The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

Pausing for Perspective

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I love my life.  I really do.  Its amazing how much joy and satisfaction I find in what we do.  I get to watch my kids learn and grow and fail and succeed.  They get to watch their dad work and see what it means to have responsibilities and carry them out.  It is exhausting and amazing and inspiring…  and exhausting.

I love our life but it is exhausting.  Most of the time when life gets busy and exhausting, you pause, give yourself some space, do something new to recharge yourself, and then jump back in.

We don’t do that. 

Not that we don’t believe it taking a break, but its kinda difficult.  With cows, irrigating, haying, feeding, checking water, and all the other things on the never ending check list, we don’t have the time to just up and leave.  Not to mention the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere and going anywhere requires plenty of travel time. 

But that’s ok.

We may to be able to be world travelers or we might not have the opportunities to visit exotic places.  Its all ok, because we have an entire world to explore in our back yard.  We have horses and 4wheelers and mountains and trails.  We really have everything we need.

What we do, everyday, is what we love.  Yes, we get tired of the daily grind, but that is when we load up in the gator and go for a ride.  And we take a moment to refocus on what our priorities are and then we get back to it. 

I’m in desperate need for such a pause.  I am feeling the weight of the work that needs to be done on our home, for our community, in the fields…  There is always more work to be done than there is time and energy.  Think I can talk The Rancher into taking me on a romantic motorcycle ride tonight? 

Live a LIfe of Passion

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Over the last few years since I bought my “fancy” camera and started to learn more about photography, I’ve had a few people ask me to do pictures for them.  I’ve done family pictures for my best friend, engagements for my brother-in-law and his (now) sweet wife, and even graduation pictures for another brother-in-law.  There are lots of others, but you get the picture (haha..)…

I love getting a chance to take pictures of families, couples and individuals and help capture their personality so that they can share and preserve them. Its not my niche (yet) but I am learning.  I do have to admit, its a little weird to get to be in control of what’s happening in front of the camera instead of making photos out of what is happening around me.  Does that make sense?

A few weeks ago I got a chance to kinda do both- a posed and directed photo session but still out on the range with the horses and cows.  Could it get any cooler?  I don’t think so.  Our neighbor (about 30 miles down the road), Mackenzie, was selected to be a National Collegiate Beef Advocate with the American National Cattle Women organization and one of the first things she needed to do was to send in some photos of her working cattle or with horses or whatever she does as a ranching girl.  She had a few snap shots, but they weren’t exactly what she wanted to put out there in a press release. 

So that’s when she called me.

We went out on our range land and got to work (tough work, huh?).  It was such a different experience for me because the purpose was for me to take pictures.  I didn’t have to worry at all about being in the way or anything like that.  It was a little refreshing actually… Do you think I can convince my cowboys out here to let me just have free rein?  Probably not… 

That’s ok.  I’ll take what I can get.

Back to Mackenzie.  In between photos we would visit and she told me a little bit about what she gets to do as an advocate.   I don’t remember everything she said, but I definitely remember how her face would light up as she talked about what the opportunity meant to her.  It didn’t take long to realize how proud she was of her life in agriculture and how rich her passion was for sharing it with people. 

I don’t know who said it but somebody smart said, “Follow your passion, and success will follow you!”  I have no doubt that whatever Mackenzie does with her passion, she will be successful.  Passion can conquer fear, make you bold, and push you to take those leaps we might never have risked.  I think all to often we get busy and bogged down with all of the must-do’s of life.  We get so focused on the have-to’s, we don’t do the want-to’s and our passion for life slowly sizzles out.  The excuses of not having the time or energy or money just get in the way.  We become complacent, and stay right inside our comfort bubble and suddenly we don’t do anything exciting or adventurous.  Nothing we do gets adrenaline flowing or our hearts pumping.

Who wants to live that kind of a life?  A life with no passion?

So today, do something your WANT to do, especially if you don’t have time to.  Let the list wait. Be crazy and creative.  Go out on a limb.  Fail terribly.  But, call it a success because you tried.  Let your passion drive you, if only for a moment!

Who knows how you will succeed!

Dinner For a Rancher

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The other night I made dinner and, as our life goes about now, The Rancher had to head out just as I was putting it on the table.  I fed the kids and myself a tasty dinner of grilled steaks, fresh pineapple, salad, and green beans.  Everything I love and my kids too!  It went over with flying colors and any dinner that I don’t have to coax my kids to eat every bite is considered a win.

But with The Rancher it was a whole different situation. 

He came home sat down ready to eat.  I was pumped for the steak and the pineapple was a fun treat.  But he looked at me and we had this conversation:

Him: “So where is the rest of the food?”

Me: “The rest of it?  I think you got it all out.”

Him:  “But, like… where is the filling stuff?”

Me:  “The filling stuff?  What does that even mean?”

Him: “Like potatoes or something.  I’ll eat this, but I’m still gonna be hungry if I eat JUST this!”

I couldn’t help but just laugh and laugh!  Heaven forbid he had some fruit and veggies in his diet.  He thinks that he is going to shrivel up and die if he doesn’t have meat and potatoes for every meal.  Actually, I did hear him say once (and I’m sure it will be the only time in his life!) that he was a little tired of potatoes…   But that only lasted a few days.

But seriously, cooking for a rancher can be tough.  With such a physically demanding job, he needs some serious calories to help him make it through the day.  Over the years I have learned a few things about cooking for a rancher.

Things like how a salad will never cut it for him.  It may be yummy and it may be nutritious, but it will only last about an hour before he is back in the house looking for a snack to help him make it to the end of the day.  Only once has a salad been ok and that was on a hot summer night when the idea of a hot meal was just more than he could handle.  Lesson here is, a salad can only be a side, not the entree!

It may be because we raise beef, but I’ve learned that EVERY meal needs to have meat in it.  I didn’t even have to attempt a meatless meal to learn this lesson!  I think it came with the wedding proposal, something like, “Honey, will you marry me and not EVER make dinner without some meat in it?”  I can’t blame him though.  Protein is essential part of a healthy diet and it is even more essential for a physically demanding job like his.

Making sure the menu meets his criteria isn’t the only thing I had to learn when I started cooking for The Rancher.  His daily schedule is anything BUT predictable, which means that his dinner schedule is also anything but predictable.  So what I do is ask him what time he thinks he will be home, add at least 45 minutes to that, but make sure that the table is set if he manages to make it in early so it looks like I believed him.  Ok, not really…  I think we have had a few reheated meals or overcooked and mushy noodles or the kids and I eat without The Rancher.  Its what happens when dinner is on schedule and a calf needs pulled, a cow gets out or something breaks down.  Its what happens when you are married to a rancher!

Dinner for a rancher isn’t typical or predictable. Usually I don’t even know what is for dinner until it was time to get fixing and all to often I have to ask The Rancher what he wants for dinner (and his usual reply is “I dunno…”).  But dinner at our house is delicious, nutritious, never meatless, and full of love, because every dinner is a chance I have to take care of my rancher so he can do a little bit better at his job.

What is dinner look like at your house?

Battling the Winter Blues One Blessing at a Time

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I love winter.  I really do.  I think I’ve told you that… lots of times.  You are probably tired of me talking about it. 

But its been sorta hard.

I love it, but its hard.

With so much snow all at once, that meant there were days and days of dealing with it.  Pushing snow in the stack yard to get to the hay, pushing snow in the field to feed the hay, pushing snow around the ranch just to get around… and then pushing snow for our neighbors that really couldn’t handle it without a tractor. 

God bless that rancher of mine and his tough, sweet heart because he spent nearly a whole day plowing snow for everyone in the valley just because he could when there were so many other things that needed to get done!  He’s good man.

Back to the snow…  You get my point that there has been lot of work because of the snow.  Aside for the physical fatigue of dealing with it, I feel like we have been emotionally fatigued as well.  Maybe its just me, but I feel drained.  Super drained. 

I think I have the winter blues…

And I don’t like it.

I’m a happy person.  I’m the glass half full kind of girl.

So to battle my bit of winter blues, I’m going to count my blessings.  Ready?

Actually, I have to tell you something else first…  When I came home from my first year of college I thought I had died.  I was happy to be home and happy to be back working on the ranch, but in some ways my life was over.  None of my friends were around, our little town of 300 people had nothing going on and I was sure that I wasn’t going to survive the summer.  Dramatics of a 19 year old girl, I’m sure…  So I decided that the only thing I could change was my attitude.  And I decided that the best way to change my attitude was to be thankful.  From then on, everyday I was determined to find one thing to be thankful for and I was going to write it down and make a collage out of it.

It worked, friends.  By the end of the summer, I had this huge piece of paper with so many things that I was thankful for and it was beautiful and inspiring.  And I was happy.

So when I’m starting to feel down, I try to be thankful.  Because when I’m feeling down, epecially about myself, I start making a different list.  Something like an I-suck list… You know, the ones of “I can’t keep up with the laundry” and “the house is always a mess and I can’t keep up with it” and “I’m so behind on this project” and “I just burnt the 12th piece of toast this morning”… Those kind of lists can happen without us even knowing it and they can really beat us up. 

So here goes!

1.  Messes… Yep.  It means that my kids have been busy playing and growing and being creative.  And that is a mom-win.

2.  Snuggles, especially from my older babies that are not babies anymore.

3.  Propane.  We ran out last week so I couldn’t have a hot shower before bed.  Now it is full again and I’m thankful!

4.  Snow… rain… MOISTURE!  Our livelihood depends on it and although it makes life hard sometimes, we need it.

5.  Cows.  They make me laugh.  They are cute.  They are tasty. 

6.  My bed.  My warm, snuggly bed.  Its like a magic reset button.

7.  Exercising.  Its almost as magical as my bed for a good reset, but it takes a lot more work.  But really, exercising keeps my body strong and healthy so I can enjoy so much more of life!

8.  My home.  Its still not finished.  I have tape over the stairs that has been there for 18 months.  But it is mine and I LOVE it.

9.  Snow clothes.  We couldn’t have made it the last few months without them.  They have kept us warm and dry and saved my washer a lot of dirty clothes!

10.  Hot chocolate.  This is almost its own food group at my house.  My kids drink it every morning.  And I almost love it as much as them.

11.  MY CAMERA!  I love photography and the different perspective it has helped me look at life.  Especially when I have had to stay on the sidelines- something I don’t do well!

12.  My kids.  Of course!  They are messy and crazy and busy, but they are also sweet and helpful and kind.  I watch them and in so many ways I wish I was more like them. 

13.  School.  I know that everyone has there own opinions about school for their kids but I am so thankful for the little school I get to send my son to.  He has learned so much that I couldn’t have taught him from home.  No, its not perfect.  There are issues.  But when I see his growth, I’m so thankful that I can send my little boy to school.

14.  The gator… Silly, I know, but its the best way our family of 5 plus 5 dogs can get around the ranch together.  And it is a much smoother ride than any 4 wheeler.

15.  Soup.  Nothing is better than a warm bowl of soup at the end of the day.  Or in the middle of the day.  I think I could even handle soup to start the day.

16.  Me.  I am thankful for me.  My determination, my endurance, my emotional side…  (it keeps things in perspective, right?), my body and how it can nurture my family.  I’m hard on myself a lot, but that’s because I have high expectations of myself.

17.  Me bed.  Oh… I already said that… Still thankful! Do-over…  My boots!  I have worn the tread off of my favorite boots.  There are holes and cracks but they are my favorites.  They have walked a lot of miles and gotten a lot of work done.

18.  Music.  I turn on tunes everyday.  And all sorts of kinds.  It has a way to drive and inspire me. 

19.  Books.  I don’t have a lot of time to read these days.  But it is an escape to adventure and excitement without ever having to pack my bags or leave my cozy bed.

20.  My husband… My good, hard working, giving husband.  He does so much for so many.  And he loves me for being me.  That right there is something so worth being thankful for.

21.  Home made bread… it goes great with soup (haha).  The smell of bread baking in the oven in the smell of comfort and home. 

22. God.  I’m a religious person.  I believe in a higher power and that without it, I don’t know where I’d be today.  He inspires me, He comforts me, He guides me and He loves me.

23.  Good friends.  Everyone needs a support system and I am so thankful for mine.  Especially when you live so far from civilization, each other is all you have.  And having friends that have farming/ranching husbands is an added blessing because they get it.  They know what I’m going through.

24.  Technology.  Its actually a curse and a blessing.  But today I’m going call it a blessing.  It helps me pursue my passions.  It helps me stay connected with old friends and far away family. 

25.  Winter…. Yes, I’m so thankful for winter.  It is beautiful.  There is a sort of renewal and cleansing that comes from the snow and cold. 

I could go on.  There are a lot of things to be thankful for!  We take for granted so many of the luxuries we have and taking the time to remember them is good for the soul.  What are you thankful for today?

About Me

Hello! I'm Allison, The Rancher's Wife! There's nothing I love more than being out on the ranch with my husband and kids. Join me for a look at what goes on here at the ranch and the life being a rancher's wife!

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