Happy Friday!

I am sitting here on the back deck, in the sunshine with my poodle, unsure where to even begin. In the winter, life feels a little bland and dull, but these past few months have been anything but that! This past March we lost my Grandma, just a couple months after celebrating her 92nd birthday. She suffered from Dementia and was diagnosed with lung cancer within the past couple of years as well. Although her mind was no longer functioning in the way it had before, it was a small blessing that she had forgotten she had cancer. Every time I saw her, she would talk about how she had lived a great life and she always seemed genuinely upbeat and happy. She would really perk up when we brought chocolate in any form. As the cancer spread, she was never one to complain much. She was tough as nails and remained positive, saying that it could always be worse. I am thankful that Dementia never stole that side of her. Recently, we traveled back to Topeka and laid her to rest alongside my Grandpa. I felt so overcome with peace that weekend as we celebrated her life with loved ones.

My newest adventure has me back in the saddle! I used to ride a a child and was getting decent until the stables had to move due to new housing developments taking over. It had been years since I had been around horses consistently, but two years ago I began volunteering at a therapeutic riding center and it filled parts of me that I didn’t realize had been missing. I have never learned horsemanship like what I have learned there and it is something I want to continue to grow and develop in as many areas as I am able. That brings me to riding lessons! I have put this decision off for a long time simply because I was standing in my own way with reasons as to why I shouldn’t do it. Well, I am here to tell you- don’t ever listen to the lies and made up nonsense in your head. I had every reason in the book to not sign up for lessons, but I am SO glad I did! I was driving home from work one day, saw a sign for “Riding Lessons”…. and still didn’t call. Typical. It wasn’t until after driving home from a volunteer session that my Mom and I were talking about it and I finally decided to just go for it. (This barn is separate from where I volunteer.) I was able to speak with them that evening and I was signed up by the end of the day. Here is the crazy and serendipitous part- my first lesson I learned that the stalls and a few other items in the arena came from the barn I rode at as a child! What?! I also was put on the sweetest gelding named Rio. He is a palomino quarter horse… which is what my Grandpa had! It felt very meant to be! I am only a few lessons in, but I can already feel my body growing stronger. You don’t realize how many muscle groups you use when riding a horse! To me- this is way better than any gym workout and I am fully convinced I will have Carrie Underwood legs in no time! Ha!

Moving right along.. I have also began preparing for another one of my favorite summer activities, camping! Sadly, the weather has not cooperated for us to go yet, and the one good weekend we had planned to go in April, I got really sick. We purchased a new camper last June after ours sustained bad hail damage and was a total loss. This one has more space to move around and is more comfortable in general. It also is made in a way that hopefully it will hold up longer. Fingers crossed. Along with horseback riding, I also grew up camping and it has been fun getting back into that these past few years. Having a camper is a game changer from the tent camping we used to do though. I do love a good tent campout, but outdoor temperature isn’t quite as big of a factor now, and even non-severe rainstorms (although are not ideal) are not a make or break if they happen to pop up. We all just gather under our awnings and say things like, “man we really needed this rain.” Okay, we don’t say that, but we do make the best out of every situation. It will be fun to virtually take you along this summer and fall on some of our outdoor adventures!

These “Happy Hour” entries are so fun to write- catching up on life as if we were sitting together on a patio with a margarita and some chips and salsa! I would love to hear of any fun summer plans you have in the comments section!