It's Spring!

Spring is...A cloud of dust behind our 7-month-old Angus heifer "De-calf" as she runs ripshot through the pasture after jousting with the fence post.

Spring is...Pink cheeks and smiles on the kids' faces as they dig their bare toes in the sandbox for the first time this year.

Spring is...Curry combs chock-full of fly-away horse hair

Spring is...The ecstatic grunts of muddy, rolling dogs as they emerge from their maiden dip in the freshly-thawed water trough.

Bubbles and sidewalk chalk, robins and bumblebees...could it possibly get better than this?

This week marked the first week of spring, and I'm brimming with excitement and optimism as I've already ticked several "to-do's" off the checklist. The 6-week-old pullets are in the hen house, the garden is tilled and weed fabric rolled out, the spring veggies are in the ground, and the layers of winter chaos in the landscape have been peeled away to reveal the earth bubbling with spring bulbs.

In my home state of California, I never appreciated the true beauty of this restorative season, because how can you know the delight of rebirth if nothing ever really dies? Every winter here in Colorado I mourn the last dangling red leaf on the burning bushes and every spring I boil over with excitement as the brown transforms to green. I know what I have in store: weeding and mowing, harvesting and preserving, the labor and chores of summer all lie ahead, but I'm undaunted, ready to take on the challenge, and excited to see where God's perfect plan moves me.

It's with this same sense of giddy anticipation, excitement and suspense that I launch my new blog. So welcome, enjoy, partake...I can't wait to get to know you.