The time we stayed in IHOP for 72 hours...

Anyone who has traveled with me knows that it is always an adventure and Mike and I's trip to West Palm Beach the other weekend was, of course, no exception to the rule. Mike was nice enough to travel to Florida with me for my yearly recruitment trip to the College Prep Invitational, little did he know that my hotel booking skills are questionable at best. The equestrian team has experienced a few of my hotel booking mishaps over the past two years but Mike was privileged enough to experience one of the most interesting...we basically stayed in an IHOP for 3 nights. Not even kidding the lobby of the hotel was an IHOP! 

Thankfully our hotel was not a reflection of how the weekend would go. The College Prep Invitational is a wonderful event for high school students to ride in front of at least 20 different college coaches and recruiters as well as compete for scholarships. It is also a wonderful venue for colleges to be seen by lots of students interested in equestrian teams  and programs as well as an opportunity to network with other coaches and see what other programs around the country are doing. A huge plus to this year was being able to catch up with my own college coaches! Virginia Intermont may not be around anymore but the wonderful equestrian program was adopted by Emory and Henry University thanks to the hard work and heart of the wonderful Lisa, Heather, Kristen and Dr. Patty. It is so wonderful to see the history of VI continuing on with the backing of such a wonderful institution. Heather and Lisa are a huge part of the horse person and person in general that I am today, without their amazing guidance and teaching I would be no where close to where I am and I could not be more thankful to them! 

Getting to hang out at WEF is another huge plus of traveling all the way to West Palm!

I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed to have such a supportive husband who will travel to crazy places, stay in weird hotels and watch horses "go in circles" all day just to support my dream! Thankfully he really did enjoy the Saturday Night Lights Grand Prix showjumping at WEF...fast horses and big fences is always exciting!

The weekend after returning from CPI I traveled with the western team up to Lander University for a weekend packed with four horseshows. The team rode wonderfully and came up with two reserve champion team ribbons on Sunday! This weekend I head out to Statesboro with the hunt seat team to show at Georgia Southern so fingers crossed for some great ribbons and another regional qualifier! We are currently at 3 regional qualifiers for the year!

Namaste y'all: reflections on the new year and healthy eating update

This year's New Year's resolutions started a bit early for Mike and I, instead of making a list of resolutions we've made a pretty drastic change in our lifestyle. As many of you know Mike and I have started juicing and we've been really good about keeping it going even through our Disney trip and the holidays. We've also made a conscious decision to eat more healthy. When we started to think about what we needed to change we really looked at all of the processed foods that we had been consuming and we've made big moves to cut out the processed stuff. We have successfully given up soda completely...trust me this one might be tough to keep up with at horse shows...we have also turned towards more fruits as desserts and tend to opt for more seafood options rather than burgers and such. I have also faced my caffeine addiction head on and while I will still make a latte (that's right we now have an espresso machine and I can actually work it!) here and there but more often than not I have a hot green tea in the morning. The best part of the change is that Mike and I have both noticed how much better we feel! My migraines still try and pop up but are so much more manageable now that I am putting good things into my body. Mike has a ton more energy and we both feel like we are really on the path to a healthier lifestyle.

I have also gotten myself back to yoga on a regular basis and love it! Hometown Yoga here in Macon is so inviting that you can't help but leave in a better and more relaxed mood. Along with yoga I was somehow wrapped into a friend's New Year's plan and attended my first Pure Barre class last week. If you want a workout that is upbeat, fun and will kick your butt then definitely look for your nearest Pure Barre location! My core was worked like crazy so I will certainly be going back as having a strong core is so important for riding and I know the horses are so much happier when we are fit as riders. Yoga is also a wonderful practice for riders as it really helps with balance and focus on where your body and mind are at all times which makes a huge difference when riding. Why not help yourself and your horse all at the same time?!

If I had to pin down a New Year's resolution other than leading a healthier lifestyle I would say that I have two: to be more in the present moment and to keep in better touch with everyone. In this age of technology it is so easy to involve ourselves in our screens rather than the present moment. I want to remind myself that each moment is a gift and to live in the moment rather than constantly distracting myself with my phone, computer, etc. I also want to remember to cherish each and every one of you! I can be so awful at keeping in touch with everyone, especially with so many friends and family spread out all over the country. While I am so blessed to have loving family and friends who are amazing at picking up right where we left off I also know that I need to put more work into my relationships. This year will be an exciting adventure and I am so happy to have the chance to share it with so many wonderful people!

Current obsession: Ginger. I add ginger root to all of my juice recipes because of all the amazing benefits! Ginger has a ton of uses but it is an amazing anti inflammatory and has been proven to aid in migraine prevention and reducing the severity of migraines. However, I "accidentally"  picked up a pack of dried ginger snacks in the organic section the other day and I do not recommend them at all! Crazy spicy and not very yummy. Thank goodness ginger tastes great mixed into juices!

Newest (and one of the yummiest) juice recipes: 1 celery stalk, 2 apples, 2 oranges, 2 cups of baby carrots and 1 TBL cinnamon...so yummy, tastes like pumpkin pie!

Love y'all!!

Disney Magic!

                         

I'm not quite sure how we are already in 2015!! The past few months of this year have been an absolute wonderful whirlwind of wedding prep, getting married, seeing friends and family, traveling to Disney and wrapping up 2014. Obviously the highlight of the year was getting to marry the man of my dreams! I loved every minute of our wedding and love looking back at all of the wonderful moments (and yes I promise to share more pictures as soon as they are available to share with y'all, trust me I'm anxiously awaiting seeing them as well!) Upon our arrival back to Macon Mike and I faced our first hurdle as a married couple when Lou had a very scary colic that required 4 sleepless nights at the vet clinic, fortunately we have a wonderful vet here and Lou pony pulled through! It was so nice to bring him back home and get to see his sweet goofy self everyday. Plus we got to take our annual Christmas photo again this year! (See middle photo above from our stop at the barn on the way home from Christmas Mass.)

Our next highlight of the year would have to be getting the chance to do a Disney trip!!

                         

Mike and I were lucky enough to get to travel down to Florida with his parents for a Christmas Disney week. It was wonderful and getting to see Disney for the first time and at Christmas was a very special treat!

  

Day 1 in Animal Kingdom

 

The Osbourne Family Lights at Hollywood Studios were amazing! 

 

Our first day in Magic Kingdom Mrs. Denniston got us all reservations at Beast's Castle for lunch. The food was excellent and the entire castle is gorgeous! It is amazing how detailed every single attraction is at Disney. The entire area around Beast's Castle is all Beauty and the Beast themed and has one of the most entertaining characters, Gaston. If you want a laugh just go to youtube and type in Gaston encounters at Disney. You have to watch the one where the little girl argues with him about the beast....here's the link  click here.

 

For dinner we headed over to the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review which is over at Fort Wilderness and  just happens to be right next door to the Disney stables. So of course we had to walk around and visit the adorable grey ponies! By now most of you know that I have a very soft spot for grey ponies so I was in pony heaven! When we entered the dining room we discovered that we had amazing seats as in you could touch the stage from our table good seats! Of course sitting that close to the stage makes you a pretty awesome volunteer target which is exactly what happened. Yep I was "volunteered" to go up on stage for part of the show and perform as a can-can girl. It was hysterical and fun and I've now made family history as the first one to be picked as part of the show.

 

After dinner we headed back to Magic Kingdom for the electrical lights parade and the light show on Cinderella's Castle, absolutely beautiful.

 

All of the Christmas decorations were insanely beautiful, including this gingerbread house that is completely built out of edible materials!

 

On our visit to downtown Disney we got to make our own Mr Potato Head

 

Mr. Denniston got to meet some of Henry's favorite characters on our second day in Hollywood Studios!

 

And I got to be the time keeper for Fast Pass at Rockin' Rollercoaster....probably my favorite ride!

On Friday Mike and I spent the day at Epcot and enjoyed walking "around the world." We especially loved our stop in Germany where we ate delicious caramel creations and got to read about the pickle tradition. In Germany each family hides a pickle on their Christmas tree for the children to find and the one who finds the pickle gets a special present, it was a wonderful reminder of the tradition that we practice every Christmas at my Omi and Opi's house.

Mike and I had a wonderful time in Disney and coming back to reality was a bit tough. We cannot wait to share this new year with all of you! I'll be sure to do a new year's resolution post this week and a juice update!

Love y'all!