Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a GREAT one! We did! Since we just moved only 6 days prior.. we wouldn't be in any shape to have anyone over at our house, so we decided to have a quiet night at home.. alone. We didn't want the hassle of drive at least 8 hours to get to our familie's houses or have the hassle of having a bunch of people in a partially decorated/furnished house. It was much easier to just sit at home and cook a nice turkey dinner for two and not have to worry about who likes what and who doesn't. It was very nice.

We has the traditional turkey, a homemade celery and onion stuffing, some gravy, baked sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar, cranberry sauce, fruit cocktail, rolls, etc.

What did you do for Thanksgiving?

Here are a few things that I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for Sarah. For taking such great care of my horsey when I can't be out there everyday, twice a day to feed her. Thank you for loving her so much.

2. I am thankful for the best husband in the world. Who lets me sleep in on Thanksgiving.. who lets me get another horse and doesn't mind that he didn't get to pick it out. For taking the dogs outside when it's OH so cold!

3. I am thankful for the best animals in the world. A cat who loves his people. No matter what we do to this kitty (I've forgotten to feed him once.. okay maybe twice.. but they weren't in a row.. :( ) He still loves us and comes running whenever we call. He'll even lick your nose/chin if pick him up and hold him like a baby. Two dogs who are the best little things in the world. They don't bark, thank goodness, they don't run away, and they love to snuggle. What more could you ask for? For all of our fish who have lasted through two VERY LONG moves and didn't die on us, we love you little, okay wait, big guys. For my horse.. for being such a great little girl, even though she has her moments, and being such a wonderful little trooper through our move.

4. For our landlords... for being so helpful with our move in and answering all our phone calls and questions. For also giving us such a great little welcome home basket!

We're thankful for so many things. Each and every moment that we have here with our family and friends and animals.

What are you thankful for?

Far Too Long

I've been gone for far too long, but once again I have to say good bye for a while. We're currently moving down to a gorgeous house in Cottage Grove, OR. (With some AWESOME landlords, I might add - Hello Sara, if you're reading!!) We have to move by this Thursday, so I must shut down my computer to pack. I hope you are all okay with my absence as things have been so hectic around here. They should settle back down again soon. Until then..

I wish you all the best and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! (if I don't get back on before then!)

Love you all,
Stephanie Mackey

Back From Eugene

UPDATED WITH QUESTION BELOW!!!!

I'm BACK!!!

Yeah, you thought you could get rid of me, muah ha ha.

Well our trip was GREAT, with a capital G!! We left around 9:00 am on Friday. Then had about a 3 hour drive to Portland, OR. We had to stop at Macy's because Hubz had a supprise for me!! We went up to Macy's and here is who I got to meet:


OMGosh, he is cuter in person! If you're not sure who he is.. he's THE Tyler Florence from The Food Network!!! I am a HUGE foodie and I LOVE the food network, so it was a blast!!! He was sooooo sweet! I waited to see him for about 35min, then got to. He was so funny, and VERY affectionate!! LOL! I asked him if I could get a picture and he was like, "OF COURSE!!!", and then he grabbed ahold of me... My husband was taking the picture but I was like.. I DON'T CARE... THIS IS TYLER FLORENCE.. he he. So it was great!!! He was super sweet and nice! I also got two of his cookbooks, signed and with little notes written to me on the inside.. it was so fun!

Then we continued no our trip down there. We got stuck in traffic SO MUCH. I swear the traffic was following us. It was rediculous. But we made it and had an AWESOME meeting with a friend of mine, Sheri. Her family is so cute. We had dinner at Applebee's and then we chatted for a while. She's so much fun. Her husband and mine get along SOOO well. They'll be great friends.

Then Saturday we had to meet with Jeff's boss. They talked about business for a while, then we all went to lunch, then they talked more business. Then after a while jeff's boss said.. "so.. what do you think so far?" (remember they're trying to get us to move down to Eugene so Jeff can run that office) Jeff said, "well I love good opportunities and love challenges and I think that this is both!!" So his boss goes, "so can I take that as a yes or no?" LOL!!! Jeff goes, "Yes, I'd like to try it out!!"So we're moving to Eugene!!!

Then we talked about when they want us down there.. and HOLY CRAP!!!! They want us down there by the 15th of next month.. that is in 18 DAYS!!! OH my gosh. We're going to be so busy. If you don't see me on very much, that's why!So we had a great trip.. meeting everyone and having a great time seeing the sights.

These next 18 days are going to go SOOO quick!

Updated To Add:

My friend and I are thinking of starting a business that makes bows for little girls and dogs.. sounds cheesy but you'd have to see the bows.. well we're looking for a name that would incompase dog and little girl bows... if you have any ideas please email them to me at:

jeffandstephaniemackey@gmail.com

Thanks so much,
Stephanie

How Things Have Changed

Boy have things changed around here. I haven't been on in what seems like forever.. okay maybe it has been forever. I appologise for that. It sucks. We've had some good news and some bad news. Some fun times and some bad times. Here's some things that have happened in the past couple weeks:

1. We had a horse pass away. He had a huge accident. It's hard to talk about so I won't say much about it. We miss him a LOT!

2. Jeff got a huge job promotion that wants to move us to Eugene, OR. We're going down this weekend to check it out. It should be fun, I can't wait to see how it goes. We're also looking at a house down there this weekend. Hopefully it all works out.

3. We rescued a new little puppy. He's a purebred male brindle chihuahua. He's about a year old and he's a super cute little guy. He was sick when we got him but he's all better now. He's a super cute bundle of joy.

We'll be going to be out of town this Friday and Saturday.. (tomorrow and the next day). We'll be down in Eugene, scoping things out. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will talk to you all later.

Stephanie

We've Been Busy

I know that's no excuse to blog but oh my gosh have we been busy. We ended up NOT getting Clifford. It was sad but we ended up getting a friend's horse instead. We took my friend Lindee's horse Jing Jing whom we re-named JaeJae (pronounced Jay Jay) and he's the 'wife/girlfriend' of my girl Cassie (whom we baught from the same people), she has been re-named CasiLyn (pronounced Cassie Len) Anyways.. Here are a few pictures to hold you over while I figure out a 'real' post to write: CasiLyn is an 18 year old Chestnut/Sorrel Arabian Mare and JaeJae is a 13 year old Bay Arabian Gelding.

Me riding my CasiLyn.

Me riding my CasiLyn, again.

Me getting finished longeing Casi.

This is my husband, J, and his horse, JaeJae.

Also, I'm not sure if I announced it yet but we have a puppy in the making!!! We have put a deposit down on a West German Shepherd and she/he is due to arrive on October 8-10th, 2007. We're super excited!! Anyway, I hope you're all doing well and I will see you all later!

As Always,

Stephanie

Meeting My Clifford

We're currently looking for a horse for Jeff. This is the one we found:

He's 7 years old and he's a percheron gelding. He's 16.3 hands high. For those of you who know horses, know that 1 hand = 4 inches. So he is 5 feet 7 inches at his withers. Needless to say, he's HUGE! I'm only 5 feet 2 inches. That means that his back is 5 inches over my head. I'm glad that Jeff is riding him. From what we've learned of him, he is a TOTAL sweetheart. He's like a big puppy dog and is deffinitely a lover! He wants nothing more than to do what is asked of him and to please you, which I am totally in love with. I can't wait to meet him. By the way, we get to meet him tomorrow!!! I am so excited! So I will probably be back with more pictures later.. See you then!

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO TAKE MY WEEKLY POLL ON THE SIDE PANEL!

Two Things

Here's a MeMe that I received from Sheri, I hope you enjoy it!


Two Names You Go By:
1. Jeff calls me 'Honey'
2. Most people call me 'Steph'

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. Blue blouse
2. Khaki shorts

Two Things You Would Want (or have) in aRelationship:
1. Loyalty
2. Trust

Two of Your Favorite Things to do:
1. Traveling with my husband
2. Taking care of our horses

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment:
1. A House!!!
2. A Truck and a Horse trailer (yes they go together!)

Two things you did last night:
1. We went house hunting!
2. We went saddle shopping!

Two things you ate today:
1. A grilled CTP Sandwich! (CTP - Cheddar Turkey Provalone)
2. Cheetos

Two people you Last Talked To:
1. Jeffrey
2. My mom (i think)

Two Things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Load up all of our tack
2. and go out and see the horses

Two longest car rides:
1. Wenatchee, Washington to Yuma, Arizona (26hrs straight..)
2. Ephrata, Washington to Tracy, California (16hrs straight..)

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Christmas
2. Thanksgiving (i love to cook...... and eat!! HA!!)

Two Favorite Drinks:
1. Seven Up
2. Root Beer

Two Things about Me! Things you may not have known:
1. My real name is Stephanie Nicole and my uncle dubbed me 'Stuffy Nickel'. Shhh don't tell anyone. Maybe I should name my blog that.. or step-on-me, that's what my brother always called me.
2. I am Lactose Intolerent.

Two jobs I have had in my life:
1. Baby sitter
2. Waitress

Movies I would watch over and over:
1. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (the new one)
2. Charlotte's Web (the new one)

Places I have lived:
1. Washington
2. Arizona
(I could list a whole lot more like; California, Oregon, Kentucky, Ohio, etc. Plus I've lived in MANY MANY towns in all those states!)

Favorite Foods:
1. Salmon
2. Steak

Two places I'd rather be right now:
1. Horseback riding with my husband and friends (Derik and Lindee)
2. Shopping!!!

Two people who I think will respond: (or that I can tag and force to respond.. he he he)
1. Chelle
2. Kailani

This Coming Saturday [UPDATE]

I just happen to be excited about this coming Saturday! (and today but we'll talk about that later.)

Ever since we found out we were getting horses, we've been looking around for all the horse tack we need. Yesterday, I found an awesome offer on craigslist. This is what the ad said: (edit of course)

I have two brand new saddles, the black one is a kids saddle
and has never touched the back of a horse yet, I am asking $150. The 2nd is
an adult saddle that was custom made a beautiful tan color, It has never
seen a horse also. Please call 946-6461 if you have any questions.

When we set up an appointment with the owner last night we weren't sure of what we were getting, just because you never really know with online ads that don't have pictures. Boy, were we surprised!!!! The saddle is COMPLETELY brand new!!! I mean, I realized that she said that it was new, but I was guessing it was all old and cracked from sitting in a storage somewhere, but NOPE! It was completely fresh and new. This saddle would have originally cost anywhere between $1,500 and $2,000. Want to know what we got it for?!?

$300!!!

Yes, you read that right, $300. I will take a picture of it later and post it so you guys can see how good it looks.

Tonight we're supposed to go look at a saddle for me, although, it's not as nice. It has been used many times, to the point where it needs new threading on the horn. They want $150 for it so hopefully it looks somewhat nice.

We're trying to get our saddles and tack ready because we're going for our first ride this Saturday. We're so excited!! I can't wait to go out and take them for a ride. We'll let you know how it goes.

What are you up to this weekend?!

________________________________________________

Here's the picture of the saddle:

Made By: Me!!

I just wanted to let you all know that I do create my skins (aka backgrounds or themes) myself. If any of you would like me to create one for you please email me at:

jeffandstephaniemackey [at] gmail [dot] com

I will do it for free, for now, and I'll need to collect some information from you. (ex: if you have a background image in mind or if you want me to find one or create one for you, colors you had in mind, if you want 1,2 or 3 columns, etc.)

Just let me know!

**BY THE WAY... MY REAL POST IS UNDER THIS ONE... AND YES, I'M YELLING!**

Welcome To Our Family!!

I would like to take a moment to welcome the newest members of our family, as well as extend a warm wish to a member of our family that we're waiting for.

I present to you... Cassie. She's an 18 year old Arabian mare. Beautiful, isn't she? She's our fattie momma! Here she is:

I'd also like to present to you, Lissa Lou. We call her Lissa. She's a 13 year old Arabian mare. She's also Cassie's daughter. She's our baby girl.

Oh and we're waiting for a special addition to our family. S/he should be born on or around October 8-10. Which means we should be able to pick her/him up around the beginning of December. Anyone want to guess what s/he is?

It's Been Fun

Yesterday evening I spent my time with my new horses. Boy was it entertaining!! They know who we are so they will meet us at the fence when we pull up. The first time I saw them was when they we're being unloaded off the trailer in their new, but temporary, home. They were NOT happy. There are four all together (2 are mine and 2 are my friends, who we bought them from). One of them is terrified of passing trucks so she is supposed to be loaded onto the right hand side of the horse trailer so semi's don't pass on her side. Another has never been loaded and not to mention it.. it was dark outside so they were NOT happy. Luckily enough everything went off without a hitch and no one got hurt unloading them.

The second time I saw them was just checking on them out in the pasture to see how they were doing and such.. keep in mind this all happened one day after the other. When we went back last night our intentions were to work the horses a bit. Get them out and walking so that they can burn off some energy.

At first we brought out Jing Jing and Jiffy (my friends horses) and I took Jing. At first he wanted to spin circles around me.. but kept cutting em short and running me over, and he was doing it on purpose, LOL. But he was just excited. Derek was trotting Jiffy in a circle (lunging) and he was jealous, so he was trying his best to run in a circle, being on a lead rope. Then it was Jings turn to lunge. He did great. Derek wanted to walk him since they haven't been exercised in a while but Jing was ready to go.. he was just trotting and trotting and wouldn't slow, so we just let him get all his energy out.

Then it was Cassie and Lissa's turn (my horses). Cassie is so fat!! She is so funny too. Instead of exercising she would run around the circle once, then stop and eat a few bites, then run another circle, then stop and eat a few more bites, she's too funny. Now of course if we were really exercising her for the purpuse then of course we wouldn't be letting her stop to eat. But it was just comical to watch. Then Lissa wanted to run in her circle, except she was being a turd because she was running around me and since I was talking I was passing the lead rope behind my back while facing forward. Well Lissa figured it out and started cutting her circles short behind me, he he, little turkey.

We're intent on going out there everyday to get them exercised and stuff so we can start riding them again. I can't wait. They are too comical.

What have you done today?

Email Me

If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, or you just feel like emailing me a little hello note, please don't hesitate to email me at:

JeffAndStephanieMackey@gmail.com





*don't pay any attention to this post.. it's just for my side bar reference*

My Heartbreak

We were heading out to look at some saddles and tack for our horses, but Jeff wanted to make sure all the animals had food and water before we left. He always made his rounds on the weekend, and this weekend was no different. He turned the lights on for the fish, gave them some food, made sure their water level was okay and pushed the water pump farther down into the water, as he did everyday.

He made sure the dogs water was filled in the kitchen, then headed over to Tiki's (our bird) cage. He changed out his water, refilled his food, and refilled his hanging treat. You know, things he does pretty much every morning.

It didn't hit him until we were walking out the door. When you change anything in Tiki's cage he always finds a way to get to you and he bites you for trying to steal his stuff. Well Jeff didn't even remember seeing him come to the front like he usually does. He proceeded to go back over to see what was going on with our little green friend.

As he lifted up his covering (we keep him covered while we are gone so Cocoa our cat doesn't see him and attack his cage, trying to eat him).

"honey..." he said with an obvious lump in his throat. I knew something was wrong. There has been many times when we thought Tiki was going to die because she hung upside down all the time... and would 'pass out' and fall on her head.

"what?" I managed to squeeze out.

"tiki's dead." said with a crack in his voice.

"what... HONEY" said as I noticed that tiki was laying in the bottom of his cage with his eyes closed.

We're not sure what happened or why, but our beloved bird passed away during the night. We think it was another case of hanging upside down too long and falling one time too many. I'm still heart broken over this and I will miss him so much. His cage is still up, although it is covered. I'm just not ready to take it down yet. He was so comical and so animated. We love him so much and will miss him immensely.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In other news, we get to meet our horses tomorrow evening. We know that they are a mother daughter pair (mines the daughter.. Jeff's is the mother.. we think.. we may just end up sharing). But we are so excited to finally see them.

We're also currently looking to buy a house that's on an acre of land, plus it's also next to a whole crap load of trails that everybody takes their horses on. I'm so excited. I can't wait for us to agree on terms, and get into that house.

Okay well I've said enough.. I need to go make dinner.

Update From Afar

I'm doing well and thank you all for all the wonderful wishes for me to have a safe and happy trip to see my wonderful family in California. I've been here 2 and a half days now and it's been so great! I got here on Saturday afternoon and just sat around and visited the whole evening. On Sunday we all went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it was so fun! There was so many people, though, so it was quite frustrating to have grown adults push you out of the way so they could see the fishies. I've had a great time visiting down here and lovin on my nephew. Oh my goodness has he grown since I was down here last. He is sooo dang big!!! Here are a few pictures to hold you over until I can show you some more:

Away We Go

The time has come when we must say goodbye.


Good thing is that it's not for too long. I'll be gone about 9 days. Where am I going, you ask? To see the most adorable baby in the world!!! MY NEPHEW!!!! Plus I get to see his WONDERFUL parents, my brother Jonathan and his LOVELY wife, Mandii. They're really great! I love them!

I may not post while I'm there, although I'm sure I will.. but there will definitely be TONS of pictures along the way!

So wish me luck on my flight. I fly out tomorrow at 11:40am (pacific time) and it's a 2 hour flight, so I should be down in SoCal tomorrow at 1:38pm (pacific time).

I hope you all take care and enjoy your time without me while I'm gone.

oh my goodness...

Why am I so retarded some times?!? Deb, I think I am picking up your bad luck, LOL! Anyway, I baught a guitar from one of those TV commercials, I won't mention what one, because I really don't want them to loose business, okay wait, they suck and I don't want anyone else to fall prey to it so it's..... The Esteban Guitar (AKA the american legacy guitar) THEY SUCK!

My husband knows how to play guitar and piano and violin and any other stringed instrument that you could possibly think of, it's rediculous. Well he had a NICE guitar when I met him and my poor little kitty ran around the corner and knocked it over and the neck snapped in half. So we both saw the commercial and thought, "hey!! lets order one and see if it's as good as they say it is". It's crap!! I mean CRAP! The strings are rusty and the guitar next isn't even connected right so you can't even play it because the strings hit the frets so it doesn't even work. My husband adjusted the neck as much as possible and nothings working. So we're sending it back, right? Well I called customer service and they sent me a label so I didn't have to pay for sending it back... they also asked me to include a brief explination of the problem.. and did I? Nope! I sent it out yesterday and I didn't include the stupid letter. They're going to get it and be like.... what are we supposed to do with it, LOL.

Ughhh. So now I've been on hold for Customer Service for over 30 minutes and I'm hoping that they will let me send the letter seperate. Gosh I am a dork.

Do you have any funny stories about forgetting something?!?

Here's A Question

Here's a good question for all of you, since you've all had kids. I want to get something for my sister in law.. her birthday is in September, but I'm going down in 2 weeks. Anyways, I wanted to get her something that she would like or need that didn't have anything to do with the baby. Well it could be something like a bath set or something like that but that's too common.

What is something you could have used that wasn't for the baby?

PS: BN (baby nephew) will be 2 months when I get down there.

Library Books

Since I am going to be going down to California soon, I wanted to have a couple of books to read while I'm on my trip down and back, so I'm not bored. I found the library in town and I was scanning the books online last night to see what they have and I'm so excited that they have a sequel to my all time favorite book.

See... I have ADHD when it comes to reading. I either have to be really into the book or looking for something in order to keep reading it, so I have a hard time finishing books because I tend to put them down and forget about them once they get to boring parts.

I've only read two books in my life that I 'COULD NOT PUT DOWN' and they were:

Door To December By Dean Koontz
and
When The Wind Blows By James Patterson

Well I just found out last night that there is a sequel to When the Wind Blows. It's called The Beach House. I'm so excited!!!! (and believe me.. I don't get this excited over books.) So I'm going to run down to the library today to grab it!

What is one book that you 'could not put down'?

It's Back!!!

Tuesday's Trivia

This time it's going to be a little different. Instead of having a 10 question timed test.. this time around.. it will be 10 questions but it won't be timed. You'll be able to take as long as you want, just please don't cheat, it's all for fun.

This weeks theme is: Marine Mammals

If you'd like to participate in this weeks trivia challenge please click here.

Here's my score:
You scored: 3 out of 10
Total points: 30

Please stop back by here to leave your score, even if it wasn't very good, it's all for fun.

Yep! He's The Cutest!!

Everyone meet my nephew... nephew.. meet everyone!!



I really believe that he's the most handsome boy, that ever lived. I love him so much. As many of you may or may not know.. I was recently able to go down to California to visit my beautiful baby nephew, whom I'll call BN, for obvious reasons. Well it's to protect his identity because I don't want some wacko going down there and trying something funny.

Anyways.. he was born at a wopping 7lbs. 10oz. and was a nice 21" long. He was born on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 @10:30pm (i believe the time is correct.. don't hold me to it). He was born exactly 1h and 30 min before his due date, he he. While on my trip, I was only able to stay down there for a few hours but those were about the best hours of my life. The only thing that would have made them better is if I would have been down there with my husband. It truely was a beautiful site.

Luckily, my husband was nice enough to let me fly down there at the beginning of August to see them again. This time.. I'll be staying for 10 days 9 nights!!! HA HA HA, try and get rid of me now suckers!!! Just kidding. I absolutely loved staying down there with them and it was so great to see my 2 week old nephew and his cute little face and humongously large feet. He deffinitely takes after my brother on that one. I swear he's going to be a basketball player.

So anyways.. I hope you all enjoy the pics.. because I do!





AND BY FAR MY TWO FAVORITE.....