Silly and not so silly Sickness

I just got over being sick from Sunday to Monday. Barf! But not literally, I had a sore throat and runny nose and the whole bit. Now I get to hawk up yellowish mucus because I have a sinus infection, YAY! :D Actually, I AM grateful I got sick, because now I won't be sick on the Beach Ride. I was so afraid that I might, since I had a sore throat on my first trek, and now I have reason to relax and rejoice!

Last night I got up out of bed and met Brittney, Cathy and Darren at my barn to get Justin. So we loaded him up (No problem!), secured him and took him to their house. He was a little antsy while they were moving, because her trailer's significantly bigger (it's a draft horse trailer we both assume) and he was trying to turn around. We put him in Twister's stall and put Twister in Cruise's old stall, and they got along great!

Sad news: Sunday, my friend Brittney's 25+ year old gelding "Cruise" got colic, twisted his intestines and had to be euthanized. It was really sad, but better to be there and say goodbye than to wake up one morning and find him dead. She got to say goodbye this way. Twister (her other horse) was pretty devastated. The next morning when she let her out, she ran around whinnying for Cruise (she was really herdbound to Cruise) and couldn't find him, but then she found the spot where he was buried and just stayed there pawing and sniffing the ground. :( She was SO happy to see Justin, and just stood there with her nose touching his withers. Awww!

It's a good thing we brought Justin over Monday instead of Wednesday (because we're leaving for the beach on Thursday) so Twister could get distracted with another horse and not pine away for Cruise before the beach ride.

rrrrrrrrANDom

So the Ren Faire was fun!!! All the pictures are on my facebook, and http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t259/MarysCwby/ <--here. Captions will provide you with enough information to satisfy what all happened. It was good, except we got yelled at (by the unnamed senior and co-senior "adults" of the group) several times, and were bossed around with unfeeling meanness without giving us a nice "first chance" to obey. *sigh* Oh well, I still had a good time! Me, Sara and Bryan W., Brandy, Sabina, Kate and her mom Lisa all went. My one regret is that I didn't go see my cousins :( But it was fun, I bought a drum! And a belt and a mugstrap and an awesome hat! (which Dad is wearing in one of the pictures, and Laura is posing in one with my drum)

Dance class today was fun, we learned a couple clogging moves from "All That!" cloggers that do precision and were on America's Got Talent! Pretty cool move, it's hard though and they don't have names for their moves OR timing for them. So.... while they're a little unorganized in that department, they're still great! And we finished learning the "Ain't No Other Man" dance for competition. FINALLY! I just need to practice!

Oh, our current Elders are real fun and Elder Orth told me (after I told him I'd talk to Sabina and David about the missionary discussions) said that he could hook me up with another Elder that rides horses, does hawking or hawkery or whatever you're supposed to call it, also sings and plays guitar. WOW! :D Hahaha, so now that I have my husband already picked out... >.<

I'm gonna be super busy this week! I just got back from the Ren Faire, but me and Jon are going to buy stuff for our Halloween Activity for ALL single adults and high school seniors that's THIS Friday night. THEN I have ACT's (for the 2nd time) on Saturday, and then afterwards Danielle talked to me about going to this Sleepy Hollow thing at the Explore Park (which is closing down because its funding was cut off!), then next Wednesday night OR Thursday morning me and Justin are leaving for the Beach Ride! Which we won't be back until Sunday! GAH! >.< Life is SO busy, and I need to squeeze practicing my clogging in everyday this week, and there's still allergy shots that need to be done, etcetera!

Good ole Justin!

Me and Sabina went to the Timed Event Finals at the barn on Saturday, and took some adorably cute pictures with Justin. Watching all the stuff really motivated us both: Sabina to lope/canter more and learn to sit it, and Me to work harder at training Justin and work on barrels and poles with him. It was really fun, and a really good lookin' guy won the Team Roping belt buckle. Oh yeah, it also motivated me to earn a belt buckle one day! I really want one!

Then we rode yesterday morning and he did GREAT! We did the barrels, Sabina loped alot and he stayed at the rail and didn't drift. I personally think the hackamore we used made all the difference, plus I think Sabina's gotten more confident and balanced all around. :D I contacted Aspen about taking lessons from her (trailering Justin down there), perhaps every other week. It'll be nice for me and Sabina, and we can each do 30 minutes -which if we warm up before our lesson starts- we can do alot within those 30 minutes. I'm really excited to start! Aspen is such a great teacher and knows so much! Plus, she's never had a steady enough lesson program for me to really progress to riding the experienced horses (right now, she only teaches students with their own horses), she keeps stopping and picking back up. So hopefully I can just get going with Justin and when she starts back up again I can take regular lessons with hers.

Justin's saddle doesn't fit...still!!! It's not touching his back in the rear of the saddle at all, which means it's too large up front and is falling too far down on his withers. Sooooooo, I ordered a cutback/built-up pad which has extra padding built up at the withers for prominent withered horses. Well, his aren't REAL prominent, but maybe it can just help it fit better. Hopefully! *crosses fingers*

despising procrastination

I should be doing schoolwork. Oh well! Just got back from the Freelands' this morning, they borrowed our horse trailer yesterday and I went with them to pick up a 16 month old colt from Floyd. It was really fun, we went all the way out there and met the long haired guy that trained him and some other horses. He had this gorgeous Tennessee Walker gelding that was a dark blue roan and had just turned 3 that he had trained. That horse was VERY well trained and doing so well! He was a very likeable guy, and the Freelands' might have him train Booberry, their 2 year old colt. Anyways, after dropping him off Heidi let me back up the trailer twice (because I told her that Dad wouldn't give me horse trailer driving lessons) and I did pretty good, then I drove it all the way to 40. xD We got there alot slower than usual, to say the least.

We dropped off the trailer and then I went back with them. Went to Wal*mart on the way home and then gathered up Jake, Kendall, Abby, Sam and Shelby and took them to Martinsville to go roller skating with their friends. So after that me, Hyla and Heidi watched this Gypsy Vanner breeding farm DVD and the Family Cancer Camp DVD which was really nice - they had a good time. I'm actually thinking of volunteering at the cancer camp. Heidi made some AWESOME shrimp stuff that was composed of shrimp, that round fish stuff that tastes so good (looks like a banana, I can't think of the name!), with zucchini, shell pasta, carrots, etc. it was DELICIOUS!!! We also had hot crispy french bread with it, which tasted wonderful dipped in a hunk of softened butter or in the sauce of the stuff itself. I really honestly wish I could repeat that meal!

I slept with Hyla and Shelby, and they made me dance irish a BUNCH before we all got in bed. I really honestly need to dance irish more because I don't have much stamina for it or ANYTHING. But last night I slept sooooo good, dunno why! Shelby's bed must've been really comfortable, and I also had a huge floor fan blowing on me... man, it was so comfortable. I haven't slept that well or been that comfortable in weeks!

Anticipation of the College Life

*sigh* I want to go to BYU Idaho sooooo bad and SOON! I almost want to go in January with Brandy, but I guess it'd be better to go in the Summer or next Fall. But all I have to do is retake my ACT's and if I get a 28, then I can go ahead and apply! Otherwise, since I'm homeschooled, I have to get a GED if my ACT score is lower than 28. My previous score was a 25, so I just need to prepare a little better for it and go in there and do a good job. I'm gonna start filling out my application now, so I have everything ready to go once my ACT scores are in. Not sure if I'll retake it or just go get a GED if I'm lower than 28... guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Hopefully I'll get into the Summer/Fall 2008 track or the Fall 08/Winter 09 track. It'd be nice not to have to wait until Winter 2009 to go. Anyways, Jon's gonna go take his ACT's too, so hopefully we can do it at the same time so we can have a person that we know there with us.

"Ugly Blue Buggy"'s diesel leak finally got bigger and was gushing out last Monday when I was heading to dance class, so Dad and some guys that stopped to help secured the leak with a piece of cardboard and tie wraps! How Bruington typical! ;) Then, the missionaries, Dad and I pulled it with a chain back to the house. He just now has it working again, so hopefully it's fixed and I can drive it again. Though it has been nice not having to drive myself places :-P We might actually get JER fixed though, which would be WONDERFUL because I miss him!

Camping Trip

Me, Sabina, David and Laura all went camping Wednesday night and it was so much fun! Me and Sabina started the day by going to the barn and working with Justin on the ground. He's lost alot of weight and my saddle doesn't fit him anymore, grrrr... so anyways, then we went to Wal*mart and bought a bunch of Halloween decorations because they were so cute and SO cheap! We came back to my house and spent the day decorating for Halloween. I know it's early, but we're gonna wait till October to do the yard, so it also gives us time to prepare! ;)

After we finished decorating we went downstairs and we clogged for probably an hour or more. Sabina's doing awesome and we even did a little combination I put together. It was so fun! Then David showed up and got upset at us for not 'preparing' for our campout. I was a little perturbed, we still had plenty of daylight left AND maybe we wanted to do other stuff! So, I enlisted Sabina's help and got everything together and ready to go within about 30 minutes. We put it in "Ole Farmer" (the old blue truck) and just parked it down in the woods in the camping area so we could pull stuff off the bed as we needed. Turns out, we forgot a couple of items but only made three trips back up to the house. (once to get necessary stuff, the next to take Laura to the bathroom before we went to bed, and I went by myself to go tie Billybob back up! Piper and Buttercup were in heat) David built a fire and we cooked hotdogs and heated up spaghettios for dinner, topped off with some old marshmellows for dessert that really didn't turn out good. They wouldn't get gooey! You'd cook 'em for an hour, but you'd go to eat them and they were melted but still... hard. I'm not sure how to explain it, but they weren't very good. But David and Sabi couldn't get comfortable, Laura seemed to keep tossing and turning and I know that *I* couldn't sleep. I totally considered going to my bed! How terribly un-camping-like-spirit was that? Finally, I got up from my tossing anna enjoyed cooking them and feeding them to Laura! >.< onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1Ut2rvCt1dLWCa1sUwZ_oH_aMmqiiFtMNIuYbrsRrpuDmlW-Rup9tZVVl4_rpENcUyaFOk0ER0DbKN1fv9pzNnxKeqj0zBjB2imgUm39RqO4zHyXJYjuDMoilnss4O8QVF1xp59ITtbN/s1600-h/DSCF7719.JPG">Some highlights:
*Me and Sabina went to the bathroom in the woods before we went to bed, after giving her a crash course on how to do it correctly.
*Sabina leaping onto David in the middle of the night because she thought she felt a spider.
*Dixie taking away David's hotdog stick with the hotdog still on it while he was trying to find a bun. (even though we'd already fed her one!)
*Feeding Laura marshmellows.
*Finding a fuzzy caterpillar on my sweatshirt. >_>
*Dixie hopping into the tent while we were trying to roll up our sleeping bags and rolling around all over looking for some love.

Apple Festival!!!

The Apple Festival went GREAT! I kinda wish Mom'd taken pictures of us clogging, but instead she took a video of the WHOLE thing (which is posted below) so I guess that's fine. At least I can look back and see how I did! There's two master groups, ages 13 & under and 14& up and I expected the younger ones to be pretty dang good, plus I thought that they buck instead of normal singles (buck is a different version of a regular clogging step- faster and harder) because us older girls do bucks instead, but they were just doing normal clogging. They did pretty good for learning it in two or three weeks, but I don't think any of them smiled because they were so focused on their feet. Bless their hearts! But I can't say ANYTHING because us older girls' lines were jacked and our circle is severely jacked. Plus, I got messed up three times, haha! *sigh* Oh well, it was fun anyways! :-P Mom, Laura, and Sabina were there with me and Kristen showed up to watch too.

Beach Ride!!!

I just officially decided that "Yes, I AM going on the Beach Ride!" It's actually a Horseback Ride-a-thon on Myrtle Beach to benefit the American Heart Association. I just finished emailing my aunts and uncles, but for Sarah, Becca and Stephen, here's the url: CLICK
(if you're reading this) I asked everyone for about $5 or $10, which I figured wasn't a whole lot to ask. You don't have to donate, but it'd be appreciated since I haven't reached the minimum yet. :D

I'm super excited though, because I've always wanted to ride on the beach and now I can! My only problem is, I wish I had a professional photographer (or Sarah!) to take awesome pictures of this moment. *smiles dreamily* Hopefully Justin'll be the cool, calmly curious horse that he is most of the time when we're there so we can enjoy it fully. Dad and I are gonna take Justin and Twister (Brittney's horse) in the horse trailer and I assume he's going to stay with us the whole time. Which'll be fine, because I know he loves taking pictures!

Anyhoo, I need to go get ready for dance. Btw, here's a nice video of Brittney loping Justin. I have pictures of her and Sabina riding Justin at Shadow Ridge, but none of me on him! Gosh it sucks being the person always behind the camera! :-P

subjects of thought mass

I just finished doing an hour of schoolwork in my Chemistry book, and it was actually kinda fun! But that was only because it's in the chapter BEFORE you start doing Chemistry where it teaches you how to convert measurements, etc. Since I already know that stuff, it was an absolute breeze, but I'm sure once I actually start doing Chemistry I'll probably pass out from the effort.

Justin's doing great! Me and Him rode with Michelle, Jim (the lady who owns/takes care of the barn and her husband) and Julia (a girl from germany who came to work at the barn for the summer) and their three horses to Ferrystone and rode for 3 hours on the trail. Justin was very good, stood still while I brushed and tacked up and behaved perfectly on the trail. He even did at least 4 small creek crossings, which were all the FIRST time he's done a creek crossing. The first two he jumped, but the others he HAD to go through so he did - and FAST! But overall it was great, and he loaded up fine both ways. Now, we're going to focus on neck reining until we get it down, because I'm SICK of having to ride with two hands, so Saturday evening I went and just worked on turning to the left with the rein on the right side of his neck. We've never done so many circles and ovals in our life.

I'm missing my cousins from the family reunion. :( It was so super fun being there, but now I miss them. Or perhaps I miss having NO responsibility whatsoever and just being able to goof off completely. *shrug* I am looking forward to the Maryland Rennaissance Faire, which me, Kate, Brandy, Sara, Bryan and Sabina (maybe) are going to. I can't wait!!!

Guineas, Dancing, and Kristen oh my!

I need to blog more often. Dancing has been going great! In Clogging Class last week we started choreographing a simple routine to a bluegrass song to perform at the Apple Festival. And while the routine MAY be simple to learn, it won't be easy to do because the song is extremely fast and we have to do lots of bucks and triple bucks. Poopy. Other than that, my second class of Irish went well and Hip Hop is going swell. I just got some shorts I ordered especially for dance in the mail, can't wait to wear 'em! ;) No Clogging today though, classes are cancelled since its a holiday.

Last week I almost ran over two baby guineas that were in the gravel road right in front of our driveway. The poor thing just fell (course they're tiny, so there wasn't much height to fall from) and I snatched it up and found another one in the bushes nearby. I put them in one of our many chicken house/tractor/things with a light. Couple days later, the Momma Guinea with 8 more running behind her is just galavanting through the rain and they're getting soaked! By chance, she went on the OTHER side of the propane tank and I snatched 2 before she ran back and came at me! I put those with the others I had saved the other day, and then me and Brandy found 3 more stranded in their momma's wake, soaked to the bone. We spent a little more than 30 minutes blow drying them to warm them up. Eventually, they were all fine and I put them all together. Next day, Mom sees the other 3 that the guinea had with her still alive and decides to see if the ones I rescued would go back with their mom (so SHE doesn't have to deal with them, when I ALREADY told her I'd feed 'em, it's not hard!) and they did. Next morning, there's 9 instead of 10, later that day 4 instead of 9. Thanks Mom, REAL genius of ya. Maybe NEXT time she'll let me keep them SAFE! >_>

Anyways, me'n Brandy went and saw Kristen on Friday! I was supposed to go help Brandy at work so she could leave early, but I ended up accompanying Danielle to the store to go shopping for jeans (which was very enjoyable/fun) and then we took so long afterwards getting food and picking up Stephen's food from the deli that I only helped Brandy for about 1/2 hour before she was done at her USUAL time to get off work. So it really wasn't like I made a difference, but at LEAST we got to leave finally (thanks to Danielle offering to stamp the envelopes for us). Kristen showed us her dorm when we got there, and we went & ate at a place similar to Friendly's then got ice cream at Target. When we got back, we all ended up watching (Kristen and Brandy eventually falling asleep) Dicky Roberts. Next morning we ate at Cracker Barrel, got souveniers at the college's bookstore and then left taking Kristen with us. Her dad said he'd take her back the next day (Sunday). It was a fun trip!

Irish...Dancing...*sigh*

I'm taking Irish Step/Tap now!!! :D I've ALWAYS wanted to take it since I started doing Hip Hop at the Y, but it always said on the signup sheet that you needed either two years of tap and ballet. And this year she put THREE years of tap. Well, I went to her and asked her if I could take Irish privately, and she said I could just try the class! So, with only one opening left, I signed up and it was AWESOME! Three of the girls that took Beginner Clogging with me last year were there, one of whom is Meaghan (I think that's how she spells it) and we get along really well, so it was nice to have some friendly faces. There were alot of cloggers though, so I suppose clogging was good enough to have. I think it's basically learning the shuffle on the ball of your toe (which takes a while to learn and do it well and fast) and building strength in your legs. EVERY move in irish is done in a "Tight 5th", stomach sucked in, butt sucked in, legs straight and feet in 5th position. Also, every move is done on the balls of your feet, so you have to build some strong calf muscles too.

But it was soooo much fun! Even though this was the 4th class, I picked up right on stuff and we learned "Irishes" "Single...Buffs?" and two other things I can't remember the name of. In fact, I'm not sure the single buffs were called that, they were just single somethings. But we did them all together and it looked so good!!! Since we've all done tap or clogging everyone picked up on it fast and we were all in sync and it was so cool!!!! I've been wanting to do it ever since I first saw "Riverdance" hahaha, I guess that sounds so silly but I have! Plus, I think we might be doing Reel Around the Sun for our recital piece, which is my FAVORITE Riverdance Dance. But I'm not entirely sure, I could be totally wrong.

Anyways, now I have Clogging on Mondays, Hip Hop on Tuesdays and Irish Tap on Thursdays. My legs are becoming stronger already I can tell, but I told myself no irish today because the muscles/tendons running down each side of my shin bone hurt and it's from doing Irish on the balls of my feet and bucks in clogging. So no bucks or Irish today, which is really hard to keep myself from doing!! It's so fun!!

btw, horse trailer

Oh and by the by: we got the horse trailer we were looking at. :) Took Justin to Bonnie's in July and had an awesome time trail riding ALL OVER the place!

Master Clogging, yay!

I love clogging. <333 It's only been a year since I started, and I'm already in the master class. I'm not trying to brag though, I think clogging is probably the easiest shoe-with-tap form of dance. It's like a more energetic form of flat footing. Plus, I practiced my butt off and took private classes during the summer to prepare for it. And I made it!

Today was my second time at Master Class, and I LOVED IT! We worked on new steps, quizzed with steps, and practiced moving in groups. For instance, we all lined up (there were 7 of us) shoulder-to-shoulder and then doing 12 single bucks turned clockwise in a line. It was HARD but super fun! Imagine holding a stick in the middle and turning it completely around. Yep, it looked cool and I know it'll look cooler once we master it.

Oh and I discovered my first class that I 'm now in the competition because the dance we have requires pairs and a girl dropped out so now there's an odd number and I had to step in. Ha! For some reason I was thinking it'd be funny if she asked me to be on the competition team, and she has! Luckily, I'm getting alot better at our dance and it's really awesome choreography and fun to do. I really only originally tried out for masters, but the girls who were trying for competition (they were already in masters) did the same audition I did. I can't wait till we do some performances though, I hope the master clogging performs at the apple festival again this year! :D

Happy July!

Well, the trek was F.U.N.!!! It was one of the BEST experiences of my life and I thoroughly enjoyed it - I didn't want to leave! :) I can state assuredly that it was my favorite and best Youth Conference EVER.

We're still trying to get a horse trailer. :-/ Dad offered 2,000 for the Marr's, the guy said he wanted to talk to the other people interested, and then he left a message for Dad the other day saying that they fell through, he was gonna get it inspected and he was going out of town. But apparently his wife told Cathy that they were accepting our offer! O_O... so I told Dad to call and he got ALL upset at me and was like "I don't want to spend TWO THOUSAND dollars for the trailer!" but I just ignored him and he called. They didn't answer of course, but he did leave a message. I hope if this is meant to go through that it'll just GO THROUGH! Oh goodness, it's so obnoxious waiting for everything to just happen. I've been waiting for a horse trailer since the end of February.

Tonight me, Laura, Stephen, Danielle, Keith and some woman, and maybe Carrie and Brandy are going to the Fair! I'm excited! Lately though, I've been super excited-and-anxious to go to a Rennaissance Faire again... I want to go to the Maryland Ren Faire, and I'm going to make an elf-ish-type dress to match the green and silver circlet I got at the NC Ren Faire so I can go as a mythical creature instead of a peasant wench. I regret buying the circlet though, I just don't necessarily like how it looks... oh well!

Horsey Stuff

Me and Laura just returned from a trip to Tanglewood. We went to AC Moore where I got two horsey iron-on transfers, Laura got a kitty iron-on, I got three t-shirts and she got one t-shirt. I've been trying to get new t-shirts, because all the ones I own are black, hunter green or navy blue. I need to get AWAY from darks! Three of my favorite t-shirts are black, but they're not REALLY my favorite because they're black, GAH! >.< So the new t-shirts are purple, light blue and medium blue. Laura picked a putrid neon orange.

We also bought three Gamecube games with Laura's moolah, then took Hardees and Wendys to Stephen and Danielle's to eat lunch. Danielle's babysitting this little guy named Evan now, he's a cutie! I felt bad for leaving so soon, but we did go and play with Jennifer yesterday for a while.

I really wanted to go see Justin today, but after the horrendously vicious storm last night... the ring and EVERYTHING'll be soupy. Last night we had a good workout though, but he wouldn't lope without bucking and I'm not sure why. We worked around a single barrel, and continued with the speed barrel/potato race/flag race pattern. It's a very simple pattern: you run straight down the end of the ring, turn around the single barrel and run back. That alone is the speed barrel event; you drop three potatoes in three different buckets on your way down in the potato race; and the flag race you're holding a flag as you run down, then switch it with the one that's in a bucket on the barrel and run back. My plan is to get Justin really used to the pattern so when we actually run it in a show, I can focus more on switching the flags or dropping the potatoes and less on what he's doing because he'll know where to go.

And I discovered something wonderful! Justin turns without the reins! (well, unless he's being rebellious) I've worked on turning him with my legs, direct rein and neck rein ever since I started him under saddle and it's paid off! I dropped the reins, turned him in a full circle both directions and took him to the fence. It was such a wonderful thing, I've been so blessed! He's been doing so well lately, we're riding in western and the sweat marks after riding have been even (the means the saddle fits) and it's just going so well. Plus, his new home is great. I will post about that later.

Dancin' Darlin'

Wow, the dance recital is SATURDAY!! *freaks out* But I am really excited, I've enjoyed dancing so much and wish I'd started 15 years ago! Next year I'm going to take Clogging, Tap/Ballet, and Hip hop. I feel weird about starting Tap and Ballet at 18 years old, but Kristen told me not to worry about it. So I'm gonna do it! Even if my classmates are 4 year olds!

Bonnie is coming up tomorrow evening, then me, her and Jessica Olsen (she's staying here till Sunday/Monday while her dad is out of town) and maybe Stephen and Danielle are gonna see Pirates of the Carribean #3, woohoo! Then Saturday comes... the DANCE RECITAL! Luckily, my dance is next-to-the-last of the first part of the recital. That can be good or bad, but I'm calling it good.

I love to dance. <3 Hopefully I'll get accepted on the '08 Summer/Fall track or '08-'09 Fall Winter track at BYU-I so I can complete my second year of dance. Anyways, right now I've got to go figure out how/when I'm gonna get my allergy shots and go see a stable at 1:00.

Updation

School is over. YES! I got an A in Biology, B in English, and S (=satisfactory) in Geometry. Whoop dee doo, I'm just glad it's over. Though I do thank the Lord for those wonderful grades, there were so many tests where things just "came" to me that I'm sure I couldn't've remembered if I hadn't prayed previously.

Jer got hit. April 26th, 2007. It was the next-to-the-worst-day-of-my-life. I was turning left through a four lane divided highway. The lane closest to me was stopped and the Lady had just waved Sabina over and was still stopped for me. So, I looked in the lane beside her (between the cars and stuff, it wasn't completely invisible), and I didn't see anyone. I pulled up to the Median and then the car just hit me while I was looking to the right at the other oncoming lane that I was trying to turn into. The people looked so MAD at me, the guy was yelling and hollering - though I couldn't hear him - and I was so scared. I sobbed the whole time, every time I told someone new about it I sobbed. I got a ticket for "Failure to Yield Right-a-way" and the people in the other car went to the emergency room to get checked out. x_x I never NEVER want to drive again, but I am... the "Ugly Blue Buggy" I call it. It's a diesel isuzu i-mark, WHO has EVER heard of an I-MARK?! It's a 1981, an antique!

Justin's neck reined! He knows and obeys it for the most part, it's just when we're passing by the open gate in the ring that he likes to not listen. I'm still working with him to perfect it so that I can turn a barrel with just the neck rein, but he's got all the basics and knows what it means now. WOOOOOOOOOT! Buuuuut, mine and Justin's relationship has gone kaput. For one, I've never really taught him to stand still, so whenever I tie him up he's CONSTANTLY moving and it's obnoxious. Plus, he's gotten hard to bridle, and he detests the saddle. The vet came and we finally found a saddle that fits, so I ordered it and they gave me a square skirt instead of a round skirt... >_>. But, I was impatient, went and put it on him and decided to keep it. (Oh, and he dumped it on the ground because he was moving around so much!) So I am really going to have to start at the beginning again. It's all my fault! I've been so quick to anger lately and smacked him on the nose and chest too often; been jerky with the lead rope too often; now he's gotten a little bit headshy, and its all my fault. I feel terrible. So I'm going to work slowly and surely w/Parelli games/Clinton Anderson groundwork, and then work on standing still and ground tying.

I will NOT ride Justin until he stands still GROUND TIED for 10 minutes and while Me or Sabina brushes him all over and saddles him up.

I lost my camera la digital. But oh well, the thing sucked anyways. I joined a photography group on yahoo and the moderator made a site with all sorts of info and lessons on aperture, shutter speed, etc. and I've learned loads! So I started shooting Mom's Minolta that she gave me, and I've done 6 rolls of film already! I'm picking them all up from being developed tomorrow. I also bought a book on photography from Amazon today, including "Body For Life" because this is my 9th week of exercising!!! WOOOT! Anyways, I'm done typing.

Sufferance for 1.5 weeks

School will be officially over for me May 2nd. w000000t!!! I am super excited! Not like I'll have all my stuff to go to college, or even be a high school graduate... but this semester at Va Western will be over and I'm never going back. :) We're going to get independent Government, Chemistry and Spanish courses for me to do and apply for College next year. I was actually considering going to Virginia Western in the Fall just to take Photography and Sign Language, but... I might just work on Sign Language at home with all of the sign language videos we have, and do Photography on my own.

I am looking forward to May 2nd. It's only less than two weeks away! But I've got SO much to do until then.

Tonight: Finish editing English Paper and read everything for English from Wednesday
Tomorrow: Study the "Sewage Treatment" section of Lab (the one I was NOT present for, only from someone else's notes); retype/edit again my english paper, write my works cited, get everything printed out, highlighted, cross referenced, etc; take english paper to school; finish reading everything for English; go to Bonnie's house and borrow her two saddles; get allergy shots
Saturday: Be at barn at 9:30; 10:00 vet arrives and we start throwing saddles on Justin to see which one fits, do NOT forget to ask for a sedative; Go to Girls Camp meeting at noon (goes for two hours); get home and study for Lab test (probably won't happen); take shower, clean room, etc.
Sunday: Official rest day. Write Eric.
Monday: Study for Lab test; read everything for english and write journal entry for Poetry section; Get allergy shots
Tuesday: Geometry Notebook test; LAB TEST; more Lecture on Bio; Study for Bio Mini Quiz
Wednesday: Study for Bio Mini Quiz; be at barn @ 12:30 for farrier at 1:00; dance at 5:15; YW's at 7:00
Thursday: Biology Mini Quiz; go to Geometry, study for Geometry final; Write English Paper #4 in LTC
Friday (4/27): Get English stuff finished up, review poetry words and learn; Study for Bio final
Saturday (4/29): Study for Bio Final; Study for English Final; Do worksheet for Geo final
Monday (4/30): Get allergy shots; Study for Bio Final, English Final, etc.
Tuesday (5/1): BIO FINAL; GEOMETRY FINAL; and take English Final at LTC (optional
Wednesday (5/2): Take English Final in LTC NO LATER than this date!!!!!!

hmmm.... now that I wrote this big 'ole thing, I need to review it and keep up with it!

Ren Faire = Fun. ; Dance Costume = Ugly.

The Ren Faire was fun. It was a BLAST! Bryan, Sara, Kate, Brandy and I all went down Friday night in Jer, spent the night at a Days Inn, then came home Saturday after the faire. We went to the Tartan Moonlight Madness on Friday night at the Faire as well as Saturday. It was all fun, but it was VERY frustrating and SCARY at times when EVERYONE was yelling at me to go a different direction, and we almost got killed several times because my stress went into my driving. GAH! But we managed to get to a CiCi's five minutes before it closed on Friday night, got free drinks and leftover pizza while we waited for them to cook us two pizzas. I'll write a novel when I feel like it.
Anyways, at dance tonight we got our costumes.... D-:< I am going to have to post a picture, because I feel like in words I simply canNOT do them justice. The top is okay, but the bottoms are HIDEOUS! And I'm so nervous about the Recital already, and now I have an ugly costume to worry about!!! *SOBS* Luckily, Brandy, Kristen and I went and saw "Are We Done Yet?" after dance tonight, so that made it slightly better. But we had milkshakes...and now I feel guilty...I finished the Book of Mormon!... but I can't celebrate because I have to study for Biology. It'd be so nice to have no responsibility whatsoever. *sigh* School will be over three weeks!!!

extra post.

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Humorous Wisdom!

Let me leave you with a little bit of humorous wisdom from Anne of Avonlea.

"That night John Henry Carter and Davy between them contrived to execute the two white roosters, and Anne dressed them, the usually distasteful task quite glorified in her eyes by the destination of the plump birds.
"I don't like picking fowls," she told Marilla, "but isn't it fortunate we don't have to put our souls into what our hands may be doing? I've been picking chickens with my hands but in imagination I've been roaming the Milky Way."**
"I thought you'd scattered more feathers over the floor than usual," remarked Marilla."
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery, Page 138.
**Laugh here

A Day of Unfortunate Events

Okay so my english teacher had us reading a novel that was terrible and full of profanity, s*x*al content, etcetera. So I basically told her it bothered, offended and made me feel uncomfortable when I read it. "Too late to do another novel" she said, and then she told me to skip to the last section. Then I did and it was clean. GLAD THAT'S OVER WITH! Tuff luck for me, I still have to write a paper on the thing w/two outside resources. x_x

Anyways! So the only happy thing in my life is ANNE OF GREEN GABLES SERIES!!! I listened to the first one (Anne of Green Gables) on CD years ago when me, Mom and Laura drove to Texas in the van, so I started reading Anne of Avonlea last night. (While I was post-nasal-dripping due to Sunday night being spent at Danielle and Stephen's house, I felt terrible... but thanks to prayers, garlic and anti-histamines, I was better today! and no sore throat...>.<) I read it for probably about 3-4 hours today, after skipping Geometry, going to Biology lecture and skipping Biology Lab. Unfortunately, we had a test today in Geometry... I hope Mister Custer'll let me make it up, but he's a jolly ole chap so I'm sure he won't mind. I tore myself away long enough to go with Brandy to her friend's band playing at the Farmer's Market, and then a band called "The ???" played. It was fun! I saw a guy that used to flirt with me and -in my eyes- led me on at work, WHO I avoided extensively, and a girl named Katie that I met when her mom bought one of our goats and who I hung out with a little... yeah, I avoided her too- I wouldn't've known what to say!

Then Brandy's car died in McDonald's drive-thru, we went to the church and the oil light came on, so we checked it and filled it with a 1/2 full bottle from MY car, then went to wal*mart, talked in the parking lot for 15 minutes, then went in and got oil, two super cheap flashlights (for our cars, neither of us had one!), then went back to the church (in JER, btw, faithful ole oldsmobile), put THAT quart of oil in (I accidentally got a wee bit upset/spat at her when she spilt alot, but I repented and felt bad immeadiately- Brandy's too darlin'), then checked it and it hit the first of the two holes on the dipstick. WAHLAH! *high-fives with Brandy* We're oil savvy! Hahaha, too bad I still don't actually know how to CHANGE oil. So there's my adventures for today.

Back to Buksbari!

So my riding instructor cancelled lessons until the week of March 26th. I'm back now! I volunteer on Thursdays and have my lesson on Thursdays, so I was there today from 3:45 to 7:20. Jennifer rides on Thursdays too! I got to see her, and we've started doing Natural Horsemanship too. She only taught the friendly and porcupine games, pushing passenger and one rein stops today... but she said she's gonna gradually teach the games until we have them all down. I'm hoping she'll try to move along fast, because I know all 7 games! *sobs with desperation* But she did help me to realize that Cowgirl was dashing to the side of the poles when I was going over at a trot, BECAUSE I MYSELF was tense!

I can think "Naturally" (aka- w/Natural Horsemanship), and if you give me a situation- I can bail you out with NH....I just have troubles remembering and keeping all the "Natural Ways of Thinking" in my head when riding!

BTW, I have no saddle at the moment that fits my horse, so I get to focus solely on Parelli NH groundwork YAY! He needs it too, the little pookey. The pic is of us JUST the other day, w/Sabina!

Zaide and Malik

I seriously cannot remember WHEN but here's the SHORT version of Zaide and Malik's story:

Buttercup gave birth to two baby boy goats, but didn't know exactly what to do with them. She licked them a little bit, and stayed with them, but really didn't know what to do beyond that. Well, they were both still in the sac, and Zaide wasn't really doing well. Malik was on his feet like a normal kid, but they were both very weak - too weak to nurse even. Zaide would lay there with his head bent back (just like our other goat kid Ginger before we had to put her down), looking dead other than him breathing. Mom said we might oughta just leave them, but I couldn't! It made me cry they were just so small and pitiful. So I milked Buttercup and fed them. Zaide wouldn't suck the bottle, he was probably close to death; Malik sucked greedily. Well, the SECOND time I fed them, Zaide finally was sucking the bottle!

To sum it up, they're both alive and healthy. Another baby, Sugar, (whose mother neglected her and her brother, so they were adopted by Piper who had one boy) was starving to death literally. Those two male kids were sucking Piper dry so there wasn't anything for Sugar. So now we put Buttercup up three times a day in the milking stand so Sugar can nurse. Zaide also nurses on her (then I feed him because he doesn't get enough), but Malik is totally dependent on a bottle (and us!). They follow me around EVERYWHERE, especially Malik. He's discovered how to get out of the gate and will follow me into the house! They're so darlin'!
(top one is Malik, second one is Zaide--they were about to follow me out the gate!)

Hiking! (and a wee bit of randomness)

First, let me explain the randomness: I'm in my mom's office and her analog clock just went buzerk. It started spinning around REALLY REALLY fast, changing the time. OH! It just hit me- it sets itself. *dies* Well, let's just say that analog clocks resetting themselves is a LITTLE scary when you first witness it. *shivers* I really had NO idea what was going on.

Okay so "Hiking!" well, for Youth Conference this year we're having a trek. I'm not sure how many miles it is, but we're pushing actual handcarts filled with our stuff and food for probably about...25 miles is my guess. Anyways, I need to get in shape! I'm sick and tired of walking up the hill at Virginia Western and being so out of breath that I'm embarassed. (and yes, this year I've been diligently parking ACROSS the street instead of anderson's parking lot) Not only that, but- I enjoy hiking! I enjoy walking outSIDE! It all started with:

I went to Mary J's and she takes walks on her VERY convenient and secluded walking path (consisting of: her extremely long driveway, her neighbor's extremely long driveway, and the two ginormous fields of her neighbor's). Then, I come home and Bonnie's at my house the next day. Well, we all know Bonnie's lovely-super-skinny and ultra-high-metabolized, plus she loves working, walking, and basically anything physically challenging. So her and I took an HOUR long walk on Sunday and - while it was thoroughly exhausting - it made me excited and I enjoyed it! Since then, I've been doing exercise videos Monday, Wednesday and Fridays along with pilates ab moves M,W,F, eating LESS (yes Sarah! I'm doing so good!) and healthier, and being more active overall.

SO, Bonnie's been dying to go hiking this summer, and I said I'd like to go. In July we're planning on a three day-two night 27-30 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. Do not gawk, gasp, etc. THEIR Girls Camp's 4th Year hike is 27 miles two nights, three days. The 3rd year hike is the one *I* went on and it was one night 12 miles or something. But anyhoo, I need to get in shape for that too!

I'm gonna start hiking every Friday or Saturday at Waid, the Parkway, or the Cascades, etc. This Friday I invited everyone at seminary (4 consented to go) to come to Waid and go hiking. I'm so excited! I'm anxious to get started too! This is my third week of exercising, and I made a deal w/mom that once I've exercised for three weeks I can get new shoes. I probably should get some sort of hiking shoe, but I want some walking shoes too.

I'll be sure to take pictures and post them!

Friendship? I don't think--

Gollee, I do get tired of being a friend sometimes! This is what *I* imagine a friend is supposed to do:

1. Be there for your friend
2. Understand when something's wrong and what it is with your friend
3. Help your friend to become a better person
4. Pick them up when they're down (make them happy)
5. BE their friend, CONTACT them, CALL them up, INITIATE a hangout time
6. And when they trust you enough to tell you a secret about an interest, or something personal, be nice and don't crack jokes or let your disgusted feelings with their choice show
7. MOST OF ALL--Believe them when they say that you'll "Have a good time" or that "Yes girl, you are pretty" or that "I'm not sure if you'd be happy with them"
8. And when they tell you to try and be optimistic, then BY golly DON'T JOKE and actually BE optimistic- that MIGHT actually BE what they meant!!!

***inserts exasperated sigh here*** Oh well, at least I have my family. They're the only ones that I can STAND for longer than a couple of minutes! Soon, I'm going to construct the "Bruingtonappolis" and no one is allowed unless they're Bruington or married-into-Bruington blood. Then I shall be content. >.<

The Beginning...

...of a new blog. Xanga was wonderful, great, not to mention FUN while everyone was there. We commented, read, enjoyed, laughed and blogged together. Then MySpace took over! No more blogging, just stupid bulletins stuffed with nonsense posted everyday. BARF! I blogged a little there, but the clutter of everything else was too distracting. Going back to my xanga, I posed a few but it wasn't the same without everyone else's xanga comments. *sigh*

So then Sarah started blogging here and I like it! Now I am here, and this is where I'll stay.

hahahaha, I'm such a dork. xP