Almost Gypsy Soul

[Linking up with Julia @ black tag diaries ] When I saw Football Fan's link up for Thankful Thursdays last week, I knew I would had to copy her again. I wonder if she is getting tired of me copying her link-ups? She probably wishes she would have never taught me about blogging link-ups. oh well, too late now, I'm a linking fool! So here we go......... This Thursday (and every other day) I'm THANKFUL for......... and RANCHERS too!

[Linking up with Jamie at  This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday!] I'm LOVING ......Pinterest successes, kiddos, friends on the big screen & beautiful winter days These recipes from Pinterest were huge successes! I'll be blogging about them separately coming up, so stay tuned for the cooks secrets! Pork Green Chile, Cinnamon Almonds, and Malibu Chicken....mmmmmm. AND ....babysitting these kiddos. They are so cute and good little guy and gal. Aunt Jen is pretty proud! They are both pretty big fans of dancing around the living room to Cross Canadian Ra gwee d....that B-I- N-G-O doesn't h old a candle to CCR !   AND .......watching an old Sam Elliott flick and seeing Oklahoma Cowboy in it. My friend Oklahoma Cowboy has been in several movies, mostly as a stunt guy for horseback scenes. I still get excited when I see him in a movie that I didn't know he was in......like Rough Riders that I watched this weekend. He's somewhat of a...

All you kids out there, listen up! This is what you have to look forward to in life after college. Don't get me wrong the paycheck and leave days are nice, but there just isn't the excitement that there was in everyday college life to be found in everyday "big kid" life. According to the guys who have lived around here their whole lives, and their fathers before them, and their fathers before them.....last year was one of the worst droughts in the last 60 years. As we look back on it and look towards 2013....we might top last years drought this year. Boo! FSA offers a program acronymed NAP (Non-insurable assistance program). NAP is a catastrophic insurance plan that is available for crops that aren't covered by traditional crop insurance such as grass hay and grazing, my 2 biggest crops in my 2 counties. Because it is a catastrophic insurance the producer must have a 50% loss before they would receive a disaster payment however; because it is catastrophic...

January 27, 2001 is not a date that I remember ed specifically, until I attended grad school at Oklahoma State University. Even though I wasn't yet part of the OSU family at the time of this horrible tragedy, I am now and I will remember the ten who lost their lives that day in Colorado from the men 's bas ketball team . Then the unthinkable happened, it happened again and even though I had already graduated I do remember this day. November 17, 2011, when the women's basketball team lost 4 of their own and again the entire OSU family shed tears. This was supposed to be a day of Super Bowl revelry in this college town, with the only worry being whether stores would run out of popcorn, beer and peanuts. Instead, the mood Sunday was as cold and dreary as the rain soaking the streets following the crash of a small airplane bringing people home from Oklahoma State's basketball game against Colorado. "It's like a part of the school died,...

I got this email earlier this week and it really made me think about our lives and the rat race that tends to take over. Do these look familiar to anyone else? Having coffee with friends A day at the beach Cheering on your team Having dinner with friends Out on an itimate date Having a conversation with your BFF A visit to the museum Enjoying the sights I feel as this day may have arrived. Can you unplug for a weekend? Enjoy your friends, your family, the world that God created around us, museums, sporting events, festivals. Enjoy ANYTHING and do it without your phone! That Albert E was one smart fella.

Did you know MREs can have a shelf life of up to 60 months? That is 5 years! longer than it took me to pay off my car (well the first time.....but thats another story). Not to mention that even if soldier is lucky enough to avoid MREs a majority of the time, they will still eat in a "cafeteria" on base.....can't imagine this is that delicious either. So I put together this little MRE Survival Kit to send to my adopted soldier. And I hope that it is useful, but honestly.....who can't use Taco Bell sauce? MRE Survival Kit I may or may not schedule special trips to Taco Bell just to re-stock my Taco Bell sauce stash at my house. Looks like its time for a Taco Bell run!

[Linking up with Jamie at  This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday!] I'M LOVING..................I Brake for Yard Sales (An HGTV show from Lara Spencer, a GMA host) "Hoarders are welcome." ~ Lara, on finding the best yard sales So I might watch too much TV since this is this is the second tv show that I have written about for WILW.....sue me. Lara re-decorates for her friends and family refinishing, reusing and re-purposing yard sale, thrift stores, estate sales and dumpster items. There wasn't any dumpster diving on this episode and I can't even tell you how much disappointment I will have if she doesn't pull something out of the dumpster on this season's show! She loves garage sale-ing so much she wrote a book about it! I LOVE people who are so creative and can turn junk into masterpieces, especially in the name of saving some moo-lah. However, as with most HGTV shows that are all about re-purposing junk....still WAY out of my pri...

Its official, there is a national day/month of ________ for EVERYTHING. Did you know they even have a National Donut Day?.....I was unaware of this until last year, but I heard it on the radio so I went straight to Cowboy Donuts and loaded up for the office. Yeah, I was supposed to be dieting, but what is a girl supposed to do when its National Donut Day? Being a fun-hater and not participating in the celebration is not an option. Anyway.....don't give blood on National Donut Day....I think your tests would come back funky or something. But lucky for us there is a National blood donor month and that is.....yep, right now! January! I have good blood and good veins so I think its my duty to give blood. Secretly, I love Gardettos and I get a little snack pack for free when I give blood so that is motivation right there. Sometimes I sneak two, but don't tell the blood folks that, ok? Now that I live in WY, we have United Blood Services . But when I lived in OK and TN, I donated...

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Martin Luther King Jr. Day is today. On Friday at work we received an email from our Administrator, Juan Garcia, encouraging us to read King's I Have a Dream speech. Now usually when we get these rah-rah emails at work I just delete them, but for some reason I decided to read over his speech. Its really amazing how far we have come since King stood up in front of all those people and told us about his dream. I believe that this his speech still has elements that apply to us today.  We are facing some of the biggest difficulties that this Nation has ever seen and even t...

It's Friday! Time to celebrate! I'm linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday! Snowboarding: This last storm brought over a foot of snow to some of the ski areas that are near me, too bad its been about 10 degree (or -10).....but its supposed to be a heat wave this weekend, forecasted high of 37! My dog: She is always happy to see me when I come home! Babies with bows: To be clear she isn't really mine, but I LOVE being Aunt Jen. 4 day weekend: Yay for MLK Day....you will probably find me strapped to my board on the mountain, using $40 of my remaining $50 "envelope cash" on a lift ticket. Yeah, I'm responsible like that.  These delicious energy packed power balls - they taste like cookies, but are much better for you at least that is what I tell myself! Click here for the recipe. I have never once followed this recipe exactly.....be free, experiment! Happy Friday!

I moved to Rock Springs and bought my first house in 2009! Exciting, I can pick my own paint colors. I bought my house in foreclosure and it had a few projects (and a few that I wasn't expecting). It definitely a work in progress and I'll blog about each room as I get it finished. Fair warning, I'm not that great at finishing projects so some of them might be closely followed with a 'my first sale' blog. And no, I don't see that coming too soon. This the the picture that I thought I had of the outside of my house.  See I told you I was bad at this picture thing......I thought that I might take one before work in the morning, but its super cold and all snowy and icy and I just don't think my house would look as joyful as it does when there is green grass and green trees. Maybe another day you will get a picture of it :) Some of the changes that I'll eventually be blogging about include: total kitchen remodel new paint all around new blinds all...

  They can't do anything about it! AND I'm going to post embarrassing pictures of them on my blog and there is still nothing they can do about it! Sister and Little Sister, I don't know what I'd do without them, but sometimes I'd like to kill'em. We've been through alot, some good, some bad. We have our own dialect (more on that later). And we are pretty open book. We have furry children, most of which are naughty. Sister has agreed to guest blog with 'Critter Tales', all about her naughty weenie dog. They were a hit during her treatments with all that followed and continue on Facebook so lets hear a chant to get her going on those! We are stylish, as seen below. We can be acceptable humans to take out into public should the need arise. Mountain States Circuit Finals 2012 Rock Springs, WY

Me: "Oh, I haven't told you about my new cash thing have I?" Gypsy Friend : "No" Me: "See, I have it split into categories and at the beginning of the month I take out my budget and when its gone, its gone." Gypsy Friend: " (bahahahaha) You have a filing cabinet in your wallet! You are so lame." Me: (sad face) " I thought you would be proud of me for not spending so much money." Gypsy Friend : "Well I am, but seriously......a filing cabinet in your wallet?" Ok so I wrote this post a couple weeks ago and its been sitting in draft mode waiting for the perfect debut day. I went home for my uncle's funeral on Friday and then stayed for my Dad's best friend, Roy's funeral yesterday (that's why I didn't get a blog posted). Anyway, I drive to Colorado....it snows and it did. Of course I have AWFUL windshield wipers that I never remember to replace when I'm someplace where I could get it d...

I am from Colorado and I now live in Wyoming, so by all stretches of the imigination I should be a hard core Broncos fan. BUT, I'm not. Sure, I'll spend an afternoon on the couch watching the Donkeys, but my life doesn't stop for the games, I don't yell at the TV and I don't get depressed if they lose. Wyoming adopts Colorado and Utah pro sports teams because we don't have any.....Broncos, Nuggets, Jazz, Rockies, Avalanche....you get the idea. The Broncos have made the play-offs and Denver is going to be CRAZY this weekend. And even though I'm not the die-hard, I could totally get on the bandwagon to take part in a way cool photo like this one taken at Loveland Ski Area! And last but not least, I am qualified to jump on the bandwagon the week of playoffs because I am an Oklahoma State fan......orange and orange.....I'm on the bandwagon. GO BRONCOS!

Last night I had a crazy dream A wish was granted just for me It could be for anything I didn't ask for money Or a mansion in Malibu I simply wished, for one more day with you One more day One more time One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied But then again I know what it would do Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you First thing I'd do, is pray for time to crawl Then I'd unplug the telephone And keep the TV off I'd hold you every second Say a million I love you's That's what I'd do, with one more day with you One more day One more time One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied But then again I know what it would do Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you Leave me wishing still, for one more day Leave me wishing still, for one more day Well, in the past year  we've said goodbye to four great people on my mom's side of the family. Our family has come together to laugh, cry, ask why, remember and honor more times than one...

[Linking up with Jamie at  This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday!] I'm LOVING.......Dolvett and The Biggest Loser "Sometimes you gotta go through hell to get to heaven" ~Dolvett She's back and she has 2 years of pent up rage at obesity and she let'er fly Sunday night in the season premiere of the The Biggest Loser. First workout, kicked 3 people out of the gym. By the end of the show her team was down to 3 players.....out of 5. Jillian Michaels is back! Nikki quit the show and TC was sent home because the white team lost the weigh in and he had the lowest percentage of weight loss. TC was in the running to be one of my favorites because of his absolutely heart wrenching back story. I hope he is successful in his weight loss journey at home. I'm not quite sure that I agree with the kids being on there and there not being any eliminations for them. I believe that kids need to learn to lose just as much as anything that we should lea...

This is Far-away friend TC, he is one of my favorite guys in the whole, wide world! I heart him very, very much! TC and I go back a ways....all the way to Gunnison, CO. TC and I were Sunday church buddies, Sunday breakfast burrito buddies, drag the hay meadows partners in crime, late night dialers, and all around there whenever we needed each other. TC is getting married in August and I couldn't be happier for him and his new wifey-to-be, Shelby. I will be southbound 35 via the big bird in the sky to celebrate the both of them and I.CAN'T.WAIT. And, how freaking adorable are they????? I love this kid and God definitely gave me a friend that I need and named him TC. Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TC!

I  grew up in a sleepy little town where nothing overly exciting happened. We didn't lock our houses, we left the keys in the ignition and we didn't worry about it. Well things are changing. A few weeks ago, my BIL went out to leave for work. PAUSE : BIL works at the prison and is not a small guy. He is not a morning person, but has to leave for work before 5 am. As he walked out of the house, he noticed the dome light on in Sister's car. He grumbled to himself because he was going to have to listen to her about her car battery being dead. As he walked towards the car, he noticed something move inside. He opened the door and pulled a guy out, asking him what in the heck he thought he was doing? BIL patted him down and  held grand theft auto guy on the front lawn until the police came to take him into custody. Lucklily, Sister had locked to door to the house for some reason the night before....something that still wasn't a regular occurrence in our sleepy little to...

I was on a flight somewhere sitting in DFW on layover where there was a group of soldiers leaving for deployment. Many leaving had wives/husbands, kids, friends there to see them off. As I sat there "reading" my book, watching the various interactions, fighting back my own tears I noticed the one soldier who was sitting one row over with his head in his hands. There was no one there to see him off, to give him a hug and a come back safe. Was it his choice? maybe. But I couldn't stand the though of him being over there and not having anyone checking in on him, sending him letters, telling him how much his sacrifice was appreciated, sending him corny care packages. As I took my seat on the flight and we took off, I found out that the guy that was sitting next to me was a Blackhawk pilot, heading back to the Sandbox for the 2nd half of his 2nd deployment. He was an amazing guy. As we were landing all the passengers participated in a round of applause in tha...