Transplanted in Texas

Well. My first blog post will be up on The Baker's Help Meet on Wednesday. That means this post right here, the 118th, is the final one at Transplanted In Texas. We've covered a lot in the two-plus years I've been blogging here. From my wreck with Sneaky within the first month, to the pregnancy and birth of Yance, the journey to financial security (of which we are on step 3 of 7), the writing of a book, the loss of not one but TWO family members in less than two months' time last year...., and the blessing of a second pregnancy and anticipated birth. The journey continues over at The Baker's Help Meet , where I will try my best to show you how I am a happy, contented, joyful, madly-in-love wife and mother - and how you can be, too (y'know, if you're a woman who wants to be like that). It will be less personal, less scatter-brained, and more focused on keeping the family healthy, learning to handle money, training children, and stealing your husband...

...now what do we do with this extra money? Hehe. For thirteen months, we've been pouring out the thousands of dollars needed to get our loan paid off. And finally, on Wednesday, my father-in-law, who could do this because he had to co-sign the loan, handed them a signed blank check. Signed by my husband, from our own account. And with that, we became debt free. It is an enormous weight off our shoulders, for about 30 cows were riding on that loan. If we hadn't paid it off - or if we hadn't been able to keep up with paying interest off every year - they would've been taken as collateral. Today that worry is gone. So. Now, what? Well, we've got a few things to buy, like air conditioners (the two window units we have can't keep up), and other miscellaneous items we've been holding off on. We need to pay the midwife. And have her completely paid by October 30 (36 week appointment). Not too big a deal, but just something we definitely need ...

My year... in review! January: The house was prepared for moving, and its new location prepared, too. February: Our house was moved, and work began to remodel it and fix mold and water damage issues. Also, D had his first-ever gun show, and I had my bridal showers. Thrown in the mix was a reenactment. March: My birthday, then bachelorette party, and then continued work on our house. I hauled the horses down (with my dad’s help), and it was the first time driving a loaded horse trailer anywhere. We got the engagement photos done, and then there was the bachelor party. Finally, there was the wedding! April: We got home from the honeymoon to an improved home, and began to unpack and get what we needed in proper places. We had a reenactment, and then two more open weekends for working around the place before another reenactment. The cats (Kelly and Odo) also came down. Kelly immediately went feral, but Odo w...

So last weekend's air soft open house went well--there were lots of guys out on the field, and D was out there all day, except of course to eat a late lunch. In the end, he had a blast and came away sore. That was a lot of running around apparently! I didn't see a thing, for the battles were fought in the brush a good ways from the entrance, so instead I just played with a little six-week-old tom, Cookie. Since I moved away, the cats have been slightly neglected in terms of human attention, so the two litters that had been born since I left were a little shy.  They weren't opposed to getting attention, just being held. Apparently a benefit of them being a little shyer is that Mom can go outside with her computer and have less kitty-editing. Haha! Odo in June Ailisa and Esther, Cookie's great-grandmother and grandmother. Cookie and his two brothers, Chocolate and Chip, spent their nights in the feed shed and were brought to the house every morning, while thei...