Stop and Smell the Roses

What a week!  We got so many things accomplished and enjoyed the beautiful weather to the fullest!  As always, we have a million things going on at once, but I am not sure our family could function any other way.  Even though we did quite a bit of work, we made time to have fun as well, and sitting here writing about all of it makes me reflect on the amazing things that we were fortunate enough to experience.

“Serena”

“Diez”

I started off the week just regrouping from the amazing trip home and fantastic show!  That is always filled with organizing mail, doing so much laundry, and catching up on painting projects that I did not get to work on while being gone.  I sometimes look at it all and do not even know where to start, but, as my mom tells me, just pick one thing at a time.  Luckily, I have a pretty awesome partner-in-crime these days to help me and keep me focused too.  We also had to take plenty of time to play with our precious new babies.  I warned all of you that there would be more photos, and I am true to my word! 

One of the best moments with these little babies each year is putting them outside for the first time.  The moms are always happy to get out of the stalls, but seeing the babies look at everything and play just makes your heart happy.  Watching them and thinking about all of our big dreams for their future is one of my very favorite things to do and renews me for the giant task of getting all of them to reach these goals.

Speaking of these goals, one big thing that I have taken on over the past year and a half is training my own two and now three-year-old.  It has been a huge challenge but has been very good for me.  It has made me better in all aspects of the sport.  Even though there have been a few meltdowns along the way.  This past week, I got some help to step up my thinking and push my mare to the next level.  It is humbling because I have never done this, and going back to feeling like such a beginner is tough. 

Fun Llama i worked on this week!

I have these same feelings with my endeavor with my artwork.  I am such a beginner.  Stepping up each day and each week has to be the goal.  If I focus on it that way then the little victories are very rewarding!  I keep trying new projects just to keep my wheels turning.  Some ideas are flops, but then others take off.  No matter what, I enjoy them, so the “newbie” feeling is ok because I am getting to experience many firsts right now.

Huge steps toward the eventual art studio this week as well.  We have gotten a couple of quotes but ultimately, we ended up deciding to knock down the existing building and start from scratch.  It is going to be more cost effective this way, and we won’t be hindered in our design ideas!  I have to think about things for a long time before actually doing them. Making a sudden change in plans throws me for a loop.  This change was almost a relief because now the sky is the limit on design ideas.  I will be reeled in by cost, but that is part of the fun, making the best design ideas work even with a budget.

One of my MANY birdhouses

We finished out our week by putting out new birdhouses (I LOVE BIRDHOUSES) and having friends over for dinner.  It was a perfect end to the week.  Making the place look beautiful and getting to enjoy it is one of my favorite parts of Spring!  Now, it is time to continue taking on the next steps towards our goals, and one of the biggest shows of the year begins on Thursday.  It will be another busy week, but I can’t think of anything else I would rather be doing.  I just keep crossing things off of the list, but one thing I always have to remember is to “stop and smell the roses” because the little things are so worth experiencing through the little adventure we call life!