Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Two thousand and nine different photos.

Since I'm still very, very new here, I figured I could fill you in on the last 12 months of my life, accompanied by stories, short ones, that describe my past year. It's been... a strange year, to say the least. Each and every day has been a blessing for me, and I'm thankful for it!


I started the year, at home, in Northern VA with a trip to DC. Here, I'm at the World War II Memorial on the Mall in the heart of the Capital, posing with my favorite state. (:



For one of my closest friend's at school's 21 Birthday, we rented a limo and drove to Raleigh and clubbed on a Thursday night. We were promptly invited to dance on the bar, so of course we took part! (: Lots of outrageous dresses, booze and laughter made it a night to remember.



In February, I qualified for IHSA Regionals at home. Here was our home show in February, with some of my closest friends. Sadly, one transferred, one graduated and the other one goes to an entirely different school, it makes me smile being able to think about the laughs we shared on the fence that afternoon, holding horses.



Riding one of the two horses I've "had" over the past year, Romo, home after the horse show. He was just as happy as I was to trot back across the field at the end of the day!



Me and CMT gossiping after one of our in-house horse shows. She and I were the two winners of the afternoon!



Me and Romo clinicing with one of the top trainers in the nation, Scot Evans



My guilty pleasure all spring, themed Kickball with the team. Featured; 80's Night!



At IHSA Regionals, winning the class and making it onto Zones! I was lucky enough to pull Romo, and my close friend pulled Samantha, who I would later do ANRC on in the spring.



KP, RJ, JG, JA and myself along with our wonderful coach at IHSA Zones, in Fredricksburg, VA. Rob qualified for Nationals, and then went on to WIN! (:



Me and my sweet girl Samantha, taking 16th Overall at the 2009 ANRC National Championships. (:



Happy it was all over, Samantha, RJ, CMT and I wait for the overall results at the ANRC National Championships.



Basking in my post-ANRC freedom in April, I got sunburned. Badly. Here I am with my lovely old roommate, also named Audrey, who also loves J. Crew. (:



Deciding that we needed GOOD sun, AC and I put together a trip to Wilmington Beach one afternoon. (:



Graduation in May, watching two of my closest friends walk. It was a very bittersweet afternoon.



Joining me in Virginia, Samantha and I moved to Century Manor Farm for the summer, meeting a number of great people who we both adore! Here we were at the Fox Chase Farm June Horse Show, and won enough money to pay back our entries! (:



For my 20th birthday, my wonderful new friends at CMF, like Alicia here, got me a ticket to join them to see Rascal Flatts on my birthday! It was a great way to spend my birthday. (:



I went and visited KP post graduation at her amazing, but little house at her new job in PA. I only nearly knocked myself out 2 or 3 times on this stairwell!



Deciding to be brave girls, I took a day off from work and went to Frying Pan Park with Samantha and other lovely ladies from CMF to go play around. Samantha loved ALL of it, except for this drop into the water. She wanted nothing to do with getting her feet wet!






I went out and surprised my best friend (middle, right) for her 21st Birthday by flying out to Kansas and not telling her (but telling everyone else!) that I was coming. (: Here, we had our ceremonial dinner with friends Trouble and Freddie, and goofed off the whole time.



Then came August, and in true North Carolina fashion it was 90 degrees for the first three weeks. We took advantage by going to the pool and "studying." (;



Then we had a couple "themed" parties in the suite. This was our Black night. Very inventive, we're aware. (;



New year, new roommate! Here we have Lor (or so we'll call her from now on), my pint sized roommate!
(Being 6'1", that makes everyone tiny, but she's only 5'2"!)



The safest way to party at school is outside, so here we are, making a wonderfully awkward photo.
(This was also the night that I met my boyfriend, the tall, cute one on the right. (; )



One weekend in September, I went to Greensboro, NC along with Grandma to horse show. (Her real name is Happy, or "Happyness," but we like Grandma better. She's 22 years old and still a rockstar!)



Here's Grandma sleeping while we wait for results on the first day. It's a hard life being a show pony. (;



For Halloween, the boyfriend and I had "matching" costumes. He was my Mountain Man/Lumberjack while I was Sarah Palin. I'm a diehard liberal, so it was very entertaining. We ended up winning Best Costume Overall at the campus wide Halloween Party. (:



Grandma and I again, cuddling up in the same coolers at a horse show at the Carolina Horse Park in November. It was chiiiiillllly that day!



Traveling for IHSA is one of my favorite parts of the whole year. (: Here's the team at Virginia Intermont after we took Reserve Highpoint Team behind VI!



Traveling can sometimes drive us a little crazy, like here at Virginia Tech. All the way to Blacksburg and back in a day, along with horse showing made us all a little wild, as you can see. It didn't help that it was only 40 degrees when it had been a toasty 65 in North Carolina!


Here's Boyfriend and I, along with my goofy roommate and her boyfriend before Winter Formal in December. Our room is always full of laughs!



Some of my closest friends and I at Winter Formal, getting our groove on. (;



Boyfriend is a Lacrosse player, so here I am invading the "bro time" before Christmas.



Riding Council, the executive group of individuals who run the student side of the program. It's a lot of work, but they all make it so much fun!






Now, just two weeks ago during the "Blizzard of '09" that hit the DC Area. And, I look short for once!



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

All love, just all love.

Short post today.


  1. I want to ride so badly, my bones ache. My heart aches, I'm bored out of my mind. I hope that changes tomorrow/soon. I'm gonna cross my fingers. 
  2. Still no horse for Jacksonville. Yuck. 
  3. I have watched Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy in a record 2.5 days. Go Audrey! 
  4. Top productive moment of the afternoon: I ate a whole bag of chips over the course of the day, put new sheets on my bed and washed the others. Top that! 
Today hasn't really been a good day. I called four trainers today, trying to go try horses. Let me tell you, it was not fun. NO one called me back. ): That means tomorrow has be to be better, right? 

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Suzy Homemaker?

So, with nothing to do here in Northern Virginia (for me at least), when I am not talking to friends, skyping the boyfriend, reading books, doing laundry or horse shopping, I'm coincidently knitting.

I learned how to roughly... twelve years ago? My grandmother gave me the yarn and the pattern for a American Girl sweater. I promptly took up the needles, and tried my hardest to figure it out. So, I finished it, with the help of Grandmom Virginia, and it soon became Becky, my American Girl doll, best outfit. I've made many things, including rainbow arm warmers for riding in the winter, but I love making scarves. I think that it stems from the fact that they are easy, don't need a pattern, and I can make them however I want.

More than anything, I love to give homemade scarves as gifts. I have so many, that I like to give them to friends to enjoy, and see them wear something that I know I put a lot of time and thought into. So, my boyfriend is from Minnesota, and an avid ice fisherman. Go ahead, laugh. I do, allll the time. So, I've decided that he needs a big scarf to keep him warm. He's 6'5", so when I say big, I mean big. I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. I'm mailing it to him on Tuesday, because I was not planning on getting it to him by Christmas. He, however, was, so I had to get on it and finish it!

I'll leave you all with a goofy picture to enjoy, modeling his nearly finished scarf. I'm hoping he wears it better than I do. (;




Saturday, December 26, 2009

End o' the year.

The end of the year always makes me kind-of excited. I know it's only a day after Christmas, but I love seeing the "Top (insert thing here)" lists. With this being the end of the first 2000 decade, it's been really interesting to look at my life as a whole. I know I'll do more reflecting as the year comes even closer to a close, but it really makes me think about how much has happened in these 10 years. I mean, this is the first decade that I can actually remember all 10 years. I was only ten years old at the last decade, so the early 1990's were lost on me. In the past decade:

  1. I became an aunt, five times. 
  2. I traveled to New Zealand, Dominican Republic and Fiji. 
  3. I graduated from high school, and entered college. 
  4. I owned by first and second horse. (Hopefully not the last either!)
  5. I had my first boyfriend. (; 
  6. I learned to drive, and then got in my first accident. 
  7. I moved on three separate occasions, once on my own accord. 
  8. I finally stopped growing, at 6'1". 
  9. I became a vegetarian! 
  10. I met my best friend, who I love and who drives me CRAZY! 
I could go on, but that's where I'm at right now. Earlier this afternoon I found this great listing, for any of you who also like the alternative/indie stuff. Top Songs of 2009, indie style. It's a bunch of great songs from the year 2009, along with videos for you to hear each song. Pretty snazzy! 

Also, I learned that my name, Audrey, was number 78th for the most popular name in the 2000's. Sweeeet! 

Driving back home to Northern Virginia tomorrow, wish me some good fortune for a quick and easy drive down!

Friday, December 25, 2009

There's no place like home.

Being both a Kansas girl at heart, I was very, very happy to come back to my *actual* home today. Unlike most families, mine does not usually attend church since we moved to Northern Virginia. We attended the greatest church while living in Kansas, but we cannot find anything that compares since we've moved. So, last night when Mom returned home from work in DC, we began opening Christmas presents. For my family, we've always opened the Santa/Mom/Dad/Aud/Dude (younger brother) presents on Christmas Eve.

 Usually, we're travelling to New Jersey, or in New Jersey on Christmas day, so bringing all of our presents from our parents, is just... unnecessary. Mom and Dad both provided me with a number of wonderful pieces of clothing from J. Crew, a down vest from Gap, and a gorgeous printed picture of the Fox Hunt Parade that takes place here in Middleburg, VA every December. My "true" Christmas present is a trip to Jacksonville, Florida to compete with a horse that I should have hypothetically found by now. I'm going to hope that this is going to work, haha.

The boyfriend's gift showed up yesterday as well. Because he's wonderful, amazing among other things, he got me Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy. This, makes me a VERY happy camper. Along with that, he got me a beautiful pair of earrings, which he assured me were not made of nickel since I have a rather serious, and aggravating skin allergy. SUCH a sweetheart. I'm so so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life. 

So, we hopped in our car this morning, packed with our suitcases and presents for my Aunts, Uncles, Grandmother and two cousins. Leaving at 6AM, it was not really my idea of fun. But, I got to sit in back and watch Grey's with mom while Dad drove. I slept for a little while, not too much. We opened presents today, I got the cutest Coach bag and wristlet, sterling silver ring with a horse on it, money to J. Crew, money for Jacksonville, slippers, clothing from J. Crew, and a few books. It was all in all a GREAT Christmas. I love my family, as dysfunctional as we can be sometimes.

So, I hope you all had a great Christmas as well. (: I hope Santa brought you all that you guys asked for and more!
Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Last minute shopping nightmares.

So, first off, I am so excited to see I've got a handful of followers. (: Thank you girls! I look forward to reading your blogs as well. I feel like I'm not nearly as adorably-preppy as you all are, but I'm sure that you'll do a through job in furthering my "preppy-ness." (:

Today I decided to tackle finishing shopping for my parents. Can I just say, that is something that is a million times easier in theory. The mall was packed. I've never muttered so many ugly words under my breath as I was pushed and jostled around. The fact that all the local public schools are cancelled because of the "blizzard," I think that almost all of Northern Virginia was at this quasi-outlet mall. However, I spent some quality time in Books-A-Million (one of the most heinous book stores, but the only one that this mall had) and found books and CD's for Mom and Dad. I'm still on the search for a CD by the band Straight No Chaser, the acapella men's Christmas group. Mom's a big acapella junkie, as am I, so I'm hoping I figure something out soon.

In other news, I wore my coral J. Crew cords today, and I loved 'em. They're Shorts versus my normal Talls, so they fit just like a good pair of cropped pants. Black sweater, white polo, black flats and a black belt; I looked so cute. It's just no fun that I had to share my adorable outfit with the mall walkers. Can't win them all, right?

Horse news: Called and talked to the trainer with Alando today, I just need to do some shamoozing with my parents to make them realize that the money is worth it, since he's rather, well... pricey. Aren't all the best things expensive anyway?

Until tomorrow, au revoir!

The very beginning.

First things first, I'm Audrey. I'm a junior at a teeny tiny liberal arts college in North Carolina, where I'm studying English with no real sense of direction of where to go afterwards. (Graduate school, the family-encouraged insurance business; it's anyone's guess) More notably, I'm a member of our Hunter Seat Equestrian Team, which engulfs my life. For the past decade, I've adored horses with all my being. Corny as that may sound, it is inevitably the truth. I was privileged enough growing up to own two of my own creatures, who we can call LV and C, who both have places in my heart that I'm not sure anyone can fill. I have had a collection of creatures since selling LV my senior year of high school, but they have all been just time fillers, as sad as that sounds.

Past riding, I adore music and books. Ben Folds, Guster, Wilco, Pete Yorn among others are at the top of my "Most Played" list on my nearly ancient iPod. There is not a drive, walk to class or shower that is not filled with music. I am by no means musically talented myself, but I love to wish I was. There is just something about a piano, a guitar and a soft and somewhat croony male voice that just makes my heart flutter. Books have a not-so-secret honored spot in my heart. Often referred to as a nerd or a geek, I am happiest with my nose buried into the pages of some book, school-related or merely pleasurable. While my boyfriend still finds this to be more along the lines of painful versus enjoyable, I beg to differ. Also, I am a very passionate Kansas Jayhawks fan. This is something you'll figure out over time. (:

I'm a transplant-kid, the product of seven moves over the course of my 20 year lifespan. One of those was a choice I made for myself, but the rest have been well, forced. Born on the East Coast, I have been shuttled back and forth from the great Midwest back to my where my WASP-y routes started. At the moment, my "place of residence" (according to my license and my parents) is Northern Virginia, when I'm not at school of course. Horse country, not so much. But, I'm only about an hour away from it. (: Having "grown up" in Kansas, it's a place that holds a great number of fond memories for me, but I'm ultimately glad I've gotten out of there.

Well, here goes nothing. Being the English major that I am, I find myself full of thoughts and ideas, things I wish I could write down... somewhere. Today, I'm full of horse-shopping nerves. This spring, for the second year in a row, I'm planning to compete in the ANRC National Championships. Last year was a rather extraordinary learning experience, and I would not have changed a thing about it. However, the sweet and darling mare that I ultimately ended up riding has returned to a life of school horsery, and I want something that gives me the chance to well, win. I'm talented enough, so I want to freakin' win. Thankfully, I've found one. I just need things to work out. Things including the price tag, shippers working in my favor, father's cooperating.

As much as I should love this holiday, I'm not really loving it. Being apart of this "Blizzard of 2009" that struck Virginia, I am stuck amongst hordes of people who are fearful of the snow, creating multitudes of traffic and in the long run, stressed out people. We are leaving for the Shore on Christmas Morning, and I'm totally hoping to sleep the whole way there. The likelihood of that happening is so close to slim, it's sad. Oh well, I can dream right?

Now that I have fed my insomnia for two hours with the start of this wonderful thing, I'm going to attempt to fall asleep. Without my usual 6'5" and wonderful bed companion, this is getting harder and harder every night. Miss you.

Thus begins the countdowns:
Two days till Christmas.
Thirteen days till I leave for Jacksonville.
Twenty-six days till I see my man from Minnesota. ):