Dustin Lynch - Cowboys And Angels

Love this video! By the end I had a tear in my eye. True love is something we are all searching for, and like this couple I pray that we are all blessed in finding it. <3

More posts coming! "This I Swear!"

"Oh my darling, oh my darling, this I swear is true!"

  This I Swear
      By the Skyliners



Howdy!

  How is every one's week going? Just a few more days to go till the weekend! OK, so I'm sorry that I don't write every day like I know a devoted blogger should. I feel awful about it but sometimes life just interrupts my writing, which I guess isn't so bad ;)

  This might be kind of random but I thought that I would upload some old pics from about a year or so ago since I haven't had a chance to upload new ones. Hope that you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Adios!
Jessie Lou

P.S. Just realized that I have been talking to the 0 members as if there were 10, I swear I'm not crazy! Oh and I almost forgot, if anyone looks at my blog you should check out this vid on youtube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E4B6ZOyHD0  I love the crackling sound of the record on the record player, it just gives me a warm and tingly feeling inside.

The picture above is a picture of me on the Fourth of July, I think that it was a couple years ago. Also my hair is very long, I just have a faux bob in all of these photos.

  

Bugs, Smoke, and Dirt Oh My!

  Oh the joys of remodeling houses! In every cabinet I open I find a new bug cemetery, each strip of pipe smoke ridden carpet we pull out reveals at least an inch of dirt and filth that has been resting there for who knows how long. Being a clean freak myself I can't wait to get my hands on all of this and whip it out as fast as I can, my brothers ripped out the carpet in the living room and the night before in one of the bedrooms revealing tile linoleum from 1955 when this house was built. I vacuumed the dirt that had been trapped by the carpet and the boys finished it off by mopping on their hands and knees to clean the rest of the grunge that had been left behind. The house smells so much better with the carpet removed, I can only imagine what it will smell like with new flooring and fresh paint.


  Now the cabinets are a whole other story on its own, Mom and I have been working on them for at least a week now collectively, and it just scares us and grosses us out more each time. Imagine this: Cabinet liners with bug bodies, large cob webs, and anything that goes along with bugs.If anyone has ever been in the same position as we are then you will realize all of the work that goes into cleaning cabinets that are in such sad shape as this. We are vacuuming out the cob webs, then spraying down the insides with pine sol and wiping them down several times (meaning at least 3 or 4 times), then caulking the gaps between the wood and the wall, then finally painting the backs of the cabinets that were just plain sheet rock. The cabinets feel so clean now and there is no way that bugs are getting through, and they thought they were smart ;) lol!


  Now it's on to:

• Carpet in my brother's room, gotta love him, he painted his closet hunting camo!
• Painting the inside and outside of the bathroom cabinets which haven't been painted in years....and years....and years.
• Flooring in the rest of the house, hoping to put in tile but will see what our budget allows.
• Building a closet and shoring up the floor in my bedroom since the floor slants-it had previously been a garage that was converted into a room back in the 1970's.
• And landscaping! Can't wait for that :) Going to plant some palm trees, lemon, trees, other fruit trees, roses, etc.

  This is going to be an ongoing project and I will be sure to inform ya'll on the progress. I really love remodeling houses, my family tends to be the "House Rescuers". We always find a house that is barely hanging on. Then we restore almost everything in it updating it so that it still holds it's vintage character but can function in a modern world. I just don't think that I would be able to live in a new house, it just doesn't have stories and character to go along with it. I like to think about the people who have previously lived in the house, what they were like, their stories, parties they held, etc. Old houses just have a warmth that go along with them, even if you have to sweep past the dirt to find it.


  Well I'm on my way to do a little sweeping and painting,


                            Adios!


                                 Jessie Lou


P.S. Hope to post some pics of the progress soon :)

The Singer, the Gangster, and the Pianist

  This is the story of a Ziegfeld Girl, a Gangster, a Pianist, True Love, a Restaurant, and a Little Girl's Dream.

 I have had a fascination with the Omelette Parlor in Colorado Springs, Colorado since the first time I saw it. With it's quaint decorations and simple homie charm (not to mention the homemade food served there), there is a certain magnetism that keeps you coming back time and again.
  At the tender age of 4 I first walked into this magical place. We had been trying to find a "good" restaurant to eat at, rest and celebrate the good outcome of my Grandmother's heart surgery which had been quite an ordeal for our whole family. She had been transferred to Co. Springs from Parkview Hospital in Pueblo, Co., and to top it off it had been raining all day. We were wet, exhausted, hungry, and completely tired of fast food joints and hospital food. We had asked a nurse at the hospital where we could go for some good home cooked food and she directed us to 900 Fillmore.
  Walking into the restaurant was like walking in a dream. In my 4 year old mind it was beautiful, warm, and a heavenly haven from the smell of a hospital waiting room and the cold dampness of the world outside. It's hard to believe that I still feel the same way when I walk in, nothing has changed. It still fascinates me and gives me a warm and safe feeling. I love how history simply drips from the rafters onto the walls where quirky paintings of chickens, roosters, farms, pigs, and tons of photographs showcasing Colorado Springs and Colorado from the very beginning all the way to the early 1950's. But the most fascinating history that involves this little diner is the former owner Ruth Etting.
  Ruth Etting had lived an amazing and exciting life which included becoming America's Sweetheart of Song, marrying a gangster named Gimp, being a Ziegfeld girl, then a movie star, divorcing Gimp, and then marrying her accompanist after Gimp in a fit of jealous rage had shot him. In 1938 Ruth and the love of her life Myrl Alderman moved to Colorado Springs and built a house to retire in. I believe the domestic life wasn't an exciting enough life for the two who were used to fame, lights, and applause. Soon after moving in, they turned the house into a restaurant naming it the T-Bone club. They owned and operated it until their deaths. The restaurant then changed names to the Hackney House, and then to it's current name the Omelette Parlor/O'Furrey's.
  This is a piece of living history folks, if you are intrigued by this story then visit the Omelette Parlor for the first time, or if you have been there before please go back and take a closer look.
For more information on Ruth Etting visit http://ruthetting.com/
And for more information on the Omelette Parlor visit http://www.co-spgs-omeletteparlor.com/
You can visit the Omelette Parlor at
900 East Fillmore
Colorado Springs, Co. 80907

TEX-MEX COOKING: ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Origin of the Name: The phrase “Tex-Mex” first originated from a nickname referring to the Texas Mexican Railway which was published in a newspaper as “Tex. Mex.” It is unknown how this term began being used in a food format.
History: Even though the cuisine that we now call “Tex-Mex” originated hundreds of years ago (when American’s started moving farther South West into states such as Texas, New Mexico, California, etc. and mixing their different cultures and foods) the first printed proof of the word Tex-Mex was in a cookbook dated sometime in the 1940’s.
It was some 30 years later when Tex-Mex was finally popularized in non-Mexican towns and cities. The East Coast and other areas with less of a Mexican population were introduced to a completely different yet tasty cuisine. Because it was a combination of several cultures Tex-Mex was more appealing to those who had never had Mexican cuisine, which invited them to discover other cultures and experience different ways of life.
Definition: Tex-Mex is a fresh new trend that appeals to millions of young people and those that are young at heart. The food combinations are truly invigorating to the mind and senses! Add a little chili powder, BBQ flavor, and some ranch dressing and you have a master piece unlike no other.
Quotes: "Tex-Mex food might be described as native foreign food, contradictory though that term may seem, it is native, for it does not exist elsewhere; it was born on this soil. But it is foreign in that its inspiration came from an alien cuisine; that it has never merged into the mainstream of American cooking and remains alive almost solely in the region where it originated..."
---Eating in America, Waverly Root & Richard de Rochemont [William Morrow: New York] 1976 (p. 281)
"Tex-Mex. A combination of the words "Texan" and "Mexican," first printed in 1945, that refers to an adaptation of Mexican dishes by Texas cooks. It is difficult to be precise as to what distinguishes Tex-Mex from true Mexican food, except to say that the variety of the latter is wider and more regional, whereas throughout the state and, now, throughout the entire United States."
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 325)
Sources: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex-Mex

HEY YA'LL!

  Welcome to my site, come on in and make yourself at home! My website should be different than anything else you have ever seen, it's pretty much a combination of my interests and experiences mixed with a little dash of magic....ok so maybe there's no magic about this site...but I'd like to think so ;) haha!

  I like to consider myself an old fashioned girl. "The Vintage Cowgirl" would be the best title to describe myself. I believe that being old fashioned is something to be proud of and I want other young women to be proud of it as well. There is a place in this world for like minded people who love God, vintage, antiques, horses, and the country lifestyle. I would like my website to be a haven for such people as myself to come together and share what they have learned or are learning.

A LITTLE ABOUT MYSELF:

  I grew up in old farm houses in small farming and ranching communities on the grassy plains of Southern Colorado. My childhood was filled with warm sunny days, picnics on the green grass, lady bug hunts, and staring at the sky watching the clouds come to life in various delightful creatures. I still love all of these pastimes! I plan on being forever young. J

  I have just recently moved to Cleburne, Texas just south of Fort Worth. So far I am loving it, the weather here is so gorgeous! With the amount of trees that grow here and some swampy areas you could easily imagine being in the deep south, sometimes when I am looking off into the trees and vining plants I can almost see Confederates lying in wait to surprise the unknowing Union soldiers! My imagination is already running wild, and I’m planning some photo shoots…they should be coming soon.

  In the meantime I am looking forward to learning more about the area, going to rodeos, and antiquing. I want to get involved with restoring buildings and houses in town and the local area, so wish me luck on finding that!

RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

  I really enjoy cooking especially Chuckwagon cooking. I volunteer for rodeos, fairs and country festivals. I also love antiques, retro makeup, clothing, and hairstyles. I love history especially about my family or the Wild West!

My Role Models:

• My Dad and Mom have to be number one on this list. :)
• My grandmothers
• John Wayne
• Sam Elliott
• Loretta Lynn
• Dale Evans
• And all of my ancestors or historical figures that I've always admired.