Every year I do an annual recap, published on December 31st. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to look back on the year, reflect on the good and the bad, and to prepare for the new year. Without further ado, I give you 2015.

January

Jan 2: Katie goes riding. I took my niece, Katie, riding. She was the cutest little rider and we had a ton of fun!

Jan 4: Stuart Scott dies. I had the chance to meet him a long time ago and he was a really cool guy.

Jan 23 – Jan 26: Moonshine Manor. We went to Bodega Bay with the fire wives and their hubbies for Bobby’s 40th birthday. It was a blast! #bcbc40.

February

Feb 8: Schooling show with Sue. It was cold, it was wet, and he ran off with me. But we nailed that pesky right lead!

Feb 21: Crab feed with the fire wives and husbands. Always a fun time!

Feb 22: Brad goes riding. I took my nephew, Brad, riding. He showed up in boots, wranglers, and a hat… just about melted my heart! And, in true boy fashion, just wanted to ride fast! 

March

Mar 5: Sue has his teeth floated. It was really cool to spend the morning

watching Sue get his teeth worked on by the dentist!  The vet was very patient with me and answered all of my questions. Sue was a champ!

Mar 7: Behind the Cellar Door. Our annual wine

tasting trip was amazing! I love that Amador county does this every year.

Mar 15: Chickens! I went to the feed store and came home with 10 chicks. Seriously, my husband loves me.

Mar 28: Garth Brooks gone wrong. Horribly wrong. Anna + Red Bull = no good.

April

Apr 13: Schooling show with Sue. This show was the first one that we

made it through all of our classes without being disqualified! It was a great experience and we had so much fun. Even Chloe got in on it, sitting for a minute or two on Sue with me.

Apr 19: Finished the chicken coop and moved the chickens in. I built my own chicken coop with my own two hands. It’s still standing and I love it – so do the girls!

Apr 25 – 26: Monterey getaway. We had some free passes to the aquarium, so we decided to head out to Monterey for the weekend. The weather was beautiful and I got a tattoo!

Apr 25: Seahorse tattoo. I got my first and only tattoo… a seahorse on my right ankle. The tattoo and placement are very special and meaningful to me – it’s on my right ankle which is my “bad” foot and also matches where Mike has his tattoo. I’ve always loved seahorses and what they represent – tenacity, perception, patience, and contentment.

May

May 26: Septic tank overflows. The Sweet Pea man is my new best friend. Yuck.

June

Jun 5: My brother in law, Nate, is pinned as a peace officer. So proud of everything he went through to get there!

Jun 6: My 10 year anniversary at Intel. Time flies when you’re having fun! Honestly, I can’t imagine working anywhere else!

Jun 6: American Pharoah wins the triple crown. What an amazing horse!

Jun 10 – Jun 16: Newport Beach trip. Despite a brief bout of seasickness, losing an engine 8 miles off the coast, and a flat tire on the way home, the trip was a blast! We caught lots of fish, visited Catalina, and paddle boarded along the beach.

Jun 20: First time working cows. I had no idea what I

was doing or how my horse would react. As it turns

out, we both loved it! We started with buffalo before moving on to cows and have not looked back!

Jun 23: James Horner dies in a small plane crash. He’s my favorite composer of all time.

Jun 30: Legs transforms to “Bruce”. On this day, we discovered we had a rooster.

July

Jul 4: Dad’s surprise 60th birthday party. My parents share a birthday

(cool, huh?) but this year was a special one for Dad – his 60th! We threw him a surprise party at my house. We sang, we ate, and we celebrated. It was a blast!

 

Jul 22: Plantar Fasciitis. I got a cortizone shot (my first ever) in the bottom of my foot and a boot for 6 weeks. At least I could still ride!

Jul 26: First egg from our chickens! It was amazing!

August

Aug 4: Jury duty. Did my civic duty and thankfully got excused!

Aug 22: Felix and Mask come home. Yup, I added to the zoo – two barn cats who have taken to hunting!

September

Sept 4: Brady joins the family. Shadow is not impressed. Through a series

of fortunate circumstances, this handsome fella joined the farm and we haven’t looked back since! He’s a kick ass dog that loves to go places, meet new dogs, and hang out at the ranch!

Sept 9: Butte Fire starts. It was a scary few days for me since not only was the fire about four miles from my

house, but my hubby was out there fighting it. So many lost their homes, animals, and lives. It was devastating to see, but truly amazing to watch my community come together!

Sept 18-20: Cowgirl Posse Trip. I look forward to this weekend so much! This year was even more exciting because my friend Jamie bought a horse and came along as well! The trip was great – Brady got to come and I had my first ever bareback ride on Sue!

October

Oct 2 – Oct 4: NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno. This was so much fun! I went with my friends from the barn and we did just about everything in 3 days! I saw my first horse auction, watched the pros compete, and bought my first chaps and hat!

Oct 4: Schooling Show with Sue. We won our first ever ribbon – third place

in our rail class! The ribbons mean so much more to me – it’s the hours of work that Sue and I put in together that finally pays off in those few minutes in the show pen!

Oct 10: Juliette’s Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 1st Birthday. Julsey had her first birthday party! She has quite the little personality – so different from Chloe!

Oct 15: Bought a horse trailer. I’m so excited to now

officially have just about everything that you have to have to own a horse! We’re independent now! I got a beautiful Turnbow two horse slant… and the truck pulls it like a dream!

Oct 15 – Oct 25: 4th Anniversary road trip. This year we covered Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama!

Oct 22: Our four year wedding anniversary!

Oct 24: My first Crimson Tide game! Roll Tide! One of the best parts of visiting Alabama was spending time with my great Uncle Banny. He’s my grandpa’s younger brother and it was just great to see where they grew up. Spending time with him was like seeing Grandpa (who died in 2003) again!

Oct 30: Bought an Apple Watch. It replaced my Fitbit Surge and I absolutely love it!

November

Nov 7: Worked cows with Sue. Working cows is always fun! Sue seems to love it (he’s what is called “cowy”, meaning he loves chasing them) and I have a great time too!

Nov 8: Schooling show with Sue. This show was particularly special to me, because we won our first blue ribbon. We got it in the trail class, which is something that Sue always seems to like doing, but was especially special because one of the obstacles was the water box – something that Sue has been terrified of. Not only did we conquer it, but we won! The ribbon represents more than just winning at the show – it symbolizes hours of us working together to overcome that fear and build trust in each other. I’m so proud of my boy!

Nov 15: Jamie’s bridal shower. My good friend and riding buddy Jamie is getting married in early 2016 – she’s marrying one of Mike’s really good friends. It was so awesome to go to her bridal shower and spend the day celebrating her!

Nov 26: Thanksgiving & Mike’s birthday. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year and it was a blast!

Nov 29: Stretch the chicken is killed. It was bound to happen, but it was still sad. One of my favorites, Stretch was known as a chick for stretching her head to see everything. Not sure what got her, but I buried her, where she was “resurrected” three weeks later…

December

Dec 6: Schooling show with Sue. We placed second in our rail class and

reserve in our ranch pattern class. Some random guy took a picture of our barn all on horseback waiting for our classes – I made it black and white and think it’s amazing!

 

Dec 12: Chloe’s 3, let’s have tea birthday party! This little girl sure does love a tea party! She was so busy decorating her tea cup with stickers that she didn’t want to open presents!

Dec 20: Annual cookie baking at my parents house. I absolutely love this

tradition – it’s so nice and cozy at my parents and now that my nieces are getting a little older, they’re starting to participate too!

Dec 24: Christmas with the Blankenheims/Guzmans. It was a different kind of Christmas – a snow storm and a crash into a power pole took out the power to the entire county. Christmas Eve mass was cancelled, which felt really weird, but we had a great time celebrating with the family!

Dec 25: Christmas with the Smithsons/Barcklays. We had the best day – Kati and Nate made an amazing prime rib and we had a blast watching the kids with all of their new toys!

Dec 26: Christmas with the Zenos/Myers/Jones. Besides having an amazing breakfast and hanging out with the family, I got a chance to visit my Oma, who suffers from Alzheimer. It was hard, but it was so wonderful to spend time with her!