New Year Movie Review :)

Ok, Happy 2015 everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't posted, but I am now going to review the movie; THOR.

I'd been hearing a lot about the Marvel movies and how good they are so I decided to start trying to watch them, and I started with Thor. I liked it a lot. It wasn't too cheesy and the actors were decent. But the lessons and messages were good.

At the beginning of the movie, Thor was arrogant and hotheaded, blindly charging ahead without stopping to consider the consequences of his actions. He didn't listen to his Father who had been a King for many years, and by not doing so, caused trouble that could have been avoided. By the end of the movie, he has learned that he needs to listen to someone other than himself all the time.

Loki. Ah the sad, misunderstood, neglected brother who finds that he is really a frost giant. This is the kind of character that I like, and the actor did a great job IMO. But the lesson to be learned here from Loki's plight is that favoritism is never ever a good thing. (not condoning anything Loki did, but he is one of those bad guys that isn't entirely evil just for the sake of being evil, he is more grief driven than anything else.)

Jane and Thor, a classic case of insta-love, but a nice example of how love and people can change you. For the better and sometimes for the worse.

One thing that I think bears pointing out, is that Loki was so blinded by envy and the thoughts that Odin didn't love him, he failed to see how much Thor loved him. Even though they weren't blood brothers he loved him like he was one, and if Loki had stopped to listen, he might have realized things weren't quite what he thought, and maybe they could have mended things. Odin may have made a mistake, but it didn't mean he didn't love Loki, and he was never given the chance to fix things once Loki showed his true feelings.

So, I think that sums up the movie, and I am excited to watch Thor; Dark World next!

CTNYC: Day 5

First thing I"ll mention is, MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS. :D

Ok, the Challenge for Day 5 is:

GO DOOR TO DOOR AND HAND OUT CHRISTIAN MATERIAL. Little Bibles, booklets on various subjects from your Church book table. You can even ask your Pastor to print you little articles to hand out, or you can recycle those Christian magazines and newsletters that you've already read and have stacked on a shelf. :) It just might do someone a world of good.

CTNYC: Day 4

For Day 4, I want ya'll to:

PERFORM A RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS.

Leave $20 in a card on a random strangers car. Pay for someone's lunch at a restaurant. Take a meal over to an old lady from church. Make a donation to the animal rescue. I'm sure you can think of something. :)

CTNYC: Day 3

Day 3.

SHOW APPRECIATION.

Tell someone (or multiple someone's) that you appreciate what they do. Leave your mailman a little note in the box saying how you appreciate him braving the weather to deliver your mail. Or your garbage man. And anyone else you can think of. It'll give them an extra boost for the day to know that they aren't taken for granted, and give them a little more motivation to do their jobs better.

Countdown to New Years Challenge: Day 2

Alright, so for day two, I'd like you all to

VOLUNTEER.

At the Food Bank, Salvation Army, Toy Drive, Animal Shelter, Homeless Shelter, or any other Charitable event that I'm missing. :)

You'd be surprised how much you could make a difference and how people appreciate it.

Preparing for New Years Challenge: Day One

As we all know, it is almost Christmas, and therefore, close to the year 2015. Everyone has "New Years Resolutions", but I'm going to (try) to post one thing every day as a Challenge to the readers. And please, comment below if you do them and tell me how it went for you!

Starting today: Number One

TELL SOMEONE YOU LOVE THEM-Preferably someone you haven't said it to in a long time.

I was just at a funeral today, and it always shows you how short life is. Too short to just assume people know how you feel about them. And once they're gone, it's too late.

I have given you your challenge. Go forth and perform. :)

Compassion: Kind of a Big Deal

Compassion, is a subject sort of near and dear to my heart I guess you could say. Some people have told me that I can be too compassionate and this will get me into trouble. Maybe it's because I'm an INFP and it's just the way God made me. I don't know. I do know that it is possible to be too compassionate. But I also know there is also a thing as not being compassionate enough.

So I'm going to talk about that a little bit tonight. Of course, lets start with a verse or two. And I'll give you the definition of compassion.

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them"~Matthew 7:12

"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: [he is] gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."~Psalm 112:4  

"Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,  compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and,  if one has a complaint against another,  forgiving each other;  as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." ~Colossians 3:12-13

NOUN

noun: compassion · plural noun: compassions

sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others:
"the victims should be treated with compassion"
synonyms: pity · sympathy · empathy · fellow feeling · care · concern ·
solicitude · sensitivity · warmth · love · tenderness · mercy · leniency · tolerance · kindness · humanity · chariy
 

Compassion can be many things.
Sometimes it's giving food or clothes to someone who has none.
Sometimes it's seeing a grieving person and giving them a hug.
It can be seeing someone who needs a friend, and you step in and become the friend they needed.
It can even be as simple as offering a kind word.

I think one of the world's biggest problems is it's lack of compassion. Of course this is the result of the Fall, but we should not use that as an excuse. God commands us to be compassionate and so we need to make it a priority.

Now you might say; "well I'm just not all squishy-feely like that," or "well I'm just not a compassionate person." But let me ask you, dear readers; Do you think God is going to accept that kind of excuse?

Everything that we do-or don't do-has to be answered for at the end of this world. We are going to have to stand before God. What are you going to say to him?

"I'm sorry God, I just was too busy to help out with my Church Food Drive today."

"Well I didn't think about helping that old lady with her groceries Lord. I had somewhere to be."

"I didn't think I had to apologize to my friend for hurting his feelings. I mean, he should've gotten over it right? I figured he knew I didn't mean it."

"No I didn't bother to stop and try to understand someone's POV on things. It would have been stupid anyway."

Somehow, I don't think God is going to like any of those answers, especially when he was compassionate enough towards us to punish his only Son so that we wouldn't burn in Hell.

So here is my challenge to you. Make more of an effort to be kind and compassionate from now on. Think about how God would want you to act towards the person in front of you or how he would want you to respond to a situation. Does it take work? Of course it does! Nothing God asks us to do is easy. But we still have to do it, because we are His Children.

Jesus performed the ultimate act of compassion towards us. How can you do any less for anyone else?

 

Brand New Blog

Well, the Christian Teen Writer Blog www.inthecharactersshadow.blogspot.com is finally up and running! We'll be doing Book Breakdowns, writing tips and a little randomness every week so please check it out and share!

Announcements and Apologies.

Happy December everyone! :)

Things are crazy right now, getting ready for Christmas. I love Christmas, gift giving is so much fun! I haven't had a lot of time for my poor Blog, sorry about that. :( But I have two announcements to make:

1) I did not win the 2014 NaNoWriMo. :( I didn't even reach 10,000 words.

2) The ChriTeNo's Blog, (Christian Teen Novelists) is almost ready to go! So excited about that, will post the link ASAP.

And that's actually all for now. Hopefully I'll get back to posting here soon.

Mockingjay Part 1: Spoiler Alert

 

 

 

Ok, I just saw the third Hunger Games movie, "Mockingjay; Part 1" in Theatres tonight. My Fangirl is saying it was a really good movie. :) Just as good as Catching Fire was. There were a few added changes, like keeping Effie in the movie, and taking out the Prep Team, and there was even footage from Peeta's rescue, which was cool.

 

Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job playing Katniss.

 

Sam Clafin was excellent as Finnick, and I am looking forward to seeing more of him in the next part.

 

President Coin was a bit too sugar sweet, but I imagine come part 2 that will change.

 

Peeta was amazingly creepy. The crazed, hollow, tracker-jacker rage was pretty disturbing.

 

So, once again, it was true to form, perfect book-to-movie adaption.

 

 



Effective-or Infective-Attitudes

Lately I've been thinking about how much we effect the people around us. It's not something we generally think about. It's so easy to get lost in ourselves that we easily forget that other people exist. And I don't mean that we forget people are even there, I mean we forget that they exist outside of our own little bubbles.

We effect people every day, just by being alive. But the question is, how are we effecting-or infecting-them?

There are many ways we can "infect" people, and our attitude is one of the most influential ways to do it. We can infect them with our sour outlook on topics and subjects, with our mood swings, and it isn't a nice infection. Ninety-five percent of the time, I don't think we realize just how bad it can be, until maybe one day it blows up in our face.

Now there are various reasons for bad/sour attitudes. Stress, financial issues, home troubles. And certainly everyone is allowed to have a bad day. But, never should we let our sourness effect other people negatively.

Let's take a look at some Bible Verses:

^""Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." ~Philippians 4:8

"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." ~Philippians 2:4 

^"Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;" ~1 Corinthians 13: 4-6

 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." ~Proverbs 17:22

 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue"~ Proverbs 18:21

 "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin." ~James 4:17

Once again, it's not hard to see what God wants us to do with our bad attitudes. Take them and bury them. He tells us to look on the good things, the positive things. To think of how other people feel when we constantly complain, are negative, or snappy. Everyone is going to have bad days, stressful days. But we do not have to let it rule us. In fact, God tells us not to. 

What do we do if we find our constant bad attitudes have been effecting others? Simple. Ask them to forgive us, and ask God to help you to control it better. And really mean it.

 "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." ~ James 5:16

 

Busy busy busy

Ack! My blog is slowly dying! I vowed when I started it I would not abandon it, and I am trying desperately to keep that vow! But I have been pretty occupied. As you know I am participating in NaNoWriMo-it is not going well, to say the least, my novel is not going to be 50,000 words by the 30th-and I'm helping with the Chritenos Blog, and there is a parade next week thr I am participating j. And I did a 5K walk and we've been winter proofing everything and I spent 5 hours yesterday raking and moving a pile of wood shavings for the garden and the Insurgent trailer came out -which sucked- and MJPt1 is coming out soon and Taylor Swifts new CD was released and my stupid laptop want quit updating itself, it now is windows 8.1 instead of 8.0 which is dumb because I don't need it and it's cold And i wish it was summer again and we got a mini horse at the barn and I'm working on my Xmas List and comparing dog food so I can find one with enough calories for my hyperactive-I-get-so-much-exercise-I-am-losing-weight dog. And I haven't been able to come up with a blog post. 

So yeah the above is my life in a nutshell in a giant run-on sentence. :D

Best Blogging Buddies Award!

Well, it seems I have been nominated for the Best Blogging Buddies Award! :P Rules are very simple:

1). You must make a post to show your award on your main blog.

2). You must tag the person who nominated you in your post.

3). You must nominate all of your best buddies, and those whom you want to become best buddies with, who, to your knowledge, have not been nominated, for this award.

4). You must ask your buddies at least 15 questions on your post.

5). You must answer all of the questions your buddies ask you. On your post.

Ok, so before I answer the questions, I shall make it known that Ginny from http://spiritworkinginme.weebly.com/ nominated me for this prestigious award. ;D

And now, for the answers to her questions:

1). Sweet tea or Lemonade? 
Lemonade

2). What's your favorite era?
Uh...don't have one.

3). French Fries or Onion Rings?
French Fries. :)

4). What's your favorite band?
That is seriously hard!! OK, fav. Country Band probably Florida Georgia Line, but I also likes lots of other bands of other music types so choosing one single solo favorite is impossible.

5).Which is worse? Having a sore throat or stuffy nose? 
Um.....sore throat.

6). What's your favorite NFL team? 
Sorry, don't like Football.

7). Cream cheese or cottage cheese?
CREAM CHEESE!!!!!!!!!! (brown sugar and cinnamon cream cheese is amazing.

8). Crab or Shrimp?
If I had to choose, shrimp, but I don't really like either.

9). History or Science?
Probably Science, if it was animal related.

10). Leading or Following?
Following. I am a helpless follower. I aspire to be a leader, but so far it has slipped from my grasp.

11). Beef or Pork?
Beef. Less parasites.

12). Pencil or Pen?
Does a mechanical Pencil count? Its both rolled into one. XD

13). Pizza or Fried Chicken?
Pizza!!

14). Divergent or The Fault In Our Stars?
DIVERGENT. Hands down.

15). Flip flops or Sandals?
Flip Flops.

I nominate for the Award:

Anya Becca: www.dangerouscrusader.blogspot.com
Erin: http://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/
Saber: http://disguisedasablog.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth: http://elizabethlucymorgan.blogspot.com/

Here are my questions:

1. Pink or Purple
2. Winter or Summer
3. Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia (yes I'm evil :P)
4. Country Music or Rock/Heavy Metal
5. Ice Cream or Yogurt.
6. If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you want to accomplish most
7. Typing or Handwriting
8. Sleeping in your bed or in a tent
9. Divergent or Hunger Games
10. Would you rather have curly or straight hair
11. What is the latest you've ever stayed up
12. What state do you want to visit most
13. Would you rather visit the 7 wonders of the world or hang with a favorite movie star
14. If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be
15. Swimming or Trampoline

Death with Dignity?

I am sure you have probably heard the story of 29 year-old Brittany Maynard, who was sick with terminal brain cancer. Upon being told there was no cure for her disease, she chose to select a date for when she would die.

And two days ago she did, with the aid of lethal drugs.

Her argument was that she wanted to go with "dignity" and that is was her life, and she had the right to choose what to do with it. It's true her disease was horrible. She suffered from head and neck pain, and was taking seizures. Her death would not be a gentle one. Many people say she was brave, not afraid of death, and are applauding her choice.

I say, it was not brave. It was a cowards act. It was in defiance of God. It's a sad day when we can stand around and watch someone kill themselves and then applaud them afterwards.

If she had truly been brave, she would have taken things one day at a time, saying; "Ok God, this is what you have chosen for me. I don't understand it. It's going to be hard. Give me the strength to trust you in this."

But she didn't.

If we can excuse this kind of behavior then we can easily excuse killing mentally ill people because their quality of life isn't "as good as ours" or we can kill the elderly because they'll die soon anyway and it'll be kinder for them. And we can excuse killing babies because they're unwanted, or going to live with a birth defect. We can excuse any kind of murder.

This is the world in which we live. We have made ourselves gods, deciding to take life whenever it suits us, as if they are worth absolutely nothing.

Well, guess what? Our lives are not our own. We have no right to decide when we die. We are not the masters of our souls. God is.

This is something we nee to fight. And I don't mean stand in our homes or our churches and say; "That was wrong of her to do."

I mean fight by saying we are not going to stand for this anymore. We are going to teach our kids to follow God and bring them up with His word, and train them to resist giving in to the beliefs of our heathen culture. Because if we don't, we are going to destroy ourselves. We are already on a path to self destruction, and it is only when we make God Lord over all, that this clock will stop.

Fangirl Alert!

I have been doing a lot of Fangirling lately, what with Mockingjay Part 1 Trailers and Clips being released, knowing the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies is hitting theatres in December, and keeping up with Insurgent news, my Fangirl wheels are going high speed. XD

The final Mockingjay trailer was amazing (see link there)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXshQ5mv1K8

and I am super excited for the movie. I have high expectations, and I have a feeling they are going to be met. And the feels? Ooh yeah, I will be freaking out in the Theatre the whole time. :)

The Hobbit. Well I was disappointed with the movies since they were not as good as the LOTR's movies, but I still enjoyed them and I want to see how PJ raps everything up.

As for Insurgent, I am probably most eager for it, since I liked Divergent better than HG's, but I am really nervous about the rumors of an added love triangle, and I am also mad at Shailene Woodley for deciding to keep her boy-ish haircut from FIOS when she films Insurgent.

So I will leave you with a few little quotes about Fangirls and finish my evening....which may or may not consist of more Fangirling.....

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Evil Fears

Fear.

It's almost like a disease. It grabs a hold of you and doesn't want to let go. It torments your thoughts and effects your actions, sometimes it even renders you useless. Its one of Satan's most effective tools, and sometimes we don't have the means to defend against it.

And that is where God comes in.

Joshua 1:9-"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest."

Isaiah 41:10~"Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
We can't fight the fear on our own, we aren't strong enough. We need God for that. Its a long battle, but in the end, we are always going to win, because God is on our side. It may not be soon, but someday we will conquer all of our fears.

I am still waiting for my day.

Writing, writing...and more writing.

A writers job never ends. Our poor brains are on constant hyper-drive. Gottawritegottawritegottawrite! Oy.

Trying to think of Blog Posts, working on my Divergent FanFiction, sorting through notes for my upcoming Nano Novel, and helping out with the new Chriteno's Blog (which is going to be awesome, and I'll be sharing the link as soon as it is up and running)....yeah, my computer is becoming my best friend.

Man would I be bored if I didn't write.

Of course my parents don't understand this writers mentality. Is it cool I am writing? Yeah whatever, fine. But they see a lot of it as a waste of time, and since I don't have an actual book published, in their heads I don't classify as an actual writer. *sigh* Did I mention we aren't understood most of the time?

But I love writing, and hopefully one day I will be an Professional Writer. In the meantime, my computer will be my shadow, music will be my friend and the characters I create, will be my foster kids. XD

Now, where are the chips?

Small things matter too.

I was recently faced with a situation and it got me thinking about how often we neglect little things in life. I'm not talking about tasks, I'm talking in terms of morality. How we often think that we're ok because we don't commit the "big sins" like murder, but we are so focused on that, we forget that we fall short in the small things, and that God cares about those things too.

Usually, you are entrusted with small things before big things. Handling the small things show you are mature enough to handle the big things. I find Christians tend to do things backwards. They focus on not murdering etc. but ignore smaller things that "don't matter." We says things like:

"Well, it'll be ok if I tell a white lie. Its not a REAL lie. God wont mind."

"Its just a tiny quiz sheet, it wont hurt to look up the answers."

But God says:

"Lying lips [are] abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly [are] his delight." ~Proverbs 12:22

"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." ~Ephesians 4:25

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin." ~James 4:17 

"A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight." ~Proverbs 11:1

These are just a few verses.

My point is, God sees EVERYTHING we do. We need to think about what He would think about us doing-or not doing-something. Is God going to be pleased with how I am doing my buisness? With how I treat others? Is He going to be happy about this white lie? How about peeking at answers for a homework sheet or copying off of someone else's work? Is He happy about how I have kept The Lord's Day this week? Would He like the music I am listening to, or the movies I am watching?

These are things we must consider. And we will find the answers in His Word. That is what it is there for.

Remember we have said before how we are to be separate from the world? If you were put on trial and accused of being a Christian, will they find enough evidence to convict you? The world will notice how we glorify God in ALL life's areas, and God will too.

God Made Girls.

Has anyone heard the song "God made girls" by Rae Lynn? While I was poking around on YouTube trying to relieve some boredom, I came across it. I found it to be a very cute and pretty song, however I noticed A LOT of people disagreed with me. Their objections?

The song was "sexist".

Yep, all those Feminists were screaming; "sexist" because the song promotes that women were "only created to serve men."

Give me a freaking break. The only thing I saw wrong was the music video. All the girls were way too skimpily dressed. Here you can listen to the song and then continue reading if you want:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=40-mBHxjpwI

So, I think you've guessed by now that I don't believe that this song is sexist, but i'll explain why. I'll break it down bit by bit. I think it's purpose is to explain a lot of ways how girls are (and should be!)

"Somebody's gotta wear a pretty skirt, Somebody's gotta be the one to flirt,somebody gotta wanna hold his hand so God made girls" Yes, someone has to wear pretty frilly clothes with glitter and sparkle. And we do. Someone has to think he's cute and want to hold the hand of the man we are in love with. And we do. I see nothing wrong with that.

"Somebody's gotta make 'em get dressed up, Somebody's gotta give 'em a reason to wash that truck, Somebody gotta teach 'em how to dance so God made girls."  Guys dress better when they're around girls. No girl wants to see a guy who looks like a slob right? And that truck has to look nice when the guy goes to pick up his girl for a date right? And some guys...can't dance. So, the girl can teach them.

"He needed something soft and loud and sweet and proud, But tough enough to break a heart, Something beautiful and breakable that lights up in the dark "  That sounds like a nice description of a girl right there to me. I know girls who are really loud, and sweet, and beautiful. They're tough enough to break a heart, but soft enough to get their hearts broken.

"And God made girls (For singing in your front seat), God made girls (For dancin' to their own beat), He stood back and told the boys I'm bout to rock your world, And God made girls."  I don't know about some of you, but I sing loud in the car with friends...and in my room...and the shower. I don't dance but I have a friend who does. And, God told Adam he would make him a helper suitable for him. Someone....to rock his world. :)

"Somebody's gotta be the one to cry, Somebody's gotta let him drive, give him a reason, To hold that door so God made girls." Ok, we all know most guys don't cry. But girls do. And maybe she'll show her guy its ok to shed a tear or two. And what is so bad about a guy holding a door for us? Are we perfectly capable of opening a door? Of course we are! But when a guy holds a door for a girl, it shows he's respectful and polite. And I rather like the idea of a guy driving me all over the place, because currently, I hate driving. :)

"Somebody's gotta put up a fight, Make him wait on a Saturday night, To walk downstairs and blow his mind, So God made girls" Yep, I can be feisty when I want to. And we all know guys complain about how girls take to long to do....everything. And all those sweet movies where the girl comes downstairs looking gorgeous and makes him drool? Adorable.

"Someone that can wake him up and call his bluff, And drag his butt to church, someone that is hard to handle, Somethin' fragile to hold him when he hurts". And sadly there are some guys who have to be woken up and drug to church. Hopefully they're working on that one.

My take on the song? We complete guys. The relationship between a guy and a girl is priceless and something God made special. Just because she's not depicting women walking around with gear like Rambo doesn't mean she's being sexist.

I guess I have one thing to say to the Feminists out there who are hating this song: Pull up your big girl pants and quit your whining.

A Heck of a Ride.

Ok, so today, being my friend's Birthday, we all went on a Trail Ride. It was originally to be a 4 hour ride with other people bringing their horses but because of different circumstances, it ended up being just our group of 5. :) And it didn't help that it started to rain. Oh yeah, and it was like, less than 50F.

Yay.

Now, when you go on a Red Hawk Stable Trail Ride, it is almost never dull. They are, 95% of the time, what we call "eventful". Whether we are laughing till our sides hurt or trying to spot "spiffets" in the woods, there is always something going on.

However, I didn't say the happenings were always good. :)

First example; it rained. Just enough to get us pretty wet and chilly. Really hoping we don't end up with pneumonia, colds...or Ebola. :)

Second example; my horse, the lovely Miss Dory, decided she was really loving the idea of running. Now, Dory is feisty. She gets a bit full of herself and her middle name is Speed. I didn't want to canter her down the flat tracks by myself because I know she likes to run and I have a tendency to not control my nerves-which makes things worse-so my Instructor says she will canter beside me while holding onto Dory, who will be attached to a lead rope.

Ok, lets do this thing.

Leaving the other three members of our group behind, we start off. At first Dory decides a trot is nice and I'm thinking; "Ok, this is good!". Then it happens.

The explosion.

Unable to contain the urge anymore she starts galloping, breaking the strap on her bridle, leaving the lead rope in the dirt and deciding to try to leave my Instructor in her dust.

Crap. 

So here I am, flying down the puddle-filled tracks in the woods on a horse who thinks she's running in the Kentucky Derby, and she's not even a Thoroughbred. My thighs, at this point, go into survival mode and are doing all they can to keep me in that saddle. In a few seconds, my Instructor, on trusty old Spice, catches up and yells "Pull back", and I do.

Of course, Dory says; "I'm having too much fun to stop!" and keeps going. Between the two of us we manage to get her to stop before we hit the road. And I'm still in the saddle. :D I survived! I didn't hit the ground going at unknown speeds, I didn't slam into a tree, and my brain didn't shut down rendering me immobile at it has been known to do.

Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good. :)

Fast forward a little bit. That little jaunt in no way dampened Dory's desire to run. In fact it made her want to run some more. So I say to my friend; "I'll hold Romeo (her horse) and you run her down the tracks a bit and blow off some steam." She agrees and she and my Instructor take off and the rest of us wait. Here is their story.

Dory goes faster than she did with me, jumping puddles and making my poor friend lose her stirrups, and once again, it took the two of them to maker her stop. Luckily she stopped before they reached a really rutted out water-filled part of the path, complete with three or four tires someone threw back there. After that, she did settle down.

Add in the fact that I banged my knee off a tree, my extra sweatshirt hit the ground twice and we were harassed by a mangy looking dog, this ride was pretty interesting. :P

Other events in the day included me acquiring burns to my mouth from hot pizza, and the purchase of an iPod touch for myself.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to our next big trail ride.

(note; this actually all took place yesterday, but I didn't get to finish the post until today, and I didn't feel like changing it.)