Yo ho it's off to Bend I go!

Instead of going to the Oregon coast to celebrate our 2-year anniversary, I'll be driving to Redmond, Oregon, for a horse show. (Not bitter, really...) I guess the coast trip can come sometime in September.
But it's our second anniversary September 1, so here's an internet toast to my wonderful husband, Matt, who is amazing, loving, funny, handsome, and did I mention amazing? Especially for putting up with a girl who is a volatile firework of moods!

Our company picnic

Things we might've overheard at our company picnic:

"Where's the other horse?" "Well, we were too broke to buy hot dogs."

"Are we taking a group photo?" "Well, a third of the staff is missing, and another third is registration. "

"Are those chocolate chips in the whipped cream?" "No, those are flies."

"Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" "I'm not sure I'm smarter than a first grader!"

Another win!

The Crossing won tonight's game 28-2, obviously a close game (just kidding).
Here's Matt hitting. :)

And those horse show results!

JB, as usual, was his spectacular self. We didn't win everything, but we did well, and I can appreciate the judge's ability to recognize strengths and weaknesses.
The St. Maries arena was complete mud and clay from the rainstorm on Friday, so classes were held in the Judd Building, which was basically a cow arena. Maybe 25 feet across and 50 feet long. Let's just say things were tight.
JB actually lopes better when in a smaller space, so that wasn't a problem, but it was nerve wracking thinking we were either going to get run over or forced into another horse.
Anyway, our results:

• 4th in Showmanship
• 2nd in Western Pleasure
• 1st in Western Equitation
• 5th in Bareback Equitation
• 4th in English Pleasure
• 2nd in English Equitation
• 2nd in Trail

So, at the day's end, we won high-point! What was nice is that there were riders there who were actually competitive on our level, so it wasn't just a win-everything-because-we're-better day. That sounds cocky, I know, but JB is a really nice horse and generally at open shows you have the crazies who run around the arena at lightning speed. Would like to know why we got second in trail, but alas, somethings are impossible to know.

Why so serious?

Matt never smiles in his photos, but here he is coaching third base at The Crossing's softball game last night. They won by 22 to 12. :)
I did my first bike ride to Pullman—7 miles! It actually wasn't that bad.

The horse girl

Matt had the first softball game of the season with our church team last night, which I'm happy to report they won. He would have to give the play-by-play, because I wasn't there...And apparently, everyone knows that if I'm not where Matt is, there's only one place I could be—the barn! And of course, they're correct.
To be fair, I have a horse show this weekend and having lost a week on the Chief Joe, JB lost conditioning and I've had to focus on him. It was funny to hear that everyone knows that my life generally revolves around that big green barn, and I'm not ashamed to say, "Yes, I am the horse girl!"
I'm thankful to have a husband who understands that my horse babies are my sanity, and the one thing besides him that I truly enjoy. I'm blessed to be able to have Lena in Moscow, double blessed to have JB to ride and take care of and triple blessed because my husband is patient with my horse-obsessive-ness.