Blogging Hiatus - Henry River Mobile Vet grew!

During a horse show this season I got an email from the owner of Veterinary House Calls of Hickory. He asked if I would be interested in buying his practice. You guys- I was like ummm no thanks super busy no can do.  Then I thought about it and I thought to myself wait this could be the golden opportunity to help HRMVS grow and eventually hire another veterinarian.  I have long grappled with the idea that I DO NOT want to give up my business and large animal but that I want to be able to have a family and feel like a mom that is actually around and not just working all the time.  Large animal still tends to be very seasonal- spring and fall I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off and summer and winter I'm looking for work.  After a few meetings it was obvious that we got along great and that I would be a good match for his clients.

Puppies all day long! (I wish)

So the deal went though end of August and it is now middle of September and I can say that I am enjoying it. There were some growing pains- calls to get get boxes of heartworm prevention were solved by opening an online pharmacy and paper records were put digitally with long tedious hours of my amazing parents scanning in documents and creating patient files.

I have also now hired a tech and she starts next week- I can't wait to see how having help every day changes my daily life and actually gives me some free time! I can actually imagine it because currently I have a great student and we have had so much time in the evenings because she keeps me organized during the day!

Don't worry he is still my main tech! 

Here's to growth and hard working days paying off for a happy fullfilled life!

Aireanna the wonder mare! Last year recap

So last year I was terrible about keeping up with blogging (again)! Rea and I had three recognized shows where we were able to start working towards our bronze medal!! We continued this year but a quick recap of last year.

The first show in Raleigh we debuted at Training level and did their level challenge. We ended up winning the training challenge and also getting our first 1st level score towed my medal! What a great first show!!!!!!

Thanks so much to Britt Gillis Design who was there taking pictures of the monumental weekend!

Then it was off to Tryon international equestrian center. Guys we were treated like royalty!!! There we did training and first again and had a fantastic show! Megan Jornigan came to cheer on and also take amazing photos.

Mom also brought Ace for a fun-filled weekend of horses and mother daughter time!

It was an amazing venue with some really big names- I felt like a tiny fish in a big pond. 

The last show was dressage championships at Carolina horse park- what amazing competition. I qualified both at training and first level and both of those classes were huge! I ended up middle of the pack in both classes getting 5th and 8th- very respectable and loved ending my recognized show season at that show!  After that season onward and upward in terms of levels. Second level here I come! 

Daddy daughter trip

So last Christmas I gave Dad a trip with just me and him- we were going to Harry Potter World (and Disney)!!!! I had been twice without him and I knew he really wanted to go so I talked to Justin and made sure he would take care of the farm and mom and asked if I could steal dad for a long weekend and I planned away!   I was lucky enough to get off Friday and Monday. We had a super early flight 7:40 am so wake up time at 4- feed the critters and then dad picked me up at 5!!!

We landed after 9 and went straight to the hotel. We dropped our bags changed into shorts and headed to the parks! We started at Epcot for no other reason that the bus dropped us off there!! Our trip started wonderfully there, we had old tickets from 2002 and there was still a day on there and it never expires...so cool! Dad had never done Mission: Space and I drug him there straight away! It's a really cool ride it makes you feel like you are taking off in a spaceship!! He loved it and it was a great way to start the day! 

Then we went on to test track which they changed a ton since I went on it- you now design your own car (but we didn't have time because the line was so short) then the ride tests your designed car against the other cars people designed riding with you and the best car gets a prize at the end. 

We both remembered figment from when I was a kid but that one was totally different now too. I love that they continue the same rides and characters but upgrade frequently to keep it new and different. We took a break and went into the Land and did Soarin- I never did this ride because the wait times are always stupid long. But the nice thing is there are trivia questions while you wait to make it not seem so long. That was a really awesome ride. You are sitting it what feels like a hang glider and it then puts you right up against a huge screen- you fly around the world - they even change the scent when you go certain places! They do such a. Good job! While e were there we took the boat ride through their greenhouses. Every time I eat salad now in Disney I wonder if it was grown there! 

We then headed over to magic kingdom on the monorail!

You always forget how many kids there are but we passed the castle and kept walking to the Snow White mining ride. Since I have never ridden it (it's always too long because it has always been new every other time I went) we decided a 90 minute wait was doable. During the wait I introduced dad to Snapchat :) 

After that we decided we were stinking tired and headed back. After catching the bus back we decided we wanted to get some good dinner. Luckily our hotel is within walking distance to some great restaurants. We walked down there with dad smoking his cigar and met a guy that worked at the restaurant half Spanish and half Italian and said it was the best food. So we are there! And low and behold our waiters name was Heinz...and he was German....from Swabia....no way! So we chatted and had just about the best veal Marsala dad and I ever had. We split it and still had no room for dessert. Such a great first day!!!'

New year new you (me)!

New Years is always a time when people want to better themselves! I started my journey back in September of last year. A colleague of mine is a beach body coach, mother of twins, a practice owner, and full time vet. She kept posting about her transformations and beach body challenge groups on Facebook and one day I watched a video of me riding and said who the heck is the girl on that horse?? I'm not that big!?!? So enough was enough and I started a challenge group with Piyo. It was a workout program I stuck with for 60 days- I haven't done that since I had Danielle training me for a half marathon and she ran with me every day!!!! I did another challenge group and maintained my weight through the holidays. Over Christmas I joined as a discount coach- and will maybe soon be doing challenge groups of my own! I am currently doing another challenge group- Justin is working out with me and we are doing p90- a step down to the popular p90x!  we are loving it.

Along with this is a new lifestyle of loving the food I put in my body and thinking about nourishing my body with wholesome ingredients not processed foods! 

I also find myself being much happier and feeling much better! I can't wait to see what kind of results I will see these 90 days! 

My results from last years challenge groups- 

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!!!