People have issues & Franklin had mood swings!

.....WOW. First off... the picture is after it had been snowing for an hour or two. I think it's still spitting snow a bit. Not much. And it was simultaneously melting AND snowing at one point. Haha. You gotta love Oklahoma. And I don't know if you can see the individual snowflakes.. but they were HUGE!!! ...On to my "designated subject." I was watching Dr. Phil today with my mom. I'm glad that man loves his job. I couldn't do it. I don't know if you guys have seen the video footage floating around the internet [I didn't.. just heard about it from Dr. Phil] about this dentist that pushed a lady down because he was "attacked." This was after he had gotten out of his car to yell for someone who was blocking the drive way to his business's building, and when the guy didn't move fast enough, jerked the guy out of his car, got in HIMSELF to move it, then when the other guy said he'd move it... The dentist got out of the other guy's car and pushed him, claiming he'd been "punched." Then the other guy's sister Yolanda came out - who the guy had been waiting for - and yelled at the dentist to stop attacking her brother. Dentist goes after Yolanda, PUSHING HER TO THE CEMENT - HARD - claiming she'd attacked him first. I saw her moving to defend herself. Now she has a protective order against him, and the Dentist AND HIS LAWYER were both on Dr. Phil. Who firstly said that the Dentist was stupid for getting out of his car - I agree! And from now on... I'm double checking my car's locks, too! - and that it was his fault for starting the whole situation, even though he was physically touched first. WHAT A MESS! Common sense, people. Policemen were everywhere nearby... if someone is blocking a roadway... flag an officer down! Wow. The next person was a 75 year old lady who took a hammer to her local cable company office and smashed in the receptionist's phone and keyboard because she wasn't getting any customer service. o_O yeah. haha. Dr. Phil kept laughing when he talked about her. haha.

And FRANKLIN THE TURTLE!!!! Did you guys ever read the Franklin books, or watch the TV show? I LOVED that little turtle when I was a kid! We did a bookshelf overhaul today, because I ran out of room for all my books on my little bookshelf. So my mom finally had to move all the books I'd hat when I was little to a different place, so I could put my overflow books onto her bookshelf. And I found the FRANKLIN books!!!! Heehee. "Franklin in the Dark," "Franklin is Messy," "Franklin is Bossy," "Franklin and the Thunderstorm," "Franklin's Valentines," "Franklin's Bad Day," "Franklin Goes to the Hospital," "Franklin Rides a Bike," and "Franklin's Music Lessons" are just some of his books. I went through our stack of them, looked at my mom and said, "Franklin had a lot of mood swings!" Hahaha. It might have been one of those "you had to be there" things... But we laughed for a good 3-4 minutes. = P

ALSO - we're gonna plan a mother-daughter-Haygood bonding trip. heehee. In June or July. I'm happy. We're also going to see the Haygoods August 7 [Mike's birthday, I believe. Right, Miah? haha.],the day after Thanksgiving, and HOPEFULLY their last show & FAN NIGHT! = P Sunday my mom and I were sad we hadn't discovered the Haygoods before we did. [I'm happy to say it was MY idea to see them when we did. ^^ teehee] But my dad was like, "I'm not. Surely we'd be broke by now from all the gas and ticket money if we had! haha. I called him a party pooper. =P

Hope this wasn't too long for y'all! Have fun commentin'! I know I have sooo many posts, its hard for you guys to keep up. heehee. 'Til next post, God bless!

Tina

Music & Respect

[Photo caption: Jamie, CLINTON ANDERSON, Kimberly, Kate, Me!] Haha, I definately did get a picture where I'm right next to Clinton. I had to cut everyone else out, but it LOOKED like an individual picture! haha. Man... even his sweat smells good. He'd gotten really tossed around that day.... literally! Heehee. He is my HERO! ANYWAYS.... I did have a "theme," if you could call it that, for this blog. I have to, otherwise I ramble on about everything in the world. hahaha. Speaking of which... I would first like to touch on MUSIC! You know how certain people have memories triggered by smells or sounds? I usually get memories triggered by songs the most. Like, now on my music player the second song is "Mambo No. 5." When I was still figure skating, during the free skate sessions, they would play that song a lot. [Along with boy bands and Brittney Spears.] And every time this song came on, my favorite skate coach Miss Sue [she was married, but all the coaches were "Miss First Name."] would suddenly do this AMAZING routine. Aparently she'd used it for something before, because it was always the same every time.... But I still never got tired of watching her. She was amazing. = D If you haven't noticed by reading this blog, I'm a big watcher. haha. I'm more likely to be a wallflower than the life of the party... unless I'm with my SHRA girls. heehee. But that's different. I never quite got past the 'wallflower stage' at the ice rink. Even though I was there for 2 1/2 years. But now, every time I hear that song, I think of ice and Miss Sue. And then there will be songs that trigger random memories. A certain song will remind me of a certain day some friends came over to swim... or of sitting at my grandma's computer after a hard day working summer camp. Things like that. Nothing brings back memories for me like songs. "Ladies Love Country Boys" reminds me of trying to dance in my saddle.... hahaha. And all the SHRA girls. Unfortunately, it also reminds me of Dylan sometimes, but not often.

-.^ [A whole other loooong story you really DON'T want me to get off on. lol.]

And... RESPECT! It might be part of the only child syndrome, or having older parents, or growing up in a stable environment... I don't know. But lately there's been an influx of kids to my youth group. I don't want to sound... snobbish... but these are some kids that have come from a kind of bad neighborhood, and such. They're great people, and all really friendly... But it's like they have ZERO self control! During worship for our Wednesday night youth services... I can hear them laughing and talking OVER the singer. When I'm standing right next to the speakers. And our youth pastor keeps getting onto them, and separating them... but it seems like nothing is working. Pastor Matt even went off on a tangent about respect, and was having difficulty keeping them quiet! Once I warm up to a person, I could probably talk all day. But when I'm supposed to be quiet... I shut up. = /

I just don't see how that is so hard to do. Its really hard to concentrate on the worship, and on God when people are laughing and talking all around you.

-sigh-

Well... that's it for me for now. [Oh, and we have an expected SIX TO EIGHT inches of SNOW coming as well...] So until next post, God Bless!

Tina

I SO Have a British Student!

[Side note: Diesel's head is bigger than my whole dog! haha.] I SOOO HAVE A BRITISH STUDENT IN MY ORU CLASS! Haha. I LOVE British people! Their accents are awesome. So... yeah. He's obviously a grad student because he seems to be late twenties early thirties to me, compared to the early early twenties of the majority of my students. And he said he rode a lot in the UK when he was still in HS. I was like... oh my gosh. I have a British student! hahaha. I know Kate might appreciate this announcement more than some. heehee. I've gotten Kate hooked on BBC's Robin Hood! Heck yes. lol. I love Jonas Armstrong and Harry Lloyd. And Sam Troughton. But anyways... Hahaha. British, Australian, and Irish accents are the coolest accents EVER. But I felt sorry for him 'cause all this changing weather was messing with his sinuses. He kept sneezing and saying he couldn't wait for it to snow so his allergies would settle down. I've actually grown out of mine a LITTLE... but I could still sympathise. I was sniffing a ton. I also realized I'd definately gotten out of my "lecture mode" with the break between semesters! And hooo, boy am I out of shape! Haha. I have to run with all of them now for their first few trots, since its a new batch of students. And I had to get on Diesel [the horse in the picture] because he was being a butt. That happened at the end of my first lesson, so my second lesson students were kind of standing around.... And when I ride a horse who's being an idiot, I talk to him. I think they kind of got a kick out of that. I kept saying, "Come on, Retard, it isn't THAT hard!" and "We can do this the hard way if you want to, dear. But only if you make me!" hahaha. It's an unbreakable habit by now. lol.

ALSO... I finished my SHRA video! Yaaaaay!

Hope y'all enjoy! haha. I showed the video to Kate in the library today... Baaad idea. hahaha. She was practically biting her hands to keep from laughing out loud. So was I. lol.
So until next post... God Bless!! Tina

Weathermen are LIARS!

Argh. Okay, I know they can't be right ALLL the time. But EVERY time the weatherman forecasts weather I LIKE, he's pretty much WRONG. And every time the weatherman forecasts weather I HATE, he's pretty much RIGHT! So frustrating. I was told that today it would get up to mid 50's!!! But it stayed down in low, low, almost 39, 40's!!! With a wind chill. And a bit of rain thrown in. And the forecast tomorrow is 60's!!! I'm not believing them this time! I'm going to become very cynical towards weathermen from now on. I should have learned my lesson about a year after I understood what a forecast WAS.. But no. My ever-optimistic self always tried to see the bright side of the weather. I've been crushed about ten THOUSAND too many times!!!

-sigh-

Okay. I'm done now. Hahaha. But seriously, I'd rather they forecast a BLIZZARD and then have it end up low 40's. Not forecast mid 50's and have it end up low 40's. I mean, seriously! We might have believed a blizzard. Its been in the teens every night last week.

Isn't my puppy cute? Heehee. I took that a few days ago. = P

Hmmm... Lately there's been so much stuff going on. I'll do something, then think.. maybe I should write about it in my blog! Everyone would probably laugh, or like to hear about it. Then I get home... and forget. Or so much stuff piles up, it would end up being the longest post EVER! Yes... even longer than my previous loooonnng ones. hahaha. So I'll touch on the highlights, I guess. The writer in me wants to write a novel... when I just have one blog post to fill. ^^ Anyways... Today I had to call the ORU students who didn't show up for my class to see if they were dropping out or just couldn't make it. Turns out one of the guys, Michael, just transferred to Monday nights. I managed to hold back a YESS! Because I'm teaching Monday nights too... and I won't lose any money from him switching up. haha. And three of the girls are now taking privates with Kim, my trainer. Argh. Which is good for them, I suppose. And good for Kim, 'cause they're paying full price. Bad for me, 'cause I just lost 15 bucks a week. But more will filter in, I know. And my mom was listening to me make the calls, and said I sounded very professional on the phone. That made me glad. Since I'm SOO introverted [in person, and on the phone at least] making phone calls to people I don't know pretty much scares the crap out of me for no apparent reason. So, I successfully called tons of people I've never met today, and sounded professional! With minimal "ums." Hahaha. Bad thing about today other than the weather: I just had 4 students, TOTAL. 3 in the first class, ONE in the second. So... waiting for the transfers in, because I DEFINATELY have the room!!

OH! Thursday night I went to a HS basketball game at ETS, my old school. It was spirit week for them all last week, which I don't know if I miss or not. Hahaha. Every day would have a different theme, like mix n' match day, or career day for the younger kids, etc. But Thursday was their homecoming night. And pretty much EVERYONE was there! I saw my favorite teacher EVER, Mrs. Keeny. And I hadn't ever seen her pregnant - she is the cutest pregnant woman EVER! haha. Of course, she was four days overdue on Thursday, so she was a bit tired. Still, she looked great. And we were supposed to be playing a good team, but we won like 70-something to like... 40-something? So, I don't know what happened there. Except for our guys were on FIRE! It was really sad, though... because I only recognized about half of the basketball team.. And there weren't near as many players as there used to be! Hahaha, and the cheerleaders. Hoo-boy. I don't miss being an ETS cheerleader. I loved the cheering, but the majority of the other cheerleaders just weren't... cheerleaders... I guess. Hahaha. Courtney and I decided that by ourselves, we were louder than the whole current squad put together. :S And Liz was down here from Canada - dunno why, but I said hi. She was so surprised I drove myself to the church. haha. I resisted the urge to say, "Well... I'm ALMOST 17...." I was proud of myself for that. haha. Sooo many people had problems recognizing me! I guess when I left ETS in 8th grade I had long, very straight and thin hair down to almost my bottom rib, and I wore very, very, very minimal makeup. And I actually have real street clothes now. lol. Before it was uniform, jeans/t-shirts, and church clothes. haha. Nope... don't really miss it. At least both Christians, Quick & Kendall, recognized me. Melody, one of the girls I was a cheerleader with, popped in that night too and it took her about a minute to recognize me... and we were TALKING. hahaha. I felt so old. I mean... all the little seventh graders were suddenly freshman! Courtney and I were also discussing the cheer uniforms and how one of the cheerleaders we didn't know got away with having pink in her hair.

Dakota made me work for all I was worth this morning, too. I don't know why I have so many issues with leaning into the jumps. I just can't make myself wait for them! Argh. But we went out onto the newly-opened acre of land we just got back. That was fun. Yay for hill work!! hahaha.

And Christi fell off, so I ran and herded Jack back up for her. You know how hard it is to catch a one-eyed horse? My plan was to block him off so he couldn't run that far... then I realized I was on his blind side, and he couldn't see me, so he'd most likely run into us. Hahaha... yeah, BAD! So I just trotted after him, and luckily he didn't kick or anything so I could stay safely atop my horsie and still hold onto Jack's reins. And I was SO HAPPY about how Dakota did the serpentine of jumps! He's slowly learning to work out of his butt, not his shoulders. I have to work so hard to get him back on that butt of his! hahaha. Sorry, non-horsey-people. = P I'm trying to get the motor boat effect out of my horse... how the back end goes down and the front end goes up when going forward. = D

Well... If I think of anything else, I WILL have a novel! Hahaha. So, until next post, God bless!

Tina

North, South, East and Western Wear!

Hahaha... Yes. I have the Drysdales commercial memorized. This afternoon after church & lunch, my parents and I went to Drysdales! My mom somehow got ahold of a 20% off card, and I really need a down jacket. Kimberly recently got her a nice fluffy down jacket from Drysdales, and so I thought it would be a good idea to try there too! YAY KIMBY! She pointed me in the right direction! Hahaha. I found a niiice maroon-ish colored down jacket for FIFTEEN DOLLARS! I was happy. AND, I got a pair of pajama pants [men's flannel. hahaha. They have POCKETS! They're very big, but I like my pajama pants that way. More comfy. And I can carry my cell phone around the house easier that way.] for basically FREE because of the 20% discount card! And guess WHAT?!?!?!?!?! The lady gave us the card back so we can use it UNTIL IT EXPIRES!! I'm going to take some of my unused Christmas money and buy a Trail of Painted Ponies pony, because I've decided I'm going to collect them. -nodnod- Yupp! I'm gonna collect as many purty ponies as I can! I already have two. One of them is retired already! [Hahaha. I say "already," but I think I've had it since the 7th grade. AND - my mom was going through the toys and stuff and found Monopoly - HORSE LOVERS' EDITION! I'm calling it Horseopoly, because we also have Dogopoly along with our regular Monopoly. I'm still gonna debate on whether to get the Horseopoly. They had good, warmblood breeds on that thing too! Holsteiners and Standardbreds... = P I won't go on about that any more. I also saw some purty Ariat boots. But, as always, I gravitate towards everything expensive. I picked up a pair of boots I instantly liked above all the rest... and they had to be the most expensive pair in the whole place. u.u And I have also wanted a really good cowboy hat for a LONG time, but I can't figure out what color/style to get.

Church was great today, on a different subject. We started out with really great praise and worship, and then ended up never stopping! Seriously, the pastor never gave his message. SO many people came up with great words from the Lord. All the pastor did when he got up to the podium was to give the announcements, go over the bulletin [hahaha... more announcements, basically] and then dismiss us! He said he could practically see some of us going WHEW! Hahaha. Then we went to Famous Daves, then Drysdales.

I SACKED OUT CHEVY TODAY!! I was SO proud of Chevy! I put a Wal-Mart plastic bag on the end of my Clinton Anderson handy stick, and made him "chase" the bag and me around the courtyard area for awhile. Probably about 10 minutes. I just walked in front of Chevy, whacking the ground with the bag on the end of the stick. Then I made him trot after both of us ["us" being the bag and I. lol] and about the third time I stopped and turned around, he stood still and let me run the bag over his topline!!! [aka... his back. haha. Sorry non-horse people. =P] And then I let him chase it one more circle around the courtyard, and he let me go over his topline WITHOUT FLINCHING! And I could run it up his neck and over his poll, and he wore the bag as a hat without caring! I was SO tempted to jump for joy... But I didn't, in case he freaked. haha. Now, this is a horse that spooks when you SNEEZE! I was SO happy! And Mandy said she was impressed... Hahaha, so was I! And Kimberly was even surprised! Oh, the advice of someone who really knows what he's talking about! Clinton Anderson is my HERO! Hahaha. I can't get this excited about my horse because for one, Lynn started Dakota in on Clinton's methods, and two... My horse is so desensitized... I flinch at more things he does! Anyway... I'm happy! ^^

So, until next post... God Bless!!!

Tina

Jazzy

So... I've always liked jazz to some degree. But lately it seems like I've just discovered it! Hahaha, I know I'm a nerd, but I just discovered Dizzy Gillespie through an english assignment. The man was amazing. I think my favorite piece of his is "Manteca." But I do like "Salt Peanuts" as well. I was disappointed when Manteca wasn't on the projectplaylist.com website! But they did have another song I liked on there, and I think its at the bottom of my list now... I didn't have time to move it up.

Hahahaha. Also... My dad and I watched The Thomas Crown Affair. = P It was all jazz music. I was like... well, this is a good movie, but the music is what's keeping me sitting here. Yupp. And as I'm sitting here, Manteca is playing on my itunes library. I downloaded it off of a Dizzy Gillespie myspace page. Hahaha. I find it funny that a dead guy has a myspace page. = P I know it was created by someone else, but still. It just makes me laugh.

I should probably be getting ready for church right now. But it only takes me 10 minutes to put my makeup on, and about another 2 to get my nice church clothes on... As opposed to the bright green sweatpants I have on right now. hahaha. I think I'm going to wear a turtleneck. It is DANG! COLD! outside!!! Yesterday I couldn't have my first ORU lessons because it was so cold and the ground was frozen. Yes, I know that if people in some states didn't ride when the ground was frozen they couldn't ride at all... Hahaha, one of my mom's friends teased me about that. But our horses aren't used to it. So I put on my dad's huge down coat that goes halfway to my knees and stayed out with my horse for about an hour because I felt guilty for leaving him out there. I dumped the ice out of his buckets and kept heating up water to pour in them, in the hopes that the water wouldn't ice over again so fast. Probably no such luck, but I tried.

So... This post kinda stopped abruptly. But oh well. = P Until next post, God bless!

Tina

Where's My Tissues?

Bleh. I don't like being sick. Heh. As I'm typing this, my head is back on my pillows and I'm staring at the ceiling so I can breath properly. I actually slept in until NOON today. I'm a morning person, and my internal clock usually demands that I wake up before ten... And that's sleeping in! I just feel as if I've wasted my day if I don't start it by eight. Nine at the latest. Kim [trainer] is the same. And about one of my other friends. But everyone else I know is like... Why can't school start at noon? haha. Don't get me wrong. When I was going to school, I would have loved for it to start at noon too. But not so I could sleep in. Heck, I could go ride before school AND sleep in if it started at noon! haha. But enough of this. When I'm sick, it's even EASIER for me to get off track, I think. And now my grandma thinks I'm dying, because she just called and said I sounded HORRIBLE... thanks, Grandma. Its true, I'm hoarse and am attempting to talk through a nose I can't really even breath through... But still. I'm not THAT bad. Heh. She should hear me try to sing along with the radio. =P Yeah.. i tried, but had to stop. I made MYSELF cringe. ANYWAYS...

I think I'll start putting some book reviews up here every once in awhile. I read enough of them. My one and only New Years resolution was that I keep a log of all the books I read this year. That was just because I knew it would be one that I could keep. And I read so many books that I forget about! I was going through my facebook visual bookshelf application and was amazed at how many books I'd read just under two months ago that I'd already forgotten. I hope memory loss isn't a dominant family trait... If I end up with the memory of my mother, I don't know how I'll handle it. hahaha. I love my mom, but she's not the greatest at remembering things. You'll have to repeat everything to her about five times before it will sink in... Kinda like how long it takes me to catch on to a chemistry/biology concept.

Yeahhhhh.... We gotta go HIGHER! Hahaha. Sorry. Listening to Dom's Higher. = P I REALLY need to get my desktop fixed, so I can get that on my iPod.... Anyway. I think I'm gonna go downstairs and watch a little bit of Order of the Phoenix. I LOVE that movie! I went with Kimberly to the midnight premier for that one! It was amazing. We got THE best seats. Even after sitting in line for literally over an hour. And I had one empty seat next to me for Kate! Sad day... She was still on narcotics for her broken finger because of that stupid surgeon who wouldn't do his job right. KATE - through the whole movie that seat was empty... and we were thinking of you. =(

And I was going to write something of more significance than just this... But being sick, and having a sinus headache, I have the attention span of a fish right now. Hey... that reminds me of Dory... Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming... heh. Sorry. And I felt guilty not riding my baby today, so I went by the barn to give him half of Buddy's confiscated alfalfa cube - hey, I wasn't gonna waste it! - and Carissa came by and said something about how she just LOVED my hair every time she saw it. Of course, I said thank you... But I had just been thinking about how horrible my hair - my everything, actually. I was pale, with bags under my eyes, my nose was red... Oh, the joys of being sick! - looked. I had it in one braid off to the side, coming down in front of one shoulder. I hadn't felt like putting it up in a ponytail, because that's what I always do when I don't want to do anything with it. So... yeah.

And isn't this picture of Matt cute? He's so intent on signing something for someone. Hahaha. I think I'm the one with just her nose in the picture to the left. My mom actually took this one.

So. Yeah. Until Next Post... God Bless and GOOD HEALTH!

Tina

Hoses & Hay Bales Have Minds of their Own

Yepp. So, today I had to feed. I swear the hay bales were angry they got cut down and stuck in baling wire. My wheelbarrow tipped over FIVE times. Yeah, picking it back up wasn't pretty either. And I had to constantly rip apart the individual flakes [small sections of hay in the bales that are supposed to just fall apart once the wire comes off. Key words: SUPPOSED TO] because they were too big or weren't falling apart. And the hose would get all sorts of kinks all in it.... But when I kinked it on purpose to go to the next stall...... NOTHING! Argh. I got mad at the hose today. When I told it not to spray water everywhere... it did. When I wanted the water to come out of the hose... it didn't. u.u

And I'm convinced this woman named Theresa [AKA "Crazy Lady"] is indeed crazy. Not like Dom's "off her rocker," more like... go-to-the-doctor, get-some-meds crazy. Or else she just doesn't care. Because she's boarded Trigger at SHRA for quite a long time now. Seriously, we're all surprised poor little old Trigger hasn't colicked and/or foundered and died yet. Seriously. She'll give him a WHOLE BAG of WHOLE CARROTS at ONE TIME. Those big long whole carrots. One time after she left I counted TWENTY in his feed bucket. That alone would take my horse to the ground and call for a stomach pumping! And I have a big ol' boy compared to lil' Trigger. But I guess he's used to it now. She does that EVERY time she comes. And then she'll feed Sid, someone ELSE's horse. Then Kim [trainer]'s horses! Our poor little Shetland pony, Buddy, had a big honkin' alfalfa cube in his bucket that I rescued him from. I don't know what else he ate, but I have a feeling it involved carrots, grain, and some other sort of treat. That's more than he usually eats in TWO DAYS. And Lucky and Panther, our two... Welsh ponies?... Dunno exactly, but yeah. They got carrots, grain, and alfalfa cubes too. But they ate them all too fast for me to get there to take anything away.

And I can't yell at adults. Or tell them what/what not to do. I just can't. Its hard enough for me to do that to people my age! Heck, its hard enough for me to tell little kids what/what not to do... Unless they're my summer camp kids, because I know I have to keep them from getting trampled and stuff. I mean... if Theresa EVER gave MY horse anything, she'd definitely get it. [hahaha. more like an, "Ummm... PLEASE DON'T feed my horse. Yeah. Especially without my permission. So... yeah."] But since it was other people's horses... I ran to Kim [trainer] and tattled like a good little feeder. = P So Kim said she left a hateful voice message... Something about "My ponies have NEVER colicked, and NEVER will. So don't EVER feed them! That's what my feeders are for. And don't feed ANY OTHER horse but your own! I have other owners getting very angry when they find out someone other than the feeders have given their horse anything." So... I was like, Yay Kim! But she's the owner. She can do that. Though she DID ask one of the dads watching his daughter ride if it was legal to kick someone out of her barn for being "weird." I didn't say anything, but I would assume technically, she'd have a legal leg to stand on if she DID want to kick Theresa out, with a notice. Because Theresa has been told NUMEROUS times to NOT feed anything that is ALIVE except for her horse while she's down there. But every time she comes, she brings food for the cat [WHAT is the point of having a barn cat if it can't catch mice? There is none. This is why you DON'T feed a mousing cat. You just DON'T. I swear, she's getting fat and I haven't seen her looking for ONE mouse this past month! And I don't like mice all in my grain. The cat needs to do her job.] and feeds her horse, Sid, the ponies, and who knows who the heck else! So, I would assume legally she could kick Theresa out because she:

- Doesn't follow barn rules.

- Has been given numerous chances to STOP BREAKING barn rules.

- And endangers the other animals' health when she DOES break the rules.

But I guess she didn't think of that. Ah well, I think Kim is going to kick her out whether she knows if it's legal or not. Haha. We're all pretty fed up with her. And right after she left, I found one of my brushes in the community brush boxes that I haven't seen in MONTHS. And I check the community brush boxes every day. Or have been since I lost that brush. It was a nice hard brush. And one time, she used my lead rope... THAT WAS HANGING ON MY STALL DOOR!

She is seriously messed up.

One time we found her going through everyone's lockers. Once she rode Trigger, but he was being a brat and dragged her back to the barn [she was still on him] and was spinning and trying to rear [poor old man. haha. it wasn't his fault.] and so she put him up and gave him carrots! I was like... well, so much for ever riding him again!

Okay... I felt like I needed a rant. = P Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I think I might have a cold. THINK, because the ONLY symptom I have is a runny nose. Which is weird. I had a sore throat before the runny nose, but now its just sore if I haven't had a drink in awhile. And my head is a little heavy, but a cold front is coming in and it always does that when we have dramatic weather changes. So... yeah.

And I personally believe that Garth Brooks' Scarecrow album was his best one ever. The Double Live discs come in a very very close second, but the Scarecrow album was the best. I love "Why Ain't I Runnin." I think "Beer Run" is on that album too, but I'm not sure.

So, until next post.... God Bless!

Tina

P.S. Thought all the Mike fans would like this pic that I took. = P

Crazy, Crazy Horse

There's nothing like the knowledge that the 1250 lbs animal you're sitting on is angry and will do everything in it's power to get you off. Yupp. That's right... I rode an ANGRY horsie today! haha. He was mad he didn't get his food before our lesson. But he didn't get it before our Tuesday lesson, so I was like... tough. He started trying to buck, swish his tail, all that fun stuff.... ^^ He was angry in the warm up, then we went down to the dressage arena where some gridwork was set up... went over that, and thats when he started diving his head down, sticking his butt up, swishing his tail, etc. So when we went down to the stadium I just stood there, not wanting to risk my neck, while the two other girls did some more gymnastics and stadium jumps. While we were standing there, Kim [trainer! haha] was like, "He is in a MOOD today!" Which is a BIG statement. Usually I have a 40 year old QH in a TB's body. He was SIDE-PASSING all on his own he was so angry! And stomping around, fidgeting, turning on his haunches and forehand... It was CRAZY! So we did two calm jumps back up in the main arena, where we warmed up, and were DONE. I made him stand outside his stall door and wait a second before I let him in just so he knew he wasn't getting his food because he was so worked up about it.

-sigh- Horses.

Then I went home and got clean and all ready to go to a bball game at my old school. But, it turns out they're playing a crap team and the HS was going to be letting the Jr. High play for them, so there'd be pretty much no action at all. SO... my friend and I are going to the game next week instead.

And since I was all ready, I called Kate, and now we're going to see National Treasure at the 8:10 showing. = P And I'm driving in the dark to a theater I've never driven to before, so this ought to be interesting. I'm going to have my mom on speaker phone most of the time. hahaha.

Well, this is my second post of the day. I figure it makes up for the lapse in posts the last few days. Remember to comment on my post below! And thanks, guys... really, for all the help on my english essay. -.^ Just kidding. I know you guys would tell me if it was horrible. I'll take the no comments as a compliment for that one. hahaha.

Until next post, God Bless!

Tina

P.S. The pic is of the Branson Landing. = P I took it Fan Nite day.

Special Life

So... this morning I ate the last of BOTH kinds of my cereal. I had to combine the rest of my Special K Red Berries with the rest of my Life to get a whole bowl. Hence the name to this blog post. Special K + Life = Special Life! I wish math was really that simple. Do you know how much I would pay to have a TI-87 Plus calculator installed in my brain? A lot. Yupp! EVEN all the money stashed under my bed. I know! That a lot. lol. Anyways... I got off track... and so far, I haven't even picked one yet!!!

Well, I promised you a story about this last Sunday, so I guess I'll have to share. But, you need some backstory first:

When I was four, at church I had to start going to Children's Church. For the sake of time and space, I'll just say CC. Now, the children's pastor was really, REALLY outgoing. And at the time I was so shy, I could barely look him in the eye, much less talk to him. His name was Tim Reside, but we all called him Coach Tim. Coach Tim was really rowdy and rambunctous, which was fine... but I was scared to death of the man! At least at first. As the years went on, I learned to come out of my shell a bit and love him as much as everyone else did. But that took awhile. A long while. Then, right when I went from CC to youth, he left CC to pastor a small church a few miles away. We all sorely missed him!

Fast forward again. He'll occaisonally come to our church, now a bit more frequently. His wife, Nancy, recognized me a few times. I mean, after all... the last time they'd seen me was when I was in grade school. So, I didn't blame them. Since I'd last had a conversation with them, my hair was about 5 inches shorter, I had just started wearing glasses, and I was waaaaay shorter! So I hugged them both from time to time, said hi and whatnot.

Last fast forward. Now to my story. I saw Coach Tim & Nancy floating around the church a bit, but didn't quite get over there to say hi... I had been hungry, and were pushing my parents out the door. = P Then we went to Olive Garden for lunch, and as we were sitting there and waiting, we saw Nancy walk in with one of her cute little grandsons in her arms. We stood up to talk to her, then Coach Tim walked in and we started talking. My mom brought up me being scared of him when I was little, and he goes, "Well, I've never heard THAT from a parent before!" Hahaha. Sarcasm from him is great! Then he turns to me and hugs me and says, "Thanks for giving me a chance." He takes both my hands then, and stares at my eyes. I was wearing my fun heels that day, so I was surprised at how short he seemed. I'm used to an eight year old's perspective of him. Then he said I had pretty eyes, and that I had grown into a remarkable young lady. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside. = P I love Coach Tim. Thats what he'll always be to me, too. Coach Tim. -nodnod-

Well... until next post. God Bless!

Tina

The Man Behind the Mask

Hmmm... I need a bit of help! Before I turn in my Alejandro Murrieta character essay, I need a few people to look over it. I've become so familiar with it, I fear that when I read it I'm able to gloss over typos and grammar errors without realizing it. Thanks for the help! = ) Annnnnd.... here we go! And since I can't indent my paragraphs, I'm putting an extra line between them. ^^ And sorry if some of the paragraphs run together. My computer is being stupid, and I don't feel like giving too much energy to fix it. After all, I just got a new bottom wire for my braces this morning. = / And here is the amazing Mr. Tim, for my picture. In my next blog post I'm gonna try to write about my day yesterday, other than what I wrote yesterday. There was more to it, I just didn't feel like making an even longer post. Yay for you! haha. Oops, I wasn't gonna write this much before I put up my essay. = P

From the time he was a young boy Alejandro Murrieta had a hero, but once he became one himself the lifestyle was more work filled with more tough, moral decisions than he’d bargained for. He started out as a child who hero worshipped the legendary crime-fighting Zorro. However, Alejandro and his brother Joaquin grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and the law. They were both wanted scam artists in Mexico and the territory of California, during the time of the great Mexican general Santa Anna. When his brother was killed, Alejandro became a drunk, unsuccessfully plotting revenge against General Love, the man who killed Joaquin. Diego de la Vega, the retired Zorro he had hero-worshipped as a boy, finds Alejandro just in time and turns him into the new Zorro. During their first encounter, he stops Alejandro from attacking Captain Love. “He is trained to kill, it seems you are trained to drink,” he commented dryly. With those words, de la Vega started the process of turning Alejandro into Zorro.

Behind the mask there is more than what most people can see. He is well-built, athletic, and physically capable of the strains being Zorro puts on him. However, Alejandro can be over confident and cocky; he usually walks around with a certain swagger to his gait. While he was still an outlaw, he was very scruffy and not too clean. However, he was loyal to a fault to his two partners in crime, and that is one good trait that he carried over to his Zorro personality. Perhaps because of his brother’s death, he hates seeing others suffer. This makes him unable to stay uninvolved where other people are concerned. Alejandro doesn’t want to be seen as weak, though, so he covers it up by being quite a charmer. There is definitely more to Alejandro Murrieta than meets the eye.

The motivations, actions, thoughts, and words behind Alejandro’s mask would be surprising to some if they but knew the truth. Especially in the beginning of his adult life, Alejandro was a blunt, unpolished and crude speaker. He didn’t think too much what came out of his mouth, because he was an outlaw and no one really cares how and outlaw speaks. True to his con artist persona, he still seeks revenge as Zorro for Joaquin’s death. Alejandro is prone to rash decisions, largely due to his loyal, concerned, or vengeful feelings. He also begins to have a hero complex, seeking justice, fairness, and glory for bringing it about. But true to hero complex symptoms, he occasionally resents being the one called on to fix everything. Alejandro has constantly evolving motivations, though his essential wishes for revenge and justice never change.

During the process of changing from an ordinary man to the personality behind the legendary Zorro, Alejandro is a dynamic protagonist in his story. In the beginning of adulthood he is unpolished, untrustworthy, and unskilled in terms of social and combat situations. During this time only his partners in crime trusted and looked out for him. Many would have captured him for the reward on his head. After Diego de la Vega gets a hold of him, he slowly starts to become an upstanding hero, worthy of the admiration of young boys much like de la Vega had been. At the beginning of his training, de la Vega once asked Alejandro if he knew how to use a sword. “Yeah - the pointy end goes in the other man,” he responded. After much practice and discipline, Alejandro could fight off ten men on his own. He was transformed into an upstanding, polished, skilled man behind the mask of a hero. Of course, he still had a hero complex, but he was much more prone to do the right thing. People responded favorably to him, with and without the mask. When de la Vega died, he took over the Don’s title, and became an upstanding man of society, marrying de la Vega’s daughter Elena. It was a huge, tough process that changed Alejandro from the outlaw of the story to the heroic law enforcer.

Alejandro Murrieta is all in all a very complex, round character. When he completed his training for Zorro, he fit the role like a glove. His childhood morals and standards were reintroduced to his lifestyle. Like any legendary hero, he was able to save the day in the end, despite his own internal struggles. He ended up with the quick wit of a fox, which is what zorro means in Spanish, and defeated his enemies that way, instead of brute strength. He can taunt his enemies, but has learned to, “Never attack in anger,” which was de la Vega’s first lesson. While he still has internal struggles with temper and revenge, he has learned to be the hero he once idolized, capable of making the tough moral decisions he once found so daunting.

Feelin' Good...

WOW! Today felt like springtime... 75 degrees! I love spring weather. Well, until it gets my allergies going and my sinuses all messed up. But other than that... I love it! lol. It just makes me happy. I wore a skirt to church, and I only had to wear one layer of clothing to the barn today! lol. Instead of the three pairs of pants, three pairs of shirts, and two coats. And a SHORT-SLEEVED SHIRT! w00t. Hahaha. Yeah. My nice thin & comfy navy breeches with the hole in the knee [haha] and a pink t-shirt. It was fun. The sun felt good, even though Dakota and I are insanely, rediculously out of shape. Then I gave him a BATH! It was sorely needed, and today was definately warm enough. [I love my EZ-All. It seriously works like magic. Expensive, but it works!] Then I let him dry a bit, and turned him back out to enjoy the weather [or pace the fenceline 'cause he wanted food... both work. lol] since all the other guys were still out. And I took a few videos of him running. Hahaha. I'm havin' fun with my windows movie maker.

I was proud of myself today at lunch. We went to Olive Garden, and I tried calamari. = P I think at one point my dad said it was squid. But it was good. I couldn't eat much of it, but it was good. And I can't go to Olive Garden without some of their fried zucchini. That stuff is amazing. And their breadsticks. Yum. [And.... now I'm making myself hungry. Cereal? Or the last of our chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. haha.] But anyways...

And... what's this I hear on the MB about all the converted Shawn fans? lol. I know Tomiah's happy. More Michael for her! hahaha. But really... you guys are fickle. Fickle, fickle, fickle. I mean seriously... So if next time Dom has an open shirt, will y'all go over to him?? [JUST KIDDING!!!!!! With a little sarcasm mixed in. ^^ Some *good natured* teasing there. Just making sure everyone knew that. = P] I'm not gonna lie, I don't blame ya. hahaha. But after all... Shawn was my favorite the first time I saw them! I did none of this switching back and forth. The only one's I've switched is who's my second, third, and fourth favorite. And I've made a few ties for third & forth, or for second... But Shawn's always stayed my favorite. I mean... notice all my pictures? lol. Okay. Moving on!

Dakota was so good today! Going back to my four-legged baby. Despite us barely being able to canter due to the severity of his NIS syndrome... Not In Shape. Hahaha. But I did my two-point for only one full circle each way, and I felt like my back was cracking in half. So, I don't blame him. And he was so soft after he dried off from his bath... There was some nasty brown water coming off him during the rinse phase of the bath. Yeah it was bad. Its better than giving him a sponge bath just on his face and saddle area with heated up water, though. Definately better.

And I just found out I will be teaching on Monday nights again... Bad thing is, I was wanting to take over Heather's Thursday nights too... but she's teaching this semester as well. So... I'm taking over Kim's Saturdays at 11 and 12... Because Kim hates teaching ORU. I was kind of apprehensive about taking over Saturdays. I mean... I just got off the hook for feeding Saturday nights a few months ago. But I figured, its good money, er, credit. And the bright side is, Kimby and the others will still be around for at least half of one of my lessons. Downside is, I'll have to really hustle after my 10 lesson that I'm TAKING. So... yeah.

I think I'm gonna get some cereal and/or ice cream now... So, until next post...

God Bless!

Tina

Flying Monkeys!

That's right, Dom. Smile for the camera! hahaha. Actually, my grandma [sitting next to me] had just waved at him, and he was smiling at her. But, it worked out nicely for the picture. In the small version of this pic you can't really get the full effect of his smile. So go look for it on my facebook or myspace. lol.

And I've been thinking about how many friends I've made this past month! It seems like a ton! I'm kinda mirroring what Cassie said. I love the Haygood MB ladies! [& Jason, Adam #1, and Adam #2! haha] Y'all are so nice. = ) So thanks. You'd think I'd been talking with all of y'all for a year, the way we go on sometimes... But it's been a month, give or take a few days. = P And so... I'm grateful for your friendship. If I need a laugh, I'll pop in a Haygood CD, and head to the MB. Reading a thread or two usually puts a smile on my face. All the good-natured [haha.. or is it? lol.] bantering back and forth is great. And no one is excluded. 'Cept for Jason, down in Tim's basement. hahahahaha

Anyway. I made my first edited video pretty much ever. About my horse. The video is called "Dakota." Pretty inventive, yes? hahaha. Like my Haygood haiku. lol. Anyway...

And yes. The title was purely because I was bored. = P Creative, I know. So until next post [WOW! This one was relatively short too! haha] God Bless!

Tina

Random Ramblings

We are the pirates who don't do anything... We just stay at home, and ly around! Hahaha... A Veggie Tales commercial just came on. I loved the Veggie Tales when I was little. Especially the silly song segment. Oooooh, where is my hairbrush? Ohhhh where is my hairbrush? Hahaha. And who could forget Barbara Manatee... you are the one for me... sent from up above, you are the one I love! lol. And also the the Spanish one, I forgot exactly what it was about, but I do remember Bob telling Larry to cut something out, and Larry said, "No comprendo." "No comprendo?! I'll show YOU no comprendo!" hahaha. Wow. I haven't thought about that in a loooooong time. = P

And Pregnant 101 just came on! Sorry... Zoey 101. Heh. I kinda stole Kate's name for it now. I actually don't think it's that funny... It's just calling it Pregnant 101 that's funny. But really, I think it's really sad Jamie Lynn got pregnant. I think part of it is because her sister is getting so much attention. And of course I don't approve of it... but you know it wouldn't have been such a big deal if she wasn't famous, and if her older sister wasn't Brittany. And I actually kinda liked Zoey 101. I still like it, but I kinda feel sorry for Jamie Lynn. She probably feels ignored.

And KidzBop needs to die. I don't get it. First of all, half the songs are crap in the first place. And the few good songs they redo they turn into crap. And the commercials are annoying. Sorry for being so cranky. That happens every once in awhile. = /

And the Zoey 101 movie thing just had kind of a stupid ending. Chase finally said he loved Zoey, and she "accidentally" saw him say that with a video camera on the TV. Then she got a really strange look on her face and... it was over. SORRY if that was a spoiler for some of you. = P And I was REALLY disappointed with the second season ending of BBC's Robin Hood. It doesn't air in the US until later this year, but I've been keeping up with it on youtube. And Marian DIES in the last episode! I was like what the heck? And there's going to be a third season too! HOW CAN THERE BE ROBIN WITHOUT MARIAN?!?!?! Needless to say, there are millions of conspiracy theories going around. BUT... Once the third season is over, Jonas Armstrong said he's gonna come to Hollywood! Can't wait for that. -.^

I think I've gone on long enough. Except I have to say that now I'm watching What Not to Wear and they're showing the WORST people from 2007... It's great! hahahaha. The worst dressed couple, and a girl that mixed fishnet stockings with rubber galoshes... Yeah. Its pretty much amazing. lol.

Until next post, God Bless!

Tina

P.S. I should be feeling better by my next post. haha. And the Swiffer WetJet commercials are annoying too. But I LOVE the Ficus commercials... And I want to watch Miss America Reality Check tonight... Stacy and Clinton will be on it! haha. Okay... my P.S. is becoming longer than the last paragrapn of my post. = P

P.P.S. Okay... so on What Not to Wear this guy puts an 80's version of John Travolta to shame. He has purple pleated pants. PURPLE PLEATED PANTS! And "Pumpkin Spice" colored pants too. And 2 tone shoes. Okay... no more edits. = P

I've gotta get my butt in gear....

My mother's threatening to put me back in school. I'm normally a calm person, but the thought of going back to school gets me so nervous I start getting stomach and headaches. I know I haven't done too well this first year of homeschool, but it's my first year. PLEASE pray for me, and for my parents. We felt God was leading us to put me in home school... and I hope it isn't his plan for me to be here just one year. So, please pray that I can finish my school work on time [though technically I have a whole year to finish it.. my dad doesn't want me to work through the summer]... ESPECIALLY my AP US History!!! And please pray that we'll do the right thing for my schooling next year.

Because I like school... for the most part. Its just that Spanish, Chemistry, and Geometry that I want to shove under the rug until I'm ninety. = / And by then, I won't need them. hah. I love learning about History [I'm a History Channel watcher! = P], English [I like to write.], and Art & Music Appreciation [too bad I couldn't get extra credit by appreciating the Haygood's music.... lol], and I love my bible classes. Just those dang science, math, and foreign language classes... bleh. At least next year I hope I won't have to do spanish again.

This was a relatively short one, wow! So, until next post,

God Bless!

Tina

Baling Wire Will Always Hurt Like Crap...

....But I still feel blessed. Hahaha. Thought that one up while I was feeding. For me, physical labor equals mental labor. I need to ear buds for my iPod [my last ones were used until they fell apart], so I just had my thoughts to keep me company for an hour and a half... Though it felt like three hours, with all the thinking I did. I just wore my riding gloves to feed with, so I kept getting poked with the hay and end of the baling wires... That's where my first sentence came from. ANYWAY...

A new year, [a new dawn, a new day, a new life... lol. Sorry. Already off track again.] new blessings, but also new worries and hardships. I just found out Kim's [trainer] mom died. This is several weeks after her grandma died. She didn't just come out and tell me this by itself, because that's not like her. She said that the barn would be closed this Friday and Saturday - only feeders would be allowed on the property - because all her family was coming in for a funeral... Her mom's. I think they're going to have another service for her grandma, too, and make it a joint service. I couldn't really say anything... I'm not good with words when people spring things on me like that! So, I went with that old saying... "Better to be silent and thought a fool, rather than to speak and confirm it." I'm always afraid I'll say something insensitive, or too sensitive... Because neither Kim or I are people who just randomly talk about such deep, sensitive topics. I could tell she didn't really want to talk about it either, so I left it alone until I left about forty-five minutes later, saying bye, and that I was sorry to hear about her mom. Her mom kinda scared me. She was a great cook, but she kinda scared me. In a Kelly, military scary way. Barn girls, you know exactly what I'm talking about... Especially since I'm easily intimidated by other people. Dominant horses, I can usually deal with. Dominant people scare the crap out of me. Its just how I am. I just wish I was more like my mom, who can talk about hard things like that just out of the blue and put others at ease. I didn't know exactly how sensitive Kim was when I was out there... and just couldn't make myself ask any questions. That's my mom's area. Of course, I consider myself a pretty good [definitely not perfect, though] judge of character... I get THAT from my mom. My brains from my dad. [Lighter, random note: I wish I'd inherited my dad's love of numbers and math! He says its all attitude, but I swear I really try to like it... It just doesn't work out.] My blue eyes from both sides of the family [well, obviously it would have to be a gene in both sides of the family, since it is more of a recessive one... Off topic. Bleh. I don't like biology. One time I had a nightmare about photosynthesis in detail... don't ask.] and my bad eyesight and teeth from both sides as well. I got my short jaw from my dad's side though. -shudder- I don't want to think about having jaw surgery, but it looks like it's gonna happen. Off topic again... sorry. = /

Getting into the heavier stuff again. I guess new years generally create deep thoughts or something. But Kim had a Christian radio station on when I got to the barn [should have known something was up right then... she usually has it on a country station] and I sort of half-listened as I was thinking. One of the songs was over the subject of losing loved ones way before their time, and I got to thinking about the future, where I was going, and how I was going to make an impact. Then, that kind of lead to thinking a bit about death. As I was thinking, I realized that this was the first time I had consciously thought about my own death and felt a sort of peace about it. It would happen when God decides to call me home. I've been a Christian for a long time, was raised in the church, etc, etc... But despite my relationship with God, I still felt a certain... what's the word I'm looking for... not really nervousness, but anxiety. I guess that word works. I'm always a squirmer when pastors start talking about Christians suffering for their faith. When we talk about martyrs. Its not something I like to admit, and I do realize its easier telling you all this because we aren't face to face. I love the Lord, I really do. And just like any of us, I don't know the exact thing I'd do if I was faced with a gun and asked to deny my faith or die. But perhaps more than most, and I really don't like this about my theoretical situations inside my head, I had a sneaking suspicion that I'd opt for denying Christ. I'm sure the thought of suffering doesn't sit too well with any of us. But now, its hard to explain. I mean, of course at the moment I'm not ready to die, nor do I want to. However, I feel more like I'm in the Lord's hands than ever before. And if I was ever faced with a gun, now I feel more assured that I would probably say no, I won't deny my faith. Its a good feeling.

Like I've already said... I'm kind of squeamish with talking about deep subjects, so I do feel the urge to end this post on a lighter note. I love writing and literature. At the moment, I have several sort-of started stories on my laptop, and several more on my desktop. They're all fiction, of course, and usually deal with a main character that either owns a horse or is a figure skater. Those are the two things I know about best. I've always wondered if I could actually write a full-length story... But today, I got a new idea. I don't want to brag or anything, but I do consider myself pretty handy with words... I've always got a few fun horse-related sayings and comparisons floating around in my head. And since I have that useless facts book, it dawned on me that I wouldn't have to write a big thick novel [though those are my favorites to read] to get something published. The facts book just has one to three sentences on every page. Maybe I could get a book going of a combination of my favorite sayings, along with ones I made up? They might not always be as witty or insightful as I'd like... but there's the advantage of slipping some of my favorites in there. = ) Once I think of some more, I'll put them on here for y'all to read.

Happy New Year, and God bless!

Tina

P.S. I don't like begging for comments, but my Haygood review is kind of lonely. -.^