On my side of the world

Hey guys! Long time no post, eh? Well, I'm back now. Until August... That's when, *gulp* school starts. Oh well, I'll survive. 

So the reason for not posting lately is because I have been super busy lately. I'm still riding 3 times a week, and that alone keeps me busy enough! But I just got my new laptop (chromebook) so I can now post more often. Speaking of chromebooks, they are fantastic! I love it. Much, much better than a macbook in my opinion. So much lighter, longer battery life, and extremely durable. I don't dislike the Samsung for any reason, and I recommend getting 3g. 



-Meghan 

Let the summer begin!

Hey guys! As some of you may know, yesterday was the first day of summer. That alone is a relief for all of us cold weather folks! Now it's in the mid 90's here, and I'm loving it. Yesterday evening, I was sitting on the covered patio just to soak in the heat. (not the sun - I'm not a fan of direct sunlight.) It's only hot 4 months out of the year here, so summer time is nearly everyone's favorite season. Yesterday I rode and meant to post about it, but never got the chance too. :( Me and Red jumped, and he did so good! I am so proud of him. :) Got some cute pics, but not many. I did get a video though, and I will be posting it soon. So stay tuned! 

-Meghan 

First pony club meeting

Riding style: Jumping 
Duration: 60 minutes 
Location: Outdoor arena, whole new stable 
Weather: 85 degrees, breezy, sunny 
Horses rode: Mr.Red 

Hey guys! Had a big day today. Drum roll please! *Dum dum dum dum* Me and Red's first pony club meeting! (Well, my second, Reds first.) We did a jumping lesson, and he did fabulous. Didn't knock a rail down, and even qualified for the next round - a jump off. I was a little hesitant about having to memorize two courses at once, the first course then the jump off. (me being me, I wrote the numbers of the jumps on my arms for the jump off) It was slightly confusing because the jumps weren't numbered at all, so we had to mentally number them. But everyone was very nice! I learned a lot, and cannot wait for my next one. Next stop: Cross country. :) 

-Meghan 

Bath time

Riding style: Jumping 

Duration: Eh, 45 minutes I think. Didn't time myself. 

Location: Pasture 

Weather: Mid 80's, sunny, slightly humid 

Horses rode: Red 

Hiya! So as you can see, I am prepping for tomorrow. (My first real pc meeting) Red is going to be so excited to be riding with some totally new horses! I haven't even been to my first official meeting, and I already love this club. :) I just hope that I do well tomorrow. I mean, it's not like it's a rating or something. But still... 

On another note, I just let Red trot/canter over some poles outside today, and then gave him a nice bath afterwards. He looks so cute and clean after his baths, and his coat is so soft! I've been currying extra good lately, and his coat looks fabulous. :D  

As soon as I got home, I went for a 40 minute bike ride, stopping once to switch dogs. (Told you guys yesterday how that works) Daisy is doing good, but I could see her more fit. Then again, she's a dog. I mean, am I obsessing? xD Poor dog, has to suffer exercise. Actually, I think that she enjoys getting out of the house and off the couch. I don't think she feels so attention deprived anymore! *Happy jig* 

Well, I'm off to finish my to do list for the night. At least I'm on summer break so that I can get all this stuff done. (Let me tell you a secret. Summer break ROCKS!) 

-Meghan 

Imagine Dragons

Okay, so I know that we all have our favorite bands. I don't usually like pop music, but this band I swear I shall go to one of their concerts even if it's the last thing I do. The name is Imagine Dragons. Even the name is awesome! My favorite album is Night Visions, and I really want to buy it on cd. I also want to do some piano covers of their songs, so we'll see how that turns out. (At this very moment I am listening to Selene) I didn't know about them until a few months ago, and I just think that they are fantastic. How about you? Tell us what your favorite band is in the comments below! :) 


-Meghan 

Biking

Hi guys! It's a Thursday, and that means piano lesson. One of my best lessons ever! :) Since I didn't ride today, I exercised two of our dogs (Daisy, and one of our stud's) while riding my bike. (I have this system where I ride my bike and hold the leash while they run beside the bike. It's pretty handy for when I don't have time to really exercise myself, but the dog needs a workout.) I like to keep my running companion in the best shape possible, so the bike workout is the best possible workout for her. Not to mention I can get some exercise as well. Riding really helps with my fitness, but I usually run and lift weights when I get home from riding, then ride my bike later on in the day. I stretch every single day, just to stay supple and flexible. Then I like to supplement the weight lifting with 50-100 crunches/sit-ups 3 times a week. So far it's improved my riding a little, but within a month I should start seeing good results. AND in addition to that I am eating way healthier now. :D Everything I eat is organic, and I am eating a banana and apple for snacks. I take 4 calcium vitamins a day to help with bone growth (Osteoporosis runs in the family. So I really want to avoid that...) 

Since I'm sure that you are all tired of hearing about my fitness, (hehe) so I will talk about pony club for a little while. My first meeting with Red is this Saturday, and I'm really excited about it! I can hardly stand the wait. Ugh, hurry up Thursday. :( Tomorrow I'm going riding, so I'll give Red a bath. I want to start trotting more, to get Red in better shape. It's a show jumping lesson, so this will be exciting. :D Not sure if he'll load willingly, but we're working on it. I hope that by the next pc meeting he will load without hesitation, so we'll see. 

The puppies are all doing great, but they are quite loud. It gets kind of annoying at times, but I don't really mind anymore after doing this for 6 years... Here's some cuteness to get you through the rest of the week! Stay strong my friends. Saturday shall be here soon. But if you've already finished school, then I guess it doesn't matter. xD 

-Meghan 

Casually casual

Riding style: Bareback 

Duration: 30 minutes 

Location: Indoor arena, pasture 

Weather: Slightly rainy, breeze, 77 degrees 

Horses rode: Red 

Anyone notice the new entry at the top of the post? It shows you what style I rode, how long I rode, where I rode, what the weather was like, and what horses I rode. Pretty neat huh? I thought so, I got it from another blog. :) Just letting you guys know! 

Hey folks! We had a pretty casual day today. Just did some bareback work, since I haven't in awhile and we had somewhere to go after my ride. I trotted for a while before cantering. Red's got some lead problems, but it's not entirely his fault. We're working on it every ride though, and he's getting better at it. :3 Today he did a lovely slow dressage canter, and his crazy standardbred trot. It's absolutely horrific to ride bareback, but I'm kind of used to it now... 

 

The post ride destination was the race track. It was my first time going behind the scenes of the races, and it is truly fabulous. I love going places where I feel welcome, surrounded by kind people and gorgeous horses. It's just awesome! I would like to get a job there someday, just because it is such a cool place and there is so much to learn and discover. Did I mention that the people there are super nice and the horses are drop dead gorgeous? ;) 

Well, in case you were wondering, the only reason I am up this late is because I am waiting for a stupid ebay auction. I'm selling my tablet to make money for a chromebook. This auction stuff sucks. I would really prefer to be reading a history book or sleeping right now, but I want to see how much this bad boy goes for. 

In my running life, here's what's going on: After my pulled calf muscle, I gave myself a 4 day medium rest. Then on Monday, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to run. Right that very second, not any later than that. So out I went, barefoot and with my faithful running companion, Daisy the dog. I managed to log 3 miles, with some very light jogging thrown into the mix. Today I planned on doing 6 miles, but only got 3 miles in after an evening rain crashed my plans. Stupid rain. :( 

I've also decided to add this little game. It's called 'what's that song?'. (A Meghan original.) Here's how you play: I will post a line or two of lyrics from my a favorite song of mine, and you guys have to comment and guess which song it is. Whoever is right gets, well... They don't get anything. But I thought that it would be a cool little game we could play! Here we go. Enjoy! :) 

"But with the beast inside there's no where we can hide..." 

Three... Two... One... Guess away! 

-Meghan 

Rehab time

Yup, it happened. The unthinkable. Not many runners think about it on a daily basis, but it always haunts the back of their minds. The one, the only: Pulled muscle. Calf muscle to be exact, and it hurt. It's a grade 1 strain, not to bad, but it has held me back from running normally. I have been resting since Friday, only doing tons of house work, landscaping, and kayaking to make up for it. Some bike riding was thrown into the mix as well, but not enough to write home about. I went to the wise one (aka, internet) for advice on what to do in such a tragic event. "Rest. Don't do anything. Just rest." The very words were horrifying. "But there are so many things to do on the weekend!" I moaned and groaned in protest. So I spent my weekend in misery, longing to run as I propped my leg up on a fluffy pillow and spent my nights soaking in a tub of boiling water. But it wasn't helping. Back to the no-longer-wise-one I went, searching for hours. Then, I found it. "Walk it off! It'll be fine." I was ecstatic! Immediately, I peeled off my socks and walked 3 miles barefoot. Afterwards I felt pretty good, and only experienced small aches and pains in my lower calf. Hopefully by tomorrow it will be better, and I can take a stroll in the morning. *sigh* Oh summer break, how I love you so.

-Meghan

Piano shopping... Again.

Hey guys! The fun/horrific saga is back: Piano shopping. (More like hunting in my opinion.) My dad doesn't want to buy me an acoustic, even though my teacher said that my need for a real piano is long over due. But he's being cheap. The thing I don't understand is why is he allowed to spend $30k+ on an inground pool when an above ground would do him just fine? I'm not trying to sound like a brat here, but let's be thoughtful here... Just saying! ;) 

-Meghan 

Russian accents

Can we all take a moment and appreciate Russian accents? I mean, honestly. Besides french and british accents, these are the coolest things in the world. In the movie, 2012, that fat russian dude was my all time favorite character. My favorite part was when that kid commented on the size of the plane, and that guy said "It's Russian." :) That just makes me smile. I'm not from Russia myself, but I would really like to visit there sometimes, and maybe pick up a mockcent while I'm at it. ;) Keep on being awesome Russian people!

-Meghan

"Oh boy..." I'm sure your all thinking that. Because we all know what the picture above states, and what is yet to come. Yup, you guessed it. Puppy. Time. I can't believe their already here! It seems like just last week I was cleaning up after the last litter! *sigh* Oh well. Time marches on, I guess. Hopefully I can get some cash from this litter's work, and put that in my savings! :) Anyways, these are F1B Labradoodles. 6 boys and 4 girls to be exact. They are so cute and cuddly it's almost unbearable! :3 

-Meghan