Surprise!

(sorry about the last entry, not sure why only half of it showed up)



Justin Moore



Randy Rogers Band

Last week was my mom's birthday and well I had an extra vacation day to burn & thought, "well, heck I haven't been home for mom's birthday in forever..." For her birthday, my parents always host a camp out, nutfry, hayride, & I have missed it EVERY year since they started it.



Miranda Lambert



Pistol Annies

SO.... Around the first I turned in my vacation for Friday, October 7th... which worked out awesome since the Miranda Lambert concert was the Thursday before. Paul was able to get off too!

Thursday, the 6th, Paul & I headed to the expocenter to see one of my favorite singers & bands of all time! Miranda Lambert & The Pistol Annies!!!! Opening for them was The Randy Rogers Band & Justin Moore! Both also equally awesome. Needless to say it was a great show!



Friday I forgot to turn off my work alarm so there it was rubbing in my throbbing head at 6:30 am... which turned out to work for the better. Paul & I were on the road by 8:30! Props out to us, I rarely leave early for long drives.



Three hours in we receive a text from my dad saying the hayride party was cancelled. We were both bummed but I knew the schedule would change when they knew we were there, haha! Called mom around 'getting out of work time' to find out where she was & what they were up to. No clue. Stopped in Boulder to pick up some balloons & flowers to go to mom's work & embarrass her, only when we were pulling into the parking lot there she was climbing into her truck. Paul non shlantly drives up, "Excuse me, mam?'" She turns around getting ready to respond snotty then realized it was us & nearly peed her pants in laughter. Haha! It was great! Definitely in the top 3 mom surprises! Of coarse not 10 minutes later she called everyone saying the party was back on. Mom & dad also took heat for not making up their minds, which was also kinda funny.



Captain Rod (Dad!)



Causing traffic in Niwot



Saturday, we woke up to cold rain. Colorado was trying to throw some snow at us, but nothing would spoil a Gettel birthday! Around 2pm the campers started arriving & 4 pm we carharted/cubbied up, topped off our hot chocolate & schnapps, & loaded on the trailer. It had stopped raining just for us it seemed. We headed down the dirt road, onto HWY 119 (awesome!), into Niwot (a little rich, yuppy town), & to the liquor store for some refills. I thought some champagne was appropriate. :) Headed back with a shorter highway route... I could only imagine the what people were thinking seeing all of us. Classy! Back at the shop we enjoyed fried pickles, french fries, & Rocky Mountain Oysters! YUM! Then continued into the evening with good ole Gettel fun! Not to mention K-State won against Mizzou bringing them up to 17th!!!!

Sunday, everyone stuck around for a big ole farm breakfast. Afterwards, Paul & I headed out for that 8 hour trip eastward. This time we had to take shifts, mine first. Note: I am an awful long distance driver, I drank 2 Rockstars, 1 Dr. Pepper, ate licorice, Bugals, & chewed 4 pieces of Bubbalicious. 'Hello calories!' Goodland, Paul was up for his shift!

Overall it was a short but excellent trip. Saw a lot of cousins & friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

~ Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! ~ 

Just Another Gal...

... Miranda Lambert, that is. I not only LOVE her music but I just think she is another all around country lady. This Texas native can belt some tunes, but she has also started MuttNation Foundation which is a Foundation that raises funds in order to support other organizations and governmental institutions or entities whose purpose is to build animal shelters for better care; increase pet adoption and encourage responsible pet guardianship; rehabilitate sick or unsocialized animals; fund spay/neuter programs; reduce/eliminate euthanasia of healthy animals; and train shelter dogs for purposes of therapy programs, assistance for wounded military personnel and dogs-in-prisons programs.

 However, she's not your normal celebrity pet lover... she owns a 700 acre ranch in Oklahoma next to her soon to be hubby's ranch. Here she enjoys her off time of outdoor fun, fishing, & hunting. This farm raised girl truly knows the difference between a pet animal and a food animal. Which brings me to the reason I wrote this post. I was catching up on my blog reading and checked out Crystal.Cattle's post about food animals mentioning Ms. Lambert's opinion on the topic. I went to her Health magazine article and read the interview (which you can also do), but my favorite question was:

                                      Q: Was it hard slaughtering animals that were your pets?

                     A: Dad would give us two rabbits as our pets, or we’d have one pig we could name. They explained that not every animal was a pet—some were providing for our family. It sounds weird to other people, but I look at it like, there are some animals you feed and some animals that feed you.

This quote gave me an all new respect for her because
nowadays these actors, actresses, musicians "google"
animal cruelty and join some Peta/HSUS organization
and don't even realize what they are supporting. I hope
she further spreads the word of her Foundation,  
continues her awesome doggie saving duties, and and
doesn't fall into the mainstream ways.

And of coarse if I could talk to her I would wish her luck
in her wedding & up coming year! Here is one of my favorite
songs by Miranda Lambert: 'The House That Built Me.'

~Enjoy~