School

One of the reason's I never update this thing is I have no time anymore. Well that's not entirely true, I just choose to do other things with my free time. Like hunting! That totally qualifies as a very valid reason. Anyways, I started using my GI Bill and taking classes. I forgot how much work school is! It's paying off however, I'm getting all A's in my classes, and 100's on all of my assignments so far.

One of the main reasons it's taken me so long to go back to school is lack of confidence in myself as a student. Growing up, I was home schooled and never had the "classroom" experience that pretty much everyone else has. I've never had to compare myself to others in a learning environment. That has made me EXTREMELY nervous that I would be a complete failure and get kicked out.

After only a month, I'm not worried about that anymore. I'm still learning how to manage my time with working till 6PM and then school all week, but it's working for me.

So, I'm still here! I've just been pretty busy lately, so drop me a line if you feel like talking!

Halloween

It's Halloween and I dressed up as a fisherman.

I was in the store yesterday and found the most amazing and wonderful thing! CHOCOLATE GRAHAM CRACKERS!!!!! Why am I 27 and just now finding this out?

Thanks Tom Clancy!!

Have you ever believed something you were told or read as a child? Then one day you are saying it or repeating it to someone like it's real or true, and suddenly have that moment of clarity about halfway through whatever it is that you're telling the other person, and you realize that it is in fact NOT true!?

Shark Week is always the first week of August on the Discovery channel. Noah and I were watching one night and he turns to me and asks, "Do you know how to avoid a shark attack?" without missing a beat I reply, "Sure do, you just pee on yourself."

When I was about 10 I read a Tom Clancy book about some Special Ops guy that was shot in the leg, floating out to sea, and he kept peeing on his leg and the ammonia was keeping sharks away. It sounded so scientific and factual that I have believed this to be true ever since. Hey I was 10, give me a break!

Well the Man-Friend thought this was the funniest thing he's EVER heard and has NOT stopped laughing since. (He later told me he was just going to say "You just have to outswim your buddy") I thought this was going to be one of those, "Sshhh don't tell anyone" It's just between us kind of things. Pretty much I was the only one who had that thought, because last night He told me that my Dad laughed for like an hour about peeing on your leg. It's been the running joke that "Peeing on yourself helps".

Later on that night after all the laughter had stopped, Discovery went on to explain that peeing in the water is actually an attractant to sharks.

I talk with my hands a lot. That does not mean that I know sign language or could communicate with a special needs person. Well, My sisters and I communicate and understand each other perfectly!
Noah however, does not understand half of the time what I'm talking about. For example, If I was trying to say "I am craving turkey and dressing." But had forgotten what what dressing was called. Rubbing your fingers together right underneath your face like you were crumbling cornbread and saying "Ah come on! You know what that stuff is called! It's that stuff!" He doesn't get the language! Same thing with my Jeep. If it does something weird or makes a sound. First it will only do it when I'm alone in the vehicle. Second, trying to explain car noises to a man is the most difficult thing I've ever tried to do in my entire life! Saying that "It's just doing something funny." or "It made a weird noise." Does nothing to satisfy a guy. He will always say, "Well what did it do?" or "What did the noise sound like?" In my language this means recreate it. You can only imagine what that looks like. But eventually he will figure out what it is that I'm saying and he will ask "So it's making a knocking noise when you turn" or something along those lines, and I normally respond with a yes. In two seconds he can say in perfect english what I'm been miming for the past half hour. Needless to say, it drives him crazy! But we finally are on the same page.
Last week my little sister B texted and was asking about a diagnostics check on her vehicle because it was "Doing something funny." After about 16 texts back and forth, I told her to call Noah and ask him. Why? He's the smartest man I know and thats who I'd ask. I gave her his number, and about a half hour later he calls and says "Do you know how hard it is to know what's wrong with a vehicle a couple hundred miles away when you can't see it, or see hand and arm signals?"

Experimentation #1

Contrary to popular belief, It's actually quite impossible to boil water for oatmeal in the morning, if you forget to turn on the stove top. Sitting there for 4-5 minutes wondering why it won't, will NOT make it boil any faster on it's own.

"Sometimes the truth hurts"

I was trying on a pink striped tank top just a couple of minutes ago, that my sister forced me buy. (True story! It's NOT something I would've picked out) I turned to my best friend in the whole world and said, "would I look gay running in this?" To which he replied, "Are you KIDDING me? You run in an old pair of my Marine Corps shorts, a tie-died tee-shirt and a camo doo-rag on your head! You already look gay!"

Chocolate

Well if you have ever wondered what a Chocolate Atomic Bomb going off looks like, just drop the container of cocoa on the floor from about 4 feet up. A billowing mushroom cloud that covers everything within 30 yards in a fine dust of unpleasant tasting cocoa. I'm quite sure that if I blow my nose, It will look like something is VERY wrong with me!!!

Almost there!

It doesn't matter that you can hardly tell what it is yet. It's still going to grow into a big cucumber and I'll eat it, and it will be awesome!

I remember a discussion Noah and I had right after we got married. We were talking about working out and I remember telling him that "I just don't sweat". I remember it because he laughed in my face, and told me that it was because I didn't work out very hard and my workout ethic sucked. I'd like to say that my workouts have improved a lot since then.

It's the last few days of May and on June 11th. Noah and I will find out if we drew tags to go back to New Mexico to Mule Deer hunt.

In preparation, Noah got out a pack frame and filled it up with random heavy stuff we had laying around and we hiked over to his Mom's for coffee. After we got back to our house, I got Noah to help me put the pack on and I went a lap around our neighborhood (just almost a mile). I even ran the last little bit.

I totally got sweaty.

What the hell!!

I was sitting at the computer a couple of minutes ago and kept hearing something go thump, thump, thump. I go to see what it is...

It was to dark to shoot outside....

Noah just sold his compound bow and is getting ready for a new seaon of hunting with a recurve bow. He told me he needed the practice time.

A different type of farming

So I have a worm farm. That's right, You heard me. A worm farm.

My Celebrity Moment

I had a moment today people! I could have sworn on a bible, that I was having a face to face, real life conversation with Sam Elliot about bass fishing!

A man came into the clinic to be seen and his friend brought him in. After I got all the paperwork in order and the man taken to a room, His friend asked me about my pictures I have hanging up. I started talking to him and then looked up, and low and behold! There before me stands Sam Elliot! All he needed was a dusty old red bandanna, a tied-down six shooter and a horse.

I think I froze mid-sentence for about 6 seconds and mentally thought, "Oh My Gosh! It's Sam Elliot! Be cool, be cool." and then kept on talking. So we sit there and shoot the breeze, as they used to say, for about 45 minutes or so. I'm sitting there the whole time wondering if it's possible for me to be sneaky enough to snap a picture of him with my cell phone camera. It wasn't! So we talked and I didn't embarrass myself. This old guy was one of the coolest dude's I've ever had the chance to talk to.

Turns out, He wasn't Sam. But I learned a valuable lesson today, I'm totally awesome under pressure!

SPF 60 please

I was pulling weeds and clover out of my yard today and just realized that I have a sunburn on my bo-hiney! And it HURTS!

Somewhere in between about the September-to-now time frame, I forgot that I'm a little vampire child that burns in any type of sunlight, and I really should wear sunscreen.

Heart of Texas Wildflower Exhibit

With a headline like that, Who couldn't help but go? ME! I was surprised by how many wildflowers and "weeds" and brush I recognized. The Brownwood Garden Club hosted it, and they also had a plant sale. (Thats like saying Dillards Shoe Sale to my Mother-In-Law. I'm So there!) They had stuff cheap! We're talking $0.75 a small pot and $1.75 for a larger one. I picked out some things I didn't have to add to my collections and went inside for a closer look at the displayed flowers. I'm hoping it was just kind of slow when I stopped, because these three ladies followed me the whole time.
I wish I had my camera, But no pictures this time.

Looking at this picture, You would never guess that I fell over about 10 seconds later....

"Free dog to a good home"

Everyone I know has heard me talk about my dog. I talk about her nonstop! What do you expect? I don't have any kids. Let me add here how cute and adorable she is, she's my running buddy, best friend and coolest dog ever.
Now let me add how much I hate that stupid mutt! This year as I was putting stuff into my flower beds I was reading Better Homes and Gardens and they tell you to mix your veggies and flowers together. No big deal, I've done that before. So I planted my onion starters in the flower beds, and have been watching them grow. A couple of nights ago I went out to water and saw a literal path munched into my green, pretty little garden. That stinker figured out there were onions mixed in and she's slowly eating them as she gets hungry. You know she's thinking how awesome it was that I planted little doggie treats everywhere. It's like her own little Easter egg hunt.

Trust me, this is NOT the face of innocence!

Farming

Last fall I decided I was going to put in some flower beds in my back yard. This was a pretty large undertaking for me since I've only done very small beds and only one at a time. Well I got them finished but to late in the year to really do anything to them, So I've been working on them slowly as it's gotten warmer and I really hope they will be as pretty as I've imagined.

I don't have a "green thumb" by any means. I'm more likely to kill something rather than make it grow. I've quit buying most of my flowers from the store because I can't justify spending money on something that has a 40/60 chance of making it. Instead, I've gotten stuff that other people just don't want, or are thinning out, or is half-dead at Walmart and is on clearance. I love the half-dead Walmart clearance.

I've transplanted, dug up out of fields, taken seed pods from other peoples plants and am always telling people to get me a starter. I'm trying some stuff on my rose bush clippings that makes them root and I think it's working. Well it was before I knocked over the pot with the water hose, It's repotted and I'm praying for the little guy.

I decided that this year I was going to plant a garden, I put my onions in the ground first and they are all making it so far. I tried to start peas, beans, cucumbers and a couple of other things in those little indoors seed pots. I don't know why, but none of them germinated. So I gave up and stuck them into the ground. Yesterday my peas (well they might be beans, I forgot what I planted where) were just peaking out and today the beans were as well. I've gotten my tomatoes into the ground and peppers too. I felt so proud outside watering today. I guess the real test is to not kill them before I can harvest anything off of them. But for just one tiny moment, I felt like a real farmer.

Spring

I love Spring! It's awesome! There are birds singing, flowers are starting to bloom, warmer weather, and it's good for fishing slow with plastics (which I'm ALL about). Last year, I noticed that a sparrow that had built a nest in my shrubs. So being the super cool person I am, I put out a bird feeder and have since spent about $27.57 buying bird food. My one sparrow turned into like 37 and I have robins, little yellow bellied finches, a couple of crows, and a wren or 13. As fast as I put out food, they eat it all up. A couple of things made me realize that I'm now the crazy bird lady on our street. One was my husband, two I was watching some birdies out the window the other morning and they are FAT! Their poor little twig-for-legs were splayed out and looked ready to break. Three was I walked out of my door the other day and as I locked the door and turned around, there were about 25 birds all lined up on the edge of the gutter leaning down to look at me. Their feeder was empty and they wanted their breakfast. I like waking up and hearing them outside. It just sounds like spring.

Trail Mix

I made some awesome trail-mix this weekend and wanted to share..

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees
2 cup Oats
3/4 cup Un-toasted Wheat Germ
3/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
1 cup Peanuts - Crushed or broken
1 cup Pecan pieces
3/4 cup Almonds - broken or halved
2 cup Shredded Coconut

Mix together and toast on a baking sheet 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Stirring occasionally. Toss into a large mixing bowl and add:

2 cups Honey Graham Oh's
1 cup raisens - golden or regular ones
1 bag or 8 oz of mixed dried berries - I use dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries (Yum!)
mix well.

While your dry ingredients are toasting, place the following into a sauce pan and simmer on low heat. Stir constantly until sugar has melted then pour over mix and toss and stir well to coat.

2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt
4 Tbsp Butter

You can line a pan in wax paper and dump everything into and press down HARD. Let dish cool completly, peel away wax paper, cut and enjoy bars.
You can also just enjoy sort of loose, or toast some of the finished granola before adding fruit and add some crunch. You can do all sorts of variations, or add different amounts of whatever fruits and nuts you like the best. I hope you enjoy!!

It has been a very long time since my last blog, post thingy. It's officially Spring time, and with Spring comes Bass fishing!

I love waking up early and heading to the lake to catch as many fish as possible. There's something about being on the water, watching your line twitch and feeling a fish load up for the first time. It's a rush and I LOVE IT!

Noah has outfished me so far but I'm working on catching up.

Graceful is my middle name

If you know me well, then it's no surprise or shock when I show up with new cuts, scrapes, bruises, etc. If I'm not hurting myself, I'm getting Noah hurt. I just don't think about my actions, and the reactions to my actions. This week was a new one for even me. I was trying to help (getting in the way) Noah while he was working on skinning out a deer and got hit in face with a wood saw. Luckily I saw something headed right for me and jerked out of the way. Noah freaked out, and swears he's going to make me wear a helmet with a full face mask. I've got so many freckles that it blends in. I always wanted a glass eye!! I guess I'll wait till next time.

I Swear.... It's really me!

Every year, For the first two weeks or so, is a doe and spike season. It gives everyone a chance to shoot a couple more deer to put in the freezer and help manage the herd. I sat in the stand a couple of nights this week and shot a little doe on Saturday night. This was my first bow kill and I was elated when I walked up and saw her laying there. I've been able to talk Noah into letting me skin and quarter up a couple of the deer this year. Of course now this means I have to skin my own kills!

There's some very basic satisfaction that comes from knowing you have just provided food for your family. It's very empowering. My sister is shaking her head right now and saying "I don't even know you".

New Mexico part 2

Well hello New Year! I spent mine in New Mexico kicking off part 2 of my Mule deer hunt. I came back empty handed and 6 pounds lighter. As with everything else I try to accomplish, this was no different in the crazy stuff that came my way. I think they oddest thing about the whole trip is I barely took any pictures! It's hardly my fault as the batteries died, and I didn't have any replacements. The first night out Noah convinced me that sleeping under the stars in the desert was going to be fun. It was so pretty and only about 45 or 50 degrees till about oh, say 1130 PM and a huge cold front blew in. It wouldn't have been to bad except that we were surrounded by sand dunes and literally got buried as the night went by. We just pulled the covers over our heads and tried to sleep. I didn't handle it very well though, Noah said later that I was pretty mad at him.

We had two days to scout before the season opened, the first day there we had already picked out where we wanted to hunt. So we used the second to cover some more of our unit that we hadn't seen yet. Man that is some pretty rugged country! I really need a better camera because the one I have just doesn't ever seem to give justice to what I'm trying to photograph. (though it might just be operator error) We hiked this ridge for a long ways, and got to see lots of wildlife. I found this little bitty skull and picked it up and was looking at it till Noah told me it was a rat skull. I threw it off the cliff top and was really thankful I had on gloves. Our camp this night was awesome! We camped off the top of a ridge that had the most amazing view! We camped a little off the edge so no one could see our tent or jeep, not that many people would have been able to climb or even drive up to it. My jeep was a champ, I got to do some rock crawling to get there and we pulled Travis's truck through or over some of it so he could camp with us.

Day one of season went well. We glassed and bedded down a big old 3x3 and put a stalk on him. We got really close and everything blew out of the bushes they were bedded down in and every single doe there stood about 10 yards away broadside and that buck was the only one that took off the other way. I never got a shot at him. We glassed some more, got on another group and pretty much the same thing. I took a shot at 50 yards that I didn't have and didn't make it. We got on one more big buck that day and couldn't ever get anything to happen. On the way back to camp, we spotted a buck and some does about halfway through this valley in front of us. Noah and I started racing over the top of this plateau covered in HUGE sand dunes to try to cut them off. Noah is in much better shape than I am. He was awesome! I was just trying to keep up and took off running after him, I'm about 6 inches shorter though and about killed myself running over the top of some of those dunes he had just gone over and there wouldn't be anything there just a huge drop off. The way we were going took us right by our camp and I looked up once and saw him standing by the jeep taking a drink like it was an easy jog. It seemed like it took forever to get there but really we covered about a mile and quarter in about 8 minutes. Not bad but we still didn't cut them off.

Day two was long! A bunch of close calls and lots of deer. I got to full draw a few times but each time I got busted and they would take off. Very frustrating!! The high point of that day was we spent the night at Travis's Grandparents house in Artesia. His grandmother cooked for us and it was the best hot meal. We all got showers and real beds and it was pretty nice!

Day three dawned and we were still glassing mornings and splitting up to do it. Noah had been getting me set up and then running about two or three miles away to glass another place. I got on a nice buck and dropped into the valley about two miles and was putting a stalk on him while he chased a doe until it chased her about a mile off. I was pretty excited as this was my first "Solo" stalk. Noah called about then and Travis and he had found the mother lode. So we hauled ass over and started glassing. One of the bucks we were watching just started coming off this hill toward us and just kept on coming. He was weaving in and out and down, nearer and nearer so we started working our way into position to head him off and he walked up to 20 yards and when I drew, he snorted and took off. Another bust! Noah built me a brush blind and I sat that night around a water hole all these deer were coming into and I almost had it that night! I got greedy though and had a little 2x2 come in and instead of taking him, I passed for a larger buck who just kept chasing this doe around. At one point, He was about 5 yards behind me and I had about 13 does all watching so I couldn't do anything. I finally got the chance to draw and something snorted and there they all went! I took a shot, and shot just as he jumped and missed him. That night I had about 45 to 50 does come in and some real small not legal stuff and one more small 2x2 that I passed on. We got to go back to the Grandparents house for another hot meal and shower and once again, it was AWESOME! I don't think the world appreciates hot food and water enough. They are way underrated.

Day four I sat that brush blind again and didn't quite have as good luck as I would have liked. I had some big animals come in really early and at about 8 AM I took a good shot at a 2x3 and got a double lung shot. It just so happened that when he ran off, he went about a mile and ran right into Noah and Travis and spooked. We tracked him till later afternoon and never could find him. That night Travis sat the brush blind and missed a monster 4x4 or 3x4. I'm always at the wrong place at the wrong time. Back we went to his Grandparents house because she called and said food was cooked. Who were we to waste perfectly good food! I went to go shower before dinner and when I stepped out of the shower, I stepped into a huge warm puddle. The hot water line had busted and was leaking everywhere! After 2 hours of mopping up water, finding a shop vac and vacuuming water and putting down towels to absorb more water, we ate and then went to bed.

Day five, we went to the cap rock near Hobbs and it was about 20 degrees with a 15 or 20 mph wind and buddy it was COLD! So we got ready and started glassing, and about 7 trucks drove in, set up and cut us off. It was Sunday AM so we drove down the edge of our unit till we had to cross back into Texas and that pretty much was the end of our hunting season.

Tomorrow is Thursday and I have been thinking, This will be the first day since sometime in September that I haven't gotten up at 4 AM to go to the deer stand. I don't quite know what I'm going to do with myself or my time. I think I might sleep in!