Hola! Happy Mini Doll Monday! It’s me, Jessa. Today, Jocelyn is teaching me how to ride Coconut. I was pretty nervous, but here’s how it turned out…
“Swing your right leg over, ‘saddling’ from the left side, never the right,” Jocelyn instructed.
I swung my right leg over like she said, and then waited for further instruction.
“Now position yourself comfortably and clutch onto her fur,” Jocci told me next.
After a few more instructions and demonstrations, like different commands and how to make her trot, canter, and walk, Jocelyn finally decided I was ready.
“Are you sure?” I asked hesitantly, my stomach clenching and twisting into knots a sailor would envy. “I – I don’t think I have enough training! We’ve only started today!”
But Jocci only nodded. “You’re a fast learner,” she explained. “You’ve caught on very quickly. Now relax – if you’re nervous, it makes Coconut nervous, too, and the last thing you need is to ride on a nervous animal.”
I gulped. How on earth could I calm down? I was close to shaking! I wasn’t sure I could ever ride Coconut. I loved animals, I truly did – but – what if I fell off? What if I injured myself?!
“What if -” I began, but Jocelyn held up her hand to stop me.
“Behind every ‘what if’ is a new adventure,” she quoted from American Girl. “You’re ready.”
Ready or not, I couldn’t calm down the nervousness in my stomach, but I took deep breaths to steady myself as I swung my leg over.
I sat tall and straight like Jocelyn taught me, and my muscles conformed to a state of riding an animal. I gripped Coconut’s fur tight. I made this clicking sound with my mouth, squeezing my legs ever so gently and Coconut started off!
“You’re doing it!” Jocelyn cried.
Her yell distracted me, though, and I lost my balance. Swiveling my head to look at her, I let go of Coconut’s fur, and then toppled backwards!
I screamed like a little girl. But that’s to be expected – I am a little girl!
I slammed down against the ground hard on my shoulder and back, my skirt flying up.
Jocci ran to me. “Oh, Jessa, I’m sorry! Are you alright?” She offered her hand to help me up, but I jumped up no sooner than she extended it.
I brushed off my skirt. “I’m okay!” I declared. I walked a little stiffly back to Coconut (I wouldn’t think of giving up), but it was a determined walk nonetheless.
“Ready or not,” I whispered to myself as I swung my leg over. My muscles relaxed. My mouth made the clicking sound. I automatically knew what to do – and I was riding!
Jessa’s First Circle on Coco
I was so excited when Coconut took a few steps. Click above to see a video Jocelyn took of my very first circle riding on Coconut! It will open in a new page but still on Delightful World of Dolls.
Look at Coco’s cute little face!
“Thanks for showing me how to ride, Jocelyn!” I thanked her as I gave her a hug.
“No problem – you’re a natural!”
I’ll see y’all later. I’ve got a dog to ride!
Love,
Jessa
P.S. Yesterday, February 28th, was Ellie’s birthday! Stay tuned tomorrow for her birthday post.
P.P.S. Happy Leap Day! Anyone’s birthday today?
Hello Jessa! We are new to your blog and really enjoy it! The Mini Doll post is so cute… ;)
I was told that you previously used Blogger but switched to WordPress. I currently use Blogger but I’m interested in WordPress.
What do you like about WordPress better than Blogger?
What made you switch?
Do you still have the same amount of readers as you did in Blogger?
What’s better about Blogger?
What’s better about WordPress?
Thanks so much for answering my questions!
~OurAmericanGirlDollhouse
Thanks so much for coming to our blog! We’re so glad you liked this post. :D
Here are my answers to your questions…
•We like WordPress better because it’s more professional looking, and I can have more control over the features of my blog.
•I switched because my videos were getting to long to be able to be posted on Blogger, and WordPress let me have longer videos. (Even still, because my videos have more and more in them, I got a YouTube channel and now that is how I post my videos on here.) I could also watermark my photos just by uploading them if I had a certain “plugin.”
•I have more commenters than I did when I was using Blogger, but as for the readers I am not sure because I do not have Google statistics installed.
•I really like Blogger because it looked much cuter and simpler. It had different designs you could choose from instead of having to design everything yourself (minus the header at my Blogger blog- that my dad and I had to make together in Photoshop). Sometimes I still wish I was still using Blogger just because of how cute the design was and how simple it was to use.
•Wordpress is better because even though it’s a little more complex, I have more control over my blog and can customize it more. I have a plugin where my watermark is automatically added to each picture – whereas in Blogger I was painfully having to edit each photo and adding each indivudal watermark myself.
I hoped these have helped you and gave you the information you needed! Thanks for stopping by! :)
Hello Madison! Thanks for all your tips and advice. :) I am becoming very interested in WordPress. Your opinions and advice really have helped me out! And it’s awesome that WordPress will watermark the images for you! :)
Thanks again!
~OurAmericanGirlDollhouse
You’re totally welcome! :) And yeah, it saves me a ton of work! LOL! :)
:) Yes, watermarking takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Thanks again! :)
Welcome! :) :)
:) This is cute! :D :D
Thanks!! :) :)
I love the directions on how to ride. :P
Lol! :)