First Blog Award!

I was given my first blog award, the Honest Scrap award, by ~C of Go Diego Go! It declares that I must name 10 things about myself that are not commonly known. I've posted 25 things about myself in a previous post, so I'll try my hardest to come up with interesting things for these next 10!


1. I am a road cyclist. I haven't done anything competitive, and mostly use it to burn up excess energy and to commute to and from school (and work, when applicable). I love my bike, which is a blue Cannondale Synapse with koi fish swimming down the side. I enjoy it for the way it makes me feel like a kid every time I ride and the way it makes me feel when I'm done! I also can't argue with the good-for-the-environment side effects as well. Unfortunately, I'm definitely a fair-weather cyclist, and my bike has yet to see a drop of rain or a hint of frost. But on nice days, I'm out there!






2. I "decided" to be a veterinarian while riding the bus to my barn one day. I didn't have a horse growing up, but was essentially born horse-obsessed. My parents worked, and had no interest in horses, and so I was on my own for the horse "thing." I used to bike and ride the bus to volunteer for barns in the surrounding area in exchange for riding lessons from the age of 12 on. I can remember where I was when it happened. It was literally like someone said to me as though they were sitting in the seat next to me, "You're going to be a veterinarian." I swear to God, this is how it happened. I haven't looked back since!





3. I love cake. Vanilla cake, carrot cake, cheesecake, you name it. Except for chocolate cake. Hands down, my favorite cake is the disgusting stuff you make from a box at the store--rainbow chip frosting and funfetti cake mix. I only indulge once a year though, for my birthday.





4. My full name is Eliane, which is pronounced "Elly-On." I hardly ever go by it (unless I'm in trouble!) because people either call me Elayne or can't remember how to correctly pronounce it ("Elly-ayne", "El-yan", "Ellyanna"). I love my name and think it's beautiful, but also think that "Elly" suits me just fine, too.





5. I have a hard time staying up late, and a hard time sleeping in. This has changed a little since starting vet school, but I still am rarely up past 11 and hardly ever sleep in past 8 on weekends. Even the night before exams, I am usually done doing anything productive well before 9pm.





6. I can draw and paint well, and even played with the idea of going to art school in my earlier years. I also play the violin (and have since 5th grade, although I haven't picked up my fiddle in a while....) and love doing pottery and other three dimensional forms of art. In fact, my Dad bought me a kiln and kick wheel in high school and taught me how to throw. I love photography, too, and am saving up to buy a nice camera so I can take better photos.





7. I consider myself to be a determined optimist.





8. I love bright colors, which my husband claims is the reason I love endurance so much. I already have my colors picked out for my next endurance horse, depending on the coat color.





9. Wayne and I are going to Europe for three weeks next May-June for a post-graduation celebration. We never got a honeymoon, and so will be doing our Euro-vaca in its place. Yes, I will miss a ride or two and no, I don't care. We've been talking about going for YEARS, and are finally going to make it happen. We're probably going to focus on Greece, France, Italy and Spain. We can save the other countries for future vacations!





10. I'm sitting in the equine ICU office for my 4pm-12am shift tonight. I'm assuming I'll have a hard time staying up that late, since I'm no good at it. So far tonight I've milked a cow and bottle fed a calf, but things have otherwise been slow (which is the reason I wandered down to ag animal).





I'm now supposed to give this award to 10 blogs, but I think everyone I read already has the award! Although I've been terrible about keeping up with everyone's blogs, know that I do read them when I can.