Bring on the Pain that Brings Me Back to Life

Rough weekend. My week ended swell, getting done with class on Wednesday morning, summing up a disastrous winter quarter. Ended up with 2 A's and 2 B's. Thank God those classes are done with. I sure won't miss GMC during my 23 day spring break.
I'm writing this at 6:00 AM in the Panera parking lot in Columbus. My horse, Beni, is showing this weekend at Poplar Place with my friend Lindsey Rairden in the irons. Good luck Beni and Linds! So I'm at the event grooming and spectating all weekend.

Last night, though, disaster struck. A good friend that I worked with at Frontier Ranch tried to commit suicide Thurs. night. Little did I know, and I spoke to her last night. I'm quite shaken up, as not only is this a great friend, who has been there for me through hell, this is the 2nd friend I have had that has recently chosen to try this. As many know, my buddy John Knoll from TX took his own life in the fall, and left everyone wondering why. It was unexpected, as was the situation Thursday night. I've been reading my Bible, and trying to stay positive. Today will be a true test of my character- if I can still do my job taking care of the event horses, while still keeping a good attitude and a servant's heart, when all I want to do is sit in my hotel room and cry.

This morning, though, 2 positive things have happened though. One, I realized how much of a safety net my friends are to me. They're once again helping me through this, and I'm SO grateful. Two, I found a song that really hit home. My friend, Mike Kennebrew, from Macon, is a YL leader and a musician. He has a song called, "Something Worth Saving." I heard it this morning on a mix I had made after hearing him at Sharp Top. Mike sings of "Tell me there's something worth saving, remind me that I'm still alive, bring on the pain that brings me back to life. I wanna give til I feel it, and I wanna love til it hurts, and I'll take the pain over nothing 1,000 times." These lyrics really hit home. The Lord won't put anything in front of us we can't handle, and we'll be able to fight again. I won't go down without a fight, and I know God is behind me. Below is a picture of John from the summer at Frontier Ranch.

Please keep my Work Crew in your prayers and thoughts, as well as all the riders at Poplar this weekend, for safety and strength.

Stressful Few Weeks, Onto Exams and Spring Break!

So to start off, school sucks. I'm actually studying, but college is hard. My grades are decent, but I'm earning them. So I have 3 exams this week: Sociology and PoliSci on Tuesday and Religion Wednesday. Studying hard. I need the A's. Hopefully my hard work will pay off, and I'll get into either Ole Miss or College of Charleston. Fingers crossed.
On the downward note- even though I've moved rooms,all my cash was stolen this morning. I got up and went to church; came back and was hanging out with a guy I considered a "buddy" in my room. I got up to go use the facilities, and left my billfold in my desk drawer- came back, and paid no attention. He left, and I went to downtown Millyvegas to eat lunch with a buddy, to realize all $37 I had was gone. Fortunatly, I have great friends who paid for lunch and coffee. My new "family" here in Baldwin Co., the Thompsons gave me enough cash to get me through the week. Why are people so ignorant? But as Slate said tonight- I really don't need it anyway... I guess he's right.
So to sum up, I've learned a lesson- after having an iPod and some money stolen, all my stuff is being locked up for safe keeping. I'm a bit paranoid now. But I've got to keep a decent attitude- spring break starts Wed. after my last exam! I'm going to Griffin for a few days to get some rest, earn some money, pick up my Volvo, ride my Irish horse, and visit my favorite labrador. Then I'm off on a South Carolina roadtrip to Aiken to visit Lara Chance and Jennie Brannigan, and then to Greenville to visit my buddy John Armstrong who worked with me at Young Life camp this past summer. So hopefully after some Carolina lovin' I'll go to Athens for a last hurrah, then back to hit the books in Millyvegas.
By the way- Bonnaroo is going to be amazing this year, Dave Matthews is playing, and I'm volunteering. Its gonna be legit! Oh, and I've been listening to old Phish, and I'm really feeling it!


Good luck to everyone eventing at Poplar Place and Southern Pines this weekend! Congrats to Lara for winning Full Gallop!

RENT! and a Bad Weekend at Pine Top

This past weekend was full of ups and downs. Friday night, my friend Wes, who goes to GCSU and I went to a Kappa Sigma party in downtown Milledgeville, then went back to his dorm and listened to Widespread Panic and Phish for a few hours while catching up on high school memories. Saturday, I had the luxury to attend GCSU's production of RENT! with a few friends from Griffin. We had a blast, and it was especially good to see my buddy Jordan Hale who went to high school with me as the lead role!!! The cast did a fabulous job, and the musical was a complete success. Sunday I had the pleasure of once again going to my dear friends' the Thompson's farm in Milledgeville to teach Ellie a riding lesson and to eat dinner.

On a sad note, my friend Rebecca Howard (a future Canadian World Equestrian Games hopeful) took a nasty fall yesterday at Pine Top. Her experienced horse, Roquefort (Rocky to his friends) hit a gate, and they took a rotational fall. Rebecca suffered mulitiple broken ribs and a semi- collapsed lung. She is well and concious in ICU in Charlotte, and with family. The horse was unscraped. Keep the Howards in your thoughts and prayers,and hopefully Rebecca will be back eventing soon to persue her goal of riding in WEG '10!