I’ve decided to hijack Dave’s (our) blog today. Usually I never post here, because it tends to get people’s panties in a knot, and the only people who read the blog are Dave’s friends and they wouldn’t find me half so interesting.

My purpose in hijacking is to announce that today is Dave’s 25th birthday. It’s been a really odd year for the two of us. We’ve moved around so much, etc etc. Through it all, Dave has definitely been the stronger of the two of us. He keeps me steady, although that is an almost impossible task at times. Sometimes it’s hard for me to be grateful for all the good in our lives, but for Dave it seems to be an easy thing. I’m proud of him for always keeping things in perspective, and for remembering that this earthly place where we’re currently abiding is not our home. I love him for reminding me of that.

Dave and I have been married for…well, it’ll be 3 years this coming August. We’re both very happy together, and excited about starting over. I think Dave is absolutely thrilled to live here in Indianapolis since he has so many good friends in this area. Jerry and Elizabeth have been wonderful for taking us in until we can buy a home of our own and we’re thankful God has so richly blessed us with the gift of friendship.

I really want to make this post about Dave, there is so much to say about him. At the same time, I don’t want to bore people with all the mushy details, but this is more for Dave than anyone else. So here I go: He is a wonderful leader, a superior husband, he has the corniest sense of humor (puns anyone?), and he’s the best friend I have ever had. He never refuses a hug, always manages to listen (except for when he’s playing Warcraft, but we’ll let that slide…I suppose) and is simply fun to be with. It does me so much good inside when I see that he is happy with his current job. He’s actually happy when he comes home from work (go figure!). He is also the most thoughtful person I have ever met. Really. I am not just making stuff up. For Valentine’s Day, he sneaked into our room and completely covered it with stuffed animals. The room was littered with 41 stuffed octopus and 9 stuffed crabs, to be exact. It was so off-the-wall and fun, much better than boring roses. I didn’t even know if he knew when Valentine’s Day was. And why octopi? I don’t know! His dad says, “Dave has always been a leg man.” So there ya have it, Dave in a nut-shel…er, crab-shell.

Anyway, I love you Davey. Happy Birthday. =)

~ Mel

Hey guys, I don’t have most of your e-mails so I’m hoping you see this post. It’s a little last-minute, but I’m wondering if anyone is interested in going horseback riding tomorrow night at 9pm. The stable I ride at hosts a Moonlight Ride (for adults only) once a month during the full moon. The stable is off of 35 between Royal Center and Logansport. Cost will be 25.00 and the ride will be at least on hour long. Anyone who wants to come should let me know, so the stable can have the correct number of horses saddled. And if it’s too short-notice for most of you, don’t worry. There’s always next month.

If dinner if a concern there’s alway El Ranchito. We could head to the stable a little early and everyone can practice riding on my horse (that part’s free.)

It’s been awhile since I’ve written. I tend to have poor attitude when it comes to posting an actual post on the blog. Buuuut when I’ve got something on my mind, it really helps me to just write it out. Lately I’ve been missing the old days a little, missing working at the vet clinics and spending time with animals. They are my first love. I also miss long conversations about breeding silver persians, and cat-show gossip. I miss Pfeiffer (my dog, who recently died) and spending hours a day dog training. I miss following dog trainers around and learning their tricks. I miss just talking to my clients about how their dog or cat is simply the best in the world (if not the universe). I miss holding baby lions, tigers, and leopards, and hours-long arguments with parrots. I miss the days when I’d ride my horse without ever feeling any fear. I miss being with my parents who understood all those loves of mine.

But lets get it straight…I don’t miss being single, or long-distance relationships. I don’t miss the city.

Dave and I went to the county fair yesterday. We watched his siblings show their steers, and I even got to watch some other kids ride their ponies in the horse show. Seeing all the hogs, turkeys, sheep, goats, horses, and bovines…just made me remember what I love, and what I want to be part of. Obviously I’m too old for 4-H and that’s too bad. Miss out on such things when you’re a city kid. I have so much energy and have such a strong desire to pick up where I left off and do the things I love. I can’t do that though, for various reasons. I don’t like the vets here, and know I’d be a horrible employee if I were to work under one of them. I couldn’t volunteer my time at an animal shelter -it’s far too dangerous. I can see it now, “Oh Dave, there is a gorgeous dog at the shelter. Nobody will adopt it because it’s so badly behaved. Can I bring it home and train it so that somebody will want to adopt it?”

Can’t really go back to dog training. I have oodles of experience with puppies, but a real problem-dog would be a handful, and I’d be afraid to fail someone who was paying me well to train their animal. I have my own dog, but he has been so badly abused in the past that teaching him one thing at a time is taking weeks and months. He’s coming around excellently, despite that. I’m proud of him.

The cat-show world is too far away from me here. Besides, I’ve already gotten my own cat the highest title he can possibly achieve. So there’s nothing left for me to do there. Unless I started breeding, but I value my house (oh and Dave) too much.

I’d love to go to school for dog training, but most require living at the school for weeks or months at a time. Obviously, I couldn’t and wouldn’t leave my Dave. There is the option of on-line courses, but I’m not sure if those are worth the time/money or not. I’m pretty skeptical.

I’m still riding my horse, but again. I’m really starting at the bottom of the ladder since my accident. Haven’t really warmed up to anyone at the stable anyway, except the owner, and during the summer he’s too busy (and understandably so) to hang out with me.

So that’s where it stands, I can’t think of anything that would really fix the situation, I have all this energy and love for animals as a whole, and I want to be able to get it out of my system and express it. I want to actively DO something with it. I miss talking with people who understand that in me.

Other than all that, life’s peachy. It’s been a beautiful summer and things are going well.