I had a kind of boring day at school.  TAKS prep is nothing short of the most boring thing I've ever done in my entire life and to do it 6 times per day is just exhausting.

But, this evening I was treated to 2 NEWS!

First, after only 2 days notice or so, we got a new DOG!  Her name is Sadie and she is a Blue Heeler/Border Collie mix.  She is really the McHotterson's dog.  He will take her with him to the country and eventually she will be a great cow dog.  But, it's been a little nerve wracking the last 12 hours knowing she would be joining our family and not really prepared.  She is an outside dog, something I'm not used to, but McH fixed up the dog house complete with brand new pillows (which he said was cheaper than buying an actual dog bed, and I have to admit I was impressed by both his thriftiness and ingenuity, not to mention the fact that her bed is so nice and fluffy.  The pillows are covered with an oversized towel.  It will work for now, until we can make it better.  But Sadie seems to like it just fine.  She immediately got in and laid her sweet little head down.

She is approximately 10 months old, had all of her shots including a rattlesnake vaccine (didn't even know they did that), and has been spayed.  She's a SWEET pup and so smart, that's obvious.  She has some bad habits that need to be broken, but nothing too serious.

My second NEW, was a belt McH has been planning on making me for the last year or so now.  He's had all the things he's wanted to make it, but just hadn't done it until now.  It is GORGEOUS...just as pretty as any of the blingy, Western belts you see in stores, but that handsome, cowboy-of-a-man, multi-talented husband of mine finished it just a smidge after Christmas and gave it to me tonight.  I have to give credit to Jay T. who helped McH out quite a bit with the leather working.

Just one of the MANY reasons I'm so blessed by my man!

I'm about to post pics of Sadie and my belt on FB, so go there if you are my friend.  If you aren't, then add me! 

As you know I'm leaving tomorrow for OK City to see BETH MOORE!  Woo hoo!  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Anyway, tonight I was trying to clean up the bedroom a little before I leave, so I was separating out dirty laundry to start my first load.  I was throwing clothes into piles, and our beloved eldest furry child schnauzer got in the way.  I ended up accidentally throwing a shirt on her head.

At first, she just froze, but take a look at what she then did.  I'm sorry for the annoying laughing in the background, but it was so stinkin' hilarious, I had to share!

I have been trying for a while now, to capture the dogs howling at the noon siren that goes off almost daily.

We've all heard of that "crazy cat lady." Yep. You have the picture in your mind, I know you do.

Well, I'm pretty sure I've become the crazy dog lady, as of last night. And you can thank those two precious baby dogs of mine, for driving me to this land of insanity.

Anyway, I've written about this in a previous post, I think, so I'll just say the dogs escaped at one point and I was panicked! Obviously we found them, but ever since then I have been extremely paranoid about the yard situation, and as crazy as this sounds, I seem to have a sixth sense about when they might have gotten out.

Is that weird? Don't answer that.

So, a couple of weeks ago we had dinner with some friends and were gone for about 3 hours. When we came back, the wind had blown the gate (that still isn't truly fixed, but only held closed by a bag of mulch and NOW a bag of feed, but that's another post I probably won't write because it wouldn't be very Godly-wifey of me) open and the dogs were GONE!

Mind you, this was after 10:00 p.m., it was dark, and we were in a tornado watch...seriously.

So, Rich and I head out in separate vehicles, searching, searching. Remember that sixth sense I told you about? Well, I was literally praying aloud as I'm driving, and I just felt like I needed to go home and check the answering machine. No blinking light. But, I decided to check the missed calls, just for grins, not that I really thought someone would call and NOT leave a message. BEHOLD! Someone did.

I called the number back. R-I-I-N-G. R-I-I-N-G. "Bueno." Um....

I asked in VERY broken Spanish/English...Spanglish? if she had my dogs. Turns out she did. We headed over to get them. "Donde esta su casa?" I told you, terrible Spanish. But it got the point across. We live on the NW side of town. They were on Avenue B. SW...I wish I could show you just how far this is...they had to cross 287 (a MAJOR highway), cross the railroad tracks, and then go from Ave. F (aka 287) all the way down to B! Whoa! They were bookin' it, apparently!

And, when we got there, the daughter who speaks perfect English, said a man stopped as they were putting the dogs into their shed, and asked if he could buy them.

And you know what they said? Praise Jesus they replied, "No, we can't sell them, they aren't ours!"

Oh my. I was so grateful and touched by their honesty!

So, the girls were back and mamma was happy again.

Until last night. We took McH's grandmother to Altus for a visit to Long John Silver's, her absolute FAVORITE place to eat! Again, another post, which is guaranteed to make you giggle a little!

We get home around 9:30 and you guessed it...NO DOGS! And again, I'm freaked! But the whole time, I'm trusting God to bring them home. We look EVERYWHERE...in the same place we found them the time before.

Then McH has a thought. Most animals move into the wind because they can smell things that way. If they move with their backs to the wind, they don't have any direction, no scent to follow.

So, we decide to head North and look. And that's what we did, for almost an hour. We looked and called their names and whistled and nothing. Except panic and sadness.

And yes, I know these are DOGS. I reminded myself of that very thing several times. But you must also remember, that for the moment, they hold the place of our children and I pour the emotions I would normally pour into said kids into these two miniature schnauzers, even though as I type that it sounds terribly pathetic. **big sigh**

Anyway, to end the suspense, I did find them and this time it was because I believe they were headed back home or towards my voice and whistles. Because as I turned to do one more lap around the block for posterity's sake, I heard the jing-jangle of their tags, which they ALWAYS wear, and there they were. Happy as ever. Muddy all over. Looking filthy, but they were fine!

I vascillated between hugging and yelling.

And then, I called McH who was still driving around. And I thanked him for helping me because I knew if it was up to him and only him, he would leave the gates open, leave some food on the back porch and hope they come home on their own.

But, he says, "I knew your heart was breaking; that's the only reason I kept looking."

In the words of one dang good, mid-90's, female rap group, "What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man."

Yep, that's him. And he's mine. Thank you, Lord for sweet puppies, perfect matches, and answered prayers.

Yep, that's what you'll be thinking halfway through this video. I sent this to some of you via email, but I just couldn't resist posting it, too! Happy Monday! Oh, and anyone who sells a puppy because of this video owes me a fair cut...I'm thinking at least %50 of all profit! :)

We have two miniature schnauzers, Maggie (4) and Marlee (2), or M&M as I like to call them. I am forever writing of their antics and then telling McH I am afraid I'm becoming one of "those people." The "crazy dog lady." I tell him we must speed this human child thing along or next thing you know I will answer the door in my robe and slippers, eat frozen dinners every meal and he will have to excuse himself for interrupting my conversation with "the kids" who can't REALLY talk and walk on all fours.

Today is my baby's birthday! Marlee Jane Jenkins is 2 today! What a sweet puppy she is! Here are some things to know about Marlee:

Marlee Jane...the younger and more adventurous one.

McH went to the dr. and is on meds for a sinus infection. I'm sure you were really excited to hear that. I started running. Oh, yes. Those of you who know me, are thinking...wait, laughing and thinking, "yeah, right." But it's true. I have started the Couch Potato to 5K program from http://www.coolrunning.com/. Some friends of mine have done it, and one has lost over 30 pounds in 3 months or so and is getting into really great shape. The other got pregnant, so I'd say she has a pretty good reason to stop but I'm sure will start again afterwards. So, I started this on Thursday and I ran Thursday and Friday. You are supposed to space your running out, so I am going to go to the gym MWF to run and T/Th just to lift weights. I do NOT want to workout on the weekends. I have been praying diligently for a direction as far as my motivation to work out goes. God has really answered that prayer (partly when my jeans don't fit me when I wake up in the morning, which is supposed to be your skinniest time of the day, right?). I would really appreciate your supplication for this part of my life. I need workout less for losing weight, and more for getting in shape, but mostly for my mental and emotional health. I've heard running can really minister to these needs, as well. I hope I can stick with it, at least for the 9 weeks of the program.

We have no pool in C-town because the country club pool was destroyed in the tornado and because the NEW country club will be opened to the public in September as far as the pool goes. So, the powers-that-be decided we didn't need the old pool this summer since the new one would be here soon. WHAT? There are some people in serious chlorine withdrawl mode. Some have even resorted to renting pools and inviting over friends. See, this is where having a kid would really come in handy. They are renting for birthday parties. Do you think I could get away with it if I brought a gift? Hmm...Steph?? Hee hee. So, it's hot as blue blazes and there is no place to splash around and get your tosies wet...well, unless you want to brave the city pool. Let's just say the sign for the rule, "There's no P in our OOL, let's keep it that way," either doesn't exist or, well, I'm not sure what. I just know I'm a chicken.

We've been out riding horses a bunch this week. We actually bought another mare this week, too. She's 18, and has basically been out to pasture for the last 11 years and just used for breeding. Nevertheless, she acts like she's been ridden every day and with some work on her ground skills, I think she's going to be great! She came with the name Shenandoah, but I didn't really like it so it will be changing. Any suggestions? I'm open to some help! I had a little scary incident on her the other day, but again it was really more me than her. I'm getting so much better but still have so far to go. Sometimes I get frustrated with my riding, but I know it's just one of those things you have to keep doing in order to get better. I'll get there. Just pray I don't break anything or have a nervous breakdown before then. So, now we have 3 horses of our own...Liesel, Buckwheat, and the yet-to-be-named mare.

My tomato plants finally started putting on fruit. They are DELICIOUS! Here are two of them. There are about 15 more that I've counted but haven't turned red yet. I've already eaten one a week or so ago.

I'm bonafide. Don't laugh. I really am. According to me, I'm bonafide. As you can tell from the name of this blog, since I was little I've always wanted to be a cowgirl. We had livestock growing up and I wore my boots and jeans all the time, but I wanted to ride horses and live on a cattle ranch. We're working our way to the entirety of the dream, but half is not bad. Why am I bonafide you ask? Well, I just acquired my first pair of GENUINE spurs and leathers! Yep, if you hear a jingle jangle coming up behind you, I'm not begging for change. Just check out the back of my boots! I seriously was so excited that I even felt embarrassed for myself. Does that ever happen to you? Probably not. But, no matter. I always thought spurs were a little showy, but they actually DO help you a lot when you're riding. I was having the worst time getting a couple of the horses I've been riding to get going because I'm still scared to kick the daylights out of 'em!

Leathers and spurs...

In detail...what would we do without Ebay?

Now, just a little nudge with my spurs and they're off. Richard just laughs (really rolls his eyes and chuckles) at me and tolerates me. He's so over all this new "stuff" that makes me happy andexcites me. He's so been there, done that. Ha. But can I tell you, he lives up to his name, McHotterson, when he's on a horse. Oh, I could just die. I love to watch him ride and to watch him work with the horses, especially his colt. He's so patient and knowledgeable. Plus, he's SO CUTE in his boots and jeans and hat, all sweaty but so happy. It makes me really proud and I get a little weepy thinking that I am literally watching his dreams come true before our eyes. This is all he's ever wanted and it's finally started to happen for him. How awesome is our God? Beyond my comprehension, friends.

Friday we went out to Francesca's and family's for a little mini 4th celebration complete with weiners, 'Smores, and fireworks. They are building a BEAUTIFUL new house out on the family farm, complete with a stocked tank so all the kiddos fished and rode the 4-wheeler. We had a great time with great friends.

Saturday was the city's fireworks show. So, we rode horses all day and then cleaned up to watch the show with McH's parents and grandmother. We even had homemade chocolate ice cream made by his mom. Yummy! What is it about homemade ice cream on the 4th of July? So Amercian, don't you think? Although it was a day late this year, the fireworks show is always so impressive to me because C-town is so small. It is one of those high dollar shows that they have to train someone to execute. This is actually why we had to have it a day late...the guy couldn't make it until the day after the 4th. Here's a little video (yes, shot with my new camera...hee hee). PLEASE ignore the annoying voice and laughing (mine) in the background. Who likes their own voice on video? I'm pretty sure no one! Ew.



We tried to take our traditional self-portrait but this is what we got FOUR times in a row! By the fourth take we were laughing so hard we just gave up and settled. I seriously could NOT keep from blinking at the flash. I tried. No avail. But I'm smiling thinking about it, so maybe that was the plan all along. ;)

This morning we didn't make it to church because McH got a phone call from a friend in crisis. We have a good friend, newly married, brand-new baby, lots of debt, and now he's getting divorced...not even married a year. It breaks our hearts and we feel so helpless. Please keep him in your daily prayers. He sure needs them.

So, after a couple of hours on the phone with him, McH decides he wants to FINALLY clean the garage! Alleluia! He's been saying he was going to do it for weeks, so I was ecstatic. We worked SO HARD in the heat, and we ended up cleaning both the garage and the storage building in the backyard. We had so much we wanted to move from one to the other, we ended up cleaning both. They look GREAT! McH still has some work to do on his workbench to complete the cleansing, but it feels SO good to have it all organized. We even put Christmas boxes up in the attic, something I've been wanting to do since we moved in! Sigh.

Here are a couple of pics, but it isn't quite finished yet and I don't have any after shots or progress. These are both before...



Then, about 5:30 we get a call from our great friends Nathan and Aaron Phillips. Nathan is training in Altus and Aaron, his twin brother, was coming up to visit him. We met them in Quanah at The Depot for dinner and some great conversation. The place closed at 8:00 and we were still there at 8:30. Oops. Sorry waiter and waitresses.

The boys...Rich, Aaron, and NathanNathan, Aaron, Cowgirl, McH

When we finally got home after dinner and then feeding horses, I remembered something I forgot. Don't you hate it when you do that? Only this was so dumb. I was feeding the dogs, and I all of a sudden realized and blurted out, "McH, I forgot Bible Study tonight." So, it's one thing to forget and not go, but when you are co-leading it and you are the one who usually brings the discussion questions with you, it is quite embarrassing! Oh sheesh. I feel so bad I let all those ladies down. And, what in the world was I thinking? I guess I was so focused on the garage clean-up, it just slipped my mind. I even talked about the study tonight when I was retelling the tornado story tonight at dinner and I STILL didn't realize that tonight was Sunday night, which means Bible study! McH says that's what we get for skipping church today. Another, sigh. He was kidding, of course.

Some of you have specifically asked for pictures of me riding. So, Corrie, Mom, Amy and anyone else interested, these are for YOU! This is me riding the new mare.

NEXT POST: Videos!

**The pictures here are from my cell phone camera so please excuse the poor quality**

I'll get to the title in a minute...

You know when you have SO much to blog about that you almost don't want to start? Well, hang on to your seats people, because this may be a mini-novel!

It all starts Friday morning. It was Rough, yes that's with a capital "R", for personal reasons that I will not share at this point, but just know it was frustrating, disappointing, sad, and just overall not a good time for Richard and me. So, he leaves for work and I am left alone in a quiet house with only my thoughts; not my favorite choice.

I have been telling Richard I really wanted to go on vacation for a while now, probably the last six months, but I meant I really wanted to vacation; i.e. Hawaii like my fellow blogger Kelly and her husband, or somewhere equally tropical would suffice. He kept putting it off, saying he couldn't take time off of work, we weren't going to be able to do it this summer, etc...

Well, Friday morning I said it again, and he said we could go camping over the extended 4th of July weekend. I couldn't wait that long (yes a week was too long at this point).

I went to Wal-Mart to get the oil changed for the trip, picked up a card for Rich as my means of telling him about the surprise trip, and headed home. I cleaned the house and got everything packed except for some of his clothes I knew he would want to do himself. He was in Amarillo all day with a friend, picking up a horse, and I kept calling and asking when he would be home.

He finally got home, found his card, opened it, got a little misty-eyed (but don't tell anyone I said that), and said he was going to pack.

We left C-town about 8:00 Friday night so we didn't get to OKC until after 11:00 but it didn't matter. We checked in, settled in, and woke up the next morning already more relaxed and ready to see downtown OKC.

Well, here's the AKC part. AKC is American Kennel Club, as in the prestigious dog membership club you see on Animal Planet, ESPN sometimes. When I was in elementary/jr. high school I was in dog obedience in 4-H and showed a miniature schnauzer named Pepe. So, I've always loved dog shows! The OKC Summer AKC show just happened to be at the Cox Convention Center which was literally a walk across the street from our hotel! Woo hoo (I know, I'm SO dorky but I love it)! Richard, bless his sweet manly heart, indulged me and paid the $7 TWICE, so I could see the schnauzers and experience a real dog show...this is the big leagues, people! ;)

And, although he might deny it, he actually did like it once he was there. And the mini-schnauzers were the CUTEST little shotzies you've ever seen! I wanted to take them home with me! If you were watching it on ESPN, I was the crazy girl in the turquoise skirt taking pictures with my cell phone camera!

I got a little ahead of myself there.

Before we left for OKC, I made Richard check our fence twice because I was so paranoid to leave the dogs in the backyard. Remember, two weeks ago we had a tornado here and it blew down our fence. While we wait for it to be rebuilt, it is just propped up with posts and holes are plugged with bricks and pieces of wood so the girls can't get out. Well, I was so worried and the whole way up to OKC, I kept saying to Rich, "Please just tell me they're going to be okay. Please tell me they aren't going to get out and the fence won't blow down. I just need you to tell me that." Of course he did, and it would make me feel better briefly, but I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that something wasn't right. One of my BFF's, Donna, was coming over twice a day to check on them and I wasn't worried about that part...just the fence issues.

Fast forward to 6:30 Saturday morning. My cell phone starts ringing and I KNEW it wasn't good. I answer a strange number, and the man on the other end says, "Uh, yes maam, I have Maggie and Marlee here with me," and my heart just sank. Turns out he was the foreman on a construction project with TXDOT and Rich knew him. But what freaked me out was the girls had run ACROSS Hwy 287 to get there! Oh.My.Goodness. I about died.


So, I had to call my MIL at 6:30 a.m. and have her go into town and get the girls and bring them home. She just left them inside. Meanwhile, poor Donna had come to the house after her early morning run to find the dogs gone and she started looking for 45 minutes not knowing that my MIL was taking care of it. Poor thing. I know she almost had a heart attack because she told me so! Turns out a small piece of the fence had blown down sometime in the night or early that morning...we had gone over a week with no problems and the DAY we leave, it falls down...figures!

So, puppy fiasco averted, we start our day with breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then decide to do some shopping. We hit Target and Mardel and then found some other places to peruse, as well. We had lunch at Cici's (which we love and miss from College Station), spent a lot of time that day looking for flip flops for Rich. We did go to the dog show, and were able to watch the group judging in the big ring. It was so cool! After a rest back in the room, we headed to Bricktown and the movies to see Love Guru. Don't do it. So dumb. Funny at times, but so dumb. What did I expect you are asking? I know. But now I can warn you. Maybe a renter, but not a theater movie.

After the movies, we walked over to get some dinner. Have you ever heard of The Way of the Master? I stumbled upon it a couple of years ago while perusing the web. It is a ministry started by Kirk Cameron. Anyway, part of the ministry involves them going into the streets and asking people questions about sin and salvation. It is really interesting and you can go here to see some of the videos. Anyway, on our way to dinner, we saw something across the river that was attracting a crowd and as I strained to listen I recognized the questions the guy was asking as those from The Way of the Master website. You can't see it very well, but the guy in orange is asking questions and the lady he's asking is standing in front of him. The recording equipment is to the side of him. Check it out if you have a chance. So, Bricktown is the sweetest little area. It is literally a miniature version of the San Antonio Riverwalk, from the canal, to the restaurants/bars along the canal, to the river barges/booze cruise/dinner cruises, to the bridges to walk from side to side. We found a restaurant with live music (a great 3-man cover band that sang only mid-80's to mid-90's alternative rock...awesome), called Jazmoz Bourbon St. Cafe.



It was a Creole style place and we had alligator bites for appetizers and stuffed shrimp for dinner...and we sat outside on the canal so we could see the boats passing and watch the people. It was amazing! Afterwards we hit Starbucks, walked to the end of the riverwalk where we saw this beautiful fountain and mosaic-tiled wall, and then back to the hotel.


I highly recommend Bricktown if you need a little getaway for some R&R! It was perfect! We laughed more this weekend than I have in a long time!

Sunday, we checked out and headed back to the dog show because we had missed the schnauzers the day before.


Then, we started out of town, but stopped at Circuit City to look around. Friday on our way to OKC I had, in frustration, mentioned to Rich that I forgot my camera. He said, "You know, we've talked for the last year about getting a new one, let's go look." I was so excited, I just grinned. So, Sunday, we look and because this could turn into a VERY long story, we end up finding a GREAT deal on a Sony Cybershot, exactly the kind of camera I wanted. After some negotiating on my hubby's part (I'm so proud he is able to do that, because he can find or make a deal on anything; sometimes I'm thinking, 'hello, this is America, you don't barter at Hobby Lobby!' But he seems to get us good deals on things all the time from trucks, to lawn mowers, to crafts at Hobby Lobby and now on a camera. Let's just say we ended up getting this camera about 50% off (it was already on clearance then we got another $30 off).

So, that's how we drove home...Rich driving, me with my new camera in my lap practicing, reading and playing. Oh, and we just HAD to stop at Carl's Jr. for a burger on our way out of town. I don't really get the appeal, but I was happy to oblige R because he was excited about it!

Whew...I told you it would be long!

But, I do want to end by bringing this all back to the One who deserves the credit for a great weekend. The Lord knew my needs, and knew our needs as a couple, and He allowed us to connect in ways we haven't EVER, and in other ways we haven't in a long time. We laughed, and laughed and laughed and were really like newlyweds again; we were able to focus on one another without the distractions of computers, cell phones, home repairs, horses/cattle, work, etc...

So, I pray that you will find YOUR Bricktown and reconnect.