Almost Gypsy Soul

Do you remember Punky Brewster? I don't really remember the whole story line, but I do remember her bad a** shoes that I eventually talked my Momma into buying for me. And then I proceeded to wear the soles off of them. I wore them everywhere and I mean everywhere. I'm not really sure what made me think of Punky Brewster as I was trying to decide on my costume for Halloween this year, but as soon as those flashy shoes popped into my head, there was no question that Punky Brewster would be making a comeback this year! And yes, I ordered a brand new pair of quite possibly the ugliest shoes I have ever owned for my costume. And I'll be sporting this outfit at work today and I'm well aware of the fact that I will likely be the only one dressed up.

Well here I go again, changing recipes before I've even tried them the way whoever invented them wrote them. This is supposed to use ground turkey, but I think that is really expensive and when we processed my antelope we didn't add anything to it, so its very lean! I bet its even better for you than turkey! Click here for the recipe that I changed with the meat type and I substituted pizza sauce for spaghetti sauce that I make from a packet and tomato sauce (jar sauce is too expensive I think so I don't buy it) and I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta (hey I was unemployed for a while, cottage cheese is cheaper)....maybe I'm just cheap, no I do not think that is possible....anyway,  I think I followed the rest of the recipe.

Why anyone would paint a cedar privacy fence white.....beyond me, but I'll be the one dealing with it....next year! In the meantime we did a little work on Tylie's Oasis. This is where she hangs out all day while I'm working. The picture above it what it looks like when we moved in, then we went to this.....and let me tell  you, not by choice. This is what our yard looked like after the accidental basement swimming pool installation of 2011. BOO! The water line into my house was leaking/broke and left me with a swimming pool rather than a bedroom and bathroom......a week before Christmas, it was a great Christmas gift let me tell ya. I have very little outside space, but because I'm shut my TV off for the summer, I decided it was high time to spruce up the ole' backyard so there was an awesome space to hangout during the summer and maybe even invite some folks over for some BBQ time!

Grab the button (at the bottom of my page), link up and share what feeds your soul! This week so many things feed my soul. The fact that we live in a free country, thanks to so many who have sacrificed so much. Friends that really come through. Friends of friends that come through. Thankfulness, gratefulness, honesty, creativity, love, kiddos and Duck Dynasty! We are thankful for the many, many soldiers past, present and future that selflessly serve our great country and protect our freedoms, and that's a fact, JACK! After the initial Duck Dynasty edition of Letters to a Solider , I received a request for DD care packages for a whole unit that had been deployed. I was a little nervous about "adopting" a whole unit, even if is only for one project, so I "enlisted" a bunch of friends to help me. I knew I had good friends, but this Operation Duck Dynasty proved to me that not only do I have good great friends, but the friends of my friends are great!

  [Linking up with Julia at Black Tag Diaries for Thankful Thursdays] Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there.  ~Amy Li This month's far-away friend(s) are none other than my Sisters, Assistant Pack Leader and Little Sister. Throwback As much as we can get on each other's nerves, it never fails when we really need something we are always there for each other. And I really don't think anything will ever change that. There has been laughter, tears, jokes, hugs, sleepovers, travel, hours on the phone....you know the drill. And we are stylish too! But no matter what, through good times and bad, these two are my best friends. No one understands anything one of the rest of us is going through better than us! **Don't forget to come back to Almost Gypsy Soul tomorrow and link-up for Soul Food Friday! Share with the world (its a small world) what feeds your soul**

When I was in college I worked at Waunita Hot Springs Ranch each summer. Every Tuesday morning was the Breakfast Ride where we would take trail rides to a spot up in the aspens and pine trees and a hot, yummy breakfast would be cooking in the temporary outdoor kitchen . Photo via Gordon Patton Photography Rod cooking bacon, celebrated his 85th birthday this summer . Every Tuesday, local cowboy poet, John Nelson would perform for guests and employees alike. One of my favorites that he would do is Reincarnation by Wallace McRae . Photo via Gordon Patton Photography REINCARNATION "What does reincarnation mean?" A cowpoke asked his friend. His pal replied, "It happens when Yer life has reached its end. They comb yer hair, and warsh yer neck, And clean yer fingernails, And lay you in a padded box Away from life's travails. "The box and you goes in a hole, That's been dug into the ground. Reincarnation starts in when Yo

as in Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest. Of course all the holes are appropriately named Robin Hood style. This 9 hole course was really fun and pretty challenging despite there being no water hazards and only one hole that had sand traps, but don't put it down the middle of the fairway? Then you'll be wishing for water hazards.  Its a mountain course in Sardine Canyon, UT but was a pretty easy walking course....even after the 9 mile hike that Little Sister and I thought we would bust out in the am before golf. Nothin' like gettin in one last round of golf before the snow flies!   In case you can't tell because I look kinda like a boy in that hat, that is me with a sweet t-off swing with the lovely fall color in the background for your viewing pleasure. And away go my golf clubs and out comes the snowboard, because Loveland opened this week!

While I was on furlough, I splurged and drove to Logan so my baby sister could buy me dinner. We managed to stay busy all weekend and didn't spend a ton of money. Win. Little Sister and I took the doogs for a little walk because I wanted to hike the fall colors. Unfortunately, we were probably a couple weeks late for the high colors, but the lower colors were amazing. We were about 3 miles in when we hit snow, but we made it all the way to White Pine Lake in Logan Canyon. Nine miles later, humans and dogs were tired, but it was a great hike! We celebrated with a 2,000 calorie meal at Texas Roadhouse and 9 holes of golf. Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I'll just leave you with a few images. *Woof* Tylie checking in for a little fact checking on the human. We walked 9 miles and my legs are short enough, I trotted alot. I feel bad for that little pain in the you know what cousin of mine.....her legs are like 2 inches long. Sometimes my human goes a little crazy,

I have a lot of Brians and/or Bryans in my life so they have to have some sort of identifying adjective name. Strangely enough most of the Brian/Bryans in my life come from work, just a little side note for you there. Farm Loan Brian is funny, he's a smart ass, and he makes work enjoyable. He just so happens to be my trainer for the Farm Loan Officer Training (FLOT) program, but I usually only see him once a month. When I walked into the office a couple weeks ago, he looks up and says "Would you like some monkey poo coffee?"......"um, what?! (He has finally lost it, on his way to the nuthouse, I thought)" And he follows with the following.....confirmed by the Google Machine I might add. Kopi Luwak is a very expensive coffee that is made from coffee beans that are passed through the digestive system of an Indonesian animal, but it's more like a cat than a monkey. (For my purposes and gag reflex, I'll continue to say monkey....it somehow seems les

What do you do when you have a plan to set progressive goals, except you fail after just the first month. When I started my most recent weight loss and healthy living push I set fairly lofty goals with the idea that it would keep me motivated to work hard, which I felt like I did. But then a couple weeks ago was weigh in and measure day and its pretty obvious that I didn't work hard enough. I had 2 goals and failed at both of them. Lose 10 lbs, I lost 4 = 40% Lose 10 inches, I lost 8.25 = 82.5% For an overall percentage of 61.25% = failing. Now I'm at a loss of where to set my goals for the second month. Do I go I try to make up where I fell short this month? Do I need to be more realistic about my abilities? And just a little update.....I didn't set any goals, but I did keep going....is it too late to set goals for Phase 2 of Chalean Extreme? Help me, help me Rhonda!

**Spoiler Alert** I'm about to throw a temper tantrum. If you don't want to read something negative, stop now **Spoiler Alert** Debbie Downer, Negative Nancy, Pessimistic Patty, Whiney Wendy.....I hate them all however, I've become them all lately. The stress, the uncertainty, the lack of motivation, the lack of feeling of  purpose....its all piling up and I'm not really sure what to do to handle it.....How to get back to my old self....one that I like much more than the person I have become. I want to go to work and feel productive, I want to go to work and do something....ACTION, help me here people. I want to enjoy life. I want to live life to the fullest, I want to feel a purpose. When the government shut-down on October 1, I was sent home. No work, no paycheck, no contact with my ranchers (interestingly the latter has been the hardest part, I never realized just how much I enjoy talking to these guys each week). Here we are into the third week of furlough and i

I had a table in college from I think the 50s, then I had no table for a very long time. This was all fine and dandy until I would invite people over for dinner and had no place for them to sit! As I set out on operation dining table I didn't realize just how difficult this would be. I couldn't find a single table that I liked, could afford AND fit in my house! So I decided I would just build a table, can't be that hard, I built tons of furniture in high school shop class and oooooo, think of the money I would save over buying those cheaply built, overpriced things they were selling in the stores. What did I learn through this project? barnwood is not as easy to work with as solid oak I miss the tools that Schmidt had in shop back at ole' LHS when you think you might save money by doing it yourself....you probably won't I will name this the procrastination table.......I built it in a day, then proceeded to take a year to finish it. excuse my awesome ph

We all spend too much time on FB, that is correct, I'm including you in this we.....I don't want to be alone so I automatically group everyone into the "too much time on FB" group. Sorry if I offend. I recently "liked" American Cattlemen on FB because of this photo that was shared on my newsfeed. If you don't think this photo is awesome, well then we just probably can't be friends anymore. So anyway, I had to like American Cattlemen on FB after this photo and now my newsfeed is filled with awesome ag pictures all day......and I love it! There sure are a lot of talented ag folks out there!!! I've included a few of my favorites from stalking browsing the American Cattlemen page. Obviously I didn't take any of these and have done my best to give credit to the photographer. All of the pics are from the American Cattlemen FB page from followers. I look forward to seeing new pictures posted to their page each day....it just might be the

Well, if you have watched the news at all since the beginning of October you know that I have ALOT of time to watch the news. I am was a federal employee with the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA), who now has to figure out how to spend my days without spending money while Congress continues to not talk to each other about the horrible situation that America has realized. BUT what you probably haven't seen on the news is the awful devastation that South Dakota farmers and ranchers are still trying to assess. Early reports estimate regional cattle losses to be about 5%, with some ranchers losing 20-50% of their herd. Do you know what this means for these guys? It could be the end of their ranch without help. And where should help be coming from? Well normally that would be a task that FSA would be charged with, except we are all at home on furlough and Congress has once again failed to enact a Farm Bill that would contain disaster programs to assis

Its no secret that I like to travel and one of the best inventions ever was not really designed for traveling ease. Yes, of course I am talking about the shower loof-ah. Seriously, packing a wet loof-ah, not this girl, so I give it up in favor of the forefather of bathing accessories, the wash cloth.   And that makes the first shower, after returning to the "real world" oh so much sweeter.

This edition of Sweetwater Series is a little bit different because its not a place that can be seen anytime. The Green River Rec Department is the sponsor or co-sponsor of so many cool events for the area. The Green River Arts Council has been putting on the Painting with a Twist event for 2 years now. I think its great that the Rec Department and Arts Council works so hard to bring fun events to the area! I never win anything, except this one time where I won a free registration to Painting with a Twist! And my artistic background consists of Art101 as an undergrad, the course title happens to be Studio Art for the Non-Artist. BUT, Painting with a Twist can make an artist out of anyone! Maybe its the wine, maybe its the super cool instructors, maybe its the yummy food, maybe its the wine. Either way, its a really fun time!   Look at that masterpiece!

When I tell people I work for the Farm Service Agency, I either get a knowing nod like "oh you are one of those government employees" or I get a "what do you actually do?". I've started leading off with working for the US Department of Agriculture because most people have actually heard of that that. We are a small agency within USDA that administers the farm subsidy, disaster and some insurance programs of the Farm Bill. The farm bill is made up of 15 different titles addressing different areas. The 15 titles or parts of the Farm Bill are , the ones that are bolded are the only ones that I directly work with through FSA. Commodity - provides income support to growers of select commodities Conservation - provides funding for farm environmental stewardship thought programs that improve management practices, retire less productive land and protect natural resources Agricultural Trade & Food Aid - funds US agriculture export a

Yep, that's right, I've returned to relying on  my Junior High volleyball skills to get me through old folks' volleyball league. Its still not that hard to get down on the floor, but possibly slightly harder to get up than I remember from 20 10 years ago. What! I'm not old enough to say anything "20 years ago...." I just can't. nope. not. possible. We are the fun team that is mediocre, we have our bright shiny moments often followed by "are you a JH volleyball team" moments. Personally I think we are just saving it up for the tournament, but think what you will. We play every Sunday during "season", usually back to back games because we are tough like that. Little Sister was in town last week so we talked her into playing on our team even though she has never played vb before. Of course she was good. Anyway, sorry for the lame pictureless post, disappointing I know, but we usually don't even have a full team much less an extr

Last weekend, Little Sister and I ran down to Ft. Collins to celebrate a wedding with some old friends. Mike met us there and we had a great time! Before the wedding festivites started we picked up Little Sister's +1 in Laramie, one of her friends from her college softball days. Then we hit up David's Bridal to find me a bridesmaid dress for Little Sister's wedding that is coming up in February. Here is what I'll be sporting in the dead of winter while Little Sister and Little Sister's Boyfriend (I think he needs a new blog name) get hitched, only mine is in coral. Then we tried lunch at Beau Jo's Pizza, only to find that it had been closed, only to find later that it had really only moved a block or so away. We ended up eating at a brewery in Old Town, which was delicious and had beer so I thought it was a win anyway. Then we were off to the wedding venue. The wedding took place at the bride's parent's house. It was so pretty and an absolutely

#betterthanamacdouble #skinnymightnotbesobad #dietdoesnthavetobeawful This recipe is yummy! like really yummy. and super easy, I think it maybe took 15 minutes from beginning to the first forkful. I got the recipe from Zahlmann Zoo Crew blog and I didn't even change it, I actually followed a recipe, that is pretty good.

Just over 5 years ago I started working for the federal government, where I signed on for the job with thoughts of proving the "typical government worker" stereo type wrong, I wanted to be different, I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to help people, particularly agriculture people. Never once did I ever think that in just 5 years at the ancient age of 30 that I would be unemployed and not receiving unemployment checks. Yet here we are. I would like to extend my gracious thanks to both the President and all Democrats and Republicans of Congress. I am extremely disappointed in the blinders and pettiness that is rampant in Washington with little regard to how your selfishness affects ordinary American citizens who want to do good, who want to go to work (most days) who want to help and serve other Americans. I sincerely hope that you all can make your mortgage payments, pay your bills and afford to go to the grocery store because there are thousands more who will strugg