Horses stole my Heart

I grew up surrounded by people who owned and rode horses. A few of my very early jobs were taking care of and exercising neighbors' horses. Riding lessons were my favorite activity I ever did, I spent hours sketching horses in sketch book after sketch book and riding such a majestic animal into wide open areas with no agenda, just room and time to roam was my sanctuary growing up. I have always dreamed of owning horses. Someday I will. ;)

Well, when we were in Oklahoma, my parents are surrounded by neighbors who also own horses and every day, multiple times each day, we would take the golf cart or walk the six (ish) acres to greet them with carrots and nuzzles in our hands.

The kids loved it, and I was in heaven. My breath really stopped a little short each time and I ached to be able to spend time with them all the time. It was such a memorable and enjoyable experience.

My parents' home from the front

Later that afternoon, Poppa pulled out a book he wrote for me when I was a child. It's called The Tale of Loveland and I adored it! It was so neat to watch the kids enjoying the story as much as I did.

Gifts 968-1001

Enduring faithfulness

Morning walks and rides with the family

enjoying a sunny but cool break from the rain

not losing my temper when I really thought I would

Trying

my 'tree' (christmas, fall, halloween...etc)

forgotten God

ignorance...shows God's wisdom

pulling out extra blankets for cold nights

footie pajamas

dish soap for bubbles
fights with hubby
apologies
history
snickerdoodles
snickerdoodle blondies
inspiring blog posts
reorganizing
learning that some secrets are kept because of the fear that God is not as big as that secret
Realizing that He is bigger
Not saving face
not worrying about how others see me or think of me
but only that they are thinking of God when they do
still trying
helping in daughter's class
praying with and for Daughter each morning before school
teaching her to be a witness so much earlier than I had anticipated
Public school
so many opportunities to teach her to have compassion
Her teacher's dedication
cinnamon bear scentsy
cinnamon vanilla iced tea
Christmas sparkle coming out around my house
Anticipating Jesus' birthday

30 days of gratefulness...Photo Inspiration

Yeah yeah, another photo challenge. They are everywhere and I've never met someone who hasn't done or seen one yet. I don't know why but they usually end up being overwhelming to me. Maybe because I don't have a smart phone, a decent camera on my phone or internet on my phone. Taking a picture every day involves getting out my Nikon (the only camera I own) and taking a pic and then uploading it to my computer and posting it. A little tedious and honestly, I have a million and three other things to do than take a picture of something green on Tuesday and make sure to post it for everyone. So I've fallen off the photo "challenge" wagon one too many times. Don't get me wrong, I love to take pictures and do so just about every day, but my phone only holds a few at a time and I only upload once a week from my camera, if I'm on top of it.

Anyway, I also love all the daily things I'm grateful for posts this time of year, but I'm still working on my 1000 gifts list and it's pretty much the same thing. So I'm basically a social networking "challenge" failure.

Until today...well maybe I shouldn't speak too soon, but I found this photo/gratefulness challenge and loved it!! Dani over on Positively Present posted this challenge and said a lot of things that, while they are just words and don't really change this challenge all that much, still encouraged me and appealed to me. She said to not think of this is a photo challenge but rather something to inspire you to live presently, appreciating the small things daily. She also made sure to point out that you can start when you want, post where you want and finish when you want. She said she is posting at the END of the thirty days!! LOVE it!  So here it is: Snap a picture of these 30 things to be thankful for, and be encouraged to look for more each day and inspired to live right now so that you don't miss any!

Join me if you like!!

PS: I have NO idea how often I will post, but here's my day one:

At least these are some of my favorites this time of year ;) And TJ's Pumpkin Butter...not pictured, silly me :/

Gifts 930-967

Soft peach colored roses, dancing outside the window

Birds flitting to shelter from the rain

Wild sunflowers bobbing in the breezes

Insight that has only come from above

Meekness

Humility

Forgiveness

Seeing a spirit so warm and kind

Quiet evenings with my Savior

Pulling over on the side of the road to worship

The Divine Romance I've found myself in

Praying fervently, until tears are streaming

fresh scent of laundry while I'm folding

Cooking meals ahead for my family

Sharing with others

hurting

Healing

giving up...not knowing what to do or where to turn

feeling God lead me

sorting and cleaning out kids' rooms

unexpected afternoon naps

missing my children while they're away

remorse

change

honesty

chamomile tea and raw honey

pinching pennies 

learning to live with less

watching my electric bill online

trust

selflessness

revealing secrets

trying to live as an open testimony to what I believe

the road less traveled

getting back up after falling

respect

love...unconditional love

Day Four

I never finished the pics from our Oklahoma trip! Agh! 

BTW...my dad called me today to tell me that he saw, smiled at and waved to Garth Brooks at a little pizza joint on his lunch break today. All I could say was "Oh my goodness!" over and over. I'm so jealous. And I so need to move to Oklahoma. I think Garth and Trisha and Hubby and I would become fast friends. His daughters would always be wanting to play with and perhaps even babysit our kids...Hubby would cook up some delicious family BBQ's that we'd invite them over for, they'd have us over for songs around the firepit. And then we'd three-way call PW to join us for a fun family day. 

Ahhh...

Anyway...on the fourth day my Dad took the day off work and took us to the air and space museum. It was small, but oh so fun!! The kids had a blast, it was really interactive and the veterans that were working there were so adorable. :)

It really brought a smile to my dad's face to see the kids so interested in everything, considering that he has worked in aerospace his whole life. Right when my dad and I were trying to scoot us out the door to go grab lunch, the kids spotted these Pratt-Whitney engines. They HAD to go see them. No buttons, No noises, No movement and it was just about their favorite part of the museum. They were fascinated! lol

After the museum, my dad treated us to a delicious southern style, hole in the wall fish place. Everything was fried and served with a side of hush puppies and cajun rice. It was heavenly and quite the treat compared to our regular dinner fare. I lived it up with the fried fish combo platter (truly a platter), my kids however, much preferred sharing my dad's grilled fish skewer. Ah, I've raised them so well. ;)

When we got home, Baby napped and the big kids gardened with my mom.