Geocaching

Tonight I went Geocaching with my brother! If you don't know what Geocaching is, check out Geocaching.com. I really don't know anyone who wouldn't have fun doing this with his or her family. Brother and I always have a good time on a treasure hunt!

Long Time Coming

This weekend, we finally got to do something that I have been waiting and preparing for for 4 long years.

I got my precious girl on her horse.

I gave Skyler the "talking to" when I was grooming him, letting him know how important it was to take care of our Gracie. 

We practiced stopping, backing up, and then asking Skyler to talk while we squeezed our legs.  We also did a little one rein stopping, but Grace didn't know we were doing that...I told her Skyler wanted to see her cute pink cowgirl boots! 

Oklahoma got to graze with Gladys during the ride.  I'd be lying if I said Skyler wasn't noticeably jealous. 

Look at his mane!  It's finally growing back in!  My little red horse is looking pretty good this spring. 

We rode ride until it started to sprinkle - probably about 20 minutes all in all.  Not a bad attention span for a 3 year old!  We were able to do this because our Nana bought Gracie a saddle of her very own.  It sits in her living room on a saddle stand, and Gracie climbs up and down on her saddle about 100 times each day.  You have to stay limber!

Two weeks prior, I hauled the ponies out to a friend's arena and rode both horses.  I only have pics of riding Skyler, but trust me, Okie and I spent a lot of time together that Saturday.  As I was leading Okie to the arena to do a little groundwork, he jumped up and got his leg over the rope, then started to walk away from me and pulled the rope out of my hands.  It took him about 2 seconds to realize he was free, and he took OFF!  He ran to the trailer, first, to show Skyler his newfound freedom.  Then he ran to the pasture to greet the other horses.  Then he went through the barn and back around by Skyler, and finally into the back yard of the owner's house.  That's where I finally nabbed him with my friend's help.  What a freakin' stinker!  However, I think he kind of tuckered himself out doing his best Arabian impression (tail and head in the air, prancing around like a girly-man!), and he did not have one single mis-step the entire rest of the ride.

When Skyler lopes, he feels like a freight train and I don't ever feel like I'm sticking in the saddle that well, so I was glad to look at these pics and appear to be sitting in the saddle well. 

Grace wasn't about to be at an arena and not get a ride, so I threw her in my saddle and around we went. 

 Skyler tends to carry his head really low when we add Gracie in the saddle, and I was thinking he was going to try to roll so I kept lifting his head up.  He's never rolled with me on him before, but I noticed him doing this a few years ago when Grace rode with me at Conrad Meadows.

Again, we pretty much rode until sunset.

I am very lucky to have a horse that I feel confident putting my precious girl on.  I hope the horses bring as much to her life as they brought to mine!

Dear Nick @ Nite,

Thank you for playing 2 hours of Friends every night for my viewing pleasure.  Even though I own all 10 seasons of Friends on DVD, I rarely get them out because I end up spending far too much time planted in front of the television.

However, the 6 people I grew up watching are exactly what I need at 11 p.m. when I can't sleep.  With every episode, I think back to the times I remember watching them in years past...good times and great memories.

Your Friend,
Grace's Mom

PS:  I also remember when I was in high school and would stay up late with my mom watching Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley re-runs on Nick @ Nite - feel free to go back to shows that first aired before I was born so that I don't feel quite so old!  Thanks!

KUWTK

KUWTK...Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

I mentioned the other day that I have a love/hate relationship with the Kardashian sisters and their men.  Here are the things I love:

1.  They are marketing geniuses.  I've heard a lot of people comment about the K sisters being famous for being famous.  What may not occur to people is that these women are flipping incredible branders.  They have created a product in themselves - and they are the hottest commodity out there right now!  Everyone knows who they are and what their latest scandal is.

2.  They are a really tight-knit family.  They bicker, fight, and argue.  But in the end, they always have each others backs.

3.  Kourtney is a really good mom to Mason.

4.  Kim is probably my least favorite, but I do appreciate that she's never been fall-down drunk in the papers and seems to hold herself to a certain standard.  Sometimes I wish she would losen up, though.

5.  Khloe is probably the most down-to-earth, and has a really nice relationship with her husband, Lamar.

Here are the things I hate:

1.  The girls are all very materialistic and can be pretty petty.

2.  All of them can be absolutely horrible to the men in their lives.  Kris deceives Bruce, Kourtney is downright rude to Scott, and Kim and Kris...well, that's for a whole different blog.

3.  They can be really raunchy and inappropriate.

4.  I don't think they are good role models for young women in many aspects, the exception being branding and marketing/promotion.

Anyway, that's where I stand with KUWTK.  I was very relieved to talk to one of my favorite cousins last night, and to find that she, too, loves to hate the famous family.  Or hates to love?  Either way.  Clearly, I'm not the only one who is fascinated by this family.

Organize Yourself: Week 2

Week 2 is about organizing your priorities.

New Year, New ORGANIZED Life!

Yes, I realize that I started this challenge a few weeks ago, but I took a hiatus from my personal growth goal to man-handle the holidays.  With two small children and a birthday party thrown in to the mix, I had my hands full creating a holiday extravaganza!  But everything went just swimmingly.  The kids are spoiled beyond belief, as am I.  Just the way we like it!

Anyway...onward!

Here is an except from the book about my challenges for this week:
If I asked you what your top ten priorities are you would most likely be able to list them.  But what if I asked you:  Are you living these priorities each day or even every week?  If you were honest, would the answer be no?  A priority isn't a priority unless you act on it.  Your priorities should reflect your values, not those of your boss, your relatives, or your best friend.

This is very interesting to me.  If you asked me to list my priorities, they would include things like time with the kids, time with the husband, time with the Jaquish family, creating a successful business, coaching volleyball, Relay For Life commitments, supporting the major life events of my two best friends (one is having a baby and one is getting married!!  happy day!), horsey time, and maybe a little time for myself.

But if I wasn't expected to have these tasks on my plate, would I?  Hmmm...yes, I think I would.  I'm very fortunate and I don't have to do a lot of things that I don't like doing.  I'm pretty good at saying "no" and staying away from the things that I dislike.

Some of my tasks for this week include making a list of my top ten priorities, and then making a list of my current activities, and then comparing them.  I feel like these lists will match up okay, but I think that I need to designate more time for the higher priority items than the lower priority items.

One last tip that is given is to not compare your life to TV, advertisements, or celebrities...but...how will I know if I am, indeed, keeping up with the Kardashians?!

My mom watched her first episode of Kourtney and Kim Take New York last week, and she has realized why Kim ditched that loser Kris Humphries.  I'll have to write another blog about my love-hate relationship with the Kardashian family.

Okie and Skyler's Winter Home

Two months ago we moved Okie and Skyler to a "winter home."  Our horse set up is not very easy to manage in the winter months - we don't have pasture, so they cost a fortune to feed because they graze all day on very expensive hay!

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of their new digs.

 The boys have a lovely view of the river.

Clearly, Skyler is getting enough to eat. 

 Nana gets a good look at the yellow horse, making sure his coat looks good and checking for scrapes and scratches.

 This is a perfect example of how Okie and Skyler interact...they are in their own space, plenty of grass and room, not even that close, really...

 ...and NO!  Skyler pins his ears and gnaws at Okie - who probably thinks this is Skyler's way of showing him some affection.

 Absolutely gorgeous property.

 Each of them has a stall in the barn and run - they are penned up at night and only let out in the pasture during the day.  Skyler always goes in the right side and Okie only goes in the left side.  I wonder who made that decision?...Skyler...

 The owner has one horse left - a miniature pony stallion she calls Rusty.  He and Okie have become good friends.  He is in a separate pasture, but his stall in the barn is directly across from Okie's so they chat in the barn.

 I can't remember exactly how old little Rusty is - but he's old - near 30?  He looks great for his age!

 Someone went in the barn...is it snack time?  Must be, to get both Okie and Skyler's full attention!

As grumpy and independent as Skyler can be, he is always the first to greet me when I show up and I can call to him from the back yard and he almost always answers back.  As we're getting ready to leave, he perks up to listen to see if I'm going to say anything of interest...like, I'll be back with apples, Skyler!