2010

This year has been pretty special for me. Getting married was the obvious highlight and the proudest moment of my life. My husband provides me with constant inspiration to be a better person. I’ve grown into my own skin more and more this year and have put to rest a lot of different fears and insecurities and have continued to develop personally.
As a team, Ryan & I are starting to figure out where to invest our time, which direction to go, and how we want to live our lives together. Planning the wedding in the first half of 2010 left us very little time to focus on much else but that. It was totally worth all the hard work though! Check out our Style Me Pretty feature...

http://stylemepretty.com/2010/11/09/north-carolina-lakeside-wedding-by-smitten-photography/ 

The wedding also brought us closer to our families, emphasizing the importance of nurturing those relationships, and all that we have to gain from doing so. Now, with the wedding behind us, we’re beginning to map out what we want our future to look like and what we need to do to get there.

Chico turned 7 years old this year. It’s crazy to me how old we’re both getting. His personality still continues to amuse and delight me while turning everyone else off and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He apparently knocked a tooth clear out of his mouth at some point during the year, but remained fairly drama free otherwise.
Ace had a pretty big year in 2010. He no longer inhabits the garage while we are away. We finally figured out that his chewing and destruction were all a direct result of being pissed off that he was forced to deal with secondary accommodations. He & Chico now stay together in the house without incident.
Hank was, and is, a bad motherfucker. I couldn’t be more proud of my boy. He definitely took his looks to the next level this year. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings for his horns. On a side note, he is intolerant of the snow and barely attempts to g out in inclement weather.
Jr. became slightly more aggressive during rut this year and is still trying to heal his broken leg. He continues to successfully bust out of his pen in an attempt to find freedom and start shit with Hank. Even in his more aggressive moments he’s still just a big sweetheart.
Ryan and I look forward to ending and starting another year in Georgia together and we couldn't be more excited about it. The anticipation of all that’s possible is definitely something to celebrate.

Happy New Year Y’all!

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ~W.T. Ellis

You dont have to call me Mr., Mr. The whole world calls me Hank.....

Candy Cane Cast

Christmas is in the air, y'all! We took Jr. to Kannapolis get his leg rewrapped early Saturday morning and the vet was nice enough to render his cast seasonal. Nothing is more amusing than taking a goat through Kannapolis and Ballantyne than taking a goat that's rockin' a Candy Cane cast through Kannapolis and Ballantyne. He hadnt made as much progess as we had hoped, so he will be in his splint for another three weeks and then we'll have to bring him back for another check up.

Thanksgiving in Buffalo, NY

Holy shit it was cold, but I couldn't have been happier. This was the first Thanksgiving in a few years that I had spent with my mom, sisters, nieces, and nephew. Ryan, Ace, Chico, and I set out early as hell on Wednesday morning and made the long drive from NC to NY. Getting there took almost 12 hours but we made it incident free. As a side note, there are an alarming amount of dead deer along the sides of I-79. It's definitely an interesting ride with plenty of tunnels, tolls, mountains, and busted down trailers. Oh, and there is definitely plenty of signage so that you dont miss the opportunity to stop by Southern "X" Posure in WV. Awesome. We had a pretty enormous surprise shortly after our arrival.  We had all been led to believe that Sarah would not be able to join us this year and we all fell for it, except for her co-conspirators, Mom & Frenchy. She had been dropped down the street and arrived roughly 10 minutes after mom did, armed with a 12 pack of Stella Artois and a bad attitude, just the way we like her. We all spent the next few days eating, drinking, being merry, and freezing our asses off. It was awesome.  We laughed, played guesstures, had dance parties, snuggled, and drank an absurd amount of Irish coffee. Ace was like a rockstar. He got all the attention from the kids and all the table scraps all while Chico stayed crated in the basement rendering him unable to steal Ace's 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure that this is what Ace imagines heaven to be like. Him being the adored King and Chico being the drunken frowned upon peasant with nothing to offer anyone. Ace is currently working his way back to reality and working through what seems to be a substantial depression. Friday we went to Mighty Taco where the tacos were glorious and sold in six packs.  Then we went to Niagra Falls where the winds were gail force and there was a travel advisory for a potential wintry mix of 8-12 inches. Next up, the casino, topped off by a delicious dinner at Buffalo Chophouse. This is a glorious place with amazing atmosphere, but what really won me over was the bartender who was pouring BOGO wine. I had never heard of such gracious and generous double pours, but they do exist and they are fabulous. The Calamari was amazing and Ryan and Paul ordered steaks the size their faces. When we woke up Saturday morning there was no snow so it was time pack up and get back on the road. I felt so sad to leave my family and our three days of gluttony. It's not just my belly that's full though. My eyes are full of tears of sadness & happiness and my heart is overflowing with love for my nieces and nephew and for the rest of my family. I love y'all.

Like a Rock.

Cue the Bog Segar, cause it's fittin to look like a Chevy commercial up in here. My husband bought his first brand new truck on Thursday night and I'm pretty sure it suits him.

He did what???

So, Jr.  broke his leg last Wednesday. Well, technically, he dislocated it in the joint, but realistically, it’s broken. He can’t walk on it and will have basically no mobility in it for the rest of his life.  He may eventually be able to use it as a peg leg, but that is the best case scenario.  He could have had surgery on it, but that was going to cost upward of 1300 dollars with lots of maintenance and no guarantees of a better result than simply setting and splinting it. Initially, we thought it was the result of another goat brawl where he gets it caught in Hank’s horns. We’ve seen it happen and it always looks like it will result in a broken bone. However, we spent a lot of time with the boys this weekend and after further inspection of Hank, who now looks more like a Texas longhorn than a goat, it seems to be pretty impossible that Jr.’s leg could have gotten caught in his horns. They are just too big and have grown so thick and close together that I don’t see how a leg could even fit.  Anyway, Jr. seems to be relatively unaffected by the break. He is still acting like his old self and making inappropriate advances towards Ace whenever he gets the chance.