What a gift!

I just wanted to share one of my greatest blessings in life with you guys. This sweet boy came into my life when I was 13 years old, and although I was not terribly interested in looking for him, we fell in love within hours. He's always been a great listener, although he never has much to say back ;) Let me introduce you to this love...

I started riding when I was 9 years old. I can specifically remember the birthday party with my family when I was given gift certificates for riding lessons. I was elated! I had wanted to start riding for a while, and since we had moved to Maryland, it was much more possible.

I took riding lessons at one facility until I was 10 or so, I guess? It was a very large barn, and the lessons only involved riding - all the horses were groomed and tacked and ready to go when we got there. Mom and Dad wanted me to learn the importance of caring for a horse along with riding, and a little more about the work involved, so I moved facilities somewhere around 10 or 11.

At this new facility, when I arrived for my lessons, I was responsible (with the assistance and supervision of my instructor) for the grooming and tacking of the horse I would be riding for the day. This all had to be done before my lesson time started. Shortly after starting at this facility, I was given the opportunity to lease the horse I was riding for lessons. "Happy Appy" was his name - and I thought he was the most beautiful horse I'd ever seen. Recently, I saw some pictures of him, and he definitely was NOT. But...I thought he was beautiful nonetheless. I had him for about a year and a half, and then my riding abilities began to outgrow his "exercising" abilities. I was absolutely heartbroken the day that my instructor told me it was time to start looking for another horse.

A few weeks later, my parents, my instructor and I drove out to a farm about an hour away, and about an hour later, I fell in love. We walked out into the field, and I saw a beautiful black (in my mind) thoroughbred in tall grass with yellow flowers. I walked him all over the field, brushed him, and followed him around as he wandered the field as well. A few days later, he came to my barn for a 2 week trial. He was a dream to ride, and very well behaved. 2 weeks later, during a lunch at Golden Corral, my parents presented me with a copy of his registration papers, with my name listed as the owner! I was beside myself.

Since then, I have continued to fall in love with this boy. We have had wonderful times together, when we ride for hours on end, day after day. We've also had times where I barely get to even see him, but it is always one of the most refreshing things in my life, when I walk into the barn, smell that wonderful barn smell, and see him point his ears towards me.

The gift my parents gave me that day at Golden Corral has been one of the best in my life, and I could never show them how grateful I am for him. Not just for the enjoyment factor, but for what having him as taught me as well. Caring for him, planning for the purchases that need to be made for him, and scheduling time to see him has taught me responsibility and priorities. Working with him on a day that he is being a pill has taught me perseverance and patience. Enjoying him, spending time on the trails, and doing jumping combinations has taught me how to relax and enjoy my blessings.

This boy has been an amazing gift to me, and will continue to be, I'm sure - for a long time to come.

Mom and Dad, thank you for letting me have this gift, for sacrificing much for me to have him.

Danny, thank you for working so hard to make it so that I can keep enjoying him.

I love this boy. I've ridden many other horses, but I can't imagine that any other will ever come close to the bond I have with this boy of mine.

Thank you Lord, for this gift.

What took you so long?!

Hi friends, I know this has been around a few times probably, but I think it's hysterical, and hope it brings laughter to your day. :) Now we have an excuse for going in a group!


When you have to visit a public bathroom, you usually find a line of women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn, you check for feet under the stall doors. Every stall is occupied. Finally, a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter, the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants!
The dispenser for the modern 'seat covers' (invented by someone's Mom, no doubt) is handy, but empty. You would hang your purse on the door hook, if there was one, but there isn't - so you carefully, but quickly drape it around your neck, (Mom would turn over in her grave if you put it on th e FLOOR! ), yank down your pants, and assume ' The Stance.' In this position your aging, toneless thigh muscles begin to shake . You'd love to sit down, but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold 'The Stance.'
To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser. In your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, 'Honey, if you had tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet paper!' Your thighs shake more. You remember the tiny tissue that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your purse. (Oh yeah, the purse around your neck, that now, you h ave to hold up trying not to strangle yourself at the same time). That would have to do. You crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It's still smaller than your thumbnail.
Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn't work. The door hits your purse, which is hanging around your neck in front of your chest, and you and your purse topple backward against the tank of the toilet. 'Occupied!' you scream, as you reach for the door, dropping your preci ous, tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor, lose your footing altogether, and slide down directly onto the TOILET SEAT .
It is wet of course. You bolt up, knowing all too well that it's too late. Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable germ and life form on the uncovered seat because YOU never laid down toilet paper - not that there was any, even if you had taken time to try. You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she knew, because, you're certain her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, dear, 'You just don't KNOW what kind of diseases you could get.'
By this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl that sprays a fine mist of water that covers your butt and runs down your legs and into your shoes. The flush somehow sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the empty toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged in too. At this point, you give up. You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You're exhausted. You try to wipe with a gum wrapper you found in your pocket and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks.
You can't figure out how to operate the faucets with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line of women still waiting. You are no longer able to smile politely to them. A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of toilet paper trailing from your shoe. (Where was that when you NEEDED it??) You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly, 'Here, you just might need this.'
As you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used, and left the men's restroom. Annoyed, he asks, 'What took you so long, and why is your purse hanging around your neck?'


This is dedicated to women everywhere who deal with a public restrooms (rest??? you've GOT to be kidding!!). It finally explains to the men what really does take us so long. It also answers their other commonly asked questions about why women go to the restroom in pairs. It's so the other gal can hold the door, hang onto your purse and hand you Kleenex under the door!

Settling in at home!

Wow, it has been a crazy week! Sorry for the lack of updates, but we do not have internet at home yet. Needless to say...that is definitely getting old! But, hopefully we should have it sometime soon.

Well, we are getting settled in to our new home - and LOVING it! We had a HUGE amount of help the day we moved - which we could not be more thankful for. On Saturday when we moved, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and the move went very well. Several people stayed at the new house for a little while to help us with the stuff we would need right away. So...we started the move around 10:15, and by 4:00 we were in our new home, with an unpacked kitchen, our bedroom furniture set up, and our entertainment system already functional. What a gift!

Today we were able to paint our bedroom wall, which we were glad to do, and hope to paint our living room and bathroom soon!

I will post pictures as soon as I can - once we have internet again!

Settling tomorrow!

Hey guys - thanks for your prayers! Just wanted to give a quick update. The house has passed all necessary inspections, and we will be going to settlement at 2:15 tomorrow after our 1:45 final walk-through!! :)

We are very excited, and a little overwhelmed at the idea of getting all these boxes packed!

Thanks for your prayers.

Closing delayed

Well, we weren't able to settle on the house on Friday. There was some permit that the seller didn't get for the house, and wasn't able to get in time. So...we could use prayer! We were looking forward to painting and cleaning over the weekend, and I'm really having to trust in God that we'll still get in on time.

Please pray that we can get in so we can still move on Saturday! Also pray for my heart and attitude, that I could hand it over to my Lord and be willing to accept whatever the situation is.

Thanks! We'll keep you posted.

Picture frames, anyone?

Alrighty - we have determined with this move that it was time to get rid of some extra things. If we haven't used it in the last year we've lived in this house and don't have specific plans for it - we don't need it!

So...here they are! We are giving away a ton of picture frames. They are all in good condition - many of them still have the price tags on them. I went through a phase where I bought (or my parents bought for me, would be more accurate) a ton of picture frames, with big plans for printing pictures and having them all displayed, but unfortunately - that just never really happened. So, here are some frames that we've decided we just don't think we'll use. If anybody wants them - just let me know! I'm happy to bring them to church or whatever - I don't mind holding on to them for a bit for my non-local readers if you're interested, I just don't need them long term. Let me know if you're interested! I'll try to delete the pictures as I find out people are interested. There's a lamp in there too, if anybody wants that.


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Thanks for looking! Let me know if you're interested in anything, and we'll work it out!

Busy, busy, busy!

Wow, who ever knew buying a house involved all these details?!

We've been very busy the last few weeks. Between paperwork, loan appointments, packing, and all the other details of normal life - it's been quite hectic around here!

This past weekend, we had a wonderful few days. Friday, Danny was off work, so we were able to spend the day sleeping in, packing, watching a movie, and packing some more. Saturday, Danny spent the morning finishing packing up the office and taking down the computer desk (quite a task) while I did some baking and cooking. Saturday evening we spent celebrating Danny's mom's birthday at Steve and Julia's. It was fun to relax and spend time with family! We left that night and headed straight to my parents for a wonderful day celebrating our Savior with my parents, my best friend growing up, and her parents.

What a fun weekend! Unfortunately, on Monday, it was back to the grind of normal life around here.

We settle on the house on Friday! I'll keep you updated as more details come along.