Winding Down

Whew! It's been like a month since I last wrote! The holiday season certainly adds a whole new level of busy to life... But now that it's winding down, I should be posting more regularly.
How were the holidays? Mine were great! Christmas with family, then my 14th birthday... and loads of lazy movie days too!
We went back to school this past Monday (the 5th), and it was miserable. I had been waking up about 2-3 hours later than usual, and suddenly I was back to getting up at 6:30. Grrr... But I think that everyone is getting back in the swing of things now.
Also, I officially want summer back. Feel free to remind me of that in August, when I decide that I want cold sweater weather back! ;)

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

I love Christmas so incredibly much! And now that it is actually December, I have deemed it acceptable to play Christmas music and begin decorating! (Who am I kidding, we all know that I was blasting Let It Be Christmas on Black Friday... *sheepish grin*)

I love to give people gifts and watch them opening their presents, and I will spend ages thinking of the PERFECT gift for someone. I'm a big believer in making gifts, and gifts that mean a lot without costing so much money.
This year I have planned to make floral arrangements with Mom and take them to the local nursing home. And I'm painting ornaments to give as gifts. (I haven't decided who I want to give the ornaments to yet.)
Mom, Dad and I are planning on watching lots of classic Christmas movies in the evenings this month too! tell me in the comments if you have any recommendations! Thanks!
We love the old stop-motion versions of Rudolph-The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and Kris Kringle. We also enjoy: the Home Alone movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Polar Express, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and A Christmas Carol, as well as a few others I'm sure I forgot!

A few of  my favorite songs are:
 Pentatonix's Christmas album, which includes versions of Mary Did You Know, and Carol Of The Bells.
I also like: Let It Be Christmas, The First Noel, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Do You Hear What I Hear, Jingle Bell Rock, Winter Wonderland, and all the carols sung by artists like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby with the big brassy band sounds typical of that era.

Well, I will put up pictures of my decorations and crafts soon! But I think that's about it for this time. Bye!

I don't think that I have shared pictures from the Saddle Club Potluck yet so I'm going to do that. (because of course you need to see more pictures of me on horseback. But I like it, so be quiet. End of discussion. (;  )

Trotting on the path out back.

In the ring after dark. This is one of my favorite shots!

This is apparently how Sue expresses affection. We would be standing, watching the drill team, and she would press her muzzle into the crook of my neck. Eventually she just rested her head on my shoulder. :) It was sweet, a little weird, but really sweet.

Resting her head on my shoulder/neck. All of the weight of her head was on my shoulder, and she kept "Huffing" on me! :D It was funny!

One of her favorite places to be petted.

*epically rides into the sunset*

So, Yeah... That was a lot of pictures! But now I (probably) won't pound you with more horse stuff until April. Saddle Club reconvenes then, 'cause it's too cold to really ride in the winter.

Speaking of cold, it's frigid here now! It was -2 degrees Fahrenheit at the bus stop the other morning! We are supposed to get snow this weekend! I am having a remarkably hard time excepting that fall is ending!

Well, I should go do my algebra homework so I don't have to worry about it over the weekend. Bye!

Crisp Autumn Air

 Hi guys!
I don't know about where you live, but here fall has definitely arrived! I love it! Fall is my favorite season.
The other night, my friend's dad took her and I out to Sweet's Pumpkin Patch. It was loads of fun! There was a zip-line, giant slides, hay-rack rides, food, and tire swings. Needless to say, I took lots of pictures. ;)

You could climb the pyramid of bales!

The tall structure in the back is the slides.

They had this amazing old truck in the front as part of a display.

Today was the last real Saddle Club meet for the year! 

Sue was acting a bit "off" for most of the afternoon. Really contradictory and stubborn. I think that it was maybe because my dad was there. (Not because of something he did or didn't do. He's great with horses. Just because Sue isn't around men near as often as she's around women.) As soon as he left, she was fine. 
I did my first event ever by myself. It didn't quite go as planned.

The event involved coming towards the exit gate, then going back up. We started toward the gate, and Sue assumed we were done and kept going at the gate. She even started cantering! I have never before been on a horse when it was cantering for more than a stride. Though the situation was a little intimidating, cantering was fun! (I was okay, after the video ends I stopped her and walked her around for a bit.) It was my fault, I wasn't assertive enough, and I let her get her head.

Sue is a sweetheart though:

We did more trotting (I love trotting, but I'm not very graceful at it) in the grassy area.

Well, I think that's it for tonight. Bye!

(Tell me if the video doesn't work!)

Hi guys! I'm terribly sorry that  I haven't been on in a while! As it turns out, Algebra takes quite a bit of time out of my evenings. Last night I finished my homework, sighed a huge sigh of relief, and then I realized that it was 10:30. Grrrr.....


On a MUCH happier note, last Sunday I got to ride horseback for 2-3 hours! The horse belongs to a friend of my Mom. 
My Mom's friend was super nice, and pretty much just introduced me to the horse, and told me to go have fun. 
The horse's name is Sue. She is super sweet, and so gentle.
 I really enjoyed riding her, and I can't wait to ride her again! (we get to go back in 2 weeks!)

This was my view for the afternoon! My favorite quote is something like, "The best veiws are framed by a pair of ears." and it's so true!

This is how Mom spent her afternoon, she and Sue are buddies!

riding in the arena.

Taking a little break. Sue really liked the grass in this area.

Overall, I had a wonderful weekend, and I'll really try to fit in a post more often! 

How was your weekend? 

Are you excited for fall? What do you like about it?

I sure am! As much as I love summer, I'm ready for fall. Besides, it's my favorite season! 

I just love all the orange. And there's the pumpkins, Halloween, cider, sweaters, and cozy movie nights. And I love the leaves, I love to rake (weird thought that may be...), and I also enjoy photographing them.

 
(As always, you can click on the photos to make them bigger.) 

Well, I should go do my algebra homework! (I'm trying (and failing) to work up some enthusiasm for it.)

Sorry I haven't written much lately guys! Just about nothing notable has happened! I have started another project, one that I am keeping to myself until finished because when I boast here about how well they're going, I apparently jinx myself and they fail.

Well, several days ago, my grandmother and I visited the Hutchinson Zoo. The Hutchinson Zoo is not large, and it mostly contains local animals. But that doesn't make it any less wonderful at all! Animals you will find there include (but are not limited to):  owls, bobcats, foxes, a badger named Ernie, not one but two bald eagles,  a barnyard area with a rather grumpy pony (he bites) and a llama that spits readily, and several hawks.
 My favorite  part however, is the reptile building, I love all of the snakes! I have been going to the Hutchinson Zoo since I was born, pretty much. So I am familiar with the layout, and most of the animals. They have a great kids program, called Junior Zookeepers.
I participated in that every year that I was eligible. And I formed quite the bond with the 12 foot long, 100+ pound Burmese Python that they had. His name was Sinbad, and on cold days when there weren't many people around, the keepers would even get him out of his enclosure so that I could play with him! (It pays to have family friends who are senior zookeepers!) Sinbad was fond of licking my nose, and I was fond of stroking the patterns on his back. Sadly, Sinbad died several years ago.


Anyway,  when Grandma and I were at the zoo, the zoo's crow started laughing! It sounded like a human! I think that my grandmother was a little put off by that.
When we got home, I asked one of my friends about the crow. (she worked at the zoo for a while) She said that it would laugh at people, and not randomly, just when they would do something stupid or funny!

That was interesting! I didn't even know that crows could make a sound imitating or emulating the human laugh!



Well, this week is the week when my mom teaches Book Cooks for the city. (Book Cooks is a class for kids where my mom reads a book, and then they all make some sort of snack.) I am getting paid to help and supervise.
 I should probably go help Mom set out things for tomorrow. :)

PS: Here are some links to the Hutchinson Zoo's various pages:

http://www.hutchgov.com/department/?fDD=18-0

or

http://www.kansastravel.org/hutchinson/hutchinsonzoo.htm

or

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hutchinson-Friends-of-the-Zoo/225008259198

Roar!

I'm currently making a new light switch plate for my room, as my old one no longer fits the style of my room. The new one is going to have a map glued onto it, and I'm crafting a clay dragon to be curled around one corner.

Those are the pieces. The large oblong part is the rough form for the body, the two similar dish shaped pieces in the corner are the ears. I made the ears before the head (don't ask why...) and they turned our much too large, so I will be re-making the ears in that same style but smaller. The wood is the plate, we will mod-podge the map to it and once the dragon is properly hardened, we will attach that as well.


Also, this weekend, we went to KID (Kansas International Drag way) in Wichita for the afternoon. Dad raced all day, but Mom and I joined him in the afternoon.

My Dad's car, during his tweaking between runs.

Me sitting in our trailer.

 It was lots of fun, and Mom and I appreciated the new bathrooms! Before that they only had porta-pottys! ICK!


On the way there, this was on the other side of the road:

Their trailer was on fire! The truck in the last photo is the owners of the trailer, everyone else was pulled over to help them. At least they had the good sense to unhitch! I hope that everyone is okay!


No pictures of the dress-in-making yet, but hopefully soon.