Rodriguez, The Chipmunk

Being homeschooled, there were many ways we would try to make school interesting. One of the things I loved doing, and still do, are making up stories. Here is a short story I wrote in school (No idea what grade!) enjoy...

Once upon a time,

There was a chipmunk. His name was Rodriguez. He had a lovely wife and 6 chipmunk children. They loved him very much, and he loved them too. One day they were going to move to a bigger tree. He packed up all his belongings with his wife, Sally Jane. Sally Jane was a skunk. She stunk a lot, but true love over powered her stink for Rodriguez. As a result of this intercultural marriage their kids were tiny like chipmunks but had black and white bodies and sickening spray that could knock you out even thinking about it. On the drive to the new tree, with all the furniture and all the family's belongings packed, they got lost. So very lost. They wound up on a tiny gravel road outside of chipmunk & skunk land. One of the children, Maximus, wet himself he was so scared. And Rodriguez got very mad. So he yelled at Maximus. When Maximus started to cry it gave Rodriguez an idea "I know!" he thought, "I don't know if this area is dangerous or not. I'll throw Maximus out of the truck and lock him out. If any wild things come and rip him to shreds and eat him, then its a dangerous place. If they don't, its not and we can all walk back to civilization." Soon Maximus was no more than a pile of bones outside the truck and two satisfied wolves were licking their chops. Sally Jane was so mad at Rodriguez that she fled from him and he got no custody rights after the incident with Maximus. He lived a lonely life in the end and Sally Jane got to keep everything. Even the new tree. Of course... he was a chipmunk so who would have given him custody anyway...

The end

It's been real, 2017! ✌

For the year of 2017 we decided to do a "memory jar". Each week for the entire year we wrote down our most impactful memory of the week (hopefully good) and at the end of the year we read back all of our memories and reminisced. I thought it would be fun to share some of these memories, so here's some of 2017's good, bad and ugly!

3rd week of March: Got chickens?!
 I've written about our chickens in detail but did you know that the decision to get those little ladies was a spontaneous decision? While living with Luke's mom, one day Luke decided: "Today I'm going out to get chickens." and that was pretty much the end of it. We kept them in the garage in a galvanized tub for WEEKS. And, yes, it stunk. Chickens. Stink.

4th week of March: Bought Grandpa's truck


What do you do right after you get chickens? You get a truck. And just LOOK at this beauty. Grandpa's truck is a beauty.

3rd week of may: Left for our trip to Colorado!
I have never been in that kind of terrain. The awe that strikes you when you're standing in the presence of a mountain covered in snow or you're standing on top of pike's peak at almost 14,000 feet, will take your breath away. I would go back every year if I could!




Last week of May: Chickens Died :(
 Yes, it's true. We may have slightly jumped the gun on our dream of having chickens... Just a word of wisdom, maybe keep chickens on land you live on so they're easier to check on! Oh and also... probably shouldn't ruin your Mother-in-law's poor garage... wait to ruin your own.

3rd week of June: Luke GETS A JOB!!  And shortly after...

1st week of July: We move to Indiana!

3rd week of July: Brought home our second kitten, Lady.
When we first got Fonz we were in WAY over our head, he was a CRAZY stray. He was incredibly wild and playful and would side wind everything tiny thing and attack anything that moved. We even considered not taking him to Indiana with us. But then we got a "brilliant" idea. Get him a playmate! That'll calm him down. We took a shot figuring maybe he was so crazy because he was taken away from his litter mates so soon. And it worked!

Last week of August/labor day: Fillepelly!
Our Christmas in July is nicknamed fillepelly and this year was postponed to September. Making it Christmas in July in September.

4th week of October: Home for Lemon's 1st birthday and sold big blue.
Well since our chickens died so many months back we decided we really weren't in need of the big blue truck anymore. The gas mileage wasn't that great and there were a few safety concerns. We did keep it in the family though! And our precious niece turned 1! She is a huge gift to her whole family.

3rd week of December: Home for the holidays 💗
It's safe to say that while living in Indiana, we sure did miss our family. We haven't been able to see everyone nearly as much as we'd like and treasure the time we get to spend with them. It's amazing when you move how you realize what family and friends mean to you.

2017, We will never get a chance to relive or redo you. But we hope that what we've accomplished has been enough that we won't wish "If only..."

2018, bring it on.