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By Tena Bastian

A couple of years ago, I sat down and decided to share some stories about the horses that have touched our lives and all that they taught my family and I about love, loss, friendship, competition, learning from our mistakes, etc. The Horses We Love, The Lessons We Learn would be stories that anyone who has ever known the joy of loving a horse, any horse could relate to regardless of whether they knew me or not. They would be stories that would remind the seasoned professional of a lesson they once learned from a horse and teach the reader that never had the privilege of knowing a horse why we dedicate our lives to them. While writing the stories, the book was purchased by Wiley publishing and together, we would begin the process of choosing twenty two chapters that we all felt would strike a familiar chord with anyone who cared to pick up the book and read it. (more…)

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By Tena Bastian

I heard a song by Miranda Lambert a few weeks back that really hit home for me then but yesterday, as we drove through our neighborhood and saw firsthand, the damage caused by the tornadoes that went through, I felt  a stronger connection to that song. One of these tornadoes hit a mile or so from my own house. Not only was our State Forest damaged with hundreds of trees snapped off as though they were toothpicks but folks were standing near leveled houses looking toward the sky with fear of another storm. NW Ohio was hit hard and what was left behind was worst than anything I had ever experienced. I was sad for the loss of all their hard work but also I felt blessed that our own home went completely undamaged. Phone calls and emails started pouring in from all over the country who had seen the devastation and wanted to know if we were all right. Three of the calls came from friends in tornado alley who know how damaging these storms can be. A house, our home tells the story of who we are and what we have worked for and when it is destroyed, it takes a piece of us with it. (more…)

I am a Couture Cowgirl for a couple of reasons.

First, I always want to look GOOD when riding my horse. From my Troxel Helmet, with black leather and pink accents to my black boots, I will never be caught riding without makeup or my hair done.

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Couture Cowgirl was founded on a State of Mind that is bigger than any one Cowgirl alone.  We have always wanted this to be a place for you to share YOUR stories about what makes you a Couture Cowgirl.  See the statement from our about us page that was here the day we launched, “The Couture Cowgirl website will be a meeting place for all Cowgirls that live by the Couture Cowgirl State of Mind!  A place where you can share your stories and read others stories, a place to explore Couture fashion, shop Couture Cowgirl, find events.”

We want to make sure we stay close to that original vision so today we are launching the, “COUTURE COWGIRL STATE OF MIND CAMPAIGN.”

We want each and everyone of you to share YOUR story with us.  Many of us claim the name Cowgirl though the activities of our daily lives can be as different as night and day.  It is the STATE OF MIND we can all relate too and it is the STATE OF MIND that we want to recognize and celebrate!

Join us in our campaign and claim the title proudly!  Profess your Couture Cowgirl STATE OF MIND!

Send us your story to info@couturecowgirl.com

Copy the code below to put the badge onto your page!

If you had trouble making this work before, by the way, we had an error in the code. Try this copy, or update your present copy to this code.

<a href="http://www.couturecowgirl.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.couturecowgirl.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/stateofmind.jpg" /></a>

Now for the CONTEST!  Claim the Couture Cowgirl STATE OF MIND and we will get you entered to win one of our, coming soon,  CC STATE OF MIND tee’s!  We will have a random drawing for the giveaway.

How to get entries. (You can have up to 2 entries in the drawing by 1 or both of the following methods)

1. Put the CC STATE OF MIND badge on your blog or website. (Badge must link back to the Couture Cowgirl website)

2. Send us your, “What makes you a Couture Cowgirl” story.  Again your story can be long, short, photos, drawings, etc  Just express yourself!

Make your entries official by emailing us your story and/or emailing us a link to where you have you CC STATE OF MIND badge.   info@couturecowgirl.com

READ COUTURE COWGIRL STATE OF MIND CAMPAIGN SUBMISSIONS in the FEATURES!

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN!  A Couture Cowgirl is YOU, Proclaim it Proudly!  And with Style, of course…

By Tena Bastian

Today marks the end of Memorial Day weekend and I hope it was a memorable one for all of you. For me, it was a time for reflection of what is important and sorting through all the endless things in my head that tend to weigh me down and to leave some behind as I move forward to a summer filled with possibilities. My goal this summer is to spend more time with the people I love, to find more time for the things I enjoy, to turn my Blackberry off more often so I can play harder than I work and to rediscover  all of the elements that make summer enjoyable. I remember as a kid, piling into our old station wagon and going to the drive in to see a movie or going for ice cream and back then, summers seemed to be endless. As an adult, the days seem to fly by so quickly and they are filled with work and worry about things that don’t really matter in the overall scheme of things that are really important. (more…)