy, Slade, John, Felicity, Roy, Shawn, Juliet, etc.

~Least favorite question people ask you

"What grade are you in?" <-- Good gracious I'm home schooled, I have no idea.

AND NOW! I tag...
Evangeline~ My arch nemesis in writing
Elie~ Cuz out of all my friends I've known her the longest
Tiana~ My partner in crime
Lauryn~ The weirdest person I know (in a good way)

FINALLY! My questions...
~What unnatural hair color would you dye your hair if you had to
~Ferret or chinchilla? (don't ask...)
~Happiest childhood memory
~At the beach, would you rather sunbath, or swim in the water
~Something you have with you always (i.e. a necklace, pocket knife, etc.)
~Do you consider yourself a fangirl, hipster, or equally both
~Favorite movie released within the last year
~An actor you admire
~Nighttime or daytime?

Okay people, I'm looking forward to your answers! Thanks for tagging me Morgan!

*Many Hours Later*

I'm thinking about doing a blog design overhaul. I'm the kind of person that really likes change, and sometimes just can't have something the same for too long. Problem is, I also came up with a blog name that I like better than my current name, but I shouldn't go around changing the name all the time. It confuses people. Then again, not a lot of people read my blog, so it wouldn't be like I'd lose thousands of followers. I don't even have ten followers, and those I do have would figure it out pretty quick (especially since I'm telling you I might right now). Fair warning if I do, I'll probably temporarily make my blog private, until all the renovations are done. So if you come back, and you can't access it, no worries. It's just under construction.

Right now I'm listening to Thomas Bergersen's music right now. There's a compilation video by Epic Music VN, and it's amazing. It's an hour of his music, and it's how I discovered him. The picture they show during the song Cassandra is what I imagine the wood Nymphs from Percy Jackson to look like.

Today's Monday, which means I go the stable. I leave in a half an hour. Even though I've been going for almost a month now, it still hasn't lost it's excitement. I rather doubt it ever will. Every time I've ever gotten to be around horses, the entire way there I get jittery with excitement. My stomach gets that annoying excited feeling, like you're gonna be sick in a way. I still can't believe I get to trade work for lessons, and ride twice a week. It's way more than I could have ever hoped for. I look back to the last five years, and just think how different my life would be, if I'd been riding all the time. I'd definately be quite skilled, and I do think I'd still love it as much as I do now. But in an odd sense, I'm glad I had to wait so long. My appreciation for this is so much stronger than if I'd gotten what I'd wanted right away. Looking back, I still can't decided... if I had the choice, would I have waited all over again? It's so hard, and such an interesting question.

As I write Rocha for Camp NaNo, I'm also coming to realise where this plot will be going in the rewrite/edits. Though it'll probably mostly be rewrites. The more I listen to music as I write, the more I connect with my main characters emotions. Poor gal's world is being torn apart. Then again, that's generally the gist of all my books, and most movies and television shows ever. Speaking of television, part one of Flarrow is tomorrow. Oh, and Arrow only has five episodes left until the seasons over. Then we'll have to wait the entire Summer until Fall (or as I call it, the Season of Fandoms) for them to return. Gosh, Arrow is one of the best shows ever...

*Many hours later*

I'm back from the stable now! I rode Luna again, but this time she was much better. It was one of my best lessons. Rochelle, my instructor and the owner of All Starr, gave me some pointers about my form. Now I just have to keep in mind heels down, elbows in, post smaller, fists up, etc. all while balancing myself upon a trotting horse. It may sound hard, but trust me, it's harder. But it was a great lesson! I can't wait to go back Thursday and ride more. Rochelle's going to lease a new horse, and I really want to ride him. He's a grey (in the horse world, grey means his coat looks white) Quarter Horse (at least, I believe that was the breed). But mostly I want to ride him, because his name is Gandalf. He's Gandalf the Grey/White; literally. Isn't that awesome?

Oh dear. I just had a new story inspiration. Gah, gotta keep myself from writing it now...

I'm obsessed with May it Be. I actually hadn't heard the original version since I first watched the movie, since I only own the Peter Hollens version. I realised that Enya did it, and their song Only Time it like time traveling back to my childhood. It was a small part of it, but for some reason it bring me back to when the office was the playroom. We still had our old desk and huge computer screens. It just makes me... happy. But sad too. I miss being little and carefree. I love life now, but when I was little life was so much more simple... and in so many ways too...

Then There's Norwegian

I've like half forgotten about Camp NaNo. Since I'm so far ahead, there's no pressing need to write everyday. To be honest, I'm at a point that I feel like taking a little break from writing. But can I? Technically yes. I could not write until the fifteenth and still be at par. I would do that, except that I'm already a few thousand words behind my fellow cabin mate, and I can't completely loose. I at least have to try. Besides, I need to get back in the writing mood so then when April is over, I can get back to Heart of Fire with a new force so I can get that first draft done!

So remember how I mentioned during my last post that I suddenly became obsessed with the song Compass? Well, now like I've done with some French and Gaelic songs, I've created a pronunciation chart. I have only to memorize it so I can officially sing at least one song in French, Gaelic, and Norwegian by memory. Oh, yeah. In case I forgot to mention, I've memorised Let it Go and the Healing Incantation in French. That's always exciting! I may attempt to learn Norwegian after I'm more confident or fluent in Gaelic or French.

The other day was another super secret meeting, which I still cannot fully discuss. Let's just say it was really fun.

Our new doorway to my soon to be bedroom is nearing completion. The door itself won't arrive until much closer to when we actually start swapping rooms. Gah, I'm so excited. It's gonna be amazing! The lightswitch used to be outside the room, but we moved it. It's hard adjusting, because I still reach to where it's been my entire life, but it's not there! Gah, that'll take some time to get used to...

Life at the stables has been great. Though apparently I'm not very good at cinching up. See, twice I've been riding and the saddle started to slip off. This happened on Lacey, whose energetic but sweet, and Luna, who's green and completely unruly. By green, I mean she's only about six months along in her training. But other than that it's so fun! I got to ride Riki bareback for a few minutes. Rochelle was just like, "Alina, go jump on Riki." So I just rolled with it. Then when I was done, I got to dismount by sliding off her hindquarters. It was awesome. Life at All Starr is spontaneous that way. I love it.

Compass

Today has been a music filled day for me. I believe I've found a new favorite composer. I'm listening to one of his songs, Starvation. With all the vocals and instruments, I'm just completely immersed in the world this music came from. Like a dramatic story is forming before my eyes as I listen. The music is truly inspirational. Between the picture the video had, and the music, I can imagine a kind of ancient Rome type feel, though not exactly like that. I really can't explain. But it makes me want to write a historical fiction/historical fantasy set in ancient Rome.

I spent way too long looking over the internet for an online flashcards. I'm trying to come up with fun ways to practice my Gaelic, and a type of online flashcards would be great. Thing is, finding a good program in near impossible, and it's not exactly what I want even when I sorta do. Truly I want a Duolingo for Scottish Gaelic. But since that's not happening any time soon, I'm trying to find more sites and come up with ideas to practice what I know. Practicing French is so much easier, that I don't want to get caught up in that and forget to keep learning Gaelic. There must be a way...

No matter how fast or hard I write, I still cannot get ahead of one of my Camp NaNo cabin mates. *cough cough* Evangeline.

Yesterday I had a great riding lesson. I rode Lacey, and for those of you who remember, she had the largest trot I've ever ridden. But I was actually able to sit it most of the time. Sometimes I held onto the saddle lightly, other times I kept my hands hovering over her mane to keep me steady. Before going to All Starr I was used to horses like Aang, or Savanah, from my old stable. Savannah had by far the smallest trot ever. I didn't barely lift myself from the saddle. Lacey just sorta throws you completely out and you have to land back in the saddle. But it was great! I may or may not have almost fallen off a few times though. See, Lacy is kinda fat (not in a bad way. She's just large) and then she puffs her stomach when tacking up. So while trotting I started slipping, and soon enough the saddle was more on her side than back. Ahhh, what a great day... I can't wait until my next lesson. I can feel myself becoming more comfortable and better at riding bit by bit, and it's exhilarating. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. While riding Lacey was really skittish and full of energy, and at one point she broke into a canter. Somehow I stayed on with barely holding on. When I cantered on Molly I almost fell off, and I was prepared for that. Somehow I stayed put on Lacey. I have heard her canter is really smooth though. I can't wait until I'm a good enough rider to canter alone... and to start jumping. I could talk about this all day. It's my dream coming true.

I've been reading the Percy Jackson series like an insane wildfire. Right now I'm on book four, which is amazing. I've grown attached to the characters a lot, though I do sorta which the book followed Annabeth. Mostly cause girl characters feel a little more relatable to me. I think it would be awesome if there was another series about half-bloods and all, but it followed a son of Hades. I'd be interested to read that. I actually like how in this series, Poseidon and Zeus broke their pact, and of all people Hades didn't. Like, he's not nearly as evil as he's usually portrayed, and I like that. Just cause he's god of the Underworld doesn't mean he has to be evil. Ohhh... I hope Persephone comes into the series at one point. Because of Nancy Drew, Labyrinth of Lies, I've become rather interested in her story...

Okay, I've gotta say. Thomas Bergersen's music is pretty amazing. The style of his music is very thick and full of history. It doesn't feel like a song so much as a story. I would highly recommend his music based on what I've heard of his work so far. It's quite stunning. He's definitely not afraid of using vocals, and they're done to his advantage. I could rant about it for a while, but that'd get boring. It's so amazing and full though! Whoa... I just got to the song Compass... definately a new absolute favorite song. Good gracious, I'm in love with it!

Camp NaNo Has Begun!

Today is the beginning of Camp NaNo! My goal is a meager 25,000 words, just to get a start on rewriting Rocha Island. So far I've already hit tomorrow's par. I hope I'll be able to keep up with Camp NaNo. I'm not used to having a lot to do, but now that I go to All Starr Stables twice a week a little more of my time is occupied.

Speaking of all Starr Stables, during my last lesson I rode Molly, a very domineering Quarter Horse mare (the fact that she's a mare is a whole crasy aspect in itself). And for the first time ever, I got to canter! It was insane. Seriously, I thought cantering was supposed to be easier and smoother than the trot. Eh, no. I almost fell off, it was so crazy. But even though I was terrified the entire time, I still loved it. I love being able to ride again. I can't wait until I'm experienced enough to properly sit the canter, and gallop, and then start jump... and eventing... ahhh...

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot this! While out yesterday I met a celebrity! Like, a huge one and it was so amazing! I can't believe it! And he gave us a million dollars. And we're moving to Disneyland. Did I mention that it's April Fools Day? Haha, kidding. If I met a celebrity, it'd be the first thing I'd post about.

Finally renovations around the house have begun. So for the next month or two life's going to be a little out of place. As I type the new door is being put in for Daniel and I's future room. Oh yes, and it's official. We're going to mount the extra TV in our room. That's right, Daniel and I are going to have our own personal TV. We won't get cable, just cause I don't want to pay for that. But we'll be able to use Netflix and watch DVD's, so that's good enough for me. I'm so excited for once we start actually moving, and painting, and all that fun stuff.