Utah--California

If you've kept up with my blog at all that means more than likely you've read at least one post about going home.  I know what you're thinking, "get some new material", but what you should be thinking is how important my home must be to me.  I'd have to be heartless for a place where my family has such deep roots to mean nothing to me.  My dad once told me early on in my college career that no matter where life took me the ranch would always be my home, it would always mean something and it would always be there waiting.  That's stayed with me and there have been times over the last decade that I've needed to go home to center myself.  To again get a hold on who I am, to just be me.

As per my gypsy lifestyle it's once again time to head home.  My job is done for the season and since everything I own is in a storage unit and I technically no longer have a place of residence, I might as well go to California.  This summer has been challenging, I've had to sit by and listen as my parents place was threatened by not one but two wildfires.  More recently however, a shed burned down at the house and everything was almost lost.  If it hadn't been for a water pumper left over from the wildfire threat and the help of many neighbors we would have lost everything.  There wouldn't have been anything left to go back to. 

If you know me, you know that fire is the #1 thing I'm afraid of.  Growing up in a house made of nothing but wood, fire was always a threat and we were cautioned against that danger.  As a little girl I used to lay awake at night and plan for a fire.  If we got a flu fire, what would I do.  I would plan on grabbing a big garbage sack and filling it with my most prized possessions and then leaping out of my bedroom window.  Totally normal right?  That fear has very much followed me into adult hood.  Thankfully the house was saved but the shed and everything in it are forever lost.  My dad re-injured his shoulders during the fire and if there was ever any doubt I now know home is where I belong.

Since being put on a no work restriction at work for an injury I suffered in August I've had very little human contact.  I don't know many people in this town and without work that left me pretty isolated.  In just 3 short hours my cousin will be flying in.  The excitement is all but tangible at this point.  It's like waiting for Christmas.  I'm absolutely ecstatic!  It's been 11 months since I've been home, 5 months since I've seen my dogs, which has been really hard.  I also had to leave behind a couple horses that I also can't wait to get back and work with.  At this time in three days I will once again be hooked up and on the road home.  Both my cousin and I are now laid off so we're taking our time on this trip.  No harried, all-night driving to make it home on a deadline.  It'll be a blast as always.  Utah is even being so kind as to send me off with some snow.

Xo Loves,

Me

Pendleton, OR

I'm sure everyone has that town.  That one great town they love/loved visiting or living in.  Of course this really only applies if you've traveled or moved much.  I chose to go to college a long way from home and in that journey found the only other town that's ever truly felt like home.  That town for me is Pendleton, OR. 

I remember when I moved there the first time, it was Round-Up week.  How could you move to Pendleton for school and not go to the Round-Up?  Greatest show I've ever seen, I've since been 5 more times.  My papa and I went to the second night of the PBR and the first day of the actual rodeo.  It is really something during the national anthem to have fighter jets fly overhead.  For those of you who have never been or don't know much about it, it's a PRCA rodeo that lasts a week.  The town swells from about 16,000 to 75,000.  Motels are packed, trailers and tents are parked and tucked away everywhere.  They completely block off Main Street for vendors and shows.  There are tents full of goods all around the Round-Up grounds and you can't forget about the tribal village that's set up behind the arena.  My favorite is always the fry bread, but they have such beautiful jewelry and other assorted goods for sale too.  Guess what I'm getting at is you really want to bring a lot of spending money.  One of our first stops was Hamley's.  It really meant a lot to my papa who has ridden Hamley saddles his entire life.  The store had had a devastating fire years ago and opened once again the week before we got there.  In the 60's my papa ordered a custom saddle for around $300, nowadays they cost at least 10 times that.  Some may say they're nothing special, but then again they've probably never ridden a Hamley ;) .

I was 18 that year and even though I'd been to Cow Palace, I'd never seen such an event.  My dad and I strolled down Main St. one night and watched the festivities since I clearly couldn't go to the bars.  I remember watching a guy get hypnotized and think he was Brittney Spears, later we'd become friends.  The all time highlight though was a cowboy, he was a roper, who rode his horse into Crabby's Underground Saloon.  My dad and I got quite a kick out of it and just knew the bouncer was sure to kick him right out.  Shortly he did indeed come back out, but only to let his horse do what he needed to do.  All be damned if they didn't let him and his horse stay in the bar!  I knew right then that that town was going to be awesome.

It didn't disappoint.  I made lots of friends, met tons of people, drank copious amounts of beer and in general partied like a little rock-star.  It was great!  I even got to ride my horse in the Round-Up arena at NIRA finals.  True to the laws of life it wasn't all rainbows and glitter, but boy do I look back on those years fondly.  I experienced life to it's fullest and I never wanted to leave.  Unfortunately the college is only a Junior College, so eventually it all came to an end.  I'm pretty sure my graduating class was the end of an epic era.  When I went back the parties weren't near as big and groups became more cliquish. Now don't assume all I did was party.  I continued to get excellent grades, oddly enough we all rushed to do homework as soon as it was assigned so that we had more time to well basically screw off. 

From September of 2005 to December of 2008 I lived in 9 different houses.  One place I only lived in for a month, my boxes never left the porch or got unpacked.  After that my best friend and I paid $200 apiece for the luxury of a blow up mattress on the floor of our roommates bedroom.  We were very mobile at this point in our lives.  I only lived in Pendleton one summer, the other two were spent in CA and Mt. Vernon.  This year when my parents brought me back to La Grande for my final year of college we got to talking.  Even though I haven't lived in Pendleton for years and I've been here for the last 2, Pendleton still feels more like home than La Grande ever has.  Last week I had to take my trailer over for an alignment.  Friday when I picked it up I decided to run some errands.  I spent probably an hour on Main St talking to different business owners.  As I was leaving I ran into the guy who worked on my trailer and chatted with him for a second.  Whether or not these people remembered me or even knew me at all they were friendly.  People just aren't that friendly on this side of the mountain.  Every time I drop down off of Cabbage Hill my soul quiets.  It's like I can breathe easy and I just feel so at home.  A sense of comfort and confidence instantly rolls over me.  I don't know if I'll ever get to live in Pendleton again, or if it's really where I should be anymore.  But I'll always love it and the friends I still have there and the folks who've become like family will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Adrian Buckaroogirl has a song I'm Leaving Nevada, and when I left Pendleton in 2011 this song really rang true.  "This damn truck is taking me away from where I belong", that's exactly how I felt.  I literally cried.  Even though I knew I had to move due to health issues it didn't make it any better.  I may be 50 miles east now but I'm still close enough to make day trips and visit when I want to.  In June I'm moving to Utah and in the fall when my job is done I'll move back home.  It saddens my heart to not know when I'll get to come back. 

XO Loves,

Me

Hey Brother

Sometime over winter break I decided to find some new music for working out.  I like upbeat, fast paced, exciting music when I'm in the gym, so I usually have to look outside my normal genre.  One night on my way home in my parents Duramax I was listening to Sirius and heard   Hey Brother by Avicii.  I immediately liked it.  I just watched the video, and if I hadn't loved it before, I certainly would now, very touching.  Based off the lyrics and not the music video, I found it touched close to home.  I have a brother and a sister, and while over the years we've fought, we'd do anything for the either of the other of us.  It's just a nice song and I think I can say I'm liking this artist too.

Hey Brother
by: Avicii
Hey brother, there’s an endless road to re-discover.
Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.
Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

Hey brother, do you still believe in one another?
Hey sister, do you still believe in love I wonder?
Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

What if I'm far from home?
Oh brother I will hear you call.
What if I lose it all?
Oh sister I will help you out!
Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

Hey brother, there’s an endless road to re-discover.
Hey sister, do you still believe in love I wonder?
Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

What if I'm far from home?
Oh brother I will hear you call.
What if I lose it all?
Oh sister I will help you out!
Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

(Photo credit: ananyana.deviantart.com)

XO Loves,

Me

Winter Is Coming!

I know what you're thinking, yea it's coming, but fall isn't even here yet!  So true, but the other day I uploaded a bunch of old SD cards onto my parents computer and I found some really cool snow photos.  It may be awhile before the snow flies, but judging by the cooler nights maybe it's not as far off as we think. Here are some of my favorites!

I can't wait to see what this winter brings!

Xo Loves,

Me

Feel Fall Comin' On

Somewhere high in the sky obscured by the building clouds a jet flies overhead, sound the only giveaway.

Buzzards gliding around in lazy circles looking for an easy meal on their southbound trip to Mexico.

The wind picks up now and then, blowing a cool breeze down the creek.

Cow bells clank comfortably in the upper feed lot.  Temperatures are dropping in the mountains and they think it's time to come home.  5 1/2 more weeks, but fall is coming.

Their bawls echo down through the valley as they hear the roar of my papa's flatbed.  Thinking they should be home and hay awaiting.

The horses idly munch away, undistrutbed by the racket and activity around them.

Everything around us says fall is here, even though it's only the first of September.

It seems as though winter may come early this year, cold and bitter.  Mother Natures' icy hand sweeping over us.

I love being home, sitting high on the hill where our house overlooks a big piece of the valley.  I love listening and feeling and pretending I'm in a simpler time.

Before our house was built here, before many of the houses were built here.  When family was family and friends were too.

In a couple weeks I'll be headed north once again.  The last time I'll leave home headed for University.

The bells still clanking and buzzards still circling...

 

XO Loves,

Me