I didn't get to do everything I wanted to this year. I missed out on fun trips. I had to cancel plans. Work was stressful and even had me in tears. Life gave me a thorough beating and completely wore me out.
But there were good things, too, and I should not forget them. Life may look perfect when all you see are the picture, but there are trials and troubles people don't share online. And life may feel dark and dreadful, but there are always moments of genuine happiness and contement.
And, though it all, the good and the bad, is God's great Providence, giving me what I need, what I can bear, and what is good for me.
January we cleared the horse trails (they close for hunting season), had a dusting of snow, and made exciting plans for the new year. I even got my dad to come and join us on a trail-clearing expedition!
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| You can see the tiny patches of snow beside the road...that's about all the snow we got all winter! |
February I practiced mounted archery, got farm work done, and struggled through a few days of icey rain. Mars, Sarah, and I also got together and went for a hike and chatted about all sorts of things.
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| This park has lots of memories...Ride and Tie races, ultra races, and now a lovely hike with friends. |
March I finally purchased a cozy, one-person tent, all for myself! I also went on a camping trip with some dear friends. We had days of farm work, nights of music jams, and afternoon trail rides.
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| Our motley crew of horses and ponies! |
April I got to go to the beach for a business expo (hotel and food paid for, oh yeah!) and spent way too much money on swords and knives (in my defense, the store sold a lot of used weapons/armor from the nearby Medieval Times dinner theatre). A friend and I also did a 10 mile Intro Race with Shadow and Pepper, and had a lovely time.
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| I'm not really a beach person (give me the mountains any day!) but I did enjoy standing in the water and looking for pretty shells. |
In May we had our yearly Presbytery meeting, and my congregation was hosting this time around. Which meant all my church family came to town!! <3 We had church meetings, picnics, hikes, psalm sings, music jams, and rainy-day ultimate frisbee games.
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| Got a photo of me and Max during one of the Presbytery hikes. |
In June, we had a scare at work, where a customer hit a nearby state-owned building, breaking some pipes. Air was wooshing out, someone thought they smelled gas, and the place was cleared before it blew up. (Turns out it was just regular air, and there was no danger.) I went horse camping with my sister and a friend. And the cook at the restaurant gave me a kitten (don't ever say "oh, I love kittens" when someone mentions their cat had kittens).
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| Tiny little Sammy. If you've been following my Instagram, you've probably gotten to see him grow up, lol. He makes regular appearances. |
Of course, July was REALM MAKERS!! Sarah and I drove together and had a lovely time. The courses were amazing, I got to meet some amazing people, and Order of the Pen Press had a book table. I cosplayed as Hadrian Blackwater, and got to have a drink at a bar while in full costume.
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| I didn't know that getting a drink at a bar while in full costume was on my bucket list, but apparently it was, and now I've crossed it off. |
August was full of conditioning trail rides, and at the end of the month, Shadow and I completed our first 25 mile endurance race. We also lost a lot of employees at work, and I was working over 50 hours a week.
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| Our race photo. Temps were close to 90 degrees. But Shadow did great, and was still ready to go by the end of it. He handled everything quite well, and I'm very proud of him. |
I organized my Ride and Tie race in September, and also turned in my work notice. The month was full of stress, attempting a horse trip in OH (that didn't happen), getting the race course ready, and making sure the job would be okay with me gone. Pepper raced both days in the Ride and Tie, and carried his teams to a second place finish (out of four teams) both days. And while the eagerly-awaiting OH trip didn't happen, I did go hiking in the Blue Ridge with Mars and Sarah (and we saw a bear, which was cool).
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| Pepper really is such a lovely horse...he gently carried a youth team the first day, and then kept a fast speed on day two, fighting with a half-Arab for the win (he only slowed on the final uphill...gravity works against him, haha). |
Despite my worries, October was relaxing. I went on a family trip and didn't have to stress about work. I caught up on piddly things I'd pushed aside because of work/riding/writing. And I went hiking in the mtns with my family.
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| Top of the mountains with brother and sister. |
I started a new part-time job in November, working at a friend's bookstore. I also began helping out at my dad's shop. Some dear friends came to visit for Thanksgiving, and we all went out to the Zoo and a horse auction. (Guess where we got to see a Zebra up close? Hint: not the Zoo...) I also did NaNo, and did a mash of drafting new scenes for Lost Bard and starting on a secret OotP project.
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| That awkward moment when the local horse auction sells...a baby zebra... |
And December, the month of wrap-ups. I finished up on my goals, settled into my jobs, and got to hang out with Sarah and Joe. We strolled around town, watched Joe snowboard on what little man-made snow was out on the mtns, got coffee and tea, and went bowling. A perfect end to an interesting year!
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| Planning some epic things for the next few years!! |
