Jerome the Gnome

You know when you get something stuck in your head and you just can't let it go? Most of the time - for me, at least - it's a lyric. I'll think it over and over again in my head trying with all my power to not verbalize it because then the problem gets worse. Just ask Tyler. The story of what he calls our 'first date' (which it was not, by the way) is most unfortunately tied to one such incident - but that's a story for another time. . . maybe.

For the past, let's say, four or five years I've been trying to not give in to my inner child on this one particular issue. I had a stroke of genius, even if it was immature. Whether or not I actually caved or simply changed my mind is all gray area. Let's just say if the nagging 'brilliant idea' I've been putting off were a song, I've sung it out loud now and I'm threatening to do it again, and again, and again.

This is an area we ride at the ranch called the 'Enchanted Forrest'. Oooh, Ahhh. Enchanting, no? The majority of the property is covered in aspens, but when you enter 'The Enchanted Forrest' it's like you're riding into a Fairy Tale. A kind of dark one. Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, you know. It feels ancient, captivatingly beautiful, and a little spooky all at the same time. The smell of this area is what men's cologne that's touted as 'woodsy' should smell like. Intoxicating. I always picture creatures slipping behind a tree, scurrying into a hole, or taking flight as we go through. So it's no wonder I wanted to put a creature of some kind there. Right? I'm right, right?


Meet Jerome. It took me years to find the perfect Gnome for this assignment. (Thank you, Target, as always.) I'm not kidding. I searched the world, or at least the world wide web, and I finally found Jerome right here - at the mother ship. Who knew. He's perfect.

So now the Enchanted Forrest has a real live Gnome that calls it home. (Don't make me come out there and fight you. He's real, alright.)

He's just small enough that you won't notice him unless he's pretty much pointed out to you. Did I already say 'perfect'?

What? There's a what? Under where? See what I mean. Genius.

And now all I can think about is planting more Gnomes. Scratch the itch, what do you get?

Did I Mention I Love My Job?

How Could I Not?

It's Full of this:

friends

(human and equine)

and this:

my other babies

and this:

astounding beauty

and this:

Three Excuses

I haven't been avoiding you on purpose. I have a few very good reasons for my absence:

1. Computer had a nasty virus - required a few days of me fake-swearing at it, and then a few days at the computer hospital. It's breathing on its own now. Everything should be fine.

2. Holy busy weekend. Can we drag the fourth of July out ANY longer? I mean, really. Enough already.

3. Put in so many overtime hours over the last few weeks I've literally been told to stop working so much . . . unless circumstances (like this last weekend) require my presence. How to effectively do my job without being at work is a bit of a mystery to me - BUT a little more time at home might be nice.

Only in Walmart

Every time I head out to do my grocery shopping I bemoan the fact that Walmart is SO much closer to me than Target. On the upside, Walmart is a mecca for people-watching. I heard this little gem last week - thought I would share.

Coming around the end of an aisle, I caught the very end of this educational conversation.

Mom to cartfull of runny-nosed children - "Because Mommies and Daddies get their
magic from Santa Claus, and Santa Claus gets his magic
from . . . (wait for it, people, this is the zinger) Jesus."

That's right. Apparently Jesus is magic. You heard me - or the crazy, misguided woman in the fishing aisle - just in case you were wondering who to ask next time you need a bit of magic. Wow. There you are, Sugar. Mommy will never lead you astray.
And I felt bad for referencing "The Santa Claus" for all my children's questions on the Santa subject. Now I feel just fine. I feel angelic. What were they doing talking about Santa in June anyway?

'Mileage'

Soo, the first night we were in California I asked Tyler what 'the plan' was for the following day - which is somewhat of a nightly ritual for us. I was referring particularly to the wedding we were there for - I thought there was a rehearsal dinner, or things to help with, etc. The conversation went something like this:

Tyler- I thought we'd head over to Santa Cruz in the morning - do the boardwalk thing and hit the beach.
Me- K. Sounds good.
Tyler- We probably need to head back fairly early though, so we have time to get ready. (Red flag! Red flag! My husband is planning out time for me to get ready? Something is not right.)
Me- Get ready for what? Rehearsal dinner?
Tyler - No, we have other plans.
Me- So, there's no dinner?
Tyler- I think there is a dinner, but we're doing something else.
(awkward pause)
Me- Um, isn't that kind of rude? I mean we're here for the wedding.
Tyler- Well, the boys are going to the dinner, we're just doing something else.
Me- So there is a dinner. What are we doing, and that seems even worse - your family is babysitting the boys during the dinner while we do something else. . .
Tyler- You know what we're doing, and they offered.
Me- Mm, don't know what we're doing.
Tyler- Yes you do (huge smirk covering his face).
Me- Nnno I don't.
Tyler- Yes, you do. What is there to do here?
Me- Ahhh, I don't know. This is your town. There are a million things to do in San Francisco. Why are you being so weird?
Tyler- Because you know.
Me- Ohmygosh, I. don't. know. what. you're. talking. about.

I won't put you through the next ten minutes of "yes you do"s and "no I don't"s - then you would be as frustrated as I was. Bottom line is that for months Tyler had been planning (plotting) with his family to surprise me and take me to Wicked. He had everything worked out and I literally had no idea. I love surprises! I love Wicked! First Tyler brought me a bunch of New York Times Crossword Puzzles for trip (which ties with flowers, btw. I love them so.), then this? The whole trip was like a honeymoon all over again - only driving in a Suburban with four restless boys and my mother-in-law, so not quite the same after all. But still very, very good.

The gorgeous Orpheum Theatre

A not-so-gorgeous shot of us after the show!

(From the day we came home Tyler has been dumbfounded that I haven't just blurted out "We went to Wicked" to everyone I see. 'Did you tell ____?, Did you tell ____?" He keeps saying, "I thought I'd get more mileage out of this". I'm thinking this counts. Thank you, Baby! Here's your mileage!)

(And a huge 'thanks' to Tyler's family for making our night out possible! You are all so great!)

Quick Note

Ugh. Just remembered I'm out of chicken food, and I so don't want to schlep all the way to the feed store tonight. Wonder if chickens eat Kashi. Pretty sure they do now. Fancy chickens.

I am my to-do list. It's sad, I know, but I'm pretty sure that's what I've been reduced to.

Get up - check (it's a freebie and I'm taking it!)
Get the kids off to school - check
Feed Horses - check
Feed Chickens - check
Feed Baby every four hours - check, check, check, check . . .
Strip Beds - check
Laundry - Made noble attempt
Make Beds - Waiting on finalization of above line item
Exercise Horses - check
Exercise Self - thinking about it, hard
Water Potted Flowers / Plants - delegate
Weed Left Front - um, half-check
Grocery Store - put off 'till tomorrow
Baseball Practice and Games (5, 5:15, & 6:45) - Can't wait
Dinner - check (will have to be portable enough to be eaten in shifts during above line-items)
Convince Boys they already had Dinner when they ask at home - check, I think
Feed Horses again - check
Put Chickens 'to bed' - check
Bathe dog - check
Bathe Boys - check
Read with Boys - check
Read to Boys - check
Put Boys to Bed - check
Do Dishes - check
Vacuum Main Floor - check
Collapse in a heap and crawl into own bed - any minute now. . .

The past month and half has been crazy busy. All normal activity aside we've had all the extra excitement (and work) that comes with the birth, care, and training of a baby horse; a trip to Montana for one of our niece's wedding; and a trip to California for another niece's wedding. It's been a fantastic spring so far. (We'll pretend it didn't snow today - grrr.)


I know I've pretty much inundated you all with pictures of the the little filly already, so now I think I'll throw a bunch of wedding and mini-vacation shots at you!


First, Alicia 's wedding in Montana - she asked me to photograph the day for her. Soooo, six-hundred some pictures later, I'm still editing. These are a few of my favorites so far. (The subject matter was too beautiful to skimp)

Alicia's beautiful girls

The stunning bride

Bride and Groom

The New Happy Family

Couple in search of a threshold

Shooting (and then editing) these pictures made me want two things: 1. To be a redhead, and 2. To have this exact pair of gorgeous red pumps!

Next, on to California for Emily's wedding! I wasn't the photographer for this wedding, so I don't have very many shots of their day, but I did take their engagements.

The orange background shots were my favorite - so vibrant.

And on their wedding day. . . what a beautiful couple! I wish I would have taken more pictures of them on the temple grounds. Somehow between chasing after the boys and not wanting to butt-in on the real photographer I didn't. At least they were in good hands!

Speaking of chasing my boys around . . . aren't they handsome? I know I'm a bit partial, but still.

I think Sy is glowing a little bit. Must be his halo.

Is it a little bit evil that I love this shot?

I'll have to post the rest of the trip later. This post feels suspiciously like a run-on sentence.

The Wordsmith Project

My dear friend, let's call her Raymie the Great, (to protect the innocent you see.) has inspired me in many ways over the years. Back in the college days she decided she wanted to improve her vocabulary, a noble pursuit. She did the word-a-day thing. I don't remember the specific method she used to pick her daily word - probably a blind stab at an opened dictionary page or something of the sort. I do remember a few of her choices because she would use her daily word as many times as she possibly could that day to ensure she remembered it, to the point that the words became absurd by the end of the day. BUT she did broaden her vocabulary as well as the vocabulary of everyone else around her. (She generally has that impact on people no matter what she's doing, thus the self-imposed title, 'the great', still sticks.)

One word I remember particularly well because of her slight misunderstanding of the word. She had a date that she wasn't exactly excited to go on. Lon-the-home-teacher ( names still changed, mind you) arrived to pick her up for the night. She came down the stairs and said, and I quote, "Alright, let's get this ordeal on the road". Our mouths dropped, we looked at each other, and Raymie looked at all of us looking at each other. Awkward, there's a good word for that moment. She explained later that she had called 'Lon' before the date and asked him what she should wear to 'the ordeal'. So, really the moment at the front door wasn't as awkward as we thought it was - it was an inside joke by then. As much as Raymie might have felt going on the date was an ordeal, I'm sure she would have never said as much to Lon if she would have really understood the entire meaning of 'ordeal'. If, for example, she had looked up the word in a thesaurus she might have read, 'test, trial, experience' as synonyms. A full definition would, of course, include the information that the test, trial, or experience are extremely trying or severe. Poor Raymie, poor Lon. Although, they were certainly never meant to be a couple and Lon got that message faster than he may have otherwise.

My point in telling you this story (and thanks to 'Raymie' for letting me share it), is that I have a new little project all about words, language, spelling, etc. It's been in the works for awhile but now - after passing a blinking construction sign with two misspelled words, I'm finally ready to get the ball officially rolling.

Click the Wordsmith Project Tab at the top of the page if you want. Or don't. I'm not here to boss you around. If you do go, let me know what you think.

What Joy Looks Like

DISCLAIMER - if you are going to press play, know that I know these are not the greatest videos. It seems my editing software is too outdated to take them and I'm too frustrated to try any other methods to make it work. (Getting this far literally took me two days - embarrassing, I know. I'm not proud. Okay, maybe I am, but that's not the point.)

ANYWAY, that said, try to ignore my commentary, little girlie giggles, and gale force winds blowing straight into the microphone. This little filly is so adorable I can hardly take it. I could watch her run around all day. . . which will become obvious very soon.

Izzy is quite sure she's found a new best friend.

She may be right.