As some of you may have heard already, I'm Trista- the girlfriend of infamous Skandocious (Chris as you may know him, but I know him as Cha ) I've known him since I was in 8th grade (I'm a year older than he is). He's basically amazing.

I'm 21 and I go to Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA (about 30 mins north of San Francisco). I'm currently a Junior but will hopefully be graduating early in December- yes!!!!! I'll have my BA in Humanistic Psychology then I'm off to Sacramento State for my Masters in a dual major of Clinical and Research Psychology. Once I'm done there, I will go on for my Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience in reference to Autism at University of California Davis (UC Davis).

I nanny three wonderful children 70 hours a month (overnight 3 days out of the week- I get to play mommy when they wake up in the middle of the night). Riley's 7, Aidan just turned 5 and is severely Autistic (but is making leaps and bounds every single day), and Madilyn (my little cookie monster) is 3- we have the same birthday and she's my favorite . I don't know what I'm going to do when I move away for my Masters. I love them to death.

I could go on and on and on, but I'll end it here. If you have questions, feel free to ask

I knew something wasn't on the level when we all had dinner.

Second welcome. BTW, our oldest daughter is also Autistic. She's 18 now, getting ready to graduate => but if you ever need some input, we may not be a bad resource. Wifey's a HS teacher (Special Ed, but does the Transitional Learning Center, which is behavioral-issue kids). The youngest daughter is on here- KRP is her screen name, goes by Jenny.

CaFordDude said:

I knew something wasn't on the level when we all had dinner.

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Hahah, yeah. We weren't "officially" together, but we'd been basically dating for a while. But yeah, we're on the same level now

It was very nice meeting everyone at dinner, too. Did you get a chance to meet Rob after dinner? Your babies were quite interested in him. Rob was not so interested in them to say the least hahaha.

Thanks for the input, Polar Bear. I'll for sure ask you for any advice or words of wisdom along the way. My mom's also a special education teacher at the high school I went to. It's really rewarding to work with kids with autism. I've been with him for a year and I've seen him grow so much. When I started with him, he couldn't form s sentence. Now he's using his "nice words" to chat up a storm. He does therapeutic horseback riding for his balance and tactile issues, has 2 hours of school program (he's in kindergarden so it's only half days), occupational therapy, physical therapy, and 2 hours of an afternoon program. It's intense but he's doing great. It's breaking my heart already that I won't be with them this summer. I'm moving home since I'm having surgery and I'll be down for a while. They grow so fast- I was gone for winter break and I swear Madilyn grew a foot in those two weeks.

Nice to have met you!

You too! Lisa did half day kindergarten.... but both classes. It's had it's challenges, but many, many rewards as well.

Welcome to the site Trista, now if you have any secrets about Chris , we are all ears , and don't be afraid to tell us.

Welcome to the site.

welcome aboard.

msb71 said:

Welcome to the site Trista, now if you have any secrets about Chris , we are all ears , and don't be afraid to tell us.

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Oh I have plenty of secrets about him but if I told them, I wouldn't be a good girlfriend, now would I?

I've heard Chris called a lot of things here, but I don't think amazing was ever included in the list......looks like your stock is going up Skan... Welcome Blondi

Sounds like you've got an interesting future ahead of you. I have some dear friends who do therapy on horseback. He's an OT, PT and former teacher so riders get a vast perspective of input as part of the therapy. Not just a ride. Being old-school he also doesn't hesitate to correct behavioral problems with creative intervention. The results he gets are stunning.

Parents love it, traditional therapists are often jealous, the medical community is often sceptical, etc. You need thick skin and a driving conviction to make a difference in someone else's life

Unfortunately the insurance industry doesn't recognize it yet. I sit on the board of a 501-C-3 corp that raises funds for scholarships so individuals with a variety of disabilities can ride.

The website needs rebuilt, but you can google Human Therapy on Horseback in Kalispell. That's the 501-C-3. My friends business is called SAMS and is highlighted on the HTH site if you're curious.
Tim

my condolences on the Chris thing, step away from the liquor(j/k).
your work with those kids is awesome. good job ma'am.

mtflat said:

I've heard Chris called a lot of things here, but I don't think amazing was ever included in the list......looks like your stock is going up Skan... Welcome Blondi

Sounds like you've got an interesting future ahead of you. I have some dear friends who do therapy on horseback. He's an OT, PT and former teacher so riders get a vast perspective of input as part of the therapy. Not just a ride. Being old-school he also doesn't hesitate to correct behavioral problems with creative intervention. The results he gets are stunning.

Parents love it, traditional therapists are often jealous, the medical community is often sceptical, etc. You need thick skin and a driving conviction to make a difference in someone else's life

Unfortunately the insurance industry doesn't recognize it yet. I sit on the board of a 501-C-3 corp that raises funds for scholarships so individuals with a variety of disabilities can ride.

The website needs rebuilt, but you can google Human Therapy on Horseback in Kalispell. That's the 501-C-3. My friends business is called SAMS and is highlighted on the HTH site if you're curious.
Tim

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I know what you mean about it having skepticism. As someone who's seem the results first hand over the last year, I swear by it. He's such an adorable kid. He doesn't smile a WHOLE lot (just because that's Aidan), but he's smiling ear to ear when he's riding. His insurance doesn't pay for it either, but his dead beat dad is in the Coast Guard so they get a military scholarship for it. It's normally about $225 a lesson (he goes every Saturday), but they get it for $58 I think. He also sees a psychiatrist because he has anger problems as well. but the psychiatrist is completely for his horse therapy. It's helped his anger, too. I can't say enough good things about it.

I found one of the few smiling pictures I have of Aidan- we were at the park:


Aidan pretend smiling and Madilyn shielding herself from the paprazzi (bc she's my little diva):


Random thing to add, but Madilyn absolutely adores Chris. She knows how to call him from my cell phone and she says "Boyfriend?? I miss you and want to hug you. BOYFRIEND! I LOVE YOU!" So cute!!! She cries when I leave for his house bc she can't come with me.

BlondeGurli said:

Random thing to add, but Madilyn absolutely adores Chris. She knows how to call him from my cell phone and she says "Boyfriend?? I miss you and want to hug you. BOYFRIEND! I LOVE YOU!" So cute!!! She cries when I leave for his house bc she can't come with me.

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Let me add that I've NEVER MET HER and she STILL loves me to death. Yeah. That's the kind of effect I have on women

I mind you she just turned 3... she's not a woman hahaha. But yes, she does love you. I go over there every day and she ALWAYS says (in this order):

"I missed you Trista! Did you miss me?!"
"Yes, Maddie. Of course I missed you!" then I pick her up
"Um... where's Rob? Is he on time out? He goes potty on the gwass."
"Rob is at my house. He's sleeping and no, he's not on time out."
"Where's boyfriend? I can I call him? I love Chwis"
If I say "no you can't call him. He's busy", she'll sneak to my phone later and call him or she'll throw a hissy fit. I don't know who she learned hissy fits from.....

Skandocious said:

Let me add that I've NEVER MET HER and she STILL loves me to death.

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I'm wondering if maybe it's more that she still loves you BECAUSE she hasn't met you...

BlondeGurli said:

I don't know who she learned hissy fits from.....

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I do

john112deere said:

I'm wondering if maybe it's more that she still loves you BECAUSE she hasn't met you...

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Hey Ian, why don't you have your girlfriend join up? Whats that? Ohhh you don't have one?!?!

Ian--> <--Chris

Then again, I don't have to be careful...

BlondeGurli said:

I'm Trista- the girlfriend of infamous Skandocious. He's basically amazing.

then I'm off to Sacramento State for my Masters in a dual major of Clinical and Research Psychology.

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Ah, so he's not as much a boyfriend as he is a research project for your Masters program.

THAT explains things SO much better!!