True love is...a media blackout

If you watch How I Met Your Mother you'll remember this image...

from the episode where the gang attempts to not find out the score of the Superbowl so they can watch it together after recording it. This is how I will feel come kick off time for the Hokies. Mike won't get off of work until 5:00 today and then has an hour long drive home so I've been sworn to a media blackout so that we can watch the game together. Even my team members laughed at the possibility of me being able to pull this off! But I love him so I will. Therefore I figured I'd trek over to the bookstore and write an update blog before I start the tailgate cooking...yes even though its just Mike and I at the apartment appropriate fall, football food is necessary!

First off I'm so sorry that I've been awful about updating! Hopefully y'all read Mike's update the other day and understand the insanity of our lives right now. Getting to work at 8:00 and leaving after 7:00pm doesn't give me a whole lot of energy to write. But bring on the craziness! I have 12 team members who will be actively showing this semester and over 23 students total with our physical education course! Needless to say the lesson schedule at the barn is packed and every horse will be earning their oats this year! Courtenay is also officially out on maternity leave as she gave birth to a happy, healthy baby Miriam Augustine Bunn on Tuesday night! She weighed in at 8lbs 2oz and is adorable! Lots of prayers for Courtenay and Phillip as they manage the sleepless nights...hoping she starts to sleep better soon!

In the midst of getting ready for school to start I got to have a visit from the lovely Courtney Might and her brother Brandon while their family was vacationing in North Georgia. It was so great to see her and have her ride with the team during our pre season bootcamp.

Courtney got to ride one of my favorite schoolies, Catch:)

Pre season bootcamp certainly had its ups and downs but it was nice to get everyone back into the swing of things and address some issues before their schedules got filled up with classes and club meetings. It was also a great opportunity for our new walk/trot rider to get on a horse for the first time! I just gave her her 6th lesson yesterday and she is already nailing down her posting diagonals! I'm very excited to take her out to our first show on September 28th at Georgia Southern. So far we have a really great group of girls prepping for the show season and I'm super excited to get out there and show off their hard work....here we come Region 3 Zone 5!

Lexi and Scout and Western Captain Brittany with Jack

Outside of work Mike and I have been attempting to get out and have a life on weekends. Last week we saved up enough energy to make it out to the movies on a Monday to see We Are the Millers....its hilarious! And the movie theater down here has the coolest Willy Wonka candy machine complete with my favorite, Chewy Runts!!

And of course we keep up a healthy feud in our apartment during baseball season (honestly the Hokies are the only team we agree on!)

And this past weekend we tried to squeeze in some fishing up at Courtenay's barn...sadly we weren't very successful but it was nice to be outside relaxing.

Funny thing is this is actually a cow pond! Don't worry there haven't been cows in it for awhile but it was huge!

In other news Lou pony and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary this week! I still can't believe its already been 9 years and simply cannot imagine him not being in my life. I love that tall, crooked legged redhead more than you can imagine:) I am so thankful that our paths crossed when they did and that I have been lucky enough to have so many people who have loved him along the way and helped us out in every move!

Alrighty well I'm off to figure out tonight's dinner. I promise to be better about updating so that the posts aren't so insanely long! Oh and if you want to y'all can now follow me on Instagram! 

http://instagram.com/preppyhooves#

Let's go Hokies!!!!

Hot off the lot

     Sorry we've been a little slow updating the blog this month. Jess has been swamped with work and I've been working late quite a bit as well. Sometimes I think it's just hard for us to sit down and write when all we want to do is unwind from the stresses of daily life. With that being said, today is a little slow on the car lot so I thought I'd take a few minutes to write a quick update that Jess can discover later.
     Work is actually starting to pick up for me. As with acquiring any new skill or starting a new job there's a learning curve and I think I'm finally starting to get a handle on everything. My sales are starting to come a little easier and a little more frequently. Given, I'm working everything that steps on to the lot with a pulse until all my options are exhausted, but that seems to be the nature of sales. You never really know when that overalls wearing old-timer is going to pull up on the lot for the twentieth time, pull $10,000 out of his pocket that's been stored in a coffee can on his fridge for the last few years and be ready to do  business. I've seen it, it happens, and everyone that passed on that customer kicks himself for doing so. Honda is very high on customer satisfaction with their salespeople and as it stands now I'm one of the higher rated salesmen in the building so I feel like I might have a future in the industry. The grind of 60+ hours a week can get to you though, especially when you might only have half of that with actual customer interaction and the rest is cold calling or reading up on the product.
     On a completely other note, Jess and I are excited to be going up to New Jersey next week for my good friend Rich's wedding and to spend a little time with my family. Time off for both of us is hard to come by and we're looking forward to enjoying every minute of it. We've always appreciated our families, one of the many reasons I fell in love with Jess was due to her outlook on not only her family but family in general and what she wants out of our family. The experience of relocating to Georgia has made us appreciate it all the more. Family is precious, it's everything, and we're extremely lucky to be supported by two great ones in our endeavor to make one of our own.

Back to School

Yep its already back to school down here in the South. The public schools in Bibb County officially started the school year on Monday and the private schools won't be far behind. The international students at Wesleyan move in this weekend, boot camp for the equestrian team starts Monday afternoon and classes start on the 21st; needless to say things are getting super busy! Of course, with back to school comes the endless lists of things to get done and things you need to get through the year. So here is my personal list of things that get me through the coming school year.

1. Patience...Patience...Patience

If I could buy patience by the bucket load, I'd do it! I think any teacher or coach can relate to this, patience runs thin towards the end of the week after a couple of rough lessons but you just have to keep on chuggin' through.

2. Lots of happy, healthy ponies

The past 2 weeks have been filled with vet appointments for all of the beloved Wesleyan horses. All of the horses got annual shots, dental floats, Coggins and any necessary joint injections. Being a program based on donations means we often have a lot of maintenance to keep our horses comfortable in their jobs but when they are such saints we can't really complain! Spence and Lou also got to be a part of the vet marathon. Spence was able to get his eye catheter out and go back to being a normal horse! And Lou pony hopped right on the trailer to head to Wesleyan for the day. Of course, both boys got loved on with baths.

                   

                                Lou pony                                                     Spence man

3. Coffee...lots of coffee

If it weren't for coffee I don't think I'd make it in to work much less through the whole day. And goodness gracious when show season starts (Sept. 28th is our first show!) I will be living off of coffee for all of our road trips. 

Apparently Henry is not a morning "person" either and thought I was crazy for being in the arena before breakfast.

 

4. Comfy Shoes

Being on my feet all day calls for a comfortable shoe soooooo bring on the Sperry Topsiders.

My Sperrys have been put through the ringer over the years but I have yet to find another shoe that I want to stand in all day and still like the way they look. Of course, working at the barn I wear my Sperrys 50% of the time and my tall boots, that I love love love, the other 50% of the time. Sadly my tall boots don't always love me back and at the end of the day my feet scream about it.

5. Support

When it comes down to it I truly could not being living out my dreams in the equine world if it weren't for all of the support I receive everyday from my family, friends, students and amazing fiance. Thank y'all so so much!

Coming home to Mike and the puppies at the end of the day always puts a smile on my face.

 

6. When all else fails...

 

A glass of wine fixes the stresses of the day:) That and looking forward to pony kisses in the morning!

 

 

Thanks and random updates

I am still in disbelief of how quickly this summer has gone...its already August?! Just crazy. Talking with one of my college friends earlier made me realize how quickly time flies by and how much has changed in what seems like such a short time. Two of my best friends from college are now married, one of my good friends from high school is married, my sister is starting to look at graduate programs and I'm planning a wedding for next October, holy cow! While this summer has flown by it has also brought with it many changes. I officially became head coach of the Wesleyan Equestrian Team this July and my parents moved to Boston at the start of the summer...by the way Happy Birthday, Dad!! Thankfully through all of the craziness and changes it has been so nice to know that a friend or family member is just a phone call away. I truly have no idea how I would have gotten through everything or still be getting through things if it weren't for y'all, thank you so much!

Speaking of thanks, I owe a huge thanks to Katie and Jill. Through a lot of connections, that would be insane to try and type out, Jill has graciously given Mike and I are first official start on the collecting of wedding decor by generously "donating" mason jars and chalkboard signs to us for our wedding. I have never personally met Jill and am still in awe of her generosity and just can't thank her enough! And, of course, I have to give Katie a huge thanks for being the major connector and for storing said items until we can meet up in Savannah,Ga. Thank you both so so much!! And thank you to Kristen for keeping an eye out for wedding bargain sites for me! If anybody has any budget friendly tips please feel free to leave a comment:)

Now onto other random happenings. As promised here is a photo of the lovely Sperry tan line on my feet...it went away for a little bit thanks to self tanner but the sun won out and has brought it back since Gray's wedding.

There is just no getting away from it...oh well :)

Last weekend Mike and I continued our search for a new sushi place in Macon (we have one but might as well keep trying them all!) After hearing one of my students talk about a certain place called SushiLove for awhile I decided to brave it and try it out. For being in Macon, the place has a really neat concept of having sushi on a conveyer belt that travels around the dining room and you just pick up what you want.

The belt as it came by our table.

The sushi was pretty decent and when we picked from the belt it wasn't horrendously expensive which was nice. I also loved the appetizer that we got...it was imitation crab sticks stuffed with cream cheese and lightly fried, so much yummier than it sounds.

The rest of the week was filled with meetings and vet appointments at work along with random rainy days. Tuesday ended up being an all day athletic department training day which literally ran from 9-5pm. While there were lots of great ideas thrown out we still have a lot of work to do for a successful athletic year...I have faith though! The highlight of the day for me personally was lunch...not because it was a break ;)...and the conversation with Coach Hightower. He is our softball coach and is one of the most welcoming people you'll ever meet, he also happened to go to VMI so he actually knew what VI was when he asked where I went to school. He also informed me that once upon a time the VMI guys had a song/cadence about the VI girls! He claims he couldn't remember all of it otherwise I would totally post it..I can only imagine what they said back in the day!! The other highlight of the day was the sheer shock on everyone's faces when I brought up my age and the likely issues with me trying to rent a van from an outside car rental. Its funny because people often see me and think I'm much younger than I am but then when they meet or work with me suddenly they think I'm far older than I am...I'm hoping and guessing this is a good thing, at least I'm learning to like it!

Welp sorry I blabbed on forever but Mike's on his way home after a big day on the car lot so its out for a small celebration of ice cream:)

Love y'all!