By Renee Birchfield

When I hear the word bounty I, of course, think of paper towels and cleaning up my many kitchen messes. But the more I thought about what I wanted to share with you here I thought of Boba Fet, the bounty hunter in Star Wars. He is my husband’s favorite and I have learned a lot about him in the time we’ve been together. As a bounty hunter, he finds people and collects a good paycheck when he hands them over to whoever is looking for them. 

I started thinking about what it would be like to be a bounty hunter. Let’s face it I am not the person to go hunting down someone who is running and owes somebody money for who knows what things. I realized though we can all be bounty hunters in our own life. 

Bounty is defined as abundance or plenty, also something that is given or occurring in generous amounts. We can all be looking for what we have in abundance in our life.   

This could mean physical things we have such as a huge collection of shoes, or kitchen items. Which if you have a bounty of items it may be a good idea to consider donating them and sharing that bounty. But  when I think of what I have in abundance it is love, joy, and pet fur. 

There is no shortage of love around me. My amazing husband, family, friends, and even the kids I teach. I love them all. There are people in this world who don’t have that in their lives. They are alone for various reasons and they just want to feel loved and cared about. I never forget how fortunate I am that I have never had to wonder if anyone loved me. If you’re like me and feel the bounty of love share it with those around you who need it. 

As a fur parent, I am never not covered in fur.  With two shedding animals I have a feeling that will not change. With Tesla who has so much hair she can make a mini version of herself in a couple of days of shedding and Chester who taught me cats shed too, all the time, our house is perpetually furry. Even when I dust and vacuum every day it is still hairy. 

But really I would never trade these sweet members of my family for a spotless house. I have a generous amount of pet fur in my house, but my heart is overflowed with love for the animals they come off of. 

I challenge you to hunt for the bounty in your life, especially when at first thought you can’t think of anything. Then once you find it share it and help others see their bounty.

Renee blogs over at If Spoons Could Talk. Sharing recipes, tips, reviews and techniques with her readers. During the school year she can be found in local schools substitute teaching. In her spare time you can find her in the kitchen of her and her husband’s home, cooking with a camera nearby.  With a Food and Culinary Science degree you can bet she whips up some easy,  healthy recipes. Find her at If Spoons Could Talk Facebook Page, Twitter and Instagram.

By Heather Wilson

It was almost a year ago I made the move from a coastal city of over one and a half million to an ocean-less, rural Northwest Arkansas town; population two-thousand – and two. It was an adjustment, a culture shock; a struggle. I longed for the world and life I left behind to become a ‘fuller’-time stepmother; to live a whole new way of life and to expose myself to thoughts and ideas that were, to say the least, foreign to me. I was scared and unsure. I wanted to open my mind, yet I hesitated. I kept hearing, “Give it a year.” It might as well have been, “Give it a lifetime,” until one day, I’m not quite sure when, I started realizing what was in front of me is just as important as what I had felt I left behind.

 

When my husband and I first moved into our home; a home we could not have afforded in our past place of residence, we were greeted by the humidity and mosquitos of summer in the south. I saw a mouse and cried, surprised thereafter that others didn’t see this as a huuuge deal. On the second day after our arrival, we watched through the window as two young bucks zealously ate flowers less than five feet from where we stood; spotted little Bambis, if you will. For this city girl it was a whole new experience watching deer eat in MY own yard. Soon the lightning bugs followed and childhood memories came to mind. Cool drinks on the deck swing watching the leaves of our walnut and oak trees sway as they went from green to yellow and orange served as a reminder I would now get to experience seasons; and an autumn with an abundance of color and beauty I hadn’t seen in years. The leaves fell, the groundhogs hibernated and the hummingbirds migrated to warmer pastures while the cardinals stayed displaying their striking red against the silhouette of winter. The sunsets peeked through the trees and soon the cold wasn’t so bitter as the backdrop of the land we call our backyard began to feel more like home.

 

Along with spring came the fragrance of honeysuckle and the brightest of roses planted by my husband I excitedly walk out to see and smell each morning. The days and nights roasting s’mores over the fire pit, hearing the laughter of my stepdaughters in a way only children can laugh and finally understanding why I’m here have passed quickly. And somehow, sometime I realized the importance of that which is bigger than I: Open-mindedness to a whole new world and adventure upon which I embarked; the love of family; the love of children I would have otherwise not gotten to know. This is why I am here-for an education that cannot come from a book.

 

The spots have disappeared since that hot July afternoon and our two young bucks are now in velvet. They along with members of their family visit daily, almost fearless of our presence. Perhaps they come to remind me not to forget how far I’ve come and of this bounty; a bounty that awaited me greater than any treasure I could have imagined. And they remind me, I’ve found it in my backyard.

Miami, Florida native Heather Wilson is an Air Force brat who said she’d never marry a man in the military, so of course she did. After her husband finished his career in the US Navy, they made the move from San Diego, California to his native rural Northwest Arkansas to be with his children. Honored with Business Traveler Magazine’s title of Business Traveler of the Year, Heather is an events and experiential marketing expert, cancer survivor, tea aficionado and biker chick who strives to live the ‘gift is in the giving’. She is amusing herself and others learning to be a city girl living in a country world. You can follow her adventures at Country Life, City Wife and via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

By Yavonda Chase

When I first heard that bounty was the topic for June, I immediately started thinking about all of the blessings in my life. I thought about my wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, the rest of my slightly crazy, but always supportive family, my new job that I really enjoy and my great friends.

And I was thankful.

Then I wondered how I was ever going to choose one thing out of all of those blessings to write about.

But then this weekend happened, and this post started to write itself.

I think one of the (not-so-fun) truths of growing older is that friends often move away. If you’re lucky, they only move an hour or so away. Unfortunately, I never seem to be that fortunate. My friends’ moves are typically more of the “I now live more hours away than you can think about driving in one day with kid in tow” variety.

And so, when they come back into town, it is a treat.

This weekend, I was truly blessed. Not one, but two of my longtime friends returned to town. Since they were only here for a few days, we packed as much togetherness in that time as possible. As I, and other local friends, all gathered together to see these friends, I was reminded of how much of a blessing friendship is.

Sometimes it is so easy to forget or take for granted our friends, especially the ones we rely on the most. But when they no longer live just down the block from you or share the desk next to yours, you realize how much you depend on them to just be there.

And while Facebook and email are great for keeping in touch with your friends, it just isn’t the same as sushi lunches or nights out with the girls. It doesn’t hold you when your heart is breaking because of a death of a loved one or hug you with joy when your heart is full because of a promotion at work and the graduation of your child from Kindergarten. Social media is a cold substitute for the human contact of good friends.

So this weekend, I reveled in all of my friendships – the friends who have moved away and the friends who are still here with me. I laughed too much; I ate too much; I probably drank too much; and I just enjoyed being with my wonderful friends.

The Bounty of Friendship is one of life’s greatest blessings.

Arkansas Women Bloggers member Yavonda Chase writes about life, love and everything else at SimplyYavonda.com. She is a wife and mother who considers her daughter to be her greatest accomplishment. She was born in Kentucky and still cheers for the Kentucky Wildcats, but has lived in Arkansas for 30 years and proudly calls Central Arkansas home.

Blog: www.simplyyavonda.com

Twitter: @YavondaChase

Instagram: @Yavs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simplyyavonda/