The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

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!

Spring-time Babies

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Is it spring at your house yet?  We are nearly there out here on the ranch.  I couldn’t be more delighted!  There is such an energy with spring.  Its full of potential!  Everything is just so fresh and new.  New crops, new flowers, new leaves, new grass, new weeds (for a minute they can be pretty!)… And of course new babies! 

Ya know, I figured out why we have new babies in the spring.  I’m sure its Mother Nature’s way of giving us a little something cute while the pretty-ness isn’t in full swing.  We are right in the kind of ugly spot between winter and spring.  The snow has melted, but all we can really see is the gray-ish brown and brown-ish gray of the fields and hills.  The creeks have that muddy murky look to it still and even the sage-brush is looking a little more dull. 

The green is coming, you can see it struggling to pop through the bland vista.  But it still needs a good shot of warm sun and spring rain to really get going!

That’s why I thinking the cute babies come to distract us from the ugly in between season.  Because really, who can’t smile at a cute baby?!  Ok, I recognize that it isn’t the real reason babies come when they do, but its an added bonus for sure!

In ranching there are a lot of different calving seasons and its all dependent on what that rancher expects from his calves.  In Montana where I grew up, there were a lot of ranchers that switched over to summer calving because it was so much easier calving in the non-sub-zero temps.  I don’t blame them for not wanting to go check calves during those long and cold Montana nights.  There are seed stock ranches that push their calving as early as they possibly can, to give their bulls just a little more time to grow and mature before they head out to the pasture to breed. 

At our ranch, we take the late winter, early spring approach.  Early enough that they sell well in the fall and we don’t have to keep and feed them all winter long, but late enough we miss most of the cold and snow of winter.  Of course, crazy things happen and sometimes winter drags right on through winter, but for the most part, this plan has worked well for us!

I couldn’t let this calving season slip by without taking the camera out and capturing the cuteness and sharing it with you!  I almost caught one baby as it was just being born, but that momma was camera shy and kept running away (I don’t blame her!).  Even without those play-by-play shots of birthing, there was still so much see and love with those new calves.

I love the little kisses and licks from mommas.  I love the tired sleepy calves nestled in the straw soaking up the sun.  I love watching the calves running and jumping with their tails up high.  I just love all the babies!

Weekends at Locomotive

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One of my weekend highlights is always heading down to Locomotive.  There is something about the wide open and empty range that soothes my soul.  And maybe its just because I love getting away from the house work and cleaning, but I’m pretty sure its more than that.

Working down to Locomotive isn’t anything crazy exciting.  We all pile in the gator and drive around checking the water and cows.  We tag a few calves here and there and we make sure every baby has a mama.  Until the snow melted, we took some time to dump a little hay around.  Every once in a while we find a baby that has been abandoned, usually they were a twin, and we bring them home to the ranch with us.  After we give everything a good once over, we load up and head home.

See?  Nothing crazy.  But I love it!

I love it when my kids get to spend time with their dad.  What better way to learn how to be a rancher than to see their hero do it.  They ak question, jump in to help, and soak it all in.  Its a chance that they have to disconnect from the world that is happening around them.  Even as little as they are, they can still get sucked into the tv and computer and what not.  But when they are out on the range, they are in a whole different world of their own making.  In seconds they can find adventure.

I love it that we can go somewhere and its almost like time stops.  The rush and hustle of life just disappears.  That is something precious when you are a mom that lives by a never ending to-do list that keeps you hopping from job to the next.  Somehow, the list doesn’t matter out there.

I love it because we can just be ourselves.  There is no judging that I didn’t put makeup on that day.  In fact, if I did, it would only get covered with the layers of dust so no one would see it anyway!  The cows don’t care what clothes you wear.  They don’t care how rambunctious and rowdy the kids are.  We can just rock it how we like to!

Everyone needs a place like Locomotive.  Somewhere that they feel safe and at peace and totally confident.  Somewhere that provides a little perspective when we get so consumed with what keeps us going from day to day.  Somewhere that when we go home, we feel a little stronger and ready to take life on again.  

In this crazy world, that can be hard to find.

Where is your “Locomotive”?

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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