Why My Name is S on My Blog

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Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, fun, Game, interesting, Life, my life, personal, Scary, Stalker, Writer, Writing

A lot of my blog followers wonder why my name is only S on my blog. Well, it’s simple: I don’t want the wrong people to find me. For something so simple, it is a very long story…

I won’t go into detail because, as stated before, it is a very long story, but essentially, I have a stalker. I also do not wish to share the full story in fear of drawing their attention to me on here. As far as I know, they do not have a WordPress account, but who knows nowadays…

What did I do to deserve this? I simply stopped talking to them after I realized what type of person they are. When I moved my horses from the same place that this person was at to a different place, they contacted the barn that I moved to in order to “warn” them about me. I kept silent. They did this two more times whenever I moved my horses. The crazy thing was that I had blocked them on all of my social media accounts and blocked their number too by this time, so they had to have either made a fake account to stalk me or have someone else stalk me. My privacy settings are set to high on my social media accounts.

What action did I take? I took screenshots of the messages that she had sent to these barns (the barn owners would send them to me, then ask me about the person) for evidence just in case, then I deleted my Facebook account, cleaned out my Instagram account, and put my Instagram account on “private” mode. I haven’t heard a word since.

Why haven’t I taken further action? Easy. They are all bark and no bite. They talk a lot, but there has not been any action to harm me or any of my horses. It’s just been annoying, demeaning gossip that I do not wish to have in my life or have my horses’ lives threatened. Plus, legal action is expensive! I’d rather not deal with it for someone who is just running their mouth.

If you really would like to know my name, you are more than welcome to guess it. Better yet, I will give you a hint: it is a name that was in a famous one-hit-wonder song from the late ’70s. If you guess it right, I’ll let you know, but don’t be alarmed if the comment is not put on “public” display.

I hope that you have fun with this name-guessing game, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

You Win Some and You Lose Some: January 2023 Gymkhana

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Animals, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Competition, equestrian, equine, Fail, fun, Gymkhana, horse, Horse Competition, Horse Owner, Horse Show, Horseback Riding, horses, Life, My Horse, my life, My Pony, personal, POA, POA Pony, ponies, pony, Riding, Show, Show Time, Treasure, Writer, Writing

To say the Gymkhana on January 21, 2023 was a shit show would be an understatement. We had so many odds against us including not being able to ride for two weeks due to rain, me throwing my back out the day before, and only having a 10min warmup.

We had three really good rides: Poles I (we got such a good time that it was a higher division AA time), Speed Barrels, and Single Stake Race. We got a 6th in AA division for Poles I, 6th in A division for Speed Barrels, and 5th in A division for Single Stake Race.

Poles I

Speed Barrels

Single Stake Race

We had two rides that were absolute shit: Big T and Quadrangle where we go “no times” on. I’m deciding not to post the videos on here because I’m honestly embarrassed by my mistakes. Please don’t judge…

So what happened if everything started off so well? Let me explain this to you: this was 100% my fault and not Treasure’s fault. I probably should not have ridden in the Gymkhana what with having my back out and having scoliosis…the scoliosis exacerbated every little pain. For those two events that we got “no times” on, I went into the first turn, landed in the saddle in such a way that it made my back spasm, resulting in my right leg clenching onto Treasure’s sensitive spot on his side, which in turn, caused him to run out from beneath me and start bolting. Both times, I brought him back to the finish and told the gate person that we were done. My poor pony was traumatized and was so worried that he did something wrong to cause me to clench onto him even though I kept telling him that it was not his fault.

This goes to show that we are not perfect. I probably asked too much of him way too soon too. This was only our fourth Gymkhana.

What our gameplan is for the next Gymkhana is to just slow everything down. Maybe trot the turns and canter the straightaways. I want to gain his trust again and boost Treasure’s confidence as well as mine. We may not be competitive next time, and that’s okay. The most important thing to me is not the ribbons, but that Treasure has fun and feels like a little king again. Speed will come with time. I also plan on practicing for the next Gymkhana three times the week before (weather permitting) like we used to. He’s going to be fitter, we both will also be more confident that way. I’m also not going to do any heavy lifting the day before so that my back is nice and happy.

Though this Gymkhana didn’t go as well as planned, I am still so proud of Treasure, and I call it a success in that I learned something valuable. We also had three really good runs out of five. Proportion-wise, that is a success for us!

As the saying goes, you win some, and you lose some. This experience has just made me more determined to do things right next time.

I hope that you all are having a great start to your week, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

The Temperature Blanket

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art, Artist, artists, Arts and Crafts, Blanket, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Craft, Crafting, Crochet, DIY, fun, interesting, Life, Natural, Nature, Temperature, Temperature Blanket, Writer, Writing

As most, if not all, of you know, I’m an artist. Not only do I paint and draw and write, but I also crochet.

This year, I started on a new project for the new year: a temperature blanket. What a temperature blanket is it coincides with the temperature outside. So, every day at noon, I check and record the temperature for my area of residence, then I color code it to the yarn that I use for that day.

Here is the color guide that I made up:

Temperature:

35-45 degrees- white

46-55 degrees- light blue

56-65 degrees- purple

66-75 degrees- pink

76-85 degrees- yellow

86-95 degrees- red

96-105+ degrees- sheer maroon

The temperature is recorded in Fahrenheit. This project is a fun one because once the year is over, I can see how much the temperature changed throughout the year. Southern California weather has been very strange this year with a lot of cold fronts and rain storms. I have not seen anything like it in all of my 28 years of life (I have never moved from Southern California).

Here is my first project picture. This was taken on January 15th, 2023 and had 15 lines completed. You can see how drastic the weather has changed already. The next update will be in mid February.

15 lines of the temperature blanket completed. Apologies for the awful lighting. I don’t get home until after dark.

I hope you all have fun crafts of your own, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

New Endings and New Beginnings

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Adventure, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Excited, Excitement, happy, Job, journey, Life, life journey, Marketing, Marketing Coordinator, my life, New Job, New Update, personal, Update, Work, Writer, Writing

On January 31st, I will be saying goodbye to my job at Riverside Temple Beth El and will be embarking on my new journey on the career path that I’ve always wanted to have: Marketing.

You are now looking at the newest Marketing Coordinator for American Consumer Shows (ACS). I am so incredibly excited about this opportunity.

ACS is one of the biggest event planning companies in the USA currently. I will be working remotely from home and will have East Coast hours, which is exactly what I wanted because I am an early bird. I will start working at either 5 or 6am and will be ending at 1:30 or 2:30pm.

The thing I like the most about ACS is the fact that there is a lot of growth opportunities within the company and a lot of mobility throughout the company. Good work is also rewarded. This is HUGE for me!

I put in my two week’s notice to the temple yesterday, which was bittersweet. There were many tears (not mine), but I promised them that I would continue to be a congregant and would help support them remotely until they find another office assistant. This isn’t goodbye or farewell, it is merely a “see you later.” I made a lot of meaningful friendships at Riverside Temple Beth El that I plan on continuing to keep. I’m not the type to burn bridges, and I am still very thankful for the time that I spent there with them.

Without further ado, if it takes me a bit to respond to comments, and if I’m not as active in reading and commenting on others’ posts, it is because I have been super busy with filling out the paperwork and onboarding for my new job. I start on my birthday, February 7th. Please do not take it personally! I will be back in full swing soon!

I hope that you all are having a wonderful week, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

So Many Updates Update

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Blog, Blog Post, Blog Update, Blogger, Comedy, fun, Funny, happy, journey, Life, life journey, my life, New Update, personal, Update, Writer, Writing

I know that I’ve given you all a ton of blog updates, especially about the frequency of my posting and catching up to current times. Well, guess what? Here’s another dang update for you all:

I’m all caught up! That’s right! I finally caught up on all the blog posts that I was lagging on. Yay!

Now that I’m writing about the current year and events that are happening currently, that means that I can start working on writing some more short stories for all of you. This also means that I will probably not be posting every day anymore. I will probably be posting every other day unless an event happens, and I want to post about it right away. Then, there might be times where I post two or three days in a row.

Hooray! One of my short-term goals has been completed, and it feels so satisfying! Now on to tackle some of my bigger goals for this year…

I hope you all are having a wonderful week, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

Post for the New Year

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2023, 2023 Goals, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Goal, Goal Setting, Goals, journey, Life, life journey, my life, New Me, New Update, New Year, New Year New Me, New Years, New Years Goals, personal, Update, Writer, Writing

This year, I’m trying something different. I’m not going to be making resolutions because I know that they can be detrimental on the mental psyche if broken. Instead, this year, I am going to be setting some long-term goals to work towards.

2022 Recap:

There were a lot of good and bad events that happened in 2022. I’ll get the bad out of the way first.

In May, I got COVID. In July, I lost my very nice marketing job, which spiraled us into financial instability (we were paying for our very expensive wedding at the time). In August, Lukka had a Lateral Sesamoid Fracture and had to have surgery on her left hind leg two days before our wedding. Two days after the wedding, my hamster, Daphne died in August. In September, Treasure and I had a riding accident out on trail. In October, my dad passed away. Two days after my dad passed, and the night before his funeral, Puff had a bad case of Colic and almost died. In November, I got the flu and bad bronchitis and had to miss Thanksgiving and a Gymkhana. In December, both Lukka and Puff got sick with Upper Respiratory Infections.

Luckily, some good came out of 2022. I got my first full-time job since graduating from college (even if I was laid off at no fault of my own after a few months, it was still a huge deal for me). In June, I got Puff. In July, I started writing my novel. I got married to my best friend in August, and my dad was able to attend. I also got a new Temple Office Assistant job in August. We competed in several Gymkhanas and had a blast competing in a new discipline! We also finished 2022’s Trail Riding Challenge in 6th place. There’s probably more, but I am drawing a blank.

2023 Goals:

As I mentioned before, I do have a few goals that I would like to work towards in 2023:

1. I would like to lose 20lbs over the year.
2. I would like to get the house or get closer to owning a house and horse property than I was.
3. I would like to try to continue competing in Gymkhanas.
4. I would like to finish the writing process of my novel and start the editing process. Publishing this year would be a plus too.
5. I would like to ride more miles out on trail for the Trail Riding Challenge than I did last year.
6. I would like to find a new full-time job that pays me enough and is reliable enough for me to quit at least one or both of my part-time tutoring jobs.

I hope that you all are having a sweet new year. I have a feeling that 2023 is going to be my year and will be better for me than 2022.

Until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

Countdown Music Festival 2022

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Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Countdown, EDM, Electronic Dance Music, Festival, Galantis, Life, Music, music festival, my life, Writer, Writing

We had purchased tickets to the music festival, Countdown, before my dad died (we didn’t know he was going to pass at the time). So, you all already know where this is going: I bit off way more than I could chew.

Countdown was oversold, as we are noticing a trend in the recent music festivals that we have been to. It took us over an hour to get in. Parking was sold out in both of the closer lots, so we had to park in the furthest lot. We decided not to bother with the lines for the shuttle and walked a thirty-minute walk to the festival grounds. Once we got there, we had to wait in line at Will Call where they ran out of two-day VIP Passport tickets and were only able to give a Friday one to Shawn, even though he pre-paid for a two-day pass.

Security was a breeze surprisingly, but the line to get into the Passport Lounge was astronomical, and we waited another forty-five minutes to get in and get our wristbands. We had barely enough time to say a quick hello to Cassie while she was on her break from working Ground Control, then we ran to see Galantis.

The cute scenes set up in the Passport Lounge.

Another cute one.

I realized after Galantis that I did not want to be around so many people for the first New Years without my dad, so we chilled in the Passport Lounge, then we left and got Mexican food on the way home, then pigged out in front of the TV and went to bed. We did not return for the next evening (New Years) for obvious reasons. Plus, it was raining hard, and it was supposed to be even more crowded than Friday night. We stayed home and watched TV while eating pineapple pizza. It was perfect!

I hope that you all had a wonderful New Year, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

The Holiday Bowl 2022: A Review

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Adventure, American Football, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Bowl Game, Comedy, Fireworks, Football, Football Game, fun, Funny, Holiday Bowl, interesting, Life, My Family, my life, Sport, Sports, Writer, Writing

I had the pleasure of partaking in keeping alive our family tradition of going to the Holiday Bowl. This was a tradition that my dad started many years ago when I was a very young child. Don’t ask me which teams played or for game highlights. I’m awful at paying attention to football. I would go to games to spend time with my dad.

We had a fun time at the game nonetheless. We went with my mom, my sister, brother-in-law, and baby nephews (it was the boys’ first bowl game). We started the evening with two small pouches of Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream for my mom and I that cost us well over $15 (yikes!). I got Banana Split, and mom got Cookies N Cream.

They had the Leap Frogs sky dive before the game and sang the United States National Anthem while a football field-sized American flag was unraveled. At the end of the National Anthem, the Coast Guard flew a helicopter overhead. It was spectacular!

The Leap Frogs sky diving.

One of the sky divers dove with the American flag.

The Coast Guard flying over after the National Anthem.

What was not as spectacular this year as in previous years was the halftime show. The two teams’ respective bands played, which was phenomenal, but after the bands played, they usually have gradeschool bands and dance teams play and dance while a spectacular fireworks show went along with it. Well, let’s just say that two of the fireworks machines broke, and one of the “working” ones shot off sideways and almost hit a security guard! There was nothing spectacular about this, though it was amusing to watch the techs scramble to get the machines to work (they never did).

What was even worse was that we were promised a “spectacular” fireworks show after the game. This show was even less spectacular than the halftime show. They were going to use drones throughout the show as an extra bonus, but the drones stopped working and were permanently grounded, flashing their lights in sad disarray. This led to confusion and awkward moments of periodic silence other than the music that was supposed to be synchronized to the fireworks and drone show. Even when there were fireworks going, they too were not synchronized very well to the music. This made the vast majority of the crowd upset. They made us wait for over an hour after the game for the show to even start! It was quite frustrating!

The fireworks trying their hardest.

They really did try, and I feel bad for all of the techs that had worked so hard to try to put this show together.

Even though some parts of the night were disappointing, it was still a lot of fun and made for some great, funny memories with my family.

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season in 2022, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

Christmas 2022

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Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Christmas, family, fun, happy, Holiday, Holidays, Life, My Family, my life, Presents, Writer, Writing

Since I want to be a supportive wife and learn more about Shawn’s religion, I started celebrating Christmas when Shawn and I started to seriously date.

This year, we celebrated Christmas at Shawn’s parent’s house. We opened stocking stuffers and presents which consisted of chocolates and pez/pez dispensors, a flash drive that can be used on IPhones, a fancy “beware of dog” sign, new Gymkhana boots, and an Instant Pot. Shawn got a bunch of presents too that he really wanted including an Ember mug, a hand-held vacuum cleaner, and custom shot glasses.

A neighbor came over and had dinner with us, the after, Shawn and I had a good well-deserved lounge on his parent’s couch while watching TV.

The charcuterie board Shawn and his mom made for us to snack on.

The baked Brie cheese with strawberry jam inside and crackers the neighbors brought for us to snack on 🤤

It was such a fun day! I always enjoy spending time with my in-laws.

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson

Hanukkah 2022

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Blog, Blogger, family, fun, Hanukkah, Holidays, Life, My Family, my life, Party, personal, Writer, Writing

This past year, Hanukkah was very quiet without my dad. My dad, when he was alive, would have huge, extravagant Hanukkah parties for anyone who wanted to attend. This year, it was quiet, but it was also nice.

On December 24th, Shawn and I went down to San Diego to visit my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and baby nephews (it was their first Hanukkah), as well as a special appearance by my brother. We went to mom’s house first and drove the Porsche around for a while. After, we went and visited my dad at his gravesite. It was hard, but I talked to him for a while and updated him on how life was going. Then, we went to my sister and brother-in-law’s house to celebrate Hanukkah. We watched some of Ghosts, then we played with our baby nephews, Ben and Sam, ate potato latkes (both original and veggie-based instead of potato-based), lit the menorahs, then opened presents.

My mom got me some new Blundstone work and riding boots, Harry Potter pajamas, a wooden dreidel, and chocolate coins. My sister and brother-in-law got me a unicorns and llamas monopoly game and what was supposed to be a new leather halter for Lukka, but it turned out to be an oversized bridle that they sent us, so it is to be returned and exchanged for the correct item. My brother got me a wine and tea tumbler with a horse and a silly saying engraved upon it.

Baby nephews enjoying their first Hanukkah.

The whole family!

My new pair of Blundstone boots.

My new Harry Potter Pjs that are way too comfortable.

My new wine/tea tumbler that my brother gave me!

My new Unicorns and Llamas Monopoly game that I can’t wait to play! 😃

We had a great time with my family, and I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families as well, and until next time, Happy Trails!

-NotYourAveragePerson