Pictures & Sweat Bee's

Yesterday I took pictures,got stung by a sweat bee, rode horses, and ate lemon bars. Amen.

That's all you really need to know.

Well, that and I am currently listening too (and singing) "Dream On" by Aerosmith.

Goodbye Forever.

Just kidding...You can't get rid of me that easily.

Lemme 'splain...

You see, this sweet family pictured above, was brave enough to allow me to take their family pictures yesterday, and they were brave enough to put up with me all afternoon, and brave enough to feed me dinner.  I think a round of applause in their honor is necessary right now.

Thank You.

The pictures turned out pretty good, but it's easy for pictures to turn out good when everyone in the family is photogenic...

People like that make me sick.

Because I am not photogenic.

At all.

Example A:

(NOTICE: I had to put my equally un-photogenic seester in here, so I'm not the only one that freaks people out. Amen.)

Example B:

Ok, I better stop before someone gets sick.

Moving on...

Yesterday, while I was taking the pictures, the forces of nature decided to chew me up and spit me out.

Translation: I got bit by a sweat bee...twice.  The poison released into my neck decided to ignite and make me break out into a cold sweat, get light headed, need to throw up, and have heart palpitations.

I survived though, in case anyone was wondering.

Sweat bee's have had it out for me since the 3rd grade when one of the little devils decided to get caught in my shirt and just go to town on my sweet flesh.  (That was a little descriptive...sorry.)  And I have been scarred (literally) ever since.

I think I'll just stay inside for the rest of my life.

Just kidding, I couldn't do that.  Especially after the horse ride I took last night.

My friend, Shandi, was kind enough to let me ride one of her horses last night on a neighboring ranch...Not just any neighboring ranch.  It was the most beautiful place I have ever laid eyes upon. Amen.

There were canyons, and ponds, and mesquite trees, and Bear Grass. (Or Yucca...we had different names for these plants, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I just want to eat the flowers off of them.  They look succulent. Is that weird?) 

It was tranquil.

It was lovely.

It made me want to become a Nomad, and live off it's land, eating the succulent flowers, and bathing in the pond, and howling at the moon with all the coyotes.

I need help.

I changed my mind about becoming a Nomad though when Shandi's mom fed me her lemon bars.  They are reason enough to stay civilized...for now.




Peace, Love, & Speaking of becoming a Nomad, I should probably learn how to hunt with a spear before I do that.

Sweet T

1400 Pictures

I plugged my IPhone into my computer today for the first time in, well...ever.


The results were shocking.

I did not know that you could download ALL your pictures and ALL your videos to your computer from your IPhone.  All this time I have been lost, emailing myself pictures so that I could blog with them, fighting the horrid conditions that come along with emails, and cursing the day that technology came to be...Simply because we (technology and I) don't get along so well.  Never fear though, I now feel that my soul is complete, because I never have to send another email again. Amen.

Unless, of course, the President or Dolly Parton emails me. (Fingers Crossed.)

Now here is where things get embarrassing.

I had 1,349 pictures and, 52 videos on my phone.

How in the world does that happen?

This is the first picture I ever took with Iris the IPhone. (Oh by the way, I name everything...I'm weird like that.)

It's of my sweet cousin, whom I love dearly because he is precious, precious, and precious.

This is the most recent picture I took with Iris.

It was during class, and my attention was devoted fully to my teacher as you can tell.

This is a picture of a crazy lady trying to dance.  Which she can't and never will be able to do. Amen.

This is a picture resembling something you would see on Animal Planet.

This is one of my favorite pictures on Iris.  My Brahman Breedin' brother is one cool cat...but don't tell him I said that.



I take alot of pictures like this one...

They make my soul sing.

I take alot of pictures like this too.  That's because I eat a lot of things like this, and I eat alot of things like this because my new favorite saying is YOLO. (You Only Live Once...this is a very good saying when it comes to food. Amen.)

This picture is of my Daddy at Oklahoma City.  He's a cool cat too.

I took this picture because it is of my baby, Consuela.  'Nuff said.

You know...I'm not quite sure why this picture was taken...

Hmm.

Moving on...



And we will end with this picture.

Because it's cute.

Because it's recent.

And because If I post another picture of delicious food we will all regret it.

Goodbye forever.

Peace, Love, & Now I have to go and delete approximately 1400 pictures.

Sweet T

'Stache of Dreams

It's late.

It's much too late to be blogging.

It's much to late to be studying for horticulture.

It's much to late to be planning my wedding...I do that sometimes, plan my wedding, because I'm weird like that. Pray for my FH (future husband.)

It's much to late to be trying to kill spiders with hairspray. (That would be my crazy roommate not me.  Even though I'm crazy too.)

It's much to be late to be thinking about how late it is, and that how when I live on my future (funny) farm staying up this late will not be in the question because I will have to get up in the morning to gather eggs, milk the cow, and make breakfast for my cute, country family. Amen.

Speaking of "cute" and "country" lets get to the point...

This is Pop again...the star of my Instagram.

I just think he is stinkin' cute.

He's stinkin' country too.

I feel that Pop should be the poster child of something very manly, or maybe he should be the new Marlboro Man, or maybe he should just be a male model?

Don't let this debonair man fool you.  He is a hard worker, a skilled farmer, and ok, lets just face it: Anyone that can grow a 'stache like this man is what dreams are made of.

Especially my grandma's dreams.

Did I really just say that?

I better go to bed now.

Goodbye forever.


Peace, Love, & I'm in a state of sleep deprivation right now, and it's rocking my world...In a good way.

Sweet T

The Brahman Breeder & The Sandhill Cowboy

These homeboys are twins.

Ok, no they are not.

But they could be.

They are actually father and son, even though the son is almost as tall as the father.

The Father...works all day at the Feedyard called Sandhill.

He rides, he ropes, he shows horses galore.  He gives shots, mends fences, pulls trailers, and mucks stalls galore.  He watches Westerns, reads his Bible, and doesn't cook...galore.  He knows cattle, and horses, and how to play a mean game of Round Pen Baseball.  You can frequently hear him saying "I've had worse than that on my lip and never quit whistlin'" And then you can find him on the couch crying for my mom (his wife...duh) because he has a cold, but don't tell anyone that.  You can also frequently find him humbly accepting a new belt buckle because he has not let his God given talents go to waste.  He is the funniest I know, he is the nicest guy I know, he's the hardest worker I know, and he has the cutest daughters I've ever seen.

I should be slapped for that.

The Son...goes to school all day at a place called Lazbuddie.

He catches animals of all kinds, he has a Brahman, he has a horse, he has kitties galore, and her in a few days you will find him with all kinds of chickens running around. He can tell you anything about anything and sometimes he's even right.  He plays baseball, basketball, and rides his horse with the best of them.  Give him a cookie dough ice cream and 6:00 doesn't seem so early anymore.  Don't underestimate his knowledge either, sometimes I think that he knows more than me.  He has the kindest heart of any 9 year old boy I have ever met.  He is quick to love, even though he doesn't always show it, and he already has a heart that belongs to the Lord.  He's an alright kid...and he has the cutest sisters I've ever seen.

Goodbye forever.




These guys are two very unique characters.


Peace, Love, & What would we do without the Brahman Breeder & the Sandhill Cowboy?

Sweet T

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Today is Mom's birthday.  Mom is my Grandma, who acts and looks much to young to be a Grandma.  So in honor of Mom today I am listing some fun facts about her that everyone should know.  Actually, everyone should just get to know Mom, because she is a wonderful lady whom I love very much.  And no, I am not bias just because I grew up on the slide outside of her house...Ok, yes I am.

Mom is lovely...

And Sweet...

And funny...

And loves to shop...

And loves her grand kids.

(Especially her eldest...just kidding...kind of.)

She is married to an 'ole poot named Pop.

She has 3 kids...they are all slackers. Just kiddiing.

She works at a Care Center where she is GREAT at her job.  She is always happy to see her residents, and they are always happy to see her.

Her Texas Sheet Cake is the best in the world. Amen.

Her house always smells nice, and clean...unless the Brahman Breeder is there.

Her backyard holds about 50% of my childhood memories, and only one of them involves me tearing up her grass because I don't know how to golf...

She is very fashionable.  (Seriously, if I could raid her closet I would be set for the rest of my life...Oh wait, I did raid her closet at our garage sale, and now I am a much happier and content person.)

She is a Christian lady, that sets one of the best examples a girl could ever need.

She is my Mom (grandma) and I love her.

'Nuff said.


Peace, Love, & Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Sweet T
(Your granddaughter...but you already knew that.)

Cheesy Picture

I'm in the HELC right now waiting on my last class of the day to start, and all I can think of to do is blog. 

Because blogging is much more productive than homework. Amen.

Side note: HELC stands for "Here, Everyone Leave Campus" just kidding, I actually don't know what the "HELC" stands for I just know that it's a dark, creepy place where there are a bunch of computers, nobody talks, and everyone stares at you like you have spinach on your teeth.

I never have spinach on my teeth.  It's usually chocolate.

Moving On...

So as I'm sitting here waiting for my class to start, and trying to look no one directly in the eyes, I found this picture on my phone:



I love this picture.

It was taken at Houston during Spring Break, by my lovely sister who loves to catch people off guard.

She thought she was funny and gave the picture this caption:

Summer: "Hey err'body look at my cheesy smile"

Trail: "I need to pick my nose, but we're going to fast!"

Mama: "Stupid girl..."

Try as I might, I cannot argue any of these captions...because they are all true.




Peace, Love, & We are a strange family.

Sweet T

Hidden Camera

I"m in love with the photo app, instagram.

I do it all the time.

I instagram in the morning, while I'm eating, when I'm painting, during church....

Just kidding, I don't instagram in church. I just do it before and after. Amen.

Lately, my favorite subject to instagram is Pop.

But Pop doesn't know it...

Which makes it even better.

This is of Pop at Easter.  He's sitting there trying to calculate how many eggs he can steal from all his grandson's Easter baskets.  The answer was how ever many he wants, because, well...because he's Pop.

'Nuff said.



This is of Pop at the Brahman Breeder's basketball game.  He's sitting there trying to come up with an excuse to leave.  He never found one, because he was sitting by me the whole time and enjoys my company so much that it would break his heart to leave.

'Nuff said.


Now these pictures below...

Pop was fully aware I was taking them.

Because I made him pose...after church.

This mustache is famous where I come from.

It mesmerizes people to a state of confusion and wonder.

And I just walk around saying, "Yea. That's my Grandpa!"

Then people throw eggs at me.

This picture of Pop is one of my favorite picture in da world. Ya dig?

It sums up his character, his demeanor, and his purpose in life.

Well, actually he has two purposes in life, and one of them is to spoil his granddaughters rotten. Amen.


Peace, Love, & Thank You Pop for being the star of my instagram...even though you don't always know it.

Sweet T

The Meal of All Meals

Good food is a thing I cherish.

Every time I encounter it I want to wrap it up in my arms and sing sweetly to it, and then, well...eat it of course.

I try not to sing to it in public though. People generally frown upon that.

There are a few occasions when singing is definitely necessary...Last night was one of those occasions.

I went over to my friend Shandi's house...

Side note: Hi Shandi...I hope it's ok that I'm blogging about you.  I promise I won't reveal any personal information. I also won't reveal that last night we watched Dancing with the Stars and ate too much ice cream.

Err...

Oops.

Ok, never mind.

Moving on...

Shandi is a food-lover after my own heart. Her parents cook a huge meal every Sunday night and the whole family comes over! Lately they've been letting me in on this Sunday Supper because I told them this huge sob story about how my parents don't feed me, and that I haven't had a home cooked meal in 6 years, and that I usually eat gum for dinner.

Just kidding, I didn't tell them that.  But if it meant I would get to eat with them all the time, I probably would tell them that.

Is that normal behavior?

I didn't think so...

Anyways, last night for some unknown and blessed reason Shandi's parents had us over again to eat....get ready for it....*Drum Roll Playing*....STEAK.

The meal of all meals.

The King of all foods.

Steak.

And my plate looked like this:

It was a glorious meal.

It made me happy.

It made me cry...because I was so happy.

I ate all of it. Amen.


Peace, Love, & Thank you Shandi's parents for making me (happily) eat more than I should...

Sweet T

This Is How We Roll

We have a new house.

Well, actually it's an old house that is new to us because we have never lived in it before.  But soon it will not be so new anymore because we will move into it and live there...because that's what people do...they live in houses.

When we ("We" being my odd family) live in houses we like to paint every inch of them before we find it acceptable. So, as you can imagine, our poor, new house has been having an extreme makeover for the past two weeks and will continue to do so for the next few weeks, and well...probably the rest of it's life in all honesty.  Because that's how we roll.

We roll paint too.

Lots and LOTS of paint.

Yes, this is our laundry room, and yes, we know it looks old. That's the way we like it. 

I spent two days trying to make these cabinets look just the right age.  If I sanded them too much they would look like they belonged in the bottom of a river, but if I sanded them not enough they would look too new, and too fancy for our house.  What I'm trying to say is that these cabinets took some dedication.  Dedication that I had after drinking a lot of Peace Tea and eating a lot of brownies.

This is the "girl" bathroom, powder room, restroom, outhouse, whatever you prefer to call it...

The walls our turquoise (Surprise, surprise) and my Mom suggested that I paint a pink border around the mirror to give the room that "Gypsy" "Hacienda" look we were going for.  I took her suggestion and ran with it.

I ran too far.  I basically ran from Texas all the way to Canada and back.

Translation: I got carried away with the pink.

And the swirls...

And the flowers...

But if you have an imagination, and appreciation for all things gypsy you will LOVE this bathroom.

Judging by the look on his face when my Dad came into the room, he does not have an imagination or an appreciation for all things gypsy.

Our fireplace.

I love fireplaces.

They bring warmth, and comfort, and joy every time I look at one, especially when it's lit. But if it's lit and I stare at it too long then I start losing my vision and I get cranky.

I have issues.

My Mom struggled with what color to paint the fireplace for an entire afternoon.

We all offered our suggestions:

Me: Turquoise! Because that's the answer to everything...

Trail: There's a bull snake in the yard!

Daddy: Hopsack, because that's what we have the most of...

Autumn: .....

(I can't remember her suggestion. I don't think she was in the room. She was probably eating cobbler, or dancing...)

Mama: Turquoise with brown over it!

The verdict now: Brown. Because it looked pretty.

This Indian.

This Indian is probably my favorite thing in the house because, well...because it's an Indian!

She is painted on Autumn's bedroom wall, so that she can wake up every morning, look at this confident creature, and embrace each day with confidence herself!

And so that she can feel like an Indian every time she cooks a squirrel, or takes a scalp...

Sorry, that was graphic. 

Goodbye Forever.


Peace, Love, & Sometimes I think I forget I live in the 21st century...

Sweet T

The Family that loves, and eats too much...

My parents have been living in their current house since I was in the 8th grade, so as you can imagine this house holds lots of memories for me.

It's where I became a "High Schooler." Awaiting the fun times that all ignorant, conceited teenagers think of when they become freshmen.

It's where I got my drivers license and the whole world cried.

It's where I became a senior , and held my "Hot Dog Bar & Cupcake Party" for my after-graduation party.  People are still talking about it.  Just kidding, all we did was eat Hot Dogs, cupcakes, and more cupcakes...Oh, and I think one of my cousins ate a bug but that is beside the point...

To sum it all up: This house is where I grew up.

I try not to get attached to things and I usually don't, but recently my parents bought a new house. A lovely house, with pens and barns and pink trim galore! I am very happy for them and it is already feeling like home, but that does not erase the fact that we won't be living in the same house anymore. (Duh)

Instead of getting overly emotional, and crying and carrying on like I never do *wink*wink* I am focusing on the positive, and the positive is this:

No matter where we choose to live as a family, the sun will still come up and still set. (God Willingly)

We will still go the feed yard every weekend to rope and cookout.

We will still have breakfast for supper (Brupper) at least 20 times a month.

We will still gather together to make fun of each other until someone ends up crying. (That someone is usually me, but no hard feelings or anything...)

We will still go to church on Sunday mornings, and nap on Sunday afternoons.

We will still be a family that loves, and laughs, and eats too much.

And I am forever grateful for that fact. Amen.

Peace, Love, & Go hug your family...All of them. At the same time.  Make it a group hug and don't let go until it turns into a mosh pit.

Just an Idea...

I'm weird.

Sweet T

West Texas A&M University Outdoor Living

This video above warms my soul.

It's all about promoting the Agriculture program in my little, lovely school: West Texas A&M.

Now, seeing as that I consider myself an Ag-vacate, what kind of person would I be if I didn't share it with the world?

I would be shameful.

I would be nothing.

I would be shamefully nothing.

So here it goes...

 First stop: I'm sharing it with my blogging peeps.  (Is it alright if I call you that? Ok, good. It has a nice ring to it. Blogging peeps, blogging peeps, blogging peeps...)

Next: Facebook and Twitter. Yes I tweet.  In fact I consider myself a tweeb.

And Finally: The World! (I shall show it to the world by getting it tattooed on my right arm. Amen.)

So please, watch it, love it, and share it with your peeps too.


Peace, Love, & Lets all go Ag-Vacate!

Sweet T