19 Years...........

19 years ago today I married my best friend.....

We stood before God and our families and joined our lives together into one flesh.....

It's a commitment we take very seriously and one we feel shouldn't be entered into lightly.  I do not think it is a random act that marriage is first mentioned in the book of Genesis chapter 2 verse 24.

  We strive for a Biblical marriage and pray for The Youngun to have one someday as well.

I'm so thankful God brought us together and it's been a joy to grow older with this man!

I'm thankful for every day God has given us, and every day He will grant us in the future, and I'm thankful beyond words to know that when we draw our last breath here in this fleeting life, we'll be together again in Heaven.

So thankful that though we don't get to choose how our lives go here on earth, we do get to choose who we go through them with.  I'm thankful The Man chose me, and more thankful that we both chose Him....

If you'd like to read our story, you can do so here.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  Genesis 2:24

Till next time....

God Bless,

Laying My Blunnies To Rest......

Remember when I mentioned that I SERIOUSLY needed new boots?

And I hated to have to get them because my favorite kind of boots were no longer made in Australia, but Indonesia?

And I was going to have to make a trip to the most wonderful boot store to try and find some new ones?

Well we finally went about a month or so ago!

And after about an hour of walking around in different boots, I found these.....

And I really like them, they are super comfortable!

And durable, and stylish!!   

And guess what the best part is???

MADE IN THE USA......

That's right!  A good pair of comfortable, stylish, USA made boots!  I got them on sale because they were discontinuing this color, but I would have gladly paid the full price for American made, and will probably go back soon to get me another pair for weekend work.

Until next time, I hope your feet are feelin' fine!

God Bless,

A Very Quick Dad Update....

So Dad likes to text............a lot..........and he was texting me all day at work yesterday.

I told him I had planned to call him that morning around 7 but I wasn't sure he would be awake (as the chemo makes him tired).

He texted.....

 "Haven't slept since yesterday when I got up"

I replied.....

"WHY?"

Him...

"Don't know, never do the day of or the day after"

Me...

"Well I didn't know that, that's weird..."

Him....

"They tell me it's the steroid they give me, or that's what they say anyway."

Me...

"So you're all jacked up on 'roids are ya?"

Him...

"Yp" (which in Dad text means Yup)

Me....

"Do you look like Ahhnold yet?"  (Schwarzenegger)

Him....

"More like Homer..." (Simpson)

That's my Daddy!  Ha!!  

He's still doing well and feeling good.  Almost halfway through the chemo, then the testing will start to see where things stand.

I can tell you that we are all resting comfortable in the hands of our Maker, which is all that matters in the end!

Till next time.........when I hope to have a Tulip update...

God Bless,

Update on Dad.........

So Dad is doing well!

Well let me rephrase......his diabetes is pretty well out of control due to the chemo.  It was so high the other morning that his meter wouldn't even read it, which means it was around/over 600.

However, the chemo part of his cancer treatment is going well.  They have him on the strongest dose of chemo they can give him, his blood counts are all normal (with the sort of exception of his iron and I'll blab about that in a sec.), and the doctor told him that since they were able to get all of the cancer, they were trying to actually cure him, not just keep him alive for 5 extra minutes!  :)

The only side effects he's experiencing are fatigue and green beans taste bitter.  Yes...green beans.  However, this last time he went, his iron count was on the low side of normal.  He said they gave him an iron shot and that is helping with the fatigue.

He's in very good spirits and has a strong faith in God's will for him!

In other news, I have so many blog posts I need to do and no time to do them!  LOL!

I don't like to do a post without pictures and pictures is what takes the time, so bear with me.  I've got a rabbit update coming, a quail update coming, a goat update, a soap update, and I haven't forgotten about those hot turtle bites either!  Hopefully this weekend I'll get that stuff blogged about and scheduled!

I hope you are all well and good, safe and snug!

Till next time.....

Standing On Conviction....or Passing Judgement.....It's a Fine Line.....

I am a person of strong convictions, and strong passions.  This can at times get me into trouble as I have no fear of expressing my convictions and beliefs.  I think when you have conviction, especially when your convictions and views on what is right and wrong go against mainstream society, it can at times be perceived as passing judgement.

There are certain things I will not do.  I just won't.  They don't fit in with my personal belief system, and the sense of conviction I feel when I think about doing it, tears me up inside.  These things may not be the tiny-est of a big deal to others.  I'm going to use examples here in order to prove my point.

I won't wear shorts in public.  I used to.  There was a time when I did.  I just feel as if it's inappropriate at this time for ME to do so.

I don't drink alcohol.  I just don't.  I have in the past, but again, I feel convicted about it, and it isn't something I'm "supposed" to do anymore.  I was never a big drinker, but now The Man and I are both teetotalers and have been for oh about the last 14 or so years.

I don't go out without The Man, and we've never spent a night apart in 19 years....not one.

I don't read sexy books (romance novels).  I used to.....used to really enjoy them.  But several years ago I began to feel really convicted when I would pick one up.  I began to read the "story" and skip over the sexy parts, and then even that made me feel convicted so I don't read them any more.

There are a lot of other things I could blather on about, but here is the point of my entire post.

There is NOTHING wrong with a person wearing shorts in public.  Not...one...thing.  As long as your personal convictions aren't telling you it's wrong, then go for it.  I don't judge you. I don't particularly care what you wear to be honest.  Now I may make an internal comment to myself, or an external to The Man or The Youngun, but that's it and it's gone.  And that's because I'm human.

There is nothing wrong with alcohol in moderation.  Not one thing.  I don't care if Joe Joe down the street loves his beer and ends every day with one.  Don't care, none of my business and the fact that I choose not to partake doesn't mean that I think I'm better or that I'm passing judgement.

There is nothing wrong with a husband and wife spending time apart.  Vacations apart, girls night out, guys night out, whatever.  Nothing wrong with it, if both parties are willing and happy with the arrangement.  The Man and I have certain expectations of our marriage that we have talked about, discussed and that have evolved over our 19 years (next month).  You should have your own expectations that you've discussed and they are probably wildly different than mine.  Again, as long as you aren't doing anything that pricks your own personal set of convictions then you are probably fine.

What in the world is the point of this post?

It's my prayer that I can stand on my convictions, and stand by my beliefs without passing judgement on others who believe/behave differently!

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.Romans 2:1

Learning to Submit.........

Does anybody remember this post?  One of the reasons I enjoy/enjoyed blogging so much was reading back over my posts to see how God talks to me.  You'd think I'd know to "never say never" and to NEVER try to guess what God's future plans for me are.  Maybe someday I'll learn, although I have to say I'm getting closer every day!  :)

So anywho....it's this part of the post that is funny...

"I have no intention of ever entering the "real" work force again"

After we moved back to KY from Montana, we went back to the trailer next door to his sister like I said.   The Man and I still desperately wanted to work together in some capacity.  We tried several things that just didn't work out.  We tried "property preservation".....lets just say that didn't work out at all.  We cut wood, but that wasn't enough to make ends meet,  so we prayed and we talked and we prayed some more.  I applied at the school as a cook (because that's what I did in IL for a little bit) and I didn't hear anything. 

Pretty much this entire time I knew what God wanted me to do.  I could feel it, and He was saying it and I wasn't listening (STILL) because it wasn't what I wanted to do.  (See how that works there, I)  Finally in desperation because we were SERIOUSLY out of money, I did it.  What was it you ask?  It was to go apply at the Mickey D's in town.  I thought there is no way that I'll be able to work days, no way I'll get weekends off, no way I'll like it.  Off to town we went with a sour face and a bad attitude.  A toddler attitude of FINE if this is what you want FINE!  I walked up to the counter and asked for an application.  The girl said she'd get a manager.  The manager (Colby) came up and asked if he could help me.  I told him I was interested in a application.  He told me to go home, apply online and put his name down as the referring party.  I did so, and within a couple hours he called me for an interview for the next day.  I went to the interview, he asked me if I had transportation, what shift I wanted (days), he asked me if 3 am was too early to start and I said nope the earlier the better.  He asked me if I could go to orientation that day (it started in 2 hours) and could I start tomorrow at 3 am?

Do ya see a pattern here?  When it's what HE wants, it tends to happen very quickly for me.......

So I started working at McRonalds........I had a love / hate relationship with it.  I used to come home crying and telling The Man I couldn't do it, I just needed him to tell me I could quit.  I wasn't going to quit, but I needed him to tell me I could, (even though after a few weeks of working there I informed them that I wasn't working weekends anymore.  They could have me Mon-Fri or not at all, and they said ok, no more weekends for you).

I worked in the kitchen and there was a specific co-worker that just rubbed me the total wrong way.  I had good days, but I had lots of bad days.  I was good at it, very fast, accurate, and my days flew by, but I was so tired when I got home that I slept the whole afternoon away!  I was like a spoiled little brat, still telling God, I don't WANT to work here.  But then something happened.  I started taking my Bible to work and leaving it in the truck.  On my break, I would go out and read my Bible.  On the 10 minute drive to work in the inky black with the huge starry sky my only company, I'd talk to God.  I began to pray for that co-worker that I didn't like.  The change was pretty immediate.  I began to love my job!!  I had so many opportunities to witness.  So many opportunities to share God's love with people who maybe didn't know.  God led me to so many wonderful scriptures that have taught me so much.  He helped me to see (once again) that it isn't about me.  It really isn't.  AT ALL.  Life is not about us.  It's about what He wants for us.  It's about total submission to His will in our lives.  It's about recognizing and accepting that what God wants for us, and what we want are most often wildly different and learning to be really ok with it.....

I was pretty lost and confused, trying to figure out who I was without all my animals.  Without Champ, without my goat girls.  I was sort of like a ship without a sail.  I'd sort of lost my way.  It's hard to explain, but God had a whole lot to teach me, a whole big lot that I needed to learn.  I feel like He had to strip even more stuff away so that I had no distractions, so that I could really listen to what He had to teach me. 

During all this, The Man had his own things going on with our Maker.  He was looking for a job and not just any job, but the job that God wanted him to have.  He had several opportunities, but the one that he felt God leading him to take was at a small, family run cabinet warehouse.  We saw the job in the newspaper.  He went in and spoke to them one morning, and he had an interview with another company later that afternoon.  After getting out of the interview with the second company, the first place called and offered him a job.  He took it and quickly became the receiving manager.  It's the first Mon-Fri, 8-5 job he's ever had. 

After being at MD's for a little over a year, (and learning to joyfully submit to God's purpose in being there)  (and after actually getting hired at the school as a cook, and staying at McD's for 4 am to 7 am, then going to work at the school from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm and deciding I didn't like it at all and after summer break, deciding not to go back to the school but to stay at MC's full time...)  the inventory position opened up at The Man's warehouse and I went in and talked to them. I was offered the job at $2 an hour more than I was making in my current job, plus I would have health insurance.  See when insurance was offered to The Man, it was going to be too expensive to put me on the plan.  We prayed about it, and then just put The Man and The Youngun on it, having Faith that God would provide insurance for me in His good time.  And He did............in His good time!

We went to Montana because we wanted to work together.  God led us out there and it was a wonderful experience, but it didn't work out for us to work together out there.  God led us there as one more learning experience. I'm so thankful that in His good time, he's allowed us to work together.  We get up together, get ready for work together, ride to work together, work together, have lunch together, and ride home together.  It is a wonderful blessing.  I'm sure not every couple would feel that way, but we truly love being together and we work very well together. 

The job hasn't all been sunshine and roses.  We've had moments of frustration.  Not with each other, just with the job.  Of course those come with every job.  We went through a spell a few months ago where we really thought God wanted us to go elsewhere.  There was a whole lot of prayer, and a whole lot of job searching, and a whole lot of job applications.  We kept praying for God to show us what He wanted us to do.  Well guess what??  We finally figured out that we are RIGHT where God wants us to be.  There's much more for us to learn right where we are!! 

Till next time.....I remain yours in Christ.....

Because Jesus Came.....

the Goodwife and her Daddy

My Dad has pancreatic cancer.  He had surgery to remove the cancer on December 23rd, and he came home from the hospital on the 30th.

It was/is a scary diagnosis, but you know what?  

Because Jesus came, we don't have to worry.

Because that little tiny baby was born, we don't have to fear.

Because of that little baby, that grew into a man, and was hung on a cross, we don't have to be afraid.

Because of our God who loved us so much, He was willing to send that baby to grow into a man to take the punishment for us. 

Dad is saved.  He is a child of God.  We've talked at great length about it, and I'm so thankful that God has given us a relationship that allows that. 

We've prayed for God's will to be done.  We've prayed for strength to handle what comes.  God is good!  God is Almighty.  God gives life, and it's His to take it away.  To me it doesn't make sense to question God's plan.  He is GOD.  I'm just thankful it was His plan for my Dad to be born, and more importantly I'm so thankful Dad is born again.  

They were able to remove the cancerous tumor, part of his pancreas, and his spleen.  They also removed and biopsied the lymph nodes in the pancreas which came back clean. That is wonderful news, but pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive cancer.   

 But guess what?   Dad is a winner either way.  He belongs to God, not to us.  We must simply be thankful for every second we've got, and trust in the Wisdom of our Father.

 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.  
Isaiah Ch 12

Farewell to a Blundstone.......

Does anybody remember this post about my Blunnies?

My dear faithful Blunnies, how I love them.  How my FEET love them. They are truly my go to footwear for almost every occasion.  Most Sunday's I wear jeans to church.  What is on my feet you may ask?  My Blunnies of course!  Work every day, (and homestead chores before I was a full timer) my Blunnies!

Well in that post I made this sweeping statement...

  "I will never wear another kind of boot again"

 HA!  Drama much Goodwife??

In that post when I said I was making my "town" Blunnies my work Blunnies and ordering a new "town" pair, that's what I did.  And I got a nasty surprise.  My beloved Blundstone 500's went from being made in Australia, of wonderful, soft, supple leather and fantastic craftsmanship.....

See Made in Australia on there??

.........to being made in Thailand, out of some sort of I don't even know what, but boy is there ever a difference.  They went from no break in time, to FOUR years later and almost wore out, and they are still stiff as a board.....

I kept wearing my work Blunnies to put off the ordeal of switching, but for the last year or so my "work" Blunnies have been done for......

I am of course still wearing the dang things for wood cutting and chores because I just can't bear to give them up, but it's time to order a new pair.  I think they deserve a decent burial....

And my feet are starting to get wet when i wear them...

So Goodwife, what the heck is the point of this post??  I NEED NEW BOOTS!  And I can't/won't order my Blunnies anymore beacause of this...

See that tag that says Made in Thailand?

 ........so what's a gal to do?  

I guess I'm going to head to boot barn and try to find another boot that will steal my heart (or er.. my feet's heart).

Wish me luck!

Till next time, I remain yours in Christ!

  

Deep Thoughts.........Is Life Perfect?

Lately I've been having some deep thoughts from my shallow mind.  I love living here in Montana, it's a dream come true for me.  The Youngun is doing great and is starting Karate.  She has entered back into public school after a year and a half of un-schooling (yup that's what I said) and has straight A's.  The Man is thriving in his training as a ranch hand and I very much enjoy helping out in whatever capacity they need me.  I trust in my Heavenly Father fully and completely and know that if He should decide to send us somewhere else, we'll go willingly and faithfully.

But...........did you sense a but coming here??

I miss Champ.  I miss horses.  I miss critters of my own, but oh how I ache for horses.  Every day as I'm driving back the 14 miles from taking Pied and The Youngun to the bus, I gaze at the mountains, coulees, hills, and valleys and I hurt to ride them with an equine pal.  There is a herd of Quarter Horses along the road to the school bus and I ache to play with them.  I want to groom them, and talk to them, and work with them.  There are bays, and sorrels, and chestnuts, grullas, and buckskins.  There is one dapple grey mare with black points that I'd bring home in a second.  It's a herd of mostly broodmares and colts with a few geldings tossed in and I'm in love with them all.  I've tried to fall as in love with the cows, and they are very nice, but they fall far short of a horse.

Now you may be thinking that the point of this post was that life isn't perfect, but such is not the case.  As heavy as my heart sometimes gets without an equine pal, my entire being knows we are exactly where God wants us to be.  Life isn't always perfect from our perspective, but in God's divine plan it is exactly, perfectly what it should be.

Till next time............God Bless........

Fat Fobes....or Phat Phobes.........Lookin' at the Outside Instead of the In....

Do you know what a Fat Fobe is?  "Fat Fobe" is a goodwife invented word to describe folks who are anti chunky monkeys.  I'm sure if you think about it, you've known a few in your life and maybe you might even be one.  If somebody said to them, "You can gain 50 lbs or lose your left leg, what do you choose?", they'd have the meat saw out hacking through bone before you could say....fat folks have more fun!  My mom is a Fat Fobe and so is Mouse....

Now does this mean my mom doesn't love me?  Of course not.  She loves me fully and accepts me as I am.  As a matter of fact, when I was younger and bemoaning the fact that my sister was 100 lbs dripping soaking wet and strutting around in her size 0 jeans, when I was wailing about how ugly I was, my mom was the person who grabbed me by the chin, looked me right in the eye, and said, "Your sister might be littler than you, but she is NOT prettier than you."  Oh how I love my Mama!!  But she is a total Fat Fobe.  In her mind there is no more terrible fate for HER than gaining weight.

Pretty much as soon as we moved here I discovered Mouse's Fat Fobia.  She doesn't direct it at me, but she doesn't hide it either.  When she describes someone the first words out of her mouth are fat or skinny.  It's how she defines people.  I'm sure we all have a way of describing folks, either by height, weight, race, or something else, seldom ever do most folks lead with personality traits.  In her mind fat people are lazy, or sit around and eat all day long.  If they didn't, they wouldn't be fat!

Mouse has a daughter that here I'll call Pied.  Pied is 5 and in kindergarten.  Until calving begins in March, Mouse takes the girls to the bus in the mornings, and then Mouse and I both ride together to pick them up.  Mouse and I are becoming fast friends and we have LOTS in common.  We have the same sense of humor and can talk critters for hours.  We truly like each other, and Pied is sweet with a touch of fire and attitude.  Well, a lot of attitude.  As a matter of fact, I'm terrified for her teen years..........they might just not live through them!!

K........so yesterday Mouse took the girls to the bus as usual.  When she got home she called me to see if I wanted to go put out mineral and check cows with her.  I of course did, so she stopped by the house, picked Ellie and me up and we were off.  As we were driving around the ranch she was talking to me about Pied's attitude and how she didn't know what to do about it.  She was noticeably upset.  She said Pied has been so disrespectful and called her fat this morning.  Mouse isn't fat, not even a little bit.  She's tall and fit with strong legs and arms and a totally flat torso.  The body of a woman who's worked outdoors all her life.  I mentioned how rude some kids can be to their parents and we talked about different ways to handle it.  Then, Mouse's hands flew up to her face and she said, "I'm so sorry, so sorry, but this morning Pied said...."

I knew what was coming.  Lets face it, I've been a fluffy nugget my whole life and I've heard it all at some point or 'nother.  As they were driving past Mouse's folks place on the way to the bus, Mouse made a comment about the sheep being fat, at which point Pied said........"They are even fatter than "The Youngun's" mom!!"  I laughed, because Pied is only 5 and we all know that kids say what they see.  Pied loves me, and she didn't mean it in a nasty way, she just made a statement.  Mouse flew all over her, told her to never, ever say such things about someone and Pied cried the rest of the way to the bus.

I reassured Mouse that it was ok, I've been heavy my whole life and Pied didn't mean it.  Mouse was all over apologetic and we discussed teaching children tact and that was pretty much it.  I'm very thankful that Mouse and I have become good enough friends for her to tell me (because I knew The Youngun would as soon as she got home.)  We finished putting out mineral, driving through cows, chasing elk off the big hill, and checking water and she dropped me off at the house, where The Man was just getting home for lunch.

As I was telling The Man about my morning, I told him that Mouse's Fat Fobia was coming back to bite her in the butt.  I told him the situation and how it didn't really bother me.  As I said, when you've been heavy your whole life you've heard it all.  It's much easier to take from a 5 year old than from a teenager or adult who should know better!  I've been mooed at, called a fat cow, ridiculed for my weight throughout most of my high school years.  I'm pretty much over it.  Of course it still stings a bit, but that's not the point of my story.

The point of my story is this.....children are a mirror reflection of their parents.  Pied is simply describing things in the way her mom does, and in illustration of my point.........When we picked the girls up at the bus that afternoon, Pied had her snow pants on.  Now Pied is a teeny tiny little thing and her puffy snow pants were around her itty bitty torso so when she got in the truck and took her coat off, she looked like Olive Oyl wearing the Michelin Man's pants.  Mouse said to her, "Those pants make your butt look huge!  Your butt looks like Grandma W's! Of course hopefully your butt won't ever get as big as Grandma W's."  Now......where do you think Pied got the idea to compare the fluffiness of the sheep to the fluffiness of moi??

When The Youngun and I got home we talked about what happened.  She said she wanted me to know, but didn't want to hurt my feelings.  I reassured her, telling her that I learned a very long time ago not to base my self worth on an exterior image, and certainly not on the image other folks have of me.  As my grandma used to tell me, God made me and God doesn't make junk!  He has a purpose for me and He loves me, every square inch of me, and yes even when the square inches of me are better measured in feet!

I started thinking that perhaps one of my purposes here is to break through Mouse's Fat Fobia.  I will guarantee you that I can work side by side with her and not quit until she does.  I'm a big girl, yes, but I'm strong, and relatively fit, and healthy.  I can run a chainsaw, carry sacks of feed and mineral, and work as hard or harder than anybody without stopping.  I'm not lazy, and I don't sit and stuff my face all day long.  Do I like my groceries?  Hecks to the yeah I do, but I don't have a feed bag strapped to my face all day long.  I have an amazing marriage, a healthy sex life (ooh la la) and a beautiful daughter who respects and loves me.  If I were ever to be disfigured in some way, I'd be able to go on, because my self worth comes from the inside.  My identity comes from who I am, not what I look like.  Let the gray hairs and wrinkles come, because no matter my weight, or what my outer package looks like, I'm God's daughter and He loves me.

Till next time............God Bless......

Funny How That Worked Out..........

When I was a little girl I wanted nothing more than to marry a cowboy (I was always partial to bulldoggers cuz they were big guys) and live on a real ranch in Montana.  I had a two posters of half nekkid cowboys on my bedroom wall. (Who didn't though right?)

Pay no mind to the little cowgirl.  That is a little girl we babysat for.  She called my folks mom and dad and her folks by their first names, and I had to do my best to corrupt her!

I used to write the Montana tourism folks and they would send me packets of information on life in Montana.  I used to have dreams about it, one dream in particular that I was living on a ranch in Montana with my cowboy husband and I called my mom because I needed to know how to roast a ham.

Well I happened to fall in love with a butcher (he was irresistible in that white apron that framed his adorable little booty), who became a Schwans man, who became a trash man, who climbed the ranks and became a big boss man, who lost his job and worked at a factory, who hated that and became what??

a COWBOY

where???

in MONTANA!

Louis L'Amour would be so disappointed in how he skylined himself, but it made for a great shot!



He doesn't wear a cowboy hat, and he doesn't wear cowboy boots.  He works cows with a dirt bike and a flat bed pickup instead of a horse, but he's a cowboy all the same.  I've always been so thankful and proud to be his woman, no matter what job he was working, but a couple days ago I remembered those old dreams and thought.......



Huh.....it's funny how that worked out!



Oh how I love this sexy man!!



Till next time..........God Bless!

Answers to Asked and Unasked Questions...........

Ok, ok, so some of the questions were asked, and some of you couldn't care less......since when has that ever stopped me?  Baaahahahhaaaa!

1. Is The Youngun still being homeschooled??
2. Where is Champ??
3. Where does Willow (the cat) now live??
4. Are you insane??
5. Do you ever get sad, down, depressed.....ever??

K.........thats enough questions for now. If you have any others though, please do feel free to leave them in the comments section!

Answer to question new-mare-o eww-no.......

• No.  We were feeling nudges to put her back into the public school system while we were in Kentucky.  I wasn't crazy about that idea as I wasn't fond of the Bowling Green school system (waaaaay to big for this goodwife) but we did want to mind the Lord and we had been talking about it as a family and praying about it.  When this Montana gig came up I began googling the school up here.  I was pleased, and even more so after meeting with the principle and staff.  The Youngun was excited though nervous.  She attended Thursday and Friday of the first week and then Mon.-Wed of the next week before being off for Christmas break.  The school is tiny and there are 7 kids in her math class.  Lots of one on one attention and yes they do still call it Christmas break here.  A wonderful and refreshing change from IL schools.  She goes to school 26 miles away from our house and Mouse or I drive the girls 14 miles one way to meet the school bus, where the bus then takes them the remaining 12 miles to school.  Same drill in the afternoon.  Did I mention The Youngun loves it, and she re-entered public school seamlessly??  God is good!  I also strongly feel that it was His plan for us to pull her from school in IL when we did because of all the turmoil we were headed for.  Moving from IL, to KY, to MT in the space of 6 months would've been a bit traumatic if she'd been attending school in IL and in KY!

Moving on past question twa for now, (and that means two in goodwife speak).  The answer to question three lies in the following picture........

My days now consist of........ feed the dogs, let the dogs out, let the dogs back in, feed the cat, dogs eat the cat food, feed the cat again, cat poops, dogs eat the cat poop, repeat until bed time..............

Question 4.......ah dear sweet question 4.......

• Probably............but not for the reasons you think.  We have faith..........if that makes us insane then we're proud to be nutty!  Life only scares us when we think we are in charge.  When we know we are letting God make the decisions it's all just a really fun and exciting journey!

Question 5.........the meat of it all............

• YES! Although it isn't very often sometimes I'm get so sad I don't think I can go on.  Usually it's related to my monthly cycle (see above question cuz I for sure am then) (sorry if TMI) and I can usually power through it but sometimes it's the hardest thing I have to do.  A few days after we moved to this beautiful place I was PMSing and feeling terribly sorry for myself.  The Man was having the time of his life learning the ranching trade and I was feeling as useless at tits on a boar.  For the first time in 13 years I have no critters that depend on me and I was feeling low, low, low.  Then I was laying in bed and I had one of those smack upside the head moments that God often graces me with.  I remembered........I am here because God wants me here.  God has a plan and a purpose for me and if right now all that purpose is is to keep my house nice, feed my family and my dogs, and scoop that dang cat box, (see the above question about where Willow now lives), well that's ok.  That is what God wants me to be doing.  Then I felt better!  And you know what?  About 2 days after that, Mouse started calling on me and having me help her with cow stuff.  And God said...... SEEEEEE, you must give Me time to work.  And I said..........sorry Big Guy, I failed you again!  And I was once again so thankful that even though I fail Him constantly, He never ever fails me!

And now........to answer question twa..........my heart constricts on question twa........

• Champ is gone.  He couldn't come to Montana with us.  Champ was 24 years old.  He was an old man in horse years, and I couldn't bring him 1600 miles north in December.  The climate and altitude would've been too much for him.  On a totally practical note, we aren't exactly rolling in cash and transporting him would have been a financial outlay we simply couldn't afford.  As I've stated many many times, selling him was not an option.  He left this world relaxed and happy and that's all I'd really like to say about a very painful subject.  ♥
  He gave me 11 years of wonderful horsey love and I'll never have another like him, if I ever even get another horse.  I'm a lifer and a horse can be a 20+ year commitment for a person like me.  I'm also not too sure that God has ever had horses in the plan for me.  I think He's allowed me to have them because I've wanted them, but I'm not sure it's ever been what He's wanted for me, though we do talk about that often as my heart yearns to ride over this 30,000 acres on a faithful steed.  God will let me know in His time what the plan is regarding that!

So that's those questions answered.  There was another question posted by anonymous on my last post, about bear eating cows..........no wait........maybe it was about cow eating bears??  Anyway, I'll answer that question next time..........

oh yeah.....ps.........is this font hard for you to read???



Till then...............God Bless..........

Hi All!

Just a quick note to let you all know I'm still alive.  I'm takin' a much needed and rather refreshing technology break and it feels great.  Sometimes I get too wrapped up in bloggin' about life instead of livin' life!  First thing I'd do in the morning was turn the computer on and I was readin' blogs before even doin' chores!  Not good.  For whatever reason, I lost my desire to even turn the computer on and I'm goin' with it. 

I've been sewin' my brains out and we've got some little Muscovy ducklings in the chicken house.  My chicks will be here in a couple weeks and a couple weeks after that Star will be kidding.  We bought a little 14' fishing boat and are enjoying that very much.  The maiden voyage of "Catfish Hunter" netted me a 5 1/2 # channel cat and The Man an 8 pounder!  We've also been findin' the heck out of morels, and getting them in the freezer for future use.

No garden as the weather isn't cooperating.  I'm trying not to freak out about that and figure it will get in when it gets in!

Thanks to all of you who've emailed to make sure I'm ok, and I hope you aren't mad at me for not bloggin'.  I'm just enjoying the spring weather! 

I hope you are all fit and sassy and enjoying bein' alive!

God Bless......................

Hi All!

I'll be back soon!  Got some stuff goin' on, nothing too horrible, just got to take care of some things and some people.  Very thankful God is always with us and that we are still here in Illinois so we are able to be there for those who need us!  Sorry to be so cryptic, but if you remember this post, you'll understand why I'm not elaborating at this time!  Never fear though, everything is O-Katey-Ratey, and I'll be back to finish that goat series soon!

God Bless and keep you all!!

To Be My Friend........

To be my friend.............

You don't have to live in the country,

You don't have to be a homesteader, or a homeschooler.

You don't have to love animals.

You don't have to be married, or a homemaker,

You don't have to cook, clean, or knit.

You don't have to believe in God,

But you do have to accept that Christ is such an integral part of my being, you are gonna hear about Him and how He works in my life a lot!

You do have to be respectful of my life.

You do have to have a sense of humor,

Otherwise you'll never be able to stand me!

You do have to be strong enough to handle my honesty,

And yes you do have to be honest yourself.

You do have to have integrity, morals, and values, even if they are different from my own.

And lastly, you do have to understand that my family comes first and that is second to no-one!

God Bless.................

the Goodwife Speaks.....................

So Nicole over at That's Life did a vlog post about how you say certain words.  I thought it sounded pretty fun so I'm doing it too and I hope those of you who have the time and the inclination will participate as well.  It reminds me a bit of my contest about What the Heck is She Talkin' Bout?

You all know I'm a hillbilly and this should confirm it.  I also should've watched Nicole's before I did it because I explained myself after each word, which turns out wasn't part of the project.  That said, you all know I like to take the long way 'round the trailer park anytime I tell a story so you shouldn't be suprised that I'm like that in real life!  Anywho, here goes!

My gracious!

update.............  I'm such a dork, I forgot to put the list of words and questions..........no suprise here huh?

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught


What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

God Bless....................

 

Old Vs New.........And The Weekend Report........

This weekend was cold and gloomy so we did something we don't do very often.  We played hooky!  On Saturday the three of us went Antiquing and then on to shopping for neccesities.  The town where we go to Walmart is about 30 minutes away.  The Wal-trash is surrounded on two sides by fields and right now the one field is full of round bales.  It is a favorite place for Red-Tailed Hawks to hang out, so Hubs was kind enough to stop and allow me to take some pics.  I never tire of seeing these beautiful birds!

Sunday was spent lounging in front of the fireplace.

The Man did this............

..............and I sat on the other side of the fireplace knitting.  It was glorious because it doesn't happen very often!  Days like this give my little pea brain plenty of time to think about schtuff so I was thinking about modern conveniences vs the old ways.  What would I give up and what am I so glad to have? 

Here you have it........

Indoor toilet.........could live without.  Angel Soft T.P............not so much!  There is nothing about a corn cob or magazine page that says toilet paper to me!

Central heat........you already know I can and do live without that.  Central air.............no way baby, I gotta get my cool on!

Electric dryer............no problem living without.  Electric washing machine as opposed to a tub and wash board.........not this chickie poo!  I wasn't born to scrub clothes on a rock!

Telephone...........rip that sucker outta the wall, I don't need it.  Internet.........uh.......yeah..........I need it!

TV.............nope, don't care at all.  Refrigerator............gotta have one of those.  Salmonella and I don't get along.

Ice maker in the freezer.............hello, I need this.  Filling ice trays sucks!  Microwave......naaahhh I can do without. 

Cell phone that takes my blood pressure, tells me what time to pee, and allows me to contact Mars at a moments notice........no thanks.  I don't have a cell phone period and I actually have cell phone rage, I hate the things!

Showering.............enough said.  How in the world do you do anything at all and go for 6 days between bathing??? 

I'm sure there are more, but my steaming hot shower is calling me, and I think there's a steaming hot man waiting for me as well.............Muwaahhahhhahahaaaa!   
Smiley Face                                                                       

                                                                           

God Bless............

More Memories of a Goodwife.......



Wood heat and the smell of wood smoke brings back powerful memories for me.  They are wonderful, happy memories of my childhood and I treasure them. 

As some of you may know, my dad and I have a pretty volatile relationship.  We are both strong, passionate, intense people and that is like fire and gasoline.  I get to be fire cuz it smells better!  ;)

Anywho, for every volatile memory I have of my dad, I have two dozen wonderful ones.

Dad and I, just hangin' out. 1977

When I was a kid we only had a woodstove for heat.  We lived in an old double wide trailer and the stove was out on the porch.  There was a hole cut in the wall with a 2 foot pipe coming in and that is where the heat came out.  We'd get up in the morning and stand in front of the pipe to get dressed.  The door to the back porch was across the hall from my bedroom door and in the night I'd wake up to the distinctive "schhhrrrkk" of my dad tearing newspaper into strips cuz the stove had gone out.  I'd get up and go sit on the step with him while he got the stove going.  We'd talk about everything under the sun during those midnight hours and I treasure those times.  Dad never got tired of my questions, although he did and still does like to tease me about my never ceasing mouth.  He patiently answered everything my questing mind wanted to know.  I can't tell you how much he taught me.

I've also got some fond memories of cutting wood with Dad.  We always had good intentions of cutting during the early fall, but that just never seemed to happen.  He likes to tease The Paintiff and I now about our wood cutting adventures.  He says....."Well ya oughta be like me and wait until you are bustin' up the furniture before you go cut wood!"  That's not much of an exaggeration.  I've cut wood in some seriously nasty weather, me and Dad.  He'd build a fire so I could warm up between work and I remember he and I both sticking our boots right on the burning logs and watching our feet smoke. 

Wrestling baby!  We used to watch wrestling every Sunday on channel 11 and then we'd go have tag team wrestling on Mom and Dad's bed with Mom screetching in the background that we were going to break something.  Good times!!

Before he got hurt so badly, Dad was a diesel mechanic and diesel fuel reminds me instantly of my Daddy.  I love the smell of it.  He always wears Carhartt coats, the chore coat with the blanket lining and he'd wear them until they were rags.  They were inundated with his smell and when they were ragged and hanging off him, and he'd break down to buy a new one, I always cabbaged on to the old one. 

I was always under his feet, and if he was out the door, I was right behind him.  I'm closer to my dad than my sister is, and it's because of that.  He never favored one of us over the other, I was just always right there, wanting to be wherever he was and she wasn't like that.  My dad was and really still is my hero, even though he makes me 6 kinds of crazy a lot of the time.

My handsome Daddy and me on my wedding day, March 30, 1996

So many good memories of Daddy.  I'm thankful to have him and thankful that of all the people on earth, I'm most like him.  I've learned to be a better person through his faults and learned what honesty, integrity, morals, and values are because of him.  He taught me what is really important in life and that your word is your bond.  He taught me to be a good person and to do right by folks.  He also taught me my impressive cursing library, but I'm working on that!  ;0)


God Bless............

And These Are The Horses Of My Life...........From Champ Forward to the Future.....

Welcome to the continuing saga of The Horses Of My Life.....if you've missed the first two installments click here and here to get caught up.

In October of 2000, Champ came into my life and I've had a few horses after him, all the while never letting him go.

First I had Faith, a rescued Arab mare that had more than a few screws loose. It wasn't her fault, she'd just been abused one too many times and it had scarred her.  She was a gorgeous Egyptian bred mare, little but lovely.  I sold her to a wonderful woman who had her free lunging around her within 5 minutes of meeting her.  I have tons of pictures of this gorgeous mare, but they are all on the little square disks and I can't get them off! 

Then there was Dolly, an App mare I bought because I thought maybe I could get The Man to ride with me. Dolly tossed me off over her head the first time I rode her out of the pasture, and struck the clippers out of my hand the first time I got close to her so she went back to her old owner.  I can handle fear, but fear that manifests itself in aggression isn't acceptable at my house.

 Honey was the neighbor's mare who was older than Methuselah (late 20's) and I brought her to my house to rehab her and get some weight on her.



Honey and The Youngun before she decided she was afraid of heights and didn't want to ride.



She was a Three Bars bred quarter horse who was an angel of an old mare and I was able to get her back into pretty decent shape. She was the first horse I ever sat on in an English saddle and I enjoyed riding her. The only reason I gave her back to the neighbor was because we moved and I could only take Champ with me. Getting rid of him was not an option!

Champ, winter of 2009

When we moved down here to get closer to The Man's work, we bought a house in town so I had to board Champ. I actually enjoyed it because I worked at the barn and was there all day long while The Youngun was in kindergarten. I was in horse lovin' heaven and I learned SO much at that barn. After I'd been there for right at a year, I bought a yearling named Boss.

Camptown Boss

 Oh how I loved that boy! He was a draft cross and I did all his training myself. After living in the house in town for right at a year, things fell apart at the barn (way too much to get into in this long post) and The Man decided it was time to buy land again, so I could have the horses at home. We all three missed having a garden and such, as this was the first time we'd lived in town. We bought the place we have now and moved the horses home. I had always wanted to train my own horse, and having Boss was amazing. I did all of his training myself and we got along great.



Boss was a natural jumper, if he could get his head over it, he'd go over it!

He was a big boy and really beautiful. I started him under saddle very lightly at 3 and then started him more at 4. Things were going well until we decided to trot. He put his head down between his front legs and went to stiff-legged buckin'. That took me right back to my childhood and scared me.

Boss and I during another brief slim period in my life.

Boss, one of the first few times I was on him.

I can do rearing, I can do spooking, but bucking is my undoing. I kept up with his ground training, but was at a stand still with the under saddle stuff. I tried to get my old trainer to help me, but he wouldn't take him on unless he was broke; walk, trot, canter. Duh..if he was at that point, I could take back over!! 

Boss and Champ together

 Anyway, he turned 5 and I decided it wasn't fair to him for me to be holding him back and I sold him. He is in St. Louis somewhere competing in Hunter/Jumper, which is what he was born to do. I have moments where I regret selling him, but I've never regretted buying him. That big flashy boy taught me so much about training and trust and I'm thankful to have known him.

Boss and I

I have to confess that I really enjoy having only one horse.  That way I don't feel as if I'm neglecting one or the other, and I'm not torn between two.  Champ has Tulip and Star (the goat girls) to keep him company and I spend a lot of time with him.

After all of these negative experiences, you'd think the love would have flickered and died in me, but it is as strong now as it was at 3, probably stronger because now I know how wonderful it can be.  I look forward to carefully selecting my new partner when Champ is gone, because he has taught me how wonderful the bond between the right horse and rider can be!

God Bless....................