First Annual Jean's Boots Holiday Letter

The flow of incoming Christmas cards and letters is slowing down. Can I just say, never before have I seen so many content families, beautiful kids and attractive parents. 

Sometimes, I just stand in front of my card shutter board -

and shudder.... 

Can you blame me?

Something I love about receiving Christmas cards is learning what everyone else has done in the last year, although the sender could have saved both time and postage and simply added me as a Facebook friend. I especially love the ones that are photos only. Those are a lot easier to digest. 

While my cards won't go out until closer to February (I've been too busy staring at my shutter board), I would like to save my own postage and make public the first official Jean's Boots Holiday Letter. This is a no-holds-bar type of deal. If I wanted to fool you all about how normal, romantic and fairy-tale-like my life is, I would have deleted my social media accounts three years ago....

__________________________________________________

Dear friends I talk to/text once a year and family I only see at the county fair - 

While 2011 seemed to fly by more quickly than the trash man does after I've forgotten to set out the garbage on a Tuesday morning, it was a fantastic year for this gal residing in small-town Indiana. 

In January I flew to Denver for the National Western Stock Show. I spent four beautiful days basking in the Colorado sun and putting Vaseline on my cheeks to prevent wind burn. I hate Vaseline. Good news is I was able to make a nice little bed in the wood shavings between the yearling bulls and the cowboy breakfast burrito wagon to sneak away and take a nap one afternoon. Rather than scouting men on a beach, I evaluated bulls on a halter. It was a real treat. 

In May, Mom and I flew to New York City with her best friend and her daughter (who happens to be one of my best friends) for our annual mother/daughter trip, Girls' Weekend off the Farm. One afternoon Mom and I spent several hours shopping in the original Macy's. At 5:00PM we decided to head back across town (NYC) to meet up with our friends. Maybe a bit light-headed from the cultural mixer we just experienced, we walked out of Macy's and I told Mom to just put her head down and hold on to my arm; having spent much time in the big city, I knew I could take care of both of us. So we plowed through the crowd...And Mom got hit by a bicyclist going approximately 47 mph. For a small foreigner, he was very stout and said some rather harsh words; turns out at almost sixty-years-old, Mom was even tougher than he. Her petite frame stood strong, while the cyclist flew off the back of his bike so hard he lost a shoe. I guess the crowd we plowed through was actually a group waiting on the light to change so they could cross the street. I'm just glad she wasn't hit by a taxi; I feel like that would have ruined the trip.

During the summer of 2011, one that was perfectly hot, humid and extremely dry, I spent much time at our family farm. While many of my friends sent me picture texts from shores, foreign countries and Napa Valley, I tried with everything I had to respond with this:

But my jeans were so tight and stuck to me that I couldn't even get my Droid out of my Levi's pocket. So, I sent a text that looked something like this: "&dkkkkkkkkllljjj(((999kdih"

If they know me at all, they understood: "Hi from BSG - Pants sticking to me - Need rain - Miss u"

In September I took a trip out West (Colorado, Wyoming and Montana) with my best friend Katie.

We spent more money on our cowboy breakfast every morning then we did on our sleep-in-full-clothes-on-top-of-the-covers motels every night. Not only did it build character, it built immunity. And today we are better women for it.  

I also began a new job in September that I absolutely love. I'm writing, communicating and taking pictures on a weekly basis; not a whole lot different from a year ago, except now I'm getting paid to do this stuff five days a week. I also now have an office just 10 minutes from home. I've learned to do my hair in the same amount of time that it takes to make toast and when I'm feeling really fancy, I iron my khakis. 

In October I dedicated my time to something  very influential, monumental and beneficial. I set aside several hours and cleaned out my three junk drawers. 

During this soul-searching journey I found two coupons from The Loft that were still valid and 6 coupons from KFC/Taco Bell that had expired. I realized that I had failed to RSVP to two weddings and I also found Dixie's flea treatments for the last two years. 

This only means three things: 

1. I'll be shopping online at The Loft before Saturday
2. I'll never receive a Christmas letter from the two couples I never responded to 
3. Aggie, the BSG farm dog, has gone with out flea treatments for two-ish years, because I know Dixie has been receiving hers.... 

I also found the Greens Fork Marshall's business card that reminded me of the girls' wine night that I tried to block from my memory. Wrong or right, I still blame Krista and that mason jar.

December was a month filled with holiday cheer and no snow, not that I've kept track. Or that I'm bitter. I also announced that I'm writing a book, one that probably can't be published until my parents and two siblings either can't see well enough to read or have moved on to Bigger and Better Things. This announcement made everyone nervous enough to shift in their chairs at dinner and I've received checks in the mail for the last two days. My only response to my siblings: Laura it's going to take more than $15 to prevent me from telling about the time you ____________, and Luke, you're crazy if you think a $5 check will prevent me from reliving the night you _____________________. 

So here I am, wishing you and yours a fantastic 2012. Truly, I hope it is wonderful and that your new year includes no run-ins with oncoming traffic or even flea treatments. But, should 2012 include either, simply remember: it builds character.

Peace, love and Vaseline, 

Jean