These Days

I just need to take a moment and boast in the Lord. His creation is so beautiful! And yet, I know that it in no way compares to the Glory, Beauty and Majesty of the Lord!

Lately, here in Gainesville, TX, God has given us the most beautiful days! We have had blue skies, 70-75 degree temperatures and always a flowing breeze. Every morning I just can't wait to go out and run! The horses are feeling good and running around. I decided to take a few pictures of the ranch yesterday of what I run by. I wish these pictures could do it justice, although they are not the mountains, they are still beautiful!

Ryan and I have also found that the sunsets here on the ranch just get better and better every evening. Hopefully I will remember to capture those and put them on here!



For the past month, Ryan and I have been attending The Village Church in Denton, TX. We have always enjoyed and learned a lot from the pastor, Matt Chandler, through his poscasts. Yet, now we are able to be part of this body. We have been wanting to get connected to some people there so badly. Sunday night we went to a homegroup for young married couples. It was amazing! We are reading "This Momentary Marriage" by John Piper. Our group was so full of God-centered discussion! We all shared our testimonies and I feel we really got to know each other well through that. It is so fun to see the body of Christ, how everyone is SOOO different, yet the Lord brings us together in unity for His Glory!

We are excited to connect with people outside of the horse industry here. It is a good reminder that horses are not the meaning of life, they are only a means of bringing the gospel to people who do not know the Lord.

I am finally working on some really fun crafts, they are mainly all Christmas presents, so I cannot post them on here for quite some time! Yet, I am excited to give them to everybody

AJAX

I am so sorry that this has taken me so long. I have been wanting to introduce this lovely little friend of mine for some time now. I do not have the excuse of being too busy to post on here, so I am not sure what other excuse to give other than I just haven't.

This little donkey is named Ajax. He came from the vet, needing a home and Pat took him to watch over the mares and babies. Donkeys are very protective of their herds and will fight off coyotes and other predators. I know, this is very shocking, but they can be very vicious.

Ryan and I have noticed that people up here in Gainesville seem to have a fetish with donkeys, they are EVERYWHERE! And most of the donkeys are fat. We have a quite exceptional donkey, I believe he is the most cellulite enhanced of them all. Sadly, he has been lame. He has really bad feet so he has been in the stall for awhile. He misses his mares so you hear him "Hee-Hah" all day long. The best part is that the mexican guys that dont speak much English do impressions of him, and well, it's hilarious!

This next photo emphasizes his cellulite booty.



You really have to see him in person, he is quite a site. I will have more posts coming up soon.

Tulsa Reining Classic

Ryan and I just returned from our first reining horse show with Ryan's new employer, Patrice St. Onge. It was a very long week for Ryan. He would wake up at 4 AM to go ride horses and stay up at the show grounds usually until 9 at night, or later! He was one tired man when I finally got to see him this last wednesday. By the time I got there his schedule slowed down a bit.

One of my favorite parts of the show is when Andrea Fippani and Big Chex to Cash did a clinic for people to learn from. He rode a young horse and Big Chex (a well known stallion that has won A LOT) and talked with everyone to teach them. I learned a lot from him! I had been wondering about a lot of things Ryan was doing and after hearing Andrea it explained a lot to me. Here is a link to Andrea and big chex:

http://www.bigchextocash.com/Home.html

Also, the first one hundred kids to come got a breyer horse that looks like big chex, I thought that was a cute idea! Sadly I did not take any pictures myself. I totally forgot!

Ryan and I met a lot of people, trainers, wives of trainers, the guy that drags the arena at just about every horse show, etc. We had a blast! But we are glad to be back "home."

My AMAZING cappuchino maker

This is my Phenominal cappuchino maker. It is called Mukka Express, made by Bialetti in Italy. I received it as a wedding present, I believe from the Decrosta family. It looks like a simple stove top espresso maker, yet it is so much more!

The inovative part in it is the pressure valve that causes the milk to froth up to make your delicious cappuchino. All you do is take it apart, put water in the bottom portion. Then you place a piece on top of it and fill that with finely ground espresso. Then screw the top on, turn the pressure valve into place, fill it with milk and place it on the stove top. Within 5 minutes you hear the pressure valve open and the coffee begins to swirl to the top causing the milk to froth on top of it! It makes two VERY small cups, so I usually just put it all into one. It tastes like it is straight out of Italy (which I can say that because I have had cappuchinos in Italy).

One thing that Ryan and I had noticed in Italy and in Austria is that no matter where you went you could find AMAZING coffee and cappuchinos. From coffee shops, to hotels, to restaurants, even gas stations! It was not the nasty gas station coffee that you see here that was brewed 8 hours ago. It is always fresh. So this little machine has brought that same amazing cappuchino to our home. I highly recomment one to you! And if you want to make a trip up to North Texas I could even make you one!

To be Content

Why is it that in whatever state we find ourselves in we are always wanting? I have been thinking and struggling with this for the past week. I am so thankful for this time with Ryan, he works across the street and I am home and able to see him whenever I want. Yet, there are times that I inevitably get bored. I find myself wanting to do something about it, for instance, go get a job. That is the sensible thing to do, and most likely I will get a part time job. Yet, I do not want to get a job because I am so discontent in the state the Lord has me. To me that is wrong motives. I soon will find myself regretting for changing my circumstances and I will long for the days when I had nothing to do but go watch Ryan ride.

Most people I talk with are desiring and wanting something to change. Those who work want more time off, Mom's want a little bit of time to themselves, those in school are wanting to graduate, etc. And not to say that I have figured out how to be content in whatever state I am in, I just find it unreal how commonplace discontentment is, even within the lives of Christians! For me, this has been a struggle that I have been wrestling the Lord with.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:8-13

When the Lord reveals the heart behind discontentment, I find the root, most of the time, to be selfishness. Paul definitely would have better excuses to be discontent than I ever will have. Yet, he was totally content in Where God had him. I think it first stemmed from the verses in 8-9. If we do what paul is encouraging the Philippians to do there is no way we can be discontent. Right before verse 8 Paul says that we should let our gentleness be known to all. I am seeing that the cure to selfishness is repentance and a decision to seek the good of other people around me. To love them, to pray for them, to reach out to them.

In my specific case, getting a job will help that to happen. It will open doors for me to meet new people so that I can reach out to them. Just getting the job for the sake of something to do because I am bored is a selfish and aweful thing to do. There is no purpose in it. As Christians I feel that we should not do things just for the sake of it. When I become a mother someday, it is not my job to babysit them and just let them do their own thing. I will be held accountable to how I raised them and taught them. Therefore, as a mother, there must be purpose in training your children in righteousness.

All this to say, I hope that the struggles that I am facing can encourage others who may find themselves in my same shoes, finding themselves wanting. Let our only want be for the Lord. He is the only thing that is worthy of wanting.

Our New Home

On Saturday, August 15 of 2009 Ryan and I packed up and moved to Gainesville, TX with almost everything we own. With the help of my mom packing and the help from the Rushing family loading the trucks and trailer, we were able to accomplish the move in less that a couple of days!

Ryan is an assistant to a reining horse trainer here. His boss's name is Patrice St. Onge (on-yay is how you say it), he is a French Canadian from Quebec. He has been in the states for 12 years and built his beautiful facility about 3 years ago. Ryan is riding approximately 9 horses a day (getting in shape fast!) and I am living the high life in our trailer :)


This is our humble abode for the next 4 to 5 months. Pat and his family are living in a duplex that we will live in once their new house is built. The plus side is for horse shows we can just take our home with us, so it is as if we never left home :)

Now for the grand tour of the trailer:


This is the Master bedroom. Well, the only bedroom... I added my own bedding and accent pillows to make it feel a bit more like home. This room is toward the front of the trailer, and yes since I am not 6 ft tall I can stand up in it!


This is the kitchen, complete with an island! It is still quite a bit small, but I have made two meals in it so far.


Here is the dining/living room. If anyone wants to come visit, the couch folds out into a bed and the dining table turns into a bed too! The recliner is our seat of choice though.


Like I said, we are living the high life. This trailer is complete with TV, surround sounds and we even catch wireless internet from the ranch office! This is more than we had in our last house.



Here is the ever so wonderful toilet. It feels a bit like a airplane bathroom. The door next to it contains a washer and dryer too.


Here is the view from our dining table. The barn in the background is someone else's ranch. Our boss sold the land to them. I run down that road :)


This is the view from our trailer of the amazing facility we get to enjoy daily. The front is where the stall are. It is so organized and clean, it makes me feel at home! The back part is the covered arena, and at either end are round pens and more stalls.


Here is one of the barn aisles, the barn is set up so that there is constant breeze going through.


This is the grooming/wash rack. Every horse has its own girth. Again, so clean and organized.


This is the tack room. Pat built his place so it was functional and efficient. Everything has its place!


Here is Ryan riding a 2 year old. This horse has a forelock that almost goes down to his nose. He is quite studish and mouthy, I have fun playing with him.


This is the broodmare/baby pasture. I think the babies are only used to cars driving by. When I run past them they get scared and run the other way, but when a car goes by they keep eating grass.


This is Pat's truck. It is an F-450 western hauler. I didn't know what that meant, then Ryan told me they are custom made for hauling horse trailers. The suspension on it is made to match the trailer or something like that.

Anywho, That will hopefully give everyone some visual of where we are and what we are doing. We just found out we will be leaving for Tulsa, OK on Saturday August 29 for a horse show. Ryan will be taking care of the horses and warming them up and I will be babysitting pat's kids some and spending time with Ryan. I am thankful that I will be able to go with Ryan to shows, it definitely makes being here so worth it.

A huge prayer request:
Ryan and I are in need of a church body. We are asking that God would guide us to the one that we can serve at with solid Biblical teaching and have sweet fellowship with other believers.

We miss you all!
-Amy

Blogging

As I am starting my very first blog, and my very first post, I feel that I must express my outlook of the blogging world to my fellow readers:




BLOGGING
"Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few."

Not only do I find this poster to be hilarious, I also find it to be true. ha! And here I am starting a blog. Oh, the irony.

The purpose of this blog is for mine and Ryan's family and friends to have a way to see what we are up to, now that we have moved so far away. I cannot promise that this will be updated daily or weekly, but hopefully I will stay consistent.

The next post will contain pictures and descriptions of our first couple of days here in Gainesville, TX.