Pinch me....I'm dreaming!

When I woke up this morning the first thought in my head was, "There's a horse in our pasture".....or did I dream all that last night.

Nope. When I walked up to the horse paddock, there she was. Our beautiful mare was really there right before my eyes. wow.

John had gotten up there really early and let the llamas and goats out of the barn, refilled all the water buckets and then spent close to an hour just hanging out with our new horse. He had definetly made an impression with all the horse cookies he gave her, too! haha

I gave John a hard time about bribing Baby Doll for her attention, but I was happy to see the both of them together.

And Baby Doll was still happy to see me and she walked right up to me (Shhhh! And I gave her a carrot. Looks like I'm riding the same boat as John. hehehe).

John really surprised me by confiding in me how he had always loved horses and wanted one one day. I had no idea. He always seemed like he was supportive of my own dreams of wanting a horse and helping me to make it happen. I know he's not nuts about the llamas or the goats, though he is greatly amused by them, but he does take good care of them. So, I was surprised, but also happy that he is pleased and excited about having Baby Doll here with us.

Now here's where I get emotional. So grab a tissue. I am.

I spent some time today looking back over the past 3 years and the path that got us to where we are now. I almost lost 3 of my family members, my husband and both of my twin sons, in a horrific auto accident. They were hit from behind by another van and then forced into the on-coming path of an 18 wheeler.

My son, Jeremiah was thrown over 30 feet out of the window, breaking it with his head on the way out. My son, Jackson was pinned under the van after it flipped over. My husband smashed his head against the windshield and tore his tendon off the elbow upon impact.

You can read more about the accident, as it was in the news:

When Tragedy Strikes
Liberty Lacrosse Accident

The first year we spent healing, physically and emotionally. Jackson suffered 5 broken ribs, a broken arm and multiple contusions. Jeremiah had to endure over 75 stitches to his ripped and torn face as well as multiple contusions.
My husband suffered through arm surgery to repair his elbow, and brain surgery to install a shunt for the fluid that built up after impact.

But, they survived. That in itself is such a miracle.

Our next struggles were dealing with insurance companies that refused to take responsibility and tried to get away without paying our Dr bills....which were astronomic. We finally were advised to hire a lawyer because we were fast sinking. All of our savings were gone and we were living off credit cards. Life was getting scary.

We had to sell our house in South Carolina and move back to New Mexico into a smaller house. And things got alot worse before they got better. We literally lived hand to mouth. At times all of our food came from WIC and local food pantries. Our church helped us, too. God bless them all. Our church even paid our mortgage and utilities for several months so we wouldn't end up homeless.
We were at the bottom of the barrel. At the bottom of the deepest sea. Despair doesn't even come close in describing what we felt.

Our extremely compassionate attorneys were also very helpful and saved us a number of times financially. They even sent our kids Christmas gifts one year. That same year, some generous angels reminded me that the spirit of Santa still lives by sneaking up to our house at night, dropping off a huge box full of Christmas gifts, then ringing the doorbell and then running away before we could thank them.
I cried tears of sadness and tears of joy that night.

Being rock-bottom poor is a very humbling experience. I suggest that everyone experience that to some extent. I felt angry and sad that we had to rely on others for help, but also immensely grateful, too.

The entire experience has helped me realize how precious life is and how we just can't procrastinate in reaching for our dreams. And the experience has also taught my entire family not to take anything for granted and to appreciate all of the blessings, big and small.

So, hop forward a couple years from that fateful day where my family's lives changed so drastically.
I discovered blogging from a friend and decided it would be a terrific medium where I could journal my experiences and feelings along the way. I had no idea that anyone would ever read my blog. I was just doing it to document my journey, no matter which direction it went.

So, some have asked me, "Why 'Laughing Orca Ranch'?" The idea for the name came very simply actually. You can read about it in my very first post on Sept. 12, 2006 for this blog:

Why Laughing Orca Ranch?

After you read that first post, you will come to understand why today was such an epiphany for me and why it caused me to feel so emotional.

You see, today is my daughter's 5th birthday.

Bringing home our new horse, which just so happens to be the heart and soul of our ranch, because of my daughter, was never planned as a birthday present. In fact no thought was put into the date we decided to bring her home. It just fell into place that way.

In addition, I never sought out an "Orca horse" for my daughter or I. I will even admit that I was hoping for a a beautiful buckskin to call my own. But my most important criteria for our first horse was for it to be very well-trained and have a good mind and body. I honestly didn't care if it was the ugliest horse on the planet.

So, when Lorie stumbled upon my Craig's List ad looking for a bombproof family horse, she contacted me. She told me later that she rarely if ever reads Craig's List, so it must have been fate that day.

I was skeptical when she wrote me, especially when she told me that this mare was a Tobiano. What are the odds? And I had been burned once by a horse dealer, but thankfully got out of that 'disaster-waiting-to-happen. And there were a number of people who replied to my ad offering their horses for cheap...'they only need a little work', 'they might be a bit barn sour'. There were so many warning signs. I felt like a deer in the headlights.

But I almost instantly clicked on the phone with Lorie and decided to meet her and the horse in person.
And the rest is history, that you can read in my blog.

I truly believe that God chooses our paths and we just have to trust in Him. In the end we are shown what His plans for us are. Sometimes, not until we are in heaven, but oftentimes, if we just pay attention, we find out while we are on this planet.

I am completely in awe.

Pinch me.....I'm dreaming.



Baby Doll in her paddock. You can see our house behind her in the trees.
Baby Doll still seemed a little bit unsure of her surroundings and the llamas in the pasture on the other side.
But she readily came to us when called and enjoyed being stroked and petted.
John spent alot of time with her, but if he turned around to pet our neighbor's horse, Nadia, Baby Doll came straight over, as if to say, "Um, I think you're confused. I'M you're horse, not that other mare. You are supposed to only pet me, thank you."
Jenna was very excited to come outside and visit with our new horse. She wasn't all that fazed by the experience, but she made me catch my breath when she said, "I knew one day our orca horse would find us"......
One of the things I like about Baby Doll's markings is that little flash of white under her chin and jaw. I just really love it.
Our new horse is so very gentle and sweet. Just like our Jenna, too. Wanna kow something else interesting about Jenna and Baby Doll? Jenna turned 5 today....and Baby Doll turns 15 in April.
Another thing I love about this horse is that gorgeous half-moon of blue in her left eye.
(Click on picture for larger view) There's our new horse in her paddock. (Pinch me!)
I love this picture of Jenna, on her birthday. Happy, care-free, dancing without a care in the world. Life is good.

Happy Birthday, my darling baby girl.

Horse Prospect

Ever since our close-mistake back in September of last year when we almost bought two young horses, we've been keeping our eyes and ears open for the 'right' horse for our family. We haven't been actively searching, but still letting friends and other folks know that we were in the market for a 'bomb-proof' family horse.

Well, we may have found that horse at a local lesson barn. This horse is a 13 yr old Tobiano Paint horse that was bought as a 4H, competition, roping/reining, parade, and trail horse for a young girl and her family.

Well the girl grew up and recently got married and moved to Hawaii. She asked her trainer/coach to help her find the perfect home for her special mare. This horse has been a lesson horse at this particular barn, about 4 miles from our house, while the owner and the trainer kept their eyes open for a good home for her.

The trainer, Lori, contacted me and asked if I'd like to meet this horse and today I finally did.
In preparation of meeting her I tried to keep my skepticism and a guarded demeanor. I didn't want to get my hopes up nor did I want to let emotions take over common sense. Buying a horse is a big purchase, and not just the original cost. There is the daily care to consider, too.

But has been my dream. Will it finally become a reality?

I spent about 2 hours with this mare and Lori today. I lifted and held the mare's feet, I touched her all over (including head, ears, belly, inner legs, back, sides, under the tail, everywhere) and groomed her all over, including mane and tail.
She was so easy-going and didn't shy or get nervous no matter what I did. Jenna also groomed her and walked all around as well and the mare was calm and quiet the entire time. When this mare got too close in my personal space, just a gentle finger touch made her side-step out of the way.

I was very impressed.

Tomorrow, I've been invited to ride this mare and spend some more time with her. So, I'll do an update tomorrow afternoon.

She has a gorgeous head and soft eyes.
Quite the Orca, eh? She is a little bit on the heavy side due to the cold weather and good feed. But she looks and feels very healthy. Her hair is so soft and her skin is smooth.
She is quite beautiful with her striking black and white markings.
One of her eyes has a half moon of blue, which is not typical with paints who don't have white around their eyes.
She even walks right beside you without a lead. She is very receptive to verbal commands, too. She will stop when you stop or if you say 'whoa' and go when you gently tongue click.

Our First Horses!!!!

Oh Wowee Kabowzie!!!!!! We actually bought TWO horses today!!!

Our friends recently recommended we check out a horse boarder/dealer/lesson guy, named Carlos, near Corrales to look for our new horses. I kept putting off calling him and then John called yesterday, and Carlos told us to come by today to check out a couple horses he thought would be perfect family horses. When he said that one of the horses was a black and white paint, a little happy light went on, too!

When we arrived there were a few people there taking lessons and everyone was very friendly. We watched some of them working with the horses for a bit and then Carlos caught the first horse he wanted to show us, a palomino/cremello paint with gorgeous blue eyes. She was bridled and saddled and then eager Jackson was the first one to ride her, followed by Jeremiah, Me, Jenna and then John.

Carlos took us around a few times with the lead rope and then let us each go around on our own quite a bit. Jackson and Jeremiah seemed to be naturals all on their own and led the horses through the obstacle course without much trouble.
Seeing Jeremiah so happy and at ease on the horses was a real thrill for John and I, because Jeremiah has been cautious and often afraid of most animals for the past 2-3 years. He had been telling me the past 2 years that he had no interest in riding horses, if we were to get any. And today those words were washed away like waves on sand.

The Cremello/Palomino paint is a little younger and less experienced than I had wanted, but quite calm, gentle and responsive, especially with all 3 of the kids. She seemed to understand them and follow their inexperienced directions pretty well.
She did fine for me, too and was very sweet, but I didn't connect with her as much as I did with the second horse, the overo paint.

The overo paint is only a year older than the other horse, but seemed more responsive, quicker, and a better fit for me. It felt really good to be back on a horse again and I very much enjoyed running the obstacle course with the overo paint.

I wasn't sure if we should get two horses, but Jackson and Jeremiah both want to ride and take lessons now, and Jenna loves being up on a horse and will probably want to take lessons, too. And I want to also get in some riding and horse time, not to mention that horses do much better when they have a buddy.
So, we decided to purchase both of them!!

We are boarding them with Carlos for a month while moving into our new house, so we can take lessons and get ready for our new horse responsibilities and lifestyle.
The kids are SOOO excited!! And John and I still can't believe we are now the owners of TWO horses!!!

Here are some photos John took today. (Click on each one to make them bigger)

Jackson watching a gal named Amy (and an APD officer) work with her horse.
Me, admiring the cremello/palomino's beautiful blue eyes.
Jackson taking a few pointers from Carlos
Jeremiah listening to some advice from Carlos
Jeremiah practicing taking a few backward steps
Jeremiah preparing to ride on his own.
John taking a lead ride around. This was only his second time on a horse and he did great.
Me, taking some pointers from Carlos before heading out on my own. Annoying that my stirrups were too short! John just let his legs hang. Good thinking. We had a great time anyway, but next time I'm adjusting the stirrups after my kids dismount! hehe
Taking a shade break with the cremello/palomino. She is very friendly and enjoys attention. The overo horse is being ridden (by new friend, Brenda) in the background.
Jeremiah taking a lead walk around with the overo paint.
Jeremiah preparing to ride the overo paint without Carlos' lead.
Jenna taking a lead ride with Carlos.

A different direction...

Ok, so we are moving on and forward after fighting to get our Earnest Money back from the previous house we had placed an offer on...the house with way too many issues. After threatening the homeowners/sellers with reporting them to the County Inspection and Permit Department, and warning their real estate agent not to market their house, unless they want to be reported to The Board of Realtors, they finally gave us a contract releasing us from any obligations to the Dolk property and promising to return our Earnest money.

Since that time, our most recent property/house has been inspected and passed, and the homeowners even installed a new hot water heater because the old one was just a year past being able to be warranted by Home Warranty.

We've been over to that house several times, and though I wasn't in love with all of it at the beginning (John walked into that house and said "This is the one", I said "I'm just not sure"), the house is slowly revealing all of it's positive attributes and I'm starting to feel like I can call it home....and very soon, too! The closing is on September 20th!

Deal off...and here we go again....

Some new developments have taken place within the last week. We terminated our offer on that first house because of way too many problems with substandard building, structural, heating and roofing issues, and so much more.
The house was a virtual money pit, and after getting 4 separate opinions from builders, contractors, and inspectors, we decided, that as much as we loved the property and layout of that house, we needed to call it quits.
So, on Saturday we terminated our offer.

And then on Sunday our real estate agent took us out to look at a couple other houses on the market in the East Mountains.
I fell in love with most of the offerings of the Yrissari property, but there was alot of work to do to clear enough trees off the property for horses and other critters. John didn't like the lack of curb appeal at all.
But the nice thing about that house was that it was very close to one of our fellow homeschooling friends, Sharon.

We finally did get some excitement from the second house we viewed. And it's only about 15 minutes away from our friends, too.

We've been over to this house 3 separate times and we talked with some of the neighbors, too. We finally decided to place an offer on Monday and the final offer was accepted today!

This house is not as big as we'd hope for, but it's well maintained and quality built. And after the headaches we dealt with in trying to buy the house with all the remodeling and additions (by the unlicensed owner), we just want to avoid that kind of chaos.
But this house is over 2100sq feet with 4 bdrms, 2 baths and a loft, and it sits on 3 useable acres, already set up and fenced for horses with a stable and tack room w/ water and electricity.

The neighborhood is also really nice with only 7 houses on the road and beautiful views all around. I especially love the large balconies off the master bedroom and loft.

Here are a few pics from the listing and some I took, too:

Front of the house(John likes the 4 car garage. I like the sheltered chicken space behind the 4th garage!):
The living room full of beautiful light, views and windows.
The kitchen with beautiful southwestern custom cabinets and tile countertops. It's smaller than I would have liked, but I'm not huge fan of cooking anyway. And this design requires less walking back and forth.
The dining room. There is also an eat in breakfast nook in the kitchen bay window area.
The master bathroom w/ jacuzzi tub. I like the windows looking out to South Mountain and the horse pasture.
Jackson and Jeremiah like the basketball court in the backyard.
The view from the horse stable to the back of the house.
John and Jackson in front of the stable.
The views north of the property, from the bedroom balcony, towards South Mountain.
The mature fruit trees on the side of the house. Several kinds of apple, a peach and an apricot tree. The apples are very sweet!

No Labels Available

The other day John suggested we contact our real estate agent to tour the home in Placitas again. For some reason we both feel drawn to it. It just seems to fit the way we live and our personalities. We each defy all labels.

Really there is no way to classify this particular house. The original core of the house was built in the hippy era of the early 1970's with the additions built on in the 90's. The original section was created from very thick adobe walls and was quite small, possibly just a one bedroom home and about 800 sq feet. The 3 rooms are small and with little painted wooden windows. The later additions added over 3000 sq feet of contemporary space filled with high ceilings and many windows with mountain and mesa views and light-filled spaces.

Its such an odd house. So difficult to describe. John and I were discussing how we'd explain the style of the house and we concurred that "Northern New Mexico Contemporary Castle combined with Adobe Pueblo Farm House" fit pretty well!

There is enough room for the kids, us, and guests, not to mention enough acreage for horses, goats, chickens, dogs, etc. And the National Forest Hiking/Horse trails are within walking distance. There is also plenty of privacy and wildlife to enjoy.

Only thing, is that it does need some updates and remodeling/repairs to bring it up to par. It needs new windows, new tile, minor adobe repairs among a few things.
Nothing to overwhelming, though.

But we are holding a prayer to heaven that these things will cause potential buyers to overlook this house for at least 30 more days....until our Settlement Mediation date passes and we can know what our options might be.
The house has been up for sale since March 2005(!), so I am praying that one more month passes by very quickly in this case. Interesting thing if anyone has noticed, is that the house was placed on the market the same month that the accident happened. Odd coincidence? Fate? Or God's infinite plan?

Something else interesting is that John and I had looked at some property in Placitas about 10 years ago, in 1997. We had said, even back then that one day we'd like to live in Placitas. Wouldn't it be interesting if we finally did 'return' back to Placitas soon?

This reminds me of a saying that I kept reminding myself of while we were living in South Carolina and missing New Mexico.

"When you keep coming back to a place, it must mean you belong there."

We knew we would have to come back to New Mexico again. This is where our hearts and souls live. It is home to us, a place where our souls soar and our spirits are free.

Oh, and another odd bit is that the house number of this particular house in Placitas matches the same number of my birthday this year and the age I became. As well as the same number that my daughter will be next year in the same month that the house was originally listed.
It all may be coincidence, but I can't help but look for and notice stuff like that. Of course, I also hope that it DOES mean something significant, too.

Another Option

John still loves that funky property in Placitas that we discovered with our real estate agent. It just fits us and the way we live. I suppose that makes us funky, too. hehe

But yesterday while having fun at the Corrales Harvest Festival, we drove by a sign for a property that made John want to check it out, so we did.
Down a long drive past horse paddocks and to the very end, where another side lane began. There was some info on a gate, so John walked up and picked one of the brochures, and a friednly woman invited us to come onto her property to see it. Cool.

The woman was obviously an animal lover verging on 'collecting'. She had 8 horses, a donkey, a pig, guinea fowl, ducks, dogs, cats, rabbits, and so on. But she lived in a camper trailer on the land. Her stalls were bigger than her own living space. It appeared that she had more animals inside her trailer, too.
But all the animals looked happy and healthy and we enjoyed visiting and strolling the property for almost an hour!

We especially enjoyed walking around in the very large horse corral/pasture withe 7 very friendly horses, which acted more like dogs. They were always right beside us sniffing, nudging, rubbing, and looking for petting. Jackson & Jeremiah loved climbing the trees on the land, and Jenna couldn't stop smiling about all the horses who couldn't get enough of her and followed her around so much, that I finally felt the need to carry her around, lest she get knocked over by too much 'horse love'. hehe

I wasn't much impressed with the property, especially the asking price, at first, but somehow John opened up my eyes to the many prospects, with his creative vision. It does have potential and could be something really special for our family.

The land has water acequia rights from the Rio Grande, so we could have grass, more fruit trees, and pasture. It's a very private property with no homes behind it and is on the end of a gravel lane. The neighbors are professional barrelriders/ropers with a corral where they train the horses. So that's kind of neat. There are large shade trees, fruit trees, and it backs up to horse/walking trails to the Rio Grande Bosque. And it's on the northern end of Corrales, which tends to be quieter and more rural.

Some concerns are the unregistered well, 110V electric, easement to a possible new homesite off the gravel lane, the obvious signs of coyote habitation on the acequia banks behind the property, and some minor trepidation about the hermit veteran who has a small home next door....a little spooky. Also the gravel road easement through the neighbor's properties to reach this land is a bit odd, but not too awful...just a very narrow one lane road with irrigated agri farm on one side and homes/horse paddocks on the other.

But there is some real promise with this site.....so we will keep this one tucked away, just in case.

Speaking of case, all of our cases are finally going into Settlement Mediation on November 3 !!!!! We are so close now !!

Visions and Promises

While driving my sons home from their baseball game tonight, a storm was brewing over the New Mexico sky. The Sandia mountains were lit up by a reddish sunset light, while the mesa was covered in dark clouds and flashes of lightning. It was really quite breathtaking to see the contrasts in the sky.(More on that later)

Earlier in the day the whole family had been driving around Placitas with a real estate agent while touring homes and tromping over acreage. John has opened my eyes to the options this small town could offer us, even after I was sold on Corrales for so long.
Anyway, we did find two properties with great potential, and even a 5 acre plot of land with some unique benefits, too.

On one of the properties, John confided that he had had a dream a few years ago about it's road name...and he was amazed to be standing on that same road today. I loved the name, too, because it reminded me of one of my favorite birds of New Mexico.
And the house had tons of character..not a boring bone in it's entire structure. Very cool house....just needed some TLC. Interestingly enough is that we had closed our eyes to this property just from seeing the photo page online....doesn't have much 'curb appeal'. haha
But that is similar to what happened when we bought our house in South Carolina 7 years ago....we weren't even looking for a house...and that particular house was not even 'our style'. But in the end, that house was perfect for our family.

Anyway, there I go rambling on and on, when I really wanted to talk about the song that came on the radio as we drove home during the New Mexico storm that was brewing in the sky.

As I oohed and aahed over the sky, one of my favorite Christian songs came on, from a band called Kutless. It is called "Strong Tower".
The song was so perfect in this particular moment, because I truly "Got It". We had found a house today that sat directly below the Sandia Mountain...a mountain that has been my place of strength and spirituality, and a mountain that I've been yearning to come home to for 7 long years.
To live right below this powereful mountain would be so amazing for me...it just blows my mind!

Ok, so here are the lyrics and a link to a 'sample play' of this song:

Strong Tower

When I wonder through the desert
And I’m longing for my home
All my dreams have gone astray.
When I’m stranded in the valley
And I’m tired and all alone
It seems like I’ve lost my way

I go running to your mountain.
Where your mercy sets me free

You are my strong tower
Shelter over me,
beautiful and mighty,
everlasting king
You are my strong tower
Fortress when I’m weak
Your name is true and holy
And your face is all I see
Your face is all I see

In the middle of my darkness
In the midst of all my fear
You’re my refuge and my hope
When the storm of life is raging
And the thunder's all I hear
You speak softly to my soul
Now I’m running to your mountain
Where your mercy sets me free.
Kutless

Farm choice locales

It seems we keep bouncing around several locales to look for property to put down our roots. Corrales is still at the top of the list for it's agricultural environment, water availability and animal friendliness. And a big lean toward that direction is that we spend alot of our time hanging out in Corrales already.
It just feels right.
But the real estate prices in Corrales are quite high and the drinking water quality tends to not always be good, with much of it having a sulfer dioxide smell similar to rotten eggs.
On the other hand the huge cotton woods, small town feel, proximity to nature trails and shopping and museums is a huge sway toward living there.

Placitas has always been a favorite place of ours, even when we first moved to New Mexico over 16 years ago. Being close to our powerful and spiritual Sandia Mountain, surrounded by fresh air, views, cedar, pine and pinon trees, and far enough from the Albuquerque sprawl, but still close enough to visit friends and museums is a huge plus.
But the area tends to be pricey and the availability of water is always a concern, so animals tend not to have pastures, instead subsisting on hay and sweet feed. This area would also be more challenging in growing a garden, too.

The East Mountains has been an option brought up by John on many occasions, because he likes the privacy, nature, and availability of affordable property out there.
But it's much farther away from all of the activities we like to do with our kids.
And worst of all would be the driving through the Sandias/Manzanos mountain pass and into the traffic and congestion of I-40 and Albuquerque. This would make for very stressful driving. If it was just the two of us, I'd be more receptive, but with kids, the amount of driving we'd end up doing each week could easily get out of control.
And the water availability can be iffy, as well as the threat of fire, cougars, bears, and rattlesnakes. So it doesn't seem as conducive for relaxed sustainable farm living.


But we will keep our minds open to all possibilities. We have already been searching for properties in all these areas to get familiar with and consider the pros and cons of these locations. It tends to be exciting, but also a little overwhelming wanting to choose the 'perfect' place to settle down and begin our new beautiful lives together.

Farm venture ideas

So, we've been discussing different ideas to make our farm sustainable and provide sustenance for our family, and possibly our neighbors, family and friends, as well.

Here are some of the ideas we are considering:

*Chickens: eggs, pest control and enjoyment
*Vegetable Garden: vegetables fresh and for canning.
*Herb Garden: fresh, soap making
*Goats: fiber, raw milk, soap making for home and sale
*Cow: raw milk, yogurt for home and sale
*Alpaca: fiber for knitting and sale
*Bees: honey, wax for home and sale

And of course, horses for enjoyment, hobby and exercise. We are also hoping to find a property with fruit trees, as well.

Having a very small herd of Churro sheep for the fiber, as well as to support the Native American sheep and culture, is also being considered, but we'd need to have considerably more acreage for that type of venture. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

Where O where will our future farm be?

This is the big question: Where do we want to live to start our lives over again and create the farm of our dreams?
While we do love our home here in Rio Rancho and the parks and convenience, we have outgrown it and we are not happy with the claustrophobic feeling from all of the tract houses in our neighborhood.

We live in a "Ticky Tacky" house....but want to remove ourselves from living in a "Ticky Tacky World". A friend shared a cute, but meaningful song with me called: "Little Boxes" By folk singer Malvina Reynolds.

In the song she describes the little box houses of suburbia and the residents as "all just the same." She describes how everyone living in these houses all live the same monotonous life and how everything always ends up the same, just like the houses.

One day my family will be out of suburbia. One day soon our family will have our sustainable farm home and we will not live in a Ticky Tacky neighborhood anymore.

And similar in comparison to public schools raising rows and rows of all-the-same corn and our family raising unique, beautiful, free-flowing wildflowers, we will always strive to lead a different, off-the-beaten path lifestyle.

You can listen to the song about a "Ticky Tacky" lifestyle. Click and and scroll down to "Little Boxes" Song by Pete Seeger.


"LITTLE BOXES"
Little boxes on the hill side,
little boxes made of ticky tacky.
Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky,
and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes, little boxes, all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers,
and there's business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the university
Where they all get put in boxes and they all come out the same.

And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
In boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

Words and music by Malvina Reynolds Copyright 1963 by Schroder Music Co.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

I am not the most patient person and neither is John. This past year and a half has been a living hell in so many ways, and mostly with having to wait. We are waiting to get our lives back, and to start a new one together. We lost a large portion of our lives on March 14, 2005 in that terrifying accident and things have mostly gotten worse or more complicated in the aftermath. Most days we all feel as if our lives are in limbo, through no fault of our own. So we wait and wait.

We have been informed that there is now light at the end of our dark and dreary tunnel, though we are still fearful and cautious to get our hopes up. But we must have hope, we must have faith, and we need to keep our hearts focused on our goals and dreams, even though they may often seem like a mist in a breeze.

And so we wait.

Why Laughing Orca Ranch

One day, when my clever daughter was about 3 years old, she told me that she wanted an Orca Horse to ride and take care of. She has always loved Orcas and dolphins, but what she really meant was that she wanted a black and white horse with markings similar to an Orca. Makes sense to me!