"Mi dulce mariposa"

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!