The Stories

I just spent three hours getting my hair done for the first time in a year, and apparently, I need to turn myself in to the authorities. An hour driving to the salon, an hour in the chair, and another hour driving home. Three hours out of my Friday dedicated to something I haven't done in an entire year. And now I'm driving home, eating Casey's popcorn chicken dipped in garlic parmesan sauce, feeling guilty as hell. Over a haircut. For crying out loud. I've got laundry that n

I stopped on my way to the barn this morning to take pictures of leaves. Yes, leaves. The same things I'll probably be cussing next week when they're blowing through the barn doors and piling up in every corner I just swept. But good golly, they're beautiful right now. I've always loved fall. The crisp mornings, the corn and beans being harvested, and that old familiar smell of crop dust and field dirt hanging in the air. There's something about this time of year that just fe

I looked up at the sky this morning on my way to the barn, in that brisk fall air with the moon still lighting up the darkness, and there they were. Fish scale clouds. That's what I've always called them, anyway. Those little clouds scattered across the sky that look like the scales on the side of a fish. And I smiled. Not necessarily because they're pretty, although they are, but because I know what they mean. Within the next 24 to 72 hours, we're getting precipitation. It's

Have you ever lost your ever-loving mind over something so ridiculously insignificant that you actually stopped and questioned your own sanity? I mean, really. With everything going on in the world, THIS is what we're going to lose our shit over today? Maybe somebody forgot something you've told them a hundred times. Maybe you walked into a mess you'd already cleaned up twice. Hell, maybe it was something as simple as a cup of coffee. And suddenly, you're standing there wonde

I've always been a people watcher. Walking through the trailers at a rodeo, sitting in the bleachers at a ballgame, standing in a parking lot, or scrolling through social media, I find myself studying people. Not necessarily what they're doing, but how they're doing it. Who they gravitate toward, how they treat others, and how their behavior changes depending on who's standing next to them. I notice the ones who make room for somebody else. The ones who can strike up a conver

I was walking out to feed this morning in the dark, shoes already getting damp from the dew, leggings absolutely not doing anything useful against the cold, when I happened to look up. And damn. The sky was gorgeous. Not just pretty. Not just one of those mornings where you think, oh, that's nice and keep walking. I mean stop-in-your-tracks gorgeous. The sky was clear and dark, the stars were sharp and sparkling, and this little crescent moon was just hanging there like someb

Some horses come into your life loudly. Dalton did not. He came quietly. Photo taken 9/19/26 - Intake At the end of a driveway, loaded into our trailer with very little explanation and what basically amounted to a stamp of “good luck.” Thin. Worn down. A body that had clearly done some living. And the softest eyes. That is what I remember most. Not fear. Not anger. Not suspicion. Just calm, quiet eyes on a horse who had every reason to have a little less softness left in him.

There’s something kind of beautiful about Daughter’s Day falling on 9/25 this year. Because 9 to 5 means it’s also Dolly Day. And in this house, that makes it extra special because my girls LOVE Dolly. So celebrating daughters and Dolly Parton on the same day feels pretty damn fitting. 😂💕 Daughters are such an interesting thread through a family. Before we are mothers, grandmothers, wives, aunts, sisters, caretakers, business owners, teachers, farmers, nurses, dreamers, or

I have a habit. When somebody tells me they can’t do something, there is a part of my brain that immediately goes, Hold my beer. Not because I think everybody can do everything. That’s bullshit. But people are really, really good at underestimating themselves, especially after life has kicked them around a little. We get rejected. We screw something up. We stay somewhere too long. Somebody makes us feel small. We lose confidence. We get tired. Eventually our weaknesses get so

Does anybody else own actual drinking glasses but somehow drink almost exclusively out of mason jars? I was unloading the dishwasher today and realized the majority of what I was putting away was coffee mugs and mason jars, which probably says more about me than I care to unpack. Coffee mugs, because apparently coffee is a food group in this house. Mason jars, because somewhere along the way we collectively decided perfectly good drinking glasses were unnecessary when Ball al

Everybody loves a beginning. New job. New horse. New relationship. New goal. New year. New planner with all those pretty little boxes you swear to God you're actually going to use this time. Beginnings are exciting. And everybody loves a finish line. The buckle. The diploma. The promotion. The before-and-after picture. The keys to the new place. The screenshot that says you finally did the damn thing. Those are easy to post. But nobody really claps for the middle. And unfortu

“What if I fall?” “Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” I know. It’s cliché. It’s probably on a coffee mug somewhere. And a throw pillow. And some piece of wall decor at Hobby Lobby in that swoopy cursive font. But things get cliché for a reason. Usually, buried underneath all the overuse is a little piece of truth we apparently need to keep reminding ourselves of. And this weekend, I watched one of my kids stand right on the edge of hers. Her comfort zone, that is. She had

Yesterday was too damn hot to ride horses. Like, why is the air touching me? hot. So instead of canceling Ella’s lesson entirely, we decided to work on the part of goat tying that doesn’t actually require a goat. Or a horse. Turns out, unfortunately, that part requires us. And somewhere along the way, I seem to have forgotten that rodeo has a human athlete involved. I preach this shit CONSTANTLY to my students. Be quicker. Get stronger. Move your feet. Use your body. React fa

I went to a family reunion this weekend. A big one. Like 267 people big. Two hundred and sixty-seven people gathered in one place who, through blood, marriage, or some branch of this ridiculously enormous family tree, are somehow connected. Apparently, I'm related to approximately half the damn county. And honestly? That isn't even much of an exaggeration. Our family has books. Actual freaking books explaining who married who, who had who, which branch everybody came from, an

A few weeks ago, I wrote about starting a new morning routine. And I was determined. The plan was to start getting up around 4:00 a.m. Maybe eventually 3:45. Get outside. Feed. Clean stalls. Fill hay nets and water. Ride. Come inside. Shower. Get the kids moving. Go to work. I wasn't trying to become one of those magical 5 a.m. people who drinks lemon water, journals about gratitude and watches the sunrise while their sourdough starter bubbles peacefully on the counter. I jus

This one hurts. My girls LOVE Dolly Parton. Not just know who she is. Not just sing a few of her songs. They idolize that woman. And honestly? I’ve always been pretty damn happy about that. Because if my daughters are going to look up to somebody, Dolly is a pretty good woman to pick. Yes, she could sing. Yes, she wrote songs that will outlive all of us. Yes, she had the hair and the boobs and the rhinestones and that unmistakable little laugh. But Dolly was so much more than

Holy Batman. People on the internet are QUICK with their pitchforks. I’ve gotten a little firsthand experience with that lately. Three different posts. Two anonymous. One with my name attached to it. Three completely different conversations, and somehow all three managed to summon at least a few people who apparently woke up, stretched their fingers, cracked their knuckles and thought: You know what I’d really like to do today? Yell at a stranger on the internet. And whew. Th