...that happen to shut off all of our phones and hot water. Lovely.
This week...well, it's been fun. I'm definitely coming off the low point of the summer I think and getting ready to kick the last stretch into high gear. Two momentous events happened this week which make me think that, yes, I can be added into the annals of true Lost Valley cowgirls.
The first was the big 8 Seconds viewing. Apparently, next to The Man From Snowy River, this film is a must see for anyone who wants to talk intelligently about all things western.
The second was the Waitrii's photo shoot, in which I, Heidi Kobin, voluntarily allowed myself to be photographed in chaps. And the pictures were GREAT! Or so I hear. I'll put the link on here when the photographer, the great Michael Bankston, sends it to me. Michael and Amy, if you're reading this...THANK YOU! You have been such a blessing this week, we've thoroughly enjoyed having you here!
And now, for the thing I've been waiting to post FOREVER...this is from our Thursday Newsletter, and I thought you all would get a kick out of it...
Minimum Requirements for Ranching
1. A wide brimmed hat, one pair of tight jeans and $20.00 boots from discount house
2. At least two head of livestock, preferably cattle one male, one female.
3. A new air conditioned pickup with automatic transmission, power steering and trailer hitch.
4. A gun rack for the rear window of the pickup, big enough to hold a walking stick and rope.
5. Two dogs to ride int he bed of said truck
6. A $40.00 horse and a $300 saddle
7. A little place to keep the cows, on land too poor to grow crops.
8. A pair of silver spurs to wear to BBQ's
9. A spool of barbed wire, three cedar posts and a bale of hay to haul around in the back of the pickup
10. Credit at the bank
11. Credit from your father in law
12. Credit at the feed store
13. A wife with a full time job at the courthouse
...and all of this is VERY true.
7.13.2008
Finally...a good day
I am feeling every day of the last 8 weeks! I'm exhausted and I just want to be Rumpelstiltskin for a few hundred years. I am beyond tired as a descriptor and have moved on to sheer exhaustion.
But...I am still so glad to be here. I've discovered the beauty in being exhausted because I am giving away every ounce of myself to someone (or in this case 92 someones) every hour of every day. There is such beauty and peace in giving yourself away. That must be why Jesus commands us to do it!
This past week was very hard. We had a family reunion of 52 people from Louisville, KY. Yeah, they were hicks! But, they were also so much fun. Especially the guy who doesn't believe in the Federal government, and therefore doesn't pay his income tax. Yeah...they do exist! I was looking forward to a good King's talk with him...unfortunately, I did not get a chance to because he was sick for a majority of the week. But, I got his email, so I'll be chatting with him soon, hopefully.
This coming week, I think, looks promising. Mostly because today has been one of my favorite days so far. On Sundays, all of the girls have to turn over the Ranch. That means, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, all of us run around like crazy women thoroughly cleaning each of the 26 cabins. It's insane! But, I don't do that anymore, because I stay behind to help the head waitress clean up from Breakfast and serve Lunch. But today, we didn't have lunch!! So, we got off an hour early, and I got to see the whole rodeo for the first time since the first week. It was awesome! And such a blessing.
Church was also a huge blessing. We have church every Sunday outside on a hillside overlooking the mountains...yeah, I'm pretty lucky :o)! Tony has been speaking on Philippians, so we were reading the end of chapter 2 when Paul talks about Timothy and Epaphroditus and their faithfulness to Paul. I praised God for giving me two amazing women here who have blessed me so much! Jenny Denman is our baker, and she is so wonderful! And then Haley Chesser, my old crew leader, is also so wonderful. We're going to start meeting on Monday nights to pray together...I never realized how special prayer is between women until I didn't have it any more. I've been praying for a new group of girls who will build me up and God gave them to me! He is so good.
Thank you for all of your prayers...I have felt every single one of them. I miss you all and I'm praying for you too!
But...I am still so glad to be here. I've discovered the beauty in being exhausted because I am giving away every ounce of myself to someone (or in this case 92 someones) every hour of every day. There is such beauty and peace in giving yourself away. That must be why Jesus commands us to do it!
This past week was very hard. We had a family reunion of 52 people from Louisville, KY. Yeah, they were hicks! But, they were also so much fun. Especially the guy who doesn't believe in the Federal government, and therefore doesn't pay his income tax. Yeah...they do exist! I was looking forward to a good King's talk with him...unfortunately, I did not get a chance to because he was sick for a majority of the week. But, I got his email, so I'll be chatting with him soon, hopefully.
This coming week, I think, looks promising. Mostly because today has been one of my favorite days so far. On Sundays, all of the girls have to turn over the Ranch. That means, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, all of us run around like crazy women thoroughly cleaning each of the 26 cabins. It's insane! But, I don't do that anymore, because I stay behind to help the head waitress clean up from Breakfast and serve Lunch. But today, we didn't have lunch!! So, we got off an hour early, and I got to see the whole rodeo for the first time since the first week. It was awesome! And such a blessing.
Church was also a huge blessing. We have church every Sunday outside on a hillside overlooking the mountains...yeah, I'm pretty lucky :o)! Tony has been speaking on Philippians, so we were reading the end of chapter 2 when Paul talks about Timothy and Epaphroditus and their faithfulness to Paul. I praised God for giving me two amazing women here who have blessed me so much! Jenny Denman is our baker, and she is so wonderful! And then Haley Chesser, my old crew leader, is also so wonderful. We're going to start meeting on Monday nights to pray together...I never realized how special prayer is between women until I didn't have it any more. I've been praying for a new group of girls who will build me up and God gave them to me! He is so good.
Thank you for all of your prayers...I have felt every single one of them. I miss you all and I'm praying for you too!
7.07.2008
Juuuuly the 4th and other things
July 4th was not a fun day. I missed home the most I have in a very long time and it just was not fun! Everyone else, except waitrii, could leave the ranch that night to see fireworks, but we had to serve dinner so we couldn't. I was not a happy camper. But then...things got MUCH better, because we had sparklers after the melodrama! Yay! I was so excited that there was some serious dancing involved with the sparkler. Here's some pictures of our excitement...
Katelyn, my roomie...she's great
See...I was really excited!
So, even though it started depressingly, I did enjoy the end of the 4th.
In other news...Rain has not fallen here in over 5 weeks. Sometimes, we'll be lucky and it'll rain for five minutes, but then the front gets blown over the mountains. Everything is so dry! But, yesterday, we had a much longer rain...it lasted almost a 1/2 hour which was so great. Here's some pictures of crazy Colorado weather!
Here's Sawtooth in the hight of the storm
This is Helen's to the South of Sawtooth...you can see it already clearing...this was about 2 minutes after that first picture.
This is Sawtooth again...about 10 minutes later. That line is the front moving on...this happens daily, the WEIRDEST weather I've ever seen.
Oh! And, last but not least, I thought I'd post video of the longest bull ride thus far, clocked by Peter our head wrangler. There will be no speaking to him now...
Katelyn, my roomie...she's great
See...I was really excited!
So, even though it started depressingly, I did enjoy the end of the 4th.
In other news...Rain has not fallen here in over 5 weeks. Sometimes, we'll be lucky and it'll rain for five minutes, but then the front gets blown over the mountains. Everything is so dry! But, yesterday, we had a much longer rain...it lasted almost a 1/2 hour which was so great. Here's some pictures of crazy Colorado weather!
Here's Sawtooth in the hight of the storm
This is Helen's to the South of Sawtooth...you can see it already clearing...this was about 2 minutes after that first picture.
This is Sawtooth again...about 10 minutes later. That line is the front moving on...this happens daily, the WEIRDEST weather I've ever seen.
Oh! And, last but not least, I thought I'd post video of the longest bull ride thus far, clocked by Peter our head wrangler. There will be no speaking to him now...
7.01.2008
Ok, Ok, time for an update!
Right now I'm sitting in my friend Debbie's guest room NOT ON THE RANCH! I'm in Colorado Springs enjoying one of those priceless days God gives us sometimes, when everything seems perfectly designed to make up one perfect day. I left at around 11pm last night with my roomate Sable and Debbie and we drove the grueling 9 dirty, turny miles down the dirt road and off we went to Colorado Springs. I woke up this morning in a clean room (what a novelty) to the wonderful sound of...no horses! Sable and I quickly decided that a trip to Starbucks was a DEFINITE must. 20 minutes later, I happily sipped my vanilla latte and read...THE NEW YORK TIMES!!! Yes, they sold the NYT at Starbucks. I was thrilled...and disappointed because of all the great shows out right now, and very sad that I'm missing a J.M.M Turner exibit at the Met...Mom, you should definitely try to check that out while you're there! Let's see...what else has been going on? Well, this last week was...interresting to say the least. We have what we like to call our "emotional wall week" here on the Ranch, which I'm pretty sure I plowed down with a vengeance. Thankfully, I'm no longer freaking out about the endless monotony of the days all being the same here, and am again remembering that God has me here for a reason. I really do love this place...it's just the realization that every Tuesday for the last 48 years has been a square dance night (which I AM MISSING TONIGHT THANK GOD!) without fail freaked me out a little. I like change, as anyone who really knows me will tell you, so for me, it was a startling realization. But this week, the Lord has reminded me that He called me to this wilderness for a reason and that I will not die of the monotony. Anyway, that's the end of all this moping! I'm looking forward to this new week, with new guests and a new outlook on my mission here. Here's some pictures from the rodeo, and some video too that I've been meaning to include. Love to all!
Oh! And I slept outside again with some friends two nights ago...I could get used to going to sleep seeing stars shooting all over the sky and waking up to the sun rising over the mountains!
(and don't worry, mom, no snakes! :o)
some favorites! (L-R) Katie, Heather,Debbie, Kaitlyn
Our Rodeo Clown! and one of my best friends here, Adam
We finally got our bulls, so Lucas here is attempting to ride. One of the guys, Alex, who has never ridden a bull before, stayed on for 6 seconds! Amazing Ride!
Ever seen the 3 Amigos?? This is Peter, Stone, and Russell doing the barrels, bareback, three on the horse. Poor Joanie! "Joanie the Roanie" was the first horse I rode here...I'm pretty sure the only reason they stayed on is because Joanie has one speed...and it's definitely NOT fast :o)
The bull finally did what it was supposed to do, and ran out the gate and down the bull run back to the pen...usually he runs clear to the South meadow instead. There were a few nervous guests high tailing it off of there.
Here's a video of the opening of the Rodeo. I wish I could have gotten the whole thing, but it hasn't rained here in a loooong time, so the ring is a dust bowl and the dust clouds kind of covered what was going on.
This is some video of Wes's bull ride from last week. Pay special attention to the commentary, that's Peter our head wrangler from Alabama...yes people really do talk like that...and also make sure you don't miss Tony, our Ranch Foreman's special dance on horseback...Let's Rodeo!
Oh! And I slept outside again with some friends two nights ago...I could get used to going to sleep seeing stars shooting all over the sky and waking up to the sun rising over the mountains!
(and don't worry, mom, no snakes! :o)
some favorites! (L-R) Katie, Heather,Debbie, Kaitlyn
Our Rodeo Clown! and one of my best friends here, Adam
We finally got our bulls, so Lucas here is attempting to ride. One of the guys, Alex, who has never ridden a bull before, stayed on for 6 seconds! Amazing Ride!
Ever seen the 3 Amigos?? This is Peter, Stone, and Russell doing the barrels, bareback, three on the horse. Poor Joanie! "Joanie the Roanie" was the first horse I rode here...I'm pretty sure the only reason they stayed on is because Joanie has one speed...and it's definitely NOT fast :o)
The bull finally did what it was supposed to do, and ran out the gate and down the bull run back to the pen...usually he runs clear to the South meadow instead. There were a few nervous guests high tailing it off of there.
Here's a video of the opening of the Rodeo. I wish I could have gotten the whole thing, but it hasn't rained here in a loooong time, so the ring is a dust bowl and the dust clouds kind of covered what was going on.
This is some video of Wes's bull ride from last week. Pay special attention to the commentary, that's Peter our head wrangler from Alabama...yes people really do talk like that...and also make sure you don't miss Tony, our Ranch Foreman's special dance on horseback...Let's Rodeo!
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