What Am I Thinking?!?

Wow. It has been an extremely long time since I've been over here.... Shameful, really. Especially since I have so much going on. So much to talk about. So much to share. Which is actually funny... I've written up several posts.. I just haven't posted them. =P Maybe I should do that... huh.

But here I am, anyway. This shall be a rambling post. Maybe do a few lists or something. Yeah. Let's do that.

1) I've been really busy (in case you couldn't tell from the lack of posts). But surprisingly, I haven't been as busy and some might think. Yes, I live a life and that right there is chaotic and messy and beautiful. Yet there are so many other things that play into that.

2) We've been in an extremely busy time of year for the ranch. Working cows every. single. night. That gets rather exhausting and leaves little energy for other fun things (like blogging). However, we are finishing up this week and then we'll have a big working weekend and be done! YAY! I love the ranch seasons, but when they are almost done, I'm definitely ready for them to be!

3) I've still go my nanny jobs. I love them because they fit me so well. But they've also grown me in ways I never would have imagined. There are some days I come home just exhausted, wondering why I'm doing this in the first place... and then I remember that those momma's, well they get this every single day. And me coming in once a day gives them a bit of a break. A rest. And that makes it worth it. Oh, not to mention the ADORABLE cuties I get to watch.. hah! Or those bittersweet moments when the littlest one is finally old enough to pronounce your name correctly.... or when your heart melts because the one child that doesn't express emotions very often tells you he loves you. All those moments are so beautiful. So precious. It makes every single day that I'm working so worth it. It also makes me look forward to a time when maybe God will bless me with my own children someday. And I can look forward to those same things.

4) I've been taking a web design class! HTML And CSS. Boy it has been an adventure! Lots of learning, lots of crying, and definitely lots of frustrating moments. But that, too, has also been good. I find that if I'm not learning something... well, it's just not a great place to be. We should always be learning, growing, improving somehow. I wanted to do web design. So when I found out from a friend about these Christian guys that teach IT stuff online, I had to check it out. After doing some praying and thinking, I signed up for the class. Needless to say, my family is rather excited... course not because I'm doing this, exactly, but because when I'm done, I'll be able to design websites for them. Ranch website, sister's photography site.. lol! But hey, it will give me that much needed practice.

5) I have recently been presented a very exciting opportunity. Only problem is, I don't know if it will actually happen. So I don't want to say anything yet. But I would appreciate your prayers! Mainly that if God has this in store for me, He will open up all the doors for it and guide me through. And that I will listen well. ;-) But it is just SO very exciting... I honestly don't think I can survive the excitement! ok, ok. being a bit dramatic, I know....

6) I have realized that it is time to move on from acting in my beloved ABC drama group. This is extremely bittersweet. It has been so very fabulous working with everyone and acting and being a part of every production (not just on stage, but back stage, too). And now, I say au revoir. Granted, I won't totally drop them like an old shoe completely, but my acting days are over with them. This is very sad. I really don't like this side of the 'growing up' thing. However, I'm still looking forward to participating in ways like stepping up as assistant director or taking over costuming full time, or helping with props, etc. However, the sweet part out of all this is that now I maybe have some time to start pursuing some different adult theaters. There are a couple that are somewhat local and I look forward to possibly participating in some of their plays. We'll see what the Lord has planned!

7) I feel like I have recently been pushed into a growing season. These are very good, typically. It means you're maturing more, growing more, etc. The only problem is that they are really hard to go through! The end result might be great... but the journey is hard. And then, of course, there's the realization that there is never an end to the journey. It continues on until you die. That then puts you in a rather sullen mood, on some days. Other days it doesn't bother you one bit and you are ready to face the challenges ahead. I am, however, finding myself hitting the 'low point'. The point where I start wondering what in the world I'm doing. Where I wonder if I'm messing up God's plan or if I really am just following Him blindly, trusting that He'll lead me... Of course, I know He'll lead me.. it's just my interpretation of His directions that I worry about. Because, after all, I am human. *sigh*. Gotta love this thing called growing up, right? At least I have an amazing prayer support network of family and friends who keep me covered daily. =)

And there's a nice wrap up to a much needed post. Maybe not much needed for my readers because, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd abandoned me at this point.. But it's much needed for me. I've decided this blog is like my 'therapy', if I actually need it. A place other than a quick face book post to really share my thoughts. That being said, after having been burnt out a little bit back with my writing endeavors, I now find myself willing and ready to jump in again. I may never accomplish the large novel I want to complete or publish any more books.. but if I'm just writing on here, even if no one reads it, I still feel as if I've done something. For myself, maybe, but it's hard to hold back when the urge to write something pops up almost constantly in the day.

So, all that being said, it feels good to be back. To be home again.

When Life Hits You Full Throttle In the Face

Life.. ah, where to begin? It has been especially hectic over here for some odd reason. The oddest thing, though, is that one really can't put an exact finger on what we've been doing. We've just been busy.

Actually, I suppose I could recount a few things... For one thing, last Tuesday my brothers and I went swing dancing in Albuquerque. This group meets every Tuesday night. They do a lesson beforehand, and then free dancing time afterwards. It was a lot of fun and we learned some good basic steps. =) It was also really cool to watch those who have been doing it for a while really get into the dance. Some pretty good dancers out there! And the best part? My brothers enjoy doing it! =D Which means we got to come home and practice!

Friday I nannied all day, then went putt-putting with a local young adult group. We went out for some frozen yogurt afterwards and had a good time all around. Made some good memories and had lots of laughs.. =)

Saturday night we went to another dance, though this was an English country dance, so quite a bit different than the swing dancing, but still loads of fun! There were only a handful of guys, so I got to dance the guys part a couple times. Its really fun to exercise your acting skills by playing up the role. While I danced the virginia reel with a friend of mine, we had a very extended conversation about my recent 'hunting trip to Africa' and all that. She did marvelously to play along and I had a blast playing a posh old gentleman. =)

Other than that, we started landscaping our yard this weekend. Our poor front yard is so hard that it refuses to grow grass. So we finally gave up this year and decided to just do gravel and pretty rock. I think it will be much better this way.. more low maintenance, too, and since we already have about 6 acres around the house to keep up, it will be nice to not worry about the yard, too. We will grow some grass around the side of the house where our 'sitting area' is, just to add something green and soft and cool.

This Sunday, for father's day, dad decided he wanted to work more on the landscape. So we did that, then headed into town in the afternoon to go watch The Amazing Spider Man 2. It was pretty good, but I'll tell ya something... modern movies seem to focus more on filming cool action sequences and forget to do some character development. Not totally bad, but not totally awesome either, on that scale.
We went went to Rudys for supper, so really, it was a good day. Although, I was so tired this morning I really couldn't keep my eyes open for several hours after getting up... yikes. However, it was a great day to celebrate an amazing person. My dad is just... awesome. There's no other way to put it. He stays up until the wee hours of the morning talking with me if I have some big problem to figure out.. He jokes and teases with me. He gives the best hugs and shoulder rubs. He works really, really hard for our family. He is just amazing!

This week we have quite a bit planned, too. Busy, busy week. Most notably, though, are probably Monday and Wednesday. Monday I get to go to lunch with a dear friend of mine, and then on Wednesday we have our last filming day! Well, what should be our last! If all goes well, we will officially be done filming our movie and I can get on with the editing. Should be a fun, but crazy day. Going from 8AM to 8PM... yup. =) At least we'll feel like real actors... hah!

So what's been going on with your life lately? Anything new and exciting going on in your life?

"For The First Time in Forever..."

"For the first time in forever, I'll finally go outside! For the first time in forever, I'll enjoy a new sunrise!
Don't know if I've been too busy, but I'm going to change that now! 'Cuz for the first time in forever!!!!!! I'll be doing something fun!"...


Ok, if you were able to sing along with that and actually keep it in rhythm, then you, my friend, are one amazing person... kinda like me for being able to write that all out.. But who's keep track anyway? ;-)

However, to go back to my little diddy, I was finally able to get outside and do some work today in my flower garden! I haven't done a flower garden in about 2 years or so because time just got away from me. And lately I haven't had much of a chance to enjoy the outdoors because 1) it's very windy out or 2) I was busy doing other things.

So, today I resolved that I would go out and work. So very glad I did!! The weather is so lovely... a few lazy clouds hanging in the sky, gently floating by. A light breeze teasing my hair from it's braid (which is actually really annoying but yeah... sounds fun to say). Oh! and the birds are singing sweet melodies to one another. It really is so very lovely out.

In any case, Caleb and I decided to go out and work on some stuff. He didn't realize I would put him to work when I invited him to, ahem, come outside with me... lol! But he seemed to have a fairly good time as we worked together.

Gardening/landscaping/working outside is one of my all time favorite things to do. But I never get a lot of it done. Silly, right? Well, I've been reading through this really neat book, "Be Well, Live Well: 14 Simple Ways to Excellent Health", authored by a friend of mine, Jeanne Drennan, and I've really enjoyed all the practical things she gives to help you on your way to, well, excellent health. One of them was to get out and do something you enjoy. That's far better than sitting around doing nothing. So, I decided that that would be the first change I make. It helps my overall attitude during the day to get out and 'get dirty', so to speak. But since I love the outdoors so much, it seriously does put me in a positive mood. (There are scientific facts that would show WHY I feel this way afterwards and about how great it is for your body to be outside, barefoot in the cool dirt... but I'll save that for another time).

In any case, I'm following one of the 'simple ways' and already today I feel fantastic. =) My lilac buds are doing so well (and for anyone who doesn't know me or hasn't gotten it from my blog title already, those lilac bushes have played a fairly big role in my growing years!). We're supposed to freeze again tonight, so I'm thinking I'm going to go out and take some extra precautions with my bushes to keep them from dying again.

So, what have you done on this lovely day? =)

Also, I'm really excited to get some new blog posts underway here. I've got some fun ideas up my sleeve so stay tuned!!

(dear me, I hope I don't say that too often without following through!)

It's the Most Busiest Time of the Year

November flew by and I find December is picking up speed as we go further into the month. Tis the season to be jolly and deck the halls and wishing you a merry Christmas, etc, etc, etc.

I enjoy the Christmas season. It is really wonderful. The snow, the decorations, the yummy cocoa drinks and snuggles by the fire. It is all very wonderful. What I don't like, however, is the busy hub-bub that the season seems to bring. Already I'm beginning to panic because I don't have gifts for my family yet (I don't even know WHAT I'm going to get them). Which is unusual, because I've normally got a good headstart on gifts come October. ;-) Course, I'm usually doing homemade gifts, too, so I tend to plan ahead because I know I'll need more time. This year, however, I'm already feeling a bit overwhelmed. That's ok, though. As one character from Charles Dicken's book, "Martin Chuzzlewit", says, "It's a good test on a man to see if he can be jolly with a cold and dreary job. There's no credit to be had for being jolly in a nice place like the Blue Dragon. Perhaps I'll take up a grave digger's work. That should be cold and dreary as a job. Then I can see just how jolly I can be,"

Yup. Like Mark Tappley says, it's easy to be jolly in a nice place. It's harder still to be jolly when there's lots of work or hardship going on.

So, with that being said, I'm going to work on making sure I don't become a Scrooge and let the busyness of the Christmas season make me forget the real reason we are celebrating. There's a reason why we sing "Joy to the World."

Alright, I'm done preaching to myself. As an update post, here's what I've been... well, 'up to'. :-)

First off, I finished out November with reaching 50, 000 words for the NaNoWriMo contest. Many of you have heard of this, and I honestly don't remember if I posted about it on here or not. Basically it's a national contest to see if you can write 50, 000 words in one month in your novel. It was quite a fun experience- but I'm glad I'm done with it. ;-)

December has started off quite well. It is currently snowing, which is good, since it IS December. The cows look rather funny with their 'snow capes', as I like to call them. Poor things. Good thing for tough skin and thick fur, eh?

Other things to note would be a new sewing project. Can't wait what it is, yet, but I'm hoping to share a few sneak-peak pictures later on.

Movie production has come to a slight halt with the busy season, but I think we're hoping to start back up again in January. Getting some December filming would be great, but we'll see how that goes. I try not to pack the month TOO much... else it isn't enjoyable.

Not much else to report on the home front, except I'm thinking this blog needs a bit of snow, too. Hmm... new background time?? ;-)

What's been keeping you busy this month? I'd love to hear!!

Water, water, and more water!!!

It seems that lately we just can't seem to keep the water in the right place on the ranch- which is in the water pipes and water tanks! Not flooding all over the place. If you didn't guess, we are dealing with lots of leaking pipes again. It pretty much goes like this: fix one, find another that's broken, then find that the one you just fixed broke again, then you find a new one, etc, etc....

Dad and Josh were up super early yesterday morning trying to work on one. When they came in for lunch, they were still have issues with it. So, I ended up heading out with Josh to finish fixing it while Dad and Caleb continued to take down our large arena. Josh got down in the hole first to glue one pipe into another, then I ended up having to get down into the hole to fix the other side (I didn't really know what I was doing, but Josh stood by telling me what to do, so that helped. ;-) By the way, I was only getting down there because Josh was rather tired from working all morning and I wanted to give him a break. He protested a lot because he didn't want his sister getting down there for no reason if he could do it himself. Such a gentleman!!). Anyway, I was standing in 7 inches of water... or at least it felt that deep! I know it came past my ankles. Thankfully my boots and pants got all the damage. Oh, and we were just a little muddy... wish I'd had the camera to take pictures! We must have looked pretty funny... :-)

We're 'disassembling' the arena because we are going to use the fencing to build a set of corrals in one of the pastures. Unfortunately, fencing costs a LOT of money. So, when you're not using the arena and a couple other pens anyway, why not just take them down and reuse them. Now, that's what I call being 'green'. ;-)

Dad had Monday off (due to the holiday), and is taking today off as well. So, we had a nice 4-day weekend to work on stuff around the ranch. Things are always piling up that need to be done. *sigh*. I guess that's part of the fun, though. I think I'd really hate it if we didn't have anything to do! ;-) Unfortunately, we were planning on taking down the arena/building the corrals this weekend, not spend it fixing pipelines. Goes to show that we don't know the ways of the Lord and can't plan our day exactly as we would like! :-)

Anyway, I wanted to drop a little update on what we've been doing. Also, I've got some great posts coming up that I can't wait to share with you all. The new puppy is doing well, still hasn't got a name... he doesn't seem to mind too much, though. ;-)

Some exciting things coming up, so stay 'posted' (haha) so hear about those soon!! :-) 

Yes, I'm Still Here... :-)

Hello readers who have been so faithful! Y'all haven't left, even though I haven't posted in such a long while.

Life has been rather busy as of late. Having just graduated (hoping to post some pictures soon!) has been a tremendous step in my life. It was so nice to see all the love and support of my many friends and definitely of my family. :-) Now that I've graduated, I can't wait to get my life 'organized' in the sense that I can get my schedule figured out, get really serious about my children's books, and begin volunteering at some places I've been eyeing. However, before I get to do all that, I must wait for one more week. Why?? Because our drama performance is next weekend!!!

I can't believe that this will be our fourth performance! It's very exciting. I will give a small spoiler and say that I get to play a villain! It's been rather fun, I have to admit. :-) Perhaps because playing her gives me some more flexibility to test out my acting skills and to really expand the character more than I ever got with playing the old ladies in the other two plays. In any case, she's been rather fun (perhaps because I get to also use a Southern accent and wear tons of jewelry??).
   This semester we did a fundraiser to help pay for some of the expenses. It's amazing how much money goes into props, sets, costumes, etc. If anyone is interested in helping us out, you can go and check out our SUPPORT US page on our website. We're selling Entertainment books. This little book is filled with tons of coupons for restaurants, hotels, theaters, and even car rentals! If you go online to order, you can pick a book for your state. :-) (Ok, that was my little speel. =D). I'm hoping to get some video up on the website of some drama stuff, but we'll see how that goes. Unfortunately my computer editing program has NOT been working (which has been a huge frustration to me!).

It was a very exciting election this year because I got to vote!!! That was quite an ordeal to go through, but thankfully I was able to cast my opinion among the other folks. Sad to say that the outcome wasn't what I was hoping for, I'll be honest to say. However, I know that God has it all under control, and that this is just part of His plan, whatever it may be- and, believe it or not, that makes me rather excited. Excited to see where God is going with this. :-) Perhaps I'm just weird that way... ;-)

Other than life just going on as normal, there really isn't much else to tell... well, except for something pretty exciting, but I can't say anything about that just yet. You'll have to wait in suspense. :-) However, I won't make you wait very long, I promise.

Please do drop a comment and tell me what you've been up to! I've rather missed hearing from everyone... :-) Although, I have tried to keep up with your blogs if I can, although it has been difficult at times (especially when the internet won't work!).

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely fall weather! I'm off to enjoy a movie with my sis and a nice cup of hot cocoa!! Yum!

Just an update

Howdy!

I thought I'd drop in and let everyone know that I've recently updated my writing blog, No Greater Thing.  I think you'll want to go check it out. :-) I won't tell you what it says, but I will let you know that it has a bit of a story in it, in case anyone is interested. ;-)  The post can be found here.

How's that for advertising? ;-)

As far as an actual update goes, I guess there isn't much to share! We've been busy doing some cleaning and that's about it. The boys are showing their heifers at the fair this week, and that's probably the only exciting news (except for some other big news, which I will share in another post as it deserves a whole, separate one to it's self =D)

I hope everyone's having a good week so far!!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Just a Random Lil' Post about what's Been Going On

Yup. That just about sums it up.  I thought I might drop in a say a few things. Many of you said you liked just my random 'daily posts', and I'm glad of it. :-)

So, what's been going on in the crazy life of Miss Sarah lately? Well, I don't think I've ever seen a busier July in my life.  You know what we did for the 4th and everything, so I'll spare you the pain of having to re-read it again. This past weekend, though, we had our annual family reunion (on my dad's side). We didn't have as many of the family come this year, but it was nice because I was actually able to sit down and visit with someone for more than five minutes before someone else came up and wanted to visit too. So, all in all, it was very nice. Sadly, we had to cut the visit short because we have a wounded calf to take care of.  Wounded calf? Yes. Unfortunately, our little pups decided to play tug-o-war with our calf. I'll spare disgusting details for those with weak stomachs. But, it wasn't a pretty sight. Both her ears are gone now, and she has a very wounded shoulder. She'll probably walk with a limp the rest of her life.  Thankfully, she seems to be recovering well, but it will take a long time to heal completely. So, daily life consists of going out in the morning and changing her bandages (I will admit here that I haven't been able to help out with that yet... Right now it's too much for my stomach to bear. I know, a rancher girl with a weak stomach. What will come next....) However, though I might not be helping now, I might help later when the wound is more healed than it is now. =S


So, in that series of unfortunate events, I come to the next topic. My pup. Living on the ranch like we do, we can't have dogs that tear up calves, even if they meant it in play. At first we were so upset with them we were just going to put them down. However, after some more thought, we decided that they weren't really bad dogs. They were just puppies that hadn't had very good training (unfortunately we don't know much about dog training!). So, we put an add on Craigslist and a few days later, a nice family came and took Oreo. My little buddy. My shadow. I miss him a lot, but at the same time, I have to say I'm glad he's there and not here where he might get into more trouble (and maybe an accident where we couldn't allow the mercy of him finding another home). So, after we found another home for him, we decided to go ahead and keep Bandit. You see, we had 3 dogs: Sadie (a Great Pyrenees), Bandit, and Oreo. We've heard that if you have more than 2 dogs, they will start forming a 'pack' mentality and will end up doing more damage than good. So, we figured that we'd get rid of the two pups and then keep Sadie (mostly, I think, because she would be harder to get rid of...).  Any way, after we got rid of Oreo, we decided to go ahead and keep both of the other two dogs in hopes that since there aren't 3, they'll behave better.

Moving on.... This Friday we are having a dance!! I'm so very excited and I hope that I can post pictures of it later. :-) Yesterday we went over to a friends house (their daughters and I are the ones who instigated this whole thing!) and learned some dances. Rather, I taught them the dances so I'd have a few more people who knew how to do it. It's going to be interesting because I'm calling the dances. So, we'll see how it goes! They'll either hire or fire me, in a manner of speaking. ;-) any way, I am SO excited. And yes, this sounds silly, but I already have my outfit picked out. The most swish-y skirt I had! ;-) There is, actually, a story behind why I already have my outfit picked out. However, I'll save that for when I post pictures. :-) We will be doing English Contra (or line) dancing. Like the one in the video below, and, if any of you have seen Pride and Prejudice, like the one that Elizabeth dances with Mr. Darcy and they have their famous conversation. :-)

(Isn't that just the most elegant dance you've ever seen? I totally love it! In fact, that's one we're going to do-or try to do! Oh, and the music is just lovely!!) 

Well, I believe that this has gotten long enough. I'll end it by saying that my littlest brother (though not to little now!) is going to be turning 12 in just 3 days!!! So sad to see him growing up, yet I'm proud of the young man he's becoming. :-) I'm going to try to do a special post for him later on....
  And be prepared to see lots of pictures (possibly) as we have several other 'major' events going on. :-)

With that, I shall bid you adieu! I hope all my readers are doing well! Have you been doing anything out of your 'normal' routine?

In His Grace,

Sarah

Guest Post over at Simple Delights

Hello!

My friend, Samantha, over at Simple Delights, was very kind and asked me to be one of her guest-posters while she takes a blogging break. So, if you would like to read my post, just click HERE.  Be sure to drop a comment with your thoughts!! :-)

(Update and -hopefully-pictures coming soon!)

In Him,
Sarah

The Good, the Bad, and the Worse

I know that is supposed to be "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", but I didn't want to take that phrase for fear of getting in trouble. ;-)

Most of y'all have probably (and might have even participated in) seen those blog posts called 'Awkward and Awesome'. I think they're kind of fun. An easy way to quickly update the readers on what the writer has been up to. :-) So, I decided to try my own version of it.

The Good:
~Driving the car with the windows down and the radio up.... and all the cows staring at you like you're some alien from outer space as you belt out the lyrics to one of the songs.
~Laughing hysterically with your brother over your own 'inside joke' and realizing that you'll cherish this moment forever.
~Anticipating getting to see some friends soon.
~Teaching Fiddle and having some of the greatest students ever. :-)
~Excitedly working on "The Project" (of which I will probably post some 'sneak peek' pictures soon!)

The Bad:
~Driving over a bridge without your license.
~Having a major disappointment about a possible acting experience (but the good side is knowing that God is in control!)
~Disappointment about not getting to see some friends Friday night.
~Slightly bummed that we are no longer hand-milking. (we made our own milk machine, which has been really nice, but every once in a while I still milk by hand... its just fun. :-) )

The Worse:
~The little milk calf, Nessie, getting hurt by the dogs playing 'too hard' with her.
~Having to get rid of the puppies because of the above incident.
~Missing my little Oreo. My buddy.
~Having seen no rain for a very long time... it just feels dry.

So that sums it up for right now.  Anything awkward or awesome going on in your life? I might end up switching to the actual awkward and awesome, since those seem to be more fun. But, this seemed to fit a bit better for what I was posting. :-)

I've been pretty surprised at the results of my voting pole! Thank you for voting on if you did, and if you didn't, then please do so. :-)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday so far!

The Tidbits of Life

I hope that everyone is having a good weekend so far! I know it's just barely begun, but it always seems to zip by way too quickly. :-) There are always so many things to do over the weekend and we never seem to be able to get them finished.  Oh well, I suppose that that is the way life goes, eh?

I was thinkin' (which is a dangerous thing for me to do some days) that I ought to come over here and give a lil' update on what we've been doing. We have been so super busy that I actually have something other than the boring 'we ate lunch, cleaned up, washed laundry, etc' that I think I tend to post.

Sunday morning my beautiful Sister and I got up and headed out to my Grandparents place in Tucumcari. Two hours away, but thank goodness for Lamplighter Theater!!! We were able to listen to "The Captive" on the way over. It was very good and I highly recommend it. :-)  We arrived just as they were getting out of church and met them at a local restaurant for lunch.
  If you're wondering what we were doing over there, I'll go ahead and tell that part. I guess it's kind of important. ;-)  Rebecca was asked to come and take pictures of everyone at the church for their new directory. So, she was able to set up a little studio in one of the rooms at the church and set to work. I tagged along for the labor/grunt work and moral support. ;-) Of course, she really just wanted to take me with her because she just can't stand to keep away from my wonderful self for very long. Just kidding. In all seriousness, I did go to help her out and do some work. I was mostly useful for the setting up and tearing down, but I enjoyed it while we were there. Got to visit with lots of people and enjoy watching my sister as she pulled off a very professional and friendly air as she 'shot' people. =D  Seriously, though, she really did an amazing job!!  She was able to borrow some of those 'fancy lights' (like the ones you'd see in a real studio) from a friend. Our backdrop was just a simple sheet from Alco. But hey, they turned out super nice! I'm hoping that she'll share a few on her Photography Blog.

Oh, I also got the be the guinea pig for adjusting the lighting. Let's just say that when you have to sit and have your picture taken for nothing in particular except to make sure the lighting is just right... well, let's just say that it can get boring and you start doing crazy thing without knowing you're really doing it. Perhaps the pictures below will explain a lil' better. ;-) (and yes, I know... I always said I wouldn't ever post a bunch of pictures of myself, but I figured I'd better show my goofy side every once in a while. ;-)

 "I can't believe I have to do this..."

 "I'm Singin' in the Studio, just Singin' in the Studio!..."

 "Maybe if I stare her down she'll let me go."

 

My model pose. What do you think? Should I be on the cover of a magazine? ;-)

 

 After all the goofiness, I felt that I needed to look dignified at least once.

 My Beeyouteeful sister

Just to show off my sister's great posing/photography skills... ;-)

We were there from Sunday to Tuesday evening. Grandma and one of the ladies from church worked hard several days before to get a schedule of when people were coming in. We got most of them on Sunday, but were still kept busy taking photos on Monday and Tuesday.  All in all, it went really well and I can't wait to see how the directory turns out!

Wednesday we had most of the day at home and then went to watch some friend's kids over night while they were away.  That was lots of fun. :-) The kids were wonderful and super cute. We got back Thursday and quickly made the switch for mom and Becca to go into town to go to their volunteer place and me to stay at the house with the boys.  While they are gone, the boys and I got a few things done around the house.

Yesterday we just be cleaned our house and then ran into town when we heard that some friends of ours had Chicken Pox.  Caleb hasn't had it yet, so anytime we hear of something getting it, we try our hardest to get him over there for 'snuggle time'! ;-) He read the kids books and snuggled with them while they watched a movie. Hopefully he'll get it.  So, that was a very busy week. This coming week we have nothing scheduled. whew! That will be nice to just stay home and relax.

Today my Mom gets to finally see her Christmas present! My Dad bought her tickets to go see the Broadway production of Les Miserables.  It is her absolutely favorite book. She is a little worried that the play won't be as good, but I think she will still enjoy it.

Oh, and in the next few days I'll try to get up a few photos that my sister took of my cousin and I while we were in Tucumcari.  Katie came over while she had lunch break from her job. We ate pizza and then, since we had a large open time slot with no one coming in, Becca let us have fun and mess around in her 'studio'. I think some of them turned out pretty cute.

Off to finish cleaning and maybe do some laundry. :-) Oh and don't forget to vote on the poll if you haven't already!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

In Need of a Post and a Laugh

I know it hasn't been that long since I've posted, but it has certainly felt that way!  We have been pretty busy around here, thus why I haven't posted. :-)

We recently cleaned out our very large tool/work shop. It is very large and can get messy rather easily. Part of the problem was that we had 2 different kinds of 'messes' out there, and that wasn't very fun. The people who lived here before us ended up leaving a bunch of their stuff in the shop, and then we have our stuff out there. Thus the two messes. However, it was absolutely wonderful to just get it cleaned out! How nice to have the space to work on vehicles, know where all the tools are, etc. And, it's rather exciting (to me, anyway), because I will be having my graduation party there. So, that will be nice.  We're also hoping to possibly host a dance or two this summer.... any one interested? ;-)
     The cleaning took up our memorial weekend, but that's why we did it then. 3 days of Dad home being able to help us and tell us where he wanted things etc (not to mention the help of all the muscles. =D)
How did everyone else's Memorial weekend go?

I do have a "good" post in the works, it's just going through final editing. ;-) In the meantime, I thought that I would post a few pictures that I have found on Pinterest. These gave me a few laughs, so maybe y'all will chuckle at them, too.  No, I'm not on Pinterest (though I'd like to be!), but I can't help looking on there every so often... ;-)

 Wonderful advice! I've heard a similar one, except its with a vacuum. Leave a vacuum in the middle of your floor so when people stop by un-expectantly, they'll think you were just starting to clean... ;-)

That one is SO me. Math and have always been enemies...

I hope that everyone is doing well! I've got a busy (but fun!) weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow I'm going into town to teach my fiddle students. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before... Yes, I'm teaching fiddle to 3 wonderful young ladies! It has been quite fun. Dad takes me into town with him on his way to work, drops me off at their house, I do a lesson, and then we hang out until someone picks me up.  This weekend, however, I have the honor of watching the kids for the night. It will be loads of fun. :-) I'll spend the night, and then the guys will take me home since they are coming over for a Top Shot competition that my Dad and few other guys have helped put together. I don't know if anyone has seen that show on TV before. It's pretty neat. There are 14 contestants (I think) divided into two teams. The teams compete in different competitions with knives, rifles, pistols, bows, machine guns, military guns, etc. If a team loses, they have to eliminate one of their players. It continues on until there are only a few left, then it's every man for himself. It's pretty neat/interesting to watch. Some of the guys are SUPER good.
   My Dad and brothers thought it would be neat to do our own out here on the ranch. So, they've got it all set up. This will be the second one. It's going to be fun because I plan on competing (possibly!). Watch out guys! Annie Oakley is comin' fer a visit!  Ok, just kidding. I'm not very good, but I do enjoy shooting. In any case, wish me luck! ;-)

Does anyone have some fun plans for the weekend?

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

P.S. Sorry about the blog look... I was trying to work on it and totally erased some stuff accidentally. So, it's stuck like that until I figure it out or some techy person can come fix it for me. =P However, do y'all like the header? My wonderful sis took the photo, then I edited it on Picmonkey.

P.P.S. Also please vote on my sidebar pole!

Just out of Curiosity...

So, am I the only one who really like the OLD blogger interface and am really bummed about them removing it soon????  Just didn't know if there was anyone else out there who preferred the old to the new (yes, I've tried the new interface and just didn't care for it as much.) But then, maybe I'm just weird.

Well, our ABC drama group had it's two performances this past weekend. Seems like forever ago, and yet it's not. I'll be sharing some pictures soon!

Other news is that I am still alive.. ;-) It feels like I've been gone for forever, which is unusual for me on here! ;-) We are rather busy with cows. Working them every night, so our social life is on hold for a bit (unless guests come over to our place.) That's OK, though. Sometimes it's nice to just hunker down and regroup as a family, especially after a super busy season.  We had the Home school convention, and then the drama performance. Whew. Just seemed super hectic.

The past weekend and this week have been/will be filled with cleaning. We moved bookshelves last weekend (not a good idea if you have drama performances those nights, but hey- I'm glad it's done!), and this week we are cleaning out/reorganizing/revamping our kitchen and pantries. We have the pantries pretty much put together so far. Then it's just the kitchen and our china cabinet. We're going to be moving things around, trying to make it look nicer and more usable. :-) Next on the list is to clean out the workshop and the barn.  I'll be having my graduation party out here at the ranch later this fall.

On that news, I'm excited to share that I am ALMOST DONE WITH SCHOOL!!! Seriously. I am all finished with science. Now I've just got some History and math. I'll be done by the end of May, early June. It will be so nice to be done!  But, I'll have my party when the weather is nicer. Even though our house is small (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom), we have plenty of space outside! haha! So, that's nice for big parties. ;-)

Well, my 'break time' is over, so I'd best get goin'. Oops, sorry. Still in my hillbilly mode from drama! hehe!

Hope everyone is doing well!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Ducklings, Goslings, and Chicklings-Oh My!

Ok, "chicklings" isn't a real word, but in my dictionary it is. ;-)  So, I just had to share a few pictures with y'all of the new adorable members of the ranch that we got.

We've had chicks and ducks before, but never geese! So, we're very excited about them. :-)  Supposedly they are very mean unless you really handle them while they are goslings. We've been making sure we spend time with them every day if possible.  Right now they are friendly enough that you can stroke their chests and they don't move away.  However, even though they will be nice to us, I guess that we've heard that they might still be mean to others who haven't handled them. That would mean all of our friends. And because most of our friends have little ones still, we never did get geese before for that very reason.  This year, however, we are making a chicken coop and we will keep all of the fowl in.  Great way to keep the coyotes away, too. Paws off! ;-)

Ok, enough talk, onto the pictures!

 Sorry, had to share a few pictures of our adorable pups!! Oreo (the black one. See his white stripe?) just came and settled right in my lap. He's a darling. :-) No, I'm not biased.... 

 Bandit, or as we sometimes call him, Bandito! ;-) 

 Psst! Oreo you need to smile at the camera!!! 

 I guess the looks on both our faces are pretty funny. :-)

 Ha, I just noticed that the ducks and geese separated themselves for the picture! The three on the very far left (two greyish and one yellow) are the three goslings. The rest are ducks, except for the little chick right there on the far right. :-) Doesn't she look so small next to the ducks? And she is actually bigger, compared to the chicks! 

 Gotta love how they tilt their heads to look at you!! ;-) Becs had her MP3 playing in her pocket, so when she stepped outside, all of the ducks started look around. It was funny. :-)

My Lil' Bud.  This guy follows me everywhere! I actually picked him out because he was the one guy that really bonded with me out of all the other puppies. Course, I would have kept all of them if I could! :-) In fact, we are getting kittens today. I would have loved to have gone and helped pick them out, but I figured it would be wisest if I stayed home because otherwise I would take all of them home. =D

Ok, now for a few pictures from Monday on our way into town.  The storm was rolling in, and it just looked BEAUTIFUL!!! 

 The thin clouds (not sure I could call it a mist because it wasn't rain) rolling down the hills on the ranch. Yes, that's overlooking the corrals.

Our huge guard dog unconcerned with the coming storm. :-)

Reflections in the mirror...

 Don't we have some of the coolest clouds??

This is my favorite picture.  It's like the calm before the storm, the last ray of sunshine.... That is, by the way, a view of headquarters from the road.

 And this is what came of it... snow!  Thankfully it was warm enough that it melted very quickly and just let all the moisture soak into the ground. I'm just hoping my lilacs will bloom! They had started to bud right before this storm came in.. so far they look OK, but I'm just prayin' hard that they will finally bloom. They haven't bloomed for 3 years now, and it's rather sad. :-(

Oh, I will say that the drive back home at 10 pm was NOT a picnic, let me tell you.  It was just awful! Several times we couldn't see the road, the lines on the road, anything! and the semi trucks would just zoom by.  No wonder you see so many overturned semi trucks.. or semi trucks getting pulled over for speeding!

And, last but not least, I guess I'll show you a few pictures from Tuesday! Quiet, ROLL 'EM!

 Cindy Lou talkin' on the telephone.

"Call for Gram? It's for you, Gram."

"I don't know nobody what uses a telephone..."

 Cousin Clem is definitely eavesdropping... ;-)

 "Just because I'll be rich... and probably famous, doesn't mean I'm not your friend anymore."

"Oh Thank you Matilda. The bonds of friendship are strong indeed."

 So, do you think I look very matronly? I mean, I'm a proprietor, run the general store, and everyone loves me. ;-) Just imagine me with grey/white hair, and maybe glasses. :-)

 This is a good friend of mine. We have a blast trying to make each other laugh during practice. We can get pretty mean sometimes, too! ;-)

 I'm not really sure what was going on with my face at the time....

 Copycat....

 And, of course, our adorable Mascot!!!! Isn't she the CUTEST!! She has the bluest eyes ever. Blond hair and blue eyes.. *sigh* could it get any better??? ;-)

On a final note, Here is a picture of the delicious, heavenly, superb crepes we had this morning. :-) YUM!!! 

Ok, well, I guess this ended up being a big picture post!! haha! Well, I think most of y'all enjoy seeing pictures.  Drop me a line in the comment box! I surely do enjoy readin' 'em! (Ooops, slipping back into my Gram dialect.. ;-)

Hope y'all are having a wonderful Thursday!!!  Is anyone celebrating the Passover this weekend?

In Christ's Service,

Sarah