Adventures in Unwinding

    How's school treating you guys? I'm pretty busy. Busy as in working every morning and some afternoons and laboring far into the evening (maybe not quite...) on school. Sometimes I feel like a hermit 'cause I'm always away from my family or shut in a quiet room to study. Sometimes, though, I get so caught up in my life that I forget that I'm actually part of another life... the life I'm supposed be living, loving others and pouring out myself for God's glory. Which, by the way, can be accomplished even with a hectic schedule.

    Anyway (can you tell I'm tired? My mind is going in sleepy-crazy circles as I write :P), one of my favorite things to do to unwind from my serious big girl life of jobs and school and future is to hang out with my sidekick in craziness, 'lil sis. (I shall refer to her as Ellie on this blog, which is the name she comments by)

    Sunday night we hunted down our socks and tugged on the 'ol galoshes to take a treck through the woods, visiting a couple apple trees. Half way down our quarter-mile-ish long drive way, I turned to see our neighbor's horses running down their pasture towards us. We stopped and petted them, of course. For quite a long time, actually. The sun was gorgeous that night, so we took our fair share of pictures too...

Okay, this one merits an explanation. See, I was eating an apple but wanted to get another one so Ellie could have one. The branch was high, like top-of-your-tippy-toes high, and poison ivy grows prolifically  on the ground. Since I couldn't set my apple down, it went in the pocket. :) 

I don't know what she's taking a picture of... but I like how her hair looks almost red in the light.

    Apples are wonderful things. First of all, they are yummy. And free, if you happen to have random apple trees on your property! Secondly, horses love them. Ellie, being the brilliant bulb she is, managed to give "pony" almost a whole apple at once. He spent several minutes rolling the thing around in his mouth, but somehow managed to eat it in the end.

    I, on the other hand, pulled out my trusty pocket knife and cut my core into a couple pieces, handing one to "Buster" who was almost hanging over the electric fence in excitement.

    I'm sure you all have been told to hold your hand flat when feeding horses, to keep them from assuming your fingers are carrots. Well, I've heard that a few times, and advised plenty of kids to do the same. It's a good idea, friends. A good idea.

    Apparently something was blocking the path of reason in my head on Sunday night, though, and I unconsciously decided to throw caution out the window. I could feel Buster's bottom lip as I was giving him a slice of apple, and for some reason I didn't promptly remove my hand. I wish I could have seen my face when I realized one of my fingers was clamped firmly in a horse's mouth. A bubble of panic ballooned as I started tugging my finger away, and the next thing I remember was Buster's confused look as my hand returned to me all in one piece.

    There was a dent in my finger. And it stayed there for a good five minutes. It hurt, but that was overshadowed by relief and my command to Ellie to take a picture of the new purple design - horse teeth - imprinted on my middle finger. Soon feeling and a full range of movement returned to my finger, and Ellie and I ran back to the house to watch Duck Dynasty. All in all, it was a good night. :) 

    I'm afraid this post is a product of a few too many 6. a.m. mornings, so I guess what I wanted you to get out of it can be summed up in two points: 

-Siblings can be great partners in crime - ahem, adventure. Spend time with your family! In my opinion, one of the best therapy there is for a frazzled brain is to find some laughter, fresh air, and freedom to be yourself. For me that means spending time with Ellie. What do you do to unwind?

-Hold your hand flat out when feeding horses. Coming from someone who knows. ;)