With A Grateful Heart - Day 12

DAY 12

Today, I am grateful for the little things, and to be fair, I'm highlighting one little thing in particular.  I love when products are created that simply make life easier!  It has become so commonplace for everyone and everything to experience life "the hard way."  There's always more time to contribute, more money to donate, more hours in the day to give up  - there are increasingly more efforts to rob you of your precious time.  That is why I think it is important to give a round of applause to things that are counter-intuitive to that routine.

Today, I am grateful for these little plastic genius covers!

I was really anxious to try them because of the obvious fear of burning our house down, but that, friends, is my kitchen....my countertop...my crock pot!  I made my award-winning chili and the best part about this seemingly simple bag/cover thingy is that clean up consisted of me......wait for it.......gathering up the bag and tossing it in the trash.

Stop it.

It really was that easy. I have used two of the four bags that came in the box and I am in love.  I love the fact that I can start a meal for Dusty and I, let it cook while we both work, serve him a home-cooked, nutritious meal, and then clean-up takes two seconds.  It is something as simple as this that allows what little time we get to spend together in the evenings quality time.  You cannot put a price tag on that!

So, today, I am grateful for Reynolds and their Slow Cooker Liners!  Y'all rock my world!
Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 11

DAY 11

Today, I am so very grateful for the men and women of our armed forces - our military.  Since today is, in fact, Veterans Day, I am humbled to remember every person who has served our country.  I am saddened and honored to think of all the people who laid their lives down so you and I could be free.

I am grateful for their families, who have had to sacrifice along with them, and share their loved ones with the rest of us.  I am grateful that they have been strong enough to carry on without that key part of their home so that others might be able to enjoy freedom and liberty.

If you are a veteran or are currently serving in our military - THANK YOU.  From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!

This world would not be the same without you.  You have made all the difference.  You are heroes and you are worthy of recognition.  Thank you for choosing this path so that many of us might enjoy life that much more.  You seriously rock the most!

Today, I am thankful for our veterans and our current members of the US Armed Forces!  May God bless you and your families!

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 10

DAY 10

Today, I am thankful for God's word.  Sometimes, I take for granted the fact that the answers to pretty much every question I could ever have can be found in one single place.

I forget that God grants us direction, guidance, reminders of His love and sacrifice for us, and overall inspiration for how to live our lives in the Bible.

I love how every single church message has the PERFECT scripture to back it up and how the Bible is still so very relevant to our lives, regardless of how much the world has changed.  Most of the teachings of God's word are so simple, but still so poignant.

I adore and revel in the fact that we all have access to pure love - all we have to do is open this book and there it is!

I am humbled when I get lost in it.  I need to make more time for it.  I need to lean on it more than I do.  But regardless of the fact that I am and always will be a work in progress, God's word reminds me that I am redeemed, I am loved, I am His.

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 9

DAY 9

Today, I am grateful for my amazing family!  I am really one of the luckiest girls ever on that front!  My family is absolutely hysterical.

Have you ever heard the expression "My family tree is full of nuts?"

Whoever wrote that apparently knew us.

Today, in particular, I am grateful for my family because they do something that many families don't do anymore - they still meet to have reunions!

Photo Credit: Cousin Cindy Mae

My stepdad, Wirt, my mom, and my sister! Photo Credit: Cousin Cindy Mae

Today, we met at my cousins' house and had a fall family stew for my mom's side of the family!  It was a bit chilly and windy, but it was a BEAUTIFUL day!  Everyone brought a dessert (YUM!), and the stew was absolutely delicious!  It was awesome just getting to see everyone and hear about their lives and what they'd been up to!

Photo Credit: Cousin Cindy Mae

We even got to see one of my cousins who has been traveling A LOT in the past few years (like, seriously....Antarctica, and the like).  That was a huge surprise and so much fun!  It was great to meet new spouses of my cousins, and of course to see my grandma's siblings doing so well! 

Photo Credit: Cousin Cindy Mae

Seriously, are they not the CUTEST?!?!?!  My grandma is the first one in the top row if you start from the left!  They are a generation of great people who birthed generations of great people and I'm lucky enough to be one of them!  Today, I am grateful for my family!
Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 8

DAY 8

Today, I am grateful for the tiny little cat that is slowly but surely turning this dog-woman into a wee bit of a cat lady!

Little Cat Deeley is the spunkiest, most mischievous feline on the planet, but she can also be super loving when she wants to be.

My favorite times with her are first thing in the morning, when I go to get her from her room.  As soon as she hears the front door shut from me letting the pups out, she starts meowing very loudly as if to say, "Don't forget about me, mom!"

I open her door, and she comes out and is just 100% purrs - she wants all of my love and attention and she is just so incredibly happy to get it!

She is a pretty little thing, and I love her coloring and her bright blue eyes!  She's always on the lookout for adventures, and it's been funny to see her test her own limits as she's growing - how high can I jump, how fast can I run, how quietly can I stalk the dogs, will I ever catch my tail?

She is a love at night time too, although she is much more of a Daddy's girl than a Mommy's girl.  She loves to get right in Dusty's face at night and wants to purr and cuddle him.  He is not as open to that as I am, but she has made her choice - she'll pick annoying him over loving on me any night!  (It's only fair - I do have both the dogs at night).

I love the way she "talks" to bugs when she's chasing them! It doesn't even matter that they're outside our house - if she sees them through the window, it's game on!  She also is very aggressive with her affection.  For example, if she wants to be picked up and you're in the middle of doing something, she has absolutely no qualms about going Spiderman on you - she literally runs at you, jumps, and sticks to your pants with her claws and proceeds to climb up you until you love on her. Whether or not you end up bleeding is of little consequence to her - she doesn't have time to consider such trivial things when she's on the quest for attention.

She gets a little slap-happy most mornings and that typically results in me or MuChi in pain, but she always seems sorry.  :)  In fact, she absolutely LOVES MuChi and I think that's why she picks on him.  While she'll always choose him to tackle or jump on, she also chooses him to cuddle up with when she's tired.  So here's to our little purr-box, Little Cat Deeley!  We love you, babe, and we're glad you're in our family!

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 7

DAY 7

If you're just joining us over at {DUSTYRibs}, we are currently in a series about gratitude and thankfulness, where I share one thing every day that I'm grateful for!  Glad you stopped by and feel free to join in sharing!

Today, I am thankful for my adorable and hilarious son, MuChi.  For those who don't know how to properly pronounce his name it is MOO-CHEE.  

My little Mooch is one of the most expressive dogs in the history of ever!  From his eyes that don't really hide anything to his actual vocal abilities, Mr. Mooch is for sure one of a kind!

For starters, he has no idea he's tiny. I love when he runs outside every morning to go potty and he goes bounding out the door ready to take on any large animal that's out there.  If, by chance, Bentley is outside (our neighbor's chocolate lab), MuChi chases him off (even though I highly doubt Bentley is intimidated).

One of my favorite things about my boy is how loving he is.  He has to be with me all the time!  This little guy literally sleeps with me on my pillow every single night. Tucked in. Under the covers.  Don't believe me?

He gets SO excited every time we come home with plastic shopping bags because he just knows that there HAS TO BE something in there for him (even though there isn't when we go grocery shopping).  He gets so excited at Christmas, and wants to check his stocking every single day from when we hang it up until Christmas morning.  Whenever we bring a new toy into the house (especially one with a squeaker), he loses his mind!

He is so weird about musical greeting cards, he gets mildly freaked out when it snows, and he has constant love-hate run-ins with our cat.  He is a Momma's Boy and he isn't afraid to show it!  He begs for food by crying his most pitiful cry, and when Dusty and I come home from really anywhere, he legitimately starts SCREAMING (not barking, not crying, but all out screaming) from the time it takes us to get from our car to the front door to see him.  I am fairly confident our neighbors think someone in our home is trying to kill him based on those noises.  

That's just how he is - he loves his people.  He thinks he is a person - I love how at family dinners, he'll wait patiently for someone to get up from the table and then he promptly takes their seat.  He doesn't go after the food.  He's just offended that no one pulled up a chair for him.  On this day, here's to my little MuChi man!  We love you, tiny boy!  Thank you for making us so happy!

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 6

DAY 6

Today, I am grateful for one of the cutest little darlings to ever grace this earth.  Today, I am grateful for my fur-daughter, CiCi!

She is the most beautiful eight-year-old Pomeranian princess you have ever had the opportunity to lay eyes on, and she is truly the apple of my eye.

I love her sweet disposition and playful personality - she genuinely has brought me pure, unprecedented joy every single day since she came into my life (when she was so tiny and looked like a teddy bear)!

From her constant prancing around the house, to sitting with her paws crossed (ever so daintily), to her incessant need to formally announce any and every visitor to our home with her "ferocious" dog-in-charge bark, she is so sweet and makes me laugh.

CiCi is the kind of dog that knows how to get what she wants, and I love that about her!  She's smart as a tack, and she really has perfected the "CiCi Stare-Down."  This will make you laugh so hard you get abs, y'all! 

She knows the words for all of her toys and for her treats - she even knows when we spell those, so she's clearly smarter than Dusty or me.  Sometimes, she'll hound you and bark at you, and you'll survey the usual suspects - Food? Check. Water? Check. Been outside? Check.  When all three of those options have been exhausted, it can only be one thing.  She wants you to make her little brother, MuChi, play with her.

She snores, runs when she dreams, and overall makes our lives so full and entertaining!  So, here's to our little Ci-girl!  We love you, baby!!!

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 5

DAY 5

Today, I am grateful for the election.  And that it's finally over.  And for the right to vote.

Done and done!

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 4

DAY 4

Ahh, Mondays.  Sometimes, in the daily grind of life, it is really hard to be grateful on Mondays.  If anyone can admit that, it's me.  If you work in the corporate world like I do, Mondays usually include learning what fires came up over the weekend and need to be put out, and you have to plan your whole week.  You answer emails and phone calls.  You schedule meetings and reschedule meetings.  Sometimes, it's hard to even be optimistic on Mondays.

This Monday, however, I am grateful that I have a job where I get paid time off for vacation and sick days.  Why, you ask?  Because I got hit with something yesterday that I did not see coming.  I came down with a sore throat, body aches, and a fever out of NOWHERE and it rendered me pretty much useless and contagious in one foul swoop.  Due to not wanting to share this little gem, my doctor and I made the decision for me to stay home, and I am so glad that I am in a position to do that and my company still pays me.  That is such a blessing and so many people in this world do not receive this type of privilege (my wonderful husband included).

Today, I am grateful for my job and the awesome benefits that come with it!  {Prayers for wellness would be much appreciated!}

What are YOU grateful for on this Monday?
Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 3

Day 3

Today, I am so grateful for my Sundays.  Sunday is definitely one of my favorite days of the week.  

Dusty and I start our morning with 9am church service.  From the moment we pull into the parking lot, we are welcomed with huge smiles and open arms.  I get my coffee, we head to our seats somewhere in the sanctuary where our family has gathered, and we start praising and worshiping our great and glorious Heavenly Father!

The act of going to church together feeds my soul, and it really helps me to get my week started.  I love that the message always seems applicable to my life and I adore the new and deeper levels our church takes us in our relationship with Jesus.

I love the carefree, Sabbath-nature of Sunday.  If we want to nap, we nap.  If we want to grab lunch somewhere, we do it.  If we want to spend the afternoon with family or friends just hanging out and playing football (Dusty) or crafting (Ribs), we can do just that.  We watch football when it's on and root on our teams. Dusty watches NASCAR on TV, while I cuddle with our puppies and our kitten, which usually causes me to nap against my will. We catch up on chores, and we usually end our Sunday with cooking and sharing a meal together.

Sundays are GLORIOUS, and I am so grateful for them!

What are YOU grateful for today?

Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 2

Day 2

Today, I am grateful for Saturdays.  For me, I typically don't have to work on Saturdays, and therefore, Saturdays symbolize a time for family, friends, and getting stuff done that I need to around the house.

This wasn't always the case for me - for several years, I worked 6-7 days a week between three jobs to make ends meet.  It was a challenging and exciting time in my life, but it definitely left me worn slap out.  I am grateful that I no longer have to spread myself so thin in order to just keep surviving.

This Saturday, in particular, I am helping some dear friends of mine in the final stages of planning their wedding next month.  Another particularly exciting thing about this Saturday is that two of the three nephews that Dusty and I have that play little league football WON their CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!  YEAH!!!!!

So, the challenge has started - What are YOU grateful for?

 Ribs

With A Grateful Heart - Day 1

DAY 1

Today, I am starting a new blog series entitled "With A Grateful Heart," where I will take time every single day this month to celebrate at least one thing I'm grateful for.

I think it's important to remember all that you have to be thankful for and this time of year always brings that out of me.  I guess it's because, to me, fall is cozy....you can rock your old comfy sweatshirt, cuddle up beside a fire, drink a cup of hot chocolate or coffee...life is just good.

So, without further ado, here are some sentiments from my grateful heart.

On this first day of November, I am thankful for the seasons.  God is so creative and quite the artist.  The changing leaves that we are so blessed to have in our area are alive and vibrant right now! Shades of yellow, red, orange, burgundy, and green all mingle together and make every minute outside feel like a party!

In addition, since I am NOT a morning person typically, I usually never get to experience the beautiful sunrises that this world has to offer.  With fall, I get to see them sometimes!

Take yesterday's gorgeous picture, for example:

Now that is how you start the day!  Today, I am grateful for fall!

Ribs

Help Me Find It

Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads in your life?  In your friendships?  In your finances?  In your marriage?  In your hobbies and interests?  In your job?  With your children?  With your faith?

I know I have at various points in my journey, and as a human who is flawed and far from perfect, I immediately have a small, fleeting moment of panic.  I know that, for me, this is my inner control-freak who loves to have a plan...for everything.

From every single detail of our vacations to all of my tasks that need to be accomplished throughout the day, and Lord knows every trip to the grocery store, I feel better when I have a plan.  I use the plan mentality in business, as well, and it has been very successful for me.

Sometimes, though, I feel a stirring in my soul about some facet of my life, and since this usually happens unexpectedly, I tend to freak out for just a moment because I didn't plan on it happening and I don't have a plan in place to combat my feelings of doubt or worry.

This happened to me just the other day, and as He usually does, I love how God touched me and met me where I was...in the car, driving to an appointment for work.  I was just starting to feel that old familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I started chewing on the inside of my cheek (nervous habit). My mind was racing 1,000 miles per minute.  Then, I heard a song and I simply had to smile after listening to the lyrics.

There's more lyric goodness where that came from, and I felt like God was talking directly to me.  Even though I didn't mean to do it, I realized that if I'm stressing about the direction _________ will go in my life, do I really trust God?  He is the only being in the world that has never, ever failed.  He is good, He is gracious, He is glorious, and He is great - do I not trust that He wants the best for me and is leading me there?

I definitely had a gut-check moment. He already knows every detail about my life and where it will go. He knows my every desire and need before I ever even think it.  He knows my heart - heck, He made it.  His Holy Spirit lives in me, and is constantly leading me if I will listen.

So how do you do it?  How do you place your own will and desire for control aside and simply trust God?  

I'm obviously no expert or this post would cease to exist.  Here are 5 things that help me with the "less of me and more of You" struggle of my life.

1.  Ask God to reveal His will to you.  Tell God what you're feeling (even though He already knows).  He desires a relationship with you and relationships take both people communicating. If you're feeling unsettled or unsure, ask Him to tell you what to do, and do so from a place of obedience.

2.  Practice patience. This one is tough for me and I understand why they say it's a virtue. It's HARD! But God's timing is the best timing and sometimes when I feel like He's not answering me, His Holy Spirit leads me to see that He's not ready for me to make any moves yet. I'd rather wait and do things His way since he's yet to experience failure and I practically invented the word.

3.  Read His Word. Psalm 33:4-6 -  "For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth." / Isaiah 41:10 - "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." / Isaiah 40:28-31 - "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  There is example after example of God fulfilling His promises to His people.  You and I are in that category - we are HIS! He loves us and wants us to be happy, and we are worth more than anything else to Him!

4.   Ask for help.  If you are really feeling down about a decision you feel you need to make in your life, call on your brothers and sisters in Christ, your pastor, your colleague - anyone who is willing to pray for you and intercede on your behalf.  You may not get the answers you desire more quickly, but I can't think of any time having people pray for you has hurt anyone, and the support feels amazing!

5.  Pray for peace.  Sometimes, the thing that works best for me is to lay my cards on the table with God and then pray for peace.  I tell God, if You'd have me do _____, let me know.  If You'd like me to be still, let me know.  Whatever Your will for my life is, I trust in You, and I ask You to bring me peace.  Guess what...He usually always does this for me.  I just wake up feeling better, more relaxed.  He reminds me that "He's got this."

What do you do to place God's will for your life over your own?

Ribs

To Make You Feel My Love

I read a news story recently that got me thinking about the different ways I typically show my love for Dusty and the ways he shows his love for me.

Typically, I show my love by writing cute notes or cooking his favorite meals, or more commonly by trying to make him laugh as I prance about shouting, "I LOVE YOU!!!" around our house or yard.

Typically, he shows his love for me by doing unexpected housework or taking care of my car, but he has been known to be a flower ninja every once in awhile, too.  :-)

Neither of us generally operates in grand, over-the-top gestures when showing our love for one another when I really stopped and thought about it, and I began to wonder - do other couples show their love for one another through the everyday small things like we do, or are more people acting out the divine to show their love?

Take Paul Derthick, of Ohio, for example. He and his wife have been married for 50 years!!! I'm guessing he didn't feel that the annual greeting card was going to cut it this year, so he went big or went home !

This particular corn maze = my mind is blown.

Paul and his children recreated his official wedding portrait complete with the church where they were married and the antique tractor they use on their farm. This bad boy is 17 acres of land!!!! That's huge! Not to mention - how in the world did they check their work along the way to make sure they were accurately recreating this portrait?!?!?!? Again, my mind is blown. I am equally blown away that they were able to keep this ginormous tribute a surprise!!! In case my mind wasn't already blown beyond comprehension, they constructed the entire thing in ONE DAY!!!! Say WHAT?!?!? You can read more about this story here and here.

So how about you? How do you typically show your love? Small gestures? Sillyness? Grand gestures? Do you save it all for the holidays? We'd love to hear from you!

Ribs

Fall Date Night Ideas

Fact - I  l u r v e  my husband. 


Fact - I  l u r v e  going on dates with him.

(He is pretty studly, after all, and I love to show him off sometimes).

Fact - I  l u r v e  saving money.

(This is especially important because we both work so hard for what we have, and God calls us to be the best financial stewards we can be).

Fact - I  l u r v e  the season of fall!

Put it all together, and what do you get? We need a list of cost-effective fall date night ideas!

So, curl up with your blanket and cup of coffee, and get yourself situated by the fireplace, because here is a list of some fabulous fall date night ideas!  I'm going to make it my mini bucket list to accomplish all of these great dates with Dusty before the bitter chill of winter sets in!

1.  Take a hike! No, literally. Take a hike together.  Not only will you be forced to unplug from the technology of today's world, but you will also get to feel the accomplishment of a) working out, b) seeing some gorgeous scenery, and c) accomplishing a goal with your mate! Triple win, in my book, and all it costs is money for gas and snacks! Score!

2.  Find a pumpkin patch and go pick your perfect punkin together!  I know in our area, the cost of a pumpkin is between $0.50 - $5.00 depending on the size, but walking around the pumpkin patch and seeing everyone having such a good time is sure to do your heart good.  Plus, who doesn't love good fall decor?

3.  Go apple picking!  We are blessed to live in a Southern state that has a healthy helping of orchards, and for most places, you're looking at about $3.00 per pound of apples, which can be a lot of fun!  Just seeing the trees and how they're harvested can be interesting and not to mention delicious!  Tis the season!

4.  Host an in-house cooking session!  If you've chosen to go to either the pumpkin patch or the apple orchard, why not take some time to either practice your favorite recipes or try out new ones!  Can you imagine how amazing your home would smell while your fresh, homemade apple pie was baking?  Or how about the sweet anticipation waiting for your fresh apple cider to heat up?  Or, how about that scrumptious pumpkin pie that you were inspired to make after seeing all that orange goodness?  Sounds like an AWESOME date to me - and that is one example of teamwork that would produce sweet rewards!  (Har-dee-har, how did I get to be so hilarious?)

5.  Find a corn maze, and test your luck!  Some friends of ours in our small group told us about a farm near their home that offered a corn maze, a straw maze, and best of all - SQUARE DANCING!  Stop it!  We are definitely planning to hit that action up, and possibly even this weekend!

6.  Build a bonfire and roast s'mores!  This is fun for a romantic evening, but it is also fun for a group date night idea!  Throw in some cornhole, ladder golf, or can jam and some good conversation and you can make an evening of it!  If you don't have the space where you live, maybe that would be an awesome excuse to visit some friends - you can offer to bring the graham crackers, marshmallows, and good ole' Hershey's chocolate!

7.  One of the most fun romantic dates Dusty and I have been on was when he literally took me "camping" in one of the fields of land he lived on.  He knows that I'm a prissy camper at best - sorry, I love having access to an actual bathroom, and I'm not stoked about sleeping on the ground - so he set up our tent with an air mattress and it was within moderate walking distance of the house!  It was really fun to gather firewood together, roast hot dogs and make s'mores!  The stars were GORGEOUS, and the crisp fall air was perfect for snuggling up together! It gave us time to talk, and we even were woken up to see the BIGGEST deer either of us had ever seen!  (Apparently, he wasn't used to humans being in his stomping ground and decided to check it out since we weren't moving).  It was awesome!

8.  Have your own pumpkin carving contest! Now this one can turn out to be hilarious!  Set the rules and time constraints ahead of time, and once the timer is set, it's off to the races!  Now, if you are on the klutzy side, maybe you should stick to a pumpkin decorating contest. In my experience, ER visits are neither cost-effective nor romantic.

9.  Get in the Halloween spirit by either trying on costumes together or making your own!  There are so many hilarious costumes on the market and even more hilarious ideas, so I see this as a fairly inexpensive way to keep each other laughing!  Then, you'll be ready for Halloween parties or for the adorable kids that show up at your door!

10.  This one is a little bit unique, but how about taking the time to volunteer your time together?  From your local soup kitchen to county-level little league football teams, and local Relay-4-Life events to collecting Christmas gifts for children or elders in need, there is no time like this time of the year to give back to your community.  It is vital to give together.  It is massively important to make this a priority in your life, especially during the time of year that usually causes all of us to consider all of the things we're grateful for.  Why not show your gratitude for all you have by giving to those who don't have as much?  Best of all, this date will only cost you your time.  I can guarantee that your love for one another and for your brothers and sisters in the world will grow, and that, friends, is priceless.

Any ideas you'd like to add?

Ribs

That's A First!

This will be a silly post to most but for me, I felt the need to document one of the "firsts" of my life that occurred yesterday.

I was driving up and over the mountain Dusty and I live on going to pick up pizza and drinks for {DUSTYRibs} (our church small group of super awesome people!).  It was about 6:30pm, so there was one of the most glorious sunsets I've seen in awhile.

Example of the kind of sunsets God's been giving us lately in our area!

So, I'm driving and I get to a place where there's a residential section on my left and the wooded area of the mountain on my right, and I see a black figure that I genuinely thought was a German Shepherd frolicking in the woods.

The "dog" started to jog from one side of the ditch, down into the ditch, and then when he popped up on the side of the ditch closest to the road (and inadvertently, me in my adorable Honda Civic), I realized that this large dog was in fact a 

BLACK BEAR!!!!!

Source

Luckily for me, he saved me the most horrible phone call to Dusty saying that I had been hit by a bear and my car was totaled, because - let's face it - that probably would have been the case.  In my experience, bears are way more solid than dogs, and as safe as my Honda claims to be, I'm not 100% confident that I would have won that little altercation.  At the last possible second, the bear decided to stop, turn around, and bound back into the woods.

Well played, kind sir.  Many thanks from your girl, Ribs.

Needless to say, it was an experience that was simultaneously awesome and terrifying at the same time, and I was equal parts stoked that I actually saw a real live bear and horrified because he and I share living space much more closely than I'd ever anticipated.

So here's to firsts!  Live them, celebrate them, and in this case, I think I'm okay if there is never a second!
Ribs

Chasing Pavements

"Ohhhh, ohhhh, should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements....even if it leads nowhere????"

Add caption

Adele, anyone? You know you went there, too. I, personally, think that Adele is incredible and I love her range and the amount of control she has over her voice (and her accent, let's be honest), but that could be a whole post for another day.

I wanted to share a HUGE accomplishment that I recently achieved. I ran.

Okay, I realize you probably thought there was going to be much more in that weighty tease of a sentence, but seriously, that's it. I ran. For those that know me, I love a good trend every now and then and running has certainly managed to become one in recent years. For me, though, this was one bandwagon that I just could not bring myself to hop onto. Don't get me wrong, I respect everyone who is a good runner or those who really l o v e running, or even those who understand the health benefits of running. For this gal, I get winded running to my mailbox or playing with my dogs, and the only way you'll find me booking it is if someone is chasing me with a sharp object.

So, it may surprise you to know that I decided to challenge myself this year by signing up to be a member of my company's team in the 40th Annual Genworth Virginia 10 Miler/4 Miler race! I know it surprised me. I figured I'd start with the 4 Miler (since I didn't have a death wish) and I really thought I was going to train and do this thing!

Well, here come the excuses - life got in the way, I was busy at work, I was exhausted by the time I got home every evening, I am not a morning person, it's raining out, it's getting chilly, I don't want to get sick, after all....

I didn't train. I should have. This is where the power of God and community steps in.

On race day, two of my colleagues and I had developed our strategy. Pace ourselves. Start out with a slow jog with the goal of making it to a certain point down the street. Then, we get our Oprah power walk on. Then, we jog across the finish line at the end of 4 miles. Here was our view at the start.

Yep. There we were, standing like bulls in the shoot before a wild rodeo ride with more than 3,500 other people from our community and even other states. And, BOOM! The game changed. The last 10 seconds were counted down. The horn went off. The crowd starting moving. And we started running.

And I ran.

Photo Courtesy of TriDuo - Official Race photographer

And I kept running. I ran past the point we said we wanted to make it to. God and all of the people who lined the streets and cheered you on, rang bells, and shook pompoms just lifted me and somehow a non-runner found the strength and endurance to run.

I did have to power walk three times during the race, as there were some CRUCIAL hills on this course, but after I got up the hills, I continued to run and push myself past the limits I knew I had.

The funniest moment in the race was right after I had hit the two-mile mark. A pack of people on the side of the road started going bananas, so everyone in the pack of runners with me thought they were trying to encourage us, so we pushed harder. Then, we were able to see the real reason they were cheering - Julius Kogo, who ended up winning the 10-mile race for the second consecutive year, was hitting MILE 8 in the time it took our pack of people to reach Mile 2. Seriously. And he wasn't even winded. And he was smiling. He finished 10 miles in 47:34. Ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome.

His fastness and ability aside, I had to stay focused on my own performance. Somehow the other runners/walkers and I continued to encourage one another. We ran together. We power walked together. There were people pushing children in strollers and wheelchairs. There were husbands and wives encouraging each other and keeping pace with one another. There was an 85-year-old man running named Bill Draper who was the only person to run the 10 Mile race every one of the 40 years it has existed.  There was real and honest community happening before my eyes at every point of the race. And guess what?

Photo Courtesy of TriDuo - Official Race photographer

Photo Courtesy of TriDuo - Official Race photographer

I FINISHED!!!!!! I RAN/WALKED MY 4 MILE RACE IN 

54 MINUTES FLAT!!!

And I didn't even come in last place! I actually beat 234 people in my race, and I simply could not believe it! The sense of pride and accomplishment I felt completely outweighed the insane amount of self-inflicted pain my body would endure the next few days because of my lack of training.

The moral of this story? Do not fail to try to do something you sincerely think you cannot do. You will be blown away by what a little faith, prayer, and community can raise you up to do! And also, please, for the love of everything holy, TRAIN BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS. Learn from me and avoid stupidity!

Have you ever "done the impossible?" I'd love to hear what you did!
Ribs

Lessons From A Donkey In A Well

I have no idea who to give credit to for this story.  I've seen it so many times and while it fills me with sadness at the beginning of the story, it lifts me up by the end.  Since I saw this again yesterday, I figured I'd share it with all of you in case you needed to hear this today!

Poor donkey!

Without further ado, I give you Lessons From A Donkey In A Well.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from yourself.

That's right!

Ribs

So You Think You Can Meow?

If there is one thing anyone who knows me could say about me, it's that I have such a heart for animals. I've had pets all my life, and I am sure that has contributed to why I love them so much - they have literally always been a part of my family, and I genuinely cannot recall a single period of my life where we did not have pets.

CiCi and MuChi say, "Hello, everyone!"

There is little in the world to match the joy your heart feels when you come home from a long day at work to little faces who are literally dying to see you!  Wagging tails, spinning in circles, happily barking and jumping - that's what Dusty and I come home to, and there is just nothing better. 

On the flip side of this coin, though, lies a deep passion in my heart for fighting animal cruelty.  Because I have raised animals from babies to adulthood and I know the endless love they have for their humans, I simply cannot tolerate animal cruelty and I genuinely have no idea how someone could do it.  It makes me ill.  In fact, our local news has covered multiple stories lately about dogs that were found so neglected that their collars had never been adjusted from when they were puppies and were so embedded into their necks that the collars almost severed their trachea!  I mean, come on!!!!  These poor animals did not deserve this type of treatment, and I just cannot comprehend why someone would get a pet just to treat it like that.  (The same lack of comprehension goes for parents who choose to have children and then refuse to take care of them, but that's another story for another day).

This post is actually a happy one though, and it falls in the middle of the road between the joy of pets and the horrors that pets can experience.  This past weekend, Dusty and I were on a mission to "fall" for our home.  What this means for me is that I needed mums and a pumpkin for around our mailbox.  We stopped at a local nursery after church and picked out said mums and pumpkin and went to check out.  In the greenhouse, there was this little box or crate made of wood and metal.  Inside, there was the tiniest fluffy kitten!

I commented to the woman running the business that I loved that she brought her kitten to work and that it was so adorable, and she told us that it actually wasn't her kitten.  She said that on her farm, cats have kittens in her barns all the time and just leave them there, and that this particular kitten was rescued that morning.  When I asked her what she meant by rescued, she informed me that she has two pit bulls that do not do well with small animals, and often times, they are the ones who discover the left kittens in the barns.  She told us a long and drawn out story, but the bottom line was this:  she had to find a customer to take this kitten by the end of the day, or unfortunately, the kitten would have to be put down.

Obviously, I was horrified, but I am seriously not a cat person and I was thinking of who we could call that could take in this little baby when I heard Dusty say, "Well, okay, we'll take her."

Wait, WHAT?????

So that was that.  We brought home mums, a pumpkin, and a kitten.  Happy Fall, y'all!

I will say this with the utmost sincerity.  She has been such a little love.  While CiCi doesn't really know what to make of her and typically ignores her most of the time, MuChi is obsessed with her!  He thinks she's his baby, and even though it took him a few days to realize her purring was not her growling at me, he just loves her to pieces.  (Sidebar: MuChi also doesn't understand why "Aww, she wants to play with me!" ends up being, "Mom, why does she keep hurting me?" but every day is getting better than the last).  It's been really interesting to see how they learn to deal with each other and figure each other out.

Also, while I generally love the more predictable temperament of dogs over cats, this little princess royally whooped up on both of my precious pups in the potty-training department. 

Oh, you think I'm kidding?  I'm not.

So, the only obstacle we had to overcome now that everyone was getting along is - what to name her?  At first, I thought about naming her Kelly Clarkson, because let's face it, she is Miss Independent.  But, that was too cumbersome.  Then, I thought about naming her MiMi after one of my favorite characters in the Broadway musical RENT.  But Dusty vetoed that after trying to say, "CiCi, MuChi, and MiMi" in sequence (heck, even I couldn't do it more than twice).  Then, genius struck.

What's my favorite show? 

You KNOW this!

Who happens to be the host of my favorite show (who I also happen to adore)?

So pretty! (And I love her British accent!)

Do you see where I'm going with this?  If not, I'll be happy to help you along.  Meet the newest, purr-fect addition to our happy farm home, Little Cat Deeley!

Pretty much the story of her life at our house so far.

Clearly, there has been lots of catnaps. Dognaps? Okay, just naps.

Dogs with bones for being good to her? Cat with dogs.

The way kittens sleep absolutely cracks me up!

Is this not the cutest face???

Welcome to the family, Deeley!  In the few short days you've been with us, you have already stolen our hearts, and we are so happy to have you!  We went to a nursery to buy mums and a pumpkin, and we came home with the best fall addition to our home of all!  We love you, little girl!

Your Momma,

Ribs