So my best friend Kevin if you have read our book you know we oftentimes were inseparable and would go about anywhere.  Kevin worked cattle for a living and was looking for a place to put a few young calves to keep them away from the bulls.  I was more than excited because that meant the grass was good on our property.  You see when we bought the place it had several horses on it and they had eat the grass down to nothing.  Me and Viv had bought a tractor and brush hog and worked on the fence.  I don’t think we really knew what we were doing but looking back on it now I sure miss those times.  So the season with the calves was uneventful but the next season Kevin brought a great big bull to the pasture.  Let the fun begin!  Viv was the tougher of the two of us but I was honestly scared of it.  Well one particular day this little pan that hooked on the fence to feed the bull was knocked loose and down in the field.  So Viv stood at the fence while I went after the little container, as I got to the container the bull saw me and started that way.  Viv yelled, I started walking faster and the bull started running.  If you know me you know I don’t normally run, well that day I did.  Just as I was about 5 or 6 feet from the gate, the bull put its head under my right side, lifted me off the ground and I flew to the fence up and over with Viv scared and laughing at the same time.  I escaped near death, more next time.

Welcome back, if you have read the book you know our first house was an experience, well maybe an experiment.  Not long after we moved in the well quit, the house flooded, the water heater quit, we couldn’t keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  Wow, wasn’t that a disaster?  But I don’t remember being unhappy.  I just remember being lost and having to learn how to do all those things and figure them out.  I guess when people say experience is the best teacher they are right.  So I learned to fix a hot water heater, buy the right wood stove and build a retaining wall around the back and side of the house.  I can wait until next week to tell you about putting cattle on the property.  See you next time.  Make memories with your loved ones.

Well last time I talked about our first house.  Let me tell you I wish that I had been a little smarter when we looked at the house.  The reason I say that is because it was on a hillside on a concrete slab.  It flooded year one, it didn’t have central heat and air.  We froze in the winter and burned up in the summer, fought scorpions, spiders, snakes, and a well that kept freezing in the winter and breaking in the summer.  We were really poor, but we had each other and we were happy.  I look at old pictures and the house was a mess, I threw stuff all over the place, didn’t help Viv like I should but our love grew stronger.  Please have those moments and grow your love stronger.  Come back soon to read the next story and don’t forget to visit the online store.  Great gifts guys to give your wives or lady’s send your husband to the site and tell him what to buy!  

Well we bought a house and if you read the book you would know how much of a fixer upper home it was.  Truth was it was a small 1150 square foot house, no garage or carport and on a concrete slab.  It sit in the country on top of a hill with 5 acres below.  The property was in a rectangle with a driveway right between.  I wish you could have seen how excited Viv was to have her own place to call home.  She was raised in a small trailer house and shared her room with her brother.  Looking back that little house was a mansion to her she was so proud and we were happy.  I wish I would have slowed down and enjoyed watching her more.  Her happiness should have been what motivated me but I was busy picking a career.  So trust me when I say if you are just starting out cherish those fun moments.  Make memories, stop taking pictures of your meal, shoes, and silly stuff.  Take pictures of each other even in the silly moments.  Till next time.  Stay Dedicated!

It wasn’t long until living in a tiny apartment was an inconvenience.  We didn’t have a washer or dryer so we had to go to the laundry mat for cleaning of our clothes.  It was really small with a business next door and during the day it was hard to sleep.  We were both working the four to midnight shift.  We found a fixer-up or starter home.  Boy was it that!  You can find more about our first home in our book; “The Dedicated Husband “ it was a challenge.  But times were also simple.  Sometimes I think when your poor you don’t know your missing out on stuff.  Looking back I don’t believe we missed out on anything.  We had each other, we were head over heels in Love and we still are today.  Our lives are much more complicated but we still have each other and our faith.  When it comes down to it our time here is brief so make sure you appreciate every minute.  Till next time.

Well we got married as you read in the last blog post.  Viv had moved to Flippin ahead of the marriage and she had found a one bedroom apartment that was within our budget.  She started moving in and together we started buying stuff for our soon to be together home.  Talk about small, it had one bedroom, a claw tub in the bathroom, no laundry room, and a kitchen so small and narrow that when you opened the the oven door it almost hit the wall.  You had to stand to the side, we would joke that it was so little you had to go outside to change your mind.  Looking back the one thing I can tell you was we were poor and we knew it, but we were happy.  I miss those times, we didn’t have cell phones or a computer and we would sit and talk to each other.  We started our lives together and we had begun the journey.  Come back later to hear more in our journey.

If you’re reading this you have come back after learning about how we met; there is more detail in the book.  Now on to us getting engaged.  I don’t want to spoil the reading of the book about this too.  But I will tell you it was a tough and easy decision all at the same time.  How could I not want to spend the rest of my life with such a wonderful person.  Understand I believe that there is one perfect person or soul mate out there for everyone and Viv and me were each others.  We made the leap together and set the date for October of 1988.  Wow that means come October we have been married for 36 years.  Next week the marriage.

If you have read our book you will know that I picked my wife up at the sale barn.  If not then you should buy the book and read the story.  I will tell you that she wasn’t at the sale barn to buy something and I didn’t buy her.  Well not right away.  After that introduction we continued to date and married.  The fun started from there.  We moved in to a tiny apartment where you couldn’t even stand behind the oven and open the door.  We had to go outside to change our minds it was so small.  But we were happy.