So I have recently met a wonderful, wonderful new friend named Lins and she's over at Goodbye, Martha. we have discovered that we live in the same state and share alot of the same interests!! So cool, I love reading her blog!! And I love the comments she leaves for me!! It is so strange to me how we meet our new friends here in bloggosphere and come to love each and every one!! So I thank you Lins for my award!! I love it and I can't wait to nominate my 10!!
Here it is!! Isn't it a beauty :~)
"The Honest Scrap award comes with a caveat or two. Firstly, you have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Secondly, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Thirdly, let all the people you've given the award to know that they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something). And finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you."
OK here we go...
1. I am a severe night owl...I just can't sleep when "normal" people do LOL!! I have always been a night owl, where I would like to stay up late but it has gotten really bad in the last year. Last summer my DD started having night terrors where she would get up and do random things and then just scream and cry and say she was so scared!! example: One night I hear her in my office and I go in there to find her rummaging through my drawer and when I asked her what she was doing she said "looking for a knife to kill the bad things"...And I shook her and shook her until she finally woke up and she had no clue why she was downstairs and had no clue what had happened. Well it became so frequent I started staying up until it would happen so I could catch her before she did anything, finally she said video tape it so I can see. Cause like I said she was dead asleep through these episodes..So I did and she was pretty wowed when she watched it...Then it basically just stopped, only has them once in a blue moon now...But my sleep schedule is way off now!!! Ok that one was long...sorry...
2. I am super obsessed with my feet and socks and shoes...I refuse to wear socks that aren't pristinely clean, I never go barefoot not even at home. I always wear my socks and either have slippers or shoes on...Of course except when I sleep :)
3. I am really scared for my kids to grow up...I feel like I will be lost without them!!
4. I always wanted more than 2 kids but for some reason we can't get pregnant...Well we have lost 2 pregnancies, but we have 2 kids...Strange, I always tease my Hubby and say when our daughter is grown we will get pregnant...He doesn't always laugh back :)
5. I can't drink many of the things I love like coffee, red beers, pop...My limit's are water and tea!! But I'm content with that LOL!!
6. I never imagined at this point in my life I would be so happy!! It's very surreal for me...
7. I used to think 30 yrs old was ancient...I'm 30 now, and it's definitely not ancient LOL!!
8. Because I had J so young there is a possibility that I could be a grandma sometime in my 30's *eek*, of course I pound into J's head do everything else first!!
9. I can't stand liar's, I would rather be told the ugly truth than be lied too...
10. I secretly wish I had a good singing voice because I LOVE to sing LOL!!
So there it is...10 things you may not know about me!! NOW I get to pass this award on to 10 fantastic people....All of these great ladies that I choose have great blogs, and I love their open honesty about their lives...The good, the bad, & the ugly!!
1. Paint Girl @ Adventures of the Painted Creek Farm PG, you always take the time to pop in and I love getting your comments!! They always brighten my day :) You are such a great person!! Your love towards people and animals amazes me!! Remember I often say we are alot alike LOL!!
2. Amy @ Our Daily Blessing...Life Amy, I want you to have this because the things you share with us are so vastly personal and I thank you for letting us be there for you..And you are just one heck of a woman, mother, wife and friend!!
3. Paige @ Malfunction Junction Paige, when I first found your blog I was hooked!! I love your total honesty and you just always find a way to make me LOL!!
4. BEC @ BrownEyed Cowgirls BEC, I love how you view things in life and you also always give total honesty!! Your blog is great and I'm so glad to have found you!!
5. Dusty @ Copperponyscowgirl Dusty, your words of inspiration always help me to check myself and I love how you keep it real for me!!
6. Paula @ Broken Y Ranch Paula, you are just an amazing and caring individual!! I am so glad to have met you! Well we will meet in person soon!! Since I too think we are kindred spirits!!
7. KDW @ Blackjack Land and Cattle Company KDW, I love that you are so dedicated to your church and your daughter, and I love getting to see all of her video's!! Your blog is so great to read, nothing like good country roots!!
8. The Wife @ Gizzards & Calf Fries TW, one thing is a must to say about your blog...Your pictures ROCK!! Especially when you throw us a little treat every now and then LOL!!! But serioulsy I love reading your blog and looking at your beautiful pictures!!
9. Jan @ Jan's Place Jan, I love to read about the happenings around your place!! And I love that you are such a great grandma!! Your family is extremely blessed!!
10. GP @ Musings from Montana GP, although I only connected with you recently I already LOVE your blog!! Your stories are great and you are a very deedicated woman!! And you help me think LOL!!
There are many more who deserve this award as well, but I think you ladies are the greatest!! And Lins I second the nomination you got for yours, you definitely deserve it!!
I was posed a question on my last post by GP over @ http://manker.wordpress.com/, she asked me "do I sometimes look at the stuff I'm doing such as horses and trucks and think how'd get here"? As I started answering her question I thought to myself that you all probably wonder why I call myself "City Girl turned Country Girl"...So today I am going to tell you some things about myself that you might be surprised to know!!
As a child growing up I lived in the city, however I had a grandma that owned a dairy farm and I spent a great deal of time on her farm..Some of the best memories I have some of you may think WHOA she's crazy LOL!! But seriously as kids I think the things we do are done with different thoughts of that which we have now, obviously!! So do you want to know what my FAVORITE thing to do on the farm was????? Well when we would bring the cows in early in the morning we had about I'd say 15 milking stations on each side, and where do the rest wait??? Well outside we had a huge sloped holding pen, and everyday after the hundreds of cows were run through Grandma would always need someone to clean that holding pen...Well take a wild guess what is in that pen...Cow urine and feces!!! So my cousin and I would put on our knee high boots and get our big shovels (kind of like snow shovels) and we would race and run and slide all over in that crap!! So much fun I tell you LOL!! The we spent many a days feeding calves, driving grandma's old trucks around the huge pastures she had...Matter of fact that is were I learned alot about driving!! Another one of my favorite things to do there was go down to the creeks that were crystal clear and catch craw-dads and pinch their pincher's off..I know mean right?!?!
So aside from the farm roots I had there I also have a second cousin who taught me how to ride horses and she always let us ride when we came out!! I loved them, that is where my passion for horses began. Even though I was a "city girl" I have always loved everything country. Especially country music, the '80's for me just brings back so many memories...I loved Ricky Van Shelton, Randy Travis, The Judds, Tanya Tucker just to name a few. When I hear music from that time era I think about my childhood and how much that music meant to me. It got me through some rough times...
My folks divorced when I was a year old, so I never had my "family" together. It was pretty hard, I loved my daddy (and still do) he to me was the best hero in the world!! I loved my mama too we just didn't have the best relationship, it wasn't just her I just didn't get along with my step-dad and he didn't get along with me so that caused for some pretty rough times. I lived with my mama until my freshman year of high school, she was going through a divorce and I finally got to go live with my daddy. I loved being there, it was so different...But you see my daddy lived his life for me and my brother, he didn't date. He was single for 17 years simply because we were his whole world, so I got all of the attention there. It's not that my mama was so wrong I just needed more I guess..
Well at the age of 14 I started dating a boy that was 2 years older than me and of course as a young and stupid girl I believed many things that were not true. We dated for a year and a half and I got pregnant...Yes at 15 yrs of age I was pregnant...My daddy found out not because I told him but because I had went to the Dr to get checked out and he obviously got the "prenatal appt bill", that's how naive I was I never even thought about that LOL!! Well of course my daddy was upset and hurt but he was also there for me...We did not tell my mom right away, as a matter of fact one of my aunt's told my mom for me on Christmas day...When I arrived and she walked out of my granny's house with "that" look on her face I knew I was dead!!! She eventually calmed down and did her best to support me. I of course even at that young age would see no other option than keeping my baby! But that is me being kind of selfish I'm sure, I admire the young girls that have the guts to give their babies up for adoption IF it is the right choice for them. For me it wasn't..My dad and my boyfriends parents got together and of course discussed things and they helped out where they could. I would like to throw something in here, the step-dad that I didn't get along with well he found out I was pregnant and he was living in Italy at the time for work and he called me and said he wanted to meet with me when he got home, so I did. I was never so shocked in my life when he picked me up that day, he told me that he had always loved me as a child but didn't want to interfere with my daddy's place and he was sorry for how he had treated me. He had a friend who had a crib, changing table and a bassinet and he took me there and bought those things for me and my baby. It was the nicest thing he ever did for me..My daddy took our spare bedroom and made it into a nursery for my baby and my mama threw me a baby shower, yes a baby shower for a 15 yr old!! My family is very close and they were all very supportive of me. My baby boy J was born July 14, 1994 on my daddy's Birthday and just 2 weeks after I turned 16. J was 4 days over due but I didn't care because aside from the circumstances of how he got here he was the best Birthday gift my daddy ever received, he told me so..
Now I want to make one thing very clear, even though I was so young I did not act as though I was. I took care of J on my own, now of course if it was early morning time and my daddy was up and J woke up he would get him out of bed and not wake me, but that was his time with him and he enjoyed that. I also want to make clear that we had real medical insurance, my son's dad and my daddy paid for all of J's formula, diapers etc. My point is, I did not make my circumstance worse by not paying my way. I too had a job, but my daddy wanted me home with J more than he worried about money. I had a friend that was one of my best friends since kindergarten and after I got pregnant her mom wouldn't let her be my friend anymore because I was a bad influence. Well technically what I did was wrong but I had the same boyfriend for yrs, I wasn't tramping around (excuse my lack of a better word) I just didn't use my head. But I am glad I didn't because then I wouldn't have J. And just a note here; that mom that wouldn't let my friend see me talked to me at my friend's house about 7 yrs ago and told me she was sorry for how she acted and she see's now that I am one of the greatest mommies she had ever seen!! Talk about feeling proud!!
J's dad and I went our separate ways when J was a little over a year old, he was getting into drugs and partying and I can say those are somethings I never did because I had a responsibility to my son. And I worked very hard to be the best mommy in the world because I had something to prove. Just because I was young doesn't mean I couldn't be a good mommy..
So moving on I met my Hubby Thanksgiving day of '95, and I promise you I am a firm believer of love at first sight (well now I am). The moment I locked eyes with him I knew he was the one!! So sure enough we married November 15, 1997, we have been happily married for almost 12 years!! And I am only 30 yrs old LOL!! (well I'll be 31 in a couple of weeks). But after Hubby and I got married we moved in together in our own house that we had rented and waited till we were married to move into. And my Hubby is like me he is country to the core!!
So for many years we lived our life in the city, and all the while Hubby was begging me to move to the country. But I just couldn't wrap my head around not living within 10 minutes of a Walmart LOL!! So I continued to say no, no, no!! But even though we lived in the city we drove "redneck rides" you know lifted trucks, suburbans, basically anything Hubby could tinker with LOL!! Now I did have a few cars in there but mostly we have always been truck people!! Hubby raced cars on a circle dirt track and that kind of drove me crazy because it wasn't safe in my eyes and he did that for many years. Then when DD was about 6-7 yrs old she started getting really interested in riding horses, well immediately I had her in lessons. Simply because I wanted her to experience that, horses to me are something we cherish. Their beauty is a gift to us, and if we get to ride them then we are greatly blessed!! So soon after she started riding Hubby brought me a proposal and said, "OK I will stop racing cars if you will agree to move out into the country" well I didn't have to think long on that because I was already on the road to coming to that decision myself LOL!! So I said let's do it!!
Just had to throw this in here...This is what I mean when I say "redneck ride" LOL, lifted with big mud tires!! Can you imagine, I had to lift a baby carrier into this thing and no kidding when I was standing next to it my shoulder was about even with the bottom of the door!!
From there we spent some time researching area's we wanted to be and really you couldn't get diddly squat for a reasonable price!! So we started looking a little further out and finally when we found our house it was an obvious YES this is where we are supposed to be!! We had already purchased our first 2 horses and over the years the numbers have just grown!! On top of the 8 horses we now have, we also have 2 steers, 3 pigs, and of course cats and dogs LOL!!
So the answer to your question GP is yes, I often think about my road to here. And I am so amazed that God has blessed my life so greatly. I can't even put into words how I feel when I'm here on the ranch...There is no place on the earth I would rather be, and there is no way I would EVER move back to the city!!! One of my favorite things about the town we live by is that we have 1 stoplight and it's actually just a crossing zone!!! How much better can you get!! Oh and just to let you know the answer to "how would I survive being more than 10 minutes from Walmart", I survive GREAT!!! Actually I hate having to go there now LOL!!!
So when I say "City Girl turned Country Girl" I mean that my heart is finally at peace because I am where it always wanted me to be!!
Well I am so ready to be posting something that doesn't cause heartache for anyone!! My original plan for today was another introduction on one of my yearling fillies, however I think there is something wrong with my computer....It is being really slowwww uploading pictures so I will have to switch computers tomorrow and try it! So for today lets talk about J's "new" truck!! Well of course you know I mean new to him LOL!! I spoke a few weeks ago about the fact that we were truck shopping for him, well we had a little change in plans and in the end decided to go with a Suburban. I know some of you are probably thinking "a Suburban for a teenager"?? Well we have our reasons, so lets see if you think these reasons are good!! My first and foremost thought when allowing my son to drive is safety, well as we all know the safest vehicles are usually trucks and SUV's...Now let me explain why the safety thing is such an issue for me. We live about 9 miles from our town, about 5 of those are dirt road and the other 4 are 2 lane highway. The high school that J goes to is about 15 miles from us so that means 5 miles of dirt road and 10 miles of 2 lane highway...This highway has been an area of many tragic accidents, with many involving teenagers. Matter of fact about 3 years ago, there was a group of 3 girls who had left the high school to go do something for the yearbook and not even a mile from the school's parking lot they were in a head on collision with a semi and all 3 girl's were killed instantly...This is not the first accident around in that area, there are more!! Now I am not oblivious to the fact that J could still be hurt or God forbid killed even in something big, but I do feel safer that way! Another thing that played a factor in what we chose was price, if you priced a truck and suburban from the same year the trucks are higher...Not sure why that is right now, but it is. Not only is the suburbans running lower in price they are also cheaper on insurance! So then one more perk is J will have plenty of room to keep all of his sports gear and not lose it! And even with all of his sports gear he still has room for that coveted speaker box that Hubby has installed for him...You know how them boys love to jam, of course J's jam is country and rock primarily LOL!! So with that being said I tell you that right now the suburban is kind of "soccer mom" look right now, but give my Hubby and J a month and it will be a full fledged redneck ride LOL!! J has decide the name for his burb is "the Shaggin Waggin" LOL!! Teenagers, oh they crack me up!!
So today I decided I would start cleaning it out as we just got it home last night..We had to repair some things at the shop and we will do the rest here until it's ready to be painted, yes of course J gets to have it painted a color that HE would like to have so I think he has chosen black. Well I am going to tell you I pray that anyone who has 4 children and owns a vehicle of that size does not let the kids go wild like this previous owner did LOL!!! We also decided that we don't think the thing has been cleaned since it was new!! Hubby bought this from a guy up in K.C. but they originally brought it from California, man they got a lot of sand in California :)But this thing is so filthy inside I literally used 2 bottles of 409 and 2 rolls of paper towels and that is just the console and front seat area!!
J waiting for Hubby to unlock it so he can see the inside!!
Hubby showing J how everything works..
Of course J is now playing with the radio LOL!!
Still checking it all out!!
Loading her up!!
Up she goes..
Hubby saying WHOA boy!!
Ready to go home now!!
I promise as soon as this "redneck ride"is done I will post the after pictures!!
This week and has brought a lot of heartache and pain for people I love and cherish...I want to update you on the the 2 people I have asked you all to pray for..We'll start with little Hailey, she was attacked by a pit bull last Saturday. Well she was released from the hospital Tuesday evening as she was doing well with what she was dealing with. They ultimately decided to do the removal of stitches today (Friday), so she went in for the procedure, that's what it ended up being was another sedation to remove the stitches. So they did that, the main thing that did not go right was the stitches on her nose did not hold...I do not know what this means for little Hailey. Someone asked how many stitches she had and they did not have an exact count but they could tell her family that she had a total of 72" of skin that had needed stitching... WOW, I can't even imagine. What a sweet little angel..Look at this beautiful little angel!!! Her eyes say it all...
Yesterday I came to you regards to my SIL and her unborn baby girl. From the minute she got the news last night we have been spreading the word like wild fire, I told her today she can't imagine the multitudes of people we have praying for her!! So today brought a calmer day for her, I am sure these prayers have a hand in that :) Her bleeding has almost stopped, her H&H was up to 9.3!! She was very tired and exhausted as she couldn't sleep last night, they gave her a sleeping pill at 3:00 am but then came in every hour and woke her LOL!! Of course I am sure they were doing the necessary checks on her so she understood that. The bed they had her in was very uncomfortable so they moved her to another floor and she said the bed is SOOO much better!! So she was hoping to get some rest tonight..They did not do another sonogram today, which is a little disappointing...Apparently it is quite chaotic up there as far as the DRs are concerned, it's almost as if there is to many Drs involved so no-one really knows who's in charge. So they all just kept waiting to see who would order it?!?! She I think was content though, she is keeping faith and knows the prayers are helping. So I am hoping maybe tomorrow (Saturday) they will do another and have more good news for her and her Cowboy! She did want me to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts, she can read everything she just can't reply from her phone..Jen and I...I wanted you to see this vivacious loving woman and the beauty that she brings!!!
So to you my friends tonight I thank you...I thank you for being there like an army when I have asked for prayers for these very special people..You all are wonderful and we just can't even express how much we appreciate you all!!
I come to you again tonight and ask for more prayers...My SIL recently found out she is pregnant, about 20 weeks along. She did not know due to the fact that for one she was on birth control, and second she was having women episodes...Or so she thought...Well she was at the Dr's a few weeks ago so that they could do a sonogram to find out how big the cysts were on her ovaries because they thought that was the reason she was having these severe women issue's....Well during that sonogram much to their surprise they were told she was pregnant, almost at 20 weeks and it's a girl...WOW, what do you say to that...I'm not sure what she said other than a WHAT!! They have 3 other children so to them this was not bad it was another blessing added to their family! Well as the last couple of weeks have progressed she has had problems with the bleeding on and off. Basically if she literally stayed on the couch and didn't move she wouldn't bleed but if she moved around she'd bleed. She went in last Friday for another sonogram so that they could check everything again and everything was seeminlgy fine. She was put on bed rest over the weekend because when she had the sono the tech had said her amniotic fluid was low and her DR was out of town so the on call DR just wanted to be on the safe side. Well come Monday when she spoke to the DR he basically told her again everything looks normal other than the bleeding so she just needed to stay on light duty and rest as much as possible and he said her amniotic fluid was not low it was the same as the first sono...So throughout the week she has continued to have problems and they of course where scaring her I'm sure. Well she passed a blood clot and was put back on bed rest and again same thing, after she lays it slows but if she moves it gets worse?? So strange I tell you, well this morning brought another blood clot and this time the DR finally decided she needed to go to the city and get a sono at the hospital and then see him again. Well she did that and after the sono they took some blood to. Which I might throw in here that she is anemic when she's not pregnant so when she is pregnant it can get worse. The resident specialist finally came in and told her that upon investigation of the sono she has another blood clot in her uterus and they couldn't rule out whether or not her water had broke so they started treating her as if it had. When they got the blood back her H&H was at an 8 so they immediately ordered a blood transfusion for her and started that as well.She waited till this evening before she finally got to see this "specialist" who came in and literally has NO bed side manner what so ever!!! If I would have been there I might have slapped her across her face!! She told my SIL that her water had broke and that they needed to induce her labor and her baby would die...She is 21 weeks and 6 days, well by the time you read this she will be 22 weeks along...She was told that the risk to her was high if she did not deliver and she basically told that DR that she was not willing to give up just like that!!! Well her Cowboy was extremely upset so he went for a walk and ran into her OBGYN and he told Cowboy that he was on his way up to see her. So her DR said this is how it is; She can stay how she is under the following conditions: 1- her H&H levels must stay up and her bleeding must stop or at least slow down and 2- she could not spike a fever. If either of those things happen she would be forced to deliver the baby...So she of course said this is what we will do. The next thing he told her gave me great hope, he said that they do not know the size of the hole in her sac so if it's small with the antibiotics they have her on and her blood levels coming up it is possible that tear could heal and she could produce more amniotic fluid. The goal is to at least get her to 24 weeks, a Neonatal specialist came in also and said that 24 weeks they would probably be OK but now she has to get there..I myself have lost 2 pregnancies and I do not want her to go through that heartache and pain. She is a wonderful sister, friend, wife, mother and she deserves the best...So I ask you all to please pray for her and her baby girl...
