The things that bring us together

As I sit here at the airport waiting on a delayed flight and truly missing the manners of the South, I keep thinking about all of the small things that bring so many people together. It is amazing how when you really sit and chat with people there are so many things we all have in common. Just this past week I was reminded of how common ground can bring together people from opposite sides of the world. 

As some of you may know, we have a very large international population at Wesleyan College and this year I am lucky enough to have a student from Japan on my riding team. I began speaking with Mayu over the summer about the team and she agreed to give it a try, now we are half way through the year and she has decided to stay for a second semester! Last week Mayu's mother came to visit and was kind enough to make authentic Japanese food for the girls on the team and myself, it was delicious!! As we were chatting we talked about how great it is that our love of horses brought all of us together. And honestly it really is so great! There are so many people who never take the time to find thoses common ground moments, but goodness when you do you meet some pretty neat people!

    Horse people are notorious for finding each other in random situations and striking up a conversation but Hokies are the same way. Apparently so are Auburn alum and fans as I discovered while taking my Opi to get his haircut this weekend. A simple conversation about Auburn football brightened his day so much. I know that anytime someone stops Mike and I to talk about Virginia Tech I always get excited. So as you go about your travels this holiday season maybe strike up a conversation with the person next to you on the plane or train, you never know who you may meet. And heck if they are a Hokie you are pretty much guaranteed a good travel buddy!

Merry Christmas and safe travels y'all!         Love ya!

The Spirit of the Season

The holiday season is upon us and it is the perfect time to think about what this season truly means. Its not about what we get but rather what we give. It is so important to not lose sight of what Christmas is truly about, the birth of Jesus! God gave us the perfect example of love! Now we just have to work to love each other and care for each other.

To start off the Christmas season the athletics department at Wesleyan partnered up with Jay's Hope to wrap presents for over 200 children! Jay's Hope is an organization here in Macon that works with families affected by childhood cancers, Jay's Hope organizes events for the children as well as the entire family. The Jay's Hope Christmas Party is the organization's largest event of the year and we at Wesleyan were more than happy to help out! All of the athletes, coaches and our athletic director were on hand to wrap the hundreds of gifts and prep the holiday decorations. You can read about it in our official press release here!

On Sunday afternoon Mike and I headed back to Christ Chapel to work the Jay's Hope Christmas Party where we got to greet families and sign them into the event. I think the thing that struck me the most about the entire night were all of the smiles and thank yous. These families are battling unimaginable things in their lives yet they could not have been more pleasant, polite and adorable. While signing in one family, their son perked up and told me that his sister was having her port taken out the next day, the excitement on his face was so wonderful! And his sister was cute as a button and lit right up as soon as I replied with my excitement. Those are the moments when you remember that this season really is about giving (especially your time) and hope. Lots and lots of hope! Please say an extra prayer for all of those wonderful families as they continue to fight through childhood cancers with smiles, tears and lots of hope.

We also brought the Christmas spirit home while decorating our tree, complete with our initialed ornaments that we got last year:)

Now it is time to wrap up the semester with my last final to give tomorrow and grades due next week! The ponies will be enjoying a true break over winter break as our arena is being completely torn apart and redone. I will attempt to enjoy the break from the arena but I'm sure I'll be twiddling my thumbs and aching to hop back on as soon as the arena is ready...I may get stubborn and ride horses out in the pastures! A trip up to DC to see my family before Christmas will be a great way for me to let myself take a break, however. I am so looking forward to flying up to DC on December 19th and then I'll be back in Georgia for a warm (hopefully) Christmas with Mike, the pups and the ponies.

Hope y'all are prepping for Christmas with lots of joy and baking!! My baking marathon is set to kick off this weekend!! Love y'all :)

Stuffing and Sushi

Can y'all believe its already December?! This past week certainly felt like winter was on its way in down here in Georgia but thankfully the weather is turning around (fingers crossed) to warmer weather for the upcoming week.

The puppies and I took some time out of the day to do a quick photo shoot in the fall colors before they all disappear. Can you tell that Badger is used to having his photo taken? He's such a trooper about all of that, Chloe on the other hand clearly has not lived with me long enough to understand posing, haha.

Of course, this past week was the week of Thanksgiving!! Mike and I were lucky enough to host Mr. and Mrs. Denniston for Thanksgiving dinner but we started the day with the ponies at Wesleyan, of course. I believe that Spence is thankful for his warm blanket during our unseasonably cold week.

Badger may have been a teeny bit thankful for his scarf on the chilly Thanksgiving morning...maybe slightly unthankful but he's adorable either way.

After the ponies were taken care of, the rest of the day was devoted to prepping Thanksgiving dinner. Our menu involved: 

Turkey (made by Mike and it turned out amazing!)

Stuffing 

Cranberries (I used the recipe on the back of the cranberry bag and added orange zest, yummmm)

Sweet Potato Casserole 

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Biscuits

Corn

And for dessert I made these adorable mini pumpkin pies :) 

Black Friday consisted of sleeping in and then dealing with a water main break that left us without water for most of the morning but that just meant that Mr. and Mrs. Denniston and I had to head out to the stores. No, we were not part of the crazy early morning crowd! Instead we meandered around Bass Pro Shop and the new Macon mall. I finally started my Christmas shopping, well the parts that won't be from Mary Kay, and finished up shopping for holiday banquet this coming week. (Be sure to check back later this week to see how my holiday banquet table turns out on Thursday) Plus we got to end the day with sushi! So this past week I was able to enjoy my two favorite foods...stuffing and sushi :)

Saturday was a gloriously lazy day of sleeping, ponies and football. And it sure was an awesome football day...yay Hokies!! And holy cow what an amazing finish for Auburn!! Clearly I'm embracing the South with my Mason Jar, adorable new Sperrys (thanks Mr and Mrs. D!!) and SEC football on tv. 

Mike and I are so thankful that we were able to spend Thanksgiving with his parents and already miss having them down here in Georgia! We are looking forward to setting up our Christmas tree and gingerbread house decorating with Nicole and Donnie soon though! So if you're looking for people to visit in slightly warmer weather...get down here to Georgia!! We love having guests!!

Looking for gifts that you couldn't find on Black Friday? Head over to my site for lots of great gift ideas, plus shot me a message that you read the blog and I'll throw in a special gift with your Mary Kay order! 

My Mary Kay site!

Love y'all!