Trail of Painted Ponies

I wanted to make a list of the horses I own for those of you who have been asking. Jami suggested I put it on my blog.

When it comes to the Trail of Painted Ponies, I'm happy with anything that carries the name. They now sell ornaments, lamps, jewelry, stained glass along with lots of other stuff. I'm working on making a complete western Christmas tree, so the ornaments are perfect for that idea.

This is a complete list of what I have now.

Horses:
Let It Snow
Stardust
Runs The Bitterroot
Autumn Dancer
For Spacious Skies
Spirits of the Northwest
Cabillito
Kachina Pony
Wounded Knee
Bunkhouse Bronco
Sundance
Rolling Thunder
Stagecoach Pony
Silverado
Silver Lining
Five Card Stud
On Common Ground
Wish Upon A Star
Super Charger
CowPony
Running With Our Ancestors
The Magician
Kokipelli Pony
War Pony
Tewa Horse
Anasazi Spirit
Fancy Dancer
Dances With Hooves
Vi's Violet Vision
Apple-oosa
Ghost Horse
Deck The Halls
Motorcycle Mustang
Tropical Reef Horse
Blue Medicine
Willing
Noel

Ornaments
Deck The Halls
Noel

Hope this helps those of you who wanted a list!

Mary Ruth Hitt, my wonderful Grandma!

As many of you know, my grandmother, Ruth, passed away on Sunday, November 15 after her long struggle with Parkinson's Disease. She died at home with her family surrounding her. I wanted to post some photos of the funeral to pass on to those who couldn't make it. She was a wonderful woman and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

The casket, which is actually a dark red color with flowers in the inlay in the middle. She would have loved it and it was perfect for her.

The church and the many flowers we received in sympathy. Thank you to those who sent flowers and cards to the family.

The cross with flowers are from her granddaughters, Tab, Jami and myself. Then Northland Production, where my uncle Joe works, sent the beautiful window frame with flowers.

The heart wreath is from the great-granddaughters, Sydni, Hayli, Nikki, and Maddi.

My new tattoo in her honor. The lazy 5 X is my grandfathers brand. There are three roses to represent the three granddaughters that Grandma loved and cherished so much. Thanks to Danny at Backstreet Tattoo in Sheridan for meeting me early and giving me something awesome to remember my grandmother by.

Thanks to all of those who kept our family in your thoughts and prayers. We will miss grandma every day for the rest of our lives. She was an amazing person, who held onto her strong Christian beliefs and treated everyone with love and respect. It will be hard living without her in my life, but knowing that she is watching over us from Heaven makes it a little more comforting.

Colorado Trip

Hello - From behind bars!

Cindy and I made our way through Colorado this week for a much needed vacation. We went to Ft. Collins on Tuesday night for some fun with Kyle and Ben. Wednesday we drove to Colorado City to visit my family. Thursday we drove to Bishop's Castle in San Isabel, then headed to Walden to Cindy's dad's elk ranch. Over all it was a great trip and I posted some photos of the castle and the progress Jim's made on it. It looks awesome!

Cindy and I in "jail" at the castle.

Looking up from the back side of the castle.

Bishop's Castle, San Isabel, Colorado

The dragon's head made out of old bed pans!

This is the stained glass windows that were etched for people. You can give a donation and have a piece of stained glass with whatever you want on it.

That's about all I've got for now. Need to get unpacked and cleaned up.

The House is Here!

They moved my house yesterday and it's sitting on my lot. Things are coming along nicely. I signed the contract with the electric company and they'll be out this week to install my line. I contacted the gas company twice now, so maybe they'll be out on Friday. I sold my lot in Midwest, and got really good news that I can sell it for more that I thought. So, I've got to go to Midwest Friday afternoon to sign paperwork and get the money! The water line and sewer is about done, they put my leech field in and things are coming together nicely.

This is my lot, dad took the cattle-gaurd out of the road and eventually the road will be taken out and moved. This is the view from my mom's garage.

The water line, that is still unburied, but that's about the only part that isn't complete.

This is the house sitting on the lot. It's still on the axles but should be on blocks and tied down next week sometime.

Well, that's about it for tonight.

House Moving...Again

Today my mom and I tore down my fence on my property in Midwest. We got a lot of work done, including mowing and getting the inside of the house ready for the move.

For those of you who don't know, I have a little, perfect home in Midwest. I decided about a year ago that I was moving back to Gillette and tried to sell my house. Since the market is so bad there, I was not able to sell the house for enough to pay off my loan. I ended up getting a loan from my parents to pay it off, and now we're planning to move it to Gillette.

I have two and a half acres of land here that's just dying for a house. Moving the house is a much better option, and I should be able to sell my lot there and start fresh (kinda). So, we got a lot of work done and I'm getting really, really excited to have my own place again. Not to mention the kitties and dog who are also anxious to move out.

I've got the sewer/water guy coming on Monday, the electricians early next week, and the gas company on Friday. We're going to work on the holes for the piers and the lot placement and then I can move my tiny little house to Gillette.

Hopefully everything goes okay and I have a house by Halloween! YAY for me!

IN MEMORY

First, I would like to say that I am grieving today for those lost in the attack on our nation 8 years ago today.

Second, I would like to personally thank those who are serving our country, putting their lives on the line for our rights and freedoms.

Third, I would like to say that for those of you who don't agree with the war, how could you? We were attacked and many people died, lives were lost that day and EVERY day since then due to a terrorist trying to make a statement.

If you are against the war, I urge you to watch the news today. Revisit those images and feelings from 8 years ago and re-determine whether you are being selfish or not. Just watching those towers smoke and fall down makes me upset. I want to cry and scream and pray all at once. Please consider the fact that there are many unselfish people fighting right now to provide us with the lives we want to live. Please understand that this war was necessary to protect any others who might be in danger.

Maybe for one day we can reflect on the past and remember what we were doing on this day. I was headed to high school and back then, because of lack of maturity, I didn't understand fully what was happening. But, now that I'm older and wiser I understand the devastating aftermath and horror of the incident.

Right now, I'm watching Fox News and am listening to the pain and anguish in the anchors voice. This is how we all should feel and react. Those of you who are not affected are heartless and cruel.

That's all I have to say. I wanted to personally thank those people who are in support of our troops and have pain and confusion for what happened at that time 8 years ago. If you know someone who is in the service, please take time to thank them and show that they are appreciated and respected.

End Of Summer

Wow, this summer went by fast! Not even sure what to think. Seems like I didn't do anything fun at all, just worked.

I love my job still, there's a little drama sometimes, but I guess that's at every job. At least it's manageable. I might have moved up a little in the world of surveying, had some big breakthroughs with my boss this month. It's pretty awesome.

So far I've lost close to 70 lbs. Got another 30-40 to lose and I'm back on track. I'm smaller now then I was in high school which is an awesome feeling. It's amazing how great you can feel just by getting healthy. I have to finish a PE class for college this semester and hope to have most of the weight off by December.

My house still hasn't sold, so we're moving it to Gillette and placing it on my lot. Not the ideal situation due to the fact that I'm losing about $70,000 in the process, but it puts a roof over my head and a place to call home for the time being. I'm headed to the bank to get a personal line of credit so I can pay to set the lot up. It's not the best way to pay for a house, but since the circumstances required some creative thinking, it'll have to work.

Congrats to my sister, who is excepting Baby #2 next spring. Can't wait to meet my new niece/nephew! My niece, Madi, is doing great. Getting big and becoming more independent every day. It blows my mind that she's almost six months old already.

Congrats to Jess and James for their three beautiful baby boys born two weeks ago. Jess gave birth to triplets who were all premature (they were 3 lbs, 2 lbs and 1 lb 6 oz). I keep you and your children in my thoughts and pray they will grow and be healthy so you can take them home. You two will make amazing parents!

I've been planning some trips for the years ahead. Next summer or early fall I'm planning on driving through the southwest. Want to tour AZ, NM, UT, and CO to get a more personal view on Native American history. I'm planning on doing photography the entire way and hope to come home with some amazing shots.

In 2011, I'm planning a 36 day trip to Africa. This is a guided tour that lets you explore the wildlife and have a first hand view on African children and tribes. It's going to be pretty expensive, but I think I can manage. I got my travel information in the mail and it looks awesome. Africa is a spiritual thing for me. I want to capture by photograph the natural environment and make personal discoveries by learning how the tribes live. My mom actually said I'll plan a 36 day tour and end up staying for 36 months. Not sure I could live in Africa, but I've heard it's easy to fall in love with.

Well, that's probably enough for now.

Jenni