Our firstborn has completed college and has a big girl job...

I am always amazed at how fast time flies by and equally amazed that I don't stop and enjoy it more. If you are like me, you have good intentions but then you get back on that wheel of life and keep spinning!

This past December was crazy for us!! Emily, our firstborn graduated from The University of Georgia on Dec 19th.... when I think of that moment, it does make me pause. I have a college graduate...

My college graduate has a job! A big girl, real job! Emily graduated with a Major in Fashion Merchandising and a Minor in Product Development.  She has accepted a position with Carter's (yep, the baby clothes) corporate office in Atlanta, Georgia!  She will be the Global Sourcing Coordinator.  She will be responsible with communicating with the factories overseas when they send them orders and making sure that it's done under the right codes.  She will be working with quality apparel to make sure that the clothes are being made properly etc.  She will be in communication with the factories to make sure that all orders are done and shipped on time and that they end up at the proper places!  The factories are in Asia and she will get the opportunity to travel and visit the factories. 

We are incredibly proud of her and her accomplishments!  Looking forward to seeing what this next chapter of your life has in store!!  Enjoy this time sweet girl!

Mom

Congrats, you have Sleep Apnea!

When it has gotten to the point where everyone has banned me from sleeping anywhere within a 3 mile radius, because of my snoring, it appears I should get this checked out! Now don't get me wrong.... it is, on some level, kind of glamorous sleeping in a king sized bed with the pups, but it does make family vacations and sharing rooms at horse shows a bit difficult.  Not for me mind you!! 

So, like a good wife/mother, I got set up for an in home sleep study!

Come on, let's be honest... there's something sexy about being strapped up to machines meant to test you for Sleep Apnea!  You're welcome....

Approximately 10 days later my doctor's office calls and says, "Call this number to set up an appointment, you have Sleep Apnea."  Ok....

Today was my appointment!! (insert mean face)

Dr: "Were you told you have Sleep Apnea?"
Me: "Yes"
Dr: "Were you told the results of the test?"
Me: "no"
Dr: "You are what we call "SEVERE" 

Ok, so at this moment I'm thinking to myself "Yes, I'm pretty dramatic but severe? Come on Doc...."

Dr: "Everyone has interrupted sleep of some form each night. Normal is 5 or less times per hour.  Yours was 37.5 times per hour and at times you quit breathing for up to 10 seconds."

Wow, can we just take a minute and realize how impressive that it?!! Yikes! 

But I feel fine!!!  So I'm not your classic Sleep Apnea person, but let's be honest, we already knew that! All the symptoms of Sleep Apnea.... nope, don't have.  When he examined my throat, basically, in layman's lingo, the hole at the back of my throat that helps me breath is small and constricted..... Oh, and for most of the night I was getting 91% oxygen which is great but at some points, it dropped to 83%... not so great....

So what's next?!! I get to go for a sleep study at the clinic in one of their fancy rooms and be hooked up to lots of things, oh, and they will even be video taping me.... creepy.  

Most likely I'll get a new friend called CPAP.  I think we will be great friends!  When I told Eric all this, he immediately wanted to order a machine! He was freaked out that I wasn't going in for a month for my sleep study! So I'm thinking about milking this for as long as I can! "Hey Eric, remember when you were mad at me the other day?  I stop breathing for up to 10 seconds at a time! Many times a night!!  So be nice to me!!!!" 

I also told Lizzie that she should be extra nice to me, or just nice to me because of my Sleep Apnea... I was really dramatic about the 37.5 times per hour, etc!  She just looked at me.... I think she actually smirked... damn kids....

On a serious note, if I have to have something wrong with me, I welcome Sleep Apnea.  I'm thankful as I know it could always be worse.  I'm blessed.  I will embrace my Sleep Apnea and be thankful that it can be taken care of.

Stay tuned when we welcome CPAP to the family!

Winter and baking...

Such and odd thing for me but when it snows, I get in the baking mood! Now thankfully, for all involved, this last..... about a day or two!

Today I made some healthy carrot muffins and boy were they delicious! 
http://minimalistbaker.com/one-bowl-carrot-apple-muffins-vegan-gf/

As I was biting into my second muffin, Eric came in and tried one and was equally impressed!  I was showing him the healthy recipe and as we scrolled down we saw that each muffin is 203 calories!!  HEALTHY ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT MANY CALORIES!! At least that's what I want to believe!  

So instead of eating 3 delicious healthy muffins in one sitting, I'll eat 1 very very slowly!  I'm attaching the recipe - I know you will enjoy these as much as I have!

http://minimalistbaker.com/one-bowl-carrot-apple-muffins-vegan-gf/

The year 2015, a clean slate.

Am I the only one that is looking at the entire year as a clean slate? Does this mean that 2014 was horrible? No. Does it mean it had more moments that I wish hadn't happen? Most likely yes... Do the good moments outweigh the bad? ABSOLUTELY.  So then, why is it that the bad moments are the ones that get put on repeat in my brain? 

My goal for 2015 is to train my brain to highlight the good more than the bad. 

If I'm to be honest, I will tell you that 2014 was an emotionally/spiritually  challenging year for me.  I won't go into detail because that would involve other people and their hearts and that's just unfair. My heart was tested more than I thought possible by family near and far and by walking through the fire with a friend as she fights her own battle.  

Spiritually: Pretty much felt like I was in the valley the entire year.  Have you ever felt that way? Feeling spiritually numb? Yep, that was me in 2014.  I went through all the motions, church, women's bible study and volunteering.  I did what I was supposed to do but for me, the passion and the hunger was missing. I do believe that without my women's small group, I might have slipped down that hole.... I am certain that they will read this and be like, "I had NO idea!" and "why didn't you talk to us?!" But for me, having the commitment and the time with them kept my head above water as I was treading through the year.  This group of women kept the flame alive.  They are my spiritual rope and pull me up when I'm sinking.  If you don't have a group or person that is your spiritual rope, I highly recommend it.  Maybe you are that rope for someone. We all need someone to pull us up when we are slipping.

Emotionally: I am a mom to 3 daughters (ages 22, 19, 17) and I'm quite certain that menopause is lurking very close by! So given the ages of our daughters and me in mid-life, I'd say the emotional roller coaster could be a part of our life for a while! So given that, I have to learn to take a very deep breath.  I have to learn to think before I speak. I have to learn that repeating myself 15-20 times might be a bit overkill.  I have to learn to let go. (WHAT?? *&^%##%^$) Ok, maybe I start with baby steps! I have to learn that people, including myself, only post the good on social media!!!  Oh, if our lives were really how we portray them to be.... I mean, everything I post is true but I only post the good, the happy, the motivating, the "everything is roses" because honestly people, you don't want me to post the messy stuff!!  Besides, we all have messy stuff, messy lives, we are hurt, we are broken, we are a mess! And that's just part of life!  

So with all the good and all the messy, 2015 is a clean slate.  Let's all start fresh, let's reach for those that keep our head above water, let's be present in the lives of those that means the most to us.  Let's remember that family, no matter how emotional they make us, they are OURS and no matter what, those people will be the ones standing, waiting, hugging, loving and forgiving us when we are at our worst! Let's try and be a little more gentle with them, after all, they will be around the longest.....

Where did 25 years go? Happy Anniversary Eric!

 25 years ago today, with a borrowed dress, wide eyed with the world by the tail, Eric and I said "I do" in my then bosses home surrounded by family and a few friends! 

25 years ago... wow... it's hard to wrap my brain around 25 years! 

I completely hit the jackpot when I saw him walking through the lobby of the bank where we both worked! And this poor guy had no idea what he was getting himself into when he held my drink at a work function oh so long ago!

25 good, hard, fun, frustrating, heart wrenching, exciting, tearful, joyful, annoying, "I can't live without you", "I can't stand you" blessed years. 

 I remember my boss at the time we got married sitting me down and saying, "Sharon, you are going to have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, good years and possibly bad years. But always remember to communicate with one another. Don't ever just throw in the towel."   At the time I vividly remember thinking, "Times that I won't be able to stand Eric? This perfect human being that has asked me to marry him? The one that I can't stand to be away from? That's the silliest thing I've heard! We are SO in love!" 

Time does have a way of presenting all the feelings from good to bad... and to be honest, we've had many of those "bad" times my former boss spoke of! 

I will say that even after 25 years of marriage, I cannot imagine my life with anyone else. This guy has shown me more Grace than any other human being. He has loved me in spite of the extra dogs I bring home without mentioning it to him!

He has loved me through my endless Kinser Vale obsession....

He has loved me through my, "Can we buy another horse?!" And continues to love me through that!!

He has loved me through more things than I can count.  But most importantly, he is an amazingly devoted husband to me and father to our three girls.  He has more Integrity than anyone I know.  His morals, his values and his love of God shows in so many ways.  He pushes me and our daughters to be better people. He has learned patience over the years and he is the "go to" person for the girls.  He is the one they call for advice which just makes me love him even more!

Eric and Emily

Eric and Sarah

Eric and Elizabeth

We are soon to be empty nesters and I look forward to that next chapter of our life. I look forward to growing old with you Eric van der Walde!

Lizzie signs with South Carolina Equestrian Team!

This morning we had the privilege of watching Lizzie sign her National Letter of Intent to be part of the South Carolina Equestrian team!

Lizzie's love of horses started at a very young age!  She would watch rounds over and over and never tire of it!  

Sisters, Sarah (L) and Lizzie (R)

Lizzie and her trainer Aaron Vale have a special relationship that has grown over the years! Lizzie typically calls Aaron "Grandpa" which gets funny looks when they are walking a jumper course or Indoors! They also took pride in telling people that Lizzie was adopted because she had dark hair and Emily and Sarah are both blonde! We owe such a huge gratitude of thanks to Aaron and everyone at ThinksLikeAHorse for being a huge part of this! 

Middle of the night schooling at Harrisburg

Indoors!

Washington Int'l Horse Show

Lizzie attends Greenhills School which is a private college prep school in Michigan and her horses are with Aaron in Ocala, Florida.  Without the program offered by Aaron and his team of employees, it would have been difficult for Lizzie to achieve her level of riding and her school work.  Because of this unique situation, and with the support of both Aaron and her teachers, Lizzie has excelled in both riding and education, both of which caught the eye of several NCEA riding schools.  After making several Official Visits, Lizzie knew that South Carolina is where she belonged.  

Lizzie has one Junior year left and plans on making the most of it!  She will be spending the winter in Ocala doing the HITS Circuit and hopes to qualify for Maclay, USEF Medal, Young Riders and her jumpers for Indoors!

We look forward to this next chapter for Lizzie and we are excited to see what this next year of riding has in store!