Remember my friend/dance instructor Jen's little girl Rozalyn?  I posted about her first birthday here and this past August I was able to be there for her second birthday, too!

Here's a mother-daughter shot - opening presents of course :)

How much do THEY look alike??  Almost as much as my mom and I, probably... haha

I always had a thing for Dr. Seuss books when I was little and my environmental career has left me with a little bit of a soft spot for the Lorax...  Don't get me wrong though, Green Eggs and Ham is not far behind!

This inspired this years birthday gift:

How cute did he turn out?!?!?!  I won't lie... probably going to have to make one for myself...

And as if it could get any more adorable, Rozalyn calls him "HoHo" - she thinks he's Santa because of the mustache!  Bahahaha!  Love her...


While HoHo was terribly exciting, the battery operated pink and purple ATV was also a HUGE hit:

She hadn't quite mastered the steering part of it yet so Grandma and big brother, Daniel were helping out a little.

So, Jen - when can I babysit again???? :)

The Easy Street Horse Rescue (remember, I posted about them here?) had their annual Hoof It For Horses this weekend!  There was a 5K run, 10K run, and a 5K walk.  I ran the 5K, Brian and Rob ran the 10K, and Trick came along to be supportive and help out with the time-keeping!  Rob's mom and dad also came - they did the 5K walk!  (It went right past their house, so they just couldn't pass it up...)

It was FREEZING but still lots of fun!  Although, the half way point was a HORRIBLE hill that you had to run up before you could turn around at the top... It was brutal.. but didn't slow me down as much as I thought it would!  I don't remember my exact time but I ended up with a ribbon for 3rd in my age group.  (And yes - DAMN proud of that!)  Brian won the 10K and Rob came in 2nd. 

After we had a little lunch, we headed over to the Rescue so the guys could meet the horses - Trick was most excited about this and he'd been dying to go for a while now.  We spent most of our time with the guys in the pasture - they were all really friendly and just wanted to be pet and scratched, which was sooooo nice.  Here are some photos :)

I have been meaning to post about this for a while now and after having a few requests, I'm FINALLY getting down to it! :)

For those of you who may not know, I was born a country girl.  I grew up on Cedar Ridge Farm in (very) upstate New York.  (For those of you who are Google-happy, our farm is not any of the ones that show up - sorry to disappoint you...)

After my parents graduated, got married, moved away, etc., my mom picked up horseback riding.  Which quickly turned into a hobby for both of my parents. And then subtly translated into a business.  I joined in immediately - my mom rode up until she was 8 months pregnant - I was basically born on a horse.  :)

When we sold our farm and moved away, I always missed having the horses the most.  For some reason, it kind of hit me this past March - almost 14 years later!  (Better late than never, I guess?)  I figured a good way to get back into the swing of things was to see if there was somewhere nearby that I could work/volunteer to just spend some time with horses again and see if this was something I still liked.  (Spoiler alert: it is...)

A little searching helped me find the Easy Street Horse & Barnyard Rescue!  They are a wonderful non-profit organization and I've been having a great time there!  You can check out their website (easystreetrescue.org) to learn all about them and check out the horses that are currently available for adoption.  (Shameless plug - donations are always welcome!!!)  :)

I usually try and get out there once a week and help out with the morning barn chores.  I'm learning lots and loving every minute of it!  

I keep meaning to bring my camera and get a bunch of pictures of everyone but I haven't had a chance yet.  Here are just a few that I managed to grab on my phone!


The grey horse is Celsy, behind him is Ali (the white one), the bay facing me is Argo, and the bay with his butt toward me is Sir.  

Despite his lack of cooperation with this photo, I fell in love with Sir and would LOVE to be able to adopt him.  Although given that my apartment doesn't even allow dogs, I highly doubt they'd appreciate me showing up with a horse...



Here is T (Tonka) and Julian!  T is actually owned by Nina, the woman who runs the rescue, so he's not technically a rescue horse but he helps take care of the new guys!  And I just love Julian, too... :)

While I was taking these photos, we were standing by one of the water tubs and I splashed it at T a little, so naturally he decided to be playful and splash me back.  He splashed back significantly more than "a little"...  I retaliated.  And got water up his nose.  Let the photo shoot begin:

This may be my favorite one of the group:

This is Strawberry Banks - she's a retired race horse and sooooo pretty!  I love her, too.... (Noticing a trend?)

And this is when I met her for the first time!  She let me hug her and closed her eyes :)

There are a few other horses at the barn that I didn't grab any pictures of but I'm sure I'll have more up at some point! :)


I've also decided that I wanted to try riding again!  I joined the Equestrian Club at school and so far I've had 2 riding lessons!  The horse I ride is named Simon - I'm. In. Love.  :)  I don't have any photos of him or any real updates there but I will keep you posted if anything exciting happens!!




Disclaimer: These are all of my own thoughts/opinions.  In writing this, I do not represent the Easy Street Horse & Barnyard Rescue.  I simply volunteer there and adore it!