Walk, Trot.......Canter!

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and went to my friend’s work to ride Dollar in the heated indoor arena. I absolutely love the facility! It has multiple barns with heated wash racks, tack rooms, and probably 40 stalls. I went and got Dollar out of his paddock and headed over to the arena. He did really well. For my horse wise friends, I’m trying to teach Dollar to canter/lope. The first 2 years I had Dollar I was teaching him to walk and not runaway. Now I’m trying to get him to break out of his speedy trot into a controlled canter. He is slightly gaited and cantering is so unnatural to him. He’s doing really well on his left lead, but he kept picking up a cross canter on his right lead. He’s so funny and I love to see him learn new things. He’s such a cuddly horse and always wants to be right with you. I felt so energized when I got to work after such a fun morning riding. Here are a few pictures of my buddy Dollar.

The "Stare" Machine

My favorite machine at the gym is the rotating stair machine (aka stare machine). Not only does it give me an awesome workout, it puts me high above everyone else at the gym and provides the perfect people watching/staring location. While on the “stare” machine I don’t even need headphones or a magazine because the entertainment is already provided. I love watching people and try to imagine what they are like. Now I know I could really write a fun story about the guy with the mullet or the girl wearing the see through spandex pants and the sweat bands, but this post is actually inspired by a teenage girl running on a treadmill. She was about average size, but she was making this horrible loud pounding sound and her machine was rocking wildly about. She would just slam her feet down with each stride. It just looked so awkward and painful. My knees always hurt after about a mile and it got me thinking….do I run like that? I was really curious at this point….how do I run? Like the girl stomping on the treadmill? Like Phoebe Buffay? I would really like someone to tell me, but please do it kindly.

El Diablo Update

I got to meet and spend a little bit of time with my dad’s new pony El Diablo while I was in SC. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with little Diablo. He is a gorgeous pony and a beautiful mover. He was stubborn, like every other pony I’ve ever met, but was willing to learn. What it comes down to is that Diablo is not trained whatsoever and there is no one around with the time to train him, so if you’re looking for a pretty prancing pony – I know of one for sale.

AC’s Big Game

While I was in SC I had the opportunity to go to my nephew, AC’s, basketball game. AC is such a great little ball player and he hustled up and down the court only stopping when his Band-Aid fell off his knee. He immediately ran over to his dad for some advice. Once the Band-Aid issue was resolved he was back to business. At one point AC stole the ball and in the process his super cool red sports glasses got ripped off. Did that stop him? NO!!! AC ran down the court, dribbling every 4 or 5 strides and without his glasses he sank a basket. That a’ boy! It was an awesome play to watch! AC is my hero.

Columbia, SC LDS Temple

I had the chance to go to the Columbia, SC LDS temple with some of my family members earlier this month. The SC temple is about an hour and a half from my hometown, Rock Hill. We were running late on the way down and it was so funny to be reminded of one of my dad’s personality traits. The man WILL NOT speed!!!!! The speed limit was 70 mph and he never went over 73 mph. Luckily we made it (no thanks to him…..j/k dad!). The temple was beautiful and I loved seeing the palm trees on the grounds.

Voting Adventures

So I voted today. The voting wasn’t that exciting in itself, but the experience was certainly blog worthy. Normally only two precincts vote at my voting location, but for some reason unknown to me, they weren’t using the normal location and they made us drive across town. (Across town in Springville means 2 miles away.) I’m a little put out by wasting 10 minutes of my lunch break at this point. When I finally get to the correct place there is a huge line. Deep breath.
Soon after I got in line, a lady behind me starts encroaching upon my personal space. Next thing I know she’s right beside me. I think, “Is she really trying to cut in front of me?” I hate when people get really close to me in lines. I have crowd anxiety and hate to be crowded. I’ll even leave a few feet between me and the person in front of me to hopefully help the rude person behind me understand my need for personal space. If this doesn’t work I’ll look over at them and let out a big, I’m so annoyed right now, sigh. Now back to the lady.
I couldn’t believe she wasn’t getting any of my usual hints. Not the sighing or the glares. Eventually she passed right by me. When the poll worker came to ask her for her name I raised my hand high and said, “I was next.” He looked at the lady, now totally in front of me, as if asking her permission and she nodded her defeat. Come to find out she wasn’t even at the right location and left, but her replacement wasn’t any better. Now I had a kid decked out in Abercrombie from head to toe with shaggy hair behind me. His appearance wasn’t what annoyed me; his mom was a little ways up in line and they were arguing over his choice in candidates to vote for. Everyone in the line was forced to hear the two of them making jabs at each others choice in candidates and defending their own. It was extremely tacky. I finally made it to the front of the line, cast my vote, and headed back to work. To keep from being grumpy I just think of what an awesome Seinfeld episode this would make.

Getting my read on....

Some members of the LDS church are reading the Book of Mormon in 97 days to honor President Hinckley, who died at the age of 97. I'm already reading it right now, so I thought this would be a great way to track my progress and honor the man who has taught me so much. Here's a graph of my progress- you can click on it to join the challenge.



Graph is currently not working. The website is www.hinckleychallenge.com

$2 REWARD for MISSING SUNGLASSES

I purchased a $5 pair of sunglasses back in 2006 and have worn them religiously ever since. My eyes are extremely light sensitive and I'm particularly attached to this pair of $5 glasses. The right lens pops out when dropped, there are numerous scratches on the lenses and there are teeth marks on the ear pieces (nervous habit). Please return them if you know where they are.....if not for the $2 reward, then for the love and respect of the relationship between a women and her favorite pair of cheap sunglasses. The glasses are pictured below on me and then again on Kevin.

To sled or not to sled?

Growing up in SC I didn't have many sledding opportunities, but in the winter of 98' there was just enough snow to head to the biggest hill we could find in that there parts of the south and take a shot at sledding.
This is when I learned that sledding wasn't very fun. The 5 second thrill of being completely out of control wasn't worth the hike back up to the top. To make matters worse, I slipped and fell while trying to climb back up the hill and a 6 inch piece of metal stabbed me in my knee. When I turned over and looked down, I saw the piece of metal sticking out of my snow pants. It took a bunch of stitches and a very inconvenient urgent care center wait to repair the damage.
I had formed an opinion- I hated sledding. The only semi-positive sledding experience I've had since that time, was in 2005 when I took my mom to Soldier's Summit. They tow your rear end to the top of the hill each time. (Pics below)

El Diablo - Here I Come!

Mrs Bird is flying south in two weeks! My dad recently bought a pony named Frankie, and Frankie has since been renamed El Diablo the Devil. Now Diablo had to earn his new name through devious acts such as kicking, biting, charging, and pretty much any other possible bad pony behavior. He even bucked off my niece Karson. So, I've taken on the challenge. El Diablo better enjoy his unruly ways while he can because when I get home I'm going to rid El Diablo of his satanic spirit and turn him into the sweet Frankie my dad thought he was buying. (For the record...I may be in over my head...we'll see just how big and bad this 4ft pony is when I get there.)

Whatever you do...keep your eye SHUT!

After boarding on Saturday, I had some time to kill before Kevin got back from hunting/snowmobiling. I heated up some wax and attempted to wax my own eyebrows for the first time. Now isn't that a fantastic intro to this short story! This could go in so many directions!
Well, I heated up the wax and was really careful to test the temperature first and what not. Then I smeared wax over my right eye; I was scared. I couldn't really see if I had covered all of the area, so I opened my right eye to have a better look. IDIOT! All of my lashes immediately got sucked into the hot goop of wax quickly hardening above my eye.
Think fast Jessica! Think fast! I quickly separated my lashes from the main section of wax and yanked it off of my eye. OUCH! No time to think about the pain. I dunked my wax covered lashes under the faucet, trying to heat the wax on my lashes up. I gently pulled, twisted, and plucked the wax from my lashes. When I was all done, I was missing a section of my lashes. Lesson learned.....when waxing your own eyebrows.....keep your eye SHUT!

Snowboarding Adventures

I met my friend Jenny (fellow wrangler from Zion Ponderosa) last Saturday at the mouth of Big Cottonwood canyon for an awesome day at Snowbird. There was so much snow! Even the groomers had 6 inches of powder on them. By 2pm we were both wore out and called it a day. I was just glad there were no injuries. A few weeks ago, an out of control snowboarder jumped a natural feature in the middle of a run, lost control of his landing and he crashed into me, sending me to the ski patrol office. My elbow still hurts and my helmet has a nice gash on the top of it. Two weeks after that incident, my brother in law, Jorge, took a bad fall and cracked/bruised a couple of ribs. Needless to say...I was due for a drama free day on the slopes.

This picture is of me and co-workers, Doug Long, Mike Dover, and Brad Stewart at Sundance, the day I got hurt.

Time for some Southern Comfort

I just purchased a round trip ticket to South Carolina. (Actually Charlotte, but close enough.) A few weeks after Christmas, I'll spend 5 days with my wonderful family. It will have been 7 months since my last vacation there. We're not counting the 36 hours I spent there in September for our wedding throw down. We literally flew in, threw down, and flew out. Exhausting. I plan on spending some much needed time with my wonderful nieces and nephews and of course my trusty childhood steed,Crystal.




I like to bring out the crazy in my siblings' younguns!

Poll Results are in....

I guess polling the 9 of you who responded isn't exactly accurate research. But in a world based on the 9 people who are bored enough to check out my blog (mostly cube monkeys), 66% of you get your best ideas while laying awake in bed. Is that why all of my co-workers can be so grouchy? Just messin'! I definitely get my best ideas while writing, traveling or driving. When it's time to go to sleep there ain't nothin' that can keep me up. I may cry myself to sleep, but it never takes more than a few minutes. Certainly not enough time to come to any epiphanies. Maybe that is why I like to blog so much. Writing takes all of the crazy random thoughts and feelings in my head and somewhat organizes them on paper. (The word "somewhat" being a complete disclaimer if I ever write stupid stuff). I keep my blog posts light and fun for the most part, but if you ever got a chance to peek into my journal...whoa now buddy...ya better hold on tight.

Learning from others instead of finding out for myself - I didn’t know I was capable

So I have had this major itch to get a little tiny house dog, and Kevin and I have been considering getting a Chihuahua. We even went and looked at puppies on Saturday. After talking to my mom, I decided that instead of making an alright decision to get a little dog (we’re at a great time in life to have a puppy), I’d make a better decision and not.
My mom said that before she had her first kid…she got a dog…..during gaps between kids….she got a dog. In fact, every dog she ever got was when she was waiting to have a kid. After she had each kid she regretted having the responsibility of a dog. So mom, for once, I’m going to take your advice and put off an alright decision for a better decision. (Realize if Kevin gets me a puppy for Christmas, I’ll totally delete this post and pretend I never wrote it.)