#30: One Hell of a Ride

It’s complete. My quest to complete 30 new things in 12 months is over. I personally feel I deserve a medal, trophy or perhaps just a certificate of completion. If not for the 30 accomplishments then certainly for my newly acquired skill of bull riding. Ladies and gentlemen, I may have just found my next calling in life.

Or perhaps not…

Last Friday night I set out for my last adventure with two very brave cowgirls. To the Blind Horse we went! Being from the great state of Mississippi I should have felt more prepared for this experience. Unfortunately (actually very fortunately), I’ve always had the pleasure of living in very nice towns  and have typically hung out with people that have at least most of their teeth and that do not classify rebel flags, tight jeans and big hats as their Sunday best. 

So the city mice made their way into the country bar (complete with all the stuffed animals you’ll ever need to see and I’m not talking teddy bears here) and quickly found ourselves near the bull pin. Fearless Kim struck up a conversation with Cecil the Bull Operator to secure me a free ride and some riding tips. Bless Cecil’s heart. He was a very nice man but quite the close talker which led to the exceptionally awkward moment of a piece of his dip hitting my face in mid conversation. 

Well after finishing my glass of liquid courage, I was ready to take on Horny the Mechanical Bull. Oh yeah, that’s his official name. 

Now there is video of the bull riding somewhere hidden away on Kim’s camera. While I’m not opposed to posting it, I do want to temper everyone’s expectations on the front end. The good Father above blessed me with incredibly long, lanky arms and no real sense of rhythm so anyone expecting some sexy bull riding set to 70’s porn music is going to be highly disappointed. I think the most you’ll get out of the video, if it surfaces, is a really good laugh. 

So that’s the end, but not really. While I have no intentions of completing 31 new things before my next birthday, I do plan to write about some other adventures along the way. As some may know, in September I will head to Honduras with my parents and members of St. Matthew’s UMC in Madison, Mississippi. Many of you have asked what my toughest adventure was and I think I’ve found that answer. I look forward to sharing more of that adventure as the time comes.

Until then, or until I stumble into something else mischievous, I want to thank you for allowing me to share my journey to thirty.

Jennifer

Here's the video. It's way more embarrassing than I thought it would be.

A Stitch in Time Makes # 29

As the countdown to July 11 draws to a close, I’ve been scrambling to select my last adventures. In the midst of everything – namely a quick vacay with the moms and new job responsibilities – I’ve also had to carve out some time to help plan my big celebration. 

Now if you remember back to the sock monkey days, I was fortunate enough to acquire a brand new sewing machine. (Back story: My mom didn’t want to pay the extra $$$ to fly with a sewing machine so we just bought one.  Thanks airline fees!) For most of the past nine months, the sewing machine has been sadly collecting dust in my closet/laundry room.  With a long weekend ahead of me and lots of craft projects on my mind, I decided to pull out the sad, underutilized machine and see what I could do. Now I did not start out with this in mind as an “adventure.” It just happened organically as I started to realize how complicated these things can be.  First problem, the needle was not threaded. Several failed attempts and numerous crass words later, I went for the instruction manual. Problem solved. For those non-sewers, the thread position is very particular. Do it wrong and it can really jack some “stuff” up!

So merrily I went, sewing my paper garlands by the yards until boom!  Problem number two. I’m out of bobbin. I wasn’t even about to attempt this bad boy without the instruction manual. Ten to fifteen minutes later and I was back to garland making. By the end of the weekend I estimate that I had made 15-20 yards of decorative garland and 3 yards of burlap pennants. I also repaired a hole in my most favorite sheets. 

I can hear it now…She’s a nice girl and she sews her own clothes.  Eek!

Just some of my work