Special Tribute to an Old Friend

In the midst of my excitement about our future equestrian yesterday, I neglected to pay tribute to Mr. Wagner's old, faithful friend. Many of you who know my hubby will feel the pain as you realize yet another part of our college days has been put to rest. The "Red Racer" has a new home, may he R.I.P.

Twelve years and many-a-mile were logged in that old truck, including the long trip from AK to OR. This special chunk a' metal faithfully accomplished a two-hour daily work commute for over four years with no major incident. We can only hope his new owner will be kind.

In all seriousness, while it's nice to no longer resemble the Clampets, it did feel like a chapter in our lives was coming to a close with the sale. I can still remember the days where I'd see that little red truck passing by and would realize that the man I had a crush on was near. Oh well, guess I can still have a crush on him, even if he is driving a Ford.

In lieu of flowers, please leave a "comment" with your own memories if you'd like to help pay tribute to the Red Racer. No phone calls for the next couple of days please. Mr. Wagner needs time to process the loss.

Future Equestrian

"Fearless" is not an adjective that we would typically use when describing our Little Miss. However, today our girl showed great courage as she rode Lucky for the very first time. I think we have a young equestrian-in-the-making (though her daddy may not fully agree. Not that Mr. Wagner doesn't like horses, he just likes his checkbook more).

With the weather cooling down to more reasonable temperatures, we couldn't resist the sunshine and had to make a trip out to the horse barn. I saddled up and got on Lucky. With our friend Theresa's help, the Little Miss was soon aboard as well. She wasn't entirely sure about the view at first but quickly settled down and started smiling and waving from her high post.

This momma was quite proud of her daughter and her horse. Lucky didn't care one iota about having us both on his back and was most concerned about trying to sneak in a bite of grass. I couldn't help but think back to the 3 month-old colt he was when I first got him. The old guy is now 23 and yet is still in great shape. What a blessing to have my own daughter getting to learn to ride on the very same horse!

I forgot to take a camera (of course) but will definitely take pictures the next time. Here are just a few from past trips to the barn.

Playing in the wash rack (Spring, 2008)

Not too sure about that hairy "beast" (Summer, 2007)

Meeting Lucky for the first time (Early Spring, 2007)

We're Home!

Happy Mother’s Day!!! to our own moms and all the other moms out there. We hope your day has been blessed. Mine sure was. Mr. Wagner was patient enough to let me wander IKEA (A very selfless act considering his “I-will-not-stop-unless-it’s-absolutely-necessary” syndrome that rears its head every time we travel. Did I mention that we’d just left the airport after a 4 ½ hour flight and we still had a long drive home ahead of us? What a gentleman!).

Speaking of the airport, we just returned from the Midwest where we visited Mr. Wagner's side of our family. Our trip started out rocky with a cancelled flight and several flight delays. However after being re-routed through another airport and an overnight drive, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Wagner’s safely.

After our arrival, we had a great time and already miss everyone. It was so fun to watch the little cousins playing together and also giggling with their grandparents and aunts/uncles. We loved seeing how our nieces have changed over the past year and were excited to meet our first nephew. Visiting with the extended family is such an honor because they have very strong family ties and a long history of deep faith. I couldn't help but think time and time again how thankful I am to be joined to this family and to be able to raise our Little Miss with this lineage. Our visit was too short to spend time with everyone so we are already looking forward to the next time!

Here are a few pictures from our journey:

The girl cousins

Playing with Grandma and Cousin Owen while giving Grandpa "the look"

Catching balloons with Grandpa

Giving Jess hugs

Visiting Aunt Donna

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...Usually

You know how they say that distance makes the heart grow fonder? Our family sure experienced that the past couple of weeks. Mr. Wagner was in Denver, CO for 10 days for work and how sweet it was to welcome him home this past weekend! The Little Miss and I were over-joyed. We'd had some great mother/daughter bonding time while he was gone but we both really missed our favorite man!

Speaking of "distance making the heart grow fonder," I've decided that's not always the case. At least not when I'm running. I definitely don't grow fonder of the sport when I run longer distances. Instead, my heart just has to work a heck of a lot harder. That point was proven this past weekend when Janelle and I ran a hilly trail in hopes of prepping for an upcoming "run for the hills" 8K. Neither of us have been trail running lately and hills have definitely not been our forte but we sweated it out and did better that either of us expected. Our hearts and lungs were working overtime but our O2 levels were able to catch up on the much-more-fun downhill sections.

Janelle and I at the top of our "mountain"

No one had to call the paramedics, not because we didn't need them but rather, we had our own along with us. Paramedic Jon (Janelle's hubby) and Mr. Wagner selflessly served us as "water boys/kiddo carriers". They hiked part of the course, carrying our favorite mascots with them. With a team like this, we should be ready for the actual race in another month.

Mr. Wagner and Paramedic Jon with the kiddos.

This pic is from a different hike a month ago but they looked just like this, only a little sweatier.

April Fools

It really is April, right? What happened to all the beautiful, sunny, Springtime weather? If I didn't know better, I'd say someone transplanted us to the North Pole over the weekend.

Since Mr. Wagner is in CO for business (we miss you!), the Little Miss and I ventured down to the southern part of the state to visit my parents. According to the local newscast, my childhood hometown typically gets the last snow fall of the year in late February. I know that God is the ultimate weather man but just maybe He got His months mixed up? Actually, isn't it just like our God to have a sense of humor and surprise us with the precipitation of His choosing? Just after we tucked all our warm clothes away, out comes the chilly weather and the fluffy white flakes.

Here are a few pictures from our adventure. I'm glad that God decided to bring the sunshine back out. We loved the snow while it lasted...but being that it's supposed to be Spring, I sure don't mind that it didn't last any longer!

Little Miss enjoying a walk in the park

Fun in the snow with Papa

Later that afternoon with Nana, back to Spring already!

The Sign of True Friendship

Not to boast but I sure do have faithful girlfriends (just to clarify in case there's any confusion, this is Mrs. Wagner writing!).

It's not simply that I can rely on my closest girlfriends for prayer, support, words of encouragement, or laughter. It's not even about the fun times of mountain-biking, running, shopping or talking together. All of that is fine and dandy but do you know what the real test of friendship is? It's when they'll eat your cooking, no matter what.

To read and visualize more about my cooking expertise, click here. Just a disclaimer, I'm certain that Joani used Photoshop to edit the picture. Didn't you know that the software has "clumping" edit capabilities?

Oh well, I guess I'd better let go of my dream of being hired as a cook at the Melting Pot. I did read somewhere that adding a few drops of lemon juice to cheese fondue helps to keep it smooth. I was just too lazy to take it with me. Plus, I was certain that adding extra cheese would do nothing but make it taste better. Taste good, yes. Texture smooth? Definitely not. Lesson learned.

Thanks gals for being polite and eating it regardless. What an example of true friendship!

A Day in the Life of the Clampets

It's official, the West Coast Wagners are the Clampets in disguise. No, we don't have palm trees in our backyard like they did (even better, our backyard is still just an infestation of weeds). Rodeo Drive is not close by and Hollywood celebrities don't walk down our street. That's the problem. Even if the celebrities were around, they couldn't walk down our street. The 4 vehicles we have parked in front of our house...yes, FOUR...are taking up our teeny-tiny drive-way and spilling over onto the street.

Ah, to live for a day like the Clampets. I'm sure our neighbors are jealous. They too would like numerous vehicles but alas, they lost out, ours have already taken over the street-side curbs. Now, if only we could get our own sitcom.

(Oh, don't fret all you environmentally aware citizens who might be worried about our excessive gas consumption and exhaust fumes. Our fame is only going to last for a day. Mr. Hubby's former commute-mobile has actually been sold and the new owners are picking it up tonight. The red truck is listed so hopefully it will find a new home soon. A good thing I guess because our homeowners association would have come knocking. Somewhat of a bummer though because a sitcom would have been fun. I'd been exercising my hand to prepare for those autographs "y'all would'a been askin' fur").