I thought this post would have a direction but it kind of doesn't

I have two rather serious addictions.  One is coffee.  The other is horses.

I am a horrible coffee snob and addict.  When I buy* coffee I spend a lot of time looking at the description and smelling the coffee.  I only buy Starbucks, Heine Bros. on occassion.  I like bold, strong, roasty coffee.  I love the Yukon blend and the Summer blend.  The Summer blend is so crisp because it's made for drinking over ice.  They aren't going to carry it anymore.  DANGIT! 

There are three problems within my coffee world right now.  Starbucks is no longer getting shipments of the Summer blend.  I am using paper towels for coffee filters.  I do not have a French press.  Two of these I can resolve but I will probably not buy myself a French press.  Christmas gift please?

*For most of the summer I was getting free bags of Starbucks coffee from Joe's friend who works there and is allowed to take home a bag of coffee a week.  Dating Joe has resulted in many such perks.

The other addiction.  Horssssessss.  This massively important aspect of my life has recently seen some fulfillment.  Quarter Horse show at the Expo Center this whole week.  I got to see some cutting, reining, horsemanship, trail, halter and practice.  I could have watched all night but Joe was really hungry.  He learned a lot in a very short amount of time.  Ha.

Upcoming things- Family is visiting this weekend.  The Fair starts next week.  School starts the week after.  Ohmygosh.  I hope I can find time to breathe in the next month...

There's Just Something About A Forest

That gets me a little bit high. It's probably just the extra oxygen but I'd like to think there's more to it. Some intrinsic connection from my soul to the Creator. Every time I step into the forest (or some other grand natural landscape) I feel different, better, cleaner, brighter. Our trip to Bernheim was reparitive for me.

I wish there had been water in this streambed. It was so hot it would have been great to splash around a little.

This fallen tree was really pretty, this picture doesn't really do it justice.  The light beyond the trees in the background was much more visible.

I love the way a trail in the woods looks.  It has so much mystery, potential, history and character.  If this trail had diverged I would have spoken my favorite poem:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Indeed, I just did.  I thank Robert Frost for expressing so eloquently my feelings towards a trail.  I hope this will not be my last trail experience for a while.  I want to hike half the 13-miler this summer/fall.  And one day I hope to brave the Appalachian Trail before too long.  It's extraordinarily long.  Really the whole length of the Appalachian Mountains.  A hike like this requires professional gear, training and a determination I'm not sure I have.  But the wonders it would do for my soul...

I believe God made nature and I believe nature reveals God.

Recent Free(ish) Acquisitions

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of these photos. I had to use my phone because I have no batteries for my camera. Pitiful, I know.

This is the poster I found next to the dumpster. Who would throw this away? It's in perfect condition! And it goes perfectly in my apartment.

This is the pot I found. How cute! I am going to try to grow a pepper plant in it.

This is a giant calendar I acquired free at the AHP Seminar. The photographs are by Gabrielle Boiselle. They are stunning!

This is my new aloe vera plant. I did pay for it but it was cheap, from Aldi. Aldi has great stuff for really low prices. I should get paid for saying that. Anyway, it needs to be repotted.

I Love Free Things!

Making my apartment beautiful for cheap is a lot easier to do when I find free things next to the dumpster after a neighbor moves out.

I left my apartment a day or two ago and saw leaning against the dumpster a large poster of an agave. It was behind the glass in a disassemble frame. I paused, marched over, pulled the large poster out from behind the glass and proceeded to roll it up on my way to the truck.

This poster has the perfect combination of colors for my apartment, all I need is a black foam core board to mount it!

The next day I left my apartment and noticed some pots sitting by the dumpster. I had just told Joe how I wanted a pot or two. I waited till evening to make sure no one claimed them and picked up the yellow one. The other one was grey plastic and full of dirt, it wouldn't really work for me.

And on the other side of my parking lot, behind some garages, are a desk and dresser, but they appear to be in poor condition and wouldn't work in my apartment anyway. Plus I already have those things.

Next up on my apartment's improvements list is installing a door sweep to finally seal off my front door, I need Joe for this, and constructing some kind of shelf apparatus for the opening in my kitchen. I have an image in my head, it's unlikely I will find anything premade.

July You Fly!

Why has July gone so fast? Maybe because I had a great time. July 4th weekend was spent in Wisconsin with the family, and Joe came, and Maggie was there. It was really really nice. I got to see my best friend and Joe and I went to Summerfest.

Then we got to see John Mayer live.

Then we finally went hiking in Bernheim Forest.

 Now it is August and I am freaking out. Research, school, books, state fair, part time job, absent boyfriend, cold weather, graduation, career, death. Well, maybe not that quickly, but that's how fast it feels. So I turn to John Mayer lyrics, Stop This Train:

No I'm not color blind
I know the world is black and white
Try to keep an open mind but...
I just can't sleep on this tonight
Stop this train I want to get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly won't someone stop this train

Don't know how else to say it, don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't but honestly won't someone stop this train

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game to find away to say that life has just begun
Had a talk with my old man
Said help me understand
He said turn 68, you'll renegotiate
Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
Don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train

See once in a while when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
'til you cry when you're driving away in the dark.

Singing stop this train I want to get off and go home again
I can't take this speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I'll never stop this train

Hmmm.