Beautified in Bismarck and Other News

Bright and early Tuesday morning, my mother-in-law, Peggy, and I set out on a little road trip to Bismarck, ND to visit Malcolm's sister, Justine.

About half way there, we stopped in Dickinson at the bridal shop to check on something, and then treated ourselves to a little mid-morning coffee break at a cute little place I spotted as we were driving through town.

On the road again, and almost to Bismarck, we started driving past fields of sunflowers. They were lovely and bright and cheerful!

And then we were in Bismarck! First stop was Justine's apartment to pick her up. I adore what she did with her walls (sponged them black over white and white over black) but I forgot to carry in my camera, so just use your imagination. They looked great!

From there we made our first stop, which was the hair stylist supply store. Had to pick up a few things, and while we were there, I spotted a bottle of shampoo that Malcolm and his Dad had gotten around Christmas time and they both loved it and used it all up quickly. So I thought I'd get Malcolm another bottle, and since his dad liked it also, Peggy decided to make sure neither of them ran out of shampoo for quite a while!

After that, it was off to the salon where Justine is working. It was her off day, but she's allowed to use the facilities on her own time to work on family. How convenient is that? Peggy went first. She's been a hot blond this summer, but it was time to move on to an autumn look for her.

And while her color was setting up, Justine and I discussed what we'd do with me hair. Thanks to trucking and my stinginess with home time, my poor head hadn't been touched since my marvelous Billings stylist last did it in FEBRUARY!  Not even a TRIM!

I was ready for something fun, different, and drastic...

Let me tell you what, its quite a drive over to Bismarck, about 4 hours there and another 4 to get back home. But it is worth it for the fun we have while we're there. And it is marvelous to have a very talented stylist in the family! Didn't she do a fantastic job? I look forward to being beautified in Bismarck more often!

All dolled up, we were ready for a day on the town. We went to a few stores and shopped and laughed and even enjoyed the necessary errands that had to be run.

Shopping with the girls is just the right way to spend a day once in a while! I've missed my shopping trips with my own mom and sister. It's so nice that I can have the same great experience with precious women in Malcolm's side of the family! I am so blessed to have so many marvelous women in my life

What a fun day! I made several small purchases, including some cosmetics, a really cool shirt, and my favorite of all, that I just love and love more every time I see it, and want to carry it around just for the sake of having it with me because I love it that much.....

MY NEW BAG!!!

After dinner with Justine and her fiance, we said goodbye to Bismarck and headed back home.

In other news this week:

Some really great stuff has been going on around here!

We're finished haying! Hooray!!!

Well they decided to cut a little of a second cutting here at the house, but not much. So I say haying is done!

Sky has been making the most of his break...

...since I've been paying a little more attention to his baby sister lately.

Have I told you yet that she finally has a name? I had my niece help me pick it out. Thanks, Lily, for the help!

" Little Bit" now goes by the name of Caddys Unique Gem. We just call her Gemma. On Monday, Gemma finally took notice of that black bucket her mama loves so dearly. Now if only her neck would catch up with her legs, she'd be all set!

And there's a new friend in the pasture! Last night, we brought home Malcolm's new buddy. Malcolm has not yet officially tagged him with a name, but whatever it is, I'm sure it will be fitting. I like roans a lot, and this guy is a very handsome one! No white markings other than a small star on his face.

He is a three year old grade gelding who was reported to not have been halter broke or anything. I have to say, for a wild pony, he sure was cooperative. He wasn't big on the idea, but Malcolm had convinced him to halter and was leading him around within about 10 minutes! He's either the most cooperative horse I've ever met, or someone had fooled around with him before. The two of them took a little stroll to get acquainted this morning, and then we turned him loose in the corral where he can settle in before meeting his new pasture mates. I love this picture!

We're hitting the road on Monday morning. Looks like we'll be going up near Minot, ND and then reloading somewhere out there and heading to Stockton, CA! But we still have two and a half days at home and we plan to make the most of it. We'll relax some, work on the truck some, maybe spend some time at the Fallon County Fair which is going on this weekend, and I'll definitely be spending some precious stolen moments with my horses. I probably won't be seeing them again till November, unless we are able to sneak home on a trip going past. I probably won't even recognize my little Gemma next time I see her. She's growing so fast!

PS: If your often needing a good book to read, you should bookmark my aunt's blog, A Reader Writes. She is an avid reader, and is blogging about the books she reads. I've already found several books to add to my reading list through her reviews! Its a great resource for all us bookworms!