Front Porch

Love coming home!

Hope you have a great weekend! Stock show season is here again and Kanyon's been busy with leather jobs (the orders keep coming!) and farming on the weekdays and working stock shows last weekend and this weekend. I just get to show up and try to look like I belong there. 

Which is hard to do when I want to take pictures of all the animals to send to my mom. We were those suburbians who went to the Houston Livestock show every year to see the cute animals.

Zeb

I actually was able to capture something he does that cracks us up.

I have never had a dog that does this...

Zeb chases bugs. Chases.. not catches. Except maybe in a blue moon.

With so much passion and for hours on end.

Slacker

Wow, I slacked off again last week! But lets face it, its not like y'all are waiting on pins and needles for my next post. And I am a-okay with that.

I really have no pictures to share of what we did this weekend but it was another good one! I do have a video to make up for it though:

Mr. Tac is quite the cowboy.

Friday night, we went over to Meme's house (Vaughn's mother) for dinner with some family that was in town! It was great seeing Uncle Kirk and Aunt Susan and eating homemade hamburgers.

Saturday, I got an itch to get a project done that we have been putting off for a long time. Painting the hallway trim and doors. It's still a work in progress but it already makes the hallway look so much better. I took a couple before pictures so I'll be showing those.. they're bad. Its amazing we put it off for so long. That's what painting several rooms in your house when you first move in will do to you.. it will make you hate painting. Kanyon helped me for a little bit until he had to go help cook for the event we went to that night.

Saturday night, we headed to Lamesa for the Dawson County Livestock Show Association's Pick-up Raffle. Al and Kasha cooked the steaks for the dinner and they were soo good. They made 600 of them better than I can make one. Unbelievable. We didn't win the pick-up, though, in case you were wondering. Even though Kanyon was wishing with all his might.

Sunday, we went to church and then after, Kanyon, Landon, and I headed to Lubbock to go to lunch with Al and Kasha and then headed to the movie theatre to see the latest Harry Potter in theatres. It was Kanyon and I's second time but everyone else's first. It was even better the second time. I still cried.

We spent the rest of the night at Vaughn and Kalith's, having dinner and visiting some more with family in town.

Oh and here's our Aussie riding in the front seat, human-like.

You should hear Kanyon try to speak for him in his "Australian" accent... sounds more Chinese to me.

Wednesday..

So almost all of the computers at work have stopped reading memory cards (the memory cards I use in my camera.. along with my computer at home that has been trying to commit suicide for months now but I keep reviving it. Well not for long.. soon we will be buying a new laptop and I will euthanize it myself if it wants me to.. But anyway, needless to say - if I can't upload my pictures to my computer(s), I can't upload them to my blog. Tad bit annoying for me and for you.

Well I do have one more option - my iPhone. Thank goodness for it!

Zeb got a bath the other night and was so cold, he resigned himself to snuggle on Kanyon.. I say resigned because he usually does not like snuggling. I guess its a boy thing. But he was shameless that night and Kanyon and I thought it was hilarious.

I do have a much better quality version of this pic on my real camera but.. see above paragraph.

I've been staring at this SD card trying to figure out SOME way to get the pictures from it to my computer. But telepathy does not work and I'll have to wait till the card reader I just ordered comes in the mail next week.

Last weekend was spent lounging around after a brutal weekend last. I say brutal only in the sense that we got no sleep. But we let ourselves sleep in until 9:15 on Saturday, which was kind of a disappointment. I used to be able to sleep until 11:00 in college on Saturdays and thought it was so weird when people said their bodies wouldn't let them sleep in past 9:00 or something. I guess ... I ... am ... an adult.

Kanyon and I did some stuff around the house and then we headed different directions. Him to playing golf with his brother and some friends and me to Lubbock to do some shopping for some shorts. I've been on the hunt for some denim shorts since last summer that we more mid-length and not super tight.. but not baggy and mom-ish. Hard combination to find. But I had success this weekend! I was very happy. Unfortunately, though, I forgot to run a couple of more important errands and am now trying to figure out how I can justify another trip to Lubbock on a weeknight since I'll be out of town this weekend.. Gas prices don't allow much room for justification these days!

I didn't get any work done on the backyard like I said I would... sigh. To be completely honest, I don't even know where to start and every time I try to start, I second guess myself and stop. Its a vicious cycle, I tell you. And I'm left with a blank backyard still.

BUT I have found some inspiration this week from my Country Living magazine. I'll scan some of the pages I earmarked tomorrow to show you what I'm wanting to do. This is from their website:

I love the several different colors present in this group. About the only thing that has completely survived from our attempt at installing flowers last year is the monkey grass, our shrubs in the front, and only some of the Dusty Miller. It's looking pretty scarce.

ALSO sometime this week or the beginning of next, a company that installs siding is coming to replace all of our ugly mauve wood trim with cream colored siding! I'm so excited to see the dramatic change it will make. So hopefully some big changes will be coming soon!

Very Thorough Weekend Post

Last Friday night, I called Kanyon to see what he was doing when I got off work. He was still in the field. "I'll probably be here till dark so I can work as much as possible." Friday night? Me alone at the house probably watching CSI? No thanks.

So I decided I would head out there with my sorely unused DSLR camera and practice some picture taking and help him out if I could.

Reason enough right there to get a puppy - you'll always feel like you're the most exciting person in the world when they're running to greet you!

Kanyon was feeling a little behind on this particular field. He'd wanted to have the stalks cut, the water running, and wheat or oats sewn by now. But alas, life happens.

So first things first. He was working on hanging pipe on his irrigation system.

See the pipe running along the top of the system? Usually water runs through that pipe and runs down into the small hoses hanging down with the doo-hickies on the bottom. Sorry, the only name I can think of is "spiggots" but I know that's not what they're called.. The doo-hickies spray the water onto the field.

Well hanging pipe is a way to pro-long the life of your irrigation system. The pipe at the top can become cracked and eroded over time, causing leaks and sometimes breaking (which is what happened to another one of our irrigation systems - thats really not good.. and pricey to fix). So by hanging a PVC pipe below (see above) and detouring the water to run into that pipe instead and hanging the hoses and doo-hickies from it, you avoid the erosion and you have a new pipe. The former pipe serves as a frame for the new one.

I asked Kanyon if this is considered a cheap redneck alternative to actually buying a new system, but he said no and everyone does it. I know you were thinking it too!

So the next step after he hung the PVC was drilling holes into it so you can connect the new hoses to the holes, allowing the water to run through the hoses to the doo-hickies. Sorry, maybe the name will come to me before the end of this post..

I tried helping him at this point after the drilling and putting these rubber things in to attach to the hoses but came to realize just why my hands are soft and clean all the time and his are rough and dirty and scarred. Because he works them hard. My hands weren't strong enough to even squeeze the rubber things into the holes! He did it in five seconds and I gave up after struggling with one for at least a minute. So I just carried the box they were in so he didn't have to lean over and pick them up off the ground. He assured me I was helping a lot. He likes to give me a sense of purpose..

By the way, the roughness of his hands doesn't turn me off a bit. They are one of my favorite of his physical qualities.

Of course, every job needs a supervisor:

Can you see him mane growing in?!? He's lookin fierce.

Along with supervising, Zeb hunted who-knows-what. We would see him just walking or running and all of a sudden stop and listen at attention..

And then take off and disappear for a few minutes. We'd occasionally see him as he bounded over a row of cotton stalks. Then Kanyon would whistle and he'd come running back.

"Almost got it this time."

After the sun went down, we headed to Brownfield for dinner. It was a great night, honestly. One of my favorite dates since we've been married!

Saturday was an awesome day! 

 First I went to Britnee Mahan's wedding shower here in Welch. She and Kanyon grew up together and was one of his closest friends and I've come to love her and her family. She's getting married in April. I love showers here.. a lot of the women in Welch come out for it if they're not hosting it anyway and the food is always so good.

Then, Kasha and I had a great shopping day in Lubbock! She got some great clothes and I got a few things for the house I've been wanting. One of which is a couple of outdoor pillows because I am going to spray paint and spruce up some chairs in our backyard. It was so much fun getting to just hang out with Kasha with no agenda but to look around.

Then to top it all off, these three met me in Lubbock for a double date!

If you don't know, this is Kanyon's little brother Landon and his girlfriend Bailey.

We went to Abuelo's for dinner that night and ended up being there for a couple hours because of the combination of the long wait and then veeeerry slow service because we sat in a booth in the bar section. Apparently, people who aren't drinking alcohol are at the bottom of the priority list at the bar.. Who knew? But it was great getting to have that much time to catch up with them. Bailey is in her senior year in high school and is super busy and Landon is in his freshman year at TTU, so we don't get to spend as much time with them as we'd like. We went and saw "I Am Number Four" after, and I loved it. I wasn't really sure what to expect but we all enjoyed it. 

Sunday, I was supposed to go head out to Lubbock for Kaitlin Lee's wedding shower. I am one of her bridesmaids and really wanted to be there! But unfortunately the weather called for 70 mph wind that made my car repeated try to throw itself off the road and the sky looked like this...

I couldn't see past about 20 ft in front of me so after taking 25 minutes to go 8 miles.. I decided to give up because I didn't want to try and fight that weather for another 45 minutes. I was sad to miss it! But she has another one this weekend so I will go then.

I rounded off the great weekend with a great time at bible study with the jr high girls. Pretty impressively long post just for one weekend, huh?!

War Paint

Our little painted pony ... dog.

Zeb got into a little scuffle with his friend LuLu and had to get mended up a bit. The silver stuff is supposed to be a sort of animal band-aid ... but I like to think of it as Indian war paint.

Best Buds

Last Thursday when I babysat Tac, Tac and Zeb had a grand ole time playing together. It was pretty entertaining. It was too bad Kanyon was at the bible study he helps lead at the prison because he only got to see these pictures when he got home.

First of all, the funniest thing that happened, I didn't even get on tape!
Before you think that Kasha would be mad at me for allowing this, just know that I knew she wouldn't..
Tac thought the funniest thing in the world was to pucker his lips and get Zeb to lick them so they would make a funny noise when he would laugh. Let me tell you, I was on the floor rolling! This went on for about ten minutes straight!

Then, Zeb got sleepy after running around with Tac so he went to his usual spot to lay down by the front door.
Not long after, Tac decided he was sleepy too.

'Scuse me. Is this spot taken?

Scoot over!

Listen, bub. I asked you to scoot over.

Winter

I love winter. Its my favorite season. I love the snow and the cold weather and the warm clothes and warm food.

What I don't understand is why the retail stores don't like winter.

As soon as January hits, bam - they put all the winter clothes on clearance and put out all the spring lines! I don't understand it. You are ruining it for me! I hate summer, stop trying to push it on me! Does it look like I'm ready to wear your sleeveless top?

 Zeb had his first snow day since he was born in the summer yesterday. And he loooved it.

He would bound across the snow as if he couldn't walk through it but only jump through it.

At one point, he got so excited when we were running around that he hard core tackled me from behind to the ground! I couldn't decide if I thought it was funny or if I needed to be mad because I was now covered in snow. But then he started jumping again and it made me laugh.

He has really grown a lot in the last three months. Look at the difference!

He's a pretty boy, huh? :)

I love it when it snows here. Its so pretty in the country because it doesn't go away because of cars or people walking on it. It just stays. Unlike Houston where it may flurry a little but never stick to the ground..

Hope everyone (in Texas) is coping with the power outages well!

Zebkins

I'm looking forward to, hopefully, another restful weekend before we are gone the next two weekends (both for exciting things though!) and maybe I'll get the house cleaned? Maybe not? I'm thinking probably I'm not.

Also, on Sunday, I am going to begin leading the Jr High girl's bible study on Sunday night for First Baptist, the church I work at! I am so excited about it.

I thought that I'd give an update on Zeb, though. He hasn't been the focus of a post in a while :)

 Zeb with my parent's yellow lab, Holly Belle (actually technically Holly was given to me for Christmas my senior year so I guess they're both mine!)

Zeb is 6 and a half months old and reminds me of that middle stage of Simba in Lion King when he's older but doesn't have his mane yet.. Australian shepherds have mane-ish hair around their face that grows in when they turn one. So he's teenage Simba right now.

He's calmed down a lot already and has impressed us with his ability to not be annoyingly hyper. But he definitely likes to play, though. He has decided that he no longer wants to play fetch, he'd rather Kanyon and I chase him around to take whatever it is we're playing with away from him! So Kanyon and I can be seen running circles around the living room to catch Zeb.

He still goes out with Kanyon everyday and Kanyon loves it. When he turns one, Troy (the cowboy we bought Zeb from) says they can start taking Zeb out with them to work cattle with Zeb's dog daddy Deetz so he can learn from him. But apparently Aussies will amaze you with their innate sense of shepherding that doesn't need to be learned.. I'm excited to see him work!

This is Deetz, Zeb's dad who he will look exactly like in build but like his mom in color:

(Troy on the left with Tac in his lap and Al Crisp on the right... thanks Kasha for the pic ha)

Kanyon told me last night that he started leaving him out in the back of his truck when he goes into town. He'll be in the bank for thirty minutes and Zeb will obediently wait for him in the back of his truck as people walk by! I think that's amazing to already be doing that at such a young age!

Everyone have a great weekend! We have our local stock show going on and Kanyon's on the board so we'll probably be up there all weekend but I'm planning on sleeping innnnn on Saturday.. yay!

A List

What I've been thinking about this morning..

1. Top of my list: Why the heck am I (or anyone else) at the office today.. I have been reading HP all morning and making my round of blogs. There's.. nothing... to... do. Oh and have I mentioned that all the ministers have mumbled something about some errand that they have to do and snuck out the door? You can't fool me. I know you're going home and watching a Christmas movie and drinking hot chocolate, ignoring your conscience making you feel bad for leaving your support staff at the office.

Huff.

Alright, glad I got that out. Moving on.

2. Zeb is getting huge. And I gave him an intense bath last night which means he is at home smelling wonderful and super soft while I am here. Oops, sorry, I thought I had moved on.

3. This beautiful snowman that I got this weekend! I wish I could be crafty. I'd rather skip the frustration that will inevitably come with my using a hot glue gun and just buy it.

4. I reached a goal that I am particularly proud of: I have listened to over 40 hours of Pandora's Christmas Station this month. Yeesh. It asked me to pay 99 cents to continue listening past my free limit. Which is probably their way of saying "Are you crazy? You've listened to almost two days straight worth of Christmas music in 20 days. You have a problem."  

{I still paid the 99 cents,,}

5. Walmart's Paula Deen's "Fried Apple Pie" candle burning two feet from me. YUM.

6. Kanyon, Landon, and I have been having a Harry Potter marathon the last few days and we are on the sixth one tonight. 

I know what you're thinking. "Aren't you reading HP right now, too?" Yes. Yes, I am. 

Anyway, I know I have made a fan out of Kanyon, who said he would not watch the movies this time a year ago, and I think it is safe to say Landon has become a fan too. I am slowly converting Welch!

My brother dressed up as Horace Slughorn for the midnight showing of the 7th movie.. I would show a picture {if there was one} of him dressed up to embarrass him but .... its not possible to embarrass that kid.

And if you have no idea who Horace Slughorn is.. your life is sorely missing something. 

7. Again.. why am I at the office?

Deer Lease

This weekend, Kanyon, Zeb, and I went out to his family's deer lease out near San Angelo. I think Zeb loooved having us to himself the whole weekend and I came away with an embarrassing amount of pictures of him.. I'll only post a few though, promise.

We got there late Friday night and Kanyon set up the electricity, water, and stuff while I was unhelpfully running around with Zeb.. sorry, Kanyon. That night, Kanyon showed me how you carefully stack, in order, everything you're going to be wearing the next day. OCD? I think so. 

 You! Staring Contest! Go.

Our alarm went off at 5:15 the next morning and we headed out to the deer blind. I was pretty sure that I was going to be freezing so...

I loved it! It was so peaceful watching the many animals that we saw from the blind and finally seeing a buck that Kanyon wanted to shoot. We took it back to camp and skinned, quartered, and bagged it. A first for me. I took pictures but in case some of you don't like seeing a skinned deer hanging from a tree, I'll resist.

 

That afternoon, we ran to Abilene for a few hours to pick up some leather that Kanyon bought from Damon, his former boss, because he's got some orders for leather stuff and needs to get to work. (P.S. Kanyon is finally biting the bullet and buying himself a heavy duty sewing machine so he can take some more leather orders.. Just so you know!) We also went and had lunch with some friends, who we miss so much! I didn't get any pictures, though, dadgumit. I even had my camera out and everything.

We went back to the lease that afternoon and hunted some more where Kanyon saw an even bigger buck than the one that he shot that morning. And it wasn't a good thing. He had already shot two bucks this season, which is the limit in that county. Oh well. Maybe next year it will be even bigger?

My two handsome boys

The buck we came home with!

We had so much fun and I'm so glad we were able to steal away before the season ended.. And we now have a freezer full of deer meat! Zeb was so worn out, he fell asleep reading Harry Potter again...

Lots of cooking and (hopefully) wrapping presents tonight!

Christmas Music is ON!

Pandora's Christmas Station is playing, I'm drinking coffee and feeling festive! (Except the ache in my back from the hotel bed last weekend...)

Kanyon and I got home from Edmond, OK last night. We had such a great holiday. My mom's mother's side of the family has a family reunion every two years at Thanksgiving and this was the year for it. Grandma is one of 9 children, which means mom has a million cousins, and I have two million second and third and fourth cousins. Only 70 came to this reunion though :) These are the remaining three sisters - Colleen, my grandmother LoRee, and LaVerne. My grandmother is 92 years old and was able to come out for a couple hours from the nursing home to be with everyone. Mostly because she wanted some pie...
 

We all had Thanksgiving dinner at my Aunt Jenny's house and it was the first time in a long time we had a homecooked meal instead of catered. It was so good! Thank you, Aunt Jenny, for all the work you did!

On Saturday, a bunch of us headed to Stillwater for the Bedlam (OSU v. OU game). My family is an OSU family through and through. It was a very close and exciting game but we ended up with a loss. Mom and I had a lot of fun wandering around campus visiting Eskimo Joe's and seeing the new stadium.

When we got home Sunday, Zeb was pretty excited to see us back home! Kanyon's parents had a few funny stories to tell us and he was probably the dirtiest I had ever seen him! After a hard scrubbing and lots of brushing out, he was finally clean enough to get to wrestle and play with his favorite playmate:

I'm going home to a huuuuge mound of laundry and dust on every square inch of my house .... I can't pretend its not there any longer unfortunately.