coveted tag

after waiting forever, nevada dept of wildlife finally posted the draw results. i found out i drew a mule deer tag in a trophy area, an antelope tag in a trophy area, and a highly coveted bull elk tag. there are guys that have been putting in for 30 plus years for my area and have never drawn it. they only hand out 18 tags and the draw odds are 1-11. out of 400 plus applicants for my area i was one of the lucky ones. this is a once in a lifetime tag. i can never put in for this for the rest of my life. needless to say, i havent slept a wink hardly cause of the excitement. all the guys at work still cant believe i drew it. its in the jarbidge wilderness in northeast nevada. the largest wilderness area in the state. most of the bulls that are taken are over the 370" mark. its tough, rugged country that most say you need horses. i guess ill be packing what i can on my back and going in as deep as i can go and staying there till i get a bull. it will be extremely hard, tough hunting but since that its a lifetime opportunity, i believe its worth it. you can google jarbidge, nv and see some pics of the most beautiful, rugged steep country God ever made. some canyons are 4,000 ft deep and there are several peaks over 10,000'. i got my work cut out for me, but i plan on spending a few weekends up there between now and the end of august scouting it out. i plan to take a wall tent and set it up at the trailhead and make that my base camp. ill take a tent and food and water in with me on my back and when i get low of rations, ill hike back out to the base camp for food and water. the sources say youll hike all day to get in to where the elk are and once your there you will have to stay there for as long as your supplies last. its too far to hike in and out. if it were easy, it wouldnt be as rewarding. it would be nice to have a big ol bull on my wall and know that everytime i look at him i can reflect on the trials i endured to tag out. im not getting any younger so there is no time like the present to get er done. wish me luck, cause as of august 30th, ill be a mountain man for 10 days!

Finally!

As I've stated previously, our life seems to be chaotic and stressful right now. But one huge stress that has been lifted from our life is that we found a house! We were originally told that our house would close on the 15th so that's what we had planned for. On Friday we found out that the house is actually closing on the 11th instead, which sent me into a tailspin. I was a basketcase on Friday after finding out, crying at the drop of a hat. All weekend I got on every rental website that I could think of every 15 minutes. Monday I found a couple houses. We looked at one and Rob hated it. He said it was so gross that he felt he needed a shower upon leaving it. To say I was getting discouraged is an understatement. By a fluke (or God) thing we found another house that wasn't even on our radar. It's a little further out of town than I'd like but it's still 10 minutes closer to town that we currently are. Plus, it's all straight freeway miles so there won't be the wear and tear on our vehicles like we currently deal with. It's still rural living, which Rob likes. It has a creek on the property which P loves. And it's completely fenced with a huge garden tub in the master bedroom, which I like. Oh, and I like that it has grass and more than just pinion pine trees. Are we sacrificing some things by moving into it? Yes. The downstairs is small and the guest/P's bathroom is microscopic. But, all in all, it was by far the best rental we've found. I knew it was a God thing when the landlord told me how much the deposit was. It was almost exactly the same amount that we had saved (We have a few dollars to spare).

I was planning on taking pics today but had an unexpected car issue that I had to trade vehicles with Rob for. So I'll get down there to take pictures one of these days. Until then, I am so thankful that we have one less thing to stress about these days!

Happy Memorial Day!

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's." John 15:13

This morning I had the freedom to sleep in (Ok, who am I kidding? But, if I didn't have a toddler that woke with the roosters I would have). Later this morning we have the freedom to choose a house to rent. We have the freedom to go to the store of our choice to buy the groceries we want. Tonight we have the freedom to eat what we choose and watch what we want on TV or read the book we choose to read. All of this because of selfless soldiers that sacrifice daily for our freedom. When I cuddled with P this morning I thought of soldiers that haven't seen their children in months. When I set the thermostat to cool off the house, I realized that the soldiers that are fighting in other countries don't have that luxury. When I sat down to the breakfast cereal of my choice, I realized that soldiers overseas may not be able to do the same. So, my hat's off to the fine men and women that give so much and ask for so little in return. I hope that today you take a minute to reflect on the freedom that you've been given because of others.

Escape from Reality

Tonight's blog Take 2.....(I blogged earlier tonight and just at the end of it I hit a button that wiped it all out. In my tired stupor I didn't think to hit the "Go back" or "Undo" button to fix it so here I am again!)

I've long since learned that when I'm stressed out beyond belief I either cope by sleeping or crying. Between the stress of moving and trying to find a rental and the stress of our job situations all I want to do is curl up in the fetal position and make it all go away. In fact, today, I debated on whether 2 1/2 hrs was too long to drive to go to my parents' so I could lay on my mom's lap and have a good cry. But because I'm a mom, a wife and a teacher sleeping or crying all day is out of the question. That's why I was glad that I reluctantly agreed to escape reality last night by enjoying free tickets to a local baseball game. When Rob had called me yesterday morning to see if I wanted to go I honestly didn't want to. It was super windy and cold and I still have a lot to do in terms of packing (like all of it!). Plus I knew it'd get us home late and P to bed way later than usual. BUT, I also know how much P loves baseball and how much I needed a break away from the house. I'm so glad that we went to the game! We had fun with our friends that gave us the tickets and P loved mimicking his daddy and Mr. Bob yelling at the players and ump. The best part of the night, hands down, was when a foul ball was hit. The guy in front of us caught it. Instead of keeping it like most people would, he turned around and handed it to P. Talk about one excited boy! I honestly don't think his "special ball that the guy got him" has left his sight since it was handed to him. So, despite the stress and frustration that life is dishing out at the moment, it was nice to put it all on the back burner for a few hours, enjoying time as a family and with friends, a nice little escape from reality.

Some good news for us....Rob drew 3 out of 5 tags that he put in for today. One tag is extremely difficult to draw so he was thrilled beyond belief when he saw that he had drawn it. I'm happy that he drew an elk tag because that means good meat in store for us in the coming months!!!

Sunny Sunday

Normally it's still snowing in this part of the world so I am loving this early Summer like weather (Although I won't like all the fires that it will produce this year!). Because of the beautiful warm weather, P and I started the morning outside. We went "geico" and jack rabbit hunting. Ruby came out as I was coming in to get ready for church. A few minutes later when I went out to check on P, our neighbor seemed frazzled. Turns out that Ruby got hold of one of her baby chicks. She was pretty traumatized by it, something that I can completely understand. (Luckily when I went to check on it later it seemed better....fingers crossed!). After church we came home and unloaded the week's worth of groceries. P had a hard time napping so I laid down with him...and ended up falling asleep myself. After we woke up we went back outside while Rob went for a run. P played while I did light yardwork. We topped off the beautiful day with a delicious meal: chicken on the BBQ, watermelon, homemade potato salad, green beans and cherry cheesecake for dessert. I love Summer days!

On a completely different note....Lately P is having a difficult time going to sleep at night. No matter what time he wakes up from his nap, he doesn't usually go to sleep until 9pm every night. (Grrr!) Tonight was no exception. At one point when I went to tell him to go to bed he had his cowboy hat on Ruby and was trying to "catch" her with his fishing rod (ie. stick). Awhile later I noticed the light still on and went to tell him again to go to sleep. I opened the door to find Ruby completely covered in.....sunscreen! P had found it in his school backpack and lathered up poor Ruby, telling her to sit still while he put lotion on her. Needless to say, Ruby got a bath and the sunscreen will no longer be put in his backpack. Oh the joys of a mischievous boy and his helpless dog!

Beautiful Day at the Lake

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that Rob rarely works on the weekends anymore. That means more family time! This morning we took off early, ran some errands, looked at a potential rental and then headed up to S. Lake Tahoe. It was such a beautiful drive the whole way there. I have traveled to many places around the world but Tahoe still tops the list as one of the most beautiful places I've been. As we were leaving we stopped at the beach so P could get out and run off some energy. He had fun flirting with the girls that were laying out on the beach, throwing sand and braving the cold water. I haven't had much chance to pull out my camera lately so I was happy for the chance to do so today. I was a little rusty with the camera and it showed when I was looking at the pictures I took. But here are a few that I liked....

Life's Uncertainties

I feel like God is saying, "Jen, it's time I take control of your life again and in order to do so I need to turn your life upside down so you have no choice but to lay things at My feet." I don't know how our life could get any more crazy than it is at this moment. Actually I shouldn't write that because I'm sure with God's sense of humor He will find a way.
This week has been a doozie to say the least. The story is a long one so I'll give you the short version: I am being forced to transfer but there aren't part time positions for me to readily transfer into. So that's causing me stress. Rob MAY be applying for a new job (which pays a lot more) if any of the rumors are true that one will be opening soon. The Waiting Game gets old with his job but we're thankful he has one. To top it off, we found out last night that our house is closing and we have about 30 days to find a new place and move out. If each of these things were happening separately then I'd handle it fine, but all of them piled on us at once can be a little overwhelming. That's why I fell asleep with my Bible in my hands last night, reading the "worry" passage in Matthew. I thought that I wouldn't get an ounce of sleep last night with all the thoughts whirling in my mind. But being comforted by God's Word really helped me. I know it will all work out. I keep thinking that, by P's birthday, we'll have answers and be settled. And for that I'm thankful!!