Quality time

The rest of the time in Germany was spent having quality time. It was a true vacation. Opera has been sleeping in until 11:30 or 12 so we did too! The only problem with that is you aren't tired at night so you stay up stupid late...vicious circle. We were ready to eat breakfast/lunch with him every morning and then quickly noticed that if we didn't leave he wouldn't take his afternoon nap. So we found things to do in the afternoon- either walks, shopping trips, or a little walks with sight seeing! 

Christmas with the kids

Carmel spent her Christmas with our family and then kindly invited us over for Christmas with her kids. She made baked turkey (two of them!) and some of the best veggies I have had! Delicious broccoli and cauliflower bake and then carrots stuffing and Brussels sprouts. The food was spectacular! 

Afterwards both family's kind of split ways and we sat/drank & played games all night. 

Mom is the best to figure out games with just stuff sitting around. She played pass the m&ms with a spoon...hilarity ensued!!!

But the good fun came when we played heads up with our own made up words

I think that's the look Adi got when he said he wasn't going to play another card. Hahaght 

It was a great night and we had so much fun just hanging out and playing. Mom reminds me all the time all you need is some imagination and good people around you to have a good time!

Christmas with the family!

USo after our naps it was time to celebrate! We barely had enough time to get up and shower before everyone got here. Unfortunately I forgot to ask for everyone to get together and get a group picture 😩

It was so good to see everyone again. Just recommended this trip because sometimes I get so homesick for my family that I just sit there and cry. It was one of those days where Justin just said well let's go spend Christmas there!! I said wait we can do that?!?! So I cleared it with his family and my on call relief and we planned! 

Anyway- all the kids- Leo, Roxy, Adi all came with Carmel and Michi. Michi and Carmel made dinner- we didn't have to life a finger!!! The traditional Schweizer/Koenig dinner of meat fondue was amazing!!!!!! Michi bought probably the best filet I have ever eaten it was from New Zealand which I though was a crazy far away import. We all ate ourselves silly and then exchanged presents. Although we flew over we still tried really hard to bring something tangible for everyone to open. For Leonie it was a photo album of all of our times together and then some money for her savings account for her next trip to come see us. And a humane society shirt since she came and worked with me there while she lived with us.

 For Roxy it was a travel journal to write down all of her adventures and money for a next trip. Also of course Crispix! 

 For Adi it was money to buy new furniture for his apartment where he is moving into this week and a Starbucks cup to fill in for school to where he always thinks of us. Little backstory- we took him to NYC for New Years when he came over for Christmas a few years back. He was overwhelmed by the amount of Starbucks and we then proceeded to look up how many there where in the city. It's a crazy amount- and you can almost see the next one from the one where you are standing. We had Starbucks every morning for breakfast with Adi up there!

Michi and Carmel are notorious for having snacks around while sipping on wine and beer and talking so they both got crowns - one king and one queen along with m&ms to fill them up to start with! Opa got a stack of new shirts. Overall everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!! 

We received wonderful gifts - a puzzle that we finished in record time but is now broken apart so we get to do it all over again.... A new picture for my desk of my favorite cousins and lots of spending money to go find the perfect thing to take back home- I think shoes 😍😍

It was an evening filled with love laughter and family the best kind Christmas!!! 

Merry Christmas from Germany travel day

This year we made the trek across the pond for Christmas. Dad wasn't super excited about traveling for his vacation so he decided to stay home and watch our critters (which we appreciate so greatly!!)

We had a pretty good travel day despite traveling the day before Christmas Eve. We had to park in daily because all the long term parking lots were full 😳. But that said we got there early enough we had time for a nice sit down lunch at the airport. The food was delicious and we even got real silverware! We had uneventful flight to Atlanta and boarded the flight for Germany. This flight was also very uneventful. I caught up on movies- me before you and neighbors 2 - justin watched a war dogs, athropiod, captain America :civil war. He wasn't able to sleep on the flight at all...😐 i got about 2.5-3 hrs.

I was able to try out my Christmas present from Justin - the best noise canceling headphones! They are wireless and you control them by tapping the ear pieces. So cool! 

Landing and going through customs was a breeze and then we walked out after getting both bags (yayayayayayay) and saw Michi!! 

He got us to Opas in record time with a shortcut. We enjoyed a wonderful pretzel breakfast and then I found out Opa loves zimtsterne (a German Christmas cookie) so I left to get the ingredients to make those!! I made them at home already and decided getting them in the traditional star shape was overrated and stupid hard - so they are blobs but taste just the same 👍 After baking we layed down for a nap and then it was time to get up and get ready for Christmas! 

Book club

Gale and I joined a book club earlier in the year with all vet techs and vets. I could never make the times they picked and Gale didn't particularly like the people so we decided to make our own! We have a few close friends and family that we invited and it grew a few members over the year! We meet once a month at someone's house eat dinner talk about the book and plan next month! We have had so much fun! The highlight was reading a book then having the author come talk to our book club! His month for Christmas we decided to have a cookie exchange. What an amazing idea have a ton of variation of cookies without having to bake a ton yourself. 

Our last book this year was Homefront by Kristin Hannah which was about a women national guard helicopter pilot - such a good read! I really recommend it! 

It inspired me to gather things to send to out deployed troops - we gathered together a ton of stuff! I forgot to take a picture the boxes are packed to the absolute brim! 

Merry Christmas to the troops! 

Can't wait to read the 12 books next year! So thankful for the wonderful book club I'm in :) 

NC state fair - food edition

Justin and I love the fair- we even had some of our engagement photos taken there!!! 

So when I realized I had a free weekend and it fell in the fair we knew we wanted to go! We just barely found a house sitter- but thanks to Megan and Ryan we could leave for a night!!!

Somer justin and I headed out to the fair 

So we trekked out and made it a foodie quest. We wanted to eat all different foods. So Somer looked up new and unique foods and this is what we came up with (with reviews of course).

Crab cake fritters- these sound amazing right?? Well the thyme was very overpowering and they were old tasting our least favorite of the day.

Bacon pimento cheese egg roll was by far our favorite sooooo yummy! 

Deep fried hot chocolate. 

This was intriguing. It was marshmallows dipped in a chocolate batter and topped with chocolate sauce. It was actually super yummy! 

La farm bakery chocolate raspberry whoopie pie with marcapone cream.

This sounded really good but was ok. 

Phillycheese cake tater tots! 

Holy whoa these were good! The cheese was delicious along with the peppers and onions! 

Then I decided to take ALL the kettle corn popcorn home! Teehee

Lastly on the way out we stopped at two roosters ice cream. They had pizza flavor (surprisingly interesting) Krispy cream doughnut, deep fried Oreo, burbon and pecans, and we got a scoop of chocolate and candied bacon! 

All in all it was a perfect day- perfect weather perfect friends! It was awesome with the three of us we split all the food so we don't feel gross and full!

Good job NC state we are excited to see you next year!!!

Disney world

Finally the trip that Britt and I have talked about for years happened!!!!! We decided to tag onto a trip I made to Ocala for continuing education. We started out day full steam at 10:30 when we met at the airport. This was after I fought with the ticket sales person that yes I want the park hopper and yes I will make it worth it!! Ugh people just don't understand how to do things 😜. 

We dropped out stuff at the hotel and then promptly hitched a bus to the parks! We started at Epcot since we got dropped off there and thanks to new technology of wait time apps we went straight to the shortest line of spaceship earth. Britt had never been to any other park than magic kingdom so I was super excited (and privileged) to show her the rest of Disney!

The first day was great full of energy! We caught all the important rides at Epcot- mission space, spaceship earth, test track, and then walked around the different lands. We found a magical drink in Italy- a frozen lemonchello margarita....so delicious that we may have come back to Epcot later just for that!! After getting our fill we headed to Hollywood studios. We rode the great move ride, the Star Wars ride, Aerosmith, and tower of terror. Britt doesn't like drop rides so was pretty scared but ended up liking it! 

For dinner we headed back to Epcot and got reservations and the French restaurant after riding the boat from Hollywood studios to Epcot which I had never done! Very fun! 

I asked Dad if he remembered this place and of course he did! This restaurant was officially the last restaurant I was allowed to order off the kids menu. I had a bad habit of ordering a kids item then thinking dads food was better and I ate gormet while he ate a hamburger and fries. I did it here too. He ordered escargots(snails) and I ate them all and he ate my hamburger. I ordered them again with Britt for nostalgias sake (and because I love them!!) 

We had been ambitious and thought we would stay out till 11 but after the fireworks we opted to go home early and sleep! What a magical and fun filled start to this long weekend ❤️

Bayern Munich soccer game

Last weekend Justin and I packed up the car with Laurie and Derrick to Charlotte for the Bayern Munich and Inter Milan soccer game. We thought that would be the highlight of the weekend but due to other fun and some other glitches it just turned out being a slight blip in the day!!

We got breakfast and then headed down to Charlotte with a reservation for an escape room at 1. We didn't plan ahead for what we wanted to do until then and had to find something to do until it started. We headed to Mathews where the escape room is and looked around their downtown. They had a ...... Board game store which kept us entertained for a while!!!!! We then headed to the escape room and had a good time. We unfortunately didn't get out- if we would have had 2 more minutes we would have gotten out!!!!

Then we went back to board game store and played more games and left with 4 games...whoops 

Then we made it back to the hotel to drop the bags and then go to the game. We got there at 4:45 for a 5pm game- first mistake. Then Laurie and I took purses- second mistake. You can't take anything other than a cell phone in if it isn't in a clear bag and then even then you have to go through bag check. So Laurie and I  RAN back to our hotel to drop our bags off and ran back. By the time we got in the stadium it was almost half time and they had already scored THREE goals!!!! They made one more minutes after we got. Half time consisted of getting back into the air condtioning and then going straight back out. The rest of the game went by so fast! We were out at 7:30 and went to dinner. We decided since we had such bad luck on our first escape room that we would try for another. Derrick booked us one at 11:15. At the time it sounded so fun.... After dinner we went back to the hotel showered and played board games- it was hard to get us out of the hotel after we were comfy and I thought we had signed ourselves for an utter disaster. Boy was I wrong!!!!

When we walked up to Codescape it was deserted and no one greeted us. But the atmosphere was really cool!!! 

When we were greeted you cold tell the guy was tired but the room made up for it so much!!

Codescape has a guy on staff that worked in universal studios and you could tell. The room was called deep space and it was the most interactive room we had been in. Laurie and I screamed  MULTIPLE times. But we got out with 20 min to spare and only one hint!!

After that we happily went to bed and got up super early to get me to the airport for my continuing education in Ocala. 

Scuba diving

While we were in Mexico we decided we wanted to learn how to scuba dive- a lifelong wish of Justin's!

We signed up for the online course last April and realized on late June we still haven't done the modules.....talk about procrastination! We hammered it out in 5 days- 200+ slides at a time brought back horrific memories of studying during vet school! 

When we first got to Mexico the currents were too strong due to storms so we didn't dive until the 3rd day. We crammed the confined water dives all in one pool session. The first breath underwater is pretty amazing. They talk about that during the course but it really is true. 

Justin and I both had bug-boos - mine was getting water in my mask and having to then blow it out with air from your nose. Apparently I am wired to breath in through my nose and mouth and promptly got a nosefull/lungfull of water and came sputtering to the surface. Swimming without my mask was also really scary but I felt like a champion when I did it! Justin didn't like having a free-flowing regulator where you "sip" air- he couldn't get his brain wrapped around that. 

The next day we were off for our first ocean dive! That was very scary and exciting. He put us down near a reef (not nearly as colorful as Nemo's reef) but with lots of cool fish! I had a slight panic moment when I had to do the mask underwater and sputtered in salt water. Unfortunately I was 33 ft underwater and had to sort it out underwater. Scary stuff but I survived!!! After we did our skills we then swam around. We saw starfish, sea horses, and even "Gill" from Nemo! (I'm not going to lie I had watched Nemo on the plane ride down and found myself quoting it a lot!)

Unfortunately Justin got really sea sick again but powered through. 

The next day when we were ready to go back out we were both very apprehensive. Me because I could only think about the panicky feeling I had when I couldn't breathe when I choked and
Justin because he didn't want to get sea sick.

We got brave and went out despite our fears and apprehensions. The second day was much better and I got more confident with both dives. Joao (our instructor) was sympathetic to Justin and we parked the boat in a very smooth cove so Justin suffered only minimally with motion sickness. We finished our 4th dive and we're officially certified!!

our fearless leader and instructor Joao

It was much harder than I expected but I am super glad we did it! I feel very lucky to have learned wth Justin. We were. Very big motivators for each other. Very fun to learn something together as opposed to one of us doing something they other I already good at- skiing, horseback riding. 

On our last dive we saw a Morey eel away from the rocks in a very aggressive position but no one got hurt he just bit Gale's fin! 

Zihuatenhao day 1 & 2

This place is basically paradise I have decided! 

When our neighbors Dan and Gale asked us if we wanted to go to Mexico our first reaction was sure that would be cool but we still have so many parts of the world we want to see. Well after some deliberation we decided to give Mexico and try. I can't believe we ever contemplated not going!!!!! 

Our flight down was pretty uneventless and when we arrived a bit late Dan was super excited to see us- he got worried. 

When we arrived I was taken aback by just how beautiful this place is....

We had an amazing dinner of almond encrusted wahoo mango salsa, guacamole, sashimi, and another line cooked fish dish. Soo delicious! We fell in bed and didn't even hear the horrible storm that hit us at night. 

We woke up to big waves and coffe already made! We had a full day of fishing and left early in order to make the most of the day. 

The view from the boat was incredible 

Right at the begging i caught three big fish in a row!! 

Justin unfortunately got really shock when we stopped to reel the fish in. He was ok going out and trolling but stopping was deadly. He even had magic wrist bands that pushed on an acupressure point and ondansetron. I haven't seen my husband turn that shade of green before so he decided to head back to shore. 

I stayed out and we went fishing for another Bonita to use as a bait fish for sail fish. We ended up catching that immediately and headed out 16 miles off shore to get sail fish. 

On the way we saw many Dolphins. The boat captain showed me how to get to the front of the boat and I laid down watching them swim and jump. I got all close got them! I felt like a little kid with a huge grin on my face after seeing the Dolphins and catching 4 fish! 

The rest of the afternoon unfortunately didn't have any bites and we ended the day just trolling but I got to see turtles and visit with the Dolphins multiple times! 

Once back justin was feeling better so we hung out by the pool and then napped. Gale had a massage so I got one after her- she comes right to the house so I went straight from nap to massage (it's a hard life!) 

Dinner was at a small local Italian/Mexican place. Delicious! We met our dive instructor and went over the plans for tomorrow as well as getting to know him.

I have to say we have already met some beautiful people and seen some beautiful country. 

Aireanna Dressage Show 4-9-16

I am soo proud of my girl! We are officially a First level pair!  We had late start times so we didn't even leave the barn until 11:15- didn't feel like a show day! We loaded up Bobbi, Simon, Rio and Rea and headed down the road after sleeping in!  A windy day could have been a recipe for a spooky day but everyone we went with kept their cool.  Rea had a tense first test- show nerves got the best of me at the beginning but with mom coaching me to keep my cool and relax and after 5 minutes with my horse we got it together.  Terri and Nana came to root us on and that was fun and special. The rest of the tests were back to back but I tried to remember everything Mom, Dana, and Jennifer had told me over the last few weeks and the end results isn't too shabby if you ask me.  She was a star and well on her way to helping me get my bronze medal! Couldn't have gotten here without my awesome Mom- what an amazing cheerleader, coach and show mom - there isn't a better one out there! And my supportive Hubby who comes out to video, take pictures, and allows me to spend countless hours at the barn on a regular basis. Love you both a TON!

Being an Adult amateur, a wife, a Business Owner, a Vet, and a Petmom....

I have recently struggled with life and the big serving of "stuff" it has but on my plate right now. No bad news, no hard times, nothing like that just me trying to be all the things all at once!

Cooper with his "stuff" (Not as hard as mom's stuff)

 I recently saw a friend blog about the same thing and it helps to know that we are all in it together.  One might think that having your office at home might be super convenient and that its great being able to go to work in your PJ's.  Not really the case to argue the other side you never really get away from your work when you are home.  I never feel like I am done with work. I am currently weeks behind in paperwork and will be soon finding a way to outsource that part of my job.  Also when my truck isn't clean, that isn't stocked or I have run out of blank for the millionth time, I can only blame myself.  That coupled with the 12 days I spend on call in a row with 2 nights off it gets to be a wearing job.  Don't get me wrong I love days when I get to do this.....

Warming up a goat in my bathroom with a hairdryer

But all in all it is the harsh reality of the job that I do love but that does get hard some times.

As far as being an adult amateur that wants to compete- yea mom now I really know how hard it is for you. Having a life that doesn't slow down just because you are at that show- sacrificing having a nice clean house because you need to ride before the show. Yup all of those are now real struggles. (PS Ladies if you don't have a house cleaner and you work full time. Please go get yourself one- it is saving my marriage!)

A pet mom- as I am writing this I have a white cat helping me.  I realize she is telling me she is being neglected because the only other time I sit down and snuggle with her is bed time.

A wife- I have the best most understanding and caring husband in the world.  I don't know how I would get through my life without him.  My lifestyle is not an easy one to live with but when I get super overwhelmed he helps and I often come home to the house cleaned and dinner on the table. I do feel guilty though when I can't be the wife I want to be along with the tons of other hats I want to wear.


He just turned 30 a few days ago :)

That said ladies (and gents) be all that you can be - be all that you want to be but remember sometimes you just need to sit and figure out if being all of those things at the same time is necessary. Don't strain yourself trying to be the best at everything be yourself and be happy!


Taking time to be a wife, daughter, and general human being

Hillcrest March 19th 2016

We went to our second show of the season and had a blast! After our last cross country schooling I decided to just do a combined test because she was a different ride than the first time we schooled. She was very "look-ey" so I wanted to keep schooling.  It had been really warm the week before and during the show it was 15 degrees lower- I was a bit worried but I shouldn't have been. The weather cleared there was a large chance of rain and though it was overcast it was dry.

Justin came and watched me ride so it was wonderful to have Mom and my hubby there the whole day.

Dressage Test

Stadium Jumping

My mare was brilliant. I love her soo much!

It is so fun to see how awesome she is. Just comparing two weeks ago to this show it is leaps and bounds :) Can't wait to see what is next for us!

Combined Test March 5th

We headed out without Mom to a show. What a weird feeling! Sarah and Susan also competed in just dressage that day. Here is a video of the highlights! Please enjoy. We are off to another show this weekend and hopefully will have more time for a play by play...

Oh by the way we won :)

Who me?

You sure did pretty girl!

Rea winter schooling

This winter was a great time to get my wonder mare legged up and ready for the show season! We started taking lessons with Jennifer flowers who now comes to Danas once a month and has a full day of teaching! She has such a great way of getting us all fired up and feeling like we can all go to the Olympics! We have mainly been focusing on dressage due to late night cold dark rides and the motivation Jennifer has given me to go for my medals- never thought I could even think about doing 3rd level!!!! When Britt came into town to look at a sales prospect for herself she gave me a royal kick in the butt and said I was ready to jump higher. The ring was packed and due to rain we were forced to go inside but after a bounce school she gave me a big 2'11" oxer and said go girl!








Rea was a champ and jumped beautifully! Since then we have jumped two more times once focusing
on balance and not rushing- Rea has the I got it girl attitude and has started taking me to the fence tuning me completely out. Oh the joys of a mare. Then I had a school by myself really picking up the fence height- 2'6"  course!! It was awesome.  This weekend we head to TTC to do our first Maiden CT 2'3" and then in two weeks we will either do our first full horse trials or another CT depending on how the cross country schooling goes this week. It is so much fun to have so many goals and really get my hind end to the barn to ride! Two other ladies at the barn are getting fired up and we already have a full show season planned. YAYYYY!

I am so lucky to have this wonder mare and love every minute with her!

Snowshoe day 3

Poor Roxy had a messed up stomach and woke us up multiple times to go outside. So the morning was rough. After breakfast I took an hour nap which helped :) 

Mom and Justin took off again to explore more of the slopes and Dad and I signed up for a wine and design. We left Cooper in the bedroom and crossed our fingers he would be good (which he was!!!!). 

The class was very small. Only 4 people but it was very fun! He had us start from scratch and just helped us through hard places. 

My birds on a wire during sunset

Dads birds on a wire during sunset.

We did pretty good didn't we? It was so much fun and I want to do another one soon. 

Mom and Justin came back right as we did and after taking the dogs out we lounged around. We decided not to go tubing- too tired. When they dropped off their rentals we rummaged around the store connected to it- Justin getting his t-shirt which he gets from every place we visit and I got a Christmas ornament :)

We walked the dogs to the village and back and then settled down for an early bed time.

All in all the trip was amazing! I really thought I would get bored but I didn't! Justin really enjoyed skiing - he misses going regularly out west. It was fun to be so un-plugged and without responsibilities. Having the dogs was a blast! We think we will make this a regular trip. A weekend trip is a great length- enough to be refreshed but not long enough to get homesick. And it's an easy length of time to find a farm sitter!