What Punctuation Mark are You?

You Are a Colon

You are very orderly and fact driven. You aren't concerned much with theories or dreams... only what's true or untrue. You are brilliant and incredibly learned. Anything you know is well researched. You like to make lists and sort through things step by step. You aren't subject to whim or emotions. Your friends see you as a constant source of knowledge and advice. You excel in: Leadership positions You get along best with: The Semi-Colon What Punctuation Mark Are You?

The new "child" in the family

My parents adopted a dog! I haven't met her yet, but it sounds like she's as sweet as can be with a LOT of personality to her! They found out yesterday, at the vet's office, that she's about a year old and that she weighs 49 pounds. She looks kinda big in one of the pictures, but in another picture, she's laying next to a mat on the floor (the third picture) and you can tell that she's really not that big at all. Let me introduce you to Buddee (that's her name.). :o)

No one wants to work on a Monday!

So, try this!

When you click on the link (green link below), a series of about 15 pictures will come up.
Read headings over each picture group.
Click on a photo in that category that appeals to you.

Again 15 pictures will come up, click the one for you and move on.
Just continue to keep picking. At the end it will give you a profile of yourself.

It's called a visual DNA.
Your choices dictate your profile.

http://DNA.imagini.net/friends

Doesn't this make you smile?! :)

Final Feature: Bull Riding

As with all rodeos, bull riding was the last event of the day last Saturday (I'm not counting the wild horse racing as an "event"...stupidity is not an event), so in honor of that, I'm posting the bull riding videos as the last round of videos. Here are three videos of the bull riding competition. There were lots of competitors, of course, but I narrowed it down to three videos (of the many!) videos that I took. And, in these videos, you can see how easy it is to stay ON the bull the full eight seconds...or not so easy, that is. :) Oh, and, as always, "loud sound warning" when playing the videos!! :)

So, if you're ever in the area when the CFD is going on, swing by some of the events! There is always TONS happening and so there's lots to do and look at and attend.

And this, dear readers, concludes the week of posts revolving around the CFD. I hope you enjoyed them and that you weren't bored to tears!! :o)

Today's Feature: Bronc Riding

Again, just a small warning that the sound may be loud. I wouldn't want you to be blasted out of your seats while watching these. :)

Today's Feature: Steer Wrestling & A Daredevil

As I mentioned yesterday, in honor of the Grand Daddy of 'Em All, I'll be posting videos every day this week (ending on Friday). Today's feature is Steer Wrestling and a short video of an entertainer that was at the rodeo.

Again, the sound on these videos may be loud because of the announcer! Just sayin'. :)

The Rodeo

In honor of the "Grand Daddy of 'Em All", I am going to have a week's worth of posts up. Today, it will just be pictures (ok...and a couple of videos!). If things go well, the other days will have just videos. On Saturday, I went to ONE of the many events that are being offered...the three and a half hour rodeo. These are my girlie-friends, Shannon (left) and Amity, that I went with. :)
At this rodeo, there were, of course, horses!

And, as always, cowboys could be found there. So many that you can really just take your pick! :)

After gawking over the cowboys, we got to see some races! Those were kind of a dud, but it's all part of the experience, so that's why it's being posted here. :)

Finally, it was on to the main events. They started with a crowd favorite...bull riding.
Notice in the picture below how the men are just calmly standing around and watching everything? Isn't it wild how they can remain so calm? Now me, on the other hand...
... ... I'd look more like this guy (below) in the tan vest. I'd be scrambling to climb up on the gate and get OUT of the way!!!
Next event...steer wrestling. It's always great to see how the cowboys work together, in a way, and treat each other like brothers. Take this scene, for example. This fella seemed to be having a bit of trouble with getting that steer to the ground...
But, I just thought it was awesome how these next two fellas just came right out and said, "Hey, man! This is how you do it!" I just thought it was so nice of them to come out and show the first guy how things get done and to help him learn a bit more. It was special! So, first you chase down the steer like this:

Then, you wrestle him and flip him, like this:
I sure learned a lot from those two fellas, so I hope that first guy was able to pick up a few tips, too!! :o)

.

Next, it was steer roping. I always feel kinda bad for that steer. He just aimlessly wanders out into the arena (probably thinking, "I'm free!"), but once he reaches a certain distance, the cowboys are allowed to take off after him and rope him. You always know the moment when that steer realizes he is NOT free and that he needs to run for his life. It's like a firecracker has been lit under him!! Every time one got away from the cowboys, I'd yell, "Run home, cow! You're free!!" People looked at me funny.
Okay, next up was the bronc riding. Between this and bull riding, I would think that anyone who was a chiropractor would head to these events and try to get some work. After all, after these boys finish these rides...well, there's usually a reason that they don't look like they're standing straight as they walk/limp/drag away!
Next up...barrel racing. A lot of women in the crowd enjoy this event. I, for one, have never really enjoyed this event. I always think, "Boring!" However, in recent years, I've actually started to watch this event and it's kind of interesting! You always wonder who is going to have the tightest turn and whether or not that turn will be too tight and knock over the barrel (which is a penalty). Interesting stuff!

And the LAST event of the day -- and one of the dumbest ones EVER!!! -- is the Wild Horse Race. This year, the event kind of made me feel gross inside. Why? Because these horses are crazy and they're frantic and they will do anything to try and get away from the men and RUN AWAY. So, I'm surprised more of them don't end up with broken necks or legs or something. I'm talking about the horses AND the men now. So, here are a couple of pictures and a couple of videos. You can see for yourself the choas. It's just plain stupid.

WARNING: The sound on the videos may be kind of loud because of the announcer. There's your warning.

All-in-all, it was a great day! It was rather hot (about 96 degrees), but there was a slight breeze AND we were able to sit in a shaded area. So, really, it could have been worse!

So, over the next few days, I will post more videos. Maybe some of you will like to see videos of the events that we got to see. If you're ever out this way, the Cheyenne Frontier Days are fun to attend! There are TONS of things to do and it's just a fun experience. Of course, there are a LOT of people, but if you can get over that, I think you'll enjoy your experience!

Simple.

There's this saying that I've seen in e-mails here and there and it goes like this: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways at an insane rate of speed, wine in one hand and chocolate in the other, with the body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Can I just say that that is completely not any desire of mine for life. Now, I have some family members that use this phrase in their signatures for their e-mail, so if you're reading this, don't be offended. I don't mean to offend anyone. :) I'm just saying that I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, including what I want out of life and I've come to this conclusion: I just want to live a simple life. Is that weird?

Now, I'm not saying that I don't want to have any fun and I'm not saying that I want to be numb and lifeless to life, either. After all, I'm always up for getting together with friends and family, playing games, going to various events, etc., and having a good time! I'm just saying that I don't want to be extreme about life. I think that if I live a quiet, inconspicuous, Godly life, I'll be happy. I couldn't ask much more than that, really. I don't feel a need to work up the career ladder and be uber-successful, nor do I feel the need to do wild and crazy things in the event that I regret NOT doing them when I'm older.

I just want to have a simple life. That's all. I'd be happy with that. :)

Friday's To-Do List + Weekend Plans

On my list for today:

1. Write letters (I have about six that I'd like to get in the mail today)
2. Filing
3. Pay and organize bills
4. Load new pictures onto Snapfish and then order them
5. "Read" some books that are due back to the library today (I will just have to scan through them because there is no renewal possible on them. :(
6. Sort through an order of Snapfish pictures I recently received and put them into a photo album.
7. Label the new photos in the photo albums.
8. Create some goals for myself in regards to a healthier lifestyle and what I want to achieve by summer 2009.
9. Go to supper with a friend. Yay! :o)

Pretty big day, huh?!? :) I'm already excited for the sense of accomplishment that I'll feel when I cross these items off the list today. Wahoo! :)

The rest of my weekend is shaping up nicely, as well. Tomorrow I'm going to go to a rodeo in Cheyenne and then for Sunday, I've already received a lunch invitation, so it will be a social weekend! :) We just received word, too, that gospel meetings are starting again, so my weekend will finish up with a gospel meeting on Sunday night. Can it get better than that?! :)

Enjoy YOUR weekend! If you have a blog, make sure to let us know on Monday what you did over the weekend!

Decisions, decisions...

It never ceases to amaze me how, in life, when things are supposed to "happen," they happen. And when they're not supposed to "happen," they don't. Simple as that! So why do we agonize over life decisions?!? Maybe I'm just speaking for myself on this one, but it seems like I can piddle away SO much time on thinking about the "what if's" and the "what if not's" and I'm just a wreck! I'll pray about it for awhile. I'll consciously WORK on forgetting about it and letting it go. Sooner or later, though, I'm right back to fretting. *sigh* So, when the time actually comes to MAKE the final decision, it's awesome to me that I can be loudly spoken to and that I can have the experience of knowing what to do. Now, what can be rather traumatic, in my mind, is if you KNOW the answer but you choose to do the opposite. Oy.

On my most recent experience, I'm just SO thankful that I was spoken to (loud & clear!) about what to do. I really am thankful! :) So, I'll just sit tight now, and work on accepting the final decision that I followed through with. It's not that I don't have peace about my decision, but I understand that there may be doubts and second-guessing in days to come and I want to be ready for that. Already I can see that the future holds a lot of lessons for me with just this one experience! After all, I will now learn to: a) pray more about what might be ahead and to just be willing for whatever, and b) to just trust that what God is arranging for me for the future will be even BETTER than I can imagine. So I have to trust that and move forward and just take things a day at a time.

Back to work!

Mom & Dad left this morning. We went out to breakfast and then I left for work and they left for the remainder of their trip. They're going to head north and then west and then back home. It should be nice for them!

On Saturday, we took a drive up to the mountains. And the pictures I took that day were the ONLY pictures I took during Mom & Dad's time here!! We really didn't do anything except relax and just have an easy vacation with nothing planned. I sure enjoyed it! I hope they did, too! :)

So, here are some scenery pictures of Saturday. If you want pictures of the family, go back to this post -- the one I put up from my trip home last December. :)

I took these next two videos because I just thought that it was such a serene sight. I love streams and rivers and lakes and such. I LOVE them! Maybe it's because I grew up in a state that has a TON of lakes and rivers and now I live in a place that has FEW. Either way, I enjoyed the power of the streams, but the beauty, too.

An Update

Well, my dad is feeling better now! Wahoo! :) He got to feeling better yesterday afternoon, so that's great. In the meantime, my mom & I just hung out together. We went shopping for awhile, ate our meals at small coffee shops in the area, and played some scrabble. It's been a nice and relaxing time! No pictures yet, but maybe I'll get some in the next few days. :)

They made it!!

Yay! My parents made it to town today! :o) The only bummer...my dad is sick. Mom thinks it's a bit of the flu and I wonder if it isn't food poisoning or something. We'll see how he is feeling tomorrow! Hopefully it passes quickly!!

So, I will update this when I can, but don't hold your breath on anything before mom & dad leave! :) I'll for sure post pictures after they leave (which is planned for Monday). If I can get some pictures up before then, though, I will!

Recharging

Yesterday...was a blast! I went to our local park where they have a ton of festivities going on and I wandered around there for about an hour or so. Then, at noon, I headed off to another park on the other side of town for a cookout that some of my friends were having. I ate way too much food during my time there, but there was so many options and it was all SO delicious! :) We played some frisbee, chatted, played volleyball (or rather some people did...I was not one of them because I was too tired by that point!) and just enjoyed the day. I came home, took a shower (because I was totally sweaty and gross from playing frisbee) and it was at that point that I realized something...I hadn't put any sunscreen on in the morning. Luckily, I had tried to stay in a shaded area as much as I could, but I did end up baking a little bit! Ugh. I hate that. Anyway, I was pretty tired at that point, so I took a short 30-minute nap. I then headed over to another friend's house for a cookout there. We had hamburgers and corn on the cob. It was SO delicious!! I hung out with these friends for the rest of the evening and we watched the Colorado Rockies baseball game on their TV. It was a very entertaining game! At about 9:20, we headed to the local golf course and set up residence on their greens to watch the fireworks. As always, it was a great show! I dropped my friends off and then headed home and crashed. I was exhausted!! I slept for about 10 hours last night (yikes!) and I am feeling SO lazy today! I have a to-do list to work on (laundry, dishes, sweeping, etc.), but I plan on taking A-L-L day to work on it. :) And I might just even get a nap in there, too. :)

So, it was a great day yesterday and I plan on just chillin' out and relaxing for the rest of the weekend now. Everyone needs to recharge after a packed day like that! :) I hope the rest of you had a great day, too! If you have a blog, make sure to let us know what you did for the 4th! I'd love to hear!

Happy 4th of July!!!

I have decided that this is my FAVORITE holiday! :o) Have a wonderful (and safe!) 4th of July, everyone!! And to copy what has been so beautifully said before, "Let Freedom Ring!"

Ordinary Miracles

I heard this song for the first time tonight and I LOVED it! It's a great reminder to just take pleasure in the ordinary!!

Lyrics from Sarah McLachlan's song, "Ordinary Miracle" (used in the movie Charlotte's Web)

It’s not that usual when everything is beautiful
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when its time to snow
You don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we are all a part
Of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

It seems so exceptional
Things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

The sun comes up and shines so bright
It disappears again at night
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

It’s just another ordinary miracle today