Fun in the Arizona Sun

So we took one week out of our "one year in Winston-Salem" to visit our cousins in Arizona. I have to tell you it's really handy when people on opposite sides of the family choose to live in the same city! Chris' cousin, Ryan, got married on Saturday and I got to see my cousin, Rachel's baby for the first time!

Our travels are never simple flights from one city to the next. Even before leaving North Carolina, our plane had a hole in one of its tires. Of course, the Piedmont Triad Airport doesn't have a maintenance division, so a mechanic had to bring a spare tire from Charlotte. As Chris pointed out (complete with pit crew sound effects), the guy ought to be able to change the tire in 20 seconds flat if he was a true Charlotte resident (They're ALL race car fans, right?) Thanks to the 3.5 hour delay, we missed our connection and got to spend the night in Houston - arriving after midnight and having to be back up by 5:30 to catch our plane to Phoenix.
Anyway, we stayed in this two-story casita with Mike and Jane at this fantastic Hilton resort that had multiple pools, a lazy river, a water slide, etc. etc. I loved being able to eat/nap/read on the lounge chairs found on the patio outside our second floor. Ahhh beautiful Arizona sunshine! We also hiked Dreamy Draw with an expert flora and fauna guide (none other than the Mike Miles), and got in some great workouts as well: running along the canal, using the Tocasierra fitness center, and attending a yoga class - (Mental note: be sure to ask what type of yoga it is before you go strolling into a class full of upper-middle aged women. Kundalini yoga is much different than the typical Hatha yoga - let's just say there was lots of chanting and crazy breathing with your fingers on your nostrils...)
The wedding was beautiful - the bride and groom are so happy. I was watching for Ryan's reaction and right when the doors opened, he said to the pastor with such genuine warmth, "Man, she's so gorgeous." It was interesting because there were cousins of Chris' there that he had never met.

And one whom he's known but who has grown up radically compared to the day at our wedding when she, as a charming 8-year-old said something to the effect of, "This is my first party - it can't be over yet!" [Hi, Haley!] Dancing, eating, smiling for cameras, and balloons ... yep, definitely a wedding - (and a little bit of Wii and Guitar Hero too.)

Intermixed with the pre-wedding barbecue, the pre-rehearsal luncheon, and the post-wedding celebration back at the house, we got to see my cousin Rachel three different times. I can't tell you how exciting that was! She and I were best friends growing up (as we are only six months apart), and it seems like a long time since we've seen each other.

We went out to lunch on Thursday at My Florist (not to be confused with a recommendation from "her florist" as we thought at first). Then, Friday night, she, Kory, and baby Owen came over and Kory made THE BEST homemade guacamole ever! It was so much fun hanging out with them and just catching up - albeit slightly bittersweet as I realized what fun the four of us could have if we lived near each other.

We decided that we liked Houston so much that first night, that we volunteered to get bumped from our return flight (in exchange for two ticket vouchers). All I can say is that I need to find a travel size contact solution that comes in a 3 oz. bottle! (My four-ouncer had to get checked which resulted in me being a four-eyes for two days too long.)

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

So for Christmas, the only thing on my wish list was money to contribute to my "Frostbite Horseback Riding" fund. As I've mentioned before, I volunteer at Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center where students with special needs are involved in horseback riding programs as therapy. During the winter while the classes are not in session, they offer an 8-week adult class called Frostbite. Riverwood has an amazing setup with a brand new barn, an indoor and an outdoor arena, five indoor stalls, and three pastures.

Myself and six other women meet every Tuesday for two hours learning all sorts of things about horsemanship. One woman brings her own horse and is learning how to work with him, while the rest of us are either volunteers or parents of students at Riverwood. The first week we spent a lot of time in the indoor classroom learning the basics, and the second week was all ground work (which actually is pretty cool - Did you know that you can make a horse run circles around you without you touching it or even being on a rope?!). But the anxious, novice rider in me is shouting, "When do we get to get ON the horse!?" It's sort of like those first few days of basketball practice when you didn't even get to touch a ball... just lots of defensive shuffles, wall jumps, and suicides if I remember correctly.

Anyway, we have progressed to the stage of actually riding our horses. I use the pronoun "our" like there is some sort of possession involved, but it's really just the horses we use during classes that the instructors matched us up with for the series. Since this is a therapy riding program, most of the horses are on their last legs. The slower, older and more docile they are, the better for the safety of the kids and volunteers. There's Buddy, who's like 33, Flash, who's 23, and then there's my horse: Pet (I try not to hold it against her that she has the lamest name of the bunch). Her age: 5! Yep - that's not a typo - they gave me the spry, young mare who just arrived to the farm this fall. I'm not sure of the story behind why they ended up getting such a young horse, but they did - AND to top it all off, she's the only mare in the herd as well. Can anyone say Bossy Bessie? (I know, Bessie is usually a cow reference, but it sounds good - and definitely applies! She has made more than her share of enemies in the group trying to show them all who's boss.)

Over the last couple of weeks, we've conquered figure 8's around barrels, and we're close to get the trot perfected. (By "we", I mean she and I. The others have taken this class multiple times over the years and can trot on command pretty easily. Granted, they're not professionals, but they are definitely more experienced than Sharon and I, the two novice riders.) Pet doesn't really think I'm serious when I give her the trot signals, so we usually only go for about five steps and then she's back to a quick walk - but we definitely made progress today in that regard, so we'll see how next week turns out.

Of course, there could be some other issues resurface next week considering how today's class concluded. They decided to take us on our first trail ride. As soon as we started out, I asked about Pet getting too close to the horse in front of us. She said that was something she (Pet) needed to work on... but didn't really give me any specifics other than NOT to pull back on my reins the whole time to try to get her to slow down. So we went on. I tried to stop her occasionally to add some space; I stayed towards the left side of the trail while Ibby, who was in front of us was toward the right; I veered really wide when we went around curves. I really was conscious of getting more space between us because I knew Pet has some issues.

Just before we were approaching the final uphill portion of the trail, the two instructors complimented Pet for not getting upset when Gator, the horse behind us, got too close and apparently tried to bite us in the rear. I obviously didn't see the incident occur - but I was definitely surprised by the lack of response knowing Pet's personality. A few seconds later, she picked up the pace a bit, which considering the long hill we were headed up, I wasn't too concerned about. I tried to slow her down a bit and communicated to the person in front of us that Pet was ready to get going. Their advice was again NOT to pull back on the reins since she needed her head motion to help get us up the hill. Of course...

But then I notice that her head was pulling back to the side as we were going up, not just swinging straight in line with her neck. I realized neither of the instructors were up front near us any more, and then I saw Ibby's ears flatten, which if you want to know anything about horses, that might just be the most important thing. Flat Ears = Angry Horse.

As soon as we got to the top of that hill, it opened out into the yard where the arena is and Pet let out this ear-splitting primal scream and went crazy. If things don't work out for me teaching, they tell me I could probably make it in the rodeo. I know it wasn't 8 seconds or anything, but I most certainly had a furious, bucking creature under me. All I could think was, "Stay calm!" and "Squeeze your abs so you don't fall off this horse!" Oh - and did I mention that this is English horseback riding which means our saddles don't have anything to hang onto in front? I survived the first round, and then she went right back into the fit complete with another scream. I seriously don't really remember what was happening but apparently she was kicking Ibby, as evidenced from the three visible cuts he had on his hindquarters. (All I knew was that I didn't want to fall off and get hurt - I'm almost through the toughest part of a marathon training program. If I'd put in all of this time and effort and then couldn't run the race next month, I would be so disappointed!)

The instructors finally got up close enough to grab the reins from the ground and direct all of the horses in separate directions. They both told me it wasn't my fault - that was just Pet trying to prove she was the princess. And - everyone in the class told me it was absolutely amazing that I didn't come off the horse the way she was kicking.

So, there you have it - my horseback riding class is certainly not dull. I was definitely a little shaken by the experience, but I was proud of myself for riding her back to the arena. I'm pretty sure next Tuesday I'll be able to get myself "back in the saddle again" - but I'll be perfectly happy to work on trotting in the round pen all by myself. Wish me luck!

Yow...Snow!

Just so you're all not feeling sorry for us that we never get any "real" snow here, we had a gorgeous, huge-flake snowfall yesterday afternoon/evening. I had begun to feel bad for kids who lived here thinking they might never see snow, but this was reassuring. The fluffy flakes stuck on the trees, bushes, and buildings creating a beautiful snowscape.



The most unfortunate part of the snowfall was that it affected attendance at the Pack the Place Women's basketball game at Wake Forest (because obviously no one knows how to drive if there are white particles floating from the sky).

As many of you probably know, (or at least any of you who watch SportsCenter), NC State's Coach Kay Yow died of breast cancer last month. She had an amazing career which included 700+ wins, 4 Conference Titles, and the opportunity to coach the 1988 Olympic gold medal team in Seoul.

In honor of her, Wake has been wearing these totally cute pink tie-dyed warm-up shirts (with the breast cancer ribbon purposefully upside-down so that it looks like a Y for Yow).


Even though the snow kept some of the spectators at home, the women pleased those who were there with a win against Georgia Tech. And the kids that were there were doubly pleased since they didn't have to go to school today either!