Almost Gypsy Soul

Okie Cowboy Family really did become my real family. I met Okie Cowboy at Waunita Hot Springs Ranch quite some time ago. He had come back to help out for a couple weeks one summer while I was working there in college. Turns out he had met his wife there a few years before this. I didn't really get to know Okie Cowboy Mom until I packed all my stuff and moved to Oklahoma for grad school at Oklahoma State. We all instantly liked each other and were immediately friends, plus you gotta form alliances around this guy! I spent a fair amount of time out at their house dinners, horses, ranch rodeos, concerts, Sonic pitstops etc....we kept pretty busy, but sometimes it was just hanging out...in the country, relaxing. Okie Cowboy even had Bandit, who is Tylie's baby daddy. Once Okie Cowboy met Tylie, the first thing he asked me was if she had been spayed. I told him "No, not yet, but I am planning on it soon" He talked me into having pups and he picked out the first o

Dear Donor Family, My name is {Gatekeeper} and I received your loved one’s heart. The most important thing I want to tell you is that I am so grateful to you! There are no other words to express my gratitude other than Thank You!  I have thought about what to say over and over, and I want to say the right things but I’m not sure what those words are. In your time of grief you made a decision that saved my life. I would not be alive if it were not for you. I know very little about your loved one, but I would love to know much more! What I do know is that he must have been an incredible person. The fact that you have allowed him to live on inside of me is a testament to how much he was loved by you.  There are so many thing I would like to tell all of you, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. I do want you to know that I was sick for a very long time, and I do not take for granted a healthy heart! When I was 14 I was diagnosed with a rare cancer so I began chemotherapy

So as I started out writing posts about Grimes, I was having trouble getting the words quite right. I took some time to shift through old scrapbooks and yearbooks. And everyone knows you can't pull that stuff out and spend just a few minutes. I read some notes on the cover of my yearbook with this one especially sticking out from the Assistant Pack Leader. And I asked some others for a few words about Coach Grimes......some footprints left by Coach Grimes: his loping run - he made it look easy. he took such damn long strides that it was hell for short people to keep up. his irritation and aggravation at the members of our team who didn't "get it" and weren't out for track to win. Those that were there for social reasons. (You know the ones on your team I'm talking about!) him nearly killing Shane Stone for hitting me on the inside of the knee with a baseball pitch when they were practicing inside. I had gone to get ice out of the concessions sta

You remember those special people who have left this world, some way to soon, some having lived a full and wonderful life. Are you like me where your memories fade, you can't quite remember the specifics of the relationship? The one thing you will always remember is that they changed your life, maybe not in big ways, but lots of small ways that made you who you are today. Footprints were left on my heart by Coach Grimes (his footprints look more like track spikes) and I knew it while he was here and I REALLY knew it after he was gone. Today is the anniversary of this great man's passing and I couldn't be more honored to be "one of Grimes' track girls" Grimes believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. He chewed my ass when I needed it, he encouraged me when I needed to know that someone believed in me, he joked with me when I was so nervous I couldn't speak for fear of throwing up somewhere on that infield and he was ALWA

What better trip to revisit to than Washington D.C. to celebrate Memorial Day. Washington D.C. is rich with history and memorials remembering the fallen ones of our country. Past, p resent and future military...... THANK YOU! Happy Memorial Day! Did you thank a veteran today?

Welcome to Soul Food Friday ! I will host a link up the 4th Friday of the month. Link up to share with your fellow bloggers anything that motivates you, speaks to you or generally gets you excited about life.....share it at Soul Food Friday ! (get your badge at the bottom of my page :)) I'm going to steal the thunder from the blog music for one day (sorry Music Man!) Make sure you shut off the player and listen to this awesome video...... My Soul Food: at the end of a dirt road 1. rain 2. dirt roads (picture via Prickly Pair Photography , check them out....amazing!) 3. mountains 4. Colorado sunsets 5. starry nights Give me any or all of these things and I'm one happy girl, even if it can't last forever.

Well its the week of season finales for all my favorite tv shows, so its seems fitting that it would be the series finale of It's OK Thursday ! I'm pretty new to blogging so I only got to tell you a few things that are OK, but I'll send Its OK Thursday out with a bang Its OK.... ..... that I'm going to miss tv, but am excited about turning it off for the summer at the same time that sometimes I just want to waste a few hours in my recliner to skip out of work a little bit early to hit the lake for some water therapy after work my concert is finally here! Red Dirt at Red Rocks here we come! Randy Rogers Band, Casey Donahew Band, Stoney LaRue and Wade Bowen.....doesn't get any better that Little Sister, Little Sister's Boyfriend and I have to rent a U-haul to get our stuff home from Mike's house that I want it to rain.....like Seattle rain.....for day that I want more at my job, I want to move up the ladder, without moving that I've lived

When I moved there it was so hot I was fairly certain it wasn't God's Country, but everywhere I went I heard "Welcome to God's Country" by the time I graduated and it was time to leave, I was sad to leave God's Country. Even when we start to question how and why horrible things such as the huge tornado that hit Moore Oklahoma this week, God is there and there is not a doubt in my mind that God is in Oklahoma, the day the tornado hit, the weeks of recovery and reconstruction and until the end of time.   As I watch the news and look at pictures from Oklahoma, I can't help but think back to 1990 when I had just recently finished 1st grade. It was June 6, 1990, my parents had dropped us off at Lynn and Lisa's so they could go celebrate Dad's birthday. When we came out from the crawlspace, scenes that I see on the tv were before my very eyes. Luckily, in the Limon tornado, fairly new warning sirens were credited with saving many lives, givi

If you aren't new to this blog you will remember my trip out to San Francisco and to Alcatraz, if you are new... click here to read more about my trip to Alcatraz or here to read more about all my travelin' adventures. My trip had a little surprise waiting for us at the gift shop at the end of our tour.....Diedre Marie Capone, a great niece of Al Capone was there, personally signing her book titled Uncle Al Capone. This almost gypsy soul came home with a new book, signed by a Capone and at just the right time as I had finished 1.5 of my 2 book flight allotment that I had checked out from the library before I left Wyoming. Uncle Al Capone was a very interesting book, it provides the reader with an insiders view of what Al Capone might have really been like....from a home and family perspective. The book doesn't go into great detail of what he was like had you had a "business" relationship with him, but there are plenty of other books that do. One inte

NASCOE is our employees association. At each area or national meeting a scholarship auction is held to keep funding in the various scholarship funds that are available to NASCOE member's children. Each state in attendance is asked to donate items to the scholarship auction. I volunteered to do our scholarship item when we went to San Fransisco for the All-West Area Rally. After cruising Pinterest to decide what could fit in a suitcase (mine to get out there and someone else's on the way back), I settled on this cute horseshoe windchime. My horseshoe windchime even has authentic Wyoming horse poo in it :) I don't do things halfway ya know..... And another little side note....that JB Weld was one bad A!!!!! Here is my finished chime......now to get to work on one for my little homestead.

[Linking up with Heather over at Undercover Blonde ] A biography, by W.C. Jameson, provides a well researched account of Butch Cassidy's life as an American Outlaw. I chose this book because Butch Cassidy spent some time in Rock Springs and even got his name while he was here. His real name is Robert LeRoy Parker. I think Butch Cassidy is better suited for the outlaw life. Even though he was an outlaw, he showed much compassion for others and wasn't violent by nature. Follow Cassidy through an account of his life as Robert Parker, his life as outlaw Butch Cassidy and a variety of other alias and his controversial death. Did he really die in South America? Did he escape back to the United States.....read on to find out more information and then you can make up your own mind.

Boar's Tusk is a natural wonder that took millions of years to form. You can find it north of Rock Springs on the east side of 191. It is an important landmark of southwest Wyoming, rising out of the desert some 400 feet. The first time that I went to Boar's Tusk it was snowing so much and so foggy that we missed it the first time we went by.   This is a fun picture that Music Man took through my sunglasses. It was so foggy that we couldn't see Boar's Tusk that well, but through my sunglasses it was much clearer!

I've seen several of my friends post pictures from their adventures of painting at various bachelorette parties and bridal showers. I was amazed that I don't have one single friend who isn't an accomplished artist! When Colorado Transplant Friend told me about the Arts Council's plan to bring Painting with a Twist to Green River I said to count me in! They chose Starry Tree for our masterpiece. When i showed up I was very disappointed to see a blank canvas staring back at me......and I mean blank! What the crap?! Where is my paint by number.....mine will never look like the "example" Here you can see the progression of my masterpiece....I think the most important thing is to finish the step and then put down the paint brush....anything I tried to "fix" yeah, that wasn't a good idea! On the left is the "professional painting" on the right is "the most professional painting" (that is mine in case you are confuse

"I can rise and shine, but not at the same time" ~ Maxine but hopefully this little care package will give my adopted soldiers a shot at rising and shining at the same time!   The rise and shine package included some yummy Dunkin' Donuts coffee for those days where there is time for real coffee, some on the go Folgers singles for those days where there isn't time for a cup of Joe, lots of breakfast snacks like poptarts, oatmeal and donut sticks. All these treats will be after Morning Burst face wash, given the teeth a good brushing and a shave. Any no care package would be  complete without some homemade cookies....oatmeal of course because after all it is a "breakfast" theme. And to top off my week, I got a little shoutout on the Facebook from my second adopted soldier. Thanks jennifer dutton for the care package. It always feels good to know people still care. God bless and thanks again.

Even when I was the young age of 16 and getting my first drivers license I made the choice to be an organ donor, after all, if the question of if I am an organ donor was needed to be asked......its pretty obvious that I didn't need them anymore. It wasn't a choice that I gave alot of thought to, it just made sense to me. On Sunday, it hit me what my choice really means. It means that I will live on through someone else.  It means that my family can be proud of the difference that I could make in a stranger's life even through tragedy in our own. It means that someone else gets to spend more days, weeks, months, years with their loved ones. It means that a stranger might welcome my family into theirs and my family might welcome a stranger into our family. This weekend, Coach Grimes parents and Stacey got to meet the lady who was the recipient of his heart when he passed. They got to listen to his heart and heard the words "I am not the owner of his heart, I am merel

[Linking up with Heather over at the Undercover Blonde ] Oh I love me a good murder mystery! I haven't been the the library in quite some time....yeah I still have a library card and I pickup real books, I don't have one of those e-reader things. Anyway, I always cruise the "new releases" section and I pick books like I pick wine. A catchy title and cover and .......bam, you got me! Since I was getting ready to fly to CA, I stopped to get some books before I left. This one I finished on the first day.....before I made it to my final destination. Its an easy read and highly recommended if you are into murder mystery books. Let's just say the ending isn't what you expect....or at least I sure didn't.  Trying not to do a spoiler, I'll give you a few details. The Ninth Step by Grant Jerkins is a story of one woman's quest to right her wrongs after admitting she is an alcoholic and joining a 12 Step Program. As she works her way through

This is Tylie, she had her first hair appointment in her 8 years last week a few weeks ago. As you can see she is super excited about this.....well ok maybe excited isn't the correct word to use here. I tried to explain to her that she should be excited.....it wasn't just  a hair appointment it was more like going to the doggie spa! "Mom, please, please don't make me go!" I signed her up for a shampoo and brush out, nails, ears and teeth! She is going to be so shiny! and she'll smell like a flower. Tylie wagged her butt (she doesn't have a tail really) so hard she almost fell off her paws when she was picked up from the "spa". She smelled so good, wasn't molting all over my house and now had a good excuse to roll in the dirt while I was at work (yes, that really happened grrrr!) And to stamp in concrete the fact that doggie spa is worth every penny of $35, Little Sister's Boyfriend noticed as soon as she ran through the door t

Two enthusiastic thumbs up! This recipe from the Budget Savvy Diva is awesome! and easy! Comfort in a Dish is how she describes it and I couldn't agree more! Ingredients 14 oz of Orecchiette Pasta (I don't know what that is so I just used penne) 1 Tbsp Olive Oil 1 Cup of Chopped Onion 3 Cloves of Garlic ( Minced) 1 Cup of Sour Cream 4 oz of Cream Cheese ( Room Temperature) ¾ Cup of Parmesan Cheese 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice + Zest 10 Oz of Spinach ( Make sure to squeeze excess moisture, after it has been thawed of course) 13.5 Can of Artichoke Hearts rinsed and chopped 1 Cup of Mozzarella ½ Teaspoon of Salt 1 Teaspoon of Pepper Instructions Preheat Oven To 425 Cook pasta according to the box. Keep ¼ Cup of the Pasta Water before you drain the cooked pasta. Heat oil in pan and cook onions for 8 – 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute. In a large bowl – Mix Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, Parmesan, Lemon (juice and zest), onions, and garlic. Add Past

I'm O- and they always hit the vein on the first try! For these 2 reasons I feel like I'm supposed to give blood, regularly semi-regularly. Hey, lets be realistic, I don't get it done all the time, but they are pretty good about calling me and asking me to come in when I'm eligible again and there is a blood drive in my town coming up.  Click here for more information on giving blood. I donate with United Blood Services in Wyoming. I'll be honest, I've started trying to give double reds because I'm not eligible to donate as often and I'm more likely to get an appointment made if I don't have to go so often. :) Plus, they love it when you agree to give double reds! Did you know that double red donations are usually given to surgery or trauma patients? To find out more about donating a Power Red , click here . Plus you can say Power Red , that's cool right? A little personal note on giving double reds because it is different than giving w

Welcome back to the Sweetwater Series, click here to check out the other sights around my new home. Sweetwater County is approximately 10, 425 square miles and is 73% public land. The high mountain desert landscape lends itself well to both natural resource production and rangeland agriculture production. Agriculture is a big part of the economy. As of the 2007 Agricultural Census, Sweetwater County Agriculture produced $14,506,000 worth of agricultural products with $10,163,000 coming from livestock and livestock products. Last week I visited sheep camp with one of the larger ranchers in southwest Wyoming. The sheep are currently on the trail to shearing, lambing and then summer grazing lands. They travel walk somewhere between 6 and 10 miles per day, depending on how close the next available water is and how much feed is available. It is normal for range sheep operations to feed corn and/or pellets for a few weeks before lambing and bucking to get give the ewes a little extra b

BIL and Assistant Pack Leader have a pack of dogs (doo-gis is the correct pronunciation if you are in anyway related to us girls). Their immediate pack consists of 2 doogis', a sneaky mini aussie mix, Gus and an independent, chunky weenie, Critter. Occasionally, there are 2 additions to the pack....a little black n' tan weenie, Tobie (Little Sister's doog) and a blue heeler, Tylie (my doog). Now, since all of these doogs have multiple names, I'll try to keep it simple in blog land and refer to them by their given name only. Summer Camp is BIL's parents house where BIL keeps his horses and goes out each day to ride, rope and do various other boy things (that's what the Assistant Pack Leader calls when BIL babysits). BIL's parents have the Guard Dog, Grace, The Beagle, Wyatt and the Chihuahua. Enter the pack! There is a certain pecking order that has been established at Summer Camp and Assistant Pack Leader's house. Critter is quite intellig

I'm supposed to be on a diet because I'm chunky. I'm an awful dieter and the worse I lose, the harder it is to stick with it, so I try to find ways I can still have a "guilty pleasure" here and there and still not completely fall off the bandwagon (unlike the half box of girl scout cookies I just ate, dang those cute kids asking me to please buy some cookies!) I snagged these little dandies off of Sally's Baking Addiction via Pinterest. I thought I would give these brownies (my guiltiest pleasure) a whirl and see if they stand a chance at replacing brownies filled with oil, flour and sugar. Skinny Blender Brownies Ingredients 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter 6 oz. low fat vanilla greek yogurt (I used honey because I like it plain too, so the rest of the container won't be thrown out) 1/4 cup skim milk 1 large egg (or 2 egg whites WHAT?! You need to use the whole egg! That is where all the nutrients are!) 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1 cu

Spring has finally arrived, Yippee!! The boat has been on the water and summer is just around the corner. And you know what summer means??? Warm weather, BBQ’s, maybe some adult beverages next to some water, and for the lucky ones, some boating fun! So, with that said, let’s build a pre-summer/drinkin’ songs playlist shall we… get your motor runnin’!! Kid Rock, All Summer Long Kenny Chesney, Summertime Blake Shelton, Some Beach The Great Divide, Pour Me a Vacation Eric Church, Drink in My Hand Kevin Fowler, Lord Loves the Drinkin’ Man  Try to contain yourself, it is only May, there is still a chance of snow.