Whirlwind

Posted on by Centered in the Saddle

A Month in Review

Or, a month-ish. Since the end of September, life has been crazy. HAHA j/k it’s been crazy since, um, before I got married in June. But it has felt especially crazy the last month or so.

It all started the weekend of Sundance HT, when my husband and I closed on our new house. Yep. We closed on a house on a Friday morning and my husband agreed to let me abandon him go to a horse trials that afternoon and throughout the whole weekend. He moved all of our things into the house with the help of my parents and my teammate’s boyfriend. They’re all saints. Riding at a horse trials is 1,000,000x more fun than moving. Conservatively.

Still one of my favorite photos of all time

Shortly after the show, the indoor arena at the barn went under construction to add insulation and more windows. Which is A-MAH-ZING now that it’s done and getting cold outside. But for much of the month of October, we had no indoor area. Which would usually be fine. Except it rained like a lot, making the outdoor and the field not ride-able and then it started getting dark by 6pm so riding after work became challenging. So there were a few weeks there where Duke and I went on some trail rides and also did a lot of not-riding. So many snugs were had.

Rainy day trail ride to investigate sheep; aka Duke’s newest obsession

We have had some lessons – including one where I got to jump the new Training table in the jump field, and we attempted the Weldon’s Wall but ran out of light. But I’ve also had a lot of lazy days at the barn. I also missed a lot of riding for various family engagements back home in MN. 

Oh, and I also started a new job about two weeks before we moved. I’m feeling more settled into the rhythm of that now. But I’m doing a lot of extra freelance work on the side (temporarily), which is great for extra funds for horse money to finish paying for my expensive summer of horse shows and various new house things, but I have felt lately that I’m mostly just working, doing house projects or unpacking with infrequent rides in between. 

  • Kitchen – Before
  • Kitchen – After
  • Dining Room – Before
  • Dining Room – After

Why, yes, that IS a mural painted directly on the dining room wall! It took 4 coats of primer (2 of which were oil based) and a coat of paint to cover it.

We have painted a lot. I thought about doing a house post to update the changes but at this point I think I’ll hold off. Would you guys even be interested in seeing some house stuff? We are doing updates on some bathrooms and further kitchen updates (I can’t wait to get rid of those cabinets ugh), and eventually turning our basically-unfinished basement walkout into an actual living room area. We’re doing a lot of the work ourselves so you KNOW there will be some misadventures. 

And now, suddenly it’s November and the holiday season is upon us! This season is my jam. Holiday spirit. I have it. I have already purchased some Christmas gifts and planned a bunch more. I have a Black Friday list ready to go. Not that it’s all about shopping and gifts. I’m just really into the joy and happiness of the season. I can’t wait to decorate our new house and get our very first Christmas tree! Maybe I should look into getting a custom ornament that looks like Duke…

13 thoughts on “Whirlwind”

  1. wow busy you sure have been. UGH our kitchen is so gross. the cabinets are okay the tile is okay but the sink needs replacing and the countertops are black. AS IN GROSS. As in i lose my phone or glasses or whatever I put on the damn counter cause i cant see them. LOL

    I am glad you have a new arena to play in!! YAY. and yay for new house and doing things your way. (We looked at a house in DE a while ago before we moved that had an full wall of the American flag mural in the dining room. I shit you not. Not that I am unamerican but really: IN YOUR DINING ROOM? ick.)

    And last but not least congrats on new job!! and on freelancing! 🙂 MO money is never to be frowned upon.

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    1. I can’t wait to tackle more in the kitchen! We’re planning to replace the cabinets and thus probably the countertops/sink even though they’re technically fine. Not sure we can ‘reuse’ them. The floor I hate but at this point it’s not a priority. And once new cabinets are in we’ll also install a backplash. And there are light fixtures to update. AH I wish we could just do it all at once!
      It’s true that more money is never a bad thing but I’m getting pretty tired of getting home from work just to do more work lol

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      1. you might want to just paint the cabinets for now if you arent in a hurry to replace the cabinets. My dad had ugly cabinets and he painted them white years ago and never replaced them because my mom liked them in the new color so much more 🙂 worth a thought. I wish we could paint our ugly ass black counter tops 🙂

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      2. Painting the cabinets was the original plan, but they aren’t really functional, and they’re not in as great shape as we thought. Plus they’re oak, which would mean a lot of extra steps to fill the grain, seal, prime and paint. So, new cabinets instead.

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  2. I wanna see a house post! So many exciting things going on for you, holy moly!
    Also now I feel better that I’m not the only one who made their SO move into a new place while I was gone at a horse show sorryyyyyy

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    1. Yay! I really want to do some house posts so I’m glad that at least one person will read them! 🙂
      It was truly the best move of my life. Literally I was like, “yay we own a house ‘kay thank you love you byyyyyyyye!” These men are true heroes of the horse world.

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