Farm Life

  • Sold!

    ByLisa Moorhouse

    Sold my husband’s horse today. It’s sad in ways, he’s a great horse and it’s hard not to get attached, but my husband doesn’t have the time or the urge to ride often enough to make it worth him having his own horse. With 4 riding horses I’m overwhelmed with needing to ride them all to keep them in shape, and since I’ve been training this year (end of summer until now) for the marathon I haven’t been riding nearly enough.
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    Bobbi used to be a show horse and now he’ll go back to that lifestyle and it’ll be good for him to get all the attention and work. While I don’t show myself, I know showing means your horse’s image matters and unhealthy horses don’t look good, so I won’t have to worry about him being taken care of. Also, he’s going to a little girl whose mom is buying him for her for Christmas. What an awesome Mom! So exciting, I have bought ponies for my kids before, but they don’t have the urge to ride yet and I’m waiting patiently for them to decide they got the horse bug! I’m excited to go see Bobbi and his girl when they go to fair next summer, Corey will pull out his big camera and thoroughly enjoy photographing the event I’m sure.

    He is still with us now but he’ll be leaving Monday. I’m glad they didn’t want to just take him today because my husband wouldn’t have gotten to say goodbye. He really did enjoy Bobbi and I’m sure he will miss him. Bobbi taught him how to ride and I love that.

    After Bobbi’s new owner left I did get to ride my mare Solace as well. It was a nice sunny day and not unbearably cold (this is huge for me!). She’s 6 and can be a pistol when we go to an endurance race, imagebut she hasn’t been ridden much this fall and she was an angel in the bosal today. I love how smart and trustworthy my Arabians are, they’ve had no special training, but at any age they seem to be able to retain everything they’ve learned even when they aren’t using it. This could also be bad obviously, if they’ve been taught bad manners, but mine have all been great fortunately.

    We only rode in the arena a couple of miles worth, about 20 minutes, because I didn’t want her to get sweaty. After we finished I let her eat some of the grass that we’re so fortunate to have still. This December has been warm, and while the mud was really bothering me, it was nice to not be shoveling snow and freezing the last few weeks! It’s almost as if Michigan was trying to convince me that it’s not so bad here.

     

  • Crock pot Mac'n'cheese

    ByLisa Moorhouse

    Busy mornings usually leave me feeling lazy, so dinner is crock pot mac’n’cheese. Up with the kids, got them on the bus and horses fed, then an appointment with the chiropractor, the grocery store for dinner supplies, stopped in and helped Corey out with a project at work and then hit the gym.

    I had a light workout today. I ran for a mile at a much faster pace than normal to get my heart rate up, then I did some weight training and decided to come home. I don’t like overdoing my workouts after going to the chiropractor, something about the fact that my bones just got rearranged makes it not seem like a good idea to me.

    My afternoon will be filled with laundry and cleaning up the house. When the kids get home I’m going to go get our babysitter because we’re having her over for dinner and I am gifting her a couple of wonderful It Works skin care products for Christmas. She’s one of the best baby sitters we’ve ever had, she plays with the kids rather than just “watching” them, she doesn’t charge us a fortune so we can afford to go out more often, and my kids LOVE her. I believe that having a good solid babysitter is one of the most important things in my life right now, because honestly I don’t think my hubby and I would be able to make it without our date nights! We try to take at least 2 a month, and sometimes we will have lunch together. When life is crazy and stressful it’s good to be able to take some time out with your partner and remind each other that you are on the same team. 🙂

    I figured I would add the recipe for our dinner tonight as well in case anyone wants to try it out. I haven’t had the finished product yet, but I’m sure it’s delicious! I’ll update with a pic after.

    Crock Pot Mac’n’cheese

    8 oz elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
    4 cups (16 oz) shredded sharp cheddar (I used a couple different cheeses)
    1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
    1 1/2 cups milk
    2 eggs
    1 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon black pepper

    Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Put cooked macaroni in crock pot and mix with all remaining ingredients (set aside 1 cup of cheese). Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and cook on low 5 to 6 hours.

     

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    Doesn’t look like I expected, but was delicious.

     

     

     

  • Brand New Blogger

    ByLisa Moorhouse

    I’ve decided to try my hand at blogging. Since I’m brand new to this I’m totally open to constructive criticism! Feel free to comment or email lisa@notbalanced.com

    So, why Not Balanced? Well I’m a busy mom who is doing her best to balance family, sports, farm, health & fitness, business, etc… Honestly it’s a struggle daily, so in my search for a catchy website name I thought Not Balanced described my life perfectly! Yes, I am attempting daily to find balance, but reality is that even if I get close, I have to start all over again tomorrow!

    Some basic info on me for those who don’t know me:
    I’m a mom of 3, Eli is 8 and Abigail and Isabella are my 5 year old twin girls. I have an amazing husband Corey, who I married in April 2012 (after I was widowed in March 2010). We have a 6 acre farm in Hudsonville, Michigan and at this moment we have 6 horses, 2 dogs, 2 indoor cats, 4 barn cats, 2 finches, 17 laying hens, a rooster, and some fish. 5 of our horses are Arabians, and we have an adorable weanling pony that I’m hoping my girls will love raising. Our dogs are a Doberman we just adopted in November and my son’s daisy dog who we’ve had since he was a tiny puppy. For the most part I’m a stay at home mom, but I also am part of a network marketing company that sells health care products (skin care/vitamins/supplements). I don’t have to work but the extra money is nice and we love the products ourselves so it’s a win-win.

    I’m a dreamer, and a goal setter. I race my horses in endurance and push myself athletically, I’m currently training to run the Houston Marathon on January 18. My first and likely last marathon, it’s grueling, but I’ll be glad to say I did it! I used to love to write, still hoping someday to be able to finish a novel but thought blogging would be a good outlet for my writing needs while everything is so busy at home.

    Looking forward to blogging some of my experiences with attempting balance in my life. Hopefully it’s entertaining/informative and enjoyable to read for you all.

    lisasolace
    My mare Solace and I at AHAM endurance race in July 2014