My life as a frozen horse owner....or something like that....

The title says all I've been doing lately! Riding Mandy, Brushing Mandy, giving Mandy numerous carrots and apples to fatten her up etc.

Though, through this, I've noticed that this is the first Winter (Or almost winter) that I've wanted it to....NOT snow, NOT be cold, and NOT RAIN!!!!! But, there are some things that have gone on besides my second world with Mandy.

My thanksgiving was great!! On Thanksgiving day, we made pies, salad's and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house on my dad's side for a meal. Every year for Thanksgiving on my dad's side, we've kept an old tradition of writing in a family journal what we are thankful for before we can start our dessert. I think the first year we started that tradition was in '04 so the book is quite large now!

But this year, my grandma made a new way to write down what we are thankful for. A couple of months ago, she held a "Granddaughter-Grandmother" Night at her house. All my girl cousins came and we spent the night. The next day, we were given a piece of scrap-book paper and were told to draw a picture or doodle with each of our mediate family member's names. Then at Thanksgiving, each of our family members would doodle something on that page with the thing (s) they were thankful for and the page went into the scrap-book! I thought it was a neat idea and a success!

Then the next day we piled in the van over to my other grandparents house. All the men went over with Papaw to help cut wood and the women stayed to fix the meal!
Some of my older cousins brought their friends for us to meet, and we all had a WONDERFUL time!

That Sunday, Mandy was brought to our house! And that night we went to our church to help decorate for Christmas!

My dad's birthday was last Friday. We rented Toy Story 3 (an amazing movie by the way) had his favorite supper and chocolate ice cream for dessert!

And that's about all that has happened lately!! Besides Nora and I having our first spill on Mandy!! :) We are fine though!

Jess

A Fairytale

As most of you know, last Sunday, a kind and generous neighbor gave me his 21 year old mare, Mandy. Since then I've thought alot of how amazing it is and what a miracle it has been to get to know this gal.

Some of you may think "Good grief! It's an animal! Why think of it like that??" If you are thinking that... You just aren't right!!! :) LOL I'm joking. But, Horses are what I believe one of God's most wonderful creations!

Sunday afternoon, after my neighbor had dropped her off at our house and I had rode her for a while we rode up to my Aunt Mary's house so we could get her used to the place, because that's where she is staying for a while until we get our fence up.

It was getting darker and a little more cool. I was riding around the edge of the woods. The sun at our side, I saw the reflection of a little horse and a small girl whose lifelong dream came true. My insides quivered, "Wow! The one thing I've been praying and saving for, for YEARS has finally.... finally! Come true!"

I patted her rump and went into a trot. The sun, still casting those shadows that still seemed like a fairytale was slowly setting.

"Jessie!" My six year old cousin called me from the porch. I was still in my fairytale so I didn't hear her. "JESSIE!!" I started, hearing her innocent voice. "Yes, Mara?" "Jessie, I really wanna ride your horse." My insides quivered again as I repeated what she said: "your horse, my horse, MINE!!" I felt like bursting into tears as the truth seemed to overwhelm me.

That four legged thing that had always been in my dreams, sometimes at other people's houses, suddenly appeared. I heard the voice of my saviour say: "Jessica, all this time, you've prayed. Over and over I told you that I loved you. I've told you that I bless those who I love and who love me."

"Since you asked, I answered."


Jess

How to Observe Thanksgiving

I found this poem earlier and thought it appropriate for the upcoming holiday!


~HOW TO OBSERVE THANKSGIVING~
Author unkown

Count your blessings instead of your crosses,
Count your gains instead of your losses,
Count your joys instead of your woes,
Count your friends instead of your foes,
Count your smiles instead of your tears,
Count your courage instead of your fears,
Count your full years instead of your lean,
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean,
Count your health instead of your wealth,
Count on God instead of yourself.


Happy Thanksgiving!
Jess

Changes

For those of you who don't know me personally, I like change. So, that's why the blog has a different picture/theme. :) My bedroom is usually changed around a couple times a year and my desk re-organized about...once a week!

Once again, I like change! Except when it comes to moving or something like that. I'm sure most of you can understand! :)

Have a great week!

Jess

Thanksgiving.....JUST AROUND THE CORNER??

As you all probably know, the holidays are coming up real soon!! So as a lot of blogs are doing, I'd like to ask that every time you click onto my blog, you say something you are thankful for! Even if it is just one, it's fine! I'll be doing them as well!!
Here's the first one:

Number 1
I'm thankful for the access to the Word. We take for granted so often that we can open up God's Word anytime of the day we want!So just try to keep it up and remember, if you can't get on here very often, just say one to yourself every day! God has blessed us so richly!!

Jess

Spring, Summer.....YEAH!! IT'S FALL!!!

Yeah!! Autumn is here, Christmas season will be here soon! I am getting so excited!!!
Tonight we had one of our first fires built which gave the house a nice cozy warm feeling. (Complements of my amazing dad!!) Makes you feel like going and getting in some warm pajamas and snuggling up in a blanket and watching a movie. :) Just wondering, can anyone tell that I'm excited?? :)
Austin's birthday was yesterday....20?????? AAAHHH!!!!! I feel 20% happy and 80% sad!!
But, as Grace reminded me, he is still my brother...and a very good one at that!
Well, I think I'm going to go get in my warm P.J's and snuggle up in a blanket. Hm... now...what should I watch??
:)

Jess

Thanks God!

Mom and I were just heading out the door to go into town and hopped into the van when it suddenly wouldn't start. Rats. We've just got it back from a two month long visit to the shop and now this???? We were out there for a good ten, fifteen minutes, calling my dad, trying it again, waiting, trying it again...nothing. "Why us God??" I kept asking myself. "Will we ever have a vehicle that runs properly??"
I finally got bored and came inside. While walking through the door, I spied a hymn book on the piano opened up to a song. I read the title: Count Your Blessings.
WOW!!! It was almost overwhelming the way God showed me that we HAVE more than one vehicle, we WEREN'T on the highway and it somehow shut off!!
I really enjoy how God shows us our follies.
Thanks God.


When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Mount your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.




Jess

Old Iron Works Days and More....

Hey!! I'm sorry for not updating you or writing in a while! We have basically been.........BBBUUUSSSSYYYY!!!! Ask anyone who I have talked to in the last week or so and they will clarify it!! :) So here's what's happened over the few days.

Saturday and Sunday was Old Iron Works Days! We went both days and both were a blast!! I got to dress "old time" this year like I usually do, but.....this year was special!!

I was blessed with the opportunity to be able to wear my grandma's dress that she wore when she
was my age!!! AND....her mother (my great-grandma who I've never meet before) was the one who made it. So whenever anyone would ask, "Oh! What a pretty dress! Where did you get it?" I would always reply "Boy, I'm glad you asked!!!" It truly was a special thing to wear with a special story!!!

Friday I went to my other grandma's to a Granddaughter Gathering! That night, we went to a dance with grandma and grandpa and had a WHOLE bunch of fun!!! The next morning we woke up and ate "special pancakes". Grandma shaped them into the first letter of our name!!! Then we worked on a secret project. I know that I can speak for all my girl cousins....IT WAS FUN!!!!

Tuesday was the usual "town day". Flute lessons were a blast but I am getting into some of the more complicated things. Like trying to blow till you faint!! Not really, but it feels like it!! Got home and was dead tired.

Wednesday I woke up SICK!!! AAAAHHH, I hate that feeling when you are lying in bed, "Oh, I don't feel good. PLEASE don't be sick, PLEASE DON'T BE SICK!!!" And then....you are. :(
After a whole day of endless boredom in bed, tons of water, Gatorade, hot tea, crackers and hugs from mom and dad, I finally got better!
I think that's worth two smileys :) :)

Well! That's all for now!! Again, sorry for the delay!

Church Picnic!

Last Saturday was our church's 25th annual fall picnic, so in honor of our anniversary (NO I was not there 25 years ago!!) We played and did fun stuff that we did when the picnic first started! I really enjoyed it and I'm sure that everybody else did too!

We had a sack race for kids and adults! I really enjoyed seeing alot of my relatives jumping around in feed sacks!! :) We had a turtle race which usually lasts for a few minutes. My mom and older cousin and I did a face painting booth! That was alot of fun though, I think mom can paint a better face than I can!!!! The water balloon toss was one of my favorites but...it was VERY nerve-racking!! We even had a cross-cut saw competition which was very neat to watch! I believe the most fast pair was our pastor and a man that goes to our church, if I am remembering correctly their time to saw through a log about 5-6" was 21 seconds! Now if any of you haven't ever done cross-cut saw and are saying to yourselves: "Oh, that's not too hard!!" YOU ARE WRONG!! I myself have tried it many times and it is not the easiest thing in the world!! But it was alot of fun anyways!
After all the competitions, we all gathered in the sanctuary to watch Mike Bliss, a magician from Branson. I believe that was the most awesome thing of the whole evening!! He truly is a very talented magician! He always ends his acts by sharing how to get saved. I really really enjoyed watching him!
After watching him, we all had supper in the Fellowship Hall. And after that? I WAS TIRED!!! And I know LOTS of others that shared my feelings!! And now that it is over...I am TOTALLY excited for next years!!

Gabbie

I was bored one day and decided that Gabbie needed some more "color" to her usual wardrobe!

Awesome Poem!!!

A friend shared this poem with me and my friends it is truely AWESOME!!!
It is written for girls basically but it can relate to boys too. PLEASE READ!!!


http://www.bloomthemagazine.com/2010/08/sweeter-love.html

Me Right Now

Lately, I've been pretty busy. Like I said before, P.E, flute lessons, though I didn't have any last week due to a sudden outburst of cold sores!! :( I VERY MUCH DISLIKE COLD SORES!! But, thankfully....THEY ARE GONE!!!! Then there is all the usual: School, more school, bed time (Yay!) School. And yet...more school. So basically, my days are filled up with, school. Though, duh, it is in the school year! Who isn't in school?
So, has anyone noticed how amazingly BEAUTIFUL it is outside? God picked the most perfect time for our dryer to quit on us so that we can hang the clothes out on the line! Well...I take that back. Mom has been doing the laundry and putting clothes on the line :D
Our chickens have FINALLY started laying eggs!! They are the most tiny eggs I've ever seen! About the size of an oblong golf ball!
This year, I grew some miniature pumpkins and they are finally starting to produce! Though, that's about the only thing that has made it through in our garden this year. I am soooooooooooooooooo ready for fall!!!!!!!! For a warm fire, pumpkin pie (YUM) the aroma of spices....ahh. I love fall!
Tomorrow, I have P.E again and my coach has informed us that it would be a dodge ball TOURNAMENT!! AAAAAAHHH!!!! Maybe I'll get sick or brake out with cold sores again tomorrow!! Who knows!

P.E.

Had P.E. today! (DUH that's what the title is!!) I have 56 kids in my class!! Thankfully the coaches split us up each week into two different groups. The one thing I don't understand is what P.E means. THIS IS NOT EDUCATION!!!! I don't believe getting socked in the head with a basketball is "education".
Today, we went outside and played softball for just about the WHOLE time.......I like softball but...not for 2-3 HOURS!!! But, it was still fun.
We then played a sort of dodge ball game where a group of kids lined up on one wall and another group of kids lined up about 6 feet away. One by one a kid would run through the flying dodge balls that are being pelted with them as you run through. They really hurt! Especially if there is a twelve year old boy in the group..Did I mention that they really hurt?
Oh well. Good day at P.E.!!