San Diego Zoo

For Labor Day, Duke and I decided to go to the San Diego Zoo. He took me last year, but I love the zoo, so I have been driving him crazy to go back. We are from Asheboro, NC (home of the NC Zoo), but it's still fun to go to the zoo here because it's so different. I didn't take as many photos this time because I took a million last time, but here are some anyways. :)

Duke getting into character at the Sabertooth Grill! :)

Amazing Panda!

I love Pandas.

The Koalas are my FAVORITE!

Sky Tram

Red Panda.

Where's Santa?

What a face!!!

Duke was a little scared to ride on the sky tram. I made him do it THREE times!!!! Haha!

Petting Zoo

Elephant!

Hello, there.

Safe Haven

I love, love, LOVE to read. Duke bought me a Kindle for Christmas last year, and I love my Kindle. It's really cool because you can find lists of the daily free Kindle books online and it only takes a matter of seconds to download an entire book. But, sometimes the books on Kindle cost just as much as a paperback, and if I have a choice on which to buy, I will always go with the actual book. There's nothing like having the actual book in your hands when you read it.

Nicholas Sparks is probably my favorite author. I've read all of his books except for The Wedding and Three Weeks with My Brother. I love the fact that he can take very average characters and turn the plot onto something completely amazing. I think that Sparks is one of those authors that you will either really enjoy, or completely dislike. His books are romantic (but not at all trashy), but usually involve some sort of mystery or twist. I always read his books in a day because they are just that good.

This week I read Safe Haven.

Ohhhh my goodness. It was so, so amazing. Definitely one of his best books and one of the best books I've ever read. Like many of the other Nicholas Sparks books, it is being made into a motion picture and will come out next year. I am so sad that I am finished with the book, and I am sure that I will read it again before I see the movie.

My favorite quote from the book:

"Maybe I don't want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I'd like to be defined by what I am."

---Nicholas Sparks in Safe Haven.

I have been starting to freak out lately because I am twenty-four years old, and I am still unsure about what I want to do as a career. I feel like I've got everything else in my life figured out, except my career choice. This quote describes exactly how I feel, I just could never quite put it into words.

So sometimes, you have to remind yourself to calm down, and take life one day at a time. Look around and enjoy it. Be present. Don't live in the past, and stop trying to live in the future. 

Riding Lesson #5

I had my sixth riding lesson last night at Top Ridge Farm, but Duke had duty last night, so he wasn't there to take any photos. I feel like my lesson went really well. I am getting so attached to the horse I ride, Artie, and I know it is going to be really hard for me when we have to leave California because I know I'll never see him again. (Sniffle).

Ah hem. Anyways, here are some photos from my lesson last week, which are a bit overdue.

I am having soooo much fun riding and learning how to really jump. Artie is a great teacher. He has given me a lot of confidence over the fences, because he will go over any fence no matter what. I love him so much. If I won the lottery, I would buy him tomorrow. <3

Riding Lesson #4

Just wanted to post up some photos of my fourth lesson (which was yesterday). Duke didn't snap as many photos as usual because the flies at the barn were horrendous! Poor guy. They drove him crazy while he watched my lesson. Here are some pics:

I love Artie. I really wish he was my horse. :)

Now, here is one of our problems. If we are jumping a series of jumps, we do great over the first one. But, this is what the second one looks like. See how we drifted over to one side of the jump? Artie thinks it's funny. It's a problem...but we're working on it. ;)

Geez. He is such a good boy. Love this horse. <3

Parmesan-Stuffed Chicken Breasts & Spaghetti Carbonara

I love to cook. And I loove to look for new recipes on the internet. I have several cookbooks on my counter. New cookbooks. Cookbooks I have never used. I know. What's wrong with me? So, tonight I opened one of them up and found two recipes to try from this book:

Duke bought me this cookbook last year, so I was glad to finally use it.

Here is what I made.

Parmesan-stuffed chicken breasts and whole-wheat spaghetti carbonara. I just split both of the recipes in half and used whole wheat pasta. Nom, nom nom. Delicious.

Luckily, I found both of the recipes online. The recipe for the chicken is here. The recipe for the pasta is here. Enjoy! :)

The Laundry Experiment

Laundry. Yup, that's right. I'm blogging about laundry. Crazy, right? But, I don't mind doing laundry. I can deal with laundry. What I can't deal with are dirty dishes. So we'll leave those until tomorrow.

Anyway. Back to laundry. This is the detergent I usually use. Ahhhh. The smell. So nice, so clean. Gain---I think I love you. Ok. This is getting silly.

I also really like this. 

It's amazing. It's a great carpet cleaner, works great in the garbage disposal, and deodorizes. This product is cheap and does so much. It's also a great laundry booster. I love it.

I like Gain. I don't have a problem with Gain. I actually went to the store to get more. Duke was with me and he always gets distracted in the store. Hard to believe, I know. Well, he found this guy.

My husband is crazy. He wanted to buy this detergent because he thought the packaging was cool. And, well---it is pretty cool. But is was four more dollars than Gain!!! The same size bottle for four more dollars! 

I looked a little closer and realized that this bottle washed twice as many loads. It is free and clear of dyes, natural, biodegradable, and hypoallergenic. And it had a 100% money back guarantee. 

I've been having allergy issues lately, and I am trying to be more "green." So, why not? Besides, I think everyone might be overlooking the fact that it comes in a cool container. 

So now, the real test. How will Duke's yucky work shirts wash with the new detergent?

It passed my test. Everything washed nicely. I used some lightly scented Snuggle dryer sheets to make up for the fact that this detergent has no scent. Glad I tried this, and I think it will be my go-to from now on. Until my husband finds another detergent in an even "cooler" container. 

This Week

I've been feeling under the weather today, so I thought it would be the perfect time to relax and share a little more about my week. Let me start with the fact that I started this book this week.

Well, I finished it today and Mr. Sparks did not disappoint with this one. I will add (having read most of his books) that once I got near the end of the book, I knew exactly how it was going to end. Even so, I really enjoyed reading this. All of Nicholas Sparks' books are very easy reads and can usually be finished in a day (if you have the time.) It was a tearjerker (surprise!), so make sure you have some tissues---or a blanket---or hey, even your husband's sleeve will do.

If you have never read a book by Nicholas Sparks, I would recommend starting with The Lucky One or The Guardian. Both are amazing. But, then again, I am a huge fan of all of his books. 

Next, I had my third riding lesson this week, so I have more photos to show some of my progress! Being out of riding lessons for three years has made me sooo excited to be back in the saddle again!

 

I love to jump, but it is pretty new to me, and I've just gotta work on that equitation over those jumps! Thank goodness Artie is such a good boy. :) And thank goodness Duke takes photos, so I can critique myself when I get home and know what to work on next week! :)