What I've Been Up To and Gorgeous Horsey Photographs

Bad blogger! Baaaad blogger! >.<

Hello, once again, friends! So sorry for the delay. I've been. . .

. . .away at music camp. Man, what a blessing! I REALLY didn't want to go (went kicking and screaming, as it were); but God never fails to use those situations in my life to teach me some big stuff. I made some of the best friends ever and learned more than I expected there was to learn about being a vocalist (I now know the difference between sopranos and altos, and basses and tenors. :P ).

 My solo recital piece. :)

 

 

. . .finishing up preparations for college -- which starts next Monday (August 19). O.O In prep, I have received my very own laptop (touchscreen, too :P <--funny story. . .) as a graduation gift from Mom and Dad. Her name is Stella, and her favorite color is purple. ^.^

 

Me, Stella, LuLa, and demon-puppy-Lexi. :P

 

 

. . .playing a whole lota guitar. It's been way too hot this July/August to ride. *sad face* :( (of course, what summer isn't?) Poor Joey is sweating buckets of black sludge from 7:00 AM to 9 o'clock at night. I feel so terrible for him; especially because I'm such a weakling that I can't bear to go out and visit him very often.

 

That black log kinda off to the side is my other dog, Maggie. :P

Ok, one more quick thing before I sign off for now (and she did not ask me to do this ;) ):

My cousin, Erin Long, is just about as horse crazy as you can get. Which makes us the best of cousins (sometimes we wonder why we weren't born sisters?? o.0 ) Horses have been her hobby since we were leetle kids. (We kinda host a webpage together of anything and everything having to do with horses; still kinda new, but check it out: http://herdnerds.weebly.com/ ) She rides all the time; and we've both always been HUGE fans of Breyer horse models. But within recent years, she has been trying to make a name for herself in the artsy world of horses: she customizes Breyer models, sketches amazing equine artwork, and takes simply stunning photographs of everything and anything horsey (will give you a view into horse heaven down below)! In short: You NEED to check out her website. At least check it out, if not help her spread the word about her amazing talent. The best part is that all of the proceeds (outside of shipping and materials) go toward JustWorld International, a charity that aids children in third world countries through the equestrian world!
Here's the link to her studio site:  http://modestmarestudios.weebly.com/

And here's the link to her studio's facebook page; give her a like and stay that much more up-to-date on what she offers: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Modest-Mare-Studios/184302188413841?ref=hl

A lot of her photos are of her own horse Sid and his pasturemates.

I call it "Contentedness". :)

A photo she took of my Joey during our own personal photo shoot.
I've used it as a possible book cover idea. :D

One of her sketches.

Another sketch.

 

Her latest project (and my personal favorite so far): somewhat before. . .



. . .and somewhat after :P

You should really go check out her website. She has some really neat-o in-barn pictures that I simply adore (she's currently loading them onto her site, I do believe; if they're not there, I know they are already posted on Modest Mare Studio's facebook page).

 

I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

~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

 

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.