it's the broncs and the blood, steers and the mud

For those of you that have been Garth Brooks fans at one point or another, the title of the blog will make sense.

So last Thursday, I was given two free tickets to the Texas Stampede Rodeo at the American Airlines Center. We went today. As some of you can recall, back on the 4th of July, Ryan bought me a hat down in Luckenbach which I have not worn since. You may also recall that the whole reason Ryan got into making jewelry was to make me a new hat band. So on Saturday evening while watching football, he made me my hat band, earrings and bracelet so I could be all "cowgirl" for the rodeo. They are so pretty! He has decided he wants to put the stampede strap back on, so it is not done yet, but look! Isn't it beautiful :o)

I haven't been to a rodeo in a really long time. I went with Jennifer a couple of times during college to the Houston rodeo which was a lot of fun, and I've seen a few bull riding events at Billy Bob's, but a true rodeo, I had not been to in quite a while. They did not have a great turn out, so our nosebleed seats were exchanged for first tier seats. We were on row D, section 117 if you want to look it up. Anywho, due to the weird staring of the guy next to me, and the odor of the guy next to Ryan, we moved about ten rows up...where we actually could see a little better. All those animals were so pretty. And really cool to get to be so close to them all. We got there about 12:15, got in the doors about 1:00, rodeo started at 2:00, and we left about 4:00. They had eight contestants from all the different events compete, and the four winners from each event were going on to a final...which we did not stay for. Could have, but didn't want to spend money on food so came home. One thing for sure, those bronc riders and bull riders are brave fellers. Several were wearing helmets instead of hats, and the announcer would tell the crowd about a recent injury, etc. Just amazing. OH! And only one of the bull riders stayed on for 8 seconds. So I think they said he automatically advances to a Las Vegas event, but they let the top four from the previous rounds all advance to the finals tonight. Anywho, it was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed it. Bare Bronc riding, calf wrestling, barrel racing, mutton bustin, saddle bronc riding, team roping, tie up, bull riding...and I think I might be missing a couple events in between. Good times and very family friendly...have a great week everyone!