One of my favorite things to do is get out of the city and head down to the Post Time Ranch.  I grew up in a small town, and although I’ve lived in a big city for the last 13 years (Austin and now Houston) I still like to get back to my country roots a little bit.  Life at the ranch is great – slow paced, friendly, peaceful, and always surrounded by great family and friends.  T and I love the ranch so much, we even had our wedding reception at the Provident City Hotel, which is located on the family ranch.  I am currently working on a piece about the Provident City Hotel, which is really teaching me about T’s family history.

The Provident City Hotel at our wedding reception

Friday evening, my Mom and Dad, my brother, Dustin, and his girlfriend, Bailey, came out to the ranch.  My mom and I went over to the PCH to take some pictures for the upcoming blog post, and T, Dad, Dustin, and Bailey went riding around.  That is kind of the thing to do in the country, go riding around looking at fields, crops, cows, deer, etc.  Mom and I met them back at the house and it ended up being a beautiful evening.  We hung out outside and Dustin and Bailey had us laughing until about dark thirty when they all headed back into town.  They can be very creative with hashtags……just sayin’.

T, Me, Lola Mae, Bailey, Dustin

Saturday it was HOT HOT HOT!  Luckily, out at the ranch, it is slightly cooler and has more of a breeze than in the city, but it was still HOT!  We took the dogs down to the pond to let them go swimming and feed the catfish.  We then walked around under the beautiful trees, and just hung out.  We went riding around the ranch and saw a variety of animals – raccoons, deer, birds of all colors and sizes, cows, horses, and longhorns.  I just love being out in nature and exploring, watching the animals in their natural habitat.  Usually we light a campfire at the ranch, but when it feels like it is 110 degrees already, there was no chance we were going to add the heat.

When it’s 800 degrees outside, sometimes you just wear work out clothes with snake boots!

sports bra: Lululemon (similar style)   shorts: Nike   sunnies: Quay   Snake Boots: Chippewa

The big girls, Chic and Chica

Me with Chica

top: Lush   shorts: Loft   hat: etsy

T with Chic

Sunday morning, my Dad came back out to ride horses.  There are two horses that stay at the ranch, Chic and Chica.  I know, I know – the names!  Funny story, though – they were purchased at two different times from two different owners and so Chic and Chica it is!  I love the horses, aka the big girls, as I call them.  Horses are just such a majestic animal to begin with, with their shiny coats, long manes and beautiful tails blowing in the breeze, and the confidence they exude is just amazing.  They are strong and powerful, but can be friendly and caring at the same time.  They also give hugs and kisses {for carrots of course!}  So Sunday morning, we get the horses saddled up, Dad, T, and I are riding for probably less than 10 minutes when we approach the first gate to go through.  I was on Chica, Dad was on Chic, and T was on LaMonte, who is my dad’s horse.  Chic had been acting kind of ornery, so Dad decided to ride her while T rode LaMonte.  My Dad is a true cowboy, so he can handle the difficult ones.  Anyway, we approach the first gate, and I am still not sure what exactly happened.  All of a sudden, Chica, the horse I was on, was spooked by something.  She started bucking and the rodeo was on!  I held on for a few seconds, and then I could hear Dad yelling, “Bail! Bail!”  I attempted to dismount (while the bucking was going on) and it didn’t end pretty.  I landed on my right hip, and at the same time I was landing, Chica was also landing, and unfortunately, she landed on my left ankle.  I immediately scrambled to get out of the way so I was not kicked or stepped on again.  Dad and T both jumped off of their horses to run over and see what was hurt.  I didn’t know what was hurt, I just knew my whole left ankle area was hurting and hurting BADLY.  They got me back to the house and got my foot elevated and iced.  Luckily my dad and T were both there to help me out – two of my favorite men 🙂 Dad said, “Well, there is a graceful way to get off a horse, and then there is the way you did it!”  That lightened the mood and made me laugh a little.

This morning, we went to see Dr. Evan Bridges at South Texas Foot Specialists, and he had some bad news for me.  My ankle is fractured in two places and I cannot bear any weight for six weeks!  SIX WEEKS!  What am I going to do for six weeks, or should I say not do?  For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Bridges is my cousin, Julia’s, husband.  He’s been a good friend and part of the family for many years now, and I am so thankful he was able to squeeze me into his super busy schedule this morning.  I now have a soft cast that I’ll wear for two weeks, and most likely be in a boot for the remaining four weeks…..thumbs down for that!  I guess I’m going to have to take a break from my BBG work outs, as well as training for the Houston Half Marathon at the end of October 🙁

top: Lush   shorts: Nike   headband: Lululemon

Well, friends, that is all for now – thanks for taking the time to read this and remember, take some time to appreciate the every day things we often take for granted, because when they get taken away from you, it kind of turns your life upside down (cough cough such as only having one working leg at the moment.)

top: Caslon   shorts: Gianni Bini (similar style)

Cheers – MP