DIVA.CHRONICLES : End of August 2013

Hello friends,

I know it has been a while since I last blogged. I have been ridiculously busy. I just got moved to a new position on my team, where I actually have work to do all day long! In the position I was in before, I just sat around and waited for people to call me, so I really did nothing for like four hours a day. In my new position I am doing outbound calls and following up with people all day. I *like* being busy all day long, but that doesn't leave me with a lot of time or energy for blogging. So, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, but at least it was for a good cause!

While I am talking about work, I feel like I should tell y'all how much I love my job and love working. Obvi I go through periods where I'm just sort of unexcited about the work I do, but I love love love everyone I work with. I don't mind working extra if we are short staffed, hanging out with people outside of work, and I def don't dread getting up in the morning because I laugh and have fun all day long. Not to mention everyone I work with inspires me to be better in one way or another, whether its being a nicer person, being more ambitious with what I want out of life, becoming better at selling myself and iContact. I never expected to have such a great job, right out of school, even if it isn't what I studied in school. No complaints at this time!

New things: baby Sienna is doing great with her training!! She has so much more self control and manners than she did when I sent her away, and is definitely progressing in the right direction with the dog aggression/excitement. We are going to go to Petsmart and Lake Johnson and just watch dogs walk by until she either gets totally bored with them, or wears herself out trying to pay attention to them and then having me correct her. Potentially both. She is still a work in progress but it is my goal in a few months to have her completely reliable both on and off the leash in any situation.

I currently have a little horse to ride at Melissa's, for the first time in three months! I am very out of shape, but he is a good little worker bee and its nice to have something to ride on a regular basis. He's for sale though, so here's me crossing my fingers that he doesn't get sold anytime soon. The other bad news is that when I was riding Fannie all through the dreary spring and winter I looked forward to the summer so I wouldn't have to ride in the dark after work...three months later when I have a horse to ride again its 8:00 and dark outside. Le sigh.....

I am VERY behind on updating y'all on some other fun things in my life, I just feel like a total blogger failure...

*Two* weekends ago, myself and Jenna from DDD planned a surprise party for my little, Emily, who just turned 21 and it was a great success. She sort of found out about the party beforehand unfortunately, BUT she did not know how many people were going to be there and that the bus we planned to take to downtown was a pink bus! It was a lot of fun and I got to hang out with sisters I don't see as often as I'd like.

Emily's reaction to her party

birthday girl!

In the pink bus

Over the long weekend I had a chance to experiment with some food. I tried to make a bread pudding, and it was mostly a success! The cake part of it was awesome, but I wasn't a huge fan of the topping (too much cinnamon for me), so I will have to find another topping that looks good and try it again soon!

Also last weekend I got to tailgate a little bit and horse show a little bit so I was a happy camper! My mom showed Cowboy in Raleigh, so I helped her for the day. She improves so much with every show, and I'm super proud of her and her little pony dressage machine. She doesn't brag, but she got high point Quarter Horse one day at the show last weekend. Surprisingly there are a lot of dressage QH's out there! Her high score test is below.

I helped my friend Caro and her family set up their tailgate for the tailgate competition they compete in each year. Over the past few years they have been so generous to everyone in the sorority, including myself, so I wanted to try to repay the debt even if it was just a little bit. Mama Ball is the best and her tailgate won this week's round! She goes to the finals, and I hope she wins the whole thing this year!!