Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my sweet hubby!

As of today at about 3:00, we have been married for 3 years!

I can't wait to see what the next three years have in store for us :)

Snow Days

Well friends, it snowed here last week.  Not really a whole lot but it did snow enough to cause a big mess.

This is the main road through town at a few minutes after four on a Thursday afternoon. 

The same road just a little farther out of town.  We have to drive this road for about 10 miles from our work.  Luckily it is a pretty main street and is usually not very icy or snowy.

Oh, and I definitely took these pictures while driving.  I'm a smart one, let me tell you!

 This is the country road that we turn off onto to get to our house.  Notice that its a little more white?  I was in Drew's F150 and if I started going too fast (much more than 15 or 20) it fishtailed on the street.  Fun Times!

We live at the top of a hill and I made the mistake of stopping to get the mail and of course snapping this picture.  I ended up having to put the truck in 4 wheel drive just to make it to the top.  Drew was driving my car and had to try this hill about 5 times before he made it.  We were both getting very tempted to just leave it at the bottom of the driveway until the next morning... 

And this is what the little car looked like when it finally made it to the garage!  Quite Snowy!  Needless to say, we car-pooled the next morning in the truck.  The little blue car says that it is not a snow driving vehicle!

Did you all get snow?  I know that I am getting very tired of it and absolutely can't wait until spring!  I'm beginning to wonder though if it will ever get here :(

World Equestrian Games...

The World Equestrian Games are currently taking place in Lexington KY.  They have never been held outside of Europe and can basically be described as Horsey Olympics.  When I found out about them and learned that they were only 2 1/2 hours from BG, I knew that I had to go and watch at least one event.  While searching through the events, I decided that it would be best for me to go and watch something that I actually understood and had participated in, so I chose reining.

Reining is a class that is designed to show the skills that a horse would need while working cattle on the range.  They would need to be able to show dramatic variations in speed (fast and slow while at the canter), agility (sliding stops and spins), and an ease in handling that would make them a pleasure to ride for long days while performing ranch duties.  The horses used are primarily American Quarter Horses and this is an event that is the most popular in the US. 

 A typical reining pattern looks a little like this:

Walk to center ring and perform 3 pivot spins to the left and then 3 to the right.

Perform a large fast (hand gallop) circle to the left.

Perform a small slow circle to the left.

Change leads in the center and perform a large fast (hand gallop) circle to the right.

Perform a small slow circle to the right.

Change leads in the center and canter around the end of the pen.

Increase speed at center ring and ask for a sliding stop.

Roll back (a turn on the horses hocks) and lope around the end of the pen.

Increase speed at center ring and ask for a sliding stop.

Back 3 horse lengths.

This pattern (with the exception that it has two large fast circles each way) can be seen here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt5WOCMAFhY
That is Shawn Flarida from the gold medal winning Team USA...  He had the highest score of the whole competition!  I didn't get to see him ride but the video is awesome!

Should I feel sorry for BP??? Because I don't!

Photo from MSNBC

So, the headline on MSNBC right now is "As Spill Costs Mount, BP Faces Financial Squeeze"...

Oh crap, I guess that they won't be making the billions (or trillions, whatever it is) that they consistently have made, only millions. What a pity. These stupid oil companies have done nothing but "squeeze" Americans for as long as they could get away with it and now when they royally screw up, we should feel sorry for them??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

I don't feel sorry for BP... Their greed has created this mess. They couldn't get oil fast enough to sell (or by some accounts, hoard) by drilling in reasonable locations so they felt it necessary to drill in the middle of the Gulf? Wow. Good Move. Let's drill places where when we totally screw up we don't know how to fix it!

The really sad thing is that if they do by some chance go out of business, we Americans will again have to clean up their mess. Lucky us.

Sorry for the rant. Hope y'all are having a good day.

Coal Mines...

Western Kentucky is very sad today. Last night, a ceiling collapsed in one of the local mines. There were two young men who were trapped and when we heard about it on the news this morning, I told Drew that there was a very good possibility that I would know one of them.

By lunch, it turned out that my prediction was true and that this young man had passed away. He was a senior at my high school when I was a freshman and we even had a class together. His last name was also the same as my maiden name even though we are not related.

Coal mining is a dangerous job. Its a scary, dirty, dark job and I can't imagine the men who go to work there everyday. A lot of times I probably don't say the nicest thing about the mines, but for the men who work in them it is a way for them to earn a very honest living for their families. These men are proud and their families are proud of them. If you don't believe me, listen to the song "Coal Miner's Daughter" or drive through my town and look at all the stickers that indicate a vehicle belongs to either a Coal Miner or a Coal Miners Wife.

We should all feel lucky that these men go to work for us everyday and make it possible for a light to come on everytime we flip a switch. I know that I take that for granted daily.

If you have a second, please say a prayer for the two families and all of the friends who were touched by this mornings accident.

Here is an article about the accident.

If we weren't leaving the country...

the first week of May, I'd sure be wanting to go to the Derby. I don't understand how a Kentucky girl like me has managed to live 25 years and never watched the Derby except on TV. I guess that I won't even get to watch the Derby this year because it is the day that we leave for Jamaica. Guess I shouldn't complain!

Anyway, on to the point of this post... Drew was at Dillards last night looking at shoes and belts and I glanced over and saw that there were Derby hats on display... So I definitely had to try them on! HAHA!

I really liked this hat and thought that since it was black it would be easy to match with an awesome sundress!

This was Drew's favorite but I can't imagine finding a dress to go with it! Even though it was really cute :)

I just realized that I look really funny because my face is ducked down in all these pictures. That was the only way that I could get pictures of how great the decorations were on the hats. I guess that I'll have to wait and get a Derby hat for next year.

Oh, and you do get weird looks when you're wearing big hats in Dillards and taking pictures of yourself in the mirrors!

Have a great day!