A Year in Photo - Day 192

I'm going along, life is going great, hanging outside with the horses Monday to Friday, working on the Pack the Purse project, and spending time with friends and family.....when BAM, anxiety hits me like a tonne of bricks. 

I had a great morning, woke up rested, talked to my Mom and then headed out to the farm. Then, everything that could go wrong while I was feeding did, nothing major just little things. By the time I was 3/4 of the way done my anxiety was so bad that I had to leave, without finishing. Fail. At least that's what I felt like, a failure. Here we go again, the cloudy winter is here and so is my winter slip into depression and anxiety. I felt crushed, like I was going to throw up and really desolate.

Thankfully I have an amazing support network, so instead I'm trying to think that this is just ONE bad day, tomorrow is a new day and it will be better.

And my faithful therapy dog Sig knew something was up too. He was glued to me all afternoon and even willingly shared the heating pad. 

"Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me." -Imam Al-Ghazali

A Year in Photo - Day 191

New boots....I'm in love <3

"I'm learning how to walk away from situations or people who threaten my peace of mind, self-respect, or self-worth." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 190

Cold, cloudy, winter days are best spent outside. Especially when you have a new toque :)

"A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh alot, and realize how blessed you are." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 189

I had a great busy day today, but I forgot my phone so I couldn't take any photos. So instead, a photo of the end of a great day :)

"Accept yourself as you are. Otherwise you will never see opportunity. You will not feel free to move toward it; you will feel you are not deserving." -Maxwell Maltz

A Year in Photo - Day 188

Albeit a bit chilly, it was a beautiful sunshiny day. I will take a cold sunny day over a mild overcast day every time. 

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed
in overalls and looks like work." -Thomas Edison

A Year in Photo - Day 187

A couple of weeks ago I started a project with my friend Kerri called Pack the Purse Kelowna 2015. We are collecting gently used purses that will be filled and distributed to women who are homeless or who are in need. Neither one of us expected it to grow as much as it has. We set our initial goal at 50 purses, not expecting to reach that many, but we have blown past it.

The media coverage has been insane, Castanet, front page of the Daily Courier and Country 100.7. People from across Kelowna and beyond, have come together and we are overwhelmed with the outpouring of support. 

Today I went to 4 of our 12 drop-off locations and I was blown away; my car was stuffed to the brim. When I got home I unpacked the boxes and bags and this is what was revealed. This is on top of the hundreds of items we have already received. 

None of this would be possible without the support from our community. The people of Kelowna really come together when the call is put out to help those in need and I am so proud to be apart of it.

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them,
at least don't hurt them." - Dalai Lama

A Year in Photo - Day 186

Today was a good day; I fed both am and pm so I don't have a super interesting photo but my horse peeps might enjoy this one.

As I was filling up the water trough's today I came across one with turds floating in it. It's shared between two pens, Gally is in one and Arcadia and Tiego (a mini horse) in the other. I thought to myself, who the hell poops in their own water? Well, process of elimination... Tiego's ass can't even reach the trough, Arcadia hasn't shown any weird pooping habits, but Gally, he may be the culprit. He has a habit of backing up into things and pooping on them, his shelter walls, the gate and now his water? Crazy horse! I have to admit it gave me a bit of a giggle.

"Laughing is, and always will be, the best form of therapy." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 185

I had the opportunity to be a hair model for a L'Oreal colour workshop at Loyal Hair Therapy today. I haven't had my hair coloured for almost a year and the blonde streaks looked terrible (photo on the left). I'm SUPER happy with the results, a bit darker with natural looking streaks through the back (photo on the right).

Big shout out to Heather, Jake and the entire team for a great day and for my beautiful new hair!

Make yourself a priority once in a while.
It's not selfish.
It's necessary.
-Karen A. Barquiran

A Year in Photo - Day 184

Yesterday I went to watch Kristi trim a horse. Her feet looked good from the top but she has had 3 abscesses in the same foot, which would be like getting 3 cavities, back to back, in the same tooth. As Kristi started to trim that hoof she exposed an abscess that went further up than any I have seen. Turns out she had a small rock embedded way up in her hoof. 

It's impossible to know which came first, the abscess or the rock, but it was very interesting to watch Kristi tackle the issue. It looks pretty severe but the aggressive trimming did not/will not hurt the horse. To prevent another abscess from forming, all of the old abscess needed to be exposed or it could grow over and form another abscess. 

"Do it for the people who want to see you fail." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 183

An amazing day! I had a joint lesson with my good friend Mandy, RIDING!! After falling off the first time I tried to get up, I go up in the saddle and had a blast.

To top the day off, Mandy and I went to see a couple of horses we know from a couple of years ago, she was taking photos for their owner. Truthfully, Angelo (one of the horses) is the first horse who stole my heart and seeing him today was incredible. The bond we shared back then was still there and he will forever have a piece of my heart.

"Let a horse whisper in your ear, breathe on your heart,
and you will never regret it." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 182

Finally got my winter tires put on. Normally I get them done early October to avoid the chaos and to be safe rather than sorry. This year, due to farm sitting and such, I just got them put on today and I've been sweating it the last couple of days. I won't be waiting next year, I'd rather know I'm covered!

Big shout out to Kal-Tire Kelowna on Hwy 97N. Amazing service as always. Their courtesy driver was home sick but they still took the time out and got one of their guys to drive me home, despite being smoking busy. These guys are the real deal!

"Most people have 'a-ha' moments. I have
'ah for fucks sake seriously?' moments." 'Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 181

Learning to share the heating pad, slowly. Next step is for me to actually get it on my sore muscles, not my chest. But the cuddle time was nice and it did warm me up :)

"Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..." -Thoreau

A Year in Photo - Day 180

Walking on the wild side...well not walking, riding a quad down an extremely steep, muddy hill. This photo was taken from the top of the hill, the bottom is the winding grey road. The photo doesn't do it justice but knowing I can ride the quad up the "Jenny Craig Hill" and I don't have to walk up it with two full hay nets and two hungry horses desperately wanting to eat... success!

"A Leo is always very clear cut of what they want and have the
guts to go out there and get it." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 179

Tonight Sig practised his tricks. His new trick was "down" and tonight every time I pulled out a treat he immediately went down; he clearly has that one figured out. Tonight we moved on to "sit pretty" and so far so good. He is a very eager student and he was making me laugh so hard; he's so good for my soul.

"The road to my heart is paved with pawprints." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 178

I played with fabric today :)

"Life is like a camera, you focus on what's important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don't work out, take another shot." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 177

Good friends, great fights and a few bevies. A successful evening :)

"When you laugh and love abundantly you live a beautiful life." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 176

When I got home I found out I'd been visited by a junior elf who left me the greatest surprise, the coolest advent calendar from David's Tea. To top it off, the junior elf kidnapped Sig, took him to the dog park and brought him back all tuckered out. Needless to say this junior elf, and the mature elf, made my day.

"Shine like the whole universe is yours." -Rumi

A Year in Photo - Day 175

I met Kristi and her girls at Color Me Mine this afternoon to paint pottery, 5 hours later I left with my project complete, ready to be fired. No photos of the piece as it's a Christmas present. Definitely not what I planned for the day but it was really fun :)

"She is delightfully chaotic; a beautiful mess. Loving her is a splendid adventure." -Steve Maraboli

A Year in Photo - Day 174

Today was the greatest day! A couple of weeks ago my friend Rhianna, who boards her horse where I scoop, offered for me to ride her horse Revere. Well the stars aligned and today was the day. 

Not only did I ride him in the arena, just walking, but I was using the reins (ie. Rhianna was not just walking me around) and we walked over a small "bridge" (kinda like two pallets on the ground); it may sound small but it was huge for me. AND he was tacked up in English tack...on the one trail ride I went on a few years ago it was Western tack and I've always been a bit intimidated by English tack. It was incredible!! Today is a two picture day :)

"A horse is the projection of peoples' dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, beautiful - and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence." -Pam Brown

A Year in Photo - Day 173

Why do animal's eyes glow when light hit them? So you can find two black horses when feeding in the dark. Yep, that's gotta be it folks. Thank God for a borrowed headlamp; using the flash light on my iPhone while driving the Gator last night definitely wasn't ideal.

"Don't let someone dim your light simply because
it is shining in their eyes." -Jessica Ainscough

A Year in Photo - Day 172

This week's "toy" is the Gator. It doesn't have near the get up and go as the quad I used a few weeks ago, but that might be a good thing for me :) The best part? No wheelbarrow for scooping AND if has this handy dump button. Small things amuse me :)

"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to 
settle for the ordinary." -Jim Rohn

A Year in Photo - Day 171

The photo and the quote say it all!

"Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us." -Nicole Reed

A Year in Photo - Day 170

I asked Steve to pick me up 2 pineapples and when I saw them I laughed out loud. I'm not sure why it's so funny to me but the one of the left just looks like it's been stretched up as it grew. Steve looked at me like I'd lost my mind, which is totally possible :)

"Vivre est la chose la plus rare au monde, la plupart des
gens ne font qu'exister." -Oscar Wilde

A Year in Photo - Day 169

After weeks of fighting off the cold going around, it finally caught up with me. A 4 hours "nap" later, this is where I spent the rest of my day. I'm the worst sick person ever!

"Be gentle with yourself, you're doing the best you can." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 168

In the 3 years since I began seeing my psychiatrist, when he has says he will see me in 2 months, I have never been able to make it the full 2 months; I always end up having to book an emergency appointment. I saw him today, it has been 2 months since I had last seen him, success! He's happy with how I'm doing and said he will see me in 3 months; a new record to break :)

A good day topped off by a beautiful sunset :)

"It takes ten times as long to put yourself
back together as it does to fall apart."
-Suzanne Collins

A Year in Photo - Day 167

Re-living some memories from our honeymoon where we saw Cirque de Soleil's "Love". Truth be told, due to the Electro Convulsive Therapy I had 8 months later, I don't remember the show, or much of our honeymoon. What I do remember is I loved it and I guess that's all that really matters.

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy,
not on fighting the old, but on building the new." -Socrates

A Year in Photo - Day 166

Uh oh, the red cups are back. You know what that means, eggnog latte. I have NO willpower when it comes to these, they are a huge weakness. My first one of the season was amazing!

"Surround yourself with people who make your
soul feel happily caffeinated." -Karen Salmansohn

A Year in Photo - Day 165

A day late, but I was celebrating an important occasion, Steve's birthday. I'll save the mushy details, I am the luckiest girl around! Steve has stuck by me through some real lows, and some highs too, and I can't imagine doing life with anyone else!

"Birthdays are good for your health! Studies have shown that people who have more birthdays live longer." -Unknown

A Year in Photo - Day 164

Leftover Halloween candy is the devil! No really, it seems like such a good idea at the time....NOPE, makes you feel so bad! Don't fall into the trap!

"Need, want. Such a fine line." -Unknown