Fog

This morning I woke up to find my back yard invisible. If only my camera could've captured the view a bit more realistically...it was breathtaking.

Jealous

***Notice the new ticker I have added. It will count the money I have put
back until I have saved enough reached my set goal tobuy my
camera. You can contribute also!! I take all major
credit cards and you can
make checks payable to Jenna Thomas***

My friend Shannon bought this really cool high powered digital camera a month or so ago. She talked about it for a long time and finally saved up enough money to buy it.

To be honest, I thought she was crazy to buy an expensive high powered camera, but after playing with it and seeing the results, I have officially decided to buy a good quality Camera. I have picked out the Nikon D 90 camera kit that includes two zoom lenses. Why did I pick these? Because the PW said they were pretty awesome cameras and after doing some research I agreed. I have the kit picked out and it includes everything I will need to take great action shots of my Chocolate Children and of my Hubby on his Horses. It includes a camera bag, extra batteries, memory cards, cables, and of course the camera and two zoom lenses. I'm so excited. I've decided to put back a certain amount every week and then steal some money from Sean to pay for the rest of it. I want it by the end of Summer so I'll have it in time for the rodeo finals to take pictures of Sean.

I already have a digital camera, but as you can tell from my pitiful action photos they just don't compare to the pictures that Shannon took. I have a pink Kodak Easy Share with an Easy share printer that Sean bought me for my birthday which is awesome for photos of me and my friends or for when we go out to events, but for action shots of Sean and the CC I really want something with better results. I also have a JVC video camera that Sean bought me for my birthday so at all the rodeo's this year, I'm already equipt with a video camera so he can critique his runs but now I'll have to pawn that on someone else so I can take awesome camera shots!











How Awesome is this shot?? I've zoomed in on Sean's foot. Can you see his Spur Flying off?? He broke it and had to buy new ones! I can't believe this was caught on camera!


Shannon took some really great shots! She gave me a CD of all the shots she took at the Jackpot we had at our arena last month. She also included some of me and Sean and Banjo (pre Birdie) I have included some below.

Just to be clear, I was joking about the whole contribution to my camera fund thing....unless you just want to pay me?

Birdie's Bling Bling

Birdie got a new charm for her collar. It's covered in diamonds, the fake plastic ones of course. I wonder how long she will keep in on her collar before she chews it off?

Yesterday was laundry day. So Birdie helped rip up the dryer sheets.

Hit by a car

I really didn't get hit by a car, but I could have and not felt any different than I do today. Apparently when you don't excersize for 6 months and then play a double header softball game, and play your heart out, you hurt very badly--About as bad as if you got hit by a slow driving car. The good news is that we won both games by about 15 points each. The bad news is I jammed two fingers on my left hand trying to catch a fowl ball. And for the record typing with one hand SUCKS!

I'm playing church league softball and I will have to brag on my team and say that we're pretty good. We can all play almost any position, we have a great bull pen :) and some pretty good hitters/fielders. I played left and third and our coach Sam, (one of the player's boyfriend) put me at catcher, something Id never experienced before. I didn't like it one bit. Something about squatting behind a person swinging a metal bat with out any catchers gear on, is terrifying. I politely asked not to ever have to play there again or I would kill Sam.

Sean came and supported our team, which was nice because after going to 1 million rodeos, it's nice to make him come sit through a softball game :) And I also enjoyed the support, and he helped me bat better. My batting wasn't the best last night, maybe it was because the bat was too heavy and too long, or maybe because I'm too weak and too short? Anyway... We had a blast and I really enjoyed myself until this morning when I over slept and had a weird dream about going shopping and my buggy wheel kept squeaking and I couldn't make it stop. When I woke up I realized it was my alarm going off, not a squeaking buggy wheel. Oh well..

Good deal on Shoes!!!

Ok so I'm just completely in awe of these pictures I took today in Sardis Arkansas. I had to take pictures of some houses I'm insuring and got a little lost in rural AR. As I was looking around for street names something usual caught my eye. At first glance It was just a normal tree.

Then I took a closer look and saw this...About 30 pairs of shoes! Shoes!! Of every size, shape and color. And they were all nice shoes!! At first I thought, maybe someone is playing a prank and instead of "rolling" the house the "shoed" it. But then, who would buy that many shoes and spend that much for a stupid prank?

I called Sean because I thought he'd probably get a kick out of this. But he didn't answer, so I called Mom because I was dying to tell someone, I was so flabbergasted. Mom said "Oh I've heard people do that on power lines when they sell drugs at their house." So I was thinking, wow someone sure is selling a lot of drugs...

But, we were wrong. As far as we know there are no drugs sold near the tree, just some weird high school tradition for the senior class, according to a lady at my work. Sure is a waste of good money. If you need a good pair of sneakers, I know where you can get some!

Whoa Weekend..

I'm actually happy with being at work this morning and escaping this weekend. I had a wonderful, crazy, eventful weekend, and I'm glad to be back at work, able to rest in my big chair. I have a feeling I'll be tired for a long time after the lack of sleep I got this weekend. I wonder what happened to those College days when I could run for days on a few hours of sleep? Friday I played with the dogs all afternoon after I got in from work. Then I made lasagna and stayed up half the night watching old movie. Forrest Gump was the first one. I cry every time I watch that movie, and I've seen it at least 15 times. My heart just breaks for special needs people..and old people.

Saturday, I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. was filled with cleaning, dogs, and Saturday night was our Bunco night. After Bunco we went out for my friend Jen's Birthday. Last time Bunco was a Mexican Theme, This month it was Taste of Italy. We had Italian food, wine, and even the gifts were Italian themed.

At the last bunco game I won the prize for biggest loser. I had less points than anyone, But not this month! I was the high point winner! That's probably because I stayed at the bottom table most of the night and was able to rack up points. Oh well I still won a set of coasters, which I really needed because I don't have any and have been using napkins.

I wore a new outfit I got at Rue 21 and got red wine spilled all down the front of it. We played where if you rolled a bunco, anyone who grabbed the dice got extra points, it got kind of dangerous. At one point as we were all going for the dice a glass of wine was spilled on the table and me and Jen got covered. I was a trooper though and went out for her birthday, wine spotted shirt and all.

Sunday I slept in a little and finished loads and loads of laundry and went down to the creek for some sun and fresh air with the Dogs. They played in the water and then came and laid down beside me and napped. They apparently had a long night which consisted of wrestling on the porch and knocking another plant off. This one was able to be saved..kind of.

Last night we attended a Crawfish boil at our friend, Raine's house. Sean went over there early and I came to pick him up around 7 and ended up staying until midnight. I'm so tired I can't see straight.

Hopefully I can get some sleep later this week. It won't be tonight because I have my first softball game! Oh well, maybe it will get rained out and I can sleep!

Insure What? #2 Auto Liability

Auto Insurance Liability:

Liability: What the insurance company pays on your behalf if you are named at fault in an accident.

When you look at your insurance policy you may see something that looks like this:

Liability BI 25,000/50,000
Liability PD 25,000

If you already know what this means, just skip this post. For those of you who would like to know more...read on. The BI stands for Bodily Injury (that you cause to the people you hit) and the PD stands for Property Damage (that you cause to the people you hit). The first number in the BI category is payment per person, the second number in the BI category is per accident (more than one person injured).

If the policy above was your policy, if you had an at fault accident, your insurance company would pay up to $25,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for bodily injury per accident. Property damage doesn't just cover the person's vehicle. It covers ALL property you damage, including fences, buildings, mailboxes, more than one vehicle etc. So you would be covered for up to $25,000 for property damage. Any bodily injury or property damage you cause beyond these limits is up to you to pay, which is the topic of my next subject.

DON'T EVER SETTLE FOR THE STATES LEGAL LIMITS. By law, Arkansas requires you, as a driver, to carry liability limits of BI25,000/BI50,000/PD25,000 (25/50/25) Now let me just say that if you have an at fault accident and you hit a new vehicle and total it, more than likely $25,000 will not pay for that vehicle. I mean most of you drive a vehicle that you paid more than $25,000 for right? You personally will be held responsible to pay anything over $25,000.

In this same accident, if you total a vehicle, more than likely there will be some type of injury. If you have ever gone to the hospital, you know how expensive things can get, and now days $25,000 may not cover the injury caused. Especially if there are some broken bones or some hospital stay involved. What if you hit a suburban with eight passengers and they are all injured? I don't think $50,000 would cover injury if it was a bad incident. So please, for me, at least carry 50/100/50 or higher. It's not much more expensive, I'm talking dollars here. This is just my opinion but if your required to carry it, why not pay a few dollars more and get coverage that can keep you out of debt??

The only reason you should ever carry state minimum limits is if you have enough money set aside to cover you, should you have a major accident. This is called self insuring. But remember, raising limits from 25/50/25 to 50/100/50 or even to 100/300/100 is only a few dollars more a month and may be worth it!
Again, this is my opinion and my opinion only :)

Insure what?

Ok so this post will educate those three of you reading my blog on Insurance . Most people hate insurance in general. I hear all the time "it's a rip off!" and "insurance people are crooks." Well I can't say that all insurance companies are wonderful and honest, because everything has it's negative sides, but not all insurance agents and insurance companies are out to get you. If you'll learn a little bit about Insurance coverages then you'll never have to worry.

Here are a few tips:

1. Pick and agent that you know and trust, or find an agent and get to know him/her. How can you trust someone you don't know?? Also, the more your Agent knows about you, the more he can help you with your insurance needs to make sure that all your bases are covered, even if you didn't know they weren't.


2. Make sure your Agent knows what he/she is talking about and has an insurance license!


3. Make sure your Agent goes over each policy that you have, and make sure you understand exactly what is and isn't covered.


4. Shop insurance companies every few years. You never know if your paying to much if you don't check around. Rates may change every few years. Independent Insurance Companies have the ability to shop your insurance through all the companies they represent and find you a better price. The good thing about this is you don't have to change agents. Captive agents (State Farm, Farm Bureau, Farmers, etc) only have one price and one option and to find a better price you have to find another Agent.


5. Make sure the Insurance company you choose is a solid company. A.M.Best's ratings is a good way to check the company out.


6. If you ever have a claim, call your Agent first, then call the company claim number. Your Agent may be able to offer you advise that will save you in the long run.


7. Ask your Agent if you are getting every discount available, sometimes there are some discounts you qualify for that you aren't getting.


8. Insuring your Home and Auto insurance with the same company often saves you a lot of money.


9. When buying a new car, ask your insurance company if they offer GAP insurance before you buy it from the dealer. Often insurance companies can sell it packaged into your auto policy for a lot cheaper.


10. Buy insurance from me!! jenna@thomasins.net

These are opinions of mine and opinions only. :) And to those of you reading that aren't related to me, and don't know, I sell insurance for Thomas Real Estate & Insurance Co. I do this on a daily basis so I do know what I'm talking about.

Little Birdie

Let's call this post, Birdie Plays in the Mud.

I don't want to be a stick in the mud....

I want to be in the mud!!

There's something in this hole!

There's a crawdad in there!

Wait I think I see something..

It's the horses!

I think I'll swim now...

Too deep! Too deep!

Now I'm tired

I'm gonna lay down for awhile...

The End

Other Things in My Backyard

Trees aren't the only thing in my back yard/pasture. This is my horse Zero. Zero is a calm gentle horse. The only kind I like. I'm a "fair weather cowgirl" so most of the time he just eats. But the weather is getting pretty so he may get some riding time in with me. My mother-in-law rides him some so he gets a little bit of exercise.



When I was a born, Mom and Dad had a stud horse named Dude and a mare named Molly. A month after I was born, Molly had a colt, and they named him Jenna's Little Dude or as we called him, "Little Dude." Dude from then on became "Big Dude." We still have both horses. Big Dude is now around 27 and recently had testicular cancer and had to be retired as a stud horse. He had his last colt last year, and he's a beauty. Little Dude just hangs out in the pasture with the other older horses. He's the same age as me...24. When I was younger I rode Little Dude a lot. I really enjoyed riding. I was a little nervous sometimes, because I'm a weenie but for the most part, I enjoyed riding. He was a slow horse, he never got in a hurry for anything and was always the horse in the back of all the riders. It's no secret that I'm scared to ride horses now, I'm around them daily but riding isn't something I'm good at. I think I'm scared because it's been so long since I've ridden and also becuase I'm around "professional" horse riders daily, and I'm a little bit intimidated. Sean's started giving me lessons last summer to help with my confidence level. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion the real reason I'm nervous around horses now is because of an accident I had when I was in Elementary school.

I was riding Little Dude and had stopped at the house to go inside for a drink because it was summer and I was hot and I needed some Ice water. I tied Little Dude's reins to our wooden fence in the back yard. After enjoying my refreshing drink, I went to get back on him Little Dude and his reins had become untied and fallen to the ground. Little Dude was munching on some grass, and you know they say, "The grass is always greener on the other side," and apparently Little Dude thought so because he had his head under the fence rail eating the grass on the other side of the fence. I was a little annoyed that my knot hadn't stayed put and that Little Dude was loose so I walked up and grabbed the reins and spooked Little Dude. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal he would've just raised his head real fast and checked out was was going on, but because he was eating grass on the other side of the fence when he lifted his head to see who I was he hit it on the fence and knocked himself out. As he rolled to the ground he rolled on top of me and I fell against the fence so hard that my back broke the bottom fence rung, horse still on top of me. (now this fence rung was round and about 5 inches through the middle, needless to say it hurt) Little Dude quickly came back to and jumped off of me, but it was too late. The mental damage had already been done. I still have a scar on my back. Little Dude still has a scar on his face from hitting the fence. The star in the middle of his forehead doesn't grow back complete anymore. Dad says it's always been like that but I beg to differ. Little Dude is now 24, the same age as me, and isn't really young enough to be ridden anymore. That is why I have Zero here instead of Little Dude. I've started riding a little bit more since I've been married to Sean and hopefully I can conquer my nervousness around horses.

The Trees in my Yard

I love Trees. The fact that they have lived for so long and have seen so many things really amazes me. God really took some time when it came to making the graceful trees. It really makes me sad when big, beautiful trees finally meet the end of their lives and fall, especially if it's due to wind or lightning. We had a beautiful tree that hung over the creek fall last month, I didn't notice it until today, but It makes me really sad. The last time I saw this tree I thought to myself, "Any minute now that tree will fall." and I was right. This tree was really big and really old. It hung over the banks of the creek and it's roots were the only thing keeping it in the ground. This tree obviously was there long before the creek had cut into the land so deep. Birdie & Banjo and I went on a nature walk on the way to the arena yesterday, here are some of the trees in front of and behind my house along with the one that fell...

Back Yard TreesFront Yard Trees

Banjo Looking at the tree that fell off the Creek Bank.