hot and spicy chex mix....

I have found a new love. The hot and spicy chex mix is just to die for. It is spicy so it is not for the faint of heart (or tongue). I personally like to mix it eat right before I eat my delicious cheeze cubes.

Love at first site.....

My beautiful grandson was born on Friday September 17th at 1:24 pm to Jacob and Jill Pitcher. He weighed 7 pounds and 3 oz. I guess I am biased but he is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. He is very precious baby that has a whole lot of people who love him. I am a very, very proud Nanny. My husband, Ronnie, aka Papa is estatic also.

Parenthood......

Tonight is the season premiere of Parenthood. The show stars Peter Krause and Lauren Graham. You will remember Lauren Graham as the fun loving mother Lorelai on the show Gilmore Girls. Which, by the way, is the best show that has ever been made. But I digress, parenthood is a show based on four siblings, thier children and their spouses. The show is based on real life events. The events of life such as a teenager getting her heart broken, a mother that has to move back home with her parents due to a divorce, a young man whom finds out he has a bi-racial 5 year old boy, the lawyer who works too much and her husband is "mr Mom". I would suggest that everyone set thier dvr's to record this program tonight. It is well worth it.

Cancer sucks......

I absolutely hate cancer....Cancer has taken both of my parents....I am a orphan before 40 years old. I believe I will call this cancer telethon and make a donation...I just breaks my heart....I will make the donation in the memory of my parents...especially my mother, Brenda Jo, whom I miss so much and loved so dearly...

Patience....

As a registered nurse I am paid to have patience. Patience when my patients are getting on my nerves. When they have to go to the bathroom. Patience to wait on them when their ride is late. In my personal life, I do not have patience. I want what I want, where I want it, how I want it and I want it right now. I am dying to have a horse. I am dying to move out of this stupid subdivsion and back to the country. I am dying to start my life the way I want it to go. With that said, I am happy with my life. I absolutely choose happy. I'm not saying that I will not have bad days nor that I will never be sad. I believe that life is too short to be sweating the small stuff. I choose happy. I have a vision of what my life is like. I guess really the only thing is logistics (sp) that I am messing up on. I am thrilled with my husband. Love my job. Love my kids. And love my animals. I just have to be patient to hold on, pay some little bills off, start fixing up the house and praying over my impending move. I guess I'll just have to keep being patient and wait........But I won't like it.

First football game of the season.....

Today the University of Mississippi is playing against Jacksonville state in Oxford. Apparantly, people were lined up last night to get thier tents ready for the game today. Tailgaiting is a huge part of the football experience. The comradarie of the people who are each pulling for that perfect win. The wonderful aromas of the food that seeps out from under the individual tents. The Grove at the U of M is where all of the tailgating takes place. I really wish I could be at the game today, but my wonderful step son is getting married this evening. Football is a staple for a southern girl. My husband, Ronnie, Mallarie and myself love the ole miss rebels. Brooke love the Florida gators. Jacob is crazy about the Tennessee vols. Our house is very interesting this time of year.

boys of fall.......

I am so excited for this weekend. Football, football, and football. Oh, and did I mention football. So ecited.

Air force......

My step son Jacob returned from air force training last night. He has been gone from home in his training. The air force has made him into a man. He is a k 135 crew chief. After his short stay home he will be stationed in Spokane, Washington with his new wife, Jill, and thier son Neyland. I am excited about Washington, I think it will be a good place to visit and see my grandbaby. (I guess I'll visit with Jacob and Jill, too). So proud to call myself a air force (step) mom.

Lesson with Anna....

I had a very nice lesson with Anna today at the Mid south dressage academy. First, I got to see Anna ride a "very different" horse. He refused to bend. It was crazy. He is a beautiful horse, however. Susan owns him and she is very proud of him. Then an accupuncturist was there and she worked on Susan's horse and also was working on a horse with some leg problems. It was wild seeing all of those needles out of the horses. We then warmed up. Wally has a new saddle and it is a memory foam saddle. It was an absolute dream to ride in. We mostly worked on my turning. Of course, turning a percheron horse is not an easy feat. I haven't been in the saddle for about 3 weeks. I have a lesson scheduled with her on Monday. I am a bit sore today. My goal is to get to the gym and work out and try some pilates to help stretch out my muscles so I won't be stiff in the saddle.

Shelly Bookwalter: Last Chance Highway : Animal Planet

Shelly Bookwalter: Last Chance Highway : Animal Planet

Last Chance highway.....

Yesterday while flipping channels I came across the animal planet program Last chance highway. This lady who happens to live in Olive branch, MS. Takes strays in or shelter dogs and sends them to the North for adoptions. Shelly Bookwater is a realtor by trade but her passion is dogs. It is so much fun watching the different signs they show on the program in which I am familiar. A gentleman named Kyle actually does the transporting in a huge trailor. I love love love this program. Immediately set your tivo's to record it.

stupid career......

Let me first say that I love being a nurse. I have been a nurse for almost 20 years and love my patients. The complaint I have is that as a nurse I have to write in shorthand. Medical shorthand is very necessary but it has taken my creative writing skills away. I look at some of these blogs and I can't help but become envious because of the fluidity of the way they write. I guess I need to post more so that maybe the skills will come back....

the weekend is here.....

I am so excited for the weekend. I am going to get Pam for us to do a little shopping. Steve's old band is playing at Bobbo's tonight so we are going to listen to them play. Church tomorrow (I hope).

book review....the pioneer woman cookbook

I am addicted to the blog http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ . The photograhs and recipes are beautiful. A little peek into this womans life is refreshing. I received her book in the mail this morning. On the outside of the package it read "misdelivered". No wonder it took so long to receive. I crack open the book to be teased by the pictures of her ranch and the cowboys that tend to it. The glossy pages of the book make all of the recipes look scrumptious. As a lover of horses I really appreciate the pictures of the horses that adorn the pages. I am half-way in the book. I guess I'll leave the rest of the book for a treat for this afternoon. Please rush out immediately and buy this book.

Football frenzy....

It's that time of year. Football time. I love football. I love to follow Ole Miss. Let's hope that Houston Nutt made the right decision with the new quarterback. I guess we will have to see. I graduated from Independence high school but my children went to Senatobia most of their school years. I believe I will follow the Senatobia Warriors. So here we go.......Let's GO Warriors Lets GO........ and.......Hotty toddy gosh almighty...who the hell are we.....flim flam bim bam....ole miss by damn...

Me and my big mouth....

Sometimes I have a big mouth. Well, let's face it most of the time I have a big mouth. I arrive at Mid-South dressage academy a little late yesterday. I had to hurry and tack him up to make the most of my lesson with Anna. We put him on the lounge line to get all of the "buck" out of him. He did really well. I mounted and Anna asked me if I have been sore. I told her I really haven't been sore yet. Well, she made me do a bunch of exercises on trying to strengthen my core. Well, needless to say, I am very sore today. I did better on my riding him. I even made the circle a little better. He did not even go over the rail once. I am upset that it will be about a week and a half before my next lesson. I will be working alot and then we are headed to Wichita Falls. Anna did set me up with some exercises to strengthen my core. I will be working on them. I also saw a book "pilates for dressage". I think I will check that out further. Of course this is not me on Wally. But isn't he gorgeous.

Circles......

Ride in a circle. How hard is that? I'm not a total novice to riding horses but I am to dressage. To save my life I could not get Wally to go into the circle. I would get one corner very well then I would poop out on the next corner. I never dreamed in all of my life I would have trouble riding a circle. A couple of times he even went out of the ring. My brain is trying to process inside leg, outside rein. Of course, Nick Handy, a medalist in dressage was riding in the opposite arena. I guess I showed him....baaahaahaaa But, I did have a very good lesson today with Anna. She gave me the United States Pony club Manual of Horsemanship to read. I guess I'll have to get to work.

iphone....

I love my iphone so much. The iphone is much more than a phone. It allows people to organize thier lives. I have an application that allows me to plan my shopping list. You can make a list based on the items you need or want. The list then allows you to check off the items as you purchase it. I used it in the grocery store on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also have a running to do list that basically keeps my mind focused on my goals. Some of the goals mentioned are everything to getting new glasses to taking dressage lessons (I don't know how keep track of their goals yet) to organizing my bills to a totally paperless system. One of the features I like the most is that on the daily calender you can put in your task and a "text" message comes up to remind you of the task. I have been using this to pray for people and to try to learn some Bible verses. Basically my iphone organizes my life....

Sick....

I have been sick for a couple of days. I mean in the bed sick. I was scheduled for a dressage lesson with Anna today but I cancelled it due to my being under the weather. I have to buy groceries. We are out of everything. I think hubby and I are heading down south for the evening.

dressage.....

I had my first dressage lesson the other day at the mid south dressage academy in Hernando. The place was absolutely beautiful. I having been digging deeply in my heart about the rest of my life. I really want to have horses in my life. I want to be an excellent rider and from my research I think that dressage is the way to balance myself and obtain my goal.

I am also interested in foxhunting, I can remember mama talking about coon hunting and her talking about hearing the dogs howl. I do think I will probably have to take some hunter-jumper classes to become an effective foxhunter.

I think competing is the way to go. I guess we will see what my life has in store for it.

mid south dressage academy....

by Nancy BrannonThe first things one notices when approaching the Mid-South Dressage Academy is the impressive new stable atop the hill, which gives scenic views in all directions of the surrounding beautiful farmland, pastures and woodlands. It is a major goal realized for owner and operator Elizabeth Rice and an ideal place for her two daughters, Parker, age 15 and Carter, age 12 to ride. She describes the Academy as a non-profit organization founded with the mission to “give all adults and children” who desire it, “an opportunity to ride safely” whether or not the student owns a horse. Rice said people often ask her about the non-profit status. When they ask, “How can you be non-profit?” She answers, “Lesson fees don’t cover even a fraction of the costs involved in providing these kinds of services. My husband [Butch, a realtor] says everything in horses is non-profit. I do it for the love of the sport, for sharing opportunities.”The Mid-South Dressage Academy, formerly headquartered in Brighton, Tennessee, recently moved to the Rice family farm, Clifton Farms at 6303 Robertson Gin Road in Hernando, Mississippi. The 24-stall barn with two full size indoor dressage arenas, including sound system, and living quarters was just completed last year. It has a lot of amenities including 24 additional event stalls, six wash bays, 20 turn-out paddocks, a grass outdoor arena, meeting room, and six guest rooms with private baths. Footing in the indoor arenas is a combination fine-grained sand and polyester felt, which Rice likes because “it stays level and we only have to drag it once a week or less, depending on use.” There are two full-time instructors, Nick and Ila Handy, who offer lessons at both the Brighton and the Hernando facilities.Emphasis at the Academy is the new Horsemaster program, which Rice kick-started January 11-13, 2008. Rice said it took her three years to put together this program, which is modeled somewhat on the United States Pony Club education and riding curriculum. At this and the former location, she had riding instruction available for students, but this Horsemaster program provides more complete instruction for all facets of dressage riding and horse care. “I have a lot of adults involved as well as children. We don’t have ratings like Pony Club, but we do use test scores from shows” to evaluate advancement in the riding component. “We try to create a sense of community here that includes more advanced students helping younger ones and everyone volunteering their time.”
[adsys_ad::instory] -->The curriculum is designed to educate students about handling and maintaining horses and aspects of riding, with a focus on safety. The courses are divided into freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior levels. Students start as freshman and once completing the senior level graduate as Horsemasters. There are four textbooks which correspond to the four levels with chapters ranging in subject matter from horse handling and stable management to dressage equipment and tacking. All of the handbooks include chapters on: dressage (e.g., arena sizes), movements (and the aids for walk, trot, canter, and bending), equipment and tacking; horse sense (including body parts, colors, breeds); handling and stable management; grooming; riding skills; showing (including scoring and required clothing); show volunteering; and veterinary knowledge. “Volunteer time, teaching time, and support are all expected of upper level riders,” said Rice. “My vision is this: it’s not about who has the most money to take the most lessons. It’s about those who have the greatest desire to learn and support and give. I will help people any way I can and sponsorships can be found. I’m looking for people who are dedicated and reliable. Eventually, I hope to make this a national program.”Mary Alice Ruleman oversees the Horsemaster program and has worked with it since its inception. She is officially a University of Tennessee, Knoxville undergraduate, but she took a break this semester to help get the program implemented. She is temporarily a student at University of Memphis, but will return to UTK next semester and complete her degree there. “I’m here to get it rolling, to get the kinks worked out, and have it be a well-oiled machine when I leave,” Ruleman said.Currently she runs the daily operations of the program, a job which requires doing a little bit of everything around the barn.Rice said she has been obsessed with horses all her life. She rode hunters as a child and foxhunted as a young adult. She took a hiatus from horses, but “I got back into horses when my children came along,” she said. “This [Horsemaster] program is really what I wanted all during my riding times, but I didn’t find it available. I once thought I wanted to do eventing, but I decided to concentrate on doing just dressage for a year to improve my skills.” It was then that she realized dressage was more about personal success than winning. “It’s part of a life-long journey of self-growth,” she said. “I wish that I had started in dressage rather than discovered it later. I think my riding history would have been better and I would have fallen off less!”Rice observed that dressage riders in the area are either “beginner or upper level riders. There are not too many in between.” She hopes to attract people who want to learn the foundation skills of dressage, which they can then use in any other riding discipline, be it jumping or barrel racing. “If you can ride through First Level [test] IV, you can graduate to any other program. You then have a skill set you can use to do any other riding discipline. The biggest challenge we have is how to make it fun.Learning dressage can be boring and slow, especially in today’s world in which everyone wants things instantly.”One of the things she is doing to make learning dressage fun is to add music to the riding. At sanctioned shows, “you can’t ride [musical] freestyle until you compete at First Level [test] IV. But at fun shows, we think adding music to riding is fun at all levels. We give our students the opportunity to ride quadrilles and Pas de Deux. We try to jazz it up and allow the children to dress up their ponies.” She believes that riding to music is a key to having fun with dressage and to getting the public involved. “We work with music, play with it and see how particular pieces work with your horse.”Rice recommends that people need to ride for at least two years before they buy their own horse. Experience has taught her that people often buy a horse that is wrong for them n one that is too green, too young; what they can afford may not be what they need. “It is better to take this stair-step learning through the program.” She has several horses “on staff” to help students advance through the dressage riding levels. “The lesson horses are not near retirement. They are still actively competing and are not used five or six times a day” to plod around the ring. “Students want to ride horses that are skilled in the movements so they can learn the movements.”Rice schedules a variety of barn activities to meet the interests and needs of the various riding levels and ages of students. “We have barn night weekly when people can come to work on their skills and socialize. We have non-mounted meetings at which kids pretend to be the horses as they learn the dressage tests. Kids just love to practice calling the tests! I know of no other place that has a beginner through advanced program with lesson horses and an educational component, all in-house,” said Rice. “I don’t think you should separate the active competitors from the beginners. Here we combine the two” so that advanced riders can be role models for beginner riders and “that gives a different atmosphere. We don’t want to be a snooty place. We have good horses here and we’re going for a big sense of community here.”Private lessons are a regular part of the activities. The two in-house instructors, Nick and Ila Handy, are newly-weds and formerly traveled with the Lippenzaners. “Both are fantastic riders and very talented people,” Rice said. Both are USDF bronze medalists. “Nick is a graduate of Meredith Manor” with a Riding Master VI certification “and will soon have his USDF silver medal; Ila is not far behind. Now even beginner riders can ride and get instruction from great riders!” she said.Special clinics and shows add variety and learning opportunities. The weekend of January 11-13 was the kick-off for the Horsemaster program and included a Debbie Hill clinic and a fun show on January 13. January 17-19 is the Spanish Riding School clinic with Herbert Sieberl. That same weekend, January 18-20, George Gullikson with Equation Saddlery will be helping riders get the best saddle fit for their horse’s comfort and the rider’s position. MSDA will also host a Pony Club clinic on January 20. “We’re having some busy weekends,” Rice said. On March 1, MSDA will host another Debbie Hill clinic, culminating with a fun show March 2. March 8-9 will be a Tom Noone clinic.For more information about the Mid-South Dressage Academy, a non-profit school of riding, call (662) 449-0968 and visit their web site at http://www.midsouthdressageacademy.org. For a look at Clifton Farms, see http://www.cliftonfarms.net.
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Happy birthday to me......

Today is my 40th birthday. On July 3rd, 1970 Jerry and Brenda Foster had a little girl named, Stacy Jo Foster. Both of my grandfathers worshipped me but sadly they both passed away before I got to know them. I had a pretty good childhood. Despite a daddy that would lose his temper sometimes I was raised in a loving Christian home, surrounded by family that love me. I also grew up in a very nice community and attended the local Church of Christ where everyone knew your name.

After graduating high school, I gave birth to my first child, Brooke. She was a beautiful and chatty little girl. She has grown into a beautiful, funny, mean, and loving daughter. She works at Comp cams, has been attending college and is totally self sufficient. I am so very proud of her and so very proud to be her mother.

After Brooke was born I went to Northwest Ms Community College and obtained my Registered Nurse license graduating before I was 20 years old. I am very proud to be a nurse and I have had the privilege to care for people that were having a crisis in their lives. As an ER nurse for several years I saw many tragedies but I also saw lives being saved on a daily basis. I have worked in many facets of nursing. My love now is dialysis nursing. Even though not as "exciting" as the ER certainly as interesting. I love watching my people improve and get back to a normal life. When you see everyone three times a week you love them and truly care for them. I am blessed to be a dialysis nurse at this time. I'm not exactly sure where the rest of my career will lead me but I am praying over it. I also have made numerous friends from working at these hospitals, clinics. Thanks to facebook I can keep up with them despite not seeing them on a regular basis.

After graduating nursing school, I got the baby bug, everyone at Senatobia hospital was pregnant so I got pregnant, too. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Kelcy. (Even though I wanted a boy). Kelcy is a delightful child. She gives me very little problems. She is sweet, kind, thoughful, beautiful and smart. She is a senior in high school and works as an assisstant manager at skate odessy.

I have been married 3 times. People who are not currently in my life still hold a special place in my heart and always will.

Ronnie is my current husband. Our marriage has been kind of tough. Through lots of prayer from me and from my friends things are going well and hopefully our lives will continue to improve and we can grow old together. I love him, and hope the best for him..

As the second part of my life begins (hopefully I will live to be 80) I have goals I want to accomplish. My first goal is to get into a church and become part of a church family. I miss the closeness of a church family. I want to put God first into my life and keep him there. I want to put my husband and our marriage second in my life and enjoy the time we have left together. I want to be the best wife I can be.

I want to be a good step-mother to Mallarie and Jacob. Mallarie is a beautiful, funny and talented woman, she works with special needs kids and truly has a gift for this. She is planning to go back to college and finish her degree. Jacob is currently in Wichita Falls, TX in the air force I am equally proud of him. He is doing very well. He has turned into a responsible young man. Jacob and his finance' Jill, are going to make us grandparents in September. I just can't wait until my little grandson, Neyland James gets here. I am so excited. I am planning on getting a custom blog header and hopefully will blog better than I have been. I am so truly blessed.

Gizmo n Gadgets - Bay Quarter Horse for Sale in Oxford, Mississippi MS - FREE Ads

Gizmo n Gadgets - Bay Quarter Horse for Sale in Oxford, Mississippi MS - FREE Ads
If anyone wants to know what to get me.

Father's day....

Happy father's day to all of the dad's out there. I loved my daddy, Jerry Floyd Foster, and miss him greatly. Also, happy father's day to my hubby, Ronnie, I love you.

Happy mother's day.....

I am so very grateful to be the mother of 2 beautiful daughter......