Our garden is growing!

I'm so happy! Our seeds have sprouted! Let's hope the wind dies down so these plants can grow tall and bare fruit!

Corn

 Watermelon

 Cucumbers

Squash

Gardening 101 with the Lucero's

Some of you may know that Isaac worked for Texas A&M Agrilife and acquired some knowledge about gardening. So this year, we decided to plant our own garden. I am so excited! I have so many fond memories of my grandparents' garden. We lived far away from them, but if we went to visit during harvest time, we would set up a little table and sell cucumbers and other garden produce with our cousins. I remember picking the peas out of the snaps. (I probably was not a good helper at harvesting considering I would eat the veggies as I picked them.) When we were not visiting during harvest time, we could always count on a big box of sweet corn and cucumbers arriving in the mail. Oh, we treasured that corn! Homegrown food just tastes so good and I hope to create that tradition in my own family.

Well, since I have never "planted" a garden I am learning a few things from my husband Isaac. Let me just tell you upfront. THIS TAKES TIME. And, it is a workout!

First, we rented a tiller from Home Depot and Isaac "tore it up!" We actually ended up renting the tiller twice because the ground was so hard we didn't get very deep the first time. We soaked the area and then tilled again once it dried. So a piece of advice: water the area days before you till so you only have to do it once. 

Isaac then shoveled the dirt to form these rows. (It sounds like I'm doing nothing. Hey, I'm the assistant so I, you know, hand him the shovel and the tape measure, bring him a drink, that kind of thing)



Wait, I forgot, I was helping! I was gathering...wait for it... horse manure. That's right. Finally, we have a use for that crap! Ha ha. Don't worry, I am laughing out loud right now at my own joke. I love puns!



We threw the manure in with dirt to use it as fertilizer. Don't worry, it wasn't the fresh stuff. I guess fresh poop is so potent it could kill your plants so you have to wait till it is dry and has broken down more.

Here are our beautiful rows! 

 And here is the crew. Here we have farmer Joe on your left and farmer Jane on the right.

                     

And baby Wyatt. Wyatt was a great observer, though he seemed to focus more on my water bottle than anything else. Don't you just love how the strap on his hat accentuates his double chin?! Ha ha.

And here is the finished product! (As in finished planting)

Another view of our little garden

I will add more to this post as our little garden (hopefully) grows. We planted corn, tomatoes, poblano peppers, jalapeno peppers (the Mucho Nacho variety, love that name!), bell peppers, squash, zucchini  watermelon, and cantaloupe. So if all goes well, I might be setting up a little table and selling my produce just like I did at grandma's!

A Mother's Love

A faint cry wakes me in the night

I stumble as I try to find the light. 

Exhausted, wondering how much time has passed

I make my way across the house.

I find you in your crib searching for mommy,

your laugh turns to a giggle when you find me. 

As I pick you up, I give you a warm hug 

and hope that you will always feel my love.

I bring you over to the couch

and prepare to feed your tiny mouth.

You look up at me and tug my hair

It makes me smile to see your wondering stare.

Your tiny hands reach up and explore my face.

You fall back asleep, in my arms you are safe. 

The house is quiet, the night is dark, 

a tear trickles down because someday we will part.

I wonder what kind of man you will grow to be

and feel grateful that God chose me.

Time ticks so quickly and you grow too fast,

but these nighttime moments give me a memory that will last.

I'm a soccer mom!

I always thought the term "soccer mom" would describe me driving my kids to a soccer game in my minivan. I never expected that I would join a soccer team after I had become a mother. My church has a large email group where people post community activities, church announcements, items for sale or for free, and ask various questions and favors. Well, one day someone had sent an email looking for someone to buy their soccer team membership because she was leaving town. I thought, I need something to motivate me to workout and this seems like fun. She said that the league was pretty laid-back and thank goodness because I haven't played soccer since the 5th grade! We lost the first couple of games and I even pulled my quad muscle pretty bad at one of the games. But, we won this last game and it was so exciting! I feel so youthful! Growing up is great but sometimes growing up can be sad because you often have give up some hobbies. I have really missed team sports. I loved playing field hockey and lacrosse as a kid. I really wish I could be on a field hockey team but field hockey isn't popular in Texas. But even though I can't play field hockey, I am having a blast playing soccer. And I am grateful to have Isaac and Wyatt cheering me on the sidelines. And yes, Wyatt cheers. He waves his little arms and makes his cute little noises. Oh, I love my little fan!

Bye Bye Betty

 Here is a picture of me feeding Betty. Often you have to straddle the calf and hold the bottle 

above it's head. This helps you get the closest angle to as if it were nursing from its mother.

Well, another one bites the dust yet again. We were sad when we lost Buttercup. Only a couple weeks later, Isaac brought home Betty. Betty seemed so promising. She sucked on her bottle a lot better and was much more active. However, Betty had no tail. By the time Isaac had found her at the feed yard, some coyote had already gotten her tail. Isaac doctored her up but I now wonder if she got an infection or lost too much blood.

Lubbock has CRAZY weather. The past couple weeks we have seen record highs and record lows. One day it will be 90 degrees and the next night it will be below freezing. Betty was our first ever animal sleepover. And let me tell you, she was a party animal, literally. She stayed in our "laundry room." It is really just a laundry area by the back door. I put down some newspaper to keep the area relatively clean. We also put up a board so that she couldn't escape.

Betty would get up and wobble around a lot in the night. She also peed everywhere. You may think, "that is gross!" but we all know that even people, well drunk people, behave this way so give Miss Betty a break! She actually has a legitimate excuse. Well as the days went on, Betty appeared to be gaining strength but we noticed that her eyes were turning cloudy and blue. Betty was blind. So sad! Well, one afternoon when I went out to feed her, she wouldn't eat and I noticed that she was lethargic. The next time we went to feed her she wouldn't even get up. I even lifted her up (usually the cow will straighten its legs and stand if you do this) but she just collapsed. A few hours later she was dead. I was so disappointed. I took consolation in that maybe it was for the best. I had read on the internet that blind cows need to be in a herd for protection or they would become prey to predators such as coyotes. Since we don't have a herd of cattle, she may have died a more tragic death in the future. Betty was so cute! She would use her hearing to follow us around. And bless her heart, she would wag that little stump of a tail trying to get rid of the flies that congregated around her bum. I'm gonna miss that heifer!

Another update: Isaac brought home another calf yesterday. From the beginning she didn't drink very well. I named her "Lucky" in hopes that the third time really is a charm. She also spent the night inside with us because this week we also had a freeze. Today she passed away. I felt sad and told Isaac that I might need a break from trying to keep these cows alive. When I asked him why we keep losing the calves he told me that most likely these calves aren't getting colostrum from their moms and sometimes they aren't immediately found by the cowboys. Well, someday we will get a cow that will make it. I just know it!

Here is a funny picture of Betty. Betty hung out a little bit with our dog Snax. I guess the grill is a hot hang out spot. When I saw her smelling the grill I chuckled and thought, "How ironic!" Oh Betty!

 

My uniform

I don't normally take the "selfie" but the other day I thought that I should document my "mom/wife of a horseman"  uniform. Everyday I wake up and go out to feed the horses before Wyatt wakes up and I need to feed him. As long as I slept in suitable sweats, I typically just slip on these cowboy boots. Now, these boots are a little big because they were given to Isaac by a friend but they are too small for him. So, I claimed them as mine. I used to go out in tennis shoes but we have this horrible weed/grass that leaves stickers everywhere and running shoes are the worst for that. I always wonder what people think as they drive past me as I walk out to get the mail in my sweatpants/cowboy boots combo. Do they think, "oh that is normal" or do they think, "who wears sweat pants with boots?" OR maybe they think, "trash." 

Well, I stay in this uniform to take out the trash, get the mail, feed the dog, really whatever my day requires. I usually postpone showering till before I have to leave the house (don't worry, I shower daily). I do this for three reasons. One, there is about a 7% chance, I might actually do a video workout sometime during the day. Two, housework can make a girl sweaty. And three, if I take a nap, I want to do it before I style my hair. So there you have it, the stay-at-home-mom uniform. 

Love me some baby Wyatt!

A tisket, a tasket, Wyatt's in a basket!

Wrapped up in mommy's and daddy's sheets!

Having a good ol' time with his buddies at Texas Roadhouse!

 Baths are for babies, showers are for real men!

Plumbers butt! When you are on the go, who has time to pull up their diaper?

If you nap with a blanket on your head, it is like it is night time...

Lubbock's crazy weather calls out the beanie.

Who eats the head? This guy does for the body!

Sometimes, you just need to wear your shirt like a viking.

The teapot

When Isaac and I went to register at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for our wedding registry, we found this little gem. The other day I was reading my Better Homes and Gardens (Yes, I subscribe to the magazine that when I was 15-year-old I swore was only for grandmas) and they had an article on throwing a tea party. And guess what tea pot they featured as a suggestion for your spread? You are looking at it!

Well, I guess we have good taste. Thank you Uncle Brian and Aunt Carolyn for the gift that will make us quite the stylin' tea party throwers. I never drank tea before my mission in Russia. But now I like a nice herbal tea every once in a while and especially when I am sick. I especially love to make a simple lemon and honey tea. I just squeeze the lemon, add a tablespoon of honey and hot water. Well, today I cleaned the teapot and it made me chuckle because it reminded me of something Isaac once said to me. We were talking about the teapot (we must have been drinking tea or something) and then all of a sudden Isaac said, "If we ever get divorced, you can keep everything but I am taking the teapot." It made me laugh pretty hard when he said that. Although I'm pretty positive we will never divorce, I know that if we ever did, Isaac would make sure he got that teapot. He loves that teapot! So, if many years down the road, you see Isaac and I are old, graying, wrinkly and wobbling around hand in hand, you can guess what kept us together. Was it compromise? The kids? Forgiveness? Or was it that Rebecca didn't want to lose that teapot in a divorce? Guess we will just have to wait and see...

I'm bringing it up

So about that equal sign thing...yeah, let's talk about that. I got on Facebook yesterday to see lots of equal signs. Then I noticed several people posting links to statements from the LDS church and the Catholic church. Then I saw signs of a man and woman. Then inequality signs, and all I can feel is a pit in my stomach. Do I find comfort in the statements from my church? Not really, if I am being honest. I guess this is why they say to never discuss religion or politics. This is why all Americans advocate for separation of church and state...or do we? What is separation of church and state and does it even exist? I attended Texas Tech University for my graduate degree. They pray at meetings sometimes. They have a Christmas Tree and Christmas lights every year. It is a state funded school. I know I'm in Texas, and things are a little different down here so no one minds. However, this would never have been okay in St. Louis.

If I am being honest, there are several things that influence the way I interact with others. My race, culture, family of origin, economic status, economic status of my parents, education level, personality, friends, my husband, therapy clients, and religion are among them. If I pretend that these things don't impact me, I would be lying. I would consider myself a religious and spiritual person. Religion and spirituality are a huge part of how I see the world. How I see the world determines how I feel about political issues. Religion can never be separated from politics. End. Of. Story.

So, when your religion produces a public statement about a political view, what does that mean for you? I don't know. Does this mean that I have to agree with the political view? I have seen people on Facebook feeds question the loyalty or conviction of church members of both the LDS and Catholic churches if they support gay marriage. That seems judgmental and way out of line.

Now, I do not understand the workings of homosexuality. I don't know if it is biological, emotional, mental, and/or developmental. But it is real. It doesn't make sense to me that a man should sexually desire a man (or a woman desire a woman) when physically a man's penis was made to fit in a woman's vagina for the purpose to procreate. I personally know the joy that comes with a sexual relationship in a heterosexual marriage. I know the joy of creating and birthing a child that is made up of mine and my husband's genes. So, I have followed the commandments and I can tell others that this has made me happy. But I can't legislate someone else to live a life similar to mine. Isn't that a theocracy?

I have worked with homosexual and transgender clients. They are really not that different from people who identify as heterosexuals. They struggle with depression and anxiety just the same. They long for loving and accepting relationships with family, friends, and coworkers. And as I sit with them in my office, my heart breaks because they never chose this. Many of us struggle with problems we didn't choose but we all have to live with the cards we have been dealt. One person wrote on Facebook about how the equality of marriage movement is about gaining acceptance and not as much about equal rights. I agree. Imagine if you were marginalized. Imagine that you found the love of your life in the same sex and you don't know why you desire that, but you do. Imagine that someone says, "you can't get married because your relationship will desecrate the sanctity of my relationship." If you are married, imagine that someone said that you couldn't marry your spouse. What would your life be like then? You can say it is different because you are heterosexual and you are obeying the commandments but I'm asking you to only think about feelings for just a minute. I'm no spokesperson for gay marriage but I truly wonder how many people have even made a true attempt in their minds, in their hearts, for one second, to walk in the shoes of a homosexual.

I learned a lot about myself in my two years of graduate school. I became painfully aware of what a privileged life I have lived. I'm white and was raised in an upper-class neighborhood. I've met with people of many different races, religions, economic classes, etc. It has opened my heart and my mind. In addition to my work experience, I married a man who was born in Mexico. So now I'm way more aware of race than I used to be. The funny thing is, I'm still not that aware. The other day, I asked Isaac, "Do you think people look at us when we are out in public because we are an interracial couple?" Isaac emphatically answered, "Of course, I see it all the time." Being white and never really having been discriminated against, I had not even noticed. And to be honest, if people looked at us, I thought they probably just thought we were a cute couple. But racism is real and alive in ways that many people don't see. I'm sure I will see it more as my children attend school and grow up. Why would I ever want anyone to feel marginalized or that they are not afforded the same opportunities for ANY reason ,be it race, sexual orientation, religion or the like?

One argument I do not understand is that allowing gay marriage destroys the sanctity of the institution of marriage. The definition of sanctity is "the quality or condition of being considered sacred." My marriage is sacred because Isaac and I were married before God. My marriage is sacred because Isaac and I made a commitment to each other for eternity. My marriage is sacred because every day Isaac and I make sacrifices for the good of one another. We sacrifice our time, our wants, our money, and our pride for the betterment of our union and family. NO ONE can take that away from us because we decide EVERYDAY if our marriage is sacred. I see heterosexual couples enter marriage frivolously.  Divorce is rampant whether you are Mormon, Christian, or any other religion. We desecrate marriage when we lie, cheat, disrespect our spouse, or allow our addictions to take priority over our families. There are many ways one can desecrate a marriage, so I refuse to blame homosexuals for the desecration of traditional marriage. Heterosexuals have done it to themselves. Each individual is responsible for the way he/she treats her relationships. No one else is to blame for that.

Another thing I don't understand about the "sacred" argument is, then why don't we have laws punishing those who have sex outside the bonds of marriage? That is a doctrinal belief. Sex is sacred. Sex creates life. Sex is a beautiful expression of love and union. But two people having a one night stand doesn't take away the sacredness of my sexual relationship with my husband. That is their choice. Now I wouldn't recommend having a one night stand but in the end they have the right to act according to their own conscience.

I didn't write this to change others' opinions or political beliefs, and I would love to hear others opinions. I just wanted to discuss some of the thoughts in my own head. I believe that true religion requires charity and in my eyes charity requires empathy. So regardless of political beliefs, I hope that each person is truly seeking to understand why this movement might be so important to a gay couple.

Tribute to Buttercup

Well, I had originally intended to write a post laden with lines of humor to portray the events surrounding the recent addition to the Lucero household. But alas, my post now has different tone because our beloved Buttercup died today.

Isaac works at a feed yard and they have no use for calves there, so if a mama cow is pregnant and gives birth while in the feedlot, they have to get rid of the calf. For this reason, Isaac was able to bring Buttercup home. Isaac had actually pulled the calf from his mother. Unfortunately, Buttercup was never able to nurse because his mother didn't get anywhere near him after the birth. So, when Isaac brought him home we gave him some colostrum replacer. At first Buttercup had some trouble sucking on the bottle but he seemed to get the hang of it once he got hungry enough. On his second day, Buttercup didn't walk as wobbly and I gave him the bottle myself. I had to throw my leg over him to make sure he didn't get away while I tried to feed him. He would sometimes bite down on the nipple and try to yank the bottle away. We wrestled a bit, but eventually he would start to suck and drank up the bottle pretty good. It was kind of cute how he would rub his head against me. It was also disgusting because cow saliva is pretty thick. He also had a purple tongue which I thought looked kind of gross. But he would kind of follow me, and that was pretty cute.

Well, today we went out to feed Buttercup but he was pretty weak. Isaac was able to get him up on all fours but he wouldn't eat and fell over. I went out to try to feed him again just a couple hours later only to find that he was in the same spot and hadn't moved. His breathing was labored and he looked weak. I tried to get him to stand up by pulling his tail and basically his whole bottom came up. I tried to lift his torso up but to no avail. I knew we were losing Buttercup. When we got home from church, Isaac went once more to check on him. Buttercup was dead.

My brother asked me if I cried but I didn't. We were raising Buttercup to eventually sell or butcher him, so I knew I had to be careful with becoming emotionally attached. However, this experience has helped me gain a greater respect for animal life. I was raised by a mother who did not like animals, so the only pets we had were rabbits that had to stay in outdoor cages. Now, I have two horses and a dog, and I did have a cow. I see why Isaac likes working with animals so much. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. It requires a lot of time, energy, patience, and sacrifice. Sometimes when Isaac leaves early to work he asks if I will feed the horses. I know you might think, "feeding horses can't be that big of deal" but when it is cold or windy, sometimes I think, "I wish I didn't have to feed those animals." And horses are big animals and there was a time when I felt that the horses were no longer respecting me so I had to carry a broom out with me to make sure they didn't get too close. The horses would start to rub up on me thinking I had food for them. But every time I walk outside and feel the air, I always feel better. And each time I would go to feed buttercup, I would have to change my clothes cause he would probably rub his snot all over me. And when I came back in the house I would have to be careful to change and disinfect before handling my baby. And when eating, Buttercup didn't just devour  his bottle. I once spent over an hour trying to get him to take his bottle. It felt like a had another baby. Well, the point of me sharing that isn't for pity but to show that caring for animals is a huge responsibility, and even if the intent is to eventually eat the animal, the time, energy, and care given isn't that different from the time, energy, and care you give to a pet. I have more respect for animals now but that doesn't make me want to become a vegetarian. I have nothing against vegetarians or vegans who abstain for humane reasons but I'm not sure they can judge caretakers of animals who later sell or eat those animals. It makes me reflect on what I have heard about Native Americans and their relationships with animals. I have gratitude in my heart for these creatures and greater sense of responsibility and respect toward all life.

I will miss my little Buttercup, but I hope we get another chance soon to try to raise a little calf.