Competing in the Mile High City

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, to say the least.

It always surprises me at how many things I use in a week...and that all of those items can be squashed into a couple of bags if I try hard enough. Yep...on January 8th I left on a vacation to the mile high city (a.k.a. Denver, Colorado). I guess it wasn't really what most people would consider a vacation - to be exact it was a trip with my two amazing team mates (Alexandra and Jarret), our coach, and my mom to the Western National Roundup to compete in the Hippology contest. And by the way...Hippology is the study of horses...not of hippos.

To say that we had an amazing time would be an understatement...

Denver and the surrounding area are absolutely gorgeous. 

I think I could easily have filled up the week by just taking pictures of the scenery...and lots of them.

Alexandra and Jarret are pretty amazing team mates.

After hours of studying and lots of preparation to get there, the Lord blessed us by allowing us to place 7th overall out of 17 teams. We had a ton of fun, did our best, and left the results in God's hands! (Jarret did a great job putting up with four girls for the week!)

Even though parts of the contest we a little bit stressful, it was a joy-filled, relaxing week. To be honest, horse judging and team problems are not my strong points, but I thank God for calming my nerves and reminding me that my weaknesses are simply a chance for His strength to be revealed through me. My verse for the week was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

When you're in a place where over 30 states are represented, you meet a lot of new people!

We made some great friends - although it's sad to think that we may never get to see them again.

Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas...and even Iowa!

This is probably the biggest hotel that I've ever stayed in...

and to make it even better it had a cool glass elevator  :)

A huge highlight of the week was the Freestyle Reining competition at the Western National Stock Show. Quite impressive...

Did I mention that Starbucks coffee is essential for long trips?

And that I absolutely love the scenery in Denver?

Well, that about sums up the trip. I know that was a lot of photos and quite a few words...but thanks for sticking around :)

Now that my routine is getting back to normal, I hope to be a bit more active around here.

Hope you're having a lovely week!