Happy November 1st. Hope the rest of you are sleeping right now.

It's currently 3:30am on November 1st 2012.
 It has been one of those nights of laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and wondering why my body insists on being wide awake. I've been having nights like this for the past two weeks. I'll have a couple of really great nights of sleep, and then one really bad one.
Apparently my dog is having sleeping problems as well, he's gotten up and moved to a different part of the room about 20 times.

I know that in a few hours I'm probably going to hate everything.
 That bird chirping a sweet song up in the tree... "Bird, you shut up or I'm going to throw this rock and knock you out of that tree."
  My dog comes up to me, wagging his tail in greeting... "YOUR TAIL WAGGING IS SO ANNOYING. GO CHASE A RABBIT OR SOMETHING."
I drink a cup of coffee, drink too soon and the result is a scorched tongue...throw coffee cup across the room.
  Put on socks... "These socks make my feet so stinkin' hot! I HATE SOCKS." ...I go barefoot... "DANGITT, STICKERS AND ROCKS...oh great, now my feet are bleeding."

You get my point? This girl needs sleep.
 
 So yesterday was Halloween. Not that you needed to me to tell you that, I'm sure all the ghost, goblins, and zombies running around gave that away. This was the first year in my life that I've ever done anything for Halloween. My church hosts whats called 'Trunk or Treat' You decorate your car trunk, and yourself, and there is a hayride that goes around to the different churches.
 My friend and I went for a 1920s/Classic Hollywood theme. I went with a flapper girl, because well...to be honest I like their look. I actually like a lot of the looks from back in the 1920s and up, I would have liked to have lived back in those times.

Admittedly I really liked getting to dress up. I'll be honest here folks, there is still that little girl inside of me that loves to play dress up. Also, I had a bunch of candy leftover...probably should just make an appointment with my dentist now to get cavities that I will probably soon have fixed. 

 I got that dress at Goodwill for 10 bucks! $40 for a costume from the costume store? No way pal.

 We had a lot of fun, a bazillion kids came through. Some with some of the CUTEST costumes I've ever seen in my life, others that made me go... "Your parents are failing for letting you dress up like that." But its probably best for me to not get into that....

Well, I think maybe I'll go try to get a couple of hours of sleep in. If that fails I'll just make me some coffee and try to do something productive...
   I may be found curled up on the bales of hay later today.

-S


 

I kind of feel like a kid in trouble right now. Very cautiously coming on to write a blog post…I feel like a should be tip-toeing around.

Was July really the last time I wrote something? Can't be!
  I think the longer you go without blogging the harder it is to actually get on blog…but that could just be me?

My summer was busy, crazy, and pretty amazing! I fell in love with Alaska, it was without a doubt one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. 

We spent our days in a park feeding kids lunches, playing lots of kickball, and teaching them Bible stories.

We also got to do a little hiking, and went flight seeing!!

(This is our "oh my gosh we're going to die" faces)

 And these are our ("No, not really. We're very excited" faces)

 We wanted to see how long we could last in the cold water. We made it 5 minutes! I couldn't feel my feet for  awhile...but who cares?

All in all Alaska was an amazing trip. We ate amazing fish, reindeer sausage, got to see a moose, mountain sheep, and a bear! 

I came back, and off to West Virginia I went! The six weeks I spent there were really amazing. The humidity about killed me, but I got used to it near the end.
 I had never given riding lessons before, so that was a new and stretching experience, but I really enjoyed it! I made a lot of new memories, and new friends. Camp is an awesome place, with lots of awesome quirky people. I fit in well! 

I'm ashamed to say that I took really NO pictures. It was just always so busy I didn't hardly ever find the time! But I have a few!

These two became a couple of my closest friends.

 Helmets were required...first time I ever had to wear one in my life.

I had so much fun, and was sad to leave! I definitely miss it a lot...except for maybe the food. Haha.

Now life has turned back to normal, mostly. Its been pretty busy, and will stay busy until after Christmas.
 I really can't believe we're only 4 days away from November! It is finally starting to cool off in this part of the world, I am not sad to see 100 degree days go!

Well I better scurry off, I'll try to not to be such a stranger in the blogger world!
Happy Saturday!

-S

Hey all you beautiful people.

I'm just dropping in quite quickly to let you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, nor did I get eaten by a bear in Alaska. Crazy as it is I'm in West Virginia for 4 weeks! I've already been here one week. The very night I got home from Alaska my sweet friend that lives in Pennsylvania texted me and told me the camp she works at needed another horseback riding instructor so I came and here I am. I'm busy, busy, busy so I'll try to post Alaska pictures soon and then post about here.

Much love!

-S

Miscellany Monday

I apologize for my absence in the blogging world these days! But I suppose ya’ll don’t expect to much from me…so its ok? 

First things first, I have to brag. My awesome boot making daddy made these for me! 

Aren’t they purty? 

--I feel like I've been running 90 miles an hour these past couple of months. Actually I don't feel like it, I have. Spring time has brought a lot of work. Mowing, watering flowers, fixing fence, laying water pipe and other exciting things such as that.


 

--I can't believe its May! They say the older you get the busier you get and the faster time goes by. I believe it! It seems like we should be just starting the new year. I also realized this time last year I was coming home from Hungary!

--I'm going to Alaska next month!  I think I mentioned awhile back how I was looking for a church...the Lord is so good and I found one that I really love! So I'm going to Alaska with them on a week long mission trip. I'm really excited!

...And now I just feel like there was something else I wanted to blog about....I know there was. I hate that feeling, don't you? Maybe it's just me though. It was almost as soon as I sat down to write I went completely blank.
   So I guess I'll sign off now and about midnight tonight I'll probably remember all the other super exciting things I wanted to write about. Don't be to upset, I know you're probably just sitting on the edge of your seat thinking "tell me more!" grasping your computer saying "don't let this end!"  but just think of it as getting a little taste into the life of me. You don't need a big serving, it isn't healthy.

Wishing y'all a great week!

A friend posted this on her tumblr. I liked it a lot and thought I would share!

“Can I say something to young ladies here? I’m trying to pick my words carefully here. Your husband, whoever he is, single ladies, will have an unbelievable amount of influence over your sons and daughters in regards to spiritual things. If you want your children to love Jesus deeply, hold out for a man that is Godly. And let me tell you this: I am well aware that Godly men are rare. Lots of neat Christian boys, not a lot of Godly men. And we’re working our tails off for you to try to develop some into that. But don’t settle, because it’s better that you be lonely now than you be married and lonely later. Are you tracking with me? It is better that you be lonely now than for you to get married to a man that will teach your kids everything but the way of Jesus.”
— Matt Chandler

Next time I'll share some pictures of a wedding I shot the weekend before last! but first I have 2,000 to go through...wish me luck.

I want to punch daylight savings in the face

Seriously. But as much as I loathe it, and moan and groan the morning of I much enjoy longer days.

It’s been a crazy past couple of weeks here on the Ponderosa! On the Prairie. On the ole homestead. The weekend before last my folks came up to visit me! We went to a hockey game and just hung out. Can we say hockey is my new favorite sport? Yes, yes we can. Even if I didn’t like the sport I might just go to watch the spectators. They are great! Anyhow it was my little brother’s spring break so they left him for the week. We did demolition in the barn, drank a lot of Snapple, watched a lot of movies, made a road trip to some other land my grandparents own to check on their cows and the new little calves being popped out.

Prime Catfish from the back pond.



Oh and here we have a picture of my top of the line cowdog stuck in the fold out couch.


And...I just don't know what he's demonstrating here. He sleeps like this a lot on pickup rides... maybe I should try it?


This week was the week from....the other place. If you know what I mean.
-Tuesday was mostly spent all day with a pregnant mare. I noticed her in the morning laying down and looked like she was trying to foal, sure enough she was. I kept watching her but it looked like she was having trouble. Now I've never dealt with mares, I've seen many, many calves born/pulled, but never had anything to do with mares. I called the vet, called my neighbor, talked to the vet some more and it came down to the vet coming out and having the pull the foal. The foal didn't end up making it, unfortunately. But thankfully the mare was fine, the vet said if it had been any longer it probably would have caused damage to the mare. The foals front feet got locked and that was the reason for all the trouble. As much as I hate it these kind of things happen.
-Wednesday was not bad at all, just super busy.
-Thursday I got sick and have spent the next two days feeling crummy.
I can't say that this week was all bad though though, I have a new nephew!!! My s-i-l had little baby K Tuesday night! From the pictures I've seen he looks absolutely adorable. I cannot wait to go rock and hold him!!

Spring has also sprung around here! At least its trying. The trees are starting to bloom, the grass is greening. If only the wind didn't blow 90 miles and hour it would be perfect!





In my last bit of news I have a mouse...not in that I own a mouse, more as in I have a mouse lurking and scurrying somewhere in the shadows of my apartment. I also wake up and am freaked out when I hear him scratching in the walls, or scurrying across the counters. He is outsmarting my mouse traps, the only thing I've caught in them is my dog. As much as I'd like to think its a cute little mouse like the one on Ratatouille that will make me an omelette I know that isn't the case...so if you need me I'll be mouse hunting.

What now?

I’m a little behind on life... but what else is new?

The question I’ve been getting asked the most since being back from Hungary, is “What now?” So I’ll be perfectly honest…I don’t know. I’m just living day by day, praying for the Lord to lead me. I’m currently living in the TX panhandle working for my grandparents, living in their barn apartment.

So, I know this is where I am now. From my experience the Lord doesn’t seem to give us the full plans…I often wish He did though! All I know is that I have missions on my heart and that I want to be involved in them in one way or the other. I’m looking for a church right now as well; I’m just praying to find the right one!

I also got a dog! Meet Doc!

He’s a sweetheart. I got him from a friend of my sister in law. He has caused me some trouble though…only a few days after I got him he was outside and completely vanished. I searched for him for a couple of days, but no dog. He was gone a week when he finally showed up! It had snowed for a couple of days so the poor guy was covered in snow and icicles in his fur. I don’t think he’ll be running off again! At least I hope not. We also had one incident today...I left him in the apartment while I was gone to church...and we'll just say he obviously has issues being left alone.

It's snowing here again today, this is the 3rd time this week!





I have to admit that I'm ready for spring! I can't wait for green grass and flowers.

Well, that is about all I have for today. I'm off to make myself some coffee and cook my pizza.