Cowboy Up

If there's one thing I've learned from my cowboy nephew Zach it's to "get after it!" – whatever "it" may be.

Because he does just that and creates his own opportunities in life, he and his wife are in New Zealand this week, where he's conducting a "Cowhorse Clinic," going a hunt of some sort, and enjoying the gorgeous Down Under scenery with his wife.

I'd be 100% jealous if I hadn't had my own opportunity to "Cowboy Up" today.

OK. I admit it's a complete stretch. But I did get to try out some cowboy gear at work today while we prepped for a video shoot related to a Wild West sales trip for some top employees. I say, if you can't have the fun, you gotta invent it. 

Side note: I just happened to be wearing clothes today that would match any Western gear, hat, or lasso. Yay me! (Or is it Yee-Haw!?")

My advice: If life gets boring, play "dress up" and create your own fun! You might find your own cowboy swagger as a result!

Side of Ranch

Lost dog was finally found this morning, thanks to a "live trap" set. My friends are so thrilled to have their baby back! I was glad for them, too. Plus, I got my day back on schedule.

After book club at 9 a.m., I headed east to Fond du Lac to meet up with my cowboy nephew Zach and his wife for a photo/video shoot with interviews, etc. As he often says, we were getting ranchy. Well Aunt Robyn was trying.

Got some pretty pictures, though! And didn't step in any fresh manure deposits anywhere. That I know of. Can't tell you much about the project because we don't want anyone stealing our idea. I will say it was pretty cool seeing an active horsewoman my mother's age – 87 – and her husband both so involved.

As a bonus we got to meet Paco, a mule with an affinity for Mountain Dew. Here he is "doing the Dew." Too funny. I guess we all need something to keep us moving!

Let there before 5 p.m. and was going to meet hubby and friends at a Wisconsin Rapids Rafters baseball game... but then rain happened. He was already there and I was running behind. Probably best. I didn't go at all so didn't suffer the rain or cold.

Are we all sure it's mid-June? Even Paco is stubborn about shedding his coat.

And not just because he's a mule!

Second Time's a Charm

After last week's sunny fail (in my opinion) of a photography session, God blessed me with clouds today for the sequel. That worked 100% better and the pictures will be better, too.

Of course, you can't have too much of a good thing. So some of the clouds turned into rain clouds and we had to cancel our last location. Still, we managed to get enough different poses – in the shade – that should work for some senior pictures.

And of course, by today, my photo subject was a natural – and came close to smiling a few times. Boys! Seriously, it was fun and good to see Jim's cousins again.

The day flew by and we left at 5 p.m. to go out to eat with our friends Mike and Cindy. They have a birthday-anniversary-palooza week like we do, with Cindy's birthday today, Mike's Saturday, and their anniversary in between.

We ate at Two Lakes Supper Club over by Almond-Bancroft area. Super packed. I guess people do go out to eat on Sunday evenings! Had their coconut shrimp which was so super amazing I can't wait to go back! And the company was pretty good, too.

Tonight I spent a few hours finally going through cowboy pictures from yesterday. Will share those soon. I am pretty sure this one's my favorite so far...

Looks like a good idea to me! Good night!

A Hitch in My Giddy-Up

I got to giddy-up and go today, that's for sure.

This morning I went up to Loyal (about an hour and 10 minutes from Rapids) and watch my nephew Zach put on a clinic on cow herding. And when I say "clinic" it really was a clinic teaching a class of 10 riders how to teach their horses to work with cattle.

He's 100 percent cowboy. I've seen him in competition herding and sorting cattle but not teaching it. He knows his stuff!

Was fun to see him in action. Glad I found out he was going to be this close by. Apparently when he's not competing or running all other aspects of his farrier business, he does these clinics. Now I'll have to keep an eye out on his schedule in case he's in the relative neighborhood again.

Didn't stay for the afternoon session. Had to get home so hubby and I could go down the Madison for the Capital City 5K run/walk for organ donation.

This was our fourth year going as members of the Running to Remember Ben team. Ben was Jim's cousin's son. He was just out of college when he was killed in a head-on crash 10 years ago and they were able to donate some of his organs. Six years ago, the family decided this was a neat way to honor his memory. It really is a nice event, starting at the capital building. Always great to see the cousins, too!

This year, they thankfully had a one-mile option so I could participate – despite the hitch in my giddy-up. From the one-mile point, a shuttle was available to take the elderly and crippled (I am both now!) back to the park! Yes, my pinky toe throbbed a bit, but nothing too terrible.

After everyone on the team – about 30 of us this year – finished, we had a pizza party at a nearby hotel and visited some more. Jim and I came home since tomorrow's another busy day.

Hopefully, if I get time, I'll have some cool photos from today to share!

Super-Sized Schedule

I don't know if I could have squeezed any more on my plate yesterday, but what I had was really good.

Got up at 4:30 a.m. to hit the road to Madison for a horse show of sorts. The only good thing about getting up that early is the sunrise. Fog did not affect driving but it sure helped the photo during a pit stop.

I arrived at the Alliant Energy Center for the North Central Western Working Horses Celebration (or WWC) at 6:57 a.m. and hoped I didn't miss my nephew Zach perform, since that was supposed to start at 7 a.m. Well he was still sleeping when I got there!!

To make a long story short, they squeezed in another event before Zach's reining event so I could have slept 2 more hours. He didn't get riding 'til after 10 a.m.

The good news is that that meant I could go to the building next door and see my friend Colleen's daughter Elsa perform. She was there the Ponies of America segment of the WWC. I know it sounds like I know what I'm talking about, doesn't it? I'll be wearing a cowboy hat the next time you see me!

It was fun watching Elsa perform with her horse Lena. She was all dressed up and had make-up on like a "big girl." And of course, a very sparkly outfit. Took quite a few pictures of her since I had the time!

Scoping out the competition.

All smiles after getting a 5th-place medal. Not bad considering she was the youngest for that event and age category. What a cutie.

Made it back next door in plenty of time to see both Zach and his best man and best friend Ben perform. I don't really get what "reining" is. It's sort of going fast around circles and then going fast straight and making a sudden stop. Zach and Ben just laughed and said, yeah, something like that.

While the lighting was awful, I still got some decent shots. Here's a just a few of Zach in action... proving my "cowboy nephew" really is a cowboy!

Pretty cool, huh? After that I raced home so I could get home by 3 p.m., about the time my sister Rayna and her husband Paul were set to arrive. They had been in the Milwaukee area for a few days, checking out the sights and such, and swung through Rapids on their way back up north to Hudson.

Went downtown by the river to eat dinner at Jennings & Co. Had to pick a restaurant we haven't been to with them before!

Yummy food and nice visit. From there, they hit the road and we came home.

We were thinking of going out since we can do that now. Ha. But I begged off. Wanted to at least look through a few photos. Plus, despite a few trips to the chiro last week, my back is not exactly in great shape yet.

Maybe if I could squeeze in a day of rest, eh? Sunday (today) was... not it.

Had 8 a.m. church and then we went off with teams to do work projects for God's Work, Our Hands day. More on that tomorrow. My fingers are taking the evening off.

Spacing Out

Took advantage of an empty nest AND empty house tonight to watch a movie I've been wanting to see all year. Yes, literally all year.

Hubby is taking stats at the Assumption football game in Athens so I rented Hidden Figures. It was nominated for several Academy Awards but it usually takes me until the next awards season to see the old ones.

If you don't recall, Hidden Figures is the phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. It was very well done and quite inspiring. It always makes me wonder how many untold true stories are waiting to be told so they can influence another generation.

While I was multi-tasking for the first half of it, I relaxed and enjoyed the second half. Glad I took some ME time.

Now it's off to bed early so I can leave the house at 5 a.m. and go watch my cowboy nephew ride in a big competition in Madison. Yup, horses and hay in the middle of the city. I'm pretty excited after all these years to finally see him in action.

Perhaps an untold story I will tell you about tomorrow night!