Let's be better together in 2013!

What did 2012 mean to you? Did you have any goals that you accomplished?

2012 was my year of being better.

All year, I've had this overwhelming desire to be better and improve in every way possible. It's been a little ambitious, especially for someone like me, but it's truly taught me so much about myself.

It's also a desire that will continue thru 2013 and I look forward to it. 

Some things I'm trying to be better at include being a better wife. Better at juggling the stresses of life. Being mindful. Better at deflecting negativity and the list goes on.

The list goes on because you know just as much as I do that there is a lot we can all be better at. 

The summer of 2012 I started building friendships with people that inspire me to be a better person. We so often get stuck in relationships that just drag us down. Why do we do this to ourselves? As hard as it has been to let go of some friendships and create distance between others I am a better person for it.

I've also spent a lot of time evaluating my reactions to certain situations. I ask myself this question a lot, "Is this reaction in proportion to the event?"  Talk about getting some perspective. Give it a try sometime.

I've also made a conscience effort to use my words.  Sounds elementary, right? I've practiced speaking my mind and not constantly apologizing or being embarrassed for the way I'm feeling. Every emotion is justified. There is no need to apologize for it, but to stand up for it.

I did more things for me this summer. Like completing the Tough Mudder-Beaver Creek! This was one of my biggest challenges yet! It was a blast. I never thought I would be able to push myself mentally the way I did for this challenge. I've never been so proud of myself. 

As 2013 approaches, I'm anxious to see what it has in store.

One thing I DO know is that it's going to be a year of home projects because J and I just closed on our first home this past week!

In three days we've put in over 40 hours of work and I look forward to lots more. It's the most fun I've had working up a sweat, I think...ever. I can't wait to show you what we've done so far!

Our new home came with a chicken coop so, there may be some cockadoodledoo-ing in our near future.

Here's to a new year and making 2013 about being better!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Country road, take me home! Fast. (another forgotten summer 2012 post)

I hope you can keep a secret...

I may be the exception to the saying "You can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl."

Here's why.

I went to Miami this past summer for a training (another piece of proof, that I meant to blog this year!). I've been to Florida before, but stayed on Marco Island which isn't a busy city, but more of a place where people over the age of 65 go to rest their heads. This recent trip I stayed in Coral Gables for five nights then stayed with a sorority sister for two in Miami. I ate a lot of sushi, Cuban cuisine here and visited this very cool bookstore among a few other things like an air-boat trip in the Everglades.

My favorite restaurant to experience was Michael's Genuine Food & Drink!

The menu changes daily at Michael's, but I was lucky and caught a weekend that their Lamb Chili was on the menu. It was nothing short of delicious. We had falafel, homemade pop-tarts (YUMMY!), crispy hominy with chili power and the blueberry pancakes and because my sorority sister is loved by everyone she meets they gave us a complimentary order of homemade Samoa cookies! I ate way too much and of course I brought home about 10 pounds of souvenirs from this trip...5 on one thigh and 5 on the other! If you are ever in Miami you MUST eat at Michael's. Must. As if you needed another reason to eat here...they are advocates for their local agriculture community and only buy locally! (I'm totally not badass enough to be paid to write this!)

I hope I am not saying too much about myself when I admit that my favorite part about Florida was the food. However, for those that know the town I live in, good food, let alone sushi is VERY hard to come by. 

The scenery was pretty if you enjoyed the vista from inside an air conditioned building. The humidity was just something crazy, definitely not my cup of tea. My girlfriend and her fiance said you get used to the weather and I believe it...while I was a glossy sweaty face mess, she didn't have a shine to her forehead. Pretty impressive.

The people weren't the friendliest either, but I don't know of a big city where they are.

Being in the city made me wish I could tap my shoes together three times and get back home. While it was great to have fun with a very good friend, eat (wayy too much) very good food, I was happy to get back home and Jigs was happy too!  

It's amazing what perspective does for us. Had I never moved to Colorado six years ago I would have thought I lived in the most awesome place ever. Southern California.

People that have never experienced Colorado and all it has to offer will never know what they are missing.

And, that is okay...I'm fine with keeping this beautiful country our little secret. 

I know at least one other blogger that is with me on this one! 

image from here 

A late post, but post-worthy

This blog post is proof that I had good intentions to blog this year. To say I was a bit distracted with life happening is an understatement. Even though it's late, it's definitely still post-worthy.
 
This past summer we welcomed four kittens to the ranch. Mama Galena is doing wonderful and so are her babies! (and has since been spayed! kittehs have a date scheduled in February!)

Hard to believe the same summer we lost a very loyal member of the ranch crew.

This summer Joe, our oldest Pyrenees was put down.

Joe was about 12 years old and was a great guard dog. It was clearly visible his last few days on the ranch were tough for him. He had started to howl and moan in pain all through the night. He had bad arthritis and couldn't walk on one of his legs because he was hit by a car several years back, it continued to get progressively worst. Joe lived a good life and was "working" up until the day he left the ranch.

Joe was loyal dog and lived to serve his owner and protect his sheep. He has been and will continue to be missed.

Rest in peace, ol' Joe.

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, and his leader. He will be yours,
faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."
-- Unknown

Fleece Navidad!

Hope ya'll had a great Christmas. 

We trailed sheep today, which I'll tell you all about in a few days, but for now I wanted to share with you our sheep trailing about a week ago. 

We've been at this a little over two years now. Lambing, shearing, trailing sheep, cold winters, late nights, cold mornings, etc.

At what point do these everyday activities become the norm? For me, it seems like they may never. J asked me Friday night, "Are you all ready to trail tomorrow?"

At that very instant, I had knots in my stomach and was full of anxiety. I just don't understand why I get anxious and worried. We are out of feed here and need to start heading south for the winter. We were hoping to stay where we were for a few more weeks, but it was just too dry and there was little feed left. So, trailing it is. 

Saturday morning, we wake up bright and early and look outside. It's snowing and it's so, very cold.

Here we've been praying for snow for weeks and today of all days we get this...

Upper Left: Right before we got on the road. That is the fence the sheep came out of.
Upper Right: Animals always line up at the fences to see the sheep come thru. It's so neat.
Lower Left: It didn't budge from 25 degrees the entire trail.
Lower Right: The sheep coming down their last hill. They are about 100 ft from the gate to the pasture.

I didn't dare wish it away, but it reminded me of a saying I heard once, "Farmers and Ranchers are never quite happy. There will always be too much moisture, not enough moisture or moisture at the wrong time." It's definitely a love-hate (def more love) type of relationship.

Even though the trail today was a shorter one (only 9.5 miles), doesn't mean it was easier than others. However, it's made a bit easier when you have good help! Like the help we get from these two.

I'm a little late to introduce these two (we'll call them L&T), we've been friends for over a year now and they really are the most amazing individuals J and I have ever had in our lives. Truly. Our mutual love of In-N-Out is what brought us together, but so much more keeps us together.

L&T helped us at a tricky intersection today and it went smooth - they are awesome trailers. Pretty much professionals at this point.

The three of us were stopping cars at the intersection and while I work on stopping a motorist, I find that she is one of 'those people'. Let me define this a bit better...

There are three types of people that you run into while trailing sheep. There are the "Lovers" who enjoy driving thru the sheep. They take pictures, smile, sometimes stop to chat and a few will even turn around for seconds.

Then you have the "Grumps". These are the people that grumble thru the sheep and most likely thru everything else in life.

Then you have "Those People".  These are the people that think it's the most horrible, awful, most miserable thing to drive thru the sheep. These people don't slow down, they speed up and honk their horn because sheep know what the sound of a horn means.

I mean really, is driving thru sheep really that bad?

Anyway, as I'm stopping this motorist, I realize it's a postal service worker. I said, "Mam, would you mind stopping here for just a few minutes? The sheep are coming thru."

To which she replied in a panicked tone, "But, I have the mail!"

Oh!! Well, in that case go right on thru. I'll just let the sheep know you have some important deliveries to make. I'm sure it won't be a problem. Let me part the seas right now!

I shook my head and promised her it would be less than 3 minutes. She seemed okay with that.

After the intersection, it was a breeze. About an hour later the sheep were where they needed to be. They'll stay in this pasture for 2 weeks.

Unless it snows, of course...then we'll need to keep heading south. Love-hate I tell you...

Wordless Wednesdays - 'Tis the season for cosying up!

Via: wallpaperfever.com

Doggie Ed

I realize I haven't been posting lately, but I HAD to share this video and newstory with you!



Buckle Up!

Enjoy!!

I'll be back soon.