So, you know, I have this giveaway going for a couple more days, and I’ve noticed something. Apparently men don’t enter giveaways. Which is a shame, really, for a few reasons. Are you listening, boys?

1. Country Outfitter has great men’s boots.
2. Women like men in boots. At least, l do…
3. If you are not a boot fan yourself, you could GIVE THE $150 TO THE WOMAN YOU LOVE. That might be the only thing she likes better than seeing you in a new pair. (Ahem, Christmas.)

So, in honor of the men and boys I adore who wear boots, here are a few of my favorite stories along that theme:

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Once, when our family was in Texas over the Christmas break, Bryan ran into a New Balance outlet to look for some shoes. He stopped at a sale table and picked up a pair. A salesman walked up and asked if he needed help, and Bryan asked if they had that pair in his size. The salesman replied – oh naw man, you don’t want those.

Why? asked Bryan.

The salesman looked Bryan up and down and replied, aw man, that’d be like puttin’ tires for a Ford Taurus on an F-150!

Bryan left without buying anything…

{ok this one was cheating because the shoes weren’t boots. but still, HILARIOUS right? Worst (or most honest) salesman ever)}

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Next up, a post from a couple of years ago on Bryan wearing dress heels, my boys’ first pairs of boots, and this quote:

“Boots and shorts, Sarabeth, it’s a classic. Never underestimate the genius of boots and shorts.”

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And finally, I want to introduce you to Bryan’s grandfather, J.B. Capps. Or, rather, I want to introduce you to his boots:

I never met J.B., but stories of him abound in Bryan’s family. He was a cattleman in the hill country of Texas, and the ranch he bought to raise his family on is one of our favorite places to visit. Bryan spent most of his weekends and summers growing up there: fishing and putting out deer corn and learning to drive a doorless VW at the ripe old age of 10. Every boy should be so lucky.

J.B. was actually his whole legal name: at 18 he enlisted and the army required names behind the letters, so he dubbed himself Jessie Ben, on the spot. Each of Bryan’s sisters share his initials, as does our Jonathan.

My favorite J.B. story is the one where he handed my elementary school aged husband a BB gun and taught him to shoot the guinea hens running around in the yard. He laughed and laughed as Bryan shot at them, and then laughed even harder when Bryan’s grandmother came out and spanked him so hard she broke a yardstick on his behind.

Those were her guineas. J.B. was smart enough not to shoot them himself.

In that story, and in all the ones I hear about him, I picture him – wiry and strong, sitting in his front yard or working on his land. Always wearing boots like these. As long as I’ve known Bryan, these boots have been sitting on a shelf in the rock garage at the ranch. The last time we were there, we brought them home, and now I love seeing them here – a piece of our Texas family right here with us.

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Now, come on boys (and girls!) – you’ve only got til Sunday night to enter to win!