Degree of Love

also known as Lola, 6 year old QH mare. I look silly and she's a little furry - our usual.

and since I talk about them a lot, introducing...

Sawyer (a.k.a Soy-Boy)
1 year old domestic long-hair
Adopted from Kalamazoo Animal Shelter

Frankenstein (a.k.a Frankie or Wankers)
7 year old domestic long hair
Adopted from my horse camp

Fuzz Bear (a.k.a Wuzzle)
6 year old domestic short hair
Adopted from Dearborn Animal Shelter

Their powers combined they are our "Scattle", so named because they are stupid-cats a.k.a "scats" and the three make a small herd grouping. They're pretty entertaining for cats. Frankie is a hoot and Sawyer is following his footsteps closely. Fuzz is your typical bitch-cat but she loves me so it's all right.

Spring 2009!

I'm getting a haircut on Wednesday after about a six month hiatus of hair care. I'm also debating on getting bangs - something I haven't had since the 6th grade, but hot bangs like Hilary Duff's. Man, I hate saying that but her hair looks cute and my current style isn't far from this one. Currently I'm in the long curly one-layer stage and it has to *GO*!

This summer I'm going to:
1. BE TAN! and FIT!
2. Ride and show my butt off with Lola
3. Go to the beach more often and *relax*
4. Read three books of my chosing
5. Become involved with Riding For Reading (www.ridingforreading.com) a non-profit org.


In other news, my current rant is:

I went to see an Advisor today in the College of Education and after waiting nearly an hour and receiving a $15 parking ticket I found out that I am going to be stuck here for 3 more semesters including my student teaching. *SIGH* I'm very tired of being in school for 7 years and having nothing to show for it other than two pieces of paper saying I have degrees when I can't get a job with either paper. I know being in college is not the worst thing in the world but I'm ready for it to be over with. I want a house and a backyard, a dog, a horse to campaign and show, a garden, somewhere to plant myself semi-permanently that doesn't involve living in an apartment complex. It's frustrating when people my age have homes, REAL JOBS, and post their wedding photos on facebook. I can't compete with my three spoiled housecats, boyfriend of 2 years, 1000 sq. ft. apartment and barn job cleaning stalls. I guess I won't catch up until I'm 40. If even then. I've been having this feeling where I need to prove myself to everyone around me and it's unusual for me, so I know it's some exterior force making me change my thought pattern. It's odd. Oh well. *sigh*

a well needed update

hello blog-world.

My new job at the farm is going well - the usual chore routine, bringing horses in and out, refilling feed bins, etc. Both of my trainers are sick as of today with the flu which means that I have to begin taking my daily vitamin again to boost my immune system. : ) I cannot get sick because I not only don't have the time but I loathe being sick.

Lola and I have reverted to the basics of being soft in the bridle. We had some issues riding forward on the bit without hopping off the front legs, soooo needless to say we're starting from the beginning to work on a few things.

My riding goals for April are:

1. Pole work at the trot and canter. Begin working on trail obstacles and samples.
2. Showmanship!! Work on sample patterns and get that pivot down a little quicker.
3. Huntseat. Work on moving forward and staying in frame through transitions.
4. Get SHOW-READY for the Schooling Show on April 26th: pull mane, wash & condition tail, get a hunt cap! (ebay?)

I was planning on attending Equine Affaire in Columbus with Jim and Donna, but now that they're sick I doubt that we'll still be going. Which is a bummer because I was going to visit and stay with one of my best friends Ashlee Jones who lives about 10 minutes from the Ohio Expo Center. Sadness. : (

Ben and I took Sawyer to the groomers today to have his mats shaved off. He's such a funny cat. The entire time the lady was shaving him he kept pawing at her like, "No! Stop that, please! I'm begging you."

new beginnings everywhere

It's finally happened - I'm working for my horse trainers!

Of course I'm going to be doing morning chores five days a week, but you've gotta start somewhere and in the horse industry you always have to start at the very bottom. But twenty hours a week of hard work doing what I love will be extremely good for me. I start Monday and am pretty excited to cut down my hours at Office Max (a.k.a Hell) and start driving that manure spreader. : )

Lola is coming along pretty nice but there is still room for improvement. I have to ride her huntseat this week too just for the practice since I have to show her All-Around this summer. I haven't been in an english saddle in almost a year so it should prove to be entertaining. I'm hoping to ride her in training level dressage as well in GLASS-ED where she should do very well once her transitions tighten up. And I've remembered why I hate training horses to do showmanship too...it's so repetitive and complicated. *sigh* ....we'll make it somehow.

I have finished "New Moon" and am officially hooked on the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Amazon must love bookworms like me.

Lately I've toyed with the idea of opening an Etsy store (www.etsy.com) which would sell accessories for the modern horsewoman regardless of their chosen discipline. Every e-boutique I've come across is strictly english or very *very* cowgirl. What about the folks like myself who ride and appreciate both seats? Where do we belong? Well, my answer is my hypothesized store which I plan to call Modern Mare. I'm beginning to construct Saddle Strands to dazzle up our saddles and make for easy identification in busy tack rooms as well as logo t-shirts and saddle pads. The modern horsewoman is constantly busy and requires gadgets to maintain her identity and aid her life around the farm and in the city.

We'll see how it all develops, but it's in the works. As of now I'm going to begin selling Saddle Strands, blank card and postcard sets, and if all goes well saddle pads, polo wraps and logo apparel. : )

Riding with Jim and Donna has never been better. I'm currently riding Lola as a 'spring project' in order to get her in shape for showing this summer, as suggested by Jim. We're four rides in and already we've made progress. She's a real nice little mare and I hope to work with her a lot this year. Currently we're working on manners (i.e. to stop screaming when we're away from her pasture-mate Rose) and our basic body control. She's pretty sensitive and needs to learn only to do things when asked, rather than assuming what I want. The best example I have is when we're trotting and I prepare to lope off, she anticipates and as soon as I push my outside leg into her she speeds up - welllll that's not *always* what I want, usually I'm just asking her to move her hip over and 'shoulder out' a little (because I'm evil, yes, but it's good for her).

I have a new project in the works now as well in the form of a Western Horsemanship Clinic at my old farm back home. This will be planned for a weekend in June and I plan to advertise it to the local community and 4H clubs as well as their current students. I'm not expecting a super large turn-out, but it's a possibility I suppose.

I've finally found a charity to donate to and volunteer with, one that combines my personal life and my horse life called Camp Casey. The founder, Molly Melamed, use to work at Black River with me what feels like forever ago and founded this traveling day camp for children with different types of cancer and their families. It's a great way for them to break their daily routines, have some fun and learn something about horses and riding! My cousin Brittany passed away a few years ago from Leukemia and I know she would've loved something like this, even at the age of 16. It's a great cause and a way to support children who are coping with much more than they should have to. For more info please visit: www.camp-casey.org

I am beginning lessons again with Donna and Jim this Monday morning and am pretty geeked. Donna suggested that I ride and half-lease her QH mare Lola and show her this summer because Donna doesn't have the time to do everything (which is obvious in the life of a real trainer). So hopefully that works out. I really like them; there's something about them that seperates them from other trainers and I'm not quite sure what it is.

Here's to a new season, one filled with experiences, shows, wins and losses.

I started the next "Twilight" book, "New Moon" and even 150 pages in it is proving better than the first book. Yay. I know, it's written for YA's, but still - I'd appreciate less telling and more showing (she talks an awful lot about things I believe readers can figure out for themselves, if not spoon fed).

Have a meeting tonight at 5 to help establish a WMU chapter of the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English). Should be fun. I'm excited to become involved in something again; it makes me miss my sorority days in a way.

: to do :

x. register for MTTC test
x. laundry
x. email 4H leader about mtng
x. grammar sentences
x. take old clothes to consignment store
x. empty recycle bin
x. hope for snow so we can continue skiing

Went to the library book sale today and collected some amazing finds. 11 books for $1.10; lots of classics. I'm about 50 pages away from being finished with "Twilight" and the copy of "New Moon" that I ordered arrived yesterday, just in time. Debating if I should switch to a new book or continue with the series.

Things to do this week:

1. Make and mail out Valentine's Day cards
2. Plan work-out schedule
3. Get shims for new shelves
4. Hang bookshelves in office
5. Sweep birdseed off balcony before Ben smashes the bird feeder
6. Brush cats
....and more misc. Sadly I look at my own blog for these lists. Go technology.

~~

I was also inspired to create a list of how I'm being 'green' lately:

1. I no longer buy or use sponges. I use towels that can be washed and re-used.
2. I recycle everything that I can possibly recycle.
3. I've re-used shoe boxes for my craft stuff.
4. I love tupperware compared to baggies.
5. I grocery shop with the re-useable bags
6. We have a heating blanket on the bed, and turn the heat down at night.
7. I donate all my old stuff to Goodwill instead of throwing it out.
8. I use a natural dish soap and body soap too (thanks to my Mom's lovely homemade soap shop)
9. I feed the birds all year long.
10. I re-use my glass candle containers to fill with fresh homemade soy candles.

[ i <3 the planet ]

I'm brainstorming for a novel. About horses and the environment that surrounds them, but I'm unsure of which POV to take. hmmm.

Still reading "Twilight" and it's finally getting good. It was a little formulaic for my liking in the beginning, but it's getting better, which is exciting.

The upheaval decorating in our apartment is going well after much procrastination. Finally purchased a new coffee table and end table to match our behemoth of a sectional sofa. And the cats love their bird feeder on the balcony; obsessed. New shelving, frames in dining room, new dining room chairs, and hopefully soon a new microwave. Loving the modern feel we've got going on.

I now want a pocket PC...too bad they're $300. What a great little mobile word processing device that would be - I'd have no excuse not to work on my novel. *sigh* Maybe with my tax return money? *ponders her bills*

hello again

Well, I promised myself that I would blog more this year - call it a resolution if you must. I'm thinking of it as a duty as an aspiring professional teacher and trainer. This blog is never easy for me to keep because it tends to drift from subject to subject. I'm a horse trainer at heart, but also a teacher. Bare with me.

Before I update everyone on my extremely chaotic life (not) I'll explain my older posts. I created this blog for a course I took last semester, Teaching Writing in Secondary Schools, where we were required to blog about readings, group projects and professional conferences.

My life since the last post hasn't changed tremendously. Still in school (one more year, one more year...), still riding whenever I can. I started lessons with a trainer in Kalamazoo and was having an amazing time with them until my financial situation took me away from them (why are horses so damn expensive! honestly). I plan to go back to lessons soon, maybe one every other week instead of one a week to cut costs. I was riding a 5 yo paint mare named Annie working on her western pleasure consistency.

I began training a few horses in the area at a barn in Vicksburg. I finished a 5 yo Appaloosa gelding named Hershey, started a Morab named Whisper, and attempted to tackle a misbehaving gelding named Zoo. He had some major chiropractic work done about a week ago and will move on to another trainer after he recovers. All great horses and great learning experiences for me. Now I'm looking for a horse to show this summer...wish me luck.

Ben and I moved into a new apartment last August and plan to be here until we graduate and save money to move out west (Colorado or Arizona). but we'll continue to live with our 1,000 square feet, a black leather sectional, three fish, three cats, a queen size bed, lots of books, three pairs of skis and a passion for getting the hell out of Michigan.

thought this was interesting / funny

Books that Make you Dumb

A student at Cal Tech did a study about the correlation between SAT scores and the ratings of favorite books listed on students facebook profiles. According to his research he discovered that, "like the Beetles, Harry Potter is bigger than Jesus" when the Harry Potter series ranked higher than the Bible.

“My Culture Runs on These”

Black and orange,
The shading of dirt,
The rubber,
Called Crepe.
The traditional design
That decorates your tops
The part people rarely see.

Long days,
I would’ve never made it without you.
I know I don’t clean you as often as I should.
Stop looking so sad.

You’re a requirement in my life,
One I will always depend on
Like a trusty friend,
To share experiences,
joys and heartbreaks.

I hope you appreciate me as I do you,
But I doubt it.
You probably hate me because you’re overused
And underpaid like the rest of us.

This is in honor of you,
A staple in my culture,
A way to get through,
And something that deserves praise.

Without you
I’m reduced
to less than required.

[subj: cowboy boots]

“I Am From” poem

I am from calloused hands holding reins
Hours of time spent cleaning stalls
Dirty boots and Wrangler jeans.
Cowboy hats, cheap hairspray and glittery outfits.

I am from being stepped on
Getting thrown into the dirt
Laying,
Wishing I was hurt so I didn’t have to get back on.

I am from a confident mother
What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger,
Leave your barn boots outside!
I’m glad you like horses and not crack.

I am from couch forts,
Backyard Igloos and couches made of snow,
Front yard leaf piles,
Sledding at the park after school.

I am from comet powder in the bathtub,
Sorted laundry baskets,
Keys left hanging in the lock,
A brown garage with a squeaky door.

I am from a unique family,
Video taped Christmas skits,
Grease, The Wizard of Oz.
Wacky, loud Aunts and Uncles
Tossing biscuits at Thanksgiving dinner.

I am from famous trainers,
One’s who complimented,
And those that didn’t,
One’s who recognized my talents,
And those that didn’t.

I am from an inspiring 8^th grade teacher,
Who wanted me to teach math
But I want to teach English,
He said he didn’t want me to cross over
To the dark side -
I told him that it’s just a part of who I am.