10/31/08

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't
do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the
safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

~~Mark Twain

resilience…for some reason as I've been reflecting these last few days and thinking about where we've been (me n sam n jane), where we are now and where we're goin,' that's the word that keeps coming up…I haven't journaled on my website since may and as I was looking back in my calendar to remember everything that we've experienced this summer, resilience was the word that kept coming to mind when I thought about the last few months…my baby girl jane got caught up in the fence back in june, cut her right hind leg pretty badly, but, thanks to lots of God Stuff, she had angels watching over her and it was superficial, but, it hurt and scared her…me too…it broke my heart to see her scared and hurt, but, wow, she is resilient, so strong, so tough, so courageous, traits I strive to have that, on many days, don't come easy for me…I was so sad that she'd gotten hurt but so incredibly grateful that she was alright, somehow, deep down, I knew she'd be rearin,' kickin' her heels up and just generally feelin' great before we both knew it…but, here's the thing, she already knew she was fine, I could see it in her beautiful, soulful eyes…it was almost as if she was telling me not to worry, that come july, when our next event together would be, she'd be able to rear even higher, to run even faster and to fly even higher…resilient, wise, strong, courageous, empowered, joyful, that's my girl, my teacher, my soul medicine…she keeps me on track and reminds me that we're always "stronger in the broken places," which made it's way into a song that will be on our up-coming album…my dear sweet friend josi, who is one of the neatest, sweetest, wisest people I know, said those words to me during a conversation we were having a few days after jane got hurt…she knew jane was going to be just fine and reminded me that we always wind up "stronger in the broken places." Thanks josiJ

well, just like jane and josi and myself knew, our girl was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, INCREDIBLE, AMAZING in NC and stronger than everJ… sam and jane and I traveled to the NC Equine Extravaganza in Raleigh, NC where I performed with jane bareback for the first time…she was so good with all the beautiful little kids that gathered round of the edge of the arena to touch her beautiful face, she was so gentle with them, so loving…her leg didn't even phase her, I'd given her a month off to rest and recover, and you'd have never known she'd gotten hurt, once again, resilient, amazing!! Let me tell ya, there's nothin' like bein' on her back when she rears!!! I was telling some folks this past weekend, she seems to like to rear with me on her back more without a saddle than with one, in fact, she seems happiest when we're bareback n bridleless (we did that for a small crowd in NC in the round pen, watch for us to take that out into the big arena one of these days, we're gettin' there)J we had a blast in NC!!!

Sam and I had one day to catch up on sleep once we got back from Raleigh…then we headed out to Washington state to visit with our cowgirl, singin' sister Patti Hall… www.pattihall.com Patti was so kind to let me ride her beautiful gelding Lancer in a clinic with the incredible Buck Brannaman out in Ellensburg, WA…it was wonderful to get to ride with him again and to get to visit…we had heard so much about his beautiful daughter Reata and it was a joy to finally get to meet her…what an incredible young lady and what a hand, she and her dad were born to be with horses, it's magical to watch them…I believe they've been truly touched with an incredible gift and what an incredible father/daughter bond, that in and of itself was so wonderful to be around…while we were out in WA, Patti and Sam and Buck and I worked on Patti's beautiful new project called "On Horses Wings," a cd put together to benefit Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center… www.littlebit.org sam and I have a couple of songs on the project, sam also played some beautiful guitar on a moving spoken piece by Buck, in fact, there are several of those on the record, so, grab your hankies when you set out to listen to the cd, it will be released November 15th, buy lots of them, it's benefiting a beautiful facility and causeJ…I'm honored as is sam, to be involved in such a special project, hats off to sweet Patti for her beautiful heart and her tireless, selfless work…

Well, after we got home from WA, got some rest and then headed out to the Seminole Feed dealer meeting in Ocala, FL with our mack daddy, angel, marketing partners Suncoast Bedding www.suncoastbedding.com met some beautiful folks there (Tanya & Karen;-) and then almost as soon as we came home from FL, we headed to beautiful Hawaii for the first annual Hawaii Horse Expo www.hawaiihorseexpo.com where we helped raise money for abused and neglected horses in Hawaii, it was an honor to be involved and it's because of our friend Josi, who I mentioned earlier, that we were there…hopefully, we'll get to go back soon…it was also while in HI that we met our new, super cool and incredibly talented friend Keoki, who took us on the adventure of a lifetime, let's just say that late one moon filled night we got to feel what newly formed lava feels like…it's warm, very warm and what we got the opportunity to see, I'll never forget, thanks Keoki!!! (photos from some of our travels are up on the pics page of my website, look for more to comeJ)

Then, sam and I headed to the Purina Convention in downtown Nash Vegas with Suncoast Bedding…it was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones…our friend Alton hooked us up with some new Wrangler belts and Steve from Double H Boots hooked us up…I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new boots, BOTH pair! I'm a very, very lucky girl!! ****also, check out the photo of my new round roll feeder (front page of my website) by Horse Safe Products & Sioux Steel, thanks for your generosity y'all!!

September took us to lots of neat places too…sam and I had the opportunity to visit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis…I was so scared to go on some levels because I kept thinking how sad it would be, how over-whelming, and, yes, there were some sad and over-whelming moments, but, mostly, there was so much hope there, so much beautiful, that was over-whelming…what a place, what a dream realized…they turn no one away, once a patient of St. Jude, always a patient…they share everything they discover, every ounce of research is shared, they think they may be the closest they've been to a vaccine for the AIDS virus, it's unbelievable and awe inspiring and talk about helping someone get the grand scheme of it all…I have days where I think I'm struggling, I don't know if I really know what the words struggle and courage mean, I don't think I can even come close to the kind of courage that the children there have, that's tough, that's resilience!

September was also a kind of full-circle month for me…my birthday's in September and I was born in Texas (very proud of that, isn't any true Texan?) and, it's in Texas where my love of horses began, thanks to my beautiful mamasita!!!…so, to be able to perform with my beautiful mare, my baby girl Jane, in my home state at the Will Rogers Coliseum in front of about 3,000 folks, well, it was a very big deal for meJ I think Chris Cox and myself were the only AQHA representation there…after all, we were there for the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge created by the Mustang Heritage Foundation…the things those incredible horse people did with their mustangs in only 100 days still just blows me away, awesome, really awesome…I had so much fun performing with Jane and also co-hosting the first annual "Stang Stage" with the coolest cowboy co-host, Karl Kloniger, he ROCKS!!! ***We've got to take care of these beautiful mustangs, they need our help, in fact, so many horses out there need our help, thanks to the EMM folks for doing their part…

Then it was home for a bit, spending time working on our new acoustic, live album plus the new studio album…look for the limited edition live album coming soon and the studio album to be ready before the new year…and that gets us to where we are now, just getting rested up from having performed all weekend at the first annual Women and Horses Expo in Sedalia, MO…Jane was, once again, a ROCKSTAR!!! We got a chance to catch up with old friends…spent time with our dear friends Sue DeLaurentis and Allen Pogue of Imagine a Horse (they're the ones who introduced Sam, Jane, Beau and I to pedestal training) Sue and Allen and their beautiful babies kicked booty, of course, at the expoJ We got to catch up with Julie Goodnight and her producer, Heidi, what fantastic cowgirls!! I'm thrilled to say that we'll be doing another RFD TV taping with Julie for her second season of her show HorseMaster and that they'll still be using our tune Cowgirl Creed for their theme song, we're VERY honored…we also got to catch up with our Minnesota buddy Margo who owns an incredible company called Saddle Up Clothing Company, it's da bomb!!

I'm still in awe and so honored by the stories some beautiful women shared with me this past weekend at the expo, I'm inspired and moved by their courage, their resilience…to Sandy (mama to the late, GREAT, Mr. P), to Theresa, to Jeanneen, to Patty with a Y, Melanie of Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary www.horsesofproudspirit.com, Tanya & Karen, June, Stephanie, Rosa, Rhonda and all of the beautiful women and the girls who touched my soul at the MO event, some of your stories still bring tears of sorrow but, mostly, healing tears, joyful tears…your courage, your strength, your choosing to color outside the lines, your deep and absolute love of horses, your loving, kind words of encouragement, remind me that if you truly are doing what you love, no matter how hard and no matter the disappointment and no matter the struggles and the losses, then you're on the right path…if life was easy, if we didn't go through the struggles, then we couldn't really soak up and appreciate all the good stuff…I'll say that I've never been able to make sense of the bad, but, every time, without fail, in the times when I've struggled the hardest, when I've hurt the most, both physically and emotionally, I have honestly always wound up and found myself "stronger in the broken places." So, here's to where we've been, where we are now and where we're goin,' for "seein' through kind and loving eyes, standin' up for what we believe in," and for "dreamin' big, workin' hard and havin' faith," like our friend Margo said, "you can't have that as your motto if you don't live by it," you're right cowgirlJ so, here's this hippie chic cowgirl sayin'
dream big, work hard, have faith, meaning it and living it…"now, bring on that horizon!!!!"

love and light,
tempyJ