The Warrior.

A friend recently sent me a quote that she had gotten from a client:

"Wake up your d*mn warrior spirit, because its in the there, strap your balls back on and go take charge of your life!"

Completely inspirational. It quite possibly might get taped to my bathroom mirror.

The water pump went out again last night and what I kept telling myself was: "You are a warrior. Do not give in to your pansy-self and take it out on Boyd."

And I didn’t. He dodged a bullet because of that quote. I can’t promise it will work the next time around though so . . . . Honey. For the love of God. GET THE FREAKING WATER ISSUE FIGURED OUT.

However, he did not dodge a paintball bullet that hit him straight in the throat last Sunday. Yes. Hit in the throat - by a 7^th grader. :)

*****

We went to Minneapolis last weekend to visit friends and for me to put some items on Natalie and Becca’s sale. It was so great to see some of my Minnesota friends AND to sell some stuff! And the best news yet: One of our neighbors in White Bear Lake has a retro van that she is willing to sell to us! Its in great condition and has 70's goodness throughout. It is so ugly that it is beautiful. Honestly . . it’s the storage space that has me drooling. ALL THAT ROOM and it is protected! No tarps or straps needed! Must. Buy. Now. Hopefully this lovely beast will be sitting in our yard soon with all of our other crap. If she is lucky, she will be placed by one of the bathtubs that are still in the yard. Boyd!!!!!!!!

Me and Natalie. 
She is the one who jumped in with me for Front Porch Finds back in 2005. 
We've been furniture-crazed ever since.

Natalie and Becca setting up for their "Roots of Wings" Boutique Sale.

*****

Guess who got a job?! Boyd will be the Ag Instructor at Hamlin this fall. Granted, its only 1/8 time of a full teaching job but its perfect while he continues with his classes. He’s excited. I’m excited. Ra Ra Ra.

******

Speaking of jobs. I am now a trunk keeper for Matilda Jane Clothing. I’m nervous. Overwhelmed. Excited. Check them out at: www.matildajaneclothing.com

. If anyone ever wants to do a show, shoot me a message. Its actually not that bad. No weird guilt trips or peer pressure or awkward demonstrations. I just set up the clothes, you and your friends and their little girls try stuff on, chat and eat snacks. What’s not to love? I can do this. I am a warrior. :)

***********

A big storm came thru the area last weekend. So many trees uprooted, a few buildings are down, etc. We are so thankful that our house was still standing when we got back from Minnesota. 80-100 mph winds are no joke. Boyd and Dad have been cutting wood like crazy in the area. It puts a halt on the porch roof but I know its just a matter of time until we need wood for the furnace. (I know. Debbie Downer. No talk of winter during the summer!)

My friend Stacey and I drove around Lake Norden and surveyed the damage.  And then we made her children take pictures.

Boys checking out what is underneath a tree

Gah.  Such cute cowboy boots!

*******

Independence Day is just around the corner. I won’t mention that this means the summer is ½ over because that is just mean. :) I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and family or by yourself if that is what you prefer. No judging from Ms. Introvert over here!

Here are a few pics of June:

Book Club on the Lake.

Caters LOVES my cats

Betsy and Lucy are getting bigger.  And Lazier.

One Handsome Chunk of Love and 3 great nephews out fishing.

Randy took Dad and Brother 2 out fishing. 
Boyd was extremely jealous. 

Yes.  We put them to work.
But G is learning a valuable lesson in the proper way to carry unwieldy large beams.

Gads. I love this kid.  I might not have many toys but I have an awesome supply of spray paint.

The porch!  Some day this will be done!

Sister2 and Baby Ellie!  First boat ride!

Sometimes I need a reminder that God is here.  Right here.

I love my home.  I love South Dakota. And I can't get enough of the sunsets.

Have a great week!

Sabrina

Guess Who Was in the Paper?!

I have been asked several times about the water situation and so I thought I should let everyone know via the internet: It is fixed!!!

Thank you all for your concern about our personal hygiene.

Gosh. That seems so long ago that I didn’t have water.

My new complaint (because it wouldn’t be MY blog without a complaint) is that I have a bird family living in my attic. My first thought when I heard the little chirps was: "Ahhh . .that is so sweet." But now it sounds like the Mama Bird quite possibly hatched 20 Baby Birds and they do not sound quite so sweet at 5:30 a.m. when apparently they are excited to have breakfast.

*sigh* 

Boyd and I took a quick impromptu trip to Rapid City last weekend. It was nice to see the sunshine. And I also got to say hi to the one person I know who keeps up on my blog- Hi Bob! :)

Lake Norden is getting a farmer’s market starting in late July! Originally, I had just ran the idea by the city via email only to find out later that it was printed in the paper that I was organizing said event. So . . . I am now in charge of the farmer’s market. ;)

One must love small town newspapers. It brought back my horrified memory of when I had my first "boyfriend" and all of the sudden I was in the paper for "visiting his grandmother in Hazel"

Fortunately for the too-soon-approaching-farmers-market, I have tricked my friend Audrey into helping me. Whew! I can now forge ahead with confidence.

Do you bake, make or grow anything? Let me know if you want to participate.

No marijuana plants allowed. I know, I know. Rules Schmules.

We have our front porch moving along and our our boat lift in. But no dock. NOT THAT I’m complaining about that. After all - we have a boat! And its in the water! And it works!

Praiseallujiah!

Day 3

We are on Day 3 of no running water.

I wish I could report that I’m finding this challenge stimulating and character building.

The only thing I DO know is that I am losing my mind.
And the dirty dishes keep piling up.

This morning I got all the way to the McD’s drive-thru to order my iced coffee only to realize I forgot my purse at home.
Fortunately its another cloudy chilly day to help boost my spirits since my coffee apparently isn't going to show.

*** The photographer just walked in the office. Apparently I forgot about the firm pictures being taken today.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Auctions and Water

Boyd and I went to a huge auction this weekend. WIN.

It was exhausting. We filled a truck, the Jeep and a flatbed trailer. AND I still have to go back and get the rest of the stuff. So great for future sales but hard to figure out where to put it all. Fortunately a friend is letting us use his semi trailer to store things in (thanks Randy!). And fortunately mom and dad were okay with letting it sit in their yard (thanks mom and dad!).

Trust me.  It looks very classy in their yard . . . just doesn't look the greatest in mine. :)

This was the first time I had Boyd along the entire day. And since the auction was huge they had 3 different auctioneers going so I sent him with his very own number to find some great buys.

He bought . . . an overpriced trunk. FAIL.

And most everything else I threw in the dumpster.

But I really appreciated his enthusiasm. And his muscles. :)

I ran into Audrey (high school friend) at the auction. We had a blast.

In other news:

We currently do not have running water. FAIL.

We keep a 5 gallon bucket full of lake water in the bathroom to fill the toilet up every time we need to flush.

Sister2 texted me this weekend about coming over with Baby Ellie. She asked if we now have drinkable water (this has been an ongoing issue and the answer is NO.) from the tap. I texted back with: "Ironically . . we have NO water at the moment."

And now I just got a text from Boyd saying the pump will not be fixed for 1-2 days.

Bring it on.