*Wee Bit Wednesday #10*

{One} What is one food that, as an adult you love, but as a child you'd never touch?Onions & Tomatoes! Love them!
{Two} Did you go to college? If yes, what was your major?I did and hopefully will go back soon! My major at first was Animal Science, then was Equine Science. Maybe, when I go back, it will be Agricultural Business. We'll see!
{Three} What's the most wild animal you've seen in real life(not counting at the zoo)?I don't really know how to answer this. I thought a "wild" animal was a "wild" animal. I didn't know there were different levels of "wild". But, whatever, I've seen almost every kind of wild animal around in the American northwest... Deer, Antelope, Elk, Moose, Bears, Cougars, Bobcats, Badgers, Foxes, Skunks, Raccoons, Porcupines... You name it.  
{Four} Have you ever been to a fortune teller?There was one at a carnival I was at but I didn't want to spend my money on getting my fortune "told". 
{Five} Can you juggle?Very sloppily with 3 round objects.
{Six} Hardwood floors or Carpet?Depends on where in the house. I love carpet though. I think that's because growing up we lived in a lot of places with wood floors and I always wanted carpeted floors haha.
{Seven} Is it called "Soda" or "Pop"?When I lived back east it was Soda. Then we moved out west and I've called it Pop ever since
{Eight} What was your first car?I've never had a car, but my first vehicle was a navy blue '96 Chevy Silverado regular cab. I had it since I was 16 up until just last year. I loved that truck!

{Nine} What is the most decadent dessert you've ever eaten?My good friend Kevin made Joe & I the best Creme Brulee, made with real vanilla beans and with raspberries! He is going to culinary school and he is pretty darn good at what he does. I literally licked the bowl.
{Ten} How often do you rearrange your furniture?Hardly ever... If not never. I have a billion pictures hung on my walls and the furniture are placed exactly where they compliment the pictures and I do not want to have to rehang them haha.
Bonus Questions:
{Eleven} How tall are you?5' 7 1/2"... Don't forget the 1/2" :)
{Twelve} What food can you absolutely not stand to eat?Anything Mint, Kiwi or Strawberry flavored. Anything with Caramel on it, in it, just a hint of it... Puke. And hamburgers. Long story short; I lived with a lady friend of mine for about a year and we were both dirt poor. She had a couple feeder steer that were being grass fed(yucky) and we had one butchered into hamburger meat. And we had, not even joking, hamburger paddies, with no bun, and a little bit of ketchup for dinner almost every night for 6 months. If I were lucky I would get a sub while I was at work or my boss would buy some take out, or I went to my parents for dinner. Hence why I despise hamburgers.
{Thirteen} How many pillows do you sleep with?I start off with the very tip of one under my head. But, eventually I end up with the pillow pushed above me and my head flat on the mattress. I'm most comfortable that way I guess!

*Be Reasonable*

I have decided that over this last year and a half of marriage to my hard working, very smart husband; with all the things we've already been through and with all the work, sacrifice and smarts and budgeting it takes to live the kind of life we've chosen to live... That there are a lot of things that are better to be reasonable about then not.  For instance: (BTW: This is a semi-long post, just with my thoughts and I don't mean to offend anybody.  It's just been on my mind and it's what makes sense for me and Joe)

Vehicles- We have two pick-up trucks.  First off, I know it's not that great with mileage on fuel, but it's what works best for us.  Joe has a 1 ton Dodge cummins, completely stock, no frill's on it what-so-ever.  That's because it's the work truck.  It pulls the huge horse trailer.  My truck is the commute, future baby haulin' truck.  Now, we prefer trucks in Randolph on the ranch because the cars just get beat up from the roads, and unlike SUV's we have a bed in the back to haul "dirties" as I call them (anything that would dirty up or ruin the inside of the vehicle). Also, our for hauling our wolf pack around haha.

I used to (and still kinda do) think these huge, 8" lifted, 35+ mud tires, chromed out, custom painted trucks were dead sexy.... until I got a reality check.  I bought my GMC earlier this year while we lived in town and I thought it was just so pretty with it's small lift, clean inside, and slightly chromed out exterior (I even added a couple chrome detailing after we bought the truck).  And then we moved to Randolph.  After one week you could barely even make out that it was a white truck with chrome detailing because we live down and 1 1/2 mile dirt road and I've had to take it off into muddy, bumpy fields numerous times.  When all that was said and done I had a muddy red/brown truck that could be beat to crap for all anyone else knew.

If you have the money to have a super nice truck, with all this extra detailing to it than that's awesome, good for you, I'll probably envy you for a second or two.  But then I'll think about how for us, we'll save our money that we could use to lift, primp, sexy-up our trucks for when the tranny goes out or the brakes, tires and oil need changed (which they do A LOT).

Clothes- Now this subject I'm not too picky about but still, where we live it's kind of ridiculous not to be reasonable.  It's a cold, muddy, snowy, windy and hairy (from the horses, dogs, cats, cows exc.) life here.  So, I'd rather not walk outside and in my cute heels, expensive jeans, tee, or jacket on just to have a dog jump up and muddy my jeans or accidently rub up my jacket up on my dirty truck.  I've also realized that I'd rather be toasty warm in a makes-you-look-20lbs-heavier-than-you-really-are Carhartt jacket and thick unflattering Wranglers than freeze my tush off in a cute little sweatshirt and skin-tight, paper thin jeans.  It's also pretty hard to save up for a nice pair of durable boots that I'll get a lot of use from when I'm spending all my money on unnecessary clothing.

I do love though to have a few "nice" articles of clothing for church, or when we go out somewhere not ranch related.  I used to spend all my money on clothes, now I'm learning how to keep clothes looking nice for as long as possible by learning how to wash different kinds of material, and steering clear of the color stripping clothing detergents.

Pets- I LOVE my pets (as you all know too well).  I've realized after having pets whom I paid good money for, who I spent so much money on throughout the time I had them and who I spent so much time, care and love on.  Just to see them die.  I love my pets but, from now on if I am going to have them I need reasonable pets.  I need dogs who are our companions but who are also going to work.  Our pets are our family members, so with the life we have all of our family members have to work.  I've always wanted a big cuddly St. Bernard or a cute little Pug.  But, it just makes more sense for our family to have a good cow dog who'll help us out on those long rides in the mountains, or in those tight corners of the cattle shoots where we can't reach to keep the cows moving but the dogs can.

Same with cats.  I adore a sweet cat to cuddle up with on the couch.  I would have 20 inside cats (Yes, I could totally see myself as the old cat lady, with a house full of just me and my 100 cats haha) but, with our little old house we only need one cat inside to take care of the mice.  And she does a great job.

This post is mostly for me, as much as I would love to have a fully-loaded, beautifully brand new vehicle, or super nice, expensive clothes, shoes and jewelry, or a cute little AKA Pug to keep me company and buy cute little dogs things for, or manicures every week(they would need to be every week  because they get ruined after 10 minutes outside around here), getting my hair done at steep priced salons(I get trims every once in a while, no coloring, no hairstyles that require $100 worth of hair product and my sis-in-law usually cuts it for free... Bless you Druc {muah}), the fact is that I simply can't afford these things and they are not reasonable!

So here is me saying, think about what is and is not reasonable to you, in your circumstances, and eliminate any unreasonableness in your life. It really is a smart idea!

*More Money Then We've Got... Ahh Well*

This month has been a spendy one... So far we've spent WAY too much on Christmas which if we'd known how much we'd be spending this month we would and should have cut down considerablly on everything, like a whole new wardrobe of clothes for Joey, a couple clothes for me, too much jewelery and hair pieces for me, our big present for both of us from "Santa" haha, I went crazy with a bunch of little things for Joe's stocking, and he went crazy with a bunch of books and movies I had on my wish list, and I can't even rememeber what else, jeez!  Then there's the whole new screen for the computer, we decided paying for a new screen sounded a lot better than paying for a brand new Mac!  THEN we decided this month of all months to get much needed repairs and such done on our pick-ups... Joey changed our oil with top of the line oil filters and oils, my truck got new belts, brakes(shoes for the rear), it's getting the pitman arm, idler arm and front left tie rods changed AND Joey got a steering wheel cover, which of course was the freakin' cheapest thing.  We decided with how much we've been paying for these stupid trucks we might as well keep them running well!  And then, there's the pets... yeah... I've stocked up on dog and cat food, kitty litter, bought collars and leashes, needing to buy a kennel so we can give our friends back the ones they let us borrow (THANK YOU), I broke down and got some chew toys for the puppies for Christmas, and got Dolly her last vaccination.  Don't get pets people, they are spendy little snots.  I also decided to make a trip to Sam's Club and stock up on groceries and toiletries for when we move back to the ranch at the end of this month.  And last but not least bills, a couple late charges on some no less because I haven't been on the ball.

So basically, camera... gonna have to wait until next month :( But that's okay.

Merry Christmas Joseph and Jency hahaha

*Classifieds, "Spring" & Baby-Sitting*

"The Westons" April 2010

Joe & I were thinking the other day that THREE trucks is one too many for just the two of us... A little unnecessary really. It almost looks like we have a lot of money and are just showing off :) Well... We really don't. Therefore "Little Blue" is now up for sale! I spent a whole couple of days (when not at work) cleaning him inside, out and in between. He actually cleans up quite well (and yes we do refer to him as a "he". In fact he is the "old pimp" and our other trucks are his women "Black Betty" & "Betty White"). Anywho, he is being featured on KSL Classifieds online, posters all throughout town and has pretty little For Sale signs on him. Please cross your fingers for us that he gets sold... ASAP.

We recently celebrated spring with short sleeves, St. Paty's Day, a spring clean and even a spring bonus (from my job, not Joe's because his job is freakin' ridiculous and penny pushers needless to say. This is a bitter subject for me if you couldn't tell haha)... The very next day pretty much this (above) ends our celebration... I measured 6 inches of snow and that was in the middle of it's downpour. Could very possibly have been more. Luckily, I am training some boys at work to take over my job so I just had to tell them what to do and didn't have to leave the building in to the blizzard once!

ETHAN got to come hang out with his Uncle Joey & Aunt Jency thursday night while his parents were out. We had a blast. It took him only a minute to warm up to me again... and about 30 minutes to warm up to Joe and the cat haha.

The boys were buds the rest of the night though. Played the banjo together, ate rice cereal and grape juice, played ball, took turns "walking" around, terrorized the cat, clapping, talking... You name it!

Opi wasn't too hot about the idea of someone else crawling around her territory.

After all the toys were taken out and put back, one bottle of milk, one bottle of grape juice, one pee-pee diaper, one massive poopy diaper, one outfit change, one episode of Grey's Anatomy, 3 stories, one Banjo recital and one crying fit later he had to leave us :( Until next time Eth. We love you!

*My New Baby!*

My new baby :) '05 GMC, 323 6.0L motor, four door, half ton, new tires, new rims, new front end, has air bag suspension, lift and awesome sounding exhaust, and is in excellent condition! Yeah, I'm pretty much in love. THANKS BABY FOR MY NEW TRUCK!