Almost Gypsy Soul

It used to be that Friday night was reserved for grabbing a few beers after school to go home and get ready to go out on the Strip, usually closing down the bar and hitting up the MacDonalds on the way home (in the early hours of "tomorrow"). But I think its safe to say I've outgrown that stage as I'm usually in my sweats before I'd even be leaving the house in the "old" days. You really want to impress this girl with a Friday night? How about a Taken marathon and drinking whiskey and diet before heading to bed at a decent hour. I'm there. Or maybe hours on hours of Phase 10 with some friends in the trailer park? Count me in! How about a little fire while sitting around on coolers bag chairs (much more comfortable) with some cornhole. Can't get me away . Want to go all out? How about a small town dance. Done deal. And there you have it.....big Friday nights!

A year ago I was fairly certain that I would be weddingless this year. I thought all my friends had gotten married last year, but I'll just say I have alot of friends (and dang good ones at that) and I am so, so happy to be able to celebrate their big day with them (especially when it means a trip to Oklahoma and a pit stop at El Vaq for some carne tapitia). Flyfisher Guy found him a good one and he married her! The weather was beautiful, the wedding was beautiful, the food was amazing and I stayed up until 3 am so I think its safe to say that the reception and after party at the Hard Rock was pretty good too. And just for the record.....in a one week time period I stayed up until 3 am twice and got up at 430 once......I still got it (sorta). It may or may not have taken a full week to recover from these hours that I kept. Thank you for a wonderful weekend and congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Richardson! Photo via Facebook

Last week was the week, I headed to hunting camp. As much as I enjoy a good week-long camping out/elk hunting trip, antelope hunting has inched higher and higher on my list of favorite gun activities. And here's why It's warm More likely to tag something Easier on the out-of-shape-factor It's warm Hunting camp includes mattresses and pillows...at my house It's warm Because I'm a procrastinator, I waited until the weekend before hunting season opened to make sure my gun was still sighted in....and it wasn't. 6 shots and I wasn't even on paper, in the next 6 I got it dialed in and my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I decided to take a break and come back the next day. We were right on track! Only to find out that it was no longer sighted in on opening day. :( It was a hunting disaster, I had a couple of shots which I proceeded to miss quite big. I was so upset with myself, thinking it was just me. We headed back to the range and sure e...

I really wanted to leave this 5-part series, "The Dirty Game" published by SI, alone, really I did but Part 5: The Fallout sent me reeling, flying off the handle if you will. I wanted to leave this story alone because I am an OSU Alum and I am proud to be a product of Cowboy Country and therefore some may think that my opinion is biased. Yes, I am proud to be a Cowboy. No, I am not a die hard football fan. gasp. In fact, most of the names in this "story" I didn't even really know who they were, but that does not change my opinion of the final part, The Fallout. I'm not going to discuss my thoughts on the first 4 parts, The Money, The Academics, The Drugs, The Sex because I do not think that a legit investigation has been completed yet. There were definitely not enough facts presented by Mr. Dohrmann and Mr. Evans to convince me that the OSU Football program was, beyond a reasonable doubt, guilty of the accusations. Now I will say this, I'll be dis...

So, you are probably tired of hearing me talk about giving blood and encouraging you to also give blood. FYI - one donation can save up to 3 lives, just sayin. As I was getting ready to leave on Really Big Road Trip , I received an email letting me know that I am eligible give blood again. Then while I was in Stillwater on an unexpected stop in my road trip I saw a sign at Gallagher-Iba Arena that there was a blood drive. I went in to see if they had openings....side note, blood drives at OSU the donor always comes out with a free t-shirt...and apparently OSU alumni donors get 2 free t-shirts! WIN! So instead of wowing you with a picture of a needle sticking out of my arm again, I'll share a few of the banners that were in my view while I gave blood this time. I opted for the whole blood donation this time because its a little faster....in and out in 45 minutes, including the interview! And props to Oklahoma Blood Institute, they had Gatorade (in cans, never seen that ...

By this point in the trip I can successfully say that I have no idea what day of the week it is and NO clue what number the day is. I rarely planned more than a few hours in advance, sometimes that worked for me, sometimes not so much. I anticipated not being able to go to Stillwater because I had several people that I wanted to see in other parts of Oklahoma, things didn't work out so I headed to Stillwater to catch up with some folks. High points the Okie portion of my trip.... #1 - NEW BOOTS! I've had my sights on these boots for a little over a year now. I talked myself out of them once and I thought I might be able to pass them up again until I got to Joe's in OKC Stockyards and found only 2 pairs left....one in my size and one not in my size. Yep, couldn't say no. Should I have buyer's remorse? yes. Do I? nope! I LOVE them!   #2 - Friends Family I got to see tons of people that I miss very much!!!!! I am so thankful that so many people really made an ...

for The Really Big Road Trip! I'll be working my way through Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, back to Colorado and finally back to Wyoming. I'll be visiting family and friends all along 2,367 miles. And since I'm having trouble keeping up with my unpublished blog listing, I'll be taking off next week from blogging while I'm catching up with my people. I'll be back with alot of miles of adventure to catch you up on. PS. Don't forget to come back tomorrow and link up for Soul Food Friday with Almost Gypsy Soul! See you there!!!!

I find it pretty interesting that it wasn't until I left OSU and left Oklahoma that some of my closer friend relationships really bloomed. Thank you Facebook and internet and cell phones. Football Fan and I went to OSU together, we had some of the same close friends, we were friends, but not the friend that I would send random texts to, or email back and forth for a couple hours, or call up and ask for advice. Whew, I'm pretty sure my English teacher would have a heart attack if she read that last "sentence". Anyway, that is exactly what Football Fan has turned into as a friend to me. She is one the most ambitious, fun, down to earth, caring people I have ever met. The way she lives her life, makes me strive to be more like her, to be a better person for myself and all those who I meet throughout my life. And if you don't know her, follow her blog . It will be like you are already her friend too! Thank you Tiff for being my friend!

It's something you always knew, just sometimes life gets in the way and it gets pushed to the back of your mind. Friends are my soul food! Unfortunately, last week I was reminded to NOT let life push this little piece of fact to the back of my mind, to love my friends, to let my friends know that I love them, to take a little extra time to send that email or text or pick up the phone and make the call, to spend more than is in the travel budget, to take 10 days 2 1/2 weeks off to drive what I'm going to refer to as the Giant Friend Loop Road Trip (GRLRT) instead of flying in/out in 3 days time, to buy the random gift you know they will love.   As I looked around the room, which was full, at the wake I realized how many lives this young man had touched so deeply in just 27 short years. The next day the sanctuary, the hall and foyer were filled with people wanting to pay their last respects to their friend. I am reminded to strive to be like Joe Don, to strive to be a...

[Linking up with Stephanie @ Beautiful Mess ] I'm an Oklahoma State fan, you can't live in Stillwater for any amount of time and not love you some orange. I'd argue Oklahoma, but there is no doubt one of those "other" fans reading this who will try to prove me wrong. Now, I'm not a crazy fan, I'll watch a game, but I don't know every player on every OSU sports team since the beginning of time. I like my orange, but I don't (or never did) have season passes for any season. So I guess yeah, some would say I'm not a fan but whatever. Music Man is a Wyoming fan and he does know every players name for every team since the beginning of Wyoming Cowboys (and usually the OSU Cowboys) so it goes without saying he wins those fights, but I think that is mostly a guy thing (and Football Fan, Tiff) so again....whatever. Wyoming fans are pretty serious fans! I love watching Wyoming fans watch Wyoming football....its great! Ok so the real point of this...

asking why......why did another full-of-life, salt-of-the-earth, one of the REAL good guys have to leave this Earth way, way too soon. He was a friend of so many, didn't know a stranger, one would be hard pressed to remember a time where he wasn't living life to the fullest or a moment where there wasn't a smile on his face. As I sat at my desk, trying to comprehend the news, I realize I couldn't breathe very well. It just doesn't seem real and I don't want it to be. Heaven got one of the good ones yesterday and he will be missed by so many. I don't know anyone who didn't like Joe Don. Photos via Facebook Rest in peace and know you are missed by so many. When I get where I'm going On the far side of the sky The first thing that I'm gonna do Is spread my wings and fly I'm gonna land beside a lion And run my fingers through his mane Or I might find out what it's like To ride a drop of rain Yeah, when I get where ...

Music man made me pine stools to match my coffee table that I got for Christmas. It probably nearly killed him to do OSU on here....he's a die hard Wyoming fan. So I decided that there were a few Pinterest projects that I wanted to give a try with hair-on hide. I was warned by several friends that hair-on hide stools weren't as good as they seem as the hair will all rub off. I went ahead and did it anyway....I still have enough hide I can recover when it all rubs off. So here is the finished product of my cowhide bar stools. And a project for the rest of my hide?......Can I master this one? Thoughts?

Hello constant reader (and listener), March brings the threat of warmer weather, longer days, and the birthday of a very special young [is he mocking me?] lady, Jen.   As the unofficial, or maybe official, musicologist (is that a word?) of the “ Almost Gypsy Soul ”, I have the privilege of contributing just a little piece of entertainment to the blogging world each month, and this month is specifically dedicated to Jen (as if any other month is different).   You see, Red Dirt comes west, just for Jen’s birthday (that’s what she says anyway) [its the honest truth!] this month and this playlist is Red Dirt [yahoo! my favorite!] heavy.   Micky and the Motorcars and Reckless Kelly [you know they came to town especially for MY birthday right?] are on their way to the City (Salt Lake City to us western Wyoming folk), so you will hear a lot of their music this month, I threw a bonus because there is a lot of good tunes that come from that region and its one of my favori...

Can you do it? Can you pick 1 song.....only 1 and call it your favorite song? I think I can. I've been calling this 1 song my favorite for like 5 years now. It could change tomorrow, but I'm just not sure that it will. ever. forever-ever. All-time #1: Randy Rogers Band - This Time Around But then I decided to challenge myself. On a side note ....I had a friend once (we will call him Keith Stone for this story). Anyway I get a call one Sunday morning and Keith proceeded to tell me about the previous nights events in somewhere, Texas, it went something like this: Keith Stone: Hey bud. KS's friend: Hey what's up? Keith Stone: If you challenge yourself to drink 12 Keystone's that you found in your brother's girlfriends front yard while you drive around the loop (which takes 40 minutes), are you an alcoholic? KS's friend: Uh, yeah bud, that's a little alcoholic. KS's friend: You aren't still driving right now are you? Keith Stone...

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,...