Cigar Any One?

Hike in to a Remote Lake

Today we hiked into a remote lake. Its a short drive to the trail head from our house. The neighbor girl, Kiree, came with us. As we were about to leave, it poured rain. As the rain cleared, my husband decided to chance it. It turned out to be a lovely day. We fished (though we didn't catch a thing!), roasted hot dogs and eventually the kids skipped rocks. It was a fun day.

I TAG HEATHER from Bless Your Family

Tagged by "ME", the Sock Fashion Expert!!!


How old are you? A wise woman never tells her age

Is this your first tag? No

Have you every moved? Yes

What is your favorite animal? I like lots of animals, German shepherds, snow leopards, wild animals - bob cats, mountain lions, oh and my furry pet kids

What is your favorite movie? Me, I think bells of innocence is creepy. Fireproof for sure!!

What is your favorite book? The Bible for sure, otherwise Always Enough by Heidi Baker

Are you an elf? No but when I grow up I want to be like the elf guy in Lord of the Rings.

Who do you like better, Eowyn or Arwen? idk

How long have you been riding? Not much idk

Who are your favorite Lord of the Rings characters? The elf warrior guy who does flips and shoots a bow. He’s the bomb.

Do you get a lot of homework? Yes

Do you think tagging is awesome? No

How many times a week do you ride a horse? Never, but I’m working on my husband to get me one so I can be like the elf guy.

Do you like blogging? Yes

Do people think you're strange? Um… yeah, but don’t tell nobody.

Do you like getting comments on your blog? Yes

Do you like getting new followers on your blog? Yes

Do you get bored easily? Very Rarely (only boring people are bored)

Do you have an awesome blog? Absolutely

How many followers do you have? 17




What was the scariest moment with a horse you have had? I’ve been thrown at least twice when I was a teen. Another time, one decided to not move when we were far away from anything. I didn’t know what to do!

Who do you like better, Sauron or SarIuman? The cool elf guy, none can compare!!


Do you like school? When my kids feel like learning


Are you a good actress? I have to be, I’m an Emergency Room Nurse!!


Do you like music?? Yes

Do you like taking personality quizzes? No, but I am doing it for my wonderful daughter, the sock fashion expert


Do you like long or short posts? short

Are you easily entertained? Mostly

Are you going to tag someone else? Yes

I tag HEATHER!!!

i might be a were wolf

My recent adventures include a trip to the big city 3 1/2 hours away. It always seems to amaze me that I can never find contentment in the things that I am buying. There is always "something more", just out of my reach. Being satisfied is a state of mind. Its a state of mind with grocery shopping, with eating, with buying "stuff" and with whatever else you want to apply it to.
Recently, after many years of begging, pleading and hissy fits, my husband resigned to taking back over the check book. Neither one of us enjoy the dutiful job. When you are the one with the check book, you are always aware of the families financial status. You know what bills need to be paid. You know how much money is left over for gas, groceries and the like. Its kind of like Eve eating from the tree of knowledge. Knowledge is a burdensome load when it comes to being fully aware of ones financial status.
Its been years since my spending money on groceries has been monitored. Since I've been the one paying the bills, I just bought groceries blindly. Usually its me stuffing the cart full of things that I deem "needed". Then when the checker runs up the bill and gives me the total I am dumbfounded. I get a sick feeling in my stomach and I write the check with a "hope for the best" attitude. I almost always spent more on groceries than I thought I should be spending.
Now that my husband has taken back over the check book, he has tried to give me limits on grocery shopping. Though I WANTED him to take over the check book, I am unfortunately resistant to change. I think every trip to town thus far has resulted in a "hissy fit" on my part. Most of this is due to my lack of maturity. I want doughnuts in the morning. I want ice cream in the afternoon. I want to spend $4 on a latte. I want all kinds of unnecessary things and I don't want to be monitored! I enjoy spending money frivolously. I can't help myself! Perhaps we may chalk it up to my fallen carnal nature.
And so today I survived a trip to the city with constraints. Surprisingly, I got everything I had on my list (except for some mocha powder for making iced slushy coffee drinks). I find it quite amazing that everybody is into "being frugal". Its a buzz word today. Women are proud of saving money and doing well on fixed incomes. We both chose not to work regular jobs so that we can be home with our kids. Because of this, we make choices to be content with living creatively. I am learning to cook with sprouted grains. For years now, our main meat staple has been venison. I learned to render bear fat last fall. All of these things I have enjoyed doing.
I just change when I get into the city. Its like the were wolf who changes with the full moon. When I get inside of Costco, I grow fangs and fur. I prowl down every aisle for my prey and when my husband says "ca ching" I begin howling.
I hope you will all diligently pray for me because tomorrow I am the special speaker at a women's aglow meeting. I am hoping to become a little more spiritual prior to the meeting tomorrow. I am aware of several women who are coming from long distances expecting to hear an encouraging message. Little do they know that today I had fangs, fur and claws.

1 Timothy 6:5-7 (Amplified Bible)
5And protracted wrangling and wearing discussion and perpetual friction among men who are corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a [a]source of profit [a moneymaking business, a means of livelihood]. From such withdraw.

6[And it is, indeed, a source of immense profit, for] godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of [b]inward sufficiency) is great and abundant gain.

7For we brought nothing into the world, and obviously we cannot take anything out of the world;

Somebody Loves Her Daddy

BitterSweet

Today my husband shared the message at our local church. I was beaming from ear to ear. I am SOOOO proud of him. He read the story of the 8 cow wife. Here is the link if you haven't heard the story. EVERY WOMAN should read it, but more importantly EVERY MAN Its just a FABULOUS true story.

Anyway, my husband shared this story and he read Proverbs 31 telling what is the mans responsibility in it. This is something that most people have never heard. The general idea of the message was that men should treat their wives well. To uplift and encourage them and help them to be all that they can be. Also to spend time with their families and to be generous to them. Oh I was TOUCHED. I think a lot of people were too. One man traveled a long way to see his family who live in our area. He said that the trip was worth it if only to hear my husbands message. Oh, I know it sounds like bragging, but I just can't help myself.
He wouldn't tell me what he was studying about yesterday. He acted real private. He went to the basement with the lap top. I was suspicious (because I have a horribly suspicious nature). I wanted to know what he was doing and what he was speaking about. He wouldn't budge. I contemplated using a ladder to look in the basement window. In my imagination all kinds of scenarios unfolded such as myself holding a baby hanging in mid air from a window groove. Eventually I forced myself to wait and find out what he would speak on like everybody else had to do. He used me in many examples while he was talking. Of course it was all good, but I wanted to hide behind the refrigerator. The church was packed and I didn't know what to do with all that attention focused toward me. The most important thing is that I really believe it will help marriages in our area and make life better for people as well as bring them closer to God. We also had incredible praise and worship. Some friends came from the city nearby to lead it.
On Friday we had Bible Study. It was bittersweet. The main couple we meet with are leaving for a week out of state. The foster children that they have cared for will be going to stay with a family member of theirs. They may not be coming back. It was hard to see them go not knowing if we would ever see the kids again.
My oldest son, pictured above, passed his GED this week with flying colors. He does not at all like the idea of being a "home school graduate". He has been quite reluctant to let me send out announcements and begin the hoopla. He would way rather go on with things just as they are. This is to his intelligence and credit. He knows life comes with responsibilities he's in no hurry to take on. A happy day for him is a care free one out in the forest looking for sheds, hunting or just hiking and observing undisturbed nature. Though he has looked at college programs, (other than on line college courses, we have all voted he enjoy some more years at home and take his time deciding what to do with his life.

My Recent Fitness Exploits

These photos include a deer on river bank, ducks i was never able to get close enough to get a good photo of, a tree which was willing to stand still (the local "rope swing"), Catman pretending to be "the King", and Moonbeam ready for an adventure.




After working a couple of days at the hospital, I was ready to embark on some type of athletic endeavor. As you may be aware, I am recently pretending to be a runner. For the first time in my life, someone was willing to run with me. This was an exciting new break through because I am "friend challenged", I live deep in the mountains, and I am afraid of running by myself. Since I haven't run (a straight mile) since high school (18 years ago), its been a good challenge. I am running with a 22 year old who was in athletics when she was in high school (not as many years ago). We started last week. I cancelled once because I got called to work. She cancelled once because of several inches of snow. Today was our second run together.
I have been preparing for these runs quite diligently. First of all, I dress like a runner. I wear 3 running bras, a running shirt, running legging leotard type things and a sweat shirt. I decided that the too big running shorts I got at a second hand store looked weird, so I put on some clearance wal mart stained up running pants that I usually wear when I clean the bathroom. I also dawned running shoes that I was not able to sell on eBay. Again, I consumed granola for breakfast (something I'm pretty sure runners eat). My next big move was to add "running" to my list of interests on my blog profile description. When I went grocery shopping I bought a copy of "Women's Running Magazine". I'm pretty sure that these things will some how mysteriously make me into a runner of sorts.
I thought I might hurl after the first mile of running with my friend, Mist. I didn't want to let on though. If I'm going to be a runner I have to fake their "no pain no gain" mentality. I ferverently wished one of the few cars that drove by would be someone who wanted to stop and visit with us. Much to my disappointment and anguish, they all just drove by and waved. Mist says that soon we will try running 2 miles without stopping to walk. I smiled and said "sure", trying to act nonchalant. Miss Belly Fat is panicking. She would put her foot down, but she doesn't have one.
Yesterday, after I got off of working 2 12 hour night shifts, the house was a disaster. I felt tempted to feel sorry for myself. Instead I took Moonbeam on a hike to a nearby lake. As I was sitting there, two men came down and stood on either side of me to fish. I was holding really still and they couldn't tell I was there. I feared one of them would decide to urinate so I decided to announce myself after I carefully stopped nursing. Then I took the kayak out on the river by myself for a couple of miles. It felt good to expend some energy after being cooped up.