Guns 'n Roses

Although it may be safe to say that I most likely was not Annie Oakley in a former life, maybe I could have been her second cousin or something.  Today after church Taylor and I drove to Garden City and met up with a couple of our friends, Jeremy and Carole, before driving out to a shooting range.  I've only shot a gun a few times (although as a 10 year old I could take out a pyramid of pop cans with our BB gun like no other), but I think I did fairly well.  We started off shooting pistols.  I pretty much hit where I aimed.  Mostly I was just glad to see that if I needed to defend myself, I should at least be able to do so.
At one point while I was shooting, I asked Taylor what I should aim for that time - the target's head or chest.  Carole chimed in and said I should aim for a more... sensitive area.  We'll just say by the time I was done, the target was thoroughly de-manned. :)
It was a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Yesterday I spent the morning cleaning the house, but right after lunch we had to take a heifer that was calving into the vet.  She was having problems, and the vet ended up doing a C-section. That was the first time I'd ever seen one done, and it was pretty interesting to watch. Thankfully he saved both the heifer and the calf, and they are doing well.  That same day we had three other heifers calve, but they were able to get the job done on their own.

On Wednesday our Lenten period of no TV began.  I'll admit the first night seemed a little weird.  A lot of times I turn the TV on just because I like the background noise while I'm cooking, so it was pretty quiet around the house.  At first I questioned the wise-ness of our decision to give up TV.  Without any other distractions Taylor thought picking on his wife might be a good alternative form of entertainment. :)  Admittedly we do like to tease each other, so it wasn't so far out of the ordinary. :) I am a little interested to see what types of conversations we end up having before Easter.  The first night during/after supper we had a fairly long discussion about the brussel sprouts I had fixed.  Taylor was afraid they might cause undesired effects on a person's digestive system. :)  I think we're going to have to find some better conversation topics, but at least there's never a dull moment!

For the rest of the week, not having TV was pretty easy.  Thursday was busy with Valentine's Day. Taylor and I decided we would stay home and cook a nice meal together.  And I'm pretty sure the meal we made would have easily beaten any we could have got at a restaurant nearby.  We had ribeyes that had marinated all afternoon with bernaise sauce, lobster bisque, bacon wrapped asparagus, puffs, chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne. It was pretty amazing!

Our beautiful center arrangement was the roses my sweet husband had delivered to me at the feedyard while I was working earlier that day.

 We went out to eat with Taylor's parents, Carole and Jeremy, and some other friends on Friday.  Saturday evening we relaxed around the house, and today we were gone to the shooting range.  I think it will only get easier from here, but I am excited for Daylight Savings in March.  It will be nice when we can spend more time outside during the evening. I can't wait to get into my garden!

Western Kansas Fact: Water will probably be the biggest issue for this area within the next 20 years. It doesn't rain enough out here to truly support all the farming (especially the corn crops), feedyards, people, etc.  The only way it works is because of the huge water reserve underground, the Ogallala Aquifer, that supports the crop irrigation and other water uses.  However a lot of the aquifer has been used up, so preserving the water base and allocating water use will someday soon have a great effect on every person in the area.

As spring gets closer, one scripture that spoke to me has been:  People harvest only what they plant.  Galatians 6:7

This scripture lesson reminded me that if I want a life of joy and happiness, peace and contentment, then every day I need to be planting seeds of hope, optimism, and patience.  But if I allow myself to be negative, irritable and impatient, my life will reflect it.  Planting is something that is done consciously, so even if I don't have the best attitude or outlook one particular day, I can still make an effort to plant good seeds in my life and the life of others, and one day I will reap the benefits from it.

Have a great week!
Lyndee