This time of year is very confusing for me. I'm not sure how I should feel and no matter what I feel, I always feel like it is wrong. My son was born this time of year and I love seeing him grow and love celebrating him. At the same time, my nephew was also born this time of year and that makes me extremely sad. Sad because my sister doesn't get to see him grow or celebrate with him each year. He was struck by a car and killed 3 years ago when he was walking home from summer school, at just 8 years old. I never want to get a phone call like that again, to hurry to the hospital because... It wasn't good. 

Children aren't supposed to die.

I remember trying to get to the hospital as fast as I could, probably going faster than I should on the backroads. I called my Dad. I was a little frantic, not knowing what exactly happened, if he was going to be ok, what to do if he wasn't ok. Thankfully, my Dad had the piece of mind to keep a calm voice and just said to "Be there for your sister." My nephew had already passed by the time I got there. I almost regret going in to see him, but I felt like my sister needed me there. The vision of him beat up, laying lifeless is permanently ingrained in my mind. The memory of my sister holding his delicate little hand is almost unbearable to have floating around in my memory bank and even now describing it, churns my insides and instantly brings tears to my eyes. And not just a single tear, flowing tears, the kind that are relentless and just don't stop.

I honestly don't know how my sister copes. I use the word cope because you just don't "get over" or "forget" a death like that.  I don't know how she gets out of bed each day. I'm am absolutely sure there are days when it is particularly harder for her to to do so, but the fact that she does and continues to do so like a Champion ever day makes her the strongest person I have ever known in my life.

The sad reality that my nephew is not the first nor will he be the last child to die is absolutely excruciating to think about. 

Maybe one day I will write more about that day, but for today, this is all I can manage. 

Hug your loved ones extra tight each night dear followers,

 So, back to our little critters for a brief moment. After Pyrite and Patron came home I became totally obsessed with Degu and finding some blue Degus. I was on facebook one day and came across a post from an individual that had a few litters unexpectedly and several were blue in color! I contacted the owner and he had a male and a female he believed would be perfect. The catch? They were all the way in Iowa and we would have to pick them up. I wasn't sure if my husband would go for it but I asked him if he would consider taking a road trip with me to pick up the two blues. His face actually lit up, he said that we could only go to Iowa to get them if we could stop at The Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. 

DEAL!

We decide to turn our road trip into a mini vacation, rented a van, and took Koda and the oldest 4 kids with us. Before our deal was made, I had NO idea that there was a REAL Field of Dreams, I had seen the movie several times as a child but never knew that the place still existed. I was curious to see an actual place from a movie, myself.

The Field of Dreams was our first stop, before we picked up the Degus. It was a great place to visit and I actually had tears in my eyes watching from the bleachers as my husband and his oldest son threw a baseball back and forth from the pitcher's mount to home plate. It was just perfect. The site also had a nice giftshop as well as a tour you could take through the house that was part of the movie set. My husband and the kids went through the tour while I hung out with Koda outside. Across the field you could see construction in the background, they were in the process of building more fields and planned on hosting a Major League Baseball game in the future. Since our visit, those fields were complete and they did in fact host a game between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees on August 12, 2021. 

We had to travel a bit further into Iowa to pick up the Degus. When we met with the owner we all became instant friends and it was just such a pleasure to meet him and his family. The little Degus were exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't get over how tiny they seemed. They were the youngest Degus we had bought to date, old enough to be weaned from their mother but still so tiny. We briefly lost the male in the car at one of our stops, one of the kids left the door to their travel cage loose. Thank goodness they were both friendly, he was easy to find and easy to catch eventually. 

When we finally arrived home, we decided to think of names for our new babies. We settled on Rosemary for the female and Pepper for the male, keeping up with the R names for our females and P names for our males.

Rosemary was always the more skittish of the two and still is. She isn't afraid of people, she just prefers to be seen and now touched. She isn't mean and is not a biter, she just tends to be a little more work to catch if you want to take her out of the cage. When she arrived home she and Pepper were so small that they escaped their cages a few times. We aren't sure if Rosemary was left with males too long when she was with her previous owner or if her escape here was the culprit, but a few months after her arrival, she had a litter of 3 pups. I'll get to that story at another time.

Pepper is another of our very friendly males. He doesn't mind being out of his cage and held at all, he is just weird about trying to figure our how to climb into our hands. You kind of just have to grab him and then he is content with being in your hand. He is very chill and I believe our most "Go with the Flow" Degus. He and Patron currently share a cage together and get along famously.

I hope you have a fabulous day dear followers!

 From the day of our first date, on, my husband and I could not get enough of each other! At the time he was working second shift in a town 45 minutes from my house. He started seeing me every weekend he could and we would video chat on my lunch break, right before he went to work and then again before I went to bed which was when he was getting off of work. It was tricky but we made it work. I couldn't wait for the weekends and they never came fast enough.

My husband is a HUGE  baseball fan. He is also a HUGE Chicago Cubs fan. We had discussed going to see a game but figured logistically it would be easier for us both for travel, time, and money purposes to go to a South Bend Cubs game instead of trying to make it to Chicago. Little did I know that this plan had a major purpose. My husband decided to purchase us tickets for a South Bend Cubs game set for June 30, 2019.

This tickets were  just behind the visitor's dug out. We had a GREAT view but it was right smack dab in the middle of summer and SUPER hot. The game started and my husband seemed a little more bothered by the heat than normal, sitting at the edge of his seat. A gentleman approached us not too long into the game and told us that MY seat had been selected as the "Sweetheart of the game." They would call me up to the top of the dug out and do a quick video on the big screen between the 3rd and 4th inning. I'm not big on being the center of attention so I tried to pawn this off on my sister who was sitting to my right and then looked at my husband after she declined and asked him to take my place. They both pumped me up and said that I would be fine and to just do it, so I pushed down my anxiety and accepted my fate.

The third inning seemed to FLY by and as promised the guy came back and escorted me to the top of the dugout. I stood there while they did their big screen thing then noticed my husband climbing up to stand with me. I was so thankful, I figured maybe it was written all over my face how uncomfortable I was and he decided to come up for moral support. 

I looked at him and he started speaking to me about how I was this or that to him and then he got down on his knee. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on because I was so distracted by the whole "Sweetheart of the Game" thing. I'm not sure what was going on in my head but I didn't hear everything he said, nor did I allow him to finish his speech, because as soon as he opened the ring box I plucked the ring from its home and said yes and put it on my hand!

The crowd went wild, I smiled and then we got down from the dugout. That wasn't all though, he grabbed my hand and then pointed up the stands. He had purchased a row of tickets about 20 rows up and in those seats were our friends and family. They had gotten to see it all, first hand, and I never even knew they were there! Tears poured from my face, that meant more to me than anything. 

I hope you enjoyed my engagement story dear followers! Have blessed day!

August 26, 2018 I was scrolling through Farmersonly.com... YES, you read that right, I was scrolling a dating website. I saw a photo that looked really familiar, a man that looked very familiar. I switched tabs on my computer browser bar and opened up Facebook. I searched the name of a man that THIS photo reminded me of, sure enough SAME photo popped up. I immediately went to the message button and send him a message. 

From what I am told, he was shocked. He had looked me up a few times though the years, but never really thought to message me because my named changed and I was obviously married. So, to get a message from me now, after 15 years, was a shocker and totally unexpected. 

 I remember telling the gals at work the Prom story when his photo popped up while I was scrolling on our lunch break. At first, I was I still hostile about the whole thing and was going to scroll right passed him. I'm not really sure what drove me to message him, probably out of curiosity I suppose. Maybe it was a need to find out WHAT happened and WHY he never came back to me Prom night. Either way, the gals were encouraging and so, I put my big girl panties on and sent him the message above. Literally, that's what I said, after 15 years. It makes me chuckle now, but obviously it caught his attention, because we kept chatting, and chatting, and it was like I had never stopped talking to him. It was like I had just seen him the day before, except we had a lifetime to catch up on, instead of just going through how our week was going.

I was almost an hour late, something popped up that I couldn't avoid. I was just sure he would think I was standing him up and leave, but he didn't. He waited patiently for me at the restaurant and when I got there greeted me with a hug and smile. We talked non stop, like we were best friends. We both knew that night that this was the beginning of something special. 

I LOVE our story. To me, it is actually kind of perfect. But in order to get to the good part, we have to go all the way to the beginning...

In high school I was kind of shy, lacked self confidence, but was sweet and kind to everyone I met. I did very well in school, did all my work, got to class on time and didn't give the teacher's a hard time. I had a full class schedule each year as well as played in the marching band all four years. I started working a job as well, as soon as I could drive. I added diving as my sport of choice my sophomore year, and while I wasn't that great at it, I loved the team and it was fun to be in the pool every day. I didn't go to parties, I didn't hang out late on the weekends and never push limits. 

My husband, was the opposite. :Insert me chuckling here: He is a VERY smart man, was incredibly smart in high school as well, but maybe too smart for his own good. He got good enough grades to pass classes, which allowed him to play baseball. He was a catcher and very good at what he did. He radiated confidence, was funny, the life of the party, interesting and slightly mysterious, or at least he was to me. 

We went to the same high school. I met him at lunch one day when my new boyfriend at the time, invited me to sit him and his friends at lunch. Those were the best days, his friends were SO funny and never made me feel out of place. My boyfriend and I dated a few months and then as most high school romances go, we moved on. Unbeknownst to me, my husband was bummed I wasn't eating lunch with them anymore. He swears he tried to talk to me all the time in the hall to get my attention but I was so focused on getting to class that I guess I just took it as him being nice. My lack of confidence telling me he couldn't possibly be flirting with me or interested in me. 

Fast forward to my senior year, prom season was right around the corner. I didn't really understand how intimidating I was in high school, and thus no one seemed interested in asking me to prom. As an adult when I hear the stories, my husband affectionately describes me as being "untouchable" and "out of their league" when to referring to what the guys at school thought of me apparently. I really wanted to go prom, but I REALLY didn't want to go alone. I started getting my nails done for fun and to get ready for prom and one day stopped at the popular coffee shop in town. I'm not sure why I decided to go there that day and why I was alone, but I decided to sit outside and drink my drink outside that evening. No sooner did I sit down did my husband come pulling into the parking lot. He had graduated a few years ahead of me and I hadn't seen him since I left the lunch table. I was instantly excited to see him and an idea popped in my head. He had been so funny and I thought to myself that he would be SO FUN to go to prom with. So, I mustard up as much courage as I could and asked him if he'd want to go. To my delight and much surprise he said YES!

We had a GREAT time at Prom and I loved every minute of it. Prom was technically our "First Date." After Prom we went back to his house, he shared a house in a near by town with a few of those same guys, including my ex boyfriend, that we used to sit at lunch with. We laughed and talked and I had planned on us going on an after prom trip to Chicago with my friends in the morning but he got a call that rocked his world. 

At the time, I had no idea that a year prior he had be engaged to be married. I had no idea that she left him, telling him she was pregnant but that she had cheated on him and it wasn't his child. The call he got Prom night was her, his ex fiancé, calling to tell him the baby was born and that she was his. His world shattered and he was devastated to learn this out of the blue. My memory is a little fuzzy because well, age, but my husband says that he cried and we talked for a while sitting on the kitchen floor and then said he'd be right back. He left and I never saw him again. He says he went to the shed with his buddies and may have had too many drinks and passed out, I don't really now where he went but he never came back. He was my ride, so I couldn't leave. I was stuck there all night. My ex boyfriend was there and helped find me something to wear to bed and I slept the night in my husband's bed, alone, by myself. The next morning I HAD to leave, my friends were waiting on me to go with them to Chicago, so my ex boyfriend offered to drive me home. 

I went to Chicago with my friends, was exhausted but had a GREAT time. We visited several high touristy places but my favorite was Shed Aquarium. I absolutely LOVE Aquariums! On the way home I deleted my husbands number from my phone and never talked to him again...

Come back next time for the REST of the Story dear followers!

 After the first two girls came home, I never stopped doing research about degus. I found out that they came in a variety of other colors and I knew I needed MORE! I searched the internet for breeders to see what other colored degus were available. I found a breeder in Kansas that had male sand and blue colored degus and decided I would get a pair and have them shipped to us. Unfortunately, the blue I wanted was claimed before I had a chance to contact the breeder so, I decided on his brother which was a natural colored degu like the girls and an unrelated sand male. I didn't want the sand male to get lonely or sad being transported by himself and I didn't want him to have to live in a new home by himself when he came home with us.

The breeders used a new transport company and my husband and I met them about 30 minutes from our home. I'm not exactly wild about strangers showing up at my house, so we met at a Wal-Mart parking lot to collect our new boys. When we pulled up I didn't expect a pick up truck hauling a very long stock trailer. We were getting small critters, what else could these guys possible have in the trailer? The driver had gone inside to grab a bite and his passenger found our critters in the back seat for us, handed them over, then ask if we wanted to check out their other passengers. Out of curiosity my husband and I said we would love to! In the large area of the stock trailer, there were beautiful golden colored Highland cows. I had never seen them up close before, only on TV and the internet. They Were BEAUTIFUL! The fluffy floppy top knots are so sticking cute, if I could have pinched their little cheeks like a crazy old auntie, I totally would have. The guy smiled at our delight and motioned for us to follow him to the storage compartment/dressing room in the front nose of the trailer. We walked in and there were three very LARGE dog crates with adult Bob Cats lounging within. Both of our jaws dropped, they were stunning and intense to watch. The male wasn't a big fan of visitors so we took our quick peek and then exited the trailer to give him his peace back. I'm sure the passenger thought we were goof balls by the giddy school girl grins we had on our faces. 

We said our good byes and thanked him for sharing his passengers with us and headed down the road. On the way home I quickly began inspecting our new charges and trying to decide on NAMES! My husband and I bounced names back and fourth before we finally settled on Pyrite for out sand colored male and Patron for our new natural colored male.

Patron quickly became my new best friend, he seemed to take to me right away. Most days though, I affectionately call him "P". He is by far our most friendly degu and our Go To if anyone comes to the house and wants to see our degus up close or hold one. He always rushed to the front of his cage and is ready to jump into your hand the instant you call his name and open the door to the cage. He loved everything and everybody. He isn't particular about snacks, he will literally eat anything that I hand him. 

Pyrite was also pretty friendly from the day we got him and will also come right to the front of the cage to visit with whomever wants to hold him. He is a lot more picky about what he eats and we have had to really try out a bunch of things to see that he likes. Up until recently, Pyrite was our most vocal degu. If he wants attention he will tell you about it and will chirp and chip and chirp. 

The only problems we had when our newbies came home, was the fact that they could escape their cage. The width between the bars of their cage was entirely too large for youngsters. It never occurred to me that our little guys would be so little. Patron was a little older, by about a month, so he didn't fit through the bars very well at all. Pyrite on the other hand, was about 10 weeks old and just small enough to escape. We ended up modifying their cage and put chicken wire around the while thing so that we wouldn't loose our sweet new guy.

I hope you keep coming back to learn more about our degus, we have 9 total currently!

Have a great day dear followers,

I've decided to do the Pet Profiles for the Degus in pairs, since we acquired them in pairs. Ruby and margaRita, arrived on December 12, 2019. A week or so earlier, my husband (fiancé at the time), had been talking to a coworker at work when he asked if we might be interested in a pair of Degus because they just didn't have time for them. When he came to me asking if the girls would like these little critters as pets, I immediately thought... What is a Degu? I don't even know what they are let alone how to care for them! He briefly described them to me and then I went to the good ol' world wide web to research them. I instantly became intrigued and thought, they don't seem too difficult, let's give them a try. 

When the girls arrived, they were skittish and not really used to much contact. The cage they were in had very little enrichment and the exercise wheel was was too small for them. I immediately went into decorator mode and searched the web high and low for things I thought would help them become happier little critters. I also changed their diet up, they were being fed Guinea Pig feed, and while it was ok for them, it wasn't really meant for Degu. We did a little research and discovered that Degu are food motivated and finding their favorite snack would be the best way to tame our new girls.

Peanuts, lots and lots of peanuts... those were their snack of choice. I'm pretty sure ALL Degu will do ANYTHING for a peanut. Ours have started to recognize the sound of the peanut container when you tilt it and they come running to the front of their cages even before we ask if they want one. It is literally like crack for Degus. We did go through a time period where we fed too many peanuts and the girls got REALLY fat, we slowed it down and they got back to a more reasonable weight for Degu. 

Rita, is our fat girl, she eats a lot and isn't as active our other. We can tell the difference between her and Ruby by her left ear. We aren't sure what happened to her, but at some point before we got her she had a chunk taken out of her ear. Rita is usually boss lady of the females, she is the one in charge, but she also doesn't fight much at all. 

Ruby has always been a little more laid back and friendly. She was totally enamored by Rosemary's babies when they were little. She would frequently take on the role of beloved Auntie and snuggle with them regularly. Both Rita and Ruby took to Rosemary right away and I'm pretty sure its because she was super young as well when she arrived. I'm almost positive that if I had a large enough cage I could house SO many more females with them and they would just take care of them because they love babies so much.

The more research I did and the more time we spent playing with Ruby and Rita, they more I wanted more Degus. I learned quickly that they came in other colors and that led me to our next to Degus, Patron and Pyrite, and Rosemary and Pepper.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit about our first two Degus!

Have a wonderful day dear followers,

 In April I change jobs, well kind of. I'm in the same field just a different company. At my new job I have spectacular coworkers, all of whom I adore. For the first few months I found it odd that no one listened to the radio on jobsites, there was SILENCE! I quickly learned that since we all have different likes and dislikes, each person keeps an earbud in and listens to their own music or audiobooks. I am not sure why I had not thought about listening to audiobooks sooner, but after hearing my co workers rave about them, I had to try it. I have quickly become obsessed with audiobooks. I really love listening to them while I work! My favorite source for audiobooks has become Amazon's Audible. 

I am a HUGE fan of having someone read to me, in my ear and "act out" each character while I listen to fictional stories. I have recently taken a liking to stories about humans interacting with human like aliens or humans interacting with vampires. A few of the titles I've listened to recently are:

Class 5 Series by Michelle Diener
Book 1 Dark Horse
Book 2 Dark Deeds
Book 3 Dark Minds
Book 4 Dark Matters
This series uses a narrator that is great at changing voice styles for each character, Christina Delaine. She is Great at what she does and was SO easy to listen too. The story line is also very interesting, it is about an alien race that captures humans to study but later escape and end of letting loose and befriending powerful A.I.s. 

Clecanian Series by Victoria Aveline
Book 1 Choosing Theo
Book 2 Freeing Luka
Book 3 Saving Verakko
The narrator for this series is Stephen Dexter and although he does a great job changing his voice for each character, his female impressions are a little silly and remind me of a voice of a drag queen. The story line is really interesting. It also involves humans being captured to be studied but more so to help their society and people thrive. The encounters between the female humans and male aliens are described in a lot of detail and could be considered slight erotica. 

The most recent series I have started is called the Immortal Guardians Series by Dianne Duvall. There are 11 books in this series, however I have just started Book 1 Darkness Dawns. So far the narrator Kristen Potter has been really good at changing voices for each character and is really easy to listen to. I haven't gotten too far into it so I can't really say much about the story line, other than is about human and vampire interactions.

Another type of audiobook I like to listen to are self help or personal development, my favorite so far being The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz. This one is particularly helpful for me and has helped my anxiety SO much. I think I have listened to this audiobook at least 10 times so far. It is narrated by Peter Coyote. He is so relaxing to listen too, so it is really nice to listen to this book if you are going through a lot of stress. 

The audiobook I have enjoyed the most so far that was non fictional has been Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. Yes, the actor. It is an autobiography/self help type book and he narrates it himself as well. I probably looked like a goofball multiple times at work because he had me chuckling and smiling on multiple occasions.

So, if you are a busy person like myself, with work and family but LOVE books, I highly recommend trying out Audible!

Happy Listening dear followers!

Growing up I was never really taught the value in saving money for the future. I mean I knew it was a good idea to save for the future, I just never really was taught the particulars. I'm 36 years old and while I do have a Life Insurance Policy, I don't really have a plan for emergencies, retiring, weddings, colleges, etc. The Life Insurance I do have, I got out of panic after my first husband passed away. I did NOT want to leave my family high and dry if something happened to me. I wanted to make sure that my girls could have everything they needed if by chance something happened to me too. My first husband did NOT prepare very well for his death, he always made it seem like he did but he absolutely left us gasping for air. I made a vow to myself and for my girls that I would NOT do the same to them.

Wednesday I met with a Financial Advisor to start planning for Emergencies and Retirement. BIG TIME Adulting right there! I wish I had started this when I was younger, when I could make the MOST money and SAVE the most money, before I had dependents, a spouse, and a mortgage. I wish I had known how to make my money WORK for me so that I didn't have to work my life away. You know the phrase "Ignorance is Bliss"? Well, when it comes to your future and financial planning, Ignorance IS NOT Bliss. Thankfully, my Financial Advisor is a gem and believes that we can still make my dreams come true and thankfully I am starting now and not in my 50s. Better late then never I guess!

So, I guess the moral of the story and well the point of this random ranting is to get a financial advisor as soon as you are making money, and LEARN how to save and to make your money help you live comfortably in the future!

Have a great day dear followers!

My husband had been shooting ideas to me about wanting a German Shepherd for a couple of months prior to Bones living with us. I kept telling him "No, they are too big" and "Our house is too small for a big dog right now." I had hoped that this would be some motivation to work towards getting a bigger house, maybe something out in the country. When the idea of Bones coming to stay with us came up, I figured it would he the perfect opportunity for him to see just how small our house was for a big dog.  He took a little getting used to, a few of us got knocked down, cups swiped off the coffee table by a tail, food at nose level on the counter stolen, and the trash has been raided several times. All of these issues weren't even on our radar because Koda was so short and so little, but Bones, has brought EVERY possible thing to light that a BIG dog could.

After a few months, Bones' owner asked us if there was any way we would be able to keep him. My husband and I decided that there was absolutely no way that we could tell him no. My plan had BACKFIRED! Everyone in my house, including me fell in love with the BIG dog. He has his own fluffy Doggie Bed that he lays on at night, he's been Vet checked, new food to help him gain more weight, new toys, and a whole BIG family that adores him. 

 

Koda aka Your Majesty Kodalicious is my AKC Registered Male "Black" Toy Poodle, although with age he is sprouting some grey in his top knot and around his mouth. He was born in March 2018 and I was able to pick him up and bring him home in June that same year. I almost didn't make it to Ohio to pick him up as one of my tires blew on the way there. A kind man stopped when he saw me on the side of the road and changed the tire for me so I could make it to a tire repair shop. I called and let the breeder know I would be late but was still determined to make it after a new tire was put on my vehicle. Thankfully, we (ALL THREE KIDS AND I) made it safely and uneventfully there and back after our tire fiasco. 

 I used to joke that I should have named him Tax Refund, because I was able to purchase him with part of my refund that year. He is still intact and I am ever so hopeful that one day I can find a Female Phantom Toy Poodle to be his mate. Probably pipe dreams, but never the less a dream. Koda isn't my first Toy Poodle, I had another Black Toy Poodle years ago in my twenties. His name was Razi and the reason I fell in love with Toy Poodles. Sadly one day I let him out to potty and he never came back to the door. I want to assume maybe someone saw this pretty poodle by the road and scooped him up, however my worst fear was that either a hawk, owl, or coyote snatched him up. 

Home just doesn't feel like home without a Toy Poodle around now. 

Koda came to me at a time in my life where I was learning to be on my own, where I was truly lonely and trying to find my way. He was the perfect little companion and has continued to be just that every day since he arrived home. Because I was in an emotional state when I brought him home, especially the next few months afterwards, he naturally seemed to pick up on the role of a comforter. Believe it or not he can sense if someone is upset, whether its anger, anxiety, or depression and is drawn to that person and wants to be there for them. I didn't realize he was like this until my husband and his daughter moved in. He knows he is MY dog, but he is perfectly happy sharing his comforting skills with whomever needs him the most at any given time. And for that, I am SO thankful. He has definitely outdone any expectations I had of him.

For a "little dog" he isn't too yappy, snappy, annoying or mean. Little dogs tend to get a bad wrap, but he is pretty chill and friendly with both humans and other dogs for the most part. He does tend to be a pickier eater and it has been a real struggle finding a food and treats that he really likes. He doesn't know many tricks, but will sit when asked. He LOVES balls and will fetch and bring back a ball, but once he is tired, he is done and the ball means nothing to him any longer. He loves to sleep on fluffy things and prefers to sleep in bed with me whenever possible.

I tend to take a lot of photos with Koda, as you will notice on my instagram account. He is the perfect little model and seems to love to have his photo taken. Dog brands seem to admire him as well and I was contacted by Buddy Bandana a while back to have us try our their products. Koda loves his bandana, this is the first one he hasn't tried to chew off. The photo above displays our matching bandana and scrunchie from @officialbuddybandana!  To get your very own matching pet bandana and scrunchie or headband visit http://www.thebuddybandana.com and enter discount code Newcomer to get 40% off and free US shipping!

I hope you have enjoyed learning about my little guy and have a great day dear followers!

 

Patron, one of our male Degu.

Oxford Dictionaries defines a Degu as

If you have read through my blog or even made it over to my instagram account, you have noticed I'm a little bit of an animal lover. Okay, maybe little is an understatement. Currently, our pet family includes a Toy Poodle (Koda), a German Shepherd (Bones), a Chicken (Survivor), a Duck (Samuel L. Quackson), a Beta Fish (Winston #2), a Syrian Hamster (Pocahontas), and 9 Degus (Ruby, Rita, Rosemary, Patron, Pyrite, Pepper, Phantom, Pascal, and Pharaoh). 

I am currently waiting on mail for our dogs and degus. (I know, I know FAQ, What is a Degu? ) Our dogs, Koda and Bones were asked to be brand ambassadors for Pack Leashes and I am SO excited to get their new collars in the mail! Maybe it's cheesy, maybe it's not, but I couldn't help but get them matching Bow Tie Collars and a Lead with Carabiner. I'm going to keep it our color/pattern selections hush hush until the box comes in! 

While I'm waiting to unPack our new goods, you can jump on over to Pack Leashes and scope out all the cute accessories that they have available for the furball in your life! AND before you get sticker shock, if you choose to make a purchase use our special discount code RURALPUP20 to get 20% OFF your order! Supporting a company like Pack Leashes is a no brainer for us! Pack Leashes is a great company that provides quality products with a 30 days money back guarantee, no questions asked! They ALSO donate 2 MEALS for hungry shelter animals for every order! 

Come back soon dear followers, as we reveal our Pack products!

 
I've been struggling on where to start, or rather Restart this blog. Do I take you back and try to play catch up? Do I just move forward and give you pieces of the past as it becomes relevant? I literally haven't posted since 2016, the baby was 5 months old then, but is now getting ready to turn 6! He's in Kindergarten and I am no longer with his father. I guess we will just caulk that up to "You live and you learn" without going into the nasty details right now. I have, however, remarried. My new husband and I were married Valentines Day 2020, right before "All hell broke loose" around the world. In total we make a family of 8! 

So much of my being was wrapped around being a stay at home mom, but for the past 4.5 years I have been thrust into the workforce. I started getting to the point where I really didn't know who I was anymore, I was in survival mode trying to make ends meet and take care of my family. 

So, since I've entered the unknown, a rather uncharted plan for this blog, I'll just take it day by day and hope you stay with me as I go back and forth from the here and now to the past.

Have a wonderful morning dear followers!

Love Always,

 

The past couple of years have made it nearly impossible to continue writing my blog. My life has changed so drastically that I decided to start over, from scratch. Please be patient with me as I tweak and rearrange this blog to fit my current life, likes, and lifestyle. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this blog even though it has gone rather dormant for so long. Stay with me, I promise things are going to get more interesting!

Have a great day dear followers!

Love,

I have been trying and trying to keep up this blog and I have been failing miserably. Something needs to change evidently, I think I'm going to have to rearrange my schedule a bit better. Both girls are now in school, so hopefully, I can slip in some time to write. I love to write and I love to share our world with you!

 The next adventure we will be embarking on is purchasing a few calves. We are officially on the search for some BEEF calves. I am excited, since its been years since I have been able to raise calves and these will be the first here at this home. We have created quite the little hobby farm and I am so very proud of it and of my girls for helping out the best that they can.

Click Here to JOIN My Fitness Team!

After Little Sister was out of diapers, I couldn't bring myself to get rid my cloth diaper stash. I have held onto them for 5 years, yes, I said it 5 YEARS. Every time I came across the rubbermaid with my stash in it, I just Ooohed and Aaahhed and then replaced the top and stored them away. Well, I decided this week to bust out the CDs and use them on LiL Man.

I will TOTALLY and gladly admit, I have MISSED having a baby in cloth diapers! There is just something special about that over-sized FLUFFY bum that sends warm fuzzy feelings up and down my body. Oh how I have missed them so. It was like reacquainting myself with an old friend.

I feel the need to do some Cloth Diaper research again. I mean, I've been out of the loop for 5 years, there has GOT to be new advancements in Cloth Diapers right? I feel like a giddy school girl, anxious and excited to see her crush in school.

This week has actually gone REALLY well.  All of the diapers that I have that are Gender Neutral are One Size Pockets and he is easily fitting into them at 5 months old, with plenty of room to grow. I had been having issued with him leaking and having horrible poo explosions with disposables,  and every time we have used the cloth diapers I am once again amazed that those issues just disappear. Oh how I have missed them so.

So for all those new mama's entering the world or cloth diapering or those that are re-entering it, like me, welcome to the club and its nice to share this experience once again!

If you have a moment, leave me a comment and tell me your FAVORITE cloth diaper brand. Are there any great new ones out there?

Have a beautiful day dear followers,

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was like as a child? Obviously, he was raised by Mary and Joseph, but what would it have been like to be Jesus' parents? 
Hope you are having a beautiful day dear followers!