Follow Your Dreams

Rachel:Living Life Differently; Following Her Dreams.

She is studying Parelli Natural Horsemanship which is based on building a partnership, trust, and respect. What fun to gallop bareback and bridleless over hill and dale! Actually I would say Parelli is as much about Life as it is Horsemanship.
My favorite Pat-ism is: "Take the time it takes; it takes less time."


She spent the summer in Montana, and is now back in Georgia. She has taken a full-time job with the Thompsons to pursue her dreams. Hopefully we'll get to see more of her before we move.

Looking at Life a Little Differently

Time for Change... but not the Obama way.
I am excited that we have come to a point of change in our lives. Turning the big 4-0 has made us reflect on where we are, where we wish we were, and how to get there from here. We are making big changes... and the reality is sinking in.
Being a mom of twelve is a badge I proudly wear, but being a geographically single mom isn't looking so appealing. I know the Lord has a plan, and it is a perfect plan. But I am beginning to doubt our soundness of mind in deciding to pack the wagon and head west. I used to think I would have been a bold frontierwoman, but I have always been in awe of the women of the west who lived without their men for months on end. My fortitude will soon be tested. How will I measure up? With just a few short weeks to go, reality is beginning to look me in the face.

Other changes are also on the horizon. My blogspot is taking on a new look, and a new function. As a local wellness consultant and weight loss coach, I reach out and touch hundreds of lives. Being able to facilitate face to face health seminars has been so gratifying, but I am realizing that in order to help more people I must concentrate more on connecting on a cyber level. My passion is to enable, empower, and encourage people to take control of their health. As a mom, I realize that I set the stage not only for myself, but my whole family. I lead, they folllow (idealistically). Reaching out to other moms seems to be a good way to broaden my scope of influence.
The tone of my blog is changing to reflect my desire to touch more lives, change more perspectives, and in my own small way, have an impact on a little segment of history. We as moms don't realize the potential we have as we mold and shape the next generation. Are we going to create a society that follows like sheep, or will we raise up thinkers and doers, movers and shakers? What has God called us to do? For what were we created? When we turn to toxic chemicals to make our lives easier, or toxic medicines to make us feel better, who are we relying on? In this day and age when the world is blissfully complacent with doing things like we've always done them... what will we be remembered for? My hope is that I can help others reach their full potential, be all the God created them to be, and take care of the temple God provided them with to bring glory to Him.
It is truly a time for change. Will we turn to God and search for wisdom and a return to common sense, or will we (as a nation) continue to play follow the leader and become a statistic in the system of sickness we have created? Is this what we want for our children (who are already sicker than we were at their age)?
Are you ready to look at life differently? What kind of changes are you willing to make? How can I help?

Sharing Hope.........

The dream takes shape

I thought I'd post some pictures of our latest family additions. Everyone asks the same question...

I thought you were moving to Colorado? It is true. We are. But I rationalize.

You got *how* many horses? Yeah, well... I am a sucker. What can I say? They were purchased at basement bargain prices, but the increased cost of feed sure has made up for the savings. LOL

So here are some of my rationalizations:

If Sierra hadn't died last year, she'd be going with us - so it began as a trade off. And the bonus horse... well, the rationalization is that we gave Georgia away so we are one less pony, but I guess that won't hold water when the Thompson's arrive with Elisabeth's surprise. But, like children - what's one more, right? I am sure we'll have to sell more goats to find room. And, Rachel will probably keep Parrin, so that will give us a little more room.

This is how it went....

(For those who don't yet know, we purchases 3 of the Trexler rescue horses at the Georgia Equine Rescue Auction.)

We arrived and looked over the horses that were in the paddocks outside, and I asked questions about the ones I had picked out as possibilities. Much to my delight, the little filly that I liked in the pictures was a farm favorite, a pocket pet, the friendliest one. In person, she wasn't as pleasing to my eye as some of the others, but personality is important too. Ashley Hope was goo-goo eyed over another grey that 'is coming around' the volunteers told us. They were all so beautiful, and the before/after pictures made me want to reinstate lynching. I never even made it into the barn to see the horses in the stalls before the bidding began.

We found a spot to set up the chairs by the auction ring, and watched as they brought out horse number one. She was beautiful but petrified. She stood shaking all over as the auctioneer begged for a bid. I restrained myself as the hammer came down at a mere $60 for a beautiful, well bred 5 yo Arabian mare. Several more horses walked in and out of the ring before my horse pranced in calmly with her head held high. I was fearful that the positive comments of the volunteers would cause her to bring a premium price. Not so - I got her for a measly $130. Had I been my right mind, I would have packed everyone up and headed home.

But no, I was riveted. I don't even remember what happened next. I just know I found myself bidding. I couldn't stand to see the price tags so low. These horses had been impounded for a whole year. The auctions help to cover some of the costs of care. So in my mind I excused my waving hand as a way to help drive up the prices. In that I was successful. Many of the volunteers thanked me, over and over. In the end, we only walked away with three horses. I guess it could have been worse. No, honestly - I would only push the price to $100 and then I would stop. I am sure that I would have arrived at a point of restraint earlier if my tactics hadn't worked so well.

I bet we helped them bring in at least an extra thousand or two. Considering that with papers, those horses could have easily sold for several thousand each puts it into perspective. It still makes me sad, and mad. I wish there was some way we could get papers on these girls. DNA testing is the only way, and it appears to be a long shot. Not enough information is available.

Now that we have them home, and they have settled in so has reality. One of the horses actually belongs to my oldest daughter, Ashley Hope. She is supposed to be finding a place to keep her. I will be boarding one of them at a friend's until we move.

I thought I would post a couple of pictures. The gray in the picture with Christopher is Raja. That was the first time her feet have ever been trimmed, and she was better behaved than many vetrans. The other gray is Xena - Ashley Hope's... and the bay is Alina. Both of them have a *long* way to go before they are even to be considered tame in my book. We can halter them, and lead them around, but they prefer not to be touched. Lots and lots of friendly game! Parelli is an amazing system though and they are coming around very quickly. We have already mastered the catching game. The first night, it took over an hour for Christopher to be able to touch Alina. Now they face us and come to us. These aren't the greatest pictures, and don't really do them justice, but it is what I have for now.

We are Wonderfully Made!

This is an excerpt from one of my favorite videos. Anyone who sees this and isn't left with a sense of awe and wonder at how God created our amazingly complex bodies, doesn't really 'get' it! Dig into cellular biology a bit - the complexity of the factories that comprise each and every one of the trillion cells in our bodies will leave your head spinning. It takes a LOT more faith to believe that we could have evolved by 'chance' than it does to be humbled by the words of Isaiah. Truly His thoughts are far above ours!
It is also amazing to me how our bodies can maintain health with all the toxins and unhealthy foods we subject them to. What is most encouraging is that our bodies CAN recover when we support them with proper nutrition!

I tried several times, unsuccessfully to embed the video. Even with DSL it is too big of a file to upload. So.... here is the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ty6dy06dulr

can it get any crazier?

We still haven't moved the upstairs furniture back. The floors aren't finished. Either I will apply the finish coats tomorrow, or we'll have the professionals back on Wednesday. Either way, we have to prepare for vacation, and get stuff out from downstairs for that. In the midst of all that we have to get tires for the van, and have the air conditioner worked on. It is usually hectic just getting ready for vacation when there is nothing else going on. I can't imagine what this week is going to be like. The landscapers aren't finished yet either. We've had much needed rain, but it left us with lots of mud. They are supposed to be back tomorrow.
I'll be posting some pictures at some point, both of the house and the kids. Last night to escape the fumes we went out to eat. The whole family... A rare occasion as it costs us a week's worth of groceries to eat out, but it was enjoyabe. We ended up bringing home enough left overs to have lunch today. I don't know how people eat so much! No wonder we are the fattest nation in the world.

a few quick things

Life is crazy.
Thursday & Friday we are having the upstairs floor refinished, so packing has started in earnest. We packed up books from the loft/library today so we could move the stand alone bookshelves and desks out. I probably packed 20 boxes, and it looks as if we didn't make a dent. All the bedroom furniture will also have to be moved, and closets emptied. It will be a good chance for us to get the upstairs organized and cleaned up though.

Tomorrow the landscaper starts moving dirt around. The gutters went up last week.

My dad and his wife Alice were visiting for the past week, so not much got done. We'll be doing double time this week and next before leaving for vacation on Friday.

The deck and porch still have to be pressure washed and resealed. We're going to do that ourselves.

Jesse started sanding in the bathroom today. We are finally getting things done that I have wanted to do for years. Too bad we're doing it for somebody else to enjoy. :(

After the landscaper leaves we'll finish working on the flower beds, and I'll post some more pictures. Rachel, you won't recognize the front yard.

I wanted to take some pictures of Matthew today. He decided to 'pack himself' in a box. It was too cute, but the camera is missing. I expect there will be more opportunities.

We're making icecream tonight with the last of the fresh peaches of the season. While my dad was here we went to Dickies and got two bushels. They are packing a big cooler home with them filled with the frozen peaches we put up. We ate as many as we froze! I'll miss Georgia peaches when we move to Colorado!

More about our house

Many people have asked for more information about our house, so I am going to post specifics.
For a quick link to the pictures, they are here: http://luvmy12kids.blogspot.com/2008/07/pictures-as-promisedfirst-house.html
Location:
60 minutes to downtown Atlanta, 30 minutes to Macon, 5 miles from Forsyth, 3 miles off of I-75. Serenity in the country, but convenient for a commute.
Exterior:
The fenced areas are approximately 3 acres. Cross fenced to divide the larger pasture from a medium sized paddock, and a small connecting paddock. Loafing shed opens into the larger pasture and the connecting paddock. We have ponies and goats on the pastures. We have planted Bermuda several times, but every time the drought has taken most of it before it gets a good root system. This year I planted Bermuda with millet, and it is doing some better. If stalls were put up in the barn, and horses could be taken on and off the pasture, it could probably support two, maybe three with supplemental hay.
The rest of the property is wooded, and there is a small creek in the wooded area. There are also dog runs, and a chicken coop down by the barn.
Interior:
The house is 2764 sq ft finished with an additional 1024 sq ft unfinished in the basement.) 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, cathedral ceilings, open floor plan, with the great room, kitchen, & dining room all open. 3 bedrooms are upstairs, the master is on the main floor.
The master bedroom has 2 closests. One is a huge walk-in closet with a window (that I use as a nursery & closet.) There is a loft/library/office upstairs. Mudroom connects the oversized (676sq f) two car garage. Basement is partially finished -two rooms. My husband uses one room as an office/reloading (ammo) room, and the other room was built as a play room, but it is used as a bedroom currently. There is a small storage room, and the rest is open and unfinished. We use it as an exercise room and a school room for the older kids.

Built it in 1999. We just had gutters added, and are having some additional landscaping done as well as resealing the porch and deck. We replaced the upstairs air conditioning unit this year, new dishwasher, new stove. We are also redoing the upstairs bathroom, and having the floors refinished. It is completely wood throughout - floors, and walls, even ceilings (excluding the basement.) We share a private drive with my mom, and one other family, but we are at the end of the road so it is very secluded.

Email me at codeoflife@bellsouth.net if you want more information. We will be listing it with Martie Brown @ ReMax the beginning of Sept.