Cows, giggles, green pastures, and dirt road wisdom.

This morning I guess I really needed to clear my head and connect with some country.  This came in the form of Boony cruisin' with a couple of really awesome ladies in the dodge truck.  We sat in the truck blasting country music, laughing, giggling, and bouncing around the truck on some Oklahoma back country dirt roads.  We saw some beautiful fields and barns, we talked to some cows, and even had a couple of scares.   We were getting a cold front coming in so there were some clouds on the horizon that maybe it all the better.  One thing you can say about Oklahoma, it has beautiful farmland and beautiful big skies.  Both of which make for breathtaking photographs.   

It was a quiet morning at least until the three of us came bouncing through.  My two cruisin' buddies needed the head clearing moment just as much as I did.  We stopped and talked to the cows.  Watched a few sneaking their breakfast on the other side of the fence.  You know because the  grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.  As it turns out the grass isn't always greener on the other side.  Sometimes we just think it is.  One thing I have learned in my forty years is, no matter how green someone's life appears, everybody has brown spots now and then.  See these cows are leaning out eating the short grass that is turning quicker even though they have thicker fuller grass in their pasture.  I think it is just how they sit it.  You know that is just the point.  We are all just so busy trying to have the better greener pasture that we are missing what is right in front of us.   We need to just stop and look around.  If you look at your own pasture you might find it is greener, more peaceful, and happier than those Joneses we always seem to be trying to keep up with.  And you never know they might just be look from their pasture at us and think it is greener because we have a more simple life.  

So  here is what I am thinking.  We need to all slow down take a drive out in the country on a dirt road.  Maybe just seeing the simple beauty of the barns, silos, pastures, cows, and big sky then count our blessings.  We have our husbands, our kids, our family, we have a place to live, food to eat, electricity to keep it not to hot or cold, we have a way to get around. These are all blessings.  We need to keep that in mind a little bit everyday.  We need to be thankful for these blessing and not worry as much about our neighbors blessings.


So maybe  looking at my pictures that I took will help you realize what I realized this morning.  I also realized nothing beats a couple of good friends in a truck boony cruisin' on some red dirt roads.  An other thing to remember is always keep a camera with you.  You never beautiful sites you might see on a beautiful October Oklahoma morning.  Not to mention some awesome country music can cure any thing that ails you.

One more piece of dirt road wisdom, don't forget what you have been through because it made you who you are today.  It also made you stronger.  So while the future is a little fuzzy right now it will be crystal clear and in the rear view mirror soon.  

Peace, Love, and Dirt road happiness.

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Unspoken traditions that make Mom giggle.

Photo by Alyssa Hawkins Photography

Little Miss has always done photoshoots and she has always had a blast doing them.  She loves the camera and the camera loves her. When she was a little Little Miss I would trade sewing skills for photography work.  I could do pictures with no problem I had a film camera not a digital.  I knew for toddler age I would shoot about 3 rolls of film to get 4 pictures that were decent.  Toddlers are so fun and busy.   But for this particular shoot my friend and awesome photographer Alyssa Hawkins in Simms, TX was taking pictures of Little Miss.  I had made Cricket and Grasshopper costumes for her daughters for halloween.   So she was doing a fall mini session at a horse auction barn.  Love it.  So I made Little Miss some overalls with farm accents.  Best part I made them so Little Miss could still easily potty train.  I loved those little overalls.   Alyssa took some amazing photos of Little Miss.  But she also started an unspoken  tradition  embedded deep within Little Miss's mind.  At fall photo shoots, I get to eat the apple props.  

Fast forward to last week and mom doing the fall photoshoot .  Little Miss immediately grabs an apple out of the basket of prop apples and started eating it.  Funny it is even the same type of apple.  Years later and nothing has changed. My little girl still stealing apples off of the photoshoot set and eating them.  I wonder if 5 years down the road we will be doing middle school fall pictures and she steals an apple prop and eats it?  

You know it is the little things in life that make you smile and giggle.  This was one of those times.  It actually too 3 days and standing in the kitchen if front of the basket of apples for me to  remember why I loved the apple thing in Little Miss's pictures.  This is all Little Miss, her idea.  It makes my heart smile to think about this.

Blessings of a handy husband.

I have a mini session planned for my photography business for the end of the month.  I have a whole vignette in my head and needed a larger prop made for it.  So my awesomely handy hubby hooked me up.  He started building it yesterday.  

The boys helped him drag out tools and set everything up.  Spazz helped rip apart pallets and Bubba helped  carry out the saws, hammers, and other tools.  

So this isn't just a thank you to my handy hubby this is a thank you for my helpful handfuls too.

So I looked up on Pinterest exactly what I wanted, and printed out directions of the one I wanted.  I made arrangements for the supplies.  We only took two trips to Atwood's for screws which is pretty good for us. While my handy hubby was working on this awesome prop for me, I start dinner for him.  I made him oven bar b qued chicken breast, wild rice, sauteed green beans and mushrooms.  I would  sneak out to the drive way to get pictures and help out where needed.  I am not allowed to use tools often because of a hammer incident that caused a broken knee cap, but I got to use the drill.  We got it done except for a couple of pieces to add on tonight.  

It is awesome having a supportive and helpful hubby when running a business (or in my case businesses) out of your home.  Thank you Handy Hubby.