Roadtrip!!!

So, I write about stuff that's fun for me, some that's inspirational, some that is life lessons, some that's supposed to help you grow. And then I try my hardest to implement this stuff into my life, and, yeah....

Jon's girlfriend, Brooke, is going on her mission, after some soul searching and understanding, understanding her self, her life, and whom she is. She was going in October, and then didn't. She is such a wonderful young lady, I am so proud of her. She is going to Scottland/Ireland to serve her mission, I am so jealous!! So her farewell was on Sunday. 

Anyway, I had planned on going with Jon Sunday morning, then, of course, no surprise, he changed his mind, and then changed his mind, and then changed his mind. So he went up Saturday, and then decided I could drive up Sunday morning with one of his friends. She lives in Springerville/Eager. 

Well.....

I said, yeah. I did. First time ever to Springerville, by myself, through Mule Creek, in itself a beautiful gorgeous drive. In the summer. Sunlight. Clear blue skies. But, this time, IN THE SNOW!!!  Never ever have I driven in the snow. Oh my goodness, I was the biggest baby ever to drive in the snow, I was sooooo scared.

By the time we got to the stretch it was snowing a little, the road had snow, and you could not see the tops of the Black Hills. So I said to myself, we will see what it looks like at the 3Way. Umm, when we came out of the hills, you couldn't see the top of the mountains because of snow and clouds, we had to go through those. OMG!!

I was getting even more nervous. So, again, I tell myself, we will see if there are any fresh tracks headed up that way, and at the 3Way, then I will go. And there were. Soo, off we went. And then a truck passed us, and that made me feel a little better.

Again, I tell myself, after we come out of Bloody Gulch, I think that's the name of it, I will see what it looks like, see if I can muster enough courage to do it. So, here we go, and we top up and I look and I cringe so bad that my tummy is flip flopping. OOOhhhhhhhh. You can't see the tops of the mountains, let alone where we cross over. But I did see the truck that passed us. And there were good tracks on the road, at least I think they were. :)

So off  we go, slowly but surely, about 10 miles an hour, I was terrified that I was going to slide all over, and to slide down this road off the side, into the canyon, oooohhhhh, I am getting all yucky again!!! But we finally made it over and to Blackjack. So from there it was a little easier, still going slow, following tracks. I knew now that I was not about to turn back and go back down there. I had committed, was going forward.

We stopped at the little meadow pasture that has the old fireplace. It was so pretty. Lauren took pictures and I took a couple, and she made some snowballs.

I have always loved this fireplace, its so neat, out in the middle of nowhere.

This is the road we were headed down, and this looks better than what we had just come up.

This tree is just to the right of the fireplace. Beautiful country.

The roads here were better, still covered in snow, but there was traffic, and though not a lot, it was there, comforting in a way. Mule Creek, here we come. The roads through here are open with rolling hills on the sides, very pretty country, and the snow wasn't near as deep, it looked as if everything was dusted.

Highway 180 was pretty clear when we started, and there were plows running. They go fast! The clouds were hanging down low, still snowing that real fine powdery stuff off and on. It was dark with the heaviness of the clouds.  And for the most part the drive to Glenwood was good. I didn't go the speed limit because of the snow on the road, but we made a little better time. Then after Glenwood, it all changed again. The snow was thicker, but so absolutely beautiful! The trees had at anywhere from 6 to 8 inches on all the branches, a winter wonderland for sure.

I drove slowly, traffic coming at us, everyone going a bit faster than me. 

But, I did it up to about 10 miles from Luna, where I just lost it. That's it. I lost it. I must be a wimp. Hahaa,  I guess I had an anxiety attack or panic attack, I don't know, but I felt like my heart jumped to my throat, it was racing, I was seeing black and white spots, my tummy was upside down and I felt like I was going to pass out!! Hahaa, I look back and see so much humor. Heehee, it wasn't fun at the time, but....

So, Lauren took over. I had to lay back, make myself breathe, and concentrate because I was so close to fainting. What an awful feeling, haha, but I regained my composure. She said a prayer and that really really helped me feel more peace and comfort. And then, only to be coming down this hill we decided to slow down, so she put the truck down to 1st, it grabbed like they do with the higher rpms, and caused us to start sliding and spinning. In slow motion, but still...... I sucked up my breath, hahaa, and hung on, and we barely missed the guard rail, hee hee, OMG, she will have stories to tell about me, haha. She pulled out of it just fine, her dad taught her to drive in the snow, she lived in Idaho, and then now in Showlow, so she knows snow a little. She was great, she talked me through the whole part of the drive that I did. 

As soon as we hit that Arizona New Mexico border, the roads instantly were clear, the sun was shining and it was very clear sailing after that. We made it to Alpine, and coming down the road to the intersection to go to Springerville, was my cousin Myron chasing mules and horses on the road, I waved, but I don't think he saw me, :). The drive from Alpine on to Springerville was record time, we made it to the church before Brooke spoke, it was great.

After her talk, we went to her mom's, visited, ate, and headed out by 2:00, but came through Showlow. That was another beautiful drive, mostly clear, no problems, speed limit the whole way, hit a couple places of snow and fog, and the Salt River Canyon is so amazing, BUT, I started having panic attacks again, to Jonny's dismay. I cut his record breaking time way down, but I didn't care. Boys!!!! 

This is after we left Showlow. The roads were clear like this as soon as we crossed into Arizona from New Mexico.

Snow, fog, but absolutely beautiful country.

When we got to Globe, it was like all anxiety and fears subsided immediately, and peace came over me. A day for me that I won't forget to soon. I took only a couple of pictures, one because I was driving mostly, second, I had to get control of me, but I have some pictures of the ""road" without snow, haha, I am the biggest shhhhiiiiicccckkkkken!!!!

This is the fireplace, without snow.

And these are the roads that scared the bejeezers out of me, but with more snow on them than the above pictures at the fireplace with snow. And dark, with a little snow falling, and with clouds hanging down low.

Scary stuff for this old lady.

I cannot believe that I did this. Wow. I should have taken pictures of all of this with snow, but, I was too chicken to stop. Hahaa, what a wimpy old grandma kind of hippie lady I am.

 So, now that that is past, here is our little truck, finally came home. A 1947 Ford, it is the cutest!!! I just love old trucks and cars. I can't wait for it to be running, but we have to finish the bug first. 

Blessings, of course, for everyone, I hope your adventures are good, I hope you can face your fears and realize you can't let them control you. I know now that I can do this trip again, and if there is snow, I would feel a little more comfortable, knowing that I did this on my own once. I am not talking about going and doing this for fun, but.......

I love you all, Happy Thanksgiving for all!!

Sunrises

Woke up this morning feeling good, smiling and ready for the day. It was a little cloudy this morning so I snapped a couple pictures with my phone. They didn't come out as pretty as I wanted, but they still are cool. 

To the south

To the east. I just love the beautiful colors. Its awesome.

Dog houses and my quilt sketches

So today, Sunday, I decided to make a dog house out of pallets that Jonny has brought home from his work.

These are really good for using in the fire place as well, but I snagged what I could.

I built a frame, and with the scrap plywood I built a floor. The frame is completely from the pallets.

Added the sides. Thanks to my little nail gun, no hurt fingers. :)

Then I added the top, yippee!!

Caddy has a house now, and if he uses it I will be so happy. Hopefully I will keep my fingers crossed that he does..

Here are the beginnings of the sketches for the quilt.

This century plant was right by our camp, so it was sketched up there.

So were these hills, looking to the west in our camp.

This tree was right on the other side of the fence at our camp, this picture didn't show the fence as well. 

Jon took these two pictures, and I drew the antlers a little bigger. This herd had 9 bucks in it.

Here is another one.

A cute little lizard on a fence post.

The cowboy, but these last few were distorted a little from my camera, the way I was holding it. 

But, they look good at home, haha. I am excited to finish sketching everything and then getting it put together. 

Soon, soon, soon. I will keep it going. Have a great day.

What a good week, I have learned life lessons

How often do you wake up in the morning and smile within 30 seconds of your waking? The last few mornings, I have. It has been the most enjoyable thing I have ever felt so quickly on awakening. I am not sure what happened other than I really tried to change my train of thought this last few days.

I have decided to really implement what I preach into practice, give it over 100% of my effort, and so far its been working for me. Not to say that I don't fall off the bandwagon every now and then, because I do. I am far from being perfect, but.....

Through insight and talking with a friend and problems that my friend has, I figured out that I had similar problems, maybe from a different perspective, but none the less, problems. This problem is probably every ones problem, from young to old. Holding onto the past and letting it control you.

This, is so harmful. It causes such strong emotions, destructive emotions. Hate, bitterness, grudges, anger, insecurity, neediness, and the scary one is I don't care anymore. I realized through talking with my friend that I was using past memories to hold against future events, playing them into everything that I thought it could happen in. It was driving me nuts. So, here I go again.

Forgiving for all those that had done wrongs toward me ( this is really tricky for me because what I perceive that has happened and what actually happened could be two different things, and then as life goes on, events, times, and places can get muddled)

Asking forgiveness for myself.

Loving all of those that have hurt me in one way or another. This one is really hard. It was harder than forgiving all of those that had hurt me or done wrong to me. I asked myself, if circumstances were different, could I have been friends with these people or become friends with them again, and good friends? And my answer was yes, and it became so much easier to love. And by this, it was just to say  - I love ___ in the beginning, but it is so much harder than you realize when you have been harboring these harmful feelings of bitterness or anger or whatever for so long.

I realized that I had a lot of baggage still attached to me from over the years, and I needed to release it and continue to release these memories, because that is all they are now. Now, forgiveness doesn't mean that I am ok with what has happened, or that I have forgotten it, for me, its an acceptance that it did happen, its in my past, and I will not be able to ever change it.

 But in letting go by forgiving and loving, it has released me in ways that has allowed me to be so free. I feel uninhibited in my actions, my ability to love and enjoy every moment and being able to focus on NOW. 

I almost feel as if I am looking through another set of eyes. I see things enough differently that I am amazed that I can set myself on a self destructive path in just an instant. An instant of remembering those things that have happened and letting them gain control of my mind through emotions. 

This is a battle for sure, but it is one that I know that I can win. I know this because of how I have woke up the last few mornings and how I feel all day long. I am enjoying all the little moments that I wasn't seeing before, enjoying the now moments as they go, and not reading into them something that isn't even there. 

This is definitely a better way to wake up to, and enjoy what's before me, rather than looking for anything that might be out of place, wrong, out to get me, or anything that might be harmful in my way of thinking.

I look at the dogs and how happy they are until its time to go to bed. They love to chase balls, race around the yard or house, jump at the horses, run through the chickens, chase cars through the fence. They don't worry about how they look, how fat or skinny they are, or if I am going to be mad because they won't quit barking. They always have bad hair days but they don't give a hoot. They enjoy every moment that they possibly can. They sing with sirens and coyotes. They show uncontained emotions when they hear me coming down the road, they race through their pens, back and forth and yipping, looking at me, "well, are you getting me out, are you looking at me, here I am".

A very simple life for them. I have looked at simplicity in my life, and realized that I complicated it so much, by overthinking, overreacting, worrying too much about so much that is out of my control. I have done enough of this self destruction. Today is a new day. Tomorrow, if God is willing to give me another day, I will have another chance.

I feel blessed by God for opening another window out to my life.

I tried empanadas for the first time!!

Whew, what a last few days!! So, here I am finally. I was taking a break surfing the internet, and decided that I needed to try to make some empanadas. I know Grandma made them but I never learned from her. But, I decided to try something different on the spur of the moment.

So, here I am. I googled empanadas and found a few recipes and decided to try one that had a bunch of stars. It was simple and easy to make. I forgot to take pictures of the dough before and when I cut out the rounds and then before I FRIED!!! them, mmmmm!!!

But, I made a filling of hamburger meat with onions, tomatoes and corn. I spiced it up with garlic cumin and salt. Sooo, here are some pictures.

Cooked up the burger... added minced tomatoes, onions, cumin, garlic cloves pressed, oregano powder and a pinch of cilantro with salt to taste.

Added some corn

Refried my beans Grandma Divi style... I filled the dough with the burger mix, crimped them and fried 'em..

Here are the empanadas after I fried them..

YUMMY!!!!!

I will try them next with chorizo and potatoes, apple filling, pumpkin pie, and what about a pecan filling???

Its Friday!!

Sooooo, it's the end of another workweek, and I am off to home to see what mischief I can get my self into. Slow working on the new quilt, but I will try to kick it up into another notch, and get it planned and sketched out. So, all of you have a great weekend, enjoy it and do something nice for yourself and for someone that needs it. Love ya.

Cats, jerky and life.

So, while I don't have many pictures to go with everything, I did start sketching my pictures for the quilt. Boy am I excited. So, as I get going, I will take the actual picture and set it next to my sketch, and then you can see how its going.

Winchester is on the prowl and just likes to be with people. He has been to the neighbors pestering their dogs and Chino, my kitty that moved over there. He follows you around as you water, feed, or just are outside. He is very cute and adventurous.

He was prowling around one of the corrals, thinking he is quite the acrobat. He is a pretty cool cat. :)

I made jerky and I need to get it down, its already to go, and delicious! It is so tender and yummy, I am going to have to make some more already, its going fast.

It was a little windy and chilly Saturday morning, and I was wearing my favorite hat for windy days. Does this hat look familiar Bevan?  Haha, I have had it for a few years, since you went deer hunting that year with us.

I had a lesson this weekend, and after she was done, I went ahead and rode Red for a little bit. It was great. I put him up and then got Cookie out and brushed and saddled him up. We ate lunch, David picked up pizza, and after that I went and worked Cookie in the round pen. He did so wonderful. I am so excited, he listened, is very soft in his mouth and did very well. I just love this horse. I received lots of kisses from him and Red gets a little jealous, but they are nice to each other. Julio gets a little put out too when I don't pay attention to him either. Haha, dang animals!!

Quilt update.

I went through all my pictures that I have taken the last few years of unit 32 and have selected almost 20 of them to start a quilt. There are pictures of deer, trees, landscapes, cowboys, my hunter, turkeys, my cute little lizard and cows. I have 3 pictures that I have sketched while up there this year, and now I can get to work and put these together and get my pictures ready at least. 

The hard part will be finding jeans big enough to make these squares. Probably is yard sale time again, but as usual, everytime we decide to look for something that we have continuously seen, I won't find it now. Haha, funny stuff.

Anyway, I will get this collection together, set them up on the floor, and take a picture so we have a before and after collage and then a completed quilt. Hopefully, before the year end.:)

I also plan on preparing the design for Jessie's quilt, I am ready to get it started as well. Finding the right fabric to go with denim will be my challenge. But, I will put together a before and after for that as well.

All else is well other than, Ralf, the escape artist, has found a new way out of the back yard, so this weekend there are going to be some modifications on it. Right now, the little darling has a harness on and is staked out in the back forty! I don't believe he is too happy, but I am knowing he isn't prowling around the entire neighborhood, or getting run over or picked up by the dog catcher. 

Enjoy this weekend, it looks like it might be pretty nice, have a great day and know that you are loved.