Stupid Dog!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I had a crappy crappy day at work today, and then come home to find my 5 beloved chickens DEAD in my backyard. The neighbor's stupid dog chewed a stupid hole in the fence and came and killed all our chickens. And pooped in our yard. I am sooo mad. They were my little babies- I loved them. 2 were already laying and the other 3 would have started laying in the next month. The neighbor didn't seem to really care at all. WOW I am so angry and upset I can't even think of what to write! I loved my chickens. :O( The chicken in the picture was Patty. We also had Petunia, Paprika, Mrs. Black, and Mrs. Brown.

I'm just glad our dear little goats have their moveable shelter... otherwise they may have been goners, too.

Ron Paul Success

I've been wearing my Ron Paul pin at work. I'm in customer service, so I see a lot of ppl every day and know most of my customers on a first name basis (I know some of their kid's and dog's names, too!) Anyhow, my lovely pin has sparked plenty of conversations, and many of my customer-friends have promised me they would look into him. Of course, i have come across a few supporters, too! Only one nay-sayer, which occured today. An elderly woman- she looked at me with a funny smirk and said, "Don't throw away your vote!" I said I would vote for him no matter what because he is an honest and principled person. I love how ppl just assume that voting outside of the main stream media coverage means you're throwing your vote away. Anyhow, I'm really loving all the conversations that have been sparked. I never go anywhere now without a hat, pin, and a ton of flyers in my purse which I hand out to ppl, stick on buletin boards, and stick on all the cars around mine in parking lots. I think that so far, just at work, I have convinced 3 or so ppl to vote for Dr. Paul. And that's just this week! ( I just started wearing the pin at work)

Anyhow, if any of you my dear readers are Thompson supporters (he's just dropped out) then look into Ron Paul! He is great! If any of you are Huckabee supporters, then consider Ron Paul! He is also a deeply committed Christian, even if he isn't the poster-boy-candidate for the religious right.

Ron Paul very intelligent man who wants us to live by the constitution. He is a 10-term congressman who has never compromised, never taken government-junkets, never voted to raise taxes. He has promised to bring troops home immediately. He is pro-life. Will abolish the IRS, NAFTA, NAIS, and many other bad government programs. These are just a few of his virtues-- the ones I can think of off the top of my head. He wants to give you back your personal liberties and responsibilities!!! Support Ron Paul!!!!!!!!

It's as cold as a miner's butt in Alaska

That's what my friend Wanda said to greet me at church today. She laughed and said, "you've never heard that phrase before?!" It was just a shocking statement from a grandma. But very funny. It's really not that cold out today, though. Maybe for these Texans.

Every day at 5pm

Everyday at 5pm I hear the national anthem played. We live right next to a military base, and they blast it loudly so you can hear it over the whole base, and in the neighboring vicinity. If you are on base you have to stop, face a flag, and stand still, preferably with your hand on your heart, until it is over. If you are in the service you have to salute. I don't know what would happen if, as a civilian, i didn't do this, but I don't mind. It's always a few minutes to ponder what that song really stands for, where our liberties really come from. Anyway, it is just past 5 and the anthem just played, and so it has me thinking about these things, like it does every time I hear it. At 9pm everynight taps are played. On the nights I am still up to hear it, I find the lonely trumpet melody very relaxing. Sad, too. That's the one that gets played at military funerals. Anyway, this is just a little part of our lives that you probably don't know about. 

Day off

Well finally I am here writing another blog! It sure has taken me forever... so sorry, my one or two loyal readers. I am home today enjoying my day off, and Daniel just left from coming home for lunch. I fed us one of our chickens which we processed (killed) last saturday, and it was ever-so-delicious. So fresh and healthy! I made a giant pot of chicken stock the other day, and so I am trying to figure out how to use so much chicken broth, because it is supposed to be incredibly healthy if you cook it for long enough (I cooked mine for a full 24 hours, which is the maximum time according to my good cook book "nourishing traditions".) Anyhoo, so I tried (unsucessfully) to make a reduction sauce, but I don't think there was enough gelatin in my broth for it to ever become a sauce... it just sort of boiled away. But then I cooked rice in some of the broth and it was good, and then tonight we are having garlic soup, another recipe from "nourishing traditions". I'm trying to eliminate processed foods from our diet, which is hard!! I am trying to learn to plan ahead for meals and make everything from scratch. Ehhhh. I am happy to do it but I am not enjoying the severe learning curve. Not that i don't like learning. Anyhow, it's ok. Daniel got me a kitchenaid mixer for christmas! Those really nice kind that sit on the counter. Mine is white. I love it--- it kneads bread and pizza crust super quick and eazy-- it's amazing! We made whipped cream, too. He totally suprised me with that gift-- i've always wanted one (what woman doesnt??) but never thought we would get one because they are a luxury, but he saved up his allowance for months (how sweet!!!) to get it for me! What a great husband. He's amazing, and i love him. I feel so sad for ppl who don't love and cherish their spouse. Marriage can be so great! (not just because of fancy pantsy presents, either).

Ok, sooooo what else is going on? I don't know. My dad and brother came to visit after christmas for a few days, and we all actually had a really good time. I was scared my dad and Daniel wouldn't get along, but they talked and talked about politics and foreign policy and the government and farming, it was great. No akwardness at all.

I'm trying to loose weight. I'm tired of looking at my skinny pants and not wearing them. Soooo I am cutting sugar out of my diet and excercizing. This morning pilates kicked my butt. I've lost a few pounds (after gaining those over the holidays, of course) so I feel a little better.

I feel like the new year can officially start now because I bought a 2008 calander last night and it is now hanging in the kitchen. Yay 2008. Only 2 more years and we will move back home!

Pictures!!!

Yay! Here are some pictures from our family visit!

This is Jasmine, our little sister, tickling Daniel
Me counting fingers with Jasmine
me, sister-in-law Jamie, Step-mother-in-law Teresa!
Sister Jasmine and brother Josh. Jaz just looks so cute here!!
Me and Jamie in our living room
Whole fam: Jamie, Josh, Dad, Teresa, Jazz, Me, Daniel

Me, mother-in-law Kim, and Jamie
Two Happy Brothers :O) They had a great time together
The siblings: Me, Daniel, Jasmine, Josh, Jamie.
Me and my bunny, Hunza
I will have to put up more another time... there are a lot!

Family Visits

Soooo we had a nice long visit with Daniel's family. I didn't take a single picture, but my sister in law took a ton and so once she posts them online I will put some on here. Anyhow it was my father-in-law (winston), step-mother-in-law (teresa), brother in law (josh) and his wife (jamie) and sister in law (jasmine). I loved having them here-- they were here for a week, with their RV parked in our drive way. Josh and Jamie stayed in the house with us. Josh worked in our backyard for like 3 days on end and: built us a moveable goat shelter, dug a big pond with a pump, and finnished our rabbit hutch, as well as mowing and seeding/watering the yard. He was out there all the time. kudos to him- I am so thankful for his hard work. Our yard looks 100% better and our little farm is much more functional. I will post pictures later. We did a lot of fun stuff while they were here, but the best part for me was just the companionship and quality time spent together. I loved cooking for so many people and having everyone sitting around my house talking and laughing. It was lovely. I wish they were still here-- I cried sunday knowing that they were leaving the next morning. I am still really sad they are gone-- it feels so empty and lonely here now. Sigh. I felt like we all got to grow closer and have a good time. I really love teresa, my stepmotherinlaw (smil)-- she is just wonderful, and we have a great time together. Jasmine is getting so big (she is almost 3) and she talks all the time now. She loves her big brothers. Anyway, I just wish they could have all moved in. They brought us a feezer/fridge full of meat from the farm and soooo we are stocked for a good long while with healthy grass-fed organic meat. I am soooooooooooo excited about that.
Saturday (while they were still here) Daniel and Josh went on a walk and Daniel got bit by the neighbor's dog, a weimer. Here is how I discovered what happened: I walk outside looking for my hubby and see him down the street pulling down his pants while Josh and the scantily-clad female neighbor are leaning over looking at his butt. Shocked by the sight of my husband in the middle of the road in his boxers, I run over to discover him severely injured. He had 3 open wounds with chunks of skin missing. Now it is all a huge, awful looking bruise, about 8" or so in diameter. Well when he went to PT (physical training) on monday and said he couldn't run because he got bit by a dog they sent him to the ER where they started treating him for rabies (the dog wasn't up to date on it's shots.) He got 20 shots in the thigh and some more in his arm. He is still in a lot of pain, poor thing, and will have to go back for more shots until the dog has been observed for 10 days. Isn't that AWFUL???!! He is getting better, but the whole thing still sucks.

Ok well I should go do all the things I am supposed to do today.