Astronomy lesson

A little known factoid about me is that I really like space. I loved astronomy in grade school, and I considered joining the astronomy club in college, but it met at night (for obvious reasons) and... yeah.

I love to look at the stars and try to make out constellations. I think it's amazing that we can see something that is so far away and so, well, alien to our daily lives.

And if you're wondering, my favorite planet is Neptune. Because it's pretty. And cold (like my heart... muahaha).

Anyway, I was laying on Chica tonight, gazing up at the sky while she grazed. I was feeling sorry for myself, and I was asking God why certain aspects of my life are the way they are. I had been staring at a couple of familiar stars, trying to make them into a known constellation, and failing.

After praying and staring at the sky for a good 10 minutes, it was like my perspective suddenly changed, and I suddenly became aware of several more, very distant and faint stars in the constellations I had been looking at. Turns out I was staring the big dipper and the little dipper in the face, but not seeing them.

Is there a lesson to learn in this?

Focus only on the attention-seeking, glaring problems in your life, and you'll lose sight of the big picture. I was trying to make something out of only what I could easily see, so I was blinded to what I could not see.

I was humbled by this parallel to my life- I realized that I was concentrating so hard on my petty issues that it took my focus off the invisible- God. Perhaps if I spent more time looking at the whole picture of His will, the things that are less clear will reveal themselves.

Space, in its infiniteness, is awesome. But God, our Creator, is even more unfathomable and awesome- and yet He will still take the time to teach me a lesson, even one involving His least known creation yet- the final frontier.

Look out your window tonight. No matter if you live in the city, and the stars are hidden by lights, or you live in the country, and the stars are hidden by clouds, you know they are out there. The same is true of God; perhaps He is hidden from your view due to your situation, or your responsibilities, but He is still there. And He longs for you to discover Him.

And if the night is clear, and you see a very bright star- that's Jupiter. So cool!

Read More

We interrupt this program...

...to present a small rant. Sorry, not sorry. Feel free to skip if you don't agree!

I knew what this was when I got a solid paint bred horse. I knew the prejudices on both sides of the argument, the lack of opportunities, etc. I know that until more people get out there and show their SPBs, it's going to be very difficult for SPBs to have a strong voice.

But it's kind of a no-win situation. When shows offered SPB classes in the past, no one showed up. So now, shows only offer the bare minimum. And for someone who wants to get out there and show their SPB, it is SO FRUSTRATING.

I have been waiting for the show schedule for the Houston Paint Show to come out for months. I finally got a notification from a friend that it was out today, and so off I went to see what solid classes were being offered. This was it:

Hunter Under Saddle
Halter Stallions
Halter Geldings
Halter Mares
Western Pleasure
Reining

That showmanship class I was looking forward to? Nada.

I emailed show management, because how else will they know "what the people want", and this is the transmission:

 HLS&R: At this time, we are not offering the SPB showmanship classes.

 

 Me: That’s too bad, it was kind of a make or break it for me. Can that be looked into for next year?

 HLS&R: It is possible that it will be considered, but I can’t say if it will be added to the show schedule. 

Well, in that case, "I can't say it I will be patronizing your show in the future", I wanted to say. Having only a mare, that would give me 4 classes that I could show in, were my horse versatile enough to do all four of those disciplines. As it is, I could reasonably enter 2 of those classes, HUS and halter, only one of which I would expect to be competitive in. So, let's say that I am a broke horse owner with only so much money to splurge on showing (ahem), so I decide that it's only worth it to show in classes I actually care about (aka not halter)? That gives me one class to pay the $74 fee for, which doesn't include the cost of the class itself.

I know that breed shows are more expensive; I've been counting on that since deciding I might like to show at Houston. But if they are not going to offer the classes I want to do, then why should I fork over my hard earned money, not to mention fight Houston and rodeo traffic with my horse trailer, for one class?

Suffice it to say, I am very disappointed that they are not offering showmanship. I would have happily paid whatever to be able to show in it and hunter under saddle. Heck, I may have even splurged more and entered the other classes that I have no chance in, just to have a shot at the SPB High Point award.

At this point, though, I think I'm going to have to pass on Houston this year. It would have been a fun experience, especially getting to show with my other paint friends, but I'm just not sure it's worth it.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Read More

Movin' & Shakin'

I'm probably going to have to name a future animal the above title, because I feel like I've said that phrase these last few weeks more than any other thing I've ever said. Which is impressive (but not the kind with HYPP).

I feel like my life is alternatively movin', shakin', and then doing a lot of... nothin'.

On the one hand, I register for classes in less than 2 weeks. I think and hope that maybe then it will hit me that I'm going back to school. I signed off on my degree plan last night and mailed it to UHV this morning, which was a little surreal.

You know what this means, right? It means that whenever I'm answering "What is the highest level of education you have achieved?", I'm going to be able to answer the celebrated "graduate school". And that I'm about to spend more money and have even less time to do the things I love.

I'm very excited, and I'm a little nervous. I think I am definitely making the right decision, and I'm very happy that even though I'm going back to school, I don't have to actually go to a school- I get to do everything online. Having lived in a college town the last 3 years, in addition to the 4 years that I was in college, I'm a little more than ready to not be anywhere near one for a while.

I'm nervous because of the aforementioned financial and time expenses, but those generally come with any new venture. Those things are in God's hands, and I feel like this where He is leading me to be- so with God for me, who can be against me?

On the same hand, I've had lot of sudden interest in Sienna from potential buyers, which comes on the heels of me deciding to hang onto her until the spring (of course). A lady came and tried her out last week, and she was very impressed with her temperament and training- which made me feel very good. She wasn't quite where she needed her new fox hunting prospect (yes, fox hunting) to be, but that's ok. Another lady is coming to look at her this weekend.

If this lady doesn't decide to buy her, I think I'm going to go ahead and take my advertisements down. I'd really like to get some more shows under her belt and get some more miles on her on the trail. My plan originally was to sell her in the spring of 2013, and I am going to stick to that- unless I randomly win the lottery and suddenly can afford to collect horses. I have a good idea of what I want next- in fact, I've already met a prospect that fits my requirements- but right now it is nice to have two horses that are ride-able.

The "nothin'" part comes in on the job front. I have no idea how many applications and resumes I've sent out, but I have only received responses (in the negative) from 2, which is wildly discouraging. One of those two even required an animal science degree, and they still told me I didn't meet their requirements. I'm under the assumption that the person who sent me that rejection letter was either a) drunk or b) rushing home from work for the weekend, and therefore did not actually read my resume, but who knows.

I still have a month and a half to achieve my New Year's Goal for 2012 of finding a new job, so I'm trying to not let it wound me too badly. At least my current job affords me excellent holiday breaks for both Thanksgiving and Christmas- the latter of which will be spent in my parents' new home in another city, which will be strange. And I have people championing me all over the place, so I feel like things are bound to click into place.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to end this post with a few things I'm grateful for:

-all of my family, and the opportunity to be together at Thanksgiving
-getting to meet up yesterday with my older brother Brandon for the second time ever
-my bff Patricia, who is always so supportive and encouraging of me
-my bff Kaitlin, who adopted me as her bff before we had even met in person
-my bff Elizabeth, who immediately volunteers to help in any emergency even though we no longer live in the same town
-all of the factors that made the wreck my roommate and I were in much better than it could have been
-the fact that Chica is now running around like a banshee, no longer in pain
-finally having a direction to head my life in
-a scorpion-free house for a little over a month now (thank you, cooler weather!)

I just have a lot of feelings! Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention being thankful for all of my animals, whom I'm grateful for every day- even when I come home to a brand new toilet paper roll shredded all over my room.

Read More