Hello hello hello!
Ok so yes I know, this post is RIDICULOUSLY late... :(....I'll try and make it as concise as possible and promise to write the next one in a more timely fashion!
I left you last time with me having recently arrived back in the US. A very hard decision to make but the last few month has made me glad I made it. I returned home to my beautiful boy who was very happy to see me....mainly because it meant he got to sleep on my bed again!
I was soon put back to work among the cattle, riding out in the pastures again with Ornan - My happy place. I experienced my first taste of the dangers of the cowboy life, being head butted in the chest and almost trampled by a cow - was pretty funny to be honest!
Having spent the summer working in a burger joint and then returning to work cattle seemed kinda ironic! Circle of life!
Shortly after I arrived back it was time for my parents to take a well earned holiday and I was left on ranch duty! Among other things I had the pleasure of these guys being my charges....SO CUTE I WANT TO VOMIT!
It was pretty great earning money by doing
manual work and not sat at a desk, much more me now, I love how much of my life
is spent outside now.
Randle has had a great summer being a ranch dog, he hasn't worn a collar in months, has spent his days riding on the buggy to go check on the chickens with my mum, getting fed steak on a regular basis and hanging with the ranch crew
I like to think of them as the Okeechobee version of Rude Dog and the Dweebs!
I was back in Florida just in time to celebrate my first ever American Independence
day, I did this in true central florida style….taking a boat to a sandbar on
the inter-coastal and drinking lots of beer and tequila with my usual partner in
crime, Jessie…and her partner crime Wiley dog!
I got to see just how much The Turd had grown....he has a name now...Pico,
but I'm sticking with the Turd.
Isn't he handsome!!
There is also a new grown up dog in town, Roger the lodger we like to call
him. He's staying with my mum to learn some manners....he's got a long way to
go.... Randle and Roger have quickly become firm friends!
Alongside looking after all the animals I found time to finally get back
into some dress making. Don't think I realised just how much I missed it. I
knocked up this little number with a downloaded pattern and some Walmart
fabric....perfect for the 40 degree heat and 95% humidity that is the Florida
summer.
After being back for a few weeks it was obviously time for me to go on
another trip, this time I was off to Canada to visit an old friend, Rita. So it
was off to my old haunt of Winnipeg to meet the newest member of my friendship
group, Master Oliver Talwar...look how CUTE this kid is!! He's gonna be a
heartbreaker no DOUBT!
Even a kid hater like me couldn't help but fall for this little dude. We had
a lot of fun together, and Im pretty pleased to say he liked his aunty Sam a
lot :) I was even trusted to look after him alone!?? What the hell is
happening? Two babies in the space of 3 months! - EEK
As well as getting to meet my new boyfriend the reason I went to Winnipeg
when I did was because I was lucky enough to receive an invite to Rita’s
beautiful cousin Anisha’s wedding! Attending an east indian wedding has been on
my bucket list for a very very long time! Actually getting to tick it off was a
very very satisfying and unforgettable experience. Not only did I attend the
Mendhi ceremony (where the female family and friends of the bride have henna
painted on their hands and the bride has her arms and feet painted) and the
bangle ceremony (the bride receives her wedding bangles, she closes her eyes
and has the bangles placed on her wrists and they are then covered with scarves
and she isn’t allowed to look at them until the wedding day) I got to wear my
first Sari. It was so much fun! Unfortunately Rita and I did a terrible job at
tying them despite all the you tube video watching, luckily there was plenty of
‘Aunties’ on hand to assist us.
I returned from an amazing trip in Winnipeg to the ridiculous heat of Florida August, I had a few days to get university business sorted before the one and only Sabia Begum arrived stateside! It was so exciting to have my bestest buddy arrive in the country!
We met at the Disney Park Epcot, where basically you eat and drink your way around the world. We started out with margaritas and then decided to work our way around the world in hats instead! Here are a few of my fave pics from there....
I wanted Sabia to have a true Florida experience so she came to the ranch in Okeechobee where she was introduced to the locals and was even encourages *read bullied* into working on her large animal phobia!
Alongside this was our usual activity of drinking together, this time teamed with a pool and inflatables!! (We are grown ups honest!)
From here we embarked on a road trip!! Pretty scary for 1 person who hates driving and 1 who has only ever driven on the other side of the road!! Amazingly we made it to the beautiful Florida Keys. We stopped off in Key Largo then headed down to the legendary Key West where we went on a couple of boat trips, snorkelled and kayaked and obviously drank the nights away...Sabia was introduced to the pure joy that is Fireball too! We had a BLAST!!
Before we knew it it was time to head back up north, we had a few days chilling at the ranch again and then we took the drive up to Gainesville so Sabia could experience a Florida College town, it was kind of surreal to have her here but as usual we partied hard and enjoyed every minute.
Wayyyyyy too soon is was time for Sabs to be heading home :( I was really sad to see her go, it'd be amazing to have her and all my other friends here with me! Luckily Uni started the very next day so I didn't have long to mope!
I was thrown into teaching 2 classes this semester, taking 3 graduate seminars and preparing for my Thesis exam - oh not to mention the fact I was homeless! It's now October, the last week of August and all of September were a whirl of stress, things have finally settled down now, thanks to my awesome parents I have a lovely place to live and have my boy back with me (had to leave him behind whilst I slept on sofas - thanks Jordin!) and uni has started to calm down, I've even handed in tasks before their due dates....I really must be growing up! I'll update you soon on the escapades of the last few months soon!
Oh and going to the keys meant I managed to finally find some new postboxporn HOORAY!
Much love to you all and here's hoping the winter isn't too harsh on you!
Love & Slobber
Me and him
