Well, we're here in Jacksonville, FL.
The two flights down here were amazingly fun! I was really nervous but all went well.
The tour stop was the best one I've been to (okay, so this is only the second one I've ever been to..) But, so what! It was great! I think my favorite parts were Amy's lesson on Remmer and watching the changes in the communication with the demo horse (BEAUTIFUL Friesian!)

Fran, Mariah and I had a blast hanging out together and it was really great to have them in the same place for once! 2 of my best Parelli friends. (My third is stuck in England! If I could have shipped her here, I would've!) ;)

So tonight we're all going to relax. My dad and brother showed up as well as my mother so we're all going out tonight for a belated birthday dinner. Soo excited!

I took a picture during the demo and I thought it was adorable so here you go.



Boots! Ain't it cute?! ;)
Hopefully we'll make boot pictures a tradition and take one at every stop we're able to meet up at!
Alrighty, that's it for now. Later, guys!

Katie

*SNORT*

We never made it to the clinic. We were about 30 miles away from our destination when Fran's car got sick of hauling us around and decided to take a little 'break'. Luckily we weren't on the highway when all of this occurred. We had stopped for lunch at this amazing Citgo/Subway combo (Gasoline & subs; what could be better, right? I mean you have to stop for food, piddle-time *and* gasoline and some smarty put it all in one place. So, what would under normal circumstances take multiple stops only takes one! Pure genius, folks.)
ANYWAY!
Subs.
Gasoline.
Left Brain Introvert vehicles.
Back to the story..
This unfortunate turn of events left Katieanne, Fran, Jessica and Anne in Fran's car in the middle of the Citgo parking lot for hours while waiting for Anne's (amazing!) husband came to pick us up.
End result:
I haven't giggled that much in a really long time. I think Jess filled her entire notebook with all of the random, silly and EXTREMELY deep quotes that were shared throughout the day. (Which I will most likely be posting later..)

If you're ever stuck at a gas station in the middle of nowhere; this is the group of women you would want to be stuck with:
A leggy Greek, an English professor, the faux Lawrence and a snarky Carolinian. It was the most fun I have ever had at a gas station. Hands down.

Who knew you could learn so much on the way to a clinic?! ;)

I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who made this day possible:

Karen Rohlf: Who gave us an excuse for a good road trip.

The U.G.A.P: Thanks for stopping the show! It's because of you that we didn't miss anything.
Also, I heard it through the grapevine that your automatic weaponry is no match for a certain some one's c. stick skillz. Better luck next time. ;)

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the white stick - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the orange stick - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

And finally...

A big thanks to Fran's car! Thanks for being awesome and not dumping us in the middle of a highway. It is because of you and your various belts that we had such a wonderful UDT-filled day. May your gas tank be overflowing (not literally because that would be quite dangerous) and your windsheild always be clean.

Cheers to a wonderful day in good company.

Ka.

Lol! how's that for an opening line? ;) No, you don't get the back story on that one!

I know it has been a really long time (for me, at least) since I last updated so this post is going to be especially long as I will try to smush in all the details of my days up here in Wisconsin!

Well, we left North Carolina on the 24th of September and arrived in Pepin the evening of the 25th. We were exhausted but meeting Franny in the flesh will of course knock one's energy level up many, many notches! ;)
My mother and grandmother stayed in town for the weekend and then headed back down on the 27th, I believe. Ever since then Fran and I have been zooming around like the busy bees that we are! Fran has such a hectic schedule and I tried my best to adjust to the drastic changes to my pretty LBI lifestyle. I am not exaggerating at all when I say I slept like the dead every night. (the snoring dead, perhaps-haha!) We spent 4 days straight in Pepin going all over WI and MN for various lessons. I met some really amazing people and horses during those days and I got some cool pictures of one horse&rider combo which I will post at a later time (hoping against hope that my camera makes it back from Aberdeen, South Dakota in one functioning piece and no, you don't get that back story either.)

Early on the 1st of October Fran, Prin and I were on our way to meet up with Farrah Green in Eyota, MN. She hosted a clinic in Madison, WI and we were invited to tag along..

The clinic.. -sigh- was exhausting. I learned so much and worked so hard.. I'm not going into details here. Just know that I was happy to get back to non-muddy, non-wet, non-freezing Pepin on the 8th. We got to sleep late yesterday and today and then we left Pepin AGAIN around 1:00 to head to another student's house for a weekend full of lessons and general joy!

If all goes according to plan, we will be attending a Karen Rohlf clinic tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited! :)

I'll close with some personal experiences/discoveries. Prin is so patient and fun yet so frustrating for me to play with and I found out the reason she frustrates me is because I don't do well with Introverts. I LOVE riding Amigo. He is amazingly comfy and we meshed really well when we played together. :) He's an awesome little guy.

Crest. Is. Awe inspiring and I am so excited to get back to Pepin and see the herd again. :)

That's all for now!
I'm going to enjoy the remaining hours of my BIRTHDAY. Yes, today. October, 10th is my 17th birthday. :)
Wonderful Jessica (whom I met today for the first time. She is wicked cool) has loaned me a really thick book. I have my best friend on MSN and a hot cup of tea. I'm getting a shower and crashing in a little bit.

I love you all, thanks for reading and I'll post again soon. I swear on Franny's half-chaps. ;)

Katieanne