I'm Baaaaaaaaack

Hello all!

I know I haven't posted in a couple months, but i've been busy! Here's what we've been up to...

*Uriah went to California for 2 weeks, where I was alllll alone, and it was miserable. It felt like he was gone for 3 months.
*While he was in Cali, I received a free weekend flight home. Thanks Mama!
*I've finally started riding Tuff on the weekends after a long time off because my saddle was needing repairs. Now we're back in bit'ness! The ride this past weekend was VERY hot and Tuff dunked his head in the creek all the way past his eyeballs. Last week he dunked it up to his eyeballs and blew bubbles. I love my horse.
*This past weekend we had Kelby (Uriah's sister), Josh and Averie visit us. We kept ourselves extremely busy by visiting the National Zoo on Friday, and then touring the memorials in Washington D.C. complete with a trip in the Washington Monument tippy top! It was awesome! I am also not ready to have a 2 year old running around to take care of. How does one prepare endurance wise for this? I am T.I.R.E.D.!
*Of course i've been working, but this job is coming to an end. Drags me down on so many levels, and I feel it start to chip away at my well being. I feel like a bad person when I leave. Hmmmm. Emergency Vet Tech is a huge possibility. I'll keep you updated.
*Lastly, for the last 3 months we've been house hunting. Yes, 3 months. It has been VERY time consuming, and i'm getting burned out. Our goal is to buy cheap, find a house that needs some TLC and make some money when we sell in 2 years (when I finish school). There is a fine line in TLC, and a complete remodel, so we're trying to be patient and waiting on the right one. I have been praying about it and leaving it to God to help us with our decision. We found one last week that was being offered at a great price and alot lower market value then the neighborhood, made plans to look at it, it's decent, needs some new carpet and paint and a few upgrades but nothing too extreme, so we decide to make an offer on it. Yesterday we found out that it has already been under contract for 1 week. I felt really relieved because I had been praying that if this house wasn't meant to be, then it just won't fall into place. So we continued searching. Today we went to look at another foreclosure in the same neighborhood and our realtor says that the other house is accepting a back up offer because the first one isn't looking too good. So I had to talk myself back into it. I don't know if God is trying to teach us to be faithful, or if this house just isn't meant to be. Something in my gut is making me nervous. I am pretty sure it's the fact that we're investing alot of time and money into our very first home. We shall see. I am trying to remain at peace and pray alot and know that God knows my heart and knows what we want. I am excited about decorating and OWNING our very first house! Getting to decorate has me super excited. We went window shopping at home depot to check out all the stuff we'd like to change and make imaginary plans just to get an idea on how much money we'll need to save. It was actually fun. Uriah and I have the same taste! Please say lots of prayers for us during this huge step.
*I have also registered for classes this year. Jessica if you are reading this, please say a special prayer for me. As soon as I write these words, you will surely understand. ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. After work, from 5:30-9:50 pm. I can feel my hair falling out already.

-May the Lord have mercy on my soul is all I have to say!

I did a little homework on what I need to take in order to FINISH my degree, and it was a little depressing. My problem is that at UNCC they had a B.A. in biolgy option. Maryland does not! In order to get a degree in Biology I will have to take Genetics, Organic I & II (labs for both) Physics I & II (Labs for both) Calculus I & II ( I took calculus I 8 years ago, and there is no way I remember enough to take calc II) Biochemistry, etc etc, blah blah blah.

Long story short: I don't plan on being a professional student.

So I am switching to animal science for which the only thing I need is Genetics and Organic I + lab. Isn't that much better? AND! AAAAAAND!!!!! I can concentrate in equine science. Hello dream courses! Where have you been my whole life? I am super excited to have finally figured out this mess of a degree i've been working on for 9 years and finally have some excitment level to it. Now you may ask what I am going to do with my degree? That is a fabulous question, and the answer is: I plan on having babies. That is all.

Uh emmmmm: Seriously though. My dream job is to own a barn, train, board, and do all the other very hard work it requires to run a horse barn. Fortunately for me, I am going to win the lottery in 2 years and that will allow me to do anything I want to. Part of that time may allow me to sit on the couch in slouchy sweat pants and eat peanut m & m's for hours on end. Seriously. Again. There isn't much difference between Animal Science and Biology. Maybe a few courses here and there, but nothing major. I still plan on doing what I had intended on doing with either. Something, anything in the animal related industry. I like to think of Animal Science as more 'hands on' when compared to Biology and alot more specific in the area that I want to study = HORSES!

Now my goal is to take the intro courses to the program at a community college = cheaper. Then apply to University of Maryland at College park to be a part of their animal science program with a concentration in equine studies. Alot of my prior BIO credits from UNCC should transfer so it won't be a 4 year degree (won't take me that long), but I do need to take some courses (30 hours I think) at UMD@CP to be considered eligible for a degree from them. Just the right amount of hours needed to get all my equine science classes underway because the rest have been *almost completed (at uncc).

That should be the majority of it. Thanks for reading this far-this was a very random posting, and lifting us up in prayer.

Love,

Lindsay

I went riding today!!!

Long time no post I know. Sorry. I've been working too hard and being too lazy when i'm not working too hard. I won't go into detail about that boring stuff, but the most important thing is I went riding today!

For the first time since November before my surgery!! It was glorious. Today was just a glorious day. Perfect weather.

I saw a barely 3 day old foal (baby horse) and he was the cutest thing. Dare I say almost as cute as Tuff when he was a little baby? I'll post pictures later, but he was just the most precious thing I have ever seen. I love little horsey noses. Especially ones with curly whiskers. I definately miss having babies around.

Tuff had clover for lunch and he was really slobbering buckets. He had a constant stream of drool coming out of his mouth when I first brought him in from the pasture and then occasionally he'd open his mouth and let a big wad of it drop on the ground. A few times almost on my shoe.

I finally got a new saddle pad and girth for the Australian saddle i've been trying to fit since January. UGH! It was definately hard to find tack for this saddle. So today was the day. I had my tack ready that I had bought the week before, only to find out the pad was too small. The girth is okay, though i'm not entirely sure i'm going to be able to use it anymore because the billet strap (to tighten the girth/saddle) broke off mid pull and left me with nothing to pull with. I need to take it to the leather shop down the street to have it repaired. But go figure, I finally get the tack and my saddle bites the dust. Oh well. It is a good saddle, leather wears out after being pulled for a while. If it weren't for the awesome people that take care of Tuff being at the barn to help me with all the questions and tack malfunctions I probably wouldn't have ridden. Have I mentioned that they are AWESOME? I mean seriously. It's a 30 minute drive for me, and I was originally skeptical about moving Tuff away from my 10 minute drive, own tack room, own catch area, double stall, but goodness. It is SOOOO nice to not have to worry about if my horse is getting fresh water, hay, food, and attention if anything should arise. I have to say, that if I ever found a barn 10 minutes from me, I don't think I would move him, I don't think i'm gonna find another barn as caring or attentive as these people. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about. Tuff's leg is doing fabulous. There are so many nice things I could say about it. I am 100% happy that I moved him. I realize now the only doubts I had earlier were about the distance that I would have to travel, and missing the friends that I had made, but that is long gone. I'm happy.

Sorry this post is all over the place.

I will post pictures soon.

Lindsay

It could always be worse

I realize I haven't blogged in a while, sorry folks! Life Happened. I've been busy with school, school, school, work, and more school. I'm only taking 1 class, but when i'm not working, i'm in school. No social life thats for sure. So yesterday was my final. I had an 89 average in the class (1 point from an A) and studied as much as I could Sunday, reading over my notes, jotting a few things down, and studying with a friend from class. Things were okay, though I knew I could have studied more and suddenly I wished I could have taken the day off on Monday morning to study instead of work. I always do bad on final exams. I always put so much pressure on myself. Easy questions become hard, and easy answers are lost in my brain. It's that bad. I felt okay after the 10 page, all short answer, fill in the blank test, figuring I got a low B. Still an okay chance to make my A in the class. Well, I instead made a 75.5 and have an 88.2 in the class as my final grade. I am soooooooooooooo upset at myself. If I would have studied 1 more hour. Jotted down 5 more things on my paper. Remembered a little harder. B. B is for BOOOOOO. I am more upset that I am so close to my hard earned A. 1 point. 1 measley point. I wouldn't be as mad if I had done bad during the whole semester and earned an 88. But I rocked the semester out and got an A in the freakin' lab for goodness sakes. But 1 point from an A is just not cool with me. I know I could have done it, I know it. And I know that if I would have studied just a little bit longer I would have.

Then I talked to daddy. He told me that his captain at work fell off a 20 foot ladder roofing his house, broke 3 ribs, cracked 2 vertebrae, jammed his pinky finger and possibly disfigured his shoulder. He could have died. He had angels protecting him thats for sure. I am trying to tell myself that things could always be worse. Suddenly a 88.2 doesn't sound SO bad.

It could always be worse.

I just need to learn to let go and be happy that I still got higher than the class average grade in the class, that most people struggle with Microbiology. And I got almost an A. Almost is what sucks the most. I don't like almost. I WANTED IT SO BAD. Ok, I think you get the point. I really am trying to talk my way into coming to terms with the final grade. Pray that maybe my teacher will note how hard I tried and give me the little bit extra that I need. Hopefully. Prayerfully. I am going to pray. And also pray for people that fall off ladders.

Thanks for letting me air all that out. It feels a little better getting that off my chest...

Lindsay

Thanks Jennifer!