Hey friends! Thanks for hanging out with me, The Rancher’s Wife!
Growing up I would tell everyone that I wanted to marry a cowboy. I was sure that I wanted a life full of stinky cows, dusty tractors, sweaty horses, and muddy boots! Growing up on a ranch, I knew every day started with the potential of a new ranch adventure and I wanted those adventures to last forever. Once I told my grandpa my dream and he just responded, “Don’t set your stakes too deep!” I’m pretty he was trying to tell me that I shouldn’t get to set on something that might not happen, but I never stopped hoping for the ranch life.
The stars aligned and I met The Rancher while he was interning on the cattle ranch my oldest brother manages near Salmon, Idaho. We fell in love during late night calving checks and snuggly tractor rides feeding hay. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing and it didn’t take long until I knew that I wanted to be with him forever. The day came that he proposed and with that proposal came the unspoken question… demand… statement that we would someday come back to the family ranch to work and raise our family. I was totally game for it all!
My mom always said that the best preparation for the life I live now was growing up in our little ranching community in Montana. Not only had I been prepared for the ranch life but also the small town life. After we finished our college years and returned to the ranch, I settled in and the life fit just right, like your favorite pair of boots.
Life as a rancher’s wife doesn’t mean that I am always out on the ranch. But I’m out there as often as I can. When I’m not helping with the chores, working cattle, maintenance here and there, or haying, I am at home. There I am mom to three great and crazy kids, head chef to a hungry herd of cowboys, laundress to the dirtiest crew, maid for life of come and go, and an agvocate blogger sharing our life with everyone I can.
Ranch life isn’t always easy. We have long days, hard days, frustrating and even disappointing days. But the good far outweighs that bad. There is such satisfaction in hard work, overcoming the challenges and frustrations of the work, and seeing the success from all our labors. And that is just the beginning! One of my favorite perks of ranch life is raising my kids on the ranch. Our kids live for the ranch. Some of the first words they ever spoke were “moo” and “cow”. I’ve learned that the only stores I need to go toy shopping at are the “cowboy stores”. I have also learned to send them out with a kiss and a prayer because they learn too young how to start the 4wheeler. On a daily basis, Dad has to sneak out of the house to avoid the heartbreak they have when they are told they can’t go out with him. They are true ranch kids!
While so much of the ranch has changed over the years, so much is still the same. Our ranch began as the west was being settled (which you can read more of HERE), when the railroad was booming and long before fences covered the range. It has been passed down from generation to generation along with a love for the life and a hope to pass it on better than they had it. And even though the years and have changed the industry, we still use so many of the old west cowboy skills that started our operation. You can see the very best of that each spring when we still brand calves out on the range with cowboys on horse roping some heels and dragging them to the fire.
Our very best help is our own family. Their own lives have taken them away for college and jobs, but they are always close enough to come join in the fun. You can expect that come spring branding and fall weaning, they will ready do some riding! Come and meet the family and put names to all the faces HERE!
Every day I am thankful for this ranch life. It is a life about responsibility, hard work, satisfaction, growing, family and a love of the land. The more I live it, the more passionate I become and the more I want to share it. We work to put food not only on our table, but yours as well. We want to have a quality product that helps you to keep your family healthy and happy.
Always riding for the brand,
The Rancher’s Wife- Welcome to the Ranch!
