life is soo good

and here's a fine example of why: our 4th of july feast. no, we didn't make it to the fireworks (we later heard that they weren't that good and that the riverfront park was packed with batesvillagers), but we sure had an all-american meal. we had ribs and corn off the grill, baked beans and arkansas-grown tomatoes. mmmmboy.














another example: horseback riding yesterday. we went out with david w. (new farm guy at the ranch) and some of the ranch kids; rode down to the swimmin spot on the white river and then down to the lock. tarzan's just lovin on my cowgal boots. trevor was riding zeik and i rode shorty. how appropriate. except that i've never been on a trail ride before. in fact, i figured up that i've ridden a water buffalo many more times than a horse. the whole trotting thing...a little scary. even scarier, however, was the bucking thing shorty did to kick the horse behind him. all i could do was hang on and say "bucking. bucking. bucking." like that was going to make it stop. need to get more experience with those reigns. yikes. all in all, i loved it and i'm ready to go back for more. though i am wiped out, sore like a mofo, and i can't believe how tight my right arm is from hanging on for dear life. i think we might try to ride with david every week, if possible. and once we get comfortable we'll be able to go out on our own whenever we want. a little perk of working for a ranch that has a horse program...



















and then, in shining glory are our washer and dryer. halleluia. or however it goes. i won't go through all of what it took to get to this point, but i'll leave it that thanks to paul and melanie and reece (who knew exactly where the freakin storage unit keys were the entire time--no one in my family thought to ask her), we got them up to batesville without a hitch. trevor's even done a full load of laundry.













tonight to kick back we went to the melba to see over the hedge. pretty good and smart. i'd forgotten about the charms of going to a children's movie. laughing at things they don't get, kicking you in the head when their parent carries them out crying. and this theater sells little glow stick/bracelet thingeys. it was a good night. it's been a good week. all is good. hope you're all doing as well or better...