The last several weeks have been full of so many good things (and it’s been so long since I blogged about any of them!) that it was difficult to narrow down what to share in this post – and difficult to narrow down my commentary on each thing! But here are five things that I’ve loved about life recently!
1. Horse showing!! – I spend a large majority of my life at horse shows; however, if I’m calculating correctly, the last time that I actually competed in a horse show myself was 2013!! That’s FIVE YEARS AGO! How did that happen!? So I made one of my goals this year to get back in the show ring. It didn’t matter in which division, on which horse, or at which show – just get in the show ring!
So thanks to a great opportunity from Oakleigh Farm I got to show at the Blue Rock Classic at relatively nearby Swan Lake, and I have checked that of my list this year!
And guys…the first day, I was so bad. Until the week of the show, I hadn’t jumped a fence since a few little 2′ fences back in December and prior to that back in the summer, but I thought, ‘I’m just entering the 0.70m-0.80m Jumpers…how hard can it be, right!?’ Turns out no matter how small the fences, it is ideal to get some more practice in first…
Fortunately, the second day went much better, and I had so much fun!! Now I’m absolutely itching to get back into showing more…however, it has been pointed out to me that a grand return to horse showing in the same year that I’m spending/saving for a wedding might not be the wisest financial decision…pshh…
2. Concert dates! – If anyone knows me, they know that gift giving is not my love language at all. Like, you’re lucky if I give you a gift card or something. For some reason, thoughtful gifts have never been my forte, but, man are they Justin’s! He’s so good! (And, fortunately for the friends and family in my life, he’s helping me get better too.) Recently he surprised me with two date night ‘gifts’ – one just because and one for my birthday!
2a. – Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra – This one was just because and a totally random surprise (which I love!)!
(I wish I had an actual picture of my dress because I highly recommended for a classy symphony-esque type date night! You can shop it here. (I wore it in the navy and white.))
2b. – Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul Tour – Last year for my birthday, Justin surprised me with a trip to NYC to see Wicked on Broadway! Not to be outdone this year, he surprised me with the most thoughtful collection of gifts – aimed at improving my life with things that I most definitely needed or wanted but hadn’t bought myself:
(If you know me, you’ll know why the gift included things like a Life Proof case for my cell phone, a dog seat cover for my back car seat, etc…)
But the gift ALSO included a surprise date night, which turned out to be tickets to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul Tour, which was AWESOME! Love both of them, and my only complaint was that, despite it being a 2+ hour show, I wanted it to go even longer and hear even more! So good!
(You might ask, ‘wait I thought it was a surprise? How are you wearing cowboy boots if you didn’t know where you were going?’ Well fortunately, along with my paddock boots, a pair of Hunter boots, and a pair of gym shoes, I always have a pair of cowboy boots in the trunk of my car, because…country concert and line dancing emergencies? Idk, but they finally came in handy for the first time ever.)
3. Engagement photoshoot – I know this is post is a lot of things with Justin and I but one more! We got to do our engagement shoot with my phenomenally talented brother-in-law, Jeff Frandsen! He made the whole thing so much fun, and I can. not. wait to see the actual photos!! My sister came along and snagged a few cell phone sneak peeks to tide me over!:
4. Target loafers – This is mega-random and entirely unrelated to anything else, but here’s my shopping recommendation of the weekend/item that I’m currently loving: these Target loafers. They are super cheap but surprisingly comfortable! I don’t think you can actually compare $20 Target loafers to Gucci ones, but they definitely remind me of these Gucci loafers/slippers that everyone on the interwebs seems to have and that I love!
5. Good friends weddings – Last, but certainly not least, I’m kicking myself for not getting actual great photos from both of these and really any photos of my beautiful friends (who goes to a wedding and doesn’t really take any photos at all…especially if they want to post them on a blog!? *facepalm*), but I would be remiss in not at least mentioning on here how much fun I had getting to watch two great friends get married this past weekend, with one wedding on Friday evening and one on Saturday evening!! (Huge congrats to Alex and Steve and to Anne and Dave!!)
