Season of travel!

If you know me, you know how much I LOVE to travel- especially if it's to somewhere new. And guess what?! Starting this month, I have four trips planned through November!

First up, I'm heading to Galveston for an overnight stay with my bffs Patricia and Kaitlin for Patricia's birthday! Yay for food, beach, pleasure pier, and possibly a ghost hunting tour (lol).
 

The following weekend, I head to San Antonio for the Southwest Veterinary Symposium with my boss. I haven't really been to San Antonio since I was in high school, minus going to see a concert in college (which I don't really count because all I remember is getting lost). We're staying on the riverwalk, so besides working part of the day at the conference, I'll get to explore!
 

In November, I'm attending an APHA show in Waco with Sienna and some horsey friends. I'm sticking to this one like glue, since the more convenient Bryan show didn't work out thanks to my surgery. Better start working out now in preparation for breeches.

And then right after the show, I drive home to Houston and fly out the next day to NEW YORK CITY!! Ahhhh I can't wait! I've never been to the northeast, so I expect it to be a huge culture shock- especially being in THE city (or so I've heard).

I expect it to be just like Friends and Seinfeld. I'm staying with a friend, so I get to save a lot of money, and I get the like "insider's scoop" on things to do/how to get places. I'm for sure seeing Phantom on Broadway (and possibly more excited about that than anything else). Otherwise, the sky's the limit!

So many things to look forward to- better get back to working on internship/school/work now. Sigh!

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It just got real. Too real.

A friend shared this article on facebook written by someone named "Amanda", and the title intrigued me: "26, unmarried, and childless". So spot on for myself that I had to read it.

Let me preface this by saying that I am happy with my current state of being. I have 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 horses that I absolutely adore and who most of the time feel the same way about me. I have a wonderful family who will drop what they are doing and drive 2 hours away to help me when I need it. I have the best grandparents in the world who are wonderful examples of a godly, Christian marriage. My close friends are always there when I need them. And while sure, I would love to be in a relationship, I can't say I care much for the idea of having kids at this point in my life, or even being married anytime soon.

What I do have a problem with is the seemingly innocent things people say to me, which she hits on in her article. As far as not being in a relationship, one thing I particularly hate hearing in addition to what she says is "You should try online dating". I would never presume that I knew more about where a person was in their own life than they themselves do, so I find this statement particularly offensive, especially when it is delivered to me without preface. It's as if I'm not doing enough (?) to find my other half, and this person thinks the only solution is to take to the interwebs in the hopes that I'm matched up with that someone perfect.

I'll say right now: my current city is not conducive to meeting people. Since it's a college town, the majority of the population is at least 4 years younger than me, and most people my age are married or in a serious relationship. But on the other hand, I work full time, I take classes full time, I'm doing an internship for my classes, and I try to ride and spend time with my pets in between- I don't have time to meet anyone right now, online or otherwise!

Then, there is the whole child thing. I've never felt drawn to the idea of having kids. I'm aware that may change if I get married. But if you want me to punch you in the face, then say to me, "Oh, you'll change your mind about having kids one day." So what if I do? Or if I don't? Is that really anyone's business but my own? It's like people are so blown away by my dismissal of motherhood that they try to find something to say that makes themselves feel better while completely disregarding my thoughts. I can understand that when I meet someone I want to marry, I may relish the thought of a little copy of us running around. But I have many reasons for not wanting kids, in addition to just plain not wanting them! And I don't think I should be judged for refusing to bring a kid into this world just because it's the "thing to do". Honestly, the only good thing I see about having a kid is buying them their own horse, which will be another horse for myself. I said it.

So, before my feelings get too intense (this is supposed to be a blog about ponies and pictures and the diverse averageness that is life), I'll finish by saying that I hope you'll read the article and maybe think about the message you're giving to singles/childless/etc when you think you're being helpful or funny. Chances are, either we're happy with our lives and don't need unwarranted advice, or we're incredibly aware of what we see as our shortcomings and don't need them acknowledged over and over.

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Exciting times ahead!

This semester is going to be crazy. And I say that will all of the affection in my heart! In addition to working full time, I am taking 12 hours this semester- 9 hours of which are class, and the other 3 of which are an internship with Musa Publishing's Aurora Regency imprint. A big part of my responsibility is updating, managing, and writing for the Aurora Regency blog. I will get to write historical articles, notices about new releases, and also work with authors who are also writing articles for the blog. I'm very excited!

The classes I am taking now range from intro to publishing, to publication design, to 17th century British poetry. The design class has had a surprising amount of freehand drawing in it, and I'm no artist- and yet my first two projects have turned out pretty well. One of them was using graph paper to draw a font, and I churned out a blocky, stubby font that I named "Corgi" for obvious reasons.

I'm a little leery of having so many things on my plate (in addition to riding and whatever other activities), but if I can get through this, I'll only have to take 6 hours of class (2 electives) and one more internship next semester- and I can graduate in May! Also, with the cooler weather approaching, my house will be more pleasant to live in, which will lead to a much less stressed out me. Winter is coming!

Since I don't like to write posts that don't have pictures, I'm going to switch gears now to my wildlife sightings over the last week.

First: One night, about 9:00, I let Romeo and Fiona out back to go do their business. I noticed that Fiona was jumping (in playful fashion) at something, and I yelled at her to stop, thinking she had found a scorpion. She ignored me and continued on, so I went outside to yell at her better. What I saw almost gave me a heart attack: a huge, dark, long shape in the grass. After screaming at her to get away (and scaring her half to death in the process), and then screaming at Romeo to get away as he came trotting back up, I took a closer look to see what was hanging out next to my porch:

I'm not particularly afraid of snakes, having owned 4 in the past, but when I see my little dog playing with a random, yet-to-be-identified-as-venemous-or-not snake, I panic.


As I was shining the light in its face (and probably confusing the heck out of it), the feral cats discovered it. While the kittens hung back, Lexie walked up and sat next to it, following it as it moved, and meowed at it. I think it was the equivalent of a bouncer escorting someone from a building. Cas walked up to it, slapped it a couple of times, and walked away.

It looks to me like a broad banded water snake, which is not venomous. It didn't show me any aggression, in spite of me getting so close to it and shining the light in its eyes, and seemed more like it wanted to get away than anything else. I left it to itself (and to the cats, if they wanted), and the next time I took the dogs out, it was gone.

Wednesday night I was driving home from eating dinner with my older brother, and when I was about 3 miles away from my house, I drove up on a large herd of hogs out next to the road. You can't really tell what they are in the picture, so take my word for it.

Usually hogs run before I can catch them in my headlights; these guys weren't very frightened by my truck. I drove off the road a little, trying to get better lighting for a picture, but they stayed on the move.

There's always something new and different when living out in the country, be it animals, creepy drivers that cruise very slowly past, or sudden, unexplained explosions that rock your house (happened last night and horrifically scared me, my roommate, and Fiona). I guess that's part of its charm, eh?

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