I can't believe that I've been here for almost 3 weeks! The time sure does fly!

The traveling here was great. Sunny days, clear roads, no construction, traffic or accidents and.....the company was fabulous! I drove down with Charity and we just chatted away the entire time. We only listened to the radio for about an hour the whole trip! I never had a trip to Florida go so fast! We stopped over in South Carolina and stayed with my friend Bekah Koutous who I got to know when I was here for my last course. She is now a 2 Star instructor and has quite a nice farm! We went out for a nice dinner, good company and then had a nice warm bed to sleep in.

The second day of travel meant check in at the Parelli Center! Boy were we stressed. Not knowing what to expect, yadda, yadda, yadda. While we were traveling, we were studying and quizzing each other. So much to know! As we turned onto 120th Street, I felt sick! I guess one thing is for sure, it proved that this was important to me and that it meant a lot. We did even get our horses unloaded and Dusty was like "Get me off! I know I'm 'home'!!" It was cool how he recognized the place. We got the horses & tack unloaded, got our room assignments and then started unloading our stuff. I tried to keep myself busy with cleaning out the trailer, organizing my stuff, etc until "extern orientation" later that day. No time was wasted! We got orientation, our assignments and immediately got infiltrated into the program!

Apparently, I had a roommate, but I didn't get a chance to meet her until a day or two later. Her name is Rachel Evans and she's from the UK. Evidently, she has a real problem with flying to the point that she needs to be medicated (that's why I didn't meet her right away!). A Parelli Instructor did a lot of mental/emotional advance and retreat with her regarding flying and she's gotten a lot better but it's still rough for her. She is an awesome roommate and she keeps me up until way too late chatting away!

The first few days felt like a reunion. There were so many people here that I knew. Two courses were going on and there were people in it that I knew. Many of the externs and interns I had taken courses with previously and then, of course, there are the instructors that I know. I'd so great to see everyone.

I'm really enjoying myself. Working and learning a lot. It's actually exactly how I expected it at this point. I know I'm only in my 3rd week and I have 9 more to go, but so far so good!

I'll be posting more about my horsemanship later! Cheers!

My first day...

As I'm starting this blog, I'm trying to figure out what to write about. Since I never did one of these things before, I've pondered the thought for some time. Then I realized that it's like an open diary. I love to share my experiences and insights with my friends, students and kindred spirits that I meet along my Journey of life. Why not here? So today is my first day!

So much is happening with me right now that I don't even know where to begin. I'm on a new leg in my Journey through Natural Horsemanship. I'm preparing to leave for my 12 week externship at the Pat Parelli Center in Ocala Florida. So much to do and so little time.

I have a daughter I'm helping prepare for college, another daughter that I'm just plain preparing for life at this point (she's 8) and a husband that is not computer friendly and is allergic to paperwork and telephones. Needless to say, I need to prepare them all for my absence. Both mentally, emotionally and physically (yes, I stock piled the pantries, cleaned the house and made sure all the laundry was done). Not to mention the 40 head of horses and farm that I'm leaving behind.

All seems to be coming together and working out fine. As I look forward to the next few weeks, which right now seems so daunting to me, I know it will be a mere blip on my radar screen in time but will have a huge impact on every life that I touch. I'm excited, anxious, nervous....so many things right now but mostly happy and content.

May the Journey continue.....