My favorite pony, Nobie, out to pasture

This year, the public schools in Ottawa Country switched staffing agencies that provide them their substitute teachers.  For me, this means that instead of reactivating my membership quickly and easily online and jumping right back into subbing, I have to apply and be accepted into an entirely new and different agency.  The process is time-consuming and filled with paperwork, fingerprinting and background checks.  While I've been waiting to be officially approved and hired, I've been working at the Hope College bookstore, spending a lot of time at the college library and most recently, volunteering with Renew Therapeutic Riding.


I grew up with horses and miss being in the barn so when I spotted a flier at Hope stating the need for volunteers at Renew, I emailed them right away and attended the next orientation.  Renew is a non-profit organization almost completely run by volunteers.  The program promotes therapeutic riding for youth and adults with special needs.  The idea behind therapeutic riding is teaching and practicing independence through horsemanship.  Being mounted on a horse allows people with special needs the opportunity to use new muscles, practice balancing, conquer fears and control a very large animal by themselves.  Before I'd ever volunteered with Renew, I had always admired the potentially transformative power of being around horses and animals in general.  Spending summers on the farm from age 8-14 taught me cooperation, responsibility, leadership, creativity and problem-solving.  But most importantly, it was a lot of fun!



So far I have really enjoyed working with Renew; the community of volunteers is incredible, the facility is beautiful, the ponies are adorable and the students are at times hard to calm down because of their enthusiasm.  I knew I would enjoy being around horses again - grooming them, petting them, feeling the weight of a saddle in my hands while wearing boots and jeans - but I wasn't fully prepared for how moving the interactions are with the students.  My job as a volunteer varies from leading the horses while students ride or walking alongside students making sure they stay safely mounted.  Most of the time the students are so excited they can barely contain themselves and they like to talk to the volunteers and horse handlers about it.  This week I worked with four students and four different ponies (Nobie, Tucker, Bear and Lizzy).  Some of the student comments include: "I'm having a blast!", "I feel like a very strong man" and "I'm the best cowboy in the world!".

Truthfully, I suspect that the program might be just as therapeutic for the volunteers as for the participants.   Come and join us!

I've been excited about getting back into running while in Holland as there is plenty of space to run, it's safe, clean, beautiful and relatively free of traffic.  But more importantly, Holland has a large community of friendly and motivated runners to exercise with.  For the first time, I've signed up to train for a race with a group and am participating in the Priority Health Run Camp run by Gazelle.  The camp includes lots of clinics on health, nutrition, cross and strength training as well as two organized group practices a week.  One is speed training and the other is long distance; each practice is divided into groups that run at a certain pace.


The first practice was this Saturday and though I didn't relish rising in the cold and dark wee hours of a weekend morning, I did enjoy getting the workout done at the beginning of the day and with the encouragement of others.  We were a pretty ridiculous sight at Kollen Park at 7:45 a.m.  Clad in neon, leg-hugging tights and shod in "Yak-Trax" the excited attitude of the lead runners of each pace group was positively effervescent.  The beautiful sunrise helped a little too.

I haven't run in awhile and I opted for the low-mileage group who went three miles but most people ran much more.  It was really fun having people to run with and I met a lot of new running buddies.  I know that my enthusiasm might wane as training progresses and that my motivation will dip along with the temperature so I hope that Run Camp will help get me out the door and moving in preparation for the Riverbank Run in May.  Interested in joining? Let me know and we'll get you signed up!

Home sweet home smells especially good when Mom makes a big pot roast for Sunday dinner.  I think it's got to be my all time favorite food and it's nice to have a chance to sit around the table together when the weekdays have us all off and running in different directions.  After dinner we played cards (Five Crowns - highly recommend!) and now it's time for Downton Abbey and a fire in the fireplace.  It's shaping up to be one of those perfect winter Sundays.

Afternoon fire in the fireplace (all photos courtesy of my sister, Sue)

This year's Christmas tree on the deck

One of my favorite things to do at home is to hang out with family by the fire.  The view is especially beautiful from the hearth this year because my parents decorated an outside Christmas tree on the deck. All of the ornaments are natural and handmade and include things like oranges, berries, wood, feathers and birdseed.  When the lights are on and it's covered in snow, the tree is a pretty awesome sight.



While warming by the fire on the weekends, Sean and I have enjoyed watching movies, snacking, napping, watching football, doing the crossword and watching the season premiere of Downton Abbey (!).  Having a cozy place to curl up with family nearby has definitely made the transition from tropical to icy weather much more enjoyable and it's something I look forward to every year.