Here's To New Beginnings!

And it's like 10x better then my old one. This one had a wider top for easier cleaning and you can put ice in it. And also the second top like the old one. And this one has ridges for easier handling.

All thanks to Angela!! I went out to leave for work this morning, and it was hanging on my door.

:)
Love you girl!!

First one belongs in National Geographic.
Thanks again Dave!

DOH Picnic 2009

more weekend shots...

Illegal in at least 47 states.....and yes, we rode that way. John got off and took the pic on top of the hill before he got back on his 'seat' in the front.

Cater Tots!!!!!!

Umm...what is that look on my face??

Cate....our colors clash BIG time.

All of us beautiful ladies at Sara's BBQ on Saturday!

Umm...this truck was stopped at a red light, Deb quickly got her phone out, and as I usually do...I posed.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I love my life!

Today was amazing. In fact, this entire week has been wonderful. Team Satey has in fact conquered everything from ruthless auto salesmen, to showroom floors, every town within a 30 mile radius, horses, quads, shopping, Red Lobster parking lot stalking, Afghanistan and Pakistan food 2 nights in a row, pots of coffee, and no sleep. On my way home tonight, the thought occurred to me that never again will my life be this free. So I'm making a pact to live the craziest and do the wildest and most things that I can possibly do right now.

After church today I went out to my parents house, who live mad deep in the country. We were having a family BBQ today. My niece and her boyfriend brought her quad over and that was the beginning of the fun!!!!!!

While I was there, my cousin Rachel walked over on her horse. Would that be considered 'walked over?' Anyway, this is about a 2k pound workhorse. HUGE. And yes...I told you my parents live mad deep. So we're all out on the front lawn and my 10 lb chihuahua decides that he's gonna start barking and growling at it. That's my baby, takes right after his mama!!! Then the horse started peeing. I now understand the term, "I gotta pee like a racehorse." Wow...that was an insane flow of urine.

Then the quad fun started. As you can see from the following videos...Cate and I emerged from the woods screaming like a bunch of idiots. I think we spent upwards of hours on the thing throughout the course of the day. It was a little freaky being on it without a helmet on though I must admit. But it was such a free feeling it was wonderful! And of course me and my addictive personality...that's all it took and now I want my own and I'm now dreaming to become a professional quad rider and do that for a living. I am going to be so sore tomorrow...that is a WORKOUT on that thing, believe it or not. We had endless land to travel on and we took advantage of it all! The scenery out there is breathtaking!

And last but definitely not least, my favorite video....we wanted to catch the sunset because we could tell it was going to be beautiful. We tried to get to the highest hill surrounding the house. These hills are not mowed and the grass and brush was about as tall as the quad. We all wanted to go over, so now the term 'quad' takes on a whole new meaning. FOUR OF US...yes, four of us...all hopped on the one 4-wheeler and took it across the hills. One on the racks on front facing us, my sister was 'driving', Cate behind her, and me on the metal bars on the back. Was it painful? Yup.

But the sunset was AMAZING and worth every second of it.

And now...I'm back home in the ghetto......and my adrenaline is still flowing.

I am beyond blessed...I truly am.

Friday, May 22, 2009

I don't really have an explaination??

Yes my friends....

Thyme is officially on my side........

Thursday, May 21, 2009

We're gonna find out just how rediculously quick my hair grows back...I'll take another one in a few weeks to see the progress....

Monday, May 18, 2009

Afghanistan

These pictures are courtesy of 1 SG Dave Conklin. I'm pretty sure that last pic is gonna be cropped and posted on my wall here at home. Amazing!

Such beauty in the middle of such chaos....sigh.........

Saturday, May 16, 2009

came to acceptance..no more tears LOL

Umm soo yea, I still hate my hair...but I made the decision..that there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm gonna rock it out proudly until it grows back.

But yea..DEFINITELY not going back to that woman.

Monday, May 4, 2009

The Power of a Purse event

(Mike, me, Mark. Cate went to take the pic, and for some reason, they picked me up. LOL)

http://capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/138662/the--power-of-a-purse-/Default.aspx
The 'Power of a Purse'
Updated: 05/03/2009 07:01 PM
By: Web Staff
TROY, N.Y. -- With Mother's Day just around the corner one local group is taking the opportunity to give back to underprivileged mothers and it's an event that has caught on across the nation.Mothers and More held its "Power of a Purse" event at the Troy-Cohoes YWCA this weekend. Women who call the facility home were able to pick out a purse from a large selection of donated bags.The organization needed a donation of about 100 purses, but got more than 500 new and like-new bags for the event. While a purse may not seem like a lot, one organizer says sometimes the selflessness and hard-work of mothers goes unrecognized.

The power of a purse
With Mother's Day just around the corner one local group is taking the opportunity to give back to underprivileged mothers and it's an event that has caught on across the nation.

"And all of these women are going to take a purse and it's going to symbolize their financial independence and getting back on their feet and allowing them to empower themselves economically,” said Michelle Hook, from Mothers and More.
Various 'Mothers and More' chapters in New York, California and Ohio are taking this idea and implementing similar events in their communities.

This was a great time yesterday. My brother Mark DJ'ed the event (with his friend Mike, as seen above), people from Zava's hair studio in Clifton Park gave dozens of free haircuts and styles, restaurants from around the Capital District donated delicious food, my mom did Mary Kay facials to the mothers in one room, the children got to make jewelery and cards for their mothers, and of course as you read, the mothers go to get purses. Cate and I volunteered around wherever needed.

It was a great day and a blessing to be a part of it. The woman were definitely blessed.

and this little girl could DANCE!!!!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Award Winning Island

I wanted to find a nice park outside somewhere to walk around, enjoy the weather, and the awesome sky and sunset. I was in the town of Schenectady and I have no idea where anything is there. So we consulted the GPS for parks and recreation.
Who wouldn't automatically try "Pleasant Valley Park"?? I mean, the word pleasant evokes so many wonderful images.

Hmm.....we never found a park. However....we did find this Award Winning Island.

It was an 'island' that was about 5 feet around, in the middle of the ghettos of Schenectady.

Who needs the Caribbean when we have islands like this right at home in our backyard?

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dad's 70th Birthday Party

Me, Dad, Mark, Sue, Deb

Deb, Me, mom, Dad, Josh, Mark, Sue, Deb, Alyssa, Shel w/ Snoopus, Garrett

Ang n I

I don't really know how this happened. LOL

Monday, March 30, 2009

Lake Placid 3/20-3/22

A few weekends ago my sister Deb invited me to go up to her house in Lake Placid with her for the weekend. I took that Friday off of work, and met her and Mister (her Bernese mountain dog) at her house in Clifton Park, and we were on the road around 1 o'clock. Her house is on the golf course up there, near the Whiteface Lodge. It's my heaven on earth. She's a short walk to the lake and you can see it out her door. You can see Whiteface from almost every place you walk to. And of course, you're surrounded by all of the high peaks (which is the best part) and you get to walk right on the golf course.
When we got up there on Friday it was sunny and in the 40's. We did some walking around but mostly hung out in the house, unpacked, and cooked an awesome dinner. That Saturday was gorgeous outside. It was in the high 40's and sunny. It's amazing the difference a day makes up there. Woke up Sunday morning to a snow storm and in the 20's. I believe both nights dropped down to around 5 degrees. I was always up for walking Mister except at night time, then I just stood inside watching out the glass doors wearing 10 layers. LOL I'm such a nice sister.
It was an awesome weekend, I was extremely blessed to have had the chance to get away.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins while I'm there as I stare at all the high peaks that I'm going to climb this summer.




Whiteface mountain overlooked from Lake Placid. The Official Mountain of Tara.
One of the streams around the property on the walk down to the lake.

Me with MY Whiteface Mountain in the back
I think that was hole 10.

I wanted to capture how cold it was that morning. I think I did a good job. I don't know why, but I really felt that by me sitting on an icy cold rock, it would convey the message.

Thanks Deb for an amazing unforgettable weekend!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Seasons

These past few days have been beautiful and unseasonably warm with highs in the 60's. It's been great!

While I was waiting for the bus this morning at 6:30 am, the guy in front of me said, "I love this nice weather, it's about time, this winter has been terrible. We've been nailed this year!"

(for those of you who don't know, I take the Yankee Trails shuttle into Albany because there's no parking downtown. Or uptown. I get confused as to which one it is.)

Anyway, I quickly snapped back, "Well, we do live in the Northeast, I guess that's to be expected."

I don't think anyone appreciated my response, however, taken into account the fact that it's 6:30 am, pre-coffee, pre-breakfast; it's a miracle that I'm even able to formulate a sentence at that point.

Now, if you're like me, you HATE the winter. In fact, there are only two people that I know of that LOVE the winter and the cold: Angela and Jodi. (I asked for permission to use their names)

I hate being cold, it makes me miserable. It actually makes me mad. Yes, I get angry when it's freezing outside. LOL There are many nights I'll sit home because I just don't want to go out, I'd rather stay in and be warm. There are days that I don't want to go work because I hate getting up out of my warm blankets. And sometimes, it gets to the point where I feel like winter is never going to end, and I don't know if I can handle it for one more day.

The bus arrived at 6:40 on schedule, and as usual I went all the way to very back seat and sat down. I began to think about my snotty response (God forgive me) to the comment about the brutal winter that we've endured. I was starting to feel bad for saying that, because truth is, this winter has sucked. I was trying to figure out what made me respond so nastily. Then I realized, we've only had two nice days outside. It only took two days of being nice outside for me to forget almost four long months of torturous coldness. I completely forgot about the bad weather, I forgot how much I hated the cold. I guess in Tara's happy world, that was my way of saying, "What are you talking about?! It's nice out now, there's no such thing as winter!"

Then I got a revelation.

That's just like life. We all go through seasons. Some seasons are long, cold, torturous, painful, and seemingly never ending. Sometimes we wonder if God's forgotten about us, if He's hearing our cries and our longing for help. Sometimes we don't know if we can handle anymore and wonder if we can go on for one more day.

And then suddenly.......

SUDDENLY!!!

There's a breakthrough. Just like the flowers in the picture that I took outside my house this afternoon that broke through the ground, there is a break through in our lives and situations.

Maybe you've been waiting on God and believing for something for so long, and it doesn't seem fair because everyone else around you has received what you're waiting for.

Wait one more day....

Maybe your heart has been broken and the pain is so bad that you don't think that you can make it one more day.

Hold on one more day.

Maybe you're at a point in your life where nothing makes sense, and you feel like you're aimlessly roaming around waiting for God to answer, direct, and guide your way.

Seek Him one more day.

Maybe you lost your job and your living paycheck to paycheck wondering how you're going to provide for yourself and your family.

Trust His provision one more day.

Maybe you have a lost loved one and as the days are counting down, you're worried they'll never come to receive eternal salvation.

Pray one more day.

The thing is, God knows exactly what you're going through and where you're at. He has not forgotten about you. As a matter of fact, in Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Just like I had quickly forgotten about four long months of winter after ONLY two warm spring-like days, when God comes through, when you receive that thing you've been waiting for, when He provides financially, when He heals your heart........you will no longer remember or even think about the horrible 'winter' that you had just endured. What He has in store for you is SO good, that it will blow your mind. The pain will quickly dissipate and you'll be so excited for what He's done, that in a few short days, years of waiting will no longer be remembered.

Spring is right around the corner!

Hold on one more day, your new season is too!!

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. Psalm 126: 5

Oh, and for the record, it's going back down to seasonable temperatures in the 40's on Thursday.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I still can't believe I joined facebook.

Monday, February 23, 2009

laptop bonanza

Saturday night, I responded to Mark's urgent text of, "I'm bored, come over and we'll search online for hiking gear and boots."

Well, I can't really pass up an offer like that.

He happens to have FOUR laptops. I certainly wasn't going to look on with him, I wanted my own. So a few hours later, Caters came. She now had her own laptop.

The three of us sat there until 1 am....no, 1:30, on facebook, boot shopping, emailing, and Mark had his DJ computer with all of his music on his so he played music for us. Old school stuff I haven't heard in years. It was wonderful. And completely dorky at the same time.

Loved it!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Team Satey conquers Tea Time!

Caters invited me to tea time at the Altamont Old Stone House Inn on Sunday. It's a bed and breakfast and once a month the 'innkeeper' hosts a tea time for women to come to.

It's sorta funny cause when you think of 'tea time', the thoughts that come to mind are:

dainty,

petite,

proper,

etiquette,

good manners,

cute......

basically everything that I'm NOT.
So when she first asked me, I was naturally a little hesitant because I wasn't sure just how far out of my element that I would be. However, it ended up being a perfect break from the ordinary and I'm looking forward to next month.

Upon arrival we were warmly greeted and asked to sit out in the living room area while all the stuff was preparing. At that point, it was just Cate, myself, and some other woman who hated life, hated the world, hated everything. After listening to her complain about her rental car, and how she's used to driving a truck,and how she hates snow, she hates NY, she hates everything about NY, she hates the weather, she hates life....yada yada....I just started cracking up silently and looked the other direction, and just left the conversation up to Cate. I don't do too well with that kind of stuff. Cate, you did a marvelous job with that by the way, I don't think I told you that yet.

Then, THANKFULLY, the hostess came in and brought into the dining area and allowed to chose a table. We chose one of the tables for two right near the window. It was perfect!! Beautiful scenery. There was a choice of three teas; English Breakfast, Chamomile, and some African Meadow herbal tea. I chose the African one and Caters went with the English Breakfast. Vivaldi was playing softly in the background, I believe there was a little Four Seasons action going on. And there was glasses of ice water with fresh sliced lemons in it. Funny thing is, the lemons weren't squeezed, and we wanted the flavor from them, so we scooped them out and were hand squeezing them ourselves. We also had a wide assortment of spoons and forks, and totally had no idea what was used for what. But it was a wonderful variety.

Then the first course came out, which was assorted tea sandwiches. They were teeny tiny halves, and there were 4 of them. They were delicious and we scarfed them in mad quick. I then took a second, looked around, and realized that everyone else was still eating and savoring these tiny morsels. Oops. I guess you're supposed to eat slow. Anyone who knows me knows I don't really know how to do that.

Second course was homemade apricot scones with Devonshire cream. I've seriously never tasted anything like it. Because of my stupid sugar and flour free diet, I only was able to eat a tiny bit. And that was HARD to do, it almost mad me cry. I already had to take the bread off the sandwiches from the first round and only eat the bottoms. LOL

Third round...and at this point we were on our 4th glass of water and about the 10th cup of tea. It was assorted desserts, the tray that you see above. We got that whole thing at our table. Lemon squares, chocolate covered strawberries, creme puffs, and shortbread cookies with raspberry jam. Of course again, I couldn't eat any of it. But I took a picture for memories and got to watch Caters enjoy it all.

It was a wonderful afternoon. We got to chat and catch up and unload all the stuff that we've been going through lately. It was soo relaxing and such a break from the ordinary. We were probably the only two who didn't have a full head of gray hair too.

:)

Four stars, and I look forward to doing it again on March 22nd.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

My heart's cry and current prayer

This might hurt

It's not safe

But i know that I've gotta make a change

I dont care if I break

At least I'll be feeling something

Cause just OK, is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of life.

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything?

Instead of going through the motions.

Take me all the way......cause I don't wanna go through the motions....

God, I am Your's....

Deb's Birthday Party

oops a week late posting this.

I love how when it came to the person taking this group shot with my camera, that really nobody but me was paying attention and looking at the camera.

Monday, February 2, 2009

what the....???

Angela, Shaquanda, Cate

Saturday, January 24, 2009

You can either suffer the pain of change, and on the other side of that receive freedom.
Or you can think you're avoiding suffering and just keep suffering because you just keep staying the way you are and never change.
I found out it's better to do it and get it over with because God's not going to change His mind.

~Joyce Meyer

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I wanna build.....

As you all know, I go to my parent's house every weekend to do my laundry. Usually I go on a Sunday, but since I had this Monday off (state workers represent!) I went on Monday.
And to my excitement, my parents had this 6 foot bookshelf that needed to be put together. Ya know, one of those cheap ones that weigh 400 pounds. Anyway, I was sooo excited to have a project! It took me a few hours and I loved every second of it. I even got to nail 50 nails into the back.
Now I want to build something.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

1-20-09

I'm moving to Spain.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Piece of cake

There she is, my dream. The highest summit on earth, Mount Everest, standing at 29,029 ft.

Yesterday morning at 6:20 am when I went out to my car to leave for work, my car read -4 degrees. I couldn't even breathe in without coughing, the air was SO painfully cold. I got in my car and started it; heat on full force, rear defroster on, heat seaters on high. Then I realized....if I'm going to climb Everest some day, I gotta toughen up. I grabbed my ice scraper and got out of my car and stood outside and MADE myself stay out there.

OK, it was probably an entire three minutes that I was out there.

And I must confess......I'm just not cut out for it. I couldn't feel my hands, and I couldn't move them. Could be due to the fact that I was wearing leather designer gloves, not nice warm mittens that normal people wear on below zero days. LOL I also lacked a hat, scarf, and had earrings in that were conducting the cold through my whole ears. But anyway.

Who am I kidding. I hate anything under 70 degrees.

However, some day......I WILL make it to ABC (advanced base camp) at 21,300 ft SOME DAY. And most likely, I will be using O's, even at ABC. :-/

It's on my goal list of things to do before I die.

Right next to going into an expensive furniture shop with take-out food, sitting down on their most expensive table, lighting the candles they have as the set up, and start eating dinner with whoever it is that is brave enough to do this with me.

Right next to taking a pottery class and walking in with an 80's boom box, blasting Unchained Melodies as I sit down at the wheel.

Yup......I aim high my friends, I aim high.

Friday, January 9, 2009

My Entrance/Theme Song

It occurred to me Monday morning that it was crucial for me to make my entrance song well known to everyone. What's an entrance song? It's a song that follows you around everywhere you go. It says something about you. As soon as you open any doorway, the song immediately starts and every head turns toward you.

I made up some ground rules this week also, because Freddie asked what were to happen if two people were to walk into the same room with the same song. After careful thought and consideration, I think it would only be right that the two people would spar. That's only fair.

So this is my song. And I hope every time you see me fling the doorway open, that you can hear this song playing proudly in the background.

I highly suggest that you find your own.

Ninja invasion

I was sitting in my cube this morning and a ninja came running by. He was mad stealthy and I was really scared. Scared for my life. He even did a spin around my chair.

Strange thing, was that the NYSDOH identification badge around his neck read Freddie Zielinksi. I guess I'll never know.