When does a Cowboy become old?

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

Today is my fiancé’s birthday!

We celebrated last night by eating a home cooked Paleo meal, opening gifts and sharing a piece of cake from Freed's Bakery.

It was nice to enjoy time together through the hustle and bustle of the past couple of days.

I have always teased Matt about being "old" but he really is far from it!

Despite all the bumps and bruises this cowboy has endured, he still raises a little hell every now and then, riding tall in his saddle and working till the sun goes down.

Every day with Matt I still learn new things about him.

Things he did, things he broke (mainly) things he wish he did.

So in honor of his day,I thought I would share some Matt Facts!

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1. No surprise, Matt is an ex-bull rider. But did you know he rodeoed in Europe?

2. He's a Veteran and fought in 3 wars.

3. He's is an amazing cook!

4. He plays random notes and chords on the guitar and says he knows how to play...yes, dear.

5. He was a "pirate"? I still don't understand this one all I know is he was Captain Jack Handlebars.

6. He used to have a lip ring and wear eyeliner, boy have things changed!

7. His laugh is contagious.

8. He's deaf in one ear, I'm sure this works in his favor when I'm nagging.

9. He can build/fix anything, and if he doesn't know how, he figures it out.

10. The only movie that can get him choked up is 8 Seconds.

11. He plays with the goat by using the top of a trash can as his shield and a stick as his sword.

12. He trained his wild, uncontrollable dog in German. Worst idea ever!

13. He's the most loyal, honest and trust worthy person I have ever met!

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I wonder when age will get to him?

When will he finally say, "No, I need to sit this one out"?

When will he finally rest and let those old injuries heal?

Well, the honest answer to this is as long as he's breathing, you won't be able to keep him out of the saddle.

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There's a hundred years of history
and a hundred before that
All gathered in the thinkin'
Goin' on beneath this hat.

The cold flame burns within him
'Til his skin's as cold as ice
And the dues he paid to get here
Are worth every sacrifice.

All the miles spend sleepy drivin'
All the money down the drain,
All the 'if I's' and 'nearly's,'
All the bandages and pain,

All the female tears left dryin',
All the fever and the fight
Are just a small down payment
On the ride he makes tonight.

It's guts and love and glory,
One mortal's chance at fame.
His legacy is rodeo
And cowboy is his name.

Happy Birthday Matt! I love you!

xo

If there was no such thing as bad luck...

...then I would have no luck at all.

Famous line.

This is definitely how I am feeling right now.

This blog may be long (I need to vent) so if you want to just get to the life lessons learned, scroll to the bottom.

If you want to hear my ranting brigade please continue to read.

OOOOh my house...

Should I start with the positives of it so it doesn’t sound like a giant mess?

Why I bought my 24 year old home...

1. Not only do I have an attached 3 car garage but I have a huge driveway.  Four vehicles, the horse trailer and utility trailer all can be parked on it and each car pull out comfortably.

2. Upgraded kitchen, honestly this is what set my heart into the house.

3. Semi upgraded bathrooms, I say semi because of the granite.

4. The layout of not just the home, but the property.

5. I can't touch my neighbors with a light pole, or two or three... none of them. Very rare in Las Vegas. Most homes are literally built on top of each other here.

6. Main reason, I can keep my horses on property and have a place to ride/work them in my yard.

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 Sounds great right?

I have something that is rare and hard to find in this city, and I know this.

I know how lucky I am; however, everyone has bad days where they have that thought crosses their mind, "what was I thinking".

We have had A LOT...really...a lot of "What’s broken now!” moments since we moved in. I know it's a part of being a home owner, I get it, but if I gave the list, it is a bit much for two people to handle in a short 5 month period.

I am not even going to list it out because the problems we did have are fixed now, and we are moving on, but yes last night was another "what now!" moment.

Besides Matt hurting himself and the alternator on his pickup breaking, we found out we have another issue.

I have been noticing my baseboards in my kitchen were starting to look funny.

I have noticed it for about two months and put it in the back of my head because I knew what was wrong, I just didn't want to deal with it.

Matt finally picked up on it and decided to rip the baseboards off.

Loan and behold...mold!

UGH... there is a leak in the walls somewhere.

Luckily, I have a warranty and homeowners insurance, meaning it’s covered.

However, it’s still the stress that goes along with it.

Having workers in and out of your house watching them cut holes in every wall in every room is hard to deal with at moments.

The mold guy came out yesterday and the plumber comes today and now I am just waiting for my insurance to send someone out to do my baseboards and wall repairs.

How long will all this take?

Who knows...

All I know is that it has been about a month since our last break, which resulted in us needing all our pipes to be rerouted through the attic.

I would like for 3 - 6 months go by and not have something break.

What do they call this? oh yeah...life.

So now that all my negative mum-bo-jum-bo is finished...on to the life lessons....

Dana's Life Take-Aways

1. Everyone should have a home warranty. Guess what it costs me each time something breaks. $60. That is it. No matter the problem (as long as it’s covered by your policy)

2. Home owner's insurance is a must, must, must! I have to be honest. I am very happy with Statefarm, best prices and good service.

3. Try to not let the things that you have absolutely no control over run your emotions.

4. Be kind to your husband, boyfriend, significant other or whoever is by your side during the tough times. Read the first two words again, BE KIND. They want nothing but to help you; be grateful for that.

5. If you're overwhelmed, cry. I did last night! Guess what, I feel so much better and am ready to tackle this.

6. Look at the bright side of every storm. There is always one. Mine is I am treating myself to get my kitchen repainted, steam cleaning the tile throughout the house and possibly crown molding in the kitchen. Giving it a fresh new look will help overcome the negative.

7. Last, and certainly not least, stop...and breathe. Yesterday my mind was racing "omg we have mold, omg we have a leak, we need new baseboards and pantry is going to be ripped out..." and so on. Stop. Breathe. This is the hardest thing to do, believe me! I get anxiety over everything and I am obsessed with the condition and cleanliness of my home, so I bet you can imagine what is going through my head right now. My house isn't the first to have this happen to, it can be fixed. I just keep telling myself that.

So when you are feeling over whelmed with life, a current situation, or something that you think is a disaster at the time being, find the strength to overcome the negative emotions that are flooding your mind and force yourself to just...breathe.

I know I will be stressed for the next couple of weeks until the issue is resolved, but in a month or so when I look back I know I will think, that wasn't so bad.

There are so many other things in life to be upset about, and this isn't really worth the energy.

Negativity is poison to the heart, mind and soul!

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However, if I didn't have a warranty and homeowner's insurance I might be singing a different tune ;)

So much for a challenge!

I dont' need to say it, I know you know where this is going...

yes I cheated.

With what...pizza, what else.

ugh!

Do I feel bad?

A little (not really)

Life has really gotten the best of me.

I can honestly say that I cracked under pressure.

The project that I had planned for me and Matt was going great, but broken this and that happened and over budget (VERY over budget), well....just life.

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Due to a horrible event last night, we probably will not be doing grass in the time frame we had planned. Let alone yard clean up.

In the mean time, I am getting back on track by starting my evening with Insanity (SOOO addicted)...and even maybe two videos. We'll see ; )

I will be busy trying to get my clean eating back on track and playing nurse till my hubs to be is better again.

I would share what happened, but got a big fat NO from the man of the house.

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Life is an amazing thing.  You grow up, you grow old, you find love, you loose love, you find THE love, you have children, your children grow up, you loose pets, you make new friends, you cry, you laugh, you get angry, you smile, you live. As quick as a blink of an eye it can change. So enjoy every single moment doing everything with everyone, appreciate them being in your life and remind them why you WANT them in your life. You never realize how precious something is to you until it isn't there any more. Don't take a single person, moment or second for granted.

xo

Enough about me...

Now that spring in Las Vegas is almost over (we only have two seasons ya know...)

I have been thinking to myself…my hubs to be has to be hot hot hot out in the yard.

I wanted to write him a blog to let him know I do take notice to his hard work and how much I appreciate him.

He works 12 hr days at his job and then on his days off he does whatever project I was able to come up with during the week.

You'll never see this man lying around.

Seriously guys, we bought our home 4 short months ago and in that time he has built the horse stalls, ripped out all the weeds in our back yard (and trust me...there was A LOT) tore down a random wood shadder and posts that were in our now arena, dug up the entire arena ground, shoveled the arena ground onto a screen to pull out all the rocks (yes by hand) built a wash rack and this is all excluding all the pipe repair and replacement he has done throughout the house and other things.

And right now, as I'm writing this, he's adding irrigation and lighting to our soon to be lawn and arena.

I told him what I saw in that yard the day we moved in and I can't believe how fast he is making it happen.

He is just amazing.

Hard working.

And just wants me happy.

 I needed to write this because I tend to focus on the "uh ohs" that took place during our renovations.

Like...

Knocking down our neighbor’s wall when taking down the wood shadder.

Causing our neighbors (all three) to not have water for 10 hrs when trying to fix our main water line (we are on a community well)

Buying the wrong stucco color when he had to patch a hole on the outside of our home (don't worry its spray painted a completely different white o.O)

Cutting three electrical lines while digging for our sprinklers.

and some other moments but I will stop here.

Although when these.....accidents happened I was frustrated and annoyed I now laughed as I wrote them down.

At the time instead of getting angry I should have thought to myself "will this matter 5 years from now, let alone a few months...or weeks!"

I love him dearly and I can honestly say I have never had someone in my life work so hard on the account of MY happiness and MY dreams.

Yes, he has his heart set on a horse property, but he's doing everything the exact way I said I wanted it when he asked.

What does he get in return?

The random casita that is in our yard.

Currently there is a Jacuzzi inside.

We could make this a gym...possibly a play house for future baby cowboys and cowgirls

But no...it is going to be...and I quote "the rockin' MAD saloon"

Yep.

A bar.

Joy.

I prayed one day I would find the perfect man that supported my dreams of riding and enjoying the rodeo life with me and that is exactly what I got.

He may have retired his rodeo boots but he knows I only just begun.

He's my number one fan, the patience that I don't have, the believer in me when I don't in myself some times, my best friend

This post is to you my love.

Thank you for all you do for me, the horses and dogs...oh and lil' bill!

I love you! xo