Home on the Range

Steering Wheels and Church Pews

2012-02-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

Today was a big day for the little Rosser family. We got to go to church for the first time and it was absolutely awesome! We went out to the church in the village where we are going to be spending much time drilling. All the songs were sung in either Ateso, Swahili, and one in English. A few men in front played some drums and EVERYONE was clapping. Our friend Josh gave the message and had Charles translate to Ateso. Josh knows Ateso very well and is still learning it after five years of being here. He said it is one of the hardest to learn and that is in part due to the fact that English is spoken all over and you can most of the time find some one that can translate or communicate with you. But it was great to see so many believers come together and worship the Lord. We were then fed after the service and it was great! Pork, rice, and cooked cabbage. Don't be fooled, it was pretty tasty! We are told that the "bar" area just down the street from our house has some of the best pork joints in all of the town! Colin is thinking that may be on the lunch menu at some point this week.

The other really cool thing we did today was let the Yankee drive! I got to drive to the hotel where we were meeting Josh and Mandy once we got Rover started. (Rover is what I am calling our Land Rover...He didn't want to start this morning so I kept singing in my head, "Land Rover, Land Rover, oh won't you please turn over!" But we had to push it and pop the clutch and away we went.) We rode to church with Josh and Mandy and when we got back I braved the city streets! We needed fruit and I needed to practice driving. Needless to say, if you go slow and just watch for people, bikes, motorcycles, and other cars, its just like driving back home! But on the other side of the road...
I think the only reason that I did so good was because I have been watching Colin drive for the last week or so and he is a great driver and everyone that sees him driving from the team is really impressed that he has done so well. So I attribute my first day of successful driving to my wonderful and handsome teacher!

Settling in...

2012-02-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

We are starting to settle in here in Uganda. We love our little home and feel like we have been here for more than a week already. Terry stayed with us for one week and went around with us to see the wells that Rick and the crew did last year. There were 8 wells that were completed and are still working, two with minor problems that are easy to fix. Colin will go back this coming week with Bosco, Moses and Solomon and fix the concrete work around the base of one well and fix a foot value and re-do the concrete around the base of the well head on another well. We are really blessed to already have a crew of guys here that know what to do and have drilled enough to be invaluable to us. Colin was also blessed with having a work shop already set up from when Rick was here. Everything is there that he will need. I think that just having the shop ready to go and all the drilling material there will save Colin months of work in finding what he needs. Thanks Rick!!!

We are also excited about the other group of missionaries that live here. They have been so helpful in telling us where to get things in the market, showing us where to go, and having us over for meals! We are going to be working with this team in a certain area just to the southwest of town where Rick had already drilled two wells. We are part of the team that will be working with this area and our goal is to try and drill as many wells as we can so that when we are done, every family has their own well. Both of us are thrilled about working with this other group and love what they are doing here in Uganda. I am sure to expand on our team later.

Today was the first day where we had nothing to do but whatever we wanted. It was so nice! We got to sleep in late, well late for us, and then spent some time reading God's word while eating breakfast, then I washed our clothes and hung them out to dry. I do think the one thing I will miss will be a washing machine. We will be re-wearing clothes if we can. Once the clothes were all on the line, Colin and I went to the market. He had a few things he needed to get and we still needed a few items for the house. While we were driving down one of the streets, we ran into Bosco and he went with Colin to find what pump parts he was looking for. Then on their way back to the Land Rover, where I was waiting, they stopped and got a "Rolex." A Rolex is a chapati with eggs and tomotoe and onion wrapped up like a breakfast burrito. A chapati is very similar to a flour tortilla By far the best thing I have had to eat since being in Uganda. And the best part is that they are only about $0.50 (or $1200.00 schillings).

Needless to say, so far we are just loving our new life. We know that our instant love for Uganda and the seamless transition has everything to do with our great God and with everyone back home praying for us as we set out. Thank you Lord for being just awesome! And thank you again to everyone that is praying or has prayed for us. We know that God is going to do great things here and we are so excited to just be a small part of His work.

Blessing to you all!
Ronnie

Ethiopia

2012-01-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

I am not able to post pictures on Facebook due to slow connection, but I can post a few on here!

Yep, this is me, trying to do a traditional dance...in front of everyone...first night out with friends too! Thanks again to Jess and Jonathan for moving and giving us those seats so that I would get picked to go up on stage. You never know just when you are going to get a chance to make a fool out of yourself! Might as well take them when you can!

Here is the group (Terry took the picture) at the Celebration of Epiphany. Epiphany is the day that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus during His baptism and God spoke. Ethiopians put on a huge spread for this holiday. Where the celebration was held had thousands and thousands of people there. To date that was the largest group of people I have ever seen!

Almaz (Rob's beautiful new bride), Colin, me, Terry and Yosi at the restaurant our first night out.

Thank you again to all our supporters. We will be here till Wednesday and then we will head to our new home in Uganda. We are excited and looking forward to setting up our new home and starting our adventure there.

Just a Jump Across the Puddle

2012-01-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

Well we made it to Ethiopia! YAY!! We left Tuesday afternoon and had a nine hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany. The flight was great! There were so many empty seats that all of us had our own row. Colin and Terry were able to have four seats to themselves and got to stretch out and sleep if they wanted. We watched movies and ate way too much air plan food. We had a short layover in Germany and then we were on the last flight to Ethiopia. That was a great flight as well, just a bit more full. We got into Addis at 9:00 pm, around lunch time on Wednesday in TX, and were sleeping soundly by 11:00. We woke up and had breakfast and then talked for an hour or so and then I just couldn't do it any longer. I went back to bed and slept for three more hours. I have never had to deal with jet lag like this, so this is kicking my backside. I really think I could go back to bed, but I know if I do that I won't be able to sleep tonight.
On our way home from lunch today Colin was told that hyenas like to hang out at the dump. So tonight's entertainment will include all of us loading up into the Land Cruzer and heading to the dump to go see the hyenas! I hope to get some good pictures and maybe some video of that trip.
We are going to meet with Jess and Jonathan, a couple that we got to meet while they stayed in Paint Rock and are now in Addis. I think Jonathan is going to join in on the hyena hunting this evening. I guess you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy!
Thanks again for all the prayers as we started our adventure. I have to think that the reason everything went so smoothly was due to the prayers that were being sent up for us. God is so great and we feel so blessed to be called on this wonderful journey.

Trusting in Him

2012-01-07T10:50:00.001-08:00

God is infinitely wise and all His acts are done in perfectwisdom. When God asked Ronnie and me tomove to Uganda and drill wells, He already knew the outcome of that decision,and He knew what would happen to us through that action and how our decisionwould affect others. We can be sure thatGod, being perfectly wise, knows the best possible way to accomplish HISpurposes. He does not have to guess atany outcome. To God, NOTHING is a surprise. We trust that whatever happens as a result of our obedience is part ofGod’s perfect plan, and we are doing the part He has called us to do. We recognize that He is our sovereign Lord. Therefore, if God chooses to use Ronnie andme to bring glory to Himself through our life and our deaths then He can do it,and we are thrilled that He chooses to use us at all. We have no idea what will ultimately come ofour moving to Africa. We hope that wecan have a long and fruitful life, raise a family, and have a thrivingministry, but God may use us to bring glory to Himself in some other way, a waythat doesn’t appear to be very glamorous or comfortable – and we are okay withthat. One thing we have learned aboutGod over the last few months is that He does not do anything or call us to doanything that is not for our good or the good of others. Every time God asks us to obey, He does sofor our own good and well-being. We finda lot of comfort in God’s wisdom and goodness, because we can be sure thatwhatever the outcome of our moving far from home, it is part of God’s perfectplan. If God has asked us to go then Heis responsible for us. “With thegoodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it,and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of allcreatures.”

prayer cards

2011-12-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

Thank you for praying for us!

Water for All video

2011-12-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

This is a video shot by Water For All International while we were in Bolivia this summer. This video will explain what we will be doing in Uganda.

North Carolina Christmas

2011-12-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

Josh and me...First hug in 2 years!

Me and Cassie Lou, my little sister.

Cain taking part in the Christmas season

Out side the Life and Science Museum in Raleigh

Checking out the wildlife exhibits

3-D tornado movie.

Second floor above the whale bones.

We wore each other out! I even fell asleep with a coffee in my hand!

Don't Break The Ice...A family favorite.

Making Christmas cookies with my sweet boy!

And it wouldn't be any fun if Colin and I didn't burn something up!

Colin and Josh on Christmas Eve.

Me and Josh on Christmas Eve.

Just wanted to post a few pictures of our time here in North Carolina. We have had a great time and loved the time spent with family.

It was amazing how fast Christmas was upon us and now gone! It feels like we have only been here a few days, but then I look back and see just how much we have done and where we have been and realize that much more than a few days have gone by. Yesterday Colin and I got to see his cousin and her husband and met them for lunch. It was perfect timing and had we not made the trip we wouldn't have seen them til we returned from Africa!

Today Colin and I celebrated our third year of marriage! What a blessing the last three years have been. I am so thankful for our marriage and for Colin. It has been so wonderful to watch him grow as a strong Christian man, the leader of our home, and a selfless husband. I am excited to see what happens in the many years to come!

We will head home to Texas on the 4th and then we leave for Africa on the 17th!! Thank you for all your prayers and support! We need every single one.

We hope you all had a great and wonderful Christmas and have a very blessed New Year!

2011-12-24T09:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

2011 has been a wonderful year for us. It has been a year full of blessings and wonderful memories made. We have so much to be thankful for. More than anything we are thankful God had a plan to send His only Son to be born in a dirty barn knowing full well that His only Son would one day be killed on a cross, and through that He would take on the sins of the world so that we could be called children of God.

Here are just a few of the blessings we are thankful for this year:
This year we have made a number of new friends. We were able to travel to North Carolina to be with Ronnie's side of the family for Christmas and New Years. We were able to move closer to Colin's family in Texas so we could spent much more time with that side of our family before we depart for Uganda in January. Our every need has been met this year. God has provided for us in miraculous ways. This year we have had the opportunity to work with Water For All, participate in several well-drilling courses, and meet numerous missionaries from all over the world who desperately want to help solve the clean water crisis in their countries. Colin has been able to work daily with his brother, Devin, which has been a treat for him. In a couple of days we will celebrate being married for three years! We have been hugely blessed by the outpouring of support by our friends and family. We were able to travel to Guatemala in the spring and spend a week in an orphanage. This summer we were able to spend six weeks in Bolivia drilling water wells. We were able to sell our prescribed burning equipment to a friend of ours who is getting into the business. We finally went to the dentist and took care of all of our dental needs. Colin's aunt and uncle held a benefit in our honor in Miles, TX to raise money for our move to Uganda. Dana, Colin's sister, had a baby boy named William Barret. Ronnie was able to find the perfect home for her horse Ranger.

These are only a few of the many many things we are thankful for this year. 2011 was a great year and we are thankful we were able to share it with you. We hope God blesses you this coming year.

Part Two of The Details...

2011-12-01T08:58:00.001-08:00

In my last posting I talked about how God has continued totake care of the small details that I had let wake me up in the middle of thenight for the past six months. Ourmoving had the potential to stir up a world of uneasiness. I found myself on a couple occasions in apanic about silly things. I felt guiltyover our furniture taking up room in a shed at my in-law’s home, and Godthrough His ways, took care of that!

One thing that continued to wake me up, or cause me to notfall asleep at night, or just plain ol’ panic, was what in the world was Igoing to do with my horse!?!? This horseand I have a history. He was given to mewhen he was just two years old and he is now 8, so for six years its been thetwo of us. On a few occasions I cameclose to selling him, but am so thankful that I didn’t. My last year with him was by far the bestyear I have ever had caring for him. This next part may be a bit silly, but it will forever be engraved in mymind. I have always wanted a horse thatI could just jump on bare back and take off and ride! Last fall that is exactly what I got. My dear friend rode her horse over and I rodeback with her. It was late in the dayand I didn’t feel like going through the whole deal of tacking up, so I just puta bit in Ranger’s mouth and off we went. I parted ways with my friend and Ranger and I took the long wayhome. I’ll never forget riding himthrough the tall grass of the pasture with sun about ready to set behind us. I remember pausing for a moment to just thankGod for that ride, for the beauty around me, for where He had brought me, justeverything I could be thankful for. Itdawned on me that in that very moment, this was what having Ranger was allabout. Two of God’s creations enjoyingHis creation! There was no need to bethe fastest, the best, the perfect rider, the showiest, the best with a rope,the quickest around poles or barrels --- just peace and quiet and to BeStill! The moment didn’t last for hoursor days, but to date that moment stands out as one of the best times I haveever had on a horse’s back. I willforever be grateful for that time spent with God and Ranger.

Ranger and me at a clinic last fall...

Needless to say that four legged beast holds a dear place inmy heart and I just could not bear to think about selling him to the wrongperson or giving him to someone and have him become a burden to themfinancially. With hay about $12.00 abale that would not be hard to do these days! I continued to wrestle with finding a home for Ranger on my own ratherthan to just let God work it out. Ireally should have known that what He was going to set up for Ranger was goingto be WONDERFUL!

Last fall I became friends with a lady who cameto a dressage clinic and we just hit it off. We only spent that day at the clinic together but became friends on thegreat Facebook! She is the EquineDirector at a YMCA camp a few hours away and is tremendously great at herjob. We continued to “like” each other’shorse pictures and status updates every now and again. Even a comment or two was posted here andthere. I hadn’t given much thought towhy God had placed her in my life until I felt Him telling me to contact herabout Ranger. My intentions were to giveRanger to her, but what happened was far better! I emailed my proposal and got a greatresponse. Due to the fact that she justpurchased her third horse, Ranger would not work out for her. But he would fit right into her YMCA youthprogram at the camp! He would be riddenon trails and more advanced riders would get to fool with him in an arenasetting. The most wonderful part of thewhole thing is that if we come home for whatever reason, I get him back! He is still mine! Thank you Lord for that wonderfulblessing! The time we spend in Africa,Ranger is getting excellent care and no doubt spoiled by a bunch of horse crazykiddos.

Ranger being sweet with Luke and Colin.

I know for many this may seem like a silly detail, but itwas one that was important to me. Thefact that God has worked this out so perfect is just more confirmation that weare doing just what He has called us to do! Another great detail about this is that in telling my friend that shehas answered a huge prayer of mine, she told me that Ranger is in fact fillinga void in their program. That most oftheir horses stand only so tall and they needed to find a good level headedhorse that would be big enough to carry some of the bigger kid riders andadults that wanted to ride. Well, any ofyou that know Ranger know that he is plenty BIG enough for the job!

Colin and I took Ranger to his new home this last week. There was no sadness to be had on mypart. This is just what God knew neededto happen and I am grateful to Him. I wasinformed later that day with a picture on FB that Ranger was the easiest horsethat my friend has ever had to introduce into the herd of 24 horses that arealready there! Thank you Lordagain!!!

Even now as I sit here and write this all out Iam amazed at how faithful my God is with taking care of me and knowing what ison my heart. He has given me peace aboutwhere Ranger is and that is a blessing. It is just a small detail, but it proved to me that God cares and is agreat Father to His children.

My friends husband riding Ranger in his new home.

The Details...Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

2011-12-01T08:52:00.001-08:00

I must confess, these last few months have really drawn myattention elsewhere and I have been lacking in my efforts to keep our blogcurrent. I need to be better aboutinforming our friends about what is happening in our lives!

We settled right in here at Paint Rock and just adore thissleepy little town. Coming from the experimentstation, which was in the middle of nowhere, there has been a littleadjusting. We currently live right nextdoor to the Post Office and our front yard is HWY 83. When we were in Sonora we could tell you whowas coming down the road just by the sound of the truck or car. Here the traffic has taken a bit to get usedto. Still hearing people pull in to pickup their mail makes me think we have company! It is even been an adjustment for our dog who barks whenever he hears adoor slam shut next door. We do find itopportune that we live two doors down from the little convenience/bait/café/MaryKay or Avon distributer/proud supporter of Paint Rock Indians T-shirt sellingstore. If you need it, they haveit! I am pretty sure there is a countrysong or two written about such a place. It is a great town and we have been blessed just by being here!

We have been on the receiving end of God pouring out Hisblessings over us ever since we completely surrendered our lives to His willand He continues on a daily basis to reveal more of Him to us! Sometimes I have to just stop and think ofways to describe what and how I am feeling, and I am lacking the rightwords. When we knew in our hearts thatwe were going into missions, I knew that we would be giving up most all of“things” in order to be obedient to His calling. To be honest, it was a bit of an internalbattle for me when I thought of having to sell my stuff! I panicked at the thought of what I was goingto do with my horse, dog and cat! I letmy mind worry about all the details and that in its own way could have kept mefrom an experience with God. BUT thankfullyHe is faithful and He to cares about the details of my life and can handle themin a much better fashion than I can on my own.

We moved all of our furniture into Colin’s parents shed,which is full of other children’s things and other family member’s belongings,as well as my in-law’s seasonal decor. So in a shed that is big enough for two cars to park, with all of our“stuff”, the only thing that could park in that shed was the riding lawnmower! The thought of having a garagesale was just overwhelming to me, and I have no idea what to charge people fordressers and tables and books and DVD’s. Bottom line is I just didn’t want to gothrough boxes and price things that wouldn’t sell. But I was feeling horrible about our “stuff”just taking up room, collecting dust and dirt dobbers, and over time gettingruined. However the Lord had plans forour things that we did not know.

Colin was about to leave his parent’s house one night a fewweeks ago and head to Paint Rock, and when he went outside he saw that one ofthe neighbor’s homes was on fire! Ingood Mereta fashion, Colin, Devin, and William put on extra clothes and went toget the fire truck. Needless to say thefamily lost their home. The family wasnot home at the time of the fire so thankfully everyone was safe. But in losing their home, they lost all oftheir belongings. Before Colin and I hada chance to even talk face to face about it, I knew what we needed to do, andsure enough Colin was on the same page. A few days later Colin went by to see the family and told them about ourshed full of stuff and that they were welcome to it, and all off our thingswere now theirs if they wanted to pick them up. So this past Friday we loaded up our tables, beds, dressers,refrigerator, lamps, curtains, and dishes and gave them to a family that losteverything! Thank you Lord that we wereable to help them! I think it is soawesome to see that through a horrible event, God was still able to dosomething neat. I know that we probablycould have found someone that could have used our things, but God wanted to usea family much closer than we could have found! I am also reminded that He knew myheart. He knew that I felt bad for ourthings taking up so much room in my in-laws shed. Just a small detail, but still great to seehow God worked it all out and to Him be all the glory!

This is just one of the things the Lord has done in regardsto the details I have worried over, so in order to keep these postings notincredibly long I’ll just post more about how awesome He is!

Your Opinion!

2011-11-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ok friends! Colin and I are in the process of coming up with some scripture or quotes to use on a prayer card for when we are in Africa. We have a few picked out which include:

"The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs."

Isaiah 41:17-18

~OR~

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

These are just two of many that we could use. So which one is better suited for us, or can you think of one that would be just perfect! Let us know!

It takes water to make water

2011-10-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

I never fully realized how much water it takes to drill a water well. This can prove problematic when drilling a well in an area that does not currently have a water source because water is going to have to be brought in from somewhere. One of the wells we drilled in Bolivia near Nucleo 41 required a considerable amount of water to get the well to a place where it would produce its own water. The landowners that comprised this group of 11 families worked tirelessly from about 8 a.m. to nearly midnight for several days in a row to get two wells drilled. The first well we drilled to a depth of 42 meters (about 137 feet) in two days of drilling. Once a well has been physically drilled you are only half way to making a well that will freely produce water - the second phase of the process is called conditioning the well. The conditioning phase is not as labor intensive as the drilling but can take days or even weeks. Conditioning a well requires washing the cased well and breaking up and removing all the drilling mud and bentonite used during the drilling. The drilling mud is used during drilling to help seal off and stabilize the walls of the well. Once you finish drilling you have to remove all the mud that is impregnated out into the walls of the wells so water can enter to hole. If you do not condition a well properly it may never produce water or may be a poor producing well. When you work as hard as they guys did to get a 42 meter hole drilled, you want to do all you can to make sure it produces adequate water. I am not sure how much water was used during the actual drilling of the well hole (several hundred gallons though), but during the conditioning phase we used somewhere between 450 to 500 gallons of water. All of this water had to be brought in from a small pond located about a half mile away in 5 gallon jugs. These fellows would put two 5 gallon jugs in a wheel barrow and walk half a mile to the pond and half a mile back, dump their jugs of water into a large barrel, and then do it all over again. Each jug when full weighs around 40 lbs, so with two jugs in a wheel barrow they were transporting around 80 lbs. for a considerable distance over rough terrain. I made one trip to the pond to fetch water and it was no easy task. At one point on the trail you actually have to duck down and scoot your wheel barrow under a barbed wire fence before proceeding down the jungle path to the pond. It was tough for me to do and I was easily 30 years younger than all of these guys. The desire to have a water well was enough motivation for these guys to make trip after trip to the pond to fill their jugs of water. It was humbling and convicting to watch these guys work. All of these guys were tired, they were on day three of working this hard, the temperature was in the 90’s, the humidity felt like it was around 600% (that is not an exaggeration. Yes I know the scale only goes to 100%, but it felt like way more than that!), but they kept working because a water well means a better life for them and their families. Just having a personal water well can improve the overall wealth of a family considerably over just a few years. The impact of every family in an area having their own clean water well can have huge positive economic effects, and can potentially transform an entire region.

Where we are now...

2011-10-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it back from Bolivia mid August, quit our job at the station, packed up our home in Sonora, moved to Paint Rock, started our internship with Water For All, and have settled into a great routine in this sleepy little town. Colin has worked every day from the beginning of September with WFA getting all the portable buildings (five total) finished for the drilling club that is taking place this week. That included sheet rocking, painting, putting in hardwood floors, and finishing out two bathrooms with showers and sinks . I had my friend, Marissa, visit the week after we moved and that was such a wonderful blessing and I can't wait for her to move closer. Once she left I have helped Colin out every now and then along with the daily chores that come with life.
Currently we are sitting in Terry and Kathy's house at a well drilling course that started today. There are three people from Africa that made it here, one young man that will head to Mexico with his family, a couple that will head to Kenya after an internship with WFA next year, a returning lady that goes to Ghana, Colin and myself, Devin, Kim, and Terry and Kathy. A very neat group that all share the same passion and goal!
As far as moving to Africa goes for us, God is working out all the small details so Colin and I don't even have to worry! We are all set up with a place in Uganda. Our home and a truck are all taken care of and we are way excited about those two huge needs being all taken care of.
Our date to leave in going to be anytime after the 15th of January 2012. We are trying to see what the cheapest flights will be and that will set the final date.
Our internet connection is very limited. We don't have it at our house in town so we check it only every few days. I hope to write more and post when I have a connection and need to make that a habit so that when we move I am ready to keep everyone updated with where we are at when we move to Uganda.
There is so much I want to write down, but it would make this post way too long! So for now this will do.

The Lesson I Learned

2011-08-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few things about our trip to Bolivia that I have come to love. The people here are for certain at the top of the list, if there is even a list. They are a very quiet, reserved people group. Very different from my personality altogether. But once you do sit down with them and start talking and wanting to know more, it is as if you opened a book! They are taught from a young age to be this way. It reminds me of that old saying of don´t speak unless spoken to. They are beautiful, but you can see that over the years beauty took a back seat to the hard life of providing for their families. I am still amazed at the women here. Not a day goes by while we are out that I don´t see a lady old or young, pushing a wheelbarrow full of whatever she intends to sell miles out of town heading to the market. Not only will she be pushing a 100+ pound wheelbarrow, but she may have one child tied to her back and another one, or two , or three that are old enough to walk tagging along. So there she goes, pushing past me and I am reminded of all the times I drove around the parking lot at HEB so I could get the closest parking spot. I think from now I will make sure to park far away just for her! I understand that me parking far from the door will not be of any benefit to her, but maybe it will benefit me to remember just how blessed I am. God has really been working on my heart these last few weeks. Reminding me of just how lucky I am and how easy I have it. I have a truck that gets me where I need to go, I am not pushing a wheelbarrow from my house in Sonora to San Angelo to sell what produce I grew, I have cold and hot water at the turn of a knob, a roof that is not made of palm tree bows that doesn´t leak when it rains, a warm bed when its cold and an AC when it gets too hot, I can wash my clothes and have them dry within a couple hours and the list can go on and on. I really am blessed! Thank you Lord for allowing me this opportunity to be reminded of that, and please help me to always be mindful of it even when I am having to sit and wait for a table at a very nice restaurant that is making me pay too much for the food I will eat. I could have it a whole lot worse!

So far in Bolivia...

2011-08-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that we only have a little less than three weeks left here in Bolivia! Our time here so far has been great. Our second week here we went out into the brecha to work with a drilling club that has been working on several wells and to check on the wells that had already been finished. We accompanied Teo, Elias, and Sergio (the Water for All Bolivia guys) on the trip, along with Todd who is making a video about WFA. It was a long three hour drive out to where we were going so this meant that we would spend two nights camping. We set up our tents in a lady`s front yard right next to the roosters and her pigs. We would grow to hate those roosters come two or three in the morning! We got to eat some pretty traditional dishes while we were out. Up until then Colin had never had pork cooked with so much hair on it.
The guy in charge of the well club that we were going to assist is named Victor. He was a young guy in his early 20’s and has a little family. He was in the first drilling club that went through that area and was now showing others how to drill. We got to eat with his wife and mother and that was really a neat opportunity to be a part of. They prepared a big meal for the Water for All guys to show his appreciation. At the end of our meal he stood up and thanked the guys that were with us for helping him get water out on his little place. He told us that it was a dream of his to be able to farm and live on his own place and that he was now living out his dream. (For the record, I didn`t know that was what he was saying ‘til later, but I did know that what he was saying made him very emotional at the end.) Needless to say it was very clear that he was very grateful to the Water for All guys. He took us around his farm and showed us the crops he was growing, his garden, his fruit trees, and the rest of his property. Another thing that will forever stick out in my mind about our day with Victor was when we went to the town where he had been living before he had a water well on his farm. We got to meet with two older ladies that lived in this small village and Terry gave them a solar powered radio that only picks up two Christian stations and a Bible. We later found out that the village does not have a church. Terry told us as we were leaving that if there was a church in that village all the locals would come. To me that just means more people are needed to go and live with these people and become a part of their community and bring Jesus to them!
The next day we went out to help out and watch the water clubs drill a full well in one day! In one day they did everything! It was pretty great. This was their 8th well and you could tell they knew what they were doing. Victor did a great job training up this club.
We came home mid week, just in time for a cold front to make its way to us. I was glad to not be out sleeping in a tent once that hit.
Last week we went out and looked at five wells that were drilled and took pictures and marked them with the GPS. Then mid week we went to a new well club that was getting started. It was close enough that we could drive home and didn`t have to pack the tents. Thank goodness we came home! I had my first bout with food poisoning and was ever so thankful I wasn`t out camping somewhere. Colin went back the next day to help the group finish up and I slept in.
Terry had a meeting in Santa Cruz on Thursday night so he spent the night in town and we went in the following day to go to the Santa Cruz zoo and see the animals of Bolivia. That was neat, but once you know what animals are out in the woods where you are camping, it’s a bit un-nerving!
Another cold front has made its way to us and we are all bundled up tonight. Along with the cold air came rain! It is a bitter sweet rain for me. Back home in Texas we are going on record breaking days without rain so this is a treat! But it may postpone our trip out this week. I really want to drill and if it rains the roads get too bad to drive on and we won`t be able to make it out to the site.
The circus is in town! I don´t know if we will go or not, but every day a truck load of circus performers drives around town announcing over an horrible loud speaker that we should bring the family to their show. Well…I now understand why small children and some adults fear clowns and things of that nature.
One of the greatest things about this trip has been an overwhelming desire to go into full-time missions work. Just more conformation! It’s really not as though we needed more, but seeing what Terry has done here over the past 20 years just lights a fire under us. We know that we have a long road ahead of us, but we also know that our God is big and will be there with us, and has gone before us, no matter what we will face. I find so much comfort in that. A peace has settled over both Colin and myself and with it has come a great joy, it’s a joy that I want everyone to know and have in their own lives and hearts.

Our Trip Thus Far...

2011-07-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Bolivia!! We left mid morning on Monday the 11th and landed here in Santa Cruz early Tuesday. The only trouble we ran into was with my carry on bag. I put most all my clothes into my carry on so if something happened to our stuff, I would still have clothes to wear. Well in Miami they took my carry on and said they were going to put it under the plane and I could pick it up when we landed. However, they asked us if we were going to La Paz, and I said yes, because we were. We had to stop there but we were not getting off the plane. While we were not getting off, my carry on bag that was now checked, was getting off! It never dawned on me to look at the ticket that they gave me, because if I had I would have seen that my bag was getting off the plane before me.

But it all worked out just fine! Terry talked to a lady and right away they had located my bag and were putting it on the first flight to Santa Cruz. So we spent the night in a hotel in the city and rested up from our 20 hour trip. My bag was flown in and we picked it up yesterday morning and headed out to San Julian where Terry lives.

Colin and I just love this area, the people and the way of life. It has just lit a fire in us to go and do this very same thing in Africa! We drove around yesterday afternoon and looked at some of the wells that the drilling clubs have done. I have taken a whole bunch of pictures, and I will upload some later.

Today Colin helped put one section of pipe in the ground with a local farmer that is putting in a well. They wanted him to stay and help because he worked so fast! They had rented the drilling machine and really didn't need our help or else we would have. Colin is picking up Spanish really fast! I am not. I hear little things and now and then I know what is being said, but not like Colin. He is able to have little conversations with people!

We are going to head out this afternoon and fix a windmill that feeds into a fish pond. Colin and I are truly amazed that we are here and thank God for this awesome oppertuntiy!

Bolivia in One Week!!

2011-07-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

A week from today, Colin and I will be in Bolivia with Terry Waller for six weeks! We are both so excited we can hardly stand to wait any longer. I just wanted to share with you some pictures from the Water For All International facebook page to show who it is that these wells are helping in Bolivia. If you are not friends or "like" WFA on facebook yet, now is the time to do that. I am sure Terry will be posting pictures and updates while we are there. I can't wait to have my own pictures and stories! I am also very ready to see just what God has in store for us on this trip as well.

We should be able to keep updates coming while we are away, and I look forward to writing it all down and sharing about our adventure! Please keep us in your prayers while we are gone. To Him be all the glory!

Our BIG News...

2011-06-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

I know that most of you will see the title of this blog and the one thing that you will think is "A BABY!!"...Well...there is no baby news as of now. Sorry. But we do have other fun news about our lives.
Over the last six or so months, Colin and I have been preparing ourselves to move to Africa and drill water wells. We feel like this is how we are suppose to spend our lives - helping those less fortunate than us. And this is exactly what we will be doing in a few short months!
We are getting ready to head to Bolivia for six weeks to get even more training with Terry Waller of Water for All International. We leave for that trip on the 11th of July!! When we started praying and thinking about doing this it seemed like we had all the time in the world, but before we knew it, almost half the year was already over.
God has really guided us through all of this. For months we've known that we are supposed to move to Africa and serve. Along the way God has done so many things that confirm our choice to follow Him to wherever He calls us to go. For one, within a couple of months of knowing we were supposed to go, Colin's job was cut to half time. This was by no means the reason for our leaving, but was further confirmation that we were doing what we were supposed to be. All of the pieces from the what to do, to the where to do it, to the how, and the where, have all divinely fallen in place.
Once we get back from Bolivia we are going to be leaving the experiment station, a bittersweet reality, and moving to Paint Rock to further our well drilling training.
We will start raising support as soon as we can because we would like to be in Africa as early as January of 2012. We are sure that we will be in east Africa, but as to which country we are not yet sure. We are trying to be as open as we can to all of the possibilities and go wherever we are most needed.
I know that this may seem very vague, but some of the details are still unclear even now. Once we are closer to leaving we will update ya.
The last thing that I would like to say is more of a request. If you would like, please keep us in your prayers. God is really doing great things in our lives and we want to remain open to Him and His purpose. Also pray for our family and friends that we will be leaving. Watching us go may be one of the hardest things for some of them to do.
Again we are super excited about this new direction we are heading, and what better adventure to go on than one for the Most High!
~Ronnie~

Some of my favorite books

2011-05-12T07:05:00.002-07:00

This is a list of some of my (Colin) favorite books of all time and the books that have the most impact on my life in one way or another. These aren’t in any particular order. Some of these books are books that opened my eyes to conditions beyond my very limited scope, some of these books I really enjoy reading for pure entertainment, and some of these books altered the way I live life. All of these have become favorites for one reason or another.

-The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
This book ought to be mandatory reading for anyone growing up in West Texas. West Texas is not a soft, green, lush environment. West Texas is a place where drought is common and rainy periods few and sometimes very far between. This book is about a rancher in West Texas who is very strong-willed and independent, and I dig him! He is my kind of guy. I fancy myself a younger version of Charlie Flagg, and if I was an old rancher I’d like to think I would be a lot like him - except I don’t know if I could raise Angora goats. The book is sad at times, but this is a book about life and sometime life is sad. This is one book that I really could read every few years.

-Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
I like pretty much everything by C.S. Lewis, but this is my favorite of his stuff. I like him because he says things the way I wish I could say it. Actually, he writes about stuff I haven’t even pondered, but if I had thought about it, I would have wanted to say it as simply and eloquently as he does. I think he reduces everything down to the least common denominator and says things in such a simple way that anyone can understand. I feel anyone who spends time reading Mere Christianity will enjoy what Lewis has to say.

-Doctrine by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Brashears
As someone who was raised in a Christian home and went to church and attempted (most of the time very poorly) to be a good-church-going-religious guy, I had a lot of beliefs that I couldn’t back up. I knew what I was supposed to believe, but didn’t know why. I was pretty wishy-washy on what I believed and was poorly equipped to explain or talk with someone else about why I believed what I did. I read Doctrine because if I am going to call myself a Christian I ought to know what God says about being a follower of Christ. I also wanted to investigate what it is that a Christian should believe and what areas are open for discussion. I needed to study up on the doctrine of Christianity and this book helped compile the basic Christian doctrine for me in a way that was easy to read and understand.

-The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus
To me this book is all about obedience to what God asks us to do. It is also about how obeying God is not safe. We say things like “the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will,” when all actuality the Bible says that if we are following Christ we are going to be persecuted and people are going to oppose us. So this book is about how we ought to desire to be obedient to God more than we fear all the stuff that might happen to us or our families because we are doing what God has asked to do. It would be horrible to miss out on more of God because we were worried about the health risks associated with working with AIDS infected children in Africa, or for people to die of sickness and starvation because I was scared to take my family to a war-torn country to serve them, or for lost people in China to never hear about God because I was more worried about my 401K than giving money. When you really think about it, the safest place to be really is in the center of God’s will, even though it might cost you everything in this life.

-Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
I think maybe this book is where the inspiration for the movie 300 came from..? This book really is nothing at all like the 300 movie it just deals with the same event(s). I am not generally one of those people that claim “the book was so much better than the movie,” because I’m all for watching a movie in 2 hours as opposed to reading a book over 3 weeks. I like movies! Can you imagine what the book Titanic is like? The movie was bad enough and it took a whole day to watch. How much more painful would reading that book over the period of a year be? So yeah, I go for the movie over the book almost every time, but this is one book that I recommend over the movie.

-Radical by David Platt
For me this book eliminates a lot of the stuff I was using as an excuse to continue along in my peaceful happy life waiting for God to call me to do something incredible, rather than doing what He told all Christians to do a long time ago. At the beginning of this book you need to go ahead and have a conversation with God and figure out if you are really ready to do whatever it is He wants you to do. If you are willing to answer “yes” to His question then keep reading. As I read through the book, what at first appeared to be really radical seemed more and more like normal plain old obedience. As I read through Radical and began looking in the Bible, what we would call radical today seemed the norm during the time of the first church. My behavior today would appear radical to the first church because to call myself a Christian and then to live a safe, wealthy, self-centered life just wouldn’t make sense to them.

-For Men Only by Shaunti Feldman
I did not understand women at all before I got married. I’ve been married for a couple of years now, and I still don’t understand women. However, this book has helped me to better understand the way my wife thinks and has helped our communication. The author has written numerous other books but this one and For Women Only were incredibly helpful to me and my wife in helping to understand how each other operates and is wired. I feel that our marriage is stronger because of what I learned in this book and others like For Women Only, Captivating, and Wild at Heart.

-The Man Who Rode Midnight by Elmer Kelton
The old man in this book reminds me of my granddad. I pretty much like every book Elmer Kelton has written. This just happens to be one of my favorites.

-The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
This book is about Grace. I read this book at a point in my life when I really didn’t understand grace. I didn’t understand grace or feel I was deserving of it. This book was life-changing for me. I read this book, read about what grace is, the price that was paid for me, and how for me not to accept and embrace grace was to dishonor the huge cost that was paid on my behalf. If your life has not turned out the way you thought it would and no matter what you do, there is still something missing – read this book. I felt like the prodigal son who had lived a completely self-centered life and had made a mess of things doing it my way. I felt ashamed and undeserving, but God’s grace and kindness led me to repentance. I think anyone that reads this book will be changed. I don’t see how you cannot be overcome when you come face to face with God’s grace.

-The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonheoffer
Grace is freely given, but isn’t free. The grace we have the opportunty to freely accept, costs more than we can ever give or earn. Grace cannot be earned and no one is worthy of grace, but to all who will accept it, it is freely given. The author of this book lived a life that evidenced the high cost of grace and he desired to live in such a way that he didn’t cheapen grace. He died for what he believed. This was not a book that I could sit down and read through and understand. I had to spend some time reading and thinking

-The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
The best book on money and stewardship I have read. This book is super-short and you can read it in just a little while, but the principles in this book drastically changes the way we do our finances. When you see your money and possessions as items on loan to you from the creator of the universe, you start handling your things a little more carefully, and you start asking God where He wants His money to go rather than where do I think I should spend it. For me it was revolutionary to realize I own nothing, God owns everything. And then I was like, I better start taking care of His stuff!

-Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald Sider
Not the most entertaining or uplifting book I’ve read, but very impactful. I don’t think the purpose of this book is to try and guilt people into giving all their money away or to make us feel bad about all we have here in the United States, but it does make you aware of the extreme wealth we all have compared to the poverty of the rest of the world. After you are aware of just how affluent we are and how nice we have it, maybe you will feel the need to give of yourself to better the lives of others. It is a good thing to be aware of the world that exists outside of our little bubble. When it comes to money I don’t think we should fear giving too much away, but rather not investing enough in the lives of others.

in light of the recent wildfires in Texas

2011-04-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

http://westinstenv.org/sosf/2009/03/22/underwood-on-australias-fires/

The link above will take you to an article written by an Australian fire fighter who witnessed the devastating 2009 wildfire season in Australia and had concerns about how those fires were mismanaged and how they seemingly caught everyone off-guard. He has some warnings for the U.S. and how we manage volatile fuels and manage wildfire when it occurs. It would be wise for us to read this man's comments and heed his warnings. We do not live in a soft green environment but rather an environment that has burned for as long as there has been fuel, and it will continue to burn. Knowing that this environment we live in is prone to burning what can we do to properly manage our environment and what are the best practices we can take to manage wildfires? Every few years we go through a period where the fuel loads are high, the conditions are dry, and the winds blow - and everything comes together for a big wildfire season. It is unfortunate that when these events occur we are not better prepared. It is sad that many lose homes and some even lose lives. I believe that we can better manage the resources we have to mitigate the damaging effects of these wildfire seasons. The amount of tax dollars that are spent on fighting wildfires and the number of acres burned don't seem to jive. If we were accomplishing our goal would more acres burn every year and would we not eventually see a decline in the number of devastating wildfires? Why do we continue to spend more and more money every year to fight fire instead of being proactive and spending only a fraction of that money on fuel management? We need to be good stewards of the land because what we do on our own land can affect those around us.

I hope you will take the time to read this article.

still whittling away at our debt!

2011-04-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

We have been able to put another $3000 towards our student loan debt since the beginning of March! We are very excited about this and hope to continue paying this thing down as quickly as possible. I think we've been able to put $7200 towards the loan since the beginning of this year. At the start of this year the student loan debt was at $36,105. As of today, the grand total we owe on this loan is $29,133. Like I said in an earlier blog, we are putting all of our extra money towards the loan while continuing to be being faithful with our giving and tithing. I think the most important thing anyone can take away from watching us pay off our debt through giving more of our money away, is that by putting our faith in God to meet all of our needs, all of our needs are being met and we are being richly blessed through our giving. It's not - the more you give, the more God gives you in return - kind of rewards system. It is a - rely solely on God to meet ALL of your needs, and then you get more of God. That is the rewards system we are working on. With this system, whether by God's grace we are debt free by the end of the year or not, we will still praise Him for graciously providing for us and allowing us to be less in debt. I am confident that we will pay this debt off by the end of this year and then a large portion of our finances will be free to give even more to those who have less than we do. We hope to completely pay off all of our financial debt by the end of the year while simultaneously giving more of the money we receive from our jobs to the church, to people in need, to missions, etc.. I must say that our faith has grown tremendously through this period and it truly has been more fun and exciting to give rather than receive. Feel free to ask us about paying off our debt and how God is working in our lives. We would love to tell you all about it!

Guatemala Mission Trip Pictures!!

2011-04-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

Water For All Training

2011-04-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we attended a training course to learn how to drill water wells. The course is put on by Agua Para Todos Water For All International (WFA).

http://waterforallinternational.org/aboutus.aspx

Water For All International is a public nonprofit corporation whose mission is to “empower poor rural families to solve basic food, water, and income problems with their own resources, celebrate life and share God's goodness through the Good News of Jesus.” WFA accomplished this by “training poor families to drill their own family water wells and make and maintain their own low cost pumps, using WFA developed low cost drilling and pump technology.” We feel the beauty of the WFA model is that you teach and empower the local rural poor families to drill their own low cost wells. To start a well drilling club, about 10 families get together and decide they will assist one another in drilling their water wells. The families purchase the materials and under the supervision of WFA personnel, they drill the wells. WFA teaches them and oversees the process while the families are involved every step of the way. By buying the needed materials and personally drilling the wells, the families are invested in the well. When someone has invested time, money, and sweat into a water well they are more likely to maintain that well. The families are then the owners of their very own water well. Many water wells are drilled FOR the poor by outside agencies or NGOs, but many times those wells break and the local people are either incapable of repairing the well, are unable to get the parts required to replace broken parts, or simply do not know how to fix the well. It is very important that the local people are involved in the drilling process and are trained to repair anything that breaks or troubleshoot any problems that arise. This system works best when the properly trained WFA personnel lives long-term with the rural poor, learns the economy, develops relationships with the local people, helps form the family well-drilling clubs, trains the locals, and teaches them to build and maintain their own well and pumps. With WFA the families are not having something done for them, but are actually empowered to drill their own wells and provide water for their loved ones. During our training, we were able to get some hands on experience in drilling one of these wells while at the week long course held in Paint Rock, TX. We worked with a group of people from all over the US and other countries. It was thrilling to see people showing up and give of their time and of themselves in order to learn something that can save lives and help people uphold a healthy lifestyle. The week of training was so informative and Terry Waller and Kim Edlund, the course instructors, are incredibly knowledgeable. We were in awe of their love for mankind and their God-given knowledge of drilling and agriculture. One of the main reasons that we were drawn to WFA is that as a WFA missionary you live with or within a close proximity to the folks you are training and assisting. We feel living with and being actively involved in the lives of those people you are trying to minister to is very important in the establishment of creditability and the creation of relationships. This is true in any culture I believe. It is to be expected that getting advice or working out issues is easy after a relationship has been formed. For me to put my faith and trust in another person, I have to know that person well and see them living out what they preach- they must have established some credibility, and credibility/trust is established over many years. This is why the aim of WFA is to live with and invest their lives into the people they are trying to minister to. WFA not only wants to empower the poor and provide water, but also to minister to and disciple the very people they are training to drill wells. Water is one of the most basic needs of all life, and when people are dying from lack of water most other humanitarian aid efforts take a backseat. 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies, which is approximately one in eight people according to UNICEF/WHO 2008. When you lack water the majority of your day is spent acquiring and/or transporting water. It is hard to have the time or energy to care for children, work, provide for your family, spent time with neighbors, have fun, fall in love, relax, eat, etc. when your day is filled with the task of survival. And their survival depends on finding clean water to drink. However, much of the water that is consumned is from polluted sources which then leads to sickness. According to UNDHR in 2006, every 15 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease. It is a tragedy that anyone dies from lack of basic human needs like water or food. The areas of the world where many of these people are dying everyday from lack of water are also areas where the Gospel of Jesus is not well known. The greatest tragedy is that while so many die, someone like me lives a comfortable life and has never taken the time to help them get water, never told them about the love of Jesus, and never lived out the Great Commission which says for ALL Christians to go and make disciples. We feel a great sense of urgency when we think about water well drilling because the need is so great and so many are without. We also feel incredibly blessed to have lived our entire lives with clean readily-available drinking water, an abundance of fresh refrigerated food not more than a few feet away, easy access to medicines and health care providers. As a people who have been blessed with so much it is our responsibility to pass those blessings on to those less fortunate by every means available. Please take a little time to look at the WFA website that is posted above. You too can help change the lives of people who are suffering without water. Investing in saving lives is a sound investment!

Pulling on the rope!

Kim Edlund and Terry Waller

Drilling

The whole team with our completed well

Paying off the student loan

2011-03-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

I wanted to update you on our progress towards paying off our student loan debt and becoming debt free. By God's grace we have been able to pay off $4200.00 of the student loan from January through February. We still have quite a ways to go to get the whole loan paid off ($31,419 remaining balance), but we are going to continue to be deligent in paying off the loan, continue to be faithful with our tithing and giving, and rejoice every time we are blessed enough to be able to pay more towards the loan. Maybe we'll have a more interesting blog post soon...

Debt & Giving - Part 2

2011-02-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

So I would like to outline to you our plan for paying off this debt, God willing, by the end of the year. Let me preface our plan by saying that it might not make sense, but that is exactly the point. We feel like we will be able to be debt-free by the end of this year by trusting God to meet our needs, and we can outwardly express this trust by giving more of our money away to others. It does not make sense to expect to get out of debt by giving away your money, but it does if you have a promise from God that He will provide for you. It does make sense if you believe it is more blessed to give than to receive! We feel that we need to give more and that God will be faithful in blessing our giving. We intend to increase our tithe offering to 20%. We are currently at 10% and feel led to give the first 20% of everything we make back to God. We also intent to give a larger percentage of our income than we did in 2010. I believe we gave around 14% of our income away through tithes and offerings last year. This year we intend to increase the percentage we give, and we hope to continue to increase that percentage every year until we get to the place where we are giving away 90% and living on the 10%. Is God not capable of doing this?

I do hope that by giving you the details on our giving you will not see this as bragging or boasting about how much money we give. I feel that as Christians we are very hush-hush about how much we give and we try not to let anyone know how much we give because that would be selfish giving or drawing attention to ourselves. I feel that what we ought to do as Christians IS boast about how much we are able to give! It’s not like the money is ours to begin with. So are we not boasting about what God has allowed us to give, is it not bragging about what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of others through the money He gave us to give away? We ought to challenge one another to give more! We ought to be an encouragement to others through our giving. We ought to see others giving as bragging on what God is doing through His followers. I see it as an act of worship. If God has given you money, or time, or abilities; should we not use those to further His kingdom and should we not boast about what He is able to do with our resources and through us? Yes, I think we should. So I am not boasting about how great we are because we give blank amount, but I am bragging on God for meeting our needs, providing for us always, and keeping His promise to bless our giving.

So back to our plan – In 2011 we are going to increase our tithe offering to 20% of our income, increase the percentage of our total income that we give, cut our budget as much as we possibly can, and put every extra dollar God’s sees fit to bless us with towards my student loan debt. We will give back to God FIRST and THEN adjust our budget accordingly. So by giving away more of our money, we feel that God will bless our giving and will meet our needs and more, to the point where we will be able to pay off this debt by the end of 2011. We want to make this journey about what God is capable of accomplishing and not about what we could accomplish under our own means. To give you an idea of what we are up against in this debt removal process I will let you in on our financial situation – I make about $18,500 annually at my job. The business we own grosses about $36,000 annually, but ended up netting only about $1000 in 2010. Ronnie, through substitute teaching and horse training brings in an additional $2000 a year. So I think we are safe in saying we do not make a ton of money, but we have never gone without, and God has always provided! I give you our income to show you that us paying off my student loan debt in one year was hard enough before (maybe impossible), but with our increased giving we will be trusting God more than ever to meet our needs. Just going by the numbers it would seem impossible to pay off a loan in one year that is nearly two times our annual income, but when we come to that place where we cannot do it on own our and have to rely completely on Him, we allow God to work miracles.

Our hope is that we will give away our money, God will bless us, the loan will get paid off, and people will see how good God is to do the impossible. I do not know for a fact that we will pay off the student loan debt this year, but I do know that we will be faithful in our giving, and God will always be faithful in loving us. So whether God sees fit to allow us to pay this loan off or not, we will be thankful for the multitude of blessings we are constantly receiving and will continue to praise Him for choosing us. I hope that as you watch us pay off this debt and give more you will be encouraged to give more yourself. I would hope that as you watch God be faithful to those that are obedient to His commands, that your faith would be strengthened and you would come to trust God more and give more of yourself to Him. Lastly, my prayer is that your giving would be an act of affection and devotion to a God that is worthy and deserving of more than we can ever give.

Debt & Giving - Part 1

2011-02-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

At the start of this year my student loan debt was at $36,105. It was around $41,000 in 2007 when I graduated from graduate school. I have been paying steadily since then and have over a little less than 3 years whittled it down by $5,664 by paying extra every month and making additional payments when we had the extra money available. This is my only debt as we paid off all of our other debts within the first year of marriage. This debt, which is pretty large, doesn’t seem like it is ever going to be paid off if we continue to make small monthly payments where the vast majority of the payment goes towards interest. Since I began making payments in 2007, $9,199 has gone towards interest alone. Not cool! When you have unpaid debt you are not financially free because some portion of your income has to go towards that debt. If your finances are not free then you are not free. We want to be free! We want our finances to be free, because right now our debt is telling us where our money has to go and we want to be able to tell our money where we want it to go.

Awhile back, Ronnie and I read a book together call The Treasure Principle written by Randy Alcorn. The book was revealing to us in that it highlighted our need to turn our finances over to God. It makes sense that you would trust God with your finances seeing as how your money comes from God in the first place. Really does one “good” thing not come from God? Does God not provide us with absolutely every good thing that is in our lives? My job – God. Our money – God. Our abilities – God-given. Our home and automobile and clothes and food and air and water and happiness – All God. There isn’t one good thing that comes from some place other than God, the creator of everything. You could say that you work at your job and because of your hard work your employer pays you a salary. That would be true, but God blessed you with the abilities you possess to be qualified for that job, and He blessed you with the clothes you where to work, and the transportation you use to get there, and the mental capacity to excel at your job, and the organs inside your body that continue to work properly so you can keep on living so you can go to your job everyday, and did He not create you? And your boss? And your coworkers? And the very materials that were used to build your place of employment? What then can we say does not come from God since He was the one who created us and this world and the universe we live in? We are only stewards of this earth and everything on it. God owns it and as owner of us and the earth He should be the boss and us the servants (or managers/stewards) of His property.

So really when you think about it, turning our finances over to God seems like a pretty safe bet since we know that He created everything good in this world and is infinitely more wise. We can also be sure that we can trust Him because has there ever been a time in which God did not follow through? What about a time where God went back on His word or broke a promise? Has there ever been a time where God did not have our best interests at heart? I didn’t say “has there ever been a time where God didn’t serve your interests.” God not doing what you want Him to do and God not looking out for your best interests, are not synonymous. Many times God does the opposite of what you’d like Him to do, but that is only because He really does love us and by giving us everything we ever wanted He would actually be harming us and that would not be very loving on His part. He said “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Sounds like a pretty good promise to me! So you see, God created everything good including money and He always keeps His promises; and as the creator, should we not obey His commands? What about when He asks us to give back a portion of our income as an offering to Him? I think we should. This portion (a tenth) of our first paycheck that we set aside and give to the Lord is called a tithe, and any amount you give over the ten percent is considered an offering. God wants us to give a portion of our money back to Him so He can bless us and others through our giving. God wants more than anything to bless us! He doesn’t need our money – it all belongs to Him already. He is not “served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything.” However, through our giving we are merely acting in obedience, and through our obedience and our generosity we please God. We give from our “first” and not from our “last” because God deserves our very best and not our leftovers. Who are we to be stingy with the money God freely gives to us. Have we ever done anything to deserve the many blessings (money included) that we frequently receive? I feel very grateful that I don’t get what I deserve, because what I actually deserve is far worse than what I think I deserve. A verse in Romans (11:35-36) says “who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For everything comes from him, everything happens through him, and everything ends up in him.” If everything we have was freely given, should we not continue to freely give back a portion of that what was given to us? God wants us to give because through giving we break the hold that money has on our lives. Giving overcomes greed, and produces joy and allows God to bless us. Giving allows you to bless someone else. You can know what kind of hold money has on your life by watching where you spend your money. Where your money goes there your heart is also.

Radical thinking

2010-11-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

As a church we have been reading a book called Radical by David Platt. Over the course of a couple of months we have read this book and for the first time things were revealed to us that we were previously blind to. One of those blind spots in our lives was our wastefulness. Another area was the Great Commission and how we are all called to go and share The Gospel with those who have not heard. I have heard The Great Commission numerous times in sermons and through my own reading, but it has never applied to me though. Radical is a book that once you read it and God reveals things to you, you are unable to un-read it or forget what you’ve learned. So be careful. It became glaringly obvious to Ronnie and me that WE have been called to go and share with others. Now that we know WE are called, we can’t not go! Through the reading of this book I am starting to understand what a fear of the Lord is. I’ve never feared God before, but I am beginning to understand what that means, and having been told by God that I am to go and tell others about Him, how can I now not go? I fear what my life might become or what I might miss if I am disobedient, or what other peoples’ lives might become if I do not go, and I fear the repercussions of someone going to hell because they needed me to tell them about God and I kept Him to myself. Also, I fear the blessings that I might miss out on because I didn’t do what I was asked to do. So this is what reading Radical is doing in our lives, and I told you about all of that to let you know what else is going on in our lives because we have started to be obedient in the small things. Because we are taking the first step in our obedience there are several new developments in our lives.

For awhile now water well drilling has been something I was interested in. I felt drawn to the idea of providing clean water to people who did not have access to clean water, and being from arid West Texas I appreciate water and am aware of the consequences of not having water. I have a background in agriculture and I’ve wondered at times why I went to school for so long and spent so much money to earn degrees in agriculture when anyone can tell you there is no money in production agriculture. I’ve wondered how I might use my education to give back. My dream is to ranch, but that’s hard to do without land or money. From time to time Ronnie and I would discuss ways to utilize my agricultural background to assist those that depend on agriculture to survive. Water is always at the top of the list of needs to be met when we discuss our ideas. We have developed an interest in drilling wells and Ronnie and I had even gone so far as to discuss how we might purchase an old drilling rig so we could start drilling wells. We had this idea of getting an old drilling rig, getting it to Africa, drilling wells, teaching the local peoples about irrigation, starting an orphanage, having a farm that provides food for the orphans and crops for income, livestock for food and income, initiate proper grazing practices by livestock, and eventually have an orphanage/farm/ranch where the orphans help in the raising of the livestock and cultivation of the crops and rather than being a burden to the village, the orphans could actually provide for the village. The orphans would feed the village! We didn’t have any of the details worked out, but we were just imagining at this point anyway. We talked about ways to make this a reality. We discussed our heart for orphans and how adoption might be something we look into one day. We began to think about spending some time in New York with Ronnie’s Uncle Kenny who drills water wells for a living. We are excited at the possibilities that exist and how our thinking is beginning to become more “radical.” And we see now that we are tremendously blessed and we have been blessed not so that our lives would be easy and comfortable but so that we can use the blessings we have received to bless others and to make much of Him who has blessed us. All of my education and life experiences have happened so that I might use my knowledge and abilities to be a blessing to someone else and in all things glorify God.

We continued to discuss and pray about all the ideas we were having regarding our future. Then one afternoon we ran into our friends, Todd and Bonnie Huckabee, and they told us about a young couple, Bud and Kimberly Huffman, who were operating an orphanage in Kenya and also about a ministry out of San Angelo that drills low-cost water wells. We felt that this conversation with the Huckabees was of a divine nature and not a mere coincidence, so we followed up on our two new leads and contacted both parties to see what would come of it. The water well drilling ministry is called Water for All International (WFA), and it is a ministry that offers low cost water wells to the rural poor and assists with meeting their physical needs of food, water, and shelter. WFA also develops relationships and meets their spiritual needs by sharing the Good News of Jesus in a culturally appropriate and sensitive way. After contacting WFA and corresponding with their staff I have been invited to attend their mini-course in March where I will get the opportunity to meet the WFA folks, learn about WFA and their drilling method, and see if this is where God is calling Ronnie and me to serve. Ronnie and I have felt for some time, and feel it more and more all the time, that we need to go and spread the Good News of Christ to those that have not heard, and we feel that for us it has to be through developing relationships and building credibility though our daily lives rather than just words. I see that we have been given this opportunity to be obedient and I feel anxiety when I think about what will be missed if we do not obey. We also feel very humbled that God wants to use the two of us to be a part of furthering His kingdom.

So for now we are planning to continue pursuing the opportunities that may exist with the Huffmans in Kenya, planning on taking the WFA mini-course in March, will continue to look at and pursue the possibility of working with WFA, and are heading to Guatemala in March to be a part of what God is doing through Toni Steere in the Casa Bernabe orphanage. We will continue to keep you posted on the wonderful developments in our lives.

Water for All International website
http://waterforallinternational.org/hometest.aspx
The Huffman’s blog
http://huffmansinkenya.blogspot.com/

A blog by a couple who as part of Water for All’s ministry are moving to Uganda to live out what God has called them to do.
http://rickgregory.blogspot.com/

Toni Steere’s blog
http://www.discoveringpearls.blogspot.com/

So what did we learn??

2010-11-11T04:30:00.000-08:00

These last 30 something days have been a great journey for Colin and myself. To bring you up to speed, we have been conducting a 30 social experiment to get a perspective on what it is like to live on less than $2.00 a day. We did this because a huge percentage of the world's population are forced to live on this amount or less everyday. We got the opportunity to try this out, where much of the world has no other option. We decided to attempt this and see if we couldn't gain some perspective and allow our eyes to be opened to what others who are less fortunate deal with everyday. We have just opened to door and allowed God to move however He sees fit in our lives and He is doing so in a big HUGE way. But that is another whole story in itself. For now I just want to finish out our $2.00 a day living.

So what did we learn? Well the first thing is we learned that we can live on much less. We have a lot of luxuries! We may not always refer to stuff as luxuries, but if we were forced to choose between going hungry or make-up or have to do without food all-together - many things that were "necessities" would soon become luxuries we could do without. We saw through this 30 days of living on less that we could in fact live on much less than we do currently. But there are many different things that factor into this. Only because we live in this country and because we are so blessed was this even an option for us. Many people don't have the choice to do this kind of social experiment, they just have to live it. Also we were at an advantage due to the type of storage we have here in this part of the world. We can put things in air tight containers to keep things fresh, we can freeze meats and veggies, and keep other products in the fridge. We can run down to the store anytime we run out of something. We can buy products in any size container. Only because of those things were even able to attempt to walk in others' shoes. Just another reason why we feel so blessed to live where we do!

Another thing we learned is that it is really hard to actually gain a perspective on what it is like to live like much of the world when we are surrounded by such abundance and excess. It was hard to actually feel what it would be like to live on $2.oo a day or less because we didn't factor in other living expenses like fuel, transportation, clean drinking water, health care needs, our home, showers, electricity, clean clothes, heating/cooling, etc. Out $2.00 a day was just food, but for a huge percentage of the world's population $2.00 a day is probably for everything.

Another area that our eyes were opened to was just how wasteful Colin and I were. I heard while driving about a study conducted by an Arizona university on household waste. During this study they discovered that the average household in America throws away 15% of the food that is brought in. Colin and I were in that 15% range or even higher. Through the last 30 days we have been made aware of our wastefullness and are doing much better about eating leftovers and using all that we have in order to stretch it as far as we can.

This might not be a big thing, but we also found that we were eating healthier foods. No junk foods, no processed food, just homemade good-for-you stuff! We had already cut out soda or cokes (whatever you want to call it) and we also cut juice out of our diet. If you want to feel better...just try that! Cut out the sugar and chemicals that are in a 12oz can of soda for a few weeks and see just how much better you feel! And if you are wondering what on earth you are going to drink, try water. Shocker, I know! We drink a lot of water, and I can't stress the A LOT enough. We realized very soon into this experiment that when living on less than $2.00 a day a lot of extras such as snack foods, bottled water, and juices have to go. In this country we have abundant clean drinking water, but in many countries clean water isn't available. Another reason to be thankful!

One of the most important things that God did for us through this was He showed us where we could cut back in our spending and opened up an area in our finances where we will have more money to give! That in itself was worth the whole thing. We we know that we are blessed so that we can bless others. God has blessed us with all of the above so that we can free up money to help those who are not as fortunate and are needing a little help. Now how cool is that! Just a few months ago you would have heard Colin or I saying that we just can't seem to find anywhere in our budget to cut back in order to free up funds, but low and behold! We let God take control and look at what He has been able to do! It may not be millions or even thousands, but "The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples." Deuteronomy 7:7 God wants to show how great He is through us! He wants to do awesome things with us to show just how wonderful and great he is!

Hopefully we were able to gain some perspective on what it is like to have to live on less than $2.00 a day. I do want to feel compassion for those less fortunate and not just sympathize but actually do something. I think God will use this experience to free up some of our finainces to allow us to give more, to open our eyes to the tremendous blessings we have received, to make us less wasteful and appreciate what we have, and maybe even prepare us for a situation where we get the opportunity to live with those who survive daily on less than what many of us spend on a cup of coffee. So in closing I am giving all the glory to God, it is only because of the blessings that He has given us that we are even able to write about our great journey with Him! What some may call radical, God calls obedience.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T16:58:00.001-07:00

Happy halloween everyone.

www.dontbetricked.org

Can We Stretch It Part 2

2010-10-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Colin and I are now three full weeks into our $2.00 a day and we do not have a need to go buy any groceries! I thought that I would tell you how we have been able to keep everything under our daily budget. At first we were going to set the limit to $2.00 per person with a total of $4.00 per day, but I soon found out that I could do it for $1.00 per person with a total of just $2.00 per day. So that in itself has left us with more than enough to make it through the 30 days.

In cooking all our meals, I used the exact serving sizes that are on the back of every item you buy. I was able to keep track of how many servings went into the meal, found out how much each serving cost (divided the total price by the number of servings and came out with the cost of each serving) and then added all the cost of the servings for a total price of the meal. For example, for breakfast Colin might have one egg that cost $0.05, one serving of grits which cost $0.10 per serving, and a slice of homemade bread which only cost me about $0.10 to make the whole thing. So his entire breakfast only cost maybe $0.16! That's a far cry from any drive-thru, and it is way better for you too!

For our first big meal that I made I used the following:

1 Cup (4 servings) of white rice
1/2 of a carrot
1 small potato
1 skinless boneless chicken breast cut up into small bit size pieces
1/4 onion

(I use all the spices and seasoning that I already have, but I don't add that into the total cost.)

I mixed it all together once everything was cooked and seasoned the way I wanted, and we had dinner that night, lunch the next day and then dinner again. 3 meals for just under $2.00. I also made bread as well and that still fell under the $2.00 a day. We also eat a lot more bread than we used to but we are not hungry a few hours after we eat either!

Colin made the next meal and it was a soup. He used the following:

1/2 Cup white rice
1 carrot
1 small potato
1 onion
1 cup of frozen corn
1/4 lbs of ground meat

He seasoned it with what we had on our shelves and what was growing in our herd garden and the whole thing only cost about $2.54. We went over but we had three full days of lunch and dinner out of what he had made.

I made spaghetti with the leftover ground meat ($1.04 for 1/4 lbs) and one can of tomato sauce ($0.59 per can). The spaghetti comes out to be just $0.10 per serving and Colin and I had two meals out of it with leftover sauce. Then I used the leftover sauce (I added water to it to make it last longer but not mess with the taste) when my mom came in and we all had one bowl and there were still noddles and sauce leftover for one more person to have it! So for all of that plus bread it cost us about $3.00!

This whole experiment has really opened our eyes to just how much we really use, and how much we waste. Also, it has opened up some money so that we can give more! We had already talked about the money that we would be saving would not go into a savings account, but given away, and God has already given us places and people that need it more than we do. Through Him blessing us, we are able to be a blessing to others. Very exciting for both Colin and myself.

We are radically changing our lives and we are both excited about where this will lead us and who we will meet in the process.

Can we stretch it???

2010-09-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

Fall is here!! I LOVE this time of year. I am not big on cold weather, but the cool mornings and warm afternoons are just about perfect to me. I do very much enjoy the summer months too, but there is just something about fall that make me feel so much like a kid again.

Along with the start of the fall, we started a new book as a whole church, "Radical" by David Platt. It has been a very exciting journey for Colin and me to read through this book. It has stirred up things in our hearts that will forever change the way we think and view the world. I won't go into too much about the book because that is not was I wanted to write about today, but I will touch on one of the chapters he wrote and how we are letting it change our life.

Before I start though, I want to state that I am very proud to live in America. Very. I know that I am so blessed to have been born in this great country and I am also very aware of all the sacrifices that were made in order for me to have such freedom. Also, keep in mind that these things I will write about are just personal convictions that both Colin and I feel effect our lives. You may not agree and you have every right. But if there is one thing I have learned its that God will convict each person as he sees fit.

Now, in order to get the full effect of the book you just need to read it! But I am going to jump to chapter 6. It is titled "How Much is Enough". I feel like I am living in a world of excess. We can jumbo size, biggie size, king size and super size any meal that we can get our hands on! And I am guilty of always getting more than I need on a regular basis. Chapter 6 deals with how "wealthy" Colin and I are as we live in a world that is stricken with poverty. One of the staggering numbers that Platt puts down on paper is that in the time that it takes for me to sit through a church service, close to 1000 children die from starvation. 1000!! Ok, now I know that it is just a number, so think of it this way - I went to a school were there were 450 +/- in grades k through 12 --- in thirty minutes all those children would be gone.

Hunger and starvation are two things that I have never known. Again I thank the Lord for allowing me to be born in such a great country where I live among the wealthiest. But I had to wonder, "What would it be like?" In most third world countries people can feed their families for $2.00 a day. Colin looked up a TIME article where it showed one American family of 4 that spent close to $350.00 a week on just food! Now it would take that same family that was living on $2.00 a day three years to spend that much money on food.

As Colin read through the chapter he turned to me and said, "I wonder if I could live on just $2.00 a day worth of food for 30 days?" To which I replied, "I wonder if we both could live on $2.00 a day?" We want to do this so we can have some understanding as to what it is like to live on less. To "walk a mile in someone elses shoes" type thing. We might have to go hungry for a meal or two...we might figure out a way to make it the full 30 days. Keep in mind that as we attempt to get by on less, it is only because we have been blessed with so much that we are in a place where we can conduct this social experiment. The point is to experience, if even a tiny bit, what it is like to have to go without or to have to live on less than a dollar a day per person. We are not trying to see how frugal we can get or to see how low our food bill can get and then pat ourselves on the back because we saved so much money. Although, saving money and eating less are things that everyone in America should probably practice anyway. We get to do this voluntarily, but over 3 billion of the world's population are forced to survive on a dollar a day - and that dollar probably includes a lot more than just food. We might experience slight discomfort because we have to cut a few things out of our diet or cut back on portions whereas in many parts of the world it is survival, maintenance, and just trying to reduce the hunger pangs that never seem to go away.

Our current grocery bill runs anywhere between $200.00 and month to $250.00. We cut out most junk foods and started buying the house brands and found that we were saving a bunch of money and we weren't giving up quality. So now we are faced with another challenge. How do we cut back to even less when we have already cut out so much? Well, you get creative!

Colin took our shopping list and came back with what we hope is 30 days worth of food, and he spent about $110.00 total. We are only eating three meals a day, which means no snacks! Also we are only having one serving of whatever our meal is. No seconds or thirds. I make homemade bread that cost only pennies to make and we eat that with every meal as well.

Our first week we ate three meals a day for 7 days and only used $12.00 worth of food. I have yet to sit down and figure out how much this last 7 days has cost us, but I am going to guess that we are sitting around the same amount. Once I was able to figure out how much each item cost and about how much each meal cost to make, it is pretty easy to stay under the set goal.

This whole experience has really started to open our eyes and our minds.

(To be continued.....)

Some more of our Summer!

2010-09-10T03:21:00.000-07:00

Just some other pictures from our fast summer!!!

This is what our sidewalk looked like after the two lady bugs got done with it!! Too bad it got wet! Just one of the MANY springs at the 700 Springs Ranch north of Rocksprings. (In order to see the springs really well in this picture just click on it and make it bigger!)
These are two slides at Camp Eagle. I saw my life flash before my eyes as I went down it, but I now know I can exit a building this way, or a Southwest Airlines plain! Although, I didn't have a cold drink in my hand...I may have to practice that one. :-)
Colin and my running partner's husband, Cam, watching Erika swim for the XTERRA race.

I went through a few pairs of shoes this summer, and these are my newest pair. I like them the best so far.

Me and Marcy getting in a good ride early on in the summer. I had 10 seconds to set the timer, run up the hill, keep Ranger still, get on, and smile. It took us a few times to get a good picture. But it was fun!!

Erika and I took a trip to Camp Eagle to see what it was going to be like. 15 minutes into our ride we all ready needed to cool off! Lucky for us at the top of one of the hills there was a stock tank swimming pool!! In we went then off we went to finish the day!

Our garden was great this year, until it got so hot that all the plants burned up! But we did get to make pickles for the first time ever! I remember my mom making them as a kid, but it has been years. So this was a whole new deal for Colin and me.
William and I at our first team race!! William did great for his first ever tri! We did another one in August, but he ran over a nail and had to stop. The kicker was he was on his way back and had the hardest part over with!!!!!!! But I am still so very proud of him and all his hard work!

Some people have guard dogs...We have this little guy! When the girls were here Colin and the two of them found him. He just hangs out under our little Post Oak tree. My cat found him the other day so I had to move him to a safer place. I wasn't too worried that she would play with him too much, I was just worried that she was going to lay on him and squish him! She is the fattest cat ya know.

Well these are just a few moment from our summer fun!

Enjoy!

Ronnie

Summer came...Summer went

2010-09-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

Summer started with out us knowing, so why was it such a big surprise that it ended without us knowing. I sat down and started to look through all of the pictures that we took this summer and have tried to sum up what we did.

We burned things up! Our business was only affected slightly by all the great summer rains. In fact we were able to get most all of our jobs in and save some for next year! This burning season was great! I just love it. I love the hard work that goes hand in hand with this job. I love the people that we burn with most often. I love seeing the before and afters of the land and hearing the land owners' overwhelming awe over what the pastures looks like when it is all done. In the above picture, the landowner was unable to even ride his horse in much of this pasture due to the thickness of the brush. Now, there is no place he cannot go! He was so tickled that he was now able to even drive a truck on the south line of this area, something that he has never seen done in his whole life time!

These two lady bugs, Jaylynn and Ally, were with us for 16 days while thier parents were in Africa on a mission trip. We took many trips to the library and the town pool. Covered our sidewalk with more chalk then I thought possible, and fed a baby deer.

This was my little vacation. Colin and I got to meet with the owner of the 700 Springs Ranch just north of Rocksprings, and for me it was two days off while Colin drove around the huge place. This picture is of the South Llano. It is at a place that not too many people know about. I was able to see it only because I put in the river in a kayak a few miles up in a private little spot. I spent the day before on the same river where the headwater springs are. Yes, springs. They just castcade right out of the rocks and flow into the river. 20 million gallons a day per spring! Just the art work of the Lord.

I spent all summer getting ready for this race with Erika (in the sunglasses) and it was a BLAST! We took a trip to Camp Eagle earlier on in the summer and from that trip we both thought it would be a better idea to compete in the XTERRA as a team rather than as individuals. The race was a 1000 meter swim in the river, and 10 mile mountain bike ride, and a 4+ mile trail run. Erika was the swimmer, and she was awesome!! Chelsey Lou (pink hat) was our runner, whose time was only four minutes behind a national trail running champ. And I was the mountain biker. I guess I did ok...I did make it out alive! We were hoping to finish the whole thing in 3 hours, and when Chelsey Lou crossed the finish line, we were done in 2 hours and 30 minutes!! That time was good enough to put us in first place for the 3 person relay! This was one of three triathalons that I did this summer. I also did one 10k race and I am working on a half marathon in October. My goal is to do a full marathon next year.

AND...I rode! As much as I could, when it wasn't 100+ degrees outside. My faithful mount and I have a great relationship. At the start of the summer I took him to a dressage clinic and we both came back different! Now there is nothing dressage about both horse or rider, but the trainer we worked with was great! I am so loooking forward to another clinic that should be happening some time this fall. I also made some really great friends at said clinic! It is just amazing how God can put such great people in your life when you least expect it!

So thats pretty much it. Our summer in one short blog. It was a great one for sure and I give it all back to God. Without Him in our lives, none of this would have been possible!

I am now looking forward to this fall and seeing whats in store for us!

Lake Nasworthy Sprint Tri

2010-07-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

About two months ago I walked into my in-laws kitchen and gave my father-in-law some news that would change his way of thinking. I told him that I had entered us into a sprint triathlon. We would be a team and he was going to do the biking part. A whole 10 miler! I would do the swim and the run and he would bike. With a blank stare he just nodded and mumbled “Well alright then.” So the training started that next day with a 12 mile bike ride. I wanted him to know that he could in fact bike the 10 and survive. After that, William was on his own. I would ride with him when we came up on the weekends, but most of his riding was done without me and after work. He did manage to encourage one of his neighbors to get her bike out and start riding! Sometimes that is all it takes.
The one thing that he needed was a good road bike. So with one phone call to my brother-in-law, Devin, we had what we needed. Devin gave William one of the nicest road bikes I have ever had the chance to ride. It is a Specialized bike for those that know anything about bikes, and it is fast! William said that it was the fastest bike he had ever ridden and he didn’t know if he really wanted it to go any faster!
So we trained and trained. Colin put himself in the position as head coach, and started thinking of how fast we needed to be and how long we should take time wise. He said “You should be able to do it all in one hour and eight minutes.” That was our goal.
I have been meeting my friends Erika and Chelsey Lou in the mornings and running at least four miles three or more times a week, and working in some swim laps here and there. So I felt ready and William was ready to get it over with!

(Pops and I before the race)

Race day finally made its way around and I was having a hard time containing my excitement! I had done a sprint triathlon two years ago, so I was ready for the event to get started. William had never, and probably thought that he would never, competed in something like this.
We pulled up to the park where the transition area was and got all our gear together. Got our numbers written on us, which William thought was so fun! They write your age on your calve and he said it was so when you crash they know what type of medical equipment to bring.
Then we started setting up the transition area. Bikes galore! Spandex as far as the eye can see, and some of the craziest running getups I have ever seen! William very well could have been throwing up on the inside, but was a cool as ice on the outside. That must be where Colin gets that from!

(Me racing out of the water to go tag William.)
We had our meeting and then before I knew it, I was in the water ready to go! I took off in the first wave of swimmers and then three minutes later the second wave would take off. Open water swimming, for those of you that are swimmers, is like no other. If you are used to swimming in a pool with lanes and walls to push off from, open water will eat your lunch! But 300 yards wasn’t too terribly bad. I managed, but now know that I will have to swim more before the next one.

(Speed racer coming in! He made his whole family proud that day!!)

So I raced out of the water and located my teammate. We tagged and he was off to do his 10 mile bike run. I then went back to our spot in the transition area and took my sweet time drying off and getting my stuff on and together for the run once William got back. Forty five minutes after the first wave of swimmers took off; the first runner was crossing the finish line. Oh man, the pressure was on now!

(Just in sight of the finish line)

Then more runners and more bikers were coming in…Then I see William! He was moving too! Once he got to the white line, off I went! I felt good and fell into a great pace. I was surprised at the fact that I was passing people…Lots! But I had to remember that most had just come off a bike and my legs were not as tired as theirs were. But still it was a small victory for me given that I am not a speedy runner. After running what seemed to be the longest one mile of my life I turned and headed back. As I came to the home stretch I could see the time…1:07…So I kicked it up and made it across the finish line in 1:08:!!! I could hardly believe that we did it in the exact time that Colin had set for us! I was so proud of William and excited about how well we did together as a team.

(William was happy to be done and still alive!)

I am already hoping that he will want to do another one, because I am all ready to go!
I do want to encourage anyone that reads this to get out and try something new!! William had not been “working out” prior to me telling him that he was on my team. Set some goals, sign up for some races or for some walks. Give yourself something to work towards. The San Angelo area has a running club called the San Angelo Road Lizards and they put on a bunch of events - most of them have short 1 mile distances and you can walk and run in many. The hardest part really is starting and making up your mind that this is what you want to do. I was not, and I can’t emphasize the not enough, a runner. But all I had to do was start. I did short distances to start with and then as that got easy I added to it. Now short runs are 4 miles in length. I am not trying to brag on myself, I just want everyone to know that it was hard at first and that 4 miles seemed like it was so far away. But stick to it, whatever it is that you are doing, and know that if you are doing anything it is better then doing nothing!
And again, I am so proud of William and all his hard work that he put into our team event! For him I think this is just the start. He has a goal and the drive to attain it! Go Pops and thank you for being such a great sport and father-in-law!

Keeping Lily Kate

2010-06-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long break in posts. Every once in awhile we get caught up in life and just don't get around to blogging. There has been a lot of stuff that has gone on in our lives recently though. Last week we had the opportunity to keep our three year old niece Lily Kate while my sister, Dana, was away in Oklahoma cooking the meals for a mission trip team. Her husband Blake was busy working and moving the family into their new home in Ft. Worth. We are very excited they were able to purchase a new house in a great neighborhood and move closer to Blake's work. It has been a huge blessing for them.

(Lily reading the Bible to Jigs. Lily can't read yet, but the story was entertaining)

While both of her parents were busy we got to keep Lily for a few days here at the experiment station. We weren't sure how Lily was going to handle being away from her mom and dad for so long, but she took to it like a duck to water. We spent almost the entire time she was here outside running around doing something. Ronnie took Lily horse riding, they drove around on the ranger, they visited the goats, played in the sprinkler, watered all the plants, got to bottle-fed our neighbor's baby whitetail deer, and picked vegetables in the garden. She loved it! Lily ran around barefoot like a wild Indian making mud pies and "antler soup", she helped Jigs kill grasshoppers, and she even accidentally kicked a prickly pear. She's okay though.

(Lily riding JT around)

We even took her to a birthday for a friend of ours over on the Canyon Ranch and she got the opportunity to see literally hundreds of whitetail deer, axis deer, hogs, sika, oryx, fallow deer, red stag, and antelope (cantelope to Lily) as we drove through the ranch. On our way out we saw a newborn deer running beside the road. He laid down when he saw us, and I was able to pick him up and let Lily see the little guy. Her dad would definitely be envious of all the wildlife Lily witnessed on her stay with us.

(Playing in the sprinkler)

I think Lily had a fantastic time at Camp Roose and Ronnie. I know we certainly loved having her and are looking forward to the next time we get to have Lily stay with us for a few days.

Come back and see us Lily. Jigs says hi.

A girl and her horse

2010-04-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say that I have had writer’s block for a while now, but then I guess you have to be a writer to get writer’s block and I don’t consider myself a writer of any sort! I just have felt like I haven’t had anything worth saying. All I have been doing for the past month is yard work, house work, halter breaking two mares, burning out a whole mess of brush piles, and now I am halter breaking a little yearling colt. Well maybe I have had stuff to write about, but nothing all that exciting to most people.
However, the mood struck me today while I was washing my face. (The “mood” doesn’t really care what you are doing when it sparks something in your head as I have found out!) I have been trying to come up with something to write about, but the only thing that I have really had any real thoughts on is my Beth Moore book that I have been reading and I don’t want to bore anyone while I work through my own insecurities. But today I was reminded of God’s never-ending love for me and for you.
A few years ago I took a trip to Whitesboro, TX with Girlstown and we visited a cutting horse farm for the weekend. To this day I remember ever single detail of that trip! It was truly incredible! We watched a cutting horse event then went back to the ranch and got to ride cutting horses that cost more money then I will ever see in my life. While I was there I met a man who told me a story that would forever change the way I view how I work with young horses. His name was Jim. He was the trainer and the coach for the riders at the ranch. He was a retired cop and it showed! I knew that if I were ever to ride under his teaching at some point I would end up in tears! He expected the best every time and was very hard on his riders. But in the ring, their riding stood out. They were amazing! The first night we were all there I got to spend some time talking to Jim about his life working with horse. Ya know questions like how long have you been riding, what is your favorite color horse, all the important things a horse women like myself needs to know! He told me that he had been riding as long as he could walk and always knew that he would end up working cutting horses. He also told me that he goes around to “Cowboy Churches” (very big in Texas) and does special programs for them. Jim then busted out his karaoke machine (and I am not kidding) and made me sing with him! Picture in your mind the worst American Idol audition that is what it was like with me singing to “Amazing Grace” the Elvis version! Poor poor kids that had to sit through that. But Ol’ Jim, now he could sing! He would take his little karaoke machine and travel to these Cowboy Churches, do his Elvis impersonation, then get down to brass tacks with the crowd.
Here is what Jim does. In a round pen he has a young or untouched horse. He stands in the middle and starts to work with the young colt or filly. He does this by putting pressure on the animal by just moving closer to him or her until the animal moves away. This is part of a long process of training and for some horses it can take hours before they submit and relax enough for you to even think of touching them. Some horses hate the fact that someone is trying to tell them what to do. I have seen some horses and worked some horses that will flip themselves over because they don’t want to do what I am asking. But for Jim he spends a few hours working the young horse until he can walk up to it, halter and lead it around and reward the animal for doing so well. After telling me how he sets this up he turns to me and stops cooking, and I will never forget what he said to me next “Isn’t that just like us and God?” WOW and yes! “Only thing is that horse figures it out way faster then most people ever will.” We spend so much time and energy running around and around trying to do it all ourselves, all the while God is just standing in the middle with His arms open just waiting for us to turn into him! Can you see it?? God is our safe place. He is not asking us to do anything that won’t draw us closer to Him. So why in heavens name do we fight him so much? I myself have been known to flip over backwards, much like the young horse, when confronted with something God is gently asking me to do.
When I work with these young horses, I am constantly reminded of Jim’s example he gave to me. Never would I ask the colt or filly to do something that I know they can’t do, neither does my God. Never would I put my horse in danger, neither would my God. Never would I hurt, neglect, or abuse the beautiful creature and never would my Lord and Savior do any of that to me.
Needless to say I am humbled every time I start a young horse. I am also reminded of how often I start over with my God. How frequently it dawns on me that I am running around in circles for no reason and all I have to do is turn and face Him, my safe place in the center. All I have to do is seek Him. Some day, if not on this earth then in Heaven, I hope to see Jim again and thank him for opening my eyes to this wonderful analogy.

(This is not me, just a picture I found to show you how this lady is moving the horse just by putting pressure on the horse's hind end.)

(This is Craig Cameron, horse trainer extraordinaire! Notice how the horse is dripping with sweat because they are afraid of Craig. Now notice that all Craig is trying to do is reward the horse for giving into the pressure that he is putting on him. He is not being forceful in any way towards the horse, yet the animal still keeps his guard up just in case.)

(Different horse just a few steps ahead of the white one in the last picture. There is much more slack in the lead and Craig is able to move closer and with much more ease. The horse has now figured out that to be with Craig in the middle is to be in a safe loving place.)

This is what happens when I start to think...

2010-03-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a few blogs ago that I was reading a Beth Moore book. It is her latest and the only one I have ever read, titled “So Long Insecurity: You’ve been a bad friend to us”. So far, I have really enjoyed this book. I have read others that are similar to Beth’s, but where those books just brush over the topic of being insecure, this one tears it apart!
I truly believe that being insecure is one of my biggest areas of weakness. I also think that this is an area where most women struggle. Show me any women and I will show you someone who battles with persistent insecurities. It is almost like it is in our DNA to have some form of insecurities.

In Beth’s book she has uncovered some things that I have never thought of before, or she has hit the nail right on the head. I began reading her book and thinking to myself, “Holy cats! I am not the only one who thinks that!!??? So I am not just making a huge deal out of nothing??!!” Or, “Thank you Jesus! I am not crazy!” After reading just a few short chapters of her book it became very clear that she was writing about feelings and situations that I myself felt or could have experienced just last week or even yesterday!
I sat down with Colin the other night and told him that I was going to write about what I had been reading and I told him the details. Not sure if he really wanted to hear all about them, but he got a magnum load of it anyway. He’s a good listener.

Early on in this book Beth wrote this sentence “We naturally despise people whose company we are forced to share if we feel largely threatened by them.” This is the part in the book where a light went on, not that it has never gone on before, but now right there in front of me in black and off white is a description of how I act sometimes. Hang with me here while I try and dig myself out of this mess and explain my conclusion.
Back to talking with Colin. I read him that same sentence and then told him what I thought it meant in my own life. Say we go to party, birthday get together, BBQ with some friends, or any place where there is a group of people. Naturally for me I am already feeling uneasy about going. It has ALWAYS been this way for me because I am already nervous about what situations might arise. That feeling of uneasiness I think stems back to some really bad relationships where I was “left out” or just ignored in the company of other people, women especially! Never in all the time that I have known Colin has he ever made me feel this way. Just wanted to point that out. He is a great man! Ok, back on track. So we make it to the event. My first reaction is to scan the room to find out what I am up against. At this point I feel like I am 12 again and way out of my league. I try and stay glued to Colin because if “she” is there then I want to be with him if she comes over and talks to him. Do you think I am crazy yet? No? Well it gets worse. So I find “her”. If you haven’t figured it out I feel the most insecure when around other women. There is no one specific thing that makes me feel threatened by this person. It could be that she is super cute, or dresses better then I do, or is way too beautiful to be around, or she could be just a very loud, or has to be the first one to hug every guy in the room, or dresses a little bit too sleazy for my liking. But whatever it is that triggers my craziness, the moment it happens and I see her, the claws come out but stay safely tucked away in my pockets. I try and remain calm. Well I give it an honest effort. I try and play nice. I try and not let ridiculous thoughts run through my brain. Thoughts like, “Crap! Colin is going to see her and think that she looks better than I do.” Or “DANG IT!! If Colin starts to talk to her, he is going to leave me and spend the whole night enjoying her company.” Again, this is stuff that Colin has never done to me nor will he ever, but stuff that has been done to me in my past. Once Satan gets into my head like that, I pretty much need to go home. My smile then becomes forced and my attitude stinks! This all can happen even with out any interaction between the person I feel threatened by. But if she does make her way to us and then hones in on Colin and doesn’t even see me…I see red! My blood boils. Instead of just saying Hi or saying anything, I become 16 and all sorts of bent out of shape. I would really like to think that I am way past all that nonsense, but nope! Then I feel like everyone knows what I am thinking, because it is written all over my face and in my actions, and I just assume that everyone hates me. At this point I myself think I am crazy. You can agree with me if you like.

Back to my conversation with Colin- He asked, “Well what if she is a long time friend of mine and I want to talk to her?” My first thought “AHHHH!!!! Nope! Not cool. Did you not just hear a word of what I said??!! I need to be the center of your attention at all times!!” I have such a great way of making it all about me. But what I said was different. I needed to understand that for guys it is soooo much different. They do not, DO NOT think like we do. I could be raging war with the chick across the room, but he’s completely oblivious to my internal conflict and he’s just excited because a new thing of chips and salsa was just brought out and “Lonesome Dove” is on TV. But I want to be able to answer Colin’s question I wanted to be honestly and not lie when I tell him it’s perfectly okay for him to chat with some old girl friend. I need to be ok with him talking to other women, even if it is “one” that makes me want to pour the cheese dip all over her perfect hair. My biggest concern is that when he is talking to her I don’t end up feeling like I am invisible. Now I understand and I get it that he can’t have a conversation with whomever and be looking at me the whole time. I get that. This is something that I need to work on. I also realize that my sudden dislike for the pretty girl over there stems from nothing she has done at all but rather from my own insecurities. She’s probably a wonderful person and we might actually be friends if we could get past our insecurities and be able to get to know one another. This is the battle I am fighting, but I know that I am not fighting it alone. When Satan starts to whisper in my ear that so-and-so over there is thinner than me, or her hair is better, or what if Colin finds her to be more attractive, I need to fight back. The battle has already been won over me. I have already been saved from the enemy’s grip. God has fought for me and will continue to do so if I will seek Him and ask for the help that only He can give me. I need to do this so that I can break the chain and be freed from these feelings.

I look back at all the times that I was on the defense and gosh, that is such an awful feeling. I want to apologize to anyone who might have been around me at those moments. I am so sorry. I have made a fool out of myself more than once and possibly never got to know some really great women because of my stinky attitude and insecurities that would not allow it. I am a work in progress (that sounds so corny!) and this is an area in my life that I am going to be truly working on.

I would encourage any of you women who struggle with insecurities to pick up Beth’s book. I was reading it last night when I came across this little slice of thought provoking goodness “…instead of looking for ourselves in God, we look once more for God in man, and just when we think we’ve found someone who can hold us high enough and long enough to assuage our fear of forgottenness, we get dropped.” As long as we put our faith and trust in man, we will continue to be let down. However if we put our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior we will always be lifted up.

I’ve tried my best to be as honest as I can and make sense of everything in my head. I hope that I didn’t loose any of you along the way! I don’t know if this will be the only blog entry dealing with Beth’s book, but I do know that if I can relate to the topic she is writing about then I know others can as well.

Our Ski Trip to New Mexico

2010-03-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. I also lived about 15 minutes away from Gore Mountain. Even with living so close, I never learned how to downhill ski until a few years ago. A few co-workers and myself took a handful of kids to New Mexico to go skiing and for the first time I took a ski lesson. Now it came pretty easy to me only because I spent years cross country skiing. So it only took me moving to Texas and going to New Mexico to learn how to ski.

Friends of ours, Jake and Crecsendia, invited us to go to Angel Fire, New Mexico for a ski trip the first week in March. We left San Angelo at 5:00 am and got to the "cabin" at 3:00ish New Mexico time. After we got a running start and made it up the "horrifically steep" driveway, we settled in and went to get our equipment for the next few days. We played in the waist deep snow, almost lost Crecsendia in it, and only made it 100 feet from the house!

(The "cabin")

(The view looking off the mountain)(Me and my trusty skis that only left me once when I fell)

(My snow bunny, Colin.)

(I love this man!!!)

(I only got one picture of any of us skiing. We, for the record, all did ski but I only got one picture of it.)

We had a blast! Despite the sore knees, bused hips, aching shines, and countless falls we all had a great time. The weather was perfect and so was the company. I am already looking forward to next years trip!!!

"Mi dulce mariposa"

2010-03-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

For as long as Colin has known my best friend Marissa, he called her "Sweet Mariposa". Whenever I call her or vis versa, I know that at some point I will hear him say, "Ah...is that the sweet Mariposa?". It wasn't until a few months ago that I even let her know that he called her that, only because we were not sure what it translated to. So with a little help from some friends, we found out that it mean butterfly in Spanish.

My sweet Mariposa came to visit me over her spring break from school. I felt so blessed that she wanted to spend her time off with ME!!! We had a blast too!

She got here on Saturday. On Sunday I got to take her to church and then we went to the Shannon Hospital to visit the radiology center, because (and I am praying really hard about this and keeping my fingers crossed) when she finishes up with her school she is thinking of moving here and maybe going to work for the Shannon Hospital system as a radiologist.

We then headed for Sonora where it rained on us for the first day. But that was ok by us! We just slept in, hung out, talked about all that is going on in our lives, watched as many chick flick movies as we could, "bedazzled" things! Ya know...girl stuff! Also, keep in mind that the last time I even saw my bestie was at my wedding! We have talked on the phone, but face to face conversations are so much better.

Then on Tuesday...we had enough of being stuck inside, so we saddled up the ponies and away we went! To me, there is nothing better to do with your best friend then spend it on the back of a horse. We ran through the woods and along the station trails. I think that if our seat bones and knees would have allowed it, we would have ridden all day!

On our last day together, we went back to San Angelo and only went into three of the downtown shops. It was a blast but before we knew it our time together had come to an end. But I know that it will not be as long between our visits this time around. There is a Beth Moore one day simulcast over her new book "So Long Insecurity" on the 24th of April. Marissa is hoping to make it back down here for that, as am I!!!

Speaking of the Beth Moore book...Thank you Gwyn for letting me read one of your copies....AND it is GREAT!!! I believe that it is a book that every lady should at least pick up and try to read. Even if you don't have the same views as her, she is hitting hard on issues that have plagued me most of my life. So far in reading this book, I already feel better knowing that I am not the only one that thinks crazy things! I thought that maybe I was too sensitive, but now I am seeing that I just have a few insecurities of my own that I hope to work on and through while reading this book. I think that there will be another blog about this book at a later date, but for now I just hope that everyone is having or has had a great spring break!

Thank you

2010-03-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

I try and tell her often, but I know don't say it nearly enough, so I wanted to take the time this morning to say thank you to my beautiful wife for all she does to keep our home, lives, romance, and business working smoothly. Ronnie is a stay-at-home wife. That does not for a second mean she doesn't work, because she works incredibly hard all day at tasks that many times go unnoticed. I am positive that she never intended to get into prescribed burning because its a job very very few people do, almost entirely a male dominated occupation, she had never heard of it till she met me, and it's hot and dirty and you always smell like diesel fuel and smoke. Burning is dirty work. It's very fun and rewarding and always exciting, but very dirty. Ronnie has long beautiful hair that gets singed every once in awhile, she can't help but get black soot under her nails and on her clothes and face, her clothes are always covered in black stuff, and there is never a bathroom nearby. For a woman I can see how it would not be a very comfortable career choice. However, Ronnie does it because that is our business and she would not think of letting me go off burning and have her stay home worrying about me. We always want to be together regardless of what we are doing. Even though our lifestyle does not aford her the cleanliness and comfort she deserves, I don't think she would trade it for the world, because she would rather spend time with me in a hot smoky pasture around a bunch of smelly men than spend time away from me. Even when she is covered in soot and her hair is a little singed and she's drenched in sweat, she is still the most beautiful woman in the world to me. My wife is my dream woman and I am incredibly blessed to be able to spend everyday with her. So, thank you for all you do. I couldn't and wouldn't do it without you.

Your husband,

Colin

2010-02-25T06:05:00.001-08:00

Ask and you shall receive. Well Colin and I have asked, and God has given to us. As a little recap, Colin only works here at the station 3/4 time and 1/4 time we have our own business. Dryhalla Rangeland Services LLC was started before I came into the picture and I have jumped into prescribed fire with both feet. Last year we started to pray together that God would pour out all his blessings on us. We wanted all that He was willing to give us! And oh how great that has been! Dryhalla doubled in size last year and on top of that we managed to achieve one of our goals, paying off most of the debt that we had. Lucky for us we really didn't have a whole lot to start with, but because I do not work we were relying on Colin's monthly income to take care of the bills. But much like the fish and loaves of bread our money kept growing. In the first three months we were able to pay off my credit card (cut in half after...recommended to everyone that has one!) my personal loan, Colin's personal loan and our burn insurance. We sat down together one night and I wrote down, and still have the paper, what we wanted to have paid off and by when. Without really knowing it, God made the way for us to do so. I remember going through some papers a month or so after we had written down that list, and when I came across that sheet I looked at the date and then it hit me that we in fact had paid everything off and we did so before the set date! Now if I could put down all the numbers in front of you, you would be able to see that this was a job that only God could have done. We paid off way more than we made, and yet we always had money in our checking and savings (although they did get really low at times) and we never ever went with out! We also, during the summer months, were able to pay off the work truck.

Now this year we are still praying that God will continue to bless us and give to us what he wants us to have, and we are already seeing our prayers answered. We have almost tripled this year what we had made by this time last year, and business just keeps on coming! God is so good!

(This is a picture of a brush pile burning at night.)

We have a bunch of summer burns already lined up and burns lined up for the next few years. Our goal is not to make a million, but rather, to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, to give thanks to Him for what he has given to us, and to be a light to the world. Well I don't know of any better way of being a light to the world, than by starting a fire for all to see!

The Big Snow Storm of 2010!

2010-02-24T06:32:00.000-08:00

Much to both of our surprise, Colin and I woke up to snow on the ground for the second time this winter. It will be short and sweet because it will soon warm up and all be gone. But it is so fun to enjoy what it looks like and the feeling that comes along with a snow day. They are so seldom here in Sonora.

Even the dog boy gets some enjoyment out of playing in our light dusting of snow. He tucks his tails, pins his ears and runs as fast as he can all across our backyard. Fun to watch!

I don't think that the horses got as much fun out of the snow as Jigs and I did, but they will enjoy the mud that comes after much more then I will.

Secret Church

2010-02-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

For the first time in over a month Colin and I were able to stay in San Angelo long enough to go to church. Over the past year and a half, my relationship with God has grown into something that I only heard people talk about. I never thought that I would get to a place in my own life where I would be able to feel what I witnessed in other Christian's lives. So going to the great church that we go to gets me excited! It is not about going to go, but about going and learning. Wanting to grow in God's word and gaining more and more knowledge about what it means to live like Christ. Something that I am trying daily to be better at.

William and Gwyn have taught a small groups class for the last year and we have been through two of their classes. "Uprising" and "iChurch", both were amazing! But we have missed out on this current study. It is through the Secret Church and it is on "How to Study the Bible". Might sound kind of lame to some, but oh my gosh! We were only in just one class and it has already changed the way that I am reading my Bible. I think that it has been easy for me to get into the habit of just reading the daily portion of the yearly Bible, praying and then marking it off. Some days things jump out at me, certain verses or things I never knew, but now I want to make the effort to change the way I read through each section. I need to get over reading all for that certain day and calling it good, and really read it. Find out who it was written for, why, when, ect. If I only read two or three verses that needs to be good enough. I just want to fully understand what God is trying to say.

One topic that was hit in Sunday's class was how people will change the true meaning of a passage or a verse to justify what they are doing or their actions, or say that what they are reading was written so long ago how could it mean the same thing today. Well, I would like to believe that my God is a great a everlasting God, and he is all knowing. So when He lead whoever to write whatever he knew that I would be reading it some day. Therefore, what was written way back when was in fact written for me here in the now and it pertains to our current lifestyle. Twisting and turning verses and passages into what you think they should mean is a risky tactic.

Just one last thing. If you are finding that reading the Bible is like taking an old English class in college, you are not alone! I have and NIV Bible that was given to me as a graduation gift, and that is pretty easy to read. But then I picked up the New Living Translation and once I did, I couldn't put it down. There is also the Message Bible and that just could be the easiest version I have ever ever ever read! I find it neat to compare the differences of each one and see how one verse is translated from one to the other.

Colin and I get to go back to San Angelo again this weekend and I really can't wait to sit down with my Bible, study guide and pen and see what the Lord shows me!

2010 Burning Season Has Started!

2010-01-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Dryhalla Rangeland Services LLC got back in the swing of things with our first burn of the year. This burn was different from any other that I have ever been on in more then one way. We started the year off with a burn in Swenson, TX which is about five hours north of Sonora where we live. If you are not real familiar with that area, let me just say one thing. Sand. Lots of it. It was like being on a beach or in the sand dunes and burning. We all got a great workout walking with the torch though! We could only use ATVs to get around the place, no trucks. Also because it was so far away we had a really really small crew. On a normal burn we have anywhere between 12 to 20 people helping. This go around we had four, including Colin and me. We were only burning small blocks so four was an OK number, but six would have been even better. But we handled it all like pros and burned two of the four blocks that the owners wanted done, 300+ acres.

Not only were we burning with a much smaller crew, with only the use of ATVs, in a sand dune, we also had to battle the cold. We got a late start the day of the burn because all the water in the tank we were drawing from was frozen.

Our sleeping arrangements were also on the list of firsts. This place is a hunting camp. That in itself should be enough said. But this is a nice clean place. The owners have a camper set up there that has a small pop out where the table sits. (Ya know the kind) Its small. Perfect for a weekend trip, but I don't think I could last any longer. There was only one real bed, which Colin and I took. We didn't think that Ray and Kyle would have enjoyed sharing. The other beds in the camper were the typical pull out, flip over or put down type. The small "couch" flipped into a full size, and you could drop the table down and make the seats and table into a very weird shaped bed. But lucky for Ray and Kyle the owners have a cool tent set up at the camp. It was a big tent, big enough to have a set of bunk beds in it and a wood burning stove. There was enough room that we all could spread out and sit around the stove at night, which was by far the best part of the whole trip. So we have a camper built for two, and a tent.

(Colin burning not in Swenson, just a good picture of him doing his job)

The heater in the camper bit the dust last time the owners were there, so they removed it to get it fixed and it had not returned. So we had (in the camper) a small fan that blew out warm air to heat the whole thing. Yeah right! On top of that, there was an open gas line that went to the heater, so when we turned on the gas so we could have a stove and hot water, gas just poured into the camper. So we had no gas to cook with and no hot water to shower with. (Also remember that I am the only girl with three men that will have worked hard all day burning, and none of us got to shower...) Thank the good Lord above that I had cooked most of our food prior to and froze it, so all I had to do was heat it up. Well, all but breakfast. This was another first for me. Usually the owner is in charge of getting all the meals taken care of. But this time it was up to me to cook for everyone. Heating up the food was a step back in time. I had to use the wood stove in the tent to heat and cook all our food. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of that!

That was the big kick off to the 2010 burning season for Dryhalla. At least out of the whole thing we got to spend time with each other and some close friends, and the coffee pot never missed a beat! If that had failed me, I don't know how this story would have turned out.

(Ronnie not burning in Swenson)

Our First Christmas

2009-12-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

It is almost Christmas! I have really had a hard time getting my head around just how fast this year has gone bye! A year ago Christmas decor was the last thing on my mind. Colin and I were getting ready for our wedding. We spend the week prior to getting everything ready at the church, my mom was in from NC helping pack, moving all my things from Levelland to Sonora, and then back to Whiteface for the big day. Needless to say, because our wedding fell just two days after Christmas, our celebrations were cut short. This year however, we have all had time to enjoy the Christmas season. There was only one problem...We didn't have any decorations! None! If I had been using any of my brain last year, I would have bought everything I needed at the end of last year's season, but I didn't. So this year I had to think outside the box. Here is what I came up with.

This is on our front door. I ran around the station and found all the evergreen trees I could and snipped off a few branches here and there. I did this a few times before I got all that I needed. Colin and I did make a stop at Hobby Lobby where we picked up the ribbon and our Christmas cards.

I had found a bunch of old barn wood one day and before I even knew what I was going to do with it I had our truck loaded with all the wood I had found. We have one wall that had nothing on it, so the light went on and the idea for a shelf was born. We picked up two braces and "Ta-Da", our wall had some life! Gwyn gave me some of Colin's Christmas ornaments. The Reveille and the Grandaddy ornaments are shown here. I found a BUNCH of pine cones while trimming my neighbors trees and the candle lights were at the Dollar General for, you guessed it, a dollar each. The picture on the shelf is of our wedding rings on a cake from our wedding. (Thanks Danielle Pape for taking such awesome pictures!)

Some more of my tree trimmings and a few of our wedding pillar candles. Added some mistletoe, pine cones, bur oak acorns, ribbon, and our coffee table has some Christmas spirit!

Ahh...The tree. Or as my loving sister said, "Nice stick!". I could have used a cedar tree, but due to the fact that Colin is allergic to them and has a personal vendetta against them, I thought better of it. So I used the next best thing. A dead mesquite! Maybe next year we will have a real tree...

Here is my "Max" (the dog from the Grinch). He looks about as thrilled to be wearing his antlers as Max did in the movie.

Colin and I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Mereta this year. Normally we spend Thanksgiving in Water Valley with my dad's side of the family. It has been a long standing tradition that we load up and head to the ranch in Water Valley every Thanksgiving. When I was a kid all the guys would go out way early in the morning and hunt until lunch and then go out again that evening. In between hunts we'd eat and watch the Cowboys. It was on this ranch years ago that I shot my first deer. My dad and his brothers grew up hunting on this same ranch with their dad. There are a lot of good Thanksgiving memories and some pretty good stories that have come from our Thanksgivings together at the ranch.

My dad's mom was the oldest living member of that side of the family and she seemed to hold everyone and thing together. So as long as she was living we followed tradition and went to the ranch. However, my grandmother (Dad's mom) died a few months ago. All of her kids have kids and grand kids of their own now. They, like us, like to spend the holidays with their children and grandchildren. So this year we decided to start our own tradition and have Thanksgiving at my parents home in Mereta. My grandmother on my mom's side came over, my brother came in from College Station, my sister and her husband and daughter came in from Granbury, and Ronnie and I came up from Sonora. It was nice to spend the day at "home" with just my immediate family, eating, watching the Aggies play, playing football, watching Lily (my niece) ride a horse for the first time, enjoying being home with my family, and being thankful for all the blessings we have received and continue to receive.

Out of the horse's mouth.

2009-10-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

At 25 I am still a college student. Not full time, just taking the classes that I need and don't really like. After moving to North Carolina then to Texas, school was one of the last things on my mind. Then came a full time job with Girlstown, and I just didn't see the point of going back. But my boss and a few friends convinced me otherwise. Now, almost two full years later I am taking my last "catch up" class. (A good deal of my NY credits didn't transfer or didn't match up to what the school offered.) My last class that I am currently enrolled in is...Government...!!!...I saved, or put this class off till last just because...well, just because its government! I would much rather get a shot then have to read the pages that seem to drag and drag and drag, AND I hate getting shots! I freak as soon as the nurse walks in with just a clip board.
So this week I dragged my book out from under a pile of dirty clothes, jumped up and down on it, murmured something about how much I loathed it under my breath, and finally sat down to read it. The title of this weeks chapter, Mass Media: Setting the Political Agenda. Wonderful! I get to learn about how TV and newspapers shape our thoughts and only report what "they" want. For the most part that was true, just a bit more detailed. However, in my reading yesterday I stumbled upon something I found to be incredibly interesting. I even got a little excited about it and gleefully told Colin about it!
Some of you might be aware of the current accusations being strung about concerning Fox News. What I read yesterday will tie in beautifully with that. Here is what started it all, "The political values of the media are decidedly liberal and reformist." Also in the same paragraph was this, "Most Americans agree that media new coverage is biased and the bias is in a liberal direction." !!!!! Ok, that whole section was titled "Liberalism in the Newsroom". The next section went on to say that more then 60% of Hollywood describe themselves as liberal, and that "Hollywood is a major source of Democratic Party campaign funds.". However in the same text it also states that this figure does not mirror the American public. As a whole America is outnumbered by self-described conservatives, but because of the control that Hollywood has over most of our airwaves what we see and hear is generally being pushed in a liberal direction.
So now I am interested. I turn the page and see these two headlines: "Are the Media Biased?" and "Fox News: Fair and Balanced?". Hmmm...Lets see what this book has to say about the media being biased. "Nearly three out of four Americans (thats 74%) see a "fair amount" or "a great deal" of media bias in news coverage." Ok, interesting. Now the next sentence said that of those who see it as being biased, over twice as many see it being a liberal bias rather then a conservative bias. Even the liberals see a liberal bias in the media.
Now on to Fox News. The Fox News network was created by a man (Rupert Murdoch) who isn't even considered a conservative in his own views, but saw an unfilled market for conservative views on American TV. Thus Fox News was created. "We report, you decide." is the network's slogan. They feel that if their reporting appears to be conservative it is because "the country has become so accustomed to left-leaning media that a truly balanced network just seems conservative.". Oh how true... The last paragraph of this conflicting view over Fox News said this. "The bottom line, financially as well as politically, is that Fox News is now the most watched cable news network, even surpassing CNN. Whatever its flaws, Fox News has added diversity of views to American television.".
So is it any wonder why it has come under such attack lately? It could be that old saying, truth hurts.

The next chapter in my government book it titled "Political Parties: Organizing Politics". I wonder what goodies are in there??!!

My book is Politics in America, 7th edition, by Thomas Dye.

Back home...

2009-10-20T11:21:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it home from an almost two week long vacation and boy did we have a good time! I think we must have put close to 1,000 miles on my grandfather's car driving around upstate New York. But I had so much to show Colin, seeing that it was his first real time there.
We started our trip in Austin at the Song of Solomon's Conference, and that was amazing! We were both given many new tools to put under our belt. I got the DVD set of it and that comes with an audio CD, so if anyone wants a copy of the CD that just let Colin or I know. While in Austin we also got to see some good friends and got the grand tour of their new home! It was very exciting!!
From Austin we headed to North Carolina to see my Mom, Dad, sister Cassie and my nephew Josh. It was a great few days spent with them. Colin got to see the great city of Raleigh and some of the NC back county, only because I got lost going to see my dad and Cassie...We almost were in VA!!!
We got to New York just in time. The leaves were absolutely perfect. It was a little colder then we both thought, thus the reason for putting so many miles on the car. Neither one of us really wanted to get out and stroll around. We were never dressed for it!
We (Colin) did take lots of pictures, and because there are so many, I just thought a few of my favorites would do.

Colin and me at 13th Lake
Just some of the colors...I love how the leaves reflect off the water. Perfect!

Colin's first time ever picking apples!

He said they were the best tasting apples he had ever had, only because he had picked them.

Growing up, it was sort of a family thing to go over to VT and see the snow geese, then go apple picking, then go to the old fort ruins at Crown Point and have lunch. We did go and see the geese (although they were hard to see due to the corn that was still standing in the field) and we did drive by the old fort and we did go apple picking.

Macintosh apples...35+ pounds for only $21.00!!

A view of the Adirondack Mts. from the Vermont side. (Colin's first time in VT)

This is Brant Lake, and the Brant Lake Church. These buildings have been on many post cards when the leaves look like this. My grandma use to go to this church, as did my mom and as did my sister and I when we were little. My grandfather (Poppy) still goes every Sunday. Lots of great memories there.

We had a great time and I loved showing Colin all around where I grew up. He was able to meet the rest of my family and of course they all loved him! We have already been asked to come back up this winter so Colin can experience his first snowmobile ride...Maybe next time we go back to NY it will be in the winter but it might not be this year.

The anticipation is building!

2009-09-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Oh boy!!! I am so stinkin' excited I can hardly stand it!!...!!!...!!! Colin and I are getting ready to head to North Carolina and New York to see family. It has been two year since I have been home to the east coast. Colin has only been one other time and that was last year and it was only to New York City, and to me that does not count. So this year he is not only going to the Raleigh area of North Carolina, but he is also heading to the beautiful Adirondack mountains of New York! (During the fall too!) He doesn't even know what a treat he is in for.

Our first stop is NC and as I look back and think, the last time I saw my little nephew Josh, he was just turned a year old...now he is about to turn three! I am overcome with eagerness because I get to see and play with him.

(Me and Josh Christmas 2007)

Then the last time I saw my family (Dad, Mom and Cassie) was at our wedding. That will be almost ten months ago now. Man time has flown!

(Tony, Cassie, Ronnie and Kathy December 27, 2008)

I hope hope hope that we are able to catch the leaves in the Adirondacks when they look like these!! My friend told me just the other day that "fall in the Adirondacks is like a drug.". Well, Kiely, you are right! Poor Colin, he just has no concept of what "Fall in the ADK's" is all about. I hope that when we come home from our trip north he has a much better understanding of my love for that country during this time of the year.

(Some random back road in the ADK's, but look at the beautiful leaves!!!)

Near where I grew up was the northern part of the Hudson river. Yep, the same one that flows down to NYC. It runs right next to the town of North Creek and from there you can take a "historic" train ride down along the river.

We are flying out on Saturday and will be back on the 14th of October. I am going to overload my camera with tons of pictures and will have them posted when we get back. Did I mention I was super stoked about this trip???...

Best Pork Chops EVER!!!

2009-09-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Driving home yesterday I was already thinking about what I was going to cook for supper tonight. A light came one and this is what I did.

I had pulled out some boneless pork chops earlier this week and they were all thawed in the frig.
I also had some HEB jalapeno bacon, cut in half, that I needed to use.

So I marinaded the pork chops for a few hour with a little olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Dipped the bacon in some flour (which you can add some seasoning to...) and put them on a cookie sheet and place in the frig for an hour or so. After the pork chops had a chance to marinade I dipped them in flour as well. Then I pre heated the oven to about 350* and wrapped three or four slices around each pork chop and place in a glass pan with just a little bit of olive oil on the bottom. Then I cut the whole jalapenos in half and de-seeded them and place them on top. Cooked them for about an hour and a half.

It was delicious!!

Here are some before and after shots.

Before:

After: !!!!!!!

This whole meal was super easy! So easy, I even blogged about it!

Ronnie

Time for some R&R

2009-09-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

Did we really even have a summer?? Last time I checked, summer was time for rest and relaxing...HA! Not so much this summer. Colin and I were so busy this summer that I barely had any time to respond to emails. (So if you emailed me and I have not sent one back, don't worry, you're not the only one.) So what kept us gone all the time, well, work! At the start of the year Colin and I set some goals for ourselves. One of the goals was to get out of debt. Well, so far we have paid off all of my stuff, one of Colin's personal loans and because God is so good, we are about to pay off his truck! Once that is done, we will only have his student loans left. But there is more...Colin had planned on the burn we finished in Brady to be the last one for the year. However, God had different plans for us. We finished the Brady burn and now we have at least three to four burns still to go! It is so cool for me to sit down and look at all the money that we have coming in, and then look at all the money that we have going out and still have money left over. That in itself is just a God thing. It is amazing that if you let Him, he will even work in your finances! I read somewhere in someone's blog that they got to a point where they stopped asking where did all our money go, and started telling there money where to go! I liked that. So now, we tell our money where it is going to go and it has made for a better relationship all around!
There are lots of things that the Lord is doing in our lives at the moment, and freeing up our finances is just one of many. Doors are being swung open while those little windows we were trying to climb through are getting shut. God has blessed us and because he is so great he keeps on giving!
I know how great it makes me feel to let people know what God has done in my life (and I give Him praise for all of it) and Colin and I would love to hear what he has done in yours! So please feel free to leave us with any thoughts or comments or questions!
"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Sunday drive

2009-08-04T04:01:00.000-07:00

Ronnie and I decided to take a Sunday drive to a place on the Devil's River and go swimming over the weekend. The weather on Sunday was kind of cloudy and rainy so we decided rather than to head back home we'd just keep going on down the road. This blog is about our drive and everything we saw. Ronnie has never been to or seen Mexico, so we went to see Mexico! At least what we could see from the Texas side of the Rio Grande. On our drive the first stop we made was at the Pecos River high bridge. The Pecos River high bridge is about 18 miles east of Langrty, TX. The bridge is about 300 feet above the river and spans about 1400 feet across.

After we ate lunch at the bridge we decided to go the 18 miles west to the town of Langtry where infamous characters like Judge Roy Bean used to live. We drove around the little town for awhile and then drove down to the river to the site of the famous Maher-Fitzsimmons prize fight in February 1896. The boxing match was staged by Judge Roy Bean in defiance of U.S., Mexico and Texas Ranger authority, and a law banning prize fighting in the U.S. Below are a fw pictures taken from the town of Langtry and the Rio Grande just south of town.

After leaving Langrty, we decided to follow the border down to Del Rio. We drove passed by Seminole Canyon and crossed over the bridge at Lake Amistad. Since this was Ronnie's first trip to a border town we drove around Del Rio for a little while and took in some of the culture. By take in some of the culture, I mean we drove around and talked about how different a place Del Rio is from what we are used to. The town is only an hour south of where we live and yet it feels like another country all together. Once we had had enough of Del Rio we headed north to the experiment station and home. We had a wonderful day even though we weren't able to spend the day swimming. The trip was fun and we got to spend time together and see a part of Texas we rarely see.

Back From Burning

2009-07-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

We made it back from burning with all our hair, a few new tan lines and a couple of sunburned faces. The first three days of burning were pretty intense. It is so dry in Texas that just about everything goes up in flames. Three years of very little rain will do that. So putting in black lines was a SSSSLLLLOOOWWW process. Colin had thought that it would have been a two day burn. Two days came a went and we only had half of it finished! Thank goodness for a great crew! Our friend Ray came and helped out the first three days, along with a kid from Sonora who rode with us named Sterling. They were life savers! But not to cut anyone else that was there short, because many people stopped what they were doing for two days just to sit in the smoke. Many guys just ran an ATV up and down the road looking for spot fires. I think that is one of the most important jobs on a burn. Colin's friend Kyle showed up the second day and he sat in the back of our truck running the sprayer while braving the heat while I drove. And boy was it hot!! The first day there was record highs...105* F! There was a point during the burn that Ray took the temp while sitting in a little draw and it read 117*F!!!!!! No joke. I think at that point it is almost too hot to sweat!
I ran the drip torch for the first part of the first day, then rode in the back of a spray rig in the afternoon. Colin had the hardest job. Being the burn boss he has to make sure that everyone is where they need to be, or close to it, and try to keep the whole crew happy. That in itself is not an easy task. Working with volunteers is sometimes very stressful. But Colin does an amazing job. NEVER does he ever loose his cool. He might be throwing up on the inside, but he is all put together on the outside. For that reason the rest of the crew is able to stay calm and do what needs to be done. Many many many people that Colin has worked with before have commented to me on how he is able to just be so calm and never buckles. That is what makes him such a great burn boss. He just keeps his cool and stays relaxed the whole time, even when things get a little western.
So we only got the top half of the pasture burned. Close to 400 acres. So we had to go back and finish up the last 300 + acres this past week. Due to Colin's wonderful leadership, and the fact that he does all his homework when it comes to burning, everything went off with out a hitch. So we have finished burning for now. Our next burn is scheduled for the end of next month and that will be a BIG one...over 1600 acres. Anyone want to help?!?!

Colin and Sterling (who is 16 and is a great kiddo!) lighting around the hunters camp on the second day.

The smoke from the head fire...this is what we all look forward too.
All of this pear is dead. Dead dead dead. Colin said that headfires have the ability to get over 1200*F and I don't doubt it! But that is what Bob, the owner, wanted to see. Now the pear will die off and make way for more grass for his cattle. Colin burned a pasture for him last year and he has been able to increase his livestock carrying capacity by 50% since the burn due to the increased amount of grass on that pasture than before it had been burned. I guess the proof is in the numbers.

*****Again, a very special thanks to all that helped us on this burn. Without you, we couldn't have gotten this done. Also, thanks be to God. He protected us and kept us safe when we needed it the most! It is awesome to be the daughter of the Most High!!

Rx Fire

2009-07-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Ronnie and I are headed to a ranch near London, TX this Wednesday. We are going to spend a couple of days burning a pasture for one of our clients. This will be our first prescribed burn of the summer, and it should be a hot one! The weather forecast is calling for temperatures in the 100’s. That in itself isn’t too bad, but once you start lighting everything around you on fire it can get a little warm. I am hopeful that his burn will be the first of many for us this summer and fall. We had a very busy winter this year, but things have been pretty slow the last few months. Things tend to be slow during the rainy spring months. Typically, we do the majority of our prescribed burning in the summer months. In this part of Texas, most ranchers have a serious problem with brush. Most of the ranches in West and Central Texas are over-grown with juniper, mesquite, and prickly pear. Therefore, to manage these noxious brush species, we burn them. Moreover, we burn them in the hottest, driest part of the year to inflict the most damage to the plants. We call these reclamation burns, and it allows a rancher to get back on top of his brush problem and make the forage much more productive for livestock or wildlife. About 4 years ago, I moved out to Sonora, TX from College Station, TX to conduct research for my master’s degree in Rangeland Ecology & Management. During my undergraduate time, I developed an interest in brush management – more specifically in the use of fire to manage brush. It just so happens that an opportunity came my way to spend some time in Sonora conducting research on fire, and of course I took it. Over the course of the next year, I participated on several prescribed burns and this helped to solidify my desire to do this full-time. There was a lengthy certification process that I had to go through to become a certified prescribed burn manager, but once that process was complete, I was able to burn commercially for ranchers and landowners around the state without the restrictions of county burn bans. About a year ago, I started a company called Dryhalla Rangeland Services LLC. The function of this business is ranch/ rangeland consulting and to conduct prescribed burns for landowners and ranchers across the state. I believe God intended us to be stewards of the land he entrusted to us. If you know much about what the landscape looked like a couple hundred years ago, you would know we have done a pretty poor job of it. So we’re trying to do something to reverse the damage done, and what better way than with the use of fire – a natural brush control method. And really what better job is there than setting thousands of acres on fire legally . . ?

Ronnie, being from the Northeast, had no concept of prescribed burning until she met me. However, she desired to learn all she could (in a very short period of time) about this area of my life. She attended a burn school and participated on quite a few burns this past winter, and it didn’t take long before she bacame very knowledgeable about fire behavior, fuels, vegetation types, fire weather, fire suppression equipment, etc. In the 6 months we have been married, we have been on numerous burns. Some of the burns went exactly as planned - the weather cooperated, the crew was adequate to great, the goals and objectives of the landowner were met, etc., etc. On the other hand, a couple of those burns were complete nightmares. Not nightmares because the fire got out of hand or the fire escaped and burned an area it should not have, but because the forecasted weather was completely wrong and/or the personnel assisted on the burn were half-wits! I am not being unkind when I call these dudes half-wits. They deserve much, much worse! I have at least given them credit for half of a wit, when I am almost certain they are completely witless. So in a short period of time, Ronnie has been on some thrilling if not scary burns.
All that to say that the 6 months in which Ronnie has been my partner in Dryhalla Rangeland Service LLC has been exciting. We have seen a dramatic increase in business. We are learning to be better business owners. We have been able to spend everyday together working side-by-side during some very stressful moments and many sleepless nights (A feat many married couples might not want to try or be able to pull off). For us the opportunity to get to spend every moment with each other, regardless of the hectic nature of our business, has been a blessing. Many times the opportunity was there for one or both of us to lose our temper or get fed-up, but every stressful moment has only managed to bring us closer together. As we become better at the business side of this business, we are also becoming more confident and much more knowledgeable about running and operating a business. We have learned from our mistakes and are now able to visit with a landowner and then help him or her make some decisions regarding their ranch that will ultimately make both of our jobs easier. What I mean by that is, when we first started burning as a business, we took every job that came our way and we didn’t make too many requests of the landowner for fear that we might lose their business. Now we are much more selective about what jobs we take and can confidently tell a landowner what he needs to do for us to be able burn his property. I must say, the stress level has dropped dramatically. I am becoming a much better people manager and Ronnie continues to learn more and more about fire and how it behave, and she has progressed to the point where she now carries the drip-torch on all of our burns and is in charge of the ignitions. It makes me very proud to see her interact with all these old ranchers and explain to them why we are doing something a certain way, and I love the way she puts all the old timers at ease by the way she calmly handles the tough situations. This business is very male-dominated and Ronnie has certainly been a breath of fresh air. You can see that for some of these guys the thought of bringing their wives on a burn never occurred to them. But after spending a day with Ronnie, we are starting to see a wife show up on a burn here and there. We’ve truly been blessed to be able to spend our days traveling the state, meeting with ranchers, and setting things on fire, and the best part of all is. . . I get to do it all with my best friend!

Colin

Man's Best Friend

2009-06-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Meet Jigs. He is my mutt. Part blue healer, part terrier (Jack Russell we think). He was the cutest little puppy I have ever seen and by far the sweetest. I use to take him with me everywhere I went! He was my co-pilot and just a bit attached to me.

Then enters Colin. (And yes, he is that handsome in person.)
Hang on a sec, I need a moment to stare at my man......Ok, snap back to reality.
Colin had, up until meeting me, never really been a pet owning kind of guy. Goats, cattle and sheep where the closest things to having a pet in his world. Animals that could pretty much fend for themselves. Then he meant me and my "needed" little dog.

The above picture is the first picture that I ever took of Colin and Jigs. Notice how Jigs is really working it in. He is sitting right up next to Colin, but not touching him. He has his best attire on, and is staring him DOWN. Colin, well, he is love struck with the one behind the camera and doesn't even know Jigs is sitting next to him.

But I have faith. I know that in time, Jigs will start to rub off on Colin and the prospect for a friendship would be sure to find its way through their differences. Well...it didn't take long.

A wiggle of Dog boy's (as we all lovingly call him) tail, and a paw on Colin's knee a time or two and Colin rolled belly up for my little pup.
Now compare this picture to the one above and I think the comparison speaks for itself. Jigs has this handsome fella just wrapped around his little paw. Might I add that I think it is the cutest thing ever. They even spend the entire days/weeks together working and driving around in the ranger.

Its a good thing to see man and his best friend out and about together. Now I just have one more of my pets that needs to find a warm spot in my husband tender heart...
This is Crissy, or The Big Ball of Cat Hair. I took this picture way back in May, as you can see by the date on the bottom of the picture, and I kid you not she is laying like this now on our floor! She is going to have to work a lot harder to win Colin over...But I think that working is just not her thing. Her goal in life is strictly just to lose enough hair in one day that it blows across the floor at night, and to eat. Does the biggest looser have a show for over weight felines???

Jury duty

2009-06-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ronnie was called for jury selection on Tuesday. It was her first time to be summoned since she moved down here to live with me. Several months ago, I advised her not to register to vote so she wouldn’t be summoned. It was after the presidential election so I figured she had at least 2 years before anything big was on the ballot again. Seemed like a good idea to me at the time. That worked for a little while until the peach of a lady down at the DMV took it upon herself to register Ronnie while she was renewing her driver’s license. Prior to the 2008 presidential election I bit the bullet and changed my voter’s registration to Edwards County so I wouldn’t have to drive to San Angelo to vote. It has been about a year now since I did this. Since then I have been summoned 3 times for Edwards County and once for Tom Green. You might be thinking that I have extraordinarily bad luck, but where most people see jury duty as a horrible waste of time or at the very least a disruption to normal life, I have begun to embrace the frequent letters from the wonderful folks at Edwards County. However, haven’t always felt this way...

The first time I was summoned I had the same sense of dread that everyone gets when they receive their summons in the mail. So on the selected day I made the 30 mile drive to Rocksprings and sat in a tiny little un-air conditioned courthouse all day in one of those old wooden fold-down seats that were probably all the rave around the turn of last century when the average grown man was somewhere around 5’4” and weighed all of 130 lbs. and had narrow seat, but these days very few of the potential jurors fit comfortably or at all. The whole air conditioning thing I not sure about. They may have air conditioning, but for the sake of this story please picture me sweating profusely. I must admit that things are maybe a little slower and more relaxed at our courthouse than most. No one got in a hurry, the mood was very relaxed, most carried on conversations with one another throughout the ordeal, we all whispered comments to each other about the “big city lawyer”, and the best part of all I got to spend the day with two of my neighbors who I rarely get to see.

See when you live in a rural county with almost no people, the chances of serving on a jury selection with at least a couple of your friends or neighbors is pretty likely. In my everyday life when I do run across a neighbor we visit for a minute and then go our separate ways, and we always say “tell your wife/husband hi for me,” and then we usually say “we need to get together more often” or “we need to have ya’ll over some night” or “stop in if your ever around.” It usually goes something like that anyway, but then we get all caught up in everyday life and never get around to having them over for supper. So for us anyway, jury duty provides us with the opportunity to catch up. I mean what else are you going to do while sitting in a cramped seat all day long next to a buddy. So when you get a jury summons in the mail and are expecting the worst just to find out you get to spend the entire day catching up with friends you haven’t seen in awhile its a pleasant surprise.

Like I said before, Ronnie got the opportunity to make the drive to Rocksprings this past Tuesday. She lucked out in that the courthouse proceedings have moved across the street from the old courthouse to the new annex building with air conditioning. She went in, sat down, and guess what..? A wonderful friend of ours, who we haven’t seen in awhile, also had jury duty that same day! All in all Ronnie’s first experience with a jury summons went fairly well. Of course, things at the court moved painfully slow, they traded in the small old wooden seats for some painful church pews, she only made a whopping $6 for her troubles, but on the bright side, she was able to spend the day with a friend she hasn’t seen in awhile and she even made some new friends.
Colin

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

2009-06-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Any one that knows me knows that I have no foot to stand when it comes to the topic of politics/government. I’ve gone through the first 24 years of my life not really caring about what goes on in our world or country. I had blinders on and as far as I could tell, life was just peachy. Now I had some idea what was going on, but I only heard what I wanted to and tried to ignore the rest. I have my beliefs and I kept them on the back burner. I HATED it when people would start talking about the up and coming election, or what was going on at the capital. (It was the same kind of feeling that I would get when I was little, I would go over to my grandparent’s house, and Pop would have CNN or Fox News on.) Even if I disagreed 100% with everything that was being said I kept my mouth shut. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I am horrible when it comes to being confrontational or arguing with someone. Not that disagreeing with someone has to be confrontational or lead to an argument, but in the past, I have at times been a bit too sensitive and taken a disagreement as a personal attack. Another reason for never speaking up is that I like to get all the facts that I can before I say anything (This has only come with growing older). It is an awkward feeling when someone questions the way I choose to believe and I always felt like any answer that I would give would never be good enough. I had to take a government class in college, and didn’t think I was going to make it out alive. It was draining all the life out of me. (I still have one left to take! Go figure.)

When I met Colin and found out that he was BIG into the politics and current events I thought, “Great...All of his conversations are going to revolve around what is going on in the news today and they will be way over my head.” Well, I was way off base. We rarely talked current affairs. He knew my feelings on the issue and respected that. Only when I would ask him a question about something I read or heard would he get to tell me what was really going on. Over time, my interest began to grow. I found myself reading up on what was going on in our nation and world and calling him to talk about it. This was around the time that the candidates for the 2008 election were parading around the country trying to gain support. I can remember being asked by Colin what I thought about the two nominees. My response, which I still feel the same way, was that it was really hard for me to pick one over the other, because to me (and please keep in mind that these are just my thoughts) it doesn’t matter what they preach they are going to, it is what actually happens when they get elected. My thought again is that the president only has so much say and then the rest is up to congress. There seems to be bunches of great promises that are made during the campaigning months, but they never seem to amount to much more than words to fill a time slot or to get votes. When a candidate actually comes out and takes a firm stand on some issue, they run the risk of losing the votes of the people that feel differently on said issue. So they never take a stand and they sit on the fence.

Now on to the main point of this whole thing.

In order to get those votes, people will say whatever they think will win the masses. However, they do so and they let slide what they truly believe so as not to dare I say it offend anyone. I did it earlier in this when I said to keep in mind that these were just my thoughts. I don’t want to offend anyone with the way I think or believe. WHY? Why should one person be able to stand firmly on grounds they believe to be true and push the other aside? Why should one person take offense to another’s beliefs if they are counter to their own? Isn’t America a place where people can have that freedom? A freedom to state one’s beliefs without a fear of backlash? Ok an example, I am sure that most have seen or heard something about the Carrie Prejean (former Miss California) controversy. Now I know that she is not perfect, but I am just using her as an example. She took a stand for what she felt to be right and true. What she believed in. Her response exploded all over the media and stirred up advocates on both sides. Again, I ask why? If she had responded differently to the question, would the nation wide response have been different as well? Would there have been any response at all? Chances are we would not have even been aware of her answer because it never would have made the news.

I think that this happens on a daily basis on all kinds of different levels. People say they are open-minded, but get incredibly close-minded if you disagree with what they have to say or how they think. Doesn’t that make them a hypocrite???? For that reason I think many people have developed a fear of offending, and we have become a wishy-washy society where rather than taking a stand we sit quietly in the back row almost asleep, or we just can’t seem to get out of the middle of the road. We’d rather walk down the middle rather than take a side. It seems that there is an increasing amount of talk about tolerance and open-mindedness these days. That’s all well and good until your point of view is contrary, and then there is absolutely no tolerance of an opposing view point and you are close-minded if your stance on an issue goes against whatever the other side of that argument believes. How do we as a society get to a place where we can be proud of what we believe and not scrutinize others for theirs. I don’t really offer any sort of answers for this question other than we all need to be less sensitive. If someone has a different opinion, rather than get upset because they believe differently than you, just let’em be. Why should it bother me if someone doesn’t like everything I like? And another thing, please believe in something, anything! When you do take that stand for something stick with it. For real, if you say something then mean it. Chances are someone will not feel the same way as you, but what’s the worst that might happen?

I do sincerely hope today’s rant has not stepped on any toes or offended anyone. :-)

Ronnie

Our Feathered Friends

2009-06-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I sat outside and watched at least six humming birds battle over our two little feeders. I even got it on film. But it was really neat. I sat only feet away from them as they came to visit our porch. It only took a few days for all the birds to find our sweet spot, and this meant that I was filling our two little feeders three, sometimes four times a day! I told Gwynie and Pops about it and they said that they had a feeder that was bigger and we could have it. So the next time we were in Mereta, I picked it up. I have it set right outside our window where we eat and we get to watch the show! Now this feeder is WAY bigger then my two little ones. It can seat six birds at once, and it has a nice little "foot rail" for 'em. I think that we have had five on it at once, but that was only for a brief moment. They usually "play" a game or two of chase around the front yard, or the porch, before they can settle down for a sip. Below are just a few pictures that I managed to snap before they flew off. Enjoy!

My (Colin’s) side of the story

2009-06-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

So Ronnie told her side of how we met and so now it’s my turn to tell my side of our story. My story starts out in southwest Texas. I had been living and working at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Sonora since 2005. I lived about 30 miles from the nearest towns and both of those towns are pretty small. I was pretty much just living my life kind of be-bopping along. I’d usually go up to my parents home in Mereta on the weekends and see friends. Between my daily travels with work and visiting my parents I didn’t run into too many eligible ladies, but dating was pretty far down on my priorities list. And I’m too shy to talk to anyone if I had met someone during this time anyway. However, one day my Mom (Gwynie Pie) mentioned to me that my aunt Joellen worked with a girl that she thought I would get along well with. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of meeting some girl my aunt wanted to hook me up with. To Joellen’s credit, she had never tried to play matchmaker before, a trait I’m fond of in people. I was picturing a super-lame and way awkward blind date, plus “the girl” (her name was and is Ronnie) lived in Whiteface, TX which is a long ways from where I lived so I’d have to drive like 5 hours to go on this train wreck of a blind date. Truth be known I wasn’t all that repulsed by the idea of meeting this girl, but the shyness/comfort zone factor made it easier to just tell my mom I wasn’t interested and be done with it. But rather than make a decision either way I just left the subject alone for a couple of weeks and then next time I saw my mom she had a few pictures of Ronnie (the girl) that Joellen had emailed her. Of course I looked at them and was very impressed with the pictures Ronnie had selected. Not glamour shots, but pictures of her at work and doing normal people things and she was smiling real big in all of them. I liked that a lot! So maybe another week went by and I didn’t say anything one way or the other to my mom about meeting Ronnie, but I was praying about whether or not I should pursue this. Mind you praying about meeting a girl was not something I normally do, but looking back it made all the difference. I have no idea why I didn’t let God have control of my love life sooner. He is waaaayyyy better at picking out my mate than I ever was at it. In fact every relationship I had prior to meeting Ronnie ended. That ought to say something for my track record of picking my own mates. So anyway, the next time I saw Gwynie Pie I told her I would like to get Ronnie’s email address. Eventually I emailed Ronnie, she replied (which I took as a good sign), and then we emailed a few times back and forth. Then she gave me phone number and I had to muster the guts to call her, which I did thank you. Keep in mind all of this is very much not like me at all. One of the reasons why I know God brought us together is because I never would have agreed to getting Ronnie’s email address or meeting her on my own.

Ronnie and I continued to talk on the phone and get to know one another for a few weeks before we planned to meet in person. We planned to meet in San Angelo and then stay at my parents for the weekend. My thinking was that if the meeting went terribly wrong at least my parents would be there the run interference, they could fill in the gaps of awkward silence if there were any, and if things went bad I wouldn’t be in a strange new place like she would be, and it was kind of the halfway point for both of us. All totally reasonable points I thought. I’m pretty sure I’d have never been as brave as Ronnie was on that first meeting. She had to come to an unfamiliar town, spend a whole weekend with a family of strangers who happen to be the parents of the dude who shes only spoken to on the phone, granted his phone voice is super-sexy, but nonetheless that takes a lot of guts. Way more than I think I have. She says she was nervous but it never showed. We even went out to eat for lunch on Sunday and we ran into a group from church and they unknowingly asked if we were “together.” So this prompted to me to say we indeed were “together” and then we had to tell them all about how this was actually the first time we had ever met which prompted the ladies at the table to tell Ronnie how much of a courageous woman she was, and I couldn’t agree more. And I am so stinking glad I said we were together because I could’ve made a real jackass outta myself if I’d of studdered and stammered around and said “not really” or some other stupid answer. But I didn’t thanks goodness and the whole weekend was perfect. We spent most of that first weekend driving around and talking, or sitting on the back porch drinking coffee and talking, or watching the Olympics with the t.v. muted and talking, or sitting on the couch talking, etc. We talked a lot. Over the next few weeks and months we talked a lot more. I racked up a staggeringly large cell phone bill several months in a row. It was worth every penny! We met face-to-face in August, I went up to meet her mom that following weekend, and then I went back up to Levelland two weekends later and it was on that weekend that we discussed marriage. On my way back home after that weekend, I called my parents and told them they almost gained a daughter-in-law over the weekend because we almost eloped. My dad (Pops) asked why we hadn’t already. I took that as their approval, and Gwynie Pie told me she had already known for some time that we were going to get married (some kind of Mom sixth sense thing I guess). The next time we were together I officially proposed to Veronica on the side of the road at the entrance to some industrial park next to Loop 306 in San Angelo. Not romantic at all, but it was the spot in the road where we happened to pull over to say our goodbyes before Ronnie headed north to Levelland and I could go south to Sonora. The next time you pass the entrance to the San Angelo industrial park you can think of me asking my beautiful bride to marry me there on the side of the road. So I guess now it is romantic!

We were married in December a couple days after Christmas, and then headed to New Mexico for our romantic honeymoon in he mountains. We didn’t get to Ruidoso, NM till close to midnight and then we had to head up the mountain to our cabin. This is the part of the honeymoon where I proceeded to get us stuck in snow/ice at the base of a mountain at 12 midnight in freezing weather. Our cabin was at the top of the mountain! We gathered up our luggage and decided to hike to the top. So we spent the first part of our honeymoon climbing a icy mountain in the wee hours of the morning. Climbing that stupid mountain I thought I was going to be one of those tragic news stories where the groom dies a horrific death on his honeymoon. Luckily, I survived and we had a wonderful time and then headed back to Sonora where we spent the first several weeks of our marriage painting our home. I realize now that painting so early on in the relationship easily could have turned out badly but we worked so well together and never once had the slightest unhappy moment painting and painting and repainting and re-repainting. So now, here we are in our little happy freshly painted home way out in the country away from noise and distractions and we wake up everyday committed to loving each other more than we did the day before.

A girls point of view

2009-06-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

Our love story, or so I like to call it, is something I only dreamed about.
I, Ronnie, grew up in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. It is a gorgeous place and I miss the beauty of it. The town where I lived was mostly a tourist attraction. There was Gore Mountain for skiing in the winter, hiking/mountain biking in the summer, along with the famous Hudson river that ran right through the middle of town. Rafters galore in the late spring and summer months. My childhood was pretty normal. I am the oldest of two. My sister, Cassie, is two years younger then me. I graduated from a small school with a class size of less then 30 in 2002. I went to a community college for two years then moved to North Carolina to be with my family. My dad took a job that was too good to pass up, so they sold our old farm house in New York and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. I followed a year later. (North Carolina is beautiful country as well.) I lived and worked in North Carolina for a year then moved to Texas to work for Cal Farley’s Girlstown USA as an activities coordinator. It was a job that only God could have given to me. It was a wonderful place to work and it instilled in me a love for the youth and serving them in some fashion. If you are not familiar with the Cal Farley’s organizations, they are non-profit, Christ-centered, and work to reunite children and their parents or to help rebuild relationships with the child and parent. Lots of great people work with these kids and it is truly a job that you need to be called into. One set of house parents that were called into this line of work play a VERY important role in this story. They came to work at Girlstown in early 2008, maybe even late 2007. Anyway, the Rosser’s and I hit it off. Joellen Rosser (Colin’s aunt) and I became immediate friends. She has a daughter that is my age and they had all just returned from North Carolina for their wedding. Small world. So we always had something to talk about. Right before the summer really went into full swing last year, we took all the girls that were on campus to the Bottomless Lakes in New Mexico. The Rosser’s went with their girls. Joellen and I sat on the beach, working hard of course, and just talked. Soon the conversation made its way to her asking me if I was “seeing” anyone. I wasn’t, so she then told me about her great nephew that I needed to meet. Now at this point in my life I really wasn’t looking to get into a relationship with anyone. I had come to the decision that I was going to let God bring me the man he wanted me to be with. I had done things my way in all my relationships, and they always turned out the same way and I was tired of it. For a change I was going to do what God wanted me to. So as I sat on the beach with Joellen, the only real question that I could think to ask was if “he” was a Christian, and she attested that he was. AND in fact, his dad was an ordained minister. Next thought, “Great, a preacher’s kid.” J So in the end I told her that it would be neat if we could meet some day. The “God wheel” began to turn that day, I am sure of it. Over the next few weeks I prayed. I prayed that God’s will be done in whatever relationship might develop between Colin and me. At the same time, Joellen and Gwyn (Colin’s mom) were working on the sidelines. Joellen had emailed some pictures of me to Gwyn, and they got the “mom approval”, or so I was told later on. If had been a few weeks since the beach talk, and I still continued to pray that God would do His thing, whatever that might be. Then I got an email from Jo and she told me that he wanted my email. And that is where it all began! I got back from being at church camp for a week with close to 40 girls and I had received my first email from Colin. Due to the lack of sleep and everything else that comes with chasing girls around for five days, I was exhausted! It took me close to two hours to reply. That was the start. Then the phone calls started, with that came a $700.00 cell phone bill, sorry about that Colin. We decided to meet in August. So I met him at his parents house for a weeknd trip. It was three hour drive and a two hour one for him. So we just kind of met in the middle. I can honestly say that up to that point it was the best weekend of my life. I was so nervous when I met him for the first time, but was excited at how easy it was to be around him. We drove around San Angelo and just talked. I can still remember sitting at a stop light and telling him that I had prayed about our relationship for a long time, and was floored when he responded with “Me too.” We talked openly about our faith and beliefs and our thoughts on children and childrearing. I think it was right there that I fell in love with him. I was so impressed that the entire weekend Colin never once crossed any sort of boundaries. He hugged me when I left and that was it. To be honest, I was scared that it meant that he didn’t really like me, but an hour later I found that not to be true. On my way home he call several times just to check on me and to make sure I was doing ok driving. We both admitted that it was a great and wonderful weekend and planned another one. The third time we were together we confessed our love, then by the fourth “get together” we were engaged! This was the end of September and we were married on December 27th, 2008. It has been nothing short of the greatest adventure I have ever set forth on. I grow more and more in love with Colin everyday. People are right when they say that everything changes when you get married. It is sooo much better! Being married is truly a gift from God. I believe it is just another way for Him to show us just how much he loves us. Loving Colin is the easiest choice that I get to make every day.

The man and the moon

2009-06-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

Just a really cool picture of Colin and the man in the moon.

The first of many

2009-06-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

After careful consideration, Colin and I have decided to join the blogging world. It could be a bit over due, but better late than never. We have talked about it a few times but never jumped on the train. Then yesterday Colin said that he was going to start up our blog, and we did. I think that was the easy part. We sat here at our little table for about thirty minutes staring at each other, trying to come up with a catchy name for our blog. (It is a lot harder than some may think!) We even walked around the yard and pulled weeds bouncing ideas off each other. We hit a few high notes, but in the end we had nothing! So we thought to phone a friend. First we called William and Gwyn then we called Devin and between them the name for our blog was found. Thanks guys!

We don't really know what the purpose of this blog will be, but it will for sure be about our lives (no matter how boring that may be at times) and the wonders of being a child of God. We are truly blessed.

Colin works at the Texas Agircultural Experiment Station, or it's new name, AgriLife Research Station in Sonora. Well, it is about 30 miles south of Sonora in the middle of nowhere. He is in charge of the livestock but does just about everything out here. That comes with being a part of a small crew. You must be able to be more than your "job title". So some days he is out in the pasture rounding up sheep, goats or cows, and others he mights be tearing off the roof of the building
across the street or working in the office. Regular handy man if you ask me, but I am very biased on this issue! When he is not working for A&M (the station), he is lighting things on fire. He is a certified prescribed burn manager through the state and burns for ranchers. He has been doing this for over three years, and has close to 60 prescribed burns under his belt. He has his own business and burns three months out of the year. It is great and exciting and it allows us to work side by side, which is really perfect for both of us.

I moved to Sonora right after we got married and went from working full time, to house wife. I wouldn't go back for anything. I love love love being able to spend time home and being here when Colin comes home for lunch, not that there wasn't an adjustment period. I did put my name in at the school, just as a sub, and that was fun but I ended up missing being home. This summer I am going to work as summer help with Colin at the station and that job just started. It is good and will be the extra money that we can use towards getting out of debt. That is our number one goal for the year. Pay off student loans and the pickup. We have decided to tell our money where to go so we don't have to ask where did it all go. So with God's help and a little bit of hard work, we will be out of debt by December if not sooner!

Our life is pretty simple, but we have a blast and are excited about all the adventures that are heading our way. Life is good and God is way better!