Weekend Recap and Other Awesomeness

Ugh, I am SO unmotivated today! Mainly because I can't take a decent breath. I don't know if I've pulled a muscle from all my coughing spells over the past 10 days, or if I have pleurisy (which I get all the dang time, so you'd think I'd know), or bronchitis, but my right lung/chest HURTS when I breathe. I'm still coughing, though not as frequently as I was last week. I can now breathe through my nose, though I still have to blow it quite a bit. I guess not being able to breathe deeply makes you tired, cause I have no energy today.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran around in the yard with C, kicking balls. It was fun, but man did it wear me out! Am I goin to the doctor?  Nah, probably not. If I thought I had a sinus infection I'd be there to get some drugs, but I don't think they can do anything for this right now. So unless I get a whole lot worse, I'll just complain about it. :P (Just kidding, complaining will cease now!)

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning, me and C headed to town to find some tap shoes. On Friday during my lunch break, I went to the consignment store and bought her some tap shoes, but they ended up being too small. I also got a few leotards and skirts, which thankfully fit just fine - yay for consignment! I found some ballet slippers at Target, and they were too small as well.

Of course, Once Upon A Child (consignment) didn't have any tap shoes in C's size, but luckily I got a full refund. Next, we hit up Michael's, where I scored some ribbon on clearance for $1. I made a beautiful hair bow for her, and forgot to take a picture (haha). I'll try to get on that (and a bow tutorial) soon! We exchanged the ballet slippers at Target for a larger brand, then went on a search for tap shoes.

Luckily, we hit pay dirt at Payless. C is totally in love with her shoes and wants to wear them all the time. And I have to say, she's pretty much a natural at tapping. ( :

Hopefully that video will play! If not, here's a still:

She tapped all over the house for me, and after her long nap (in her CRIB!!), we went to my mama's house, where she tapped for her, my cousin, and my grandma. I love that kid. ( :

Yesterday, she was alternating between the tap shoes and the ballet slippers to dance for her daddy - so cute.

After church yesterday, we headed to my aunt's for a birthday lunch for my cousin. We had a good time, and got to eat some of my aunt's delicious chocolate pound cake with cream cheese icing! Yum. Of course, we stayed over there through nap time, and when we got home, C wasn't about taking a nap. So her and I played outside while DH worked on the chicken and rabbit pens.

C and I had so much fun playing outside. We played with the balls, she rode her tricycle, we swung on the swingset, and she had a blast on the slide. I cherish times like that. Then one of DH's friends stopped by to show us what he bought at the livestock sale that morning, and somehow we ended up with 6 guinea keets! When they get big enough, we'll turn them loose so they can eat bugs around the farm. Our farm will never be quiet again! If you're not familiar with guineas, they are LOUD - like, obnoxiously loud.

Anyway, after we got over our new bird excitement (note my sarcasm), C and I hopped on Sunshine bareback. Then C kicked me off so she could ride by herself, haha. I didn't feel up to giving her a "lesson," so I just walked around with her. She didn't care! I'm so glad she loves horses already. ( :

Speaking of birds, our baby ducks are still going strong! Well, 8 of them are. We lost 1, but that was expected cause he was very weak. I'm happy. Mama duck is doing a great job at protecting them. They hang out in the pond a lot, but have also been hanging out around the chicken pens - which is pretty farm from the pond, so they must be strong babies.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. The only thing that would have made it better if is I had felt better. But I can't complain, since it was a drastic improvement from the previous weekend, when I couldn't do anything but hack and blow my nose.

At church yesterday, my pastor preached on Psalm 121. This is my favorite Psalm, and probably my favorite Bible verses. I'd never heard a sermon on it, and I was impressed.

This Psalm has gotten me through some tough times in my life. It reminds me that God is always there for me. My pastor's message was about much more than that fact, though.

It inspired me to be better about my Bible reading and studies. Well, I should say it inspired me to DO it again. Sadly, I've really gotten off track with that. At the beginning of this year, I was reading the Bible daily with my Bible In One Year app, plus I was doing other random studies through books I found. I also read several books about building a closer relationship to God. I'm not sure what happened, but I stopped doing all that gradually. Its just easier to read "fun" things, like trashy romance novels, I guess. But you know what? Lately, I've been feeling not quite myself, almost depressed at times. I was just thinking on Friday how I needed to get back into the Word, cause when I was deep within it, I didn't feel this way. And then I heard this sermon yesterday - coincidence? I think not. My God is just awesome like that. ( :

So, I'm jumping back in. I'm gonna pick up where I left off with my "The Excellent Wife Day by Day" devotional, the BIOY app, and a couple of other books I recently purchased. Fill myself with spiritual goodness, reconnect with my Maker, have peace again. Who's with me? ( :

Run, Baby, Run

First of all, I'd like to say that allergies suck. C's been dealing with them this week (though she's finally better), and now its my turn. Waaaaaaah. Yes, that was me whining.

If you don't have allergies, you are blessed. Truly. I feel like I've been punched in the face, and like fire has been poured down my throat. And my nose is running like a faucet. And my eyes feel like they're swollen and I can barely hold them open. I just want to collapse into my bed and stay there all day. Unfortunately, I have to work. Maybe the ton of antihistamines and ibuprofen I've been taking with kick in soon...

Okay, enough of that. I wanted to do a quick update on Sunshine. (Sorry, no pictures; it was almost dark by the time we made it outside last night.)

While I was cooking supper (tacos) last night, C told me she wanted to ride. So, we hurried through feeding the animals and eating supper, and it was going on 8 before we got out there. I don't know if it was because it was so much later than usual when we went out there, or this cool weather is just making the horses feel fresh, but Sunshine did not want me to catch her.

I think its safe to say that her ligaments are fully functioning again. That mare can run!

As soon as she realized what I was doing out there, she walked away from me. Okay, she does that sometimes, and then I just stop and give her a minute and she's fine. Not last night. After a couple of tries like that, she took off like I'd struck her with a whip. Of course, I was just standing there, almost in shock. When I bought Sunshine back in 2005, she went through a terrible phase of not wanting to be caught. I would spend hours trying to catch her. Once I worked through that problem, though, she's never ran away from me since. So I'm not sure what got into her last night. Maybe she realized that her legs worked and she could canter, and she took advantage?

Of course, her excitement got the boys (Wiley and Rambler, the Mustangs) all crazy, and they joined in on the running. I closed off the front pasture, so they only had the dry lot to run in (less room = less chasing after them for me). I just stood there for a few minutes, watching the crazy horses. The boys were doing some impressive bucking and twists in the air. Sunshine was alternating between a canter/gallop and a beautiful extended trot (why can't she do that with me on her back?!). I wish I had my camera with me. The sun was setting, and for a few minutes, the horses were bathed in this ethereal, orange light. It was beautiful.

And then I decided that enough was enough. Luckily, I remembered what I had to do the last time Sunshine went through this (and what worked for Wiley when he did the same thing when he was a yearling). If a horse in the pasture doesn't want to be caught and runs away from you, make them keep running. That way, its your idea, not theirs. It sounds strange, and I'm sure 10 different people will give you 10 different methods of solving this problem, but this way works for me. Its sort of a take on the Monty Roberts way of training (Join Up - which I did with Wiley and absolutely loved).

So, I swung my lead rope and kept those wild ponies moving. For maybe 5 minutes. I wasn't terrorizing them, just making sure they didn't get a chance to really stop. (They didn't have to keep actually running, just moving. Though most of the time they were moving pretty fast.) Horses that are actually in shape might take longer to decide to yield to you, but since mine are all fat fatties, it didn't take long for them to decide I was the boss. Really, the boys probably had no idea what was going on, but I couldn't easily separate them from Sunshine, so they had to participate. Both of them kept running past me, then turning around and nosing me like what the heck are we doing?! But I made sure my eyes were always on Sunshine. She got the message.

It probably wasn't even 5 minutes before I let them all stop. Sunshine stopped and turned to me and just looked at me. And I walked right up to her and put the rope around her neck. Silly pony. She was good as gold after that.

My parents came to see C ride, and she hopped up there and showed them her stuff. She's so proud of herself. Mama got a bunch of videos, which I am gonna have to get my hands on.

When C was done, I hopped on Sunshine to see if I could get her to canter. I mean, clearly, she can canter now. I actually got a decent canter out of her in both directions, just not for very long. That's okay. I know now that she can do it, I just need to get her back into shape.

So what started out as a very frustrating night ended on a good note. Let's just hope Sunshine doesn't make me repeat that performance the next time we want to ride her!

Little Rider

Last night, C had another riding lesson! This has been kind of a rough week for her - UTI symptoms on Monday, and since then she's bit hit with horrible allergies. (Why couldn't I have passed on some of my good traits to my daughter?!) She's coughing up a storm, sneezing, and has a constantly running nose - poor baby. I think the allergy meds are finally kicking in, though. She seemed a little better this mornin.

DH came home a little earlier than usual, and we had an early supper (grilled steaks, potatoes, and green bean casserole - yum!), then he had to leave again to help his dad with a tractor. I wanted to do something fun with C, and the weather was fabulous (we're in a cold spell for August in NC - highs are in the mid 70s this week!!), so I asked if she wanted to ride Sunshine. Of course, she said yes!

I firmly believe that children should be taught all aspects of horse care if they want to ride. I worked at a barn once where the younger kids just showed up and us instructors had the ponies tacked up and ready for them; all they had to do was hop on and ride, then leave (instructors had to cool down, untack, and take care of all the ponies - and usually it was just me to 9 or 10 ponies...but anyway). They learned to ride, sure, but they never learned how to care for a horse, not even to put the saddle on one. I hated that. When I teach lessons, I make sure the kids learn everything - even how to clean tack. Its important.

C has been helping me feed the horses at night lately. She says she's a "grown up" and a "good helper" and that we make a good team. Where does she get this stuff? ( :  Anyway, I think its good for her to have some responsibility. DH says I'm just teaching her to feed the horses so I won't have to do it one day....maybe (*wink, wink*). At any rate, she loves helping me. I'm still trying to get her to understand that horses can hurt you....without her actually having to be hurt! She has no fear whatsoever of horses. None of mine will purposefully hurt you, but accidents happen - they could step on her foot, bump into her and knock her down...the possibilities are endless. Of course, as a mother, I'm constantly on the lookout for stuff like that. Its exhausting!

Anyway, last night, first C helped me brush Sunshine...

Okay, so she can't do much actual brushing yet. But she thinks she is. ( : And you can tell Sunshine loves it.

Yep, that's 2 curry combs she's holding. No idea why. She likes them, though, so whatever. I'll teach her actual brushing later, when she's big enough to reach more than Sunshine's face and her legs.

Obviously, she can't help with the tack, but I made her pay attention to what I was doing and told her the names of everything. No, I don't expect her to remember much of it yet, but repetition is key! She did ask good questions, like why does the bit go into the horses' mouth, and why do you have to hold the reins.

Next, it was time to get up there! (I have to find a toddler sized helmet. I mentioned that to C yesterday, and she didn't like the idea of having to wear one, but she'll get over it.)

She looks like such a big kid, doesn't she? (*:

When I teach riding lessons, I have all my kids (and adults) do stretching exercises. Its always a good idea to stretch yourself out before any exercise, of course, but it also helps to get you comfortable in the saddle. With kids who are terrified to be up so high by themselves, I do quite a bit of stretching exercises, and it really helps them get over their fear. C doesn't have any fear, but I still want her super comfortable in the saddle.

Is that precious or what??! And look at those little heels - naturally down. ( :

Her ride was pretty short - it was getting late, and Sunshine was hungry. But after stretching, I showed her again how to tell Sunshine to "woah," and I introduced steering. C didn't quite get that one, but that's okay. She also started making a kissy sound to get Sunshine to walk. Oh! And the most impressive thing C did last night - she got up to vertical position!! If you're not familiar, vertical is what we say when we mean stand straight up in your stirrups. Its good for really getting heels down and for stretching the legs. Its also good for balancing. I also use it a lot to get kids comfortable in the saddle (its scary standing up to be even taller up there!). I told C I wanted her to do it, and explained what I meant, and she said "okay!" and popped right up! I was so proud. Often, going to vertical is scary for even kids who are otherwise comfortable on a horse. Not my baby. ( :

C had so much fun, and I feel like she learned something at the same time - so win/win. I can't wait for the day when we can ride side by side!

100

This is my 100th post! Woohoo. So exciting. Can't you feel my excitement through your screen?! No? Oh well.

If only I had 100 readers. Heck, or even 1! ( ;

We had a BUSY weekend. Busy doesn't even really begin to describe it. It was fun, though! I'll be back with details later. For now, I wanted to share about C's first official riding lesson!

Late yesterday afternoon, we were finally done with all our scheduled plans for the weekend. It was cooling off outside, C had refused a nap (we got home too late for that) and was needing something to distract her from her sleepiness, and I desperately wanted to ride my horse. So I asked if she wanted to go ride with me and she said yes! C enjoys riding, but you never know if she'll actually want to do it or not. Sometimes she's just not interested. I don't push it. I'd love for her to share my love of horses and riding, but I'm not going to force her to be involved. Luckily, she does seem to carry the horse-loving gene. ( :

Normally when we ride, I get up first and have DH hand C to me. And we ride bareback, since my saddle doesn't sit 2 comfortably. But DH stayed in the house yesterday, so I was on my own. I decided to see if C would sit up there on her own. And she did! She was super excited and proud of herself. Kept sayin "I'm a grown up!" (That's her new thing. Oh, boy, we're in for it, huh?)

At first I was terrified that she'd loose her balance and fall off. In the past we've had to hold on to her because she just didn't understand that she'd fall off if she leaned waaaay to the side. But I quickly realized that for whatever reason she has now figured out a little balance. I lead her to the arena and just walked around next to her in there. After a while, I even quit holding on to the reins, except when I needed Sunshine to turn. C thought it was so cool that she was riding all by herself. DH came outside after a while and judging from the huge smile on his face, he was pretty proud of his daughter, too.

I taught C how to stop Sunshine. She doesn't exactly understand how to do it yet, but she gets the concept. Luckily, Sunshine listens to small children when they say "woah!!" even if they don't pull on the reins. C held the reins the whole time, and tried to keep her feet in the stirrups. (I have got to get her some boots, though; she just had her flip flops on. Bad mama, I know!) I had her do some stretches, just like I have my lesson students do, and C thought that was super fun. Stretching and moving around a little (while the horse is standing still) is great for helping people (especially kids) get over any fear of the horse. C doesn't seem to have any fear though, haha. At first, she didn't think she could reach down and touch her toes, but once I showed her that she could, she was all for it. That's my girl! I wanted to do "around the world" (where the kid slowly turns all the way around in the saddle), but I was nervous to do it without help, just in case. We'll try that next time.

C didn't want to get off, but I wanted to work Sunshine a little so she agreed to get down (haha). DH came out there and the 2 of them hung out in the arena while I worked Sunshine. DH even set up poles for me. ( : It was a good ride. Sunshine was super lazy, but I'm still not holdin that against her since its still hot and she's not in shape. I did the same thing I did last Sunday, lost of ground poles and low cavalletti. Then I tried for the canter. I got a stride or 2 of a very ugly canter on the left lead, and barely a stride on the right. :( On the right, I felt her right hind leg slip out from under her, so I decided not to ask anymore. Clearly, she's not better. *sigh*

I called the vet this morning and he said to keep exercising her and give her another week. If she's not better by then he'll inject the ECP directly into her ligaments. So my goal this week is to ride her at least 2 times. That didn't happen last week, but I'm hopeful that this week will be better! We're already off to a better start with the week. I got over 7 hours of sleep last night, which hasn't happened lately. Tonight I'm takin C to Bible School at my mother's church. I'm kinda thinkin if tonight goes well, tomorrow I might just drop her off there and come home and ride Sunshine. We'll see. If not I'll just have to make myself get up at 5:30 and get outside!

First Ride

Okay, so obviously this is not about my first horseback ride. No, this is about the first ride on Sunshine after her injection of ECP. I honestly wasn't expecting a miracle (thank goodness, since I didn't get one!). And I honestly wasn't disappointed, either.

The injection was done on Thursday evening, and it just didn't work out the next 2 days for me to ride. I can't remember what happened on Friday, but Saturday was way too hot during the day for an out-of-shape horse and rider to be working. I had planned to ride Saturday evening, but of course right after I dropped C off at Mama's it started raining. I will ride in the rain if it starts when I'm already on (as long as its not a heavy rain), but I won't start in it.

Yesterday, the stars aligned and I was able to escape outside for an hour! I borrowed a toddler cot for C (in hopes that it would help her nap without being held), and lo and behold, it was magical all weekend. Saturday afternoon she slept for almost 2 hours in it, and yesterday for almost 3. P also took a long nap yesterday, so around 3 I snuck outside. Yes, it was the hot part of the day, but a storm cloud was coming, and it was cooling off a little. It was still 90 degrees, but there was a nice breeze so it didn't feel so terrible. I knew if I waited til later in the evening it would be raining (and it did rain, a LOT - while I was feeding the horses! haha), so I had to take the opportunity when it arose.

I had read on Friday that trot poles and cavalletti are good for strengthening a horses' stifles, so that was my plan. I forgot to set up the ring before I got Sunshine out, but I got her ready (man, I need to clean my nasty tack! its a disgrace) and just ground-tied her while I set everything up. (If your horse is not trained to ground tie, DO IT! Its the best thing ever. My horses are not 100% trained like this, meaning it doesn't work everywhere, but in the arena they will stand perfectly still - without eating grass - until I'm ready for them. So nice.) Anyway, I set up a line of trot poles, a tiny cross rail, and then I used my cool cavalletti thingys to set up some more raised trot poles. Technically, they are jumps (I think they're 18 inches, maybe less), but Sunshine will not actually jump anything less than 2 feet. My goal was not to get her to jump, but to get her to really pick her legs up and work.

I can tell she's really out of shape. She. was. so. SLOW! I was hot and sweaty just form the warm up, trying to keep her moving. Granted, it was 90 degrees, but she is outside 24/7, so she should be used to the heat. Once she realized she had to focus on poles, she perked up a little (that girl loves to jump!), but I still had to give her a lot of leg to keep a good tempo.

I was pretty pleased with how she picked up her feet. She knocked the poles several times, but most of the time that was due to me not having the spacing between poles correct. Next time, I'll correct that.

I wasn't sure how much of the pole work I should do with her. I mean, she is pretty out of shape, but I'm not sure how hard it is for a horse to do that, you know? Admittedly, I've never spent much time with trot poles and raised poles like this. When I was "teaching" Sunshine to jump years ago, I figured out quickly that it had to be at least 2 feet for her to even consider jumping, and even then sometimes she would just take a big step over it (now, knock it on up to 2"6' or so and she would fly over them poles!), so we didn't spend much time at all on low poles. Its boring to me. With Wiley, I've done a ton of trot poles, cause he needs the help with focusing on where to place his feet. But its never been boring with him because he really needed the exercise. Does that make sense? Anyway, I didn't want to push it since it was so hot and its been a while since Sunshine has been actually worked. I have no idea how long I rode since I didn't have a watch or my phone with me.

After I decided we were done with the poles, I decided to try for the canter. My vet said to keep trying. I was actually able to get a few canter strides in both directions! It wasn't pretty at all, and it wasn't easy by any means, but it was better than the last time I rode her. She didn't want to get into the right lead, which is normal for her. But she did it after I insisted, it just took her a few steps longer than it should have. I felt like it was progress, though!

This issue is gonna be a hard one to gauge, because its not like I can just observe her in the pasture to see if she's still lame. And with it being so hot and muggy, none of the horses feel like running much anyway. The only way I can tell if she's improving is to get on her and ride her.

I briefly thought about getting up early this morning to ride, but I was so exhausted from yesterday that I decided against it. (After I rode, me and C did the Wii Dance game, and boy, what a workout!!) I have a really hard time getting up in the morning anyway, so I'll have to trick myself somehow into gettin up early enough to ride, haha. I do plan to hop on her tonight, though. DH and I have already decided on an easy supper, and he knows that I need to get Sunshine back into work to help her issue, so if the weather cooperates, it should work out. Wish me luck!!

Vet Report

Yesterday afternoon the new vet came out to give my horses their shots and check Sunshine for lameness. First off, I want to say that I love this vet! He's about an hour away from me, which sucks, but that's as good as I can get right now. When I called Dr. Frazier last week, I knew just from the phone conversation that we'd get along real well. He's a bit of a smart ass, but that's okay with me, cause I am too. ( ; He doesn't take himself too seriously, but you can tell he knows his stuff. Some people may not like that cockiness, but it doesn't bother me. Maybe cause I'm sort of like that, as well? haha

Anyway, on to the visit.

Wiley was up first for shots. I went into the pen and put the halter on him, intending to bring him out to the vet's truck. That's what most vets want you to do. Not Dr. Frazier! He just sauntered right in there with us. Its not a huge deal, but I liked it. It showed me that he's not afraid of horses at all (since there were 2 other horses loose in there with us) - I have had a vet before who was clearly intimidated by equines, and they knew it!! Anyway, Dr. Frazier's assistant (a 4th year student who was super nice) administered the shots and Wiley stood there like a champ. He's always good with vaccines, but you just never know what to expect with him and new people!

This was back in 2010, when Rambler was in training with a "professional." It didn't work out, sadly.

Next up was Rambler. He's always good for the vet and farrier, so I didn't anticipate any problems with him. In fact, I didn't even hold him while they gave him the vaccine; I was too busy keeping Wiley away, haha. Wiley is extremely jealous when my other horses get attention. He's such a brat. ( :

Finally we were ready for Sunshine, who also was excellent for the shots. (Can I just say I am so grateful that I have horses who are well behaved for vaccines, deworming, and the farrier?! I know what a blessing it is.) I told Dr. Frazier what troubles I've been having with Sunshine (I blogged about it here back in June), and at first he was confused. He walked her in some tight circles, looked at her confirmation, palpated her back and hips, and started examining her legs. I have a very limited experience with lameness (Junior has degenerative joint disease, so I know all about that, and one of Mama's old horses, Angel, had severe arthritis, and I've unfortunately seen several foundered horses, though never my own, thankfully - and that's my experience with lameness), so I wasn't even sure what he was looking for. I explained how Sunshine wouldn't canter - and it felt like she couldn't, not just wouldn't. He nodded like that made total sense (I feared he would tell me I'm babying her, you know?). I told him how I've always had issues with her canter, but that I'd always assumed it was because I got her when she was about 8 or 9 (we're not exactly sure; she's not registered) and she had basically zero training. Plus, she's half Saddlebred, so it has always felt like she wanted to gait but wasn't quite sure how (again, I assumed from lack of proper training). I don't ride gaited horses, so I've never been able to test that theory by trying to get her to gait. And I didn't want her to gait anyway. Give me a nice, smooth canter/lope any day!

Dr. Frazier asked me if Sunshine canters in the pasture. I noticed recently that she doesn't anymore. I'm not sure when she stopped, but I have noticed recently on several occasions when the boys were cantering/galloping back to the barn, Sunshine just trotted. She hasn't always been like that; she has always been a little lazy, but she normally canters when the boys do, especially when I call them in for feeding time or when I let them out in the morning.

I had eliminated saddle fit as the issue. I think I blogged about it, but a few weeks ago, I rode Sunshine out in the field (where she normally likes to canter better than in the ring - I assume cause she doesn't have to go in circles out in the open) bareback and I could still barely get her to canter, and when I did it was very ugly and uncomfortable to ride. She's been on a joint supplement since June 1 for arthritis, and I hadn't seen any improvement, so I was thinking either it wasn't a good enough supplement for her, or she didn't have that particular joint disease.

I've also noticed that she "pops" when she moves sometimes, especially if she's been standing still for a while. Again, I figured that was arthritis, cause that's how Angel always sounded in her knees (her knees were humongous with the disease, and she was sound at the walk, but couldn't go faster than that without pain). You can hear a pretty loud popping /clicking noise, but I've not been able to pinpoint where exactly its coming from with Sunshine.

Anyway, Dr. Frazier felt of Sunshine's ligaments around her stifle and knew immediately what was going on. He had me feel them, as well, and it was obvious to me that something was weird, but I had no idea what. Sunshine has Intermediate Upward Patellar Fixation. What a mouthful. (I found a good article on it, here.) Basically, the ligaments on the inside of her patella are way too tight. In fact, they feel more like bones than ligaments. Dr. F had me feel Wiley's in comparison, and what a difference! My poor Sunshine. He said she is mechanically incapable of cantering since her ligaments are so tight. Her right is worse than the left, which makes sense because she's always been worse to pick up the left lead (making her right hind have to stretch out more on a circle).

Luckily, Dr. F said this condition doesn't cause her any pain, it just makes it impossible for her to do certain things. She likely has trouble with hills, too, but there are no hills around for me to test that theory. And since the trot is such a different action for the stifle ligaments, she doesn't have any trouble with that. Backing up should also pose a problem. And come to think of it, she has always been reluctant to back, and I do hear an audible pop when she backs up - which is probably her medial ligament snapping back out of the locked position.

He said she doesn't have a classic presentation of UPF (of course she doesn't, she's my animal), but he's pretty confident that's what she has. In severe cases, you'll see the horse drag that leg when she walks, and if you don't actually catch that, the hoof normally shoes a wear pattern from being dragged. Sunshine's is not that severe, but she's probably on her way there, if the hardness of her ligaments is any indication. I asked what causes this condition, and Dr. F said no one's certain yet, but different things can attribute to it. He says he sees it in a lot of post-legged horses, and I'd never thought about it, but if you look at the picture above you can clearly see that she is a bit post-legged. He also said it was genetic, and she's been like this her whole life, which really made sense with me, given our history of canter struggles. I guess its just been slowly getting worse over time.

I did some research this mornin and found that physically unfit horses can get this condition, too, and one of the cures for it is to get the horse back into shape, and especially the stifles (hill work, trot poles, cavalletti). That makes sense, too, since Sunshine is so out of shape right now. She's never confined to a stall, so she walks a lot, which probably has kept her from gettin too bad yet. So now my goal is to work on strengthening her stifles. We don't have any hills around here, but I have plenty of trot poles and the ability to set up cavalletti. And that stuff is fun to me, so I won't mind doing it. The problem will be trying to find time to actually ride her. :/ Maybe I need to try again to ride before work in the mornings...

Anyway, Dr. F recommended a shot of ECP (estradiol cypionate), which is supposed to work to loosen tight ligaments. When I heard the word "estradiol," I immediately asked if this was gonna make her go into heat or act more marish than she already does. He chucked and said no. But I researched it this morning, and the drug is used to make mares go into heat, and all the other uses listed also have to do with their cycles and pregnancy. So we'll see how it affects her. I did read, though, that sometimes it completely chills a mare out. Sunshine's already getting more chill the older she gets, but less hormonal would never be a bad thing. Dr. F said to keep riding her and keep asking for the canter, and if in 4 weeks she's not improved, we'll move on to the next step. According to him, that is to inject the same drug directly into the ligaments (yesterday he did an IM shot). I'm sure 10 different vets will give you 10 different opinions on treatments for UPF. But Dr. F seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, so I trust him. My hope is that this one shot did the trick, and getting her back into shape will prevent it from happening again.

So I feel a lot better now that I know what's wrong with my girl. I'm glad its not arthritis, or a non-healing injury, or behavioral (though she may have some behavioral issues cause she thinks she still can't canter even though hopefully she will be able to). And I'm glad she's not in pain. So wish me luck on getting her back in shape, and pray that this shot fixed her up!!


I feel like I have to blog about Junior's visit with Dr. F, as well. As some of you know, Junior used to live at my house until a year or so ago, when Mama purchased a new horse, Sixx, and didn't want him to be alone. So she took Junior back (who was originally her horse anyway). Even though Junior's not mine anymore, I still have a bond with him (boy, me and him have had some good times!), and I go see him whenever I go to Mama's.

This was taken last year, right before Junior went to live at Mama's again.

Mama said Junior has been lame the past several days, but I hadn't seen him. I just assumed she was overreacting (as usual), so I brushed it off. Well, I went with Dr. F to Mama's house after we were done with my horses. My cousin trotted Junior off and boy was he lame. :( Poor baby. I could tell he was off in the front left and the right hind (the right hind is where he has the joint disease, so that was no surprise). Dr. F did an exam of his front legs, and ended up doing a nerve block on his foot. That completely took away the lameness (in the front end). He mentioned navicular, but he doesn't want to make a diagnosis yet, since there's so many things that could be wrong in the heel area. He put Junior on a pain medicine for a few days to see how he goes, then he'll go from there. Most likely, Mama will end up having to put corrective shoes or a slight wedge on Junior's front feet. And hopefully that'll fix him up. Dr. F didn't have much time after all that, plus he wanted to address one problem at a time, so he didn't do anything about Junior's right hind. I told him that Junior hasn't had a joint injection for the degenerative joint disease in 4 years, so its probably time for another one. He agreed that's probably the case, but wants to do x-rays and compare them with the old ones to see what's changed in there. Boy, am I glad I'm not payin Junior's bills anymore! haha I do feel bad that my old boy (he's not even old, he's only 17) is in pain. I hate seein a horse in pain like that. They can't do like dogs and hop around on 3 legs when one hurts.

Then you have Mama's horse Sixx. What a mess. He has way too many problems to list. We had to give him a shot of corticosteroids before he could get his vaccines, because he's prone to anaphalactic shock. Luckily, that did the trick, and his other issues are well-maintained right now. That's another one I'm so glad I don't have to pay the vet bills for! He's a really nice horse, and he is supposedly trained in low-level dressage, but I've only ridden him once. Mama wants me to ride him more and see what he knows, but I'm too scared he'll break! haha


So that was our exciting vet visit yesterday. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. I also asked Dr. F his opinion on Sunshine's thyroid tumor. I first noticed it 2 years ago, and my vet at that time told me what it was and said there's not much to do about it. She said it may grow to the point where it interfered with Sunshine's breathing, at which point we'd probably have to put her down. But I've just been keeping an eye on it, and so far it hasn't bothered her at all. Dr. Frazier said he sees thyroid tumors a lot, and the majority of the time they don't bother the horse ever. He said he saw one grow to the size of a cantaloupe and the horse was fine. That made me feel better. I'm just gonna continue to watch Sunshine's and pray that it never affects her.

Riding: Then & Now

I just spent a while looking at my old blog (sorry, folks, it is now private!). I started blogging in 2004, and I didn't have much of an objective other than to record my life. Eventually it turned into a bit of a horse training blog, where I documented my horses' progress and my own progress with lessons. I blogged quite frequently, and most posts were just random thoughts. I enjoy reading my old posts. But there are things on that blog that I don't want random people reading now (I have changed a lot over the years), so no one can see it now but me (and I rarely update it anymore). Reading all that old stuff reminded me how much I love to blog, so maybe now I'll do it more often. And it reminded me that I don't have to stress over what to post - I can just write what I feel. ( :

But looking back over all my old posts did make me a little sad. Horses used to be such a huge part of my life. They still are, but in a different way now. It used to be my dream to own my own horse farm, where I could train and teach lessons and board. I would still love to do that, but I realize that will probably never happen. It takes a lot of money to start a farm. So while I realize my dream of a big horse farm probably won't ever come to be, horses will always remain a part of my life. I hope one day C will share my passion for horses and we can ride together. Which is why I introduced her to horses very early on, and she goes out there with me every evening to feed them.

I used to keep track of every time that I rode my horses. I wanted to keep them in good shape in hopes that we'd be able to go to a show (which basically never happened). But I rode them 4-6 times a week unless I was sick or they were injured. I made a lot of progress with them, and I'm proud of what I accomplished. 

When I was in college, I worked at several horse farms and absolutely loved it. I got to ride a lot of different types of horses, in several disciplines. I learned a lot and became a really good rider. Thankfully, I haven't forgotten anything and when I get back on a horse now, its like I haven't missed a beat. (Though my muscles may protest the next day!)

This was when we were both at our best. I was training her heavily in dressage and she was doing really well!

I got Sunshine in 2006, and she came to me with very minimal training. I worked with her and bonded with her, and before long she had turned into an awesome mount. Its amazing to think in 2006 she didn't understand what I wanted when I told her to stop and go, and now I trust her with small children in lessons!

These days, I'm really lucky if I get to ride once or twice a month. Its just not easy to find someone to watch C for a few hours on the weekends so I can play with my horses, especially when there are so many things I have to get done. I know it won't be like this forever, so I'm okay with it. One day, C will have her own life and she'll be spending the weekends with friends or her grandma, and I'll be lonely and will be free to ride again. Until then, I'll take the far-and-few-between rides I do get to take, and just enjoy seeing my horses every day (since they're right beside my house) and getting to interact with them. And I love seeing C interact with them. She has decided this week that she loves Sunshine. C stands by the fence when Sunshine eats and watches her, its so cute.

One day, I'll get her to be that soft again with a loose rein like this...

When I do get to ride these days, most of the time I just hop on bareback. I may take Sunshine out on a quick trial ride, or I may do a little work in the arena (not too much, since we're both out of shape). I don't ride Wiley bareback, though - he is super uncomfortable without a saddle! When I ride him, I basically just walk/trot and reinforce the training he received before I got pregnant. He hasn't regressed, he just hasn't moved forward since then. And that's okay. He's 8 now, which means he should be trained and totally rideable, but I'm not stressed over it. He'll be mine until he dies, and I don't need to prove anything with him (or prove anything else, I should say - I already proved to myself with him that I can break a young horse by myself!). One day, I'll get him back into regular training - I still have dreams of him being an adorable hunter pony.

me and Wiley in 2009

earlier this year. can you say fat pony?? haha

I don't have many pictures of me riding Sunshine bareback like I do most of the time now. But here's what it normally looks like:

And I love it. ( :

C likes to "go fast" - which is just a very slow jog, haha. I'm glad that she enjoys being on a horse. I love being able to share something so special to me with her. I can't wait for the day when she can ride by herself!

If you had told me 5 years ago that I wouldn't get to ride very often, and that my horses would all be fat and out of shape, I'd laugh in your face. And then swear that would never happen. Its funny how things change, huh? I haven't lost that part of who I am, I've just added on to what is important me, and had to adjust everything else accordingly. And that's nice to know. I like knowing that my passion for horses is still there, and that I still remember everything I learned in all those lessons I took and experiences I had.

Who knows? In a few years maybe I'll be with C at a fun show, cheering her on from the sidelines. ( :

A Little Bit of Everything!

So. Lots been going on around here lately. Which is why I haven't written anything here in a week. Sorry. I have a crazy busy, amazing life! And really, I don't do anything - go to work, come home and take care of my child and our slew of farm animals, go to bed, and start over again the next day. But somehow, my days manage to fly by and every night I'm left wondering, where did today go??!

I've said it before, though, and I'll say it again - I love my life. I really do. Sure, if I had it my way some things would change - like me working a job outside the home, for instance. Clearly, though, that is not in God's plan for me at this time, so I'm cool with it. My point is, I'm in an incredibly happy period of my life right now, so forgive me while I bask in it.  ( :


Here are some super exciting things that have been going on lately (brace yourselves, this is gonna be legend....wait for it....dary! (LOL Yes I love How I Met Your Mother!)

My college friend MM came down last Saturday and spent the day with me and C. We had so much fun. I haven't seen MM much since she got married in 2010 (I was her Matron of Honor when I was 7 months pregnant!) cause she lives 2 hours away now, but every time we're together its like we've never been apart (and how corny does that sound??).

We ended up taking C to my mama's so we could ride the horses. Which is when I finally admitted that something is goin on with Sunshine. The last time I rode her (several weeks ago) she was struggling at the canter and seemed pretty off. I hoped she'd injured herself in the pasture, and decided to let her rest until I did anything about it. (She was totally sound at the walk and trot.) Well, MM couldn't get Sunshine to canter more than a few steps. I hopped on her, thinking she was just bein a brat, but I could barely get her to canter either. And this horse is never a brat with me. I've started Sunshine on a joint supplement in hopes that this is the beginnings of arthritis and the meds will help her feel better. I'm tryin to avoid a huge vet bill. Especially since she's only lame at the canter and seems totally happy otherwise. And its not like she's in regular work anymore (I don't currently have any lesson students and I get to ride so little its pathetic).

I also don't currently have a vet. Mine quit a few months ago, went back to working with small animals. Bummer, cause I really liked her. I have 2 in mind to try. I think they're each about an hour away, just in opposite directions. So I'm sure I'll get hit with a hefty farm call. But I don't have a choice. Large animal vets are far and few between around here. My horses are due for their spring shots (I usually do them in June), so I gotta get on the ball about finding a vet. And I will definitely be mentioning Sunshine's canter issues with the new vet, whoever I choose.


This past Saturday, I made something I've never even tasted before - zucchini bread! I love zucchini and I've heard about the bread, but had never even seen it. Saturday I decided to try it out. I have to say, it was delicious! Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pics. Its not very tasty looking, anyway. C absolutely loved it. DH wouldn't try it, of course. haha.

We planted our garden a few weeks ago, but its gonna be a while before we see any produce. We usually plant much sooner than this, but we've had so much going on. So for now we're getting our produce from a local farm. In fact, on Saturday, DH borrowed their produce trailer and set it up at his business for the day.

C loved that trailer - she said it was her house. She'd get in there and tell me to go around to the side, then say "what do you need?" A little saleswoman! Takes after her daddy, I guess.

DH will have the produce trailer again next Saturday. He really enjoys doing stuff like that. If he knew it would work financially, I think he'd quit his job and be a full-time farmer/small business owner. I pray one day he can do just that.

I have unofficially been dubbed as the social media person for DH's business. So far, I've just created a facebook page, but I'm hoping to do a website/blog eventually (not that I know anything about creating a website, or successfully running a blog, for that matter!). His business is so small, so I'm tryin to do what I can to help him advertise. You gotta do what you can to help your man achieve his dreams. ( :


In case anyone was interested, I have been keeping up with my yoga. I've been surprised (and proud of)  myself! I've started getting up earlier every day (except weekends, haha) to feed the horses and then do some yoga and strength training. I feel so good, too. And I've gained like 3 pounds of muscle! Woohoo!


This past week, I have discovered 2 beauty products that have been pretty amazing so far. The first is coconut oil. Now, I've used coconut oil for a few years now - as a diaper cream for C. Its great for cloth diapers, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, and it really helps when she used to get a little red occasionally. Since she's been potty trained, the jar of coconut oil has just been sitting there. I've always had clean hands when I used it, so I wasn't worried about it being gross - I wanted to find a use for it.

And then a blog I follow had a post last week about washing your face with coconut oil. What??! Sounded crazy to me. But I know this girl has sensitive skin (like me) and doesn't use anything outrageous on her face or her hair. After reading her post, I looked further into it. Turns out, lots of people know about washing your face with coconut oil. Where have I been??

That night, I tried it. Uh, I was pretty amazed. I have super dry skin (like I seriously don't think my body produces oil at all, which is not as nice as it sounds, trust me), and the coconut oil really moisturizes my face. I can't tell you how it works to wash your face with oil, but trust me, it does.

I've said before that I am a Mary Kay rep. I love my Mary Kay products and am super loyal to them. I will probably never use another foundation, eye color, or mascara. But I've never been quite satisfied with the skin care products I've tried. Everything just dries my skin out even more. To the point where I'll get literal scales - ew. For a while now, I've been washing my face in the Timewise 3-in-1 Cleanser for Normal/Dry skin, and it did a great job of cleaning my face and exfoliating it. I was using the matching Timewise moisturizer, but earlier this year I discovered an all-natural line at a local shop (its also made locally), and fell in love with their facial cream (which actually contains coconut oil), and it has really helped my dryness. (They don't actually have a cleanser or I'd already be using that, I'm sure! Well, they make soap and have a facial soap, but I'm not about to put soap on my face!!)

Anyway, the coconut oil really works. I just rub a good amount onto my face (sometimes I wet it first, sometimes not), then take a rag that's wet and hot, hold that on my face for 30 seconds or so, then gently wipe everything off. I don't wear a ton of makeup, so its not like "wow! Look at all the makeup that came off!" But I can tell everything comes off. My skin feels very soft and moisturized after washing now, but I follow up with my cream anyway, since I am so dry. So far, so good.

I read that coconut oil is also great for other things beauty-wise. I've used it on my cheekbones to highlight them. It looks really pretty for a few hours, then the oil absorbs into my skin and the effect is gone. Maybe for someone with less dry skin it would last longer?

I also tried using coconut oil to take off my eye makeup. I wasn't crazy about that one. I had to work extra hard to get it off (and again, I don't wear much), and then my eyes felt greasy for a while after, and I had a hard time seeing that night. I'll be sticking with my Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover, for sure. I've tried a lot of other brands in the past, and they all bother my sensitive eyes. Mary Kay's doesn't.

Finally, I've been using coconut oil as a body moisturizer. I just slather it on right after I get out of the tub or shower, and it doesn't take long to absorb into my dry skin. I have noticed that I stay a little greasy for a while, but I actually like that feeling, since I am so dry normally. Unfortunately, the coconut oil doesn't last all day like I'd hope, or even over night. I still have to apply twice a day. But its cheaper than regular lotion, and until I find a better solution, I'll stick with it. Last night, I even rubbed C down with the coconut oil after our bath, even though her skin's not particularly dry right now. She wasn't greasy at all afterwards. I think its one of those things that works differently on different people. I know my friend Jessica over at Moving Mountains didn't care for using coconut oil as a body moisturizer.

Next, I want to use coconut oil as a hair conditioner. My hair is like the rest of me - super dry. Most people when they condition their hair just condition the ends, right? Well, I rub that junk into my scalp and let it sit a while. Every single time. I've tried lots of different brands of shampoos and conditioners and have yet to find one that handles my dryness (without making my hair limp and lifeless). So this week I'll try coconut oil. We'll see how it goes.

Oh yeah, I also tried it as a shaving cream for my legs. It worked great, but I'm concerned about it gunking up in my razor. So the jury's still out on that one.

The other day I went to Target and found this adorable little container to house my coconut oil, since the bottle it came in was ugly (I got it at the grocery store, FYI, in the section with the other cooking oils).

The lid doesn't screw on or anything, so its probably not great for traveling, but I like it. Plus its easy to reach in and get the oil out (which is solid at room temp but quickly melts to a liquid with a little heat, by the way). I also picked up that cute little tray. I figured it would be nice to house the stuff that I normally have to move individually to clean under.

And this brings me to my newest beauty discovery. See that white and blue spray bottle? Its called Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturing Sea Salt Spray. (Say that 5 times fast.) My sister-in-law works at a beauty supply store and gets a good discount on their products. She told me about this spray and let me try hers. Wow. It was love at first spray, haha. If you have any natural texture to your hair at all, I think this spray will work for you. My hair is naturally (dry and) slightly wavy, but not enough that I can let it go all by itself. I normally straighten it, but every summer I try to just let it be natural (since the frizz/dryness conquers the straightness eventually). This spray brings out my natural texture and kind of amps it up. It really does look like I've been at the beach that day, which is a look I love.

It does dry my hair out, but I've been counteracting that with some extra serum while its still wet. This spray I have found works best when I let my hair air dry over night and just spray it on the next morning. I've been so happy with my hair the past few days! No pictures though, sorry. DH even likes it, so its a win-win. ( :


Alright, this post is long enough! Until next time.

Oh, wait. I'll leave you with a comparison pic of C. To the left is her in June of last year, and the right picture was taken this weekend. Time flies! *sniff, sniff*

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013 - Done!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013 was a success. I'm not sure if we broke the Guinness record from last year yet, but I bet we did. Hopefully they'll release the final count soon. I'll be sure to do an update once they do.

We had a great time Saturday! Our location had about 35 or so babies in the change, which I thought was pretty impressive for our area. I had no idea cloth diapering was so popular here. It was neat to see so many fluffy butts in one room. ( :

I still haven't had time to go through everything in the swag bags we were given. There are a ton of coupons in there. When I opened the box (we got a box and a bag), I asked C what was in there and she said "mail!" Then I told her to look in the bag and see what was in there, and she said "more mail!" Silly youngin. Everyone got an adorable diaper cover by Bumkins. Its green and has a green eggs and ham theme. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, because I plan to do a full review on it once I've had a chance to try it out. I've never used that brand of diapers before, so I'm curious. It looks to be a really nice cover, though. Tons of snaps, so there is lots of room for adjustments. Last night I set all the snaps to make the diaper as small as possible - I can easily see how it would fit a newborn.

We also got a nice bib in our swag bag. I think I got a boy bib, but oh well. Its blue and has red rockets on it. Still, free bib! There were lots of free samples of cloth-friendly laundry detergent, diaper creme, and baby soaps and lotions. Hopefully sometime in the next few days I'll get a chance to go through it all and see exactly what I have.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot the little wet bag! I don't think I've talked about wet bags here before, so I definitely need to do a post on that soon. Wet bags are essential if you're gonna cloth diaper. They're lined with PUL (just like the diapers are), so you can put soiled diapers in the bag and (if its a good bag) nothing will leak out. A good wet bag will also keep the smells in. We were all given a tiny wet bag Saturday. Its perfect for holding just one diaper, which is great if you're running errands and know you won't be gone long. I sent it with C today in case she has an accident in her big-girl panties. I think it'll be great to send to her grandma's since its so little and takes up so little space in the diaper bag.

In the raffle I won a $15 off coupon to a store that sells nursing tanks. I don't have a need for it right now, but I'll probably order one in case I have another baby. And if I don't have another, I'll just give it as a gift to someone else. ( :

As for the actual diaper change, it was very quick and kind of anti-climatic. But honestly, you're just changing a diaper, not very exciting! We all sat on the floor with our babies. There was a professional photographer there taking pictures. First, we all had to hold up the diapers we intended to use...

This was my view from the back. Well, part of my view. I found it was hard to take pictures of everything with a squirmy toddler while doing what the photographer said.

At exactly 11am, we all changed our babies' diapers. (Well, I took off C's panties and put on a diaper! I think she was the only kid there who didn't arrive in a diaper.) Then, we were told to hold up our babies for the picture. Not so easy to do with a 30 pound toddler!

I wasn't the only one struggling, haha. I loved seeing all the adorable prints everyone had! I don't think anyone had the same diaper. I put C's cow print diaper on.

And that was it! After the change, the kids ran around and played while we had the raffle drawings. I wished I had bought some more raffle tickets because they gave away some really great prizes.

C totally surprised me. I just knew she would throw a fit when she realized I was putting a diaper on her. But she didn't. She saw all the other babies in their diapers, and I guess she wanted to be like them. She laid right down on the blanket and let me put the diaper on with no complaints. Then she wouldn't let me take it off until it was time for us to leave!

I thought this was cute. C with her "boyfriend" haha.

So that was it. The event was fun, and I'm glad we participated. I'm kinda sad that we won't be able to next year. Our event was pretty small compared to some of the ones I'm hearing about on facebook. The one in Raleigh had over 300 participants! I bet that was amazing. They made a full day of it. Maybe one year I'll go there and be a part of it. Who knows. ( :

The rest of our weekend was pretty great, too. The weather wasn't that wonderful (cool and very windy), so we weren't outside much, but we still had fun. Late yesterday evening, C told my husband that it was a pretty day and she wanted to ride Sunshine. I was inside cleaning up a little, but when DH told me that, of course I dropped what I was doing and went outside! C likes to ride, but not very often, so I'm all for it when she decides she's ready. We just ride Sunshine together bareback around the yard. I love sharing my horse with my daughter. I really hope she'll grow up to love riding as much as I do. I hope everyone else had a good weekend, too!

High 5 for Friday!

Seems like the only time I am able to blog is Fridays! But that's alright. ( :

I've had a pretty good week. I've been extremely tired since my child has not been sleeping well (except for that blessed Wednesday night, when she slept all night long in her crib!!), and I've been staying up way too late. I am determined to start going to bed earlier, though! 12:30-1am is way too late for this workin mama.

 So, without further ado, here's my 5 highlights of the week!

1. Sunday night we went to the local Olive Garden for my niece's 18th birthday party. It was my first time at that location (they just opened last summer) and I was really looking forward to it. Turned out, I wasn't all that impressed with the food. Olive Garden is one of my favorite places to eat, so I was pretty bummed this one didn't live up to my expectations. But the fun time with my family more than made up for the food! We had a great time. I don't get to hang out with my sister and her kids that often, so it was nice to get that opportunity. And of course, C kept us all entertained!

2. Last Saturday, I rode my horse Wiley. I'm trying to ride every weekend now. I just feel so much better when I get to ride. Wiley did pretty well. I didn't have high hopes since the last time I rode him he laid down....yes, he literally laid down on the ground while I was on him! Luckily I was able to get off before he crushed my leg, but woah. Kinda scary. Crazy pony. Anyway, Saturday he was good. We had some discussions when I asked for the canter, but I was prepared for that since we haven't cantered in a really long time. Like over 2 years. (Long story.) In the end, I won (of course) and he gave me a nice little canter, both directions.

 

3. Last night, C and I went to a Thirty-One party at my friend's house. We had so much fun! Thirty-One is kinda a big deal here in the south - not sure if that's the case all over the country. They have all kinds of cute bags, totes, purses, baskets, etc. in really pretty prints, plus everything is monogrammable! Monogramming is another big deal here in the south. We like our initials on everything. I haven't really jumped on that bandwagon so much, though I do appreciate a nice monogram. I have a Thirty-One skirt purse and one of the skirts has my initials on it. (By the way, the skirt purse is the absolute BEST purse I have ever had - seriously! Its the perfect size, very comfortable on my shoulder, and I love that I can change the look in about 15 seconds, without having to move all my junk.) Last night, I ordered another skirt for my purse, a cute scarf to use as decoration on my purse (I know, I know, its another southern thing), and a camera strap in a really fun print. I also qualified for one of their new products at 1/2 off, so I got a hang-up family organizer. I can't wait to it to come in and I can put it to use! 

4. The Premonition series by Amy Bartol. Love love love!! I'm a huge bookworm, even more so since I got my Kindle. I can't remember how I stumbled across this gem of a series, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I think the series is geared toward a younger than me audience, but I don't care. I am also obsessed with the Twilight series, so there ya go. ( :  (Oh, and I loved the Hunger Games series, as well, though not as much.) The Premonition series starts off with Evie, a college freshman looking to make a new start. In time she discovers she's half angel, and other angels - both fallen and divine - are out to get her. Of course, she gets a love interest (two actually - an angel and a human) and makes some great friends. They all go through some intense events together, which I won't talk about because it'll ruin the book for you! I was hooked from the first page of book 1. I just finished book 2 this week (which is why I have been staying up way too late - its hard to put down!!), and I purchased book 3 yesterday. Though I need to read my book for the women's church group first (more on that at another time). For some reason, the books are super cheap on Amazon - like $3.99 or so each. I can totally see this series becoming a movie series, and if that happens I will be all over it, haha.

this was from 2008 - I used this pic as my entry for the RTF competition

5. Finally, an important part of this week for me was the Rock the Frock competition. Just Becca Photography hosts this competition every year. Its for any woman who can still fit into her wedding dress (whether she's still married or not). Its basically a chance for you to wear your wedding dress again! Since I am still in love with my wedding dress, I am all for anything that lets me put it on again. The contestants campaign for votes (which is done online and is free), and the three women with the most votes become the finalists. Those three get a free photo session in their wedding dress. You can do anything you want in your session. Some girls have done a trash the dress session before, some stick with more traditional stuff, really whatever you can dream up Becca can make happen. My dream was to get a picture of me galloping in a field on my horse. I did use Sunshine in my bridal portraits, and I did sit on her, but we were all so worried that I'd ruin my dress that I couldn't relax and get exactly what I wanted (though I was very pleased with my pictures, and still love them). Anyway, after the three photo sessions, a panel of judges will select the winner, who gets to appear on the cover of Down Home Magazine, which is a local magazine. There's a story on each of the finalists inside the magazine, but the main focus is on the overall winner. The winner also receives other smaller prizes.

I entered Rock the Frock last year and did pretty well. I don't know what place I ended up in, but until the last day I was staying in the top 5. My cousin ended up winning last year and her pictures were absolutely breathtaking. This year I decided to try again. Next year I might not fit into my dress, who knows! Well, the contest started at 6pm last Friday and ended at midnight Monday. I campaigned hard! I was so overwhelmed by the amount of support I had. People for campaigning for me and every day someone had a facebook status about me. It was so heartwarming. I stayed consistently in the top 5 every day (Becca did updates twice a day). Unfortunately, I didn't win. I finished FOURTH! So close! I couldn't even be upset though, because of all the nice things people were saying about me. I updated my facebook status to show my appreciation for everyone's support, and people were commenting on how I was the winner in their eyes and all this nice stuff. Almost brought tears to my eyes, and I am not a crier!

What was really amazing happened the next day. Becca e-mailed me and said that someone contacted her and said that I really deserved to win the competition, so they were paying for me to have my own Rock the Frock session! I was shocked and so grateful. It was my best friend and her husband, who live in England right now (he's in the air force). I couldn't believe someone would want to do that for me. I'm still kinda in shock about it. So, sometime soon I'll have a photo session in my wedding dress! I'll get my dream of having my picture taken in my dress on my horse. I am SO excited!!


So that's my exciting week in a nutshell. I am linking up with Lauren at from my grey desk blog. Welcome to any new readers that come over from Lauren's! ( :

A Fresh Start

I'm not one for making resolutions in a new year. I used to, but I realized that I never stuck to my resolutions, and always just ended up supremely disappointed in myself later in the year. So for years, I took the easy road and didn't resolve to make any changes or do anything special when the calendar flipped to a new year. Now I think that's pretty lazy. I think we need to set goals/resolutions for ourselves so we keep growing and don't get stuck.

I don't think its necessary to make resolutions in January, though. In October, I made some fall resolutions. I've done pretty well at keeping them: I made good on making memories with my daughter (we've done a lot of fun things with her recently, including an impromptu trip to the coast this past weekend, which I'll blog about later); I've done better about not being a lurker in the blog world (I have made an effort to post comments when I have a reaction to someone's blog post); I have spent more time with God (though not nearly as much as I need to - still working on that one); and I continued my efforts to organize the house. (That "resolution" actually came about earlier in 2012, so I've been at it for a while.) In fact, I did a little organization project just yesterday, which I'll blog about later (I say that a lot, huh? hehe).

The only fall resolution I haven't kept is to ride my horses more. I realized pretty quickly that it is still dark outside until pretty late in the morning. DH has to leave for work around 7:15, so if I'm gonna ride I have to do it and be back in the house by then. Well, it doesn't get light until about 6:45. That is not nearly enough time to ride and get the horses fed. I'm too chicken to ride before daylight around here. There are a lot of coyotes in our area and they really freak me out. They are not as scared of us humans as they should be, either. They come all in our yard after dark. I doubt one would actually attack me, but I don't like to take any chances. Last night when I was feeding the horses (after dark), a coyote was howling right beside the barn! I completely freaked out, ran to the house and made DH go out there with me with the gun. (Of course, the coyote had moved on by then.)

So, I'll get back to riding my horses more this spring. For now I'm just savoring what little time I do get to ride, and making the most of it. A few weekends ago, I hopped on Sunshine bareback and went down the road, to somewhere we've never been before. She was terrible that day, but it was still fun.

Moving on.

I'm considering 2013 to be my clean slate. I need a fresh start in several areas of my life. I'm not going to sit here and type up a huge list of things I want to accomplish or change about myself. I know that's too daunting for me. I've said many times I'm all about baby steps. ( :

Here's a few things I do want to accomplish/work towards/change this year:

~Potty train C. We're well on our way! She's been doing pretty well lately. In fact, she's in her big girl panties right now (watching Super Why on PBS while Mama gets some blogging done). Yesterday, she had 3 accidents, but I think that's pretty good. This weekend, she even pooped in the potty once! So I have no idea how long this process will take (we're certainly not doing the potty train in 3 days thing - way too stressful), but I know it will conclude this year!! And hopefully by the spring. Wouldn't that be wonderful??

~Continue to organize the house. My next project will be to tackle C's toys. She's 2 now, and we've still got her newborn and infant toys in the house, as well as a ton of toys she just doesn't care for. I'm not getting rid of anything (hopefully one day we'll have another child), but my plan is to buy storage bins so they can go out in the shop.

I also really want to work on the office. Every few months, I work in there (mainly on my desk) and get everything looking neat and organized, but it doesn't take long to get junky again. DH is actually really good about keeping his desk organized. But the office tends to be our place to stash random things that don't really have a home elsewhere in the house. Right now, its overflowing with extra boxes and wrapping paper from Christmas. And I mean overflowing. I'll have to take a "before" picture when I tackle that room. Its terrible. My plan is to ditch my desk. I haven't used it (other than to store junk on) since I completed my graduate degree. And that was in the summer of 2011. I do need a spot to store my laptop, though, so I'll probably get a small bookcase or something like that. Or maybe a small table. We'll see. DH and I have talked about that room becoming a nursery if we do have another baby, but that leaves the problem of where will we have an office. DH needs an office space since that's where he does all the bill paying and manages his business (he works a full-time job and has a side business as well). And there's no where else in this house for an office space. Hopefully one day we can build a house....!

There are other projects that fall under the "house organization" label that I want to tackle. But those two are the biggies, the ones that I know will make the most difference around here. Wish me luck!!

~I also want to get back to meal planning. I did that for a few months in 2012, and it was great. I didn't have a specific method, I just sat down whenever I had a moment and thought about what I could cook for supper the next few days. Sometimes I'd do a week or 2 at a time, sometimes I'd do a whole month. It really made nights much less stressful for me. I hate coming home from work, looking into the fridge, freezer, and pantry and thinking What in the world am I gonna cook tonight?! So I want to get back into meal planning. And do it better. Meaning, I want to grocery shop with meal planning in mind. I haven't decided which method I want to use yet, but I'll blog about it when I figure it out.

~I want to make a budget - and stick to it. I've been meaning to do this one for a while. But its time. I'm conscious about where I spend money, but it seems like it always runs out faster than I think it should. I don't mean I'm gonna cut out all my "extra" purchases - I regularly buy books for my Kindle on Amazon, and random things for C (though I usually shop the thrift store for her). I just want to know exactly how much I can spend each week/month on the extra things. And this will help me be able to finally start putting some money into my savings account.

~Along those lines, I want to start paying more towards my student loans. If I keep going like I am, I will have them paid off in 2020 I believe. That's a really long time, considering I got my bachelor's in 2006 and my master's in 2011. But I'm only making minimum payments. I hope to tackle them one at a time, starting with the smallest loan. I keep reading about the "snowball effect" and how great it is. So once I get my budget worked out, I'll start making more payments on that smallest loan.

~~~~~

My list is short, but I know that if I do these few things, my life will drastically change. Of course, I want to continue to do things like make memories with my daughter and husband, keep learning more about cooking, etc. Actually, I should probably go back up there and bullet point another goal: go on more dates with my husband this year!!

For now, its time to go clean up the Cheerios C just spilled all over the floor, then spend the rest of the day having fun with her. Its chilly and rainy here, so we're probably stuck inside all day, and I don't have anything planned. I got all my cleaning done over the weekend so I could spend today just enjoying her. Here we go!

Happy 2013 everyone! May this be our best yet!!! ( :