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!



2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on what looks like a wonderful year. Here's to many more ahead of you.

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  2. You look like an amazing rider and your horse is beautiful! I grew up riding and I miss it a lot. Good luck w/ your up coming shows! xx

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