Country life and why I love it!!!

We woke up this morning and I let the girls out and they barked, which is normal. I looked out when a truck honked and I saw calves in our yard, our hay pasture and in the road. We don't have calves but I am wanting a couple. I keep telling him if we would buy a couple little calves in the spring, bottle feed them and raise them during the summer, sell one and butcher the other. We could have some wonderful beef in the freezer!!! But back to the actual story! Our neighbors calves had gotten out and were wrecking havoc on our trees. Thankfully they left the new trees that we planted alone and we worked to keep them out of the garden. We have a tree line that divides our yard from the hay pasture and they we eating the leaves off of the trees in the tree line. I got to counting and we had about 35 calves everywhere on our 5 acres and out in the road. I walked out into the road and got all but 4 (I thought) out of the road and we pushed them into the hay field. I then went back out to get the other four and they ran down the road to our next door neighbors and as they were running into their driveway another calf poked its head around from their drive way. I fussed and ran and tried to get them back down towards our hay field and they didn't want to go. So I left them in there and went back to our hay field. In the mean time Matt went and got the truck and parked it in one of the gate openings and we got out to move the 30 that were in the hay field. In the meantime there were about 5 who decided that they wanted back into our yard. It tasted so much better ya know. So we got those 5 back into the hay field and ran them through the gate, back into the pasture where they were supposed to be. So now we had to get the five that were left. Matt started to shut the gate in between our pasture and their pasture. I told him not to and took off towards the 5 calves. they got fidgety again so Matt drove the truck around them and pushed them back towards our gate. I had ran around and was on the outside of the gate to push them through it. We danced and ran and finally got them into the hay pasture. I started pushing them through and as we get closer to the gate. It was shut..... He had gone ahead and shut it when my back was turned.... I threw my hands up and was saying all sorts of words in my head. He ran up to open up the gate as they ran back towards the open gate. I stood there and looked at Matt irritated. Luckily the calves just ran around the fence line and then towards the gate. I had one of them who left me get a foot away from him before he turned and ran. He was a brave "little" guy! We had a couple that were trying to see how far they could push us but I won! As we were running the last group of the calves Matt was yelling at me "And who is wanting to have cows?????" I was yelling back "Just two and a good fence to keep them in...." I was raised doing all this stuff and it is normal but Matt never really got to do any of it. So this is a learning experience for him but he is loving every minute of it.

We ran out about 6:15 to start getting them in and ran back inside at around 7:15. I got ready and was ready to leave in 15 minutes. I actually made it to work on time!! I am now tired and can feel the soreness settling in. I will work outside tonight and I KNOW that I will be sore! I am going to go get a chain for the gate and put a new one on it. That is how they got out. The gate was standing wide open. It looks like they had bedded down in our hay field. The gate is ours but we have left a 30 foot ease way for them to stack their hay and we fenced it in so the cows couldn't get it. I think that the cows got tired of looking at the hay just sitting there and worked on the gate until they pushed it open. So I will go and get a new chain so hopefully we won't have calves in the yard, hay pasture and road again. We have been finding hoof prints in the yard two different times, the last time being Monday and we had walked the fence line last night and found that a post had been removed. So tonight we will put a post up, a new chain on the gate and start cleaning up some other stuff. It will be a good night to do all this. It hasn't rained in about a week now... I still want a couple calves to bottle feed, one to sell and one to butcher. Matt thinks that I will get too attached and won't want to butcher one of them. The truth is that I probably won't, but I want to have good meat so bad, so whatever it takes!

End of school update

I took some tests about a month ago and told you that I would tell you what the end result was. The OGET was the one that I wasn't worried about but the OSAT I was worried about. The essay was over a genre that I was as familiar with as I would have liked. I have wondered about this for the last month. On Friday we were able to get our unofficial results. They were supposed to be released on 5 pm. At 1:11 I got an email and it was the test results!!! I was so excited to find out and the end result was...... I passed them both!!!! I am so excited. I also got good news from my classes at school. I passed my World Literature with a B. I have never made anything higher than a C in this particular instructors class. I got a C in my grammar class. I was carrying a B but didn't do well on the final. I don't know what happened but I got a final grade of C in the class. I am so excited and ready for this summer and some free time!!!!

From 28.31 to....

I started trying to lose weight on February 20, 2009. I started out at over 200 pounds and a BMI of 28.31. I weighed this morning and weighed 173 and my BMI is at 24.90!!!! I am using the Nintendo Wii to weigh every day and it keeps me accountable. The "normal" range on the BMI starts at 24.99. A BMI that you are healthiest at is 22. They say that you can fight off sickness and are at the best weight for you body type. If I do get down to a BMI of 22 it would put me at 153 pounds and I am not for sure about that. I have spoken with my doctor and she said that it is variable and it goes off of you as an individual. The BMI scale is one that is made for generalizations but your own individual body must be taken into account. I was smaller at one point and time and I don't know if I want to get that small. I am trying to get to a healthier weight and a healthier me!

I have been changing my eating habits and Matt and I have been starting a new lifestyle. We both discussed what foods we liked and what we felt was healthy for us. We have decided that we both like potatoes and I like pasta. We are still having these things, we are just eating smaller amounts. I have learned that we are able to live on smaller amounts. We have started using smaller plates and only eat until we aren't hungry anymore. If we aren't hungry, we don't eat. This makes for some interesting meal times!! I am hungry alot of times by the time that I get home so I am fixing dinner but if Matt isn't hungry he will grab some later. On the weekends I seem to be busy and don't always get to eat lunch until 2 pm because I am not hungry until then so that may push back dinner until 8 or 9 for me. I was watching a DVRed episode of the view and Dr. Nancy Snyderman was talking about dieting myths. There was one that I found interesting. The myth is that if you eat late at night you will gain more weight. She said this is NOT true. You may weigh more in the morning but it is because you still have it in your system. Although you have gone to the bathroom it may not have gotten totally out of your system.... That made me feel better and understand everything better.

Another thing that we are doing is always eating something for breakfast. It started out eating eggs and bacon on the low carb and has evolved to eating whatever we want, just in small amounts. That has been the largest change that we have made in our lives. SMALL AMOUNTS!!!! It has also been said that our stomachs are the size of our closed fist. It has made us think more about what we have on our plates and how much we are eating.

I am having to wear a belt to keep my khakis up that I wear to work. I also bought a couple of two piece swimsuits about a year and a half ago. I was too busy and we never went swimming last year so I didn't try them on. Before I started I tried them on and was disgusted. I tried them on this last week and they both fit and the "rolls" that I had are disappearing!!!

I hope that all is gong well with you and if you are trying to lose weight that it is going good for you! How are you doing it?

I will leave you with a small recap that is from The View's website when Dr. Nancy Snyderman was there.

"Then, Dr. Nancy Snyderman stopped by to tell us all about her new book, Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat -- which she wrote in part due to her own struggles with weight gain and dieting. Here are some of the myths and facts she discussed:

Myth: Yo-yo dieting wrecks your metabolism
Myth: Hunger pangs mean you're hungry
Myth: Eating after 8pm makes you gain weight
Myth: Muscle weighs more than fat

Truth: Belly fat is linked to dementia
Truth: White foods can be good for your diet
Truth: Flatulence is the sign of a healthy diet
Truth: Your taste buds get bored after the third bite"

O'Reilly Outlaw Nationals Tough Trucks!!!

We had a great turnout from the local crew on Tough Trucks and they put on quite a show! Steve Barnes, Steve Darnell, Matt Schumacher, Richie Gering, Pat Pulley, John Jungeblut, Mark Jones are a few who came with their modified tough trucks and made a splash on both nights. Saturday night Steve Darnell took first with an amazing run in Mischief and John Jungeblut rolled Thunderstruck coming into the final turn. Once he was upright, he finished and gave an awesome finale with a series of spins at the end. Matt Schumacher was amazing with his Mustang and turned in some amazing times. Steve Barnes, Pat Pulley and Richie Gering all showed their talent with some intense driving. Last Minute and Feelin' Froggy took spills during the night when the ground behind the buses became tacky. No one was hurt and everyone gave a terrific show for the crowd. You can follow these guys and see the schedule on Midwest Tough Trucks. They have some awesome photos and other info about the guys and also schedules.

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There was also a stock tough truck competition. These cars weren't modified and in fact, a few came from the salvage yard on Friday! Dexter was driving for Bargain Center and put on quite a show that included "jumping" the six smashed cars in the middle after his final run. There was everything from a little Saturn to a full size Suburban. They all gave it everything and we had lots of fun watching.

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Now for some other info!!!! I have been wanting to race at MoKan but can't get my hubby to help me get a car ready. When we met I was street racing at night and he asked me to quit but I have missed the adrenaline and action so I thought that MoKan would be a good alternative but we have just never gotten around to doing it. I told Matt Saturday that I was going to get a car from the salvage yard and run it that night. That was followed by a very emphatic "NO! I will get you a truck and we will start building you a tough truck." I had told him last year that this was something that I wanted to do but I think that he figured I would decide that it would be a hassle and not want to do it. But I am still wanting to do it! So I talked to a few of the guys and they are willing to help so we are going to start looking and figuring out what we need. I would love to have it done by this time next year but we will see. We are going to have to totally rebuild the engine on whatever we get, a roll cage will have to be built and put in it and then all the body stuff as well as all the changes on the vehicle that needs to be made. I am thinking that I want a Chevy with a 350 in it. My first thought was to paint it all pink but I am thinking that maybe I will paint it black and put racing stripes down the middle and my pink ribbon on the side or on the hood in between the stripes. Somewhere I am going to put names of those who are close to me that have been affected by breast cancer. My mom's name will go on there and my friend Kathy's name will be on there too. We have a friend who does amazing paint jobs on vehicles so I may hit him up and see if he can help. But I am now needing a name as well. Someone suggested Pink Panther but that is just not quite sounding right to me.... anyone out there have any ideas?

O'Reilly Outlaw Nationals - Monster trucks

This weekend was the O'Reilly Outlaw Nationals which is always a fun thing to go to around here. We have been able to go the last three years and I have loved it! Andy Hoffman's Nitemare, Doug Noelk in Tail Gator, Darren Migues in Bounty Hunter, Jerry Perry in Brute Force, Paul Strong in Martial Law and two more newer trucks, Ice and Crash Master rounded out the eight trucks who where there. Brute Force had just been bought on Friday By Jerry Perry and he gave a good show in his first night as the new owner. Devin Jones is a hometown favorite who always puts on a good show. We have know the Jones family forever and we both went to school with Devin and love to see him "do his thing"! Devin started out driving tough trucks and is now driving his monster truck, Barbarian, all around the nation. It was a great show with Brute Force flipping his truck at the end of his run in the wheelie competiton when he was trying to do a donut. Then during the free style competiton Martial Law broke an axel and a tire went one way as the truck went the other way, rolling over. They both came out the next night but after the first side-by-side Martial Law was done for the night after having some engine problems. All the trucks gave a great show and kept everyone on the edge of their seats. If you have a chance to see any of the guys it is worth it to go and see their show! You can alway check out what is going on with the guys at The Monster Blog. This is always a great show and I can't wait until next year!!!

April showers bring May flowers.... or showers again??????

May 10th was the one year anniversary of the tornado that hit Picher. Friday (May 8th) we had been watching the coverage on the news and we knew that there was another storm coming in. Matt goes in a little early on Fridays so I get a phone call from him saying that I needed to leave a little earlier than I had planned. The wind was blowing and had picked his truck up and "floated" him to the other lane. I started getting around and the electricity flashed. I didn't think much about it since it came back on and then a couple minutes later the wind picked up something severe!!! It sounded like hail was hitting the house but it was the little bitty pieces of branches that were being blown from the tree line. Later we were told that the wind was blowing between 85-110 MPH. I was getting around when the electricity went out and stayed out so I lit some of the lamps and got ready to leave. The girls weren't happy and were pacing around so I watched them and once they calmed down I put them in their kennels and went on to work. There was tons of water and the wind was still blowing but not as bad. The rain was coming down and the highway was very dangerous. I didn't see what had happened then since I was so focused on the road but there were 5 poles broken, all laying towards the east. We were without electricity from Friday morning until about 9 pm sunday but when we were home we gassed the generator up and plugged in the neccessities - fridge, freezer, TV, satellite, a few lights and a fan! I am just thankful that there wasn't more damage and that we were only out for a short amount of time! This weather in Oklahoma is crazy this time of year!

DARE Tournament 2009

On Saturday the Masons put on a tournament for a DARE officer and this was our 3rd year to fish it. I know that nothing could top last year's tournament but we still had fun! The water has been up on the lake for a few weeks now and right before the tournament we got more rain so it was even higher. Keep in mind this is our THIRD year to fish and this is my THIRD year to not be able to blast off... So I guess we will try for next year!!! Instead of putting in at Martin's we had the choice to trailer to any ramp we wanted to and trailer back. So we sat waiting in line and took off to our ramp a little after six. Matt caught a fish right off and then we fought all day to find any more. I couldn't catch a fish if my life depended on it! I could tell him where to catch fish but couldn't do it myself!!! In the end we weighed in 4 fish and our total weight came to 8.23 lbs. Not bad considering the day that we had. This tournament is for a great cause and Jon does a great thing. He works for a sheriff's department at night and is volunteering to do the DARE program during the day. Looking forward to next year!!

HELLO!

I just wanted to say "Hello" to my friends who just came back from vacation!!! Hope you enjoyed the relaxation and the warm weather!!!