Hooked on Phonics can only take you so far...

"I take it you already know
of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
on hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
to learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
that looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead -- it's said like bed not bead --
and for goodness' sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).

A moth is not the moth in mother,
nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
nor dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose --
just look them up -- and goose and choose,
and cork and work and card and ward,
and font and front and word and sword,
and do and go and thwart and cart --
come, come I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful language? Man alive.
I'd mastered it when I was five."

No wonder why people say English is such a hard language to learn!

Milky math question

I went to the store yesterday to pick up a gallon of milk and these were the prices:

A) 1 gallon for $2.67

or

B) 4(1/2 gallons) for $5.

Which one do you think I chose?

Which would you choose?

(P.S. I wanted the cheapest price...)

My Weekend...Part 2

When I pulled up to Thoroughbred Park and got out of my car I saw this:

and this:

And then....have you seen this great youtube video? Well, I had my own personal version of it, because next I saw him...

and her...

(and one other man who I failed to get a up-close picture of...)

And since they were giving out free hugs- I got three free hugs on Saturday!

And here I am, happy from the hugs, but a little bit windblown.

Thoroughbred Park is a small beautiful park downtown. It is dedicated to those who made their mark in the thoroughbred industry.

At the front of the park is a round garden of red roses.

Turn to the right and there are magnificent life-sized bronze sculptures of horses crossing a finish line with a waterfall backdrop.

Behind the fountain of water is a hill that is landscaped with trees and sown with bluegrass which is native to this area.

Some fun painted horses in Thoroughbred Park:

"The Strand Theater"

(Sorry about the glare)

Opposite side of the same horse

After I left the park, I drove on down the road and saw a Farmer's Market- which I was actually too late for (next week's adventure!), but I took pictures of some more fun horses!

My 'Free Hugs' friends further down the street.

"Keeneland Experience"

"Silver Rose"

See this smoke rising up in the picture, here? Yeah, that's the BBQ scent you missed out on...

"Starry Night" Er, Starry Horse? The picture was taken from my car window as I drove by, thus the poor quality. But it was too cool of a horse to pass up.

Some music graffiti on a wall.

And some good ol' Louisiana cookin'

What a great Saturday!!

My Weekend...Part 1

"Musical Horse"

I set out to explore the city yesterday and gosh darn it, I enjoyed myself.

It was first day of the WEG (World Equestrian Games) and downtown was sure hopping.

In celebration of the games there are hand painted horses all over town, which are quite fun. I had seen a few here and there, but never realized how many there really are until I started taking pictures of them. I wonder (and should have asked) how much time it took the people, schools, etc to paint the horses. It must have been a while considering how detailed some of them are.

"Puzzle"

My first stop was the downtown public library. They boast a five story atrium with the world's largest ceiling clock and pendulum. Pretty cool!


The children's section of the library has a cool cottage/nature scene on one wall.

Close-up of the cute bear....

And close-up of the not so cute, but well painted opossum...

On the second floor of the library there is a mural painted around the wall of horses and jockeys:

Various painted horses inside the library.

Detailed eye of the horse...

Horse head...

"Lanky Doodle"

"City Horse"

After exploring the library and browsing the shelves for over an hour, I checked out (I ended up with 5 books, 2 DVDs and a 2-CD collection of Harry Chapin music) and was on my merry way.

Next stop: Thoroughbred Park

Along with my free hugs!! So stay tuned...

What I've learned over the past 28 years

My birthday was about a week and half ago. And (at the suggestion of my mom), I've decided to write a post about the things I've learned in the past year/past 28 years of my life.

1. People are put into our lives for a reason. Whether we meet them and they disappear from our lives shortly afterward or whether they become life long friends, each person has something to teach us. Learn from them.

2. Family is forever. Two years ago, on my birthday, I moved to Lexington. Although I miss my family a lot, they will always be there. They are just a phone call, email, or letter away.

3. Life goes on (sometimes without you). People and things change and if we don't keep up we will be left behind. Time slips from our hands so fast and if we don't make the best of it while it lasts it is gone forever.

4. It is good to take risks. If you stay stagnant then how will you ever grow? Go out of your comfort zone- it is hard, but worth it in the end. New friendships, adventures, food discoveries, wonderful places to visit are all created this way. If you don't try how will you ever know? (I'm still working on this one...)

5. Words can hurt others. Watch what you say, because it can stay with people forever. Also, to go along with this- don't hold grudges. It just makes you angry. Often the person that offended you doesn't even know it and it is only hurting you in the long run.

6. Be honest. Life is just so much better all around when you are honest with yourself and others.

7. Open up a bit with others. I'm a very private person, so this is a hard one for me, but I've learned that when I share things with other people, they often do the same and my life is enriched for the better. A burden shared is a burden halved.

8. Find a place where you can be alone. Whether this be in nature, a temple, your room, where ever.... It gives you time to rejuvenate and become ready to face the world again.

9. Smile. Ever heard of the expression, "fake it till you make it"? Sometimes it's hard to smile, but when you are smiling on the outside, often the inside feeling will follow along and you will truly be happy.

10. Enjoy life. I think this one speaks for itself. We weren't put here to be grumpy. If you enjoy life then in the end, you can look back and be grateful for all the things you've done, learned, shared, and explored.

11. (Just for good nature)- Pray. Heavenly Father hears you and loves you. Be grateful to Him.

These are just a few of the many things I've learned over my past 28 years.

I didn't mean for it to happen

It started out looking like this, a beautiful plant with little white flowers ready to bloom into delicious peppers. The blooms soon turned into wonderful red peppers and I kept up watering it pretty well.













Then Labor Day came, along with my absence from my little plant. With the absence came a lack of watering. I didn't mean for it to happen, I just forgot to ask my roommate to water it.

I came home from the weekend to find the leaves of my plant all crispy. It makes me sad that my neglect killed it. I tried to overcompensate by giving it lots of water, but it was too late, the leaves were too crispy- though the peppers are still hanging on for dear life.



Sorry plant, I'm really sorry I killed you. But thank you for the 25 lovely red peppers you gave to me. I'll do better next year, I promise.

9/11

Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when the twin towers fell on September 11, 2001?

Birth-Day

I was born on this day, a few years ago at about 2:30am.

As I think back on my life up to this point, I'm grateful for the sacrifice of the woman who gave birth to me- my mom. I'm thankful that she endured on my behalf in order to bring me into the world.

Dear Mama,

Thanks to you I have the opportunity:

To learn and grow.
To love others and be loved in return.
To breath in the freshness of each new day.
To eat (and we all know how much I love doing that!)
To feel gratitude for the gospel in my life.
And so many other blessings that would not even be possible if I weren't alive...

And so, on this day of my birth, I wish to thank you for the special gift of life that you've given me. I appreciate it more than I think you will ever know.

Thank you for giving birth to me and Happy birth-day to you!

Love,
Natasha

P.S. to my readers: If you would like, you can check out my mom's blog here!

A Reminder

Yesterday, after coming home from spending Labor day with my family, I witnessed a drunk driver get into an accident on the highway.

It was horrific. Debris flew across the road as his car hit a guard rail, flipped several times, and landed on its roof in the left lane of traffic.

Now I can't get the image out of my head.

Thankfully, he did not crash into other cars. As I drove away people were saying the man was still alive, but according to his mangled vehicle, I was very surprised.

I know you're all adults and can make your own decisions, but just a reminder to all my friends:

If you drink alcohol...

Please, don't drink and drive.

Mr. Grey Stripes

This cat has made himself at home at my parent's house. Outside. He's made himself at home outside.

I thought about buying some Pounce and giving it to him, but then I would be etched in his heart forever. And therein lies the problem, because he would never leave.

He will remain unnamed. And outside.

He can find his own food. It is called "Mice".

I'm curious...

how many of you sneeze when you walk outside on a sunny day? If I look at (well, actually towards, because we all know I'd be blind if I actually looked at...) the sun I usually sneeze.

There's an honest to goodness article written about it. Sun sneezing occurs in 18 to 35% of the population.

Are you a member of the sun sneezer's club? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know.