Weekend Snapshot: A Proud Mama moment

This was a pretty intense weekend and a bit nerve racking (for me the Mama). My daughter was at a horse show and had two BIG medal final classes. One is still to finish (tonight at 5:30pm) as I compose this post; but yesterday morning was the end of the first medal and my daughter was reserved Champion, moving from 9th place, to 4th place and finishing 2nd after the work off. She made her mama proud. She shows such amazing ability to keep her cool under pressure; though I know that she is nervous. She also shows amazing sportsmanship!
I composed this photo when the medal was presented, but I could not take the photo as I was shaking so much. I had to ask one of her friend to snap the photos (hence the feet cut off). ;-))

Photo Hunt: Beautiful

This week's photo Hunt is BEAUTIFUL. I had to go with a photo of a small part of our beautiful planet. This particular photo was taken in Telluride, Colorado, which I find to be a beautiful spot on this earth.


PhotoHunt

Moment in History

What a night! I sat with my family around me and witnessed and amazing moment in history! Obama WILL be a fabulous president. I KNOW IT!

My Sammy turns 10

TOday is my Sam, AKC, Swiss Star Cheers, 10th birthday. He is a Bernese Mountain dog and Berners live on the average 7.1 years, so I am soo thankful that he is still with me after all these years!
This first photo is a photo of Sam and his siblings. He is the first from the right on the second row. He was 7 weeks old in that photo.
I do have tons of photos from his first day to his 8th week when he came home with us. The breeder, at Swiss Star Farms, was kind enough to make us a baby album
Here is a photo from his first day:

Sam was born at 4:45 am on this day, ten years ago. He weighed 1 lb 202. He now weighs short of a 100 lbs.
He is the love of my life. I cannot imagine my life without my best friend!

Happy Birthday, Sam! TO Many Many More HIKES together

My American Prayer

Award

The week before I left on vacation and while I was away, I was given an Award for my work with my friend, Carver, over at Snap2days.
Both blog friends Sabine and Lissa over at TWO LIVES awarded Carver and I the Brilliant Weblog Award. Lissa was the inspiration behind the snap2days collaboration. Thank you to Lissa and Sabine in Gozo for the Award.

Now it is my turn to give it out to bloggers who I think are BRILLIANT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rules state that you should:
1. Put the logo on your blog;
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you;
3. Nominate at least five other blogs;
4. Add links to them on your blog;
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I give it to the following bloggers:
Ninotchka. Her blog is fabulous and her photography is amazing.
Caroline Smailes. Fabulous writer and I have enjoyed following her journey through writing and publishing her books.
Expatraveler. Her blog makes me lauh and we seem to have so much in common. Also love her photoraphy...
Scribbit. She simply is my Blogger Hero!
Swiss miss. And no it is not only because she is SWISS, though that is how I originally found her. But the info she puts out on the blog is fabulous! I Am soo addicted...

The Great Woman behind (or should I say NEXT TO) to the Great man

By now, you must have heard that Obama has picked JOe Biden as his running mate. Here is my thoughts on this pick. I have noticed that great CEOs always surround themselves with a great team. And Obama is going to be the "CEO of this country" (at least I hope) and he made a great choice to pick Joe Biden to help run this country!
The 2008 Democratic Convention, in Denver has started and here is a little behind the scene video of Michelle and the girls...

Weekend Snapshot: Mountain Girl

It is official. I am happier at Altitude surrounded by tall pine trees and mountains... Just got back from Telluride, Colorado. I haven't posted much because there was no internet and cell reception where I stayed so it was BEAUTIFUL! Now it is complete stress getting ready to send my oldest to her first day in High School. I am sorry that I have not had much time to post. But I will... bare with me.. here is a shot that I took on my trip to Colorado!

Photo Hunt: Wrinkled.

This Week's theme is WRINKLED. Here is a photo of Malina's horse'left back side. For some reason, when he moves his leg to a certain degree he gets these little wrinkles.. I always found them adorable...then again I find all of him adorable... So here are Barney's behind wrinkles...



PhotoHunt

Weekend Snapshot: A Girl and Her horse

Barney, Yoga Master




I am off for a few days. Will come back and visit all of you towards the end of the week.

Photo Hunt:Colorful

This Week's Photo theme is Colorful. I took this photo a couple of weeks ago in Santa Barbara. The guy who owns this COLORFUL fan is always there, in the parking lot right by the pier. I asked if I could take a picture, for a donation I was allowed! ;-))


PhotoHunt

Bring out the Zyrtec D

I am always planning my next home (4 years from now) which will be green (not the color), efficient, simple, and well thought out. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go this route.. I have way too many allergies to hay!! But check out the house....
re-nest.com

Eating from your local Box

Foods organically grown within a 100 mile radius of my house... weekly delivery...
what shall I cook tonight?

What's 6 feet below you, could be used to heat your house...

My cousin installed one of these in his house in Switzerland.... Fabulous system, read more about it at NY TIMES ONLINE

There goes my chances for a Christmas Delivery of the 32GB iPhone

Were they working with their Macbooks on their laps and their pants caught on fire?
(via Unpluggled)

Barney

It has been a while since I featured a head shot of Malina's horse. He had just rolled four times, so he is full of dirt.

5 Comments a 14 year old girl can say at anytime

1. I am so bored
2. This has been the most boring week of this summer
3. Can I have.....
4. Can you give me....
5. Wow, that's so cool!

Weekend Snaptshot: Olympics 2020, watch out!!

I have calculated, Maya will be 15 for the Olympic 2020. Not sure what her event will be for the 2020 Olympics yet, we are working on it! ;-)
Here she is practicing her dive in!


We have NOT bought the Speedo Fastsking Racer swims suit yet, but Dora Swim Suits work just great for the moment!

5 Bloggers I would Like to Meet, Part 2

Continuing on with bloggers I would like to meet in person. There are many, but these are 5 that I feel like







1. Someone high on the list of people I would love to meet is Expat Traveler. We have alot in common. I met her through Photo Hunt.

2. Grace at Sandier Pastures. She lives in Dubai. I think I came upon her blog, also through Photo Hunt. She currently lives in Dubai and I love Dubai, so it has been fabulous to find out more about her city through her blog.

3. Of course, there is Michelle over at Bleeding Espresso. Michelle is another amazing blogger. She is an American living in Italy. Amazing woman.

4. Mar over at Maremagnum. Amazing photography. She lives in Spain and travels to all the places I wish I can get to as easily as she can. I also met Mar, through Photo Hunt.

5a. Lissa. A blogger I "met" through SheWhoBLogs, which I belong to. Lissa is an amazing photographer and Blog designer; she designed my blog and got me started on my Snap2days photo adventure. Lissa has many blogs. I don't know how she does it all!

5b. (is it cheating doing an A and B!?!?) Well, I am realizing that my list is longer then I thought. But I will stop here with another amazing Blogger woman... BlogJem. She started She Who Blogs as well as keeps up with a couple wonderful personal blogs. She got me started on this BLOG ABOUT 5 THINGS WEEK!

5 Bloggers I would like to meet

For my PHOTO HUNT. please Click HERE or scroll bellow


5 Bloggers I would love to meet in person; no particular order.
1. Carver; my snap2days partner. We "met" through Photo Hunt. I already consider her my friend; I know we would have a great time if we lived closer (as opposed to opposite ends of the States).
2. Nino at Cease, Cows, life is short!. I almost got to meet her this summer. I admire her photography and she makes me laugh!
3. Caroline Smailes, An English Author. I read her first published book, In Search of Adam. Can't wait for the next one!
4. Scribbit in Alaska an amazing blogger and MOM. She amazes me, plus she lives in a state I LOVE!!!
5. Oh my gosh, I only get five?? we are already at five? no...... SwissMiss in NYC. Her blog is AWESOME. And she is SWISS. Need I say more?!?!

Well, I realized that I WANT TO MEET more then 5 bloggers....so Come back tomorrow for part DEUX of bloggers I want to meet!!!

5 Fellow Bloggers I have Met in Person

MY PHOTO HUNT: DARK IS Below click here


I have been very fortunate to meet 5 fellow bloggers in the last year.
1. Perpetually Sleepy Panda from Tokyo and who happens to be a fabulous tour guide!
2. MightyMarce of Life is Good, and of course she would say that, SHE LIVES IN SWITZERLAND (can you hear the envy in my post)
3. CaliforniaSwissMiss who is now back in the sates; I met Swiss Miss and MightyMarce for coffee at the Geneva Airport last June. They both have gorgeous little babies and were so great to come to the airport to meet me before my flight to London.
4. Jessica. Jess also lives in Switzerland. I spent a special day with Jess and her husband, Jon, last June.
5. And last but not least, I met Pumpkin Cupcake. My only California blogger that I have MET in person. But she is barely a stranger as she is practically family! But I met her through her blog first, so I have to count her on this list!

Tomorrow, 5 bloggers I REALLY want to meet in person.

Photo Hunt: Dark

This Week's Photo theme is DARK.
I went the easy route with taking a photo of a movie poster...a movie that has been super popular this summer; a movie I have yet to see.
The DARK Knight! Have you seen it?

Also, please come check out my own going side by side photo adventure. I HAVE A NEW partner, someone YOU MAY KNOW very well... Carver and I have joined forces and have a side by side photo project. Today is our first photo together. Please come check it out at Snap2Days.


PhotoHunt

5 Random Facts about the 2008 Beijing Olympics

I HAVE obviously losing MY mind because, yesterday, I posted POST ABOUT 5 THINGS!







1. Olympics Beijing 2008 kick off officially tomorrow 8.8.08. Why that date? the number 8 is a very lucky number for the Chinese

2. Though most events will take place in Beijing, some will take place outside of Beijing. Soccer/Football, which has incidentally started before the official date, will take place in Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin, and THE EQUESTRIAN Events will take place in Hong Kong

3. 10,500 athletes will compete in 302 events within 28 different sports.

4. The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, was designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron! Hop Suisse!

5. I am excited about one athlete from Thousand Oaks (MY HOME TOWN), which participating in these Olympic games. Will Simpson is on the Olympic Equestrian Show Jumping Team. I took those photos of his barn yesterday on my way home!

5 Songs on my iTunes library

5 Songs on my iTunes Library on Party Shuffle

1. Viva La Vida by Coldplay
2. Billie Jean by David Cook
3. Cello Suite No.1 in G Major- Csaba Onczay
4. Until The End by Norah Jones
5. Fight For all The Wrong Reason by Nickelback

5 things I have Done TODAY

1. Got my DVR ready to record all of the Olympic events; on Oxygen, NBC, and USA HD
2. Drove my mom to the Orthodontist
3. Drove My oldest to her Physio Therapy Appointment
4. Went Swimming with Maya
5. Bought Maya a pair of Shoes to bring on our trip to Colorado

oh and soo much more....making dinner now

I am no Paris HIlton fan....but I have to say this is REALLY FUNNY!

This is soo funny, I am leaving this up for a while.....for all more recent posts, please scroll down!!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

A book Meme

Tagged by Caroline, and because I admire HER writing, I couldn't resist.

Look at the list of 'classics' and:

1) Bold those I've read.
2) Italicize those I intend to read.
3) [Bracket] the books I love.
4) Pass it on to a few others.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (I must be THE ONLY one on the planet who hasn't read HP)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
14 {Complete Works of Shakespeare}(yes and LOVED IT)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (= didn't finish it)
25 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 {The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini}
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 {Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden}
40 {Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne}
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 {The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown }
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
where is 44?
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan (read most of his books)
51 This one was blank And Matt filled it in with [The Magus - John Fowles] and I agree.
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 {The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon}
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov]
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (great read just so dark!)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby-Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - A. S. Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo


If I could add movies and musical, My list of HAS READ would be more complete, but we all know that movies cannot compare to books.
Anyone who feels compelled to trying this MEME, then consider yourself Tagged!

5 Things about Asian Elephants you might not know

Continuing with the Blog 5 things week, I read this at the Doctor's office while waiting to be seen.
I was a bit surprised by some of these facts!!


Asian Elephants:
1. Eats 130 lbs a day
2. Poops 200 Lbs of manure a day (how can that be when HE only eats 130?)
3. Weighs more then a full minivan
4. Hears other elephants several miles away
5. Lifts a TON of weight with its trunk.

Even my Blog doesn't know what IT is about...

Ever wonder what my blog is all about? (I ask myself that question all of the time).. well here is one answer















Got this idea from SwissStoryBlog. If you want to see what YOUR blog is about, go here Wordle

5 things about the town I live in

Thousand Oaks is the City I live in. Here are 5 things about my town:







1. The Valley that Thousand Oaks sits on is called The Conejo Valley; Conejo means rabbit and we sure do have many Conejos that run wild here.

2. A five minute drive will get you to the Reagan Library, which is in the town called Simi Valley.

3. Many famous people call or have called Thousand Oaks their home; Celebrities such as Jesus (ok not THE Jesus, but the guy who played him in the Passion of Christ, James Caviezel-I run into him at Whole Food all the time..it is weird to run into Jesus in the produce section), Wil Smith, Wayne Gretsky, Jamie Foxx, Heather Locklear, Colbie Caillat, Tiger Woods, to name a few.

4. Marion Jones, the Track and Field super star (who recently had her title stripped from her) graduated from Thousand Oaks High School.

5. Many movies, TV shows and commercials are filmed around Thousand Oaks. Here are just a few of many: "Birth of a Nation," "Tarzan," "Spartacus," "Bonanza," "Lassie", "Memoires of a Geisha, " "The Adventures of Robin Hood"

Weekend Snapshot: Almost passing out at the Dodger Game

We had a family (and friends) attempt at a nice outing to the Dodger Game today. Unfortunately, it was 90 some degrees and the sun was just hitting hard; and to top it all no breeze. WE made it not quite two hours, when my friend, Leslie (hi Leslie) and I just had to go to the shade... on my way up I almost passed out. I think I had a heat stroke. We had to leave....unfortunately....
Manny Ramirez started with the Dodgers this week. I guess that is big News (Right Red Sox mommy!?!?); I personally think he should be banned from the sport. ANYONE who answers his mobile phone in the middle of a game he is getting paid millions to pay, is just an arrogant Athlete... who cheers for a person like that? We live in a very strange society, where Athlete (or other famous personality) that behave badly are praised even more... It is an arrogance, that I just do not understand...
Anyhow, here is my photo for this weekend. The Free Dodger bear we got....if only we had gotten a free umbrella, maybe we could have avoided the heat stroke!

5 Random Places I Have Visited

I am joining BlogJem in this Blog 5 things week! She got the idea from Ben's Blog

1. Denali National Park
2. What is left of the glaciers on top of Kilimanjaro
3. The Great Wall of China
4. Dubai
5. The Taj Mahal

Photo Hunt: Clouds

This week's theme is CLOUDS