I opened up and shared with you, the hole in my heart.  It was extremely hard for me to share what I did as open as I did but since I had never ever really talked about it with anyone, I think it helped me deal with it in the long run.

Despite Truett’s unruly behavior at the time, I was able to snap a photo of him and his daddy’s hands that was enough to make me melt.  I thought he was unruly then……boy I was wrong.

Truett got his first horse thanks to the kind Mr. Butler.  He named him Sparkplug.  It really was a proud moment for the mom of a cowboy.

Every year I have shared a post about my faith and where I stand.  This year I expressed how hard it was for me to believe and how it hurt to have people give up on you.  Despite that, I have grown and have learned a few things throughout the year.  While I do still struggle, I am still trying to believe.

New York City.  Honestly, I could talk all day about NYC but for now, I’ll just share the recap of my trip to Blogher in NYC, where I got to see some of my closes friends, meet with favorite PR peeps, and even meet a few celebs like Robert Verdi and Padma Ladshmi.

I also attended the annual Walmart Shareholder’s meeting in Bentoville where not only did I learn a great deal about Walmart (and meet the CEO), I also got to see outstanding performances by Mariah Carey, Josh Groban, and more!!  I had some of the best seats in the house and enjoyed every moment!

I ruffled a few feathers when I shared why I don’t read or refer your blogs.  Boy did I get on some bad sides after that but at the same time, there were an overwhelming majority that agreed with me and well, it was how I felt and still feel.

I got featured, along with some other Walmart Moms, in a Walmart ad!  It was cool.

Nikon sent me a D90 and 70-300 lens to review and got a little crazy and wore something that I normally wouldn’t.  I felt good in it….

Honestly, there was so much that happened in 2010, both good and not so great but I’ve enjoyed every minute.  Keep an eye out for my reflection post over at my food blog where i talk about some of my favorite recipes, campaigns (like the first ever blogger Got Milk one), and events like hanging with Rocco Dispirito and Marisa Tomei.  It was cool.

It was a great year for blogging to say the least.  I will say that I did struggle emotionally with things and where I wanted to take my blogs and go but after a long thought process, I think I do know deep down what I want, which is less.  Meaning, I want to go back to how things were, when I was truly happy.  Just two blogs, talking about whatever i wanted, when I wanted.  And that there my friends, are my expectations for 2011.  Many of you are probably aware of the big dreams I had but I think that it took me a long time to realize that what I enjoy most are my family, crocheting, photography, hanging out with friends, and crafting.  I just want to live again vs being tied down nonstop to the computer.  Don’t think I’m going anywhere ’cause I’m not.  I just know what my priorities are now.  I did pretty good sticking to my goals for the year and I expect I’ll do well at sticking to them for the new year.

I hope you guys all know what you truly want to do with your blog, your life, and your heart and make it happen.  I wish everyone a bright, happy, memorable 2011.

]]> http://acowboyswife.com/2010-reflections-and-2011-expectations/feed/ 2 http://acowboyswife.com/ta-da-makeover-magic/ http://acowboyswife.com/ta-da-makeover-magic/#comments Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:16:21 +0000 A Cowboy's Wife http://acowboyswife.com/?p=1580 The girls at the Oak St. Salon did a heck of job in my opinion! My hair dresser Kim felt so bad when she cut my hair but she shouldn’t have. See, I told her to cut it off, of course after the pressure of everyone saying cut it off;) Anyways, it was after the cut when I broke down. It was so short and it was what I asked for but it was hard for me to come to terms with it.

After about an hour of crying, me and Kim decided I needed a small break to gather my thoughts and just breathe. That’s when I make the quick video. Once we got started again, I cried a little on and off but finally calmed down during the caramel highlights. And then once they started stylin’ it, I just closed my eyes and waited.

When I opened them, I was looking for me because I sure didn’t see ME in the mirror. I was shocked at the difference!! I couldn’t believe how extreme but beautiful it was. It was the first time in my life that I felt hip and pretty. I loved it! It sorta gave me this new confidence.

So thank you to Kim for cutting, stylin’, and dealing with this crybaby! Thank you to Debra, Nandy, and Kristie for helping!  Ya’ll were great!  And of course to Wal-Mart for giving me this opportunity that not only gives me a great profile picture, but has given me a new outlook on myself and what I can accomplish.

Finally, I must thank Kathy for taking the photos.  Exceptional and I’m proud that she’s my Aunt and made me feel comfortable throughout the shoot!! :)

First up is some of the cowboy crew trying to settle the cattle down after rounding them up and herding them in.  I chose black and white because the color was not appealing at all.  In fact, there’s not much color any where out here at all!  I was just driving up to the pens so I snapped this one from inside my truck.

Next up: After the calves have been sorted from their mommas, it’s time to drag them out one by one and brand them.  This fella a-horseback happens to be a good friend of ours.  Super nice guy who drinks Coca-Cola:)  He probably won’t like this picture too much though because it shows him draggin’ one foot and not 2.  Cowboys hate when they only catch one foot…that just ain’t punchy at all!

Time to brand…….After those 2 cowboys above have flipped the calf of its’ side, several cowboys come in at once and ear tag it, give it shots, cut the cajones (if they have them), and brand them. 

And finally, I can’t show you cowboy pictures without getting at least one person’s backside!  After all, Wranglers are what REAL cowboys wear;)  This fella happens to be my girlfriend’s man!  YES, she knows I took a picture of her man’s backside, in fact, I printed it off for her:)

I don’t have a tripod so my sunset is a bit blurry but still worth looking at.  There was no wind yesterday evening and it’s was warm.  I could have sat there all night, in fact, had I had some camping gear I might have slept outside all night.  I’ve been having some back problems the last few days so I haven’t got out to take any pics.  I thought I’d share the usual horse pictures.  They seem to like to hang around the house which I find slighty irritating for a couple of reasons.  1 (and the most important) is because Truett can get out of the yard easily so it would take no time at all for him to get underneath those horses and get hurt.  The second is I don’t want any more damaged goods!

I talk about Elmer so often that I forget to mention Samuel, the famous actor & escape artist.  Afterall, he was in the Tommy Lee Jones movie “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” and he knows how to unlatch gates and even untie knots.  He’s not the prettiest horse but he is smart. 

Da’ Man is drinking a beer after a long day at work.  His hat is slightly up in the back.  That means he’s takin’ it easy.  He’s tired and needs to shave.  He hates for me to take his picture, unlike other cowboys.  Luckily, I can sneak one every now and then.  He is my true love.

Toby, the middle child, is just hanging around wish he was home playing his xbox I’m sure.  If he could, he would probably grab some Delsey luggage and leave us for a different family.  He’s just not into the barn thing. 

Lil’ Man is cracking up at the rocks he’s throwing into the horse trough.  He’s a weirdo!

And Tyler…..always in such a hurry to grow up.  He’s been working all day and just wants to go home and nap.  Don’t let that sour look fool ya.  He’s can be very sweet when it comes to his brother (the youngest one anyways).

I come home to a whoppin’ 442 emails!  Geez, I guess it’s gonna take me longer than I expected to reply to some of you but don’t fret, I’ll answer as soon as I can. 

I took a few pictures, some good and some not so great but it’s all practice.  I was playing around with this picture of Tyler sitting under the tree and ended up with a completely different look.  It’s not great but I kinda like the look of it.  I was going for “mysterious”.  Compare the two and lemme know what you think or what you would have done to it. 

I’ve got other blogs to update, clothes to wash, a kid to bathe, and I’ve got to pee so I’ll catch ya’ll later! 

This is just gonna be a random post about absolutely nothing. 

Every week or two, there is a new assignment at the digital point forum (problogger’s digital photography blog) that I try to participate and this week it is all about eyes.  So, instead of submitting these to the forum assignment, I am just displaying them here.  I’ll see everyone this weekend.  GO GIANTS!

For those who have no clue what halter breakin’ is….it’s basically getting the horse used to having a rope thing-a-ma-jigger on their head so you can lead them around. 

Now this is my son’s first time to halter break a horse.  He’s broke horses before but they were already halter broke.  This, to me, is a little scary because you never know if they’re gonna rare up and paw at you or flip over backwards. 

First, you have to seperate the one you plan on halter breaking from the other horses.  If you notice in this picture, the gate to the left opens to a stall.  They try to booger one of the colts in there so that the other horse getting broke has no distractions.

Secondly, he catches the colt.  Sometimes easy, sometimes hard.  Do ya think this was a catch??  Hmmm, I think I’ll let you figure that one out on your own!

Third, you want the horse to calm down, sit still, and face you.  You’re trying to earn his trust so you slowly keep trying to walk up to the colt and rub his nose & pet his head.  The time spent here varies.  The colts are quite scared of you or what you might do.  After all, they know nothing. 

He’s still freaked out…………….

Now the colt’s finally figuring out that Tyler ain’t gonna hurt him and lets him rub on his nose for a second.

Fourth, once you get them to a point where you can pet on them and move them side to side with your rope, it’s time for the halter.  Now I missed Tyler puttin’ the halter on ’cause I had to run up to the house.  When I got back, my man had taken the halter off and reapplied the halter again, just to get him used to it.

That’s it!  They just run around for awhile so they can adjust to the new piece of cowboy gear on their head.  After a bit, the guys will take the halter off and restart the whole process again tomorrow and will keep doing it until it’s “normal” to the colts. 

ooooo, I want one of my own.  Hey, wait…maybe if I sweet talk my man he’ll give it to me! 

These photos were taken by my man!