“What are you going to name the young Prince?” asked the baby rabbit.

“I’ll call him Bambi”, the mother answered.

Now funny here, at this point of the story, no one said, "I once knew a hair lipped jerk named Bambi." or "don't ya think that name sounds a little 'light in the loafers'?" or "you're gonna regret naming him that in a few years since it's such a trendy name right now."  Nope, even little Thumper just replied, "I guess that will do."  But this is a Disney movie, not real life.  Telling folks in real life some of the names you are thinking of calling your little one, prompts responses like the ones listed above.  This is why (with a little shoving on Alan who can't wait to tell people the name) we have decided to wait until he is born to reveal the name of Baby Bass.  He is referred to as 'TrickY RickY' by my mother after the little scare we had at week 15.  I think folks are less likely to share the opinions of the name you have chosen (to your face at least) when you are standing there holding the little fellow that actually is now in plain site.

I do have to admit it is a little hard.  Alan told a tailgating buddy of his who he says doesn't know any of our family/friends and won't tell.  This prompted me to tell the horse show judge I was scribing for at the horse show.  She's from Odessa and I will probably never see her again.  That was a safe person to tell, right? 

 Well, the point of the story is that until March, we will try to keep his name under wraps until you see his sweet little face and no matter what we choose to call him, everyone will simply say, "awwwww."  And remember, take the advice of Thumper when people tell you their kid's name: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  :)

Christmas time's-a-comin'

Oh my boot fetish...of course they ended up on my list to Santa.  :)

I do love Christmas.  Alan and I will celebrate our first Christmas together this year...EVER...and we are married....and expecting a baby.  I guess it looks a little awkward once you get it down on paper but feels so easy/natural like we have been doing this for years!  I have always had a little fake tree I grabbed from some yard sale years ago in the house.  It is still there.  Same ornaments, just some new maroon ribbon.  However, we did purchase a real tree.  Since there is little room in the house as it is, the new/real tree is out on the porch.  We bought new lights, decor for the fence, the door and the wagon by the door.  I even painted a sign for the barn which I think I will leave up all year.  It reads "Love was born in a stable."  I just love that.  I love stables because most of my favorite critters live in there (minus the dang raccoons but since this is a cheery chrsitmas entry I will not go off on how I despise those creatures).  AND, every day when I walk out to see my favorite furry steed, I read that sign and remember my Savior and it makes me smile.
I cannot wait to celebrate with my family and my new family!  And speaking of the in-laws, thanks to their help and the help of Trayla (Travis and Kayla) and Blade (Blaine and Wade), Alan and I get the pleasure of helping to adopt a needy family.  With the help of all of these folks, we are really going to be able to spoil these 4 kids and their mother this Christmas.  What a blessing to be able to do this for others.
In other news, I'm plugging along the trail of baby percolating.  Alan talks to him and gets him all fired up every evening, then drifts all to sleep while I lay there with a tiny ninja in my belly.  I have had one of the easiest pregnancies I do believe (according to others who have compared and that I have heard of) however, I am really beginning to feel preggo.  Shortness of breath, urination every 5 minutes, no sleep, feeling heavy, fat and slow, and just general discomfort as a human.  HOWEVER, I know this will all be worth the wait and worry and discomfort very soon.  I feel so blessed to be fat, slow and uncomfortable!  It is hard to believe that this time next year we will be celebrating Christmas with another member of the family.  The excitement overwhelms me almost as much as my gratitude to God for giving me this gift.
So until next time, I leave you with what I hope to be our first Chrsitmas card...if I ever get the thing mailed.
XoXO

Yall are not gonna believe this...

REALLY, you're NOT.  I'm married.  Yeah, in the past 3 months, since the last time I blogged, I have gotten married.  Let me not also forget to mention to you....a baby.  A baby is coming too.  The BIGGEST blessings of my LiFE have come at me HARD and FAST and I could not be more GREATFUL!  The words to one Kris Kristofferson song come to mind..."why me LORD?  What have I ever done, to deserve even one of the pleasures I've known?"

Love that song!  Love KK!  Love these blessing and the LORD!

SO...A-Bass and I had been talking about getting married for a while.  We had also talked about going through the DUE process.  We should wait.  Everyone will think we are crazy if we do this too quickly.  We know we love each other.  We know we want to marry one another.  BUT, let's wait.  There is a proper procedure/time frame for all of this. 

AND the LORD said, "SMACK!  hey you planners, I think not."

Baby.  I found out I was going to have a baby.  Initial shock, worry, what will people think we are not married, all went away as we told our friends and family.  Excitement, joy, thankfulness set in.

Well then, that October-fall-pumpkin-mum wedding I had always hoped for was upon us.  WE started planning with the help of our family/friends. People I love, really demonstrated how much they love me through all the work they put into that event.  AWESOMENESS.  Not the way I planned to be married, but just the way it was planned for me.  I never felt like I lost a moment of anything that a "normal" bride would have experienced.  Due to the awesomeness of people around me, there were showers, parties, and all things associated with a bride-to-be.

 It was MORE than I thought it would be.  It was MORE fun, More stuff, MORE people, More cake, More decorations, MORE gifts, MOre photos, MORE flowers, MORE help, MORE pretty, MORE hair, MORE dress, MORE LOVE than I had ever imagined.  I am so thankful for all of it. 

I wouldn't take any of this back.  I would not change the way this happened.  I would not "fix" a thing.  It was perfect.  The route our lives have taken is perfect.

AND my most favorite to DATE (thanks to our awesome photographer miss Maleigh)

Sooooo....as you can see, we have had some busy past few months.  I cannot wait to celebrate Thanksgiving with my new husband!  Not to mention, the last meeting until who-knows-when of TAMU and tu.  Some eventful weeks are ahead of us!  Christmas will be here soon (I cannot wait).  I am particularly in the mood this year!  ThEN, the event that helps pay the bills, the ROdeo will be here.  ANd this year this event brings an even more special blessing, our baby.  That's right.  Our first child is due smack dab in the middle of the Rodeo-can't wait!  So unitl then, I will enjoy being a new wife, the holidays, and sit back and gestate. :)
 Blessings yall!!

Adventures with A-Bass

So, as my first post mentioned, there have been some changes in my life.  One of those changes was my introduction to Alan Bass. (aka A-Bass aka Bebop cause the boy is always movin/shakin'/jivin'/beboppin', hence the name, Bebop.)  What a shock!  Was there actually someone MADE for me who is NOTHING like what I have been searching for?!  I believe so.  To say the least, cows, sows and plows are not his gig.  Many things that came second nature to me growing up because it was all around me, are not the same things he was affiliated with.  When helping me at the barn he says things like "water bowl" and "food bowl."  He reprimands my horse as if he were talking to a labrador that was chewing on some shoes, and greets him with a kiss on the nose.  It makes me laugh, and warms my heart to know he cares enough to learn more every day about my "horsey" lifestyle.

These may not be the things I was looking for, but oh how refeshing!  So, I've mentioned what he doesn't know, but let me tell you what he does know....everything else!  What a smart, caring individual I have found.  He knows how to treat people, he knows and cares about current events and world matters, he knows about finance and being financially responsible, he knows how to love people, he knows that when he doesn't know something, it's perfectly ok to admit that.  He knows how to listen, he knows about his LORD, he knows it's important to take care of your body, he knows how to cook, he knows how to pray, he knows sports (this is an understatement), he knows how to have fun (also an understatement) and he knows ME. 
I met this fellow through a friend of a friend, thought seriously about not meeting up with him at this restaurant/bar, and left knowing my life was about to be majorly changed for the better.  So only my best pal, Jaime Stewart knew I was doing this.  We try to be sure at least WE, know where each other are, in case something happens to us.  So she knew I was going to meet this Alan character, and I was instructed to text when I left so she knew I was headed home, and she needed some info on how the meeting went.  To make a long back story long, my mother has a couple of funny sayings, one being "they go."  For instance, if you see the school bus coming down the road, and would like to inform your kids it is approaching, you would say, "they go school bus."  Now, it also needs to be said in a bit of a sing-song format.  Emphasis on the noun you speak of.  "They go" is said quickly.  So Jaime and I had always talked about one day finding that needle in the hay stack.  The one you know is for you.  So when Alan and I walked to the parking lot, said a quick goodbye, and talked about meeting again the next day, I jumped in the car and immeditaley text her 3 words, "They go neeeeedle!"

So now that you know what kind of guy we are dealing with here, you must know by now that we have had some fun and seen some places together.  As I think about the goings on even in the last 6 months, I feel sure I will forget to document some of them.  Once he made it through the rodeo with me, we hit the road and never really looked back.

Weddings consumed the latter part of the spring and most of the summer.

Whitney's Wedding - New Braunfels, TX

ToDD and Corrie's wedding - Rockport, TX

Vacation in Florida

Let us not forget my ever so classy first meeting of the brother at the NCAA Final Four Tournament

(The beer in my hand at noon is a sign of how the rest of the evening panned out)


THen a Todd Payne wedding in Sacramento, CA

A Justin Oberthier wedding in Baton Rouge, LA

THen a quick trip to CO to see and friends and experience Cheyenne Frontier Days, and Rockygrass Festival featuring MilkDrive and Brian Beken

These are just a few ventures that have happened in the lately...not to mention the weekend road trips, birthday parties, concerts, 5K's, prayer times, basketball games, baseball games, and just plain ole good times.

GALS, what I'm sayin' is, a girl just doesn't get much more blessed than this:

THey Go Bebop

:)



Another confession of conformity

This past weekend, cable tv was installed in my home.  That's right folks, another bill to pay for mindless/smut entertainment.  I despise all things it stands for.  As I surfed the channels, I remembered why.  Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, Cheaters, Two and a Half Men, The Real World, Celebrity Rehab...these are all reasons our country is going to hell in a handbasket.  That, and people line dancing to Steve Earle, parents not disciplining their children, and Dairy Queen employees not turning over my Blizzard before handing it to me in a drive through line to display its frozen goodness.  I digress.
I never wanted such things in my home.  If I need entertaining, I have plenty of books, chores to be done outside, a porch to sit on and enjoy the night air, and a dog that likes to play fetch.  Turns out 3 out of 4 of these items requires me to be outside in the HEAT.  And I don't mean heat like, "I'm kind of a sissy and don't like to sweat much" heat, I mean sweltering, Sahara like conditions.  So, as I continued to surf my new channels in the refrigerated air, I found programs like The Cosby Show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, tons-o-horse programming on RFDtv, and all the cooking shows I could ever dream of.  I also hear the Pioneer Woman will have her own cooking show coming at the end of this month.  Plus, Texas Aggie Football begins soon, and anyone who knows A-Bass knows, any game he is not front and center attending, he will be watching.  All other sports up to this point have been acceptable to keep up with via phone/radio.  We all know this is not the case for the A-Bass and the Ags on Kyle Field.  I digress again.  And did you know there is an entire network dedicated to Westerns!?  This tv thing isn't so bad after all.  I may even think of it as a necessity like every other American...at some point.  I never woulda thunk it.

Everybody else is doing it....

That saying would not go over well with my mother, but I think she will allow this "following" of beginning a blog.  Who knew I could actually create a blog??  Turns out, if you can read, you can pretty much make it happen.  Many changes have come/are coming in my life. I thought I would document them here, for myself, and for anyone else interested.