Sweet Summertime and Answered Prayers

Sweet sweet summertime is officially here! The days are longer, the lightening bugs are out and hello tan lines! Summer brings about some of my most favorite sights of the year and also makes me long for long days on the Bay followed by crabs smothered in Old Bay. While Mike and I are far from the Chesapeake, I'm still lucky enough to get to spend my days outside with the horses soaking up the rays.

The arrival of summer means that I now live in my Sperrys...at the barn, on the water, at home, everywhere. This also means that my lovely Sperry tan line is now in full swing and it will only get worse from here (I'll be sure to post a picture of this beautiful phenomenon at some point).

Summer also means summer camp and don't all of the horses look thrilled...haha. Summer camp makes for long days with shortened patience levels by the end of the week but every once in awhile you run into a group of kids that makes it all worth it. When you see a student finally have an "ah ha" moment it makes the whole week better. Something as simple as a brand new rider being able to navigate an obstacle course at the walk on their own can put a smile on my face.

This summer I got especially lucky and have some team members that decided to stay over the summer to work and ride. Watching the riders who really want to improve work their butts off and get some great results is so rewarding. Every time I have a student who asks me for extra work so that they can get an extra lesson that week it makes me want to jump for joy. Talented riders are great but give me the hard working rider any day!

Summertime in the horse world also means its time to whip out the check book...you're either spending money at horse shows or on vet bills and clearly this year I got the vet bills end of the check book. With Spence's current state (which is improving by the day!) there won't be any horse shows for us this summer outside of my coaching students. I did, however, get a huge pick me up last week during a vet visit. Spence has been racking up the vet bills at a much higher rate than I've been able to save up to pay everything off so I've been praying to God to give me some guidance through it and to somehow help provide the funds to get everything taken care of...well goodness gracious did He answer! Dr. Jennifer informed me that someone had sent a money order to them for Spence's bill that took care of a significant amount of our remaining total, they didn't leave a name or anything and I haven't been able to get anyone to tell me who did it. To the amazingly generous person who helped us...THANK YOU! You have no idea how much that meant to me and the amount of stress that was taken off of my shoulders that day. I know that God put it in someone's heart to do this for us and I just can't get over how amazing it truly is :)

Outside of the horsey life...still not sure if I actually have a life outside of the horses...summer equals cookouts and s'mores. If s'mores aren't a part of your summer than your summer just isn't complete. I remember sitting in the back yard as kids making s'mores and listening to Mom's "scary" stories all night. Now as an adult sitting around a campfire, or a grill if that must suffice, and making s'mores is such a comfort.

Of course, summer also means trying to find new ways to even out my "tan" without ending up like a lobster! And no I have not yet figured out this balance. Between a mix of sunscreen, hats and rolling up sleeves I attempt to prevent the inevitable farmer's tan....it never works. Maybe I'll bring back my pink floppy hat from last summer to protect my face.

This summer has also opened the flood gates of weddings! Mike and I are so excited and grateful to have been invited to be a part of so many of our friends' big days! I love going to the mailbox and finding save the dates and wedding invites as well as all kinds of wedding magazines and catalogs for our own wedding. Gray and Wade's wedding is quickly approaching in July and the fact that I have picked out a strapless bridesmaid dress is a tad worrisome...Gray I promise to try and fix my tan lines in time!! Any suggestions on self tanners anyone?

Mike and I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer so far and has exciting 4th of July plans, I know we are both super excited to have Ashley coming down for a visit this week! I'll be sure to update soon as to how our first 4th of July down south goes and on my new position as head coach, which starts on Monday!! Now who wants to send us some Maryland blue crabs???