How's the ranch life?

This is the question I’ve been getting a lot lately. I’m not totally sure how to answer that question because I haven’t solidly wrapped my head around the fact that I’M WORKING AT A RANCH (and this has been a dream of mine since the urge to be with horses took hold in January). This is mostly my fault because I think my little stressed self had a hard time believing that someone would actually hire me. My life has not been the easiest for a lot of years so I just didn’t spend much time thinking about what life would be like after I started this job, just in case something happened to curtail it.

When I'm in a stall or paddock, I think about how much I’ve fought the waves of change. How I haven’t been as authentic as a could have been, and how I’ve been so timid with expressing who I am. I’m not very proud of this last year of my life, I feel like in many ways I’ve failed. There have been a few bright and shining moments where my head finally surfaced above the clouds and I actually got to SEE what I have and what I’m living, but many, many of them have been marked by fear.

So here’s what I’m learning now: the lesson that I have to learn over and over and over again. Surrender. I will never be able to control every aspect of my life. I may never know what the next six steps are. I may never know what’s next. But I am choosing to believe that whatever’s next, it will be OK. I have 50 years to tell me that whatever comes, I will BE OK. In the next month I will likely be sleeping out in the wildness with a herd of beloved horses or traveling to another country. I don’t know which pasture and if I for sure will be moving the herd, but I’m choosing to believe that whatever it is, that’s the place I'm suppose to be in. I’m choosing to remember that my life has always been orchestrated in ways more beautiful than I could ever have planned myself. I’m choosing to stop fighting the waves.

So anyway, how’s the ranch life? Right now I’m ENVELOPED IN THIS AWESOME ATMOSPHERE. I think it’s good. I keep looking at each horse I feed or water, across the stall, or across the paddock and I feel so incredibly thankful. I get to spend the rest of my life doing something like this. Most horses are incredibly patient with me and I think back to what I wished for, 4 years ago, when I was taking all of those blind steps forward, not knowing where I was going. I think back to those times when the hope of what could be in the future was all that got me through. And I realize that those things I hoped for, those things that I wanted deep in my bones, THOSE are the things I got. It’s like someone knew me and made it all happen. Love, Sharon

On Course...

Back in July of 2011, I was just dipping my toes into mountain biking when my friend Dave of www.GO-AR.com announced 12 Hours At Night, a bike relay race which repeats around an 8-mile loop at Pioneer Park/Brownlow Trails in Prescott. The challenge was to complete as many loops as possible in 12 hours... at night... all night. I was game for it, but had only had 3 weeks from the time I found out about the race until the race itself – so I just winged it – and loved it. Completing 4 loops, this served as a successful starter solo race for me, even though I did not place.

Now at the cusp of spring 2012, I am registered for a duathlon (GORD) on March 17th. It's kind of a do-over because the biking leg is the same course/same location as the previous race and luckily only has to be biked once. Again, with it being local and sprint style (1.5 mile run/8.2 mile bike/2.2 mile run) this race is perfect for my first attempt. The running is going to be the most challenging, especially the last 2-mile leg at the end.
The last couple weeks I have been "training" by myself in between work and jewelry work, and even after work (once). I have been thinking grander by not over-extending myself and feeling pretty confident. Today I plan to meet up with a mountain biking group called 8 to 80 (basically because it's for all ages) and hopefully make some more athletic progress, if you can call it that. We're meeting at Granite Basin at the Wekuvde parking area just on the outskirts of Prescott. I am not sure whether to go with the easy group or the advanced, as we usually like to divide up based on our skill levels. My bike is having a slight issue shifting slower into higher gears which then gives me a jolt once it clicks in. I am planning to have some one look at this for me in the coming week.

Wow—I can't believe the race is in 1 week! The burning question is: Is the "reward" the race itself or what happens afterwards? – *with a big smile* – who knows? BOTH!! Wishing you all a great week ahead. Xo, Sharon Marzonie

Random Saturday

Yesterday my aunt and uncle drove up from Phoenix to visit me (they are out here from Ohio). We ate out for both lunch and dinner with lots of visiting time. In between Chris took us on a "driving tour" around Prescott and to The Canyons, a place that is visually amazing with unique homesites nestled into the boulders. It's always a mixture of emotions when I have to say goodbye to my aunt because we know there might be years that go by before we meet up again...and my uncle is 80! There's the selfish, busy woman in me who is very happy not to mingle or meddle too much with family. But the niece in me loves them very much because they are special people. Xo, Sharon