Almost Gypsy Soul

My dog, Tylie is one of a kind. She is loved by all and loves most. Soon after we moved to Oklahoma, I found myself being introduced as Tylie's mom.....more than once. She helped me meet some of the best friends a girl could ask for. AND she buys me presents! Because she is quite generous with her presents, she had to get a paper route. When I crossed off 30 lbs (forever) she thought I deserved a new pair of boots. She got them on sale and did a fine job picking them out. I love them and they glean complements every where we go. And then I got super crazy and bought some jeggins to go with them...you know those leggins that look like tights. This fashionista never thought she would own much less wear jeggins....they don't even have real pockets!

I bought a house! AND I'll be waiting at least a week before I start moving my Tylie's junk. I'm more excited about this house than my last one. Although there won't be any exciting, earth shattering room makeovers....I can move in....and sit on the couch! There will be a pretty substantial backyard makeover this summer. I'm dreaming of a hot tub....stay tuned to see if my logical personality squashes that one!

I'll never forget the first Thanksgiving that I spent away from my family. I was a freshman in college and we were in Grand Junction at a basketball tournament. I ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Golden Corral and then I cried. Who eats Thanksgiving dinner at the Golden Corral....well apparently a lot of families do, my college basketball team family included, but I just wanted to be at my Grandparents with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, sisters. Looking back, it wasn't as bad as I seemed to think. Those girls were really family too, we were sisters all united by a leather basketball. We were a team family. I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to get me through my first couple years of college. My second Thanksgiving away from my family came when I was at school in Oklahoma, luckily I have great friends and even though it wasn't my immediate family, it was still family in Southwest Oklahoma. These are my boys! and yes we drank beer on Thanksgi...

I grew up a farmer's daughter and I am shamefully admitting this is my first garden. Mom had a garden when I was younger, I remember "helping", but more than that I remember playing while Mom gardened. Hers was big.......mine is little.....Tylie doesn't like veggies! The beginnings of a farmer's daughter's city dwelling garden:   I scored some killer deals on my garden supplies! I got some MiracleGro (miracles will be needed for me to have a successful garden) potting soil for $2.99 per bag, regular $4.99 per bag. They limited me to 2 bags those....jerks. I also got some super cute tomato cages, a purple one and an orange (GO POKES!) one for $3.99 per cage, regular $8.99 per cage. Maybe the biggest savings was my tomatoes....gallon tomatoes for $2.99 per plant, regular $9.97 per plant! And I bought my tank from Mike while I was home for Memorial Day. My garden will grow (hopefully) zucchini, squash, cucumber, tomato, cilantro, spinach, jalapeno an...

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...