Introducing.....Derby Gal!

Welcome to my blog!

After almost a year of friends telling me to start up a blog, I finally did it. If you're an old friend, thanks for the encouragement! If you're a new friend (which anyone who takes a peek at this thing is), welcome! Hope you all enjoy my little ramblings.

As you can tell from my Blog line, I am an avid horse racing fan. Heck, an avid HORSE fan! Want to know who won the 1929 Kentucky Derby? Interested in the latest dialogue of who is the best filly of 2009? You've come to the right spot. I'm not a big gambler....I just love the horses and humans that make the sport so great. Churchill Downs is my Mecca, and the Derby is my Christmas and Birthday Party wrapped into one. In fact, I host a Derby Party every year that starts with multiple e-mails to my friends (who indulge my passion) about the horses, and culminates in a big bash at my house, with food, fun, hats, dresses and many, MANY mint juleps. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!!

So why do I live in Georgia, you ask? Well, I've made the attempt to move to Kentucky many times, but life, as it tends to do, just gets in the way. (I'll explain more of that later.) So to temper my horsey needs, I take riding lessons twice a week near my home. I'm learning about dressage, which is hard to do, and fun to learn.

Even though horses are a huge part of my life, this blog doesn't just cover the equine. I am embarking on my second year of marriage to a wonderful man, who puts up with the horse crazy, and who I can be serious and silly with. (He took me to the Kentucky Derby the first year we were together. Of course I married him! LOL) I also have a great wealth of friends and family...we all look out for each other, love each other, and have fun with each other. I also have a long haired black cat named Smokey, who is like my kid. I am a very lucky woman, you see. In most ways.

One of the most defining things about myself is the absence of my mother. You see, my Mom and I were the best of friends; thick as thieves. But she was taken from me, by cancer, in 2005. I was 25. I miss her every day of my life; a loss like that shapes you....changes the way you look at things. But I'll save more of this discussion for a later blog.

What else? I love to travel, read anything and everything, keep up with pop culture, and listen to music full blast, while singing at the top of my lungs. Life is to be lived to its fullest, and I plan on checking everything off my bucket list.

So now you have a little taste of who I am. I'm hoping this blog will be a fun look at my love of the horse racing world, as well as share some insights on the people, animals and places that shape my everyday. So, sit back, relax.....and get ready to laugh, cry, gasp and smile. I hope you enjoy!

Peace, Love and Reins......DG