When I was in high school, I said “Howdy” a lot. I used it as my default AOL instant messenger greeting (these were pre-texting days). I wrote it on my notebook. Howdy was part of a horse lover, upbeat, awkward identity my adolescent self was struggling to find. Because of my howdy’s, my friends would joke with me that I belonged in Texas. Back then, fourteen-year-old Lauren would never have guessed that she’d end up living in the Lone Star state…
Even though I’ve lived in Austin for seven years, I’ve never been to a Texas beach. It seemed like native Texans were the most hard on them. “Don’t bother!” “Watch out for flesh eating bacteria.” “You’re not missing anything.” “It depends on how recently the tractor has drug for seaweed.” Still, I like to explore around where I live so I decided to round up some friends to rent a house for a weekend in the sun. And honestly? It…
I’ve always had a sort of horsey travel bucket list of destinations I wanted to go to solely for their horse factor. Since I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a bit in my life and consider myself a bit of an adventurer, I’ve actually got to cross a lot of those destinations off my list. Kentucky for all this horse. Vienna for classical dressage. Wellington for Hunter/jumper land. You know what isn’t covered in that list above? Quarter Horses. Despite…
The road that brought me to where I am right now with my two beloved Thoroughbreds has been an interesting one. If you told me when I moved to Texas six years ago that I’d eventually own two hunter/jumper Thoroughbreds at a show barn, I would have laughed in your face. Though my background has always been in (struggle bus) hunter/jumper, I wanted to do AQHA when I first moved here. I figured that Texas was a Quarter Horse state if…
One’s sense of home is a funny thing. I’ve written about it a lot on the blog in the past year, whether it was trying to figure out where to live or buying a new house. Though the front of my house still looks like a construction zone, I’m not struggling with “home” as much these days. Partially I wonder if my assimilation into Texan is complete, although I’m sure my native Texan friends would disagree with me. The droning rain…
When my mom was visiting most recently, we headed out for a day of wine tasting and shopping in Texas hill country. While we played the “let’s see which white is the least sweet on this tasting menu,” a glorious idea happened. It’s the fall Thoroughbred season at Retama Park! My mom had never been to a horse race before, and going to the races in Texas was on my 30 under 30 list… so we headed out to the…
There are two types of “country.” One is your typical rolling hills, old tobacco fields, rustic barn with beams and a warm cozy hay loft. Think old Virginia plantations, Kentucky bluegrass or even parts of my home state in North Carolina. This country is pronounced con-tree. Then we have the sticks, the outskirts of a major city that aren’t quite rural but not quite metropolitan either. Some questionable trailers, one or multiple broken down cars in the yard… Even the…
I’m trying to get better about getting out and taking pictures more often. Have way too much camera equipment to waste sitting around. Of course, a little weekend getaway is the perfect excuse for that. Here’s an assortment of pictures from our Labor Day weekend trip to Fredericksburg, Texas and Enchanted Rock State Park.