Once Upon A December and NYX Lippie Countdown Day Three

Almost every December for as long as I can remember I've played in a Christmas concert or played Christmas music with a small group. With the exception of last year.... I missed the music and being the one playing it, but hadn't found a group that I fit in with. It took finding Central Florida Community Arts for me to get back my Christmas concert! On December 7th, 8th, and 9th I'll be joining the CFCArts Community Choir as a member of the orchestra for the Once Upon A December show.

As you can probably guess, the song Once Upon A December is going to be featured which makes me super excited. The flute part is so amazing and so much fun! I can't wait to share this and all the other songs with my friends and the community. There will be songs featured from both Christmas selections and other holiday music. I'm excited for the variety of music and the opportunity to accompany a choir. I've played in musicals, I've had fun with friends playing while they sing, but I've never accompanied a choir in a formal setting. 

Unfortunately yes, this is a formal setting where I have to pull out the infamous "Amazon concert" dress. I love dressing up and picking out the right heels and accessories for each concert but I am getting soooooooooo sick of that Amazon dress. It might be time to hunt down a new dress. 

Anyways, off of my little dress issue and back to the concert! If you're interested in attending then information and tickets can be found at this link. According to friends who have attended past Holiday concerts this is one of the biggest and best events that CFCArts hosts all year! I look forward to seeing everyone who attends!

Today is day three of the NYX Lippie Countdown! If you're wondering why I'm talking about a random lipstick then please see this post. The past two colors have been pretty neutral and my style so I was a bit nervous when I saw that the preview of today's color was purple and looked dark. I tend to be intimidated by dark lip colors because I don't believe that I can pull them off. 

Upon opening day 3 I was not surprised to see that the line this color belongs to is Simply Vamp. I was surprised to see that this is a Lip Cream seeing as the past two have been dedicated lipsticks. 

This specific shade is She Devil and honestly the name fits the the color. This is a deep purple almost plum shade. This looks highly pigmented but didn't want to apply evenly. The edges of my lips applied nicely but the inside was much lighter and needed two passes with the stick. It applied nicely and cleaned up nicely, but was extremely easy to smear. This color did not hold up to drinking and needed multiple applications through out the day.

Overall, I like the color but it's not for me. The color suited my skin tone but is completely wrong for my personality. It's too bold and too dark. If I go towards bold and dark I prefer the reds because they're more in line with classic colors, purple is much too strange for me. Despite my dislike of the color I do plan on keeping this and possibly using it for a costume or fun event down the line. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun purple lip color but I would not recommend this for someone looking for long wear. 

August Goals

Like many of you I try to set individual goals for each month. While scrolling through the various blogs I follow, I realized that many of them share their monthly goals. It dawned on me that this would be a great way to hold myself accountable, so here are my 5 goals for August!
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August Goals
1) Canter through the water.
Thanks to all the rains Florida has been having there is a small section of the arena that's flooded. Now Cupid is 'Little Miss Prissy Pants' and hates getting her feet wet. Our recent goal has been to walk through this puddle without issues, and we've managed to trot through it without a major break in gait. My goal for August, if the puddle sticks around, is to canter her through the puddle. Because I would love to take her cross-country schooling and to a hunter pace, she's going to need to adjust to going through water.

2) Practice the flute for 2 hours a week.
Central Florida Community Arts Orchestra rehearsal has started again and this time I need to really dedicate myself to the music. I would love to play for the Christmas concert so I need to make sure that I give this whole season 110%. The upcoming concert consists of music that is from Spain and Latin America which are pieces that I'm not really familiar with but have proven to be extremely fun to play!

3) Read 3 books.
I would love to start working through some of the books on my GoodReads "Want To Read" list, but first I've got to read through the 100 books that are currently on my Kindles! (Yes, I've got two of them)

4) Workout 3 times a week.
It's no secret. I've gained weight. I hate it so I've got to do something about it. I'm going to be checking out a training program through a local running store but until then I've got to start rebuilding my strength.

5) Paint office.
I've got this room in my house that has sat and done nothing for the past year. It started as a guest room, then went to my office, then started to gather stuff that I didn't know what to do with. I honestly didn't know what I wanted to do with this room and what my goal was for it. But now I've settled on a basic plan and just need to talk with my mom about swapping furniture. In the meantime I've picked out my paint color for the room and need to get it painted before bringing the heavy antique furniture into it.

See. It's in need of a makeover.

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Now for the fun part; seeing if I can achieve these goals! I'll be using my planner to track what I've accomplished, and when, so I will have an accurate record of what I've done.

Adventures In Moving A Horse (Well, A Pony...)

As you might have caught on I was not happy at my last barn. Things went sour a few weeks ago and they went sour fast. I'll work on a "Why We Moved" post eventually but for now just understand that I had to move for Cupid's health and my sanity. We moved closer to my mom's house, which is still a 45 minute drive for me, but I couldn't have asked for better facilities. Despite only being here for a few days I've got a great feeling about this place!

Our moving day was Thursday. I stopped at Winter Garden Feed Co. on the way to the barn so I could pick up Cupid's current feed. She is currently on Nutrena ProForce Fuel and will be switched to Seminole Wellness Perform Safe. In order to ensure she has the correct food at the new barn I decided to be the one to pick up the feed, which also allowed me to get a new Jolly Ball and a Redmond Rock.

From the feed store I went to the, now former, barn. My plan was to ride Cupid one more time at a familiar place, give her a bath, then pack all my stuff. We were able to get our ride in, but the bath was a slight disaster. One of the other boarders at former barn had her horse grazing on the grass outside the barn and something about that freaked Cupid out. She once again took out the was stall wall (which has never been properly installed or repaired), effectively ending our bath. Once she calmed down, I had her stand quietly in the wash stall then took her to the hose outside to rinse the conditioner out of her tail. I allowed her to graze and prance around her turnout field until the new trainer called to let me know she was on her way.

The new trainer was kind enough to come pick Cupid up and had been informed that Cupid is extremely bad about trailers. I have never been allowed to load her myself or seen her loaded without a fight. In the weeks leading up to this move I had worked on a lot of ground work with the hope that she would be a bit better about loading. When the trailer got to former barn I was informed that I would be expected to load Cupid. Needless to say, I was a bit freaked out that something would happen to her. Cupid loaded like a champ! She followed me slowly up the ramp and stopped at the top, I let her evaluate the trailer and think about what I was asking. Once I felt like she was comfortable with the idea, I asked her to follow me into the trailer itself. To my surprise she listened and let herself get clipped in and the dividers shut! With that, lack of dramatics, we were off to the new location!

The whole drive to the new barn I panicked about everything that could go wrong. Cupid might be a bull getting off the trailer, she could bite someone, I might appear completely stupid, the barn could be worse than the last place, we might get asked to leave, and finally, this could be a complete success and I would feel stupid for second guessing everything.

The trailer beat me to the new barn and I dashed to it to help, thinking that Cupid was being a complete jerk which is why she wasn't unloaded. Nope, she was nervous and pawing, but the trainer explained we were going to wait to unload her until she stopped since she wasn't scared just being impatient. The went on for 15 minutes with us verbally praising her every time she stopped. When she stood for a full minute without pawing I was given permission to start opening the dividers to get her off. With each divider we did have to stop for a minute but she picked up quickly that standing quietly would get me to move quicker. Finally, she was untied, all the dividers were down, and I was holding her expecting her to bolt off. She calmly looked me in the eye and if she could talk she would have called me an idiot for thinking she's a monster. We slowly walked off the trailer and she got all the cookies I had in my pockets, tons of praise, and a well deserved grazing/exploring session while I explained her history to the new barn owner.

As we spoke the barn owner walked me through how her integration into the herd would go. Cupid's stall is located in a shed row of 4 stalls that is located in the center of a paddock. The other three horses would be stalled during the day while Cupid is allowed to roam, then Cupid will be stalled at night while the others have turnout time. This will allow all the horses to get to know her on everyone's terms and at a comfortable pace. Eventually we'll start adding the horses into turnout with her one by one until all four horses can be left out together. Because we arrived during the day Cupid was released into the paddock and quickly started visiting with the other horses. She had a whole "squeal and pinned ears" moment with the other mare, but there were no dramatics with either of the geldings in her group.

I stuck around the barn for about 3 hours just watching her and making sure she was settling in properly. Eventually my mom started texting me that I needed to leave the horse alone and take a break so I headed to her house to take advantage of the pool.

I returned to the stable that night for about an hour just to do one final check on Cupid. All the horses were stalled for dinner so we were all able to go visit with her. She didn't seem too thrilled with the bran mash she was provided but I was informed later that she had finished it all before the girl doing barn chores came back to turn the others out. Cupid appeared relaxed and was her usual lippy self, trying to see if there were treats in our pockets or if she was able to get a good scratching from us.

Overall, I've been really happy with our move and am excited to see how the rest of our adjustment goes! My only regrets with this move are that I completely underestimated how good Cupid actually is and that we didn't move earlier. I had looked at this barn months ago but backed out because I wanted things to get better at the old place.

 ***Note, I'm completely aware that Cupid is underweight. She's currently on a light work schedule and working towards a better feeding schedule. One of the items I'll be addressing in my "Why We Moved" post will be her weight***

Friday Favorite - Plant Nanny

I blame Twitter for this app. I honestly do. As anyone who knows me in real life will know, I live off Diet Coke. It's not uncommon for me to have to go find a Diet to get ride of a migraine or just because I'm getting antsy and want one. I'm officially addicted. Like hardcore addicted. If I forget one with my work lunch then I'll dash over to the gas station next store to grab a fountain Diet, my budget bates this. Consequently, I also don't drink a lot of water because I live off Diet Coke. This is a bit of a problem when I go to work out.

So when I started seeing some Twitter accounts complain about how they feel pressure to drink water during the day so the plants don't die I knew I had to give it a shot. Which I now deeply regret.....

I have my Plant Nanny set to my WiiFit weight and Regular as my activity level. I picked Regular because working at a desk job means I sit most of the day. My daily activity doesn't compare to someone on their feet all day, every day so I figured Regular fit better than Active. The third option for Activity Level is Sedentary which I know I don't qualify for. Once you select your weight and activity level the app tells you how much water you need to drink. My water level is currently 74 oz which is way more than I typically drink in a day. Another feature of the app is Drinking Reminders which will send you alerts throughout the day reminding you to drink. I've currently got my reminders set at every 4 hours, which I honestly disregard because I ignore every alert my phone sends.

You set your water bottle level and can set multiples in case you switch between glasses throughout the day. I currently have an 8oz glass and a 24oz glass because those are the two sizes I typically drink from during the day. Adding a new glass is as simple as tapping your screen a few times and is easy enough to do on the go. As you drink you press the screen on the water icon for a few moments and it records your drink. The more you drink, the more your plant grows! Once the plant matures your can plant it in your garden and select a new seed to start.

My little Devil's Ivy in Plant Nanny

Overall, I like using Plant Nanny to track my water intake. The app isn't complicated or annoying, but is still motivating. I have noticed myself making an effort to drink more simply because I want to get a whole garden of different plants. I actually get up in the morning and start drinking water as opposed to finding whatever juice or sweet drink I have in the fridge! Plus my caffeine consumption is much lower than it has been in years, I've gotten really good at only having a Diet Coke with my lunch as opposed to several times a day.

I would highly recommend downloading Plant Nanny to anyone who is looking to drink more water during the day!
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I once again failed to get myself up this morning for an early run. So I set my daily plan for a run after I was done working with Cupid.

My whole "don't snack at work" thing is going super well....

When I got to the barn after work it was extremely hot out and Cupid had already been turned out. As always she was wonderful about coming up to me but it was clear that she would rather stay outside to graze. I got her groomed and as I was putting the saddle on I realized that I really didn't want to ride but I knew I had to work with her since she was being super willing. I ended up doing a groundwork session which we haven't done in awhile. I asked her to walk over a saddle pad on the ground, which caused no reaction even when I picked it up, shook it around, and threw it on her back and neck. She stepped up on a step with very little encouragement, then backed off it without questioning me. Then we went into the arena and worked on our walking, trotting, backing up, and lateral movements in hand. She was amazing about respecting my space and listening to me. When we were trotting she happily followed me over a small cross rail then backed up between some poles on the ground. I am extremely proud that she remembered our work from a few weeks ago!

Once I got home I changed for my run and headed out, after first figuring out plans for tomorrow with my mom. My plan was to run to a school near my house and do some speed work. The first segment of my run was .59 miles and I maintained a 10'10" pace without feeling too winded. When I got to the school I set my water down, stretched, then started my "speed" work.

Fitbit stats from my run to the school

I started at the nearest island then jogged on the right side to the second island, between the second and third I sprinted, then I jogged to the fourth, from the fourth I walked around the island then did the same in reverse. I was able to do 5 of these which hit my goal of 10 sprints today! From there I picked up my water, stretched, then jogged home using the long way for a total of 2.21 miles. My fitbit recorded the run as a 11'11" pace which I don't think is too shabby!

My parking lot for speed work

On my run I stopped at my mailbox and as I was getting my mail noticed a little cat. He was super friendly and followed me to my house with some encouragement, but didn't want the food I offered him. After sitting with him for a bit, because he wouldn't let me pick him up to bring him inside, he dashed away into some bushes. I posted him on the Nextdoor app for my neighborhood but everyone seems to think he's an outdoor cat that belongs to a neighbor. I honestly don't know what I'll do if I see him again, it kills me to see a cat like this outside. He's too friendly to not have a family.

The little kitty I tried making friends with

Well, I did great at my morning training run!

5:30am. My alarm goes off. I peek outside and see it's still dark. Roll over and go back to sleep for another hour. This whole getting back into running and dedicating myself to training is going super well! On one hand I need to suck it up and go run despite the darkness, on the other hand I should probably get my community gym card activated and go use the fitness centers. If it wasn't the rainy season, with thunder, I feel like this wouldn't be an issue.

After deciding that the run was not going to happen this morning, thanks to needing to go do Paralegal things, I got up and immediately got yelled at by the cats. Apparently having all their food on the mat as opposed to in their bowls is a crisis. Tweedles, if you didn't shove all the food out of the bowl then we wouldn't have this issue!

You've got food Bailey. Stop yelling at me!

Once I was done with everything on my to-do list at work for the day I headed over to the barn. The drive there kills me, it takes an hour and the drivers are insane. At least once every drive I'm cut off with very little clearance or tailgated by someone who could easily pass me. But it's worth it for the pony therapy time, and getting to make sure she's doing alright. Because it was extremely hot and humid today I didn't want to work her too hard. The dressage ring is used for turnout so I can't ride in it at night, and no one has mowed the jump field in a few weeks so I don't feel comfortable working patterns. We just did a few laps at the walk while asking for her to go long and low, trot work while asking for a frame and lengthening/collection, and a few laps of the canter focusing on our turns and staying balanced. Our work at the trot needs a lot of practice but Cupid works so hard to do what I ask and it's amazing to see how far she's come since our first ride last year.

After our ride, I gave her a bath including working on getting her used to having her face wet. Because I think she expects me to aim the water up her nose and in her ears I'm currently using the mist setting on the hose. Once she's comfortable with the mist setting I plan on using a light trickle on her cheeks and possibly the center of her forehead. So far she allows me to mist her face but doesn't look thrilled. She has started to play with the hose and take drinks when I offer it to her, it's this little action that lets me know she's getting more comfortable with the wash rack.

I got home after the barn and wanted nothing more than to skip my run. It was still hot and humid, and I'm super lazy. After going through various stages of bargaining, including offering to reward myself with chips and salsa, I got myself off my floor and went for my run. The plan was to just run as much as I was comfortable with. I'm not starting my official 10k plan for another few weeks so I just want to get myself to a steady 3 mile pace that's hopefully under 11:00 minutes per mile. As always my times aren't good by any standards but they're something I can do and I can only improve from here. I settled into an easy 1 mile run which resulted in an 11'24" pace. Once I finished my mile I continued for a little more just to get myself closer to my house. Overall, I feel good with myself. I got out for a run even when I didn't want to and I didn't talk a walk break until I got to my cool down starting spot.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to keep myself from getting a stitch in my side when I run in the humidity I would love you forever! 

What's Up Wednesday?

I got home from the barn. Quickly changed from my breeches to running shorts. Dashed downstairs and put on my running shoes. Just as I was locking my front door it started to pour. If it weren't for the thunder I would be trying to get a quick 3 miles in. The lifeguard in me still tells me to stay inside during thunder. So now I'm sitting on my couch, watching Netflix, and eating leftovers from last night. Yay Florida life....

On the bright side, the rain is pretty to listen to and I do need to write as opposed to my usual say I'll write and walk away.

In an effort to start keeping up with this, I'm going to try and set a few days for regular posts. Everything else will be a fun extra that I'll write as I think of it (or say I will, write it halfway then walk away). One of these regular days will be Wednesday since it's mid-week and I'm usually settled into my work week at this point. Because I'm super creative these posts will be labeled "What's Up Wednesday?" and will try to cover anything that's going on in my life. The plan will be to segment these posts into four sections: Run, Ride, Read, and Repeat. The first three sections are exactly as they sound, and the fourth section, Repeat, will be for anything else that's going on in my life.

So without further blabbering, let's begin the first "What's Up Wednesday?'!

Run
I stopped running. After the Star Wars Half Weekend I took time off to let my foot heal and didn't really start once I felt better. A few weeks ago I went and did three different runs to see where I was at in my baseline fitness. The first was on June 4th and I did a mile in a run/walk pattern, this was done in 11'01". The second was June 6th and I decided to do an easy mile without walking. This was the first time I've ever run a mile without walking since high school and I'm proud to say that I was able to complete it in 10'56"! The third run was 2.5 miles, on June 9th, at an 11'27" pace. For this run I did end up doing a run/walk pattern and I really don't have an excuse as to why I decided to not slow down and run the whole thing.

My goal is to run a 10k this fall without walking (other than water stops) which means I'll have to put in substantial training. I am currently planning on running the Celebration Rotary Club's 19th Annual Pancake Run on October 28th. My ultimate goal would be to do the 10k in under an hour, but for right now I plan on beating my PR of 1:14:46. I know I have it in me to PR, I just need to take this training seriously and make sure to run enough races before so that I'm ready to really rock it.


Ride
Cupid is doing well. We showed at the Sumter Equestrian Center in their May Hunter/Jumper/Dressage Show and did fairly well. I am in the process of finishing this recap so you should see that in more detail at a later date.

Currently, Cue and I are working on our flat work. I've started to ask her to use her hind end more and she is responding beautifully. We have plenty of moments where she is clearly confused but she attempts to respond to me and it's those attempts that make me appreciate how good of a mind she has.

The biggest news I have regarding Cupid is our upcoming move. On July 1st, Cupid and I will no longer be training with our current trainer or boarding at our current barn. I made the decision back in May to move out to the West side of Orlando for several different reasons. The main reason being that I want to have access to trails and would like to be at a property that does not flood. If you follow me on Twitter then you have seen my complaints about the current barn flooding. It will be nice to be at a place that was build uphill and has better drainage.

Read
If you follow me on Goodreads you'll see that I have been binge reading The Saddle Club series. As a joke I picked up the first book because I had read about how bad the horsemanship is. This has turned into me laughing over the writing and horsemanship, while appreciating that these are great books for the horse crazy child. When I wasn't able to ride these books let me maintain my love for horses

I'm also reading Little Women again. A few years ago I decided to start the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge and this is one of the books on the list. I'm in no hurry to complete the challenge, I just would like to do so before I turn 30. Since Little Women is one of the longer books it makes sense to read it with ample time to finish.

Repeat
Last weekend I had my second concert with the CFCArts Orchestra, American Roadtrip. This stands as the concert I am most proud of. The music was challenging yet the entire orchestra, including myself, rose to the challenge and put on an amazing show! Manager attended one of the performances and stated that it was his favorite one yet. Our next concert is ¡Fiesta! and will be on November 3rd and 4th. I can't wait to challenge myself further and perform with the orchestra again!

Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon 2017 Edition

Well, I'm happy to announce that I have successfully completed the 2017 Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon! The course was fast, fun, and much nicer than last year. Despite having several different issues during training I was able to pull off a time of 2:50:17 which is significantly slower than my PR time but is my fastest time since I moved to Florida. I can't say I'm 100% happy or satisfied with my time because I know I can do better, but it's a start and a good sign that I can do this whole Florida running thing.

Like all runDisney races this one required me to get up at dark o'thirty and to the start line extremely early. I got to Epcot at 4:00 and was on the bus to Magic Kingdom by 4:15, which got me to the starting area around 4:45. While I was walking to the corrals I ended up in a pack of people that were literally stopped before corral G, which was an issue seeing as I was in corral D. I was in this crowd for a good 5 minutes before ducking out of it and walking in front of the port o'potty lines which were right in front of the corral entrances. I thankfully was able to get to my corral in time but that crush of people was insane. For next year I would like to see the port o'potties moved a bit away from the corrals as I think those lines were contributing to the back ups.

I was happy to see that Disney really cycled the corrals out onto the course extremely fast. It seemed like such a short time passed between the wheelchair start and when I started. I believe the new "wave" system was helping with this, but I don't honestly know how they were splitting the waves. For both the 10k and half I was in the first wave and did not see how the corrals were being split.

Mile 1 consisted of exiting the Magic Kingdom parking area and went by fairly quickly. I ran the entire mile so that I didn't get caught in the pack and disrupt anyone. According to my fitbit I did the first mile in 11:45, which seems accurate. You could tell that it was extremely humid out and that the end of the course was going to be extremely hot.

Miles 2 through 4 were on the roadways from Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom (mostly Bear Island). Other than the "fight scene" on Bear Island there wasn't really anything remarkable about this chunk of the course. It was flat, fast, and peaceful. I spent this chunk going away to my "happy place" and laughing every time I saw one of the portable lights. A friend of mine works for the company that provides them and he had told me I owe him for making sure they were set up correctly. According to my fitbit I did miles 2 through 4 in 13:04, 12:26, and 13:17.

Miles 5 and 6 were my best miles of the race both time and focus wise. Just before mile 5 I spotted a 2:30 pace group and "latched" onto them. They were doing a run/walk that seemed similar to what I was attempting to pull off. They were an extremely friendly group and I got the chance to speak with a few of them while we ran. I appreciate them "pulling" me through these miles. Miles 5 and 6 took place inside Animal Kingdom and, much to my surprise, were not as humid as last year had been. I enjoyed this section which is a first as I usually hate being in Animal Kingdom when it's hot outside. My times for miles 5 and 6 were 11:04 and 11:07 respectively.

It was during miles 7 through 10 that I effectively fell apart physically and mentally. I was hot, sweaty, tired, and my injured foot was acting up. I stuck with the pace group for most of 7 but once we passed that mile marker I gave up and focused on just moving forward at a pace that was comfortable for me. Miles 7 and 8 took place on the section of the course that I mentally broke last year and I started focusing on how hard that had been. The only positive that I took away from this section was that I didn't give up. I focused on finding people running at my pace and sticking with them for as long as I could. I did spend a good chunk of time walking because I didn't want to injure myself any further. My times for miles 7 through 10 were 11:39, 13:35, 13:14, and 13:44.

Thankfully my race turned itself around after we entered Hollywood Studios around mile 11. I can't say that my times improved greatly but my mental game got better and I was able to pull myself together. This section of the course was almost identical to the 10k and I was able to latch onto the idea that "I did it, I'm almost done". Studios was filled with photopass which is always fun to try and make sure you get caught in their camera and look somewhat decent. From Studios the course takes the river walk to the Boardwalk. Like in the 10k the river walk was congested so I focused on staying out of the way of those faster than me and moving forward. I personally love whenever a race utilizes the Boardwalk because it feels like a "home" to me. Having worked at the Boardwalk I love seeing it all lit up and the memories associated with it. My time for mile 11 was 12:38.

Almost done I think I'm allowed to make stupid faces

After the Boardwalk it was almost like a "home free" moment. You dash up the hill (or walk if you're broken like I was), then dash through the World Showcase, by the "ball", to the finish line just outside the park. I always love this section of races. The World Showcase is one of my favorite places at Disney and I love running through it. While running by the America pavilion I saw the 2:45 pace group and joined them for the end of my race. The girls leading this pace group were so energetic and seemed like fun leaders. I honestly wish I had joined them from the beginning of the race. From there my race was over. I crossed the finish line at a run and immediately grabbed my medal, cooling towel (finally!), and the post race snacks.

This race was certainly not good for me time wise. I am embarrassed by my time because I know I can do better and that I have consistently screwed up my training since I moved to Florida. At this point in my running journey I can honestly say that I need help. Training by myself does not work and is doing me more harm than good. Yes, I am finishing my races but my times are nowhere near what I'm capable of. I'm honestly afraid of doing a 5k because I know it will be over 30 minutes which after running sub-30 is humiliating for me. I've been speaking with a friend who wants to get into races and we've agreed to find a running group together. Hopefully, this will help with my confidence, mental game, and times.

As a note, this is my only runDisney race of the year. Last year doing 3 was great but financially stressful. I'm hoping to check out some local Florida races this fall that will not only be cheaper, but allow me to meet more of the running community here.

Where have I been?

I feel like I deserve credit for being consistent. I blog for a bit, then vanish for a bit, then pop back up and start blogging again. So here's a quick summary of where I've been since February.
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Dueling Homes
My parents have been looking for a house in the Orlando area since last spring. When my mom was down on spring break last year I showed her a house on the west side of town that I knew she would love. The neighborhood had low HOA dues, well maintained homes, and each lot was over 1 acre. She loved the house and the neighborhood, but ultimately decided that the house wasn't for her. So we kept an eye on the neighborhood and told our realtor that as soon as a home appeared for sale we wanted to see it. In November a home was listed and I went to the open house at my moms request. As soon as I saw this house I knew my mom had to have it. The layout was perfect, the pool was the right size with a "hot tub", and the lot was beautiful. By the time she came down over Christmas break the house had unfortunately received a contract on it.

After my family returned to Illinois I received a text asking me to see the other house for sale in the neighborhood, which I went to look at with my realtor. The house was nice and had potential so I encouraged my mom to fly down and see it. She flew down and agreed that the house had potential, but needed more work than she wanted to undertake. Our realtor encouraged her to look at the house from November which had the contract fall through. Though my mom was reluctant to look at the home she agreed since it was across the street. I wish I could say that it was love at first sight but I don't think her "I will die to have this house" moment came until our realtor opened the patio doors that led to the lanai and she heard the waterfall from the living room. It was clearly that moment that my mom had to have that house and that it was her place.

I'll spare the boring details about hosting my dad during the closing process, or the million texts I've received talking about paint colors and what furniture should go where. But at the beginning of March my mom became the proud owner of "Unicorn Hill". From closing until the end of March I was maintaining not only "Unicorn Hill" but also my own house. It was honestly extremely stressful to be responsible for two houses and I am super grateful that my dad was able to move down immediately so he can get the house ready for not only my family.

The puppies exploring their new pool and backyard

Show Pony vs. Field Pony
I've really been working on "pony boot camp" with Cupid. When I first met Cupid a year ago she didn't know what to do under saddle at the canter. When I bought her in January she wasn't much better. Her trot almost perfect and I was able to ask her to extend and collect herself at the trot. We also had success with her working from her hind end, stretching, going straight, and carrying herself. Since then I've been working on teaching her which lead she needs to be on for the canter and what the cues are for the canter. I'm proud to say that she now picks up the correct canter lead the majority of the time, and has actually given me a flying lead change! We've started working on cantering jumps but the major hurdle with this will be regaining my confidence. I've become so comfortable at trotting jumps that cantering them is a bit intimidating. But we've gotten through a few courses with our biggest issue being maintaining the canter through our triple (two stride to three stride).

On the topic of courses I've decided to go with my barn to the Sumter Equestrian Hunter/Jumper Show in May. My original plan was to do the Cross Rails Hunters and Equitation on Saturday, and the Long Stirrup Hunters, Equitation, and Classic on Sunday. After speaking with my trainer it was agreed that my original plan is too ambitious. The current plan is that I'll do the Walk Trot Cross Rails Hunter and Equitation, and Green Hunter classes on Saturday, then the Pre-Long Stirrup classes on Sunday. It's a bit embarrassing to be in walk trot classes in my 20s, but I agree with my trainer that it's best for Cupid to have a successful show than have her get frustrated with me if we have issues cantering. Once I get her more comfortable and consistent with the canter then we'll move her to the cross rail/long stirrup divisions.

My main hope for her is to eventually do the 2'6" classes, hunter paces, and possibly a few eventing trials with her. But I will have to see if she will be staying at our current barn or moving out to my parents home. The property is zoned for two horses and my parents have convinced me to allow them to set up the property for horses. So far we have the paddocks planned and are working on a "barn" plan that will work for everyone. Nothing is set in stone but at the minimum I'll be able to trailer her to their place and take advantage of the trails.

Cupid modeling her new "Cupid" saddle pad

Back to the band
Back in January I joined the Central Florida Community Arts Orchestra. After last year I didn't think Orlando was able to provide me with the type of band that fit me. CFCArts was a last attempt after seeing that a friend had attended one of their performances and I'm so thankful that he recommended them to me. I'm proud to say that I've found my "musical home" in Florida. The CFCArts family has been so welcoming, the conductor is extremely animated, and the music selection is perfect. I happily performed in the Jazz, Joel & John concert a few weeks ago, and am preparing for the American Road Trip concert on June 16th and 17th. I can't wait to share this music selection with everyone and perform one of my favorite pieces American Civil War Fantasy which is a piece I have played with every band I've had the honor of being part of.

Jazz, Joel & John practice

Pets galore
Now, if anyone was worrying about the status of Cali and Bailey I have an update for you. They're doing fine, as I write this Bailey is stalking Cali to get back the pink "mouse" they're currently obsessed with because we all know the purple mouse isn't good enough. The girls are also extremely happy to have two new friends to torture. Lucy and Kodi have returned to FL and are currently living at "Unicorn Hill". The dogs come over every few days so I can take them on long walks, cuddle with the. and dog sit. Poor Kodi isn't too fond of cats but he tolerates having the cats around and the cats pretty much leave him alone. The Twisted Sisters are more focused on attempting to catch Lucy's -fluffy tail than they are with the cotton ball who runs away.

The dogs are extremely happy with their new lives as farm dogs and love to explore my moms neighborhood with me. I can't wait for them to eventually meet Cupid and to one day have them keep me company while I work with her.

Running from my everything like it's my last name
I'm still running and am currently in my "taper" for the Dark Side 10k and Half Marathon. I try to get in about three work day runs, one long run, and one "therapy" run a week. My work day runs average about 3-4 miles and are typically one of two set loops in my neighborhood. Unfortunately one of these loops might need to be rerouted after the Dark Side events because of a few houses it passes. The long runs have been in a variety of places on Saturday and typically range from 6-14 miles. Finally, the "therapy" run is whatever I'm feeling on Sunday. So anything from a walk around the neighborhood to a few miles at a "thinking" pace. I've been trying to fit in cross training on my bike but have put that on hold until I get the brakes fixed.
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Overall this is a pretty thorough summary of what's been eating away at my life and keeping me away from the blog. I'd promise to get better at updating this but we all know that won't happen. So, until next time.

Steele My Heart..... Again?

Well, as of January 11th, Cupid no longer belongs to my trainer. She's now privately owned and in a full time training program. Her new owner is out at the barn six days a week and Cupid really seems to love the extra attention she is receiving. I would say that I'm jealous but it's pretty hard to be jealous of yourself. 

Deciding to buy Cupid was almost as stressful as deciding to buy my house. The idea that I am now committed to an expensive animal for the next 20 years is terrifying, but I knew that Cupid is the horse for me. In the past month she's learned to pick up her feet when I say "pick" while tapping the back of her leg, and she now manages to pick up her left lead most of the time. We still have a long way to go but I can't wait to see where we're at in a few months.

There are several big changes on the horizon for us but I know that these choices are for the better. The first major change, that I can share, is that I've completely changed some of her tack. I bought us a new saddle that fits her about the same as our old saddle, but actually fits me. We went from a 15.75" Pessoa Pony to a 17" M. Toulouse Premia. Stockman's Harness and and Saddle Shop in Orlando was extremely helpful to work with. I brought in the Pessoa for them to see and walked out with the Toulouse and an HDR. I tried both saddles on Cupid but decided that the Toulouse felt the best on her and felt the best for me. While the HDR was nice it felt like I had no contact with Cupid, and like we were slipping all over. When I went back to Stockman's to return the HDR, the salesgirl helped me find a set of stirrups and matching leathers. 

This week I plan on going through my barns stash of pony bits to find a softer bit to try. Right now Cupid is in a full cheek corkscrew, which I think is giving me more "woah" than "go". Recently I've had to use a small set of spurs on Cupid and carry my crop. I don't have an issue carrying the crop because she responds to it being flagged in her eyesight, but I don't want to wear the spurs full time. Hopefully taking the brakes off will help us. 

As for the other changes, those will be announced as soon as I feel comfortable and am sure they'll go through. My plan is to try and us this as a training journal for Cupid. I might not be able to update with pictures every post but I'll sure try!

If I eat the lunge whip I don't have to go in the round pen

A Week In Review 1/1/2017-1/7/2017

Hopefully doing by doing weekly recaps I'll be able to stay on top of this and actually publish valuable content. So, for the first official 2017 post, here's my weekly recap.

Sunday - 1/1/2017
I started my new year by ringing it in with some of the most amazing people possible. My friend from New York thew a party at his new house which meant that we didn't have to brave the Disney crowds. I would have thrown the party but I had family in town and they're notorious for going to bed early. One huge perk of this party was that the Jedi got to meet New York and Vegas. It also, unfortunately, meant this is the last New Years I'll get to spend with Vegas. In February, he'll sadly be moving to Las Vegas for his job.

Outfit for the night! Naturally all White House Black Market

Three Mouseketeers and Jedi!

Three Mouseketeers? 

The lovely host of the evening

The rest of day was spent saying goodbye to my family, as they had to drive back to Illinois. and cleaning the house. I also received a request from my mom to go look at a house for her. She had been considering this house for awhile but there are some architectural quirks that have turned her off. My realtor was, thankfully, available to go view the house the next day.

Monday - 1/2/2017
I was able to get a quick 2 mile run in the morning and some stretching. Lately I've been neglecting any form of yoga so my legs and back have been extremely tight.

Jedi was willing to go check out the house for my mom with me, so we went to meet with my realtor. The house was surprisingly beautiful. It has an amazing view, beautiful land, and a nice structure. My poor mom received the report that she might want to fly down to check it out.

Jedi and I got back to my house and hung out watching Netflix for a bit. While we did that I attempted to finish my tree skirt that was supposed to be finished by Christmas. Obviously, I haven't finished it yet.

Tuesday - 1/3/2017
On Tuesday I had to go back to work. As expected it was an extremely slow day because everyone was getting back into the swing of things. Unfortunately for me I was still feeling the effects of my lack of sleep over the weekend so I dragged all day. When I got home I may or may not have fallen asleep on the couch.

Yes I have a cow calendar at my desk....

Wednesday - 1/4/2017
Wednesday at work was fairly slow, but thankfully picked up as the day went on. I skipped out on my lunch break to go visit Cupid and apologize for only making it out to her once over the weekend. While she may not be my lease right now I do feel a personal responsibility to make sure she stays happy and socialized.

Thursday - 1/5/2017
While at work we had a quick meeting regarding dress code. During this meeting skinny jeans, work appropriate tops, and sandals were discussed. I personally can't stand conversations about dress code. It forces people to get defensive and puts a spotlight on those who have accidentally violated the dress code.

That afternoon I received a quick text from Jedi "What's realtor's contact information? I need to get out of my rental property." This was a nice start to my day because I've become pretty fond of searching for houses. We made plans to hang out after I got off work but that didn't happen because he got off work late and just wanted to go to bed.

Friday - 1/6/2017
Friday, I got to stand through a meeting discussing how bad of a storm the southern states are getting. I also had a jeans day option, but because of the meeting the previous day I elected not to participate. I only buy my jeans from White House Black Market and have a pair dedicated to work dress down days. But because of the meeting the day before I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

After work Jedi and I were finally able to hang out and look at the houses he was interested in. He had contacted my realtor and was sent a whole list of houses in our area for his consideration.

Saturday - 1/7/2017
Which finally brings us to today. My car was sorely overdue for an oil change so that was in order. While there they naturally were able to find something wrong with my car and recommended I get the tires aligned. This would be a nice thing to do but it'll have to wait a few weeks until after a few changes have taken place.

Because the Goodyear is by Dover I naturally had to make a stop. While there I was there I was able to find the set of reins that my trainer suggested I buy. At 25 I'm now officially living my pony kid dreams. I have a 14.1 hand, grey pony mare, and now I have a set of pastel rainbow reins. I wish I could say I was embarrassed to buy them but it was super exciting to pick them out. I plan on trying them on Cupid tomorrow to make sure I bought the right size. If not, I'll have to run to Dover after my lesson to make an exchange.

Hello Goodyear, we meet again

Hummingbird feeder that I totally should have gotten

Rainbow reins and Wonder Dust #GreenBeanProblems

While my week wasn't too exciting it was certainly eventful in terms of amusement.

*If anyone has a suggestion for a Valentine's day costume for a horse let me know! With a pony named Cupid I definitely have to play up the Valentine's day cheesiness.