I have been TAGGED

My cousin Sierra at The Tervo Times tagged me! Heres what you do.. answer 8 questions and then Tag 8 people so they can answer the questions

1. If you could have any superpower, what would you have? Why?

hmm...there are so many. Super Speed. Do you know how many times I would LOVE to be able to clean the house in .5 seconds?


2. Who is your style icon?

Style Icon? I dont think I have EVER had one of those. I tend to go western riding style as my favorite outfit is Jeans, my riding boots, a sweatshirt, and a hat. I still need to get a belt lol.


3. What is your favorite quote?
I have quite a few of them. But heres a couple

"My biggest fear is that there is no PMS and this is my real personality"

"If wishes were horses little girls would ride"

"Being a mom is the largest UNDERPAID job in the world" (I love my kids and think I get paid enough, but you know what I mean)

" A bad horse can be a good color, but a good horse can be a bad color"

4. What is the best compliment you've ever received?
I love it when people tell me that my kids are well behaved and polite. But I think lately its been people commenting on my weight loss. It feels good to have someone else Affirm that you ARE looking better.

5. What playlist/cd is in your CD player/iPod right now?

I normally listen to the radio but I have a mix of christian and country (with a dash of Veggie Tales hehe) on my MP4 player

6. Are you a night owl or a morning person?
night owl... even though Im being forced to be a morning person (ugh 630 am is STILL not my friend). I used to stay up to 1130, midnight every night.... but not anymore. Im usually in bed by 9 now. But Im still a night owl

7. Do you prefer dogs or cats?

Horses.

lol... no seriously dogs. Auzie and Dixie are amazing. I can stand cats as barn cats, but not indoors.

8. What is the meaning behind your blog name?
Um my last name is thelander... and Thelandology just seemed to fit.


Now I have to tag some people:

1. Sarah at Mymommyology

2. Marita at MariLaVell

3. Laury at http://lauryhubrich.blogspot.com/

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

 (ok i only have three that I follow and know... im lame lol

Play Day and etc....

So Celina and the boys rode in the Mount adams trail riders Club. They had 5 different events. The kids rode Nikka who is a 10 year old POA.
These are the following events and how they did:
Barrels: Celina got 2nd, Afton 4th and Anthony got a participant ribbon
Flag Race: The boys didnt compete after barrels, Celina got particpant
Figure 8: Celina got Participant
Key Hole: Third
Poles: Fourth

Not bad for her first "barrel show!"

It was fun and I think the kids enjoyed it! It was specifically for kids 12 and under. So it worked out great!

Oh and just some updates on other things:
My doctor checked my Vitamin D again and WITH being on 50,000 IU weekly and 600 IU daily of Vitamin D my levels are FINALLY normal! But I have to continue with the regimen.

We still havent heard if Celina got into pre-school. They said we will find out after the 1st... grr for waiting.

Havent updated in a LONG time

So my Birthday was two weekends ago. Woo hoo another year older another year wiser right? Ugh sometimes I dont feel like it

Frankly a lot of times I dont feel like it. I struggle with the responsibilities of life and the fact that I feel like I am being pulled a million different directions.

That and lately I have really been struggling with Church. I love worship, but frankly the sermon bores me to tears. Its not for lack of trying. I try to sit still and listen. I try to be good (honestly Ive sat on my hands a time or two) but I always end up either searching through the hymnal, people watching, playing games on my phone or reading the Pentecostal Evangel.  If the pastor stays on track and makes valid points, I can normally stay on track. But if the pastor starts going into left field, changing subjects multiple times, or making 20 different "and in conclusion" messages (because you know every time a lot of pastors say that its the start of another mini message) im lost. Looking at the ceiling, chasing reflections, or what have you. I also feel at times that church is very much about the "tradition" of things and the only reason I am there is because it is what I am "supposed" to do. But my question is.... I dont remember reading in the bible that part of following Christ is standing when told, sitting when told, singing songs,  listening to a 45 minute to an hour long sermon, shaking a few hands, saying hi to a few "friends" and then leaving. Where is the fellowship in that? Where is the joy in that. I feel God very strongly in church, but you want to know where I feel him the strongest? Can you guess? On the back of a horse miles from no where with some good Christian horse friends or even by myself. That is where I feel closest to him, where I feel refreshed.

I get to the point I feel like church is a big fashion show. Everyone shows up because they are supposed to, does what they are supposed to and then they go home to live their lives. A lot of people dont even TALK to those that they attend church with outside of the pew. Why is that? Do we just not know how to be friends with those that are in church with us? Or is it because we are afraid they either 1. will actually hold us to our Christian values or 2. Not live up to them?

Or maybe its because the people we sit next to in Church have NOTHING in common with us besides living in the same general area and attending the same church. I know for a fact that I start talking about my passion, I usually get the complete blank look OR they find a way to end the conversation. And honestly I dont blame them. If im not interested in their passion its hard to form a good friendship. Normally you form friendships with those that enjoy the same passion (aka hobby to some) as you.

I know my problem tends to be this. I HATE sitting around gossiping, I hate teas, I hate dressing up (if you get me in Jeans and heals your lucky), I hate the normal "lets sit around sipping Latte's and gossip......... eh hem... talking. I dont like spending perfectly good days inside talking about the next baking contest.

I dont like going to things like women's conference. Honestly Ive noticed it turns into a good time for the women to complain about their husbands and kids and their lives in general. And these conference are focused on the stereotype of women. The one described above.

Id rather go look at hot rods (i REALLY like pretty cars), go mudding, go hiking, ride horses at a dead run down the beach, ride a harley and get dirty. The only other people I have found like that are 1. fellow horse people or 2. men. And for some reason I dont think I'd be welcome at mens conference. (hmmm... I did pull off the whole looking like a guy thing for halloween one year hehehe)

Ugh I dont know. I would love to do a small group church. We do a bible study and some worship and then we do a bbq and go for a trail ride. Enjoy God's creation.

Sigh.. I dont know... I have been thinking a lot. And this is just what has come to mind. I know a lot of people would and will get offended at the above. And who knows maybe im just a bad Christian because I dont like feeling like church is a chore. But I think too many people are forced into it, when honestly "fellowshipping with other believers" and learning more about scripture can be done in a way that is different then it is done now.

Paradise

We went up to Paradise, WA up on Mt Rainier. It was AMAZING! So just so you can see here are some photos....

Realization yesterday!

For those that dont know I have an Anxiety issue. I over stress about EVERYTHING and it became a huge problem for me last year...

I was to the point I couldn't function. I couldn't go out into public, couldn't talk to people and didn't want to get out of bed. So the doctor started me on anti-anxiety medication. WOW what a difference

Well a little after we moved into out house I stopped the everyday meds and just kept the as needed ones. Pretty much when I start feeling like im going to have a panic attack I can take one (or on days/situations I can take one).

Well I have been having issues lately riding horses. I get all tied up a nervous and with these Paso's it transfers right to them.

So yesterday I was going to go on a trailride. The orginal horse I was going to ride went into heat and wasnt going to be able to ride in the trailer with a gelding and another mare. So cook called and asked if I wanted to ride Al.

Now to back track me and Al have a love hate relationship. Hes a LOT arrogant and can be prone to temper tantrums. and I tend to get nervous on him.

So this time I had a brillant thought and decided to take an one of my "happy pills" It was amazing. It was the best ride I have had on him. I was able to think things through and keep my self calm. And since I was keeping my adrenaline down, HIS adrenaline stayed down and we had an enjoyable ride.

And just a quick note to Christians. Having to take medications for depression/anxiety is NOT a weakness and DOES NOT mean you arent relying on God. Yes you should still pray to God about your problem. But sometimes his solution is giving you a doctor that can give you medication to help. As my cousin said."If you can take medication for your heart (or whatever else) why cant I take medication for my brain?"

Need to find a more interesting title then "update"

So insurance: What ended up happening we dont have to pay insurance for until August AND are getting a $25 return. So their mistake ended up costing them almost $300.
Also found out when we renew our contract we will BOTH have a three year clean driving record. So that means a lower rate.

Also with insurance. I am going to buy Broad From Named Operator insurance. AKA I am covered on ANY vehicle I drive. That way I can drive my "employers" car whenever needed and not have to worry.

Now to family updates:

We have started potty training the boys. AKA letting them run around in the evenings with no diapers on and just starting to let them realize when things are happening. They like to sit on the potty for .5 seconds ever few minutes but we have the whole summer. Not in a hurry on that one.

We are still waiting to hear if Celina got into preschool. But we probably wont know until August OR later. So we are waiting.....

My job. I am really enjoying it. I am half way done with my certification. I have two classes left and I am done. The good news is I am getting paid $10 an hour to be there. Then as soon as I am done I will put my name into the referral registry so I can find at least one more client/employer

Jakes Job: He is so happy to have three months off where he doesnt have to worry about where our bills are going to come from. He has gotten an assurance of a job AND will be getting a small raise next year.

All in all... God is providing for our family in ways we could have never imagined.

Insurance mistake

So today I was bored and decided to kind of browse through my car insurance policy. I clicked on "driving record" Mine looked fine, but Jakes had TWO accidents. One "non at fault" accident on 11-30-2008 and One "at fault" accident on 12-14-2008 (which was reported by the MVR).

Well either we had an at fault accident that we didnt know about or there was a mistake. The mistake being that BOTH accidents were actually the SAME accident and it was Non-at fault (anyone remember that Ice/Snow storm in the end of 08/beginning of 09?)

At first I was freaking out trying to figure out how to get the at fault accident changed to a non at fault on our MVR. I decided that progressive would probably know so I tried them first

So I called progressive and explained the situation. The lady on the phone told me that for one I didnt have to call the MVR. Alls that reports is that there is an accident. The insurance company assumes it is at-fault until it is told differently. She said she wasnt sure why the computer hadnt caught that they were probably the same accident (I didnt remember the exact date of the accident just that it was somewhere around nov/dec). So we had been being charged for an At-fault accident since we signed up for the policy a year ago.

So she at first needed me to explain the accident so that she could document "why" it was non-at fault. Then once she did she said that we would be getting a refund for the entire time we had the policy for what we were overcharged. For the past year we will get a electronic funds transfer. For the current policy we will get a credit added to our account. Then the rest of the policy we will be getting a newer rate.

And then the other good news. When it comes time to renew, we will not only be getting a newer rate but my ticket will come off (so a three year clean driving record) and Jakes non-at fault is 0 points so he will have one too! So thats means a discount.

Alls I can say is thankyou God!