Enjoyed My Birthday - Jessika Lester

Well November 9 was my birthday and I turned 20 years old! I could not have been happier to not only have turned 20, but to have gotten the pleasure to live to 20 and I hope I have more years to come! My birthday fell on a Saturday which everyone was telling me to have a huge party, but that sounded like to much work, and a lot of cleaning up after that would have been involved so instead I skipped that and enjoyed it was my family at first... then later that night went to a friend’s house instead and had people over and just socialized and played corn hole with some great friends. They had a garage that they had stuff to do in and outside they had a burn barrel and music playing while they were throwing corn hole. I couldn't have wanted it any other way and was so thankful for how it went! The only thing that was a little disappointing was that I couldn't drive my truck to the party or get together you could call it as well, because I had lost it! That wasn't very exciting however everything else was very fun!

 

Making JJ Lawhorn Music Video - Jessika Lester

Around a year ago from this month, I was asked to be in JJ Lawhorn's music video. That was a no brainer! Of course I wanted to go! I remember when I was asked I was extremely excited and couldn't wait to go. I messaged Professor Sweeney telling him about what I was invited to do and he gave me the okay when I had to miss class (thanks again for that). Next thing I had on my mind was what am I going to wear?! There was so much I had going on in my head but I couldn't wait till that day arrived! When the day finally came I was anxious to see how it was going to play out. When I got there I unloaded my horse, got her saddled up, rode around for a little bit and met some new people who turned into good friends. Next it was time to make the music video. We all gathered around and said what we were going to do (after every scene), until the whole thing was put together. We all said our goodbyes and took pictures together to remember this awesome event we all had encountered together and a year later we will always have this music video to look back on! Check it out! If your wondering which one I am, I am the blonde wearing the white jacket! ENJOY!!  

 JJ LAWHORN - YOU CAN TELL A MAN BY HIS TRUCK

Meeting JJ Lawhorn Part 2 - Jessika Lester

We were walking around and I remember feeling someone grab my arm and I then turned around seeing a cute blonde with the biggest smile on her face just smiling at me, I couldn't help but smile back at her even though I had no clue of who she was! She didn't say hi, she didn't even say hey, he response was "do you want to go backstage with Colt Ford?" I was speechless with a smile still on my face, I turned around looking at my friend who had a her eyebrows up in the air and a half grin on her face, probably still in shock of this girl asking that. I told my friend Kendall that lets follow her and see if she is for real, I thought she might have been drunk and was playing a prank but I was willing to see how it ended. On our way walking through the crowd as she is still latched to my arm, she said JJ told me to go find some pretty girls and that why she got us, which made my day! We got up to were the crowd was packed the most at because its where the country stars were about to pass and we waited there for a second with a couple other girls, I started talking to Melody ( the girl who grabbed me) and I started talking to her, finding out that this was actually JJ sister! She was the sweetest thing ever! JJ then came out and smiled at us asking if we were ready to get on the tour bus! OF COURSE! It was taking some time so I thought that maybe this wasn't really going to be happening but when he came back he pulled the line up and the cops watched us as about five girls walked under the line, my friend and I being two of them! We got on the bus and we met Colt Ford, it was an awesome experience that I am so thankful that I got to be apart of!  

A picture of Kendal and I on the Colt Ford tour bus, if you look under the TV there is the drummer for Colt Ford

Meeting JJ Lawhorn Part 1 - Jessika Lester

Around this time last year I was offered a spot to be in an upcoming music video with JJ Lawhorn. I had saw JJ for the first time at Fort Lee military base where he opened up for Chris Young, also a country singer. When I saw him come across the stage I was a little puzzled as to what he was going to do. He didn’t look like a country singer because of how he was dressed and the fact that he has long hair! But I didn’t want to judge before I had heard him. He started talking and I could immediately tell from his deep thick southern drawl that this was going to be good! He started singing and my jaw dropped! I was speechless to the music that came out of his mouth! It was awesome! I saw he was signing and taking pictures with people but by the time I went looking I couldn't find him again. I was a little disappointed but what could I do! I then went to the country fest which had three country singers Colt Ford, Darious Rucker, and Brantley Gilbert. Hearing them in the back ground as I walked around it was nice, then I heard the start of one of JJ Lawhorn songs, my eyes immediately turned to the stage as I saw him up there opening before Colt Ford came on. I was in shock and so excited that I got to see him perform again! After he performed I was walking around and right before I knew it, JJ was in the crowd walking around so I grabbed my friend by her arm and told her to come take this picture for me! I walked up to him and asked if I could take a picture with him, and he replied "why yes you can sweetheart". I took the picture with him, smiled gave him a hug and walked off! My friend didn’t know who he was and starting asking me about him, when I told her he was a country singer she wanted to find him again and get a picture with him. Therefore the journey begins with finding him! We were walking around and I remember feeling someone grab my arm and I then turned around seeing ....... to be continued on next blog!  

Taking Fall Pictures - Jessika Lester

For the past month I have been setting up, and getting children together for their fall pictures. The fall pictures consisted of a background of a tractor, orange and yellow flowers, and as cute wagon! The children were so excited to have their picture taken, or it might have been just a way for them to get out of class! I took pictures from infants to four year old. Must I say infants are extremely hard to take pictures for! But in the end the pictures turn out good after putting hard work into it! Sometimes taking pictures can be stressful when the lighting is off and you have to constantly move stuff around and if it’s not looking right you have to move stuff all around again, I can get pretty irritated! However, I always seem to pull through because I think the pictures turn out great! I am now starting to sell the pictures that I put hard work into and I really love that because I get to do what I love and get paid for it! It doesn't get much better than that! Now I have to stop writing because we are starting to come up with ideas on the next paper! God bless!  

Saturday nights rodeo - Jessika Lester

Saturday night I attended the Blackstone, Virginia rodeo. When I arrived there I was extremely pumped for this rodeo because it is my all time favorite. I actually missed my prom to attend this rodeo because I like it that much. As soon as I got there I went ahead and saddled up my horse and was warming her up, even though she wasn't die to run for another good two hours. You still need to have to stretch their legs. When I was in the warm up pen, I was riding around with my friends Amber, and Brooke. I couldn't help but hear the announcer calling for check. After he got all the wires connected right he made an announcement about the rodeo. Welcoming people to Blackstone and saying we are looking for three teams of three to participate in the steer wrestling. My friend Amber and I looked at each other and smiled. I knew what that meant. We both said lets do it at the same time, so there we went to sign up and put Brooke down as well to because after we told her what we were doing she said she wanted in. After about ten minutes of still warming up the announcer came back over the intercom and said we are still looking for two other teams (making us the only ones to have signed up) and then he mentioned "and guess what, the only team signed up as of now, are three girls" My friends and I threw our hands up making some noise showing that we were going to be doing it. Shortly after two more teams had gotten together from out of the crowd and attended the steer wrestling as well. After My run, in which Lover (my horse) did great, it was time for the steer wrestling. We were the first to get out bull, and the first one to get the ribbon tied on his tail (what the object was to do) to the guy in the red shirt who was waiting to see who finished first. However, another boy caught up to Brooke and she played it off as she didn't get there first when she really did so they ended up giving it to he other team, which made me a little mad. But we all had fun so that's all that matters.



https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200918953760957&set=vb.1378841333&type=2&theater

The link to go to for the video!

What my weekend consisted of... photography - Jessika Lester

My favorite thing to do in the world is ride a horse. But when I’m old, I wanted to have something that I could keep forever for when I wouldn't be able to ride again so I started taking pictures so that I could always look back on the good times. After I started taking pictures of my horse and I, and getting people to take some for me, I felt as though I really had become addicted to taking pictures. I was inspired by the beauty of every picture and what I was capable of making them look like. I felt as though I might really be taking off on a great hobby that I could also make money in. When I started taking pictures for other people I was afraid they might not turn out like I planned, but the good Lord has blessed me I feel with an eye to see the beauty in any picture. People were so pleased with my work they began wanting to do more sessions with me and then I would have their family and friends want them done as well. So now I am able to do something I love and make money from it. Can you say a double plus? Here are some pictures of me, that I have done. 

Just some good ole girls doing what they love - Jessika Lester

Two weeks ago I was able to attend nationals which was held in Lexington, Virginia for barrel racing.... of course! Talking about a good time! I had all my rodeo friends there attending this amazing event with me and my boyfriend was finally able to come which I got him and myself a ticket for parking in a handicap spot. Oops! On with my story, I was able to set some personal records for myself and my horse! we feel into the whole there and barely missed placing, but I am determined that next time we will come out there with not just a belt buckle, but money as well! I am entered into a rodeo in Blackstone, Virginia coming up in a couple of weeks. If anyone is interested in attending a rodeo for the first time, or just to get out the house and do something its about a 45 minute ride but is well worth it! There is barrel racing, bull riding, calf roping, and tons of more interesting stuff! Here is some information if you want to check it out!

 

Hope to see y'all there!

To wrap things up with a video finally..... Jessika Lester

After my beach vactaions it was time to head down to Perry,Georgia. Before summer had kicked in I had been competeing with my horse Lover, or as her show name would be called Lover Girl to try making it into Youth World. Which is One of the highest callings for barrel racing. I got a letter saying that I had qualified for the first year ever! I was so thankful to be able to be given this oppurtunity to compete with girls all over the world. I took everything that I had learned down with me to Georgia hoping just to keep all the barrels up and have a safe run. All was well and I did end up having two very great runs and placed 55th out of 1,500 that were there trying to take home a brand new trailer that each division winner would be taking home with them. Even though I didnt place first and take home a wonderful trailer I was still happy just to have been apart of this dream! I will keep trying to make it back and hopefully only move up in my times and one day, take one of the trailers home with me!

It's that time again! -Jessika Lester

              School is back in session and this time I was ready for it to start again! Only because hopefully this will be my last year if I can squeeze in an extra class here and there! I'm going to start by wrapping my summer up and say some of what I enjoyed most about it! To start off my summer, I headed out to Nags Head North Carolina for "beach week". It was really fun and I got to hang out with a lot of friends that I hadn't seen for a couple of years. When I got back home, I had a week to stay home again before I was off on the Carnival Cruise Line, setting sail to the Bahamas! I thought I would have enjoyed my time more on the ship then what I actually did. However being confined knowing that I only had from one end to the other to explore with two and a half days of seeing nothing but the "deep blue sea" and I literally mean deep blue, I found that I was ready to see some land again! We stopped at Grand Turks, Free Port, and Half Moon Cay. That was interesting to see all the different islands because you could really see there is more out there then what you are limited  to at home. I remember asking a man how he liked living in Grand Turks and he told me he loved it. He said that It was always seventy five degrees and a one point of a certain season (I can’t remember which one) That the hump back whales come in and mate and he goes out scuba diving with some of the locals and they get to swim with these amazing creatures, and he said that they are so big, that when you swim to where you are completely in front of their eye, that you can see your whole body’s reflection. To me, I found that as a jaw dropping event to be a part of because it amazes me how in creditably enormous these whales are! This is not my whole summer and I will finish in the next blog! Thanks for reading!

Beach Week with some crazy friends

                                                 In Grand Turk, Bahamas soaking up some sun!

Konna - Jessika Lester

 

By far I love horses as my favorite animals, but one animal that has truly been a blessing to me is my puppy Konna. I saw and picked out Konna when she was five weeks old and might I say I was blessed with the best dog in the world. Konna is a white Labrador retriever who is now five months old and growing like a weed. She is intelligent with knowledge that scares me sometimes because it’s almost as if she is too smart for being a puppy. When I’m not having exactly the best day, she defiantly has a way of bringing my happiness back out of me and I’m so thankful for that. Some people don’t appreciate how much a dog can change a person’s life, or they don’t believe that a four legged animal is even capable of changing a person’s life, but I for a fact know that they can.

Konna is always making me laugh whether she is playing fetch with herself, running into stuff, throwing pizza rolls up in the air and trying to catch them, tormenting the poodles we have, darting into the utility room to get in the cage to get a treat, rolling every times she lays down, or running around in circle until she can’t move no more. I can’t help but laugh every time I am with her, and I thank God that he has put her into my life.    

Mud Bog - Jessika Lester

Something I really enjoy a lot is going to mud bogs with friends. I love the sound of lifted trucks coming into the facility and their trucks look like they have just been air bushed painted or they are so muddy that you can barely see the person who is driving it and you don’t know if someone else is in the truck because it is covered in mud. The driver usually has cleared a circle big enough to see out of in front of where he/she is sitting so that he/she can see some what where to go. I attended the Good Friday Mud Bog March 29, and may I say that was a good time. I got to see a bunch of my friends that I hadn’t seen since graduating which was really nice to catch back up and then I got to see the trucks run through the mud. Which to some people it may sound stupid or boring, however it something that I love to be a part of and if I had a truck to mess up and be able to run through the mud, I would defiantly be out there trying to compete against the guys.

People may call us a bunch of "rednecks" for doing activity’s that consist of running through the mud, or some people say we have nothing better to do without lives, but the way I see it, if it makes you happy and keeps you out of trouble, do it. If people don’t like what you do, don’t worry about it. More than likely they probably wish they could do the stuff you do and as a jealousy, they hate on you for that!

Never Settle For Less, Barrel Racing - Jessika Lester

I have always wanted to barrel race since I was little. I started when I was about seven years old and haven't stopped since then. My passion for the sport is unbelievable I strive for the best every time the timer starts and I'm on the clock trying to knock out my competition. The adrenalin that takes over my body is what I live for. There is a power so big beneath you that it was once untamable and now you’re on its back about to let all its power take action and go. People don't realize the power a horse has and what they are capable of doing that's another reason why I love barrel racing so much is so that people can see that horses are intelligent and extremely strong animals. Barrel racing also is not easy. They say "awh its nothing to run around barrels", think again. There is so much thinking involved that if you miss one out of several things you have to remember you might as well pack up and head home because you’re not going to win. It takes a lot of concentration and a lot of multitasking to be able to barrel race. Not only that, you are working with an animal that also has a mind of its own at times and it might refuse to do something you want him/her to do with can be frustrated but then again I like a challenge.

  

Photography - Jessika Lester

Photography

Photography is something that I have come to love. I started doing photography when I was about 15 years old. I couldn’t get past how much could be said in a picture without any words being said at all. I started off with a little pocket sized camera which was nice at first but I knew I could see myself going further into the photography life.

My mom saw how much I was starting to take hold onto photography and decided to help me take a big step into getting a professional camera with the lens and everything you could imagine. When I first got the camera, I couldn’t put it down. I was taking pictures of anything and everything! I really enjoy taking pictures of my horses the most. With the new camera that I got, I compared the pictures to the one I had been using before and wow did it make a big difference!

Since getting the new camera, I got a tripod as well. I love the tripod! I love looking through the lens and snapping pictures of people’s memories, that they can have and keep for a life time, but I also like to do that for myself as well! Since picking up photography I have been able to capture wedding, senior, anniversary, and maternity pictures! I hope to continue this hobby and see how far I can get with it!  

Some pictures I have taken

Skeet Shooting - Jessika Lester

Skeet Shooting

Something I have come to enjoy doing recently is skeet shooting! I enjoy the challenge of taking a gun and hitting a target up in the air! I came across this sport when I came home one day and saw my brother and a bunch of his friends shooting the gun at Frisbee like disk that are being slung up into the air. I thought to myself how hard could this really be, I mean you have a scope. Thinking that I could be a professional at first I walked over to my brother Ryan and his friends and asked if I could try. My brother started laughing and said “yeah sure let’s see what you can do”

I grabbed the gun, loaded it and proceeded in the stance to get ready for them to “pull” or release the skeet up into the air. I yelled “pull’ and the florescent orange fisk went flying in the air. POW ….. I turned and looked at my brother and his friends and said “ I think I missed it”. They started laughing at me because I couldn’t hit one to save my life the whole day!

I knew I would need to practice this before the next time we meet again. So sure enough I went outside and started practicing when my brother wasn’t home. After a couple of weeks, I came home to find them all outside shooting skeet again, this time I was ready. I parked my truck and walked over to them. This time they handed me the gun because they wanted to entertainment at laughing at me because I couldn’t get it last time, little did they know I had been practicing!

I load the gun and get myself situated for them to sling the skeet out for me. I yell, “pull” the skeet disk went sailing out, I rearrange the gun right on where I wanted it to be, pulled the trigger, POW! I look over to my brother and his friends, their jaws were dropped and I gave them a little smile, cocked the gun “chh chh”, blew down the barrel so smoke would come out, handed the gun back to them, and walked inside leaving them with their mouths to the ground!

Me shooting the gun!

Somethings I Enjoy - Jessika Lester

                                                                   

                                                                        Enjoy Life

 

Throughout my life, I have been privileged to be able to do many things in my life. I am all about riding horses, shooting guns, skim boarding, snowboarding, basically any kind of sport I am interested in! I love photography with a passion. It’s something that can express itself with no words and to me that says a lot. I enjoy doing must of these activities in the summer because it is my favorite time of the year! I love going out and laying on the beach! The warmth coming off from the sun darken my skin, with a little wind breeze hitting me is one of the best feelings!

 Just writing about this makes me wish it was summer now! I do like the snow, but I like the beach way better! To me, the beach is a place to go that relaxes the mind and the body. I honestly don’t see how people can hate the beach! I know as soon as I am finish with my last exam at Richard Bland, I will be going to the beach! Even though it’s going to be freezing I’m sure with this crazy weather we got going on, I still want to feel as though it is summer!

Skimboarding

Photograhpy!

(my brother and his fiance)

 

 

 

Summing It Up A Little - Jessika Lester

My Family Summed Up

My mom has been a big role model to me for a long time now. She knows me probably better than anyone walking on this earth. She has stood by me through thick and thin and God knows she is a VERY strong individual. I’ve seen firsthand my mom handle very difficult times, and I hope that when I’m older I take apart of her strengths in life. God really knew what he was doing when he put my mom in charge of me and I couldn’t think him enough!    

When I was born I was raised with my two older brothers, K.J. and Ryan Lester. They are two people that I look up to a lot. K.J., he has the brains of Einstein! He can fix things that I would have never thought could be fixed! If anything of mine (electronically) needs to be fixed, I know who to take it to. Ryan on the other hand, knows everything mechanically that needs to be fixed. I would say I have it made because if my cell phone breaks, I take it to KJ and if something needs to be done to my truck, I take it to Ryan!

I couldn’t have asked for better brothers to have been blessed with. Even though they get on my everlasting nerves at times, I wouldn’t want to trade them for the world. They both have specials places in my heart and I am so thankful to have them in my life today. They have taught me so much in life that I couldn’t have figured out on my own. I think about how many times and memory I’ve been able to share with them and those times are so of the best days of my life.

 



Barrel Racing - Jesiska Lester

Something I enjoy most in my life is barrel racing. The objective of the event is to race around barrels that are set up in the shape of a clover. If you hit over a barrel (which is what you are running around), you will get a five second penalty. It might not sound like much, but you might as well kiss winning goodbye, being that you are trying to knock out people by tenths of a second!

I have been barrel racing since I was 6 years old. I started out at local shows with my first horse Teddy, who had a way of winning anyone’s heart over if you went out to see him. I kept practicing trying to get better and with time, I did. I went on to becoming Grand Champion at the local shows and once I mastered that, I was ready for more competition. I knew if I wanted to step up my game it was time to get a bigger horse, being that Teddy was a smaller horse!

I then got a horse named Lover. This horse was nothing but speed and legs! When I first went to see this horse my mouth literally dropped because I was so happy to have found the horse that I would be starting my new records with. It took some time to get her on the right track because she was fairly new at barrel racing but after we clicked, we have be doning fantastic! She has won me awards, and money, and a memory that I will never forget. This year we did so good, that she placed in every division, and I am going to world this year (biggest event for barrel racing). I’m more than excited to go to world, and I hope that we do great and place!

                LOVERRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Friday through Monday

I thought I was going to walk out of class Friday, due to the lack of agreeing in the class. You can’t always get your way is what I have learned from the past couple of years and sometimes you have to give in on things that you might not want to. I thought my week was only going to get worse from there. However, my weekend ended up going as planned. I got a new truck this past week, so I spent most of my Friday riding around burning gas and showing it to my friends! Then Saturday, I went to a party that ended up being extremely big, being that there was ice all over the road! I never thought that many people would have been out. Then I thought again and remembered it was a Dinwiddie party and we do seem to do dumb stuff! Sunday was okay, but being that I had to catch up on all my homework ended up making it turn into a stressful day instead of a relaxing day. I was hoping that Monday would be a good day, until I walked into English class realizing that we had still yet to agree on a topic! It took us 2 whole class periods to agree on something, but at least that’s over with now!

NEW TRUCK!!!!!!!!

 PARTY!!!!

 

Trying to set up a blogger

I am choosing to write about how I set up my blogger and all the difficultys I had to go throw in order to do so. First, it started with finding my laptop. I couldnt find it in my house to save my life. Come to find out it was in my car! Thinking things would get better now that I had found my laptop, it increasing got worse! I get my laptop and have a seat, open the laptop, go to hit the power button.... it was dead! Great, now all I can think about is where in the world  my charger is. This time I start in my car again hoping that maybe if my laptop was in there that my charger would be to... negative! So I continue to search the house looking for it, then it hits me. I took my laptop to my friends house the other day and remember not unplugging it from the wall. Well now its time to take a ride to go get the charger. I run and get the charger and come back home then finally I am able to sit down and try to make a blogger! The only problem is my laptop keeps freezing! After a couple hours of trying to make a blogger, I finally am able to make one! THANK GOD!

ON A GOOD NOTE, THIS VIDEO ALWAYS MAKES ME LAUGH!

CHECK IT OUT!