WILW (Part I)

“If we counted our blessings instead of our money, we would all be rich.”  ~ Linda Poindexter

Haven't done this link up in a while, so I had a LONG list of things that I'm loving this week.  In order to help everyone from getting completely bored by a super long post, I've split this baby into a two parter.  So...things I'm loving Part I....

NUMBER ONE:  This song by Chad Sullins called Only Girl.  Seriously, LOVE it.

NUMBER TWO:  The fact that Kiddo is a rock star and opens for Chad Sullins.  No, seriously.  Like playing gigs out on the strip two nights in a row last week.  Look how cute he is.

I'm already trying to chase away the little college girls who are after any boy with a guitar who are clearly not good enough for my favorite kid.

To celebrate the first gig, I may have sent him balloons.  Which he took with him to the bar.  Classic.

NUMBER THREE:  Speaking of rock stars, Little Linebacker got drums for his 3rd birthday.  Like a full set of real drums.  How stinkin cute is this kid??

Apparently he is constantly asking his daddy to bring his guitar and come play with him in the garage (to where the drums have been banished).  Seriously, a 3 year old and his daddy having a jam session in the garage.  I know that my dream is for him to play college football, but this might be better.  I'm only saying that once.

NUMBER FOUR: Speaking of Little Linebacker, he is now officially a big brother.  That's right friends, meet the newest of Aunt Tiff's brood of nephews....Little Fullback. 

He came last week in dramatic fashion when he was delivered by paramedics at home because he was apparently ready to make his entrance NOW.  I'm sure his uber organized mama was a little concerned.  As was his daddy, who was getting instructions on how to deliver a baby with a shoe lace and safety pin from the 911 operator  (still not sure what the pin was for?).  To see their interview on the news, click here. Anyway, Little Fullback arrived safe and sound, and he's adorable!

NUMBER FIVE:  My sweet cousin Mim texts me all excited about this article last week.  What does it say?  Oh, ya know, just that my future home has been deemed one of the top 5 universities in the country to find a husband.  Haha....this move is looking better and better all the time!

NUMBER SIX:  OSU brough the rowdy back to Gallagher-Iba Arena!  See, when I was in school, every single game sold out, you stood in line for hours to get good seats, and that place was crazy.  The last couple of years had been bad for the OSU basketball program and the attendance dwindles.  But this year, FINALLY, we have a team that is ranked in the Top 25, tied for first in the Big 12, and a sold out Gallagher-Iba Arena for the Bedlam game against OU.  Good job, kids!  And good job, Pokes, on the overtime win!

 

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part II....

You Pay God a Compliment...

Photo via

Letters to Mr. Right: Letter #17

Dear Mr. Right,

I didn't write this.  But I wish I would have. 

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living, I want to know what you ache for. It doesn't interest me how old you are, I want to know if you are willing to risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine. It doesn't interest me where you live or how rich you are, I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and be sweet to the ones you love. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and truly like the company you keep in the empty moments of your life."  ~Jon Blais

Because I would have meant it.


Waiting for that day,

Me

 

Valentine's Day Thoughts

“I was smiling yesterday,I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow.  Simply because life is too short to cry for anything.”  ~ Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday

We've got a three-part blog of random, unrelated thoughts for Valentine's Day today.

First, as I think I have probably said every year since I've had this blog, Valentine's Day always makes me think of my sweet friend First Valentine.  He was quite the gift giver circa 1995 and the 5th grade.  I mean candy and teddy bears and a homemade card (that I still keep and is seriously one of my most treasured items from grade school).  Plus he always wrote me notes in class and held my hand on the playground.  He set this girl's expectations pretty high even in the 5th grade.  You've read before about how those are still my favorite memories of Valentine's Day.  He would have been 29 a couple of weeks ago, so February always makes me think of the great memories that I have of him.  I sure do miss that kid.

Second, I'm going back to my soapbox from last year about how instead of being all depressed and whining about not having a boyfriend, single girls should spend today appreciating the love that they do have in their lives.  Last year, I deemed this Love in My Life Awareness Day.  I'm sticking with that today, and I am beyond grateful for all of the people who love me.

Third, in keeping with my single lady tradition, I bought myself a Valentine's Day gift.  For the last couple of years, said gift has been a fun pair of shoes.  You know...zebra stilletos or bright red pumps.  But this year I changed it up a big and got myself a decorative sign to hang in my kitchen.  I saw this last week at my friend's house and seriously freaked out.  I rushed home and had this baby headed to my own kitchen within an hour.  What is it, you ask?

Is that not the funniest thing that you've ever seen?  I just love it....Happy Valentine's Day to me!  And to First Valentine in Heaven.  And to all of you!

Another Year, Another Lenten Reflection

"Focus on the small, fervent, open-ended commitments that will allow you to be a receptacle rather than a mover-and-a-shaker; an instrument as opposed to a walking list of holy to-dos."  ~ND Friend

It was hard for me to decide what to give up for Lent this year.  Being the Type-A list maker that I am, I made a list of options:  Chocolate.  Sweets.  Cheese.  Cursing.  Television.  Blogs.  Facebook.  Texting.

And then, the rationalizer and worrier in me started:  Well, wait, what about March Madness.  Okay, so television except for March Madness.  Well what about at the gym?  I can't run with my eyes closed.  Okay, Facebook.  Crap, what about Uncle Black Belt's stories on Facebook that I need for the book?  No good.  All blogs.  But, my friends have blogs.  That's how I keep up with their lives.  Texting.  I spend a lot of time doing that.  Seriously, how am I going to ignore texts when they come in?  And I have friends having babies for crying out loud!  Cheese.  That's fattening.  I am probably going to be having a couple of going away dinners and that food will have cheese in them.  And sometimes, a well placed four letter word is quite effective.

By this point, I was completely stressed out and ready to just throw my hands up in the air.

Enter in ND Friend and this amazing blog that she wrote last week.  She pretty much spoke right to my legalistic, list-making self.  And told me to knock it off.

As she reminded me, Lent isn't about lists, or technicalities, or giving up the most things.  It's not about eating fish on Fridays (which I refuse to do... vegetarianism for a day it is!) or whether the definition of "sweet" indeed includes breakfast pastries.  Sure, all of these things can be effective tools to accomplish the purpose of Lent, but they are not the purpose in and of themselves.

The purpose of Lent is to share in the suffering of Jesus.  To remember what happened 2000 years ago on a hill called Golgatha.  To focus our minds and prepare our hearts for the horror of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter Sunday.  No list is going to do that.

And so, I threw out the list.  I have chosen a couple of things that I have given up with a purpose and I intend to read the Lenten reflections given to me by Mrs. Hepburn.  But I'm not going to panic over trying to be the best Lent-er.  I am going to do my very best to focus on the purpose of the next 40 days.  Essentially, this Lent, I am making ND Friend's prayer my own.  That I may be an instrument, rather than a holy to-do list.  Amen.

Why you have to go for it....

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake." ~Francis Bacon, Sr.

Since you all now know about the major life changes that I have headed my way, I thought I'd share some of the articles and quotes that helped me make the decision to shake things up.  Sometimes you just need that little push to make something big happen!  So here are some of the inspiring things that I've come across over the past month or so.

1.  WHY You Have to GO For It. RIGHT. EFFING. NOW. You guys have to read this article.  HAVE to.  Here's my favorite part:

"Because we get ONE shot at this. Just one. And when you’re a weathered 70 year old lady you can peruse the pictures on your wall, and read through your life resume and have something to be proud of. You can say that you slid into home base worn out, scuffed up, and with a killer wrap sheet. All the people I’ve known who have passed away never wished that they worked harder at their jobs. They wished that they had made their passions and the people they love more of a priority."

2.  I haven't seen the movie from which this quote comes, but I love the quote.

3.  What if money was no object?

"What would you do if money was no object?  What would you do to really enjoy your life?  You do that, and forget the money."

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a short life lived in a miserable way."

4.  This quote, which I find sort of soothing in some way.

Photo via

5.  This idea, which makes me grateful for the brave people in my life!

Photo via



You Win 29. You Win.

"In terms of days and moments lived, you’ll never again be as young as you are right now, so spend this day, the youth of your future, in a way that deflects regret. Invest in yourself. Have some fun. Do something important. Love somebody extra. In one sense, you’re just a kid, but a kid with enough years on her to know that every day is priceless."  ~Victoria Moran

Sometimes, a girl just has to admit defeat.  This weekend, being 29 years old got the best of me.  But I did my best to put up a fight.

On Friday night, one of my favorite Red Dirt bands--Bart Crow Band--was playing here in town. 



What better way to celebrate my big news than some Red Dirt music, some dancing and some awesome friends?

Me and College Roomie

Chef Friend, Pharmer Girl, Me and Little Miss Texico

But, alas, I'm pretty sure I came off like an old lady.  A minimum of 10 times I said, "Does it have to be SO loud?"  And then I had multiple conversations about how if we could all just wear our pjs to the bar and they had couches for us to sit on, I would come more often.  Little Miss Texico agreed and said, "Yea, and no make up either, that would even the playing field."  That comment?  That's why we are friends.  And even though I made it the majority of the night without it, before we left I admit to eating multiple Tums out of my purse.  Seriously, I'm 80 years old.  Had I been complaining about my hip and planning on playing bridge today, you would have thought I was straight off of Golden Girls.

However, the concert was great, the dancing was good, and the people watching was the best.  My favorite part?  When Pharmer Girl's friend, Miss Artesia, was talked into asking Travis Briscoe to dance.  Part of the convincing involved the promise of a shout out on my blog.  It's possible I was a total creeper with a camera during this whole experience. 

The result/  He says he doesn't dance (potentially because he has a wife, which we learned from Little Brother later in the night) but that his dad would love to.  Miss Artesia thought she could do without that.  Ha!

And so even though I was tired for the next two days (and may have not gotten out of my pjs the next day), I had a blast on Friday night and I'm so grateful to have such fun people in my life.  And for Red Dirt music.  Obviously.

Family Farm Friday #77: Livestock Raises Kids

I saw a quote last week that contained the following phrase, "Livestock raises kids."

Thinking back on my childhood, I couldn't agree more.  I don't know that I remember a day of my childhood that didn't involve an animal.  Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, dogs.....you name it.  Those animals were as much a part of raising me as were the people who I had around me (and those were some pretty darn good people!)

Livestock teaches kids so many lessons.  Responsibility.  Compassion.  Death.  Work ethic.  Friendship.  Where you food comes from.  Birds and the bees.  Managing finances.  Winning and losing.

Whether it was the old ewe that my Mom called Whisper, or the dog whose name was my first word, or a pig named Small Fry who would fall over on the ground if you scratched his belly, or any one of a whole litany of horses I could list by name (Baldy, Smokey, Baby Doll, Frosty, Chief, Blaze, Badger), or one of the show lambs of whom my parents may have more photos on display in the house than of their children....

....those animals raised this kid.  And I'd like to think they did a pretty good job.

The One Where I Drop a Bomb (or Four)

Well, friends, I've got a change or two happening in my life at the moment.  And for a girl who is completely, 100% change averse, this sort of scares the crap out of me.

I have given notice and am quitting my job.

I am moving to Texas to start what might just be my dream job.

I'm selling my condo and buying a house (hopefully!).

And I sort of got asked on a date...

My Lord God...

“Faith don't come in a bushel basket, Missy. It come one step at a time. Decide to trust Him for one little thing today, and before you know it, you find out He's so trustworthy you be putting your whole life in His hands.” ~ Lynn Austin, Candle in the Darkness


I think that I have posted the prayer below before...it's one of my favorites.  But it seems pretty fitting for me right now, so I figured that I'd share it again in case it's applicable to your life as well.  Happy Thursday!

Photo by me - New York City - 2006

MY LORD GOD, 

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"