Trophy Weekend

I realize this post entails a tab bit of picture overload. These are actually one-fourth of what are still on my camera. I also realize that I may get a few "unfollows", not nice comments or dislikes from it, but I am okay with that because this part of me and my life.

This past weekend we headed to the Heart of Texas for a family getaway to a good friend's 640-acre ranch. It could not have come at a better time. I was having huge anxiety last week over everything. I felt like I was suffocating and couldn't keep up. It was mostly small things, but they kept piling up on top of one another. I needed a place to escape; a place of peace, serenity and away from the daily "go, go, go".

I wish you could jump right into these pictures and experience the pure, raw beauty that I witnessed. The flat, computer screen images just don't do real life justice.

The sunsets were breathtaking. I watched the sky change colors at least a dozen times within a thirty minute time period.

I stepped foot into a ranch house that was not only filled with detailed history and stories, but a place that was so warm and inviting I could cozy up there for weeks. The cedar and stone work blew my mind. Ross was head over heels to say the least.

I fell in absolute love with Ruger, the German Shorthaired Pointer. He and I became best buds over the weekend and I tried to talk our friend into letting me take him home. I think there might be a dog in our near future.

The deer. Oh my goodness, the deer! They were EVERYWHERE. I sat in the field and in a blind for a few hours over the two-day span and just watched, listened and took in their beauty. I am not a hunter. I am more of a "watcher". I let Ross bring home the "meat".

Our girls loved every minute. Logan even set her iPod alarm clock to make sure she woke up each morning to go out with the "hunters" and sat in the blind during the evenings too. She is chomping at the bit to get her first buck, but we are giving it one more year. She is definitely following in her dad's footsteps.

Now to the part where I feel like I have to explain myself. I shouldn't have to, but I will. I got a couple of UGLY comments on Instagram this weekend from a person I don't even know. She called us FREAKS. She asked if I would like to be shot and that I should be ashamed of myself for posting picture of the bucks that were brought home. 

Needless to say, I was FURIOUS. Furious because this person has NO IDEA who I am, who my family is or the story behind the pictures. Yes, my husband and his family are hunters and fishermen. They shoot deer not only for the sport, but for the food. They process their own meat and we eat it all year long. It's not just a trophy that hangs on the wall.

So, to the people that think we are cruel and are killers, you are wrong. It's called wild life management. It is far less cruel than what happens at actual slaughter houses and meat packing plants that send meat to grocery stores and restaurants. Also, sportsmen, like my husband, are one of the biggest wildlife conservationists out there. They care about aiding in sustaining our resources and keeping herds healthy. There. I had to say it. It's been said.

So, congratulations Ross and Heidi for the beautiful bucks and providing us sausage, jerky, backstrap and ground meat for the next few months! 

We had an amazing time and it gave me a few days to unwind, decompress and escape from the daily doses of stress that's called life.

Have you entered the Sweet Clover necklace giveaway yet? Go here for your chance to win! 

Plus get the code to save 20% your order!

I am linking up with: Leeann, Dana and Sami for the Weekend Update. 

Molly for YOLO Mondays.

Go visit them!