Turns out Valentine's day isn't so silly after all, when you're being romanced by someone.

Hey! It's been a while. Lots and lotsa stuff's been going on lately. We can't pick up where we left off, though, or I'd have to write a book. So here's a series of pictures to make up for the last many months that I've been absent.

More updates to come, I promise!

Letting Go

Just because life doesn't work the way I want it to doesn't mean that God doesn't know what He's doing.

Multi-Tasking

I'm really not that great of a multi-tasker, but I try anyways.

Right now I'm working on filling out information for my gradumication form. I'm stumped at the part where I'm supposed to say what my future plans are. Should I say that I'll stay home and work for a year, and then go to PA, or should I skip the whole working thing and simply say I'll be going to Pennsylvania in fall of 2013? *ponders*

Also, I'm having the worst time ever deciding which verse to choose! I had many, now I've narrowed it down to two: 2 Timothy 1:7, and John 8:31-32. They both mean a lot to me. Aaaaa! I have to decide by March 9th. Helllllp meeeeeeeeee!

I'm also looking at the funds I have in my checking account so that I know if I have enough money to order a pair of new breeches and some tall boots. I've actually been working on ordering them for weeks. Once, I had both things in my cart and was just about ready to check out, when I saw a different pair of breeches that I want just as bad. Now I literally can't make up my mind. Ribbed or smooth? Polyester or cotton? These are the questions that plague my mind in the late hours of the night.

I'm wicked excited to get my hands on a pair of tall boots though. I've had my mind made up on those for a while. I've had two pairs of half chaps that I wear with my paddock boots, but I just don't like them very much anymore. My paddock boots expanded with wear, so they're too big for me now, and my half chaps always slip down. So yeah. Tall boots will be mighty nice, I think :)

I'm also working on getting a new song on my playlist. And reading random articles. Like this one, and this one.

Alright. I have accomplished one or two things since I started writing: one, I have one thing in my cart and two, I now know that I have enough monies to make my purchases.

Inner turmoil will ensue while I make these heart wrenching decisions. Which verse, and which breeches?!?!?

February 14th

I really dislike Valentine's Day. It's not because I don't have a boyfriend to shower me in roses and chocolate, or anything of the sort. I have at least 3 friends who are like that, and that's part of the reason I dislike it.

Valentine's Day is so artificial. It's the day that you'd better remember and buy something awesome for your significant other, or you'll be in big trouble. Really, guys? It's cool to show your love for your special people in your life, but if the only reason you're doing something nice is because of the day of the year, that's just silly.

If it works for you then have fun with that, but if I don't get any valentines I'm not gonna hate my life.

I don't mean to whine :)

Ohhhhhhh I just remembered I'd better post the videos from skiing that I took. That was a super day :)
Anyway, I don't really have much to say. Lots has been going on, but I never feel like writing about it.

Kbai :)

Christmas/New Year/Self Consciousness

Once again a lot has happened since I last posted.

On Christmas, Sarah and Micah and Chloe weren't here yet so we went to church and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and slept and pretty much had a normal day. The DeJarnatts arrived on Thursday after Christmas and we opened presents then.

New Year's Eve was sorta uneventful. I went to Krissy's house and watched "The Lion King 1 1/2" and stayed with her until midnight. We ate pie off the floor with no utensils while we waited for the ball to drop, loft.

I made one resolution: to read through the Bible in a year. I acquired a schedule and have kept to it so far.

Bekah got me at least four devotional books for Christmas, and I started one of them, "Lies Young Women Believe" yesterday. Even though I've only read the intro and the first chapter, it's already a great book! There is so much information packed onto each page, but it's not overwhelming.

Today I learned that Satan's native language is lying; He's fluent in lies and that's what he speaks. Everything that is negative or dishonoring to God stems from a lie of Satan, including things we don't even think about.

For example, when I'm self conscious about my appearance, I'm basically telling God that I could have done a better job making me than He did. This is a lie that the devil wants me to believe so that I will become focused on myself rather than God, therefore making me turn my back on Him. In reality, God made me (and everyone else!) just the way He wants me to be, so my appearance is perfect. Things that I can't change, like my hair or my nose are things that God specifically intended to make that way.

When I judge other people for the way they look, I'm judging God. Of course we should be good stewards of our bodies, but we should also be content with things we can't change.

I pulled most of that story from my brain, so not much of it is biblical based :P

"He {the devil} was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." ~ John 8:44

I don't know about you, but I hunger and thirst for the truth. I do my best to be honest and true to others and to God. Deceit plagues us all, and I pray God will help me to escape it as well as I can until the lovely day when I won't have to think about it anymore.

My memory verse of the week:

"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22

I've got the reference down, but not the verse, lol. They made it easy for me by picking a verse that had a reference with only one repeating number in it :)

Anyways, I'd better get my rear to the library before they close. Bye for now :)

HEY!

It's December! And I haven't posted for a really really long time! Okay less than a month, but still.
Here's a random list for you.
1. Buzz is dead and I'm really sad about it
2. I'm going shopping with Paul and Mom in about 45 minutes
3. I should really be cleaning up right now rather than posting on my blog
4. It's really difficult to not sing Christmas songs all over the house
5. Straight No Chaser is epic
6. Epic is an extremely over-used word
7. Christmas is only 4 days away
8. There are only 7 presents under our Christmas tree
9. I love getting random phone calls :]
10. Jimmy comes back TOMORROW!
11. I have no money
12. I looove fuzzy horses. They are so cuddly and adorable
13. I watched Pocohontas today for the first time in a long time and was sorely disappointed
14. My room is a mess
15. I wouldn't read my own blog if I wasn't me
16. I fail at all girly things
Annnnnd the number one reason I'm on the computer right nowww
17. I. am. a. lazy. bum.

The end :)

{edit} I fixed it, I fixed it!! *happy dance* I got the transparent layer thingy to go awayy! YAY!

Nostalgic

nos·tal·gic

  [no-stal-jik]

adjective

experiencing or exhibiting nostalgia, a sentimental or wistful

yearning for the happiness felt in a former place, time, or situation.

I sent my Jimmy off to Atlanta today. It was sad, but I'm glad she's going, and she'll be back.

My birthday was yesterday, and it was a pretty good day. Mostly packing and getting ready for Jimmy to leave, but that's okay. She was all concerned that I was spending my birthday in a bad way, but that's silly. I spent it with her.

These two videos are my songs to her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPWzy7wpy8Q&feature=channel_video_title

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOfmNNaqY1s&feature=player_embedded

Also, I just found this video today while I was playing with my Flip (My mommy got it for me for my birthday :]).

It's from last year sometime. Liana and I were obviously having a great time dancing and goofing off instead of cleaning up that room we were in. Good times.

{edit} Hummmm, I'm not sure why my font didn't work. I think I'll just sign up for a new blog. Lolz.

Happy 11-11-11

I guess.

This day has just shown me that numbers don't matter. Superstitions aren't true. Only God's sovereignty is true.

I'm so bummed out I'm not even going to wait up for 11:11. Wishes don't matter.

I switched it to an old editor. Now it works. Blogger you are so weird.

Blogger, I hate your guts.

New Hampshire

These are my new shoes...

Barefoot Merrills!! :O

I still can't believe that they're mine. Not quite an impulse buy, but I didn't spend very much time thinking about it before I decided to get them. I was just going to go and try them on to see how they feel and get some ideas. Then I took them for a little jog around the store and I couldn't just leave them there on the shelf...so I bought them. They were $25 less than if I had bought them directly from Merrill, so that's a plus.

Look how far they bend! It's ridiculous how excited I am about these things. It's like Christmas! I can't wait to take them out on a run yay :)

A Few Quotes

That amused me somewhat.

Nolan (11 years old I think): I'll drink to that!
Me: What will you drink, apple juice?!

(at Famous Dave's, the best restaurant ever besides Taco Johns)
Becky: I wonder if heaven will be like this..
Me: I hope so!

Liz: I had a great time.
Me: Yeah, you sure are.

My piano teacher: Ok, did you bring your notebook?
Me: Uhm yeah, you were just writing in it.

Ok so maybe those were lame, but I found them funny at the time.

This has been a sort of eventful weekend. We went to a fall festival and that was fun. They had a hayride :)

Today is my dad's 50th birthday, and we took him out to Famous Dave's and surprised him by having a bunch of people there to celebrate.

My knees and hips are aching because I run. I'm not very happy, and hope to resolve the situation and keep running. If I have to quit I'm gonna be mad.

My internet is being retarded, and it won't load much of anything (which is why I haven't played words in WWF for a while, Timmy)

Man, my throat itches.

I have been around people almost all day today, and now I am ready to curl up and read a book. Goodbye :)

Why I Joined 4-H

I have found that 4-H isn’t just agriculture and animals as I once thought. It is learning, meeting new people, taking responsibility, friends, hard work, making memories, having life experiences, and developing life skills.

The primary reason I joined the Butler County Young Riders is the fact that the club is horse-oriented. I love everything that has to do with horses. Meeting other horse people is always a fun experience.
Not only have I met and gotten to know the members of my club, I’ve met many other people too.

Since I joined four years ago, I have learned so much through 4-H. I’ve learned more about different animals, people, and I’ve developed new skills with the various projects I’ve done. Without 4-H, I never would have attempted most of the projects I have brought to the fair.

Another reason I wanted to join was that I wanted to have fun!
I have had so much fun participating in various club and county activities.
I like taking projects to the fair, shooting with shooting sports, officer training, giving talks and presentations, awards night, Share-the-Fun acts, and most of the time just attending the meetings is fun! I also enjoyed being the vice president of my club this past year.

As a result of being involved with 4-H, I can better relate to people, I’m more confident, and I have improved skills in the many areas I’ve pursued.

That is why I joined 4-H.

Emily Currier, Butler County Young Riders

{my winning essay I submitted for a 4-H contest}

Happy October!

Lolz the random blue at the top of my blog still cracks me up.

I've got supper in the oven, and I'm looking for a way to waste time. I have several responsibilities I should be taking care of at the moment, but I simply don't feel like it.

Last Friday I went to Jenna's farm to work, and since she's still laid up I knew I wouldn't be having a lesson. So I asked her if I could work with Oliver, a new horse she acquired a month or two ago. Ollie is only halter broke, and has bad manners. He is extremely skittish and freaks out at just about everything. In fact, if you are a high-energy person, he will not let you near him. Thankfully, he likes me.
Anyways, after finished mucking stalls and sweeping out the barn, I longed Elsie and then went to fetch Jenna, who wanted to watch me work with Ollie and give me pointers.
I caught Ollie from the field and brought him to the grooming/tacking up place. He doesn't like to be groomed (!) so I had to be really careful and only groom a little at a time. I went down his neck and side, and then Jenna told me to go down his front legs too.
I started to, and felt Ollie's fear, but before I could do anything, I was cow-kicked in the back of my thigh. Twice. Ow.
Jenna yelled "Get out of the way get out of the way get out of the wayyyy!" bahahaha. So I did (fast), and waited for him to settle down while rubbing my sore thigh and almost fainting (my head is weird and thinks that it better shut down whenever I suffer any kind of mild trauma).
After he was a bit more calm I approached him again and stroked him for a while. Needless to say, I didn't finish grooming.
I brought him into the arena and began to free longe him. He worked off quite a bit of steam while we were doing this, and became much more relaxed after cantering for quite a while. My objective was to keep his feet moving and keep him going in the direction I wanted him to. If he turned around, I moved in his way and he was forced to turn back around. It was scary at times, but I only lost once. (He's a huge horse, btw, about 17hh.)
When he had calmed down quite a bit, I joined up with him. Joining up is a magical process where the horse begins to respect the person as it's leader, and wishes to join the herd. When the horse shows signs of respect and submission (lowering it's head, pointing it's ears to the inside, licking it's lips, etc.), the human stops making it run and turns his back on it. The horse then comes to the center of the arena, which is the human's circle and the horse can only come in if it is invited.
We did all this, and after he came into my circle, he followed me around everywhere, without being physically attached to me.
This doesn't mean that he will always do whatever I tell him to, but he does have more respect for me, and we have the beginning of a bond. I'm scared that I'm going to get very attached to Oliver...
Jenna plans to turn him into a hunter/jumper. I hope to work with him quite a bit, and maybe sometime in the future, if she keeps him long enough, he could be mine. But then I'm just dreaming now.

Even though he's skittish and flighty, I've never liked a horse as much as I like him. I think we've got something, and I don't want to let it pass me by.

Why do we insist on crediting the perfect timing of delightful things in our lives to something - anything - other than the Creator of time?

Things I Have Found Out

When I leave a message on your phone, calling me back would be polite - true

Barbecue sauce is amazing - true

Revving your engine while passing me will make me think you're hot/cool/awesome/wicked - false. please don't do this, it is exceedingly annoying and only makes people think you are a fool. a nice wave would be just fine.

Wearing an apron is like being a walking napkin - true, and very handy

"Fail-proof" recipes are always fail-proof - false

Wearing my cowboy hat while doing algebra makes everything better - true

Life is easy - false

Horses are cheaper than therapy - false

I can now run for 2 miles and call it an "easy" run - true

Bright colors make me happy - true

Running is addicting - strange, but true.

HTML is fun and easy - false, I messed up my blog and don't know how to change it back.

Once I am sleep-deprived, catching up on sleep isn't difficult - false

People on Facebook entertain me with their whining about the new layout - true

I have taken on way too much school this year - true

Ok, this was fun but I'm gonna go write in my journal and get ready for bed now :)

Alrighty Then

Soo, my blog is continuing to be weird. I just worked for a couple hours on changing the font, and yeah. This is what happened. Everything is like grayed out or something, and what's with the random blue at the top of the page?
My links turned blue too. Strange.
I really have no idea how to make it go back to regular, so it will just have to stay like this until I can figure it out. Which might be never.
Needless to say, my font change didn't work. Bummer. It was gonna be really cool, too. Ah well.

I ran the Ingawanis 5k on Saturday, and it was a real challenge. It was a trail run, so lots of big, loose rocks and quite a few inclines too. Some were really steep. There were also some logs across the path, which I leaped gracefully across (haha). I had to walk quite a few times, which was disappointing to me, but I got over it.
My time was 34:13 I think. I placed 3rd in my age division :) :) :)

It was a good run.

I made this recipe for supper tonight, and it was pretty good. I meant to take pictures of it to post, but I completely forgot. Whoops. 

I was gonna clean my hamster's cage tonight [it's badly in need of a clean :( ], but then I wasted all my time on changing my stupid blog around. And I have nothing good to show for it. Ah, what an exciting life I lead ;)

*wishes on 11:11*

Goodnight, all!