The National Finals Rodeo...Bucket List Checkmark

For as long as I can remember, we've watched the NFR every year.  We could tell you the round, the name of the horse, the color of the horse, and the score for just about each of the 10 times that Billy Etbauer won the 10th round of saddle bronc.  We know the arena record for calf roping and have burned out brains how Speed Williams would already have the calf roped before his horse was all the way out of the box.  We're NFR fans.

Going to the rodeo had always been on my bucket list, but this year when my dad mentioned that he wanted to go, well I knew that we had to make it happen.  So a couple of phone calls and it was booked.  My parents, The Boy from Texas and I were Vegas-bound for the festivities.

I'm going to tell you this---you cannot hang with my parents in Vegas.  I don't care if you're 21 and go crowd surfing in clubs on the weekend.  YOU.CAN.NOT.HANG.  Something happens to these two when they hit Sin City and they all of a sudden morph into crazy 21 year old kids again.  Case in point:  First night, we arrive at 11:00 pm.  I had some work to do and it was freaking night time, so I didn't go out.  My parents bee-lined it for the Tropicana.  When I woke up at 6:00 the next morning, no sign of them.  I was about to text my brother to ask what to do if I thought mom and dad were dead in a ditch somewhere when they stumbled in.  At 6:20 in the morning.  My mother upset that my dad made her leave the casino when she was on a roll.  Who are these people?

Onto the rodeo.....we all headed for the Thomas and Mack Center and milled around outside buying t-shirts and grabbing a bite to eat and chatting with some friends from back home that we ran into. 

 

 

Right before we went in, we were standing outside and my dad was facing the opposite direction from me.  He screams, "Hey Billy!"  I thought he saw someone from back home that he knew.  Well, I was freakin wrong.  I turned around and there stood Billy Etbauer, in the flesh.  He shook my dad's hand and said, "Hey man, how ya' doing?  How've you been?"  My dad, in what was probably the first and only time I've ever seen him short on words, sort of stammered and stumbled, "I...uh...well...I've been good."  I stood there like an idiot with my mouth wide open in shock and didn't even grab my camera.  BILLY ETBAUER.  Afterward my dad said, "Well, I mean, it was Billy, of course you say hi.  If there was one cowboy I would have wanted to meet, that was him.  It was pretty cool how I towered over him, huh?"

 

And then, it was time for the big show.  I'm here to tell you, you can think you know what it's like in that building.  You can watch it on tv 100 times and have been to 100 other rodeos in your life.  You don't know.  It's something unreal to be at in person.  A couple of times, I saw my dad's eyes well up a bit.  And that was cool.

The rodeo was great.  Maybe the best night of the 10 to be at.  Shania Twain came out on a bit white horse, much to the approval of my father and boyfriend.  Watching my mother watching the bareback was better than the event.  I guarantee you my dad has bruises on his left arm when she was through.  We cheered like crazy for New Mexican Taos Muncy, who led for a while, but ended up second in saddle bronc.  So crazy, in fact, that the people next to us asked if we were his family.  We New Mexicans stick together like that.  Martin Lucero, whose family lives in New Mexico, won the team roping, so we were quite excited about that too.  Sherry Cervi dominated the barrels.  It was a great night.

When we left, my dad said, "I don't have a bucket list, but if I had one, that would have been on it."  Which made the NFR cooler to me than any other bucket list checkmark that I've gotten.

The next night we didn't get rodeo tickets, but made our way do Freemont Street to watch the rodeo at the Golden Nugget.  Well that turned out to be really awesome as well---they jam pack a bunch of country people into a movie theater-like room with 5 big tvs and a bar right outside the door.  Everyone was hoopin and hollerin and having a great time.

Afterwards we did a tour of Freemont Street (and frankly saw some things that I will never be able to unsee), did a bit of gambling (slots for my mother, craps for my father), and then The Boy from Texas and I decided that midnight was going to do it for us.  Were my parents ready to leave?  Heck no!  They stayed out until after 3 gambling and chatting with some "crazy Canadian guys" at the bar.  You can't hang.  Seriously.

So that pretty well summed it up.  Bucket list checkmark, meeting Billy Etbauer, being shown up by my parents on the fun meter.  Viva Las Vegas!

You're Someone's Angelina

I think that after having been one for so long, I am always going to have a special place in my heart for the single ladies.  It's hard, there's just no way around it.  And a lot of the times, a single girl (especially one who is blowing out more than 25 candles on a birthday cake) feels like she's not enough.  Like she's not important.  Like she's not worthy.  Like no one is ever going to choose her.  When I read this quote yesterday from The Single Woman's blog, I just kept nodding my head.  Because it's so true--you are someone's Angelina.  So believe that.  I mean really believe it.  Because it's the truth.  And he's out there.  You just have to find him.

Funny Conversations with The Boy from Texas

It's time for another edition of one of my favorite blog series...Funny Conversations with The Boy from Texas.  The poor subject matter of this little series pretty much dreads these days.  Hehe, sorry, but this stuff is too good not to share!

Funny Conversations With The Boy from Texas

The Boy from Texas (while looking at the cans in his pantry):  Whoa, this one expired in 2011.  Wait, this one is 2006!
Me:  That's ridiculous. 
The Boy from Texas:  They've moved with me from a lot of different houses.  *Closes pantry.*
Me:  Why did you close that without throwing them away?
The Boy from Texas:  I bet if we were in a war someone would eat them.

 *Text message conversation*
Me:  Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
TBFT:  Heck no.  Why?
Me:  Oh some people that Jennifer works with do that and I was wondering if this was common and I just didn't know.  I kinda want to add it to my bucket list.
*Phone rings*
Me:  Hello.
TBFT:  Do NOT pick up a hitchhiker.  Are you listening to me?  Do not.  Scratch that idea off the list right now.

*The Boy from Texas and Little Brother get yelled at by my father and told to put the guns away after an incident at Thanksgiving....*
Me (to my sister in law):  That's your husband.
Sister in law:  You brought the other one.

TBFT:  (on the ski lift) My boots are not comfortable, my neck is cold, I had to wait in line, and stupid people keep getting in my way.
Me:  Okay, how about you tell me something positive today, what is something good?
TBFT:  I get to ski.  Oh, and I almost sh** my pants, but I didn't. (I presume he was having a hard time getting to the bathroom due to climbing stairs in his boots and taking off three layers of ski clothes, but I didn't ask questions.)
Me:  Well, there ya go.  It's a good day.

*On Freemont Street in Las Vegas.*
TBFT:  Honey, look, show girls!  Here, take my picture.
Me:  Is this really happening?
*Said show girls hike their legs over their head and he gets a big grin on his face.*
TBFT:  Well I didn't know they were gonna do that!  *little giggle*  We better put this on Facebook.

What I Would Have Missed

"We have different ways of doing things, but in the ways that really matter--our hopes and heart's desires--we are more alike than different.  We live in each other."  ~Oprah

Recently I took a good look at the people in my life and realized what a variety of friends I have managed to gather up over the years.  In so many ways, they are completely different from each other, and completely different than me.

I have a vegetarian friend; I don't believe it's a real meal unless beef is involved.  Two of the absolute sweetest, kindest people I know are Mormon.  I've got friends who are Jewish and Athiest and Agnostic and Buddist and Catholic and every other Christian denomination you can think of.  And at some point in time, I have stepped into their Churches or celebrated their holidays or sat with them at a funeral.  I have friends who are Democrat and Republican, lesbian and right wing, old fashioned and who have probably burned their bras.  Like for real burned their bras. My friends are black and white and pretty much ever other color.  They are young and old and thin and round.  They have college degrees; they have dropped out of high school.  I've got some friends who hunt animals with bows and arrows, some who have manure on the majority of their shoes, and some who have never even seen a cow in person.  I'm even friends with some OU fans for crying out loud...you want to talk about open minded!

I say all of this because I've realized that had I sought out friends whose backgrounds and beliefs were the same as mine, well, I can't even tell you what I would have missed.  It's okay to love people who are different than you.  To respect them and to be kind to them and to learn from them and to be wonderful friends with them.  We are more alike than we are different.

And what I can tell you from my own life is that these people have made it---have made me---better.  I hate to think what I would have missed were I not to have found them.

Fifth Annual Bucket List Year In Review

"If you think back and replay your year, if it doesn't bring you tears either of joy or sadness, consider it wasted.”

I know that you guys are probably sick to death of these year-in-review posts, but this is the very last one.  Over the years, my bucket list has been a source of a ton of fun (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)!  I have been able to check a ton of things off my list, and this year I added 7 more checkmarks.  Check it out!

1.  Go to the National Finals Rodeo.  I am behind on life and have not written about this yet, but my parents, The Boy from Texas and I all went to Vegas for the rodeo.  And it was freakin awesome.  More to come soon!

2.  Go on a 30th birthday trip.  4 countries.  2 great travel companions.  2 miserable overnight trains.  700+ pictures.  I think that the Eastern European Adventure lived up to my expectations and more.

3.  See Auschwitz.  I knew this would be hard.  I did not know what it would be as hard as it was.  If you ever have the chance to go, do it.  Without a doubt one of the most moving experiences of my life.

4.  Go dancing at Billy Bob's Texas.  Even though The Boy from Texas got there too late for dancing, Real Cowboy filled in and took me for a spin around the dance floor so that I could check this baby off the list.

5.  Have an article published in a magazine.  I actually managed to have two published in Seeing the Every Day this summer.

6.  Fall in love.  There, I said it.  The "L word."  On the blog. 

7.  Give a stranger $100.  Being able to do this in honor of one of the sweetest people in the world's 30th birthday made this even better!

Word for 2013: Change

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."   ~Zora Neale Hurston

It is always interesting to try and sum up a year of your life in one word.  Previously, I've used fleeting, awestruck, and full.  There was really no other word that could possibly have been the one to describe 2013:  Change.  This was, above all else, a year of change. 

From the outside, my life certainly looks different than it did this time last year.  All I can say is that things happen as they should, even when those things may not make too much sense.  I managed to sort of stumble into my dream job, despite turning down the opportunity to interview more than once.  I had a great friend who managed to find me a house, which I bought sight unseen.  This boy who I met at a football game over a year ago appears to be someone who will be sticking around for quite some time. The fact that life can change so much in just 365 days is both terrifying and inspiring to me.

But change occurred on this inside as well.  I was inspired while celebrating marriages with College Roomie and Cousin Whitney.  I was touched when God used me to answer prayer for a stranger in a parking lot.  I was overwhelmed at the most thoughtful birthday gift I could imagine.  I was honored to give a Eulogy at the funeral of a great man.  The Boy from Texas has taught me what love looks like.  I was deeply moved in Europe by attending the Feast of the Infant of Prague, by seeing Pope John Paul II's kneeler, and standing on the same ground as so many who lost their lives due to hatred during World War II.  I hugged LOKG as she crossed her first half marathon finish line and burst into tears.  I was amazed standing in the center of Notre Dame stadium on that green grass.  I was terrified during a near-plane crash (yet still persistent enough to get off that plane once it landed!)  I am not he same person today as I was on January 2, 2013.  Nor should I be after these experiences.

I think, too, that 2013 was also a year of answers.  Perhaps of questions that I did not even know needed to be asked.  And although the answers I have received has brought with them some additional questions, I will look back on 2013 as having been a year of seeing how some of the pieces fit.  A year of change, in the best way.

Goals for 2014

“Make New Year's goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you're interested in fully living life in the year to come.

Goals give us direction. They put a powerful force into play on a universal, conscious, and subconscious level. Goals give our life direction.

What would you like to have happen in your life this year? What would you like to do, to accomplish? What good would you like to attract into your life? What particular areas of growth would you like to have happen to you? What blocks, or character defects, would you like to have removed?

What would you like to attain? Little things and big things? Where would you like to go? What would you like to have happen in friendship and love? What would you like to have happen in your family life?

What problems would you like to see solved? What decisions would you like to make? What would you like to happen in your career?

Write it down. Take a piece of paper, a few hours of your time, and write it all down - as an affirmation of you, your life, and your ability to choose. Then let it go.

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.”     ~Melody Beattie

So what's on tap for me in 2014?

A Bar.  But Not The Fun Kind.  Well I'll be a little busy (and probably a little MIA) during the first two months of the year as I study to take the Texas Bar Exam at the end of February.  Prayers appreciated for that situation.

Giving $$$.  I'll be upping my charitable contributions.  I think I've mentioned before, but each month I donate money to an orphanage in China called Little Flower Project.  This year, I will be adding a couple more charities to that list....Wounded Warrior Project and St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Run, Forrest, Run!  I will be running the Oklahoma City Half Marathon with LOKG and ABJ's Mama at the end of April, so there'll be a lot of training going on there in hopes of setting a new personal best time.

Coming Soon to a Shelf Near You...  I intend to get some major work done on Uncle Buddy's book about his time in Vietnam.

They Will Say I Do.  There will be multiple weddings and receptions and showers and bachelorette parties that will be calling my name.

Lots of Camera Clicks.  I intend to participate in a "Photo a Day" challenge.  I'll post on Instagram as well as doing a month-end post of all photos on this blog.  Here are the subjects for January if you want to join in.

Stay Tuned for Recipes.  We will start up a new series on this blog called Cooking with Kimberly, in which New Roomie will be sharing a recipe each month or so.

Get on a Plane.  I'm hoping to add another state or two to the list of places to which I've been....Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are looking like solid options.

Be Where I Belong on Sundays.  I'll have my booty in a pew on Sunday morning (or Saturday night) far more than I did this year.....It's easy to get caught up in traveling and business and just let that slip.  This will be a major priority for me this year.

Making Memories.  And I will be working my hardest to spend time with the people who matter the most to me!