Annual B & B Turkey Extravaganza

It's always an exciting time that's for sure. Clay demonstrates the enthusiasm.

American thanksgiving has turned into the annual Brian & Blayne turkey extravaganza for the past few years. This year, the festivities brought us down to Brian and Adairs place in Cochrane.

the chefs working hard while every one else plays.

I headed down on saturday with Mike and Mark, we hit up market mall in calgary allowing the boys to get a bit of christmas shopping done and then headed out to the party. Now along with the fantastic turkey dinner the boys cook up there is also a couple kegs that need to be dealt with as well. This year with 20 in attendance (no where near the 50+ of last year, however last year was also in a hall, not a house...) we did quite well with 1.5 kegs finnished in the night. The boys then tackled the remainder on sunday before and during the grey cup game. (needless to say I was the one driving home after!)

good party is never complete without some jenga. and the Original version at that!

Of course there is some form of fight that will happen. This time it was a towel fight. As Brian later says, "sham wow is great for cleaning shit up, but it sucks in a towel fight!" I guess the helment only protects so much, Jeremy definitely won.

Nico and Mark supporting the cause with their mustaches.There were lots of dirty mustaches thats for sure... even better were the ones that had been dyed...

Am I missing something?

Me and Cash out for a ride last week. Oh, and my awesome coat...

So I very happily and excitedly got a new coat down in phoenix. Now this isn't just no ordinary coat. First off, its from the greatest store on the planet, Cabelas. Secoundly, its camo. Thirdly its water and weather proof. Fourthly its made of softer material and isn't the noisy annoying stuff that all other winter coats etc. are made from. and lastly it allows me great ability to blend into all my surroundings and sneak up on everything and everyone, everywhere I go.

Now, What I don't understand is the big joke behind my camo coat. How many times do I really want to be asked any variation of these questions: Are you going hunting? Did you just come from hunting? where are you going hunting? what are you hunting?... my answer to every question is either no, or nothing. Or other stupid comments like " Oh There you are! I didn't even see you walk up. It must be the camo." Even the lady in the tim hortons line up dressed in a business suit and heels, (really she didn't look like she even knew what I would be talking about if I did answer her question) asked me what i was hunting for. I said "Men". So far, Dad and Cayley have been the only two since I got home who really have earned a smile in regards to my coat. Cayley because she loves it. Or so she says... maybe she just wanted to be nice to me... Oh well, either way, she gets a point because she still said it. and Dad, because in response to Bills " You going hunting?" to which i respond "No" then dad finishes it off with "She wears it because it helps her hide from all the men." However all jokes and comments aside, I really do love my camo jacket. Incase you couldn't tell. So bring on the comments and stupid jokes. I will have a plethora of witty retorts ready and waiting.

Aging... its all grapes and raisins

After having this conversation with a friend I figured I would share it with the rest of you. Mainly becuase I found it highly amusing afterwards. Seriously wonder where do I get these things from...?! It was through text message, so I will just post the conversation how it went. K= Me. T= Them.

T: I am tired again today. Up till 3 and then up at 6:30 for work. I really have to stop that.
K: Yes, you should probably tone it down a bit. Time to grow up and act old like you are.
T: Maybe, but I can act old when I am dead.
K: Yes you can, but you might end up dead alot earlier than you planned if you're not careful.
T: I made it far already, I got atleast another 30 years to go before I need to slow down.
K: good luck with that. You will be a decrepit old person by the time you are 40 at this rate
T:I wouldn't go as far as decrepit. Maybe just well used. Aged? Ripe? Matured?
K: i'd compare it to the difference between grapes and raisins. Without the proper care its not wine quality therefore its destined to be a raisin if its not just a grape (therefore eaten (dead) in its prime). And really raisins are just humiliated grapes. they aren't enjoyed with dinner, unlike wine. Instead they are covered in chocolate in an attempt to make them edible. Trust me, you don't want to be chocolate dipped. Sure chocolate is great every once in a while but once you get past the coating theres still only just a disappointing raisin inside.
K: And yes, I did just compare you to grapes and raisins
T:Grapes and Raisins eh? I don't think I will be shrivelling up by 40... You must have contemplated this before.
K: no actually I just came up with it now. I know. My on the fly metaphorical and analogy skills are impressive. I didn't imply that you would have the physical qualities of a raisin. I only compared your future life situation to that of a raisin. The physical characteristics may or may not be the same. too soon to tell.
T: Ok, thanks for clarifying because I intend to look no different than I do today... forever
K: Please let me know the secret. Not that I want to use it for myself, but so I can market and sell it to the world and make millions off your idea.

And sadly enough I never did learn the secret. So for now, I'm still on plan A for making my millions. So be it.

technology stuff...

So last night I headed into town to meet up with Mike, Mark, Aaron and Orrin for dinner. Now it was great seeing Mike because it has been wayy to long since we last met up. (We have the worst coordinating schedules in the history of two people. Seriously we are not meant to be friends because we are NEVER in the same place at the same time.) However, there is a couple things that need to be said about being the only girl at a table with 4 men...
1: It is quite enjoyable really. Because I know all the other women in the place wished they were me.
2: You hear fantastic stories that are highly amusing
3: A lot of the topic of conversation is about oil drilling and rigs. seeing as all of them either work the rigs or are in that field someway or another... but then again, who isnt' in alberta...?
4: I don't really say much all night, to the extent that if I was drinking I would have drank them all under the table and been very drunk, seeing as I would have drank to fill the void of not talking. So good thing I wasn't drinking last night.

however at one point the conversation did go towards cell phones etc. then the argument began about blackberry vs. normal phones vs. every other option. " But I can still watch hockey live on mine" "Oh, well on my blackberry I can read all the messages i've missed in the last month" "Well I have 2 phones that are the same so if one breaks out in the bush I can call and get the other one activated" "Oh I have internet, I have gps, I have this, I have that" etc. etc. etc. and so it goes on, and on, and on, and on. Finally it got to the point where I had to ask if we were really (and by we I mean they) still talking about this topic... I admit, I only say things like that because I only have limited knowledge in that area. If I did contribute to this conversation it would have been something like "Well... I have a phone.... oh! and I can send text messages...and I have speed dial... and its Gray!" or something to that extent. Coming from the girl who doesn't (and has never) even own an ipod when some at the table are onto their 3rd or 4th upgraded ones I can not hold my own when technology talk begins. I can proudly say I atleast know what a blackberry is, and I can tell it apart from other things. However after the first few introductory sentences i'm lost. all I hear is "woosh, woosh, woosh" and thats it. For those of you wondering what the "woosh, woosh, woosh" is, thats the sound of wings flapping as the conversation flies wayyyy over my head. I'm lost. and therefore because I have nothing brilliant to add to it I am there in silent. And just save my breath for breathing. It did make me laugh though when I look confused and mark gives me a look, to which I respond, "I don't even own an ipod" and he just pats me on the leg and says " I know, you ride horses." Now, my next question is, why is that the only response I ever get when I finally do interject on the technology talks after they've gone on for half an hour? If I do recall, a few months ago in calgary, computer programming came up twice, an hour apart, only to be repeated because of the arival of a new person to the party. Now, I once again go " Are they REALLY having this conversationg AGAIN!?" to which Deans reply was " Yes, we are. I know, you ride horses." Are they implying that I have no idea about any of this stuff because I ride horses? If I didn't ride horses, but everything else was the same in my world would I miraculously understand things more? I am curious... The way I like to look at it is, without all your technology, how would they survive compared to me? They may die alot quicker. I however, probably wouldn't miss too much out of the ordinary. Other than the odd blog and my fantastic ability to pass/force my thought provoking knowledge on to others through text messages and my blog. (you may not admit it, but I know you ALL would miss it terribly) All I have to say, is put me out in the middle of the bush, without power and no technology and I bet I would outlast any of them. I could start a fire and make complete meals and easily survive. Now the technology dependent, i'm not so sure... could they manage to survive without google at their fingertips? what about the gps in the phone... nope, they would surely be lost. Horses have taken me places others only dream of, and allowed me to see and experience things that others do not know exist. So go ahead, laugh because I ride horses, but I am proud of it.I'm proud of the knowledge and abilities it has allowed me to obtain and the places it has taken me in this world.

New Moon

So Ashley, Cayley, Megan and I went to New Moon tonight... It was ok. From hearing mixed reviews we weren't sure what to expect going in. I think any scene with Jacob made it worth the 2+ hours spent sitting watching the rest of the movie... The first scene where he very gracefully and quickly removes his shirt caused a large gasp and then put all the women in the theatre into a giggle fit. Wow... it was beautiful. Any 17 year old with a body like that and can induce giggle fits in women of all ages... well he deserves a definite round of applause atleast or something. I don't know what else to say...speachless.

Ranch life...

oh how I miss the country and ranch life when i'm gone... after 2 weeks in the city it was fantastic getting home... You can see the stars!!!!!!! and can't go wrong with the horses and all the animals either... and of course the wide open spaces.

sunday night involved Cayley and I sitting in front of the fire in the Cabin with a bottle of wine. It was fantastic. Great time catching up and relaxing...

Monday we went out for a ride and I used my new bridle dad got me for my birthday. It looked so great on Cash. Such a pretty boy! I'm in love. Poor Zinger is now getting neglected...

Red Deer

So decided later saturday night that I was going to head to rocky for a while. On my way through red deer called Kristi and stopped in to see her new condo and have a drink. Well I should have known that one drink with Kristi is never just one. So out we went to billy bobs. Saw Dan there, it was good seeing him and nice to have a dance with someone who knows what they're doing again! After many shots and a few too many whiskeys we managed to fend off the annoying drunk guy. (and by annoying drunk guy I don't mean Dan...) All in all it was a great night of shenanigans, like usual when Kristi and I get together...

Snow...

Woke up this morning to snow. FINALLY! Lets see what has happened in the last few days... it may take me a while to remember because I was soooo busy and had so much going on... NOT.


Well I guess I will start with thursday, went and visited Jason for what was going to be a few hours but then turned into sitting around drinkin whiskey and beer, watching flight of the conchords ("No i'm not crying, its just raining outside!" GREAT show... highly recommend it if you like low budget but highly entertaining stuff...) and random parts of movies until wayyy to early in the morning. Oops. Oh well, I didn't have to work on friday. Sorry Jason! Friday was an attempt to catch up on sleep, napping randomly until 1, then actually getting organized, headed downtown for a meeting at 2:30 then met up with Mimi for a late lunch. Went to the gym... wow, what was I thinking. It was one of those decisions that was genious at the time but highly regrettable the minute I started working out... way too tired still!

Melanie and I decided to go to a movie last night forgetting one very important thing that we were quickly reminded of when we got there. After the parking lot was soooooooooo full and there were teenage girls everywhere screaming and crying and being WAY to enthusiastic and loud. I mean come one, You don't need to stand there and SCREAM into your cell phone. and i'm not saying like screaming and still talking at the same time, there were no words in this scream. Just a full out scream. repeatedly... yip... not cool. anyway, this was when we realized the new twilight movie is out... shit. oh well. I don't understand how people can get so excited about a movie, its a movie, it will be around for ever. Think about the rest of the population who want to go enjoy a different movie tonight, wait one more week when there is less chaos and then maybe there will be less of you Twihards to deal with. When other people have to fight their way through the line up to your theatre door just to get to ours... its a little over kill. Who needs lawn chairs and books to keep them occupied, WHY ARE YOU THERE SO EARLY!? don't you have better things to do with your time on friday...?

I understand that yes, there are some very good looking boys/men in this movie and that is an ok reason to be excited. I understand the appeal, come on, Taylor Lautner Aka.Jacob Black, mmmmm yum. I have included a picture below for those of you who have no idea what i'm talking about or those of you who do and want to take a minute to admire. Just don't drool on your keyboard ok? Who cares if he's only 17... if you can somewhat get past the baby face... just Look at that body! I'm a body person...age is no factor to me as long as its good to look at. Who cares if they're stupid, just tell them not to talk. Maybe thats what I need, find a nice gorgeous man and pick him out on looks alone. Allow him to go everywhere with me. Just like an accessorie. But he's not allowed to talk. Only there for viewing pleasure... too much? ok... ya I think thats a little too much. Anyway...Back to my initial issue... All i'm saying, if only half of them could wait for another week or two. Like I am... I admit, I will most likely go see it, (helloo half naked werewolves?! I'm so there!) but i'm not going to die if I don't see it for another month, unlike it seems some who were going to drop dead if they didn't see it by 9pm last night. Just gotta spread it out a bit it'd be a much better movie experience for all of us...Now that I have that rant out of the way...

We saw Men who stare at goats. Highly recommended if you enjoy somewhat twisted humour. Niot quite as out there as Ingloriuos Basterds, and not as clean cut as your basic comedy. If you like the off center and quirky comedy (think Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) then i'm guessing you will enjoy.

Today it is back to the books... by books I mean work... not school. THANK GOD...
(and yes Jason, thats thank god not good lord... i'm trying...)

Found it!

I would like to publicly thank Terri for finding my mind in an old flower pot in banff. It is now on its way back to me... :) Terri, thank you. You deserve a hero cookie.

So today was more successful. Way less aimless wandering. I also met up with Mimi and got more work to do... yeay!

hmmm so I'm actually at a loss of things to say right now... unbelievable I know...

Anyway, off to Jasons in a bit for a few drinks. That means I will leave the house TWICE today. Woohoo! progress!

soundtrack to the day I lost my mind...

What I have listened to today... I do not blame my mental state on any of these songs... if anything they helped it from declining further... :)

Joe Diffie- prop me up beside the jukebox
just a fun great old song

Michael Buble- haven't met you yet
this song allows for great chair dancing practice. by that I mean dancing while staying seated in your chair at the desk... not some crazy stripper show dance...

Hans Zimmer- The Dark Knight - I Am Batman
Because I Am! what...? aren't I?
perfectly dark and ominous and suitting for the loss of my mind today

Joey & Rory- Tonight cowboy you're mine
if only that was the truth... haha

where am I?

So after months of things to do, places to go, somewhere to be and stuff to see I have hit a dead end. It feels something like running right into a wall. I am at a dead stop, and I also have the symptoms one might have after running into a wall. Dazed and confused and walking around aimlessly. Yes, I have found myself in many different rooms of the house only trying to remember why I was there. Most times I figure that there is no reason at all and go back upstairs to the office, only to find myself somewhere else in another 20 mintues... oh dear. This is what has happened now that I went from go, go, go to trying to sit infront of a computer all day doing book keeping. I now remember why I left this type of work to go do other much more fun and adventurous things... I do not have the attention span for it! its a challenge.





Another scary thought is i'm starting to feel like i may have lost my rudder somewhere, feeling slightly off my mental reservation... now that may be because I haven't talked to a single person (other than mom, not saying that she doesn't count!) for the past 2 days... (wait... what day is it?) lets try that again, the last 3 days. Or it could also just be because my family tree is more like a shrub... Just kidding family! I love you all!





Normally I would be just fine with this fact if I was on the ranch with my animals, or out in the hills with the horses and stars instead of street lights and cars... (as demonstrated in picture above) BUT problem here is.... i'm not. i'm in the city and sitting in front of a computer. Atleast out there you can always say you were talking to the dog, or the horses or something... other than yourself. Its easy to have a conversation with them, they don't talk back. You know theres an issue when the jake owen pictures start talking back to me from the computer...Just Kidding! But I can only take my own dialogue for so long. Theres that old saying " Theres two theories to arguing with a woman, neither one works" It's true, and I like to emphasize the fact that when you're a woman and fighting with yourself its even worse... impossible to win... you think there'd be an advantage, knowing what the other side is going to say before they even know they're going to say it... but theres not. Just makes for a really complicated situation.

I better go stare at more numbers now, maybe I can find my mind somewhere mixed in with all the credits, debits, 0's and $ signs... ? maybe...? I will look for a secret code....
I have a feeling it will look something like this...

credit 3599.00 debit 2590.oo $#^your mind would like to return to you$39206.0004089634 but only if you finish this sequence 4358.00 + talking money...debit 25890.23 add 2905-123216549874A talking monkey? 565462@% &56521598^&#$^6+3456725<<34546/*: Talking monkey, yeah, yeah. Came here from the future, ugly sucker, only says _______

and then I will say "Ficus" to finish the sequence and my mind will return.

I know, I know you are all wondering how I know this answer... well, i'm a genious. Obviously.

anyway, until next time

i'm gone like the mind from a man who's gone insane.

front page of the monday journal

Front page on monday, now thats one compromising position.
For those of you that understand... ahahahaha
For those of you that don't get it... tough S**t :)

attempting to organize my life...uh oh

so after a minor freak out this afternoon when I realized I have no idea what i'm doing with myself now that all my gypsy travels are through I sat down with many sheets of big paper and large markers and went to work. I think I have things figured out for now... atleast up until june! yeay! And for those of you that might be worried, there are still gypsy travels involved... just not quite as manys mall ones, only a few large ones! This is what me getting organized looks like...

This morning I watched the geese on the lake. It was highly amusing watching them trying to walk around on the thin layer of ice... slipping all over. Almost felt bad for them until they'd fall through the ice and then i'd laugh again. Too funny!

My Playlist...

now that I got going on Jake Owen and good music I figured I would share some more great stuff off my playlist of today...
I will try and incorporate some non country too... but it might be hard! :)

Bryce Pallister- Not Ready to Go
Luke Bryan- Do I
Daughtry- Tennessee Line (Vince Gill does back up vocals!).
Nickelback- Burn it to the Ground

I want to kiss you good morning...

ok, so we all know i'm absolutely obsessed with country music. Found a new song ,or maybe old I think, but never released... i don't know the story... anyway, its by Jake Owen (*sigh*) So, how can you go wrong with anything by Jake Owen. He's pretty enough that he doesn't need to have a good voice... but he does, BONUS! (ps. did I mention I saw him in Nashville... most beautiful man ever...) oh right, sorry, ok, back to the point... It is a sappy love song, but its beautiful and I think it's one of the ( and i can't believe i'm going to say this... those of you that know me will understand, I don't use this word...) anyway, I think its one of the most romantic things someone could say. Long story short: good song. Its called: I want to Kiss you good morning, by Jake Owen. Download it. Enjoy it. then run off and hunt him down and propose...oh what? people don't actually do that?

slow down gypsy life...

well my gypsy lifestyle has now been put on hold until I manage to build up the bank account and pay off some bills... (the costs of being a gypsy!) however that will give me time to make the plans for the next round of gypsy adventures!

Travelling escapades

I bid you adieu

goodbye gypsy life

for now we are through

so long adventures

into the setting sun

all that is left

is the smoke from the gun

back to the turmoil

return to the strife

home to the regular

and boring old life

ahead in the future

yet I dont' know when

the time will come

to hit the trail again...

CFR

CFR week has once again come and gone. It was great fun, and awesome to see everyone and catch up with everyone.

Definitely over indulged on thursday night, but great night out on the town with Brett and Shannon. Cowboys everywhere... and three single girls... t-r-o-u-b-l-e ... :)

Heidi and Riley came up for wednesday and thursday night. It was so nice to see them. Especially because Heidi is leaving back east for an unknown amount of time (i'm going to miss you!)

Terri decided to cuff the cops with her neck rope on friday night. I'm going to have to get her to teach me that one... :)

Burrington (aka. Dad) thought he should take Mels blackberry and text her boyfriend. He must have forgot that it is technology, and requires skills. Anyway, 15 minutes later I think he finally managed to create one sentence and hit send....

New writing...

So Nate asked me for some writing because hes looking for new song material... eeck! scary thought, sharing my writing with someone. However I did it, and it felt good to get it out there and let others see it, so I decided that I will post some of my favorites every now and again... anyway, this is one I wrote when I was on the plane home from nashville. There is no story behind it, completely ficitonal...

Sitting in music city

waiting on your call

hoping that it comes soon

but knowing it won't at call

been chasing this dream

down here in tennessee

i left you in montana

knowing you could never agree

love should be supportive

one should never have to choose

be with you or chase my dreams

either way, I seem to los

i can walk away from home

to make my wish come true

but theres more of a struggle

to get over losing you

should you change your mind

and maybe come to see

you know where to find me

i'll be down in tennessee.

ps. thanks Nate for making me get it out there!

Grand Ole Opry

We went to tuseday night opry and the Ryman. What a great show and awesome seats! Third row dead center! Keith Anderson (picture below), Lost Trailers, Holly Williams and Vincent and Daily were some of the acts we saw. A Nashville must do!

Music City!

First things first, I have to say it, I LOVE NASHVILLE!

Tennessee was perfect (well almost), the fall colors were beautiful, the weather was ideal, theres great country music everywhere, the only thing missing is some mountains close by. (and by mountains I mean like the rockies, not like the hills they call mountains in arizona...) the house is where we stayed for the week. It was the first original post office of nashville. built in 1820!

Night time shots of broadway where all the honky tonks and live music is found. I could spend hours and nights upon nights going up and down this street. So much fun. Always good music, cheap beer and tons of great people to meet!

Tombstone

Its impossible to be close and not make the trip down to Tombstone, AZ. What a great piece of history. A perfect little town with gunfights in the street, all the towns folk are dressed up in the old 1800's style. It really does feel like you time travelled. Well, if you can get past the fact that the place is full of other tourist just like yourself... For being so close to the mexico border (something like 20 miles) and farther south than phoenix, it was actually cooler at tombstone because of the altitude. I think the pictures explain it the best...

Road Trip USA!

Mom, Ray and I road tripped down to phoenix. It was... well... an adventure I suppose. We went through 6 states in 5 days. Starting off with Montana, (which I love by the way) cut across the state, from the north west corner, flathead lake (the picture is a dock on flathead lake) and big fork (where we stayed on night one), to south east corner of west yellowstone (stayed over night 2). Beautiful Drive! Highly recomend going to yellowstone. Its a must see. Then after yellowstone, we ventured on down through Jackson Hole Wyoming, nice little place, very much like Banff. Onward to Logan Utah. Turns out we drove through idaho, but didn't see any of it because it was dark. Just before hitting Logan we travelled a very windy, up and down, crazy road. Which we later found out was one of the most beautiful passes in Utah, hey guess what, we missed it all as well because.... it was dark! Logan was our stop for night 3. Then south through Utah. North by Logan it was very nice scenery, but soon turned into desert... and boring... not exactly my type of scenery. But it was still nice to see...once. Night 4 was then spent at vegas. Which i'm glad to say I have finally experienced, however I do believe that it is slightly overrated, and that is the view I will keep until I experience differently. However, can't complain with the $50 win on the penny machines! I'm Rich!-er... Picture of mom and I infront of the fountains at Bellagio.Saturday we headed out to grand canyon and explored way up high and admired the wonder. Amazing! Rolled in to phoenix late saturday night.

Grand Canyon!

Blog!

ok, so still not sure why, but have decided to give this whole blog thing a go... see if I can't remember to actually use it sometimes. Just incase there are some of you out there who are actually interested in what I have to say! If not just humour me atleast... ha :)