Kelly Swayne

It’s cold, rainy and muddy outside. Set inside and do nothing (nice sometimes) or put on my colorful rubber boots and carry on…. I choose my rubber boots…. Life can be muddy, messy and drizzly out of human control but my attitude is everything! In Christ I have pure Joy at my fingertips twenty four seven. Today I wear my rubber boots! We have had to downsize and move from Colorado back to Texas due to my husband’s job loss last October. I can’t believe it has been over a year. It lasted for six long anticipating months and the after shock was financially stressful to say the least. Our lifestyle has changed dramatically! However, my joy is still abundant in Christ. I am not saying it has been a barrel of laughs along the way, quiet the opposite actually, but…. anticipating what surprises God has in store for us in this new territory of life, is and has been exciting. I am just as happy now in our very tiny rental on lots of land as I have ever been. Seems no matter what trials we h...

A new season for me. School started on Aug. 22nd. Our oldest, Tanner, moved to his college dorm after 12 years of home schooling. Our youngest is going to public school this year, he is a freshman. Actually, he was to be a sophomore but Texas, which I forgot, is a bit tougher on home schoolers entering the system and would not accept his freshman homeschool credits. I contacted HSLD, (Home School Legal Defense) to be informed, they can do that. I know all the questions going through your head, if you are a die hard home schooler, I have ask myself all the same questions however, still choosing for him to attend our public school. Note: he is happy there. Everyone seems to be in their element. Well, except me. What to do. I recently went from urban girl to country girl. It has taken a lot of adjusting for me. We have lived in the country before but not like this! After living in Houston and Loveland, CO. I discovered, I am a city girl through and through. I love animals but would be r...

The Swayne family has landed back in their boots! We are back in Texas after four and a half fantastic years in Loveland CO. It is as hot as I remember, the bugs and flying things are still here. It’s Texas, it’s home, hasn’t changed. This time we moved out in the sticks and I truly mean OUT! We have been here two weeks and life is better than I expected. Our two young men are settled and working for some friends on their nearby ranch. Our oldest has the challenge of training a two year old filly, something he has never attempted. I think he is going to call her Rookie, a perfect name considering she is new at this and so is he. He only has about six weeks with us and will be moving to his college dorm, which is also a new chapter for all of us. Lots of changes for our family are taking place. I am having the hardest time adjusting to my new surroundings. I miss the excitement of living in a vibrant urban community, my over the fence neighbors, walking out my front door and seeing peo...

Our dog, Benelli, is spoiled badly! She eats organic food, goes shopping with us (allowed in most stores in Colorado) , she has full access to the furniture, and she sleeps in the bed with one of our boys and if he is not home she finds someone else’s bed. She is rarely alone. A couple of years ago I got her an all natural cow bone straight from the meat market. If I were a dog I would have loved it! This bone looked deliciously gross. I just knew she would be so excited to get it. Well, she was not, as a matter of fact it worried her a lot. You could see the worry on her face and hear it, loudly I might add, as she carried this huge gross thing around the back yard trying to decide what on earth to do with such a prize. Well she hid it and it was forgotten about. Last summer I saw the end of it sticking up in the rocks in our backyard, just the tip was showing. It looked like a decomposed.. well it was scary looking and I quickly realized what it was. She had never touched it again. ...