Aloha!

For those of you that I haven't had the opportunity to brag to yet, Tyler and I are going to Maui tomorrow morning for 10 wonderful days. We have been so blessed with all of the circumstances surrounding our flight and living arrangements and we can't wait! One of Tyler's best friends from Oregon is getting married to a beautiful girl from Maui and fortunately the wedding is in her home town. We decided since we were going for Tyler to be in the wedding, why not make a vacation of it. And that we did! I will take tons of pictures and post them when we return, see you then!

A Storm's A'Comin...Secure the Riggins!

It seems that every day this week we have had a BIG, LOUD thunderstorm in the afternoon. Today was no exception...except that it was gorgeous outside and all of a sudden the clouds came rolling in. I took this picture about 2 minutes before it started raining and then it POURED. I wish I had a better camera so I could have captured the colors, but you can see how it just got SO dark so fast! Nature is awesome. I love when God waters my plants so I don't have to! Thank you Lord for a wonderful downpour!

Clifford the Armadillo

So friends...meet Clifford. Well, I call him Clifford, my next door neighbor calls him Armazilla (Godzilla meets Armadillo). He is one of about 3-4 Nine-banded Armadillos that live near my yard. He is precious! He doesn't seem to be afraid of us and he comes to visit our flowerbeds almost every day. I have been trying to get pictures of him for about a week, but until today he was a bit camera shy (or maybe it is Ava barking like Kujo to save my life from the terrible creature). Him and his little brothers leave "tokens" all over our front yard and our driveway, which Tyler then throws in the flowerbeds as free fertilizer, Ava just can't keep up with our fertilization needs. I probably should be mad at this little bugger for tearing up my beds, but I can't help but love him. His little ears are the cutest thing and his claws are so paintable! I googled Clifford the other day and found out that he eats bugs and worms (not flowers) and so I figure he is just trying to help, right?!? He is so interesting, I have tons of facts about Nine-banded Armadillos, so here are some facts for those of you Discovery Channel/Animal Planet junkies:

1. Nine-banded armadillos are the only armadillos who live in Texas, they range as far north as Kansas and as far east as Florida.
2. They almost always have four identical babies (no wonder there is a family here and I am probably calling 4 different Quadruplets the same name - oh, sweet Cliff...s).
3. When they are scared or threatened they can jump straight up 3-4 feet into the air, that's why they are dead on the road so often.

The Calf Scramble

Have you ever been to the rodeo? Seen the calf scramble? Secretly yearned to be a part of it? I have!! And today - I got the experience of a life time. Chasing a calf in fron of a huge audience, cheering me on to catch the little baby...HOWEVER (didn't you know that was coming??), my audience was the angry road ragers driving down 518 that were honking at me to get myself and the lone ranger calf off the road. He wandered onto 518 while I was leaving the gym, so of course I did my civic duty to save the day. And I, no doubt, laughed hysterically the whole time wishing someone was with me enjoying this hysteric chase. I was accompanied on this adventure by 2 UPS workers, 3 random men, 2 police officers, and 1 other lady. It took all of us (who had no experience in calf roping) to get the little guy off the road and back in his pasture. Poor thing was scared to death. The most traumatic part for him was probably when some rediculous, 25 year old pale-face white girl DOVE after him, and missed (resulting in a face plan in the grass, good thing there were no cow patties in that particular spot). I looked just like those idiot kids who dive after the high speed calves at the rodeo. I don't know if anyone else laughed, but I certainly did, and I hope you are now. Have a nice day and YEE-HAW! Country girls can survive!

Spinning class is hell and the instructor is the devil.

Maybe that seems a little harsh, but that is what my butt and my legs are transmitting to my fingers to type. Jodi and I went to a spinning class at the YMCA this morning and I am pretty sure I only have about 3 hours until my legs go into sclerosis (which means the hardening of the muscle tissue, I looked it up). It was only 30 minutes of leg pumping, sweat dripping, techno beating butt bone grinding workout, but that was more than enough for me to discover that this class will single-handidly get my tail feather back in business. However, it might be a week before I can walk again, much less go to the next class. Whew...those of you who go to spinning regularly or do the 1 hour class - God bless you and hooray for conquering Satan and his fiery depths.

Mystery Chef

Tonight for dinner I am bringing back a classic from the kitchen of Brenda Williams (my mom). Tyler is scared scared scared, he thinks the ingredients involved cannot possibly combine to make anything worth eating, much less delicious as I have promised. Sweet pork chops...yum!! The smell coming out of my kitchen right now is delectable. I can't wait to eat. Ready for the strange combo of groceries on my pork chops? Onions, lemons, ketchup and brown sugar. I don't know what scares him worse, the onions or the lemon. Either way - he will apologize once he tastes the savory, lip-smacking pork chops that I am gonna serve up in the style of mi madre! (P.S. I created this fantastic picture to go with my dinner, to much time...)

My Green Thumb

A few weeks ago I was introduced to the wonderful art of gardening. And now I am officially obsessed. I go outside every day and count the blooms that are about to open up on all of my little flowers. I hate the little bugs that are trying to have their dinner from my hard work and I quickly eliminate thier lives as soon as they are spotted doing thier dirty work. Tyler gathers Ava's "tokens" in the back yard to use as free fertilizer in the front yard and tosses it into the flower beds...then I use little sticks to push them around so that they can give nourishment to the spots where I think need it the most (what do I know?!?). Now, I am new at this, but the spots that need my assistance change every day. I really think it's working - wherever I bull doze the moldy "tokens" to, those flowers start to grow! It's amazing! There are also a TON of mushrooms growing out of those same little spots...gross. My thumb is getting so green and my fingernails so dirty (I guess that's the price I have to pay for some curb appeal). I am so proud!

Ava the Aviator

For everyone who thinks that they have the cutest dog in the world. Maybe you do to you - but I do, too! This is Ava, well her nose and paw anyway. She has learned the art of burrowing. She actually learned it very early in life, but has used the past 4 years to master her skill. I think that because I don't have a child yet and won't for a few more years that I am focused all of my motherly instincts on the stinker dog. She is also like a child in our family because just like with all of her kind, she is a Daddy's girl. If you have never had the good fortune of meeting her, please come by and bring your "cutest dog in the world" to be her friend. We would love to meet yours too!

Ta Daaaa!!!

Well friends...I did it. I made a blog. I am not sure I have the whit, genius, or creativity to make this even worth creating, but I am going to give it a shot. After reading other peoples blogs and being completely amazed at the charm and liveliness (is that spelled correctly?!?) of my friends I was inspired. So, please bare with me as I learn the blogging ropes and figure out how to keep up my interest level for you to read about! All comments welcome, please let me know what you think!