"If I could I'd do it all the same..."

This week brought some very sad news to my alma mater, Virginia Intermont College. While VI's doors will close on July 1st and remain closed there is not a single Cobra out there who will be able to shut out all of their amazing memories of VI. I may have worked my tush off to graduate in 3 years but there isn't a single thing I would go back and change....except to maybe stay for an extra year! VI gave me the knowledge and confidence to go out and pursue my dreams in the equine industry, as well as the backing of a well known and respected program. Just having the name VI on my resume and transcripts has opened so many doors for me that I still gush about the program anytime I'm asked about my college in an interview. The professors and faculty at VI have been a constant source of advice, support and knowledge for all of their students...even after graduation! I know that anytime I'm in a pickle I can pick up the phone and call anyone of the professors in the equine program and get a good solid answer. I cannot thank Eddie, Sue, Heather, Lisa, Lauren and Kristen enough for all of their support both during my time at VI and since graduating.

 

VI not only shaped me into the horseperson that I am today but into the person that I am in all aspects of life. VI was a place to grow and "find your voice," it was a place that let each of its students pursue their passions and discover new ones, it was a place that let us explore our opinions, change our opinions and voice our opinions. VI certainly taught us how to grow up and protect what you believe. Most importantly VI was home away from home.

Lou pony loved our college years too :)

VI was home away from home and the friends that I made there became my family. The friends I made at VI have become my lifelong friends...and make up most of my bridal party! We've been there for each other through the challenges of college and graduation, through the loss of a classmate and friend, and now through the loss of our alma mater. But no matter what we still have each other and all of our mini reunions at each others' weddings! Please keep all of the amazing faculty, staff and horses in your prayers as they go through this rough transition in VI's history. You can also help support the VI ANRC team through this link ANRC fund. The team has qualified for Nationals and in just 2 days has raised enough money ($5,000) to go! Now the rest of the money raised will go straight to the horses at VI for supplies such as grain, hay and farrier expenses.

Feel free to take a walk down memory lane with me

     

 

  

 

 

I'd say we made it out pretty great! Can't wait for more wedding reunions :)

Love y'all!

April showers bring May flowers

April showers bring May flowers for sure but that doesn't mean that April brings any rest! April has already been a super busy month and we're only one week in! This past week I hit the ground running with prepping the team and horses for the upcoming show weekend. The lesson schedule was packed and the barn was bustling as the girls got ready for horse checks...it was lovely to end out the week with a barn full of clipped and bathed horses though! Spence even got in on the busy schedule this week now that I'm out of my cast we got back to work and he stepped up to the plate this Friday and went in a lesson after some of the school horses decided to play lame when they heard whispers of an upcoming show! The equestrian team also hosted our first ever "Who,What,Wear" fashion event on Thursday with local boutique owners. The event showcased looks for interview/work, a dinner outing with coworkers, a girls' night out and examples of how to dress for your body type. The event was a hit and we are very excited to have the participating boutiques attend our horse show on the 12th to set up shop. Sunshine, ponies and shopping...what more could you want?!

People on campus were slightly stunned to see me in a dress instead of riding pants!

My first weekend back in Macon since the recruiting trip started with a 5:30 am barn trip to bring in the ponies before the hot air balloons took off over campus. Thankfully my wonderful team ladies also got up early so bringing in the horses took all of 10 minutes and then we headed off to IHOP for a team breakfast. We got back to campus just in time to see the last of the balloons lifting off and to see a stray peacock wandering around campus! A work day to prep the barn and riding arena for next weekend's show followed and then I hosted a craft party for the underclassmen on the team...more to follow on this after the seniors get their gifts :)

Today was finally a relaxing day that started with homemade venison sausage and scrambled eggs...yummm. Then Mike and I headed off to Lowe's to stock up on planting stuff to spruce up our front "porch." Fingers crossed that our tomatoes, green beans and jalapenos do well!! I think our lilies also add some nice color to the entrance and make it feel a little more like spring on this rainy Sunday.

Hope y'all had a great weekend and that everyone is starting to enjoy some sunshine!

Love y'all!

Florida wrap up and wedding update

I made it back to good ol' Georgia after a wonderful weekend at The College Prep Invitational in West Palm Beach,Florida. The weekend was so great both from a recruitment standpoint and a networking standpoint. It was wonderful to be able to bounce ideas off of other coaches and see how different equine programs are put together and run. The weekend was exactly what I needed to get refreshed and ready to come back and make the final push to the end of the school year. Its so great to get excited about next year's potential again! I was also super excited to get to reconnect with some of my VI family while in Florida! Eddie, who is now the director of the SCAD equine program, was a great source of motivation and awesome about helping me network with other coaches. I am so thankful to have come out of a program with such helpful professors who continue to want their students to strive for excellence even after graduation.

While things were fairly busy down here with me traveling all over the place for work, Mike and I were lucky enough to get a visit from my mom the week before I left for Florida. It was so great to have her here to help me with all of the little details of the wedding...and to help me satisfy my current shopping cravings!

On Sunday we got to roadtrip over to Savannah with mom to show her the venues for the wedding and soak in some sun and sangria!

Thanks to mom's trip to Georgia I was also able to drop my dress off for alterations!!! I am so insanely in love with my dress and absolutely cannot wait to wear it in October :)

Now that we've made it into April the traveling will calm down a lot but the events at the Wesleyan barn are picking back up as we prep for our upcoming horse show and then wrap up the college year with fun team events including attending the opening day at the polo fields in Atlanta! Mike also goes back to crazy work hours now that the daylight lasts a bit longer which means I get to spend the extra daylight hanging out with Spence man....cast free I might add!

Love y'all!

Travel blog

So as some of you may know I'm down in Florida for the College Prep Invitational this weekend to recruitment for my hunt seat team. I certainly can't complain about being in West Palm Beach for the weekend so I figured I'd keep y'all up to date on the happenings. I started the adventure yesterday and in true Jessica fashion I stopped at the sketchiest gas station ever! From the road it looked pretty legit but oh no! First I had to go in to retrieve my receipt for gas and quickly realized I didn't even want to look at the food in that place, but a bathroom break was a must. Ummmm where to start, there were no locks on the stalls and a ceiling fan that was directly over the lightbulb...yep lightbulb not a light fixture...giving off that lovely scary movie flashing light feel. I attempted to push it all out of my mind and make my escape but I was trapped. Not even kidding I couldn't get the main door unjammmed even after throwing all of my weight into it!!! Thankfully a very nice gentleman came by outside and rescued me. I swear my travels never stop amazing me. Eventually I made it to my hotel safely after the 8 hour trip.

Today marked the first day of the show which kicked off with a college fair for the riders and parents. It was a great, although very windy, day and a wonderful way to start off the recruitment process. Getting to reconnect with some of my VI family was the cherry on top and I'm so excited to go back tomorrow!

Wish me luck y'all! Love ya!

PS I promise to write a wedding/mom visit update when I get home!

Not Only the Good

     So I figured since Jess is still in the cast and watching her type the last post was a little painful, I'd add a post of my own to the blog this week. She's been a real trooper about having her cast on this long even though I know it's killing her that she hasn't been able to ride. Life has been a little crazy since the accident with work, wedding planning, and visitors but we're hoping it starts to get back into some form of a routine soon with her cast scheduled to come off next week.
     With everything happening this past month it was something little like our dog Chloe peeing on her dog bed the other night when my parents were visiting that made me say "there's always something". I was getting home from work and we were all going to go right out for a nice dinner when she decided that our plans would be delayed. I get frustrated, but honestly I've got no other choice but to laugh it off and realize it's the things like that which are truly out of our control. "There's always something" isn't the right attitude to have, because when you say that, there always will be something no matter how good things are. I have to practice what I preach, I always tell Jess when she gets frustrated with work or life to worry about the things she has some degree of control over and have some faith that the rest will find a way to work out. For those of you who know Jess closely, which I'm assuming is most of the people that read the blog, you know that she over apologizes. When things don't go our way or she sees that I'm getting frustrated she'll say sorry when there's nothing for her to be sorry about. When we're being tested I stop and tell her "I'm not just here for the good things, I'm here for the not so good things too". I say that because things are never truly bad if we don't allow them to be. Yes we've hit a few bumps in the road and encountered some challenges with the move down here to Georgia and more recently the car accident, but things have never truly been bad and I don't believe they ever will be. I tell Jess I signed up for all of it, the good and the not so good, when I got down on my knee and proposed, when I asked her to join me on this big old adventure we call life.
     We've grown an immense amount since making the decision to move down here and when we reflect on where we were and where we are now, we both agree that we'd do it again in a heartbeat (We will research where we're moving to more in depth next time haha). There truly is no substitute for experience and with the love and support of our family, friends, and each other, we're learning as we go. Hope everyone enjoys the long awaited first day of spring!

Hello March!

 

Hello sunshine!! March marks lots of sunny days and the start of festival season here in GA. To kick start the season Mike and I headed to Forsythia Fest two weekends ago to enjoy the sun and some tasty food.

 

Key lime pie dipped in chocolate and on a stick?! Sounds like the perfect one handed food to me! And yes it was delicious!!

March is also a wonderfully busy month for Mike and I. This past week Mike's parents came to visit for a couple of days and brought down my new travel buddy. Mary Lou the Honda Accord is now officially a Georgia resident and has survived her first adventure with me. Thank you both so so much for all of your love and support! I'm so excited to get to join such a loving family :)

Speaking of Mary Lou's first adventure, Clark came down to escape the northern winter this weekend so we ventured to Zoo Atlanta on Saturday to enjoy the great weather.

 

Tesla the gorilla was celebrating his 25th birthday this weekend.

 

And my favorites were out today!! Love the giraffes!

I think the flamingos approved of my cast...and yes that is a monogram on my cast.

It was so great to catch up with Clark and his visit gave me a little piece of home which I have been missing.

This week my mom is heading down to escape the Boston cold and give me some much needed wedding help, so be sure to check in soon for lots of wedding updates! Then I'm off to Florida the next week for recruiting...wish me luck!

Love y'all

End of IHSA season and wedding update!

Hey y'all,

I am so sorry that I have been awful about keeping the blog updated! As it turns out I have a broken wrist from the car accident so life got a tiny bit more complicated over the past week or so. I am finally able to attempt at normal typing with my lovely pink cast on but I've been sidelined from being in the saddle for a bit.

Teaching, however, must go on!

My weekends have been occupied with horse shows, as usual, so some parts of life have remained normal. Two weekends ago I was in Hilton Head,SC to work at an IEA show and was lucky enough to sit with the SCAD coach all day and swap fun Ed Fed stories (all of my VI girls will love that he is very loved and doing well at SCAD). I also got to meet up with the very patient Katie and Paul for dinner and to pick up my dress!!!! I squeal every time I look at it!

The rest of the week was filled with lessons, insurance calls and doctor appointments before closing out the IHSA season in Charleston, SC with the hunt seat team. The girls did amazing!!! My walk/trot senior (who just started riding this August) brought home first place for her last show which made me a very proud momma bird (at least that what the girls claimed I looked like). I couldn't be more proud of the rides that everyone put in that day, despite the on and off rain, everyone rode wonderfully! You can read the press release here!

 Rainy horse show gear!

Then Sunday we headed to Statesboro for Regional Finals where Aaron laid down a beautiful ride but was just out of qualification for Zones, her class had 17 riders!

The western ladies got to take home regional 4th place team, however, complete with a nice big ribbon to add to the collection!

Now we're back home prepping for our community show in April and I'm prepping to have lots of guests this month!!! I've also had a few minutes to work on our wedding website to keep everyone in the loop about wedding activities....and yes I will finish our Save the Dates this week...I hope!

Check out our wedding website!

Love y'all!!