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.