Day 18 - Thankful for showers

It may sound ridiculous, but tonight I'm thankful for showers.  If you've been reading my blogs for a while, it might not be surprising, but if you haven't, you can read my other post about my love of showers -> here.

Anyway, I think a lot in the shower.  Showers used to seem like something that took up my time.  And if you knew me in high school or college, time wasn't something I had much of.  At one point in time, a friend and I figured out that if you put index cards in Ziploc bags and clipped them to the shower curtains, you could multitask and study in the shower.  Yeah, it was that bad.

But now, it's just refreshing.  And super filled with thoughts.  And sometimes I think clearer there than anywhere else.

Tonight I realized that I harbor a lot of anger that is keeping me from finding a place to worship God.  From finding a church.  It is literally holding me back.

I also realized I've been a pretty awful friend lately because I haven't been able to explain to her why I feel the way I do.  And I figured out the reason... well at least I finally figured out the words to describe it.  Which is helpful.

God's doing something in my life. I've got a lot of things that I haven't been acknowledging and I'm grateful He's showing them to me. And when I get out of this tunnel, I know God's got something pretty sweet there for me. 

Point of today - I like showers.  And I'm thankful for the things God works on in my heart and the things that I realize.

And yeah - it is kind of crazy, but it is what it is. 

Day 14 - Thankful for safety in Petey

Tonight I am so thankful for my car.  For Petey.  For over three years, that car has been everywhere and has just been an awesome vehicle for me. 

From moving me in and out of BG at least 3 times,  taking me to Marmon countless times, and traveling everywhere else in this state, it has been an awesome car. 

For it's many nicknames [Silver Bullet, Sardine Can, Petey, etc] and the way it acted as my giant purse: holding clothes, food, blankets, papers, and a whole lot of people... So many memories...

I wish I had a better picture
to show you the damage whatever
I hit did to my car... maybe later

But tonight, I am thankful for the way God has taken care of me in that car.  The car has had its share of problems with breaking... Tonight Petey decided that he was done driving and a tire blew out.  Not the end of the world, but it could have been bad.  It could have messed with my steering and taken me off the road down some super steep banks.  But it didn't.  It was a rear tire and I was able to pull off into a parking lot down the road.  

I was definitely taken care of tonight, by Him, by one of my best friends, and the always amazing Hoover family.  Thank you for everything!

The lovely Gimpy tow service, haha

Day 13 - Thankful for the country life

On Sunday I got to spend a few hours crammed into a combine.  It was such a cool experience.  We were taking off soybeans, and let me tell you, what a dust cloud!  Pretty sure there is at least a pound of dust just chillin' in my lungs right now.  That's the first time I got to do that.  I love being able to experience new things, and farm life has definitely stolen my heart.

Some highlights of the day

 

But getting back on track here, its day 13 and I'm thankful for where I live.  I'm thankful for the buggy that goes by my house or the one that I get stuck behind when I'm trying to get somewhere.  I'm thankful for the horses that perk up when I walk to my car every morning.  I'm thankful for the cows that are really loud when they can't see their calf nearby. I'm thankful for the fact we can have a bonfire without getting a permit. I'm thankful for the fresh veggies we get from our garden. I'm thankful for being able to see the sunset and the sunrise from our deck.  I'm thankful for the farms that I get to drive by on my way to work.  For the work they do that helps our country move along.  I'm thankful that I've gotten to experience farm life; for the few hours I got to spend in a combine on Sunday.  I am thankful I've been so blessed to be immersed in God's creation.

A few of my favorite sights: Amish working in the field, fresh tomatoes, working in the field, getting behind a tractor or buggy on the road, Berg's hill, a camp fire, and my mom's ponds... amazing

Day 7 - Thankful for my oldest friends

The extended gang - Bryon, Andrew, Katie, Kenny, Amy, and me

Today I got to speak with Kenny. It's been a really long time and it was so awesome to hear from him.  For those that don't know, I was blessed to grow up with him and his twin sister, Katie.  From the age of 5 until now, they've been a big part of my life.  So many of my memories involve these two.  I learned a lot, traveled a lot, enjoyed a lot of time, and got into plenty of trouble with them.  They are as much my siblings as Corey and David are.

Katie and I at Cedar Point

Kenny and I when he was home in 2011

All three of us have gone on completely different paths in life, but it's been so cool to see it all happen.  To see Kenny get married to his wonderful wife and serve our country has been such a blessing.  I'm totally a proud sister!  And Katie, she has a little guy who is the sweetest kid I've ever met.  She's such an amazing mother.  

Today, I'm thankful that they are a part of my family.  I'm thankful that I get to see everything that God has in store for us. 

Day 6 - Thankful for this country

Tonight as this election comes to an end, I am thankful for this country and the opportunities we are given.  I’m not so thankful for all the insane ads  and campaigns that have been going on.  And I’m thankful that today is almost over (in Ohio, that is, I’m still in California).

I’m about to get on a flight and I guess when I land we’ll pretty much know the results.  I would like to be able to watch everything keep rolling in, but I guess I’ll just have to wait until the morning.

Thank you Lord for this country and I take comfort in the fact that You are in control. 

Day 4 - Thankful for Random Trips

I have been blessed this past year (and way before that) with many random out of the blue trips.  I've been able to visit friends and family all over the place and spend time with them. 

Right now I'm chillen' in California watching Princess Bride with Brandy.  How cool is that?  So grateful that God has put people in my life I can go visit and hang out with and be encouraged by.

Day 3 - Thankful for my dance family

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I'm on the right in the second row.  This was my last ballet dance

I’m not sure where I’d be without my dance training.  My many years of competition, teaching, and just dancing made me who I am.  And yes, I’m thankful for all of that, but I’m really grateful for the people God put in my life because of it.  My dance family has been such a blessing to my life. Today though, I’m thankful I met two daughters, a mom, and a grandma.  I first met them when their oldest was 6.  And was informed this past week that she’s turning 16.  Talk about crazy (not to mention that I feel old all of a sudden)!

This is the little one that is soon to be 16

 I was on the way to Target last Thursday and the desire was on my heart to stop by the dance studio.  I’m so glad I did because this wonderful family was there and the encouragement they gave me was so needed.

I love how God gives you exactly what you need, right when you need it.

So blessed by them.

Day 2 – Thankful for Harry Potter and Lunch Meat

For November, I'm going to try to write down what I'm thankful for each day.  A way to get back into blogging. I know I missed yesterday, but I do have something for today:

I’m currently sitting in the airport, waiting ever so patiently to board (in like an hour) to head out to see only the coolest person ever…. Brandy!  

[[it’s kind of funny considering she just left my house last Saturday, but I’m all for it!]] 

Anyway, I just sat down by a charging station because my lovely R2D2 phone doesn’t stay charged much anymore. (Oh R2, what would I do without you, despite your lack of charge holding skills?) This guy sitting beside me sat down and is eating Arby fries… talk about a heavenly smell when I haven’t ate since lunch and its way past supper.  Instead of giving into temptation and buying myself a few of those amazing fries, I pull out my Ziploc baggie that has my cold cut sandwich inside… 

 

And I thought to myself, I feel like Ron Weasley. Ha!! You know when Harry and Ron first meet and Harry buys all those sweets and Ron just look longingly at them and pulls out his corned beef sandwich!? Yeah, that’s me right now, pulling out my sandwich.  Only difference is my sandwich rocks!  Buffalo Chicken cold cut.  

Amazing-ness 
 

I've traveled far and wide and experienced countless things thanks to all of the books I've read.  Thank you Mom for always reading, making me want to read like you.   

So for today, I’m thankful for all of the awesome books I’ve grown up with, including Harry Potter.  And for the extraordinary buffalo chicken sandwich I’m about to bite into. 

Happy Friday!

[[ I know I missed Day 1 for November, but I want to say I’m so thankful for the desires God has put in my heart.  His Spirit guides me and it’s so cool when I realize how He is working in my life. ]]

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

Let me tell you about this little cutie:

He turned 3 last Sunday.  Isn't he just the cutest thing?!?!?!
 

Look at that gorgeous smile!

Brandy visited last week and we got to spend an evening with him at a pumpkin patch (Thank you Nick A Jack farms). 

We got to do all kinds of stuff... like 

pumpkin putt-putt

We decided it was easier to throw them

car races

I'm pretty sure this was his favorite thing

a hayless hayride

Bryon liked this and enjoyed making moo sounds when we saw the cows

pedal cars

He didn't quite get the pedaling part, but he loved it!

and goof around. 

Such a blessing. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Bryon!!!

Such a mischievous face!

Day Zero... What's that

Okay, truth time.... I think about writing in here a lot. But I never actually do it.  I have so many cool things to write about from this summer, but just never have.  Someone mentioned my Day Zero project the other day and that really got me thinking.  So today I went through and kind of depressingly looked at my list.  After all, I don't think I've looked at it since April, so there was no way more than like 3 things could be crossed off.... And to my surprise, I totally get to mark off  FOURTEEN things!  Which may not seem like a lot, but it kinda is. So for my re-entry to the blog world, I'm going to stop doing recaps and focus on right now.  God's doing such cool things in my life and I want to share them with you now, not 3 months down the road when I finally get caught up. But I guess this is a recap, but more fun... the 14 things I've accomplished off my list this year:

80.

 Get a pedicure

The lovely Miss Rachel Dunn totally went with me to get pampered during the spring semester.  We had such a blast and my feet never felt any better... oh and ice cream afterwords at Mr. Freezes =
  AH-MAZING!!!


43.

 Learn Guitar

 So I'm definitely no pro, but I can make my way around it... kinda... maybe?


34.

 Take pictures with my dad on Campus

 We got all decked out for a banquet and then found some places to take pictures.... Fellow Alumni :)

Fellow Falcons!

33.

 Graduate from College

Already wrote about this... but such an awesome day!!!

Such a good day (p.s. So thankful for my awesome Professors!!!)

66.

 Learn to drive a four wheeler

We went to the sand dunes in Nevada...
  AKA the flippin' desert!!! It was so hot.  I'm pretty sure I told Brandy 100 billion times that I was just going to roll over and die in the desert... Any way, I totally learned to drive four wheelers.  It was sweet!

Woot!

55.

 Celebrate graduation with Brandy

 Fancy dinner included :) Yay us!

Too many pictures to choose from... sorry about that

77.

 Write a letter to the people who most influenced me when I graduate
  college

This took two months to finish, but I'm so thankful to everyone that helped me. (And to Brandy for sealing the envelopes, haha)


52.

 Go canoeing

2 best friends + 1 of their boyfriends + 2 1/2 year old godson + me = amazing night on the river.  He's such a happy kid!  I love him!

My lil' man is such a water baby

17.

 Go on a zip-lining course

7 Zips (4,025 feet worth), 2 50-foot belays, 2 rope bridges... oh and two amazing friends... yeah we're cool like that.

What a fun day with amazing people

21.

 Learn to sew

I made my first project - a pair of some pretty sweet pj shorts... Thank you Mary for teaching me :)

3. & 49.

Learn to golf and Golf with Dad

These two are the same.... basically.  I had to sub for my mom in a golf scramble with my dad... So I went out back with Dad, hit a few golf balls and then played 9 holes with his team at the Elms :)  What a blast [[And for the record, I take back every bad thing I ever said about golf...]]

Awesome golf team here... haha

98.

 Watch a meteor shower

A couple weekends ago we had a major meteor shower... So a friend and I laid on our backs on the bed of a trailer and watched the sky for a while.. Amazingly peaceful (pretty sure we saw 6 big ones and then like 7 little ones in an hour)

36. 

Go to an Air Show

Natalie asked me to go about 5 months ago, so we went with her dad and spent an amazing day at the Cleveland Air Show (Earplugs would have probably helped, but apparently they are lame, haha) From tricks, to a wing walker, to the Blue Angels, I can't wait for next year!!!!

SWEETNESS!

Family visits

By the time May 8 rolled around (keep in mind, only 3 days after I had graduated from college) I was so ready to just relax.  Graduation and Nationals took a lot out of me.  Lauren came back to my apartment with me after Nationals and helped me pack (well more like slept, but she was moral support)!  We parted ways and I headed home finally!

This is Dusty.  She is darling. 

I came home for a bit to spend some time with Dave, as he's not here all that much.  Lauren came to visit for a few days, which was so awesome.  We got to hang out with some horses, not really doing much, but still a horse is a horse right?  We spent a lot of time together and I'm so grateful she's in my life.  I can hardly believe that God has blessed me this much, but He really has.

That weekend, I drove to Dayton to stay with my grandma for a few days. We mostly just hung out, reading books, catching up on life, shopping, watching movies, you know, that kind of thing.  It was so nice to get away from my busy life for a few days.  I got addicted to my kindle touch (thank you Grandma!!!) and got lost in the Hunger Games.  I got them for my mom for Mother's day, but we share things, so I got to read them too!  Oh my, what an addicting series!!  Good thing I didn't start them until the end of my trip to Dayton.




I came back home for the evening, just to set out again, this time with my dad to North Carolina (again) to see my Aunt's family.  We stayed there for a couple days and had so much fun.  Every other time I've been out there, it's been for a wedding, so things are stressful, but this time we could just relax (notice the common theme here, relaxing?!?!). We stayed with my cousin Steph, her husband Nate, and their adorable little son, Jayden. 

Spending time in North Carolina

We got to spend some time with Dad's little guys (aka the nephews).  They are so much fun.  Carter, Rowen, and Jayden just took to 'Uncle Dave' like no other.  We got to have some great food at Aunt Lisa's, and great fun with my cousins.  [As well as being introduced to 'Chuck' the TV Series... thanks Nate!]

After the weekend, I finally got a week to chill at home.  There was a lot to do, but I got to spend some time with my family and a few friends.  It was really nice.  But Sunday came quickly, and I hopped a plane to California! But that's for another post!

Isn't he just the cutest little guy :)

Since I have pretty much taken the entire summer off, I'm going to do two things, because they are related.  Steph, Nate, and Jayden came out for a visit a few weeks back.  It was a lot of fun having them in town.  Plenty of corn hole was played (Nate did beat Dad... as he will proudly tell you, haha), but Grandpa definitely was the winner of corn hole.  Jayden loved playing in the little pool, and we found out he loves pretzels!  I'm really looking forward to seeing them again in October :)

Had a family get together... it was so much fun being with everyone!

Part 3 - Nationals

After a months leave of absence, I am going to finish updating on life... So here we go, Part 3, Nationals!

Like I said before, we arrived in NC around 5:30 am and drove to the arena at 6.  Chris had a coach's meeting to go to, so Lauren and I just kind of wandered around.  The arena was huge!  It was held at the NC State Fairgrounds, so it was a pretty nice complex.

The arena was huge! Here I am after getting all dolled up!

Mom and Grandma, so glad they could come

I had to be at the arena so early because I needed to draw a number to tell me what horse I would be on. At least that's how the competition had gone for the past 3 days.  For Sunday though, they decided to change it.  Chris came out of the meeting and told us that I wasn't drawing until the class before mine.  This made the day a bit more difficult than we had thought.  Had I drawn at 6:30 am, I would have been able to sleep as well as watch my horse all day to see what tendencies he/she may have had.  Oh well.
 
I ended up staying at the arena all day (I was the third or fourth to last class to compete).  I didn't sleep at all, just kind of relaxed in the stands.  The day went on and before I knew it, I had two classes to go.  I rushed into the bathroom to change and get hair and makeup done (thank goodness for Lauren!!!).  Mom and Grandma arrived while I was still getting changed, but it was quite a rush.

My class was called to the draw table, which was a display with a river around it... Rubber ducks were floating along... They called our name and had us pick up a duck with a number on the bottom.  I got to draw first (perks of having the last name Bennethum) and drew number 7, which just so happened to be an OSU horse named Stingray.

This is Stingray, me, and my coach afterwards

At this point nerves are setting in and no I've got to get on a horse.  We had watched him during the day and he had the tendency to go into a canter when he wasn't supposed to and stuff.  He was a little hot that day and just wanted to go fast.  I've had worse draws in my life, so I wasn't too worried, but let's be honest, this was Nationals, it wasn't the rest of my life :)  Anywho once everyone was where they needed to be with cameras, I went to the other arena to get on Stingray.  The handler gave the horse to Chris and walked away, so it was just us getting me ready along with Lauren.  When the time finally came to go in, the handler was nowhere to be found, so Chris got to walk me into the arena.  Coolest thing ever. It was my last ride as an undergraduate and Chris was the first to see me ride at BG.  Kinda sweet!

She's amazing!

I got in the arena and Stingray had this little pitter patter trot that I kept going all through the rail work.  Watching the video afterwards, it looked like he was going to break the entire time, but I kept him going.  It was awesome.  A lot of people complimented me on rail work.  The pattern came and that's when I got nervous.  But I knew that whatever happened, happened and it was just an honor to be in the arena!

I had a good pattern.  I chopped off part of my circle trying to make sure Stingray didn't go into a canter, I overcorrected there too.  But it was a good pattern.  It was all over and all we needed to do was stand in line and wait for the judges.

We all got in line (the 12 of us) and Garth Brooks 'The River' was on the loudspeaker.  Someone commented about it and I just thought it was a perfect song to end my time as a BG student (after all I was technically an alumni at that point, but I was still considered a student for the ride).

The ribbon is huge!!

My goal of the weekend was 10th.  12th and 11th don't get to know what their actual place was and they don't get a ribbon.  10th was the bar I had. I looked around the arena to find people, but could not find Lauren for the life of me (she was in a bright tye dye shirt, hard to miss!).  Mom and Grandma were in the stands, Chris was off to one corner.  She kept giving me thumbs up and smiling.  It was such a happy moment.  The officials came and congratulated us and then they announced the two riders who hadn't made it in the top ten. My number was 122 and the first number they called 'One-twenty...(giant pause!!!! AHH)..... 8' I swear you could just see the relief in my entire body.  I just kept saying there is no way!!! They then went through the placings.... 10,9,8,7.... all the way down to 5th.  They announced 5th place and it was a guy, leaving just 4 girls left.  We linked hands saying its just us, and then they announced my name.  4th place!  I will totally take it.  It was so exciting!

Lauren attacked me outside the arena and Chris gave me a huge hug.  They led me away to a room where I had to sign stuff.  I was so shaky afterwards! We took a bunch of pictures, called Sue and told her, called a whole bunch of other people, it was crazy!

I'm so glad she's in my life!

 I'm sad to see that chapter of my life end, but I hope to continue working with horses.  Two years ago when I started riding as a part of summer camp training, I never thought it would be anything.  It terrified me.  Now it's taken me all over the place and changed quite a bit of my life.  I am so blessed to have had this opportunity, to have such amazing coaches, and amazing support from my family and friends.  Thank you to all who helped me get there.  Such an awesome experience. 4th place.... yeah I'll take it :)

This is our, yeah that just happened pose

Next in my recap... Part 4 - May

Part 2 - Journey to Nationals

Where did I leave off... graduation... We left graduation and headed towards an airport in Dayton.  My flight left at 3:30 to go to Nationals.  We were having an awesome trip, but that apparently was meant to end when it dawned on me that I had forgotten my license in Bowling Green, an hour away.

This could be a problem.

Confession of a 22 year old... I forget everything. It's a really bad thing...

Theme of the month...

After trying to see if it had been packed somewhere we hadn't looked, we decided to accept the fate that I didn't have my license.  David called us to tell us that you can get through security without a license, so thus we should try it.  Turns out you can get through security, but you can't get your plane ticket without it.  Thus I missed my flight.

Not cool.

I called Chris, my coach  that was in North Carolina waiting for me, to update her on the situation and she just told me to relax and take a deep breath.  [[ Cue waterworks here. ]]  We then decided to continue driving to Grandma's to figure out what to do next.

Me reading on the first part of the journey

We arrived and after calling a million and half places, the cheapest quote we found on a rental car for 12 hours was over 500 dollars!!  [Did you know most rental places close between noon and 1 on Saturdays... totally annoying].  I looked at Mom and then I looked at Grandma and just said, "Can't we just take Grandma?"  (Much love to my grandmother... She was totally excited to go, throwing her bathing suit in her suitcase, planning her beach vacation in N.C.  How funny?)

So happy she could come

Needless to say, the three of us (my mom, grandma, and myself) headed out.  I know that it wasn't planned to happen that way, but I must say, I'm totally glad it did.  I love traveling with them --> the proof is in the Jamaica trip.   We had a blast going to N.C.  It was a 12 hour drive filled with a cute diner in Kentucky (where I called Sue, my other coach who couldn't go to tell her about the missed flight.  Her advice - "When all this bad stuff happens before a show, it means you'll have a GREAT ride!)  I love my coaches!

Isn't the moon gorgeous?  God made such cool things

Anyway, so the cute little diner, the magic tunnel, the moon - which was the closest it's ever been to the earth, and lots of fun conversations.  Oh and I got time to read Harry Potter again, always fun.

We arrived at the hotel at 5:30 am on Sunday.  I had to be at the arena at 6 am for schooling of horses.  I got there and went up to Chris' room, where she was walking down the hallway.  I'm pretty sure I just stood there with my arms out, ready to cry and said, "I'm here." She just came and gave me a big hug and said okay let's go.

Yay for HP 7!!!!

I ended up just changing into jeans and a polo after giving Lauren a hug (she was already down there, LOVE!)  After a quick bite and a stop by my room to say bye to Grandma and Mom (and goodnight, they were tired), we drove to the arena...

And that is where I leave this post... up next Part 3 - IHSA Nationals.

I feel like the journey itself deserves its own post.  I'm very blessed with my family.   I can't believe they drove all the way from BG to Raleigh. Thank you so much to Mom and Grandma for getting me there.  /the adventure was kind of totally worth it.  Sorry for the forgotten license, but I don't think I would have wanted it any other way truthfully...

Aren't they the coolest?

Lots of catching up to do... Part 1

It has now been way over a month since I've updated here... So much exciting stuff has happened, but I think I'm just going to put it up in parts.

Part 1: Graduation from BGSU

Finals week came and went.  A lot of things happened that week.  Tuesday was really super cool.  I had my last riding lesson with Sue.  It went so well!  I totally cried on my way home.  I'm so going to miss my lessons with her.  I'm really glad I made it as far as I did, just so I could continue riding with her.  Such a blessing.  

My parents and I all dressed up

I arrived home from my lesson to find a letter on the banister from the Hoovers... Oh how I love them.  It brightened my day.  I then received a phone call from Laura! She ended up passing through BG, so I got to have lunch with her at Pita Pit!  It was such a blessing to spend time catching up with her and how her stay in Cincinnati has gone. God has done so many amazing things through her and it's so cool to hear about them. 

My dad and I are now both Alumni of BGSU!!

Wednesday was full of exams, but Thursday meant I got a visit from Reata.  She came to BG to take my bed away.  Now she has a nice comfy mattress and I didn't have to haul it home, haha.  After Reata left, I headed to Toleda to pick up Lisa!  What a trip.  I hate driving in Toledo, but it was totally worth it.  Lisa has been in Austria all year, so I haven't really gotten to see her, and it means my programming buddy was totally worthless in my graphics class... aka, she was across the globe and not taking it with me.  But that's okay.  She's doing amazing things too.  We spent the evening with Elisabeth and Patrick, so it was all good.  So nice to catch up. 

Dr. Zimmerman - such a cool guy :)

Friday came and so did my parents and Corey.  It was wonderful spending time with them on Campus.  We kind of went everywhere.  We left Corey at the motel with my grandma and then my parents and I headed to a banquet for my Latin Honors... but the real reason we went was to see my super awesome professor.  He's been amazing throughout my college experience.  He's helped me get my job and has given some super awesome advice.   He also did a musical with me last year, which was so cool to do.  I am glad my parents got to sit down and chat with him. 

I so love my family.  I've definitely been blessed.

So the big event (other than graduation) was that I get back to the hotel and Mom goes to pick up Corey.  Nothing out of the ordinary, right?  WRONG!!!  She comes walking up the stairs with none other than DAVID!!! Yes that's right, DAVID!!  He lives in Texas and since I had Nationals, he wasn't supposed to make it to my graduation..  Yet there he was.  Oh how I cried.  It was so nice to see him again.  Luckily my friend Brandon had an extra ticket to graduation, so everyone got to come. 

Love

I got to celebrate graduation with my friend Tim, so that was good.   I could see my family in the crowd.  I finally got a picture with Freddie and Frieda.  I've officially got my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science, specialized in Business Systems.  Good stuff...  I think I'll miss BG, but not yet.  Too much excitement has happened since then for me to really miss it, but I'll tell you more about that in the next few parts... 

Oh siblings, how I love them :)

Up Next... Part 2: Nationals :)

(thus the excitement begins!)