Awesomeness

Sorry for being the worst blogger ever. I love to write, but doing fun writing on top of school writing is a hard thing to do. I tend to choose fun sleeping or fun sports-watching over fun writing. Because I’m in the middle of finals week I’m literally just going to do a list. A list of what I’ve accomplished in these past year, a list of what I’m grateful for, just a list of awesomeness.

We’ll start off early in the year:

-In February, Jonesy qualified for this upcoming AKC Nationals after nine days of showing.

-In April, Jonesy got a Steeplechase bye and Kelso got a GP bye at the Mid-Atlantic Regional.

-In May, Kelso and I attended World Team Tryouts as an FEO team. This was when I really realized we could take on an international field and do really well. I am so grateful for that weekend and the amazingly supportive competitors.

-In July, all four of our dogs finished qualifying for Cynosports and at the New England regional, Kelso picked up his Steeplechase bye.

September was where everything kind of blew up. School crept up on me very quickly after a busy gap year of teaching, competing and working. I was getting bored in my small town, anxious and ready to leave, but by the time it was here, I was shocked. I was scared, but it was also one of the best months of my life.

-Labor day weekend Jonesy finished his MACH two days before I went to school. His first MACH, my first MACH, the first Ratner MACH, all in 14 months of Excellent B trialing. That dog is incredible.

-I immediately got all my schoolwork done for the next month so I would have the ability to take that full week off for Cynosports. I’m super grateful for my own willingness to set aside a normal social life for the month of September so I could have the opportunity to continue competing at a national level.

-Cynosports 2012: two Steeplechase Semifinalists, a 30th place team, 3rd in GP semis and Kelso came home as the 2012, 26″ National Grand Prix Champion. I’m still shocked. I was happy to run in semis for the first time and thrilled that I put down a clean run, let alone make it into finals!

-Last weekend in September: Kelso qualifies for 2013 AKC Nationals with his last QQ a few days after we got back from Colorado. That was a good week.

-October settled down, more school, less agility. I gave Kelso a good three weeks off from anything but hiking and massage. We did manage to pick up a GP qualifier at the end of the month. I also went and filmed WAO Jumping just before the hurricane!

-The first weekend in November we went to the BARK trial and Kelso grabbed the last standard for his ADCH/LAA-Bronze.

-That weekend, mom took Kelso back to Maine for three weeks. I think it was good for both of us. I had SO MUCH class work. Actually like papers on papers on projects on exams. It was rough. This also let me be a little more normal in terms of a social life. Non-agility people severely underestimate the amount of time an agility dog can take out of your day! hahaha 🙂 I got to go on a crazy trip with some of the coolest people I’ve met at UMass. It was pretty amazing.

-We went to the Thanksgiving Cluster and everyone had some nice runs. One of the highlights of the weekend was definitely baby Zep’s first QQ. He picked up 7th in standard with mom holding his contacts and he and I took 2nd in JWW to big brother Race!  All of the boys did great in ISC as well, but the true highlight was 13 7/8″ Jones taking 2nd in 18″ ISC Jumping to Rush and John. Truly amazing. That dog is ridiculous. He also finished his XF to boot.

-Last week I found out that Kelso has been selected as the 650mm first alternate for the 2013 USA World Agility Open team. I can’t handle it, it never ceases to amaze me.

-Two days ago I went on USDAA’s awards site and found out that Jonesy is the #3 Miniature Schnauzer in history. Kimie, of course, being number one and Stacy’s amazing Krusher at #2, barely ahead of Jonesy! Krusher and Jonesy are both two gambles from ADCH/LAA Silver, which will make them the 2nd and 3rd miniature schnauzers in history to earn that tile. Unbelievable.

Now it’s finals week and I’m tired. I wanna go to bed sooner and sleep later, but I’m studying. I have a trial this weekend in Manchester on the way home for Christmas…errr…politically correct ambiguous holiday break. I get to see my Maine people. I’m very excited, especially since I haven’t been home since September! I can’t wait to see everyone. I’m grateful for all of the amazing opportunities, experiences and amazing people this year has brought to me, but I’m ready for a break.