The boxes in the corner and a beaded dress

There are these boxes, two or three of them that have been sitting in the corner of the kitchen. I pass by them day after day.

Looking at them, dreading them, knowing that if I opened them I would be making a commitment. A commitment to myself.

They are boxes of Medifast that I ordered a few months ago. I've been telling myself that I'll go back on..that I need to do it for my 20 year reunion, but now that's only two weeks away so that goal flew out the window.

But then, I found the formal dress for the cruise Hubby and I are going on in Nov. Let me tell you it was a GREAT DEAL we are talking SMOKIN' deal...but alas a size too small...so what does a smart girl like me do.

I buy the dress of course a beautiful beaded number that will look amazing with a sun kissed tan and some gorgeous golden high heel shoes.

Then I come home walk over to the boxes, stare at them and make a commitment, once again, to myself. 4 mths. I ask myself how much can I loose in 4 mths?

That was last Thurs. So as of today I am down 9 lbs. First week is water wgt mostly but I don't care. 9lbs is 9lbs

so from the famous 80's band Whitesnake....

The Goddess...

The Goddess is loved by most of the other horses and most people. (True) - Gracie get's along great with the other horses...and people too, she is a very social animal They are expressive and sensitive and emotional. (True) - Gracie is so expressive I can tell instantly if something is not right. She let's me know immediately if she is not happy or something is physically not right. The last show we were at I was in the warm up ring and she was telling me something was wrong..low and behold her cinch had been folded wrong on the off side. You will know how they feel. (True) - Every day They try very hard to please and will worry and be anxious if you are not happy with them. (True) - She is very eager to please and tries so hard to learn new things. When she knows she's in trouble she wants to make up immediately. In the negative they can have scattered energy that is hard to get focused. (OMG Sooo TRUE) Getting her to focus is like trying to ride a greased pig some days. She's just so interested in everything around her. This personality can be loved on as much as you want. Thank god cuz she get's LOT's and LOT's of lovin' Take the Horse personality Quiz and see how your pony does. http://www.horsepersonality.com/

Days with no horses...

Do Octopus get cranky this one looks kinda cranky. Wouldn't want to run into him on a dark beach.

Good words of advice on the t-shirt above, I am deathly afraid of Tsunami's...it could happen.

We went to Newport Bay for lunch and a trip to the Aquarium...and we picked the only restaurant on the Oregon coast that does NOT serve fish and chips. I loves me some fish and chips.

My youngest offspring...the beach brings out the best in my babies. I want to burn these faces into my brain, for when I want to run screaming from my own home, remember, remember...

My two youngest angels...I hope they always know joy like this.

I live a good life.

We went it alone...almost.

Today was a big test for Gracie and I. A friend invited us to go on a trail ride with her and who was I to say no..so being still a little nervous about trailering Grace single, I asked a barn friend if she wanted to bring her gelding along for a ride.

I hooked up the trailer, loaded the ponies and off we went. I wish I had pictures but I forgot the camera when I was rushing out the door.

I was concerned because I hadn't ridden Grace since our trip to the Sandy Delta a couple of weeks ago, but again she washed all of those concerns out the window she did awesome!!

Bridge crossing, check, muddy inclines, check, deer, check...No problem for Gracie the wonder horse.

I'll be watching her feet because the weather has been WET to say the least and I'm a little worried that her feet were too soft to be out on some of the rocky footing they have out there.

I could not have asked for better company and a better older, seasoned horse. Who needs a been there done that when I have my Gracie...

What a way to round out this weekend.

Stuff from Around the barn...

My husband let me take the good Camera to the barn the other day and I was just taking random pics..these are a few of my favorites.
Here is Grace in the background wondering if I have any treats...nope never mind then.
This is Chip she's a training horse at the barn. She's very photogenic..
I think this is Nova...but I could be wrong (BO has a few sorrel pony's), she's one of the BO's cutting QH's. She loved having her picture taken.

A Day of Firsts...

Here we are. My horse and My trailer. Big Girl Dreams do come true!

(Caveat yes I know her pad is cadiwompus it was fixed before we headed out. She would not stand still to be saddled. It was like saddling a greased pig)
Hi blogger peeps...I hope you haven't forgotten about us. Sorry I've been MIA but to be honest Grace has been nothing but a pasture princess for the past month or so...but today we changed that.

Well first number one - I hauled my horse somewhere. I'm not going to say I wasn't a bit nervous. I had someone else's horse with us too so there was lots of precious cargo back there. Grace had that trailer rocking for the ride to the Delta but she was tired and good on the ride home. We made it there and home all in one piece.

Second number one - Our fist off sight trail ride. We went out to the Sandy Delta with our barn owner and a couple of other barn friends. Can you see a familiar blogger pony in the next pic. Does the Black and white give her away? It's JP1 from For the love of a horse She's in the lead practicing for that next endurance ride.
There were lots of flat trails with puddles to play in. I found out how smooth Gracie's lope is (not on purpose) and did lots of trotting. Grace wanted to GOOOOOO. Mom wanted to not Gooooo. So we compromised a couple of times. There were tons of people/hikers with loose dogs, mountain bikes, and other riders. Grace was amazing! Again she shocks me with no real meltdowns while riding, okay there was one but I think it was me having a melt down when she wanted to lope and I really wasn't expecting it. But we worked through it and I stayed on so no complaints really from me.

The above pic of Gracie and I watching our buddy's go into the Sandy river...I'm going to be honest and say that I really wasn't interested in a fight so we kind of hung back.
But Gracie wanted in the water...it took just a little coaxing and she was up to her knees in the water. I had to pull her back before my feet got wet. She can be so fearless.

When we got home she got a bath because she worked today!! It was an amazing day. Thanks Jenne for trusting me with Tonka and not showing if you were nervous (cuz I know you were)

Till next time! Heather and Gracie

Poked a hole in my sock trail riding...

(Stole this pic from BBFF T'anks lady)

So I'm getting some courage from the group at my barn. I have only ridden Grace once in the last two weeks because of my life not being my own right now...so getting on today took some courage. That courage came in the form of my girls at the barn. There were quite a few of us that took off to the Christmas Tree Farm. I wish I had pictures..but I was so busy trying to be calm I don't think I could have taken any that weren't blurry anyway.

We were out about an hour and a half and Gracie exceeded all of my expectations. She decided she wanted to eat an alder branch and proceeded to give herself a bloody mouth but nothing serious, just some head shaking towards the end of the ride.

She only spooked once and that was at her own reflection in some Green house windows...but other than that she gave a look to a barking dog and then just went on our marry way.

I saw the stick "LOVE" I think I saw a picture of it on one of the blogs I follow but anyway it was great!

I hope to get a lot more of these rides in with Pictures of course...I need a new point and shoot camera. My phone is all I have right now with no zoom and getting it to ready for pics takes forever.

So good news I lived to blaze more trails..I loves my pony...