Hello? Anyone There?

Not that there's anybody still reading this blog, but....

I thought I'd post a (very overdue) update. Joey and I aren't doing so hot. :/ As of this minute I am confined to the couch on what is my first week of winter break from school. What a way to kick it off, after all I had planned -- with a terrible chest-cold. -.-
As a result of my busy schedule of the last few months (I have a real job now! and school. bleh.) Joey isn't feeling the love. He's been listless lately and not eating all of his food. He nickers when I come out to feed when I get the long-awaited chance; but that's all I have time for now, and I can tell it's taking its toll on him. It's really sad and makes me want to cry when I think about it.
Thus, I cannot bear to keep up with the blogs I used to love to read. At the same time that they give me my quick horse fix for when I can't hang with my boy, they only make the longing worse.
For some reason the other day, I threw an old Horse Illustrated magazine into my purse to skim through during my break at work a few days ago. It was when I was doing just that on my break when I realized why I had shoved all my horse books and such to the side: I long to jump again. I want to fly. I want again to work on training myself and horses to move fluidly around the ring together, striving to make it look effortless. I want it so badly to the point where it scares me sometimes. So I bury it, telling myself it was just a phase when I was 12...
So here I lie on the couch -- while my heart frolics in the front paddock with Joey, lifting his spirits as well as mine.
I thought I would watch my only horse training video -- the one with the trick riders and the barrel prospects. But I have torn my room apart looking for it. *sigh* So I blog, and whine to my fellow horse obssessors who may stumble across this pathetic post.
I bought two new Breyers today and they're gorgeous. I thought having a new horse to play with inside and drool over would help. Seems to only make things worse.
Houston, we have a problem. And after waiting with my parents for over 10 years for it to subside...I think it's time to accept it as more of a chronic condition.

Anybody wanna add their two-cents or advice for how to soothe the horse fever? I don't mind the chest-cold...but it's doubly hard when I have such an insatiable horse craving at the same time that I can't get off the couch.

-Sam

Just Some Pictures of Joey and I Out Doing the Impossible

Did I mention my horse is blind and that people told me that I would never be able to ride him?
‎#inyourface ‎#thepowerofGod ‎#nevergiveup ‎#dreambig

 

The Liebster Award -- from Briana!

Ok, I have been nominated for this same award twice in the last month. I guess I was just too lazy to claim it the first time. :P So, after much thought and pondering, I have decided to accept the award both times (it’ll be fun!).

But I’m gonna tweak it: After every blog or blogger that I name, I’m gonna give a short bio about them or their blog; since the whole point of this award seems to be getting know lesser-known bloggers. J

HOW TO ACCEPT THE AWARD: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize blogs who have less than 200 followers.  Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued.  Here are the rules for accepting the award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
4. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.
5. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.
6. Go to each blogger's page and let them know you have nominated them.

I was given my first Liebster Blog Award by Briana at Equestrian Diaries. Equestrian Diaries logs the adventures of a young college student who is studying to work in elementary education while maintaining a huge passion for horses. It’s a really fun blog – especially now that she’s entered the world of horse-ownership through the buying of River, a gorgeous grandson of Seattle Slew! So go on over and check it out; leave an encouraging word or some advice you have from your experience with horses. I know Briana would appreciate it all! 

11    random facts about me:

1.     Bratty teenagers quickly turn me into the Incredible Hulk.

2.     I will dream and philosophize all day if you let me (and if you do let me, you will not be able to snap me out of my trance for literally hours; my sister timed me once).

3.     I have lived in 7 houses and moved 9 times since I was born (and we’re about to make numbers 8 and 10, respectively!)

4.     I am working on building my collection of books of photography (books of photography, not about photography). I could lay out on the floor and flip through them all day. They never fail to send me to a world of wonderment and inspiration.

5.     Right now, I am buying/reading all the most recent memoirs and biographies about people and their horses so that I can better understand what’s selling and tweak my book to make it more appealing (sometimes I refer to it as cheating ;) ).

6.     I am very protective of my bed. Having six siblings (and sharing a room with another teenage girl) I generally have to share just about everything. I view my bed as my own personal space that I am not called upon to share (that often). I can get uptight if somebody sits on it without being invited.

7.     My tastes in everything are pretty broad; I couldn’t tell you about my favorite genre (of anything), color, flower, scent, etc.

8.     I love hats, and I collect them (even though I can pull off only a few styles).

9.     My “scent” (ya know, perfume and lotion and stuff) *is coconut-anything. (Mom recently got me some cherry blossom, and I am finding that I do really like that one, too.)

10.  I either imagine the majority of love songs are between a person and their horse, or I rewrite them to fit that way (I have whole movies in my head with complete soundtracks).

11.  Believe it or not (you probably won’t, it’s so ironic): The only Monopoly game I have never won is Horse-opoly. (All the other ones I win pretty consistently.)

My 11 questions from Briana were:

1. When and why did you start riding? I first climbed on the back of a horse when I was between the ages of 8 and 10. I was taking English riding lessons while we lived in Florida. I don’t really remember the reason why except that that was when my horsenality exploded and was born after seeing “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron.” I was just so in awe of these magnificent creatures. But the first time I rode a horse and really understood that I was riding was when I took lessons at a jumper barn for two years in California when I was 13.
2. Have you ever taken any time away from riding? Why? Well, I had to stop riding after we moved from California because there was nowhere to ride here. But that was inevitable. If you’re asking have I ever deliberately taken time away from riding to do something else, then sure. I don’t ride on days when Joey lets me know that our relationship could use some cookies and hang out time instead (like when I’m at camp all summer). And I don’t ride on days when I feel really, really bad (but it normally takes a few up-chucks for me to get there).
3. If you couldn’t ride, what would you do with your horse(s)? If I suddenly woke up this morning and learned that I would never ride again, Joey would stay with me. I would probably try to scout out somebody willing and special that I trusted to ride and work with him. But if he had to spend the rest of his days being a lawn ornament, then so be it; I highly doubt he would have any qualms about that. And besides, he’d get plenty of visitors when he becomes famous through our books. ;)
4. Where have you lived during your life? Perfect! Since I told you how many times I’ve moved, and all. :P I was born in Washington (state), and then we moved to England. Since then, I’ve lived in Mississippi, Florida, and California. But we’re about to make our next move to Ohio!
5. If you could travel to any place in the universe, where would you go? I do catch the whole “universe” bit here. But honestly, I’m content to view space from Google. I’m not quite that adventurous. One place I do so desperately want to see, though, is Africa! :D
6. What horse (real or fictitious) has had a big influence on your horsey career? As much as I would like to say Jeanette Sassoon’s Valiant, the first horse that comes consistently to mind is the Black Stallion. As silly as it may sound, right after Joey went blind I didn’t know what I was going to do with him, or how I was going to handle him or even behave around him. But soon after the ordeal, I was watching the Black Stallion movie. And for some reason, Alec’s awesome beach ride on the Black reminded me that my horse was still a horse and still possessed all his former potential. Watching that amazing scene (and rewinding it a few times) gave me hope, and let me dream that Joey and I could still have that kind of a friendship. I am now less apt to shut down or give up on dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem. <3
7. What is one big thing on your “bucket list”? To have some of my writings published and read; whether it’s the fictional or nonfictional.
8. What are two goals you would like to achieve with your horse? (Jumping is still one buried deep in my heart.) To ride bareback and bridleless as effortlessly as Gandolph on Shadowfax; and trailering him out successfully to ride on a public trail.
9. What is your horse’s favorite thing to do with you? I’m not really sure. I think it would be a draw between riding (he loves it when I climb aboard! ^.^ ) and just hanging out with a pile of hay (when I have to leave, he looks up sorrowfully over his shoulder and watches me until I’m back in the house; makes me feel so loved <3).
10. Do you play a musical instrument? If not, what is one you’d like to play? I’ve been playing the piano since I was 10, yet I’ve only had a grand total of two years’ worth of lessons. I bought a pink guitar off of the interwebs in January of last year, got on YouTube, and have been jamming ever since. And most recently I have been spending a little time learning to play the Ukulele and the Mandolin. I will go ahead and name two instruments that I’ve always wanted to play, though: the violin and the banjo. It’s a draw between the two. J
11. What is the most “spur of the moment” thing you have ever done? If we’re talking most crazy spur of the moment decision, then buying the horse I did not want tops it all, I’m pretty sure. Other than that, I’m not sure.

My 11 Questions for my Nominees:

1.     Who’s your favorite cartoon character and why?

2.     What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done (on horseback, if you have a horse)?

3.     What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn in life thus far?

4.     If you could have any super power, what would it be?

5.     What’s your favorite voice-accent?

6.     What’s your favorite scented candle?

7.     What was the last dream that you remember?

8.     What three songs would be on your life’s soundtrack? (They don’t have to be lyrical, either.)

9.     Choose: A rumbling summer storm, or a cozy fire by the hearth?

10.  Which question above was the most fun to answer?

I present the Liebster Blog Award to *drum roll, please* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:

1. Mare and Missy at Simply Horse Crazy! These girls are two peas in a pod. I’ve always been an admirer of Mare’s choice of design on their blog, as well – always so tastefully put together. If you enjoy colorful pictures and consistent posting of everyday life with a horse at a boarding stable, then you should definitely check these crazy girls out!
2.  Karley and Henry at All In! Karley’s posts are consistent and full of information on training with Henry – it’s been so educational following her blog! Even on days when they’re not in the arena, Karley shares pictures of her beautiful chestnut goober-horse, and those are always so entertaining. ;)
3.  Gingham and her three beautiful equine children at Pia & Prairie’s Parade! This is another blog that I thoroughly enjoy all the time. With Gingham’s great sense of humor, it’s entertaining as well as educational. I learn so much from her posts about training and showing! She recently added an older Trakhaner gelding to her brood. His name is Gus, and he seems to be really enjoying his new life with his new sisters. Check them out! You won’t regret it.
4. Amy and the gang at A Work In Progress! Honestly, this has got to be one of the most fun blogs I have ever read! My mom is constantly telling me that that is exactly what I'm going to be like when I grow up. xD Whether she's taking her sainted mare Sugar out for a spin, creating memories with her kids, or critiquing Brenda Breyer in a model horse show, Amy's bound to have you chuckling by the end of her entry.
5. Sarah at The Laird Family blog! This is one of the non-horsey blogs I follow, but I love it just the same. Sarah is a great friend of mine with a wonderful sense of humor and love for the Lord and her family. She's always posting fun tidbits from their humorously southern life! She's fairly new to the blogosphere, so drop on over and give her an encouraging word. You won't be sorry you made friends. :) 

I don't know that many blogs (and even then, it seems to be Liebster Award Week as most of the blogs I've been wanting to nominate get nominated by someone else by the time I get around to working on this post. -.- )
So I will nominate half of 11 here, and then do the other half in my next award.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about me. Now I'm off to snag my nominees before somebody else does.

~Sam

PS: Since I copy/pasted this from a Word document, the colors are a bit funky. I apologize if it's throwing you off as much as it does me.

Guitars and Horses -- Who Needs Anything More?

So, apparently reverse pschology doesn't work as well as I had hoped.

But here I am, back again to raise your hopes that I will be more consistent with my posting. Whatever.

Joey and I have been lazy so far this summer.
Through the first couple of weeks in June, I was pulling out old training articles from my saved Horse Illustrated and Horse & Rider magazines, and we were riding pretty consistently -- every morning before the sun was fully up (and the heat could get us down). I was rereading training techniques on things that Joey and I are less than perfect on like suppleness and response time (for him), and softer, yet firmer cues and more compassion and understanding (for me). Those rides were some of the best we've had yet! Five out of six mornings on most weeks we were perfectly syncronized, and it seemed that neither of us really had a care in the world, though we each gave it our best shot every time we tried to bend a better circle or refine a cue of some kind. It was great!
But reach the middle of June and it brings with it scores of horseflies the size of baby carrots, 100% humidity by 5:00 in the morning, and buckets of grimy sweat from just trying to tack up alone. I just can't bring myself to go out and cinch up that hot, bulky saddle onto my boy, no matter how much he may whinney and run to the gate, obviously wanting to go out and jog around on the trails as much as I do. I know he gets awfully bored in his own fenced acre; but go out to pet him, and your hand comes away with black, sludgy ink all over it. Poor boy. :(
So we've been going on handwalks when the air outside is bearable enough for me (I know, I really am a sissy), grazing along the trail and just enjoying the sweet companionship of being with each other. I love my sweet horse so dearly! Hard to look back and remember that it was everything less than love at first (and second and third. . .) sight for the two of us. We've come a long way on our many, many adventures together. <3

A short random video showing you my boy in "action". ;)

The only other thing that I've been up to is spending all of my spare time on my guitar (which is adding up to quite a few hours, lemme assure you). Have you seen her? Her name is LuLa, and to some she is obnoxiously pink. Ya can't miss her. ;)
 The cheapest pretty guitar I could find on Amazon, and with the exceptions of my clingy dog and my blind horse she is my baby. Only started playing last January, but with the help of YouTube, I (and I counted them) have learned and memorized 50+ songs. I was hoping to have reached 100 already, but in due time. (And given, the majority of those learned are Taylor Swift -- it doesn't get much more repetitive than that, folks.) I am proof that anybody -- ANYBODY -- can pick up and learn the guitar. I tried taking a year's worth of lessons once. Good money wasted is how I look at it now. I didn't learn a single thing that I use today; not even the names of the strings. I came away with sore fingers and a broken ego, declaring that I would never again pick up a guitar because it was stupid and not worth my time. For a long time after that I seethed inside at every guitar solo that came on the radio (and there sure are a lot of them).
But still, inside, there was a dream. . .
. . .To make a long (and oh, so hilarious) story short (so that I can save it for another day ;) ): I mistakenly bought a bright pink guitar off of Amazon for $50. She arrives, and it's love at first sight. Even though I knew absolutely nothing about guitars. I knew that she was pink, her name was LuLa, and she was now mine.
First song I learned? "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson. The guy on YouTube said it wasn't for beginners. Guess I showed him.
So there ya go: I'm living proof. But not just for people who have that deep longing to play the guitar like a boss when their favorite song comes on the radio. No, if I've learned anything through this experience it's that I shouldn't be afraid to do anything that I dream of doing. Because honestly, I can do anything that God sees fit to bless. And that's the real adventure of life: finding out what those things are.

~Sam

Consistent Posting? *snort* What was I Thinking??

Ok. So, when I say I'm back for more consistent posting. . .it never quite works out, does it?

*ahem* I am NOT back for more consistent posting. <--period for added effect (Let's see how reverse psychology works.)

My cousin apparently wants me to be a contributor on her new horse website HerdNerds. Check it out. And pay close attention to her side of things -- she is super experienced and super talented when it comes to the horse realm. My stuff: eh, not so much. I mean, seriously: my experience is riding my blind pony around in my backyard. O.O
With a few years of hunter and jumper training mixed in there somewhere. And riding a couple'a barrel horses a time or two. But that's ALL the hands-on experience I have. Everything else is via reading and reading and reading and some more reading -- oh, and research.

Since I last left you: I finished and graduated from highschool/gradeschool-- kind of an exciting time *_* ; participated in my piano teacher's year-end recital that she holds for all of her students -- I played "Dawn", from Pride and Prejudice for both of her recitals in the same afternoon; I've FINALLY completed registration for and will be officially attending my town's local community college in the fall (that only took how long and cost everyone how much effort? -.- )

And I'm being lazy and spending my first summer days reading all about horses and training and messin' around with JoJo. :) Oh, not to mention all the fun my sister and I are having with my new camcorder and Breyer Horses. ;)

WAAAAIIIT!!! I almost forgot to mention one of the most exciting things! "See No Evil" is in its third editing process; and it is already available for *purchase* through myself (I may have a teeny little secret. . . ;) ). Ok, ok, so it's not "officially" published -- but it's a start, right? And I'm hoping to try to get it out there on the table and at least figure out what the word "publishing" really, truly, exactly means by the end of the summer.

Last year my summer project was to crochet an afghan. This year it's to publish my book. A step up? I think so. But Joey and I are ready for it (I hope. . .) ;)

~Sam

More Changes to the Blog and Votes for Photos!

Ok, so, I want to enter a horsey photo contest that ends in June. June the first, to be precise. And these are the two pictures that have gotten the most votes so far. The judges are looking for a clear, clean photo that has a good subject and doesn't show poor horsemanship; and the "theme"/objective of the contest is "your horse being a horse/doing what he loves best". They didn't mention grazing on their list of horsey things for some odd reason, but knowing Joey. . .it was a no-brainer. ;)




Picture #1

Picture # 2

Yay! It worked! (The silly blogger-thing wouldn't let me type here, only on the captions to the photos. I've been sitting here trying for a good 10 minutes. -.- )

 

And THANK YOU, SILLY BLOGGER-THINGY; now I am all out of time to actually type a legit blog post-entry-thing. -.-

 

So yeah; vote for your favorite picture above, (<-- comma. there) below in a comment -- Haha: "above below". :P

Probably better add a comma. . .

 

Registering for college has been unnecessarily hard. -.- Making my THIRD trip to the admin. office tomorrow, or Friday, or whenever I choose to go back. I'm done doing it on their time.

 . . .but then, I guess I would have to go more times, huh?

 

Oh, and more updates to Prints. I retyped Joey's page and added some different pictures. Check it out. See if you can spot all the changes. ;)

 

Out.

 

~Sam

Blog Under Construction

. . .Well? Did you read the title? o.O

What do you think of the new blog look for Prints? I'm hoping to add a header picture and few to go on the sides and I may organize a bit. . .to be determined, I guess.

Dude! More followers! O.O That shocks me, honestly; haven't been on and all. . .

BUT THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE! (maybe. . ) lol I hope so, anyway. :P

Just wanted to let you all know that I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth. Geez, almost a whole two months has been and gone without me posting. I'm so. . .sorry. . .? I've been pretty busy (graduating in less than a month; yup, prepping for that'll take up some time).

So, don't give up on me. I WILL be back with pictures and posts and lots of good tidbits about what Joey and I (and all our freaky retarded cats) have been up to lately. ^.^

Until then, enjoy your Hoofprints-less life. ;)

Out.

~Sam

Mom's Birthday [Cake Incident]

Yesterday was Mom's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!! ^.^ )

*ahem* It was also grocery day: the day of the week that my mother goes out for a good couple of hours to have lunch with Dad and buy the week's forage. The perfect opportunity to make her a surprise birthday cake, eh? ;)

Before we get any further with this I will state right here that despite my efforts, the only things that I have actually been requested to make by my family are fruit smoothies and my oatmeal-raisin-chocolate chip cookies. Yeah; not such a hot mama in the kitchen. :P
But I was determined to bake Mom something special in honor of the day. (I never dreamed Dad would have the same idea. . .)

To give myself the most possible amount of time, I began my baking venture as soon as she walked out the door, which was around 11, or so (she got a lot of, "So, when are you leaving?" "Shouldn't you go soon if you're going to have lunch with Dad?" "You might want to give yourself quite a bit of time to get there. . .why? oh, just because. . ." lol!)
I had perused all of the dessert cookbooks on her shelf for easy recipes for cake icing; I was prepared to not go beyond my limits and just use one of those Betty Crocker cake mix boxes. But for some reason the one I wanted to use didn't have a recipe for icing on the side --- you'd think that they would make things easier than they are by doing that for people, but they don't.

Anyway, upon my futile search for chocolate cake icing, I found a recipe for chocolate fudge pudding-cake. Now, I've made one of these in the past at Mother's request --- but in the crock pot. It was a slow-cooker recipe then. And I certainly wasn't going to do that now. But the one I found in her many pages of random recipes printed off of the Internet was for a pudding-cake that was baked in the oven. And it was easy. And it was from a source I've used for a tasty brownie recipe before. And Mom apparently really likes pudding-cake. Bingo.

Mix up all of the ingredients, heat up the oven, and [nervously] pop it in (I'm always nervous when I have to do anything in the kitchen because, as I have previously stated, I am no Julia Child.)
As a plus to the garden hedgehog statue that I got for Mom to sit in her herb garden this year, I decide that I will also help her out by keeping up the housework while she is away. And I mean, really keeping up the housework.

A few loads of laundry later, I open the oven to find. . . . . a messy, but decent chocolate pudding-cake. Okay, so it didn't turn out horrible as I had secretly expected. Heck, it might even be called pretty rich. I set the oven on "warm and hold" to keep it warm until Mom gets back home and then we can all marvel at how awesome my pudding-cakes are. The day will end lovely and I will feel like I actually did something special for once on Mom's birthday, something that she can appreciate. I sing my way through the dishes and back into the laundry room (not to mention being exceedingly patient with the littles as I put them down for a [much needed] nap). Nothing can go wrong.

And then Dad gets home. I'm out feeding the horse as it's pouring rain, telling my boy all about the wonderful surprise I have waiting for Mom. I can't wait!
I hear Dad's truck pulling up the drive, he stops, rolls down the window and calls out, "Hiya! You almost done? Can you come up and help me? I got some stuff to celebrate Mom's birthday." He continues up the drive as my heart starts to pound and eventually sinks as I think about how inevitable it is for him to buy a cake. I take plenty of time making my way back to the house and his truck, kicking myself for not thinking that of course Dad would buy Mom a cake on her birthday, trying to formulate a plan in my head of what I'm going to tell Dad. I can't possibly tell him that he's just set a full-blown thunderstorm on my lovely little parade. *sigh*

"What did you get?" I call above the beat of the rain as I near his open truck door. "Oh, just some flowers and a big, beautiful, chocolaty cake!" He says this last part with the look on his face that he gets when he thinks he's doing something very special for us and he knows that we're going to love it. Normally, he's right; but now my mind races with what to say.
He hands me the flowers and requests that I find a vase for them and arrange them. "Oh, Shelby's much better at that than I am," I quickly say, coming up with a plan. Shelby will take care of the flowers and I will hide the cake that is still warming in the oven. . .somehow.

We make it into the kitchen and I am amazed that he doesn't even seem to notice the oven that is on. Usually he would immediately ask me why in the world the oven is on, as if I had purposely turned it on with the motive of burning down the house. But he says nothing, as he turns around and goes back out the door! Now's my chance. I wait a second to make sure he's not coming back in right away, and then I frantically grab some potholders, switch off the oven, and rip my cake out of the oven. But --- what to do with it?? How do I get a hot cake out of sight?? Shelby comes in as I'm unconsciously opening a drawer. "I'll grab some hot pads to sit under it so that he has no reason to get mad at us if it's discovered," she says sensibly. Yes, hot pads, why didn't I think of that? My younger sister helps me hide the cake just as Dad walks back into the house.

I nonchalantly sway back into the laundry room to finish folding a load from the dryer as Dad and Shelby continue with the preparations for the dinner table. I think I'm covered with the cake incident. .  . .until I remember: There are six other people in this house who have been looking forward all day to eating my chocolate pudding-cake. They are surely bound to say something when Dad presents his flashy, chocolaty tower to them. But how to let them know of the situation discreetly? Then I've got it.
I call each child back to put away his/her clothes, whispering to each a quick explanation of why we will not be eating my cake. Everyone agrees not to say anything to Dad. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or cause a scene. And now that I think about it: if word got out to Dad about my cake, certainly pulling it out of a drawer in his presence is going to be rather embarrassing. Oh dear.
Now I'm thinking of how I can get the cake out of the drawer and into somewhere else that would not be so embarrassing to pull it out of should the need arise. (A drawer, really? Who's idea was that??)

It turns out, the best idea comes from Mom, herself. I slink upstairs with my own clothes and the telephone hidden beneath them. No, it's not safe to use the land line; what if Dad were to need the phone while I was on it and noticed that it was being used? Best use my cell.
So I call Mom and explain the whole thing. It sounds pretty silly when I actually try to explain it to someone else. Funny how it seems like such a catastrophe at the time.
She laughingly tells me to put it in the back of the refrigerator. Why didn't I think of that?

We end up eating Dad's cake that night, and the pudding-cake today after lunch while he's at work. I still don't think he knows. :P
Next time, I think I'll check with him before I surprise everyone with a cake.

~Sam

A Tribute to Lexi

Last week--as well as being my birthday week (February the 12th!! ^.^ )-- marked the one year anniversary for Lexi and I.
*ahem* So here is a sort of tribute to my girl (and ohmygosh it didn't save any of it from the first time I typed it all out!) :

In late January of last year, I was going through a really depressing time. One day, a dog came up the drive way. He was a big male that I thought had a bit of pitbull in him; but I needed a friend, and he was sweet, so I said, "Ok, Lord, a special dog would be nice." I named him Fella and fed him and we became friends. . .before he left 2 hours later, never to be seen again.



The very next day, my mom was leaving the house to go grocery shopping. She called the house when she got to the bottom of the driveway and told me that there was a stray puppy down there that she wanted me to feed. So I went tramping off with a bowl of food once again, though I thought it was an odd coincidence.
I honestly expected the cute puppy to wander away as soon as she was done scarfing down the food. After all: once a wanderer, always a wanderer, right?

She was very much afraid of the kitties when she first arrived.
I don't think she'd ever seen one before. :P

But she ended up shadowing me everywhere I went, except into the house, because we don't allow strange dogs into the house. She was afraid of the other kids, though I could tell that she wanted to make friends.

The stray puppy stayed at our house for four weeks straight without leaving. We fed her every other day, because my dad didn't really like the idea of taking on yet another animal's care. But after four weeks, he was calling her my dog and laughing about her persistence.

Maggie wants to go out and play with "the stray puppy".

I started calling her Lexi because I got tired of referring to her as "that stray puppy".

For my birthday last year, my mom took me and a friend of mine to a small conference given by one of my favorite Christian authors.
After the weekend was over, we arrived home late that Sunday night. It was an especially cold night and snow was predicted. I couldn't help but worry about the puppy; I hoped that she wouldn't run away since I'd been gone and it had been cold. She was still afraid of the other kids.

When I walked through the door and upstairs to my bedroom, I found her, with a brand new pink collar, bouncing off my bed ecstatically to greet me! "I'll expect you to take full responsibility for her," my Dad told me, standing in the doorway.

I hadn't expected that I wanted a dog. And, funny as it may sound, a tri-color was the last color that I would have wanted (but then, I didn't want a black horse, either). And because I was so depressed at the time, I didn't want to have to care for somebody else other than my horse--I wanted only to live in self-pity, at least for a little while longer. But Lexi soon changed all that.

She eventually graduated to a bed of her own (still way too large); but God brought this puppy into my life at the perfect time. Her seemingly inexhaustive energy has kept me on my toes. And she has been so needy for love and human approval that she forced me to get over my depression faster by giving me someone to love and hug and care for.
Sure, Joey needs his care, too; but this little stray puppy that never leaves my side and is bouncing off the walls nearly all of the time begs for attention and affection way more than my introverted horse. In fact, she is the horsenality that I wish Joey had, and he is the dog that I always wanted. How weird is that? xD

It has been one year. Thank you, Lord, for the puppy that I didn't ask for.

Ranting About Lists and Cleanliness

Ack!!

It's raining and muddy and yucky out; so that puts much of a damper on my time spent with Joey. We want to be together; but the air itself is just so wet and heavy that neither of us are enjoying being out much. So, we go out for feed and a rub, but that's about it at the moment. I love to ride in the rain (except for the mess it makes all over my clothes if I ride bareback and my tack if we ride with tack) but Joey hates getting rained on. He sees no point in going traipsing through the muddy woods with wet leaves clinging to him all over (remember our bur problem?).

I do not feel quite myself anyway, what with all the med doses I am having to take with this lymph node problem of mine. What? I didn't tell you about that? Well, long story short: Since Thanksgiving I have had a golf ball-sized lump under my arm; it appeared about the same time as an infectious-looking knot on my finger. Mom and the doc are hoping that it's one and the same thing (my lymph node reacting to trying to get a foreign object out of my finger). Doc prescribed me three doses of steroids three times a day and antibiotics twice a day for a little while and we're hoping that'll take care of it. If not, then it's off to get a biopsy done (ew).
But anyway, the meds (mostly the steroids) are being no fun, making me feel irritable and foggy-headed and nauseous; and to make things worse: I have to take my last dose of steroids for the day at 10 in the evening, so that pushes bed time back a couple of hours (which a horse owner who does enjoy sleeping in can't really afford to do). So yeah. No fun. And messing up the whole routine. Not to mention this weather. *sigh* -_-

So, upon this rainy, muddy, damp and foggy-headed day, I have decided that it is a good day for making lists. Lists of all kinds of things (well, speaking in the horsey realm, of course). It just occurred to me: All my childhood, I dreamed of having a nice, clean, organized barn, even when I just had the one childhood pony. What happened? Did I lose that dream? Because my barn currently does not resemble in any way, shape, or form the cleanliness I had envisioned. I know what happened: reality attacked. Owning a horse takes up a lot more time, effort, and thought than I originally expected as a young girl. Still, my love for the barn work has not been ruined for good; just. . .depressed by the lack of organization.
So, lists it is. Lists of barn chores that I will make it a habit to complete daily; as well as lists of things that I would prefer to be done weekly-- such as rinsing buckets and sweeping up hay, etc. I mean, come on, I was certainly raised better than this (meaning, by the hunter/jumper barn I used to work at during my early teen years). I will strive to create these habits of cleanliness over the next several months and strive to instill them in my apprentice, Miss Shelby Hoskins of 13 years. If anything, I must teach her to run a neat, tidy, and safe barn, even if there is only one horse. The world depends upon it (well, in a way).

During all of this list-making, I am educating myself finally on everything that is usually done at horse farms to prepare for spring. Stuff that we've never done. What do you do around the barn to prepare for spring? I know many horse people compete their horses come spring and summer, but obviously Joey and I can't. But what about barn maintenance and upkeep? Care to enlighten me on your annual routine come March? I dearly hope so.

Note: Took lots of "before" pics to compare with when I finish organizing my messy barn. But alas, blogger is still being a booger head. So we will have to remain patient (although I'm not sure how much more patience I have for this problem. . . I blame the steroids. . .I do with everything else that's been going on. . . -_- )

~Sam