Before we went to Ptown

On Saturday March, 8th I went to Alex's. We first went to Holbrook for a sale and then when we were getting ready to leave we decided that we should hang some "sucker rod" at the farm since it was such a nice day. Seriously - don't know if it's hang or put up - both words sort-of have the same meaning to me. "Sucker rod" not sure if that's the technical word or that's what people call it because it's so heavy. You know like what you would say to a preson that just got fooled - Awww Sucker! Anyway, the stuff is heavy!! I believe Alex said it's what they use in the oil fields and it is solid iron/steel/metal (whatever). I think all of you are starting to understand how well I listen!

Actually we got started fixing some panels but the drill needed to be charged so we moved on to the "sucker rods".
Of course we had to get some pictures of the horses. This is Alex with his pair of draft horses and the one on the left is Rose and then one on the right is Ruby. We were "hanging/putting up" the "sucker rod" in the "area" where the "horses" stay. (Enough quotes yet?!)
This is Buffy and she definitely is prego now!!!
Just a shot of of the horses watching Alex. Finally, after Alex and I were done messing with the horses we decided that we better get busy. We had to put the top two "rows" (?) up. Alex and I started this project I believe last summer and we chose the hottest day in history to do it - it was seriously like 110 degrees outside! I honestly don't even think we spent an hour outside then, but this time the weather was so nice we really got a lot accomplished. My job was to hold the heavy... stuff - for lack of a better word - and he would then hammer in the nails on the C-thingies that held up the rod.
Here is one corner finished
If you look to the left of this picture on the bottom "rows" you will see two silver shiny parts that are larger than the rest of the rod. That is where you have to screw each piece together. Each rod is about 30 - 35 feet long so Alex had to screw them together before we hung it - which made it really heavy. This is another view of the "fence" that we completed. Hope you all enjoyed your education about "sucker rod"!

Time to do chores - loading a hay bale on the "hay bale mover" (?)!!
Securing it down!
One of the cows got a little excited while we were feeding them and ran into the pickup and cracked the taillight - of course I had to take a picture of it! Why wouldn't I - I take random picures all the time!!!

Grandpa Bob in Ptown

A couple weeks ago my Grandpa Bob, my mom's dad, came from Norfolk to visit us. We all went to the fish fry on Friday night and then my mom cooked us a great meal Saturday night. Emily also surprised us and came home from a little town outside of Omaha. No one would know the name if I mentioned it so we will just say Omaha.

Emily (Emilia), Joseph (Broseph), Grandpa, Me (in farm clothes and I must say they are NOT flattering) and Steven (Steve-O). The names in the parentheses are the names I call them they are not their real names!! Glad that's cleared up!
Mom and Grandpa
This picture is for Emilia. For as long as I have known Alex, Emilia swears she has only met him once - if that. She thought I was crazy (crazier than I already am) and thought I made him up. Now she has met him and I think she feels a lot better knowing that I don't have an "imaginary friend" that I "go to the farm with."

Randomness....

So I have been tagged by Missy and then Sarah.

Here is how you play. Once you have been tagged you have to write a blog of ten weird, random things, facts or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose five people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them to be tagged. Don't forget to leave them a comment "You're it!" and tell them to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you. Since you can't tag that person back, let them know when you've posted your blog so they can read your answers.

Okay girls (and everyone else reading this) I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do just the required ten or do twenty because I was tagged twice. I decided that I would do a good, strong ten and then maybe let a couple other quirky tid-bits trickle out. I don't want to reveal too much about me and my weirdness!!!


1. I absolutely hate grocery shopping! I just hate the whole process but I can't wait to get home. I LOVE to rearrange everything in the fridge and in the cupboards. I love the organization! Thinking about it right now really makes me excited and I am not even kidding!!!


2. I sleep on top of my comforter at nights and cover up with blankets because I don't want to make my bed. I would rather just fold my blankets up or throw them to the side of my bed then actually make my bed. That folks is pure laziness!!!


3. The first time my friends introduced me to wine I hated it! I thought there was no way that I was ever going to drink it again. I sucked it up though and now I really enjoy wine. One of my best friends taught me - for the price, you can't beat boxed wine!!! Still makes me laugh every time I think of Franzia!!!


4. I don't wear matching socks. I am not talking about not wearing matching white socks, I am talking about wearing non-matching colored socks. Right now I am wearing one green sock with Christmas monkeys on my left foot and a red sock with Valentine's day hearts on the right. Seriously, there is no reason to the madness! (I don't wear matching white socks either!)


5. I HATE getting ready to go out on the weekends with my friends to the point where I almost say that I am not going out (are we seeing a "lazy" pattern developing?) because I don't want to get ready! I stay in my towel the whole time. I put my makeup on first, then I do my hair and then I get dressed. You would think that since I hate getting ready that it would take me like 10 minutes to get ready, right? No, it still takes me over an hour because I procrastinate the whole way through. It's like I think the longer I take somehow something mysteriously will come in and magically make me ready to go. What kind of world am I living in?!?


6. My favorite most relaxing thing to do on a Sunday was hit up the 49er around noonish, stroll on down to O'Leavers for some sand volleyball, leave O'Leavers around midnight/oneish and then hit up Jimmy John's!


7. I can't kill spiders and it's not because I like them - it's because they freak me out so much. One time my roommate and I were sitting in her room and a spider was on the wall. First thing we did was freeze (because we didn't want it to see us!!) and then we did a snake-like movement against the other side of the room to get out. As soon as we were out we screamed and ran all the way down the hallway and got on our balcony! (I am laughing right now!) We realized that we needed someone to check on it to make sure it was still on the wall so we went in together. Heck no it wasn't! Which freaked us out even more which caused more screaming and running to the balcony! She called her dad (who was like 5 hours away) and of course he said there was nothing he could do! WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! We went back in the room to try to find where the monster went - we moved something on the floor and there he was which caused - I am sure you know - more screaming and running to the balcony! At this time we both are sweating - seriously - and maybe getting a little teary with fright and I decided I would "man-up" and kill it. I put some sneaks on my feet and on my hands (which livend it up a little because we got a good laugh out of that). We went into the room to dismantle the intruder. When we found it - not kidding - I took like 6 swats at the beast with my hands and each time never came close to killing it - finally I killed it! When that was done - you guessed it - we screamed and went running back to the balcony. Such sissies I tell you! I have also been known to call people on the phone to come kill spiders and I say - hurry, it's moving now!!! I can't make this stuff up!


8. I graduated High School in 2000 and graduated from college inJanuary of 2008. Am I doctor now you ask? No, I just have a Bachelor's degree! I am not mentally challenged (well....) I just wasn't ready to grow up. I was on the 8 year plan apparently. Wow, admitting this right now makes me realize that the 8 year plan may have been a little too long!

9. I am getting more anal where I like to wear shoes that match what I am wearing (I am sure some of you already know that) but I have over 12 pairs of jap-flaps (is that PC?) and none of them are the same color. Just in case you don't know my lingo - that's code for flip-flops.


10. This one you probably don't want to know - okay you have been warned. I am not embarrassed to pick my nose in public. I know that it's a little random to throw out there but it's definitely something weird about me but if you are my friend you already know this randomness!


11. I don't really like my food to touch when it's on the plate. Some foods are okay to touch but very few. I also eat one thing at a time - usually saving the biggest or best thing for last. I have eaten this way for as long as I can remember!


12. I broke my leg when I was 10 months old and I was just learning to walk. I had to have three different casts because I kept "crawling" out of them.


13. I blew out one knee in basketball and had surgery. Nine and a half months later I was having surgery on the other knee because I blew it out in volleyball.

14. I don't know how "serious" my serious side is.

I think that is enough randomness to make a person's head spin, I know mine is! Okay, for the people that I want to complete this randomness --

Dave - because I am interested to see the randomness that you can create.

Aletha - even though we went to school together I know there is still some stuff I don't know about you.

Julie - Same as Aletha.

Jen Blecha - because I added your blog on my list of visited blogs and I think you are funny!

Brooke - I am sure you have randomness in your life and am wondering what it is!!

Comments and Stuff

Okay, so please bear with me as I am trying to figure out why my blog will not allow comments. I have gone through the settings and I have it marked to show comments and anybody can comment but I just can’t figure it out. I am going to probably have some different templates over the next couple days as I try to figure out how this all works. Also, every time I change my layout it doesn’t include my pictures on the side or my visited blogs links so I am also trying to figure that out as well because it really is no fun having to redo that every time! If anyone has any ideas or knows more about this than I do (which wouldn’t be hard to be that person at this point) please feel free to comment – oh wait – I mean e-mail me! My email address is over to the side under the “About Me” section. Thanks!

A Day With Guns

So yes, the title does sound a little dangerous considering Alex and I were the ones with the guns - but rest assured, we were safe! Bob had two old guns (okay, old I don't know how old they really were) and Alex and I took them to the farm to see if they worked. I wish I could tell you what type of guns they were but I am not even going to pretend like I know. Okay, maybe they were 22's? Does that clear it up for everyone? Thought so! Everyone knows exactly what I am talking about now don't they!

The first picture is what the weather was like on our "Playing-with-Guns-Day'oFun". Not sure why I chose to put up a picture of the snow but I did. Probably because these past days have been so nice I just wanted to remind everyone of the crazy Nebraska weather that we had the weekend before - snow one day - 78 degrees the next! So predicatable!

Here is Alex with the first gun we shot. Actually, I don't think I shot this gun, just he did. Also, for all of you overly observant people, you may have noticed the background and there isn't any snow on the ground. I am pretty sure that by the time we were ready to shoot the guns it had all melted. I am 99% sure.
Another action shot!

If I remember correctly this gun misfired a little more than people would be comfortable with but of course we kept shooting it - I mean Alex kept shooting it! I told you we were safe!
This is a picture of the second gun, Alex checking it out.
Loading the bullets. Actually, ammunition is probably the correct word but tomatoe tomato right?
"Sighting it in" - LOL
Oh yes my friends, I did decide to get in on the action with the last gun. I have an extremely amazing, right on target kind of shot! Consider yourselves warned!
Then my arms got tired and I had to rest on the pickup!!!

Alex's New Recipe

When Alex and I returned home on Sunday we weren't really too motivated to do anything. We lounged around and watched tv and then he started on some of his laundry, I just watched! We started to get a little hungry but weren't too sure what we were going to have but we knew the choices were pizza or eggs. For those of you that know Alex, I am pretty sure you guessed correctly - we had eggs!!! This wasn't just the regular raw-eggs-that-you-drink-out-of-a-blender egg meal - Alex made up his own recipe. I can't give you the ingredients of the recipe because it hasn't been perfected to Alex's standards yet but you may be able to pick out some of the ingredients from the pictures.

In my mind right now I am thinking - Man, Alex is so not going to like the idea that I put these pictures up! Acutally, I can honestly hear him saying , "Mindy, you are a jerk" but I can't help it! There are other photos that I have refrained from posting (for example the six days he went without shaving and him doing laundry) but I just had to post these pictures! Some of these make me laugh and some are just pictures of the masterpiece so I wanted to share them with everyone! By the way - the meal was very good!

This picture is of Alex dancing - yes he is doing the "cooking" dance!

A little more of the dancing. Apparently the more you dance, the better the meal. Try it some time!!

This picture cracks me up and I just can't even explain it. It's like he just opened this package of - I can't remember what it was - and is like 'Oh yay!' All surprised and everything! Priceless!

Checking out the cupboards for what will be the next ingredient.

Alex browning the meat. The final product ended up being a breakfast like casserole but the plan changed a couple times during production.

Before the dish goes into the oven to bake - that is italian cheese, cheddar cheese and salsa. Very pretty!!!

Into the oven it goes.

The results! Just so everyone knows, I made Alex hold this like he was in a 4-H cooking contest or something. He said he didn't want to but secretly I think he did because he was proud of his invention! Anyway, the meal was good and I was thankful that he cooked for me!

SIDNEY

This post is for Nick and Lindsey. Of course, the one time that I remember I have my camera when we are visiting with people is when we are talking about the cat, Sidney. I can't even remember how long Nick and Lindsey have had this cat but if I remember correctly I think it was one of the tamest ones that Alex had picked out for them out at the farm. Anyway, Sid is their little baby so I had to take some pictures of her while we were all hanging out.

Here she is basking in the sun - she's taking a time out from Alex.

What is that she has tied around her neck, you ask? It's a string that has two balls on it and Alex thought it would be fun for her if he tied it around her neck.

Here Alex is playing with the string and balls with Sid.

Nick and Lindsey - I hope you enjoy these actions shots of your little girl!!!! Next time we will make sure to get pictures of you guys, too!

February 21st - 24th

Alex and I took a little time off from work last week and got out of town. We left Thursday morning and headed to Norfolk where my grandparents live. We stopped on our way in Kearney at the Cattlemen's Classic and walked around. This was the first time that I have ever been there. Alex, while he was going to school at UNK, used to help out there every year. While we were there he ran into his old boss, another guy that he used to work the Classic with and a couple guys from Indianola. It was nice to break up our drive with that stop.

We arrived to Norfolk probably around 4ish. I showed Alex where I used to live, the church my family still attends and the last school that I attended and then we went and checked into our hotel. We stayed at one of the newer hotels in Norfolk and it was really nice! When you walked in it had a sort of cabin feel to it so that was neat. Our room was HUGE!

On Friday we went to my Grandma Marge's (my mom's mom) and she made us dinner. We ate and then I chatted with her while Alex took a nap. After he woke up we went to my grandpa's (my mom's dad) and we went out to eat at a steakhouse there in Battle Creek. I said I was going to rave for awhile about the Prime Rib so I might as well do it again - it was probably some of the best stuff I have had in awhile!!

Saturday morning we woke up and headed for Lincoln to go see Nick and Lindsey (Alex's sister and brother-in-law). We arrived there close to 2 I think. We sat there and visited with Lindsey until Nick got off work and then we went to eat at Grisantis. After our meal we went to Alex's favorite store The Fort but it was closed already. Apparently they weren't aware that cowboying is an all day job!! HA Ha Ha!!! After that little "let-down" we went to a little town west of Lincoln called Denton to visit Brent, a friend of Nick's (and I suppose Lindsey's too!).

Sunday we left and headed back here to Western Nebraska. The weekend was pretty fun although it deed seem like it was just a lot of driving but it was good all in all. Of course I didn't take any pictures while we were in Norfolk so that's why you just had to read a novel! I hope to take pictures next time I go back!

February 2, 2008

So I have really been slacking! I knew that I wasn't posting as often as I was hoping - once a week - but I didn't realize that it had been almost a complete MONTH since my last post!! I promise I am going to do better next month! Okay, well I promise to try harder to make a post every week. Maybe I will feel bad about not posting this past month and try to make it up by posting twice a week. Wait - lets not get ahead of ourselves!!! That seems a little ambitious for my taste!

The following pictures are from Super Bowl Weekend. Yes, I am quite aware that the Super Bowl happened the very first weekend of February which was about three weeks ago - give me a little bit of a break, please! Anyway - Andy, Libby, Dylan and Ally were all in town for the weekend so I took a couple pictures while we were all sitting around Saturday afternoon. Dylan is the first grandson and Ally is the first granddaughter for Bob & Kathy. They are quite entertaining!!

Dylan up close and personal!

Ally - not too sure about Uncle Alex!

These following pictures were just too cute!! We were all just sitting in the living room and all of a sudden Ally pulled the paper off the shelf and just started having a ball. I just sat on the couch and snapped pictures of her playing in/with the paper.

Dylan showing us his muscles.

Ally's face is so cute in this picture - it makes me think she is saying - Uh-oh!

I think Dylan wanted to fight in this picture.....

...and then Alex and Andy went to give Dylan his first swirley!! (Not sure on the spelling but I am pretty sure you know what is going on by the toilet in the picture!!)

Dylan, Grandma and Ally. I was too slow to actually get Ally's face though.

Grandpa and his girl.

Grandpa feeding Ally candy!! Not sure what Dylan is doing in this picture!

Grandpa, Ally and Dylan

Grandma and Dylan playing

Dyland, Grandma and Ally

Dylan later that afternoon at the farm playing with the cats.