Twenty-Something

T!nK was one of my very first non-family followers and I've missed his blog very much.  He used to blog over at This is How it Feels, where he chronicled his life, including his discharge from the Army under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  His blog and subsequent discharge changed his life dramatically; he became a rather public figure and activist for gay rights.  He dropped out of the blogosphere in September, 2010.  We've kept in contact since his disappearance and I consider him another child.  He's just three years older than Digger and has lived a much different life than my children have.

He can't seem to settle on a name; in the time I've known him he's changed his online name a million times, but he's still just T!nK to me.  I love that kid.  He's returned to the blogosphere with a new name (Kid Kennedy) and a new blog, Twenty-Something.

I may be biased, but his writing is worth reading.  Go ahead, check out both of his blogs: This is How it Feels is still up, he's no longer posting there, but it's worth reading for background before clicking over to follow him at Twenty-Something.

A Pretty Darn Good Day

This year I've been able to meet some amazing blogger friends in real life.  It's kind of like internet dating, though.  We get to know each other pretty well through our blogs, so it really is like seeing a life-long friend when we meet IRL.  But there's always that moment of hesitation...that what if they're not so fabulous outside of the blogosphere.

I have yet to travel to meet any blogger friends, they've all pretty much come to us (thank goodness Mom and Bill have the lodge, which is a natural meeting place) and I think it takes some big ole hairy cojones to travel, in some cases, halfway across the nation to visit.

In August, we had High Country Rendezvous, in which we met Rachel (and Momma P) from Once Upon A Miracle and Killlashandra (and her fabulous hubby) from Southwest Mementos.

In October, we had Mrs Mom and Mr Mrs Mom from Oh HorseFeathers! and LT and Meg from Browneyed Cowgirls.

This week, we've had Momma Fargo and Bug (yes, you read that right - jealous much?) from The Boogie Man Is My Friend and T!nK from This Is How It Feels.


Okay, I haven't uploaded the pictures from today yet, but stay tuned, they'll be a comin'.

They've all been fabulous!  We've had the best time together.  If you have a bloggy friend who you want to meet, don't hesitate.  You might miss out.  And then you'd be sad.

Voyeurism Via Email

Gotcha!

Now that I've got your attention, I'm guest posting today over at T!nK's place, This Is How It Feels.  He's taking a little bloggy vacation and asked some of his blogging buddies to contribute a love story of their own.

My contribution isn't exactly a love story, but it is the story of the first time I met the RockCrawlinChef in real life; it's an email that I sent to my friends after our first meeting.  I'm pretty sure after six weeks of emailing multiple times a day and our initial meeting, I was head-over-heels in love with the Chef, but couldn't admit it to myself. 

Hop on over to T!nK's if you're just dying to see how screwed-up, mixed-up, I-don't-know-which-end-is-up I was over meeting him for the first time.

What A Nice Surprise!

Nathanael over at This Is How It Feels has honored me with a bit of blog bling, and what a great surprise it was!  Nathanael and I "met" when he was honored with the Honest Scrap award by Monda over at No Telling, I jumped over to his blog and fell in love.  We were both then honored by Monda when we were included in EasyStreet Prompts' Blog Carnival.

When I think about the people I've "met" via blogging, it's rather mind-boggling.  The internet, I know it's been said before, has opened up whole new worlds.  Where else would I have met a gay solder serving in Baghdad or a Southern gal with a passion for writing or another wickedly funny Southern gal or an endurance rider from California?  There are so many people that I've met through blogging that I would never have had the opportunity to meet before.  It truly is astounding.

The rules, as have been explained to me by Nathanael are:

1.) grab the award (check - see above)
2.) post it on your blog along with five things you love to do (Oh Jeez, just five.  I'll have to think about that.)
3.) five others you want to recognize... (Again, only five?)

Things I love to do: (in no specific order)

1. Ride my horse, Estes.  You can find the story of how I fell in love with her over at my other blog, Tales From The Trail
2. Blog.  Well, write.  I love to write, and blogging is an easy way to connect with people I wouldn't normally get to meet.  I also love my morning blog crawl and can't get through my morning without it; it's my equivalent of reading the morning paper, I guess.
3. Shoot.  Hence the name Gun Diva.  I love the feel of a controlled explosion, which is all shooting really is.  And, hey, I'm pretty good at it.  My friend and fellow Gun Diva, Tara Janzen, is a rifle shooting queen.  Me, I love the handguns.
4. Read.  This kind of ties in with #2; part of blogging is reading.  I get to read small, bite-sized stories daily and look forward to them, but I also love novels.  Really, anything with words.  Hell, I even read shampoo bottles.
5. Work.  I really do love my job and the people I work with; I can't imagine doing anything else.

Recognize Five Others... (again, in no specific order.  Nathanael, you know I'd send this back to you if I could.)

• K. Erickson at Preachers and Horse Thieves.  He was awarded Editor's Pick for the 1st edition of EasyStreet's Blog Carnival.  I jumped over to his blog and immediately followed.  I love his writing and his dedication to his wife.  Here's a man who is head-over-heels in love with his wife and isn't afraid to post it for the whole world.  Oh, and he's got some great stories, too.
• Monda at No Telling and EasyStreet Prompts.  She's a great storyteller and I look forward to her posts everyday.  I'm not sure how I stumbled upon No Telling, but I enjoy it immensely.  And, of course, EasyStreet Prompts has a place in my heart, as my Honorable Mention (posted over at Lyon's Roar) was my first ever blog bling.
• Candance at Crazy Texas Mommy.  I love this woman!  Her posts are guaranteed to make me laugh.  Everyone needs a little CTM in their life.  Imagine my surprise when I was talking to my brother in Arizona one day and he asked if I'd ever read CTM.  We both found her blog at about the same time and fell in love.  Shortly thereafter my step-dad started following CTM, so now it's kind of a family cult thing.  So...that sounds a little creepy.  Didn't mean it to come out that way.
• Roxanne at Pet Blog.  Her stories about Verne the horse trader keep me in stitches.  I love the way she's able to bring his stories to life in so few words.
• Bill and Juanita at It's A Horse Life.  Okay, so there's a bit of nepotism here, they are, after all, my parents.  And I was the one who not only talked them into blogging, but set it up for them.  It started as just a way to share some of their favorite stories and recipes and stay in touch with their guests, but they're really taken it and run and their hits counter is burning up. 
  

That was tough, only choosing five.  Please check them out; I think you'll enjoy them.  And be sure to tell them I said 'hi' when you stop by.