Gem State

There are a lot of things I would like to write about but alas I don't feel up to that much typing. Our day today was spent at the Gem State Stock Horse Show in Ontario, Oregon. Nathan showed Doc Oaks Remedy, owned by Jacki & Mike Massimino, two of my favorite people. I love horse shows for the shear social aspect of it all. Also, I just got a banging new lens for my camera, a 2.8f 70-200mm. Let's just say, I am in love!!!! Here are my fave's from the day....

Words of Wisdom

I found this little snip-it on someone else's blog and I felt it worth reposting...

1. Never panic. Stop, breathe, think.
2. No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves, just like you.
3. Never change haircut or color before an important event.
4. Nothing is either as bad or as good as it seems.
5. Do as you would be done by, e.g., thou shalt not kill.
6. It is better to buy one expensive thing that you really like than several cheap ones that you only quite like.
7. Hardly anything matters: if you get upset, ask yourself, "Does it really matter?"
8. The key to success lies in how you pick yourself up from failure.
9. Be honest and kind.
10. Only buy clothes that make you feel like doing a small dance.
11. Trust your instincts, not your overactive imagination.
12. When overwhelmed by disaster, check if it's really a disaster by doing the following: (a) think, "Oh, f*ck it" (b) look on the bright side and, if that doesn't work, look on the funny side.
If neither of the above works then maybe it is a disaster so turn to items 1 and 4.
13. Don't expect the world to be safe or life to be fair.
14. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
15. Don't regret anything. Remember there wasn't anything else that could have happened, given who you were and the state of the world at that moment. The only thing you can change is the present, so learn from the past.
16. If you start regretting something and thinking, "I should have done..." always add, "but then I might have been run over by a lorry or blown up by a Japanese-manned torpedo".

Region 4

Last week was the Arabian Region 4 Championship Horse Show at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho. This was a huge deal for us Idahoans because usually the show is in Salem, Oregon which I have heard is not a very pleasant place to show. Don't quote me on that because I have never been, it's just the word on the street. Nathan was extremely busy running back and forth trying to show and ride all his horses at home to get ready for the Quarter Horse show this weekend. He did manage to have a great show riding Nobles Top Gun to a championship in Arabian Reining Open and Noble Fantasy to a championship in Arabian Reining Futurity. He had two beautiful runs. I took to the arena with my second reining pattern ever and Top Gun was such an awesome boy for me. I can't believe a stallion can breed non stop for a week and then go be an extremely well behaved show horse. I went top five in Arabian Reining AOTR and learned that I am really not going as fast as I think I am out there. There are always things to work on for next time.

Up next for the show season is the Luc McGregor Memorial Derby this weekend at the Idaho Center and then the following week we will be in Reno, Nevada for the Arabian Region 3 Championship. A busy couple of weeks but hopefully after that we can get a breather.

ShoShone Falls

Sometime ago I stumbled upon a website for Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, it was called the mini Niagara Falls of the Northwest. I have wanted to check out this little place for sometime but when Nathan and I have a free weekend it's usually during the winter months when the water isn't flowing as freely.
My brother and his wonderful wife came to visit last week and I thought it would be fun to check out Shoshone Falls as a little activity. We did some hiking and took lots of pictures. There is also a huge canyon in Twin with a beautiful golf course at the bottom, I think I know what we will do next visit.


It was super fun spending time with them, Friday was Jennifer's birthday and in true birthday fashion we spent the day playing miniature golf, batting cages, arcade games, Toy Story 3, pony rides and pizza. It was like a blast from the past of a kind of birthday we had when we were 5.

I Dare You Tires

Sunday on our way home from Malad we were hauling the horse trailer in our new truck, which I should post pictures of. We had two mares along with their week old babies to bring to Boise to breed. About a half our from home all of a sudden we heard this loud bang and sure enough we had a blow out on the trailer. So we gimped up to where we could pull over, jacked up the trailer, and changed the tire. Once we were home and unloading the horses we heard another noise, a hissing sound coming from one of the other tires. There was a large leak in another tire.

The next day Nathan and I went and got both tires fixed and again proceeded to change both tires on the trailer. I now feel like I am queen of flat tires. I dare any of my tires to go flat on me, I can handle it!!!

Malad Football

Malad Highschool had an alumni football game on Saturday night as a fundraiser. I knew Nathan would be pretty pumped at the chance to suite up again. They were in full pads and it was a full contact game. At first I was pretty nervous for him to play but it was so fun to see him in his football outfit, I thought he was pretty adorable. There team lost but it was all just for fun and no one got hurt.

Different Approach

I have decided to take a more personal approach to this blog, because really what is the point of having it if I'm not going to use it. Since Nathan and I don't have more adventurous lives outside of traveling to horse shows, getting ready for horse shows, and training for horse shows I am going to use this forum for my personal use and the off chance that we do something blog worthy you can catch those here too.
One of my New Years resolutions was to read a lot more. Reading was something I struggled with for a long time, not because I was a bad reader but I just didn't have a huge interest in it. And while your reading textbooks all the time it doesn't leave much desire for recreational reading. One book I did pick up while still in college is Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. I loved this little gem of a story about the 1920's traveling circus. I enjoyed it so much that I read it a second time a little less than a year ago. The second time I read it I found myself picturing the scenes as they would be in a movie. Low and behold --- they are now filming the Water For Elephants Film starring Robert Pattinson. I could not be more excited about this and I have been obsessed with the blog and the photos that are coming from the set. I also just happen to be a huge Robert Pattinson fan.

So for your viewing pleasure.... www.waterforelephantsfilm.com

Enjoy