We've Moved!

Well we've moved in the blog world that is, check out our new updated blog over at southernhokies.wordpress.com

The first post is a details post from our wedding with tons of photos plus check out our new tab, Mary Kay Mondays, to get weekly specials from me!

See y'all soon!

Love

Jess

Flashback and Charleston Travels

I realized today that it has been forever since our last update, but I hope y'all enjoyed the essential oils blog and have perhaps decided to try some for yourself. Around here things have been busy busy with horse show season wrapping up which means cramming shows into weekends and cramming lessons into the weeks. In the midst of the craziness Mike and I got away for a work weekend/vacation. I worked at a horse show on Saturday in Charleston and then we got to explore the city a bit that night, meet up with Katie and Paul for Sunday brunch and then have a date day. Plus it was the anniversary of when Mike and I first met! Yes, I know it might be cheesy but we met on Valentine's weekend.

From military ball at Virginia Tech to our wedding in Savannah and many more adventures to be sure!

If you haven't been to Charleston,SC yet it is definitely a place to put on your bucket list! Saturday evening Mike and I went downtown to Hyman's to get our fill of amazing southern seafood and tried boiled peanuts for the first time even though we've lived down here for 3 years now.

 

    After stuffing ourselves we walked it off on King's Street. I mean what girl wouldn't be happy walking through stores of Sperry, Lilly Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines?! We ended the night with a trip to Godiva for chocolate covered strawberries which were so so worth the price tag!!

   On Sunday we met up with our friends Katie and Paul for a yummy brunch at The Early Bird, so good. There was a line out in front just waiting for them to open even with the chilly temps. Then Mike had a super romantic plan for the day. I am in love with The Notebook and Mike found the perfect Valentines date to fit in our Charleston trip. We went to Cypress Gardens which is where they filmed the portion of the movie where they take the row boat out with all of the geese. Needless to say I was giddy! The Cypress Gardens were gorgeous, even in the cold, and had plenty of mini attractions as well. One good thing about the cold is that we didn't cross paths with any gators!

Of course we had to stop at our favorite gas station on I-16 on our trek back home! Mike got brave and fed the long horned bull this time!

I'll be sure to update y'all on the end of the show season for the team and share all of our wonderful wedding photos very soon!!! Thank you all so much for your patience as we enjoy looking through all of them and remembering the wonderful day. Thank you also to everyone who has helped us on this journey of life from blind date to wedding to marriage! Love y'all!

Crunching the numbers

Ok to be honest this post has been swirling around in my head for awhile now, I wasn't quite sure how to put it all into words but here we go.

Everyone always talks about how you'll never need all the math you learn in school but when you start looking around numbers are everywhere...even more so for girls and young women. Every time you walk into a store there are numbered sizes on the pants, walk into Starbucks and the calorie count is on every drink, open up any magazine and there are ads for how to lose 10 pounds or even more...numbers are everywhere. When we are younger numbers aren't such a scary thing, the more cookies the better! But as we get older we are conditioned to want our numbers to be lower, ingest less calories, weigh less or have a smaller pant size. Sometimes you realize that you've only eaten one meal during your day or worse nothing at all.

What do all of these numbers mean? All they are really meant to do is to give us a guideline of what fits, what a healthy weight might be or inform us of our daily calorie intake. Sometimes though they result in making us lose weight or even ourselves. Sometimes the numbers crunch down on our self esteem and make us feel less, right along with the number of meals we've had that day.

I personally have long struggled with the numbers game. If I didn't fit into the size 2s or 0s at a store I would feel down the rest of the day and start to cut out foods. If I got on the scale and saw my weight going up rather than down I would immediately reconsider all of my food choices from the past week. Honestly this is why I don't have a scale in our apartment, my obsessiveness of how much I weigh would literally put me on the scale every day, twice a day...I know, I did it for a whole summer. 

Do you know what none of those numbers ever got me though? They never got me happiness or healthy. Just because I weighed 105 didn't mean that I was happy in all of my relationships. Just because I could fit into the size 0 jeans at American Eagle didn't mean that I could run 5 miles. None of those numbers ever got me what we should all be striving for...a happy, healthy body.

So this year I am making a pact with myself (and now I guess all of you) to forgive myself. I will forgive myself for being so negative to my body when it didn't fit into the right numbers game. I will forgive myself if I gain a pound here or there. I will forgive my "shortcomings" when it comes to today's conventional beauty standards and instead I will strive for a healthy body image. I will work towards a body that allows me to get through the day with energy. I will strive for a body that will keep me going strong throughout the years. I will strive to be happy with myself. This doesn't mean I won't work on myself, heck it means I will work even more but with more of a purpose. A purpose of longevity rather than of fitting into the disappearing jeans. 

Our recent juicing and clean eating has made me open up my eyes to the fact that I can eat healthy foods that give me energy rather than starving myself and binging on junk food for sugar highs. Putting good clean food in to our bodies means that our bodies will work with us to reach our goals, rather than feeding our selves junk just to make it through the day.

At the start of every yoga practice my instructor asks us to set a focus for our daily practice and each time I quietly think to myself "I will forgive myself for not being "perfect" and I will start to see myself in a new light to lead to happiness."

I hope that we can all start to strive for health rather than the image of "perfection" that is portrayed by the media. I hope that we can all have fitness and health inspired goals rather than size inspired goals. How about striving to be able to run a 5k rather than striving to be a size 00, or striving to be more heart healthy in your eating habits rather than fad dieting to lose 10 pounds. Let's strive for happiness and health from our bodies rather than starving to look "perfect."

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!

Hitting the wall

I guess I should start with saying that I hope everyone had a wonderful, warm and food filled Thanksgiving! Mike and I enjoyed the warm fall day by hosting two of my riding students for Thanksgiving dinner and hanging out with the pups, of course! We very much missed our families but are so grateful that we have such wonderful families to miss. We are also extremely thankful and excited that we get to visit with Mike's parents at Disney at the end of this week!! It will be my first trip to Disney so if anyone has any "must do's" please let us know! Mike and his family have been many times so they are very excited to show me everything and I can't wait to experience it all.

Any of you who know me very well know that I suffer with severe migraines that started when I was in middle school. No matter how many medicines we tried or how many journals I kept I still haven't been able to figure out exactly what triggers my migraines or how to prevent them. Recently my migraines have become more frequent and so I've hit a wall, I'm over it! If you suffer from migraines you know that you get to a point where you will try anything to find relief. Well Mike and I watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" the other day on Netflix about a man who does a juicing detox and shares his journey and benefits that he finds. During the documentary he meets a woman with migraines who agrees to a juicing detox and one of the side effects for her was that her migraines stopped....boom I'm sold. So Mike invested in a juicer and we bought out the produce section of the grocery store.

I found a bunch of juice recipes meant for migraine sufferers and Mike found a bunch of detox juice recipes and we are hitting the juicer full speed. So far so good even though the first round of juice was a bit rough, since then we've figured out to make everything taste a bit better. I'll be sure to keep y'all up to date on our progress and post some of our tastier juice recipes.

For now I'll leave you with this cozy scene of our spoiled puppy , Badger, and our soon to be decorated Christmas tree. Love y'all!!