Valentine's Day and a new acquisition.

This should come as no surprise after my last post, but lately I've been missing owning a reptile. While I enjoyed my bearded dragon and my snakes, I'd been thinking about getting something a little less demanding. Annabelle, my beardie, had to be fed chopped up vegetables every morning, something that I did not always have time to do, and also needed a 40-gallon aquarium when she got to be an adult. The snakes were low maintenance, but they still had to be caught and taken out of their tanks to feed on a regular basis, a process that involved keeping frozen mice in my freezer (and heating up said frozen mice).

I had been leaning towards a leopard gecko for a while. They only require a 10-gallon tank, and adults eat mealworms and crickets. They do not require special lighting, like Annabelle, so start-up costs aren't as expensive. Plus they are typically pretty relaxed to handle, unlike the zippy corn snakes.

When I saw that the North American Reptile Breeders Conference was scheduled for Feb. 13-14 in Arlington, I was excited. I purchased Annabelle, and possibly Rosalie, from the fall NARBC in 2009, so I was familiar with how things worked. I could take Philip, as it is a neat place to go see lots of exotic reptiles, and if we happened to stumble over some cute little gecko while there, all the better for us both to be there!

As it turned out, I fell in love with a couple leopard geckos at the first leo booth we stopped at. The first one was an albino male, who was really pretty, but as I looked over the others I noticed a snow male who was just way prettier than all the other snow morphs at the table. For some reason, I kept coming back to him. We moved on from the table, but none of the other leopard geckos at the other vendor tables held a candle to this one. And plus, he was cheaper.

I jokingly (at first) suggested that we needed a reptile in our lives, but Philip wasn't having it. We made our way around the booths and then stopped back at the leo booth one more time. As I was talking to the owner, the snow gecko looked straight up at me, into my eyes, and seemed to lock on. My heart melted, and I made puppy dog eyes at Philip, but he took my hand and we walked away. As we did so, I saw a girl walk up to "my" gecko and coo, "Ooh, look at this one! Isn't he the prettiest little snow gecko?" And my heart sank.

I continued to give Philip a hard time that afternoon about the gecko, and told him that if we weren't going to get him, we had to get a guinea pig. We joked about it all evening, and I told Philip I'd let him name the guinea pig (to which he came up with "Kregg" and we laughed a lot. Idk.).

The next day after church, Philip casually suggested we go back to the reptile show. As we had already been through everything and there was nothing left to see, I knew where this was going, but I feigned innocence. Besides, I was pretty sure my little snow gecko had been purchased by that girl, and if he and the albino gecko were both gone, I was going home empty-handed.

We got back to the show and I steeled myself as I walked up to the table, but there he was! The albino gecko was gone, but my little snow was still there. I held him, and Philip asked if I seriously wanted him, to which of course I said yes! And he said "Happy Valentine's Day."

So now, after much ado, we have "Ringo." Philip came up with the name after probably an hour of us researching "male names that begin with 'R'" since Romeo and Ramses both start with R. Other names we considered were Rembrandt, Rutherford and Riddley, but Ringo stuck. He's settling into his new mansion and slowly getting used to me, Philip, Fiona and Ramses gawking at him (Romeo does not care). New pics to come soon!

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Snakesssss

Once upon a time, I had a lot of reptiles. There are mentions of Annabelle, my bearded dragon, in other posts, so this one is all about the snakes. I started out with a ball python that I got off Craigslist from a guy that wasn't taking very good care of her. That was Roxy:

Roxy was super chill, so much so that she helped me out with my Halloween costume one year ("Whatever I Can Throw Together"). She was a cool snake that really seemed to enjoy any time spent out of her tank.

After Roxy, I think my next purchase was Rowan, a motley sunburst corn snake. I ordered him from a breeder, and he was so tiny when he arrived:

He was always very vibrant, but in the time I owned him, he seemed to grow even prettier with each passing day.

One I had two, it was like potato chips. While at a reptile show, I picked up a baby snow corn snake, who slowly became this beauty:

Though Rosalie wasn't super friendly when I first got her, over time she turned into a very sweet snake.

I couldn't believe the yellow she developed:

The only snake I regretted buying was Ysmay, an impulse purchase I picked up at another reptile show. The guy was selling her for cheap, so I took advantage of it.

Though she was cute with her big eyes, she turned out meaner than my other three snakes. She struck at me so many times that I lost count, and to this day, I don't believe she was full corn snake. Unfortunately she died not too long after I got her, leading me to believe that she was probably so cheap because the guy knew something was wrong with her. She was a pretty girl, though.

This post was inspired by me finding photos of my snakes tonight, which I thought were lost forever. I'm so excited to see them again. When I moved to my small country house back in 2011, I rehomed my remaining three snakes (Roxy, Rowan and Rosalie) since in addition to them I also owned two dogs, a cat, a horse, two guinea pigs and a bearded dragon, and I thought that was probably enough for my new roommate to handle without kicking me out. While I do not know what happened to Roxy, the people I gave Rowan and Rosalie to still own them, and I'm hoping to get updated photos soon. I can't believe it has been five years, and I'm excited to see what they look like all grown up!

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Colorado wedding

Three weeks ago we flew to Denver, Colorado for Philip's sister's wedding. It was a little dicey flying in, for when we arrived, the weather was like this:

Of course, none of the shoes I brought along were sensible for snow. I spent the entire weekend wearing high-heeled boots since they were the only ones that went above my ankle. Relatedly, RIP high-heeled boots since they were ruined by walking through the snow and ice.

We took advantage of the wonderful weather (blowing snow and precipitation) to walk around Denver and see the places Philip frequented when he lived there.

 Though I froze, I liked seeing the restaurants he hung out at and the places he played his guitar. We also checked out the architecture he studied during his Master's degree – places like the library and an art museum that looks like a rock formation. We ate pizza at Mellow Mushroom for lunch, forgetting that we were having pizza at the rehearsal dinner later that evening. No regrets.

The wedding the next evening was held at a beautiful venue made even better by all of the snow on the ground.

We had a great time partying and hanging out with his family and enjoyed lots of niece and nephew time. It was also nice to get to see the mountains again, especially when they looked like this:

I hope to return to Colorado one day soon in the spring or summer so I can actually go up into the mountains!

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Horse show travels: Augusta, GA

A recent horse show took me and a coworker to Augusta, Georgia, for the Augusta Futurity. The show is put on by the parent company of my company, so my duties were a lot more involved than usual. In addition to my normal event coverage, I also helped my coworker put together a program for Saturday night's finals, which consisted of interviewing tons of people and writing lots of little profiles about them. I had a good time at the show in spite of the cold, wet Augusta weather. For example, I woke up to this one morning:

It's not as impressive since it had already started melting, but that didn't stop children from running around outside my hotel room screaming "DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN???!??!" while throwing snowballs at each other.

Though we weren't staying on the Riverwalk, we drove over to check it out one chilly afternoon. It was beautiful in winter, and I imagine it's even prettier in spring.

 

Also, during some rare time off, I drove over to Aiken, South Carolina so that I could cross another state off my list. I chose Aiken because I read that it was a pretty horse-friendly city, and I think that description serves it well. There are parts of the town where the roads are dirt, and you'll see signs at intersections that say, "Yield to horses in intersection." We saw several people out driving horses or riding, and there were big parks for people to train in.

My next show is Texas-based, so I have no idea right now which state I'll find myself in next. All I know is that we need to get reining, cutting or cow horse events up in the Northeast states so that I can travel there! I need to cross one more state off my list to be halfway to 50!

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Horse show travels: Oklahoma City

Although I'm a native Texan, I had never been to Oklahoma until my husband and I went camping in Ardmore a few months ago. I then got to experience it again when a coworker and I drove up to Oklahoma City for the NRHA Futurity in November. Thankfully, there was no icy or bad weather during our visit, but in spite of my taking lots of Vitamin C while I was there, I still managed to come home with the Futurity Crud. But there's no time for sick days when you're trying to get a magazine out the door!

The NRHA Futurity was so much fun to watch. I made new friends, and it was exciting to celebrate with one of them when the horse he trained as a 2-year-old ended up winning the Non-Pro. Additionally, the horse and rider that I interviewed in Las Vegas after they won the Futurity Open ended up winning the whole shebang in OKC after a run-off. I absolutely ADORE that mare, and I was so excited to see her win.

Another horse I was excited to see was Smokey, aka American Pharoah's pony horse! A former reiner, he was at the Futurity to be a reining ambassador, and he demonstrated the patterns before the finals classes. He also stood (somewhat grumpily, but who can blame him) to let people take photos with him. People such as myself!

Oklahoma City was a fun way to finish my travel for the year. It's always better traveling with a coworker, and when that coworker happens to be your BFF in DFW, all the better. After a nice break for Christmas and New Years and lots of time with family and friends, I'm getting geared up to strike out again on more travels soon.

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Horse show travels: Paso Robles, CA

Whelp, this is long overdue, but in October I flew to San Jose, California, only to rent a car and drive about 2.5 hours to Paso Robles, California, for the PCCHA Futurity. While the route I took on the way over did not sport very scenic views, I went back on Highway 1, and that drive along the coast was quite beautiful!

Paso Robles is wine country, as evidenced by the many wineries that call it home. The town itself is not very big, but it does boast a good pizza place called Rustic Fire. I may have eaten there multiple times on my trip; I may crave it every day now. Don't worry about it.

Alas, I did not drink even a sip of wine, but I did see impressive expanses of grape vines as I drove through the country. On my way back to San Jose, I stopped several times whenever the view warranted it. Times like this:

And this:

It was a tad windy on the coastline:

I tried to go see Hearst Castle, but I discovered when I got to it that I had to pay for a tour that included a bus ride to the top of the mountain where it sits, and I didn't feel like spending 2.5 hours doing that or being that social. So I just looked at it from afar.

After I left Hearst Castle, I was driving along Highway 1 when I spotted a sign that said "Elephant Seal Lookout" with an arrow pointing towards a parking lot. Naturally, I swerved in. And I was not disappointed:

There were so many! And they were sleeping and arguing and making great noises...best stop yet.

I always love California and was really happy to get to go twice in 2015 (including the side trip I took to Lake Tahoe while in Reno). Maybe I'll get to visit again this year!

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5 Things I Learned From Chica

(I just noticed today that I have a surprising amount of drafts on my blog that I've never posted, and I was going through them to see what they were. There were some that made me happy (like a post about a large horse show I took Sienna to that I never posted), and some that made me pensive (several posts that pondered whether being financially broke but happy due to the horses was worth it). And then there was this post, written shortly after Chica bucked me off nearly three years ago and gave me a concussion. It wasn't finished, so I've edited it down to five things instead. But they are all big things, and Chica deserves the credit for them. Here we go!)

As a followup to the "10 Things I Hate About Chica" post, I thought I should post some nicer, more gracious tidbits about my pony. As a side note, it has been almost FIFTEEN years since she attempted to buck me off the first day I owned her. Wow.

I could go through and list the obvious things my horse has taught me: how to be a better rider, for instance. How to sit a buck (or not). But I think it would be more fun to write about the non-conventional things she has taught me, the priceless knowledge I have gained from my best red-headed girl.

5. How to French braid. During our days on the Katy Cowgirls drill team in high school, part of our costume was a large star with ribbons that had to be French-braided into the horse's tail. After a year or two of having to sit and wait for someone else to do it for me, I finally decided to learn how to do it myself. Chica always stood there patiently as I braided and unbraided her tail, until I understood the process. By my last year in Katy Cowgirls, other girls were enlisting me to help them.

The tail star...and an unsure expression on my face.

4. How to mount a horse bare-back, from the ground. Not from a mounting block or fence. Chica and my aunt get the credit for this one. My aunt told me the theory, and it was up to me to figure out the movement. Again, Chica patiently stood there while I yanked her mane, kicked her in the side, slid off, tried again, and again, and AGAIN, until I finally succeeded in the correct jump/swing combo. (This is actually something I can still do today, although I've learned that the mathematics for the "jump/swing" vary from horse to horse.)

3. How to be assertive. For our first years together, Chica had my number and knew how to intimidate me. It was something that started off small and grew the less I worked on it with her. She got to where she would buck me off and run away or yank her leadrope/reins out of my hand and disappear, and one day she even charged me in the pasture. I was scared of her, and she knew it.

I was also picked on at school for stupid things like liking horses. While I usually tried to ignore it or laugh it off, one of my Ag teachers told me one day that I needed to start standing up for myself. And thanks to my trainer Connie, who taught me how to show Chica she was no longer in charge, I learned that it was not okay to let her push me around. And by proxy, I was able to transfer that over to human interactions too. Now I'm told I'm intimidating when I'm angry. Thanks Chica!

2. How to be responsible. I look at teenagers today that are getting into drugs and alcohol and becoming pregnant while still in high school, and I think back to my high school years. What was it that kept me from becoming like one of them? For one, it was a little red mare that kept me grounded and busy so that I was not out partying with the "cool" kids. Even in college, my friends understood that taking care of my horse came before anything else, and I don't know how many of them got stuck riding out to the barn with me, and even helping feed or clean my stall, on the way to dinner/a movie/formal events/what have you.

1. How to be happy. In 6th grade I was diagnosed with depression, and I was started on Paxil and weekly group and individual therapy. I got to where I hated group therapy, and the thought of having to take a drug for the rest of my life just to be "happy" did not sit well with me. My mental state during those years was what convinced my mom to try out the horse thing, and although it was indeed expensive and my parents had to work very hard to let me keep her, my mom has told many people that she thinks Chica saved my life, so I would assume she doesn't regret it (mostly). Around that time I also started talking to God more, and I think that through a combination of developing my relationship with Him and Him sending me Chica, I was able to get on the right track.

It has been an emotional and good almost 15 years, Chica-Chica. Here's to the next 15!

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