making it happen

Well, I had my riding lesson this afternoon as usual and it was AWESOME! My instructor, Sarah, had had me riding a Thoroughbred mare named Bijou for the past three weeks and I had gotten used to her quirks and little "isms" - she's slow to warm up, needs a lot of leg to get her to move forward and loves to jump.
I got to the stable today and Sarah told me she wanted me on Paris, this huge dark bay Seattle Slew lookalike. I was excited, because I figured that meant Sarah thinks I'm improving because I've heard only good things about Paris around the barn. I had a good feeling walking into his stall. When I called Paris' name, he swung his head around with these bright and cheerful eyes that just melted my heart. Come to find out, he loves candy, attention and to zip and unzip things - he took my zipper pull between his teeth and just blissed himself out zipping and unzipping my fleece jacket. He's a much more forward-going horse and I felt more confident on him than on Bijou.
Long story short, our lesson was great; I jumped a greater series of jumps (4) and apparently I did it really well - in fact, Sarah wants me to go to a schooling show in April! She gave me a schedule of shows for the whole year and told me that I could probably do well at any of them. Yay me! The dream is coming true!

gratitude

I realized tonight just how much I have to be grateful for. This past week has been a tough one, and I have found myself pretty frustrated at times with work and my progress in life...but sitting here tonight in my wonderful home with my kittens beside me, aching from an hour in the saddle and making plans with friends, I realize that I am very blessed to have what I have at this time in my life. There's nothing wrong with having goals for the future and looking forward to things to come, but there is no reason for me not to be satisfied and happy with what I have right now.