So it turns out that I'm really bad at keeping up with this whole blogging thing. Oops. Lots of things have happened since my last post... and I means LOTS... so I'll just go over them quickly and then (maybe) post in more detail about them later.
Probably the most exciting thing since the last post is that I am officially taking Star to Morgan Nationals this year. She did really well (with the exception of our first class - she was just being a snot) at the Dixie Cup Classic in May, and all the pieces just kind of fell into place, so we will be competing in the Regular Working Hunters, the Jumpers, and the Hunter Pleasure Amateur Mare. If she does well enough, we'll show back in the World Championship Hunter Pleasure Amateur, but I'm really not expecting great things. Not that I expect to do terribly (far from it!), but I am trying to not set expectations. I just want to go and have fun and do the best we can. =)
Sparky has also gone XC schooling a couple of times. He was GREAT the first time, and overall good on the second time, but I have had to re-evaluate my plans for him. We had planned on competing in a horse trial at the end of October, but I have decided that it is not in our best interests to do so at this time. Sparky is young and still learning, so there will be plenty of time to compete in the future.
Another pretty cool thing is that I have a new job. I was faced with the very real possibility of having at least a month's vacation (read: unemployed), but a great new job pretty much fell into my lap. The short of it is that I am back in the lab, doing work I enjoy. I was also asked for a minimum two-year commitment to the position... this is awesome, because it means I'll a) not be looking for a job again in 6 months (which has really been my pretty standard MO for a while now), and b) I'll be staying in Atlanta! I've finally really settled in here, and I am finally really happy, so I am excited to be staying.
IEA season is coming up as well. I have offered up use of BOTH horses this year, so it will be fun to see how they do, should Jen choose to use them both. =)
I'll post more detailed things later about specific events, but I think that's a pretty good general run-down!