DMV ninjas

du-uuuude

today has been rough. like spend all day at the social security office and DMV rough. oh wait. that's what i did!

i am legally mrs. giorgi now. pretty rad. what's not pretty rad is my new license picture. i haven't seen it yet, but knowing that i did nothing to my hair this morning sums it up. i didn't think they'd take the picture. but they did. i pleaded and pleaded because my old one is so pretty.

lame.

this morning i woke up and thought. ooo. i will surprise toby when he gets home and yell i'm mrs. giorgi at him.

got to the social security office and bam. there's a billion people there. i waited 45 minutes to be told i had the wrong form and i had to go get the right one from the clerks office on the OTHER SIDE OF TOWN. so i go to THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN and they tell me this form is actually back on THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN i just CAME FROM.

really? really?! i was going to punch someone.

hard.

so i finally get the right form and get back to social security and get the damn slip of paper which shows my new name.

all feelings of hostility vanished.

until i got to the DMV. they reappeared like ninjas.

i waited in a line to get a number for another line.

the DMV is the abyss where civil servants go to train for satanism.

they all look at you like you're stupid and roll their eyes when you have a question.

okay sorry, i avoid this place as much as i can so i don't know which form to get.

then the evil lady tells me i need a new picture.

ugh. the ninjas just threw their little ninja stars.

and of course i flee to the bathroom to make sure i look somewhat okay.

damn i shouldn't have had that burrito last night.

anyways. i take the damn picture. and i have to sign my new name.

feelings disappear. but i know those ninjas will be back in 4 to 6 weeks when i get my new license in the mail.

awesome.

holy crap i've been married almost a month! it's flying already!

toby and i have been enjoying ourselves.... being a little reclusive and not having to go places every day like we did in the weeks leading up to the wedding... by the way i get the rest of my photos next week so i will definitely post my faves. it might be a lot. be prepared to scroll.

relax... i forgot what that word meant for awhile.

we've been working on the BIZ - which opened May 14 and we're getting a lot of phone calls already! amazing! i literally just had a lady drive in and look around...

i can't even tell you how awesome owning your own business is. yes, it's stressful at times and we've sunk every penny into it, but our first payments for the quads and insurance were paid off by the tours already, and next month we are booking like crazy! yay!

toby and i got to go on a date the other night to see Pirates of the Caribbean latest installment - it was pretty exciting and had loads of action... very Piratey. sword fighting. rum drinking. mermaid beating good time.

um. mermaids will never look the same to me. they're like creepy fish vampires. sorry to spoil it.

anyways. im babbling. sitting here waiting for people to show up. almost Field of Dreams-esque.
We built it. When will they come?

if you're a fan of my blog please attack my other blog SYVATVTOURS.BLOGSPOT.COM thanks.
i'd appreciate it. i might give you a billion hugs ;) that's a lot of hugs. toby might be jealous.

my heart hurts

my heart hurts because my beloved horse Bella is being put down tomorrow.

total sad face.

i can remember playing with my breyer horses with my sister, pretending to own herds and herds of wild horses, pretending our bicycles were horses as we pedled down our street, we begged our parents to buy a horse and we promised to love it forever.

our parents decided to teach us the responsibility that goes along with horses and set us up in riding lessons with Laura, the mother of one of my childhood friends.

our first lesson we didn't even ride a horse, we were really disappointed. we had to learn about the saddle, bridle, and different body parts, Laura even tested us.

then we could touch a horse by grooming it and picking their hooves... learning how to put a saddle on and get on and off by ourselves. which for a four foot little girl (damn im not that much taller) is pretty hard to do. but we learned and we could tack up a horse in our sleep if we had to.

after several years of riding Laura's horses an opportunity arose when a lady had a horse and foal she needed to get rid of. insert Bella here. i was about 12 the first time i saw Bella and fell in love instantly.

she and her foal had been put in a mustard patch and were both pretty sick from the toxins in mustard. after weeks of nursing them both to health, Laura took the baby horse and we had Bella. if i had a nickel for every time i've shoveled poop, picked her feet and brushed her i'd be a friggin millionaire.

the deal we had was in order to board Bella we had to pick up poop for all the horses twice a week. and we did. i would ride my bike to Laura's rain or shine, and once in snow, and spent a good two hours hauling manure. and most of the time i still pretended my bike was Bella.

there's something you should know about our Bella. she's a freight train. we tried everything to get her to lope like a western horse should, smooth and slow. not Bel, she would race around the arena passing every other horse several times. it felt faster when you were on her.

"HEELS DOWN!!!" Laura would scream at us.

okay you try putting your heels down when you're riding a rocket. let's see if you remember this when you're just trying to hold on for dear life.

you think as Bella got older she'd slow down. nope. not one bit. she would pin her ears, suck in her gut and flat out run.

one time she ran with me down the road and i fell off and got a concussion. that was fun. so that's why helmets were invented.

we decided to switch her to english and we did quite well together even learning to jump ...

again once at a show no less Bella decided not to take the jump and i did. no concussion there though.

Bella eventually also became a mounted unit horse for the sheriff's department. the girl is a tank. she had guns shot off her, helicopters flown over her head and had a beer bottle broken on her head during an out of control situation at a local college. she could swim through rivers and yet was a wuss about puddles. she'd jump them.

she's stubborn and pissy and is the best horse a girl could ask for.

tomorrow is going to be extremely hard, but i know she had a great 25 years of life and is going to be buried in a place we can visit her anytime.

i'd do it all over again though. her love was innocent and unconditional. she loved being sung to, sprinkled with a hose on a hot day and taking her mid morning naps.

good thoughts tomorrow. if there's a horse heaven Bella will definitely be running to her heart's delight.

here is Bella and me at our first competition

swimming in the river - promise im not drowning her

Laura riding Bella in the local parade... Bella loved the mounted unit.. she would get so giddy when they came to pick her up


my dad on Bella at one of our many campouts


my mom with Bella at a horse show... notice the blue ribbon? :) she is our champion

Happy Trails Bella ... may there be green pastures and lots of carrots for you....

IM MARRIED!!!!!

okay it's been forever since i last wrote. you probably all thought i was MIA or kidnapped by midgets... well i wasn't. i was busy getting ready for huge life changing events such as GETTING MARRIED and opening our business (which debuted today)

dude. it's been a stressball over here and i am SO happy the wedding is over...

it was almost as if for that day i was floating above my body watching in a daze what transpired.

i love toby and i am so happy :) married life is pretty much the same to be honest but now i get to call him hubby, hubster, ball (im the chain) etc etc

i just remember being so nervous before the ceremony... watching all my bridesmaids walk down to the wedding site... and of course in style i rode with my dad in our ATV down there. (grand entrance)

i just saw toby - it was as if no one else existed. even though i had 160 pairs of eyes on me. that is a weird feeling.

our ceremony was awesome, our officiant and friend Aaron did an amazing job - telling the story of us and making everyone laugh and cry - i purposely didn't look at my parents because i knew they'd be crying and make me cry...

the party was great, i barely remember the toasts - i was a lil tipsy - my dress didn't allow me to eat - we danced and laughed and then it was all over

that one day flew by so fast.... luckily i had a great photographer that captured the moments i missed... i can't wait to see the rest of the photos so here's what i have so far i can share ;)

this one is my favorite :)

so here's the sum of the day...

amazing day, married my best friend, celebrated love with an awesome party, saw friends and family i rarely see, kissed toby a lot, and toasted goodnight :)

bridal surprise!!

i can't even tell you how amazing last sunday was... it was shocking and exciting and filled with adrenaline...

toby, daniel and i have been working on the barns to clean them up as much as possible before we open our atv tour business two weeks after the wedding... it's been long hours of hauling scrap metal, throwing out garbage, organizing and building doors...

so sunday morning toby and i meet daniel at the barn to hang the first of two new doors on the barn... i supervised because i threw my back out the day before picking up heavy boxes...

at around 1:30 we had planned on going up to toby's parents house for a family meeting, so i told toby just to scrap going home and changing... i was presentable enough. except for when we got there i slid out of his truck and got a huge mud splotch down my jeans...

i walked into the house and said hello to toby's dad and turned the corner to find all these people lined up against the wall and shouting SURPRISE at me... toby's mom and sister organized a second bridal shower for me with all my almost in-laws and friends who couldn't make my shower a few weeks ago... it was so lovely!!

i was lucky to meet all of the great aunts who told me their stories of past family members and some really amazing stories about toby's great-grandfather who came from Switzerland to settle the ranch... it was really amazing...

after i gorged myself on snacks and goodies and opened even more presents (which are awesome, such as my new 5-speed blender) toby's sister pulled me aside and said are you ready?

ready for what?

to go flying!!

her boyfriend recently got his pilot's license and shares a hanger with two guys who offered to take toby and i flying in their Long EZ's over the Valley.... uh ... heck ya i'm ready to fly!

we drove over to the hanger and met Charlie and Eric... i rode with Eric, and toby rode with charlie who i learned was a POW in Vietnam and is now an inspriational speaker... he and Eric were both in the war, Eric on the ground with the Army and Charlie was a fighter pilot who had been shot down.

the feeling of taking off is the most incredible feeling ever... i hadn't been in a plane in years, but this was like nothing else...

the Long EZ's are super tiny and literally have just enough room for your shoulders, but the view is incredible...

after circling the ranch, the mountains, the lake and michael jackson's neverland ranch we were back at the airport in half and hour... if you were to drive that... it would take at least an hour and a half...

after flying we all went out for pizza and beer... and it became suddenly clear that we were having dinner with a legend...

both Eric and Charlie had amazing stories of flying, gave toby and i advice on marriage (eric said his advice is not to ask his advice haha) and talked about a few experiences of war... i will never forget that dinner as long as i live...

if you get a chance you should check out charlie's website

i was totally on a high when i came home, i was talking a mile a minute to toby in the truck and he was just laughing...
i had dreams of flying all night... it was awesome...

here are some photos from the trip.. the first is looking over the freeway... the second is over the lake and toby is in the other plane and the third is flying over our ranch... you can see all the farmland and the barns... :)

when the tree tried to move in

i know that most of the country and world for that matter has experienced devastation of some sort recently due to flooding, fires, tsunamis, earthquakes etc.
as a california girl i've never experienced anything other than an earthquake when it shook me out of bed - but nothing happened as far as damage.
i watched in horror when the world trade buildings were attacked and felt remorse and anger but on the other side of the country where all i could really do was donate food or money to help the victims.
when the earthquake and tsunami hit japan two weeks ago again the feelings of remorse came back as some of the victims were swept out to sea or buried beneath the rubble.
i felt proud that our rescue workers instantly mobilized to help. one of them a firefighter whom i know who took his rescue dog and hopped the next plane to japan to find the lost.
i haven't talked to him since he's been back, but i can't wait to tell him that he made us all proud.

when the weather guy announced a storm was coming in last saturday i pffft it off like every other storm we've had recently. yeah there's been an upsurge in water, but nothing threatening or scary. in fact toby and i usually go out as soon as the rain stops and check out the trails and creeks.

saturday night was like any other. i made dinner, we watched a movie and i went to bed. it was a bit windy but nothing i thought was scary. my fan drowned out most of it.
i didn't even hear toby come to bed about an hour later but around 1 a.m. we both woke with a start when we heard something crashing down on the roof in the mud room.

you see, we have a precariously tall pine tree just outside the mud room and if the wind were to blow it down the right way it could split our house in half or land on our bedroom.

toby and i both moved to the living room just in case.

we both didn't sleep. every time i'd close my eyes the wind would howl and shake the house.

i finally fell asleep about 630 a.m. and it felt like a second before toby woke me up telling me to get dressed. he was tracking the storm and saw a band of red coming straight at us.

in the color wheel for weather maps. red is a bad color. i love red. but not on any map.

i had literally 3 minutes to get dressed grab my phone and my purse and get the hell out. the winds were around 70 miles per hour and just at the moment where i was grabbing my rain boots i heard the snap.

i was in the bedroom and just started running thinking it was the pine tree. i ran through the hallway and straight into toby as he was watching the sycamore outside our kitchen snap in half and come crashing down.

looking back it was quite comical the way we smacked into each other as we were trying to escape. he spilled coffee down my front and it didn't even phase me.

after we high tailed it out and up to his parents to avoid getting smushed here's what we saw when we got back later to investigate....



it's been a long day of surveying the damage and cleaning up the fallen branches and limbs. one limb fell with such a force it punctured a hole in the ground about a foot deep. glad i wasn't under it.

the kitties are happy about it because now they have a new jungle gym to play on.

we got super lucky it wasn't the pine tree. but i will never forget that feeling of helplessness and terror.

i can only imagine how those people felt in japan. my heart goes out to them.

to sickness and beyond....

all last week i had a terrible head cold. i felt like little ninjas were kicking my brain all day and then the sinus monkeys were hard at work making my nose dribble icky stuff. good mental picture huh?

this is the hard way of learning the lesson of never going to little kid birthday parties.

the day before my bridal shower we went to a friend's kids birthday. lots of little hellions running amok wiping their germs and filth on you.

i really do want kids i promise.

i love watching the snot ooze down their face.

*shuddering in disgust*

i can't wait to have the constant tugging on the jeans or t-shirt screaming into my ear while i casually hold a conversation with a friend.

toby's deaf anyways (not really) so he can handle screaming.

i kind of already live with a child. my adorable monster juneau. she is constantly getting into things. as i type this i can see her out the window ripping a plant out of the ground. it's a weed anyways so she can have at it.

a couple days ago my dad came out for his first quad ride around the ranch.



doesn't he look cute?

what we didn't know was that while we were out for the morning, my little princess juneau had dug a hole in the yard and ate our last good hose.



let's just say she got in trouble. this is what trouble looks like. lazy on the couch.

i swear she's part monster.

knowing me and my rebellious streak when i was little and hearing stories about the things toby used to do when he was a kid... some of them involving his sister and letting snakes and lizards go in her room. i say we're in for it.

bring on the snot. bring on the screaming. i can handle it.

is it okay to scream back at them?