Another leap of faith

 

A leap of faith brought Mike and I down to Georgia when I accepted the assistant coach position at Wesleyan College and as the now head coach I'd say that leap was a darn good decision. So here goes another leap of faith! I am now officially an independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay. That's right, ride and teach by day and sell makeup in my spare time.

It all came about in a rather funny way actually. About a month ago Mike found a bridal expo in Macon for us to go to and we ended up talking to a girl selling Mary Kay at the expo. Turns out Nicole and I have tons in common and became instant friends! Thank goodness! So now Mike and I have a wonderful couple to hang out with (Nicole and her husband Donnie are newlyweds that just recently moved to Macon, just like us!). Well Nicole invited me along to a Macon Success Night at the Mary Kay Pink Success Center in Macon and the seed was planted in my head. After mulling it over I figured why not give it a try? So here I go!

So if you are scratching your head about what to do for Christmas gifts, hostess gifts, party favors or anything of the like for the upcoming holidays, check out marykay.com and let me know what you love! If you are close to Georgia we can even plan a party! Remember all proceeds of my Mary Kay sales will go towards a wonderful cause of Mike and I's wedding :)

Here is a list of some of my Mary Kay faves (yep I already have favorites)

1. Mary Kay finishing spray...if it can keep my makeup on at the barn, it will keep yours on! Love it!

2. Timewise Liquid Foundation...just enough coverage to hide blemishes and even out skin without looking like you've caked on foundation

3. Timewise Day Solution...the perfect primer for foundation plus it has spf 35 and makes your skin look and feel great!

Be on the look out for our weekend wrap up and our engagement photos page at the top of the blog!!

Love y'all!

Jet setting and wedding planning

 Look out bridesmaids!! Haha!

To say that things have been busy would be a HUGE understatement! Last weekend I jetted off to Boston to visit my parents for fall break, then came back late Tuesday night to be up and at 'em early Wednesday for work, worked all week and through the weekend and then drove up to Savannah,GA with Mike today! Like I said its been crazy but amazing! So I'll start at the beginning....

The wedding planning is officially in full swing after my visit to Boston last weekend. It was so so nice to get a couple of days away from work to visit my parents and, of course, go wedding dress shopping. I will give the disclaimer that none of the dresses in these pictures are front runners and "the one" has yet to be found...although there was one that stood out from the pack. Saturday we hit our first dress shop and had a great time trying on almost every dress that wasn't absolutely crazy, it was also a wonderful way to figure out which dresses certainly won't work at all! It was so nice to be able to share such a fun and wonderful moment with my mom and dad. Funny story...my dad actually went dress shopping with my mom and I for the dress that I wore to military ball when Mike and I were first set up!

Just kidding...mom and I picked out this adorable dress for at least one of the girls!

The other wonderful thing about Boston was the food! Yep I was in food heaven....lobster rolls and lobster could certainly be an everyday meal for me and I would be just fine with that! Cannolis as dessert and I'm a happy happy girl.

 

And as if it could get any better, there were chocolate bars and a tour of the Harpoon brewery complete with a beer tasting...yum!

Leaving my parents and views like this (above) was not an easy task, thankfully Mike was at the other end of my plane ride, waiting with a big hug. The Knot and Twizzlers also helped me through the plane ride back to Georgia.

Back in Georgia it was straight back to work prepping the girls for our upcoming November shows and getting Gift ready for his retirement.

Sunday morning I was up early early to get this cutie pie ready to head up to VA. Gift turned 21 this year and has taught tons of students how to ride so his retirement has certainly been earned!! After Gift was loaded up and headed off to VA, Mike and I headed out to Savannah,GA to meet up with Katie and Paul for our engagement photos:) It was so great to catch up with them and feel like we have one more step done towards the wedding. Plus we got to pick up some of the wonderful "donations" from Katie's soon to be sister in law for our wedding. Yay!!! I'm so ready to get planning rolling along!

Today was also the official retiring of the lucky shoes. These shoes have been through a lot! Once upon a time Gray and I went shopping and she fell in love with these purple heels with a little ruffle, of course being the wonderful roomie that I was, I convinced her to buy them. However, every now and then they would happen to end up on my feet on nights out and those nights often ended with crazy fun stories. For instance they survived a flaming shots induced floor fire (thankfully no one was injured and the house survived as well!!). Then along came my 22nd birthday after Gray and I had graduated and the shoes had moved to DC with her but obviously they wanted to live with me, haha. So I was gifted the shoes and then along came a date in Baltimore with Mike so the shoes traveled along and the rest is history :) Now I just need to find the next owner of the lucky shoes! You must be a size 6 and promise to take super great care of them and obviously have a ton of fun in them!!

Sometimes in life it can be so easy to take for granted the moments in each day that put a smile on our faces; it is my goal from now on to attempt to always be in the moment and grateful for each and everyday that I have with my loved ones. I truly cherish each and every one of you and can't imagine a life not surrounded by so much love and support. Thanks!! And love y'all!!

Life of a coach

Early and foggy first morning of the show.

This past weekend the hunt seat team and I headed up to Greenwood,SC for our second show weekend of the season. I often get asked what being a collegiate coach of an equestrian team involves so I figured I would give y'all a little outline of the weekend on the coach's end.

The weekend actually starts on Friday; after getting all of the loose ends (aka loose horses) taken care of at our home barn its time to head up to main campus to pick up the team...and so begins the insane packing of a minivan with 6 college girls. The drive up to Lander University is about 4 hours...buttt you have to add in the time for getting lost looking for the hotel. Gotta love when the hotel changes names and doesn't inform customers! After finally finding the hotel it was time to hit the hay.

Saturday morning started bright and early and with a panic attack. You know the feeling you get when you're packing for a trip, that feeling that there is something you forgot..well that feeling woke me up at 5:00 am. I had forgotten the back numbers for the team (those numbers that go on the backs on the jackets during their riding classes). Thankfully a quick phone call to our regional president put me back at ease and we headed out to the show. Lander's barn was a quick hop, skip and jump from our hotel. The day always starts with registration for the teams, warm up for the horses by the hosting college, a coach's meeting and then the draw where each rider gets assigned a horse by random draw. Then the hurry up and wait begins.

There is a lot of standing, watching and waiting at horse shows.

Towards the middle of the day the nerves kick in as I make sure that all of the girls get ready on time and head towards the mounting area with my first rider of the day. All of the riders get on their randomly selected horses mere minutes before their class and are only allowed to adjust their stirrups before heading into the show ring. 

Shae and Faith at her very first IHSA show.

Once the girls head into the show ring I turn into a cheerleader/smile inducer at the in gate. I'm pretty sure if someone video taped me this weekend they could set it to music and get a ton of hits on youtube. But my crazy "sign language" must be paying off because the girls have been kicking butt!

 

At the end of day 1 the ribbon total came to: one 5th and 6th in advanced walk/trot/canter and one 3rd, one 5th and one 6th in the walk/trot division.

After a fairly short show we headed back to the hotel for power naps and then off to Red Lobster for dinner, clearly we are roughing it on the road :) And a trip wouldn't be complete without a shopping trip!

Day 2 started bright and early again but thankfully without any panic attacks, instead the panic attack was replaced with the chaos of repacking the minivan. The girls came out with a vengeance on Sunday and their hard work and my crazy "sign language" paid off. The walk/trot girls came out with a 4th and a 5th in one class and then our point rider for walk/trot brought home another 3rd place to put 4 points on the board for Wesleyan. Then the advanced walk/trot/canter girls brought home a 6th and a 2nd to put another 5 points on the board. And on another exciting note, my walk/trot/canter rider who placed 2nd is now qualified for Regionals as a result of her ride and is now moved up to the next division!! Now I just have two more seniors to qualify for regionals and one goal of the year will be complete!

Now just because the show is over doesn't mean the coach's job is done, not even close. Another 4 hour drive back to Macon to drop off the girls, then off to the barn to unpack the team chairs and cooler, give hay and water to all of the horses, drop the van off at Enterprise and then finally arrive back at the apartment around 9:40 to crash! Then Monday morning rolls around and lessons, meetings, chores and schooling horses resume as if the show weekend never happened. Needless to say I am pretty excited that fall break is this weekend and I'm jetting off to Boston for a break!!

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Riding pants to baseball pants

Its fall in the south and the weather could not be more perfect! Especially for a weekend filled with outdoor activities and temps in the high 70's...love it!

Friday afternoon the Wesleyan hunt seat team and I headed off for Statesboro,GA for the first show of the season. Driving with me is always an adventure...trust me! So we took a little detour to a mom and pop bbq place in Metter,Ga that was wonderfully yummy and then we hit the road again to wander our way into Statesboro with very sketchy directions! But we made it and after a sleepless night we were up and at 'em early the next morning. After the girls repacked the van (I have officially met the only people who are worse at overpacking than myself) we took the forever long drive through the cotton fields to the lovely Evermore Farm where Georgia Southern's team rides. 

The show went really well! My novice rider did wonderfully over fences with very strong improvements over last show season and my returning advanced walk/trot/canter riders came home with two thirds and one fourth place...also showing some great moments of improvement. My two new riders that I had showing had successful rides and I think they will do very well this upcoming weekend after getting some of the jitters out. 

After returning home and eating pizza at a super tastey spot in Macon, I unpacked the van and headed home to crash! Whew horseshows can take it out of ya. Thankfully Mike had a super fun day planned for Sunday...we got to go see the Braves play in Atlanta! We continued our luck with wonderful weather and a home team win, doesn't get much better than that!

Turner field

Two very happy Georgia peaches:)

This week at the Wesleyan barn we are welcoming our newest horse, Hemi, to the barn and preparing to head up to Lander University for a two day show this coming weekend. Mike and I are also squeezing in some wedding planning tomorrow with an appointment at Men's Warehouse to get the ball rolling!

Hope y'all are having a great week. Love y'all!