Merry Christmas!!!

My lovely sisters....




My brother Luke and his girlfriend Rosie....




My mom, Jerry, Marc and me



Molly and me....



I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas. My best gift was the most expensive protective riding vest on the market. Thank you Marc! No broken back for this horse trainer!

james taylor

I have a strong antipathy towards James Taylor because I used to work at a hotel as a buffet waitress from 4:30 am until 1 or 2 pm and James Taylor's greatest hits was the hotel soundtrack. The ONLY hotel soundtrack. Which I always thought was strange because it was a long-term stay hotel so wouldn't the guests also get tired of listening to James Taylor too? I hated that job. I used to cry in the bathroom as 'you've got a friend' played for the 13th time that morning.

Anyway, he said something that I thought was nice. So even though I kind of hate him, I am going to repeat it here.

He said, "Unconditional love on a daily basis can melt a stone."

I had a terrible day yesterday. That made me feel a lot better.

Merry Christmas!

I am finally home!!!!

We finally made it home - below are a few pictures from the trip that I wanted to share.

Why is it so cold here?

This is my mom, my sister, and me.



and why do we not have this food in Columbus??????

trip pictures....

So, I quit smoking (It has been 8 days, I think), went to Disneyland (which was SO much fun), met Marc's entire family, and went from San Diego to NYC in 10 days. I am so happy that my mom and Maddie were able to meet us there and that Esther and my mother got along so well. I am glad to be home, though. Ohio is very home to me.....



Le Pain Quotidien - still my favorite place in NYC....



Marc's french grandma, Andree

trip pictures....

Marc and I at dinner in San Diego...



Chanukkah celebration at Marc's brother's house. My second real chanukkah celebration was very exciting....



Marc, my mom, my sister, me and our bagel-making friend, Uncle Bill



My mom is really happy here because she is eating gluten-free ravioli...

trip pictures....

Marc and my sister Maddie....



beautiful San Diego......



some of it is very burned.....



lovely flowers....

Your dogs and kitty miss you!

As you can see, their lives are hard here. Nothing but sleeping and eating. Poor things.

Life is like a barrel of monkeys at the Zupko house. Come home soon!!

Love,
Shawnna

12 hours to go!

In 12 hours I will be on a plane to San Diego. Enjoying windy storms on the west coast for five days and then heading straight to NYC for another few days. I am most excited that my mom and sister are meeting Marc and I in New York for a couple of days.

Shawnna and Brian are watching all the animals (THANK YOU GUYS!) and I am quite nervous to leave behind my diabetic dog and my sweet Luke. But excited to see two oceans in one week!

Lessons and training resume as soon as I get back on December 16. Please call me anytime on my cell phone while I am gone.

Happy Holidays!

Kristen

Happy post-Thanksgiving!

I always get to cut the turkey...closest thing to a tradition that my family has. We saw 'Enchanted' after dinner. It is my perfect movie - happy, not disturbing, perfect.

A couple pics up marc and I. Is it inappropriate for us to make photo christmas cards if we aren't married? I have never had a photo Christmas card, but I like the idea.

My grandma visited Luke!

Poor Luke!

So, yesterday Luke started to colic and the vet came out and treated him but he didn't get any better. So at 6 pm, the vet came again and said that he needed to go to OSU main campus because he had a terrible impaction. So, with the help of Vickie, Steve, and Dr. Welker, we got him in the trailer and took him to OSU, where the colic team met us. They were awesome but last night the outlook was not good. So this morning I called and they said that he had gotten much better and had pooped. I just returned from the hospital and he looks SO much better! I am going back in a little while to hang out with my boy and if all goes well, he will be coming home tomorrow. I feel so so lucky and I love Luke so much. He really is a keeper. Just wanted to update everyone who knows about this situation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KRISTEN!!

I thought I would hack into your blog and wish you the happiest of happy birthdays!

HAPPY HAPPY 30th!!!!

To the best of the best friends, and to many more adventures...

I love you my friend!!

Shawnna

SUsan and Shannon are SO cute!

Today...

Ian and Majic, and a strange, beautiful sky...

What a fun day - lessons with Lia and Megan and the Tanners.....

Lia wins the purple heart award! I want my cookies!

Thank you Shawnna and Brian!

I got an early birthday surprise tonight from the Vision Family (Shawnna, Brian, and X-Ray).

It's an artist's proof - I don't know what that means exactly, but it sure seems fancy! And it's gorgeous! And Shawnna gave me an awesome keychain shaped like a bit! Thanks you guys!

Luke and I had our first gallop yesterday! He is lazy! But what a gorgeous day. Getting ready for the hunt on Sunday. My friend Susan is taking me for my birthday. I am so nervous!

Great Week!

It has already been such a busy week!

I took my first lesson with Andrea and I feel so much better about my horse and our progress. I also had lessons last night with Xander Tanner, Alexis, and Lia, all who rode beautifully. Shawnna, Andrea, Shannon and I went to Equus Now and it is WAY expensive! If you don't want to spend tons of money, just don't bother going. They do sell top-of-the-line stuff and it was cool to see so much english riding gear in one place.

The barn is packed and Steve has been busy building HUGE stalls for Jasper and Reuben, who start training this week. I don't know where we are going to find tack to fit them!

Tonight is Megan's first official lesson and tomorrow I will be working with all of the training horses, so I should be at the barn most of the day.

What a good day!

I love days when everyone is happy and the sun is shining and I have a good ride. My horse is SUCH a drama queen, but he loves the trails. Marc got to ride Little King and we had a lovely trail ride. The best part of the day was Dublin Tack Shop. I can't wait to see Shannon in her new outfit!

more pictures of Blues Creek

More great pictures of Blues Creek - the indoor arena is HUGE! I am so excited to see Craig's new horse, Sassy, who arrives tomorrow. I wonder if Luke will remember her?

Overall, things are busy and exciting. The people who own and run the barn are so nice and accomodating - I think we overwhelmed them a bit last weekend! Looking forward to a winter full and warming up in the saloon after every ride!

Pictures of Blues Creek

And they have 40 Acres of trails! The horse is Cursive, who joined our barn yesterday!

More pics coming soon!